Should have listened to Leah
They should have listened to Leah. If they had, this whole tragedy could have been avoided. But no one ever listened to Leah. Leah was a bitch, a harpy, a negative presence that intruded upon their perfect lives. Listening to Leah would mean admitting that their perfect lives were a hollow sham. So Leah became the bitch. It was easy to make Leah the bitch. She was already a girl with a sharp-tongue, someone who would tear you down if you pissed her off. She confronted things that most people would shove into a corner and never think of again. She was Sam Uley's ex-girlfriend and Emily's cousin. She had been betrayed by two people she had loved.
It was easy to write off Leah's rants as bitterness over her break-up with Sam. Break-up- what a laugh. People used break-up when they were being polite. To them, Leah's attempts to get Sam to back away from Emily weren't anything more than pathetic attempts to break them up and get her man back. No one ever paid attention to Leah. It was always, "Get over it, Leah," or , "why can't you just be happy for them, Leah?" No one realized that Leah's motives weren't getting Sam back. But it was easy to write it off as such. Whenever Leah said something that hit close to home, they pretended that she was vindictive because she wanted Sam back. It was easier than facing a truth they all knew. Everyone just wanted to live happily ever after, so they ignored the warning signs.
Emily had been Leah's best friend. She had been Leah's sister in all sense of the word. When Sam imprinted on her cousin, Leah felt like her world had shattered. The man she loved loved her cousin after a single glance. Leah hated Emily. She wished that Emily would be run over by a car, imagined beating her with a baseball bat- fantasies that made her feel sick to her stomach. Emily would never date Sam; she was her best friend. When Emily told Sam off, Leah felt even worse. How could she ever have doubted Emily? But then Sam slashed Emily. Leah nearly castrated him. How dared he hurt her cousin for rightfully telling him off? Leah fully expected Sam to be a thing of the past. What she didn't expect was for Emily to date Sam. She didn't expect her cousin to date the man who had betrayed her. She didn't expect to be made into the villain.
The fantasies about beating Emily up returned. To Leah, her betrayal was the worst of all. How could Emily be with the guy who scarred her for life? Dating a relative's boyfriend clearly violated all rules of ethics. It wasn't the fact that Emily had chosen to stay with the man Leah loved. It was the fact that Sam was dangerous. He had scarred her cousin. Leah desperately wanted to hate Emily. She did, but she couldn't leave. As much as Leah wanted to leave Emily to the big bad wolf, she couldn't. Emily was her cousin. Emily was her best friend. They had gone fishing together, gossiped about boys, played in the mud, had sleep-overs, told each other their darkest secrets-how could she abandon her? For a long time Leah wondered if she was weak because she couldn't leave. Emily had betrayed her- why did she continue to try and save her cousin despite Emily's abandonment. The old saying was true- blood was thicker than water. No matter what Emily had done, Leah couldn't abandon Emily to Sam.
Leah would stay awake at night wondering what would become of her cousin. What would happen if Emily said something else to piss Sam off? What would happen if Emily couldn't concieve? What if Emily got between a werewolf fight? These thoughts haunted Leah all the time. She talked to Emily and Sam constantly, but they didn't listen. They just thought Leah was trying to intrude on her happiness. That's what they both did in order to make themselves feel better. Both of them knew in their hearts that the relationship was wrong. But they would rather have a fake happy ending than face the truth. So the charade went on.
On the day of the wedding, Leah watched Sam and Emily walk down the aisle. She didn't know why she had come. She'd ranted about the wedding constantly. But a small part of her hoped that someone would see reason. It was a vain hope. All everyone ever wanted to see was the happy ending. Leah could see the disaster because she wasn't involved anymore. Had she been involved, she would have been just as blind and oblivious as the rest of them. She had been eliminated from the game early and as she watched she could see the others' mistakes. Leah's attempts to call off the wedding made the guests think that she was a bitter harpy that couldn't let her man go. She had let her man go. She didn't want her cousin to be in danger.
Leah left. She had her own life to lead. Sam and Emily were grown-ups, their choices were their own. Leah had had enough of trying to save people who didn't want to be saved. Being away from the pack was paradise. No more bitter thoughts. No more abusive jerks. No more betraying cousins. Leah got a job and took some overnight courses. Sometimes she would go out with her classmates. Without the worries from home, she appeared to be a normal girl. But Leah got a phone call soon afterwards.
Emily was dead. The official story was that she had been mauled by a bear. Those who knew the fake story of how Emily had gotten her scars wondered why she would go any where near a bear. Leah smirked at the irony. When she arrived home for the funeral, everyone looked at her with pity and curiosity. Leah didn't care. She was furious at everybody. She was furious at herself for not trying harder to save Emily, furious at Sam for not leaving Emily alone after he scarred her, furious at Emily for dating Sam, and furious at the pack for refusing to see the problem in the name of infatuation.
Emily's face was barely recognizable. For a moment Leah wondered if this might be a mistake, but then she saw the birthmark on Emily's shoulder. Leah rested her hand on the coffin. She thought it was callous to have Emily's mangled form on display. "Emily, it's Leah. You're an idiot, Emily. I'll be honest, when you dated Sam I hoped that you would get hurt. I mean, how could you? He betrayed me and hurt you. How could you go anywhere near him? And when the pack turned on me, saying that I was jealous- why didn't you defend me? We were best friends. I thought our bond was stronger than some guy. I mean, the guy hurts you, so you date him. Couldn't you see that I was trying to protect you? Couldn't you? Was getting the guy so important that you were willing to risk your life? How could you think I just wanted Sam back? I cared about you. You betrayed me and I still cared about you. No matter how shitty the pack treated me and how many times I wanted to slap you, I tried to save you. Not that it matters. You were too caught up in a fake happy ending to acknowledge the truth. What, did you think that no one would love you because of the scars? Is that it? Were you afraid? Is that why you wouldn't leave? Emily, just tell me that there was a deeper reason than just getting your cousin's boyfriend. Why didn't you come to me? I was furious at you, but some bonds can't be broken. If you said you were afraid of Sam, I would have helped you. I was afraid for you. I was so afraid. Looks like I'm right. Emily, I'm so sorry. I failed you. I'm so sorry Emily!"
There were tears in Leah's eyes. Many looked away, embarrassed to see Leah break down. But some enjoyed seeing the bitch suffer, as sick as that sounds. Leah turned to the rest of the pack. "And you!" she snarled. "You make me sick! I have had it with your true love bullshit! You think that just because you love someone you can kill them? You use love to excuse the most heinous acts? No, not love. You guys just see a person and it's magical and bright and dangerous and you impishly call it love. But you guys don't think. Your actions are a disgrace to love and an affront to true devotion. Your love is just obsession, having the gall to masquerade as true love. Love doesn't excuse what you have condoned. You all knew that I was right. But you didn't want to step out of your happy bubbles and see the world. Well, I was kicked out of my bubble and I had to survive the world. Why couldn't you? I'm done. I'm done staying in a place where the most heinous acts are excused in the name of obsession and infatuation. You were all so blind and eager to get your happy endings that you ignored the obvious."
Leah turned to go. "I was right. But I didn't want to be right like this." Leah disappeared two days later, taking Claire with her. Her parents didn't understand until Leah told them about imprinting. They were furious and agreed that Claire would be safer with Leah. Leah sent Claire's parents letters about Claire frequently. She had developed a bond with the little girl. Claire didn't see her as a bitch- she saw her as someone to love. Leah wasn't able to save her cousin, but she wasn't going to let an innocent little girl suffer the same fate.
On the anniversary of Emily's death, Sam stood by her grave. He held a rose in his hand. He hadn't loved Emily- he knew that now. It was a childish crush. He had called it love. It was a disgrace to love. If he loved Emily, he wouldn't have scarred her. He wouldn't have gotten angry at the tiniest thing. People who loved each other accepted their faults- Sam just attacked Emily when she didn't please him. Gently he rested the rose on the ground. "I'm sorry, Emily. Our relationship was a sham. We should have realized that." He shook his head, remembering Leah's warnings. How she had screamed at him for hurting her cousin and how she had warned him that he was dangerous. He could attack at the most insignificant thing. Emily wasn't safe around him. But Sam had dismissed Leah's warnings. It was so easy to write them off as jealousy. But he had known the truth. Everyone had known the truth. They were just too selfish to admit it. They'd rather play pretend than face up to the real world. It had cost them. Sam shook his head again. Emily was dead. He should have listened to Leah.