Choices

Chapter 13

3 MONTHS LATER

With the threat of Victoria no longer hanging over their heads, the Cullens and Swan families moved forward with their lives. The little town of Forks had practically exploded when they found out that Charlie and Esme were dating. The gossip queen, Mrs. Stanley, spread around that the Chief of Police and the doctor's wife were stepping out. In order to counter act the stupidity of Stanley, the Cullens would quietly give information that Carlisle and Esme were never in fact married, but were cousins that lived together to help raise the five teenagers. The town accepted this as fact and just assumed that they leapt to conclusions when the Cullens moved to town. It was rather easy to keep that story as the truth, because the Cullens seemed so unapproachable. So now weeks away from Christmas the town had accepted Charlie and Esme's relationship as a pure one, and unfortunately the new targets of gossip were Emmett and Belle.

Lauren and Jessica went around school telling anybody who would listen, that Belle was a slut and had spread her legs for Emmett when she was doing the same for Edward. Normally, gossip like that wouldn't even hit the Cullen's radar, but because it involved Belle that wouldn't fly. One day Mike, who believed anything that Lauren and Jessica told him, cornered Belle when the Cullens weren't around. He tried to proposition her and when she tried to refuse him, he tried to take it a step further, BIG mistake. He quickly found himself face-to-face with Emmett Cullen. Alice had seen what Mike was going to do and informed Emmett and he was able to reach her quickly. He told Mike that under no circumstances should he look, talk or even think about Belle again. If he ever tried to pull the stupid stunt again Emmett would make sure that Mike would never be able to be legally called a man. Mike paled and pissed himself right then and there. Of course a hulking angry Emmett gathered a crowd and they witness Mike's wet pants first hand. The little shit was the laughing stock of the town, not to mention Charlie was ready to throw his dumb ass in jail. Charlie made sure to make a visit to the Newton's house later that night to tell Mike should he step a toe out of line again, Charlie would make sure that Mike would understand what the term "Jail-Bait" truly meant.

Jake and his pack had moved into the Cullen house and property, the Cullen's now considered the pack as extended members of their family. Seth and Leah were slightly uncomfortable at first, being so close to Vampires, but soon Seth was joking and learning from the Cullens. Leah was still uncomfortable with the Vampires, but because Sam was the alpha of the other pack and shared the pack mind she jumped at the chance to leave La Push. Everyone knew that she hated Sam for breaking her heart and trust, no matter how unintentional it was. Jake's pack offered her a way out and she found that the Vampires were the lesser of the two evils. Esme, the eternal mother, knew Leah wasn't comfortable with them and insisted that Jasper, Emmett and Carlisle fix up a little cottage that was located in the wood of their property so that Leah had a place to get away. Leah was very thankful to Esme for thinking of her needs. She in a million years would have never thought a Vampire would care enough about a shape-shift that was built to take out Vampires.

Jake and Sam's relationship was still quite shaky, but agreed that a replacement for Sam needed to be trained. Seth was the person who would take Sam's place when he stepped down. Emily was now expecting their first child and Sam would stop phasing in the next six months. Sam didn't want to leave Emily a single widow and had sat down with her and asked what she wanted him to do. They agreed that it would be best if he was no longer putting himself in dangerous situations and to find a replacement. Seth was the first and only choice that came to mind, he was young but willing to shoulder the huge responsibility and eager. More importantly Seth was level headed and was willing to work with Jake and the Cullens. Seth was happy that he was to be the new Alpha and the rest of Sam's pack were also on board, they all loved Seth like a little brother and they were willing to listen to him. Sam tended to abuse his power in their eyes and they were ready for change.

Despite what the other pack's claims about the Cullens having a sickeningly sweet smell, neither Jake nor Leah could tell what they were griping about. To them the Cullen family smelled fine, and the Cullens never once complained about them having that wet dog smell that the other pack seemed to have. It was very curious that the other wolves stank, but not those two. Seth's odor was just slightly offensive, but nothing that was intolerable. Both wolf packs and the Cullens were confused about it, but they just chalked it up to the fact that they spent so much time around each other and were used to the smell.

One evening when Charlie, Belle, Jake, Seth and Leah were hanging out with the Cullens, Alice suggested that the next day the go Christmas shopping. Everyone agreed that a shopping trip to the Seattle Mall sounded like a great idea and good bonding time. It was decided that during the first part of the day the girls would go one way and the boys another. They would meet up in the food court for lunch and then they would split-up into couples so they could shop for the other family members without giving the gifts away.

The next morning Leah was a little apprehensive about shopping with a bunch of "strange" women, but as the morning wore on she became more and more comfortable. Leah had never had many friends and since she had started shifting the only people that she had associated with were the boys of the pack. Leah was not what you would call a girly girl, but she was really enjoying shopping with the Cullen women and Bella. She had found that it was incredibly easy to talk to these women and that they, unlike Sam's pack, were willing to listen and help her with problems. She was starting to view as a mother figure, even more so than her own mother who never seemed to understand who Leah was. She was feeling a familial connection forming towards the women and for once in her life she felt like she could laugh and talk freely. She had always wanted and craved sisters and a mother figure that understood her for her. She felt like she could go to them with any problem that she may have and not be judged. Leah felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders and if she could sum up what she felt when she was with these women in one word, that word would be "home".

Seth, who was in complete shock, at first, seeing his sister so carefree, was happy for her. A part of him sighed and relaxed knowing that Leah might just be able to start letting things that have gone wrong her life, go. When they were younger, Leah and him were close and she was happy-ish. When she and Sam started dating it seemed as if life would only get better for her. When Sam imprinted on Emily, their cousin, Leah's life came crashing down around her. She became angry and jaded, and Seth was worried that the old Leah would never come back. He was worried at one point that she would take her own life. It seemed that even though they were supposed to be mortal enemies, the Vampires and Belle were bringing back the old Leah. Yes, he knew Leah would have some "bad days", but she now had people that she could turn to for help that wasn't her mother, father or brother. Seth was very happy for his sister.