Me and Sam still loved each other.

So much, it hurt.

It hurt me badly to know nothing could ever come of it. Because Sam had imprinted on Emily. She was his everything now, not me.

I knew it wasn't Sam's fault. He couldn't help imprinting. But it didn't stop the pain. It made it worse. I might be able to get over it more if he had chosen to fall in love with someone else and dumped me.

'Leah, I know you still hurt. I do too...but you have to try and let yourself heal, or you'll hurt forever.' Sam thought gently.

'Yeah, then you can stop bugging us!' Paul though harshly.

I growled angrily at him - Paul might be strong, but I wouldn't back down from a fight with him.

He growled back. Paul was always up for a fight.

'Back off Paul, and leave Leah alone!' Jacob warned.

I cocked my head in surprise. Maybe the whole pack wasn't against me after all.

'Of course we're not. It's just that you're ALWAYS in a bad mood. You have to get over Sam. You'll be so much happier.' Embry comforted.

'I can't. You don't know how much I loved him. He was my life, and then he unwillingly falls in love with someone else, dumps me and now I'm stuck with him forever because he's the Alpha of the pack. All those memories...'

Sam whined and rubbed his head against mine.

The pack left, leaving the two of us.

'You don't know how much I miss the days we were together.' I whined softly, 'I was so happy. And now I'm miserable.'

'I know how much you hurt Leah, I can see it. I feel so guilty every day because I can see what I've done to you. I feel just as guilty as when I hurt Emily, that day I phased.'

I sighed.

'It wasn't your fault. I know that. It's all part of being a wolf! Imprinting and unwilling phasing! I hate it!'

Sam kept nuzzling me and when I started to cry, he licked my face to clear the tears. Our wolf instincts were kicking in, and without even realising, we were mating, like the wolves we were.

It was over as suddenly as it started, and we just stared at each other in shock.

We could hear the thoughts of our pack brothers, and they were in shock too.

Cautiously, they came back, unsure what to do or say. Even think.

I was stunned, and very unsure how to feel.

'Leah - I'm. I'm so sorry!' Sam stuttered. He was shaking with shock.

'Sam...what are you going to tell Emily? You've cheated on her!' I thought, unable to think anything else.

'Emily? Oh no! Oh no, no, no!' Sam whimpered, pacing back and forward.

I whined, feeling sorry for him. I looked to the rest of the pack, desperate for them to do something.

Jacob stepped forward cautiously.

'We should take her to Carlisle - what if she gets pregnant?'

'PREGNANT!?' Sam roared, beyond reason.

Jacob stood back, his ears pinned back and his body arched. Sam could attack anyone for nothing in this state. We had to be careful. If we stayed submissive, his instincts should stop him from attacking.

'Sam...please calm down. Jake's right - maybe I should go to the bloodsucker for a checkup. If I get pregnant, we'll need to think of a plan.' I whimpered gently.

He sighed and nodded slowly.

'We'll tell Emily together. I'm sure she'll forgive us.'

He nodded again, and we made our way to the Cullens house.

Jacob came, as he knew the Cullens very well, having imprinted on Renesme 3 years previously.

That was why Jacob stood down as Alpha again when we joined Sam's pack again.

Jacob decided he would let Sam be Alpha still, as he spent much of his time with Renesme, and therefore couldn't run the pack properly.

He was second in command though, and Sam rarely told Jake what to do.

In no time, we were at the Cullens house.

Jacob howled to get their attention, and Renesme rushed out excitedly. She looked about 12 now, and she rushed to Jacob, jumping on him in a playful hug.

Jacob grunted and licked her ears affectionatly.

Watching them together, I couldn't help but feel very happy. Kids weren't that bad...even the half-vampire ones.

Edward and Bella came out aswell, and were very surprised to see Sam and I.

"What's going on Jake?" Bella asked.

I liked her a lot more now since Mom got with Charlie. We were kind of like sisters...thought it would still take me a while to admit I was now related to the Cullens. Bella had only just made it into that catagory.

Jacob phased into human, as Sam did.

I remained as a wolf. If I was pregnant, phasing might affect the baby or babies.

"We need to see Carlisle immediatly." Jake said, rubbing Renesme's head she she hugged him still.

"Oh, wow." Edward gasped, as he finally got what had happened.

Sam looked at him and then back down.

"Er - Carlisle!" Edward shouted.

"Whats going on?" Bella wanted to know.

"Um...well...Sam and Leah...er, had a thing...and now we think she might be pregnant." Jacob rushed, as Sam's whole face turned beetroot red.

"Wow, that is interesting." Carlisle said in his soft voice, appearing at the door.

"Leah, would you like to come in? I can give you a scan immediatly." He offered, adressing me softly.

I didn't like vampires, but I had learned to tolerate the Cullens...even like one or two of them, and Carlisle was one of them.

So, I followed him inside the house, Sam and Jake right by my sides.

In 10 minutes, and image was appearing on a screen. An image of my wolf womb.

"There are four eggs implanted in her uterus. That means, I believe, four cubs will develope. She's pregnant." Carlise nodded, showing Sam the images.

"What should we do?" Sam asked, clearly still in shock.

'Well, I'm not getting rid of them!' I growled.

"I didn't say that!" Sam replied quickly, holding his hands up.

"The cubs will develope at a normal rate of wolves, which means she will be ready to give birth in 9 weeks." Carlisle said.

'Ask him what will happen if I phase while I'm pregnant.'

"Leah wants to know what'll happen if she phases?" Jake asked.

"I can only assume it will be a very bad idea. I'm going to ask that she stays as a wolf. She will give birth to wolf cubs. Whether or not they will be able to phase or not is beyond me. We'll just have to wait and see. If she was human, I would tell her to stay human too." Carlisle answered.

I nodded, then had a thought.

'Eeeww. I'll have to eat raw? I hate that. But how am I supposed to hunt when I'm heavily pregnant?'

"You have a pack with twelve other wolves Leah, I'm sure we can hunt for you." Jake answered kindly.

I wagged my tail.

Sam sighed.

"We should go and tell Emily."

'Stay with her Sam. You were meant to be together. I know she'll forgive you, and maybe this is a good thing. Children will make me happy and calm me down. Everyone wins. I know Emily will understand.'

Sam smiled uncertainly and nodded.

Jake stayed with the Cullens, while Sam and I made our way to Emily's house.

Sam phased and walked in.

"Sam!" Emily greeted, hugging him and giving him a kiss.

"Um, there's something we need to tell you." Sam said, closing his eyes.

Emily looked at me.

"Why don't you phase Leah? Come in, have something to eat."

I looked down.

"She can't phase...because she's pregnant." Sam said.

"Oh - oh, well thats great isn't it? Who's the father?" Emily asked.

I whined and hung my head, as did Sam.

"You - you're the father?" Emily stammered, dangerously calm.

Sam backed of, sensing danger.

"I - I'm, so sorry Emily, I dunno what happened...We were in our wolf, and and Leah was upset and I was comforting her, and then we mated, I don't know how it happened!" Sam pleaded.

It was awful seeing him pleading, when so often he was powerful and dominating.

"I can't believe this. You CHEATED on me!?" Emily screamed, losing it.

She kicked Sam where it hurts and in seconds he was down on the floor.

Instinctivly, I stood infront of him - I had to protect my Alpha.

"It's alright Leah, you need to keep the cubs safe." Sam grunted through gasps of air.

I moved away unwillingly, whining slightly.

Sam stood up, shakily.

"Emily, please believe me. It just happened. Please, please forgive me! I love you and I cannot imagine life without me. I'll die if you leave me, and I'm not joking. Please forgive me!"

Emily sighed, looking down.

"Come back tomorrow! I need time to think!" she snapped, pushing us out and slamming the door.

I whined slightly as Sam sighed.

He phased and we ran back to the forest.

'Well, she said she'll think! Don't give up hope Sam.' I thought optimistically.

We stopped in the middle of the forest and howled for a pack meeting.

Everyone gathered.

'Leah is pregnant with 4 cubs. My cubs. Um...she needs to stay as a wolf until after the birth. Even then, she may need to stay as a wolf to look after the cubs, seen as though we don't know if they'll be able to phase. So, after about 4 weeks, it's going to be too dangerous for Leah to hunt for food. So, we're going to hunt for her, and look after her. Then, we all look after the cubs, like a real wolf pack. Am I understood?' Sam growled.

'Yes Alpha!'

'Sure thing!'

"Yeah!'

Seth approached me slowly.

'You're pregnant?'

I nodded, suddenly wanting his approval.

All at once, he went ecstatic and leapt around with deep excitement.

The whole pack became excited and exploded into play.

Howls filled the forest as the pack celebrated their first ever cubs...my cubs.

'You know, if we're like a real pack Sam, this pushes Leah up to Alpha female.' Quil thought, making everyone stop for a moment.

'Really?' I thought with surprise.

I had never studied wolf behaviour before - we had all just followed our instincts. Actually, now I thought about it, my instincts were to lead. To take the pack under my wing and look after them, like a mother would.

I was an Alpha female.

The Pack accepted this.

Even Jared and Paul.

I looked at Sam, and after a few moments, he nodded too.

'Are you ok with it Jake?' I thought.

'Yeah - just don't try to boss me around. I can still kick your ass when the cubs are born.' he thought back playfully.

I wagged my tail and we were playing again.

It was strange. Me and Jake had become real friends during the time we had our seperate pack, with Seth, Harvey, Kyle and Dean.

Seth and I had become closer too.

When Bella threw Seth against the tree and he got hurt, I only didn't attack her because I knew Jake wouldn't tolerate it.

Now, I had triple affcetion for Seth. Not only was he my brother, he was my pack brother, and now, under my care as a leader of the pack.

He heard my thoughts and gave me an affectionate nuzzle.

Weeks went passed and my stomach became noticably big.

As promised, the pack hunted for me, and were very successful.

We even shared a Moose - and it was big enough to feed all of us, with meat to spare.

At last, the time was ready and instinct told me to go off on my own. To find a secluded area and make a den.

'Stay away.' I warned the pack.

They understood my instinct and let me be.

I wandered off and found a hill.

I dug until there was a large, deep den, big enough for me to crawl into.

There, I gave birth to my four babies.

Instict dictated me to clean them, and encourage them to breath by licking them.

Then, they started to suckle.

It was the most natural thing in the whole world, and in that moment, with my babies warmly snuggled close to me, drinking there fill, I was the happiest person in the whole world.

Instinct told me to keep the pack away for a few weeks.

They understood, but could hardly contain their excitement on meeting the cubs.

My main priority was to keep my babies safe, warm and well fed.

One day, I heard something at the edge of the den, coming in.

I stood up, seriously agressive. Nothing was threatening MY babies!

Crawling slowly out, I instantly recognised the smell - it was a cougar.

Now I was REALY angry.

Leaping out, I snapped fiercly at it's face.

It didn't back down though, until it saw the sheer size of me.

Then, when I let out a terrifying growl, it ran away.

'Nicely done, Leah!'

'Ooh, fierce mama!' The pack thought excitedly.

Clearly they had also scensed danger, cos they were close.

I decided it was time for the pack to meet the cubs.

'Come on then guys.' I thought happily.

Howls sounded as the pack released their excitement.

I climbed back in the den and talked to my babies.

They were developing fast, just like real wolves.

'Come, my sweets. Its time you met the family.' I said softly, encouraging them out of the den.

'Mama, do we gets to meet dada?' One of my girls asked.

I hadn't named them yet - I would do that with Sam. I had 3 girls and 1 boy. He was the runt of the litter, but I had no doubt he would be a powerful wolf when he was full grown. By the growth rate, that would be about 2 years.

'Yes honey, you get to meet your daddy. And the rest of the pack.' I smiled, giving her an affectionate nibble on the ear.

She shook and excitedly jumped up on the my face.

Her siblings joined her.

'Come on then.'

I led the way out the den, cautiously looking around for danger.

There was none, so excitedly, my babies followed me out.

They were just about ready for meat too. I wondered if the pack would hunt for more food.

'Course we will!' Seth thought, coming out of the trees.

He stopped and looked at the them, clearly happy.

He looked at me for permission, and I nodded, so he carefully made his way to them and lay down.

'Hello - I'm your uncle Seth.'

'Hi Uncle Seth!' They chorused.

They jumped all over him and licked and nuzzled him.

'Aww, they're so cute!' Embry thought, coming in for a closer look.

The whole pack was here now, and they lay down contently, waiting for the cubs to greet them.

Sam was by my side.

He was clearly overwhelmed with his offspring.

I called them over.

'Come on guys - come meet your daddy.'

They bounded over without a care in the world, and finally met Sam.

He lay down too and gave each one a loving lick.

What's their names?'

'I haven't decided yet. I was wanting to name them with you. There are 3 girls and 1 boy.'

'Wow. Well...can I name the boy, and then you name the girls?'

'Yeah ok, so what do you think our son should be called?' I asked.

'Lyal, which means 'Shield Wolf'. He was the first born - the first born of the Alphas. I think he'll do great things for the pack. It makes sense to call him shield wolf.' Sam finally said after much thought.

'I love it.' I nodded, nuzzling Lyal, who was fully black like his father.

"Hmm, ok, the girls. I love...Lupa, which means 'she-wolf', Ula, which means 'Wolf Power' aaannnndddd...Adolpha, which means 'noble wolf'. I decided, looking to the pack for approvement.

There was many nodding heads. The pack loved their names, and it really meant the wold to me. Having my babies had completeted me, and I was a million percent happy.

'So...let's have a real welcome for Lyal, Lupa, Ula and Adolpha!' Sam thought excitedly.

With that, the forest was filled with the sounds of cheerful howling that didn't stop for a whole hour.

After a while, Seth came and lay next to me, watching the cubs playing contently, and their attempts to howl with the pack. They were actually pretty good.

'You Ok bro?' I asked.

'Yeah...but I was thinking. Mom hasn't seen you for weeks, with you looking after the babies. And I know she's gonna love seeing them. Maybe its time you came home for a bit? Even just so Mom can see you and them.'

I smiled sadly at the thought of my mom. She had been happy since getting with Charlie, but of course she would be worried about me, and definatly missing me.

In fact, she hadn't seen me since the day I discovered I was pregnant.

3 months.

With that thought, I suddenly let out a whine. Before, my instincts had told me to do everything I could for my babies to grow, be born and thrive. Now, I really wanted my own mother. I needed her to hug me and tell me I was going to me a good mom; I wanted my mom.

'Ok, come on then.' Sam said gently, nudging me in the side with his head.

I quickly got up and summoned my children.

'Come, little ones. Time to meet grandma.'

Again, they bounded over, excited to be meeting even more members of their family.

As we walked - Just me, Sam, Seth and the children, I told my babies about phasing.

'The pack - including me - can phase. That means we can change from being a wolf like we are now, and into humans, which is what grandma is. I don't know if you'll be able to do it. If you can't, then I'll stay as a wold permanently.' I promised.

'Mama - will grandma like us?' Lupa asked me a little nervously.

'Of course she will honey. Grandma is my Mama, and I know she's going to love each and every one of you.' I comforted, giving her an affectionate nip on the ear before she ran off to wrestle with Lyal.

Pretty soon, we reached the house and I stood back for a moment, suddenly very excited to see my mom.

'I'll go in and get her.' Seth thought, almost as excited as me.

He phased and rushed into the house.

'Is that what humans look like dada?' Adolpha enquired, circling Sams legs.

Sam nodded gently nuzzling her.

"Leah!" a voice shouted.

Mom.

I phased and quickly rushed up to her and gave her the biggest hug I can ever remember giving anyone.

"I've missed you so much!" she said, crying a little.

"I've missed you too Mom. Do you wanna meet my babies?"

She stood back and wiped the tears away happily.

"Of course." she agreed, looking to the four cubs sitting next to Sam.

I smiled and nodded, sitting down on the ground.

Mom followed my example.

"We still don't know if they can phase, so for now, treat them like wolves. I know you'll not be able to understand them, but I know they can understand you when you talk to them." I explained gently.

"Come on kids, come meet Grandma.'

Like the wolf cubs they were, they bounded over with great excitement.

I introduced them one by one.

"This is Lyal, my only son."

Mom smiled and held her hound out, letting Lyal absorb her scent. Pretty quick, he began to trust her, and jumped on her, and nuzzling her.

"This fully gray one is Adolpha - she's a daddy's girl, and always ready for a playfight!" I smiled.

"This little beauty with the grey body and black paws is Lupa - she's the most curious. And finally, this little girl here with the dark grey body and lighter face is Ula. She's my baby."

Mom cuddled them and I knew that she would always cherish them, wether or not they ever phased.

In that moment, I knew, once and for all.

Everything was good.