Author Note: Okay, this is an extremely short first chapter, but I just wanted to dip my toes in it and see where it went. I know this doesn't give much to any sort of plot, but hopefully it will just take off from here. So enjoy this kind of random chapter one. :)

Leah storms in and Jacob tries not to grimace. She is on a warpath and he knows better than to get in her way, but seeing as this is his bedroom he stays planted on his bed, tossing an old baseball up and down in his rather abnormally large hands.

He knows better than to ask what the hell she is doing, knows better than to raise his eyebrows and to show any inclination of emotion. Because Leah's pissed—as opposed to when she's not, which is never so really Leah is just present, and Jacob knows how his Beta works. He knows she needs a little time to cool off, and he knows better than to show her he is annoyed at her presence, because a minute ago he was perfectly content to laze away the Saturday afternoon tossing an old baseball up and down, up and down.

No, he is not a lazy Alpha. He is a damn fine one, but who's playing humble here? And yes, Jacob is twenty. And yes, Jacob still lives with his dad.

But Jacob is not a lazy Alpha…he is just a bored one on a rather cloudy Saturday afternoon.

And Leah is livid.

Her hair is in a messy braid, her tank top is a bit wrinkled and her jean shorts are frayed at the ends. And she's barefoot. Leah Clearwater is a creation of the Earth. Even though Jacob can't help but think she is a bit of a bitchy harpy, and despite the fact that a decade ago Jacob looked at Leah as Seth's pretty but untouchable older sister, Jacob can't help but admire the wildness of Leah Clearwater. She is unattainable, untamed, a creation of ferocity that is both scary as hell and kind of captivating.

But scary as hell.

And the scary as hell part is kind of showing right now as she paces back and forth in front of Jacob's bed. Finally, Jacob relents. He quirks an eyebrow and cocks his chin up, studying Leah and wishing she'd either spill or just get the hell out.

"The damn goon imprinted."

It comes out in a vicious spit and she stops at the foot of Jacob's bed, crossing her arms and glaring at him. For a minute he thinks Leah means himself, but he realizes no, that can't be, because everyone knew he imprinted on Renesmee and that was a few years ago.

"Who?" Jacob wishes Leah would stop staring at him—he's afraid his hair might start to fall out.

"My goddamn stupid brother." Leah is vividly upset and had Jacob thought Leah had a heart, he might even think she looked a bit hurt, betrayed, ashamed, anything besides the usual mask of bitterness and cold.

Jacob stops tossing the ball and tries not to sound too shocked.

"Whoa, wait a minute." He attempts to control his racing thoughts. "Seth? Seth imprinted?"

Leah growls, pulling at her braid and leaning against his wall, one muscular but lean, russet-colored leg bent behind her, creating an angle. She growls like an animal, and once again Jacob is kind of scared. But he remembers that he's Alpha, and about three times the size of Leah, and he relaxes a bit and grips the baseball.

"Yeah, dummie, that's what I just said," Leah mutters, eyes boring into Jacob's. He feels compelled to get up and offer her some kind of comfort, but then he realizes it's Leah and she'd probably just bite his hand off or something. So instead he just leans his head against the backboard of his bed and tosses the ball up and down again.

He looks back at Leah and she is still shooting daggers at him, like it was his fault Seth imprinted.

"Who's the lucky girl?" Jacob asks and if it was possible Leah looked even more furious than before.

"No clue. Her name's Jenny or Jenna or Jinny or something," Leah says distractedly. "But that is not the point! The point is Seth imprinted and I can't believe this, I just can't fucking believe this."

Jacob quirks an eyebrow. "Why are you so pissed about it? It's not you who imprinted."

Leah seethes for a minute, than walks over to his bed. Jacob has a fleeting image of Leah pouncing on him and he braces himself for a fight, but instead Leah just flops herself down horizontally on his bed. She is so tall her shoulders and head hang off, nearly hitting the floor and her feet rest comfortably on the ground. Jake thinks she looks like some kind of contortionist. And he kind of wishes her tank top wasn't riding up like that, because really, who needs to see that much of Leah's perfectly flat, tan abdomen? It's like she's bragging without even meaning to, being sexy even though she's Leah and she's more scary than anything else.

"He's my baby brother," Leah growls, her voice sounding muffled from where she hangs over the edge. "Even if he is dumber than a doornail sometimes and Captain Leech Lover, he is still my brother. And now he's just gonna join the ranks of you mindless, spineless, zombie love slaves and that makes me sick."

Jacob can hear the disdain and disgust for imprinting in her voice and it kind of makes him sick. He feels himself splitting, and he hates himself for it, and he feels the chains clamping down once again not only on his heart but on his very existence. Because while yes, he is blissfully happy whenever he is around Nessie, it is not free will and there is something to be said about forced happiness. And even while he's thinking these thoughts he feels the imprinted part of him—well, all of him—screaming out in agony. He can't help feel envious of Leah.

She is still free.

"He'll be happy Leah," Jacob says, trying to appease her anger. He knows how Leah feels about imprinting…hell, he knows how he feels about imprinting. It is sick and twisted and perfect all at the same time, and he can almost see the pit of dread form in Leah's stomach. She sits up, propping her hands behind her and looks at him.

"Imprinting isn't happy Jake," she says in a low voice. And he can see it in her chocolate eyes—he can see once again the hurt and betrayal and the pain that might not ever leave her. It has become such a deeply ingrained part of her. Because Leah gets fucked over on a daily basis by fate, and she's become numb to it inside and out.

"Imprinting on leech spawn is not happiness no matter how much you try to deny it."

Jacob's jaw tightens and he grips the baseball, tempted to throw it right through her forehead. "Her name is Nessie."

Leah snorts and shakes her head. "You are all so mind-fucked it is disgusting. And now Seth—Seth who is so fucking happy right now, just the way he is, Seth, he has to go join the army of dickless wonders."

Jacob's pride is bruised. "I am not dickless."

Leah laughs out loud and in her cold bursts of mocking, he feels himself bristle. He never was one to take a wounding to his manhood and pride. Jacob was many things, and he was not many things, but one thing was definitely for sure: Jacob was a man. All six foot eight of him—he was the biggest and strongest wolf, and towers over all of them, so having Leah sit on his bed in her tiny little outfit laughing about his lack of dick only served to piss him off a little.

"So you are a baby fucker after all?" She asks, and before he can even lunge on her she is off his bed, glaring down at him with her hands on her hips. Jacob is trembling, livid, imagining all the ways to rip Leah's body to shreds.

She just stands there, cool and collected.

"Get out," Jacob growls, standing opposite her. He can feel his blood pumping thickly. "Or do you value your limbs attached to your body?"

Leah just rolls her eyes. "Oh please, Jacob. You really gonna hurt your Beta? Get over yourself. And besides this isn't about you dickweed, this is about Seth and how pissed I am and how I have to help him."

Jacob shakes his head, regaining control. "Leah, you can't help him. Okay? He imprinted. That is that."

Leah shrugs, looking at his window and for a minute he wonders if she's crumbling, if she maybe is a bit human. After all, they don't completely hate one another anymore. They have formed an understanding, and although Jacob was pretty mad at her a second ago, he would never actually hurt Leah. Because they worked well, they balanced each other out and yet could still fight like all hell together. And while sometimes he hated to admit it, she really was the best damn Beta he could hope for.

And Leah is determined. He can see it in her stance, in the way she flicks her braid over her shoulder and the way she leans on her one hip. He can see it in the way she pretends to have confidence. Pretends to think she's beautiful and feminine and sexy even though Jacob knows she thinks none of these things. Because Jacob's been inside her head and he knows how hurt Leah really is, even if sometimes he just doesn't give a flying fuck.

But she is determined. And she stands there, glaring at him.

"He won't be happy," she says almost softly, if Leah could speak softly. "He won't."

"I'm happy," Jacob justifies, and he sees something cloudy pass over Leah's eyes and even as he says the words he can feel truth ebbing in the back of his mind, part of what he has buried long ago but that still exists. Because is he really happy? No. He is just blissfully ignorant of anything that is not Renesmee Cullen.

And how can that be happy?

But how can it not?

Yeah, Jacob envies Leah. Because even though Leah is hated by almost everyone she meets, and is arrogant and self centered and bitchy and wild and scary…even though Leah is all of these things she is still something Jacob isn't, and will never be.

Free.