'Safe' Is Not A Word In My Vocabulary

Can’t catch a break!

I thought as I ran about how inconvenient these stupid leeches were. Did they have anything better to do on a Saturday than cause drama?

I was running again, following the scent of the vampire that had nabbed Kim, but also searching for some sign of a trick.

There was none.

I caught another scent, and another. Oh joy, three vampires.

I wanted to check on Claire, but one project at a time.

I ran deep into the mountains again. Only this time I was on the valley floor instead of the high peaks.

It was freezing here, if it had rained, it would have been hail.

Finally, about ten minutes later, I stepped through the shrubbery and into a clearing.

My silver eyes took in several things at once. The first was Kim, lying in the ground curled in on her. She was in only a tank top and a pair of cotton pajamas. There was a vampire hovering over her, a dead expression on his pale face.

He had brown curls and the same crimson irises as the other two vampires hovering off to the side, one a female with pale blonde hair and a teasing smile on her face. The other was another male, clearly Mexican with straight black hair and muscled arms he was smiling too.

I stared them down and the Blonde, who shall now be named Rosalie number two, laughed like a child.

“Aww look, the little were came to save her little friend, how sweet.” her tone was irritating, like fingernails scraping down a chalkboard. The Mexican man, now to be called Mr. Man, laughed with her. In my ears, his laugh sounded like broken wind chimes. I knew he would fight for her when she died.

I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing.

Mated pairs were easy to beat, because they never considered that the other would be lost. Egotistic vampires are dead vampires.

I imagined this was why the curly haired vampire was along, to keep the other two in line.

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Can we move along to the next part of the speech, I’ve got a schedule to keep.” My voice was strong, and cold Kim stared at me in surprise.

Rosalie II pursed her lips into a pout while she edged closer.

“Such a temper, Jedediah really wasn’t kidding when he said you were impatient.” Her smile broke off suddenly and her eyes narrowed. “We won’t keep you waiting,” she hissed suddenly.

Then her eyes drifted to Kim.

“Let’s finish this fast; I want that one for desert.” Her mate grinned and tensed.

I stood there, perfectly relaxed, knowing what was coming next.

There was a reason I survived so long.

You’d guess from training or self-preservation, but that wasn’t it. You’d never guess the real reason was that I didn’t ever expect to win.

I always waited for pain, I was ready for it, ready to die and go down fighting.

Vampires were the opposite.

Curly wrenched Kim into sitting position and turned her head so she’d be forced to watch.

I could see the tears running down her face like water from a tap and Claire’s face flashed in my mind. I remembered why I was fighting and tensed a second before both vampires sprung.

I fought as hard as I could on two legs. We were evenly matched, but I managed to tear the Blonde into several large chunks before the man caught hold of my ankle and twisted it back.

I didn’t give them the satisfaction of hearing my scream and instead bit into his own leg and tore.

Curly watched along with Kim.

Eventually I knew I was out of options and I had to phase. There was something I needed done before I did though.

It was a miracle that I had Crusher’s lighter in my pocket. I reminded myself if I lived to thank Crusher for his smoking habit, even though I had taken it from him, he saved my life.

I distracted the vamps by tearing another piece of the guys leg off and throwing him into Blondie. They’d be up in a few seconds but that was all I needed.

The fire flared up from the dead grass and I threw the closest chunks of flesh I found into it. It twitched in the flames and Rosalie II screamed in anger.

Even if I lost this fight, she’d never get her arm or hands back.

Mr. Man jumped into the air, spinning out a kick to my ribs.

I expected them to shatter.

I expected his foot to smash right into my stomach and kill me.

But it didn’t.

His leg passed right through my stomach and he spun into a tree. I stared in shock as did his mate. She stared at me wide eyed and I phased.

My clothes shredded but I hardly noticed as my claws cut into the vampire’s skin. She screamed in defiance before I tore out her wind pipe.

It’s sick, but it’s true.

I threw the pieces into the flames and then went back to destroying the male.

He was harder, and I was right about him fighting when his mate died. Still, it was over quickly.

I turned to the last vampire, panting hard and my fur caked in blood.

Kim was practically having seizures, she was sobbing and shivering. The vampire released his hold on her and stood. She dropped to the ground and crawled away, curling in on herself.

I expected pain.

This fight took longer, he wasn’t speaking, teasing me like the others, but that only made him more threatening. He reminded me of Bones in a way, curly hair and silence.

That made it slightly harder to kill him, but not impossible.

His time had come, just like the others. They had chosen a bad time to hunt a werewolf, the full moon was high in the sky and that only added to my strength. Three vampires were nothing compared to a fully realized werewolf.

When it was over, all I could do was stare in shock at the silence. My foot hurt but that was unimportant.

I went over Kim’s hunched up form and curled around her, causing her to cover her sobs in my fur. Her lips were blue and it started to drizzle so I knew I had to get her out of it.

The fire was put out and I left the ashes where they were.

I didn’t know if the sweet taste of vampire would ever leave my mouth.

I nudged Kim gently and she got the message, she climbed onto my back and buried her face in my shoulder again. As soon as she had a good enough grip from her shaking fingers, I started a steady run to La Push.

Leah’s POV

I was sitting at the beach in human form.

It was late and mom was out. Seth didn’t notice me leave the house, sleeping a peacefully as he was. The rain came down but I didn’t want to leave. I stared up at the disappearing moon instead.

Finally I ran back into the woods, not towards my home but towards the mountains. Vampire territory was just on the other side but I didn’t care; I was just out for a stroll.

I caught two scents before I made it though.

I knew them because they were all that were on both Jared and Jacob’s mind during patrol yesterday. Jacob’s thoughts had been tinted with worry though, Jared’s had been full of lust.

I followed them, running in a parallel line, grateful for my speed.

I caught up to them quickly. Kim was riding on the back of a white wolf in nothing but a pair of PJ’s. I called out to them.

“Bit late for a run, where you headed?” my voice sounded exactly like I felt; irritated.

The white wolf skidded to a stop and looked at me with yellow eyes. She whined low and then turned her head slightly so she was motioning to Kim. Kim tried to talk through her shivering.

“V-v-vamp…t-tried to…Centhua…s-saved m-me…c-cold.” was all I got I put two and two together quickly though, and the maternal side of me took over. The wolf was Centhua.

“My place is just up ahead, you can explain there.” I said and Kim nodded weakly while we ran again.

Centhua looked at me, and her eyes were grateful in a way that didn’t belong to an animal. Or a werewolf either for that matter.

Centhua's POV

We reached a small two story house and the rain was still coming down in buckets. Kim slid off my back, still shaking and Leah went to her side.

“Wait here.” She said to me while she opened the front door and I sat on the lawn. She was gone for about five minutes before I decided to get out of the rain. I curled up on the sheltered porch and she came back out. My fur was soaked to the bone but I was only concerned for Kim.

Leah eyed me speculatively before placing a folded pile of clothes in front of me. She stepped back and held out a towel. I caught on immediately and she turned slightly so I could phase back.

I phased and grabbed the towel. I wrapped it around myself quickly before shrugging into the clothes. Leah turned around when I was done and held the door open for me. I walked in and she walked towards a front room. I followed.

Kim was there, curled in on herself by a heating vent. She was only shivering slightly and her drowsy eyes didn’t look up when I came in.

Her lips weren’t blue anymore and I took that as a good sign.

I sat down above her on a recliner, I pulled my knees up to my chest and Leah sat on a couch across from it. A television was on in the next room, the mute button pressed down but the colors flashing.

“Care to explain?” she asked and her voice was bitter. I motioned to Kim, who was dozing off. “I was going for a walk on the beach when I caught her scent and a vampire’s. I didn’t think, I went after it. A vampire attacked her, I don’t know all the details, but there were three there when I found her.”

Ok, that was a lie, I was pretty sure the details were clear.
She didn’t need to that though.

Her eyes grew wide. “Three!” she asked and I nodded mutely. “Ask her if you don’t believe me.” I motioned to Kim again. She shook her head slowly. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s just that I’ve never known anyone to be able to do that.”

I liked the way she phrased it, like she wasn’t afraid of me, but like she was also kind of envious of what I could do. Quil’s reaction seemed suddenly sexist now. “The full moon helps a lot, it makes me stronger.” I clarified and she looked absentmindedly at Kim.

“So those myths are true then?” she suggested and I shrugged. “In some ways; they’re not completely accurate but there not completely false either. Their myths are pretty close.” I looked down at Kim, who had stopped shivering and was falling asleep.

I felt bad; I probably should’ve taken her to Carlisle or something, just to make sure she didn’t get hypothermia. Jared would’ve murdered me…and then Jacob would try to stop him.

I shook my head to clear these thoughts.

“We should get her home,” I motioned to Kim and then looked at an illuminated clock on a shelf. It was nearly two am. Leah nodded and I was grateful to realize the rain had stopped. I picked Kim up bridal style and Leah offered us a ride.

I agreed, I didn’t want to run with her in this condition.

XxX

After I popped open the window to Kim’s one story house and put her inside I went out to talk to Leah.

“I really should get home.” I muttered and her face fell a tiny bit. “Do you have to? I mean…you could always stay with me for the night, and there are so many things I want to ask you about.” I blinked in surprise; this wasn’t something I’d been expecting from her.

I thought it over for a second.

“Ok, well I’ll need to leave tomorrow morning.” I said and she smiled bleakly.

We drove back to her place and she drilled me with questions the entire time. A lot were about me, and my species, but a lot were about the whole ‘female werewolf hormones’ thing. She was a bit relieved when I was able to tell her about what’s going on with her body right now, although it was a little awkward for both of us.

“So female werewolves don’t have a menstrual cycle, but they can still breed in the spring, am I getting this right?” she asked and I nodded. “In my species, female werewolves can only reproduce once a year, yours may or may not differentiate. But when we go through that er...time lapse we tend to get really horny and having weird thoughts. It's called going into heat.” I said she nodded as she pulled her truck to a stop outside her house.

“It nice to understand.” She muttered before we walked up to her front door. She opened it silently and we crept upstairs to where I imagined her room was.

She opened the door to a room that was smaller than mine, but bigger than Bella’s. There were a few Cd’s crowded around along with some books, there was a light green hamper in the corner that matched the green and brown comforter on the bed as well as the pale green walls. The pillow she tossed me from the bed was brown too.

“Bed or floor?” she asked and I threw the pillow lightly on the ground. “Floor, it’s your room.” She shrugged innocently and made one of those ‘stay’ motions with her hands, like you use on dogs.

I rolled my eyes and sat pretzel style on the ground. She ducked out of the room and was back before I counted to thirty.

She tossed me a blanket and I caught it. I unfolded it and then re folded it so it was parted like a sleeping bag and shrugged in.

My new clothes didn’t fit right, and I thought about how I should’ve run home for a change of clothes.

The pants were a little wide and hung loosely from my waist by the string I’d pulled tight. The t-shirt was ok, it was big and loose, but I needed a bra.

Leah sat on her bed and pulled the covers around her. She asked a few more questions before falling back into her pillow.

I didn’t like these questions; they were personal. She asked about my family and the Cullen’s and even Bella. Still, she must’ve sensed I wasn’t comfortable though because she stopped. I was grateful for that.

I stared at the ceiling for a long time before she yawned hugely and whispered.

“Goodnight Centhua.”

I nodded absentmindedly and closed my eyes.

“Night Leah.”

XxX

I woke up in the morning, like most mornings; stiff.

Leah was already awake; I could hear her on the phone downstairs. I sat up and stretched, my shirt riding up somewhat when I did.

I walked to the door and crept silently down the stairs.

Leah’s conversation had turned into an argument from the sound of it. I heard a lot of swearing before she angrily slammed to phone down.

She was breathing deeply and I imagined her counting to ten. “I know your there.” She said quietly. I walked from behind the wall I was by and grinned at her.

“Got a bit of a temper, don’t you.” I joked. It worked though, she smiled faintly. I motioned towards the phone. “What was that about anyways?” I asked and she grimaced.

Good. It was her turn to feel uncomfortable.

“Just Sam being an ass.” She muttered, her voice was bitter when she said Sam’s name. “Ah.” I said and she grinned.

“Well, I should probably get going soon.” I said and she nodded. “Sure,” she reached around in a drawer and pulled out a pen and note pad.

She scrawled her number out and handed it to me. I did the same and before I knew it I was out side and running.

I ducked inside and changed into a pair of jean shorts and a purple shirt. I brushed my hair and it fell down my back in waves. I threw some bagels in the toaster and ate them on my way out.

I got to the Cullen’s a few minutes later and only Emmett was home. The others must’ve still been hunting and Edward was with Bella no doubt.

Emmett was under the jeep, tinkering with something I couldn’t see.

“Tell Edward Im alive, and that I went home, kay?” I said and he waved me away with his hand. I rolled my eyes. He’d get the message.

XxX

When I arrived back home I realized I had a whole four hours to kill before work. So for lack of anything better to do, I decided on the beach. It had gotten warmer since last night’s icy rain and the sun was just barely buried behind the clouds. I imagined it making an appearance before the end of today.

I grabbed my bikini, jeans, an over t-shirt and towel. It was probably one of the girliest outfits I owned.

I debated over which car to take before realizing the guys hadn’t returned my hummer. If I know Crusher, he’s already sold drugs out the back of it by now. Eventually I gave up and grabbed my motorcycle, which was hidden behind a sectioned off part of the garage.

I grabbed my black and silver helmet and hit the button on the garage door.

XxX

I was right about the sun, when I got to La Push it was already shining, making everything change colors. I took off my shirt so I could tan and lay down on my stomach for a while. I soaked in the sun for a while.

I considered taking a nap when I felt someone sit beside me, the sound of their approach covered by the sand.

I looked up and grinned at Jacob. I saw Quil and the rest of the guys a little ways away playing football.

“Hey stalker.” I grinned at him and he rolled his eyes.

“You keep seeming to forget that I live here.” He joked and I sat up. “Talking to Quil?” I guessed and he shrugged.

“He thinks about you a lot.” His voice was slightly bitter, and his jaw was tight. I smirked and poked his ribs. “Getting a little possessive there, are we?” I teased and laughed when he turned red.

He playfully put his hand on my face and shoved me away. I giggled again and jumped up, wiping the sand off my jeans and snatching my shirt up off the ground.

“Whatever, you’re adorable when you’re jealous.” I said before turning and running back towards the pack while he stared after me. I jumped into their football game and cut Paul off from catching it, I threw it to Quil.

Paul growled. “Interference!” he shouted and I shrugged. “You should’ve been faster.” I said and Quil grinned. “She’s on our team!” he claimed, motioning to where him and Jared were standing.

“Jacob’s playing too.” I said when he reached us, I shoved him in Paul and Embry’s direction.

He gave me an amused look “What if I don’t want to play?” he countered and I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Too bad.” I said and cocked my hip. He held up his hands in surrender and the guys laughed.