Author's note: This first chapter takes place sometime around late New Moon to early-Eclipse (or as it relates timewise in the world that "Life & Death" belongs to). Don't worry Lee won't be staying in "Life and Death"-land for too much longer. Lee finds himself in Twilight-ville soon enough. BTW this fic has nothing to do with my "Breaking Free" fic (although it has a similar name) Weird trivia time: Did you know that there's no way Embry Call (either gender) can exist in "Life & Death"? I just realized this myself! I'm not a Twilight fan but I have a massive softspot for Leah Clearwater (and therefore Lee). I have precious few other character in the series I hold dear. Bella/Beau and Edythe/Edward are not on that list, nor is Jacob!

Lee could feel the pull of the forest even as Sam walked down the aisle towards Elliot. She had wanted to be married as soon as possible, as quickly as she and Elliot could arrange it. She hadn't wanted anything too fancy, a nice dress, a bouquet of her favorite flowers ...and Lee as Elliot's best man. Both Sam and Elliot insisted on it. Lee had no choice but to obey as Sam had used a slight Alpha tone to her "request". Lee knew then that it wasn't a question but an order. One Lee had no choice but to obey but Sarah gleefully stood beside Sam as her Maid-of-Honor holding her smaller, matching bouquet while bouncing back and forth on her heels.

Lee could feel his head throbbing as Sam and Elliot said their vows in front of family and close friends. He couldn't focus on what was being said, all her knew was that it was supposed to be him standing up there with Sam with Elliot as his best man. "When did things get turned upside down?" Lee thought to himself but a moment later he remembered. "Oh yeah, when the leeches came to town." His thoughts darker at that but barely managed to keep the look on his face as neutral as he could, considering the circumstances.

He felt the pull again, harder this time, to the woods behind him as his head gave a particularly vicious throb. Lee ignored the urge to run towards whatever seemed to be calling him. Time seemed to flow like molasses. It was all he could do to keep from screaming as his pounding headache got worse and worse. If he didn't get out of here soon he might not be able to keep himself from phasing. He focused on absolutely nothing but keeping himself in check now, that in itself wasn't easy to do with a headache that was unbearable.

Thankfully the rest of the wedding went by without Lee noticing and he had completely missed the part where you could raise objections (or did the officiant skip that part just so Lee wouldn't?) and before he knew it Sam and Elliot were heading back up the aisle, a newly married couple and everyone applauding, except for Lee who only watched them as they made their way to the room where the reception was being held.

He could feel his legs starting to twitch a little now that Sam's Alpha command had just worn off. Sam's mind was now far away from any possible Alpha commend she could've given Lee in order to make him stay longer. Lee didn't dare though, once he made it back down the aisle and saw that Sam and Elliot were too busy with well wishers and people offering them their congratulations while whisperers in the background that had been worried that Lee would speak his objections to the marriage.

His legs were almost quaking now and the tie at his throat he felt like was cutting off his air. He couldn't take it anymore he had to leave. He frantically pulled at his tie, his hands were starting to shake a little with tremors as well. He couldn't get the knot undone fast enough, so he just tore it off, hoping no one had just seen him do that, at least he could breathe now. Tossing the tie aside he turned for the door while taking off his jacket quickly undoing his shirt now, hoping that neither Sam nor Elliot would see him attempting to make his getaway.

Looking behind him one last time to make sure he cleared the building without anyone seeing him, only to see Sarah watching him as he made his way outside. He stopped for a second, frozen like a deer, until Sarah shooed him away with a double handed wave and a wink. She was his little sister after all. She knew how much he hadn't wanted to be in the wedding to start with, especially everything that had happened with Sam imprinting on Elliot. He gave her a nod and a small smile then he was out the door.

As soon as he was outside the shirt was gone, discarded onto the dirty pavement of the parking lot. He was running now, not hard but just enough to get to the forest nearby. He could smell the scent of the trees already. He could just faintly hear a commotion coming from the building as he finally reached the forest where he broke into a hard run, waiting a few hundred feet before he phased into a huge silvery-gray wolf. That was when he heard Sam scream in anger as she realized Lee had left the wedding reception not yet knowing he had no intention of ever seeing her again.

He realized then he had better get out of range of her Alpha command, there was no way she was going to go after him on her wedding day but he didn't want to take that risk. He could imagine Bonnie and Saul doing their best to calm her down and insist that Lee was "a problem for another day" and that Sam should shut up and enjoy the rest of her wedding day. He chuffed a wolfy laugh at the thought of it. He was getting close to the Cullen house, he could smell it, but not close enough to go over the treaty line but soon that didn't matter as he was passing it by too quickly for the leeches to even contemplate him or to interfere with his run.

Where he was running to he had no idea. All he knew was that his headache had lessened and he hadn't felt this free in ages. In the back of his mind he could feel Paula and Quil shift. That wasn't good. Lee grunted and ran harder and faster. Faster than he had ever run before, he knew he could outrun them but for how long? He had to get out of here somehow. He wracked his brain trying to think of a plan but he knew if he did Quil and Paula would just overhear it, so he kept running.

He wondered just how he managed to get himself in this mess. He snorted and thought to himself "You wanted away from the wedding dumbass and then Sam had to send her cronies after you because she didn't want to ruin the rest of her wedding day. She's probably already blaming me for the whole thing. Even though she didn't specify that I had to stay for the reception as well" He could mentally hear the snarling and it was getting closer to him. He wondered why they hadn't said anything. Lee snarked thoughtfully "They probably can't run and think at the same time."

After that Lee was silent for hours concentrating on nothing but his feet pounding on the earthen floor beneath him wishing now, in vain, that he could lose them, not just Paula and Quil but the whole pack and Sam, Elliot and the leeches and everyone who had ever done him wrong in the past few months since his transformation. He was getting exhausted and knew he couldn't do this forever and not knowing what else to do... he wished.

"I wish I could just leave and find someone who appreciates me for me. Someone who knows exactly how I feel or at least cares about me. Just one person. Is that too much to ask?"

He felt the pull again and even though he was running as hard he could "The Pull" made him run faster still, so fast he wasn't even sure he was in control of his feet anymore. Then there was a bright warm, blinding white light that surrounded him and made Paula and Quil yelp in pain for their eyes even at a distance. But by the time their eyes had cleared and they could see again they couldn't find Lee anywhere, not even his scent. Just the place where he had last touched the ground, then nothing. They knew one thing for sure though.

Sam was going to kill them for losing him.