Anti-Hero || Leah Clearwater

20 - No sign of soulmates

"And I sound like an infant
Feeling like the very last drops of an ink pen
A greater woman stays cool
But I howl like a wolf at the moon"

The Prophecy - Taylor Swift

The drive from Volterra to Rome hadn't been particularly long, less than four hours in the car. The hours had passed in silence as Leah couldn't help but think about what Nadia had told her the night before, and Felix, sensing her mood, had remained silent.

"I had," Nadia murmured. "I had an imprinting."

Leah was shocked by the woman's words. She had the imprinting with Rafael? Why did she lie about that?

Leah took a step back, feeling the couch hitting her calves, "Why did you lie to me?"

"Because," Nadia sighed, "I didn't want to influence your decision. But now that you're leaving..."

"I don't understand," Leah whispered.

"You should sit," Nadia said, gesturing the couch, "It's a long story."

Leah obeyed to her. She wanted to tell her that she didn't trust her anymore, but she was too curious to listen to her story. To find out the truth.

"When I shifted the first time, Rafael was not with me. He was away, on a mission for the Volturi. He had been a vampire for a few years, then, and I kept thinking about asking him to transform me in a vampire, so we could have stayed together forever," Nadia eyes were veiled with memories, "When he came back from that mission, I was too scared to tell him anything, I kept thinking that maybe I imagined it. That I was going crazy. But... something in me changed when I saw him. I didn't know that I just had the imprinting on him."

Leah could hear Rafael walking in the other room, she bet that he was listening to every word they were saying.

With a trembling hand, Nadia adjusted her hair, "Then, after a couple of days, we were arguing about the Volturi and the power they had on him. I was so angry at him that I shifted in the living room of our house," she frowned and finally looked at her, "We were living in an apartment in the city, we moved here after."

In that moment, Rafael entered the room, bringing some pills to Nadia. He didn't say a word, but Nadia smiled to him. A smile full of love and sadness, so private, that Leah had to look away for a moment.

Nadia took her pills and gave the glass back to Rafael, "So, after I shifted in front of him, I told him everything, and together we tried to keep my new life a secret from the Volturi. With no success, of course."

"How..." Leah cleared her throat, "How did you find out about the imprinting? Assuming you didn't know anything about our legends."

Nadia looked down, to her lap, "I told you another lie. Chelsea was with the Volturi when Rafael joined them."

Leah raised her eyebrows, in silence.

"We used to fight all the time because the bond Chelsea forged between Rafael and the coven was so strong that, more than once, he disappeared for weeks, without any contact. He was just a puppet in their hands and I was so worried he was going to end up dead, fighting for them," Nadia's eyes were wet with tears, "Chelsea was the first one to notice that his bond to them was weaker."

Leah frowned, "Are you... are you telling me that your imprinting is stronger than Chelsea power?"

Nadia looked her in the eye, "Yes. And it's possible that the same happened with your imprinting."