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Chapter Text

Chapter 1

It had been four hundred and eighty two days since Bella had first met Edward Cullen. Two hundred and forty one days since Edward and his family had abandoned her. Fifty six days since Edward had called the Swan household after Alice’s vision of Bella’s death, only to be overwhelmed with relief when he heard Bella’s voice on the other line. Fifty four days since he and his family had returned to Forks and once again became part of Bella’s life. Yet the three minutes that passed since Alice had her vision about Victoria and her plans to kill Bella by any means necessary was the longest, most agonizing moment that Bella had ever experienced.

A long silence fell over the Cullens and Bella as they registered exactly what was happening. What Alice’s vision meant for all of them.

“So this is it then. Victoria really is building an army,” Carlisle said at last.

Just to kill me. But why? Bella felt her anger start to rise. Why me? To finish what her mate had started? Why can’t she just leave me alone? As quickly as her anger came, it was suddenly replaced by calm. Bella knew who the cause was even before she glanced over to find Jasper watching her worriedly.

Since Bella’s disaster of a birthday party, Jasper had been distant. Consumed with guilt for what he had almost done. No matter what Bella had tried to do or say to make it clear she didn’t blame him, it was clear Jasper couldn’t forgive or trust himself. Still, the soldier did his best to help using his gift when he could, and the distance between them had started to shrink once he discovered Bella’s new temper. While Bella tried to forgive and forget, it was clear a part of her was still holding a grudge, or maybe it was just from her time with the wolves that caused it. Regardless, Bella now had serious flare ups of anger, some seemingly for no reason, and nothing, not even Edward, could calm her--save for Jasper’s gift.

Now Jasper kept watch over her, even verbally offering to lend an ear if Bella ever wanted to talk, and the distance between them had shrunk. Yet there were times when Bella was so angry that she would lash out at him for trying to calm her, and this had nearly been one of those times.

Bella gave Jasper a slight nod in thanks, and to assure him that she wasn’t mad at his intervention, to which Jasper nodded back. 

It was Edward slamming his hands on the dining room table hard enough to crack the wooden surface that alerted Bella to how much she had missed in the time her anger had flared and been extinguished.

“We are not getting the Volturi involved! Regardless of how much of a ‘friend’ you are to them, Carlisle, all it will take is one look at Bella for them to want her, and possibly all of us, dead. You know how they feel about humans knowing about vampires.”

“What are the Volturi?” Bella asked, trying hard not to frown. Great, another thing I don’t know about. Again, as quickly as her anger started to surface, it was cooled by Jasper’s gift. This time, Bella barely gave a thought to it.

Edward grimaced and looked away from Bella so that she couldn’t see his face. It made Esme frown at her son when she realized Edward didn’t want to tell Bella, and Carlisle let out a sigh. Before he could speak, however, another vampire took over.

“The Volturi are the royalty of the vampire world. They’re the lawmakers, the judges, the jury, and the executioners,” Rosalie said, and Bella looked over at the blonde to find Rosalie glaring daggers at her. “One of their rules is if a human learns--”

“Rosalie, quiet!” Edward snapped. He made a move as if to lunge at Rosalie in a desperation to stop her from speaking, and his entire family looked ready to intervene. But Emmett moved first, blurring in front of his mate with a snarl on his face and stopping Edward from completing his lunge. Never before had the usually childish and jovial man looked so dangerous, especially when facing another member of his family. In that moment, Emmett looked every bit the dangerous vampire, all to protect his mate.

“Don’t even try to touch her,” Emmett growled.

Rosalie only regarded Edward cooly from behind Emmett, completely unafraid as Jasper sent a wave of calm over everyone despite his eyes being black from all of the emotion in the room. Alice took Jasper’s hand, coaxing him to sit next to her on the couch even as she struggled with her own guilt over the situation. In fact, everyone looked guilty. Everyone but Emmett and Rosalie.

“She deserves to know. If anything, to understand the position you and her have put the rest of us in.” Rosalie then turned back to Bella as Esme quietly scolded Edward. At seeing Bella so completely confused, the glare she originally had for the human appeared to soften. “The Volturi’s first and foremost rule is simple. If a human learns of the existence of vampires, they’re to be turned or killed. The penalty for failing to do so is death. Not just for the human, but for every vampire who was involved as well.”

Alice stiffened, eyes glazing over as another vision suddenly hit her. However no one seemed to notice except Jasper as comprehension sunk in for Bella and she whirled on the rest of the family. 

Suddenly, Rosalie’s hostility toward her made so much sense. Bella couldn’t even begin to understand why the rest of the family had even accepted Bella so readily. Had abandoned her knowing that doing so not only hurt Bella like it had, but also meant they were putting all of their lives on the line.

“You...you mean…” Bella struggled with what to say, struggled not to lash out at every last one of them. 

At that moment Edward’s head snapped in the direction of Alice, his mind reading ability allowing him to see Alice’s vision play out. Realization of what was about to happen made the bronze haired boy panic.

However, seeing Edward look away from her in that moment only made Bella’s rage nearly overwhelm her. 

“We need to get her out of here, now,” Edward said as he took a step towards Bella as if about to scoop her up in his arms.

To everyone’s surprise, Rosalie’s included, Bella quickly stepped behind the blonde ice queen. “Don’t you touch me, Edward! I thought it was bad enough for you to abandon me for such stupid reasons, but to hear you did it knowing--”

“Bella, please, not now,” Edward begged. He tried to move toward her, but got a snarl from both Emmett and Rosalie that made him stop. “We need to take you away from here, now. You don’t understand--”

“I don’t understand because no one ever tells me anything!” Bella shouted. Her anger was almost overwhelming her--if Edward got within arms’ length right at that moment, she would’ve punched him. Vampire skin be damned. Poor Jasper was trying to do his best to calm everyone, Bella most of all. But between all of the anger he was forced to feel and the height of everyone’s emotions while Alice was only just starting to come out of her vision, he was struggling too much to do any good.

“I’ll explain later.” Edward made another move as if to flash over there and grab Bella, but this time, Emmett shoved him back.

“Stay away from them. I mean it,” Emmett growled. “Rose isn’t going to let you touch Bella and I’m not going to let you touch either of them.”

“You can’t be serious,” Edward said in disbelief. “I’m trying to protect her--”

“Didn’t she make it clear already? She doesn’t want to go with you,” Rosalie hissed. “I won’t let you make her.”

“Can someone explain what’s going on? Why are you suddenly trying to take Bella away, Edward?” Carlisle interrupted.

“I’ll explain once I get Bella to safety!” 

“It’s too late,” Alice said at last, the glazed look finally leaving her eyes. She sent a tortured look toward Bella, but had no idea what to do to try and help her.  “They’re almost here. There’s no way you’re going to get away from them if you run. Bella’s scent is too strong and they’ll know immediately.”

“Who’s coming?” Carlisle asked, but he had a feeling he already knew.

Edward was the one to answer, clearly stressed and desperate to get Bella away from the house even after Alice’s words. “The Volturi. They’re coming to the house as we speak.” He turned his tortured gaze on Bella, as if he was already looking at a corpse. “They’ll be here any minute.”

Silence overcame the house, the anger and confusion of everyone replaced by horror--horror that only multiplied when all of the Cullens registered the quick, near silent sound of four vampires running right for them. Even Bella, who was so close to a full on out of control rage, became numb inside as what was about to happen started to sink in.

So we’re all going to die? Just like that? All because Edward let me figure out the truth and abandoned me instead of giving me a choice all while keeping me in the dark?

It was just as Bella’s rage started to grow again that the doorbell rang. 

Ever the hostess, Esme did her best to smooth out her frazzled appearance before heading for the front door. Carlisle was right on her heels so she didn’t have to face the Volturi members alone even for a second.

None of the Cullen kids or Bella moved as Esme opened the front door.

“Why hello Jane, Alec, Demetri, Felix,” Carlisle said, saying each name not just for politeness sake but so the rest of the household knew who to expect. “What brings you all the way out here for a visit? You’re quite far from Volterra.”

“We were ordered to investigate what was going on in Seattle to see if it was the doing of vampires or humans, and Aro decided it would be a great time for us to check on his old friend for him while we were so close by,” a deceptively pleasant voice replied. “That’s not a problem, is it?”

“Of course not! Come right on in,” Esme said. “I’m just sorry we couldn’t better welcome you. Your visit was a bit of a surprise.”

“Yes, sorry about that,” the man said, not sounding sorry in the least. A moment later, they were entering the living room where everyone else was, and Bella saw them for the first time.

Bella wasn’t sure what she was expecting, especially as she had seen red eyed vampires before. For whatever reason she thought that there would be something else that would set them apart as a member of the Volturi, maybe a cruel or terrifying air to them with how much the Cullens seemed to fear them despite their disregard for the law. Yet if it weren’t for the black cloaks they were all wearing, Bella would’ve mistaken them for any other human drinking vampire. Maybe not even that so much as an eccentric cult as they had their hoods up, obscuring their faces. 

As the new arrivals looked at her, they all froze, and even with the cloaks covering their faces Bella could tell they were stunned. She could almost feel their shock, even though they clearly had to have known there was a human among the Cullens from the brunette’s heartbeat alone. 

One of the shorter figures stepped forward, hesitantly, almost as if they were afraid to get close. The hood fell, revealing a girl who appeared to be around Bella’s age, and whose beauty seemed to rival Rosalie’s, if the way Bella’s heart skipped a beat was any indication. She had straight blonde hair and red eyes filled with so much emotion that Bella nearly became overwhelmed just by having that gaze directed at her. Just as quickly as it appeared all of the emotion was gone, leaving the girl’s eyes dark and unreadable. What confused Bella more than the strange emotional display was that the human felt a twinge of familiarity at the sight of the girl’s face. But why? Surely she would remember seeing a vampire like her before, even if she had seen her before meeting the Cullens.

The girl took another step forward, toward Bella, as if she couldn’t help herself. All of the Cullens tensed at her approach, but the blonde didn’t even appear to notice.

Carlisle awkwardly cleared his throat as he noticed where the four vampires’ attention was now fixated. “Ah, yes. You see, this is--”

“Bella,” the girl breathed, stunning all of the Cullens silent.

“Yes? That’s me.” Bella didn’t bother to hide her confusion as she met the girl’s dark gaze. “Do I...know you from somewhere?”

The girl looked ready to rush her when one of the Volturi members put a heavy hand on her shoulder. “Jane, listen to me, it can’t be--”

The blonde girl, Jane, barely even spared the man a glance before he was writhing on the floor screaming in agony. Bella had only enough time to jump in surprise before it was over, and Jane was suddenly in front of her, the top of her head barely reaching Bella’s chin.

“Nobody move,” the other short figure with the voice of a boy said. Edward looked ready to ignore the order when Jane started to reach for Bella, but Jasper and Emmett held him back before he could do something stupid.

Bella tried to act calm when Jane cupped Bella’s face in her hands but her body betrayed her, her breath hitching in her throat, her heart beating hard and fast against her ribs from the moment of first contact.

At first Jane seemed to be cautious. But then that caution faded away as Jane looked at Bella as if she were the blonde’s only reason for living.

“It’s you...I don’t know how, but it’s you,” Jane murmured. “You’re...human?” She let out a sigh, eyes glowing with love that only the bewildered and overwhelmed human could see. “My Bella. It’s been too long.”

“She’s not your--” Edward snarled, and Jane’s gaze became furious as she turned to the mindreader. Edward collapsed immediately, screaming with so much pain it jolted Bella out of the confused trance that the blonde had put her in. 

The Cullens erupted in commotion, but Bella was too focused on the bronze haired boy to focus on any of it. 

“Edward!” Bella shouted and tried to go to him, because even if she was angry with him, she still cared enough. She still hated to see him suffering, especially to such a degree. 

Jane’s arms were suddenly around her waist, stopping her from going to Edward’s aid. “Why do you care about him when he just tried to deny my claim on you?” Jane asked, keeping her glare fixated on Edward. “I have no idea how you’re human, but you’re still mine. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him on the spot for trying to say otherwise.”

“What are you saying, are you insane? You’re hurting him and I don’t know you!” Bella screamed at the blonde as she struggled to get away. Had she not been so focused on Edward, she would have registered how Jane stiffened. Yet even if she had been focused on Jane, she wouldn’t have known how much she had hurt the blonde with her words. After all, there were only two people who really knew Jane enough to know what she was feeling when she wasn’t outwardly showing her emotions; Alec, and Jane’s long lost mate.

Her mate, who was right in front of her, yet was human and had no idea who Jane was. Who seemed more concerned with the boy Jane was torturing than Jane herself. 

For the first time that Jane could remember, seeing her mate again didn’t bring her relief and joy. Instead the relief was short lived, and now all Jane could feel was pain. 

As always, when Jane hurt, she wanted others to hurt. But more than that, she wanted Bella to stop trying to get away from her and get to the poofy haired boy’s side. She wanted Bella to take Jane in her arms and greet her like she always did after a long time apart. 

Yet her Bella didn’t want to do any of that. Didn’t even know her, and for whatever reason was a human on top of it all . 

The thought of living in a world where her mate didn’t love her broke something in Jane that only Bella’s love could fix. Love that Jane had to get back by any means necessary.

“If you don’t stop trying to get away from me, I’ll kill every single Cullen right here and now!” Jane snarled as she tightened her grip on Bella. Yet even as she tightened her grip, she was still gentle, still careful. All too aware of Bella’s new human status. Despite Bella being the one hurting her emotionally, she could never hurt Bella in any way, even in her worst rages. Bella not remembering her didn’t change that.

The Cullens, on the other hand, were fair game. Seeing as they already had Bella’s affections when she didn’t, Jane had even more reason to kill them.

Bella’s anger flared to life as she registered the threat. She whirled in Jane’s arms to glare into currently black eyes. “You can’t be serious!”

Jane’s face was emotionless, yet her eyes were burning with fury as she pulled Bella closer still. So close that their bodies were pressed tightly against each other as she met Bella’s gaze head on. “I assure you, Bella, I’m deadly serious.” 

For a moment, Bella almost snapped and said something that would have made everything worse. But then she saw it. Underneath the anger in those pitch black eyes was a glimmer of hurt. Bella had hurt her, and while she still didn’t know how Jane knew her, the realization that Bella had caused the blonde pain made Bella stop in her tracks. The urge to soothe Jane was almost overwhelming, and she didn’t question it. Her body relaxed in Jane’s arms as her hands cupped Jane’s face. The fire in Jane’s eyes immediately dimmed, and it was then that Bella knew how much her actions affected the blonde. 

“Okay. I’ll stay with you. Just no more of whatever mojo you’re doing, and no killing any of the Cullens. Deal?” Bella asked softly. 

Jane huffed, but her eyes reverted to a slightly red shade. “Fine. For now.”

Esme took the moment to clap her hands together, bringing all attention to her. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for Bella’s lunch. If everyone could just make their way to the dining room to continue this conversation, that would be great.”

Jane stared at Esme incredulously, torturing Edward temporarily forgotten. “If you think we’re going to sit down and play human after I–” Her fury faltered as she glanced at Bella, having heard a slight rumble from the girl’s stomach. “Fine. Let’s get my Bella fed.”

There would be plenty of time to make Bella love her again later.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Bella was the first to sit down at her usual spot at the table. Before she could blink Jane had taken the seat beside her, moving the chair so close that their thighs touched. Instead of Edward on her other side, Rosalie took up the position with Emmett right next to her. Rosalie had never even sat at the table before when Bella had to eat, and the fact that she had done so showed how much their relationship had changed in such a short time.

Jasper had often taken up the seat Jane had stolen so as to help keep her calm, but now he sat across from her. Edward looked ready to argue with him as it was the only “good” seat left around Bella, but he must have read something in Jasper’s mind that made him back off. He instead stood to the side sulkily with his arms crossed, glowering at those that got the prime spots around Bella. He was promptly ignored by all of them.

Carlisle stayed standing as well, only out of wariness and his position of coven leader, while Alice stayed next to Edward. She hovered closely as she kept one eye on the future for anything that could go wrong.

All of the other Volturi members chose to stay standing as well. It was a formality that had been hammered into all of them, and the fact that Jane had so quickly and willingly broken it showed how much Bella meant to her.

Esme was the only one still moving. She gathered up a plate of Bella’s favorite foods that had been prepared and placed it in front of Bella, getting a grateful look from the human in question when she did so.

Of course Jane took notice of it and she let out a huff even as she wrinkled her nose at the stench of human food. She could easily prepare the plate for Bella herself and they should have asked if she wanted to; it was her duty as Bella’s mate to provide for her. She would have done a better job of it too, Jane was sure. 

In fact, she could do it right now.

In moments Jane had blurred away from Bella’s side, gathering up a larger amount of all of the food on a plate she had stolen from the kitchen and placing it in front of Bella, pointedly shoving the plate Esme had prepared in the process. 

“Eat mine instead,” Jane all but commanded as she sat down once more, right next to Bella. 

Bella glanced between the two plates of food nervously. Where Esme had taken into thought how much Bella would eat and which dish she would likely eat more of, Jane had simply piled on as much of everything as she could to the point the plate was overflowing. It was clear which one she should choose, if only to keep everyone else safe. Even then she worried; what would happen if she didn’t eat it all? Would Jane become furious anyway? Would she take out her anger on Bella’s loved ones?

“Thanks,” Bella mumbled as she picked up her fork to get to work. She caught the small blonde subtly puffing up in pride and couldn’t help but find Jane absolutely adorable. Which really was inappropriate considering how dangerous and terrifying the vampire had proven herself to be.

Jane watched her with a mix of awe and frustration, although no one could see her expression. There was simply so much she struggled to figure out. Her humanness aside, it was clear that Bella was wary of her. It was something Jane had never had to deal with before. From the moment they had met, Bella had always been a strong, confident vampire. She was there for Jane whenever she had needed her, had taken care of Jane and Alec when they were human and sick, had even saved them from being burned at the stake. The only thing close to wariness that Jane could remember was when Jane had first been turned. She had been in love with Bella even as a human but had no idea what those feelings meant, so had shown no real signs of what she felt for the brunette. Once a vampire, those instincts had taken over and Jane couldn’t stop herself from trying to jump Bella every chance that she had gotten. Bella had done her best to fend her off, saying how Jane wasn’t thinking straight even though Jane had realized just what it was from Bella she wanted so badly. So she had become a little hesitant and careful in dealing with Jane, somehow thinking the newborn would regret her actions.

That was nothing close to what Bella was feeling for her now, and Jane had no idea how to change it. She couldn’t even attempt to awe Bella like Bella had so easily done with her as the girl already appeared to be used to vampires.

It was frustrating. So damn frustrating.

“So…about the reason you’re here,” Carlisle started, trying to prompt any member of the Volturi into speaking. “It has something to do with Seattle?”

Jane was too busy staring at Bella and Alec was too busy watching them both to answer, so Demitri felt it was best to take over.

“Yes. I’m sure you’re aware of the recent killings going on there. It’s getting too much attention, and if it’s a vampire doing it…well, it’s obviously our duty to take care of it all,” Demitri said pleasantly.

Should they say it? Admit to what they know about the newborn army? No one was quite sure. Usually the Cullens would jump at the chance to get help for such a situation, but between the wolves and Jane’s clear overprotectiveness of Bella–regardless of how insane the situation involving the two of them was–they were aware that telling the Volturi what they knew might end badly for everyone involved.

Bella realized this too, of course. She had seen what Jane had been willing to do to the Cullens for much less. If anyone admitted that Victoria was building an army to kill Bella there was no doubt they would have to explain the reason as to why such a thing happened. Bella had no doubt that Jane would realize the danger Bella had been put in by the Cullens and would be more than happy to make them pay before taking on Victoria’s army.

The sad part was, a part of her wanted it. Not the torture or suffering or anything else that Jane or the others were able to inflict, far from it. She just wanted someone to make Edward, at the very least, face that he had in fact screwed up. Monumentally so.

“Do any of you know anything about that, by chance?” Demetri asked. The silence that had followed his original words had been more than telling. Even Jane had stopped staring at Bella to give Carlisle a frosty glare.

Bella came to a decision before any of the Cullens could possibly say anything first. She figured that she was the one least likely to be murdered among the Cullens, at least for the moment, and she didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Not because of her–or, more precisely, because of Jane’s reaction to finding out Bella’s involvement.

She already knew she would have to keep Jane calm. As that was a clear impossibility, she had to at least make sure Jane couldn’t attack anyone around them. So she nervously took Jane’s hand in hers under the table. Surely she wouldn’t rip Bella’s arm off to get to the Cullens, right?

Jane’s head whipped in her direction. There was so much excitement and hope glowing in the depths of the blonde’s eyes that Bella actually felt guilty.

“The..the reason for the killings in Seattle…we know the reason for it,” Bella started to say. She now had the intense gaze of every single vampire in the room on her, many who had frozen at the news.

“Bella, you don’t need to–”

Anger surged in Bella and she turned to snap at Edward. “Yes I do, Edward! Or are you suggesting that we withhold information from the people who might be able to actually help us?” she asked with such fire that Edward found himself temporarily stunned silent. She was so busy glaring at him that she failed to notice the look of pride thrown her way–not just from Jane, but from Rosalie as well.

“Please, Bella; tell us what you know.” Alec was the one to speak this time. While he had been just as elated as Jane at Bella’s appearance–well, as much as he could be compared to someone who had found their long lost mate–he was much more clear headed compared to his sister in the current moment. Which also meant he realized with a sinking feeling in his gut just how bad the situation might be.

Bella tightened her grip on Jane’s hand, not out of a fear that Jane would rip herself away to potentially lunge at anyone at the table–although that was admittedly a worry–but in comfort as well. Not that Bella realized it. “The killings are being done by vampires…by newborns to be exact.”

“And you know this how?” Felix pressed, and immediately dropped to the ground screaming as Jane glared at him.

“Don’t. Interrupt her,” Jane told him pointedly. Her expression went blank as she turned back to Bella, stroking the back of the human’s hand with her thumb. “Go on.”

Oops, right. How could she have forgotten Jane didn’t need to get away from Bella to cause anyone pain? It made Bella more anxious and she moved to take her hand away from Jane’s instinctively, only for Jane to tighten her grip to stop her. 

I hurt her again, Bella realized with a quick glance at Jane’s expression, which had now morphed into clear anger. I have to try to make this right or she really might take out her anger on someone. She tried pulling her hand away again, and once again Jane tightened her grip with her lips lifted in a small snarl. Still not enough to hurt, weirdly enough, but enough to make it clear she had no intention of letting Bella go.

“Please, just for a second,” Bella whispered, despite knowing that everyone at the table could hear her. 

A plea of any kind from her mate wasn’t something that Jane could refuse, so she reluctantly let go of Bella’s hand. She was already deciding who and how many she was going to take out her new feeling of hurt on when she felt a hand on her leg. She looked down in disbelief to find Bella’s previously released hand now running up and down her thigh, Bella releasing a heavy breath as if the touch was comforting her. The realization that Bella wasn’t actually rebuking her made Jane’s previous hurt and anger vanish.

Again, Bella felt a flash of guilt at manipulating Jane, but what else was she supposed to do? While the original attempt to pull away had been a knee jerk reaction that Bella couldn’t control, Jane had made it very clear that she took any attempt Bella made to move away from her very seriously. How else was she supposed to protect the Cullens then with deceit? 

Admittedly it was hard to continue talking. As she thought about the current situation, fear once again overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t risk asking any of the Cullens to help calm her down–through touch, anyway. Jasper was doing a great job at trying to keep her calm with his gift, but it could only do so much when thinking about what was coming just made her afraid all over again.

Bella’s hand stilled on Jane’s thigh as she forced herself to continue. “We know they’re newborns because Alice had a vision. A vampire we know, Victoria, is building an army of them.”

“You know this vampire how?” Felix demanded, and once again dropped to the ground screaming as Jane once again set her gaze on him. This time Bella managed to not pull away, instead tightening her grip on Jane’s thigh.

Jane turned back to Bella once she felt like Felix had enough. “Yes, how do you know this vampire, my Bella?” The possessive way she said Bella’s name made Edward glare and start to growl, but Alice quickly silenced him with a hand on his chest and a thought, while Jasper once again used his gift to try to keep Edward calm. 

“We know this vampire because…well, we met her a while back…” What was the best way to say this without potentially putting enough blame on the Cullens to give Jane an excuse to torture them? “We met her and her coven, actually. And one of them decided that I smelled really tasty–”

To Bella’s surprise, four furious snarls ripped from vampire throats, all of them Volturi. As if all of them perhaps, for some reason… maybe cared about Bella? About her safety? 

No, that was ridiculous. Maybe they assumed that James had somehow broken the law and not the Cullens in regards to Bella. It was the only proper explanation. Only one member of the Volturi had a reason to care for her after all, and even that was still a bit confusing.

“Long story short the Cullens killed him to protect me but Victoria ran and was very good at avoiding detection when she was pursued, and now she’s back for revenge and decided to kill me because the vampire they killed was her mate and she’s thinking since Edward killed hers then she deserves to kill his.”

Jane’s eyes turned black as she registered what Bella’s ramble meant and she made a move to lunge across the table at Edward–the man who not only put such a claim on Bella to make random vampires believe she’s his mate, but who put her in physical danger as well–only to be stopped by Bella’s hand gripping her thigh. She looked over at Bella, deterred for just a moment, and Bella hoped that moment was enough.

However what she didn’t account for was another vampire letting out a furious hiss. “So a large, powerful coven couldn’t tie up loose ends? They allowed such a danger to persist to the point that she was able to build an army to come after you? Really?” Alec all but roared with a fury none had expected from the small boy.

Before Bella could try to give further information and hopefully abate some of that anger, all of the Cullens froze, confused and admittedly scared expressions coming over their faces as they looked around in desperation. Alec’s expression had once again turned blank save for his eyes, which held pure malice in their pitch black depths as he stepped forward to regard each Cullen one by one.

“We always did say we would get back at each and every one of the people who ever hurt Bella, didn’t we sister?” he asked icily as he stepped forward, his gaze laser focused on Edward. “I believe it’s best to start with them.”

Jane looked ready to eagerly agree, but once again was put off by Bella’s pleading expression as the girl gripped her cloak to stop her from rising. Bella would have succeeded in convincing Jane to hold off with just that look, if not for her sleeve slipping downward, revealing the bite mark on Bella’s wrist.

Past conversations with her mate suddenly came together and a new level of hate fueled rage filled her as she realized just who the Cullens were to Bella and what they had done to her. It still didn’t quite make sense to Jane, far from it, but she knew that they were the ones responsible for that bite mark Bella had always had on her wrist. That they had been the ones who had caused her mate such hurt.

Jane shook Bella off and stood, determined to make them pay for everything they had done. “Yes. Let’s make them suffer.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Every creative curse went through Bella’s mind as she realized what was happening, and that even Felix and Demetri appeared interested in joining in. The only thing that made them hesitate was the fact that Alec and Jane looked murderous enough to possibly turn on their allies if they thought the men were getting in their way at any point.

Bella immediately let go of Jane’s knee to once again grip her hand to hold on with all of her strength while she also tried to lunge across Jane to grab Alec’s hand as well before he could take another step closer. Of course in such a moment of high tension Bella’s clumsiness had to kick in, and she found herself tripping. Before she realized it she was sprawled on her stomach across Jane’s lap, somehow managing to snag at least a bit of Alec’s cloak in her mess of a lunge. She held onto both for dear life, and by some small miracle both of them paused in their rage to look at her.

Of course the human was busy blushing a painfully bright red in embarrassment, but even then she was determined to hang on no matter what it took. She had to squirm a little so that her mouth was no longer pressed against one of Jane’s shapely thighs, now giving her a chance to speak. “Nobody move!” Bella said with as much firmness as she could when she was overwhelmed by such desperation. “You can’t hurt the Cullens. I mean it. If you do, I’ll…I’ll…” Come on brain, just think of something!

Alec’s gaze had lightened from its pitch black as he looked down at Bella’s fragile hand clutching him tightly to the point it trembled. While he was still filled with rage and wanted to make the Cullens pay not just for this incident but for the others that were yet to come, just seeing Bella’s desperation made him waver. Then his gaze narrowed when he saw the girl’s hand. It was a bite mark…a vampire bite mark. How had Bella gotten that and remained human? How much torture did she have to go through for no reason? 

At this point Alec was completely frozen, eyes fixated on the bite mark as his desire to make the Cullens pay roared to new life. That desire conflicted with his love and loyalty to Bella, as she had made it quite obvious that she didn’t want him to hurt them just by her clumsy attempt to grab him alone.

Demetri’s and Felix’s eyes followed Alec’s, causing the quieter man’s eyes to widen in shock and then anger while Felix accidentally let out a soft hiss. While both of them also wanted to make those who caused her to suffer that particular incident pay, there was a more pressing matter to attend to.

“Don’t let Jane see or she might just kill us all,” Demetri hissed only for Felix to hear, and Felix didn’t hesitate to lunge and pull down Bella’s sleeve to cover the mark. Alec immediately bared his teeth at Felix for daring to touch Bella or try to hide the bite, but he still didn’t move because of Bella’s grip on him. Demetri almost face palmed at how obvious Felix’s attempt to hide the scar had been, but was too busy secretly fearing that they were all about to experience Jane’s very thorough wrath any second now to say anything. Surely Jane had noticed such an obvious act, after all.

Yet she hadn’t. She was too busy staring at the way Bella still laid over her lap, eyes riveted to the human as she drank in every curve even with the oversized shirt. She found herself licking her lips, eyes still black but for the complete opposite reason. 

In their time together, Jane had always felt so much younger than Bella. Not just because the brunette had been a vampire even when Jane had been a child, but also because she had always been so much shorter than her. Bella had assured Jane that they were the same age when turned, but the height difference and the way Jane always felt so childish in her temper and rash still made her feel much more immature. It showed in their love life too, with Bella always being the more dominant of the two while Jane learned restraint and submission in a way she could only even consider around Bella.

Now, of course, she felt something much different. Now Bella was human and weak, only eighteen years old while Jane had spent so many centuries as a vampire. That might not have been enough to sway her completely, but seeing Bella bent over her lap so enticingly was more than enough to fill Jane’s mind with all kinds of fantasies. It was enough for her mask to slip for just a moment and her arousal to fill the air. If only Bella loved her enough now for Jane to make her move…

Wisely, Felix and Demetri didn’t complain but simply held their breath, and thankfully the Cullens couldn’t even smell due to Alec’s gift. The boy himself was too busy trying to figure out how to act in response to what he saw marring Bella’s skin to react to his sister’s reaction either, which meant Jane had no one to help her as she struggled not to react too openly to Bella’s provocative pose.

“I mean it, you can’t hurt them,” Bella continued desperately, not understanding the reason for their silence. She did her best to gaze up at Jane from her position over the blonde’s lap, unaware that it only fanned the flames of the vampire’s lust. “Seriously Jane, if you do…” Realizing another threat might not be the way to go, Bella hastily changed tactics. “Just, please? I understand you’re angry, but I won’t be able to handle seeing you hurt them. Even after everything that happened they’re still the best thing to ever come into my life.”

Jane was much too busy imagining that pleading gaze looking up at her from between her legs to register her words properly, and she found herself nodding in agreement simply because it was Bella begging her. The answering smile Jane got from her mate in return was enough to make everything worth it, but then Bella took it a step further by releasing her hold on Alec and Jane to throw her arms around Jane’s neck while wrapping her legs around the girl’s hips, hugging her tightly.

“Thank you! Seriously Jane, thank you so much!” Bella gushed, not even realizing that she was nuzzling the girl’s neck and breathing in her honeyed scent until she felt Jane stiffen against her. A blush immediately flushed her face and she felt her heart skip a beat. Yet even then she didn’t pull away just yet. Even in a situation like this, even with tensions constantly high and lives potentially on the line, Bella couldn’t deny how good it felt. It made her want to revel in the soft, cold feel of Jane’s body and just close her eyes. She knew she shouldn’t give in and should instead pull away, but she couldn’t help but indulge just a moment longer.

The blonde stayed tense, trying to figure out if she should hug the girl back or not. Bella had hugged her first, so surely Jane should reciprocate right? Surely Bella wasn’t going to react badly to her touch now of all times.

In the end, Jane gave in to her own temptation. She didn’t even care that her allies were watching as her arms slipped gently around Bella’s waist and pulled her just a little closer. The only thing she wouldn’t allow herself to do while enjoying her mate’s embrace was close her eyes. She wasn’t going to let herself be vulnerable like that around so many vampires whether they were under Alec’s gift or not, especially now that she had a human mate to protect.

“What did I agree to?” Jane whispered at a volume only vampires could hear. Demetri wisely kept quiet while Felix snickered before he could stop himself. Luckily for him, Jane didn’t want to potentially interrupt the moment between her and Bella with Felix’s screams, which was the only reason he was spared of her gift.

“Not hurting the Cullens,” Alec answered flatly. While Jane had agreed to it, he hadn’t. While he considered exploiting that little loophole, he decided it wasn’t the best time to do so. He wanted to keep Bella happy as long as possible.

“Damn it.” Jane almost snarled loud enough for Bella to hear as she realized her misstep, but then she felt Bella’s arms and legs tighten around her, and it was enough to make everything right with her world. For now. 

Bella finally got enough control of herself to pull back, only for Jane to pointedly keep her arms wrapped around her in a way that wouldn’t let her get more than an inch away. It made the brunette self conscious while also sending a thrill through her. Before she realized she was saying it, she muttered, “Spoiled,” under her breath. The word was so instinctively spoken, as if she had said it so many times before, that it took Bella by surprise.

Jane almost allowed her lips to quirk up in a half smirk before she got a hold of herself. “Perhaps,” she said, keeping her voice carefully emotionless even as she wanted to purr at the old and very often used accusation from her mate.

“Yeah, and it’s all your fault,” Alec said, equally emotionless. At Bella’s confused look, Alec tried not to grimace. He still wasn’t quite sure how Bella was human or why she didn’t remember, but it hurt every time regardless. “It’s in the past,” he said flatly.

While a part of Bella still wanted to disagree with them and their beliefs of who she was to Jane, simply because it clearly wasn’t possible for her to be a vampire especially so long ago, there was one thing she couldn’t deny; how it felt being in Jane’s arms. Every single second she spent with the blonde somehow slowly eroded her walls. It felt almost as if the more contact they experienced between them, the more Bella’s body seemed to awaken and respond to Jane’s. Like the brunette really did belong to the blonde.

Impossible. Bella had to stop thinking like that. Her family was the Cullens, and Edward…was still complicated. While she didn’t fight Jane’s hold, she did stop hugging her and squirmed awkwardly so she now sat sideways in Jane’s lap. “Can you please stop whatever you’re doing to the Cullens now?” Bella asked as she looked over at Alec.

“No,” came Alec’s immediate answer, only for him to cave in less than a second. His gift receded and slowly the Cullens could see, hear, smell, and feel again.

Of course this meant that Edward immediately saw Bella awkwardly sitting on Jane’s thighs, and he let out a roar and lunged at Jane over the table as his possessiveness took over. It was clear he was intent on ripping Bella right out of Jane’s embrace.

If only Bella didn’t seem to hate Jane’s gift so much, she would have taken the boy out where he stood. Instead, Demetri casually snatched the vampire boy out of the air and threw him against the wall hard enough for it to crack.

“Thanks to Bella, we didn’t kill you all on the spot,” Jane declared, her voice cool and empty even as she was still inwardly delighted by Bella’s presence. “However, attacking us is not allowed. Either you stop Edward from trying such foolishness again, or he’ll be ripped into pieces and made to listen in as little more than a head.”

Bella immediately tensed and glared at Jane instinctively before stopping herself. Admittedly, Edward was doing something stupid by continuously provoking the Volturi, but did Jane have to threaten Edward so graphically?

Jane of course noticed Bella’s reaction–all of the vampires did. But the human didn’t try to pull away and she had quickly stopped herself from glaring, so Jane decided to count it as a win and not take out her emotional pain on anyone just yet. She couldn’t help but feel she had taken the days Bella had found Jane’s threats hot for granted way too much. If only she could get them again now.

Emmett had already put Edward in a headlock before the smaller vampire could try to lunge again. “Chill, Eddy. Stop fucking up,” he said with a low grunt when Edward initially struggled. Jasper stared at Edward, forcing so much calm onto him that Edward’s body went slack and Bella’s eyes widened in surprise. She had never seen the soldier push his gift so hard before.

“I understand completely. I’m sorry he had the chance to react in the first place,” Carlisle said diplomatically. “We’ll keep him under control from now on.”

“See that you do,” Jane said coldly. “Or I might ‘slip’ next time and forget myself.” Her threat made Bella tense and unconsciously start to pull away. It made Jane almost regret her threat, but she didn’t show it. Instead she continued to glare at Edward to get her point across. Yet the boy wasn’t even looking at her. He was looking at Bella, which made Jane’s arm tighten around her mate possessively.

Edward was absolutely tortured as he stared at the human, but thankfully he didn’t fight Jasper’s hold. He simply watched Bella with black eyes filled with pain. “Bella, you don’t have to let them treat you like this.”

Rosalie’s upper lip curled in a sneer of disgust, surprising everyone with the interruption. “Please. Don’t act like you acted for Bella’s benefit after letting your emotions get the best of you while Bella was physically in the way. You could have been the one who got her hurt, you idiotic fool.” Her gaze then landed on Bella. She seemed to be trying to convey something with her eyes, but Bella couldn’t figure out what.

Edward had stiffened at Rosalie’s words and immediately tried to protest. “You know I didn’t–”

“Didn’t what?” Rosalie asked icily. “Didn’t think? Didn’t care about anyone but yourself? That’s not anything out of the ordinary, now is it?”

Again, Edward tried to protest, maybe fight Rosalie’s targeted accusations, but this time it was Alice who interrupted him.

“For the love of god Edward, please stop talking. You’re making it hard for all of us,” Alice snapped accidentally, some of her stress seeping into her tone as she struggled to deal with all of the shifting visions. The Volturi kept considering some very violent choices in so many creative ways it was hard to keep track or even think, and every time Edward spoke it seemed to make each of the red eyed vampires’ minds splinter off in a thousand different ideas and choices of how they might react.

Bella desperately felt for her friends. She hated how Jasper was grimacing in pain at all the emotions, that Edward was messing up so bad that Rosalie felt the need to speak up, that Alice looked tortured as her gaze went in and out of focus, that Emmett was struggling to hold Edward in place. She even hated that Esme and Carlisle looked so torn and struggling as they tried to figure out how to handle the crazy situation.

Deciding to try her luck, she turned to Jane pleadingly. “Can you let me go for–”

“No,” Jane responded swiftly, voice flat and emotionless as she looked down at Bella. Her eyes were black, and Bella couldn’t get a read on them.

“But–”

“I said no, Isabella,” Jane said, a hint of anger seeping into her voice.

Frustrated and getting angry herself, Bella yelled, “You aren’t even listening to what I have to say!”

“BECAUSE I KNOW YOU WANT TO GO TO THEM!” Jane roared with a strength that seemed to rattle the walls. The powerful emotion from Jane was enough to stun the vampires as well, even those closest to her. “I’ve been without you for almost a century, Bella, doesn’t that mean anything to you? I’m not letting you leave my side again!”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking or why, but the Bella who is your mate clearly isn’t me!” Bella thoughtlessly shouted right back. “That Bella isn’t me!”

“It is! You are my mate!” As Jane snarled this, Bella started to thrash in a desperation to get off her lap. No matter how much it killed her, she had to let her go, feeling how close she was to losing it. Bella was never in danger around her, not truly, but Jane was so out of control she might accidentally bruise the girl. “My mate, Isabella. Not his! You don’t belong to that pathetic excuse of a coven, you belong to me!”

“No. I. Don’t!” Bella didn’t know where this bravery was coming from but she didn’t care. All she could focus on was releasing her frustration out on a girl who confused her and tried to control her. She was so tired of being controlled. “I don’t belong to you Jane, and I never will!”

Jasper’s gift had been working overtime from the moment the fight had started, yet that wasn’t what made Bella’s fury lessen. Instead, what made all of the angry emotions leave her was the look of pure heartbreak and agony in Jane’s eyes.

She shouldn’t have felt guilty–no matter what kind of weird reactions she kept having in the blonde’s presence, Jane was definitely still a stranger and Bella obviously couldn’t be Jane’s thousand and whatever year old vampire mate. Yet the guilt was there, welling up inside of her and threatening to eat her alive. More than that, she felt Jane’s agony as if it were her own. She wanted to sweep the girl up into her arms and apologize and promise she’d never say something like that again.

Which was crazy. Everything about this was crazy.

Jane opened her mouth yet seemed to struggle to speak as she stared at Bella. Even as the emotions were slowly hidden away in the vampire’s eyes, Bella could still feel it all there. Her very body radiated the feelings, seeming to stab at Bella even from this distance.

“We should take a break,” Alec said as he grabbed Jane’s arms. Then they were gone, Alec hauling Jane out of the house with urgency while Felix and Demitri stayed behind to watch over the Cullens and Bella. 

Felix let out an impressed whistle. “Damn, Bella. Didn’t know you had it in you to be that mean to her. Then again, before today, I wouldn’t have thought you could be mean to Jane at all.”

“I’m not that Bella,” was all the human whispered in reply. Yet even as she spoke the words, her heart felt like it was breaking. 

Felix flashed a knowing grin, although it didn’t meet his eyes. “Keep telling yourself that, Bells. But human or vampire, we all know you.”

This time, Bella couldn’t find it in her to protest.