Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.

Allies Ch.1

Leah yawned widely as she peered around the small fire in the center of the secluded meadow. The faces of her wolf brothers loomed eerily in the firelight, appearing surreal. One face in particular giving her goose bumps that had nothing to do with a creepy appearance, but the long-ago relationship she and the man had shared. Sam. Leah despised him for leaving her even though she knew it wasn't at all his fault. But she was still bitter.

She and her pack, still consisting of only Jacob and her brother Seth, had come to Sam's stupid weekly powwows, or 'briefings' as he called it, to catch up on everything from new vampire invasions to their simple daily life happenings. It was a monotonous gathering every week lead, of course, by Sam. Leah would ever admit however, that she actually enjoyed seeing the guys after a week of endless patrols no matter how annoying they all were.

The meetings were spent mostly in fellowship, having had no new threats or concerns to either packs or the citizens of La Push and tonight, Leah grew bored with the topic of choice: Washington's MLB team's progress through the season. Typical, she thought.

Leah stood up and stretched her slender frame. "I think I'm going to head home." she announced. It was getting pretty late and she'd spent the entire day patrolling for the leeches, so she was seriously tired.

Sam and the guys looked up at her, momentarily distracted from their intense conversation.

"Oh," Sam said. "Wait a minute. We need to discuss a few things."

"Like batting averages?" she asked cheekily.

They guys suddenly looked sheepish and Sam sighed at her attitude.

"I guess we got carried away." Jacob said, grinning at Leah's irritated expression. She sat back down heavily and looked Sam in the eyes.

"Well," she said, brows raised. "Start discussing."

Sam looked a bit irritated as well, but he cleared his throat to 'discuss' anyway. "I think we've become a little lax about keeping ourselves unnoticed."

"How so?" Paul asked.

"Well," Sam continued. "For one thing, someone took a dump at the edge of the woods near the school playground."

"Disgusting," Leah muttered.

Every head turned to Quil. He shrugged his shoulders. "When you gotta go you gotta go." he said, not in the least bit embarrassed.

Jacob laughed. "Quil, did you not think that an enormous pile of crap would raise questions?"

Leah wanted to get up again and leave, but one look from Sam warned her not to. She could've spit.

"That's just one thing in a long line of mistakes." Sam said seriously, causing all laughter and teasing to cease instantly. "We've got to be careful. People are getting… curious."

"What do you mean 'curious'?" Jacob inquired as real concern crossed his face.

"Some are asking questions, others are snooping around." Sam said.

"Who's been snooping?" Embry demanded thickly through a mouth full of the potato chips he'd brought along.

"For one, Greg Anissa."

"That weird guy?" Jacob asked.

Sam nodded. "He graduated with me and Leah." he explained, giving her a meaningful look.

At the sound of Greg's name, Leah's blood began to boil with annoyance. She despised Greg almost as much as she despised Sam, but for totally different reasons.

Seth nudged her with his elbow. "Isn't he the one who had that crush on you?"

Leah rolled her eyes. "Yep. He's the one."

"It's been years, though." Sam offered. Was he trying to comfort her? Spare me, she thought. Yes, in high school Greg had followed Leah around like a sick puppy hoping to vie for her affections. But Leah hadn't been into the creepy weirdo type, the guys who spent their time playing videos games or walked around school in gothic getups and trench coats. Plus, she'd had Sam.

"Well, what kind of snooping was he doing?" Jared asked from across the orange blaze.

Sam sighed. "I caught him following me through the woods. Another second and I would have phased in front of him. It's a good thing he's as clumsy as an ox or I wouldn't have heard him coming up behind me. He sure made a lot of racket…"

"My mom's curious." Embry said.

Quil snorted. "Of course she is. She still does your laundry and sees all your shredded clothes."

"Who else, Sam?" Jacob wondered.

He shrugged. "My neighbor Mr. Trejo. The lady at the grocery store, Sandy Foxe. And Sue Clearwater told me Collin, Brady, and Seth's teachers are concerned about their strange behavior in class."

"What strange behavior, exactly?" Collin snapped.

"She told Sue that you guys growl."

"Only when I'm mad." Seth said innocently.

"Whatever. All I'm saying is that we need to think before we phase or leave behind evidence of our presence. We cannot jeopardize our secret." Sam concluded.

Leah became impatient. "What evidence, Sam?" she asked, exasperated by his lack of elaboration.

"Torn clothing." Jacob suggested.

"Animal carcasses…'

"Wandering into the woods in public places."

"Giant piles of crap."

The guys chuckled, but Leah only sighed. "Okay," she said. "I'll be more careful.