A New Wolf In Twilight

Sitting down, I leaned down and whispered a joke about the fight scene happening in front of us on the screen, causing Leah to laugh through her hand, getting us a few looks from the other people in the screening.

We'd decided on a generic action film because even if we didn't admit it, we were only here to spend more time with the other.

And the plain action of the films gave us plenty to joke about. Much to the frustration of those around us. Though none of them thought to start anything when looking at me, my physique having become quite imposing even after only just a week and a few days of the phasing.

Right now, I and Leah were leaning against one another, feeling the warmth of the other and relishing in the fact that we were similar temperatures.

Normal humans felt cool to me, while Vampires felt ice-cold, so to touch someone who registered as warm to me - it was refreshing, to say the least. I guess it was the same for Leah but not as much seeing as she lived near other Shapeshifters, including her brother.

I wonder if he's phased yet, though?

I wonder...Questions for another day, perhaps?

"Alex...?" Leah moved her head and looked up at me from my shoulder, her brown eyes sparkling and practically flooded with curiosity. This brought me out of my thinking and I just looked down at her before whispering my reply.

"Yeah?"

She bit her lip, wondering whether she could ask what she had in mind, presumably. It made me wonder: what did she want to ask if she had such curiosity but still had it back?

Whatever mental debate was happening in Leah's head seemed to be over as she spoke, while continuing to look me in the eye.

"You're like me, right, Alex? A Shapeshifter?" her voice was a hopeful whisper, but with that hope came a tiny bit of fear at me being different than her. Probably because if I was different, it'd drive a wedge between us.

Smiling, I brought her into a side hug before whispering back my answer, "Yes. Can't you tell from the heat? I'm one of you..." I trailed off before adding, "But I'm different in some ways to your tribe."

Leah's excitement and happiness in the first part of my answer soon turned into even more curiosity, "What do you mean, 'different'?"

Turning my attention fully away from the film, I thought for a moment before reminding myself to only say what was needed.

"You know how strong I am, right?"

Nodding, Leah gave her slightly proud reply, "Oh yeah," she chuckled, "You're stronger in your human form than most of my tribespeople are in theirs; you're really strong," she winked at me as she gave my bicep a pinch, eliciting an exaggerated yelp from me which made her giggle.

Despite her laughing and me trying to joke around, I could wipe the serious look off my face, and Leah soon noticed it, the serious air stopping her laughter.

"Well, Leah, I haven't completed my phasing, yet. I'm still in the change - in the awakening of my wolf side," I muttered before I saw her mouth opening and closing and her eyes squinted in an incredulous look. Seeing this look, I saw that she was highly doubtful of what I was saying.

To prove it, she scoffed before speaking.

"If you don't want to tell me, Alex, that's fine. Just tell me that next time instead of lying to me," she turned her head away from me before distancing herself to the other side of her chair, away from my embrace.

Sighing, I pulled her back toward me, amidst her whispered protests. Laying her head against my c.h.e.s.t, I just sat there before calmly speaking to her.

"I'm not lying, Leah. I'm a Shapeshifter like you but...I'm different. I don't exactly know how yet, but from what I've figured out, I'm stronger than the average Shapeshifter. Much stronger," I heard Leah go to refute me before she stopped herself and started thinking. I was thankful that she was willing to try.

I didn't know if what I was doing was right - telling anyone about what I was before I fully changed would be risky as any old vampire who had a vendetta against Shapeshifters would love to kill me, someone who could lead the Shapeshifters against the Vampires with my superior powers.

But telling Leah didn't seem so bad, and even then, I knew that if she did tell anyone, it'd be her pack leader. The furthest that would go is they'd probably invite me to come to one of the tribe council meetings and to talk to them about who I was, what I was, and what I planned to do in Forks. Sure, the Shapeshifters are d.i.c.kheads in the books and films but they were just trying to protect their pack and the town. Plus, their hatred/fear for Vampires made them do some stupid stuff they wouldn't try to do to me as I'm a Shapeshifter like them, and I grew up in Forks.

Hell, Billy Black would help talk to the packs for me, and Leah's dad and mom, Harry and Sue Clearwater respectively. I'd known them since I was a kid and they'd know I wasn't a threat to the town.

Sure, there's a chance they'd want to kill me because I was an outside Shapeshifter but as I said, I grew up in Forks. The same place as them. I even knew most of the younger generation through Jacob and Leah when we were younger, so I highly doubt they'd go to such extreme lengths.

Though they'd probably make it clear these were their lands, blah blah blah. I wouldn't really care about that, nor do I care about owning any lands. I just wanna live my supernatural life in a way I won't regret in the future.

Really, the only people I couldn't tell until I'd fully changed were the Cullens or Vampires in general. Even Edythe. Because knowing Edward, he'd read her mind and find it before telling the rest of his family. If by any chance they told the Volturi about a Shapeshifter who had the potential to be as strong as a Vampire in his human form, I'd be eviscerated along with Bella and my dad.

And I was never going to let that happen. Ever.

For now, I'd just let them try and figure it out and when they did, I'd play the role of a normal Shapeshifter.

While I was deep in thought, Leah's voice dragged me back out of my thinking with a whisper.

"But you're a Shapeshifter like me in a more broad sense, right...?" her whispering voice sounded...scared? No, not scared, but anxious of what I meant by 'different'.

Putting a hand on her hair, I gave her sleek black hair a stroke, calming her down before replying.

"Yes, in a more broad sense, I'm just like you, Leah. I go through the phasing, I have terrible anger issues, and I'll eventually be able to turn into a big wolf," smirking at her, I thought to break up the serious atmosphere, "Now, how about we go back to joking about how bad this movie is? We've got a long time to talk about what I am, but we've only got the next 40 minutes to take the piss out of this film~"

Hearing Leah quietly laugh at the joke, I felt myself relax after being unknowingly tense for apparently a long time. She nodded and gave a sweet-sounding hum to what I said before she cuddled back into my embrace like she was before, and we got back to saying quips about the film and laughing at them.

Much to the other audience member's chagrin who thought we'd stopped.

. . .

Walking.

Never before had I been so nervous about walking...'wrongly'. But right now, as I held Leah's hand, I could safely say that I was nervous of looking like an idiot.

...Which probably only served to make me look like an idiot.

I wonder why I have to try and make myself look so...appealing, no matter what I do, I must do it perfectly in front of this girl. I feel like it'd be the same in front of Edythe. I just can't embarrass myself in front of these two. Even if it is unlikely that it'd affect my standing with the two of them, it's more of a pride thing, I guess?

I don't know. It's weird. Probably something to do with my instincts. Or I'm just the type of person who doesn't like being embarrassed.

Anyway, pride, macho bullshit out of the way, I was currently walking Leah to the woods where she'd run off home. The two of us were just talking, despite me being so caught up in my head, I still made sure to keep attention to her conversation.

The entire conversation at this point was about little pointless things that the two of us laughed over or discussed in weird hypothetical situations. It was honestly like we never stopped being friends. Which brought me to my next topic.

"Leah," she looked up at me and hummed that she was paying attention, "Why'd you stop hanging out with me around when we finished our first year of middle school?"

My question made her go a bit stiff before she laughed at herself and looked in front of us with a slightly sullen look.

"Well...I guess I was being a little moody brat, honestly..." she started before laughing quietly, "I guess you could say that I'd had a little, tiny, itty-bitty..." she went quiet as she carried on before I looked down and saw her red face and as I looked down at her embarrassed red face, she carried on, "...little bit of a crush on you, Alex. And you were the way boys always were back then; painfully oblivious!" she tried to laugh away her embarrassment but even her laughter sounded fl.u.s.tered.

Hearing this, I wasn't exactly too surprised. If I looked back at it, some of her behavior around me back then was pretty telling. Though like she said, I was pretty oblivious to her and the rest of the female population.

But it didn't answer my question.

"But why, Leah? Sure you might have had a crush on me, but I don't see how that ended our friendship. It would've been awkward, sure, but--" Leah cut me off with a finger on my lips as she playfully glared up at me.

"I was getting to that," she joke reprimanded me before carrying on, "We went to different Schools, Alex and I made a surprisingly m.a.t.u.r.e decision: I stopped speaking to you before my crush became something more and made our friendship irredeemable. We may have been 12, and nothing may have never actually happened, but at the time it seemed like the world was gonna end for me. I guess that it was just me being silly..." she trailed off with a laugh, a genuine one, the one you save for when you're laughing at decisions you made as a kid.

I laughed along with her, knowing that she did it for kind of silly reasons, I guess? But I could also see what she meant.

What if we carried on being friends when I got my first girlfriend in my second year of middle school? It'd have hurt Leah. Even if it did only last a few days. I was pretty ignorant of girls back then, and that would've no doubt annoyed Leah.

There were more reasons but I got the gist of it.

Anyway, we were closing to the woods, and Leah brought an ending to my question, "But I realize that was a pretty shitty reason to end our friendship on. Plus, now that we're older, we're better suited to dealing with our emotions. So, I guess what I'm saying is..." she moved in front of me before playfully looking up at me with half-closed eyes, "You better get used to having me around~!"

Laughing, I rolled my eyes, "And why would I ever be opposed to that? I've really enjoyed hanging out with you tonight, Leah," I brought my laughter to an end before smilingly looking down at the girl in front of me, "On that note...would you, I don't know, want to do this again sometime?"

Without answering my question with words, Leah scoffed before whispering something about nothing having changed before she grabbed my tie and pulled my head down, while she pressed herself upward on her tip-toes.

Before I even had a chance to react, her soft lips were on mine, pressing into them and sending goosebumps all over my body. On pure instinct, I returned the kiss, before my conscious brain kicked back in and I returned it with a surprisingly amount of fervor.

There was no tongue involved, but I could tell that Leah was giving me a prelude to the mind-blowing time, hopefully, ahead of us. Not that this didn't feel great as well - which it did - I could just tell this wasn't the peak.

Her lip gloss must have been edible because when I licked it off my lips after she'd pulled back, it tasted brilliant. Or that was just her taste. Part of me wanted to go back in for another taste test but Leah smiled before backing away, "I hope that gives you my answer, biker boy~" she popped a piece of paper in my dress shirt pocket before turning around and walking off, swaying her wonderful h.i.p.s and tight a.s.s as she walked away.

She waved at me as she hit the treeline before she turned around and shifted.

Absentmindedly waving, I watched Leah run off into the woods like a silver blur.

I can't wait to be able to do that.