Chapter 1

Sometimes Goodbye is a Second chance

Leah didn't know what was going on, but she heard that there was an emergency clan meeting and everyone was requested if not required to go. But as thoughts of what the meeting could mean entered her mind she knew that the concern for her people could not outweigh her need to care for her unborn child as well as the need to protect it from the cruel life living on a reservation could bring.

So as the time before the clan meeting rushed by, Leah quickly stumbled around her room packing only what she needed and not what she wanted. 'There is no room for this, just take the bare minimum Leah', she would remind herself trying to stay focused on the task at hand and not on the sadness that was slowly creeping into her heart and filling her thoughts with uncertainties.

Finally after several items were thrown on the floor; and clothes were piled up on her bed she was packed and ready. She was just about to force her overly stuffed back pack closed when her mother walked into her room.

"What's going on, Leah?" Sue snapped noticing the mess and Leah's stuffed bag on her bed.

"What do you think mom?" Leah snapped back rushing around her room looking for some pen and paper, "I'm leaving."

"So just because life is getting a little bit hard you are just going to runway?" Sue asked with tears in her eyes.

"Mom, please..." Leah sobbed but quickly stifled it. "I can't stay because I know that if I do I will become cold and bitter and that is something that I can't … I won't do. I Love Sam mom I love him so much that it hurts, but I know that I am not what he wants or needs. He has found that with Emily. That doesn't mean I have to like it but I love him enough to let him go. But if I am to do that, I have to leave. Please mom, please try to understand."

"Baby, I do understand," Sue whispered softly and gently rubbed her shoulders, "But running away isn't going to make this pain go away, you need to face it and accept things the way they are and be patient you will find the man you are meant to be with. Please baby, don't do this to your family stay if not for the clan then for your brother, me, and your father."

Leah growled and pulled away from her mother, "Mom you aren't listening I have to do this please, if you can't understand me then don't try to just let me go. Say goodbye to everyone for me and tell them that one day I will come back if not to stay then at least for a visit." Leah then did something that she hadn't done for awhile. She put aside her anger, bitterness, and frustration at not only her mother's lack of understanding but the clan's as well. She hugged her mother and whispered "Goodbye Mom"

Sue stood stunned unable to find the words to make her little girl stay, and therefore didn't put up a fight as her daughter gently pushed her out of her room. As Sue walked downstairs to her son and husband, both of whom were waiting for her to walk with them to the meeting. Flashes of her precious little girl raced through her mind and how for some reason she was never really happy in the early years of her life she always felt like she had to compete against her cousin for her mother's attention. It wasn't until Leah had started high school that things had changed for the better. Sue would have liked to have said it was because of her but she knew it wasn't … it was because of Sam.

But just as quick as Leah was changing for the better Emily came into the picture and took Sam away breaking Leah completely and now it had come down to this, Leah leaving. Sue new that Sam and Emily couldn't fight the imprint so she didn't really blame them. No she blamed herself for being blind to her child's pain and new if there was any hope of getting Leah back she had to let her go. So biting back her tears Sue called down to her husband and son, "You guys go on without us. Leah and I need to have a heart to heart."

Harry and Seth stunned at her request nodded their heads "We'll let you know what happened at the meeting and tell Leah we love her." Harry said before he and Seth both walked out the door unaware that they had just said goodbye, one to his precious daughter and the other to his only sister.

Sue nodded her head at her husband's words and bit back a sob when he asked her to deliver his message. She then ran upstairs to her daughter and whispered "Baby I do understand," and proceeded to help her put away what she couldn't take with her. When she realized that her daughter barely had enough in her little backpack, she went to her room and got out her big suitcase so her daughter could pack more than just the bare minimum.

As they packed some more clothes they laughed at some of the memories that raced through their minds, after what seemed like hours Leah was packed. "Hold on one second baby," Sue whispered before running out of the room and back downstairs.

While her mother rushed down the stairs Leah quickly took the picture of her and Sam and stuffed it in her bag. She placed the note that she had written while waiting for her family to leave, on her desk under a paper weight. She then walked out of her room dragging the big suitcase, with her pack slung over one shoulder. Just as she was about to walk downstairs her mother came up and helped her carry her things down the stairs and out to her car.

Once she got everything loaded in her car Leah got in and was about to start the engine when her mother called for her to stop. She huffed in frustration but got out of her car for one final talk with her mother. When she saw the tears in her mother's eyes she expected for her mother to plead one more time for her to stay, but was surprised when her mother gave her six hundred dollars for a plane ticket then hugged her and whispered, "Find some place warm baby and heal your heart then please come back home to us."

"Ok mom, I love you," Leah whispered back and squeezed her mother to her one more time then walked to her car. Once she was in, she drove off heading for the closest airport which was in Seattle.

The drive wasn't an easy one she cried, screamed, and then begged the guardians of her clan for guidance. But the answers she sought and secretly hoped would be given with a crash of thunder and a gentle voice from some unknown source … never came. It wasn't until she looked and saw on the van a head of her, a bumper sticker that simply said "Baby on board" that her determination was restored. So she sped up and passed the van and spent the last hour of driving going eighty miles per hour to get to the airport sooner.

Meanwhile at the clan meeting there was an outrage. One of the imprints could possibly be false; and a prophecy proving this fact had been discovered. So with a baited breath and heavy hearts Jared, Sam, and Quil held their imprints tight as Billy Black unrolled a scroll which was torn in half then looked one more time at them barely meeting their eyes then with deep sadness began to read,

"The princess of all clans will be born among the wolves, pure and strong, with un-deterred determination and love for all people. When the time is right her one true love, her imprint a wolf warrior and a king among wolves, will unite all supernatural beings both shape shifter and vampire to stand against the dark ones The Dominion, to prevent the enslavement of all beings."

As Billy's voice faded to silence a searing pain hit Sam and Emily's chests causing Sam to fall to his knees and cry while Emily stumbled and collapsed a short distance away from him as the bond of false love forged between them, broke and fell away. Then just as suddenly as the pain hit it, it faded to nothing and left them gasping for air. They both turned and looked at one another and the connection, the love that they once felt was no longer there it was as if they had just met and already decided that the other wasn't the one for them.

Emily not able to withstand anymore ran out of the clan house and sat in her car and cried. Meanwhile another far worse pain shot through Sam's entire body as flashes of Leah and their time together raced through his mind. Then suddenly they pain stopped as one memory impacted his mind over and over again, Leah crying out her heartache at his leaving, when he chose Emily over her. The pain that it showed made him feel like someone lifted a veil from his eyes, and he knew that Leah was the one all along. Then as his wolf let out a primal howl he screamed out Leah's name and rushed out of the clan house to claim his mate and one true love.

As Sam ran as fast as he could in human form to Leah's house he thought of the many things he would do to win her back knowing he wouldn't spare any expense to show his repentance at the way he so quickly dropped his Lee- Lee for someone he didn't even know. When Leah had tried to tell him that to her something wasn't right, that there was always a connection between them since early childhood through high school and to dismiss it was ridiculous he had chalked it up to her jealousy and acted cruelly to her.

But now none of that mattered, now it was about him and Leah and rekindling the love they once shared. He stood on the front porch to the Clearwater home trying to find a clever way to break the ice between him and Leah, but something felt off and suddenly when he least expected it another wave of pain shot through his entire being almost causing him to keel over. It was the pain of an imprint going too far away from her mate. Sam understanding this wasted no time in knocking on the Clearwater's door when no one answered he opted and instead storming in instead. He was panicking and his desperation he kept yelling out Leah's name but there was no response. Instead there sitting on the first step to the second floor was Sue Clearwater holding a used pregnancy test in her left hand crying. Not liking what he saw or the indication of what the used pregnancy test held for him and Leah he ran up the stairs taking two steps at a time and headed straight to Leah's room.

"Leah," he called softly hoping she was still there but when nothing but silence and an empty room greeted him, his heart broke and he collapsed on her bed and sat sobbing, "No Leah, no." his heartbroken sobs turned to nothing but pained whimpers and moans and his eyes were no longer downcast, instead they were drawn to her vanity and there under a paperweight sat a single white envelope. His curiosity and need to know where his love was what got him to point all his attention on the envelope and what was inside. When he removed the paperweight he saw that the envelope and its contents were addressed to him in Leah's smooth handwriting and he tore it open right away and read the letter that was inside.

Dear Sam,

I don't know where to begin or what to say that is going to make this easier on either me or you. Or maybe it is just me that needs this to be easier, I don't know. Anyway I just have a few things to say. First off remember when we met you were 12 and I was 10 and some of the boys on the playground were picking on me and you being you, put a stop to it just because you didn't like to see anyone hurt. Well I have a little secret to tell you I have loved you since then, and I would never and will never want to see you hurt, and as much as it pains me I am glad that you are happy with Emily that is why I have to go. See I have a secret hidden within me I am pregnant and you being you will be torn between your imprint and the mother of your child and I can't do that to you. I can't do that to me or our baby. See I could just picture people on the reservation judging me and our child saying that it was my last desperate attempt to trap you, to take you away from Emily. Then I fear that those harsh words will trickle down to our baby. And I know I have to protect him or her from that. I see this baby as a blessing, a chance for me to be happy and staying in La Push would taint that. I'm sorry that this may hurt you but please let us go have your family with Emily and don't try to search for us I am letting you off the hook. I love you enough to do so. I love you enough to let you go.

Goodbye Leah

P.S. Please look out for Seth and my family and tell them I love them and that I am sorry because I won't be coming back.

As the letter came to an end, Sam stood stunned as a torrent of emotions ran through him happiness, sadness, anger, and loss. Happiness at the fact that he, Samuel Uley was going to be a father, sadness and anger that his love had decided to keep this knowledge from him. He also felt unbelievable loss since his love was missing, she was missing and she was carrying their child.

Suddenly a loud growl sprung from his chest. He wasn't about to lose his Lee- Lee or their unborn child when he didn't have to. No he was going to find his love and drag her back there kicking and screaming and make her understand that she and the baby not only belonged there in La Push, but also that they belonged with him. So with that said; he stormed back down the stairs and tossed the note to Mrs. Clearwater. As his feet hit the wood on the porch he phased mid step and landed on the Clearwater's front lawn on all fours and ran at breakneck speeds following Leah's scent hoping the trail wouldn't go cold.