like you do | leah clearwater

the explanation

"Where have you been?" Juliet breathed.

"Here." Leah said simply. Juliet frowned, moving over and sitting next to Leah at the table.

"Why?" Juliet's voice was sadder, more desperate than she wanted it to be. "Leah I was so worried. You never called, you never said where you were. Sam kept telling me you wanted to be left alone."

"I..." Leah sighed, trailing off. "I have to tell you something, Juliet. A lot of somethings, actually. You probably won't believe me, but I swear to god it's all true."

"What is it?" Juliet's voice now turned to worry. "You can tell me anything, Leah. I'll believe you no matter what, okay?"

"Something...happened three days ago. With me." Leah's hands were shaky, so Juliet reached over and took them between her own, surprised at how hot they were. "We didn't know, we didn't expect...it shouldn't have even happened..."

"What happened, Leah?" Juliet coaxed. "Tell me." Leah took another shaky breath before looking into Juliet's eyes.

"All of those stories, those legends about the warriors who could turn to wolves..." Leah struggled to find words, to find an explanation. "They're all true. Every word. People in our tribe, men, they have the ability to transform into a wolf. Not everyone, just...just some..." Leah now avoided Juliet's gaze. "There's never been a female shifter before, it's never happened. We knew Seth would change eventually, it was happening to all of the boys on the rez. Starting with Sam, years ago. Then Jared, Paul, Embry, Jake...and now me.

"We were eating breakfast and watching tv in the living room." Her voice became quiet and small. "We don't even know what triggered it. One minute, I was human, the next..." She sighed again. "That's what caused my dads heart attack. It was my fault. I left, and my mom called Sam. She already knew about the pack, all the Elders do. Sam was able to help me transform back, and brought me clothes from my mom, but I couldn't go back. He and Emily...are letting me stay here. Where it's safe. Where I can't hurt anyone again.

"The reason I'm telling you this...is because of something we do, as wolves." She glanced up at Juliet, whose expression was now blank and unreadable. "It's called Imprinting. After we first shift, we can imprint. When you look into the eyes of your soulmate for the first time after you shift, you imprint. No one knows why. The theory is that it tells the wolf who would make them stronger, who would be the perfect match for them. That's what happened with Sam and Emily...

"Anyway I um...I was outside my house in the woods the night...my dad died." Leah sucked in a breath. "In my wolf form. And I smelled...you. I was so confused as to why you were in the woods so late, but then I realized it was because of me. And I followed you, and I saw that you were lost, and I couldn't just let you stay out there. It was too cold, too wet-you'd've gotten sick. So I stepped out onto the trail, and you saw me."

"You're the grey wolf?" Juliet's voice was barely above a whisper, and Leah nodded.

"I thought you might run away, you looked so...scared." Leah shut her eyes. "And then we met eyes. And I knew. I could feel it. My whole world...everything...it changed. It changed the moment you saw me, the moment you looked into my eyes." Leah's eyes slowly opened again.

"You imprinted...on me?" Juliet's voice rang with disbelief and, much to Leah's surprise, joy. "We're soulmates?"

"Yeah." Leah sucked in a breath before looking back at Juliet. Looking into her eyes, she almost felt as if it was that night all over again. "I...I also have to tell you... I'm in love with you. I was before all this, I have been for all our lives."

"Leah..." Juliet breathed.

"If you hate me now, fine." Leah continued. "I don't care. I just needed you to know."

"Leah, I..." Juliet's head was spinning. Everything she ever wanted was being handed to her on a silver platter, meanwhile she couldn't even string a sentence together. "I'm in love with you, too." Surprise spread across Leah's face. "God, I'm so in love with you it hurts. When you started dating Sam, that's when I knew."

"What?" Leah's eyes widened. "That long? How come you never said anything?"

"How come you never said anything?" Juliet retorted, a small smile finding its way to her face. They looked at each other a moment before Juliet started to laugh. She removed her hands from Leah's, covering her mouth.

"What's so funny?" Leah raised an eyebrow.

"Look at us." Juliet snorted. "Best friends in love and one is a fucking werewolf. Do you not realize how ridiculous this is?" Leah rolled her eyes, a small chuckle escaping her mouth.

"At least my sibling isn't dating a vampire." This stopped Juliet in her tracks.

"What did you just say?" She asked.

"Right, didn't tell you about that yet..." Leah rubbed her neck. "The Cullens, they're all vampires."

"What?!" Juliet shot up. "Why didn't you say this earlier, Leah? Oh my god! I have to go home."

"What? Why?" Leah stood up, but Juliet didn't answer, just hurried out towards her truck. Leah followed close behind. "Juliet, what's going on?" Juliet spun around, terror on her face.

"Bella is home alone with one of them right now!" She exclaimed. "We have to go save her!"

"They don't kill humans, Jules, relax." Leah said. "At least these ones don't."

"Does she know?" Juliet's voice was still panicked.

"Yeah, course she does." Leah snorted. "Paul thinks that why she likes him so much. Bella's known from the start that they're all vampires."

"What the fuck..." Juliet breathed out, leaning back against her truck. "Leah, am I dreaming? Is any of this real?"

"Yeah, it is." Leah leaned next to her, watching her carefully. "You okay?"

"Just give me a second, to process." Juliet waved her hand. Every new thought brought on a thousand new questions. With far too many questions to ask, Juliet couldn't choose a single one. "Let me get everything clear..." Leah nodded. "You're a werewolf."

"Yeah."

"So are Sam, Jared, Paul, Embry and Jake?"

"Yeah."

"And Quil and Seth will be soon?"

"Yep."

"And you, a werewolf, imprinted on me?"

"Yeah."

"And we're soulmates."

"Mmhmm."

"And you're in love with me."

"Well it is mutual, but yeah."

"And Edward and Alice and all the other Cullen's are vampires?"

"Yes."

"And Bella was dating a vampire for like a year?"

"Yep."

"Does she know about you guys?" Juliet asked. "About...the wolves."

"Yeah, apparently Jake got around Sam's gag order so he was able to figure out a way to tell Bella about the pack." Juliet let out a breath, staring ahead of her. "You okay, Jules? Maybe you should sit down."

"No, no I'm fine." After a few moments, Juliet looked back at Leah. Her expression was now timid, and she hesitated before speaking. "So, we're in love with each other." Leah nodded, chuckling. "What now?"