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THREE; SILENCE

"MAYBE YOU SHOULD head over and talk to her, Leah," Seth advised. Leah gave him the iciest glare and he threw his arms up in defense. "I'm just saying that it would probably be a better idea than sulking around all weekend."

"I'm not sulking," she protested, causing him to raise a challenging eyebrow. "I'm just ignoring the problem at hand. If Sierra wants to go home without a best friend and make out with her puny boyfriend, then let her."

"You know the pack can totally take him down, right? We can scar him for life, and all you have to do is say the word."

"I don't want to do that to her," she sighed, closing her eyes and resting her head on top of her desk. "I just want her to be happy, but does that have to mean being with him? With Lewis?"

Leah spat his name as if it was venom inside of her mouth and Seth couldn't blame her. Jared once explained that if Kim ever decided that she didn't want to be with him anymore and chose someone else, it would probably rip him apart from the inside. Seth admired that his sister was handling the situation so well.

"He wasn't awful," he shrugged. "I mean, he was completely lying when he said he wanted to visit La Push for fun, but otherwise, I think Sierra's in safe hands."

"I surely hope so," she whispered.

The doorbell rang, and Seth quickly bounced out of her room to answer it. Leah remained in her chair until she heard Sierra's melodious voice drift into the house.

"Hey, Seth. Is Leah here? I want to apologize for the way I acted last night," Sierra spoke.

Leah quickly bounded to the front door, and Sierra sighed when she caught sight of her. Seth's eyes drifted between the two before nodding awkwardly. "Alright, I'm going to be in my room. I'll see you guys later."

Once the two girls were left on their own, Sierra stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Lewis was nowhere in sight, thankfully, or else Leah would've had a fit.

"I'm sorry, Leah. I guess I never really got over the fact that you're still giving Sam a second chance to be back in your life again, and I couldn't hold myself back at dinner. I wasn't trying to be so cruel, but I'm really trying to understand your intentions. I think everything would be better if you explained it to me," Sierra offered.

Leah immediately shook her head. "You know I can't do that. It's better for you if you don't know."

Sierra frowned. "Leah, I'm your best friend! If you can't tell me what's going on, who else are you going to tell?"

It hurt Leah to see Sierra so frustrated with her. Leah wanted to tell Sierra, she really did, but there was no possible way she could without Sierra learning about the imprint. After Leah would begin spilling all of the tribe's secrets, she doesn't think she could stop.

"Please don't be upset with me, Sierra," Leah pleaded. The girl's eyes softened at the request of her best friend. "It's so hard to explain, but I'm trying my best to leave you out of it. I've forgiven Sam and Emily as much as I can, and I hope that you'll let the subject go."

Sierra stared down at her feet. Leah wanted to understand what the girl was thinking, and how she viewed Leah as a person now. The imprint's voice was growing larger and larger inside of her head until it was screaming for her to tell Sierra.

"Alright," she finally whispered. "If you think you know what's best for me, I guess I won't pry on the situation any further."

Leah could tell from the tone of her voice that she wasn't really happy with her decision, and that she wasn't really going to forgive Sam. Leah couldn't blame her — Sierra witnessed how much Sam brought havoc upon her life. She was there on the nights Leah spent crying and sobbing in her bed, wondering where her fiancé was, and when he would come home. She was there when Leah was left questioning herself after Sam began dating Emily. Sierra observed her heartbroken best friend during these times, and she would never forgive Sam for allowing that kind of trauma to enter Leah's life.

"Will you come visit soon again?" Leah asked softly.

Sierra nodded. "Of course, Leah."

The two stared at one another before Sierra cleared her throat, twisting the doorknob and creaking the door open.

"I have to go back and say goodbye to my parents. I'll call you once we've made it back to campus."

Leah sighed at the thought of Lewis being all alone in a car with Sierra for hours, but spoke nothing of her troubling thoughts.

"Okay. Goodbye, Sierra."

"Goodbye, Leah."

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Leah could feel the adrenaline pulsing through her veins. Multiple thoughts were filling her head, and she wanted to tear her hair out at the mind-numbing headache the pack was giving her.

Are you sure you saw her, Jared? Sam questioned.

Yes! The beta barked back. I saw her running through Forks with the Cullens hot on her tail.

The pack approached the perimeter line and caught a glimpse of red hair before they broke out into full force. Leah grimaced at the sight of the nasty bloodsuckers, but she supposed the Cullens were sharing one goal with the pack this time — take down the nasty redhead who kept coming onto the lands.

     Paul, no! Sam's alpha voice made an appearance as Paul caught sight of the burly Cullen that jumped onto their land. Instead of focusing on the task at hand, Paul lunged for the Cullen as a sign that he was not allowed on these lands, even during a vampire chase.

The big vampire fought back, even though there was loud opposition from his family.

Finally, Sam managed to reign Paul back in before the whole pack broke out in terror.

     We lost her! What if she comes after Kim? Jared cried.

Leah's wolf rolled her eyes. Eventually, the entire pack had been voicing the same remarks before they all left, wishing to find their loved ones in case Victoria had chosen to come onto Quileute land.

Seth nudged Leah along. Let's go check up on mom.

The two siblings shifted back once they made it home, and Leah began voicing her opinions. "I'm so tired of that redhead screwing us over. We're going to spend years before we can finally get her to leave La Push alone."

Seth shook his head. "Paul shouldn't have lashed out like that."

Leah's eyes narrowed. Her brother was known for sympathizing with vampires, but she hated when he acted this way. The Cullens were the ones who turned them into these creatures — the ones who forced Leah into a shapeshifter, causing her dad to have a heart attack because of her sudden transformation.

"How can you say that, Seth? Paul was right, that bloodsucker was coming onto our land, and you know that's against the treaty."

The two entered the house and Seth sighed. "He was just trying to take down the vampire like we were! I saw no excuse in stopping our main goal because Paul thought he was crossing the line."

Sue immediately rushed over once she saw her children coming into the house. She offered them both hugs and sighed in relief.

"I'm so glad the two of you are okay. What happened out there?" Sue questioned. The mother had been shaken to her core when both her children phased within minutes of each other, especially when her husband had a heart attack because of it. She was saddened particularly by Leah's phasing since she saw how much it rattled the girl.

"We didn't catch her, mom," Seth replied. The family made their way into the kitchen, where Sue had already cooked dinner for them. "Paul and one of the Cullens had an altercation."

"We don't know where she went either," Leah voiced, taking her regular spot at the dining table. "From my guess, she ran far from here once she realized who she was dealing with."

Sue sighed, serving a hot plate of fried chicken to her kids. "Well, I'm glad you two made it out okay. You had me worried sick."

"We're all fine, mom. I don't think Sam will be so happy by what happened tonight, though."

Leah chewed on her chicken, Sam's happiness was her last concern. She hadn't heard from Sierra in over a week, and it was worrying her greatly. Sierra texted her when she made it safely back to campus, but all contact receded after that. The silence was deafening.

Every time Leah picked up her phone with the urge to call her, she imagined Sierra with Lewis, being happy with him and loving him and Leah stopped herself from more heartbreak.

"Has Sierra called?" Leah murmured tentatively. Sue gave her a sad look and Leah looked away.

"No, Leah, I'm sorry. I haven't heard anything."

Leah dropped the subject.

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True to Seth's word, Sam was furious at the next pack meeting.

"We can't keep allowing this vampire to believe she can roam around our land whenever she wants to!" Sam spoke in anger. The pack had gathered in Emily's living room with their alpha standing in the middle, protesting. "We have to find a way to end her reign."

"That bloodsucker shouldn't have crossed over the land!" Paul seethed. "He ruined everything."

"Jake, do you know why Edward Cullen was not present for the fight?"

The russet-skinned boy hissed simply at the name. "No, and I don't care." Sam gave him a stern look and Jacob sighed. "Well, I'm guessing it has to do with the fact that he took Bella out of town this weekend. Flew her out to Florida to go see her mom."

"We need to send him a warning," Sam spoke with a threatening voice. "It was not okay for that Cullen to cross over like that, even if we were fighting for a similar cause. I expect you to handle the problem, Jake."

The boy nodded in compliance.

Sam continued to ramble on until Emily called for lunch. The pack was dismissed and Leah stayed, not having anywhere else to go. Personally, she needed advice, which she knew Emily could offer. Leah was still very wary of their relationship, and the betrayal from Emily would always remain deep in her heart, but the girl was still her cousin and her former friend.

Emily served her lunch, and offered a small smile. "Something on your mind, Leah?"

"Did you try to resist the pull to Sam when you first met him?"

The question caught Emily off guard, and she glanced up the stairs, where Sam was cooling off in their room.

"Yes, I did. I tried my best, Leah, especially after I saw the way he hurt you," she disclosed, taking a seat across Leah. "He was so adamant on seeing me, telling me how much he needed me. I kept pushing him away, even though my feelings kept rising higher and higher until I couldn't push them down any longer."

"But you saw how people whispered about you behind your back, right? Talked about you because of me?"

Emily nodded. "I saw the ugliness inside of people's hearts when Sam first offered his to me. It was rightly deserved — I never meant to hurt you, Leah. The rumors from the people on the reservation, they got out of hand and I had no idea how to calm them down. I said some words to Sam I shouldn't have when I was expressing my anger, and-"

She trailed off, but Leah could finish the sentence for her. The scars running down her face spoke a great deal.

"The longer Sierra continues to refuse to speak to me, the more I miss her," Leah confessed. Normally, she would hold these thoughts to herself, but she missed having someone to talk to. Emily wouldn't usually become her first choice, but she was running low on options. "The imprint is making life so difficult for me."

"It isn't supposed to, Leah," Emily denied with a shake of her head. "You have to listen to what it's telling you. Listen to your heart."

"But as the days pass, I see how easy it is for Sierra to continue living without me. She doesn't need me, Emily. She has Lewis and a brand new life at college. I can't be weighing her down."

Emily smiled and reached over the table, taking Leah's hand in hers.

"She needs you, Leah. She needs you more than she'll ever know. You have to fight for her — show her that you're willing to go to the ends of the earth for her."

don't worry, leah, sierra is missing you more than anything, i'm sure of it