The Moon in Summer

I know most of you don't like Leah, but i love her so this is her imprint story. =D As Leah Clearwater tries to sort out her feelings for Sam and Jacob, a new person enters her life and changes it forever. She stumbles upon Bella's secret and contemplates if she should tell Edward. On top of all the couple drama, the Volturi are watching their every move, lying in wait to get revenge on the wolfpack and the Cullens for making them look like fools. Will they be able to put aside their differences and help each other survive the wrath of the Volturi. NOTE: there will be blood and there will be death, so be prepared. ;D

The Moon in Summer

Part1 The End

It was just one of those days, a hot summer day that you could actually fry an egg on the sidewalk. Seth and Embry were doing just that. I watched from the porch of my mother’s house, shaking my head and rolling my eyes. The eggs sizzled in the sun.

“I bet you won’t eat it,” Embry teased.

“Ew. No. It’s been on the ground,” Seth said.

“I’ll give you 50 cents if you eat it.”

“What the hell can I do with 50 cents?”

“Buy a tick tack, because your breath is funky!”

Seth swung at Embry, and missed when he got up to run away. They had run out infront of a moving car. The driver blew the horn, but didn’t stop in time. Seth and Embry rolled onto the car’s hood and fell off onto the street. Horrified, I ran out to check on Seth.

“Hey, you damn kids. Quit playing in the middle of the street!” the driver yelled, poking his head out of the window, his hair was twisted back in a long, black ponytail. Then, he sped off.

“You guys act so stupid sometimes,” I said, checking Seth for bruises. I was breathing hard. He could have been killed. He swatted at me.

“It’s called having fun,” Seth said.

“Yeah, something you clearly know nothing about,” Embry said.

“I wouldn’t call almost getting hit by a car fun,” I said.

“We didn’t. We survived,” Seth said.

“Yeah, and besides, he was the one driving fast in a neighborhood. Why don’t you go yell at that guy and not at us.”

“I’m out of here,” I said. I went inside the house for some lemonade. Sue was on the phone. I caught as her expression changed. I had clearly interrupted something that I wasn’t meant to hear. Sunlight beamed through the bright yellow curtains. I poured myself a glass and iced it.

“Oh, that’s so wonderful, honey,” Sue said, on the phone. “I can’t say enough how ecstatic I am for you. Okay. I wish you and Sam the best. Bye, bye, honey.” She hung up the phone.

“Was that Emily?” I asked, before taking a sip. I took a straw and stuck it into my glass.

“Yes,” she replied. Seth and Embry burst through the door with a football that they started tossing around in the living room. Sue looked conflicted, but not about the boys playing with a ball in the house. Her mind was somewhere else.

“Well, what did she want?”

“She called to tell us that Sam proposed,” Sue said, raising both eyebrows. The ball dropped and bounced on the floor. Seth, Embry, and I had frozen briefly.

“He what?” I asked, in disbelief.

“ I think we better get out of here. I feel a storm coming,” Embry said. Seth agreed and they both bolted from the house.

“Honey, don’t start this up, again. You should be happy for your cousin.”

“How can I be happy for someone like Emily after what she did to me?”

“You know it wasn’t her fault that Sam imprinted on her,” she said.

“It’s really nice to know whose side you’re on, Mom.”

“I’m not taking any sides. I’m being sensible, here. I love Emily like a daughter.”

“You have a daughter.”

“What’s that suppose to mean? I’m not allowed to care about my own niece?”

“They’re getting married.” The realization of it hit me hard. Soon, they would be married, and I would know every icky detail of their bliss and happiness via Sam’s thoughts. I felt nauseated and sick. I held my stomach and leaned over the kitchen sink.

“Leah, are you alright?” Sue asked. My throat became thick with this morning’s breakfast, and then I saw it in the sink. Sue grabbed paper towels and led me to a chair. I sat, and wiped my chin.

“They’re getting married, Mom,” I said, my voice trembling.

“I know, hon’,” she said, feeling how miserable the thought made me. “Why don’t you go upstairs and take a nap. Let me clean up, here.”

“I can’t take this anymore,” I cried. I got up and ran to my room.

Lying on my bed, the decision had been made. I would leave the pack forever, for good. I felt it was wrong to subject myself to the torture. It was bad enough I had to see Sam everyday and obey commands from him. This was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back. I didn’t belong in LaPush anymore. It was time for me to leave.

 

Part2 The Friend Ship Has Sailed

By noon the next day, everybody knew what was going on with me, all the shape-shifters at least, and it was annoying. Their sympathy and pleas banged hard against the inside of my skull.

Oh, so now you guys want me around, I griped. I shifted back to my human form and dipped into the lake for a quick swim. When I came up for air, I was looking at Jacob Black. I covered my breasts with my hands and walked out of the water. He was wearing jeans ripped at the knees and a wrinkly white wife-beater.

“What the hell are you staring at?” I grumbled.

“You’re leaving? You can’t leave the pack,” he said.

“Why not? You left,” I countered. “You left to hang out with vampires, no less. Where’s you sense of pride, Jacob? Nessie got that, too, huh?”

I laughed at his stone-faced expression. “Truth hurts. Deal with it.”

“I don’t even know why I came back here. For a second I actually cared about your feelings,” he said, turning to leave.

“Jake, wait. I didn’t mean that. Well, I did mean it, actually. I’m not myself. You know that.”

“You must know about Sam and Emily being engaged.”

“I know and it sucks.”

“I’d hug you, but you’re naked.”

He took off his shirt, which he gave to me to cover myself.

“Thanks.”

He shrugged. “You shouldn’t leave because of them. That’d be like running away from your problem. Is that what you want?”

“At least I’ll finally be free,” I said, with a quick smile.

“Leah, I do want to see you happy, but not like this. You have to resolve this thing with Sam before you can go anywhere.”

“Are you suggesting I talk to that pig?”

“I’m suggesting you smooth things over or at least let it all go. He’s just as miserable as you, you know, because of how he makes you feel.”

“Oh, don’t give me that he’s-hurting-too crap. He deserves any and every ounce of discomfort I can give him. He doesn’t deserve to be happy.”

“Do you hear yourself? Leah, he imprinted. It’s not like he went out and cheated on you.”

“You would stick up for him. As far as I’m concerned, you two are in the same boat.”

“So, now I don’t deserve to be happy, either?”

“You’re not happy, Jake. You’re stuck.”

He paused. “How am I stuck? What are you talking about?”

“Bella. You still want her. We all know it.”

From his livid face, I knew I had hit a nerve. “You have to be around her until you die because of Renesme. You have to,” I laughed. “You’re her daughter’s permanent baby-sitter.”

“I don’t love her like that anymore,” he insisted.

“Come on, Jake. You had pretty strong feelings for Miss Swan. Those kind of feelings just don’t go away because some freak baby is born. Pretend all you want, but you can’t lie to us. You can’t lie to your real friends.”

“I didn’t know you and I were still friends,” he said.

“I meant the others.”

“Look. I’m really sorry you got hurt in all of this. We got really close and then, it just happened. I couldn’t stop it. Renesme, she’s-“

“- Your everything. She’s your whole life, now.”

“That’s not true. I care about her, but-”

“We never see you, anymore.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Stop apologizing!”

“I can’t! I feel responsible for everything. Sam and Paul don’t trust me, anymore. That’s understandable.  I did betray them. I betrayed you all. I deserve to be ostricized. Even though the trust is gone, they forgave me, which is something you need to let Sam do for you.”

“I will never forgive Sam,” I said, sternly. “I’m going to go home and get some clothes.”

I did just that, after giving him back his shirt.

 

Part3 Leaving It All Behind

Late in the afternoon, my cell rang. It was Sam texting me about a pack meeting. Turns out, he just wanted to formally tell us all about his happy news.

I decided to go and that this would be my last pack meeting. I ran to the edge of the woods, preparing to phase. Long limbs grew out from under me, and giant paws hit the ground, causing the land to shudder and rock. Everyone showed up to the meeting, even Jacob.

Well, if it isn’t the Cullen’s pet dog.

I’m not a pet, Jacob growled.

Cool it, Paul. He’s still one of us. Aren’t you, Jake, Seth thought.

Of course I am, he replied. I would never leave you guys, unless I totally had to.

I guess you ‘totally’ had to become a lap dog for the Cullens, Embry thought hard. Do they make you wear a special collar? You know, the ones that shock you, if you try to run away?

Enough, Sam erupted. That’s old news. I thought we’d moved on from that.

Sorry, Sam. It’s just hard to tell who your true friends are, these days, Embry thought.

Well, let’s try to remember the good old days, shall we, Sam thought, sarcastically.

It was clear that Embry and Paul hadn’t fully accepted Jacob back into the pack. Maybe, the fact that he’d imprinted on a half vampire child, our natural enemy, had something to do with it. He was shacked up at the Cullens for most of the time. He had abandoned his true family. It felt to us he had forgotten his roots and cared more about them and us.

I didn’t want to stick around and listen to Sam’s wedding talk. I backed out of the meeting while Sam was playing mediator to Jacob, Paul, and Embry. I wasn’t surprised that they barely noticed my calm exit.

Part4  A True Friend

Leah, wait. Stop.

I ignored the voice. I knew it was Jacob following me.

What do you want, traitor? I thought.

I had been running for a long time and Jacob was right behind me the whole time, keeping up with me. I finally tired out, and found a pond where I could have a drink of water.  He drank too. Then, we phased back to our human forms, out of breath.

“You are so out of reach,” he said, breathlessly.

“Why do you even care? Go home.”

I got off the ground and looked up at the silver moon in the black sky.

“Not without you,” he said from behind me.

“Shouldn’t you be following Bella around?”

“Leah, you can taunt me all you want about Bella, Edward, and Renesme, but I know my true place is with the pack. I care about every last one of you, all of you.”

“You sure have a funny way of showing it.”

“You’re not exactly nice and cuddly, either,” he said, arching one eyebrow.

“Not what I meant. You’re never around. This is the first pack meeting you’ve been to since the Volturi left. Sam doesn’t even like being Alpha. You know this and you still won’t step up. What are you afraid of Jake, that you won’t be good enough?”

Jacob froze. “I have too much on my plate right now,” he seethed.

“Yeah. I guess playing with a toddler all day can really take a lot out of a person.”

“Leah, stop,” he said. “If it’s what you guys want, I’ll come around more. I’ll show up.”

“No. The pack will never be the same again. I should just accept it. Maybe the rest of us should get lost too, find our own lives and shed the wolves.”

“That can’t happen. This is our destiny.”

“I think our destiny is messed up. I won’t be controlled by some predetermined fate anymore. I’m out of here, Jake.”

“I won’t let you go.”

I ran toward the cliff and jumped as Jacob called out my name. I phased in mid- air, and landed all four paws on a rock formation below. I looked up and saw Jacob standing at the edge of the cliff.

Goodbye, Jake, I thought to myself. I kept running until I was out of breath. I planned to run north to the Makah tribe. I had some family there. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted another wolf, but too late before he rammed into my side, pushing me off my balance. We rolled down an icy hill, breaking branches and snapping trees in half on the way down. We plummeted onto a road.

Jacob! I yelled.

-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make us fall.

-Why are you still stalking me? Go home!

-I would, but I can’t lose you.

-You’re not losing anything. I’m leaving on my own free will. This is what I want, so leave me alone!

I can’t do that. You have to stay with the pack. That’s an order, Leah.

I glared at him, shocked.

You can’t order me to do anything. You’re not my Alpha. You’re weak, Jake. Weak.

His eyes narrowed as he stood up on his hind legs and stared me down.

I am an Alpha, the true Alpha and I pick my pack. I finally accept my place in the pack and I am ordering you not to leave.

As he was talking, his words forced me to kneel on the ground. I could not disobey the Alpha’s orders, not even if I wanted. I was pissed. It was a weird feeling, something supernatural that was holding me. I broke the invisible chain that held me down on the ground and snapped my fangs at him, attacking his throat. He almost bit my eye as we were fighting and barking. He pushed me back and planted his front paws firmly on the asphalt. He gnarled.

Disobey me, again, and you will die.

The chains that bound me to Sam were broken and transferred to Jacob. I had no choice but to be submissive. He was my new master, now, my guardian and Alpha. The sad part was I had gotten away from one tyrant only to run into the arms of another tyrant. I was not happy about this, and I was going to let him know every day that I lived.

I followed him back to the reservation. We walked side by side.

He felt my misery and felt bad.

-Now, I know how Sam feels, he thought. I’ll make it up to you. You can be my Beta, and I’ll make Sam my Omega.

- That’s the lowest rank. Sam will be embarrassed. He will be useless.

-He’s getting old anyway. He wouldn’t mind too much.

-I want him to mind.

-Leah, you’re such a sadist, he thought. I crossed my paw over his. This might not be so bad, after all.