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Lea Clearwater

"Being unwanted isn't exactly a new thing for me."―Leah[src]

Leah Clearwater is the Beta of the Black pack and the only known female shape-shifter in the Quileute history; she is the daughter of Harry Clearwater and Sue Clearwater. She is Seth Clearwater's older sister, and Sam Uley's ex-girlfriend. She phased into a wolf during the events of New Moon, around the same time as her brother, Seth. She also has deeply unsettled issues, including a broken heart, and is overprotective of her little brother.

As a child, Leah was very close to her cousin, Emily Young.

As a freshman in high school, Leah began dating, and then fell in love with Sam Uley. They were involved in a serious relationship for three years.

During her junior year of high school, Sam disappeared and Leah's life was thrown into upheaval. Two weeks later, Sam reappeared, but gave no explanation for his absence, and from that time forward he was a changed person. Leah tried to give him space to resolve his problem.

When Emily came to La Push for a visit, Sam saw her for the first time since his disappearance and he imprinted on her immediately. That same night, he went to Leah and broke up with her, and later Emily told her that Sam was pursuing her. She became furious with him and relied on Emily's rejection. But when Emily and Sam engaged in a relationship, she turned completely bitter and blamed them both for her pain.

New Moon

Early in New Moon, Bella meets her at a pasta party at Jacob's house. However, Leah spends the evening on the phone.

As more time passes, Leah finds herself growing angrier and begins to fly into a rage over the smallest irritations. Her body begins to change without her awareness, and when she argues with her mother about her mood swings, her anger causes her to phase for the first time and she destroys a couch in the process. Seeing their daughter phase rather than their son, Seth, her father suffers a fatal heart attack. Seth witnesses the incident and the shock causes him to phase as well.

Leah's transformation causes her further pain because she holds herself responsible for her father's death. Furthermore, she is forced to join Sam's pack, and their mental link reminds her that he abandoned her for her cousin, Emily Young. She deliberately uses this connection to punish Sam and the pack both with her memories, and by bringing up uncomfortable subjects (such as Embry Call's parentage), all things the pack would rather forget. She has also tried to go solo, but it did not work. Jacob once describes her as a "harpy", to which she takes offense. However, she comes to forgive Emily and Sam after learning the truth and agrees to be her cousin's bridesmaid.

Leah as a human is described as beautiful in an exotic way. She has perfect copper skin and eyelashes "like feather dusters", and being around 5'10" tall. She wears her sleek black hair in a short pixie cut after phasing, for the same reasons that the males shave their heads: long hair means longer fur.

Wolf form

Edward describes her in her wolf form as a "smallish gray wolf". She is physically the smallest in her pack, possibly due to her gender.

Personality and traits

Leah is portrayed as angry and bitter as a result of her broken heart. She has a short temper, and often uses the pack's mental connection to remind the others of things they would rather forget; ostensibly to vent her pain at being connected to Sam. However, she also demonstrates considerable loyalty to them and protectiveness of her brother, and by the end of Breaking Dawn, Leah has matured remarkably after she joined Jacob's pack to get away from Sam. She mentions to Jacob that she is considering community college and possibly meditation and yoga to help with her temper issues. She also implies that she intends to quit phasing as soon as she is able to control it. She is quite competitive in racing and would willingly accept any challenge, though she dislikes being a wolf and being around vampires.

Leah greatly dislikes Bella, mainly because of her "torturing" Jacob. This continues to Breaking Dawn where she confronts Bella while she's pregnant and says things that deeply hurt Bella, causing the latter to cry.

Wolf abilities

Phasing has stopped her menstrual cycle, and she gets bitter over it because she fears it may prevent her from having children or imprinting on someone.

Leah is known as the fastest wolf in both packs which Jacob says is "her only claim". She is so fast that she can outrun anyone in her pack. This is the only part that she enjoys being a wolf. While running on an errand, she would enjoy taking patrols and beating her companions at the same time.