BOREALIS ☽ Leah Clearwater ✔

Chapter 26... Downpour

The clouds were dark and threatening. They rolled across the sky, coming in from the sea as a great wall and blotting out the late summer sun. Soon the monstrous clouds would reach the shore and begin their assault. I could feel the electricity in the air, on my skin, filling me with energy. The storm's power coursing through me. A fire begging to be released.

It was probably not a good time to be standing here, at the cliffs, but I couldn't make myself run home. Plus, there was a pack gathering at the house tonight, and I didn't want to go. I had started avoiding pack gatherings. It was one thing to be the pathetic ex-girlfriend of Sam, lurking at the fringes, unwanted and unwelcome. Those whispers had been enough to bear.

But to be the pathetic ex and now the unwanted imprint? Even if I knew the truth of what Josh and I agreed to, it didn't stop the rumours from swirling. The cruel jokes, the ugly stares.

No fucking thanks.

So, I ran away.

Again.

I had run to the cliffs, intending to skirt along the edge before circling back and running along the shore. But my eyes caught the storm and I had become entranced.

The month I had given Josh to figure everything out was almost up. I had yet to hear anything. Nothing. Not a single word. And every day, it hurt a little more.

I had promised him that I would give him that month but I had promised myself that if he didn't want me, then I was going to leave. Again.

The deadline was approaching.

I couldn't stay here.

I couldn't make myself be mad at Josh for wanting to connect with Sam, with this newfound family, his new reality. In some ways, I was jealous. This was what I wanted... Family. Connection. And yet it was the one thing that still, somehow, alluded me.

So, maybe the problem was this place. Maybe the connection I so desperately craved couldn't be found here, imprint or not. I had left before, I could do it again. I still had the duffell bag of supplies and cash that the Cullens had gifted me stashed away at home. Maybe this time instead of running, I'd buy a plane ticket, fly away somewhere where it wouldn't be so easy to drag me back. Hawaii, maybe. Jake's older sister Rebecca lived there with her surfer husband, maybe they'd let me crash on their couch. I'd always liked Rebecca, and she was removed from all the pack bullshit, unlike her twin sister Rachel. And maybe there was a cute surfer dude out there for me, too...

The more I thought about it, the better it sounded.

Yeah. Hawaii.

Goodbye LaPush.

Goodbye Sam and Emily.

Goodbye Mom and Seth.

Goodbye Josh...

Everyone else I could leave behind without saying anything. But Josh? No, I needed to talk to him, one last time. Let him know that I was leaving. But would he try to convince me to stay? Wait a little longer? Suffer a little more?

I was tired of waiting. Of suffering.

Maybe it was better that I didn't say anything to him, too.

A streak of white zig-zagged across the sky, bringing me back to reality. Yeah, the storm was going to be a doozy. I watched as the stone-grey clouds lit up as more lightning danced around inside. I would miss these storms. Did Hawaii have storms like this?

Big wet drops hit my head, then my snout. I looked up—the clouds were getting closer, but they weren't here yet. And then, as I watched, the sky opened and the rain all came down at once. I yelped and jumped back off the cliff's edge, diving under the cover of a nearby tree. Maybe it was one of those temperamental cloud bursts that stopped as soon as they started—a prelude before the real storm started. But I waited and waited, and I knew it wasn't. The rain kept coming.