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Chapter Text

May 13, 2006

One week. In one week I would be marrying my soulmate and my best friend had lost her everloving mind. You always hear about a ‘Bridezilla’ but no one ever talks about a ‘Monster of Honor’.

Alice had completely changed my dress three times, insisted that I wear six-inch heels (I’m still considering taking those off when she isn’t looking), hired three different bakers to make a massive cake that half of the guests won’t be eating, and made me and Edward sit through twelve band auditions for the reception. She scheduled me for every possible appointment for the whole week. Facial, manicure, pedicure, waxing, lash extensions, body scrub, massage, teeth whitening, you name it, I’m getting it done. 

‘But Danielle,’ you might say, ‘that sounds so luxurious and amazing!’ Except I didn’t ask for any of this! This time next week I’m going to look like a completely different person. I’ll also have lost my own mind from the neverending physical torture. I just wanted a simple, flowy white dress, flowers, candles, preferably no shoes, and my fiancé. 

“We still have a whole week, Dani!” Alice implored. 

“I know that, Alice. That is exactly why you cannot change my dress again! This is getting ridiculous.” I threw my hands up. 

“I’ll have plenty of time! I need you to trust my process. I can’t see your future!” She pouted. “So I’ve just had a harder time envisioning this, but I promise it’ll be perfect this time.” She smiled widely and held her hands together in a pleading gesture. 

“But I won’t get to see it or even try it on until the wedding.” I put a hand on my hip and raised an eyebrow. 

“I have all of your measurements right up here.” She tapped her head. “It will fit perfectly.”

With an exasperated sigh, I looked up to the ceiling. “Fine. Just please let it be something I can breathe and dance in.” I looked back down at her. 

“Yes! Of course. You won’t regret this!” She squealed and pulled me into a hug. 

Her excitement was contagious. I couldn’t help smiling as I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around her tiny, cold frame. 

“Okay, you have your facial today, that should have you glowing by the rehearsal dinner on Friday. The bachelorette party is all set, all you need to do is be here Thursday night. Me, Rose, and Leah have taken care of everything. Have you been wearing the shoes?”

I gave her a deadpan look. “I don’t want those shoes Alice. They will kill me.”

“You just need to break them in!” She gave me another pleading look.

“I swear to you, I will go barefoot if I so much as stumble in them on my way to the aisle.” I pointed a finger at her.

She squealed again. “You are going to look amazing! Edward won’t know what hit him.”

I smirked and shook my head as Alice went over the rest of the appointments that I needed to get to that week. Edward had taken care of all of the honeymoon planning. I was ninety percent certain of where he was taking me already, but he insisted that it be a surprise. Unable to bring myself to ruin it for him, I would do my absolute best to pretend I never knew Isle Esme even existed. 

Maeve got me set up with an IUD almost two months ago. The insertion was awful, Maeve assisted with a few insertions at the hospital to ensure she knew what she was doing, but it still hurt like a bitch. She even made sure I knew how to feel for the strings so that I could check if it was still in place, since they can sometimes fall out during the first month. So far, so good. No monster babies would be ripping their way out of this body. Now that that was taken care of, I was more than ready to be married to Edward.

Carlisle continued to study my blood and compare it to previous samples. He wanted to name the cells associated with my magic ‘Baker Cells’. I firmly protested against that mortifying idea. It appeared the amount of what he ended up calling ‘prodigious’ cells remained the same as it was in the sample he took while I was still affected by dark magic. The main difference was the way the cells behaved. They weren’t as fluid as before, they still moved and changed, just much more lazily. So it seemed I was technically just as powerful, but had less control and flexibility than before.

The work he did on my aging, which Edward and I were both very interested in knowing more about, indicated that I was currently aging roughly one day every four months. That would probably continue to slow as my power grew stronger. So yeah, ‘effectively immortal’ was pretty accurate. 

Edward’s venom still proved harmless to me. Actually, not even that, it was like our prodigious cells reacted positively to each other. They would connect and stabilize each other. We were both relieved and confused. We had no idea what this could mean. If he were to bite me, would I change? Or would he change? Or would something entirely new happen? We had no way of really knowing.

I took my new, lime green VW Beetle to my facial appointment. Edward surprised me with it right after we returned from Chicago as a late birthday/Christmas present. He insisted that since he missed both, he owed me something big. I thought about arguing that it was way too much, but I really loved that freaking car. He was also elated to see how excited I was about it. We spent four incredible hours locked in our room that day.

It was raining when I got back to the house after my facial, hence the wedding being held next weekend. My skin felt all tingly and weird. Hopefully that was normal and not an allergic reaction, Alice would be pissed. I was hoping to just hole away upstairs for a while and get a break from the chaos. Instead, Alice found me as soon as I walked in the door.

“Dani. I have everything but air for the offerings. Which would be better, incense or a fan?” She asked as soon as I walked in the door.

I gave her a small smile and thought for a moment. “Neither. Feathers would be better. Incense can also represent fire and a fan wouldn’t fit right in the bowl.”

“Feathers! Perfect! Okay, that is done then.” With a quick swipe of a pen, she checked something off on a small clipboard she was holding. She handed me the white and cream stilettos. I had no idea where she even pulled them from. “Put these on. Break them in.”

My face pulled down into a frown. “Alice, please don’t do this to me.”

“You need to be as close to eye level with Edward as you can get and he is nine inches taller than you!” She waved the shoes at me.

With a groan, I removed my sneakers and grabbed the heels from her. I held onto her shoulder as I put them on. “Happy?”

“Now walk around.” She waved a finger around the room.

I frowned again as I started awkwardly walking around the living room. “I feel ridiculous.”

“You’re going to look incredible though!” She clapped her hands and disappeared upstairs.

“Unless I break my neck. Then I’ll just look like a corpse.” I mumbled to myself.

“I won’t let you fall.” Edward murmured behind me.

“Gah! Dammit, Edward! Don’t do that!” I stumbled and he caught me by the waist.

He bit back a laugh. “Sorry, I was waiting for Alice to leave. She wants to assault me with questions as well.” His voice was barely a whisper. 

He wrapped his arms around my waist to hold me up. Alice was right, I was nearly eye level with him now. It was kind of nice. I leaned forward and touched my lips to his, then wrapped my arms over his shoulders.

“Maybe we can just elope?” I whispered.

“Don’t even think about it!” Alice yelled from upstairs.

Edward’s face pulled up into a smile. “She’ll kill us both.”

“I will!” She yelled again.

My laugh carried through the room as I rested my forehead against his and closed my eyes. “I just want to be married to you already.” A wistful sigh escaped.

He leaned forward and kissed me gently. “Only one more week.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Then forever.”

“Then forever.” I repeated back to him with a smile and opened my eyes.

“So what else do you have to do today?” He asked as he pulled back enough to meet my eyes.

“Break these things in without dying and Leah is coming over later. Alice wants to see her bridesmaid dress on her. I think all these blindspots are driving her mad.” My fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck as I spoke.

“They are!” Alice yelled again in frustration, making me laugh.

“She’s remaking my dress again.” I whispered.

“I heard.” An amused smile adorned his beautiful face.

“This is the fifth one!” My voice came out as a small whine.

He laughed and reached a hand up to cup my face. “You are the one who let her take over the planning. You said you could handle her.”

“I didn’t know! How was I supposed to know?” I couldn't help laughing at his amused expression.

“Here,” he took my arm and looped it around his own, “I’ll help you walk in those.”

I held onto him and he led me outside so we could walk around the wraparound porch together. We made one lap around the house before my feet started hurting and I took them off. “I wonder if I can spell these to be more comfortable? Witches are women, someone has to have figured that out by now.”

“There can’t be that many witches though. Especially not ones like you.” Edward said with a smirk.

“I actually met several witches while I was… traveling.” I grimaced slightly. “Most seemed to be at about Maeve’s level of ability, but there were a couple that felt stronger.” There were a surprising number of witches running various psychic reading and spiritual health businesses around the country.

“Really?” Edward looked at me with a confused expression.

“Really. Where do you think things like spellbooks and grimoires come from?” My head tilted at him in question.

“That is a very good point. I wonder who wrote that grimoire.” He said thoughtfully.

“I think about that all the time. She must have been very powerful.” 

“Like you?” He asked. 

“Maybe? I think because I had some magic in a universe where there wasn’t much to begin with, that translated to more power here, where there is magic literally everywhere. I can’t be the only one though. Except the one that I cast on my tattoo, I don’t even know how to create my own spells yet.” 

After finishing our second stroll around the house we went back inside. Emmett was in the living room now watching a baseball game.

“Hey little witch! Seven days.” Emmett said in a low, creepy voice.

A smirk fought for control of my face as I rolled my eyes. “Oh jeez, I never should have introduced you to my horror collection!”

He laughed. “I’m just surprised Rose loves them as much as she does!”

Rosalie had started watching movies with me and Leah when she would come over. She ended up being very into horror movies. Though it was pretty uncomfortable being between the both of them at first. There were a lot of complaints about each other’s smells and some casual insults thrown back and forth. Eventually, they seemed to reach an understanding and now at least tolerated each other while Leah was over. Leah and Alice were my bridesmaids, so she had been over a lot lately.

“It’s the perfect genre! It has everything.” I said matter-of-factly.

Edward chuckled and pulled me close. “Would you like to go up to our room until Leah gets here?” 

It was now our room. They officially moved me into the house after the engagement. I was the only person who ever slept in this house, so our room had the only truly functional bed. Our things had been commingled and he even helped me add some color to the walls. We painted it a light olive color with white trim. The rest of his white furniture fit in perfectly with it. 

“Yes please.” A bright smile spread over my face. 

He quickly lifted me into his arms and sped us upstairs. I laughed as he kicked the door closed behind him. He leaned down and cut my laughter off with a deep kiss. One of my hands reached up to hold his face while the other held firmly onto his shoulder. Without breaking our kiss, he lowered me onto the bed and settled himself between my legs. One of my legs came up over his waist as we made out on the bed. 

This was likely one of our last chances to be alone before the wedding. Alice had my week completely booked and wanted Edward out of the house while she worked on the dress. 

I moaned into his mouth as he pressed himself against me. I could feel his lips turn up into a smile as he kissed me. His hand moved over my hip and underneath me to grip my ass and pull me even closer to him. My nails scraped along the nape of his neck as I bit his lower lip and rolled my hips forward. With a low groan, he pulled away to look down at me. 

“Be good. One more week.” He smirked.

I nipped at his lip again. “You started it.”

He moved his hand from my ass and up to my side. “Whose idea was this anyway?” His voice was low and almost pained. 

I giggled up at him. “I believe it was a mutual decision.”

We had decided to keep our clothes on around each other and hold off on any more sexual activities until after the wedding. It had been nearly a month since we were last intimate with each other. It was excruciating. The idea was that we could devote this time to talking and planning our future before we were tied together for eternity. Then we could spend our entire honeymoon naked together if we wanted. Which we desperately did. 

I pulled myself up and pecked his lips. “This will do for now.” I smiled. 

He reached his hand out to cup my face and leaned down to kiss me again. We resumed making out like teenagers, just with less dry humping this time. 

His family had actually found a dual enrollment technical program in California and got me an expertly forged diploma, plus the transcripts to go along with it. We would be taking the Fall semester off to travel together. Somehow we both received late acceptances and were able to defer enrollment by a semester at Reed College in Portland. My best guess was that a generous donation was made to grease some wheels for us, but no one would admit to anything.

We would both be studying Literature there, with the goal of me eventually working toward a Master’s degree somewhere. Edward already had a Literature degree, but wanted to ensure that we had as many classes together as possible. I didn’t mind the clinginess one bit. We were gearing up to start looking for a house in Portland as soon as we returned from our honeymoon. Something we could make our own to start our lives together.

Eventually, Edward pulled back with a small sigh. “Leah is here.” 

I ran my fingers through the hair behind his ears. “I guess I’ll see you tonight then.” 

Reaching up, I quickly kissed him again. He stood up and took my hands to pull me off the bed with him. 

“I won’t be too far, Jasper and I will just be taking care of some of our own errands.” He winked and kissed me goodbye right as Leah knocked on the door. Dress talk meant he couldn’t be within thought reading distance. 

I made it downstairs just as Alice was bringing Leah inside.

“Okay, let’s just put the dress on, then you and I are getting out of here.” Leah pointed to me.

I gave her a confused look. “And going where?”

“This is your last Saturday as an unmarried woman. We are going out.” She followed after Alice up the stairs.

“I reiterate: and going where?” I chuckled and followed after them. “There is nothing to do around here. It’s raining, as usual, and I can’t even legally drink.”

“Jessica invited us over.” She gave me a pointed look right before going into the bathroom to change. 

My face fell and I was hit by a pang of sadness. Jessica was pissed at me. Understandably so. I disappeared for almost six months with zero warning or contact. She agreed to come to the wedding, but had by no means forgiven me. Angela was much more forgiving, but I could tell that she was still hurt too. I really didn’t want to lie to them, but I didn’t have much choice. 

I got back in touch with Jess and Angela after everything with Victoria and the battle had settled down. At first they were ecstatic to hear from me, but that quickly devolved into anger when I tried to explain why I hadn’t responded to any of their calls, texts, or emails for six months. 

We kept up the story that I had gone to a dual enrollment technical program for my senior year that was located in California. Then I ran into Edward there and we eventually got back together. He wanted to add that there had been a lot of groveling and wooing on his end to help my friends understand that he was in it for life this time.

The reason for my radio silence was harder to explain. The only way to get around the truth was to just convince them that I was a complete bitch. I wanted a fresh start and opted to leave everything, and everyone, behind. I hated it. I loved my friends and they were always there for me, no matter what. To make them think that I was willing to just drop them for no reason hurt. But there was no other way to explain why I did what I did without raising dangerous questions. 

Leah came out of the bathroom in her dark purple dress. It was a taffeta off-shoulder gown that ended around her ankles with a short train in the back. The neckline was ruched in the center to create a subtle v-neck. It came in tight at the waist before gently widening out at her hips. 

“You look gorgeous!” I exclaimed.

She turned in front of the mirror and Alice came over to inspect her work. “I’ll just take it in a little more here.” She grabbed some of the fabric around Leah’s hips and added some pins to it. “And I’ll bring the sleeves down a little more.” She adjusted the sleeves and added more pins. “There. Perfect!” Alice beamed. 

Leah went to change back into her normal clothes as I sat there in thought. “Did Jess invite you over or did she invite us over?” I called out. 

She came back out and handed Alice the dress. “I’m spending the rest of the day with you, so the invitation would have to include the both of us.” She casually shrugged a shoulder. 

I deflated and gave her an unamused look. “She doesn’t want to see me. It’s a miracle she’s even coming to the wedding, given how mad she is.”

“But she shouldn’t be mad! Can’t we just tell her at least some of the truth?” Leah asked. “That you were in trouble and had to leave everything behind to stay safe.”

I shook my head. “She’s smart. She’ll ask more questions and you and I both know that certain knowledge could mean a death sentence for her. Are you willing to risk that?” 

Leah’s face drew down with an expression somewhere between sadness and anger. 

“Dani’s right. I know this doesn’t seem fair, but it’s to keep your friends safe.” Alice gave us a sympathetic look as she worked on the dress. 

“You’re still coming with me. I will force you two into a room together and you can fight it out.” Leah crossed her arms in determination. 

“If she tells me to leave, I’m leaving. I won’t push her to forgive me when she doesn’t want to.” I gave Leah a pointed look. 

She hooked her arm with mine. “We’ll see how it goes.” We walked down to my car and drove to Jessica’s together.

Jessica answered the door with a smile that immediately fell when she saw me. 

“Hey Jess.” I waved with a small, sad smile of my own. 

She looked at Leah and raised her eyebrows in question. 

“What? You guys are being stupid.” Leah accused. “Her bachelorette party is Thursday and, no matter what you say, you’re coming. You two will work this out and it will be amazing.” 

“I’m so sorry, Jess. About a lot of things, but right now about Leah. You know how stubborn she is.” I pursed my lips. 

“Hey! I’m right here!” Leah argued through a laugh. 

I bit back my own laugh. “I’m sure I’ve said way worse to your face.”

Her eyes narrowed at me. “Not really. You’re too nice. I’ll let it slide though, since you’re not wrong.” She smirked and looked at Jess again. “Can we come in or…?”

Jess rolled her eyes and stepped aside so we could enter. We got settled in her living room where she had pizza, popcorn, and a movie set up. It almost looked like she had set up for a date and I was now crashing it. I internally cringed and fought the urge to awkwardly excuse myself. Instead Leah forced us to start talking. 

“What I did was super shitty and stupid. I missed you so much but the longer I went without reaching out, the harder it became to try and open that door again. You absolutely did not deserve to be dropped the way that I dropped you. I’m so sorry.” I looked down at my hands in my lap. 

“You’re right, I didn’t deserve that.” Jess said bitterly. 

I looked up and could see Leah aggressively rolling her eyes. 

“She ditched me too, you know. Given that I went through a similar situation though, I kind of got it. I still have old friends that I never got back in touch with.” Leah shrugged. 

Jess sighed. “Fine. You can stay. It’s gonna take a lot more for me to forgive you and I’m gonna see if Ange can come over as a buffer here, but you can stay.” One side of her mouth pulled into the smallest smile. 

It was a start. “That sounds fair.” I smiled softly. 

Angela showed up about fifteen minutes later and gave me a quick hug. “Hey Dani. So one more week, huh? Are you excited?” She asked awkwardly. 

I smiled and bit my lip. “I really am.”

“Are you pregnant or something?” Jess asked with a crinkled nose. 

“Jessica!” Angela scolded. 

A laugh bubbled up from my chest. “No. Not pregnant. You’re not the first person to ask that though. We just know that we’re it for each other. No point in delaying the inevitable.” I smiled widely. 

“Well I think it’s romantic.” Angela matched my enthusiasm. “My parents were high school sweethearts.”

“They got married after college though.” Jessica side-eyed her. 

I shrugged. “We’re both ready for forever right now.”

Angela let out a little squeal. “See romantic.”

“Let’s just watch the movie.” Jess turned the TV on and started Mean Girls. 

It was terribly awkward until we all absolutely lost it at Amy Poehler playing Regina George’s “cool mom”. The tension lightened a little as we huddled together on her sofa eating snacks and watching one of my favorite high school movies. We were all slightly less uncomfortable together by the time the movie ended. 

“So how did he win you back, Dani?” Angela asked. 

I shrugged. “He was just there for me. He didn’t give up, but he didn’t push me for anything except to talk.” I smiled to myself. “He also apologized. A lot.” I could at least be truthful about this part.

“So no grand gestures or anything?” Jessica asked. 

“Those came after we got back together.” I chuckled. “He really fought for me first.” I pulled my lower lip between my teeth with a smile. 

Literally. 

“That’s how it should be.” Angela swooned. “Ben still does so much to show me how much he loves me.” 

“Yeah? What kind of things?” Leah asked.

“For example, he knows that I have a hard time getting up in the morning. So, all winter, every time it snowed, he would come to my house really early and clean all of my car windows off for me.” Angela smiled.

“Aww, that’s really sweet!” I smiled over at her.

“Yeah, that’s a pretty good move.” Jessica smirked.

“He also randomly brings me flowers all the time and he would leave little notes in my locker. Just silly things like how my hair looked really nice that day or that he heard me laugh down the hall and it made him smile.” Angela’s smile grew wider.

“Oh my god, that’s disgustingly cute.” Leah laughed lightly as Jess playfully pinched Angela's cheek.

We talked more about our college plans. Jess was going to the University of Washington in Seattle to study psychology with the long term goal of medical school. Angela was staying closer to home at a community college in Olympia where she would complete at least her first couple years of classes toward an education degree. She was hoping to eventually transfer to a four-year college to finish her degree. If the recession from my universe was going to happen here too, then she had the right idea.

Leah was still taking a break from college. I hated that her life had been derailed. I was hopeful that she’d be able to go back to school before too much longer. She really did deserve the world.

After catching up and talking more, I felt a little more hopeful that I might be able earn their trust back one day. 

Chapter Text

I have been scrubbed and waxed, had my eyelashes artificially enhanced, and my teeth whitened. Tomorrow would be my manicure and pedicure and I was over it. Though I was ready for my bachelorette party tonight. I wanted to get completely sloshed with my closest friends, get married, then spend an undefined amount of time on a remote island with my new husband. 

We were still in bed together. Edward was gently kissing his way down my neck as I woke up. His hand slid around my waist and up my shirt, caressing the skin on my side. 

“Mm. Good morning.” I murmured. 

“Good morning.” I could feel the smile on his lips as he spoke against my skin. 

I reached a hand up to run my fingers through his soft, autumn colored hair. He continued kissing along my neck until he got to that spot. The one right where my neck met my shoulder. He stayed there, firmly kissing and sucking right where he knew I was weakest. I let out a small moan. 

“Edward. Why are you doing this to me?” A frustrated laugh burst from my chest. 

He pulled back slightly. “Sorry. You just smell so good.” It came out as a moan as he brushed his nose up my neck. 

I growled at him. “Three days from this moment, you can do that as much as you want. Right now though, I’m gonna need you to stop.” 

He pulled back and gave me a crooked grin before firmly kissing me. Moving his hand out from beneath my shirt, he reached up to cup my face instead. 

Bright, golden eyes met mine as he pulled back. “Okay. I guess I can wait.” He smirked and pecked my lips before pulling me close to just hold me. 

“What are you doing today? When does Alice ban you from the house?” I asked as I ran the tips of my fingers along his forearm. 

“Soon. She’s frustrated that I’m still here now.” He chuckled. “I have errands I need to run. I would love to take you to lunch though.”

“I would love that too.” I smiled. “I actually don’t have anything scheduled today except the party tonight. I still have no idea what we’re doing though.” I huffed a laugh. 

“Yes. Alice does love her surprises.” He smirked and kissed me just beneath my jaw. 

“I like surprises too though. So we’re a good match.” I kissed his cheek before rolling out of the bed. I didn’t want Alice to have to come kick him out. “You go. I’ll see you later. Love you.”

Leaning down, I kissed him firmly then turned to our closet. Shopping with Alice resulted in an absurd amount of both designer and casual clothes being added to my collection. I was set on clothing for the foreseeable future. Our closet now consisted of ‘his and her’ sides since they moved me in. I took some clothes with me to the bathroom so I could get a shower and take care of my human needs. When I came back out Edward was gone, presumably running his ‘errands’, and a single purple calendula flower was left on the bed for me. I smiled as I picked it up and brought it to my nose. I added it to the vase by the window full of flowers that he had been regularly leaving for me. A collection of colorful calendulas and daisies. 

Downstairs Esme was busying herself with the flower arrangements for the rehearsal dinner the next day. 

“Morning Esme.” My bright voice matched my happy mood. 

“Dani. Good morning dear. What do you think?” She gestured toward the tall, cylindrical vase of sunflowers, blue foxgloves, cream peonies, and sweet woodruff for the greenery. 

“They’re beautiful, Esme.” I smiled. “As always, you’ve outdone yourself. This is such a good combination of flowers too.” My fingers gently brushed the petals of a sunflower. “Thank you.” I pulled her into a quick hug before moving to the cabinets to grab a granola bar to eat. 

“It is my pleasure, Dani.” She gave me the smallest frown as she watched me open the granola bar. 

It took a lot of convincing to get them to stop cooking for me for every meal. I was perfectly happy with the occasional quick breakfast. Especially when I had a million things to do. I kept up with practicing my magic with Maeve, learning new spells with a focus on mastering my ability to intentionally cast ones I’d become familiar with. I was also tutoring Seth again until the school year ended, helping with the wedding planning, planning at least the next five years of mine and Edward’s lives together, checking in on the pack regularly, and even taking the occasional trip with Edward. 

So far he had taken me to Yellowstone National Park and Savannah, Georgia where we visited the National Wildlife Refuge, took a moonlight trip to the beach, and went on a ghost tour of the city. He was saving France for our travels in the Fall when we would see half of Europe together. I was happy to go anywhere with him. He knew so much about every place we visited. My own personal, expert tour guide. 

The rest of the morning was spent breaking in my stupid high heels, then helping Emmett fix his broken controllers for his gaming systems and hack some of the cheat codes in his games. After the broken stove incident, I had gotten pretty good at using my ability to manipulate energy within electronics. I could easily rob an ATM at this point if I wanted to. Mostly I just used it to fix things. 

I met Edward for lunch at the diner, pretty much the only restaurant in town. As usual, he happily watched me eat my food. My fingers lazily traced up and down his arm as we talked about one of our recurring topics of discussion, music. 

“Okay, but how would you counter The Who, or Cream, or Jefferson Airplane? A lot of the 90’s bands you like have similar sounds.” He argued as I rolled my eyes. “I think, maybe, you truly are a die hard ‘60’s fan who was just introduced to the ‘90’s first. Your formative years have biased you.” A grin pulled at his lips. 

I laughed and laced my fingers with his. “Well, there’s Pearl Jam, The Offspring, and Neutral Milk Hotel.” Ticking them off on my fingers. “And again! I never said I didn’t like ‘60’s rock, I just think the ‘90’s were better. A lot of my favorite songs are from that era.” I shrugged. “I also really like ‘70’s music, which I know you despise. How someone can hate Queen, I’ll never understand.” I shook my head in disbelief.

His face briefly pulled down into an expression of near disgust. “Please. That is a topic for another decade. What is your favorite song then?” He asked with a crooked grin.

“That’s an impossible question!” My eyes widened. “It depends on my mood, where I am, what I’m doing, hell even the weather!” I laughed. 

“Okay then, right now. This mood, location, activity, and weather. Favorite song?” He ran his thumb over the side of my hand with a soft smile. 

I bit my lip and smiled back at him. “Right now, this moment?” I thought for a second. “‘Fade Into You’, by Mazzy Star. I’m feeling very sentimental lately.”

He smiled and narrowed his eyes. “That’s not the worst answer.” 

My heart leapt as I laughed and rolled my eyes. “What about you? Favorite song right now? ” 

“‘Let Me Belong To You’, Brian Hyland.” His eyes darkened and his mouth pulled up into a seductive smile. 

My brows furrowed. “I don’t actually know that one.” 

“I’ll sing it to you this weekend.” He said in a low voice as he pulled my hand to his lips. 

My eyes narrowed with suspicion. I was never more desperate for Spotify than at that moment. “On that note. I should get back.” I frowned and brushed my thumb over his hand. “Alice wants to dress me up or something for tonight.”

He chuckled as he stood up and pulled me from the booth and into his arms. 

“Have fun tonight. Not too much fun though.” He winked and leaned in to kiss me deeply. There were a couple cleared throats from other diner patrons before Edward quietly laughed and pulled away from the kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I sighed. “See you tomorrow.”

Alice braided my hair into a crown around my head and meticulously added small white flowers throughout the plaits. My hair had grown significantly over the past few months. It was now nearly to my mid-back again. Rose worked on my makeup while Leah got herself ready in the bathroom. She gave me a very dramatic smokey eye and burgundy lipstick, it seemed like a bit much but I was kind of feeling the gothic vibe. 

Once my hair and makeup were done, Alice handed me a long, black dress to wear. I changed into it and looked myself over in the mirror. The sleeves were fitted almost to my elbows before widening to flow down loosely around my arms. The round neckline dipped low over my chest and it fit tight down to my hips before flowing out and down past my feet. 

“Okay, now I look like a witch.” I turned and narrowed my eyes at them.

Leah came out in her own, loose black dress. Hers was a little shorter and sleeveless. She had black lipstick and gold eyeshadow, with black eyeliner. 

“And you look like a witch! A hot witch too!” I laughed. “What are we doing?”

“You’ll see!” Alice sang as her and Rose rushed off to get themselves ready.

Esme came back with them. They all wore beautiful black dresses and dark lipstick in stark contrast against their flawless, pale skin. They excitedly led me outside as soon as we were all ready. Instead of getting into the car to go somewhere, they led me toward the woods behind the house.  

“Am I about to be sacrificed? Because I’m definitely not on board for that.” I glanced around at them nervously. 

Alice laughed and took my hand. “No. Don’t worry, you’re going to love this.” 

Leah, Esme, and Rose wore matching smirks as they walked alongside us. I figured we were at the right spot when we found Maeve. She had set up an altar in the middle of the woods and created a large circle in the soil around where she was standing. 

“Maeve? What’s going on?” Whatever this was, it was the last thing I expected for my bachelorette party. 

“This is your initiation ceremony.” Maeve smiled. “It’s about time you had a coven.”

My eyes widened and my face broke into a smile. Maeve used her own athame to open a sacred circle as soon as we all stepped inside to start the ritual. They surrounded me, each holding a candle of a different color. Alice with yellow, Leah with red, Rose had a blue candle, and Esme’s was green. 

Maeve then invoked the elements through the Divine Spirits of each direction starting with Alice in the East, representing air. She approached me with a smile and I laughed as she blew on me, blessing me with her air. Next Leah waved incense around me, blessing me with fire for the South. Rose sprinkled blessed water over me from the West, and Esme as the North smudged soil on my forehead. 

Once that was done, Maeve led us in a prayer to the God and Goddess where she asked them to welcome and bless me and my coven. I could feel the magic building within the circle as she spoke. 

Maeve stepped forward and kissed both of my cheeks. As soon as she completed the ritual I was dropped into what I could only describe as a sort of vision. 

I watched as a coven of witches performed their own ritual together. The scene felt ancient, like I was looking in on one of the original covens. Their long, black gowns were handmade and covered with thick, wool hooded cloaks. They blessed each other and shared their gifts. I could feel the magic flowing between them as they sang a low, enchanting song and danced together within their own sacred circle deep within the thriving forest. 

The vision abruptly faded into a new one. This time one of the future. I was standing in a circle, like the one we were in now, with a large group of women. There were nearly a dozen of us, all dressed in more modern black, hooded gowns. A beautiful young woman with bright, green eyes and waves of deep, auburn hair stood smiling at the center of the circle. I moved forward to bless her and welcome her to the coven. I kissed her on each cheek and she pulled me into a hug. 

I quickly came back around feeling full of life and hope. Warm tears fell to my cheeks as I laughed. The others were watching me with wide eyes. I kept laughing as I turned to look at each of them. It was the only thing I could do to try and manage the feeling of joy and pure power flowing through me. I could feel the magic from all of them. It was as though all of our magic had been pooled together and flowed freely within the circle.

Maeve began to ring a bell as she smiled widely and her own tears fell to her cheeks. She started singing the same song the ancient witches sang in my vision and dancing within the circle. Without missing a beat, I started to dance and sing with her. 

One by one, I grabbed the others, kissing their cheeks and pulling them in to dance with us. We danced within our sacred circle, sharing our power in what felt like an unbreakable bond until the Sun set in the West. Maeve closed the circle and the gathered power returned to each of us as the light in the sky slowly faded.

We made our way back to the house and compared our experiences. They all felt the same thing I did and Maeve saw the same vision as well. Our shared power flowed through each of us as long as the circle was open. We were now bound together. A coven of powerful women, each with our own magic, our own histories, and now a joined path. 

Esme and Maeve stayed back, stating that they wanted to spend the evening getting to know each other better while we went out. Alice pulled me back up to her room where she touched up my makeup and gave me a new dress to wear. Short and white this time. A V-neck dress ending just above my knees with flowing bell sleeves. 

Rose pulled the flowers out of my hair and undid the crown braid, letting my waves fall free. As we were all changing, Jessica and Angela arrived. Alice brought them upstairs to get ready for the next phase of the evening and disappeared with Rose to get ready themselves. Leah greeted Jess with a quick kiss who blushed up at her with a shy smile.

“You came!” I exclaimed as I got up and pulled them both into a hug. I was still feeling the overwhelming joy from the ritual and was a little giddy with it.  

“You look great, Dani.” Angela smiled. 

“Seriously, you’re practically glowing.” Jess gave me a small smirk, pursing her lips to one side. 

“Thank you. You both look amazing too!” I took in their outfits. 

They were both wearing short party dresses. Jessica in a shiny, red, strapless dress and Angela in a deep blue dress with long, loose sleeves and a square neckline. Their hair and makeup were done up for a night out. 

“Do you have any idea what we’re doing tonight? They won’t tell me.” I rolled my eyes as I smiled. 

“Leah just said to dress for the clubs.” Jessica’s smile widened and she shimmied her shoulders. 

Alice and Rosalie came back, now in different dresses looking like they came straight out of a fashion magazine. Alice had a little black dress with multiple thin straps cross-crossing over the back and Rose’s dress was an emerald green, off-shoulder dress that belonged more on a runway than in a club. To be fair, Rose could have worn a potato sack and she’d still look runway ready. 

“Okay! Our ride is here.” Alice exclaimed before leading us outside.

“Seriously? A limo?!” I looked at them with wide eyes.

“We’re going to need a driver and wanted to make sure we could all ride together.” Leah shrugged.

As soon as we piled into the limo it turned back down the driveway and headed toward the highway.

“Okay, you’re each going to need these. You don’t need to drink if you don’t want to, but you’ll need them to get into the bars.” Alice started handing ID’s out to each of us. 

They were definitely fake, mine said I was twenty-three, but they looked so real they could probably fool the FBI.

“I don’t know about this.” Angela eyed hers skeptically.

“Don’t worry, we won’t let you get into any trouble and there’s absolutely no pressure to do anything with it but get into the twenty-one and up places we’ll be hitting. Me and Rose won’t be drinking either.” Alice winked at her and Angela relaxed a little.

Leah pulled a bottle of champagne from a small fridge in the limo and pulled the cork out. “Well, I am drinking and Dani, you are too.” Leah smiled as she poured champagne into plastic flutes. “Jess, Ange?” She offered.

“Yes, please.” Jessica smiled as she took one of the flutes.

“Maybe just a little.” Angela smirked as she grabbed one as well.

They toasted to my last couple nights of ‘freedom’ and I smirked as we downed our drinks. Leah quickly refilled mine, hers, and Jessica’s glasses. Angela passed, still sipping on her own. 

“Okay, I think now is when you share the proposal story.” Rosalie smiled.

“Yes! You never told us how he proposed!” Jessica beamed, clearly feeling the champagne already.

I smiled back at them. “Well, when he first asked me, during a moment of partial duress,” I rolled my eyes, “I told him to ask me again when things calmed back down.”

“Smart. So how long did he wait?” Angela asked.

“Too long.” I laughed. “We were packing for a trip together almost a month later and I asked him to marry me. It was sort of spur of the moment.” I shrugged. “He said yes, then pulled this out for me.” I showed them the ring. “It was his mother’s.” 

I smiled softly at the beautiful gold ring I’d been wearing for the past three months. They jumped straight to swooning over it and congratulating me. 

“At least he didn’t put it into your food.” Leah started cackling. “I’ve seen you eat. You would have choked and died.”

“Hey!” I laughed. 

During the drive, they took turns handing me gifts to open. They consisted almost exclusively of lingerie. Everything ranging from tiny nightgowns to crotchless underwear. We burst into fits of laughter over one particular piece from Alice that looked like it was just a pile of strings. 

“Does this come with a manual?!” I laughed. “How the hell do I put it on?”

We were dying from laughter as Alice tried to demonstrate how to wear it over her own dress. There was no way I was getting that thing on myself.

Angela surprised us all with her gift of flavored lube plus a set of furry handcuffs and a blindfold. I stared at her, wide-eyed, after I read the bottle. 

“Strawberry lube?! Who are you?!” I laughed, throwing my head back at her clear embarrassment. 

Angela turned beet red as she laughed. “It was Jessica’s idea! We went shopping together!”

“I think you’re both going to love it.” Jess winked as we all burst into another fit of laughter. 

After just over an hour of driving, the car slowed. We were in the heart of Port Angeles pulling up to a cluster of bars and, what looked like, one actual nightclub. Alice reached over and put a tiara on my head, “There, perfect!” and we climbed out of the limo. 

“This is for you too.” Rose smiled as she put a ‘Bachelorette’ sash over my head and carefully positioned it across my torso.

“This is ridiculous. I feel like a pageant reject.” With a snorted laugh, I looked down at the absurd, bright pink sash.

“It’s tradition!” Alice beamed.

I scoffed. “Whose tradition?!”

“Everyone’s.” Rose rolled her eyes with her own smile. “Now, it’s ladies’ night pretty much everywhere. So, we’re starting here and making our way down the bars until either you pass out or we hit the end.”

Leah gave me a wicked smile. “And you can’t turn down drinks. If someone offers to buy you a drink, you have to accept.”

“What?! That’s definitely not a thing!” I looked around as they all continued to laugh at my horror and led us into the first bar.

They checked our IDs and Leah ordered a round of shots for me, her and Jess. 

“If I die, Edward will kill you all.” I glared as I downed my tequila shot. “Agh!” My face pulled into a grimace as the fiery liquor burned down my throat.

“You won’t die. I’m sure you can hold your liquor.” Leah winked at me and took her shot with much more composure than I did.

It was definitely possible. Given how fast I healed, I thought maybe I could drink more than the average human. 

Within five minutes, a cute guy who had been eying Leah came over and offered us another round of drinks. He ordered cosmos for us, with Angela actually accepting one. She loved the idea of having a Sex and the City experience with us. Leah threw her arm around Jessica, pulling her into her lap, and cocked an eyebrow at the guy. He seemed to get the hint and congratulated me before wishing us a good night. 

Alice and Rosalie were almost constantly having to scare away the men who were bold enough to actually approach them. I laughed as Rose stared down a guy who asked if it hurt when she ‘fell from heaven’. He stumbled into a chair as he tried to compose himself and escape from her icy glare.

We moved on to the next bar after one more round of cocktails and the night went on that way. We would have two or three rounds, do whatever gimmicky thing the bar had going on, then move on. We all sang ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ together at one bar that had a karaoke machine set up on their stage. I only agreed to go up if we all went as a group. Half of us sang out of key and the other half sounded like a choir of angels. It was hilariously awful. When we got to the nightclub, I immediately pulled everyone to the dance floor. I was pretty drunk by this point and was more than ready to dance. There were multicolored lights flashing over the dance floor and ‘Everytime We Touch’ was playing over the speakers.

“I love this song!” I yelled over the music as I started to dance. 

Alice and I were dancing together and Leah danced closely with Jess. Rose made her way to the bar to get another round of drinks for us. I reached for Angela to pull her over to me and Alice just as a guy came up behind her. She tried to move away and he grabbed her waist. She was clearly very uncomfortable. When she tried to pull away from him, he held her tighter and whispered something in her ear. My head cleared for a moment and I stopped dancing. I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to throw this guy into a wall.

“I have a boyfriend.” Angela muttered.

“We can just be friends.” He smirked.

“Nope!” I exclaimed and grabbed his shirt. “Get the fuck away from my friend!”

He scowled at me. “This is between me and her. Back off bachelorette Barbie.”

“No, it’s between us now. Let her go.” His eyes went blank and he immediately released his hold on her waist. “Now get the fuck out of here and stop grabbing women without their consent!” I hissed at him through gritted teeth as I pushed him away.

He turned and left the club in a rush. Alice narrowed her eyes at me in suspicion.

“Holy shit, Dani!” Jessica exclaimed. “You put the fear of god in that guy!” She laughed.

“You okay, Ange?” I asked her as she stood there frowning.

“Yeah, that’s just never happened to me before.” She spoke quietly. 

“Well, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.” I gently squeezed her arm. “Do you want to go sit?”

She shook her head. “No, let’s keep dancing. I know how much you love to dance.” She smiled softly and grabbed my hands.

Rose came back and gently bumped her hip to mine as she handed me a cocktail. My eyes widened at yet another drink. We continued to dance as a group until a bartender came over with a tray of shots for us ‘on the house’. Leah, Jess, and I each took two, given Alice, Rose, and Angela weren’t drinking. That was about when the evening started to get really fuzzy.

I slowly awoke to, I assumed, Edward running his fingers through my hair. My head was killing me, my mouth was the Sahara Desert, and I was definitely about to throw up. At least I was on our bed, I could feel him lying behind me.

“Oh my god.” I groaned as I rolled off the bed to the floor and sprinted to the bathroom, throwing the door closed behind me. Immediately after quickly throwing the toilet seat up, I purged everything that was in my stomach.

“Dani?” Edward’s worried voice came from the other side of the door.

“Stay there! I don’t want you to watch me die!” I groaned right before throwing up again.

He was suddenly behind me, holding my hair back and rubbing a hand over my back. “What did they do to you?” Worry filled his voice.

“Ugh, I thought my super healing would protect me from a hangover. I made a huge mistake.” I dry heaved into the toilet. “Please, Edward. I don’t want you to see this.” I whined.

He chuckled as he continued to rub my back. “In sickness and in health, right? Might as well start now.” I felt him gently kiss the back of my neck.

I closed and flushed the toilet then rinsed my mouth out with water straight from the sink faucet. “I’m dying.” My face fell to the cold floor as I moaned in agony. 

Edward gently lifted me into his lap. “You’re not dying.” He brought me back into the room and laid me on the bed. “I’ll get you some water and medicine.” 

He returned seconds later with a bottle of water and a bottle of pills. I popped two pills in my mouth without even looking at them and chugged the water. “I remember nothing after the dance club.” I flopped back down and buried my face in the pillows.

“Well, I really only know what happened after you got back home.” There was clearly a smile in his voice. I groaned into the pillow. “Alice helped you get ready for bed, she was planning to have you sleep in her room. Instead you teleported in here.”

I lifted my head just enough to turn it and look at him in confusion. “Teleporting while drunk is never a good idea. Am I dead now? Is this hell?” The pounding in my head seemed to match the rhythm of my heartbeat. So probably not dead.

He laughed. “No, you didn’t die. You did try pretty hard to seduce me though.” He raised an eyebrow.

I was hit by a vague memory of trying to take his pants off of him as I pushed him onto the bed. “Oh my god!” I moaned and put my face back into the pillows.

He kept laughing. “I resisted your charms, I deserve a medal of honor by the way, and you promptly passed out.”

“And now I’m dying.” I spoke into the pillows.

He continued failing to fight back his laughter as he rubbed my back and I waited for my head to stop throbbing. The world was still spinning as I slowly sat up. I leaned into Edward’s side and he wrapped an arm around me.

“I need a shower and maybe a doctor.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him tight.

He kissed the top of my head. “You get a shower, I’ll have breakfast for you when you’re ready to come down. Your friends are still here, by the way.”

My eyes widened. “Did they see me teleport in here?”

He chuckled. “Not that I know of. They were pretty out of it too. Except Leah. It appears her increased body temperature burns alcohol off pretty quickly. So she can probably fill you in on the rest of the night.” He gently kissed my head before leaving me to die, or get ready, whichever happened first.

I brushed my teeth, took a cool shower, and brushed my teeth again for good measure. After getting dressed, I slowly made my way down the stairs. I still felt like I might die at any moment, but at least the pounding in my head had somewhat subsided. Alice stopped me on the second floor landing. 

“Your mani/pedi is in three hours. Then we need to get you ready for the rehearsal dinner.” She beamed at me. 

“Alice. I love you. I would die for you. But please take your voice down like two octaves. I’m pretty sure I’m about to die.” I leaned into her side and let her help me down the stairs. 

She gave me a guilty smile. “Sorry, Dani. We all thought your ability to heal would extend to your liver. It appears we were wrong.” She shrugged. “Now we know!”

“Agh, the voice again.” I let out a pained whimper as she pressed her lips together to bite back a laugh. 

We made it downstairs where Edward and Esme were handing out pancakes, eggs, and bacon to Jessica, Angela, and Leah. The former two were slumped over the counter at the bar and Leah was sitting there with a small smirk as she sipped her coffee. I walked toward the kitchen to get myself some coffee. Edward immediately knew what I needed and had a cup ready for me. He kissed my cheek as he handed me the steaming mug of liquid that would hopefully keep me from dying. 

“Thanks.” I bit my lip and smiled at him as I took a seat next to Leah at the bar. God he was thoughtful and beautiful and in one more day he was going to be my husband. 

“You’re very welcome.” He gave me a crooked smile in return and my heart melted. 

“Rein it in you two.” Leah pointed between us. “You have guests.”

I snorted a laugh as I took a sip of coffee. “You two okay?” I looked past Leah to Jess and Angela. 

Angela threw a thumb up while Jess let out a low groan and I snorted a laugh. Esme quickly put a plate of pancakes and eggs in front of me. “Eat, dear. Food will help.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. 

“Thanks, Esme.” I returned her smile and started in on the pancakes.

They hung out just long enough to eat and sober up. Jessica and Angela gave me genuine hugs before heading out. It appeared a lot of drunken bonding happened the night before. Leah stayed behind, since she needed to be here for the rehearsal dinner anyway.

I turned to her and Alice as soon as they were gone. “What happened last night? I remember almost nothing after the free shots at the nightclub.” I put my face in my hands.

“Well you had a blast.” Leah gave me a teasing smirk.

“We all did!” Alice laughed lightly.

“You did that weird Jedi mind trick thing a couple more times though.” Leah side-eyed me and Alice’s smile dropped.

I grimaced. “How bad was it?”

Leah laughed at my clear mortification. “Not too bad, once on a bouncer who tried to turn us away, claiming there was no way we were over twenty-one. Another time on a guy who was persistently hitting on Alice. Which she definitely could have handled by the way.”

I dropped my head back into my hands with a groan.

“I thought you didn’t like using that particular ability?” Alice spoke up.

I turned my head to look over at her. “I usually don't. I just had to use it a lot last year. I kind of got used to it.” She slowly nodded her head as I pursed my lips. “Seriously, I really only use it on assholes who can’t take no for an answer.” I smirked at her and she seemed to relax a little.

“I thought it was great.” Rosalie grinned as she joined us from upstairs. “They all deserved it.”

“Speaking of! You absolutely destroyed some guy who tried to convince you to enjoy your last night of fun with him.” Leah made a disgusted face and Edward’s head snapped up from the kitchen where he was cleaning up from breakfast. He looked like he was scanning their thoughts for more information.

My brow furrowed. “I don’t remember that either.”

“You said, and I quote, ‘Ew. If you knew my fiancé, there’s no way you’d be calling this my last night of fun’.” Leah cackled. “Then you threatened him with bodily harm if he tried to touch you again. I was so proud.” She pinched my cheek and I swatted her away.

Edward pressed his lips together and his eyes darkened as they met mine. I smirked and winked at him. 

“Well, I wasn’t wrong.” I shrugged. “Anything else that I need to spend the rest of eternity internally cringing over?” I looked between them.

“There was the limo ride back.” Rosalie raised an eyebrow and Leah burst into laughter.

“Oh god. Please just kill me. What happened in the limo?” I held my cheeks in my hands and rubbed my fingers into my closed eyeballs.

“It really wasn’t that bad. You were having fun, you just confused Jess and Angela.” I looked back up and Alice smiled. My brows drew down as I grew more concerned.

Leah jumped in to explain. “Well, we were up in the sunroof, as we should have been, and you kept turning all the red lights green by pointing at them and saying ‘boop’. We all had to pretend that it was just the coolest coincidence ever.”

My own laughter joined theirs. “I think I actually remember that! I guess it could have been worse.” My laughter picked up.

Edward came around and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I leaned back into him and held onto his arms. When I looked up at him, he bent down to kiss me. My heartbeat sped up as he pulled back with a lopsided smirk.

“Save it for tomorrow you two.” Leah quipped.

“Keep complaining, Leah.” I reached up and kissed him again. 

The rehearsal dinner that evening went well, everything was ready for the next day. Alice actually found an officiant who had no problem incorporating both the Wiccan and the standard wedding traditions into the ceremony for us. 

After the rehearsal dinner, Edward walked me up to our room to say goodbye. He was going out hunting in the mountains with Jasper and Emmett for his own bachelor party. I wouldn’t get to see him again until we met at the altar. 

He took my hands and leaned down to kiss me softly. I laced our fingers together and tilted my head to deepen the kiss. He pulled back with a small laugh.

“One more day.” He smiled. 

I let his hands go and reached my arms around his neck. “Then forever.”

His smile widened. “This is going to be the longest day of my existence.”

“I somehow doubt that.” Surely he had been through much worse. I hummed contentedly and reached up to give him another quick kiss.

“You get some rest.” He rubbed his nose against mine. “Alice wants you up early to start getting ready.”

I blew a breath out from my puffed cheeks. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to sleep without you.” It had been months since I last slept alone.

He reached a hand up to gently stroke my cheek. “Just this one night, then never again.” His voice grew brighter with his widening smile. “I’ll meet you at the altar.” 

“Hopefully you’ll recognize me. I have no idea what Alice and Rose are planning to do to me.” I smirked up at him.

His hand moved down to the side of my neck. “I’ll always recognize you.” He pulled me closer to firmly kiss me before Emmett started banging on the door.

“Don’t make me come in there, Ed!” He bellowed from the other side of the door.

I shook my head and gently pushed him toward the door. “Go. Have fun. I love you.”

“I love you too.” His gaze softened and he turned to open the door just as Emmett went to bang on it again, causing him to stumble slightly into the room before catching himself.

“Let’s gooo!” Emmett called out with a huge smile. “Promise to bring him back in one piece, little witch. Probably.” Emmett winked before wrapping an arm around Edward’s shoulders and flashing away.

I closed the door with a wave of my hand and got settled in for bed. Just one more day, then forever.

Chapter Text

Alice woke me up bright and early by waving a latte under my nose. I slept terribly that night. First of all, I was a nervous wreck. Then I repeatedly woke up looking for Edward and struggled to fall back to sleep each time. I grabbed the latte from her and groaned as I sipped it. 

“Thank you.” My raspy voice came with a weary frown. 

She smiled widely. “It’s your wedding day!”

It was impossible to not return her excitement as a giddy smile spread over my own face. 

“Okay. You finish that, then come downstairs. We have a lot of work to do!” She clapped her hands and disappeared.

After a full breakfast from Esme, Alice immediately got to work. Preparing me to walk down the aisle was, apparently, going to be a long process. 

Rose was carefully twisting and lacing my hair together, creating some kind of complex, loose braid at the back of my head. As she finished, she began adding small pearl pins and baby’s breath into the twists. When she was done, she held up a mirror to show me her work.

“It’s gorgeous, Rose!” A wide smile spread over my face as I took it all in.

I looked like a Greek goddess. A few strands of hair fell in soft waves at the sides of my face, while the rest was loosely pulled back into the twists. It fell just between my shoulder blades and was tied off in a way that looked like there was nothing holding it together. The pearls and flowers added a natural element that fit the look I was hoping for. 

After she was done with my hair, Rosalie moved on to helping Leah with her makeup in the bathroom attached to Alice’s room. I sat in a white, satin robe as Alice worked on my makeup by her large mirror. The dress was still a complete mystery to me. Alice assured me it was ready though. As she started on my lipstick, Maeve came in with a short knock. She was wearing a light purple, floor length dress with lace sleeves that wrapped all the way around her shoulders. Her long blonde hair was worked into an elegant chignon bun. She looked gorgeous.

“Dani, you look beautiful!” She smiled and put a hand over her mouth. 

I smiled back, to Alice’s minor annoyance. “Thank you. So do you!” I waved a hand in her direction.

“Don’t move your lips, Dani. I’m almost done.” Alice chided. 

“Sorry.” I replied, keeping my lips as still as possible as she continued applying lip liner. 

“Charlie is very uncomfortable out there on his own, but I just had to come see you!” Maeve gushed. 

She and Charlie Swan had gotten close while he was helping her get everything settled with the arson case. I got over my crush pretty quickly after spending some more time with him. He was, honestly, kind of boring. His main interests were fishing and watching various ‘sportsball’ games. Charlie also had nothing on my fiancé, but I was so happy that he and Maeve had hit it off. They had been going out pretty regularly so I was expecting her to bring him as her date for the wedding. She absolutely deserved to have her own love story.

Maeve took a moment to do some spiritual cleansing while they continued getting us all ready. She smudged the room with sage and added some crystals around in the windows to keep the space pure for us. 

As soon as Alice was done, she turned me around to look in the mirror. My eye makeup consisted of brown, double winged eyeliner and a couple different shades of gold and brown eyeshadow. Alice applied a light pink lipstick that came close to my natural lip color, so it didn’t overwhelm my face. I still looked mostly like myself, just more.

“You look perfect.” Rose smiled softly. 

She was right, it was absolutely perfect. “Thank you. You ladies did an amazing job here.”

“Now the dress!” Alice flashed away before reappearing with a large dress bag.

She hung the bag up and opened it. Inside was a collection of white and cream colored fabric. I could tell that it had a low V-neckline and some lace mixed in, but not much else without putting it on. They helped me into the dress and took me over to the mirror. Leah joined us from the bathroom where she had just finished getting herself ready. Her own dark purple dress fluttering around her as she walked out. 

“Oh, Dani. You look absolutely perfect.” Maeve started to get weepy.

Both the front and back of the dress were low ‘V’s, with the front dipping between my breasts, while the back went lower, just above my hips. The material was loose and soft. The waist consisted of a few inches of translucent lace that wrapped all the way around before flowing out in the same soft, cream fabric in a multi-layered long skirt. The back of the skirt trailed out into a train and the front stopped a few inches past my feet. The sleeves stopped at the ends of my shoulders and split into two, long pieces of fabric that fluttered down to my hands. It would leave my scars and tattoo clearly visible, she knew I didn’t want to hide them today. I both looked and felt like a goddess in it.

I looked over at Alice. Her face was split into the widest smile and her eyes were glistening. “This is so beautiful, Alice. I don’t even know how to thank you.” I dabbed at my own tears as they tried to escape. 

“No thanks are necessary. You’re going to be my sister in another hour.” She quickly wiped one of my tears away with a tissue. “No crying though, you’ll ruin my masterpiece.” She pulled me into a tight hug.

I breathed out a teary laugh as I held her tight. Looking up, I noticed Leah frowning behind her. “You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, you look amazing.” She smiled sadly. “It’s just…” She waved weakly to the mirror behind me.

I pulled away from Alice and turned a little to see the four scars trailing down between my shoulder blades to my lower back. “Right. I forget that they’re even there most of the time.” They were clearly a painful reminder for her, so definitely not worth keeping around. I focused on the scars and pulled at the magic for the repair spell and a healing spell. The scars slowly vanished before our eyes. 

“Woah!” Leah came over and carefully ran her fingers over my back. “They’re gone?”

I smiled softly back at her. “They’re gone.”

“How did you do that?” Maeve asked.

“I just used a healing spell plus the magic from that spell you made me use to fix the same mug a hundred times.” I gave her a slightly annoyed look.

Her brow furrowed in confusion. “You combined them without an incantation?”

It wasn’t the first time I had done something like that. “Yeah, it’s how I healed the scar on my face too.”

Her face pulled into a small frown. “I didn’t know that was possible. I think you might have created a new spell without even knowing it.”

I pursed my lips in thought. “I didn’t even think about it that way. I just knew that I can feel the magic for both spells and used them together.”

“Huh. Well, it was very impressive.” Maeve composed herself and pulled me in for a small hug. “It’s almost time.” She gently squeezed my arms as her pale blue eyes glistened with tears.

Leah helped me put my long, blue sapphire earrings in and Alice handed me the shoes. They helped me put the too tall stilettos on without dying and we slowly made our way downstairs. I could hear the gathering outside as the guests were talking. It was relatively small. We invited the entire pack, the Denali coven, Billy, Sue, Harry, and our friends from school. 

The only people who chose not to come were Sam, Jared, and Paul. They each had their imprints now and didn’t like the idea of being around a large group of vampires. I was a little hurt that Sam and Emily weren’t coming, but tried my best to understand.

I nervously looked out the window and saw the guests standing around, sticking to their respective groups. It would have been funny if it weren’t so sad. The wolves, vampires, and humans all seemed to naturally gather separately, keeping a safe distance from each other. I immediately noticed Tanya, Irina, and Kate. Three beautiful, blonde succubi, one of whom had the serious hots for my soon-to-be husband. 

I looked at Alice and asked as quietly as I could, “Which one is Tanya?”

She tilted her head and gave me a half smirk before she pointed to the shorter woman with a head full of blonde curls. I nodded thoughtfully. She was gorgeous, they all were. I wasn’t going to let it get to me though. According to the books Edward wasn’t interested, but I worried a little that maybe she still was. She glanced at the window and we locked eyes for a moment before I awkwardly turned away. 

Esme called into the room without coming inside, so she wouldn’t see me. “It is almost time! Rose, go take a seat. The rest of you, places!” 

The bridal party picked up their gold bowls with their offerings and made their way to the doors. Maeve and I were supposed to hang back until after Edward and Esme made it to the altar. Then we would move to the door to head down the aisle after the rest of the bridal party. 

As the music from the string quartet started up, I grew incredibly anxious. I had zero doubts about marrying him, it just all hit me suddenly. I was minutes away from marrying my soulmate in front of everyone that I cared about most. I tried to get my racing heart in check as Alice and Jasper left to walk down the aisle, followed by Leah and Emmett throwing a wink back at me as they slipped out the doors. 

With a deep breath, I relaxed slightly and stepped forward with Maeve holding one arm. She was the only person I trusted to give me away.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

I nodded. “Yeah.” My voice broke a little and I cleared my throat. “Nervous.” I huffed a shaky laugh.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” She smiled softly and patted the hand I had wrapped around her arm.

My heart felt full as I smiled down at her. She was the closest thing I had to a mother here and I couldn’t imagine doing this without her. “I know. Thank you.”

“Your turn.” She whispered just as the doors opened.

We slowly made our way outside as the music changed. They had completely transformed the backyard. Strings of white flowers adorned with small lanterns criss-crossed overhead. There were white chairs arranged into a circular shape around the altar at the front. The aisle consisted of a white runner lined with a variety of golden-yellow and blue flower petals, the color scheme that we had chosen. 

I made my way toward the end of the aisle and looked up as everyone stood up together. There he was looking absolutely perfect in his traditional black tuxedo with a gold necktie. Our eyes met and his lips pulled up into an awed smile. I fought back both tears and the urge to run to him as my own smile spread.

Maeve led me down the aisle toward him to the tempo of the music. I barely registered the guests watching me as we passed them. When we got to the front, she kissed my cheek and passed my right hand to Edward’s left. We took each other’s hands and I felt a tear fall. Thankfully, Alice thought ahead enough to use waterproof mascara. I was definitely going to need it. He reached up and gently wiped the tear away before taking my hand again.

“Hey.” I whispered.

His smile widened. “Hey.”

The officiant started the ceremony. We stood before her near the table where they had placed their offerings. Each in gold bowls. One with feathers to represent air, another with a candle for fire, a bowl of saltwater, and the last one held a collection of stones for earth. 

She started by creating and opening a sacred circle around the ceremony. It was lined with flowers, stones, and crystals. Next she called on the Divine Spirits of each direction to bless our union. I kept my eyes on Edward the entire time. Completely unable to look away from his bright, golden eyes as his soul poured into mine.

The officiant quickly moved on to the handfasting ceremony. She explained that this would bind our lives and souls together for eternity. The vows we were about to make could not be broken and should not be taken lightly. 

“With this knowledge, Edward Cullen and Danielle Baker, is it your intention to make this commitment to each other?” She asked us. 

“It is.” We replied together with wide smiles.

She started to wrap the blue and gold cords around our joined hands. His right hand was bound to my left hand. As she wrapped the cords around us, she asked if we would vow to share in each other’s pain and joy, hardships and dreams. We both affirmed each of these vows, “I will”, as she continued binding us together. 

I could feel the magic connecting us to each other as she continued. She asked us both if we would continue to work to strengthen the bond between us and treat each other with honor and respect as equals. 

“I will.” We both responded as I felt tears building again. 

“Then let the binding be so.” She finished.

Our hands remained bound together as she moved on to the exchanging of rings. She recited the traditional vows this time, with us each repeating our vows to each other.

“I, Edward Cullen, take you, Danielle Baker, to be my wedded wife, to love, honor, and cherish from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.” His voice remained steady and a couple more tears escaped from my eyes as he placed a small, gold wedding band onto my left ring finger.

I repeated the same vows to him and shakily placed a larger gold band on him. We took each other’s hands again and he rubbed soothing circles over the backs of mine with his thumbs. He was absolutely beaming, his eyes glistening with tears he could never shed, as our vows were completed and the officiant continued.

“Edward and Danielle, having proclaimed the bond of your lives and souls together in the presence of these witnesses and the power vested in me by the state of Washington, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now seal your bond with a kiss.”

A joyful sob escaped from my chest as Edward held my face in his hands and pressed his lips to mine. I vaguely heard the cheers of the guests as I reached a hand up to the side of his neck and continued kissing him. I could feel it. The bond we just forged was tangible and eternal. 

He pulled his lips from mine and kissed me once more before pulling back to meet my eyes. His topaz eyes were elated and alive. The cheers of the crowd grew louder and we slowly turned to face our guests and held our bound hands up in the air. The officiant closed the sacred circle and removed the cords from our hands. We made our way back down the aisle together as husband and wife.

The next hour was spent taking literally thousands of pictures. By the end, I was ready to take my shoes off and eat everything in sight. I was starving. As we were taking photos, the area where the ceremony had taken place was being transformed for the reception. We returned to the group just as they had all gathered at their tables and the band was setting up. Edward and I were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Cullen. I held his hand tightly in mine, unwilling to be parted from him again. 

We went around the space together, greeting the guests as they congratulated us. The band started playing quietly as Edward led me to the dance floor. The lead singer asked for everyone’s attention.

“The groom made a unique request for the first dance this evening. The song we’ll be playing was actually composed by him for his bride. After much practice and many consultations with the artist himself, we are hopeful that we’ll do it justice. Congratulations to the both of you.” He sat down at the piano on stage and led a slow countdown before they started to play.

Edward pulled me close. “I hope you like it.” He said quietly as he led me around the dance floor in a waltz.

It was a slow, joyful melody that filled me with a sense of completeness and euphoria. Every note came together in perfect harmony. The music swept over me, tension rising in my chest as tears built in my eyes. I moved the hand I had on his shoulder to the nape of his neck and ran my fingers through his hair. We were nearly at eye level, so he barely had to lean down when he kissed me gently.

I smiled back at him through tears. “It’s perfect.” 

We continued to dance until the music faded. He pulled me close again and leaned his forehead against mine. “I don’t think there has ever been anyone more beautiful than you Mrs. Cullen.” 

A teary chuckle escaped my lips as I reached up to cup his face. “And there has never been anyone as handsome or incredible as you, Mr. Cullen.” I wiped another tear away before it could fall to my cheek.

He leaned slightly forward to press his lips against mine as the band started playing a more upbeat song and the others made their way to the dance floor. Our guests began to approach us and he reluctantly pulled away so we could greet them.

Seth rushed over and pulled me into a hug. He was somehow taller than me even with my heels. His face had lost its baby fat and his jawline had grown more square. This boy who was like a little brother to me now looked more like a grown man than the sixteen year old kid that he was supposed to be.

“You look amazing, Dani! Congrats Edward.” A wide smile spread over his face.

Edward shook his hand. “Thank you, Seth. She really does, doesn’t she?” He looked over at me with a smirk.

My attention returned to Seth. “Thanks, Seth. I’m so glad you’re here.” I roughly ran a hand over his hair, like I used to when he was still shorter than me. He laughed as he pulled away, making me promise to save him a dance before he went to find something to eat. 

More members of the pack followed after Seth. I was baffled that they all somehow managed to find suits that actually fit their enormous frames. Jake pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead while Edward watched with a soft smile. This scene played out so differently in the book, it was a little strange to see no animosity between them. 

“Congratulations, both of you.” Jake smiled brightly as he introduced his date. “This is Amanda. You may have seen her around the reservation, she’s in the year below us.”

She was nearly as tall as Leah. Her long black hair was styled in multiple braids that wrapped delicately around her head. She had wide, brown eyes and a very pretty, round face. 

“I don’t think I have, it’s so nice to meet you Amanda.” I smiled and placed a hand on her covered shoulder. I was going to need to be careful to avoid touching anyone new throughout the evening.

“You look so beautiful, Danielle. Congratulations.” She smiled shyly as she glanced between me and Edward.

We were chatting with Charlie and Maeve for a bit before they started serving dinner. He looked pretty damn good in a suit himself and Maeve looked over the Moon as he wrapped an arm around her waist and held her close. Charlie was asking about our college plans when Embry came up to us. He looked so different in his own suit and tie with his hair styled. Grown up and far more put together than I had ever seen him. After greeting Maeve, he gave me a small smile and held his arms up for me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed the side of my face to his chest. 

“Thank you so much for coming, Embry.” My heart felt full having my friend here. We had been through so much together and I couldn’t have asked for anything more than his support on the most important day of my life. As usual, he delivered.

He held a warm hand to the middle of my back. “I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. You’re beautiful.” He murmured above me. 

I loosened my hold and pulled away gently. Edward reached a hand out to me and I took it as I stepped away, smiling widely.

“Congratulations, Edward.” He reached out and shook his hand. There seemed to be some silent exchange happening as Edward smirked and nodded. 

Embry held a hand to my arm again. “Even though you married one of them, you’re still part of the pack. Never forget that.” He winked before walking away to rejoin the rest of the wolves.

“What was that?” I whispered to Edward.

He huffed a laugh. “He was just warning me that he’d be ready if I ever failed to make you happy.”

My face drew down as I watched Embry’s retreating back and let out a sigh. I worried that maybe I didn’t have his support after all.

“Don’t worry. I plan to spend every waking moment making you happy.” He spoke quietly close to my ear.

With a raised eyebrow, I looked over at him. “You don’t sleep.” I whispered back.

He gave me a devilishly crooked grin. “Exactly.”

I rolled my eyes and chuckled as I leaned into his side. We went around greeting more guests as the night went on. When the three sisters of the Denali coven approached us I stood a little straighter. They were stunning. Each wore a different gold cocktail dress. Their eyes were a light gold, indicating they recently fed. The tallest one had long, straight, blonde hair pulled into a high, elegant ponytail. The other had her hair in a complex updo of braids and twists, while the shortest of them, Tanya, left her curls loose around her gorgeous face. 

“Edward, it’s so nice to see you again.” The tallest of the two that I didn’t know yet greeted him. “And wonderful to meet you, Danielle. We have heard so much about you. I’m Kate.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well.” I greeted them with a wide smile. “And you too, Irina, Tanya.” I nodded to each of them, careful to not accidentally reach out to touch them. 

Edward glanced at me as they gave me a slightly confused look. The Cullens had told me a little bit about them, since they were coming to the wedding. It shouldn’t have been unexpected for me to know their names, so I wasn't sure why they seemed uncomfortable. 

“How was your trip here?” I asked, trying to push past the awkwardness.

They quickly composed themselves. “It was quite pleasant. We haven’t had much of a chance to travel in a while.” Irina responded. “Will you be visiting us anytime soon?” She looked between me and Edward.

Edward grinned down at me. “It is likely. I plan to take her everywhere.”

I bit my lip as I smiled up at him. “I would love that.”

“Well, we won’t hold you up too much longer. Congratulations to the both of you.” Tanya smiled somewhat awkwardly at us as they moved on to talk to Alice and Jasper. 

Two others that I didn’t recognize came up to greet us. A pale man with gold eyes and short, dark hair along with an absolutely beautiful, curvaceous woman with waves of dark brown hair surrounding her round face. 

“Carmen, Eleazar. It’s so good to see you again, thank you so much for coming.” Edward smiled more genuinely as he greeted them.

“You as well, Edward.” Eleazar responded as he took Edward’s hand in both of his. “Congratulations, that was a beautiful ceremony.” He gave me a thoughtful look and glanced back at Edward.

Edward placed a hand around my waist and held me closer.

“It is wonderful to finally meet you, Danielle.” He nodded toward me.

“Likewise. Thank you so much for coming.” I took in their curious faces while trying to keep my own facial expressions in check. Honestly, they were all being a little weird. 

“I absolutely love your dress!” Carmen spoke up with a light Spanish accent. She seemed more comfortable greeting us than the others.

“Thank you, Alice made it.” I pulled the skirt out a little with a wide smile and let it flutter back down.

“She did a wonderful job.” She smiled back.

“Danielle, I hope you don’t mind me asking, what exactly are you?” Eleazar asked curiously as Edward stiffened next to me.

“Eleazar!” Carmen quietly chided him.

I looked between them. “Um…” I hesitated at Edward’s stern expression.

“I apologize, I didn’t mean any offense. It is just that I have the ability to sense gifts and potential gifts in others and there are many that I sense from you. It is… unsettling. I can’t really get a good read on any one of them.” He looked at Edward with a slightly confused expression.

“No, it’s okay.” I waved off his discomfort. “I’m a witch. That’s probably what you’re sensing.” In an attempt to help him relax, I placed a hand to Edward’s chest. He looked back at me with a soft smile.

“How interesting!” Carmen exclaimed. “I have never met a witch before!”

“Neither have I. I thought they were all gone?” Eleazar tilted his head at me with wide eyes.

I reeled back slightly. “Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

Concern drew my face down as I looked up at Edward again. He looked just as confused as I felt. 

Eleazar tried to explain. “They were hunted down and destroyed millennia ago. By both humans and the Volturi alike. In fact, the Volturi played a large role in the various witch hunts throughout the world over the centuries.”

“You were a member of the Volturi. Were you with them when this happened?” I asked him as I started to grow anxious. They knew about me, they could have been planning to kill me this whole time.

His eyes darted around my face. “No, this was well before my time with them. I only know what has been discussed in hushed rumors between the guards.”

Panic rose in my chest and I looked at Edward with concern. He looked back at Eleazar. 

“Is this an endeavor they are still pursuing? They know about Dani.” Edward gave him a meaningful look. 

Eleazar looked back at me. “Not that I was aware of. I believe they assumed there were none left with enough power to be a real threat. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring any conflict to your celebration.” He gave Edward a guilty look. 

Edward held me tighter, rubbing a soothing hand up and down my arm. 

“It has truly been a pleasure to meet you, Danielle. Congratulations again.” Eleazar glanced at Edward again before walking away. 

“Do we need to worry?” I quietly asked Edward. 

“Not right now we don’t.” He gently kissed me. “I will note though, so far the entire Denali coven has sensed how dangerous you are to them.” A small smirk pulled his lips up. “There was a lot of confused wariness about you.”  

My brow drew down. Edward reached a hand up and gently smoothed the crease between my brows. I smiled back at him and leaned my head against his. 

“They didn’t already know about me?” I figured they would have told them what I was before inviting them to the wedding. 

Edward chuckled. “No. Not our secret to share.” I looked up to see him smirking at me. Leaning in, I gently kissed his warm, soft lips with a sigh. I didn’t think it was possible to love him more. Clearly I was wrong.

“We have more guests to greet. Also I’m starving.” I squeezed his hand and pulled us over to where Jessica and Angela were sitting with Leah and Ben. 

We greeted the rest of our guests with repeated exchanges of ‘congratulations’ and ‘thank you’ before we finally made it to our table. I managed to get about two bites of cold food in before the toasts started. 

Carlisle went up to the stage first. 

“My son Edward is an intelligent, compassionate, and determined man. He has always been very… particular about who he chooses to spend his time with.” Carlisle smiled as we laughed lightly. “As any father would, I worried about him. However, I was hopeful that he would one day find someone who complemented him and challenged him and helped him to see how truly beautiful this life can be. I knew he found that when he first brought Dani to meet our family. 

“The bond you two share is beyond anything I could have imagined. I am so very happy to welcome you to our family, Dani and I thank you for bringing so much warmth and light into all of our lives. To Edward and Danielle. I wish you a life of happiness.” Carlisle raised his champagne flute as Edward pulled me closer. 

I took a sip of champagne before leaning in to gently kiss him. His eyes met mine and his smile softened. He reached up to stroke his thumb across my cheek. My heart soared at the realization that this was my husband. I was his and he was mine for eternity.

Esme went next as she welcomed me to the family and gushed about how much she has enjoyed getting to know me and Maeve, how happy she was that Edward and I found each other, and how she was overjoyed at finally being able to call me her daughter. I wiped my tears away before they could fall and blew a kiss to her.

The night went on this way, with Alice excitedly announcing me as her new sister and reminding Edward that she’ll always be on my side in any future arguments. We all laughed as she reasserted how serious she was. Rosalie even went up to talk about how important Edward was to her and to welcome me to the family.

Emmett made a barely concealed innuendo about how he expected we’d be extending our honeymoon if our activities with each other before we were married was any indication. I glared at him and sent a tiny burst of magic to give him a push off the stage as he laughed boisterously. Edward chuckled and kissed my temple. 

Jasper gave a very short, slightly awkward speech congratulating Edward and welcoming me to the family. Leah spoke about how grateful she was to have me in her life and that she knew that Edward would one day ‘deserve’ me, because if he didn’t then he’d have to deal with her. I pressed my lips together at the uncomfortable laughter that spread through the small crowd before bursting into laughter myself. 

Edward smiled over at me and whispered in my ear. “I am actually mildly terrified of her.” 

“As you should be.” I laughed and kissed his cheek.

Maeve was the last to give a toast. 

“When Dani first came to live with me, I had no idea what to expect. What surprised me the most was how quickly I came to love her. She managed to adapt to an entirely new life and build her own family here in such a short amount of time. She is such an extraordinary woman who gives so much to those around her without asking for anything in return.” She smiled warmly at me. 

“When she brought Edward to meet me I immediately recognized the connection they have. It’s obvious to anyone who pays any attention how much he cares for her and Dani actually allows him to. This free-spirited, strong-willed woman has found someone that she feels safe enough to lean upon and I couldn’t be more grateful to him for that.” She raised her glass. “Edward, Danielle you don’t need me to wish for anything for you, you’ve already found it. I am so happy for you both.”

I held a hand to my chest and smiled at Maeve as I wiped away more tears. “Why are they doing this to me?” I chuckled to Edward as I tried to gracefully wipe my nose. 

He laughed. “Because they love you.” With my chin held between two fingers, he leaned in to kiss me more firmly than he had all evening. 

Before we were ready to part again, Alice announced that it was time for the cake. 

“How are you going to manage this part?” I pressed my lips together to hold back a laugh. 

“Some traditions are unavoidable.” He smirked as he helped me to my feet. 

We shared a slice of the enormous wedding cake. I gave Edward a wary look as I held my piece of cake out for him. He just smiled and took a huge bite like it was the most natural thing in the world for him. My heart grew even more. We eventually ended up back on the dance floor where Alice rushed up to me. 

“Dani, let me just fix your dress really quickly.” 

I gave her a shocked look before I looked down at my dress. Everything looked fine. She smiled widely as she quickly unclasped something at the sleeves, removing the flowing fabric and then did something around my waist and pulled away the skirt, revealing a shorter skirt underneath that fell just below my knees. It was just as beautiful, but now much easier to dance in. I laughed and pulled Alice into a tight hug. 

“I can’t believe you did this! I love it!” I spoke close to her ear. 

She pulled back and smiled. “I knew you would.”

Edward smiled widely and pulled me close to him. After about five minutes, I removed the horribly uncomfortable shoes and spent the evening dancing barefoot with my friends, my family, and my husband. 

As the night drew to a close, Rosalie led me into the house and helped take my hair down and change into something more appropriate for traveling. Jasper and Alice started loading luggage into Edward’s Volvo while he went to change out of his tuxedo. Carlisle announced to our guests that we were leaving to catch our flight, but the party didn’t need to end yet. We said our goodbyes as Edward walked me to the passenger seat and helped me inside. He slid into the driver’s seat next to me and took my hand. 

“Ready to start our lives together Mrs. Cullen?” He asked before kissing the back of my hand. 

“I really am.” With an overflowing heart, I smiled over at him and he pulled away. 

Chapter Text

We hit the highway and I pulled Edward’s hand into my lap. I slowly traced my fingers over the veins in the back of his hand. 

“What are you thinking?” He smiled over at me. 

“That I never imagined I could ever be this happy.” I tilted my head to look over at him. 

His bright eyes searched my face as his smile widened. 

“So, are you going to tell me where you’re taking me now?” If I somehow got him to just tell me, then I wouldn’t have to rely on my lack of acting skills. 

“I want to surprise you.” He lifted our joined hands to brush the backs of his fingers over my cheek. 

I chuckled as I shook my head. I was going to have to give it my absolute best to not ruin this for him. If I could just keep my face properly composed, I should be able to pull it off. 

“Speaking of surprises. You know about Eleazar working with the Volturi?” He gave me a questioning look. 

My face fell and I looked forward again. “Yeah. I know about everyone in the Denali coven.” I shrugged. 

“Really?” There was clear surprise in his voice. “Do you know about any other covens?”

Tensing slightly, I looked down at our joined hands. “Yeah. A lot more than I should.”

He watched me carefully. “You were a high ranking vampire in another past life?”

“What?” I looked over at him in confusion. 

“That’s your mystery.” He smirked with a raised eyebrow. 

I burst into laughter. “No! Not even close!”

“Okay, fine. I’ll keep working on it.” He watched me with a content smile. “So who else do you know about then?”

“I know a lot about the Volturi. Aro, Marcus, Caius, their wives, their guard members. Things that no one is supposed to know.” I glanced at him. His face grew more concerned. “I know a lot more too. Sometimes I forget what I’m not supposed to know. It gets mixed up.” My brow furrowed and I shook my head.

“Dani.” Edward spoke quietly. “And you’ve known all of this the whole time?”

I ran a hand through my hair and held his hand tighter. “Yeah. Are you upset?” I glanced over at him and worried my lip between my teeth. 

His expression softened. “No, love. I’m not upset.” He pulled my hand to his lips and gently kissed it. “I’m in awe. As usual.”

I exhaled a laugh and sighed. “So. Tanya is gorgeous.” I looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. 

He laughed nervously and ran a hand through his bronze hair. “Of course, I should have seen that coming. Nothing happened.” He glanced at me. 

“I know that.” I smirked over at him. “Does she still want something to happen though?” I narrowed my eyes slightly.

“Not exactly. She respects our marriage.” He gave me a soft smile. It was clear that he greatly enjoyed referencing our newly wedded status.

“But…?” I prompted.

He chuckled. “But. She might have been a bit jealous.” 

I nodded firmly. “I can deal with that.” 

I returned to tracing my fingers over his hand as we drove toward Seattle. He began to rub his thumb in soothing circles along the side of my hand. The next thing I knew Edward was waking me as he opened my door. 

“Hey baby, we’ve got a flight to catch.” He smiled as he caressed my face and helped me out of my seat.

With a yawn, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him close. “Mm tired.” I mumbled.

He chuckled and kissed the side of my neck. “You can sleep on the plane. It’ll be a while still before we get to our destination.”

I pulled back to look at him. A blissfully happy expression lit up his handsome face. He leaned down and kissed me before taking my hand and pushing our luggage cart toward the airport entrance. I let him lead me to the line to check our luggage and move through security. 

As soon as we boarded our flight, I nestled into his side and passed out again. I dreamed that we were lying in the ocean, floating together hand in hand as the waves carried us further from the shore. We didn’t care. We were together and that was all that mattered.

He woke me again after the plane landed and nearly everyone had deboarded. This time, as we walked off the plane, I was a little more alert. 

“Dallas? We’re honeymooning in Dallas?” I gave him a confused look.

He laughed. “No, definitely not. This is just our layover.” He pulled me close and kissed the top of my head. “We have about two hours before our next flight. Are you hungry?”

“Starving!” I groaned. “I think all I’ve eaten since breakfast is a bite of wedding cake.”

He chuckled. “Then let’s get you some food.”

We made it to the international terminal where Edward led me to an airport restaurant and I had a burrito. Probably the best burrito I had ever eaten given how starved I was. He watched me eat with a goofy grin on his beautiful face. 

We made it to our gate about ten minutes before they started boarding. We were flying to Rio de Janeiro. I definitely knew where we were going. We found our first class seats on the flight and Edward pulled me close to his side. I leaned my head against his shoulder as I held a hand to his chest. 

“Do you feel different?” He asked.

“I do.” I looked up at him. “I could feel it when we were bound together. Something tangible happened.” I whispered to him. “Did you feel it too?”

He smiled. “I did. I still do.” He cupped my face and leaned down to kiss me firmly.

It took all my willpower to resist the urge to straddle him in his seat. I pulled away and brushed my nose against his before leaning my head on his shoulder again. I barely noticed the in-flight movie they were playing, The Time Machine. 

Eventually they cut all the lights out, indicating we should probably sleep. I was too awake now though. Instead I traced my fingers along Edward’s forearm as we whispered to each other. We talked about everything from our future plans to a brief debate over whether time travel would result in an infinite loop situation full of paradoxes or in timeline branches that required no such rules. We ended up agreeing that the infinite loop theory took away too much free will to be plausible. If you’re destined to always follow a certain path, then you never really had a choice to begin with.

After a couple hours in the dark cabin, I fell asleep again. This time I woke before landing when they turned the cabin lights back on and began distributing meals to the passengers. I ate while Edward asked me about musicians from the future that I would like to see. He was planning to take me to as many concerts as he could. I excitedly told him about Billie Eilish, Elektrik People, and Marina and the Diamonds. He listened intently as I told him that I was pretty sure Phantogram and Crystal Castles should be on the music scene soon. I couldn’t wait for the electronic dance music wave to hit. 

When we finally landed, he took me around the city for a while. We walked through the bustling streets at night. I laughed as he twirled and dipped me to music played by the street bands. I tried some of the food being offered from street carts. 

Eventually we made our way to a pier over the ocean where there was a medium-sized boat that apparently belonged to us. A car had driven our luggage there and Edward loaded it into the boat before helping me climb aboard. 

“This is the last of it, love. I promise.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into a searing kiss. 

My hands moved up into his hair as I pressed myself to him. I was ready to be there, find a bed, and spend the rest of the night tangled in the sheets with my husband. He pulled away with a low groan.

“Almost there.” He smirked and kissed me once more before starting the boat and pulling away from the dock.

The waters were mostly calm as he expertly drove us across the ocean toward a remote island I had to somehow pretend that I knew nothing about. I looked up at the stars as we sped over the water. The sky was so clear and dark. It seemed like there were millions of stars above us. It was absolutely breathtaking.

After thirty minutes or so, Edward pulled up to a small pier and tied the boat up. He lifted me into his arms bridal style and gracefully jumped out of the boat with me. I giggled as he gently put me back on my feet and kissed me before lifting our luggage from the boat. 

He pointed me toward the house. A beautiful one story beach house covered in large windows. There were a couple of lights on inside, as though someone had just been there to get it set up for us. 

“Welcome to Isle Esme, Mrs. Cullen.” Edward whispered in my ear. 

My smile spread wider as I turned back toward him. “Esme’s island?” I asked, trying my best to sound surprised.

He studied my face for a moment. “You knew! How did you know?!"

I dropped my face into my hands with a groan. “No! I’m so sorry! God I’m so bad at this!”

He pulled me closer as he broke into laughter. “I tried so hard to surprise you too!”

“And you did such a great job!” I looked back up at him. “It should have been a surprise! If I didn’t know so much it would have been! I’m really sorry.” I pouted.

He pulled me closer and smiled wider. “Don’t be sorry. I’m sure I'll still have some surprises for you.” He leaned down to kiss me.

“You will! I don’t actually know what it looks like or anything that’s here. I just know that it exists.” I reached up to hold his face. 

Sweeping me into his arms again, he carried me to the threshold of the house. “Well, allow me to give you the tour then.” He smirked as he carried me through the doorway.

He placed me back on my feet before vanishing and returning a moment later with our luggage. “This is the entryway.” He waved around us as he dropped our things by the door.

I laughed and took his hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. “Really? How fancy!”

He gave me an amused smile and kissed my temple before leading me further into the house. He started pointing out the areas in the open concept part of the house. “Kitchen, dining, living room. There’s also an entertainment space just over there with movies, books, music, games, really anything we could want.” 

He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it before leading me further into the house. He swept me up again, causing a startled laugh to burst out of me, and carried me into the bedroom. The enormous four poster bed took up most of the room. Soft, white mosquito netting surrounded it and there was a huge sliding glass door that led right out to the beach. 

“This is our bedroom for as long as we wish.” His voice was low and seductive. 

My eyes met his and my arms wrapped around his neck so I could kiss him. “And if I never want to leave?” I asked quietly against his lips.

“Then we’ll never leave.” He kissed me more firmly as he pulled me to his chest.

I pulled back a little as my heart started to race. “I could use a shower.” I spoke shyly.

“Can I join you?” He brushed his nose against mine.

“Of course, just give me a human minute first?” I bit my lip and met his gold eyes.

He slowly lowered me to my feet and ran his hands down my waist. He leaned in and ran his nose up the column of my neck. “Don’t take too long.” He murmured quietly.

I bit back a moan before reluctantly pulling away to head into the bathroom. After releasing my full bladder and washing the makeup off of my face, I started the shower. I was completely ready for this, but still terribly nervous. I stripped my dress and underwear off and stepped under the steaming water. 

The shower was enormous. With small white tiles from floor to ceiling and a giant waterfall shower head hanging over the center. There was a ledge along one wall where you could either sit or prop a leg up to shave or do other things. 

I heard Edward when he came into the bathroom and looked over at him. His expression was serious as he slowly walked over and pulled his shirt off. He undid his belt and lowered his slacks and boxer briefs in one smooth motion. 

As he stood there naked, I slid open the shower door and held a hand out for him. He quickly took it and stepped into the shower with me. His muscular arms snaked around my waist and he pressed our naked bodies together before thrusting his tongue into my mouth. I moaned at the contact and reached up to run my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. He pulled back to meet my eyes. His pupils were blown so wide, his eyes were almost black.

“I’ve missed this.” He said quietly.

“Me too.” I lifted a leg around his hip and pushed myself against him harder. 

He turned us and pressed me against the wall without the ledge. His hard cock sat rigid against my lower abdomen as he kissed me desperately. One of his hands made its way down to grab my ass before sliding along my thigh and gripping beneath my knee. In one smooth movement, he lowered himself down and lifted my leg over his shoulder.

“Edward. I need you." I moaned as his fingers found my soaking wet entrance.

“I need to make sure you’re prepared, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.” He looked up at me with lust-filled eyes.

I cupped his face in my hands as desire pooled between my legs. He watched my face as he pressed two fingers inside of me. My mouth fell open and I gasped at the sensation. It had been a month since he touched me, since either of us touched each other intimately. I was primed to come any second. 

His head dipped back down and my hands moved to his hair. He ran his tongue along my pussy before closing his mouth over my clit. I cried out and he began pumping his fingers inside me. Overwhelming pleasure flooded through me as his tongue massaged over my hypersensitive nub and he added a third finger. 

My whole body was suddenly on fire. The flames of desire licking over every part of my skin. I gripped his hair tighter as desperate moans and expletives escaped from my lips. I could feel my climax building already, I was right at the edge.

“I’m close.” I moaned.

His mouth left my clit and his fingers stilled. “Not yet, Dani.” His nearly black eyes met mine. My brow drew down as my frustration flared. A smirk played on his lips. “Just give me another minute.” 

He carefully added a fourth finger, stretching me further than I thought I could go and gently guided his hand in and out of me. I gasped at the sensation of being so unbelievably full and his mouth found my clit again. He didn’t let up this time. Long fingers slowly worked me inside and his tongue outside. 

I moved one hand to his shoulder as my climax built to an impossible high. My hips began rolling forward as I rode against his face. My breaths came faster and shorter. He flicked his tongue once and I was gone. A toe-curling orgasm tore through my core and down my legs. I pushed the magic that needed an outlet to him, instead of letting it wreak havoc on the bathroom.

“Edward!” My back arched and I threw my head back. As I writhed above him, he continued his expert work on me. 

The pulsing motions of his tongue slowed and he pulled his hand out of me. He nipped delicately at my inner thigh before standing again. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his mouth to mine. As our tongues met, I reached a hand down and wrapped my fingers around him. A sharp breath hissed in through his teeth and I held him firmly. I needed more of him. My leg lifted higher over his waist and I ran his cock along my slick entrance. There was no doubt that I was more than ready for him now. 

He growled low and deep. “Not here. The bed.” It was no more than a breathless whisper against my lips.

I pulled back and nodded as I looked into his darkened eyes. After turning off the water, he wrapped a towel around me. In one swift motion, I was lifted into his arms and he opened the shower door. He walked us over to the bed, not once breaking our eye contact, and laid me down. With a firm grip on his hands, I pulled him on top of me. He opened my towel and his eyes raked down my body.

Holding himself up above me, he leaned forward to place a light kiss on the side of my neck. He took his time kissing his way along my collarbone, my breasts, and further down to my stomach. I ran my hands through his hair and over his shoulders and back as he explored my body. He kissed everything he could reach. 

Moving back up, he kissed my chin, cheeks, eyelids, everything. Mapping my face with his lips. His hand moved to knead my breast, working slow circles over my hardened nipple with his thumb. When his eyes met mine again he leaned down to kiss me tenderly. I pulled my legs up and hooked one around him.

He pulled back to look at me again. “Are you ready?” His voice was low and desperate.

“God, yes.” The leg I had around him tightened its hold, pulling him closer to me. I was beyond ready. 

He lined his cock up with my entrance and rubbed it through my slick folds, lubricating himself with my excess arousal. Then he ever so slowly pushed the massive head of his cock into me. We both moaned at the delicious union. He stretched me so wide it was slightly painful. A pain that I needed, one that made me feel complete. He pulled out a little before pushing back in, slowly adding another inch of himself with a moan. 

The hand that was on my breast found the headboard and it immediately crumbled. I was fighting against the urge to crush something myself as the intensity of our connection ignited between us. He slowly lowered himself until our chests met and his other hand held firmly to my hip, warm fingers pressing into my skin. 

I wrapped my arms tightly around him. My own fingers digging into his back as he pulled away again and slowly pushed another inch of himself in, groaning low and deep as he fought to control himself. There was no more pain. Only building pleasure. I was rapidly growing desperate for more. 

I could feel him filling me completely and hitting places inside of me that I didn’t even know I had. When he pulled away again I nearly lost it. I used the leg I had around him to pull him back to me and didn’t stop until he was fully sheathed inside of me. 

We both groaned as our bodies met with a resounding slap. His hips stuttered and I could feel him pulsing inside me as he groaned low in my ear through clenched teeth. A hint of panic hit my chest, thinking that I might have accidentally made him finish already. I would have been perfectly fine with that, but he might not be. However, he kept going. He pulled out a little as he moaned my name and pushed his still hard cock back into me. We fit perfectly together. As though we were made for this, for each other.  

“Are you okay?” He asked with a barely contained growl.

“I’m perfect. This is perfect.” I reached a hand up to grip his hair and pulled his face back to mine so I could kiss him deeply. 

The headboard broke again behind us as he started to thrust more rhythmically with long, deep strokes. I felt all of him as he moved inside me. He repeatedly hit that sensitive spot deep inside me as he drove into me. As our bodies met with each thrust, his body rubbed against my clit. I could feel another orgasm building as he started to move faster. I moaned in pleasure and bit at his neck. One of my hands reached up to grab the hand he had digging into the headboard.

“Hold me, please.” I laced our fingers together and pushed my overflowing magic into his palm. 

His eyes met mine again as he continued thrusting. Dipping his head down, his teeth grazed the spot where my neck met my shoulder. I had the sudden, overwhelming urge to beg him to bite me there. I swallowed it down and moaned again as he brought me even closer to my release. 

The tension continued to build inside me, my entire body engulfed by his electric energy. He groaned and tucked his face into the pillow behind my head. His body rubbed against my clit again and in one sudden burst of pleasure I came. My core pulsed around him, the inner walls squeezing him even tighter, as I cried out his name.

“Yes, Edward! I love you!” It came out as a sob as I continued to come around him. My nails dug into his back, I pushed my overflowing magic into his palm and squeezed my thighs around him tighter. 

He growled above me before letting out his own loud groan and I felt him pulsing inside me again. “Dani! Ah god, I love you Danielle.” He spoke quietly into my ear, repeating the words again and again as his motions slowed.

When my core finally stopped spasming around him, he slowly pulled out of me and rolled to his side, holding me close against his chest. I felt empty now, like I needed him back inside me immediately or I might actually die. His fingers lightly traced along my shoulders, my collarbone, and up my neck to my face. Stopping there, he held his hand to my cheek.

“You are so beautiful.” He murmured.

I smiled softly and leaned in to kiss him. With one hand pressed to his shoulder, I pushed him onto his back. I pulled away from his lips to look down at him. Feathers surrounded him on the bed. He had bitten into the down pillow, tearing it apart. 

“Can we do it again?” I asked as my hand moved down his body to find him somehow still hard. Maybe vampires needed no recovery time? Very convenient. 

His soft smile widened and his eyes darkened again. “Absolutely, we can.” A breathy laugh escaped his lips and he pulled me on top of himself.

I straddled him and guided his dick back into my dripping wet pussy. In one sudden motion, I sat down, quickly impaling myself on him, and let out a loud gasp. His hands held firmly to my hips and he sat up to press our bodies flush together. With his arms wrapped around me, he held me tightly and my arms slid up around his neck. I crashed our lips together and tilted my head to deepen the kiss.

My hips moved up and down as I started to ride him. His cock moved deep inside of me, hitting everything from a different angle, and I moaned into his mouth. Moving his own mouth back to my neck, he placed warm, wet kisses down my throat to my shoulder. I rode him faster as I nipped at his ears and his neck. Sharp teeth grazed my neck again before he pulled away and met my eyes. 

I continued moving on top of him as he held me close. He reached a hand between our bodies and began firmly stroking my clit with his fingers. Electricity shot through me as he hit every single erogenous spot inside of me. I found a rhythm that had me quickly approaching yet another orgasm. 

My hands moved to the side of his neck as I felt the tension building again deep in my core. Leaning back slightly to look into his eyes, I came hard. My mouth dropped open and I couldn’t stop the high moan that erupted from it. The lights throughout the house all flashed on at once and they started popping. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to rein it back in.

“It’s okay, Dani. Let go.” Edward groaned just as I felt him coming again. A string of delightful obscenities escaped his lips as his release took over. 

I reopened my eyes and let my magic go. As I cried out again, I felt it pulse out of me. The lights continued to burst and I distantly registered the glass doors splintering. Like soft snow, the feathers that were on the bed floated around us. Edward’s strong hands moved to hold my waist and he helped to bring me back down. 

“Perfect.” I moaned. “You’re perfect.” I slowly stopped moving my hips, but kept him inside me as we kissed.

“We are perfect. This is perfect.” He pulled away to meet my eyes. 

He held onto my waist with steady hands as my heart pounded in my chest. After a moment, he tipped his head toward the broken doors. “You know, I had that replaced with bulletproof glass. I thought it would help.” A satisfied smirk slowly drew his lips up. 

I laughed and tucked my face into his shoulder. We wrapped our arms around each other and held on tight. I never wanted to be separated from him again. I had no desire to ever leave this room. It was more than I ever could have dreamed of and I desperately wanted for it to never end.

Chapter Text

Edward

May 28, 2006

It had been a week since we arrived at Isle Esme. Seven full days and we still hadn’t left the house. I had so much planned for us, but we couldn’t even manage to make it out the door. We were absolutely insatiable. In seven days, we had made love seventy-three times. Seventy-four if you counted right now while I was still taking her on the floor in the living room. 

I prepared the house as best as I could so that she wouldn’t have to hold anything back. Replacing the windows with bulletproof glass and adding surge protectors on all of the outlets. I even had the heavy furniture bolted down, just in case. Still we managed to break - and Dani repaired - every single piece of furniture in the house. Everything from the obvious bed and sofa to the less straightforward bookshelves and the washing machine. That was the first time I took her from behind. She went to wash the sheets she had just fixed after our first night here. She was reaching up for the washing soap and the next thing I knew I had torn her shorts off and buried myself inside of her. The angle was perfect for me to kiss her beautiful, delicious neck and reach a hand around to pleasure her from the front. She thoroughly enjoyed it. 

It was indescribable being inside of her. She was so hot and wet and always completely ready for me. We fit together perfectly. It was as though our bodies were made precisely for this purpose. Every time she came her core gripped me impossibly tight and pulled my own pleasure out of me. I never wanted to stop. I truly believed that if she didn’t need to eat and sleep we never would. 

We broke the dining table so many times, Dani just stopped eating there. Mid-bite she would give me this look. One that told me she wanted me. I would throw everything off the table and thrust myself into her until it came crashing to the floor beneath us. We laughed as we kept at it, unwilling to stop until we were both satisfied. After the eighth time, she finally stopped fixing the table and started eating at the kitchen counter instead. We broke that in a similar fashion. 

She would usually wake in the middle of the night and straddle me. We would make love like it was still the first time, with just as much passion and devotion, and she would fall back to sleep still wrapped around me. I would have been growing concerned if it weren’t for the fact that I was in no hurry for it to end. I got it now. The absolute need to be with your soulmate. To join yourselves together and never part again. 

But we were going to have to take a break now. The housekeepers were expected to arrive this afternoon and I highly doubted Dani was up for an audience. I kept an ear out for their thoughts as I continued to drive into her on the floor. She had her knees pulled up, thighs tightly gripping my waist. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, soft fingers pressing firmly into my back. My lips travelled across her neck and jaw, kissing every part of her that I could reach. I clutched her hip with one hand, bracing myself as I repeatedly thrust into her. She was so warm and soft and passionate. Sometimes she would push her magic into me as she came. I could feel it warming my entire body, radiating throughout me and pouring into my soul. I still couldn’t believe that she was mine. This was our forever. 

I could hear the change in her breathing that told me she was about to come. It picked up slightly, her moans reached a higher pitch, and her body began to tense. I devoted so much attention to learning her body, sounds, and reactions to every single touch. She was like the finest instrument that I was determined to master. I kept my rhythm steady, knowing that even the slightest change could derail her climax. I pulled away from her neck and watched closely as she fell from the precipice and came beneath me moaning my name. The windows beside us splintered and only two light bulbs exploded. She was gaining better control with more practice. 

Her eyes were extraordinary when she came. The bright golden rays amongst the blue would come to life and appear to burst and dance around her pupils. Her face would flush and pull down into the most beautiful look of pure ecstasy. I did that for her. Made her feel such awe inspiring sensations.

Her spasming walls tightened around me and the tension in my lower abdomen quickly built. My orgasm soon followed hers as she continued to come around my cock. I groaned into her shoulder as I released inside her. My own pleasure cascading throughout my every nerve ending and bringing me back to life. I could do this forever. I could keep going and never stop if I weren’t sure that it would eventually kill her. I was convinced that the only reason she could even keep going like this was because of her ability to heal quickly.

Our first time I tried to take it slowly, I was terrified that I would hurt her. She was hardly fragile though. I was positive she was capable of hurting me if she wanted to. So I might have been going a little too slow. She took control of the situation and suddenly pulled me in until I was fully sheathed inside her hot, tight core. I prematurely came from the unexpected fullness of her. If I were a mortal man, I would have been mortified. It was the first time I was actually grateful that I was a vampire. With no refractory period, I needed no time to rest or recover. I was able to continue making love to her as if it had never even happened.

We stayed right there on the living room floor as I lightly kissed along her neck to her shoulders, kissing each of her raised scars. I continued to slowly move inside her as she came down from her orgasm. When I was sure she was finished, I pulled out and held her close. She groaned at the loss of our connection. 

Her soft fingers traced meaningless patterns over my chest as she nuzzled her face into my neck. I kissed her forehead and she looked up to kiss along my jaw. Her soft, warm lips against my skin were as close to heaven as I thought I might ever get. Her hand drifted lower down my abdomen. She already wanted to go again. I could literally do this all day. As she wrapped her hand around my cock, I reached out for any thoughts nearby. Still only silence. 

“Shower?” I looked down into her beautiful blue eclipse eyes. Her pupils were blown wide with desire. She still needed me just as much as I needed her. 

She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, nearly undoing me again. “I could use a shower.” 

I pulled her on top of me and stood us up as she giggled and wrapped her legs around my waist. She laced her fingers in my hair as she kissed me deeply. Her tongue tangling with mine as I walked us to the bathroom. I got the water running with one hand and held her securely with the other. 

Her mouth moved down to my neck where she kissed and firmly bit at my skin, sending a wave of desire straight to my rock hard dick. A deep growl rumbled up from my chest. I wanted her to sink her teeth into me, to mark me as hers and take everything that she needed from me. As I carried her into the shower, she pulled away from my neck to look at me. Her stunning eyes carefully studied my face as her thumbs stroked my cheeks. She let out a small sigh. 

“I love you.” She said quietly, almost reverently. 

I brushed my nose against hers. “And I love you.” I would never get enough of her.

As I pressed my lips to hers, I walked her back against the shower wall. She reached a hand down between us and guided me into her tight, wet core with a small gasp. I effortlessly held her up as I rocked my hips and moved inside of her again. She passionately moaned my name and something inside of me snapped. I firmly kissed down her neck and my teeth grazed along that spot that she responded so deliciously well to. She moaned a drawn out “yes” at the contact. 

This kept happening. Every cell in my body was urging me to bite her there. Not to feed from her, but to mark her. It was as though I needed to do it to make her mine and I didn’t know how to stop it. I groaned as I closed my lips around my sharp, venom coated teeth and kissed my way back up her neck instead. I continued plunging myself into her harder. 

“Yes, Edward! Faster. Don’t stop!” She groaned into my ear. 

My desire for her grew impossibly more intense and another growl escaped my lips. I loved it when she told me what she needed from me. She had never once been shy about it. I did as she asked, pistoning my cock into her faster. I could feel the tension building in my chest from the sensation of her slowly gripping me tighter. One of my hands quickly reached down between us and I began flicking my fingers over her clit to push her over the edge first. Her back arched, pressing her chest tightly against mine as she came. She cried my name again and again as her inner walls spasmed around me. I didn’t have time to take in her expressions before I came undone myself. 

“Mm. Shit! Dani, you feel so fucking good!” I groaned into her mouth as I kissed her and filled her with everything that I had. 

When we were ready, I lowered her back down and we took turns washing each other. She giggled as I traced my fingers around her ticklish waist. I would never tire of making her laugh. I wrapped a large towel around her and carried her back to the bedroom where I sat her on the bed. I could hear the distant thoughts of our visitors now. As I looked down into her lust-filled eyes, I desperately hoped they would be quick. She ran her fingers beneath the edge of the towel around my waist. Truly insatiable.

“You might want to get dressed, love.” I smirked as I leaned down to kiss her. “The housekeepers will be here soon.”

She frowned slightly before jumping off the bed to find something to wear. I actually hadn’t managed to tear much off of her so far. Considering we spent most of this week completely naked together. 

Her body was like a piece of art. Perfect, round breasts and an incredible ass. The way her waist dipped in before widening again at her hips. Every mark and freckle came together creating a beautiful map of constellations across her skin. I memorized every single one, every part of her. On our second day here, I buried my face between her thighs and took my time memorizing the folds of her pussy with my lips and tongue. I intended to worship her for the rest of our endless lives. 

She quickly put on a white lace lingerie set, a pair of shorts, and a tank top. I wanted to rip them back off immediately. I decided I would do that later, maybe while she straddled me in a chair somewhere. She ran her fingers through her damp hair before working it into a braid. I threw on my own shorts and t-shirt before pulling Dani close. My hands drifted down to her backside as I tipped my head down and kissed her deeply. 

I reluctantly broke away and led us into the entertainment room in the house. Figuring we could keep ourselves appropriately occupied while they restocked the kitchen and replaced the linens. Dani looked through the books on the shelves as I watched her. She would pick up a book, read the description as her face drew down in thought and either put it back or set it aside. Everything she did fascinated me. I wanted to know how her mind worked. Why she chose one book over another and what she planned to do with the growing pile of books she had selected. 

Before she finished, Kaure and Gustavo arrived. I went to welcome them and Dani cheerfully followed. They quietly greeted us with tentative nods. Kaure, a short, stout woman with rich brown skin and long, black hair. Her husband, Gustavo, was not much taller than her with a head of black curls. They both shared the same, wary look as they noticed Dani beside me. 

“Dani, this is Gustavo and Kaure, the housekeepers. They will be keeping the house stocked and maintained during our stay. Boa tarde. Esta é minha esposa, Dani.” I introduced Dani as my wife. I loved calling her that. 

They nodded nervously. Their people had legends about my kind and they had their suspicions about me and my family. Kaure’s wide, deep brown eyes darted warily between us as she grew fearful for Dani. She figured I brought her here to kill her. She was already planning a way to get Dani alone so she could try to warn her. A small part of me was irritated, the rest was merely amused. If only she knew the damage Dani herself could do. 

Gustavo got to work removing the trash and refreshing the linens. Kaure watched us closely from the kitchen as she restocked the cabinets and the refrigerator with fresh food. Her eyes lingered on Dani’s scars. I had my own conflicted feelings about those. The memories attached to them were haunting, but they were a clear sign of her strength. Of how she managed to survive against impossible odds time and again. The tattoo she had there was her way of taking back control. Turning her scars into something entirely different. Something protective. She was extraordinary.

Dani picked out a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude and tucked herself into my side as she started to read. I wanted to ask why she chose that particular book. Instead, I read along with her. Patiently waiting for her to turn the page when she was ready. After merely six minutes of this, my lust for her reached a new high and I couldn’t resist her any longer. I bent down and ran my nose along the side of her neck, taking in her intoxicating scent. She moaned quietly and reached a hand up to press my mouth to her skin. This drew Kaure’s attention. 

“Nossa!” She called out as she came around the kitchen toward us. 

Dani shot her head up toward her and her face drew down in confusion. Then her eyes narrowed until she was practically glaring. Kaure gave her a fearful look, as though trying to warn Dani away from me with her eyes. 

“Is everything alright?” Dani asked Kaure in a clipped tone. 

Kaure glanced anxiously between us. 

“Você poderia machucá-la.” She murmured, claiming that I was going to hurt her.

She was eager to tell Dani that I would harm her. That she wasn’t safe with me. Dani seemed to pick up on her tension and offered her a small smile. 

“I’m okay.” She told her more gently. 

Dani turned her attention back to me and playfully nipped at my neck. I bit back a growl and resisted the urge to kiss her breathless. Kaure didn’t relax, but she did return to her work. I figured it would be best to minimize our intimate interactions until they were gone and we settled back into reading together. 

“Why did you choose this book from the others you picked out?” I asked her quietly. 

She closed the book, keeping her finger between the pages to hold her place, and looked up at me. I focused on her beautiful eyes as she explained. 

“I’ve read it before. I remember that I liked it, but got a little turned around with all the repeated names. I thought maybe I could follow it better on the second read but wouldn’t be terribly disappointed if I didn’t get to finish it.” She smirked and subconsciously traced the fingers of her other hand along my forearm. 

I loved it when she did that. Even if it weren’t for the magic that connected us, the soft warmth of her fingers felt wonderful against my sensitive skin. 

“The ending is so sad though.” I gently ran my thumb over her cheek. 

“The whole book is sad. They keep repeating the same, destructive cycle. But it’s still beautiful. I loved the imagery, the love stories, and the characters. It also ends the same way that it began. I like when stories do that.” She smiled softly and returned to reading. 

My amazing wife. She always found beauty where you wouldn’t expect there to be any. She saw into people even when they tried to close themselves off and pulled out their best qualities. Kaure was still watching us as she wiped down the sink and the counters. I leaned down to kiss Dani on her temple anyway. Let her protest if she wished. 

I could hear Gustavo’s confused thoughts as he swept up glass in the bedroom. Dani must have missed a few light bulbs while she was repairing the damage we caused the night before. We could use candles. I would be able to watch her eyes come alive as I pleasured her just as easily. 

As they finished their work we stood up to see them off. Kaure reached for Dani’s hand, hoping for another chance to ‘save’ her from me. Dani quickly backed away and I moved between them. Obviously she didn’t know that the contact would give Dani an unwanted vision, so she grew more fearful at my interception. 

“Desculpe.” Dani said quietly as she gave Kaure a sympathetic look. 

Of course. She probably knew how to say ‘sorry’ in every language. I struggled against the urge to roll my eyes as Kaure tilted her head in confusion. She was now even more convinced that I had brought Dani here to seduce and murder her. It was likely going to be a problem. 

“Obrigado.” I thanked them as kindly as I could. 

“Thank you.” Dani nodded to her and Gustavo with a bright smile, as though trying to reassure them that everything was fine here. Gustavo murmured to Kaure to stop being so superstitious and that it wasn’t their business as he pulled her back to their boat. She was already planning to return soon. We would be seeing her again as soon as she found an excuse to check in on us. I had to give her credit for her bravery.

“We’re gonna need to find a way to shut that down.” Dani pointed to them as they pulled away from the shore. “I know she has good intentions, but I don’t like her being so nosy.”

I chuckled as I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her neck from behind. “Are you sure you can’t read minds too?” I murmured against her skin. 

She hummed. “Nope. Still just perceptive.”

We didn’t even make it five minutes before I tore her top off of her. As planned, I pulled her into my lap on one of the dining chairs. It was one of my favorite ways to make love to her. I could hold her close and watch her every expression as she took control and had her way with me. 

She tore my shirt open and used her magic to remove my shorts. I ripped her shorts and underwear away as easily as if they were made of paper. She lowered herself down onto me until I was buried to the hilt. I kissed and licked at her pert, pink nipples as she rode me hard. 

Her skin felt like sunshine and tasted of honey and jasmine. The sheen of sweat across her chest added a slight saltiness to her exquisite flavor. Her intoxicating arousal coated my thighs as she rolled her hips at a relentless pace. She pulled my mouth back to hers before she came. Her pleasurable cries and her pulsating core bringing me to my own climax. 

I don’t think she even noticed when she snapped the back of the chair off behind me. She was so incredibly strong when her magic took over. I could hold her as tightly as I needed to and her magic would instinctively push back to protect her. It gave us both an outlet. I held her to me as her breathing and her heart returned to a normal rhythm. 

“How are we ever going to stop?” She murmured against my lips as she started to move against me again. 

“Who says we have to?” I smirked and urged her mouth open to taste her. She was like the sweetest honey. Floral and rich and full of life. It was second only to the taste of her impossibly sweet pussy. I would taste that next. 

As my endlessly working mind kept track, I counted this as one time. Until we separated we could come as many times as we wanted and I would consider it the same instance. We had now made love seventy-six times. 

By the eightieth time our bodies were joined, the Sun had set and we were back in the bed together. I had one arm hooked beneath her knee, opening her wider so that I could push my cock even deeper into her. She moaned my name and dug her nails into my back as I continued to thrust harder. There it was again. The frustrating need to sink my teeth into the delicate curve where her neck met her shoulder. I lightly sucked at that spot and ran the flat of my teeth over it. She raised one hand to the back of my neck as she groaned. 

“Do it baby.” She said breathlessly. 

I pulled my face away from her neck, but didn’t stop moving inside of her. She pulled me back down. 

“Please Edward. Bite me. I need you to bite me.” She was begging me. 

What? Why would she want that? 

I could barely process her words. There was no way of knowing what my venom would do to her. It wouldn’t turn her or kill her, but the potential effects were still unknown. I paused my motions and met her eyes. She looked determined, certain that this was what she needed. Her brows drew down. 

“It’ll be okay. Please." She begged me again. 

I looked down at the spot on her neck as venom pooled in my mouth. My body was urging me to do it, but my brain was telling me not to do anything that could hurt her. She gripped the back of my neck and pulled my face down again. Without another thought, I bit into the soft flesh right where I had been dying to mark her ever since we first made love. Her blood flowed into my mouth and over my tongue. She tasted like pure life, warm energy, and intoxicating magic. I didn’t think the gods themselves could create anything nearly as exquisite. My whole body vibrated with her magic as the bond between us strengthened. I started thrusting again, more urgently than before. I groaned against her skin as I pounded into her. 

She held my face to her neck even tighter as she moaned my name and we climaxed together. Her core clenched around me harder than I’d ever experienced so far. Squeezing me almost painfully tight, pulling me in deeper and extracting every last drop from me. She cried out in pure ecstasy as her hips bucked forward to repeatedly meet mine. The bulletproof glass shattered, the lights exploded, and I poured every bit of myself into her. My own orgasm lasted longer than I thought possible. 

We both kept coming in unison until she relaxed her grip on my neck and I pulled away with a loud, uncontrolled growl muttering indecent words into her ear. I watched as the wounds sealed, leaving only the faintest, white marks behind. I licked up the few drops of blood that were still there and she pulled my face to hers. I kissed her fervently, needing to taste her and hold her now that I had finally claimed her. It felt complete now. Like everything we had been building toward since the moment our eyes first met had finally been achieved. I was sated. When I finally stopped pumping inside of her, I pulled away to look into her bright blue and gold eyes. She gasped quietly. 

“Your eyes.” She whispered. 

I squeezed them shut and turned away. They would have changed to a deep crimson already. It would be a while before they would return to their typical gold again. I had no idea how I would explain it to my family. 

She held my face in her hands and turned me back toward her. “They’re green.” She whispered in an awed tone. 

I opened my eyes and looked down at her again. 

“They’re green?” I asked in confusion. 

Her laugh sounded closer to a sob as tears fell down her face. She nodded. “Yeah.”

Of course they were green. How could I have expected anything less. This goddess was my perfect match, my other half. Her blood would absolutely do something so miraculous. 

“You’re so beautiful.” She smiled as she ran her fingers over my brows. 

If only my heart could beat. The thirst that was always there burning at the back of my throat was gone now. I imagined this was as close as I’d ever come to feeling human again. I pulled out of her and she turned us onto our sides to face each other. She continued looking into my eyes as I looked right back into hers. 

I held a hand to her cheek. “You’re mine now.” 

Her eyes softened. “I was always yours. But I feel like I can breathe now.” She said quietly. 

She somehow needed that too. Whatever cycle we were stuck in had finally been stopped. I still wanted her just as badly, but it was no longer a painful need. I planned to keep making love to her everyday for the rest of eternity, but we could probably do other things now too. 

“Are you tired, love?” I asked her as I brushed my thumb over her soft cheek.  

Her eyes darted around my face. “No. Not at all.” 

“I’d like to finally show you something then. A surprise.” I leaned down to kiss her before sitting up and pulling her with me. 

Dani quickly fixed the broken glass with a casual wave of her hand. We got dressed in comfortable clothes and I led her outside for the first time since we arrived. At the north side of the house was a six by six foot cement platform. She let out an excited gasp as soon as she saw it. Her elated eyes met mine for a moment before she quickly wrapped her arms around my neck and rushed over to the telescope I had installed there weeks ago. The rollaway cover was open and everything was ready to use.

“I thought you would like this. Did you already know about it?” I asked her as my heart filled with joy at the knowledge that she definitely didn’t. 

“I had no idea!” Her voice was high with her excitement. 

She looked it over quickly and turned it on as soon as she found the power switch. She grabbed the control paddle and immediately started to align it. I had read the manual and was ready to do this for her, but it seemed she didn’t need me to. I smirked as I watched her choose a couple bright stars to line it up with. She had definitely done this before. After a few minutes, she was already done. 

“That was fast.” I chuckled. 

“I used to use these all the time for public events. It was one of my favorite parts of grad school.” She looked so happy. I was sure I would replay this moment again and again. “Okay, let’s see. We’ve got… ooh!” 

She pushed some buttons on the control paddle and the telescope started to move toward whatever target she had chosen. I was mesmerized as I watched her work. She leaned down to look into the eyepiece and frowned. She pulled back and quickly replaced the eyepiece with a larger one. As she looked into it again she made some more adjustments and a wide smile spread over her face. She turned back and reached a hand out for me. I took her hand and let her pull me to her. 

“Look!” She said excitedly. 

I smiled and looked into the eyepiece. It held a dense cluster of tens of thousands of white, orange, and yellow stars. 

“It’s the globular cluster in Coma Berenices. Hundreds of thousands of the oldest stars. With a giant telescope and long exposures you can see the galaxy cluster that’s nearby too.” She explained what we were looking at.

She turned into such a nerd when it came to astronomy. I absolutely adored it. I looked up to the sky and noted that I could see the star cluster just as clearly without the telescope. I could precisely discern each star with no effort at all. I’d never tell her that though. She looked through the eyepiece again before moving on to find something else to show me. I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her close as she worked. 

We spent nearly an hour exploring the sky together before she started to yawn. I brought her back to bed where she curled into my side. I gently ran my fingers through her hair and memorized her face again as she slept. She spoke my name several times. She still dreamed of me. I would dream of her too. A dream where we were both human. No one would try to warn her away from me and we would never need to hide ourselves. We could have our own family, grow old together, experience the full range of life’s ups and downs with each other. It was the best dream I’d ever had.

Chapter Text

Dani

After Edward finally bit me it was like our bond was sealed. There had been this incessant urge to ask for it every time his mouth touched that spot on my neck. Then I had a vision of it days before I finally begged him to just do it. It shocked me, but I knew it wouldn’t hurt me and that he felt the same need I did. I also knew he wouldn’t do it himself without some encouragement. 

I was so much stronger now and seemed to have more control over my magic. Our magic combined to somehow balance each other out. I also no longer felt like I would die if he wasn’t buried inside of me. Don’t get me wrong, I still desperately wanted him. We continued to have mind-blowing sex two or three times a day, which was a dramatic decrease from the eleven or twelve times daily that we were relentlessly going at it before. 

We actually did other things now. We watched movies, played games, spent time on the beach, and explored some of the island. I watched him as he walked comfortably in the sunlight. No fear of exposure, just completely free to be himself. It was breathtaking. 

I even managed to get some pictures to send to Alice, Leah, Jess, and Angela. I wanted to keep in touch with my human friends for as long as possible. Eventually I would have to fade away from their lives as my lack of aging became more apparent. Though I was hopeful that I still had a while. 

Kaure had come by once more before their scheduled weekly visit. I did my best to subtly reassure her that I was fine, but she wasn’t convinced. It bothered me more than it should have. She knew nothing about my husband and I hated the idea of her making him feel like a monster. I hadn’t told Edward yet that I could understand her. I knew a comprehension spell to allow the caster to understand and speak another language temporarily. It came in handy while I was in Italy and needed to know what they were saying about me. I used that magic again whenever she came by. If she said one harsh word to him I was ready to jump in. 

She brought me a homemade meal of some kind of seafood stew. A ‘family recipe’, she said. I thanked her and wrapped my arms tightly around Edward’s waist. Trying my best to show her that he wasn’t a danger to me. When she finally left, I put the food on the counter and made no attempt to eat it. 

“She just wants to make sure you're safe.” Edward kissed the top of my head and gave me a small smile. 

“Of course I’m safe. If she keeps coming back here though, she might not be.” I huffed a frustrated laugh. 

“Sometimes you are so temperamental.” He grinned and bent down to kiss me quickly. 

“I don’t like it when people are unkind toward my husband.” I tilted my head up and looked into his bright, green eyes.

His grin shifted to a seductive smirk. “Always so ready to fight for me.” 

He wrapped his arms around my thighs and threw me over his shoulder. I giggled excitedly as he sat me down on the kitchen counter. Crashing his lips to mine, he kissed me eagerly. His mouth moved down my neck, pausing at the faint bite mark he gave me to kiss that as well. My fingers tightly gripped his hair as pleasure radiated throughout my body. That spot was so much more sensitive now. If he gave it attention at the right moment, my climax would hit harder and last longer than ever before. 

He went down on me there in the kitchen. Doing that flicking thing with his tongue that left me completely breathless. I cracked the marble counter beneath one hand as my other hand held his face firmly to me. He continued tasting me as I loudly rode out my orgasm. 

He looked so satisfied with himself when he stood back up. Brushing my hair away from my face and kissing me lightly. His hands remained on the sides of my neck, thumbs brushing my jaw.

“Would you like to go swimming today?” He asked as I fought to catch my breath. 

I huffed out a breathless laugh. “Yeah. That could be fun.” 

I quickly fixed the broken counter and wrapped my arms around him while I waited for my racing heart to settle. Our foreheads held together, noses lightly brushing. He gently ran his hands up and down my thighs while I breathed him in.

Once I was ready, he helped me off the counter and I went to change into one of the swimsuits Alice had packed for me. Every single one of them consisted of the tiniest pieces of fabric held together by narrow strings. I didn’t know why she thought this was necessary, I might as well have just swam naked. After blindly choosing a black bikini, I quickly put it on. The bottom piece barely covered my ass. I heard no complaints from Edward as his darkened eyes scanned my body. 

He took my hand, lacing our fingers together, as we made our way toward a part of the beach I hadn’t been to yet. We walked into the warm water together. When it rose up to my waist I laid back to just float for a moment. Edward lifted me suddenly and moved me onto his back. I screamed in delight as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. 

“We’ll need to go pretty far out.” He smirked back at me as he started to swim. 

I hummed contentedly as I held myself to him tighter. “A little warning would have been nice.”

He laughed. “But then I wouldn’t get to surprise you.”

I chuckled and placed kisses along his shimmering jaw. He took his time swimming us further out into the ocean. When he finally stopped, he moved to take me off of his back. 

“No! I like this.” I tucked my face into the crook of his neck, breathing in the warm cinnamon honey scent of him. 

“But I’ll need to leave if you want them to come over.” I could hear the smile in his voice. 

I looked up to see grey, finned figures jumping back and forth in the distance. 

“Dolphins!” I exclaimed with a wide smile. 

“Yes, they don’t like me very much though.” He sounded almost disappointed as he breathed out a small laugh. 

I closed my eyes and felt for them. There was Edward, he was always the strongest source of magic that I felt, and then there were the dolphins. Six of them. They were brighter than I expected. Somewhere between human and a nearly shifted wolf. I opened my eyes with a gasp. 

“Stay.” I whispered. 

He looked back at me curiously and I smiled warmly as I quickly kissed him on the cheek. I pushed some of my magic out as a signal, rather than a shield, toward the group of dolphins. Hopefully it would lure them closer and mask whatever they might be sensing from Edward. It seemed to work. Their back and forth pattern slowed and they swam closer. Edward looked back at me with a wide smile as they approached. 

“How did you do that?” His bright voice made my heart skip a beat. I got to surprise him this time.

“Magic.” I winked at him. 

The dolphins were nearly within reach. They were very curious about us. I held my magic out around us and they began to playfully circle us, occasionally coming almost close enough to touch. Edward reached a hand out and one of them brushed its tail against him. He breathed out a surprised laugh. A startled squeak escaped my own throat as one of them rubbed against my backside. I turned to see its head rise up above the water beside me. 

“Hello there.” I smiled. It looked right at me. I reached my hand out and carefully stroked its nose.

I immediately saw glimpses of the dolphin’s life. I watched him exploring the ocean with his pod. The feeling of complete freedom and exhilaration as they traveled and explored together. They spoke to each other in their own unique language. Loved each other the same way that we love our families. Their experience of the world around them was entirely different from anything I’d ever seen before. He was curious about us, about me. He wanted to know what we were. 

I came out of it with a gasp and nearly lost my grip on Edward. The contact with him helped prevent me from being pulled all the way into the vision, but it was still unexpected. 

“Dani? Are you okay?” He turned back toward me.

“Yeah, I think so.” I breathed as the dolphin continued to look at me, as if it understood what just happened. “They just have a lot of their own magic. The vision was disorienting.” I reached out to gently pet him again. “It’s nice to meet you.” I said softly. 

“You had a vision from the dolphin?” He asked in disbelief.

I huffed a laugh. “Yeah. They’re… something. I have no idea.”

“Dolphins are magical?” He chuckled.

“It would seem so. They’re intelligent and empathetic, so it’s not a complete surprise. There’s more magic than a person, less than a shifter.” I tried to explain as the dolphin dove back beneath the water to rejoin his pod.

I kept my arms wrapped around Edward as we watched the dolphins swim and dive in the water around us. Edward reached out to carefully touch them a few more times. They seemed to be drawn to his shimmering skin. I opted to just watch. Being in the mind of a dolphin was intense. Their thoughts were so different from ours and it was a little overwhelming. 

I tucked my chin into Edward’s shoulder and kissed the droplets of salt water along his neck. He continued to tread in the water as he reached around to pull me from his back and around to the front of him. I wrapped my legs around his waist again as we faced each other. His head tilted forward to kiss me. We made out in the ocean while the dolphins seemed to take the hint and moved along. His warm, sweet cinnamon taste combined deliciously with the salty ocean water. I would never get enough of him. Not even eternity would be enough time.

I pulled back to look into his sage green eyes. They were flecked with gold now and more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. I wondered how long they would stay that way. “How long can we stay here?” I asked instead.

“As long as we want.” He leaned forward to kiss me. “Forever, if that’s what you want. I don’t care where we are, as long as we’re together.” 

My heart was bursting. I loved him more than could ever be put into words. I tightened my arms around his neck and kissed him firmly again. 

That night I laid my head in Edward’s lap as we watched Casablanca together. I had never seen it before and he insisted it should be required viewing for everyone. He ran his fingers through my hair and I eventually fell asleep. I woke up as he tried to gently lift me and carry me to bed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” He smiled softly down at me.

“Mm.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and yawned as I nuzzled my face into his shoulder.

He laid me down on the bed and climbed in next to me. One hand reached out to cup my face as he leaned in to kiss me. I pulled myself closer and kissed him more deeply. My leg came up over his hip and I pushed myself against him. He gripped my ass while I nipped at his bottom lip. My arousal flared and I pulled away just enough to meet his eyes.

“I want you.” I whispered to him.

He touched his lips to mine. “Show me how you want me.” He responded low and seductive.

I pulled my underwear off from beneath my silk nightgown and turned in his arms. With my back pressed against him, I reached a hand back to cup his face. I wanted to feel his strong arms around me as he held me close.

“Like this.” I practically moaned.

He growled low from deep within his chest and quickly lowered his boxer briefs. With one knee, he pushed my legs apart then reached around to spread me open with his hand. He aligned himself with my entrance before abruptly pushing his cock into me. I gasped at the suddenness of being completely filled by his thickness. His other hand reached underneath me to hold me tightly and the one he already had on me found my clit. He started to move inside me. His hips rocking forward and back. He hit that spot inside me that had me seeing stars. His fingers stimulated my clit and the sensations combined to create something I could only describe as perfection. As I moaned his name, he started to move faster. He began rapidly pumping himself in and out of me with a low moan.

“Mmm.” He growled in my ear. “You’re so wet and tight, baby.”

I cried out in pleasure. I loved it when he talked dirty to me. I got to see a side of him that literally no one else did. It was like this secret just for me and it had me coming nearly undone every time.

“Ah, you’re so fucking big! Harder, baby.” I groaned as my fingers moved to grip his hair.

With a loud, satisfied groan, he listened. He held me tighter and thrust himself into me even harder. I could feel him repeatedly hit the sensitive spot deep inside of me. His fingers continued to circle my sensitive nub. I squeezed my eyes closed as my mouth fell open. I was nearly there. 

“God, yes. Keep going baby, I’m so close!” I called out.

He growled louder, but kept his pace steady. My other hand grabbed onto his arm and he started to lightly suck at his mark on my neck right before I came. 

“Fuuuck! Edward!” I moaned as my release hit me hard and fast. 

I pushed my magic into him as I practically sobbed in his arms. My orgasm kept coming. He continued slowly working my clit as wave after wave of pleasure consumed me. He moaned a string of delightfully filthy words into my ear as he came himself.

“Dani! Fuck, baby. So fucking good.” He moaned. “Keep coming for me.”

He continued to move inside me as my core tightened around him. He didn’t stop until I did minutes later. After a few minutes of just feeling that connection to each other, he pulled out and held me close.

“I will never be able to get enough of this.” I whispered. 

He chuckled low in my ear. “I could literally fuck you forever, Dani.” 

I giggled and held him to me tighter. He lightly kissed along my neck and shoulders as he held me right back. 

“I love you so much, Danielle.” He whispered. He tucked me into his chest and sang ‘Only You’ low in my ear as I fell asleep again.

Our honeymoon continued with each day bringing something new for us. Edward insisted on making me a surprise breakfast. I was happy with eggs or pancakes or even a bowl of cereal, but I would let him continue to dazzle me. He had gotten very good at surprising me. First there was the telescope! Then he took me to a plunge pool at the base of a waterfall. And I was completely blown away by the kayaking trip we went out on at sunset. Seeing the stars above and below as they were reflected in the still ocean was unbelievable. It was like free floating in space. I was the luckiest woman in the multiverse. 

Edward preheated the oven and started mixing cream cheese, powdered sugar, and butter in a bowl together. I watched him from my seat at the bar looking into the kitchen with a small smile as I drank my coffee. 

“You’re making icing. Are you feeding me cake for breakfast?” I laughed lightly. 

He looked up at me and smirked. “No. Not cake.”

“Doughnuts then?” I bit my lip as I watched his forearms flex with each turn of the whisk. 

Fuck, everything he does is sexy.

He chuckled and shook his head. “Stop guessing and let me cook for you.” 

I leaned back in my seat and took another sip. “Fine. I’ll just watch you work then.” I smirked at him.

He turned around and put something that was covered by a dish towel into the oven faster than I could see. He really wanted it to be a surprise. He dipped a finger into the icing and held it out for me. 

“Tell me if this tastes right, please.” He gave me a crooked smile. 

I met his barely green, almost gold again, eyes and leaned forward. His brow drew down and his lips parted as I took his finger into my mouth and closed my lips around it. I wrapped my tongue around his finger and licked the icing off with a faint pop. 

“It’s perfect.” I watched as his eyes darkened until they were nearly black. 

That worked better than I expected. I made plans to take him into my mouth later. I hadn’t tasted him in far too long. 

The whole kitchen started to smell like cinnamon. I was definitely going to like whatever he was making for me. Cinnamon had quickly become my favorite flavor. When the oven timer went off, he pulled a cast iron pan out with his bare hand. 

My heart jumped for a second before I started nervously laughing. “I know it doesn’t hurt you, but I hate when you all do that.”

He chuckled and put the pan down on the stove in front of him. He grabbed the bowl of icing and poured it into the pan. I tried to look around him from my seat to see what he was doing, but he had managed to completely block my view. 

“Let me surprise you!” He laughed from where he was working. 

I sat my elbows on the counter and dropped my chin into my hands with a sigh. I was hungry. I became a little impatient and grumpy when I was hungry. He grabbed a plate from the cabinet next to him and turned back around to finally present me with my breakfast. A large, steaming cinnamon roll completely smothered in cream cheese icing. 

“Cinnamon rolls! You made me cinnamon rolls?!” I beamed at him. 

His returned smile was dazzling. “I did. It’s Esme’s recipe though.”

“How? When?! These take forever to make from scratch!” I gave him a confused look as he handed me a fork. 

“I started them while you were asleep. I made sure you were completely out first.” He smirked. 

He watched as I took a bite. I let out a faint moan as the fluffy, sweet, cinnamon-sugar bread practically melted in my mouth. “Dear god this is amazing!” I took another huge bite. 

He came around and kissed the side of my neck as I ate. I inhaled two of them. As planned, I pulled him to the living room and sat him down on the sofa. I quickly took him into my mouth and used every skill I had available to give him the best blow job imaginable. I had to fix the sofa when we were done.

That afternoon we were going for a hike. There was still so much of the island we hadn’t explored yet and the housekeepers were scheduled for their weekly visit. We had made a concerted effort to stay out of the way while they were there. I think Edward was worried I might snap at Kaure if she gave him one more dirty look. He wasn’t entirely wrong. 

I dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and laced up my hiking boots. Edward was quickly throwing supplies into a backpack for us. The tight, white tank top he had on beneath a loose button down had me desperate to tear it open and lick my way down his chest. It was taking less and less to stoke the flames of my desire for him.

“They’re on their way now.” Edward said as he came over to kiss my forehead. “I’ll see you in a bit.” 

I grabbed his arm before he walked away and pulled him back to crash my lips to his. He moaned as our tongues met and tangled his fingers in my hair. He groaned lightly as he dropped his hands to my shoulders. 

“I really have to go.” He said breathlessly, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke. 

“Fine. See you soon.” I smirked and kissed him once more before letting him go. 

The plan was to make sure that they saw me, so that they knew I was still unharmed. He would leave first, so they didn’t see him sparkling like a disco ball in the Sun, then I would greet them and meet him at a predetermined spot.

I greeted Gustavo and Kaure when they arrived. Kaure still looked at me as though she expected me to die at any moment. 

“We’ll be out for the rest of the afternoon.” I smiled at them. “Ficaremos fora do seu caminho. Obrigado.” I thanked them before heading toward the door. 

“Senhorita.” Kaure stopped me. 

I looked back at her with a small smile. “É a Senhora.” I corrected her. 

“Not safe.” She said in a quiet, heavily accented voice. 

My face dropped to an unamused expression. “Estou seguro. Não se preocupe comigo.” I responded in my own quiet voice. She reached for my hand and I pulled away. “Por favor, não.” 

It would have been so much easier to just compel her, but I couldn’t do it. It still felt so wrong to do. Plus, she should be afraid of vampires. Just not my vampire. Instead I quickly thanked them again and rushed out to meet Edward. He was waiting under the green canopy of trees, casually leaned against a wide tree trunk like it was a perfectly natural position for him. As soon as I spotted him I teleported in front of him and wrapped my arms around his waist. He laughed as he engulfed me in his own arms. 

“A warning would be nice.” He kissed the top of my head with a wide smile. 

“But then I wouldn’t get to surprise you.” I mimicked his tone and looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow. 

He laughed again and leaned his head down to kiss me deeply. With a step back, I took both of his hands in mine. He gave me a thoughtful look. 

“You speak Portuguese?” He tilted his head slightly. 

I bit my lip. “Only temporarily. I can speak whatever language I need to.” I shrugged, trying to seem more casual than I felt about it. “It’s a spell.” I explained. 

He nodded. “So you know what she’s been saying then?”

“I do and I’ve been trying to get her to back off without resorting to magic.” I let his hands go and ran my fingers up his arms. “Where are we going?” I shifted the subject. 

He smirked and leaned down to kiss my forehead. “This way.” He took my hand again and we walked deeper into the forest. 

As we walked he would pause to point out different animals. There were toucans, small monkeys, iguanas, even a sloth that took way too long for me to spot among the high branches. He knew the names of each of them and seemed to light up as he told me everything from their diets to their social behaviors. I thought maybe he’d have liked to be a zoologist in another life.

We got to a small clearing where he stopped and pulled a large, thin blanket from his pack for us to sit on. I took off my boots and curled into his side. He reached into his bag and handed me a sandwich and a container of fruit. While I ate my lunch, he told me stories about his travels in Asia. He wanted to take me there after we finally saw Europe together. 

When I finished eating we layed back on the blanket and watched the sunlight dance through the leaves above us as we talked. His arm wrapped around me to hold me close as I rested my head on his chest. My hand slipped up beneath his tank top and I traced the lines of his abdomen and chest. He brushed his fingers over where his mark used to be. The faint, white bite mark he left on me had since mysteriously faded and disappeared over the last couple weeks. 

We laid there while I told him what I could remember about my own childhood and he told me what he could remember about his parents. He was very close to his mother, Elizabeth. I watched his expressions as he told me that she was the only reason he didn’t lie about his age and try to join the army at seventeen. I held his face in my hand and he turned toward me. 

“I think she would be so proud of you.” I looked into his now almost gold eyes and stroked my thumb across his cheek. 

His brow drew down slightly and he leaned down to kiss me. His hand found my chin and tilted my head up to give him a better angle to enter my mouth. As his tongue met mine I moved to turn over and straddle him. His hands slid around my waist and tore the back of my shirt open. Without missing a beat, I reached between us and ripped his shirt apart from the front. He sat up suddenly, wrapping his arms around me and holding me tight as our kiss grew more desperate. 

I pulled back and reached down to frantically unbutton his shorts. I needed him. It was that same feeling I had weeks ago. Like I would die if he wasn’t inside of me. He tore my shorts away like it was nothing just as I freed his firm and ready cock from his underwear. With an arm wrapped around his shoulders, I lifted myself up and slowly guided him into my soaking wet core. His hands tightly gripped my waist as we both groaned at the connection. I crashed my lips to his as I started to raise myself up and slam back down onto him. The forest around us went completely still as I continued to ride him hard. 

He tilted his head, thrusting his tongue deeper into my mouth, and wrapped his arms around my waist to hold me even closer. I pulled away from his mouth with a gasp.

“I love you so much, Edward.” I held my hands to his face as I stared into his eyes. 

“I am yours, Danielle. Body, heart, soul, all of it. It’s yours.” His brows drew down and he leaned in to kiss down my neck. 

I cried out when his mouth met that spot on my neck. His teeth gently grazed over it. I knew what I needed. I tightly laced my fingers into his hair and pulled him closer.

“Yes, bite me Edward.” I murmured into his ear. 

He didn’t hesitate this time as he bit right into the sensitive skin. There was no pain. Only pleasure as his warm, electric energy vibrated through me. The bond between us grew stronger, I could feel it. We came together, pulsing around and inside each other. I threw my head back and cried out with a wide smile as pure ecstasy radiated throughout every cell in my body. 

He pulled away from my neck and whispered my name. I felt his warm lips brush over his new mark on me. My motions on top of him slowed and I pulled his face back to mine. I kissed him deeply, tasting my coppery blood on his tongue. My hips continued lifting and falling to plunge him into me while we were still in the middle of our joined climax. 

When I finally started coming down, I stopped moving entirely and rested my head in the crook of his neck. My breaths were short and heavy as I breathed in his warm cinnamon scent. He continued gently kissing the side of my neck and rubbing a hand over my back. 

“Are you okay?” He asked quietly. 

I lifted my head to look into his bright, green again eyes. A wide smile spread over my face. 

“I don’t think anyone has ever felt better than I do in this moment.” A tear fell to my cheek and I leaned in to kiss him softly. 

He leaned his forehead against mine. “Are you up for another one? I’d really like to make you come again.” His husky, velvet voice sent a wave of desire through me. 

I moaned and rocked my hips, feeling him move inside me. “Yes, please.”

He quickly flipped us over and took me again there on the forest floor. Roughly thrusting into me until we both came once more. Now that he bit me again, I was physically stronger and neither one of us needed to hold anything back.

When we were finally done, we laid naked in each other's arms for a while. The forest had come to life around us. Tropical flowers bloomed as far out as we could see and trees that were nearly bare before now held branches full of fruit. I watched as a small marmoset came to pull a reddish orange fruit away and began to eat it. With a small laugh I turned in Edward’s arms and placed open mouthed kisses across his chest. He let out a content sigh. His sigh quickly changed to a startled laugh when I bit at his pec. 

“Do I have to walk back naked?” I asked as I laid my head on the arm I had over his chest and smirked up at him. 

He laughed. “No. I brought extra clothes.”

I narrowed my eyes a little. “Did you plan for this?”

He looked down at me. “I planned for everything.” His full lips pulled into a smile. “I even brought a small tent, in case we didn’t want to go back.”

I laughed and pulled myself up so we were face-to-face. “You’re an impossible man.” I pressed my lips to his as he held me tighter. 

We could have stayed right there and lived together in the forest, I was so blissfully happy. We had the only thing we could ever want or need. Each other. 

Chapter Text

Edward

We had been here so long that I had to call Carlisle a couple of times to reassure him that we were fine, just enjoying the time away together. Eventually we would go back. Probably. I still needed to show her the world. I promised her France more than once and I was going to follow through. 

If we ever did leave, we would absolutely return. Maybe we would make it a tradition. We could come back for our anniversary every year for eternity. Perhaps every five or ten years, so that it wouldn’t lose its appeal.

At that moment my attention was solely focused on Dani. We had just come inside from the beach. Her ridiculously minuscule blue bikini left nothing to the imagination. I couldn’t wait to tear it off of her. I brought her into the shower with me to wash off the saltwater and the sand. Now I stood behind her, kissing and nipping at her gorgeous neck as her hand reached up behind her to tightly grip my hair. Her nails scraped deliciously against my scalp and I growled into her skin. 

We seemed to hit one of these cycles every couple of weeks or so. I needed to have her, please her, mark her. She told me she felt it too. My eyes would slowly fade from green to gold, my mark on her would disappear, and it would start all over. I didn’t even need to hunt. The small amount of blood I took from her was somehow enough to sustain me. 

I wrapped my arms around her waist as I held her from behind and gently pushed her against the shower wall. I lifted one of her legs onto the ledge there and reached down to spread her open for me. The sound she made as I entered her wet, tight core was intoxicating. A high, whining groan that lit me on fire. 

I kept my hand between her legs and found her sensitive clit. I wanted this to be perfect for her. My other hand came up to knead her breast. She winced when I cupped her in my hand. She felt slightly more full. I noticed it earlier in her small bikini top as well. I moved my hand back down to her ribs. 

“Are you okay?” I pulled away from her neck a little to check in. 

“Mhm. Just tender.” She replied quietly as she bent her head back to kiss and nip at my throat. 

She was about to start menstruating. It had been a while. Her cycle had always been unpredictable. But I knew her body well enough to recognize the signs. Tender breasts, fatigue, her mood would change. I could even smell it shortly before she would start to bleed. I never told her this, I was afraid she might be embarrassed. It wasn’t an off-putting smell, but it didn’t smell like food either. Like a dulled version of her without the alluring essence of life that her fresh blood held. I would ensure that she had everything she needed as soon as we were done here. I would make a trip into the city for her if I had to. 

I wrapped my arm firmly around her waist as I began thrusting into her. Her core was so hot and firmly wrapped around me. Squeezing me tightly as I gave her every single inch of my cock. My fingers continued to stroke her most sensitive spot to give her even more. She moaned my name and I drove into her faster. I found the now smooth, clear spot on her neck and nipped at it with my lips as her cries of pleasure reached a higher pitch. 

“Now, Edward. Do it now.” She whimpered. 

I waited for her to say it was okay. I would never risk biting her if she didn’t want me to. And I still couldn’t believe that she did. She claimed it didn’t hurt, that it felt just as erotic for her as it did for me. I had to just trust her as I bit precisely into the same spot as the first mark that I gave her, creating a new one. I moaned against her neck as her divine blood pooled into my mouth. She cried out and we both came together. I continued thrusting as I poured into her and her core forcefully clenched around me. 

I pulled away from her neck and quickly turned her around to face me. I lifted her legs around my waist and drove into her again. I found if I changed positions quick enough and kept a steady rhythm, I could make her come again with minimal time between her climaxes. Giving her multiple orgasms had become a new obsession of mine. Especially when she allowed me to bite her and mark her as my own. 

“You’re mine.” My voice was a tight growl. “Say it, Dani.” I demanded gently. 

“I’m yours, Edward.” Her reply was high and breathless. 

I looked into her phenomenal blue and gold eyes as I continued to give her all of me. She came again just as quickly as I hoped she would. The gold in her eyes flared and danced around her blown pupils. Her face flushed and pulled down as her mouth fell open and she cried out my name. 

“Fuck! Yes baby!” Her cries of pleasure surrounded me in the shower as she came around me. 

I could stay inside her forever as her hot, soaking wet pussy squeezed me tighter and pulled my own pleasure from me. I reveled in filling her completely as she begged for more. My cum still dripping out of her as I gave it to her. These kinds of thoughts once appalled me before they became my own. Dani made me want to experience every part of life, especially this part. She also seemed to really enjoy it when I spoke some of these thoughts aloud to her. I started gradually and hadn’t yet found a line where she didn’t appreciate it anymore. 

“Fuck baby, I love it when you come on my cock. Can you give me one more? Come for me again, love.” I kept my voice low and seductive. 

She responded immediately with a satisfied moan. “God yes, Edward! Please make me come again.” She groaned as she started to bite at my neck.

With a smirk, I kept thrusting into her. She reached down and grabbed me from behind to pull me into her more firmly. 

“Harder baby.” She begged through gritted teeth. 

“Fuck, Dani.” I groaned as my dick somehow grew even harder for her. 

She seemed to get so much stronger after I bit her. It was like my venom enhanced her magic. I braced one hand against the tile wall, cracking it as I pounded into her even harder. Her hands moved up around my shoulders as she held on tightly. Her breathing sped up and she tensed, she was close again. I kept up my punishing pace until she came again. 

“Oh god!” She threw her head back and let out high pitched moans as her inner walls contracted around me again. 

“Good girl.” I growled right before I came again with a low moan. The third time since we walked into this shower together. 

I poured even more of myself into her and decided I wanted to make her come once more before the day was done. Before she went to sleep, I’d do the quick flicking thing with my tongue that she loved. She showed it to me once. Found a way to use her magic to make me feel what she felt while she had me in her warm mouth. The things she could do with her tongue should have been illegal, then she added that to her arsenal. It was mind-blowingly intense. I tore the arm of the sofa off. I owed Emmett a Range Rover for that advice. I was appalled when he first told me to try it, but for once I had no problem admitting that he was right. 

As she came down from her orgasm, I slowly helped her lower down to her feet. She smiled and breathed out a laugh as she reached up on her tiptoes to kiss me. I didn’t know it was possible to love her more, but I did. Somehow I loved her even more each day than I did the day before. There wasn’t anything that I wouldn’t do to make her happy. 

I carefully took out the elastic holding up her beautiful, polychromatic, brown waves and washed them as she ran her soapy hands over my body. I started to wash her body after rinsing her hair. When I reached her breasts she hissed a breath in again. 

“Sorry, my boobs are killing me.” She mumbled as she turned and reached up to kiss my neck. 

“They’re bigger too.” I smirked as I ran my hands over her soft back. 

She paused and pulled back to look at me. Her brows drew down in confusion and she looked down at her breasts. “Really?”

I chuckled. “Just a little bigger.” 

I gripped her hips and kissed her neck again as she turned around and shut off the water. She reached for a towel and wrapped it around herself before stepping out. Her eyes had that distant look they got when she was thinking. I figured she just realized what I did. She left the bathroom and I followed her out. After blindly picking out some clothes, she started looking for something. She was digging in her suitcase before she started waving things up around the room with her magic. 

“Can I help you find something?” I asked as I watched her. Maybe she forgot to pack the supplies she needed. 

“No. I’m just - ah!” She found her purse under the nightstand and took it and her clothes with her to the bathroom. “I need a human moment!” She called out in a high voice. 

I shook my head as I dried off and got myself dressed. I would tell her that I already knew. She didn’t need to be shy about her period. We were married now and it was completely normal. I could hear her in the bathroom muttering to herself and the sound of paper rustling. 

“Nope. Okay, what if…? Fuck… nooo. Is it…? Shit.” She was whispering like she still couldn’t find what she needed. “Shit shit shit.” She cursed quietly. “What day is it?” She called out. 

“Thursday.” I replied, pressing my lips together to bite back a smile. 

“Not helpful!” Her voice sounded anxious. 

“It’s July sixth.” I leaned a hand against the doorway as I continued to listen. 

I could hear her counting to herself. 

“Seven? That can’t be right.” She mumbled as her heart started to beat faster. 

She burst out of the bathroom. She was now dressed in a pair of soft shorts and a blue tank top, but her hair was still a mass of wet tangles. I started to follow after her. 

“Stay there please!” She pointed at me. 

“Is everything okay?” I asked as I began to worry a little. 

“Just… please stay right there.” Her eyes nervously darted past me as she walked out of the bedroom and into the living area of the house. 

She stopped in the living room and closed her eyes the way she did when she was feeling for magic. I glanced into the bathroom and saw a large sheet of paper unfolded on the sink. I skimmed it from where I stood. It was a patient packet insert. The kind that came with certain prescription medications. The words at the top included “intrauterine device”.

I looked back at Dani just as her eyes reopened and widened. “Why do you have an information sheet for an intrauterine device?”

“No no no no no. Shit!” She rushed back into the room and started shoving things into her suitcase. Her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest. 

“Dani? Why do you have an IUD information sheet?” I asked again. 

“Because I had an IUD.” She said matter of factly as she went into the bathroom and started throwing things into her toiletry bag. “We have to go home.” She said tensely. 

“What? Why do you have an IUD?” My brain started to work. Did she think I could get her pregnant? Or was she just being proactive? But why would she be panicking right now? And why would we need to leave?

“Apparently I don’t anymore. It’s gone.” She stopped packing and looked at me with wide eyes as she held a hand to her stomach. She was thinking again. 

“Why would you get an IUD though? We can’t have children.” I tilted my head as my brow furrowed in confusion. 

“Yes we can and we did. We are… we will? I don’t…” She lightly shook her head with a sigh. “I need your phone please. Mine is dead.”

I stopped as my mind zeroed in on those words. ‘We can… we will.’

Without waiting for me to respond she started to go through my pockets until she found my phone. I focused on her and listened closely. I found it after only a moment. The faintest thrumming sound at 106 beats per minute right in her lower abdomen beneath her hand. I listened to it as Dani made a call. 

“Edward?” Carlisle’s voice answered. 

“Carlisle? Where are you?” She asked. 

“Dani? I’m in Italy, paying Aro a long overdue visit. How are you?” He sounded cheerful. 

I was frozen in place. I could still hear the quick, quiet heartbeat. I pulled all the medical knowledge I had on early pregnancy. 

One hundred and six beats per minute, that would be somewhere between six and eight weeks along. So four to six weeks ago, I impregnated her? How is that even possible?

Dani rubbed her hand against her forehead and squeezed her eyes closed. “When could you be back? We are heading home today and would like to see you when we get there.” She kept her voice calm. 

“Is everything alright?”

“We would just really like to see you when we get back.” She avoided his question as she reopened her eyes. 

“Well, I guess I can cut my trip short. I can probably make it back in a couple of days?” Carlisle seemed to pick up on Dani’s urgency. 

“Perfect. Thank you. We’ll see you soon. Say hi to everyone.” She hung up and made an appalled face. “‘Say hi’? Jesus, Dani.” She muttered to herself and started dialing again. 

She was in crisis mode. I’d seen her like this once before. In Leah’s thoughts. She showed me what had happened at Dani’s eighteenth birthday party. They were under attack. Leah, Seth, and Emily were frozen in panic, much like I was now. Dani jumped in and took control of the situation. She made sure everyone was safe before rushing out to face the danger herself. That’s what she was doing now. Taking care of everything while I just stood there frozen in shock, listening to the faint heartbeat inside of her. 

“Alice? It’s Dani. Where are you?” She spoke before Alice could even say ‘hello’. 

“Dani? I’m at home. What’s going on?” 

“Fuck, thank you! We need to be on the next flight back there. Can you make that happen?” She asked. 

“Is everything okay?” Alice’s voice was concerned. 

“No. It’s really not. I can’t explain right now, just-” She looked back up at me and pressed the phone to her chest. She held a hand to my face as I kept listening to that quiet thrumming. “ Please baby. I need you right now. We don’t have a lot of time and I really don’t want to die.”

That immediately snapped me out of it. Die? I took the phone from her. 

“Alice? Can you try to see her or me and look for her?” I demanded.

“No, there’s nothing. You’re both completely gone.” She sounded confused. 

“She won’t be able to see around it.” Dani said. “We need to get back to Carlisle, like, now.” 

How did she know about this? She knew I could get her pregnant and she seemed certain that it was going to kill her. 

“Please do as Dani asked and help get us home as quickly as possible. We’ll explain when we get there.” I hung up and threw everything else into our suitcases as fast as I could. 

I heard Kaure’s thoughts too late. She was coming to check on Dani again. I sighed and brought our luggage to the front door to answer it. Dani followed behind me. Kaure grew alarmed when she saw our disheveled state. She pushed past me and went to Dani. 

“Você está bem? Ele te machucou?” She asked if I had hurt Dani. I did, I put something inside of her that would kill her. 

“Estou bem. Estamos apenas saindo.” Dani seemed frustrated as she tried to reassure her that we were just leaving. 

“Elle é perigoso.” She tried to warn Dani more sternly. 

“I am the most dangerous thing in this house right now!” A flame suddenly appeared in her hand and her breath caught. She closed her fist and it disappeared just as quickly. “You need to worry more about yourself and leave!” Dani yelled at her as the lights began to brighten throughout the house. Kaure’s expression shifted from one of fear for Dani to fear of Dani. “Sai daqui!” Dani ordered. 

Kaure’s eyes went blank and she turned away to rush back to her boat. That was probably for the best.

Dani ran a hand down her face. “God dammit!” A few light bulbs exploded at her outburst. 

I picked up our luggage and ran it to the boat. I rushed back for Dani and helped her into the boat as well. The honeymoon was over. 

As requested, Alice had plane tickets waiting for us at the airport in Rio. Dani remained composed, but silently lost in thought as we boarded the plane. After a while, she fell into a fitful sleep. I held her close as we travelled back home. My eyes never left her as she laid restlessly in my arms. 

As gently as I could, I untangled her mess of waves with my fingers and braided her hair for her. She liked to keep it in a braid while she slept. Once that was done, I began brushing my fingers through her hair. That always helped her sleep more peacefully. That faint heartbeat beneath her own thrummed steadily. I had hurt her. The one thing I vowed to never do again. Why didn’t she tell me though? If she knew this was a possibility, then she should have told me. 

We had two layovers, including a long one in Atlanta. It was the best Alice could do on such short notice. I tried to get Dani to eat there, but she couldn’t stomach anything besides water and pretzels. By the time we got to Seattle, nearly two and a half days after we left the island, it was evening and she was clearly exhausted. I helped her into the car and started to drive us home. 

As we made it onto the highway she finally spoke to me again. “I don’t know how this happened.” She shook her head as she looked down. 

I had been thinking about that too. I kept my voice soft. “Dani. Our venom destroys plastic. Your IUD was made of plastic.” 

She looked at me and her eyes widened. “Why didn’t I know that? I should have known that!” She dropped her head into her hands. 

“Why didn’t you tell me that this could happen?” I asked quietly. 

“I didn’t think I would have to.” She replied in a low whine. 

“What happened to us making huge decisions for the both of us together?” I failed to keep my frustration out of my voice. 

“You’re right. I’m sorry. God, I’m so stupid.” She finally started to react to the situation. Like she was allowing herself to really feel it now. Her shoulders shook as she started to cry. I reached over to take her hand and pulled it to my lips. 

“Please don’t worry baby. We’ll get that thing out of you. You’re going to be okay.” I tried to reassure her as my stomach dropped. 

She looked up at me. “It’s not fair.” Tears streamed down her face. 

My brows drew down as I looked into her devastated eyes. 

“I would have wanted this with you. It’s not fair.” She waved a hand toward me then dropped her head back down into her hand as she sobbed. 

She would have wanted a child with me? In a different universe, I would have absolutely wanted the same. But I would choose her every time. I couldn’t lose her. 

She held a hand to her lower abdomen and looked down. “I’m so sorry.” She said quietly as she ran a thumb over it. Like she was talking to whatever was inside of her. 

We got back to the house that evening and Alice rushed to Dani. “Dani! We missed you!” She beamed as she pulled Dani in for a hug. 

Dani just started crying again as she held tightly onto Alice. 

“What is going on?” She asked as looked over at me. 

** And why the hell are your eyes green?! **

Dani pulled back and wiped her eyes. “Is Carlisle here yet?” She asked in a trembling voice.

“He is. He took our private plane so he arrived yesterday.” Alice looked at her with concern. 

Dani nodded. “We need to see him now.”

I wrapped an arm around Dani and led her into the house where Carlisle was waiting. 

“Edward?” Alice asked. 

** What happened Edward? I’ve never seen her this upset before. **

“Carlisle we need your help.” I brushed Alice’s thoughts away. “It seems Dani is… pregnant.” I swallowed my discomfort. 

Alice’s voice rose. “She’s WHAT?! What do you mean?! How?!”

Carlisle just stood in stunned silence while Alice tried to process the information logically. Rosalie and Emmett rushed down the stairs together. 

Dani looked at Carlisle with tears still streaming down her beautiful, devastated face. “I’m so sorry. I should have told him. I thought I had it taken care of.” She sobbed, keeping her hand right over where the fluttering heartbeat was coming from.

“Okay, let’s just take a moment here.” He put a hand on Dani’s shoulder. “Just take a couple deep breaths, Dani. We’ll need to get an ultrasound machine. The hospital should have a spare one. I can probably have that by the morning. We’ll see what’s going on.” Carlisle tried to keep her calm. 

Dani shook her head. “It won’t work.” She whispered. 

“I can hear it!” Alice exclaimed. 

“She’s pregnant?” Rosalie asked in a surprised tone. 

“Are you okay, Dani?” Emmett looked at her, calling her by her name instead of the nickname he always used for her. He was worried. 

“Please. I can’t do this right now. It’s already been too long.” She looked at Alice. “You can hear it?” Her voice broke. 

Alice’s brow drew down and she nodded. “The heartbeat. It's like a faint whooshing sound.”

“I hear it too.” Rose’s eyes widened. 

** Oh my god! A baby! **

“Rose, stop. Not now.” I looked at her sternly. I would keep her away from Dani if she followed that line of thought. Dani’s life wasn’t worth whatever was growing inside of her now. 

“Can I just go lay down somewhere until we have what we need?” Dani looked up at me. “I’m so tired.” Her voice broke again. 

She was completely exhausted. She barely slept these last few days. 

I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Of course, love. We’ll go to our room.” I lifted her into my arms. “Come get us when you’re ready, Carlisle.”

He nodded. 

** Of course, son. We’ll figure this out. It’ll all be okay. **

I carried Dani up to our room where I laid down on the bed with her. She held herself tightly to my chest as she cried. 

“I’m so sorry.” Her voice was heavy.

“Shh. It’s okay, baby. It’s going to be okay.” I tried to soothe her.

I ran my fingers through her hair while she fell asleep. I kept her hand in mine as I watched her sleep and listened closely. The faint heartbeat that we made together was still thrumming away. 

“You’re going to be fine, love.” I whispered to Dani as I resumed brushing my fingers through her hair. 

The thoughts of the others were chaotic as they discussed how this might have happened. Everything from Dani’s magic making it happen to the possibility of her having been unfaithful. That was absurd. Even if I thought for a second that she could ever do such a thing, we have been alone on a remote island for the past seven weeks. Immaculate conception would have been more likely. 

I remained in place next to her and watched over her. So far whatever was inside of her didn’t seem to be hurting her, but Dani said there wasn’t much time. So I would be vigilant. I monitored her every heartbeat, her breathing, her blood pressure, everything. I was ready to act if anything shifted outside of the normal range.

Four hours later, Carlisle returned with the ultrasound machine, he immediately got to work setting everything up in his lab. That included the hospital bed we needed for her after the battle against Victoria. When I almost lost her before. I knew I couldn’t go through that again. She was my only reason for living. To see her suffering was worse than death. I would fix this. Do whatever I had to in order to keep her safe. 

Once everything was ready, I reluctantly woke Dani. “Hey, baby.” I said quietly as I held her face in my hand. “Carlisle’s ready for us.”

She startled awake and met my eyes. She looked around as if she wasn’t sure where she was before her face fell. She let out a small sob and I pulled her to my chest. 

“Shh. It’s going to be okay. I promise. We’ll take care of this.” I stroked her hair as I kissed the top of her head. 

Carlisle knocked on the door. Dani looked up at the door, then at me. “I guess let’s do this.” She said groggily. 

She moved to get off the bed and I picked her up. She opened her mouth to protest. 

“Until you’re safe again, I’m not letting you go.” I leaned down and kissed her gently. She wrapped her arms tightly around my chest. 

I nodded to Carlisle as I carried her to his lab and laid her on the bed next to the ultrasound machine. I held her hand in both of mine, doing whatever I could to comfort her.

“Okay, Dani. I’m going to start with some questions. They might be a little uncomfortable to answer, but it’s important.” Carlisle started. 

Dani nodded. 

“When was your last menstrual cycle?” He asked. 

Her brow furrowed. “I’m not sure. Before the wedding?”

“May eleventh.” I told him. 

Dani’s head shot toward me. I shrugged. “I always know.”

She closed her eyes and sighed as a faint blush crept across her cheeks. I reached a hand out to brush a thumb across her cheekbone.

“That was more than eight weeks ago. When did you first have intercourse?” He asked. 

Dani’s eyes reopened and her blush spread further. “The day after the wedding. I had an IUD though.” She anxiously informed him. 

“An IUD? What kind?” He tilted his head in thought. 

“A hormonal one. Edward informed me his venom would have destroyed it. I didn’t know.” She looked down at her hands.

Carlisle nodded. “He is correct. It would have taken a while though, unless it had constant exposure.”

Dani’s eyes widened and her blush grew darker. “Oh, it did.” She said quietly. 

I bit back a smile before sighing and kissing the side of her head. That felt like it was decades ago now. 

“Have you noticed any symptoms?” He continued. 

“My breasts are killing me, I guess they’ve gotten bigger too. I’m more tired, I’ve had some nausea and I can feel it.” She looked over at me. 

“What do you mean you can ‘feel’ it?” He asked her to clarify. 

She sighed. “It has its own magic. I can feel its magic.” 

** Already? That’s incredible! **

I gave Carlisle a small glare. This wasn’t some fucking experiment for him. 

He nodded. “Well, it’s still pretty early, but let’s find out if we can see anything.” Carlisle said. 

Dani just shook her head as she laid back. “It won’t work."  

“What do you mean?” Carlisle asked. 

“You’ll see.” She waved a hand toward the machine. 

Carlisle instructed her to undress from the waist down and I covered her with a thin sheet as he prepared the transducer for the transvaginal ultrasound. He was going to have to do it that way this early if he wanted to see anything. I held Dani’s hand to my lips as he gently inserted it and the image appeared on the screen in my peripheral. 

“Ah. Yes, there it is.” Carlisle said softly. 

Dani shot up from the bed, shifting the image away before I could look. “What?!”

“Please don’t move Dani, I’d like to get some measurements. I need you to lay back down.” Carlisle gently laid a hand on her shoulder. 

“But what do you mean ‘there it is’?!” Dani exclaimed. 

“The fetus.” Carlisle gave her a confused look. 

She looked between him and the screen before laying back down. “Can you show me please?” She tightened her hold on my hand. 

Carlisle moved the transducer again until he found it. There it was. The black orb of her uterus with a small grey blob inside. I could just make out the shape of a head on the low resolution screen. It would have been beautiful if we weren’t so terrified. 

“See there,” Carlisle pointed to the gray shape, “that’s the fetus. It looks to be about seven weeks along.” He started tapping keys to measure the size and take snapshots of the screen.

Dani slowly pushed up onto her elbows to look closer, careful to not move too much again. “That’s it? But that’s not right. You shouldn’t be able to see it at all. And it’s been too long. It should be bigger.”

** What in god’s name is she talking about? **

“Dani. I think you need to fill us in on what you know. None of that makes any sense.” Carlisle gave her a pointed look. 

“This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!” She shook her head. “It should be inside of an impenetrable amniotic sack. It’s supposed to grow ten times faster than normal. I don’t understand what’s happening.” She looked at me as she started thinking again with her hand held firmly over her abdomen. 

“Well it appears that isn’t the case here.” Carlisle replied in a soothing voice. His bedside manner was always impeccable. His thoughts were just as frazzled and confused as everyone else’s.

She suddenly started laughing. Tears filled her eyes as she just laughed. I thought maybe she had snapped. It was all too much and she completely lost it. 

“Dani? Are you okay?” I said as I knelt down by her side. 

“We're compatible!” She exclaimed as if that explained everything. 

Dani fell back onto the bed and threw her arm over her face as she cried. “How am I this stupid?!” 

“Baby, please. I don’t know how to help you right now.” I raised her hand to my lips again and kissed it gently.

She pulled her arm away from her face and looked over at me. She was smiling as tears fell down her face. “I need to go talk to my husband Carlisle.” She said through a small sob.

“Of course. I’d like to at least get some blood first.” Carlisle requested as he removed the probe from her.

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine.” She kept her blue eyes locked to mine.

Carlisle glanced between us as he gathered what he needed for a blood sample.

** Your eyes, Edward. How is it that they’re green? **

I kept my eyes on Dani’s, something big was happening behind those eyes and I didn’t want to miss it. “It’s because of Dani.” I said quietly.

He collected his blood sample and mentally instructed me to keep a close eye on her. As soon as he was done I carried Dani back to our room. When I put her down she quickly reinforced the silencing spell and wrapped her arms around me. 

“Okay,” she whispered into my ear, “I have a lot to tell you.”

She pulled away and looked into my eyes again. “I think we can have this together.” She smiled softly. “Before I get too far though, I need to know. Is this something you would want?”

I scanned her face as I tried to comprehend her question. “What?”

“I don’t want to do it without you. If we could have this baby just as safely as any other couple, would you want to?” She laid it out as clearly as possible.

It felt like my heart leapt in my chest. Was she really saying we could do this? I looked into her eyes again. They were bright and alive and happy. So happy. 

“Yes.” I really did. I listened to that small heartbeat again. It continued steadily beating, nestled safely in her womb. We made it together and I truly wanted it.

Her smile widened as more tears fell to her cheeks. “Me too. So I think I need to tell you my mystery now.” 

Chapter Text

Dani

Edward listened intently while I told him everything. All about the Twilight books from my universe. About Bella and how she didn’t seem to exist here. About their relationship, marriage, the devastating pregnancy and Renesmee (such a dumbass name). 

I told him how everything was so different here. How events changed and I quickly stopped knowing what was going to happen. I was only mildly afraid that telling him might create a paradox that would cause this universe to collapse in on itself. 

We were seated on the bed together. My legs folded beneath me and him facing me. He waited until I was completely finished trying to explain everything before he finally spoke. 

“So you know so much about us because you read about us?” His face was drawn down into a bewildered expression. “You read about me? In fiction novels?”

“Pretty much… It’s still not the same though. Me being here changed so much. Plus you are completely different.” I nervously fidgeted with the blanket while I waited for his reaction. 

“How am I different?” He reached for my hands to still them, gently lacing his fingers with mine.

I glanced up at him. “You’re more selfless and open and funny. You’re not manipulative or controlling and, honestly, you’re less creepy.” I laughed nervously. “You let me make my own choices and stand by me, instead of trying to hold me back. You’re also far less prudish.” I smirked at him.

“The fictional version of me sounds completely intolerable.” He gave me his crooked grin. 

“Oh, he was. That’s a big part of why I didn’t like you at first.” My smile widened. “I may have had some unfair preconceived notions.” My smile faltered as I scanned his face. “I know this is… a lot. How are you feeling?”

He moved closer to pull me into his lap. “Relieved.” He huffed a laugh. “I finally have you somewhat figured out and I know that you’re safe. That’s all that matters.” His hand came up to cup my face. “So you believe that because we can see the fetus on an ultrasound that you can safely carry this pregnancy to term?” 

I looked up into his sage green eyes. I couldn’t believe that he was taking all of this as well as he was. A part of me expected him to declare me insane and make a run for it. 

“I think that because we’re compatible that we can have a child together, yes.” I took his hand and ran my fingers over his palm. 

“The baby you could have had with her seemed like it was more vampire than human. She was still just a baby, she wasn’t a monster or anything. But it’s nearly impossible for a human to survive a hybrid pregnancy. Even then, they would have to be turned as soon as the baby is out.” I looked back up at his face. He was watching me closely again as he just listened. 

“I’m not really human though. And our magic is compatible. ‘Down to a cellular level’ remember? This baby is half you and half me. We can keep monitoring it closely to make sure everything is okay, but I don’t think I’m wrong.” I gave him a soft smile and laced our fingers together again. 

“So a half vampire, half witch child? It sounds like we would have our hands full.” He laughed lightly. 

“Then it’s a good thing we’ve got such a big family to help.” I leaned my head on his shoulder and let out a relieved sigh. 

“And you feel okay? Aside from the typical symptoms, it’s not hurting you?” He tentatively held a hand to my stomach. 

I covered his hand with my own. “No. It’s not hurting me. Besides the rapid growth, the biggest problem with a hybrid pregnancy is that the mother can only keep down blood. She can’t eat food at all. The fetus needs blood to survive and grow so it takes it from the mother.” I looked down at our hands. “That doesn’t seem to be happening. I can still eat food, I’m just nauseous. Morning sickness I guess.” I shrugged a shoulder and looked back up at him. 

His eyes darted between mine. “I really do want this. You have no idea how much.” He shook his head. “But I won’t lose you for it. If it starts to become dangerous we need to be on the same page.”

I nodded. “If it becomes too dangerous, if things change? I don’t want to die. But I also can’t promise that I’ll be willing to terminate past a certain point.” I looked down at our hands again. “Once I can feel her moving in there, I don’t think I’d be able to give up on her.”

“Her?” He started to smile as I looked back up at him. 

I shrugged. “Witches pretty exclusively have girls.” I smirked. 

His smile widened and he reached up to gently hold my face again. “Do you need anything? Are you hungry? Thirsty? I could ask Carlisle to get you something for your nausea.” He started looking me over like I might be hurt. 

I held his hand against my cheek. “I’m okay. Right now I just need you.”

He breathed out a small laugh as he leaned in to kiss me. I reached my hands around his neck and laced my fingers through his hair. In one quick motion, I turned and swept my leg over him, straddling his lap. This was the longest we’d gone without sex since our honeymoon started. He pulled back. 

“I don’t want to hurt you or… her.” He looked back and forth between my eyes with an almost fearful expression. 

I gave him an amused smile. “You have two medical degrees. You should really know better than that.”

There was no more hesitation as his lips collided with mine. We tore each other's clothes off and made love. It was slower and less urgent this time. He looked into my eyes and caressed my face as he slowly gave himself to me. We took our time kissing every part of each other’s bodies and feeling everything. When we were completely satisfied, I laid there in his arms as he brushed his fingers up and down my arm. My head resting on his shoulder as I traced my fingers over his chest. 

He laughed suddenly. “The ‘major plot points’! That comment alone should have told me everything. You barely tried to hide it!” His musical laughter filled the room as I started to laugh with him. 

“I thought it was witty.” I laughed as I tucked my face into his chest. 

His laughter slowed. “It was. God I love you.” He kissed the top of my head. “There’s one thing that’s been bothering me though.” He started tracing his fingers over the mark on my neck as he chuckled. It sent pleasurable chills down my spine. 

“What’s that?” I asked quietly. 

“At the restaurant, in Port Angeles, why was it so funny to you that the truffle ravioli was the most expensive food on the menu?” He sounded genuinely curious. Like it was so important that he knew this. 

I snorted a laugh. My laughter grew until I couldn’t contain it and I covered my face with my hand. That seemed like two whole lifetimes ago now. I couldn’t believe that he still thought about that. 

“Please, Dani.” He at least sounded amused as well. 

I composed myself as best as I could. “I’m so sorry.” I cleared my throat. “To be fair, I might have still been in shock at that moment. But I’m pretty sure it was what she ordered when you took her there in the book.” I started laughing again. 

“What? That’s what you found so hilarious?” He laughed with me then started to tickle my sides. 

My laughter picked up into high-pitched giggles as I tried to wiggle away from his grasp. “No! I'm sorry! Please!” 

He stopped torturing me and pulled me closer with a content sigh. “What am I going to do with you?” He kissed my head again. 

My giggles finally subsided. “You’re stuck with me now.” I turned my head to kiss his chest. 

“No. I am impossibly fortunate to have found you.” I looked up at him and he leaned down to kiss me softly. After only a few seconds he pulled back and sighed. “Carlisle would like to see you again. They’re all very concerned down there.” 

I exhaled a long breath. “Yeah. This is gonna be fun to explain.” I started to place kisses across his chest again. “I am getting pretty hungry though.”

He turned and sat up quickly. “Let's get you some food then. What do you want? I’ll make you anything.” He brushed the hair that had fallen from my braid away from my face as I looked up at him from the pillow.

I chuckled. “Right now I don’t know if I could keep much down. Let’s start small. Maybe just toast or something?”

“Grilled cheese? You should have some protein.” His eyes were wide with concern. 

I bit my lip as I smiled. He was definitely going to be one of those dads that reads every baby book and closely monitors her every breath. I couldn't wait to watch him become a father. “Grilled cheese sounds good.”

“Okay. Let’s get dressed.” He quickly handed me some clothes. “I can cook for you while Carlisle performs his examination. He can do that from the living room.”

I sat up and set the clothes aside before reaching for his hand. “Hey, Edward.” He paused and took my hand in his. “We’re gonna be okay.”

He moved toward me on the bed, resting his hands onto the mattress on either side of me. My heart sped up as he leaned down and kissed me deeply. He pulled away with a low, content hum and went back to pulling a clean shirt over his head. 

As soon as I was dressed, he smoothly lifted me into his arms and carried me back downstairs. Normally I would have protested that I was fine and could walk, but I liked being close to him. So instead I wrapped my arms around his chest and breathed him in. He sat me down on the sofa as the others gathered around us. Their faces held expressions ranging from complete terror to confusion. 

“Dani, you’re looking better. Is everything alright?” Carlisle asked. 

Edward knelt down in front of me and took my hand in both of his. “Yes. Everything is perfect. It appears we’re going to have a baby.” He kissed my hand as the others gasped. Except Rose and Alice who both quietly squealed. I just smiled back at him and shook my head. 

“How though?” Emmett asked from where he was standing by Rose. 

I looked up at him. “Well, you see when a man and a woman love each other very much-”

“I know that part!” He interrupted as I laughed. 

Edward pressed his lips together, holding back his own laugh. 

“I think what Emmett means is how is this possible? Vampires shouldn’t be able to reproduce.” Carlisle stepped in as the voice of reason. 

I looked at him and sighed. “Male vampires are still fertile. They can reproduce with human women. But it’s fatal for the mother.” I looked at Edward again. “Fortunately, I’m not human. And we”, I tilted my head pointedly at Edward, “are compatible. I don’t really know what to expect here, but I’m pretty sure that we can safely have this baby.” I reached up to hold his face, brushing his soft cheek with my thumb. 

“I have several more questions, but I’d like to examine you properly first. Get some baseline numbers so that we can closely monitor the situation.” Carlisle looked between me and Edward. 

“You can do that from here. I’m going to make her something to eat.” Edward kissed my palm and stood up. 

He walked to the kitchen and Rosalie came to sit next to me. “You’re having a baby?” She asked with a bright smile. 

I nodded with my own smile. “It looks like we are.”

She wrapped her arms around me to hug me tightly. “I’m so happy for you.” She whispered in my ear. 

I returned her embrace. “Thank you.” 

“Rose, I still need to take a look at her.” Carlisle interrupted with a pointed look. 

“Of course.” She let me go and stood up. 

Rose and Emmett hovered near the sofa as Carlisle examined me. He took my wrist and started taking mental notes. He would never forget anything he was learning about me right now, so there was no need to actually write anything down. 

“Okay your pulse and blood pressure are good. You’ve lost a little weight though. We need to make sure you’re eating and drinking enough.” He paused and tilted his head as if he was listening. “Fetal heart rate is 106 to 108, that’s perfectly normal at seven weeks. I’ll keep an eye on that daily though and I’d like at least weekly ultrasounds.”

I nodded. “I’d like that too.”

“I’ll pick up some prenatal vitamins for you. I have no idea if the fetus will have different needs than a human one. We’ll just start there and closely monitor you for any deficiencies as you progress.”

“Yeah, that sounds reasonable.” I looked at Edward as he watched us closely from the kitchen where he was putting a grilled cheese sandwich onto a pan for me. 

“We’ll also need to get some better medical equipment here. I’d like to set up a delivery room in my lab. It wouldn’t be a good idea to give birth in a hospital in your case.” He seemed to be speaking to himself now. 

My heart skipped a beat. I’d be giving birth. Not in a hospital, but in this house. Out of everything that has happened so far, that thought freaked me out the most. 

“Is everything alright Dani? Your heart rate just went up.” Carlisle looked at me with concern and Edward flashed to my side. 

“Sorry, yes. I’m fine. Just a little overwhelmed.” I tried to run a hand through my loosely braided hair. “I forgot about the whole ‘giving birth’ part of all this. I still have time to wrap my head around it though.” I laughed nervously as I waved a hand in the air. 

Edward knelt down to cup my face in both hands and leaned in to kiss my forehead. “I will be with you every step of the way.” He stroked his thumbs over my cheeks. “We’re in this together.” His lips quickly met mine before he reluctantly went back to the kitchen to finish cooking. 

That actually helped tremendously. I took a deep breath and relaxed knowing that I had his full support. 

“So, I’m going to be an aunt?” Alice was beaming as Jasper held her close. Even he had a small smile pulling at his lips. 

I looked around at their happy and confused faces. “Yeah, this kid is going to be so spoiled.” I laughed.

Emmett chuckled. “I’ll teach him everything I know about sports. I’ll have him throwing a football before he can walk.” Deep dimples appeared as his smile widened. 

“I’m sure she would love that.” I gave him an amused look. 

“It’s a girl?” Rosalie glanced between me and Carlisle. 

I shrugged. “Most likely. She’s half witch and witches are always girls.”

“Mini witch!” Emmett exclaimed with a bright laugh. I couldn’t hold back my smile as I rolled my eyes. 

Esme came around from where she was standing behind Carlisle to sit next to me. “How are you feeling dear? Can we get you anything?”

I pulled her in for a hug. “I’m good, thank you. Edward is getting me something to eat. Right now, I’m just happy to be here and to know that everything is okay. I’ve missed you all.” 

I pulled back and she held a cold hand to my face. “We’ve missed you too. You’re going to be a wonderful mother.” She whispered. “And I’m going to be a grandmother!” She laughed and held a hand to her own cheek. 

I laughed with her. This kid was already so loved. She was never going to want for anything. I was going to have to put in a lot of work to keep her down to earth in the wake of all their spoiling. 

Edward appeared with a plate and sat on the other side of me. “Here, love. Let me know if you’d like anything else.”

I took a small bite as he closely watched me. It tasted just as good as I expected it to. “This is perfect. Thank you.” I kissed his cheek and started eating slowly. 

“While this has all been very exciting. What else do we need to know, Dani?” Jasper asked. “This child will also be half vampire. Do we need to worry about that?” I should have expected Jasper to ask the difficult questions. 

Edward gave him a hard glare and I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. He was already very protective, I expected it was about to get much worse. 

“No. She’s just a baby. If she’s anything like a human/vampire hybrid she’ll be able to eat both food and blood. She’ll also be very intelligent and physically strong. I really have no way to be sure in this case though. The witch part of her might balance the vampire part better.” I shrugged and took another bite of the grilled cheese.

“So not like an immortal child? Violent and uncontrolled?” He raised a skeptical eyebrow. 

I shook my head. “Definitely not. Even if she were more vampire than human, she still wouldn’t be driven by bloodlust. She will grow and change. Hopefully just like any other child, given that she seems to be growing normally now.” I tried to explain. 

“Are there other hybrids out there then?” Jasper asked with clear concern on his face. 

I sighed, unsure how to explain this part. It was pretty awful what Joham was out there doing. “Yes. I don’t know much about them personally though. There is a vampire out there named Joham who is creating them as an experiment. He’s been impregnating women for centuries. He’s where the ‘Libishomen’ legends come from.” I looked around at their appalled faces. “Honestly, he needs to be stopped. I know he has a few daughters and one son but he’s kept it all pretty well hidden.”

“That is horrifying.” Carlisle finally spoke up. “We may need to somehow alert the Volturi to this. They will surely want to investigate and stop him.”

“How do you even know about all of this?” Jasper asked. They all looked at me expectantly. Shit. Finally someone asked the question I had been dreading. I was terrified to even attempt to answer it. 

Edward laughed and rubbed a hand up and down my arm. “Go ahead, tell them.” He gave me an encouraging nod. “I think they can handle it.”

I pressed my lips together and groaned uncomfortably. “If I end up destroying this universe, you only have yourselves to blame.” I looked around at their confused faces before launching right into it. “So there were these books…”

I finished going over the whole ‘this universe existed as a book series in my universe’ thing and they all looked at me like I was insane. I just nodded at their various confused and appalled expressions. 

“Yep. This is why I really didn’t want to tell anyone. I’ve probably caused some existential crises.” I waved a hand in front of me.  

“Books?” Carlisle asked, looking completely horrified. “We were characters in books?!”

“We were all in them?” Rose asked as her face scrunched down in confusion. 

“Yeah, you and several other vampire covens. Even the wolves.” I glanced up at Edward and pursed my lips.

“But how would that even be possible?” Emmett asked. 

I put my hands up. “I am the wrong person to answer that question. I think you’ll need to consult a theoretical physicist from the future. Magic is the only explanation I can come up with.” I had finished my food and was now tucked between Esme and Edward on the sofa. Edward had an arm wrapped around me to hold me close to his side. 

“Can you prove it?” Jasper asked, his face drawn down with complete and utter disbelief. 

I gave him a deadpan look. “How am I supposed to prove something like this?”

“Tell us something you couldn’t possibly know otherwise.” He challenged. 

“I’ve already done that. Multiple times.” What did he want from me? It wasn’t like I could just go back to my original universe and bring the books back.

He crossed his arms, still waiting. I rolled my eyes as I thought. 

“Your friend Peter. He was the one that got you away from Maria.” I offered. 

His brow furrowed for a moment. “I already told you about that.”

I groaned in frustration. It was really difficult to separate the information that I had been told already from the things I hadn’t. 

“It’s okay, baby. Jasper, I think she’s already shown us that she knows plenty.” Edward pulled me closer, taking my hand in his. 

“But this is a little ridiculous. I mean… books? All of this… us, we’re just from some books?” Jasper waved his hands around. 

“I think it’s more complicated than that. Infinite possible universes and all.” I raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t back down. “Okay, fine. Carlisle.” I turned toward him and waved a hand at him. “Your friend Garrett. Have you told me about him?”

His brow drew down. “No. No, I haven’t.”

“Perfect. He was turned during the Revolutionary War. Claims to have fought in almost every American battle since.” I raised an eyebrow. I loved Garrett in the books and movies. He was probably the one non-Cullen or Volturi character that I remembered the most about. 

Carlisle reeled back slightly. “That’s true. How-”

“It was in the books.” My eyebrows drew up, waiting for more panic. When he remained calmly in thought, I spoke again. “You should tell him to visit your family in Denali, by the way. I think he’d really fit in with them.” I smirked and winked in response to his confused expression. 

“So you’ve just known everything the whole time then?” Emmett asked. “All about us?”

This was going a lot better than I expected. No one imploded or tried to have me committed, but there was still a lot of confusion and wariness. 

“Not everything. Just what was in the books.” I pulled my legs up onto the sofa and leaned further into Edward’s side. 

“Everything is different though, right? You said a lot of things changed and that we weren’t exactly the same either.” Edward prompted. 

“Yeah, I pretty quickly lost the storyline. Everything that happened before me seems to be about the same, but my presence changed a lot. And yes, you’re different. All of you really. You’re so much more than how you were written.” 

“Who was your favorite character?” Alice smiled mischievously at me. 

I laughed and rolled my eyes in lieu of answering her. There was no way I was playing that game. Telling them about the books was bad enough.

“Is there anything that hasn’t happened yet that we may need to watch for?” Jasper asked. 

“I’m not sure. Irina shouldn’t be a problem because she never met Laurent. The pack probably won’t like this at all, but they’re like family so I can’t imagine them attacking me.” I paused to think as I placed a protective hand over my lower abdomen. “We will need to keep her safe though. The Volturi can never know about her.” I looked up at their thoughtful faces. “They’ll either see her as a threat or they’ll try to take her. The only way to stop it would be for us to build our own army and we can’t do that. I don’t want to have to do that.”

Edward’s hold on me tightened slightly. “We will do whatever we have to in order to keep our family safe. Especially our daughter.” He firmly kissed me on my temple. “I agree though, the Volturi can never be made aware of this.”

“As do I.” Carlisle spoke up. “You did well when you called me. I knew something was wrong, but you didn’t attract Aro’s attention.”

I leaned my head against Edward’s shoulder. “That’s what I was going for.” I let out a heavy sigh.

“Aro already wants you, love. I can’t imagine the lengths he’d go to for someone like her.” Edward ran his hand up and down my arm. 

“I know.” I said quietly as my eyes started to close. 

“You’re tired.” Edward murmured. 

“Mm, no. Just resting my eyes.” I mumbled. 

He chuckled. “Fatigue is a normal symptom and you definitely haven’t slept enough these last few days.” Edward wrapped an arm under my legs and lifted me from the sofa. 

“No! We haven’t seen any of them in weeks.” I weakly protested. 

“He’s right. You should rest Dani. We’re not going anywhere.” Carlisle argued in a reassuring tone.  

I sighed heavily and leaned my head against Edward’s warm chest. His comforting scent surrounded me and I was asleep before we even made it to our room. He stayed beside me the whole day as I slept. Holding me close, stroking my hair, and quietly singing to me. He brought me food when I woke up and sat with me while I rested. We talked about everything. There were finally no more secrets between us. 

Chapter Text

The next couple of weeks went by pretty uneventfully. Everyone was keeping a close eye on me and the baby. My morning sickness, which really wasn’t much more than just bad nausea to begin with, had started to wane a little. The baby was, thankfully, growing normally and not trying to tear its way out of me. If I remembered correctly, Bella wasn’t even pregnant for a month before she got snapped in half like a glow stick. 

Carlisle had a lot of questions about hybrid vampires and how the pregnancy affected humans. He seemed very concerned about what Joham was doing and wanted as much information as possible. I told him everything that I could remember. Most of what I knew was just about Nahuel and Renesmee, but I gave him all the information that I had. 

He was taking weekly ultrasounds and blood samples to closely monitor me and the baby. Our last ultrasound at nine weeks gave us a better view of our baby’s head and her growing arms and legs. She was perfectly healthy. 

Carlisle had just ordered a better ultrasound machine that would be capable of producing 3D images. He wanted to know as much as possible, we all did. He also continued taking daily measurements of everything. So far the only problem to arise was that I was slightly anemic. Not the worst case scenario, considering the circumstances. 

Carlisle added an iron supplement to my treatment plan and they started cooking more red meat for me. They rarely let me do anything for myself anymore. It was incredibly annoying, but I tried to just accept that it was because they cared about both me and the baby. The hardest part of it all was that they didn’t want me to go anywhere. They were all afraid of something happening while I was too far from the house for Carlisle to help me. 

Rosalie spent a lot more time with me than before. She asked me endless questions about how I was feeling, what our plans were after she was born, about what she was like in the books, everything. She would watch movies with me and discuss astronomy. I learned that she actually had a degree in astrophysics as well. Her focus was on high-energy astrophysics, particularly supernovae, while mine had been on galactic structure and evolution. It was really fun to just geek out with her for a change. She had just started opening up to me before the wedding, but me being pregnant seemed to open some sort of window for her. She was clearly excited to be an aunt. 

Emmett lifted me into a bear hug exactly once before Edward practically attacked him. Carlisle had to intercept and calm him down, assuring him that I was fine. The baby was pretty well insulated in there and he definitely didn’t hurt me. Emmett was much more careful with me after that. We would mostly just hang out while I ate snacks and he played video games or sparred with Jasper in the backyard. Sometimes I would contribute a shield or spell to give them an extra challenge while they fought. 

One afternoon, shortly after we got back, Rose, Emmett and I were hanging out, watching the original, Jack Nicholson version of The Shining. They set me up with a ridiculous amount of pillows and a large bowl of popcorn. 

“So this kid has super powers then? And all the ghosts want him for it?” Emmett asked, interrupting the awesome scene with the creepy twins. 

“Not exactly. He ‘shines’, which gives him supernatural abilities I guess. It’s not really touched on in the movie, but in the book evil spirits can feed on his shine or soul or whatever and become stronger because of it. The entire hotel is just one giant evil entity filled with more evil spirits. It’s pretty sweet.” I stuffed a handful of popcorn into my mouth as Rosalie chuckled. 

“I haven’t read the book. Is it any good?” She asked me. 

I turned to her with an excited smile. “It’s amazing! You should absolutely read it! When the sequel comes out, read that too! The movie is really good too. One of the few instances where they made changes that actually improved the story.” I shoved more popcorn into my mouth. 

Emmett gave me a curious look. “What does that taste like?” He nodded toward the bowl of popcorn in my lap. 

I swallowed and pursed my lips trying to come up with an accurate description. “Salty, buttery. Mostly air.” I chuckled. “You’ve never had it?” I asked curiously. 

“Not that I can remember. There’s tons of food that looks and smells so damn good, but it all just tastes like garbage.” His lip curled up in disgust. 

A laugh burst out of me. “How often do you try to eat human food?!”

His expression dropped to a neutral one and he turned back to the movie, clearly embarrassed. Rosalie chuckled and rubbed a comforting hand over his back. 

“Much more than he should.” She said quietly with a wink. “You’re not having any trouble eating that?” She asked with a slight furrow to her concerned brow. 

I shook my head. “Nope. Light stuff seems to be fine and the nausea really is almost gone. It’s just if I don’t eat that it gets worse.” They were constantly providing me with snacks and meals as soon as Edward made the connection between my nausea and my hunger. If I went too long without eating anything, it would flare up again. 

“That sounds counterintuitive.” Rose replied with a curious tone. 

I snorted a laugh. “Tell me about it.”

As Jack Torrence slowly succumbed to his ghost induced insanity, Edward silently came over and took a seat on the floor between my legs. He wanted to be close to me, but clearly didn’t want to interrupt. I reached down and brushed my fingers through his soft autumn hair and he glanced up at me with a smirk. I could definitely get used to this. 

Esme had been just as doting as Edward was. Constantly cooking for me and making sure I was comfortable. She was even teaching me how to crochet. She wanted to make some things for the baby and I had always wanted to learn. She was a very patient teacher as I repeatedly tangled my yarn into knots and had to restart my work when I missed stitches. I managed to successfully make a single square that I had no use for, but was proud of nonetheless.

Apparently, if I managed to make enough squares, they could eventually be combined into a blanket. I figured I’d have enough if I kept at it for the next five years. 

Esme told me what she could remember about her own pregnancy and her son. How excited she was to become a mother. She pointedly avoided talking about the loss I knew she suffered. I chose to just listen as she shared her experience and accepted every bit of love and compassion she offered for mine. Her excitement about the baby was contagious. She had already made her two blankets and several tiny sweaters and outfits. There was also hushed talk of beginning renovations to add a nursery to the house. 

Alice was keeping herself busy by ordering designer baby clothes and maternity outfits for me. She was mostly just happy that we were back and could spend time together again. Edward made her swap out her regular nail polish for non-toxic ones so we could continue our self care dates without him panicking that it was going to harm me or the baby. If I thought he was overprotective before, I apparently just needed to be carrying his child to see how bad it could really get. 

“So why can’t I see her? It’s just like the wolves. Everything around her - you, Edward, us - it’s all just gone.” Alice asked as she painted my nails with a sparkly, dark purple polish. 

“I really don’t know. My best guess is that it’s because she’s so completely different from you. Same with the wolves. I think it’s why you can see Maeve’s future, but not mine.” I tried to explain my thoughts on the matter. “If you were a witch before you were turned, then Maeve is something familiar to you and you can see her. Humans too. But I come from an entirely different universe. You have no personal experience with where I’m from, but we’re close enough. Between that and whatever is protecting my mind, you can only kind of see me through others. You’ve never been a wolf or a hybrid human/witch/vampire though. So they would be a complete blind spot for you.”

She stopped painting and looked up at me thoughtfully. “That is incredibly well thought out and actually makes a lot of sense.”

I shrugged. “I’ve thought a lot about it over the years. Even before I came here. I thought you were awesome in the books.” I gave her a wide smile that she matched. 

“Your favorite?” She waggled her eyebrows. 

I threw my head back and laughed. “I admit nothing!” As I calmed back down she went back to finishing up my nails. “You’re better than book Alice and she was pretty great.”

A smile pulled her lips up as she focused on adding a top coat to my nails. “I’m so glad you found your way to us, Dani.” She said quietly. 

“Me too.”

Jasper kept a close eye on me as our dynamic shifted once again. He seemed to become slightly more protective of me after all the excitement settled down. Offering to talk if I needed help with anything again, hovering as I went up and down the stairs, helping me reach things when Edward was elsewhere. It was a little weird. 

I finally asked him about it one day when he gently took my arm as I stood up from the sofa. It was like he thought I might fall or something. His behavior was really throwing me off. 

“Sorry.” He offered. “I know pregnancy can be difficult and dangerous. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do here, I just feel…” he paused in thought, “I guess an instinct to keep you safe. Please let me know if it’s smothering. I’m trying not to step on Edward’s toes and I’d rather not annoy you as well.” A chagrined expression fell over his face. 

I waved him off. “Please don’t worry about it. It’s just a little unexpected.” I chuckled. 

"Well, you and Edward both are so blissfully happy that it's almost addicting to feel." He chuckled before sighing and taking on a more serious expression. “Plus, you're family Dani. I know that you're strong and like to have your independence, but - even though you would never admit it - you're more vulnerable now. We would all be devastated if anything happened to you.” He smirked awkwardly and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “If you need anything at all, I’m here. We all are.” He reached out and very gently squeezed my arm. 

“Thanks, Jas.” A warm smile spread over my face and I pulled him into a quick hug. 

He stiffened for a brief second before relaxing and returning my embrace right before I released him. 

“You know, you smell different now.” He noted. “More like Edward. I wonder if that’s the pregnancy.”

I shrugged. “Who knows. None of this has come with a manual.” 

Jasper laughed. It was a deep, breathy sound that I didn't think I had ever heard from him before. The realization suddenly hit me that he was essentially my brother now. I felt some of that kinship with Emmett, but this was the first time I felt it with Jasper. It was strange and comforting. I now had two big brothers and my child had two awesome uncles that would protect us, possibly with their lives. I knew I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same for them. 

As expected, Edward ordered every possible book on pregnancy, birthing plans, and infant care. He wanted to be prepared for anything. To know how to help me in any situation, take care of me during labor, and care for our baby once she was here. Apparently it wasn’t something he had ever even thought about before. Somehow this century old, super intelligent, mind-reading vampire knew absolutely nothing about babies. He was very quickly remedying that though. I expected that he would have no trouble caring for her, he was an expert at caring for me after all. 

We had been staying in our room together ever since we returned. He was much more gentle with me whenever we were intimate now. He spent even more time with his face between my legs than he used to. I wasn’t complaining at all, but he still seemed to be so worried. Treating me like I was fragile. Even when I would tell him to go harder or faster when we had sex, he would just shake his head and mutter that he didn’t want to hurt me. I would try to ride him hard and he would gently slow me down with his hands on my waist. It was more than a little frustrating. 

He refused to bite me again as well. That was the biggest problem. We were in one of those weird cycles again. The mark his bite left on me disappeared and his eyes were completely gold again. We were constantly locking ourselves in our room trying to feed our insatiable need for each other. 

It had been days since it started and I thought I was going to lose my mind. He had to hunt for the first time since before the honeymoon and I wanted nothing more than to fuck his brains out day and night. It was all I could think about when he was anywhere near me. We were going to need to talk about this soon. I considered asking Carlisle about it, but had no idea how to even start that conversation.

Leah came to visit as soon as she heard that I was back. I wasn’t going to tell her about the pregnancy until it started to become obvious. I didn’t like hiding things from my best friend, but she was mind melded with the wolves and a part of me worried about their potential reaction. 

“You were gone for so long!” She complained as she held me in a tight hug. 

I laughed. “Yeah, I honestly wasn’t sure if we would ever leave.”

She pulled back and raised an eyebrow. “That good huh?”

I blushed. “Oh my god!” I whisper hissed at her as I slapped her arm. “And yes.” I winked before turning away to sit down on the sofa. 

She burst into laughter and shot finger guns at Edward. He was hovering nearby in the kitchen putting together something for us to eat. I could see him holding back a smirk as he shook his head.

“So what are your plans from here? You’re traveling next semester, right? When do you head out for that? Can we hang out before you leave again?” Leah rapid-fired questions at me. 

“Uh.” My brow drew down and I looked at Edward. We were going to need to rearrange literally all of our plans. I wouldn’t even be able to start college in the Spring anymore. I’d be nearly eight months pregnant when classes started. “Yeah?”

Edward came around with a tray of fruit, cheeses, and crackers for us. With a hand behind my neck, he kissed me firmly before heading back to sit in the dining room with a book. My heart sped up as I watched him walk away. I had to fight the urge to kick Leah out and drag him upstairs. 

“You two are being weird. What’s going on?” Leah narrowed her eyes. 

I snorted a laugh as I popped a grape into my mouth. “Nothing. We’re just very happily married.” I smirked at her.

“Mhm. So when do you leave again then?” She asked. 

“I’m not sure? Our schedule got a little messed up with our honeymoon lasting so long.” I waved a hand as I ate some more from the tray. 

“You know you’re a terrible liar, right? You also smell weird.” She leaned in and sniffed me. 

I leaned away from her. “Stop! I’m married to a vampire! What do you expect?”

She looked between us while I continued to eat and tried to remain cool. I stuffed some cheese and crackers into my mouth and started looking through the movies we had. 

“Wanna watch something spooky or gory?” I asked from beside her on the sofa as I held up two DVDs. 

She didn’t answer. Instead her eyes narrowed and she looked me up and down. Her eyes widened, as though she figured something out and Edward’s attention suddenly shifted to her.

“You’re pregnant!” She exclaimed, pointing a finger at me. “Your smell is off, your boobs are huge, plus I can hear it!”

Edward stood up and immediately came over to my side, throwing a protective arm over me. He was ready to pull me away if she had any kind of negative reaction. I dropped the movies and leaned away, completely unsure of how this was about to go. Then she started laughing. 

“Oh my god! Of course you got knocked up by your vampire husband!” She kept laughing. “It’s like you just can’t have a single moment without being surrounded by complete chaos!”

Edward relaxed and sat down next to me. 

“Leah, I really need you to keep this to yourself. Please. I don’t know how the rest of the pack will react.” I held her arm and gave her a pleading look. 

“Oh yeah, they’ll freak the fuck out! Don’t worry, I’ve gotten pretty good at locking down my thoughts. We also don’t spend quite as much time all shifted together anymore.” She laughed again and pulled me into a hug. “Is this good news?” She asked. 

I relaxed and hugged her back. “It’s very good news.” I looked at Edward and his expression softened. 

She asked about the pregnancy, how far along I was, how I was feeling, when I was due. The normal questions any pregnant woman would get. It was actually really nice. Then we settled in with a plate of nachos and watched Hostel. It was disgusting and a little more than I could handle. I figured being pregnant must have affected my capacity for gore. By the time the movie was over I felt like I needed a shower. 

We made plans to invite Jess and Angela over for a girls’ night before they went off to college. I wouldn’t be able to tell them about the pregnancy, so I was likely going to have to pull back from those friendships sooner than I’d hoped. The thought of it broke my heart. I hugged Leah goodbye and she reassured me that the rest of the pack wouldn’t know anything until I was ready to tell them. 

Edward joined me in the shower where he had me gently pressed against the wall. We were exploring each other’s mouths and I bit at his lower lip. His hand trailed down my side until he reached my thigh and lifted my leg around his waist. I raised up on the tips of my toes and reached down to firmly grip him and insert his hard cock into me. 

I needed him desperately. It was that same urgent feeling. Like every moment that he wasn’t inside of me brought me that much closer to death. Once he was buried deep in my core, I relaxed a little and let out a low moan. 

“You feel amazing inside me. You have no idea how much I need you.” I murmured against his lips. 

“God, me too, baby.” He slowly thrust into me with a low growl. His lips moved to my neck where he placed gentle kisses. He reached that spot where my neck meets my shoulder, the spot where I needed him to bite me, and it felt like I was on fire. 

“Please baby, please.” I begged him. 

“I can’t.” He moaned as he kept thrusting. 

I let out a frustrated groan. “This won’t stop until you do. I swear to god I will bring Carlisle into this.”

He paused and pulled back to look at me with an appalled expression. 

“Whatever this is. We both need it.” I held his face in my hand. “If you’re this afraid, then I think we’ll need to get a second opinion.” I raised an eyebrow. 

He sighed. “I won’t do anything that could possibly hurt you.” He shook his head. 

“You know that I would tell you immediately if anything you did felt wrong. I care about this baby too and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.” I looked into his topaz eyes. “My body is telling me what it needs and you aren’t listening.” I ran my thumb over his cheek as he looked at me thoughtfully. 

“And what does it need?” He asked in a low voice. 

I thrusted my hips forward, pushing him deeper into me. “First of all, you need to stop treating me like I’m made of glass. If I ask you to go harder, it’s because I need you to go harder. You’re not going to hurt me.” I gave him a serious look. “And second, I need you to bite me so that I can think about something, anything, besides riding your dick until I die from exhaustion.” 

His eyes darkened and he looked down at the spot where his mark used to be, right where my neck met my shoulder. He pulled his lips over his teeth as his brows drew down, like he was fighting the urge to give in. I lifted my other leg around his waist, forcing him to hold me up and press me slightly harder into the wall. 

“It can’t be harmful. We made her after you first bit me. I don’t know if she would even exist otherwise. We can wait and let Carlisle do some of his experiments or you can just do it now and fuck me into this wall the way that I need you to.” 

His eyes darted up to mine and went completely black with desire. He pushed himself into me harder and lowered his head back down to my neck. I wrapped one arm around his shoulders and gripped his hair with my other hand. He kissed his way down my neck and dug his teeth in. I cried out as his electric energy flowed into me. He resumed pounding into me and I felt the wall crack behind me. 

Within moments we were both coming. I cried out his name as he moaned into my neck. He pulled away and crushed his lips to mine, silencing my cries of pleasure as he kept driving into me. It was fucking incredible. Our combined magic flowed through us both and resolidified our bond. If this was what we needed to do for the rest of our eternal lives, I was more than happy to comply.

His green eyes met mine and he reached up to cup my face as he slowed down. “You are mine and I am yours.” He said quietly. 

I leaned forward and touched my lips to his. “Forever.” I whispered before kissing him firmly.

He carefully lowered me back to my feet and I turned to repair the shattered wall. It drained me more than it should have. I was tired though, exhaustion was a constant companion during this phase of the pregnancy. 

I slept peacefully that night. I dreamed I was watching Edward outside playing with a little girl with a head of long, blonde curls while I held a sleeping baby in my arms. She giggled and squealed as he held her up and threw her over his shoulder before spinning her around. His elated eyes met mine and they softened. He moved her to his hip and walked toward me. I woke up just before she turned in his arms to face me. 

Chapter Text

August 15, 2006

It was nearly my nineteenth birthday already. At twelve weeks, I was finally heading into my second trimester after, what felt like, forever in the fatigued and nauseous phase. Carlisle set up his new ultrasound machine and took a long, detailed scan. 

We sat together as he discussed everything he was seeing with me and Edward. It was starting to look and feel so real now. She looked like a tiny alien as she moved and kicked on the screen, but I was left in awe of her. I didn’t feel any of it yet and I still wasn’t really showing, so it was a relief to see that our baby was okay. 

“You have a very active little one in there.” Carlisle chuckled as he tried to get measurements of her arms and legs. 

Edward smiled softly, gently holding my hand, and focused intently on the screen. Carlisle meticulously checked for any structural or genetic abnormalities. We were all relieved to find that so far everything looked perfectly fine. Our baby was healthy and growing normally. There was absolutely no sign that she was gearing up to bust out of me like a baby Xenomorph. 

I was still slightly anemic, but Carlisle wasn’t too concerned yet. She was most likely using more of my blood than a human fetus would need, but it wasn’t at a dangerous level. He added more vitamins and iron-rich foods to my treatment plan to see if it would help. We could explore other options if it got any worse.

“Between your bloodwork and this scan, I’m pretty sure about the sex of the baby, if you want to know? I can have a more accurate picture in another month though.” Carlisle offered.

I looked at Edward. “You already know too, don’t you?”

His smile widened and he kissed my hand. “I know Carlisle’s interpretation of what he’s seeing, yes.”

I waved a hand toward the screen. “Then you might as well tell me too.”

“It looks like you were correct. You’ve most likely got yourselves a little girl.” Carlisle gave me a warm smile. His movie star face lighting up with his own excitement about her.

I bit my lip as my smile widened. I already figured as much, but it was still an intense moment to have it confirmed. My emotions were heightened from the pregnancy and almost everything made me weepy. I couldn’t stop the happy sob that erupted from my chest. I looked at Edward as tears started spilling over my lashes.

“A girl.” I whispered to him.

He nodded with his own dazzling smile. “A girl. Just like you said.”

I wiped my tears away with one hand and sniffled. “Ugh, literally everything makes me cry now. I feel ridiculous.”

Edward leaned forward to kiss me. “If it makes you feel any better, I’d be crying right now too if I could.”

My responding laugh was half sob. “Yeah, that kind of does make me feel better.” I looked back at the screen with a sigh. “She looks perfect.”

“She is perfect.” Edward said quietly.

“Everything looks great so far. Just keep taking your vitamins and let me know if anything changes or feels off.” Carlisle instructed as he helped to gently wipe the gel from my stomach. 

“Of course. Thank you so much, Carlisle.” I gave him a teary smile as Edward leaned in to kiss my cheek.  

After Carlisle was done with his exam, Alice wanted to do some pampering for my birthday. They were planning a small party for me the next day and she wanted me to get dressed up for it. We holed ourselves up in her room dancing to the seventies music that Edward hated while trying out her newest face masks. She had some homemade, high-iron trail mix for me to snack on and tried to show me some prenatal yoga poses she recently read about. 

“You know, you can probably get out of here more if you want. I’m positive Edward would give you literally anything that you asked for. If you tell him you need a weekend away together or something, he’ll find a way to make it happen.” She smirked up at me from an impressive hand stand that I definitely wasn’t going to try doing.

I sighed from my comfortable butterfly pose on the floor. “That would be amazing, but I don’t think I can risk it.” I held a hand to my still mostly flat stomach. “I would never forgive myself if something went wrong and we weren’t here to get the help she would need.”

Alice gracefully fell back to her feet and shrugged. “It’s your call. Just thought someone should tell you that you have more power here than you think.” She winked and danced over to her closet.

I leaned back on my hands and laughed. “Oh, I know. It’s a little smothering how much everyone is trying to cater to my every want and need.”

“That’s about you and the baby. I’m talking about what you want. If you’re sick of being trapped, which I’m sure you are, you likely won’t have to do much to convince him to get you out of here.” She smiled widely as she brought out a dress bag. 

“What is that?” I raised an eyebrow. 

“Your dress for the party tomorrow!” She shimmied with it to the beat of ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ currently playing from her sound system. 

I stood back up and took the dress to go try on for her. It was a dark blue cocktail dress that I couldn't zip up past my waist. I came out to show her with my hands on my hips. 

“You have a tiny bump!” She squealed. 

I looked down. “Really? Maybe the dress is just too small?”

“Nope. That would have fit you perfectly before your honeymoon. Okay, that’s definitely not going to work.” She laughed. 

She went back to her closet and started to look for something that might fit me better. While she did that I turned sideways to look at my stomach in the mirror. She was right, there was the smallest bump there between my hips. It could easily pass as me just being a little bloated, but it was there. 

“Well hey there little girl.” I smiled as I looked down at the evidence of her existence. 

Alice came back with a different blue dress for me to try on. “You look so good in blue. It makes your eyes pop.” She twirled once with it before handing me the dress. 

I changed right there and checked it out in the mirror. The velvet top of this one came in tight just under my breasts before flowing out into a knee-length pleated skirt. It fit much better and covered the ‘bump’. The only problem was that my boobs were bursting out of the top. I had gone up two cup sizes already. I hadn’t had cleavage since the first time I was an adult and I was going to need new bras. 

“Oh my god.” I groaned quietly.

“You look hot!” Alice laughed. 

I rolled my eyes. “It’s the boobs.”

“Yeah, maybe not that dress. We can see if Esme has something? You’re closer to her size now than mine.” 

My face pulled into a frown and I let out the smallest whine. “Can’t I just wear one of my sundresses? They’re flowy and stretchy!”

“No! You have to dress up! It’s probably the last party we’ll get to throw for a while. Except the baby shower, but you’ll be enormous by then.”

“Hey!” I laughed at her rude observation.

“Sorry, but it’s true.” She shrugged.

“Maybe we can go shopping today? Then I can try on dresses before we buy something.” I offered.

Alice looked at me thoughtfully. “You’ll need to convince Edward to let you leave Forks. There’s nothing here even worth looking at.”

I pursed my lips. “I’ll see what I can do.”

I left the dress on and went to find Edward. He was in our room quickly reading through one of the books on birthing plans. I leaned against the doorway and crossed my arms, pushing my breasts slightly higher. He glanced up and did a double take, dropping the book to his lap as his eyes stayed on me. The corner of his mouth slowly pulled up into a lopsided grin. 

“This is what Alice has for me to wear to the party tomorrow.” I raised an eyebrow at him. 

“That’s definitely not going to work.” He replied in a sinfully seductive tone. “I am about two seconds away from tearing it off of you.” 

In the span of a single heartbeat he was standing in front of me and had wrapped his arms around my waist. I laughed and lifted my arms around his neck. 

“I need clothes that fit me.” I reached up and touched his lips with mine. 

He pulled me into the room and kicked the door shut. Without missing a beat, he bent down to grip my thighs and lift me up. I let out a startled squeak and quickly wrapped my legs around his waist. 

“So you won’t be needing this dress then?” He asked huskily as he pushed me back against the wall. 

“Not if I can get a new one by tomorrow.” I replied breathlessly. 

He bent his head down and started kissing my neck while his hands moved along my thighs to firmly hold my ass. 

“Mm. I’ll need to go shopping though. So I can actually try things on.” I tried to keep my train of thought while he worked. 

He paused and leaned back to look at me. “You want to leave? What if something happens?” 

“Alice will be with me. You can come too if you’d like. Hell, everyone can come. That might seem odd though.” I shrugged and leaned in to kiss him firmly.

He kissed me back while clearly still thinking. Edward was very good at multitasking. He pulled back from my lips a moment later. “Alice and I will take you. If you feel off at all, we’re coming right back though.” 

“That sounds like a reasonable plan.” I leaned forward and urged his mouth open with mine. 

As promised, he tore the dress down the front and took me roughly right there against the wall. After a quick shower, we got dressed and set out to leave for the first time in the five weeks since we got back.  

“Okay, Alice! You ready to go?” I called out as we made our way downstairs. 

Alice was already by the door waiting for us. She tilted her head when she saw me. “What took you so long? Where’s the dress?”

“We were… talking. And Edward owes you a new one.” I smirked and took his hand in mine. 

He pulled me into his arms and gently nipped at my neck, making me laugh as we walked out to the driveway together. 

“Okay, are you guys going to be like this the whole time? I don’t want to have to pretend I don’t know you.” She raised an eyebrow. 

I pressed my lips together, forcing my laughter back down. “We just need to get a dress and bras. I really need new bras. We’ll be on our best behavior.” 

“I make no such promises.” Edward smirked and nuzzled his face into my neck again. 

“Who are you?” Alice gave him a bewildered look as we piled into Edward’s Volvo. 

Edward drove while Alice and I sat in the back to talk about dress options. I shut down her attempts to convince me to wear heels using my fragile pregnant lady status as my ‘get out of heels free’ card. 

We made it to Port Angeles in under an hour. Edward was clearly anxious about me being so far from Carlisle. He kept an arm around my waist while we walked into the store and started looking at clothes. 

Within minutes, Alice had her arms full of dresses for me to try on, most of them in various shades of blue. I had to reassure Edward that I was fine to try things on with just Alice, especially because he definitely could not come into the women’s dressing room with us. 

“I’ll be right out here. If anything feels wrong, tell Alice and we’ll get you out of here.” He held a hand gently to the side of my neck and leaned down to kiss me. 

“I’ll be fine.” I gave him a pointed look before smirking and heading behind the dressing room curtain.

As I was trying on my second dress and looking it over with Alice, Emily came in with Jared’s girlfriend Kim and two other women I’d never met before. Her arms were filled with several white dresses to try on. 

“Emily!” I beamed at her. 

It had been months since I last saw her. In fact, I hadn’t seen anyone from the reservation but Leah since the wedding. I was very excited at the prospect of finally catching up with her.

“Dani! What are you doing here?!” She smiled widely and dropped her dresses onto a chair to pull me into a hug. 

“Looking for a birthday dress. What about you?” I gestured toward her dress pile. 

She excitedly raised her eyebrows and held her hand out, showing me her diamond engagement ring. “Wedding dress shopping.”

I took her hand and squealed. “Oh my god! Congratulations, Emily! It’s about time Sam locked you down!” I laughed and pulled her into another hug. 

“Where have you been? Leah said you were back, but you haven’t been to visit at all.” She stepped back and took in my dress. 

I waved a hand vaguely in the air. “I know, I’m so sorry.” I didn’t have a prepared excuse and knew I shouldn’t try to lie my way out of it.

“It’s our fault.” Alice stepped forward. “They were gone for forever on their honeymoon and we’ve been hogging her since she got back. I’m Alice, by the way.” She gave her a warm smile. “Dani’s sister-in-law slash best friend.”

Emily shifted uncomfortably but kept her smile. “It’s nice to meet you Alice.”

“Right, sorry.” I shook my head. “Alice, this is Emily, Sam’s fiancé! Emily, this is Alice.” I introduced them. 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Emily. Congratulations on your engagement.” Alice kept her bright smile, but made no attempt to reach out a hand. 

“Thank you. Well, I’m gonna start trying these on then.” Emily picked her dresses back up and went into one of the rooms. 

“Not that dress.” Alice pointed to the one I was wearing and sent me back in. 

After four more dresses, we finally found one we were both happy with. It was a bright, royal blue wrap dress with a decently low neckline that I would still be able to wear once I reached the size of a small house. 

We started hanging our rejects up when Emily came back out in a cream, strapless wedding dress with gemstones sewn in across the bodice. Her friends were swooning over the dress and giving their opinions as she turned for them. 

“You look beautiful!” I held a hand to my chest as I took it all in. 

“Thank you, I don’t know how I feel about all this though.” She gestured to the gems along the top. 

“Well, don’t settle for anything less than your dream dress. Alice designed mine and she did an incredible job.” I looked over to Alice with a wide smile. She smiled softly and winked in return. 

Emily paused and bunched the dress up off the ground as she walked over to me. “Dani.” She seemed slightly uncomfortable. 

“Yeah? Is everything okay?” I reached up and put a hand on her arm. 

“Yes, everything’s fine. I just.” She sighed. “I wanted to ask you for a favor. You can absolutely say no, it’s probably too much and that’s totally fine.”

I relaxed and gave her a soft smile. “Emily. Whatever it is, I’d be happy to help.”

She glanced to the side. “Well, Embry mentioned that Leah saw you heal the scars on your back before your wedding. Do you think, maybe, you might be able to do something like that for me? It’s just always been a painful reminder for Sam and with the wedding… I just… if it’s not too much? It’s really not-”

“Emily, of course! Absolutely. I should have offered myself! Honestly, I stopped even noticing them after a while. I’m so sorry I never thought to help sooner.” I fought to hold back the stupid tears that wanted to burst forth. Literally everything made me cry. 

Her smile was ecstatic. “Thank you so much, Dani! You have no idea what this will mean to us.” She pulled me into another hug. 

“Just let me know when you’re ready, okay.” I held her tight before letting her go again. 

“I will. Thank you again.” She waved to Alice with a bright smile and went back to try on another dress. 

Edward was standing there waiting just outside the dressing rooms for us. He reached for my hand, lacing our fingers together, and I leaned into his chest. 

“That was very kind of you. I wish you hadn’t agreed to it so quickly though.” He murmured as he kissed the top of my head.

I pulled back to look up at him with a frown. “Why?”

“You can’t go onto the reservation. None of us can go there with you and I highly doubt Sam would allow Emily to come to our house.” He reached up to gently brush my cheek with his knuckles. 

I sighed and leaned my head against his chest again. “We can find a neutral ground. Maybe at Maeve’s house or something. I’m doing this for her though.” 

“Of course you are.” I could practically hear the sigh he was fighting to hold in and chuckled. 

“It’ll be fine.” I leaned back and placed my hands against his chest. “Now. I need new bras.”

He cocked an eyebrow and I turned away to find some lingerie that would actually fit me. 

As promised, they kept the following night’s birthday party small. Just us, Leah, and Maeve. Esme served an array of gourmet hors d'oeuvres. Everything from spinach artichoke cups to a wheel of baked brie with slices of toasted baguette and apples. Literally only three of us could eat anything and she had to have put an absurd amount of work into it. It was all incredible though. Leah and I had no qualms about ensuring it didn’t go unappreciated as we piled our plates with food. 

Maeve was cautiously excited when we told her the news about the baby. She knew Edward and his family weren’t quite human and was a little concerned about how that would affect me. We sat and chatted while I tried to gracefully stuff my face with delicious food.

“Your aura is so different. It’s connected with Edward’s and there’s more color there now. It used to be oranges, reds, and yellows. Now it's closer to a full spectrum.” She tried to explain what she saw around me. 

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. “We’re bound to each other. Plus she has her own magic. You’re probably seeing her too.” 

She gave me a warm smile in return. “First born witches are always more powerful. She is really going to be something.” She reached up to cup my face. “And you’re happy?”

Tears started to well in my eyes. “So happy.” I responded quietly. 

“Good.” She pulled me in for a hug. “Congratulations, Dani. That’s one lucky little girl.”

I laughed as I held her tight. “Thanks. I’m definitely gonna need some help from her Aunt Maeve though.”

She pulled back to look at me. “And you will have it. We’re a coven now, remember? We take care of each other.”

I sniffled and wiped a stray tear from my cheek. “Where’s Charlie? I thought you were bringing him?” I asked her.

She waved a hand at me. “Oh, he had to go in and cover for one of his men who called out sick tonight. It was for the best, he’s not very big on parties anyway.” She chuckled.

“Have you told him much about our magic yet?” I carefully took in her expression. They were getting serious and I knew she likely wouldn’t want to keep everything from him for much longer.

Maeve let out a long sigh. “Not exactly. I’ve told him that I practice Wicca and he seemed a little spooked. I want to give him some more time to adjust.” She shrugged. “If that’s too much for him, then it’s better to know now.”

I gently squeezed her arm. “You’re incredible Maeve. He’d be an idiot to let you go.”

She chuckled and pulled me in for another quick hug just as Alice skipped over to us.

“Time for candles!” Alice beamed.

Emmett brought out a small chocolate cake with nineteen candles covering the top and one sparkler in the center. I covered my blushing face while they all sang, then blew out the candles. It was so different from my last birthday. Everyone was safe and I had more than I ever could have possibly dreamed of. 

Alice announced that it was time for gifts, against my protests that gifts were completely unnecessary. Maeve brought hers to me first. I gave her a warm smile as I took the wrapped box and started to open it. 

Inside was a beautiful and completely flawless crystal ball. I looked back up at her slightly confused. 

“It was my mother’s. Remember, she had a fortune reading business. I’ve never been able to do much with it, I figured it would be in better hands with you.” 

“Oh Maeve. I can’t take this, it’s a family heirloom!” I protested. 

“And you are family.” She smiled and came forward to kiss my cheek. 

I wiped a traitorous tear away and thanked her as Leah handed me a small gift bag. “It’s not much. I got it at one of those tourist shops, but I figured you’d like it.” She shrugged. 

I snorted a laugh as I pulled out the tissue paper. Nestled inside was a small, intricate dreamcatcher. It had an amethyst and a moonstone worked into the webbing.

“It’s beautiful, Leah.” I looked back up to her. 

“In case you’re still having nightmares.” She shrugged. “If you believe in that kind of thing.”

I pulled her into a hug. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

As I pulled away from Leah, Esme walked up and handed me an envelope. “This is from all of us.” She smiled warmly at me and reached a hand up to gently cup my face. 

Inside were two vouchers for plane tickets to Paris. They were good for a year. I looked back up at them in confusion. 

“This is so thoughtful, but when would we use these? I don’t plan to leave my newborn behind.” I gave them a chagrined smile. 

“If we can get your anemia under control, I don't see any reason why you can’t go before you’re full term.” Carlisle said with a reassuring nod. “Happy birthday, Dani.” He gave me a quick wink. 

I looked at Edward with a hopeful smile. He reached a hand up to cup my face. “I refuse to break a promise to you.” He stroked his thumb gently over my cheekbone. “I told you I’d take you to France, I’m taking you to France.” His face pulled into a dazzling crooked smile and he leaned down to kiss me. 

A teary laugh burst out of me and I reached up on my toes to kiss him firmly. “Thank you.” I murmured against his lips before pulling back to look at everyone’s smiling faces. “All of you.”

As the party started to wind down, Leah and Maeve wished me one more ‘happy birthday’ before heading out. 

“I’m exhausted.” I flopped down onto the sofa and Edward came to sit next to me. “Is it too early to just go to bed?” I pulled my legs up into his lap and snuggled into his side. 

“We do have one more present.” Carlisle walked over with a wide smile. “It’s a bit of a walk though. Maybe you could carry her, Edward?”

“I would love to.” He smiled and quickly lifted me into his arms.

I let out a high pitched giggle as he carried me to the door. “I can walk! Where are we going?” I tried to protest as he carried me outside and the rest of the family followed, their own laughter ringing out behind us. 

“It’s a bit far. It’ll be easier if we just run.” He smiled and leaned down to kiss me just as the world blurred around us. 

I tucked my face into his chest and held my arms tightly around him. He only ran for a couple minutes before he started to slow down. When we stopped, we were deep into the woods surrounding their property. 

“Welcome home, Mrs. Cullen.” Edward whispered in my ear as the others walked past us. 

I turned to see where they were going. We were in front of a large, brick two-story house. The front porch was lined with string lights and there was a white porch swing hanging on one side of the red front door. 

I looked back up at Edward with wide eyes. “What is this?” 

He smiled and leaned down to kiss my forehead. “Our home. They all figured we’d like to have our own place. At least for a while.”

He walked me up the porch steps as Esme unlocked and opened the front door. She smiled warmly as Edward, always one for dramatics, carried me over the threshold. He carefully put me on my feet as I took it all in. The entryway opened up to an open living space with a large, navy blue sectional facing a wood burning fireplace. 

“That’s from me!” Emmett pointed to the enormous entertainment system on the adjacent wall. “I installed a surround sound system and loaded it with tons of horror movies for you and every Disney movie I could find for the mini witch.” He smiled, his dimples cutting deep grooves into his cheeks. 

“Thank you, Emmett.” I chuckled and wrapped my arms around his massive shoulders. 

He gently lifted me before setting me back down. “Happy birthday, little witch.” 

Rose came over and handed me a photo album. “It’s a scrapbook from your wedding.” She nervously chewed her lip as I opened it.

The first photo was one of Edward and I with our hands bound together. He was holding my face in both hands and kissing me. It was the moment we were officially bound together. I could feel the heaviness building in my chest as I started to get weepy again. “This is amazing.” I looked back up at her. “Thank you so much, Rose.”

She smiled warmly back at me. “It was a beautiful wedding. It deserves to be immortalized. Happy birthday.”

I put the book down on the table by the door and pulled her into a hug. She didn’t hesitate as she wrapped her arms around me and held me tight.

“I designed most of the house, with a couple exceptions.” Esme came over as Rose stepped away again and gently took my hand. 

“This is way too much! I can’t believe you guys did all this!” I pulled Esme into a hug as my tears started to fall. “And now I’m crying again.” My voice broke. 

Edward chuckled and reached out to place a hand on my lower back. 

Esme pulled away. “You two deserve your own space, especially once she gets here. Well, we’ll let Edward give you the rest of the tour.” She leaned in to kiss my cheek and the others followed her out with a wave. 

Alice stopped in front of me and took my hands. “Happy birthday, Dani. We love you so much. I hope you like your new wardrobe.” She winked before running to jump onto Jasper’s back as he walked out the front door. 

He glanced back with a crooked grin. “Don’t worry, we can’t hear much from the main house.” Then they disappeared. 

I blushed as Edward wrapped his arms around my waist. “Would you like to see the rest of the house?” He leaned down to kiss the side of my neck. 

“Definitely.” I turned my head back to kiss him and he took my hand, leading me around a corner to the enormous kitchen. 

“This was all Esme.” He smiled. 

It had state of the art appliances, granite countertops, a wide workstation sink, and everything I could possibly need to cook in it. He led me through the kitchen to the dining room on the other side where a modern chandelier with globe lights hung over an eight person dining table. 

“She outdid herself. This is more than we could ever even need!” I looked up at him. 

He reached up to gently stroke my face. “But so much less than what you deserve.”

I shook my head as I bit back a smile. “So cheesy!” 

He was truly impossible. He chuckled as he pulled me back toward the living room. I spotted a piano sitting in the far corner near a sliding door to the backyard. 

“There’s a guest room just off of the living room,” he pointed to a closed door on the wall behind the sofa, “but it can easily be converted to an office or anything else you might want.”

He continued walking me through the house to the staircase near the front door. “Bedrooms are up here.” He smirked as he stood behind me to hold my waist while I ascended the stairs. “This will be her room.” He opened the first door revealing a partially furnished nursery. 

The walls were painted a neutral beige color and the crib and dresser against the far wall were both a light natural wood. I raised a hand over my mouth and swallowed down a sob. I glanced at him as tears filled my eyes again. 

He smiled softly and wrapped his arms around me. “They didn’t want to do too much in here yet. I thought we could design it together.” 

I laughed out the sob that I couldn’t hold back anymore and dropped my hand. “I would love that.” I turned in his arms and reached up to kiss him firmly. 

I felt his lips pull up into a smile. “There’s more.” He murmured against my lips. 

I sniffled and wiped my nose as he led me to another door just past the nursery. “This is from me.” His smile widened. 

We stepped into a huge room of wall to wall bookshelves entirely packed with books. It came complete with rolling ladders to reach the higher shelves and a pillow covered reading nook in front of a large window overlooking the backyard. 

“Oh my god! You built me a library?!” I turned to him absolutely beaming. 

“Do you like it?” 

“Of course I like it! I love it!” I jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist. 

He caught me with ease and tucked his face into my shoulder. I laughed as I held him tight and laced the fingers on one hand into his hair. 

“I can’t believe you did this for me.” I pulled back and looked into his beautiful green eyes. 

“I would do anything for you.” His eyes darted down to my mouth and he leaned in to kiss me deeply.

Our tongues met, sending fire through my veins. I kissed him more fervently, ready to tear his clothes off already. He groaned and pulled back reluctantly. 

“Two more minutes. Let me just show you the rest and we can get back to this.” He laughed. 

“I guess I can give you two minutes.” I smirked and kissed him once more before jumping back down to the floor.

“There is another bathroom and a couple extra rooms that we can do whatever we want with at the other end of the hall.” He gestured to a door across the hall from the library. “This is our room. It’s the closest to the nursery.” 

The room was large and completely furnished with dressers, nightstands, and a king sized bed that looked exactly like the one we shared at Isle Esme. “Is that…?” I pointed to the bed. 

“It’s not the exact bed, but it is a good copy.” He smiled and took my hand. “Alice filled the closet and dressers with every piece of clothing and pair of shoes you could ever possibly want.” 

He pulled me close again and ran his nose up along my neck. I sighed contentedly at the contact. He pulled away to look at me. “Jasper also built you a garden in the backyard. It’s too dark to see that right now though. Maybe tomorrow?”

With one hand, I untied my wrap dress and let it fall to the ground. “Definitely tomorrow.” I took his face in my hands and pulled him down to kiss me. 

He lifted me back up so I could wrap my legs around him again and carried me to the bed. With one arm held against my back, he lowered us down together. When he pulled back, I propped myself up and slid back to move us further toward the top of the bed. He didn’t follow, so I reached for his hands to pull him with me. 

“Mm. It’s your birthday. I want to make sure you’re properly taken care of.” His lips pulled up into a crooked grin as he slowly pulled my underwear down my legs. 

I bit my lip as I looked down at him. “I am always properly taken care of.”

“Then taken exceptional care of.” He kept his eyes on mine as he wrapped his arms around my thighs and pulled himself closer to my core. 

He dipped his head down and went right to work on me. I gripped his hair with one hand and fisted the blanket in the other. Waves of electric pleasure pulsed through me as he flicked his tongue over my clit at an impossible speed. When the building tension snapped, I threw my head back and cried out his name as I came. 

Edward quickly took his own pants off and moved up over me. I was still mid-orgasm when he lifted one of my legs and sunk himself deep into my core. He started to thrust in long, deep strokes at a steady pace as he cupped my face and gazed down at me. I was already approaching another climax from him repeatedly hitting that sensitive spot deep inside me. 

The hand I had in the blanket came up around his back and I ripped his shirt open. My fingers dug firmly into his soft skin. I moaned in ecstasy as I came again. He tipped his head down and kissed me tenderly as he kept moving inside me. I felt it when he came. His hips stuttered and a low growl escaped his lips while they were firmly pressed to mine. His motions slowed and he pulled back to meet my eyes again. 

I slid the hand I had in his hair down to hold his cheek. “I love you so much, Edward.” I whispered up to him. “I have no idea what I did to deserve you.” I felt a tear fall from the corner of my eye.

He huffed a laugh. “Oh, my love. That is completely absurd. You have given me everything. I will never be able to properly show you what you mean to me. But I’ll never stop trying either.” He wiped the tear away and leaned down to kiss me again. 

We made love once more that night before I fell asleep in his arms. Nothing broke this time. I managed to avoid even a single shattered light bulb in our new house. 

Chapter Text

September 2006

We were finally going to go to France. Our flight was booked and we would be there in just a few more days. My sixteen week scan was perfect. Carlisle confirmed that she was definitely a girl and still growing normally. 

Increasing certain vitamins and eating more iron-rich foods seemed to be getting the anemia under control too. It wasn’t perfect yet, but Carlisle felt we were okay for a week-long trip. He would take more blood and do another scan when we returned. He didn’t seem worried and neither did Edward, so I chose to follow their lead. 

I was actually showing a little now too. Just a small bump that was easily covered by baggy clothes, but she was there. I still couldn’t really feel her moving though, which Carlisle assured me was normal. There were a couple of times where I thought I might have felt her. Like fluttering butterflies, similar to the feeling I got whenever Edward would give me his crooked smile. I couldn’t wait for the day when I could feel her kicking. A part of me was always worried that something was going to go wrong. I was almost constantly checking for her magic to make sure that she was still okay.

Emmett and Jasper were in the process of clearing a road from our new house to the street for us. Teleporting between the houses all the time was starting to become tiresome and there was no way Edward was going to be able to run with me for much longer. Having a car at our house was going to be a necessity once the baby was here anyway. No one was going to be running at vampire speed or teleporting with her. 

We had a busy day ahead of us, but still found ourselves lying in bed together late into the morning. I was lying back running my fingers through Edward’s hair while he sang ‘Yesterday’ by the Beatles to my stomach. He read that hearing developed around this point in the pregnancy. As soon as we made it here, he began to regularly talk and sing to her. His voice was so beautiful, I adored these moments with him. When he finished the song he lightly kissed my stomach and pulled himself back up over me.

I giggled when he started to nuzzle his face into my neck. “You’re trying to bias her.”

He laughed. “I just need to make sure she has good taste in music.” He pulled back and kissed me.

“Mm. Don’t worry. I sing to her too.” I smirked up at him, my fingers still brushing through the hair above his ears.

“And what do you sing to her?” He brushed his lips against mine as he spoke.

“Our song.” I smiled widely. 

He pulled back and gave me a questioning look.

I brought my voice down into a terrible impersonation of a grunge singer. “Ain't found a way to kill me yet. Eyes burn with stingin’-”

His eyes widened and he cut me off with a kiss. “No!” He laughed. “That is not our song!”

I burst into laughter beneath him. “Then what is?”

“Anything else.” He rubbed his nose gently against mine before kissing me again. “I’ve got it. You’re just too good to be true. Can’t take my eyes off of you… ” He continued singing ‘Can’t Take My Eyes off You’ as he lowered his head to kiss along my neck.

“That’s a good one.” I smiled and gripped his hair tighter.

One of his hands moved down to hold onto my hip and I lifted my leg up around him in response. He continued singing as he moved his hand between us and inched below the waistband of my underwear. His fingers found my clit and I gasped lightly at the contact. He started to expertly stroke my sensitive nub as he sucked and kissed his way down my neck to his mark on me. 

I moaned and pushed myself against him. “Mm, we have to be at Maeve’s soon.” I whined.

He moved back up to nip at my earlobe. “We have time.” His voice was low and seductive.

He soon had me moaning his name and begging for him before he finally sunk himself into me. We took our time, time we didn’t have, and ended up running late. He didn’t seem the least bit remorseful as he rubbed his hand up and down my thigh with a wide smile from the driver’s seat of his Volvo. 

I was meeting Emily at Maeve’s house to heal her scars and he would be hanging back, listening closely in a perfectly overprotective manner. I dressed in leggings and a large hoodie to ensure Emily didn’t notice anything amiss with my changing body. I still wasn’t willing to bring the pack into the fold on this. If they reacted poorly, we would likely have to move and I didn't want that.

When we arrived, he dropped me off with a kiss and I rushed up the steps to the house. Maeve’s new house was an older, two story brick house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. More than enough space for her. She quickly built a large garden in the backyard and the front was lined with mature rosemary, lavender, and sage plants. I let myself in and Emily was there already, chatting with Maeve while she prepared a pot of tea. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late.” I apologized as Emily got up to hug me. 

“Oh please. No worries, Dani. I’ve just been getting to know your aunt.” Emily smiled brightly. 

“That’s right! You’ve never actually met, have you?” I motioned for Emily to sit at the four person table in the dining room and took the seat beside her. 

“We haven’t. I don’t have much of an opportunity to go onto the reservation.” Maeve spoke up as she bent down to kiss my cheek. “How are you, Dani?”

“I’m good, Maeve. Still settling in, but it’s been really nice to have our own space. How about you? How are things with Charlie?” 

Maeve gave me a small smirk. “Good. Things are really good. We’re planning a weekend trip to Seattle in a couple weeks.” She took a seat across from Emily. 

“I can’t believe you’re getting him out of Forks!” I exclaimed through a laugh. “Good for you. You definitely deserve a weekend getaway.” She handed me a cup of tea and I took a sip before turning back to Emily. “So, how’s the wedding planning going? Do you have a date picked out yet?”

She huffed a frustrated laugh. “It’s been stressful, but I’ve had a lot of help. We wanted to have the wedding before the end of the year, so that hasn’t helped any. We both love the idea of a winter wedding though, so we’ve got a banquet hall booked for December sixteenth.”

I squeezed her hand lightly. “That’s so exciting! I’m so happy for you two.”

“We would love for you to come, Dani. I understand if you don’t want to go without Edward though.” She rolled her eyes. “Sam just refuses to budge on that front.”

I shrugged. “No, I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.” I gave her a sympathetic smile. 

We continued chatting while we finished our tea, with Maeve joining us and watching me carefully. Edward asked her to keep a close eye on me, since Emily was the only one that he could actually see anything through. 

“Okay. Are you ready?” I nodded to Emily. 

She grimaced nervously, wringing her hands together. “Will it hurt?”

My mouth pulled into a small smirk. “You won’t feel anything. I promise.”

“Okay then. I’m ready.” She bit her lip as she straightened in her seat. 

I gently held a hand to her scarred cheek and visualized smooth, clear skin there instead while feeling for the magic that I needed. I pulled at a healing spell and the repair spell magic together and watched as her scars began to fade. It was working much more slowly than it should have and I was already starting to feel drained. I pulled at my magic harder as my brow furrowed and sweat started to form along my hairline. 

“Are you okay, Dani?” Maeve asked. 

I gritted my teeth and nodded. “Mhm.” 

Her healing was slowing further. Her scars were barely more than half faded when they should have been gone already. I gave my magic another hard pull. Immediately, I was struck by a sharp, stabbing pain in my temples. 

“Ah!” I winced and gripped the sides of my head as the pain exploded and my vision went spotty. I squeezed my eyes closed and dropped my head down between my legs with a pained groan. 

“Dani! Honey! What’s happening?!” Maeve grabbed me by the shoulders and sat me back up. “Oh god, you’re bleeding! Edward!” She called out. 

After another second I felt Edward by my side. Emily yelped and I heard her seat scrape back across the floor. 

“Her blood pressure is too high! Baby, look at me! Open your eyes!” Edward held my face in his warm hands. 

I opened my eyes to look at him. There were still black spots in my vision and my head was killing me. 

“Shit! We need to get you back to Carlisle. Now!” He lifted me into his arms. 

“Dani, what happened? Is everything okay?” Emily called out nervously as Edward rushed me out the door. 

He got me into the car and within seconds we were speeding back to the house. “What happened, Dani?” His voice was filled with worry. 

“I don’t know.” I groaned as I held my aching head in my hands. “It’s like I didn’t have enough magic. The spell wasn’t working and I pushed myself too far.”

He held a hand in my hair, gently rubbing the back of my neck. “Okay, we’ll get you to Carlisle. We’ll figure it out.” 

I felt warm liquid above my lip and wiped it away. Blood. Lots of it. My nose continued to steadily drip as Edward drove us back to the house. Within a moment of pulling up, he was lifting me out of the car. 

“Carlisle!” He called out from inside the house. 

“Edward? What happened?” I heard Carlisle’s voice beside us. 

My head was still in agony. Just opening my eyes was a challenge, so I kept them closed and pressed my face into Edward’s chest. 

“I don’t know. She was just doing a spell. One she’s done before. Her blood pressure spiked. Her nose is bleeding and she has burst blood vessels in her eyes.” I felt Edward lay me down on the hospital bed in Carlisle’s lab. 

“Dani, can you tell me what happened?” Carlisle asked me. 

“My head.” I moaned. “It hurts.” I felt cold hands on my face. 

He pulled one of my eyes open and shined a light into it, then did the same to the other. Sharp pain pierced straight to my brain and I cried out. 

“Her pupils are still reacting normally, that’s good. Any vision problems, Dani?” Carlisle asked. 

I nodded. “Black spots.”

“Your blood pressure is still too high. I’m going to give you something to try and bring it back down.”

Edward held my hand in one of his while the other stayed firmly cupping my cheek. “Is she going to be okay?!” He sounded frantic. 

“If we can get her blood pressure back down.” I felt a sharp pinch as Carlisle gave me an injection. 

Carlisle started hooking me up to monitors and quickly placed an IV in my hand as he waited for the medicine to take effect. “Okay, she’s stabilizing.” His voice was flooded with relief. 

My head still ached, but it was slowly becoming less agonizing. Edward was still stroking his thumb over my cheek. My eyes snapped open. 

“The baby! Is she okay?!” I yelled as I tried to sit up. 

Edward moved his hand to my chest to keep me from moving quickly. “I can still hear her heartbeat. It’s steady.”

“We’ll do another ultrasound just to be sure, but Edward is right. She sounds perfectly fine.” Carlisle added in a reassuring tone. 

I relaxed slightly and let out a small sob. “I don’t know what happened.” 

“I think I might.” Carlisle spoke up from across the lab. 

I looked up to see he had set up the monitor attached to his microscope and had something pulled up on the screen. My vision was still a little blurry, so I couldn’t tell what he was looking at from where I was sitting.

“Your prodigious cells are very low. If I had to guess, I’d say they are going to her. During pregnancy, the mother’s body prioritizes the health of the fetus, going so far as to take calcium from her bones to provide for it. I can only assume your magic is doing the same.” Carlisle explained his theory.

“Why would she need her magic though?” Alice asked as she rushed in and came over to my other side, across from Edward. 

“Your guess is as good as mine. It may be what’s been keeping the pregnancy stable.” Carlisle offered. “An amniocentesis should be able to tell us more though.”

“A what?” I asked as I rubbed my fingers into my temple. 

“An amnio. We can learn a lot from the amniotic fluid. I would draw a sample of the fluid around her and test it to determine exactly what her genetic makeup is and what she’s using from you.” Carlisle explained. 

“Isn’t that dangerous? I could lose her if you do that!” I argued as Alice helped me sit back up. 

Carlisle shook his head. “No, Dani. The chances of miscarriage are extremely low.”

I shook my head. “Would knowing change my treatment? I can just stop using magic. I have no problem with that.”

Carlisle sighed. “No, it wouldn’t. There’s nothing I can do if she is the cause. But we would better understand what is happening to you.”

Edward rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand. “I think you should do it. It’s up to you though.”

“No. It’s not worth the risk. My head is still killing me though.” I squeezed my eyes closed and rubbed my palm into my aching temple. 

“I’ll get you something for that.” Alice vanished and reappeared after a few seconds with a couple pills and a bottle of water. 

I thanked her before quickly swallowing them and chugging the water. I hadn’t felt this exhausted from using magic since I fought off Victoria. 

Edward sighed. “Always so stubborn.” He gently kissed my forehead and I glared at him.

“Let’s get a look at her just to be sure she’s okay.” Carlisle interrupted our potential argument as he turned on the ultrasound machine. 

He squeezed some gel over my lower abdomen and quickly found her with the wand. She was still kicking and moving on the screen as much as ever. 

Alice squeezed my hand as she smiled at the image. “Look at her.” She said quietly.

“She looks perfectly content in there.” Carlisle smiled warmly at me and I fully relaxed. 

“Okay. Good. That’s good.” I let go of Alice and wiped the gel away with some tissues. I kept one hand on the small bump where she was. “You’re okay, little soda can.” 

Edward’s responding chuckle was laced with anxiety. “I wish you would stop doing that.”

I had been referring to her as the most ridiculous thing I could come up with that matched her current size ever since I found out she was as big as a scoop of ice cream at thirteen weeks. We hadn’t discussed names yet and I needed to call her something. 

“I think she likes it.” I smirked at him as my headache slowly started to reduce to a dull pounding. 

“You’re going to confuse her.” He narrowed his eyes with a smirk. 

I laughed and pulled his hand to my lips. “You come up with something better to call her and I’ll use that instead.”

“I can definitely offer some name suggestions.” Alice beamed. “Mary is a classic and very chic.”

I laughed lightly and rolled my eyes. 

Edward sighed and ran the back of his hand over my cheek. “How are you feeling?” He asked softly. 

“Better. Tired though.” My exhaustion was starting to win over and I yawned. 

Carlisle came to check me over one more time. “Interesting.” He said quietly. 

“Hm?” I asked as my eyes started to drift closed. 

“The broken vessels in your eyes have healed already. It seems that property of your prodigious cells is unaffected.” He explained. 

“That’s good, right?” I mumbled. 

“It is very good. Your body is still protecting itself and her.” 

I nodded. “Yeah. She’s a good girl. Loves her momma.” I wasn’t completely sure what I was saying as I started to slowly drift to sleep. 

“I’d like to keep her here overnight to monitor her.” Carlisle spoke quietly to Edward. 

“Of course. I’ll stay with her.” Edward responded as he ran his fingers through my hair. 

“See if you can convince her to accept an amnio. It really would be helpful to get a clearer picture of how much the fetus is taking from her.” Carlisle told Edward. 

Edward huffed a humorless laugh. “There’s really no convincing her of anything once her mind is made up. If it would help the baby, she would do it. But not just to sate our curiosity.”

“You know that’s not what it’s about.” Carlisle argued. 

“I know. But she doesn’t see it that way.”

Carlisle sighed. “You’ve got yourself a strong woman, Edward. I expect your daughter will be much the same.”

“That would be ideal.” I could hear the smile in Edward’s voice. 

I sunk deeper into sleep with Edward firmly by my side. 

I slept for twelve hours. I always slept a lot after a magically draining experience. I woke to three missed calls from Emily, four from Embry, and a voicemail from Leah. Embry was coming to check on me in the morning. The pack was concerned after Emily told Sam what happened. 

They were already growing suspicious by my absence. I hadn’t been to the reservation once since we returned. Leah almost immediately realized I was pregnant and none of us were willing to risk having any of the others come to the same conclusion while I was alone with them. 

“I don’t know if this is a good idea. You need to rest and avoid stressors, Dani.” Carlisle sat across from me at the dining table with a concerned expression while I ate. “Your blood pressure skyrocketed only yesterday. We can handle Embry when he comes by.”

I shook my head. “That wouldn’t be any less stressful for me than seeing him myself. If anything, that would be worse. I would have no idea what was going on.”

Carlisle let out a small sigh, tilting his head thoughtfully. “I’ll be closely monitoring you then. If your blood pressure starts rising again, he leaves and you go on bed rest. Understand?”

I nodded my head and held a protective hand over the small bump where my daughter was. “Yeah, I can do that.”

Edward got me set up in the living room with large blankets and some background music. My stomach was sufficiently covered and we hoped the music would distract from the baby’s heartbeat. Jasper sat next to me on the sofa. He would try to keep Embry calm and divert his attention from the baby if he started to notice anything. Everyone else stayed nearby, listening in from around the house. It seemed excessive, but they didn’t want to take any chances. 

Edward got up to get the door before Embry even had an opportunity to knock. “Where is she?” Embry’s voice sounded almost angry. 

“She’s resting.” Edward responded coldly. 

“What happened to her? Emily said she collapsed. She was bleeding and couldn’t finish the spell.” I could hear the suspicion in his voice. 

“She just overexerted herself.” Edward tried to calmly downplay it. 

“I’d like to see her. Confirm she’s okay myself. Dani?!” He called out past Edward. 

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “In here! I’m fine!” I replied in exasperation. 

I heard Edward growl as Embry pushed past him into the house. He looked warily at Jasper before rushing over and crouching down in front of me. His eyes darted around, taking everything in as he tried to determine whether I was truly fine or not. 

“What happened Dani? Where have you been?” Embry’s voice was full of concern.  

“I really did just try to do too much.” I gave him a sympathetic look. “And I think we both know that me marrying Edward changed things. Being an active part of the pack isn’t a good idea anymore.” My brow drew down as I forced back tears. 

“Is he keeping you away from us?” He took my hand in his. 

I shook my head. “No. I just don’t want to be in the middle of it anymore.” I did my absolute best to lie. 

His eyes narrowed slightly. “I don’t believe that. Something is going on. Are you sick? Did they do something to you?”

Edward growled behind him. “None of us would ever hurt her. I would die first.”

Embry looked back at Edward and Edward glared at him. 

“Guys, stop. Please. I’m too tired for this. Embry, I promise I’m fine. I’m sorry I’ve been AWOL. My husband isn’t welcome there, so I’ve chosen to stay away. Please respect that.” I squeezed his hand before pulling away. 

Embry stared intensely into my eyes. It was as though he was trying to read my mind himself. “Well, we’re going to be checking in on you more then. Leah is the only one who’s seen you. That’s not good enough anymore.”

“That’s unnecessary. I really am fine. We’re about to head to France soon anyway.” I looked at Edward and his brow drew down. I knew what that meant. We weren’t going after all. 

Embry reached up to gently squeeze my shoulder. “Dani, whatever is going on, you know you can always talk to me. We're still friends. Right?” He said quietly. 

His deep brown eyes looked earnestly into mine. I quickly nodded and looked down. I couldn’t respond, I was already too close to tears. 

He dropped his hand with a sigh and stood back up. “Someone will be here to check in after you get back. We’re all still here for you Dani. No matter what.” He looked warily at Jasper and turned to stare down Edward. 

Edward didn’t even blink as Embry bumped past him to leave. Once he was gone, Edward came to sit next to me and my shoulders started to shake as I silently cried. He pulled my face to his chest and just held me there, stroking his fingers soothingly through my hair. After a few minutes he spoke. 

“He’s out of earshot now. You did really well. He’s suspicious, but has no clue about her.”

I nodded and gripped his shirt. “That was terrible.”

“I know. I’m so sorry, love. We have no choice though. It was that or we all pack up and leave.” He kissed the top of my head. 

“He’s right, Dani.” Jasper spoke up. “He is still very skeptical and I expect he’ll bring his concerns to the rest of the pack. We may still have a problem.”

“We can’t stay here and hide it forever though. Eventually they’ll figure it out. It might be best to just tell them before they do.” I looked up at Edward. 

He held a hand to my cheek. “Maybe. We still have time though. If they do decide that she could be too dangerous it would start a war though. We will fight to protect you both.” He gave me a sympathetic look. 

“I know. They would be wrong about her. But I know.” I held a hand to my stomach. “Thank you Jasper.” I turned back to him and he nodded. 

“Anytime. How are you feeling?” He asked. 

“Better than yesterday. I just wish I knew what to do here.” I sighed. “I can’t even try to push a vision and get some insight. That requires magic, which apparently is now on the list of things I can’t have while pregnant, along with sushi and hard drugs.”

Jasper’s mouth pulled up into a crooked grin. “Glad to see you’ve still got your sense of humor.”

I huffed a laugh. “I’m afraid that’s a permanent feature.” I looked back at Edward with a frown. “So, France?”

His face drew down. “I’m so sorry, baby. Carlisle doesn’t think it’s a good idea. If your blood pressure spikes again, we won’t be able to just take you to a hospital.”

I sighed. “Of course not. I agree. Still bummed though.”

“Carlisle says you’re okay to go home now though, if you want?” Edward asked. 

I lightly shook my head. “No, I want to stay here for now. I need my family.” I wrapped my arms around him and he held me securely to his side.

Esme appeared with a small frown. “Can I get you anything dear?” 

“She needs to eat.” Edward interjected. 

“I’ll make you an omelette.” Esme gently squeezed my leg before heading into the kitchen. 

Leah showed up while I was still eating. She sat down on the other side of me and took my hand. 

“Are you okay?” Her face was pulled down into a deep frown. 

I sighed as I took another bite, chewing and swallowing before I spoke. “I don’t know.” I looked over at her, keeping my head against Edward’s shoulder. “I don’t know what to do here Leah.” My voice broke. 

“I know. Me neither. Even after everything, Sam still has so much fear and resentment. I honestly don’t know what his reaction would be.” 

“I don’t want to leave.” I felt a tear hit my cheek. 

She reached out to rub a hand up and down my arm. “And I don’t want you to leave. We’ll figure it out. Jake wants us to start checking in on you regularly. I tried arguing that I could do it myself, but he wouldn’t budge.”

“I can tell him not to. We don’t even live here anymore. We have our own house.” I sighed. “If my family can’t go there, then they can’t come here. Except you of course.” I smiled and gave her hand a light squeeze. 

“That sounds more than fair to me.” Edward said quietly. 

Leah gave him a pointed look. “He’ll see that as a red flag.”

“Well I don’t have to let them into my house either. This is ridiculous.” I argued.

“What happened anyway? Emily’s scars are a lot better, but they’re still there. She said you collapsed.” Leah eyed me carefully, looking for any sign that I was hurt.

“Yeah. It turns out she’s using my magic. I don’t have enough to cast spells for now.” I shrugged. “It sucks, but I can deal with it.”

I heard and felt Edward’s frustrated sigh. 

“Does Maeve know anything about it? I imagine she’s at least seen witch pregnancies before? Maybe this is pretty typical?” Leah asked. 

“I don’t know. Maeve hasn’t said anything. But there’s nothing typical here, Leah. She’s a very special case.” I smiled as I placed my hand over my stomach. 

“Very true. Are you okay though?” Her voice was still full of concern and she moved her hand to my knee. 

“Yeah. I just won’t be able to use any magic for a while. I’m fine with that. She’s worth it.” 

Edward kissed my temple as I continued to eat. “You’ve got all of us, Dani. Anything you might have needed your magic for, we can take care of.”

I looked back at him to meet his eyes. “I know. I love you.” He gently kissed my lips. 

“None of that now.” Leah interrupted with an exasperated sigh. I rolled my eyes and went back to eating. 

Leah stayed with me until Sam called her to come back for a meeting. 

“Have you had any trouble locking all this down while you’re shifted?” I asked before she left. 

“Not really. Sometimes I’ll try to make them uncomfortable with thoughts about Sam or my period - teen boys are so predictable -” she shot me a wink and a grin, “but I usually just think of song lyrics.”

I laughed. “That’s what I did too!”

Her brow drew down into a confused expression. “What do you mean?”

“When I first got here.” I tipped my head at Edward. “I didn’t know if he’d be able to hear my thoughts, so I just thought about song lyrics when he was around.”

“I didn’t know that.” I could practically hear his broody expression as he spoke from behind me. 

“That’s because you couldn’t hear me after all.” I smirked back at him. 

He smiled and kissed my cheek. “You do realize I would have found that extremely suspicious if I could have heard you. Don’t you?”

I shrugged. “Less so than if my thoughts were ‘oh shit, there’s the table full of vampires’.” 

He laughed. “Yes. That would absolutely have been more alarming.”

“Thank you, Leah. I know this can’t be easy for you and I really appreciate it.” I stood up to pull her into a hug. 

“It’s not even a question, Dani. You were my best friend before they were my pack. I’ve always got your back.” She pulled back with a small smile. “Take care of her Edward.”

Edward smiled. “Always.” He pulled me back down to him and nuzzled his face into my neck. 

I laughed as Leah pulled a face before leaving. 

Later that day, I was hanging out with Alice and Rose eating lunch and watching a nice, relaxing rom-com when I received a text from Leah.

“Sam ordered us to stand down. He says you made your choice.”

My heart sank as I exhaled a defeated sigh. It was for the best, but it wasn’t what I wanted. I knew they probably wouldn’t understand. Them knowing could put my daughter in danger and that wasn't a risk any of us were willing to take. 

Chapter Text

October 2006

We sat together in Carlisle’s lab as he reviewed the results of my latest bloodwork. Edward gently held one of my hands while my other absently rubbed across my growing stomach. At twenty-two weeks I was in an awkward in-between phase. Limited to wearing either leggings or sweatpants until my maternity clothes fit.

“The anemia is getting worse. It’s affecting you both now.” Carlisle’s voice was strained. “It has gotten to the point that you may need transfusions.”

My stomach sank. “Okay. So we’ll do that then.” 

Over the last couple weeks my red blood cell count had become dangerously low. I was tired all the time and had even developed dark circles beneath my eyes. Our daughter’s growth had started to slow a bit as well. She needed more from me as she continued to grow and she wasn’t getting it for some reason. We were going to need to do more to get it under control. 

“I don’t think it’s that simple, Dani. Any transfusion I can do would be with human blood. I don’t even know if it would be fully compatible with your blood.” He sat down next to me. “There’s also the issue of your magic. She’s using that too and a transfusion would further dilute those cells. We need to know more about her.”

My brows drew down and I looked into Edward’s equally concerned, green eyes. 

“An amniocentesis will tell us how much she’s using and what she needs.” Edward gently explained. 

I closed my eyes and sighed. “Okay. Let’s do it.” I felt her fluttering in response to my anxious voice. A small smirk spread over my face and I looked down. “We’re gonna be okay baby girl.” I whispered. 

Edward pulled my hand to his lips. “Thank you.” He murmured against my skin. 

I looked over at him and cupped his cheek in my hand. He turned his face to kiss my palm. He had grown just as attached to her as I had. I highly doubted he would push for a termination at this point, but I also knew that if it came down to it, he would still choose me.

“Are you ready to do it now? I have everything I need.” Carlisle interrupted. 

I held my hand more firmly over my bump and nodded. “Might as well.”

Carlisle got everything together while Edward came closer, wrapping an arm around me so he could hold me. Carlisle cleaned my stomach with an alcohol wipe before adding the gel and looking for a clear spot to get a sample from with the ultrasound machine. He pulled out the absurdly long needle and my heart began to race.

“Oh my god. Why is it so big?!” My eyes widened.

Carlisle set the needle down and took my hand. “It’s pretty far to the amniotic sac. Please don’t worry, I’ve done this procedure plenty of times. I can give you a moment, if you need.” He offered.

I took a deep breath and shakily let it out through pursed lips to try and calm my panic.

“I’m right here with you, baby. Can you use a topical anesthetic or something?” Edward asked him.

“Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem. Would you prefer that, Dani?” Carlisle gently rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand.

I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. Let’s just get this over with.”

Edward let out a small sigh and kissed my temple as he ran a soothing hand up and down my arm. “Are you sure?”

“As sure as I can be, it’s not the pain I’m scared of. Have at it, Carlisle.” I waved a hand toward the giant needle that would soon be near my unborn child.

Carlisle picked the needle back up and placed the wand over my abdomen again to find a good spot to stab me.

“Okay, you’ll feel a pinch here and perhaps a cramping sensation, but it shouldn’t be worse than that.” He gave me a reassuring nod before inserting the monstrous needle into my abdomen. 

I felt the stabbing ‘pinch’ and looked away, squeezing my eyes shut as I held Edward’s hand tightly. He pressed his warm lips to my forehead. 

“He’s almost done, love. You’re doing great.” He reassured me. 

As soon as I felt the needle come back out I opened my eyes and exhaled the breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. I looked down to see the puncture hole sealing shut, leaving just a single drop of blood behind. She was still giving me enough magic to heal. Somehow, she always knew when I was hurt and needed it.

“I’ll need some time to analyze this, but that went perfectly.” Carlisle smiled as he prepped the sample for analysis. “You will need to take it easy for the next twenty-four hours and no baths or intercourse for the next forty-eight hours.” 

I glanced at Edward with a slight frown. He smirked and kissed my hand again. Abstaining was going to be somewhat difficult. We were still very much newlyweds and could not seem to get enough of each other.

“You may also experience some light spotting and mild cramps. That is perfectly normal. If you experience anything that concerns you at all though, let me know. Drink plenty of fluids and get some rest.” He held a hand gently to my shoulder as Edward helped me sit back up. 

“We’ll stay here tonight. Just in case.” Edward pulled me closer as he lifted me from the bed. He likely wasn’t going to let me walk on my own for the rest of the day. 

Edward carried me to our old room and helped me get comfortable on the bed. Piling pillows behind me and placing a large blanket over me as I pulled my hair up into a messy bun. After momentarily disappearing from the room, he returned with a bottle of water and a bowl of feta stuffed olives, my latest pregnancy craving. 

“Thank you.” I popped an olive into my mouth before pulling him onto the bed with me. 

He tucked me against his side as I ate my snack and breathed him in. 

“She’s going to be fine. Carlisle will figure this out.” Edward brushed the backs of his fingers across my cheek and kissed my temple.

“I know.” I murmured as I held a hand over our kicking daughter. 

“She’s moving quite a lot.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “That’s a good thing.”

“I think she likes your voice.” I looked up at him with a smile of my own. 

His face lit up and he leaned down to gently press his lips to mine. “Evangeline?” He spoke against my lips. 

I pulled back and made a face. He laughed at my expression. We were getting nowhere on the baby name front. He wanted a classic, boring name and I wanted something uniquely suitable for the first witch/vampire hybrid in existence that wasn’t completely moronic. We both had to agree on it though. So far we had a couple ‘maybe’ names but nothing we both loved. 

“That’s a rich old lady’s name. One who used to host tea parties for the wives while their husbands gathered at the country club.” I smirked as he rolled his eyes. 

“What’s your latest suggestion then?” He held a hand to my stomach, gently brushing his thumb over it.

“Well, I’m still partial to nature inspired names. What about River?”

Now it was his turn to make a face. “Sorry love, but no. Hard no.”

I laughed at his almost disgusted expression. “Fine. I do know what I’d like her middle name to be though.” I pulled my lower lip between my teeth with a warm smile. 

“Really? What is that?” He asked as he nuzzled his nose into the side of my neck. 

I sighed as I reached up to run my fingers through his hair. The next forty-eight hours were going to be miserable. Pregnancy had somehow made me want him more and he seemed to really appreciate my changing body. We were exploring things together, figuring out what we liked and didn’t like. Our sex life was incredible.

“Elizabeth.” I said quietly as I bit back the moan that wanted to escape when his lips met the mark on my neck. 

He pulled away to look at me. A radiant smile lit up his beautiful face. “My mother’s name?”

I moved my hand from his hair to hold his cheek. “Yes. It’s beautiful and would work perfectly with almost anything.”

“I love it. Thank you.” He said quietly before leaning down to place a kiss on my stomach. “Evangeline Elizabeth is too alliterative. So I suppose I can let that one go.”

I laughed as I covered his hand with my own. “That was never going to be her name. Sorry, my love.”

He silenced my laughter by pressing his lips to mine. “You need to rest. Do you need anything else?”

“No, I’ve got everything I need right here.” I leaned my head against his shoulder and relaxed in his arms. 

He picked up a copy of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and began to read it aloud. This had become a regular activity for us. I loved listening to him read and he readily took every opportunity to talk and sing to our daughter. He wanted her to know his voice. I was pretty sure he was worried that she might be afraid of him after she was born. He never said as much, but I could sense his apprehension. I knew that was impossible. She already loved him, I could feel it. 

It was strange. I didn’t know if this was a normal part of every pregnancy or unique to her, but I could almost sense what she was feeling. I somehow knew when she would move whether it was in response to a certain sound or movement or something I ate. She could tell when I was injured and I would feel her worry as she somehow gave me enough magic to heal. We were physically connected, but it seemed like there was a mental or emotional connection as well. As I started to drift to sleep, I could feel her settling as well. She loved us both. 

The next day Rose, Alice, and Esme decided I needed a relaxing girls’ day. They set up everything we needed in Rose’s room for mani-pedis and planned a movie marathon of ‘Say Anything’, ‘The Princess Bride’, and Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ - I requested a horror movie and they thought it would be funny. 

Esme put together an array of food for me too. Everything from my favorite pizza puffs to a s’mores dip with graham crackers and pretzels. They had all been insistent on keeping me on a healthy, high-iron diet, so I was taking full advantage of the opportunity for delicious, unhealthy snacks.

They had me seated in what was essentially a pillow fort on the floor while ‘The Princess Bride’ played in the background and we took turns painting each others’ nails.

“What’s the worst horror movie you’ve ever seen?” Rose asked as she worked on cleaning up my cuticles.

“Oh man, there have been so many.” I chuckled then pursed my lips and thought for a moment. “Oh! I watched one from the eighties called ‘Death Spa’ about a haunted high-tech gym. It was probably the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.” I laughed. “That’s an hour and a half of my life that I’ll never get back.”

Rose chuckled. “We’ll put it on the list. I’ll make Emmett watch it with me.” She smirked.

“Worst romance movie?” Alice asked next to me, where she was working on Esme’s nails.

“Easy, ‘Love Actually’. Everyone was a horrible person in that movie. Except Emma Thompson, she carried it.” I chuckled.

“Aw, I like that one!” Alice pouted.

I gave her a small smirk. “My opinion doesn’t invalidate yours.”

“Very true.” Esme winked at me. “How are you feeling?” Her brows drew down and she gave me a small frown as I yawned.

“Sorry, I’m fine. Just tired. I’m always tired.” I huffed a humorless laugh.

Rose’s concerned gold eyes met mine. “You should rest if you need to. We can pick this back up later.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. Really. I just hope we can figure out what’s going on.” I held the hand she wasn’t working on over my growing stomach.

“You will. Carlisle is very determined to keep you both safe and healthy.” Esme offered.

I smiled warmly at her. “I know. He’s been wonderful.”

Rose moved on to painting my nails a pastel blue color. 

“Should we play truth or dare?” Alice asked with a wide smile.

I tilted my head down to look up at her with a skeptical expression. “Because that went so well the last time we played.”

She laughed her tinkling, magical laugh. “It was fun!”

I rolled my eyes with a laugh. “True, but there were consequences. ‘Never have I ever’?” I offered with a raised eyebrow.

Esme’s face drew down and she shook her head. “What is that?”

My eyes widened and my lips pulled up into an excited smile. “Everyone starts with five fingers, you go around and say something that you’ve never done. If anyone else has done it, then they put down a finger. Usually there is alcohol involved, but none of us can partake.” I shrugged. “It’s still fun though. A solid bonding experience.”

“Yes! Let’s play!” Alice turned toward me with an ecstatic smile. She held a hand up. “I’ll start. Never have I ever eaten pizza!”

“No fair!” I put a finger down with an amused glare. Rose put a finger down too and I gave her a questioning look. 

“I’m from New York. Of course I’ve had pizza.” She chuckled, her gorgeous face lighting up with a smile.

“Okay, your turn, Dani.” Alice lightly bumped my shoulder with hers.

I could take the easy win and use a uniquely vampire experience, but wanted to learn more about the women in my family, so I thought for a moment. “Never have I ever… gone skydiving.”

They all put a finger down. “What?! All of you!” I laughed.

Esme shrugged. “It was a family activity. We’ll take you next time. Though, you’ll probably need a parachute.” She smirked.

My eyes widened. “You all jumped out of a plane without a parachute?”

“It was a helicopter.” Rose corrected as she moved on to adding a top coat. “And we don’t need them, they just slow us down.” She glanced up with a wink.

My family was awesomely insane. “Holy crap! Okay, Rose. Your turn.” 

Her smile grew mischievous. “Never have I ever blown up a transformer.” She looked up with a raised eyebrow. 

“Emmett told you about that?!” I felt my face flush as I put another finger down.

“What happened?” Esme asked curiously.

“Nothing! Moving on. Esme, your turn.” 

Rosalie bit back a laugh as I nudged her with my knee. 

Esme tilted her head with a small smirk. “Never have I ever stolen a car.”

Me, Rose, and Alice all put a finger down. “Noo!! You hoodlums!” I cackled as we all burst into laughter.

It only took one more round before Rose was out of fingers and I learned that Rose and Esme both have tried to get drunk, Rose had capsized a boat by having sex on it, and Alice was nearly arrested once. We had a blast pointing out all of the inaccuracies in ‘Dracula’ while swooning over Keanu Reeves and ended the day with them teaching me how to play Bridge. I couldn’t have asked for a better family. It was exactly what I needed to take my mind off of everything.

Edward and I found ourselves back in Carlisle’s office the next day. He had the results already. Having a fully equipped obstetrician’s lab for a single patient came with many advantages. 

“Well it’s not exactly what I expected and I’m not sure what the solution would be. You may need to consult with Maeve on this.” Carlisle looked and sounded deeply concerned. 

Edward held me closer and I looked between them. “So, what is the problem?” I raised my eyebrows, waiting for someone to tell me what was going on. 

“The amnio shows that she has a combination of human blood, your prodigious cells, and crystalline vampire cells.” Carlisle started to explain. 

“Okay, that makes sense considering we both made her.” I pushed for more. 

“Your cells combine to stabilize each other. They work together to create something new, something stronger and they appear to be keeping the pregnancy stable as well. That is likely why you’ve been able to have a relatively normal pregnancy so far. However, your prodigious cells aren’t keeping up with Edward’s crystalline cells. There aren’t enough of them to keep the balance anymore.” He paused, giving me a moment to process. “Because of this imbalance, it appears she needs to use more of your blood to continue to grow.”

“I need more magic. I haven’t been practicing. I haven’t even spent time outside!” I exclaimed. “You’re right. Maeve might be able to help.” I looked at Edward, his face was drawn down into a frown. 

“And if she can’t?” He asked. 

“She has to know something. I need to at least spend more time in nature. I may not be able to use magic, but I can still absorb it. I should have been doing that this whole time!” My voice broke. We were so focused on keeping me hidden from the pack that I didn’t even consider that she would have additional needs. 

Edward pulled me closer and I tucked my face into his shoulder. “Shh. It’s okay, baby. We’ll figure it out. We can spend more time outdoors. We’ll hike, have picnics, whatever you want.”

It seemed like common sense now that I should have been accumulating more magic for her. Instead I let myself get weak and it was hurting our daughter. 

“I knew she needed my magic. Why didn’t I even think of finding a way to give her more?” A small sob broke through. 

“You couldn’t have known, Dani.” Carlisle’s voice was low and soothing. “This is brand new territory for all of us. We’re all learning as we go here.”

I sniffled and turned back to Carlisle with a nod. “I’ll call Maeve. See if she can come over soon.” 

“I’ll take you to her if we have to.” Edward offered. “We all need to know more about your witchcraft.” He pulled back to look at me. “We’re going to be raising a witch soon.” He smiled softly. 

I huffed out a teary laugh. “We are, aren’t we?” I held a hand to my stomach. “A very strong one too.”

Edward took me back downstairs where Esme had a lentil chicken soup and fresh fruit ready for me. I thanked her as I sat down to eat and Emmett came to sit across from me. 

“Maybe we could plan a baseball game soon? Get us all outdoors, have some fun?” He winked. “We’ll introduce the mini witch to our traditions early.” 

I smiled back at him. “That would actually be great. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you all in your element.”

Edward came over to gently rub my back. “Would it be too loud for her?”

I looked over at him. “I don’t think so. We can ask Carlisle though?”

Emmett’s smile widened. “He says it’s fine.” He waggled his eyebrows as I laughed. 

“I’ll call Maeve after lunch and you guys can work that out.” I paused to take in my incredible family. “Thank you.”

“Any time, little witch.” Emmett gave me a dimpled grin as he grabbed a strawberry from my plate and sniffed it. I snorted a laugh as he carefully licked it. He raised an eyebrow and took a small bite. His face immediately pulled down into an expression of pure disgust before spitting it into his hand and tossing it across the room, right into the trashcan.

I started laughing uncontrollably. “You have got to stop trying to eat food dude!” I popped a strawberry in my own mouth and rolled my eyes.

“I don’t think he’ll stop until he finds something that either tastes good or kills him.” Jasper smirked as he came in to join us.

Emmett glared at him and quickly threw a blueberry at him, clearly aiming for his mouth.

Jasper dodged it with a chuckle and sat next to me. “How are you feeling, Dani?”

I shrugged. “A little better now that we know what’s going on. Where’s Alice?” I asked.

Jasper glanced at Edward, who smirked and nodded back at him. “She and Rose went into the city to pick up some clothes.” He paused. “Baby clothes.” The corner of his mouth pulled up as I smirked and shook my head.

“She’s going to grow out of the things they keep buying before she has a chance to wear even half of it.” They had already packed her closet and dressers with more clothes than one baby could ever need. I couldn’t believe they were buying more.

“They’re excited.” Edward interjected. “It’s literally the first time either of them have gotten to shop for a baby.”

My heart melted a little. “Yeah, I can understand that. I suppose they can have their fun.”

“Rose is having the time of her life.” Emmett chuckled. “I’m sure you know this is something she’s always wanted, she may be living a bit vicariously here.” His smile grew a little sad.

“Well, they say it takes a village. Given her strength and magic, we’re going to need a lot of help with her. So she’s gonna need all of her aunts and uncles on deck.” 

He leaned down and gave me a wide grin. “You’re definitely not going to have a problem there.”

“She’s our family too. We take care of our own.” Jasper added with a wink.

Tears started building in my eyes as I struggled to hold back my overwhelming emotions. “Love you guys.” My voice wobbled a little as a couple tears escaped. 

Jasper huffed a small laugh as he put an arm around me to pull me into a gentle hug.

She was definitely the luckiest witch/vampire hybrid baby in the world.

Maeve came by the next day. Edward and I showed her around the new house as we explained the situation to her. That the baby was using my magic and I needed to somehow give her more. 

“I’ve never heard of anything like that before. Though every witch pregnancy I’ve seen has been with a human.” She gave me a pointed look. 

“That’s what we’re thinking as well.” I sighed. 

“Do you have any ideas about what she can do to build her magic back up?” Edward asked, firmly holding my hand in his own.

“If you need more magic you should still be practicing. That has always seemed to make you stronger. You also have a unique ability to feel and absorb the magic around you. Use that too.” Maeve explained.

I gave her a curious look. “You’ve pulled magic from me. Is that not a universal witch thing?” I asked. 

“Not the way you do. You feel it everywhere. You can draw from it without contact. You can even feel and distinguish the magic from spells. I could only share your magic because it’s so much stronger than mine.” She explained. “How about you show me your garden?” She said softly. 

Edward stayed behind to give us some time alone as I took her to the garden in our backyard. Jasper built a large, u-shaped raised bed for me. So far, I had planted some sage, lemon balm, lavender, mint, and lady’s mantle. She bent down to look everything over. 

“This is a good start. I’ll bring some more seedlings and help you plant them.” She smirked and reached a hand up for me to join her. I carefully sat down next to her, crouching was getting more difficult these days. “I want you to pull the magic from one of your plants. Not too much, just enough that you start to see a change.” She directed just like she used to when she was still mentoring me. I was glad that hadn’t changed. 

I gently squeezed her hand and thoughtfully chewed my lip before choosing a mint plant to focus on. I felt the tiny bit of magic it held and pulled at it. As soon as I saw the leaves begin to curl in on themselves I stopped and looked back at Maeve. 

“Very good.” She smiled wider, her light blue eyes lighting up with pride. “Now give it to another plant.”

My brow drew down in confusion. “You don’t think I should keep it?” I asked. 

She gently shook her head and her expression softened. “No, you need to practice in a more balanced way. This will allow you to keep working your magic muscles without having to use any of your own magic.” 

“That makes a lot of sense.” I huffed a laugh. “This is why you’re my favorite aunt.” I gave her a playful smile and she chuckled in return. 

I looked for the magic inside me that I had just taken and pushed it back into the lavender. I watched closely and stopped just as some of the green buds turned purple and bloomed before our eyes. 

“That was perfect.” She reached out and took my hand. “You can do this Dani. I have a good feeling about that little girl you’ve got there.”

I held a hand to my stomach. “Me too.” She lightly fluttered beneath my hand.

“Spend more time outdoors. Take only what you need and practice like this. Samhain is in less than two weeks. We’ll get the coven together for a ritual. It’s a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with our ancestors, solidify our bond, and practice magic.” She stood and helped me back up with a small laugh. 

“That would be wonderful.” I felt a tear fall to my cheek. “Thank you so much Maeve.” I pulled her into a hug and held her tight. “I have another question.” I sniffled as I stepped away again. 

“Hopefully I can answer it.” Her hand came up to wipe my tear away. 

I held a protective hand over my stomach again. “Sometimes it’s almost like I know what she’s thinking or feeling. Is that normal?”

Maeve scanned my face and glanced down at my growing belly. “That’s definitely not a normal part of any human pregnancy. You may be unique in that aspect as well. Or you may just be more strongly connected because of her magic.” She reached a hand toward my stomach. “Do you mind?” 

I lowered my hand. “Not at all. Go right ahead.” I smiled. 

She held her hand gently over my bump and closed her eyes. A smile spread over her face as I felt the baby moving. “She is definitely something.”

“I think she feels your magic.” That was at least the impression that I was getting from her.

Maeve opened her eyes again. “You just might have yourself a unique connection with her.” She let out a small laugh. “I can tell that she loves you very much.”

She lowered her hand and I replaced it with my own. “I love you too, sweet girl. So much.” I spoke to her as she started moving even more. 

I linked my arm with Maeve’s and led her back to the house where Edward had tea and sandwiches waiting for us. He truly was the most incredible husband. I pulled him down for a kiss before sitting with Maeve to eat and spend some more time together.

We made plans to get the coven back together for a Samhain celebration. My first ritual since the initiation months before. I couldn’t wait.

Chapter Text

October 30, 2006

It was still early in the morning. Warm sunlight was just beginning to brighten the sky outside of our bedroom window. Edward and I were lying naked, tangled in the sheets together. He was gently running his fingers through my hair as I held him close, as close as I could anyway. My stomach had, for lack of a better word, popped. At twenty-four weeks I officially needed maternity clothes. 

Between my balanced magic practice and absorbing magic from the world around me, mine and the baby’s health had begun to improve dramatically. I still wasn’t at one hundred percent, but it was a large step in the right direction. 

The baby suddenly started kicking and pushing against where I was pressed to Edward. He laughed and reached down to place his hand over my stomach and feel her movements. 

“She’s so strong! She’s worked up about something in there.” He smiled widely. 

I focused on her for a moment. “We’ve been quiet too long. I think she wants you to sing to her.” I laughed lightly. 

His gaze softened and he gently touched his forehead to mine. “Well then. Any requests?”

An unfamiliar tune suddenly came to mind. I started to hum it. He pulled away and gave me a curious look. 

His eyes stayed on mine as he started to sing. “Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me, starlight and dew-drops are waiting for thee…” he stopped. 

I smiled up at him. “That’s the one.” She was happy. 

He reached up to cup my cheek. “I think my mother used to sing that to me.” His brow drew down as his eyes darted back and forth between mine. “How did you know that song?”

“It’s not me. It was her, that’s the song she wants.” I turned my head to kiss his palm.

“What do you mean? Can you hear her?” He seemed shocked. I’d been relaying her feelings for weeks. I swear to god no one ever took me seriously about anything.

“Not exactly. It’s more like I can feel her. Sometimes I’ll just know what she wants or feels.” I tried my best to explain the connection that I felt to our unborn daughter. 

He spread his palm out wide over my stomach and seemed to be focusing intently on her. “I don’t hear anything. How would she know that song?”

“Well, first, she’s part witch, so you probably won’t be able to hear her thoughts any more than you can hear mine or Maeve’s. And I don’t know about the song. She’s amazing though.” I reached down to cover his hand with my own. 

He leaned in to kiss me softly. “You both are.”

My breath caught as an idea struck me. “Sing to her again.” I smiled and kept my hand over his. I had done something like this before to share my own feelings with him and figured it couldn’t hurt to try it with her too. 

He started singing the song again in his beautiful, soothing voice. I felt her calm and the love that she had for him. I pulled a bit of his magic, focused on sharing our connection with him, and pushed it back to him. He stopped singing with a small gasp. I looked up to meet his eyes. They were wide and bright as a smile lit up his face. 

“I feel her too. She loves my voice.” He laughed lightly. 

“She loves you. So do I, very much.” I reached up to cup his face, stroking his cheekbone with my thumb. 

He leaned in to kiss me gently then ducked down and kissed my stomach before singing directly to her again. My own smile widened as I ran my fingers through his thick, autumn hair. When the song was over he kissed her again with a whispered, “I love you” and pulled himself back up to eye level with me. 

“She seems calmer now.” He murmured as he held a hand to the side of my neck. 

“She’s content.” I replied quietly. “So am I.” Everything felt peaceful and perfect in moments like these.

He pulled me closer and rubbed his nose against mine before pressing our lips together. I tangled my fingers in his hair and deepened the kiss. I still couldn’t ever seem to get enough of him. His tongue dipped into my mouth, the warm cinnamon taste of him setting me on fire. We both moaned lightly as we explored each other’s mouths and bodies. His hand roamed down my side, settling firmly on my hip. I reached a hand down between us and found his hard cock. I stroked him once and he groaned into my mouth. 

“I think we can get one more round in this morning.” I panted against his lips as I firmly stroked him again. 

His lips curved up into a smile and he quickly flipped me over onto all fours, keeping his hands around my hips to hold me up. This was one of the limited positions that still worked for us and we both enjoyed it. He bent over me to kiss me from my neck to my shoulder before slowly pushing into me from behind. My cry of pleasure came out as a whining groan as his cock stretched me wide, a sensation that I still hadn’t become accustomed to. He filled me completely and perfectly hit that sensitive spot inside of me. I gripped the pillows tightly as he started to thrust. 

“Mm.” He groaned. “You feel so fucking good.” His voice was a low growl as he drove into me harder. 

The tension inside me started to quickly build. I rocked back into him, slamming our bodies together. “Just like that.” The words came out as a breathless moan.

He had a perfect rhythm going as he took me and pleased me in every possible way. I continued to moan his name and grip the pillows tighter as my pending climax built even higher. 

“I’m close. I’m so close, baby.” My voice reached a higher pitch.

“Not yet, Dani. Not until I tell you to.” His voice was a low growl as he continued pumping himself into me at a punishing pace. 

He started to vary his rhythm. I groaned with a combination of frustration and pleasure. It still felt incredible as he moved inside me, but prevented my climax from finally falling as he took what he needed from me. 

After another few minutes of this, he returned to a fast, steady rhythm. “Now! Come for me baby. I want you to come so fucking hard on my cock. Make me come with you.” He groaned. 

“Fucking hell, yes!” I cried out as his words brought me closer to my release.  

One hand moved from my hip to find his mark on my neck and he firmly traced it with two fingers. Sparks shot through me and I fell over the edge immediately. Crying out his name as I came around him, my core gripping him tightly and pulling him in deeper. I felt the pillows tear beneath my hands and heard a lightbulb pop somewhere nearby. He started pounding into me even faster. 

“Good. Girl.” He punctuated each word with a long, hard thrust. 

He came with a practically feral growl while my inner walls were still clenching around him. “Dani!” Stuttered moans escaped his lips and his hand moved back to my hip to hold himself stable as he emptied into me. He bent over my back, resting his forehead on my spine as we continued to come together. 

We were discovering our sexual needs together. He found he really enjoyed taking on a dominant role when we made love. I loved being taken, commanded, and praised by him. He was always so nurturing and attentive afterward. He never once hurt me. That definitely wasn’t something he was interested in. He only ever made me feel safe and cared for. 

Other times he wanted me to take control. To ride him and bite him hard, taking whatever I needed, however I needed it, while he held me close and watched. I loved all of it. I didn’t think there was anything I wouldn’t want to explore with him. We had all the time in the world. Literally. 

As I started to come back down he wrapped a strong arm across my chest, holding onto my shoulder, and pulled me back up with him. We were kneeling on the bed with him still buried inside me as he held me close from behind and kissed my neck. I gripped his arm with both of my hands, tightening his hold on me. 

“How was that?” He whispered in my ear. 

A wide smile spread over my face. “Amazing.” I panted back to him. 

He chuckled low in my ear and resumed kissing me down to the scars and tattoo on my shoulder. 

“I can’t believe we get to do this for eternity.” He spoke quietly as his lips found my ear again.

“That might not even be long enough.” I chuckled breathlessly as a pleasant chill traveled down my spine.

He slipped out of me and lowered me back down to the bed, lying next to me and wrapping his arms securely around me.

“It’s a start at least.” He grinned and leaned in to kiss me chastely. “Do you think it will change after she’s born?” He asked. “I hear becoming a parent changes everything.” He was still smiling. 

“I think our lives will shift dramatically, but I will never stop wanting this, wanting you.” I traced my fingers over his face, taking him in. 

“Neither will I.” His eyes closed as I traced around his brows. “You’re the only person I have ever wanted.” He opened his eyes again and met mine. “And now you’re giving me a daughter.” One hand reached up to hold onto the side of my neck and he gently stroked his thumb along my jaw. “I never imagined I would get so lucky. Never even allowed myself to consider it.” His expression softened. “Do you think we would have more children one day? It might be possible that we could continue having vampire-witch babies forever.” 

I burst into laughter, tucking my face into his shoulder. I looked back up at his bright, green eyes as I composed myself. “We’re not going to build a dynasty or anything, but yeah, I think we might be able to have more than one.” I smiled at the gleam that lit up his eyes. “We’ve got plenty of time to figure that out though.” I leaned forward to kiss him.

My phone buzzed from across the room. I turned to look at it still plugged into the charger on the dresser and rested my head back on Edward’s chest. 

“Far.” I whined as he laughed. 

I took a chance and used a small bit of magic to pull it from the charger. That seemed completely fine. So, I quickly waved the phone into my open hand, deftly catching it. No headache, not even the slightest bit draining. 

“Please be careful using magic, love. We still don’t really know how much she needs.” Edward ran his hand down my arm. 

“I know. I need to practice if I’m going to keep getting stronger though. Small things like that seem to be fine.” I kissed his cheek as I flipped open my phone. I had a text from Leah. 

“hey can I come over today? I know we have the thing tomorrow but there’s too much fucking testosterone here and I need some girl time”

I snorted a laugh and texted her back. 

“Of course. Do you want to hang out with just me or with the whole girl group here?”

Her response was immediate. 

“lol girl group please noon good?”

“Noon works. I’ll meet you at the main house.”

I looked back up at Edward. “Leah’s coming to the other house later. She needs some girl time. And I need a shower.”

I moved to get out of the bed and he pulled me back down. Eliciting high-pitched giggles from me as his hands skimmed over my waist. He nuzzled his face into the side of my neck while I continued to laugh. 

“I’ll join you.” He murmured into my ear as he loosened his hold on me. 

“That was always the plan.” I sat up and pulled him off the bed and into the bathroom with me. 

I helped Esme make lunch for me and Leah while Rose and Alice gathered movies and a couple games, depending on what Leah was in the mood for. We had banished the men from the house for the rest of the day. Though they didn’t seem to really mind having a chance to get out together. 

The pregnancy had me craving all kinds of salty, briney foods. They always kept an array of pickles and olives on hand for me and I was actively snacking on them as we cooked. We were just finishing up the potato salad to go with the pulled chicken sandwiches when Leah arrived.

“Hey Leah! I’ve missed you!” I pulled her into a hug. I hadn’t seen her in a few weeks by this point.

“Dani! Look at you!” She laughed as she hugged me back.

I pulled back with a smile. “I know. She’s a big burrito now. Can’t hide her anymore.” I chuckled as I held a hand to my stomach. I felt the baby nudge against my hand in response.

“How are you feeling? Better?” She asked.

“A lot better, actually. Maeve has been over a lot to help with my magic, so both of us are doing good.” I reached for her hand and pulled her inside. “Come on, there’s lots of food!”

We got our plates together and settled in to watch ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ together.

“Yes! I need something feel-good, but kind of man hating, please.” Leah huffed out an exasperated laugh.

“Is everything okay?” I turned to her.

“Yeah, the guys are just a bit much these days. Sam is insisting on keeping up with the daily pre-battle training, since you’re all still here.” She rolled her eyes. “And there is constant fighting between Sam and Jake about coming to check on you. It’s just too much, especially when I have to pretend I don’t know anything.” She gave me a pointed look.

“I’m so sorry Leah. If I knew how they would react, I would know how to handle this better. I hate that I’ve put you in this position.” I frowned.

She waved me away. “It’s not your fault.” 

Pulling me to her side, we settled in to eat and watch the movie. After inhaling a bowl of olives and pickles the baby started furiously kicking at the side where I was leaning against her.

“Woah dude! What is she doing in there?” Leah pulled away.

I laughed. “I have no idea. I think maybe she likes the food. She’s very happy.”

“She seems to be pretty strong when she gets worked up.” Rosalie smiled from my other side.

I held a hand to my stomach and looked at Rose. “Do you want to feel her?”

Her eyes lit up and a wide smile broke over her face. She tentatively reached a hand out to feel her kicks. The baby pressed herself against Rose’s hand and Rose let out a small laugh.

“What is that like?” She asked.

“It’s hard to describe. Mostly just weird flutters and pressure. Sometimes she gets a good kick at my bladder though.” I laughed. “I just like knowing that she’s okay in there.”

I looked over at Leah. She was smiling too. 

“It’s worth all the awkwardness with the pack to keep you safe. Her too.” She wrapped her arm around me to pull me in again.

I started getting weepy again. “Thanks Leah.” I sniffled.

“Oh jeez.” She huffed a laugh and rested her head on top of mine.

We finished the movie and Leah wanted to end the night with karaoke and manicures. She knew the next time she shifted, it would be gone, but wanted to feel more feminine again even just for a night. 

I painted her nails as she told me about how things were going with Jessica. She was keeping pretty busy with school, but they did get to go out during Fall break. That was the last time she got to dress up in something other than shorts and a t-shirt. Tomorrow was Samhain, I was going to make sure we went all out for it. She deserved some divine feminine fun.

After what felt like hours of cutting and tearing and breaking, I finally got his heart out. I took one last look at him before I pulled at the flames inside me to destroy the evidence of what I’d done. 

Before I can toss the flames I hear a deep growl. I quickly turn around to find the source. There’s nothing there, just the pitch black night in front of me. I turn back to my victim, but in his place is Seth. His chest is a bloody cavern and his lifeless eyes are looking right through me. My chest heaves and I drop his heart to the ground.

“No!!” An animalistic scream erupts from my chest.

More growls resonate behind me. I turn to look again and find myself surrounded. The whole pack is there and they know what I’ve done.

“I didn’t mean to! I swear! I don’t know what…” in a cacophony of barks and snarls, they lunge for me.

“Dani, baby! You’re okay! It’s just a dream.” Edward’s velvet voice pulled me back to the waking world. “I’m right here, I’ve got you.” I had sat up on the bed at some point. One warm hand was cupping my cheek and his other arm was wrapped around me.

A sob erupted from me as he pulled my face into his chest. I wrapped my arms around him and held him as tightly as I could. I could feel our daughter furiously kicking inside me. I tried to calm my breathing as another desperate cry escaped. 

Edward continued to stroke a hand down my hair while he shushed me. As I started to calm down, he slowly moved his hands to my face and pulled me back to look at him.

“Was it the heart one again?” He asked with sad eyes.

I squeezed my eyes shut and bit back another sob. “Yeah, but it was different this time. The wolves were there, and Seth, he…” I pressed my lips together as more tears fell.

He wiped my tears away with the pads of his thumbs. “Oh, love. You’ve been so worried about them lately. It may be time to talk to them. Maybe Carlisle can-”

“No.” I cut him off. “I don’t think they would understand. At least not yet.” I sniffled and held myself closer to him. “Once she’s born, I should have my magic back. I can protect her then. She’s too vulnerable now.”

He sighed. “We can protect you both, you know?” 

I pulled back again to meet his sage green eyes. “I know. But I don’t want to start a war. They won’t hesitate to kill you, but they might at least think about it first if it’s me they have to fight.”

His brows furrowed as he looked back and forth between my eyes. “We could leave? Move somewhere else. We can go wherever you want. Then they’ll never have to know and you won’t have to hide.”

My heart sank at the thought. “Maeve? Leah?” I frowned.

“Just think about it.” He cupped my face and leaned in to gently kiss me.

I nodded and breathed in his soothing, warm cinnamon scent.

“It’s still late. You should try to get some more sleep if you can.” His hand rubbed gentle, soothing circles over my back as he held me.

I slowly laid back down and he moved with me, tucking me into his chest again. He brushed his fingers through my hair as he sang ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’. The baby calmed and I slowly drifted back into a dreamless sleep.

***

It was Samhain. Our first coven gathering since the initiation. We all gathered at mine and Edward’s house to get ready. There was plenty of space and it was deeper in the woods. Maeve wanted us as connected to nature as we could be.

I was helping Esme and Maeve cook for the feast while Alice, Rose, and Leah made sure we had everything ready for the altar, the elements, and the bonfire. We had some spells prepared too. A protection spell for all of us, a blessing for the baby, and Maeve wanted to try a seance to contact her sister, Isadora. With the veil thinned and our combined magic, she was hopeful that she might finally get a chance to say goodbye.

After all of the supplies for the celebration were ready, we got to work pampering ourselves. We donned face masks while we all took turns painting each other’s nails. Once our nails were painted dramatically dark colors, we got to work on our hair and makeup. 

Leah’s hair was still a short bob, but Rosalie managed to work a crown braid around her head with a lot of hairspray and bobby pins. The rest of us had our own elaborate braids, aside from Alice who styled a vintage wave pattern into her short hair.

Alice and Rosalie helped us all with our makeup. Giving each of us dark, glamorous eye makeup and either black or dark burgundy lipstick. We each had our long, black dresses, mine being a warm maternity dress that Alice had recently gotten for me. Maeve even brought black hooded capes to go with them now. We looked pretty badass. 

We gathered up all of the food and supplies. It was almost comical to see Rose looking like a gothic supermodel carrying the massive altar in one hand and a casserole dish held up like a serving tray in the other. The most they would allow me to carry was a bag of candles. No matter how much I tried to convince everyone that I wasn’t a delicate flower, they still treated me like I was. They wouldn’t even let me have coffee anymore. That was truly unbearable.

We hiked deep into the woods until we found the clearing we had carefully chosen for the celebration. While Rosalie and Esme got to work setting up the altar, Leah and I worked on setting the food table up, and Alice helped Maeve create a sacred circle around us. 

“Why are there so many plates? It’s just me, you, and Dani eating.” Leah asked as she held up a stack of plates.

“We will have places set for those we have lost that we wish to honor tonight as well. One for my sister and my mother and I added some extra in case there was anyone else you each would like to include.” Maeve explained.

Esme stepped forward. “I had a son.” Her face drew down slightly. “I don’t have anything from him though. Would I be able to include him?” She asked.

Maeve gave her a soft smile as she took her hand. “Of course. All you need is your memory of him.”

Esme’s face brightened a little. “Thank you.”

We set up the plates for all of the guests and Maeve opened the circle just as the Sun started to set. We had arranged lanterns around the circle to provide light until we were ready for the bonfire. We all sat silently at the table together. Maeve, Leah, and I ate quietly as a way to welcome the spirits we wished to honor.

After the feast, we got to work invoking the four elements and blessing each of us with the offerings we brought. Maeve led us in prayers to the Divine Spirits and we started the protection spell.

Maeve held my hand as I pulled energy from the world around us. Together we cast a protection spell to keep our coven safe from harm. I could feel our combined magic within the circle. All of ours, it was complex and powerful. So many different types of magic coming together to create something completely new. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from this unique coven of formidable women.

Next we held the blessing for my daughter. Maeve handed me a delicate, gold bracelet. The charm connecting the two ends of the gold chain together was a triple moon symbol with a moonstone set into the full moon at the center.

“This is beautiful. Thank you, Maeve.” I gave her a warm smile as she helped me put it on.

“This provides protection and honors both you and your daughter through the divine feminine.” She returned my smile with a teary one of her own. “Okay Dani. You’ll stand at the center here while we all cast the blessing together. Did you all memorize the words?” She asked the group.

They each smiled and nodded or voiced their confirmation. All five of my fellow coven members held a candle as I stood in the center of the circle they formed around me. I was full of peace as I held my hands to my stomach. My daughter was calm and content.

“Oh, Divine Spirits, bless this new life with joy, love, wisdom, and security. May she grow strong and healthy, surrounded by peace and harmony.” They recited the blessing together.

I met each of their eyes as they came forward, one by one, and placed a hand to my stomach and a kiss to each of my cheeks. I felt my daughter moving, reacting to the magic around us. She was happy in there and she was safe, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. 

We moved on to honoring those we had lost. I brought the crystal ball that Maeve gifted me, to honor her ancestors and provide a window for the spirits who might wish to join us. Maeve brought a necklace that belonged to Isadora, Leah brought a shawl that belonged to her grandmother and Alice brought a picture that she found from the announcement that was published in the paper when her sister got engaged nearly eighty years ago. 

Next it was time for the seance. We set everything up at the altar and got started. We formed our circle again, holding hands this time as we focused on reaching out to Isadora. I could feel the power building within our circle. Silence fell over the forest around us and there was a sudden shift in the wind. 

After a few more moments of focus, a foggy white light began slowly drifting up from the ground within our circle. I looked around to see if anyone else saw what I was seeing. The only one who seemed to react was Maeve. Her teary eyes met mine across the circle. 

“It’s her.” Her voice broke as a small smile formed on her lips.

“What?” Leah asked quietly. 

I gently shushed her. We needed to keep focusing. It appeared that only Maeve and I could see the light. It continued dancing up only feet in front of me, growing taller and more opaque. The white light slowly took on form, coalescing into a humanoid shape until it was clear that it was Isadora’s spirit. She wasn’t quite solid, almost exactly what you would expect a ghost to look like, but it was clearly her. She was facing Maeve who let out a happy sob.

“Izzy.” She whispered. 

She reached a hand up to touch Maeve’s face. Maeve’s eyes closed as she let out a peaceful sigh.

“I miss you too. I hope you’re at peace.” Maeve said as she reopened her eyes. 

Isadora’s spirit lowered her hand and turned to face me. The smile she directed toward me was warm and kind and full of love. I didn’t understand why I was the only other person who could see her. 

She drifted toward me as a tear fell to my cheek. Light brown curls surrounded her familiar face with deep blue eyes that matched mine. Her translucent hand reached up to cup my cheek. As soon as she made contact it all became clear. I let out a gasp as another warm tear dropped, trailing down to my chin.

“Of course.” I smiled shakily and my breath hitched.

Memories returned. Ones I had lost and was too afraid to find again. I had a whole other life before this. One where I had a mother. A mother who I was the spitting image of. A mother who died when I was very young. Isadora Masterson. My mother. It seemed so obvious now. I was a child without a mother and she was a mother without a child. The universe brought us back together just a little too late. I missed her by mere weeks. 

After she died, I was raised by her mother, my grandmother Selene. She taught me everything I knew about witchcraft. She raised me to be strong and independent. Just like Isadora was. Cassandra Eleanor Masterson, Casey. That was me.

I reached my hand up to hold her ghostly one to my cheek. “Hello. It’s so wonderful to finally meet you.” I breathed out a teary laugh.

She smiled warmly in return. Her smile faltered.

“My sweet girl. Your work is not done here.” Her ethereal voice filled the air around me, though her mouth didn’t move.

“When skies defy nature’s design, reveal a curse the Fates malign.”

My face fell and I shook my head in confusion. “What does that mean?” I asked her.

She merely gave me a sympathetic smile. Her brows furrowed and she looked back and forth between my eyes. “Trust your instincts. Keep him with you.” Her voice surrounded me again. 

I scanned her face in confusion. I didn’t understand what any of that meant. I felt her pushing magic into me. Giving me what she could. I could sense her desire to help the baby, her grand-daughter. She drifted back to the center of the circle and turned toward Maeve again. She blew a small kiss to her sister, then her form dispersed and she was gone. I released a small sob as everyone else in the circle looked at me with concern.

“What happened? What did she show you?” Maeve asked.

I met her teary eyes with my own. “She was my mother.” My breath hitched.

As we got the bonfire started, I explained to them what I had experienced, what Isadora helped me to remember.

“So, in a way, I truly am your aunt.” Maeve’s happy sob matched my own.

“I guess so.” I held her hands in mine, embracing the new element to our relationship.

“What does the rest of it mean?” Alice asked.

“I have no idea. It felt like a warning or a prophecy. Like she knows something is coming and wants to help.” I really didn’t seem to be able to just catch a fucking break here.

We finished the night with music and dancing, inviting any of our ancestors who wished to join our celebration. As the evening drew to a close, Maeve closed the circle again and hooked her arm with mine as we made our way back to the house. 

Leah and Maeve slept over while the others went back to the main house for the night. They, understandably, didn’t really want to just quietly hang out while we slept.

I spoke with Maeve more. Asked her questions and listened to stories about her sister. The person who would have been my mother if I had ever been born here. She would have been young, not even twenty, when she had me. I didn’t remember having a present father in my past life. I was an unexpected surprise and she tried to go it alone until she unexpectedly passed away. A car accident. The same way she died here, only more than a decade earlier. Maeve never existed in my universe, at least not that I knew of. I was eternally grateful that she was here.

Leah stayed with us, listening and providing support as we processed the revelations of the evening. “So what ‘curse’ do you think she was talking about?” Leah asked.

“I really don’t know. She didn’t clarify.” I huffed a laugh. “I suppose I’ll find out eventually. I’ll probably know what it means when it’s just a little too late.” I smirked and rolled my eyes.

As we started to get tired, Leah helped me make up the couch for her while Maeve took the guest room. I went back up to my bedroom to find Edward there, sitting on the bed waiting for me. He knew I had trouble sleeping without him.

“Hey.” I smiled as I walked into his welcoming arms.

I leaned in and he kissed me gently. “Did you have a good time?” 

“I did. I learned a lot too.” I looked down at him.

“Oh?” He smiled. 

He must have just gotten here. He was good about giving me my privacy when I wanted it.

“I know who I am, who I was.” I held his face in my hands and took in his beautiful green eyes.

He smiled softly. “And who might that be?”

“Isadora Masterson was my mother. Or she would have been if I had been born here.” I explained through a teary smile. “In my old life she died when I was almost three. I never even had a chance to know her.” 

His eyes scanned my face, likely trying to discern how I was feeling about all of this.

“She left Forks as soon as she could and went to Northwestern University in Illinois, then I was born. She settled there with me. Cassandra Eleanor Masterson.” I said with a small laugh. “That was my name.”

He smiled brightly and held a hand to my stomach. “I like Cassandra.”

I laughed a little louder than I should have. “That would be weird. I am not naming her after myself.”

He moved his other hand to my stomach, holding our daughter securely in both hands now. “I think it’s perfect.” He leaned forward to gently kiss my bump.

I smiled down at him as I brushed my fingers through his bronze locks. “We’ll put it in the maybe pile.”

He smirked back up at me and leaned up to kiss me again before releasing me so I could get ready for bed. 

He held me close, the way he always did, while I slept. I dreamed of her again. The little blonde girl playing with Edward. I was pretty sure it was her, our daughter. I never got to see her face though. I also dreamed of them. The wolves. They were chasing me through the forest as I ran with her in my arms. Desperate to keep my small, fragile, newborn child safe. I would do whatever it took to keep her away from any danger.

Chapter Text

November 2006

Somehow I was nearly twenty-eight weeks pregnant already. I continued practicing small bits of magic and me and the baby were both growing stronger. My anemia was mostly under control and we were reconsidering France. Though if we did go, it would have to be soon. Once I reached thirty-six weeks, I would technically be full term and she could come at any moment. There was no way we were traveling anywhere after that point.

The nursery was nearly finished already. They painted the walls a light lavender that Edward and I chose together. One wall was covered by an elephant mural painted by Jasper himself. I had no idea that he loved to paint until he offered. It was a beautiful savanna landscape with a family of elephants; two adults embracing their baby with their trunks. When he first showed it to me I was so choked up that I could barely speak to thank him. To be fair, literally everything still made me weepy. Those pregnancy hormones are no joke.

Edward surprised me by painting the ceiling of her room a dark navy blue and hand painting glow in the dark stars that perfectly matched the stars that were overhead the moment we were married. Of course he remembered it down to the second. It was perfect. Then he made us sleep at the main house until he couldn’t smell any paint fumes in our house anymore. It took nearly a week before he would allow me to go back. His overprotectiveness seemed to have no limits when it came to me and his daughter. I couldn’t really fault him for that.

The season had turned from fall to winter. We were finally getting a proper storm. The baseball game was planned and the Cullens were all vibrating with excitement at getting to go out and let loose finally. We would be heading out to the field for a family game that afternoon. Given that I couldn’t actually play with them, I would just watch and ‘referee’.

They made me promise not to ‘cheat’ this time. I used to like to slow the ball down unexpectedly on them. I thought it was hilarious. They would swing at thin air as the ball slowly moved past them a second later or jump for it only for it to fall to the ground yards in front of them. Other times I would give it a tiny push. Just enough to veer it off course after they had already leapt to catch it. They didn’t seem to appreciate my attempts to join in.

“Fine. It’s really the only contribution that I can make though! It at least keeps you all on your toes.” I pointed at them.

Edward laughed as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. “They’re just sore losers.”

“That’s because she never once used it against you!” Jasper argued.

I snorted a laugh. “Sorry. I’m biased. I could even it out this time?” I offered as I waggled my eyebrows.

“No!” Emmett pointed at me. He hated it when he missed a pitch.

“You guys spoil all my fun.” I smirked at them.

Carlisle laughed. “Who knows Dani? Maybe next time you’ll be able to play with us. With your full power, you would surely make a formidable opponent.” He smirked.

“That sounds like fun.” My face pulled into a wide grin and I looked up at Edward. He gave me a crooked smile and bent down to press his lips firmly to mine.

“We’ll take turns hanging out with you so you don’t get so bored.” Alice flitted to my side and took my arm as Edward reluctantly let me go.

She knew the real reason why I did it. Even though it was probably infinitely more exciting than a typical baseball game, I honestly was never a fan of watching sports. I smirked back down at her as the baby kicked. I placed a hand over my stomach to feel her. She liked Alice’s voice. She loved her whole family really, but she did seem to have some favorites.

I snorted another laugh. “Thanks, Alice. I appreciate it.”

Once everything was ready, we set out in groups. Rose and Emmett rode with us in Emmett’s Jeep as Edward drove me as close as he could to the field. 

“We count the points individually. We work together to stop a home run, but score points just for ourselves.” Emmett was trying to explain their rules as we drove.

“Okay, but what if it’s not a home run? What if you only make it to like third base or something? The next to bat wouldn’t want you to make it home, right?” I asked for clarification.

He shook his head. “No, home runs only. If we only make it to third base, that’s just an out.”

I slowly nodded. “Okay, I guess that makes sense. But why have bases at all then?”

“We can’t modify the basic structure of the American pastime.” Edward replied, throwing me a crooked grin and a wink.

I pulled my lower lip between my teeth and smiled at him. He lifted my hand to his lips, causing the faintest blush to heat my cheeks when Rosalie commented on how sappy we were.

Edward pulled off of the road and drove down a dirt path where he parked Emmett’s Jeep deep in the woods. He relented to my request to teleport, at least myself, the rest of the way. I was not on board with him running with me in my condition and I could at least pull some magic from the world around me to do it. It really wasn’t that far, but would have been a long hike. Which also wasn’t wise at the moment.

Edward waited with me while the others headed toward the field. He didn’t want me to end up there alone. His mind reading range was much further than I initially thought, particularly with his family. He was finely tuned to their voices and could hear their thoughts from a few miles away. So we waited while he listened. His arms remained firmly wrapped around me from behind. I held onto his arms and he rested his cheek on the top of my head. I always felt so content and safe with him. 

Once they confirmed that they were there, Edward released me with a chaste kiss and nodded at me to go ahead. I focused and pulled some magic from the natural supply provided by the world around me. With a pull at the teleportation spell magic, I found myself there in the field with them. Emmett and Carlisle were marking out the bases by digging divots into the ground with their feet while Jasper threw the ball back and forth with Alice at an invisible speed. 

Esme and Rose came over with a fold out lounge chair for me to sit on. I exhaled a dramatic sigh as they set it up next to me. Placing a large pillow on the back to support me and covering it with a blanket. 

“Please humor us dear. I know you’re fine, but we worry. Edward worries.” Esme gave me a pointed look.

“She’s right. I want you to be comfortable.” Edward spoke up behind me and I jumped. He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around my expanding waist, holding our daughter up for me, and kissed the side of my neck. 

Before going to join the rest of them he turned me around, kissed me firmly, and securely placed a Chicago Cubs baseball cap on my head. I laughed as he flashed away and Rose helped me into my seat. Esme covered my legs with the warm blanket they laid down and made sure I was comfortable before running out to join Carlisle on the field. He took her hand, twirling her once before dipping her and kissing her as she laughed. It was nice to see them having fun together.

“Here,” Rose handed me a bottle of water and a box of Cracker Jacks, “do you need anything else?”

I laughed loudly as I ripped the top of the box open. “No, this is perfect. Thank you.”

As the game started, I could feel the magic in the air. Storms seemed to stir it up, at least the ones that I didn’t cause myself did. I ate my snack and absentmindedly rubbed a hand over my stomach as I passively absorbed some of the magic in the air around me.

I watched as they launched baseballs up into the sky and miles away with solid steel bats, creating explosive sounds louder than the thunder they tried to use to mask it. They would flash around the bases and the field disappearing and reappearing as they laughed and tackled each other. I got it. It was a chance to truly let go and be completely themselves. No holding back, no fear of exposure. Just seven vampires having fun together. 

Edward was up to bat. As he took a couple practice swings, he looked back to wink at me, causing my heart to stutter and a blush to heat my cheeks. Alice gracefully threw the pitch and in the same instant he hit the ball, launching it high in the air and away from the field. I watched as he flashed around the bases and Jasper quickly crouched down, shooting up to catch the ball mid-air. It slipped right past him as Edward stopped at home base with an exhilarated laugh. 

He flashed over to me, bending over to kiss me deeply. I chuckled as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“You cheated! There is no way I should have missed that!” Jasper called out.

Edward dipped his tongue into my mouth, ignoring Jasper’s protests. When he pulled away, his bright, green eyes met mine. “There’s no way I could have cheated.” I sang out. “It would have taken at least two spells!” 

Edward smirked and pecked my lips again. “Are you comfortable? Do you need anything?” He asked, cupping my face and stroking his thumb over my cheek.

“I’m perfectly fine. Good hit, by the way.” I smirked and leaned forward to kiss him again.

He pulled away from my lips to kiss along my cheek to my jaw. “Would you like me to stay here with you for a bit?” 

“You’ve got a game to win.” I nipped at his neck, making him chuckle seductively.

Esme came over with a smile. “I’ll keep her company, you get back out there.” She gently nudged him back toward the field.

They went back to their game, with Edward covering second base now, and Esme crouched next to me.

“He really is so happy.” She smiled warmly as she watched him play.

I ran a hand over my bump. “That makes three of us.” I chuckled. The baby was very happy too.

“How’s she doing in there? Is the noise startling her?” Esme asked.

“Not at all. I think she can sense how much fun you’re all having. She’s very content in there.” There was the tiniest nudge against my hand in response to my voice. 

“You seem to be doing a lot better too.” She reached an arm around me and I leaned my head against her shoulder.

“I am. Once we figured out what she needed, it became much easier. It seems so obvious now.” I sighed, looking down at my expanded waist. “My magic is more stable and she’s getting stronger.”

“She’s going to be incredible. Just like her mother.” She reached up to smooth down the hair that had fallen out of my braid and stuck out of the hat on my head. “How are you handling everything you learned about your past? About losing your mother?” Her stony hand rubbed up and down my arm in a soothing gesture.

“Okay. It’s strange. I’ve alternated between sad and happy. I was so afraid of knowing about what I lost for so long that I feel like I missed out on a lot. It’s brought me and Maeve a lot closer though and I’m learning more about who my mother was here. She was so different from how my Grams described her.” I huffed a laugh, pushing down the hint of sadness that came forth when I thought about it too much.

There was another loud crack as Emmett dented a bat and sprinted around the bases. Edward and Jasper vanished into the woods to go after the ball. Emmett threw his hat down with a frustrated roar when Edward reappeared with the ball in his hand and a victorious smile on his face.

“What do you mean?” She pulled away to gently take my hand.

“They’ve both described her as charming, smart, and kind, but from my Grams’ description, she was more carefree and wild than she was here. Hence the teen pregnancy.” I glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow.

She chuckled. “Maybe being an older sister had something to do with that. There was no Maeve where you came from, right?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Just me and Grams. She dropped everything and moved to Illinois after my mother died to take care of me. She didn’t want to uproot me after I lost her, even though she lost her daughter as well. She was wonderful.” I looked down at my stomach as my heart clenched.

She gently squeezed my hand and straightened my hat. “Well, she did a wonderful job raising you.”

My chest felt heavy as my emotions took over and tears started to well in my eyes. She gave me a sympathetic smile and brushed a thumb over my cheek before standing back up to take her turn at batting.

They took turns coming over to sit and chat with me as the game continued. Jasper even snuck me a candy bar when he came over to hang out. I saw Edward smirk and shake his head as he pretended not to notice. He had been very committed to ensuring I was eating healthy, though he never turned down a request for something I was craving. Except for coffee. Him and Carlisle both, to my complete frustration, put their feet down on that one. Given how active she was without caffeine, it was probably for the best anyway. 

I still couldn’t figure out who was winning or losing given how fast everything went, but I did my best to keep up. They would occasionally ask for my input on a tag out or whether a hit should be considered a foul or not. I was pretty sure they just wanted me to feel included, but I appreciated it nonetheless. After three rounds of each of them batting and two arguments that I had to break up with my ‘expert’ refereeing, Edward froze.

He appeared in front of me and started to help me up from the chair. “We need to get you out of here. Now!” His voice was desperate. The others rushed over, surrounding us. 

“It’s too late, I can already smell whoever it is.” Carlisle interrupted. “Can you take her and we’ll try to distract them?” He asked Edward.

“You can teleport, get in the car and go. Don’t wait for me.” Edward thrust the keys to the Jeep into my hand.

“Why? What’s happening? Who is it?” I was terrified by the abrupt shift. 

Are there more nomads? I thought we were past that bullshit!

“The wolves, at least one of them.” Jasper explained.

Oh fuck!

“They must have heard us.” Alice added. “I’m so sorry, there was no way for me to see this.” Her voice was small and frightened.

I was immediately hit by a wave of panic. I was very clearly pregnant and, depending on who it was, this could end very badly. The baby seemed to sense my fear, she started kicking and pushing against me. I held a hand to my stomach trying to soothe her as I rubbed firmly over her frantic movements.

“Okay, yeah. Where did we park? I need a visual!” I was terrified. My brain stopped working. I didn’t want to try teleporting to the inside of the car and I couldn’t remember enough about where we left it to confidently teleport outside of it.

Only seconds later an enormous russet wolf burst through the woods and onto the field. 

Jacob. Shit.

He was fast. I almost forgot how fast he was. He started forward and stopped cold when the others formed a wall in front of me, crouching down into fighting stances to block his path. Edward stayed with me, blocking me with his body and one arm reaching behind him to hold onto me. I gripped the back of his shirt and peeked around him.

“Hey Jake.” I waved weakly from behind Edward. 

I really didn’t want this to break into a fight. Jake would lose and I couldn’t let anyone I loved die. His large brown eyes darted around before they met mine and he whimpered sadly.

“He’s asking if you’re okay.” Edward relayed.

“I’m fine Jake, I promise. Everything is fine. I’m sorry I’ve had to stay away, I just…” I trailed off, not knowing how to explain without lying.

I glanced at Edward, hoping Jake had more to say.

Edward sighed and reluctantly translated again, “He wants to know why. He’s asking if they did something wrong.”

“Oh, Jake, no. Of course not!” My voice broke, along with my heart. “I promise none of you did anything wrong. I just can’t…” I didn’t have the right words. I knew lying was a terrible idea and this was Jake. He was like a little brother to me before everything got so complicated.

Jake whined again, glancing between Edward and me.

Edward continued translating for us. “He wants to know why you haven’t been to the reservation in months. They all think we’ve been keeping you away.” 

“We’re not keeping her away!” Rose argued through a hiss. “We’ve been keeping her safe!” 

“He doesn’t understand what that would have to do with them. He says they’re family too.” Edward kept his arm firmly around me as he continued translating Jake’s thoughts.

My breath hitched and I leaned my forehead against Edward’s back. “It was just too dangerous. I don’t think everyone will understand.” Inhaling a deep breath, I looked back up at Jake with tears in my eyes. I squeezed Edward’s hand and took a leap of faith. “I just need to keep her safe.”

Edward stiffened in front of me and Jake’s head tilted to one side.

“Can you shift back? So we can talk? I can’t talk to you like this.” I offered as I wiped a stray tear away. I didn’t know who else might be listening and I wasn’t sure if any of the others could be trusted with this.

“Dani.” Edward warned.

“Edward, I have to.” I whispered back. “He’s family, I trust him. I’m so tired of hiding from everyone.”

Jake looked warily between us all. 

“They won’t hurt you. None of you will hurt him!” I pointed sternly at each of them.

Jasper and Emmett looked back at me with clear frustration on their faces. I responded with a pointed glare.

Carlisle spoke up. “I give you my word Jacob. You are safe here. As long as you don’t try to harm Dani, none of us are any threat to you.”

Jake’s head reared back in confusion.

“He’s asking why we think he would try to hurt you.” Edward looked back at me with wary eyes. 

“Just, please phase back. Then we can talk.” I gave Jake a pleading look from behind Edward.

He shifted back to his human form right where he stood, quickly throwing his shorts on. His eyes darted around to each of the vampires in front of him. He looked taller, stronger too. His hair was longer and his face had hardened. I had missed so much already.

“I can talk now. Now, please, Dani. What is going on? Why did you push us all away? We thought we were family to you and then…” He trailed off waving a hand to me. “I’ve been so worried and you haven’t even reached out.”

I sighed shakily and looked up at Edward. “It’s okay, he won’t hurt me.” 

Edward reluctantly loosened his grip on me and I moved around him so that Jake could see me. I was wearing a ridiculous maternity baseball jersey that Alice managed to find for me and leggings with an unzipped puffy coat to keep me warm. Edward took my hand firmly in his, ready to get me out of there at the first sign of aggression.

“She’s why.” I held a hand to my stomach.

Jake’s eyes went wide as he stared at my soccer ball sized baby bump. “Is that-?” He pointed a finger at my abdomen.

“A baby? Yeah. It’s a baby Jake.” I spoke softly.

“Is it his?” He looked up and pointed to Edward.

“Well, he’s my husband, so yeah. He’s her father.” I kept my voice calm. I didn’t want to risk him panicking and shifting back before we had a chance to explain.

“But… how? When?” Jake squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, like he was trying to clear away what he was seeing.

“Well the ‘ how’ was the same as it is with any other baby. The ‘ when’ was on our honeymoon. She was a surprise.” I huffed a small laugh.

“What is it?” He met my eyes now. His face was drawn down with complete confusion.

I tilted my head and gave him a sad look. “She’s a baby Jake. A half witch, half vampire - and also some human - baby. I’m due in February.” I tried to humanize the situation as much as possible. He had to understand. Leah did, so why wouldn’t he?

His eyes continued flicking back and forth between my stomach and my eyes. 

“Jacob. Just hear us out, please.” Edward interrupted with a desperate voice. “Let us explain.” He emphasized each word through gritted teeth.

Jake glanced at Edward, then back at my stomach. “I have to tell Sam.” He stopped at my eyes again.

I panicked. “You can’t! Please, Jake, you can’t! You know how he’ll react!”

“Jacob, you would be putting her in danger!” Carlisle argued. 

With wide eyes, he shook his head. “I’m sorry Dani. The pack needs to know about this.” He shifted back, tearing his shorts apart, and disappeared back into the woods with a loud howl.

“Shit! I tried to calm him down, but he was too panicked. He fought against it.” Jasper came over, his voice full of anxiety.

“We need to get you back to the house. Right now!” Edward quickly lifted me into his arms as I stood there in shock.

I thought I could trust Jake. He was like a brother to me. My heart shattered. I put my daughter in danger because I stupidly thought I meant more to them than some unwarranted prejudice against my family. 

Edward ran with me back to the Jeep. Much slower than he normally would run, but still faster than an Olympic sprinter. I quickly lost my hat, but wasn’t even jostled as he sped around the trees and brush in the forest. I tucked my face into his chest and started to sob. We got to the car and he helped me into my seat before reappearing in the driver’s seat and speeding away.

“It’s gonna be okay, baby. We’ll know if they even try to make a move. We’ll get you out of here. No one is going to hurt either of you.” Edward kissed my hand as I continued to cry.

“That was so stupid! I thought I could trust him.” I covered my mouth with my hand as another sob ripped from my chest.

“No, love. After everything, you should have been able to trust all of them. They owe you at least that much.” He clenched his jaw in anger before softening again. “I’m so sorry, baby.” He reached up to hold a hand to the side of my head, brushing his thumb over the hair above my ear.

We quickly made it back to the main house and Edward ordered Alice and Jasper to head back to our house and quickly pack up anything essential. He was already planning to get at least me and him out of Forks immediately.

Rosalie and Esme sat with me on the sofa as I cried, embracing me gently between their cold arms. Edward worked out a plan with Emmett. They were talking about all of us heading up to Alaska. They had a large house there and we would have more support from the Denali coven should the wolves try to follow us. Carlisle started packing up whatever medical supplies he could, loading them into his Mercedes as he flashed back and forth between his car and the house. 

He stopped in front of me and crouched down. “Dani, I can’t imagine what this must be like for you. Do you need anything?”

I shook my head as I looked into his caring, gold eyes and more tears fell to my cheeks. What I needed was to go back in time and not act like a complete idiot. That wasn’t an option though. He held a cold hand to my cheek and kissed my forehead before standing back up to keep gathering supplies.

They all simultaneously froze moments before Leah burst through the front door in her wolf form. Her gray fur was soaked with rain and her chest was heaving as her brown eyes darted around the room before settling on me.

Edward translated her panicked thought: “They’re coming.”

Chapter Text

We were already out of time. Edward and Alice started throwing everything that was packed into the car while Rose and Leah, still in her wolf form, escorted me through the rain to the passenger seat. Within moments, Edward was in the driver’s seat, peeling out of the driveway while the others followed on foot. Together they formed protective walls on either side of the car from a distance. I could just barely see them in the trees lining the road as they effortlessly kept up with us.

“They’re going to follow us at least until we hit the highway. The wolves won’t risk being seen by so many people.” Edward explained. “We’ll lose them there and get you someplace safe.”

“What about Leah? Don’t they know that she’s here?” I asked him.

“She says Sam issued the order to bring you to the reservation one way or another. It somehow didn’t work on her though. He couldn’t order her to turn on you.” He glanced at me as the odometer approached 120 mph.

My eyes darted around the air in front of me as I absorbed that information. That didn’t make any sense. 

Sam couldn’t order her? But how?  

Edward suddenly braked, throwing a protective arm across me to keep me from lurching forward. I looked up to see four of the wolves in the distance, blocking the road ahead of us. Sam, Paul, Quil, and Embry. I couldn’t believe they were doing this. Edward quickly shifted gears and turned to go back the way we came only to stop again, his face growing furious.

“Shit!” He growled out. 

I looked back to see the other three, Jake, Jared, and Seth, running up behind us. I looked forward again and the wolves started sprinting toward the car. Within a second all hell broke loose. My family appeared around the car, forming a protective ring around us. The wolves lunged for them. The Cullens were tossing the wolves away as they desperately tried to tear their way through them and get to our car. 

Leah seemed to be focused on holding Seth back, keeping him away from the fighting as best as she could without hurting him. Jared leapt toward Alice and she flipped over him, landing on his back and tossing him into the woods with more grace than should have been possible. Embry went for Jasper who effortlessly grabbed him by the neck and threw him back down the road. He yelped in pain as he hit the pavement and my stomach dropped as bile rose in my throat. 

“Please don’t do this. Just stop.” I said quietly, holding one hand over my mouth and the other protectively over my stomach. Tears fell down my cheeks as I watched the chaos continue to unfold around us.

“It’s going to be okay, baby. We won’t let them get anywhere near you.” Edward whispered close to my ear as he wiped a tear from my cheek and kissed my temple.

Paul and Sam tried to attack Emmett from two different sides only for Rosalie to appear and kick Paul down while Emmett and Sam stalked around each other. Emmett aggressively shoved and threw Sam back any time he even tried to move around him to get between him and the car. 

All I could do was sit there and watch as my families tried to tear each other apart. Friends that, not even a year ago, I would have trusted with my life were now fighting to harm me. All because I was having a baby that they couldn’t even take a moment to ask about. Another sob ripped from my chest as my heart broke. Edward kept a comforting hand on my back as he carefully watched and listened. 

The wolves were relentless, not giving an inch as they forced their way closer. The Cullens were clearly doing their best to not seriously hurt any of them, but they could only do that for so long. I knew they wouldn’t hesitate to use lethal force to protect me if they had to.

“Give us a chance to explain!” Carlisle was trying to talk to Sam as he casually dodged and pushed back at Jake’s attempts to get ahold of him. 

I started hyperventilating at the realization that people I loved were likely going to die because of me and I was going to have to watch it happen. Edward took my hand and pulled it to his lips. The baby was kicking so aggressively against me that I was sure it was leaving bruises. I could feel her and she was scared. She was feeling my terror and reacting to it. I held a hand to my abdomen, rubbing firmly where her feet were pressing against my skin. 

“Shh shh, we’re okay baby girl. We’re gonna be okay.” I tried to soothe her as my voice trembled.

“I’ll get you out of here. They’re not going to touch you. Either of you.” Edward shifted the car back into drive and turned toward an opening in the chaos around us to try and slip through. He barely made it a couple yards before Quil and Jared appeared in front of us and he hit the brakes again with a furious growl.

I screamed and ducked down as the top of the car buckled in above us. Someone had jumped onto the roof. I looked out my window to see Alice reaching up and tossing Paul away from the car, her face pulled into a furious grimace.

“Why are they doing this?!” I cried out. 

“Sam ordered them to get to you by whatever means necessary.” Edward’s voice was tense.

“Stop!! Please just stop!!” I screamed as I wrapped both of my arms around my furiously kicking daughter. A burst of magic flew out from me and my two families stopped fighting. 

I looked up at the sudden silence, taking in the disrupted chaos around us. The wolves appeared to be stuck behind an invisible wall at least five yards away from the car with the Cullens and Leah still inside. They all stood frozen in place as they looked around in confusion.

“Dani, stop! You’re using way too much magic!” Edward desperately took my hand away from my stomach.

“That’s not me.” My trembling voice came out as a low whisper. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t do that.”

I looked over, meeting Edward’s eyes. His face was drawn down with unmasked concern. I could feel our frightened daughter as she stopped kicking. Her thoughts were searching, feeling for something.

“It’s her.” I brought his hand to my stomach and tried to share that connection again.

He looked down at our joined hands. “What is she doing?” He asked in bewilderment.

“I don’t know.” I breathed out as I took in the scene in front of me again.

The others straightened up from their fighting stances, glancing back and forth between me and the disarmed wolves surrounding us. The pack quickly resumed their snarling and began to throw themselves at the powerful barrier my unborn daughter had somehow manifested.

“She’s looking for something.” I started to get a clearer picture of what the baby was feeling. “She noticed that Leah feels different from the other wolves. She’s trying to figure out why.” I huffed a laugh.

“The alpha command. It didn’t work on Leah.” Edward’s eyes met mine again.

I nodded. I still didn’t understand why that was, but it had to mean something. I reached out and tried to help her. I knew that magic, I’d felt it before when I was still training with the pack. If I could find it now and show it to her maybe she could break it and put a stop to all of this. 

I closed my eyes and felt around the wolves. There it was. Thick cords of magic connecting each of them to Sam. Leah still had that cord as well, but she had more. There were different, interconnected cords of magic between each member of my coven. Alice, Rose, Esme, Leah, and myself were all connected by our own bond. It was a protective web rather than the controlling leash emanating from Sam. 

I knew something happened at the initiation. We were bound together forever, I felt it. That bond was reinforced when we cast the protection spell during our Samhain celebration. A teary laugh rose up from my chest and I redirected my focus back to the cords of magic connecting them all to Sam.

“Pull those ones, baby girl. Break them.” My voice was steady and firm this time as I tried to show her what she needed to do. 

In moments they were gone. Pulled away and broken by the incredible child I was creating. I opened my eyes again to see only Sam attacking now. The others had frozen in place. With the forced order dropped, they didn’t seem to know what to do. 

Sam snarled and growled at the pack. Paul, Jared, and a reluctant Quil went back to trying to break through and circling to find a weak spot. Seth, Jake, and Embry stopped completely. Embry and Seth turned and started growling, snapping, and pushing back at the others while Jake seemed to be trying to decide which side of this he wanted to be on. Leah released an angry sounding bark at him and he went to stand with them. He stood up against Sam, growling at him as he appeared to stare him down. 

A line was drawn, sides were chosen. Sam looked on at the four wolves, half of his pack, defiantly standing between him and us. His lips pulled away from his fangs and he growled. A long, deep rumble directed at his own family.

“They’ve chosen to disobey. They don’t want this fight any more than we do.” Edward translated for us. “Jacob is threatening to accept his alpha role if Sam won’t back down.”

Sam looked up at me, his lips still pulled back and a snarl telling me that he now saw me as the enemy. I wouldn’t say that we were friends, but he once cared about me and my well-being. Knowing that was not the case anymore was devastating.

“Please don’t do this, Sam.” I begged him through a desperate sob. “I promise you. She’s just a baby.” Warm tears fell to my cheeks.

She could have hurt them. She had almost all of my magic right now. It was powerful and dangerous. Instead she stopped them, separated the fighting groups, and gave everyone a choice. She was extraordinary.

Sam growled once more and the wolves who chose to fight against us galloped back into the woods and disappeared in a din of howls. 

“We’re okay.” I quietly reassured my daughter. With the threat gone, the barrier dropped and Jake, Embry, and Seth came closer. 

Edward held my face in his hands and turned my head to look at him. “We’re alright for now. What do you want to do, Dani? Get out of here or go home?” He left it up to me. 

I looked back and forth between his sage green eyes as more tears fell to my cheeks. Another strained sob escaped. “I really just want to go home.” 

My breath hitched as I fought to not break down right there. Edward pulled my face to his, pressing a lingering kiss to my forehead, before letting me go and turning the car back around. 

“Okay, love. We’ll go home.” He nodded.

He quickly drove us back to the main house where everyone was gathering. Seth, Embry, and Jake were waiting on the porch with Carlisle and Emmett as we walked up. Embry rushed over to me as Edward helped me out of the car and pulled me into a warm hug. It was only mildly awkward due to my sizable abdomen coming between us.

“Dani, I’m so sorry.” Embry’s voice was full of despair. “I didn’t want to, I tried to fight it, I just-”

I tightened my hold on him as he held my head to his chest. “I know, Embry. It wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry too.” I sniffled and pulled away to look at them all. “I kept this from all of you.”

He shook his head. “I still don’t understand how this happened. I thought they couldn’t… you know?” He waved to my stomach.

“Can we go inside? I feel a little exposed out here.” I asked as Edward immediately wrapped an arm around my shoulders and started guiding me toward the porch to get me back indoors.

We all gathered in the living room. Edward pulled me down onto the sofa, holding me securely in his arms, while Alice and Leah flanked us.

“Are you okay Dani?” Alice asked.

I huffed a teary laugh. “Not really.” I wiped away the new tears that fell from my eyes.

Edward brushed a hand up and down my arm as he kissed my temple. “I’m so sorry, baby.” He whispered in my ear. I leaned into him, wrapping my arms around him so he could help hold me together.

Jake’s face was pulled down into a deep frown as he leaned against the far wall. “I’m sorry, Dani. If I knew Sam was going to react that way, I wouldn’t have told him the way that I did. I should have at least tried to hear you out first.” He looked down and shook his head.

My jaw clenched. “Yeah, you should have. You couldn’t have known, but still…” My voice broke and I closed my eyes as more tears fell.

I trusted him with the most important thing in the world to me and I felt betrayed. Edward gently pulled me into his chest and kissed the top of my head.

“Seriously. What the fuck, Jake?” Leah growled at him. “You just went right to Sam?!”

He gave her a pained look and ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t know what else to do.” He replied with a shamed expression. “Sam is backing off for now. There’s too many of us for him to attempt anything again.” Jacob explained. “So what is going on here, Dani?”

I turned and glared at him. “Nothing is going on. We are having a baby. A magical, half-vampire baby, to be fair, but she’s still just a baby.” I turned to Edward with a small smile and took his hand. “We’re compatible.”

He smirked back and lifted my hand to his lips. He kissed my knuckles and held our hands to his chest. I leaned into him again and looked back at the others.

“Are you okay?” Seth asked.

“I’m perfectly fine. My magic is a little wonky because she needs it right now, that’s what happened when I tried to heal Emily’s scars, but I’m really fine.” I gave Seth a reassuring look. 

I hadn’t seen him in so long and he was so much taller now. He rushed over and knelt down in front of me to give me a hug. I released my hold on Edward and wrapped my arms around Seth’s now broad shoulders and held him tight.  

“I knew Leah had been coming to see you, but she wouldn’t tell me anything. We were all so worried.” He pulled away and looked down at my stomach with wide eyes. 

“I know. I’m so sorry about that. We didn’t know what else to do.” I ran a hand roughly through his hair with a warm smile. “I’ve missed you Seth.”

“We need to figure out what our next move is.” Carlisle interrupted. “Are we still welcome here? Is Sam intending to break the treaty?”

Jacob and Embry looked at each other. “I don’t really know.” Jake spoke up. “I can try to talk to Sam. Negotiate something? But I don’t think he’s going to just let this go.” He gave me a sympathetic look. “He’s kind of terrified. Especially after it did what it did. Then it broke the alpha bond.”

“I helped her do that.” My face hardened. “She may have been pushing the gas, but I steered her in the right direction. I would have done it myself if I could have.” I glared at Jake again. It probably wasn’t completely fair, but all of my anger was directed at him at the moment. 

Edward pulled me close again, tucking me into his side. “She was amazing. You both were.” He spoke quietly as he pressed his lips to the top of my head.

Jake nodded. “I think you did the right thing. Most of us hated that stupid bond anyway. Sam didn’t really abuse it or anything, but he didn’t ever include us in his decisions either.”

Carlisle looked to Jake again. “Please talk to Sam. If he’ll give me a chance to explain what we know, I’m hopeful that we can work this out.” 

I pressed my lips together and shook my head. I loved Carlisle, but he was always too complacent. He’d rather roll over than put up a real fight. If Sam told us to leave, Carlisle would probably have us all packed up and gone by the next day. 

“If we can’t work it out?” Edward’s voice came out as a low rumble above me. 

“If he becomes a real threat, then we’ll leave.” I responded firmly.

He pulled away and looked down at me with a frown. 

“She’s more important.” A wave of sadness washed over me at the thought of leaving everything we’ve built here behind, but it was nothing when weighed against her safety.

“She is. You are.” Edward firmly kissed my forehead and held a hand to my stomach, comforting our daughter as well. 

“I’ll talk to Sam.” Jake agreed. “None of us ever wanted to hurt you Dani. Not even Sam. Everyone was pretty blindsided and they’re scared. We never could have imagined that this was even possible.”

“It appears that male vampires remain fertile and can reproduce with human women, with devastating consequences for the mother.” Carlisle explained. “Because Dani is a witch and she and Edward share the bond that they have, she is able to safely carry his child.”

“She’s smart and compassionate and full of love for her family.” I looked at each of the wolves in front of me. “Almost all of my magic is going to her right now, to keep her safe and stable. She easily could have hurt you all, but she didn’t. Please explain that to Sam when you talk to him.” I gave Jake a pleading look.

“How did she even do that? Is the bond just gone now?” Embry asked.

I sighed. “I found the magic tying you all to Sam, it was like it was a spell or something, similar to the imprint bond. I showed it to her and just told her what to do.” I shook my head with a small laugh. “She’s smart, remember? She broke it. So yes, it’s gone.” 

I smiled softly and held a hand to my bump, firmly rubbing my thumb against the spot where I could feel her moving. She was okay again. She felt safe and content. Edward placed his hand over mine and I looked up at him. He was smiling too. 

“Why didn’t his alpha command work on me though?” Leah asked.

I looked over at her and released a surprised laugh. “Because we’re a coven. We have our own bond.” I looked around at Alice, Rose, and Esme. “All of us. A coven protects each other and that bond is stronger.”

Seth reeled back in confusion. “What do you mean you’re a ‘coven’? Are you a witch now too, Leah?”

Leah frowned. “I have no idea. I don’t think I can do magic… can I?” She looked at me. 

My brow furrowed. “I’m not really sure. We cast those spells together and we all have our own unique magic. I think maybe as a coven we can? Individually though, I have no idea.” I leaned my head against Edward’s chest again. “This is all completely unprecedented territory.” I sighed.

Edward reached a hand up to brush my cheek. “This has been a lot. Too much. You need to rest. We’re going to stay here for the foreseeable future, unless we need to leave.” I looked up at him with a frown. He pulled me into his lap and stood up. “I’ll take you upstairs, love.”

“Can we get you anything, Dani?” Esme asked.

“Maybe some chamomile tea or something? I’m still pretty shaken up.” I wrapped my arms around Edward’s neck and held myself as close to him as I could get. Allowing his warmth and comforting energy to soothe my still rattled nerves.

“Of course, dear. I’ll bring it up as soon as it’s ready.” She rushed to the kitchen to get a kettle boiling.

“I’m going to stay upstairs with her. I’ll be listening for Sam and the others though. If they get anywhere within my range, we will treat it as a threat. Understood?” He looked around at the group gathered in the living room.

They all nodded, some more confidently than others. 

“Absolutely.” Rose’s tone was serious and unwavering. Her eyes met mine and softened slightly. “You’re safe here, Dani.”

Jasper moved closer, stepping beside Alice and wrapping an arm around her small form. “They won’t get anywhere near the house.”

“Of course. We will protect our family.” Carlisle added. I was glad to know he was at least willing to fight back if it came down to it.

Jake nodded. “I’m so sorry, Dani.”

My brows drew down as I took in his forlorn expression. “I know Jake. Thank you for standing up for us in the end. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”

He just shook his head, leaning back against the wall and looking down at his feet again. 

Edward carried me upstairs to our old room and gently laid me on the bed. He brushed my hair away from my face with light fingers and leaned in to kiss me chastely. Then he leaned down and kissed my stomach.

“She is miraculous.” He said quietly before looking back up at me.

I held his face in my hands as he moved back up to lay next to me. “If she’s that powerful now, we’re probably going to need a lot of backup raising her.” I had no idea how we would manage to keep her safe from exposure without just completely hiding her from the world.

“I think we can handle it.” He tucked me into his side and kissed my forehead. “How are you feeling?” He asked.

I let out a long sigh. “Not great. Betrayed. I didn’t really know what to expect when they found out, but I really didn’t think that they would attack us like that.” My voice broke again.

He started brushing his fingers through my hair. “I know. I’m so sorry, Dani. I know how much they mean to you. None of this has been easy and you have been so incredibly strong through all of it.”

I looked up at him and he leaned down to softly kiss me. I pulled away slowly and met his eyes again. “It’s all worth it. This is everything I’ve ever wanted and more than I could have even dreamed of having.”

He moved his hand from my hair to cup my face. “I know the feeling.”

A knock on the door alerted us that Esme was there with tea for me. She came in with a tray of cookies and tea. Her warm smile comforted some of my nerves as she set the tray down on the bed.

“Thank you so much, Esme. For everything.” I took the tea and sipped it slowly.

She reached out and gently squeezed my free hand. “No thanks are necessary. You’re family and no one threatens my granddaughter.” Her face pulled down into an almost furious expression, exposing herself as the dangerous predator that she was.

I brushed my thumb over the back of her hand. “I love you all so much.”

“And we all love you, dear.” She relaxed and smiled again before releasing my hand. “Now you get some rest. Carlisle will fill you in on everything after Jacob speaks to Sam.”

I ate a couple cookies and finished my tea before tucking myself back into Edward’s side. He held me close as I wrapped an arm around his chest and a leg around his waist. I needed to be closer to him, to feel his warmth and safety. He would never let anything happen to us and, for once, I was happy to step back and let him protect me. 

His fingers returned to brushing gently through my hair as I relaxed in his arms. I could still feel our daughter’s lingering fear. 

“She’s still scared.” I murmured. 

He moved a hand over my stomach, brushing his thumb soothingly over it. “I can sing to her. Would that help?” He asked. 

I sighed and looked up at him. “We would love that.” 

My lips pulled up into a soft smile and he leaned down to kiss me more firmly. When he pulled away, he tucked my head into his shoulder and started singing “What a Wonderful World” to us both. She almost immediately calmed and I felt the love she had for him as we both relaxed. I knew the safest place for us both would always be in his arms.

Chapter Text

December 2006

The house had been pretty cramped lately. After negotiating with Carlisle, through Jake, Sam had agreed to stand down for now. It’s not like he really had a choice when it was eleven of us against four of them. 

Jake, Seth, Embry, and Leah were staying near us to make sure Sam didn’t try anything. We were actually all in the main house together all the time. Edward didn’t want us staying at our house while there was still a threat looming. Instead we let the wolves use it so that they could have a vampire-free space to go to when they needed it. 

They would only allow me to go out to practice magic if I had at least one wolf and two vampires with me while I was outside. It was incredibly annoying, but I got it. Once again, I wasn’t safe. This time though the danger was from people that I cared about, people that I once thought of as family. 

“Can I feel it?” Embry asked as he sat on the ground next to me while I worked on pulling and pushing magic from the forest of evergreens around us.

I smirked over at him. “Yeah, you can feel her.” 

He carefully placed a hand on the side of my stomach. She was currently moving against the other side, so I took his warm hand and moved it to where she was. His face brightened with a surprised laugh and I couldn’t help but smile at his wondrous expression.

“Woah! That’s so weird.” He looked up again, his deep brown eyes meeting mine before his face fell again. “I feel like such a jackass now.”

I reeled back in confusion. “Why?”

His face pulled up again into a half smile. “I told you once that I could give you this life and he couldn’t.” He looked back down at my stomach. “I was clearly wrong.” He moved his hand away.

Rose came over to sit on the other side of me. She was fiercely protective of her family and that included me now too. 

“You have to know that never would have happened.” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “First of all, they’re soulmates. And second, you’re way too young for her.”

I laughed. “She’s got you there.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m happy for you though Dani. I know you wanted kids.”

I couldn’t stop the bewildered look that spread across my face. “We’ve literally never talked about that.”

One eyebrow drew up and his lips pulled into a smirk. “You’re like the most maternal person I’ve ever met. There’s no way you wouldn’t have wanted this.”

I put a hand on my stomach, feeling her gentle movements. She was content. “Yeah. I was never even supposed to have this. But he was worth giving that possibility up for.” 

I had a sudden realization and my head snapped back up to Embry. My jaw clenched as I shot him a hard glare. “I swear to god if you imprint on her I will actually kill you.”

He seems to have taken on the ‘Jake’ role here and I am NOT letting that shit slide!

He leaned away with a strangled laugh. “Where the hell did that come from?!”

“Oh, I’ve got my reasons to worry.” I pointed a finger at him. “Can you help me back up Rose?”

She laughed her bright angelic laugh and helped me make my way, ungracefully, back to my feet. Emmett had been hovering at the edges, keeping a lookout while I practiced. He came over to join us as we went back to the house.

“Shit, not-so-little witch. How the hell are you supposed to get even bigger than this?” Emmett said through a laugh.

The look I gave him would have probably killed him if I still had access to my magic. I felt humongous and I still had nine weeks until my actual due date. Rose directed the smallest hiss toward him.

“Sorry.” He mumbled.

We made our way back to the house where Esme was cooking a massive amount of food for me and the four wolves she was now feeding. She was absolutely loving it. Cooking was her love language and she never got to use it for her family until I showed up.

“Is he back yet?” I asked her.

“No, he should be soon though.” Esme gave me a small, sympathetic smile.

Edward, Jasper, and Carlisle had gone out hunting. Sam said he wouldn’t interfere, for now, but we still didn’t want to take any chances. They hunted in groups of three, plus a wolf between them and the house, at unpredictable times. While they went out, I just sat here and worried until whoever was gone returned. 

Edward and I had also fallen into one of our mysterious sex cycles again and I hadn’t been able to cast a new silencing spell on our room. I was completely mortified at the thought of his family or my friends hearing us and was desperate to be truly alone with him. It was getting worse every day too. It had gotten to the point where I was seriously considering taking him deep into the woods somewhere where no one could hear my screams. Literally.

When he finally returned I was sitting at the bar eating lunch with Leah. He rushed right over to me and wrapped his arms around me. A low rumble emanated from him as he ran his nose up the column of my neck. I closed my eyes and bit back the moan that was fighting to escape. When he got to my jaw he placed quick kisses along the line of it until I turned my head and he could reach my mouth.

“What the hell is going on with you two?” Leah interrupted with a disturbed look on her face.

I reluctantly pulled back from his lips, meeting his now gold eyes, with a small whine. “Nothing.” My voice was breathless.

Jake, Embry, and Seth all stopped eating and looked over at us from where they were seated at the dining room table.

“No, something is going on. You guys are being kind of disgusting.” Emmett added with a gagging sound from the sofa where he was watching a basketball game. 

Edward turned and growled at him. We still hadn’t told anyone about this aspect of our bond or whatever. It felt way too personal and we just knew Carlisle would want to run some kind of experiment with it. 

Jasper suddenly made a strangled sound on the other side of the room. I looked over to see his eyes were nearly black and he looked to be in more pain than usual. 

“Something is definitely wrong.” Jasper’s voice was barely more than a low growl. 

He squeezed his eyes closed before turning around and quickly heading back outside. If I had to guess, he was feeling the intense lust coming from both Edward and me. Edward looked back at me and I gave him a pleading look. He let out a long sigh. 

“We haven’t been alone in… a while.” He reluctantly told them before he went back to kissing along my jaw to my ear, more slowly this time.

Jake stood up and grabbed his plate. “Yeah… We’re just gonna take this outside somewhere… else.” He said awkwardly and gestured with a nod for Seth and Embry to follow him as he rushed out the door.

We couldn’t rein it in. Anytime he was near me all I could think about was tearing his clothes off and riding him as hard as I could. I was pretty sure he felt the same way, judging by his inability to keep his mouth and hands off of me. 

Rosalie threw her hands onto her hips. “Okay, but you’re acting like you might die or something if you don’t…” She paused and zeroed in on Edward. “Your eyes are gold again, Edward. You never really explained why they’ve been green this whole time.” She flashed into the kitchen so she could face us both on the other side of the bar. With a raised eyebrow, she looked between us and narrowed her eyes. “You just said ‘Dani did it’.” She almost perfectly imitated his voice. “Whatever the hell that means.” She paused again. “Carlisle, something weird is going on!”

Carlisle appeared a moment later. I dropped my blushing face into my hands. 

“Oh my god…” I whined. 

This was almost worse than if we had just had loud, rough sex while they could all hear us. When I looked back up Carlisle was standing with Rose closely assessing us.

“What is it? You two have been acting strange lately. Was it…” He looked around at everyone. “Could we have the room please?”

Emmett groaned in annoyance and Rosalie rushed over to him to pull him up off the sofa. In seconds everyone was gone, except Leah who rolled her eyes as she picked up her plate and walked outside. Them leaving really only gave the illusion of privacy. Which was kind of the problem. 

“Edward, you said your eyes turned green because of Dani. Was it intercourse that was somehow causing it?” He asked as professionally as he could.

Edward held me tighter and leaned his forehead against the side of my head. “Not exactly.”

I could see the question on Carlisle’s face. “Can we make this a no judgement zone, please?” I asked.

“It always has been, Dani.” Carlisle replied with a curious tilt of his head.

I took Edward’s hand and let out a small, frustrated groan. “So something happened on our honeymoon. That whole first week, the only thing we were able to do was… have sex. Like, we literally couldn’t stop.” I said in a hushed voice.

Carlisle’s eyes widened slightly into a concerned expression. He definitely didn’t need to know this and I was ready to just bury myself beneath the house.

“It didn’t stop until I…” Edward paused to swallow and didn’t speak again.

“He had to bite me,” I said as quietly as I could while I felt my face burning, likely turning beet red. “My blood is what made his eyes green.”

“I don’t feed off of her. It’s only a small amount of blood that I actually take in.” Edward jumped in. “It’s like I just need to mark her. And this doesn’t stop for either of us until I do. Then after a couple weeks the mark on her fades, my eyes return to normal, and it starts all over again.” 

He let out a low growl and kissed at the spot on my neck where his mark should be. I couldn’t stop the small whimper that escaped that time.

“Does this need to happen while you are intimate?” Carlisle asked with clear concern all over his face.

“I have no idea. I think so? But it’s been too long and we are losing our freaking minds.” I complained. “I just need the comfort of knowing we don’t have an audience when we’re with each other.”

“Is the mark sensitive when it is present?” He asked. 

“Very.” I replied breathily. 

Carlisle just nodded his head. “That sounds like a soulbond. Though it’s extremely rare with vampires. I’ve only ever seen it once and heard of two other cases. I have never heard of it occurring between two different… species. Though you two have always had an inexplicable connection.” His brows drew down in thought. 

“With vampires, the mark is permanent, since we don’t change. Dani, you heal. If I had to guess, I’d say it takes a couple weeks for his venom and your blood to completely make their way out of each others’ systems.” He looked between us. “I could probably do some tests? You could try to mark her outside of intimacy, Edward? Or just…” his eyes darted around, “I don’t know, try to get past the stage fright?”

I started laughing. My laughter caused Edward to start laughing. He tucked his face into my shoulder as we both shook with it. Then Edward let out a groan. He started kissing his way up my neck again as my laughter died down and I bit down on my lip. 

“Yes. I am confident that is what this is.” Carlisle awkwardly offered. “Maybe call Maeve? Have her help with your silencing spell?”

My head snapped to him. 

Why the fuck didn’t I think of that?! Probably because I literally cannot think of anything but fucking my husband when he’s around me. 

“That is the best idea I have ever heard.” Edward said quietly as his mouth met mine again. He moved down my jaw to my neck with wet, nipping kisses. 

“How have you all managed to live together like this without silencing spells for so long?” I asked in a frustrated tone. 

“Well, we provide opportunities for privacy whenever we can, but mostly you just get used to it. We also respect each other enough to keep any possible complaints to ourselves.” Carlisle chuckled. 

I shook my head as Edward pulled his lips from my neck and cupped my face in his hand. I looked into his beautiful gold eyes and sighed. “I don’t know if I could ever just ‘get used to it’. Not to mention all of the impressionable teenage boys that have been around…”

Edward’s gaze moved down to my lips again and I had to give him a hard look to stop him. 

“I’m so sorry, Dani. I hadn’t even thought about how this aspect of our lives would affect you.” Carlisle offered me a sympathetic frown. “I’ll use your latest blood sample and run some more tests with Edward’s venom. Hopefully I can find some answers.” He gave us another wary look before heading up to his lab to work on researching our situation. 

I made Edward go upstairs so that I could call Maeve without him attached to my neck and mouth. She agreed to come over after her shift was done that evening. Esme was ecstatic to make dinner for her. She and Maeve got along really well. 

Edward wanted me to join him in our room to just ‘make out’ while we waited for her to get there. I hated having to turn him down, but it always devolved into him either fingering me or grinding himself against me while he swallowed down my moans with his mouth. ‘Stage fright’ really was the best way to describe it. 

Edward didn’t seem to mind the lack of privacy, I had gone down on him more than a few times since this started and he was much better at reining in his sounds as he came than I was. It didn’t seem to be enough though. We needed the complete connection that only sex provided for us. But I just could not get in the right headspace when I knew that literally our whole family would hear every single sound we made. I have no idea how they managed to all live together for decades and still look each other in the eyes.

When Maeve finally arrived I took her upstairs to work on our room.

“Unfortunately it needs the full spell. I’ve cast a full one on the room twice and the last refresh was months ago.” I explained.

“We can do it together,” she smiled, “You won’t need to use nearly as much magic and it will give you a good opportunity to get some practice in.”

“Thank you so much, Maeve. You have no idea what this means to us.” I took her hand as we got to the room.

“What is this for though? I mean… I understand that you would want your privacy, but this seems a little… extreme?” She gave me a curious look.

I pursed my lips in thought. “One of the parts of being what they are is that all of their senses are heightened. The Cullens can hear very well. Too well.” I rolled my eyes with an exasperated sigh.

She started laughing. “Okay, I think I get it now! I don’t need to know more.” She continued laughing while I covered my blushing face with both hands. “I’m glad I live alone. Charlie would never stay over if you were still there.” She laughed harder.

“Oh god! Please just help me.” I mumbled through my hands.

We laid the candles out in a grid throughout the room. Maeve held the sage, while I held a small amethyst crystal. She took my hand, helping me to once again silence our room. We recited the incantation together and pushed. It was more draining than it should have been, but with Maeve’s help it didn’t push me past my limit. As soon as it was done, there was a quick knock at the door. I went to open it and found Edward standing there with darkened eyes. 

Without looking away from him I called out to Maeve. “Esme has dinner for you downstairs. She is an excellent cook.” It came out a little breathier than it should have.

Maeve walked past us with wide eyes and a small smirk. Edward shut and locked the door as soon as she was gone. He stalked toward me, backing me toward the bed as I bit down hard on my lip. I knocked over several of the smoking candles as he pursued me. As soon as my legs hit the bed he wrapped his arms around my waist and laid me down. 

He held himself up over me and started nipping and licking at my neck. My arms came up around him and I was tightly gripping his hair with my fingers. In less than a second my leggings were gone. With my midsection in its current condition, we were pretty limited in the positions that were possible for us. 

“On your side, love.” His voice was low and heavy with lust. 

I turned over and he quickly freed his throbbing erection from his pants. Not bothering with any kind of unnecessary foreplay at this point, he lifted my leg and hooked it in his elbow, holding me open as he buried his cock inside me with a loud growl. I cried out as he finally, mercifully, filled me. His lips found my neck again as he started driving into me. 

“Fuck baby. I swear you feel even better.” He groaned into my skin.

I released a loud stream of profanities as he reached between my legs to rub my clit and began thrusting harder. I felt every single inch of him as he moved deep inside me. My climax quickly built, on the verge of dropping already.

“Shit, Edward! I’m gonna come! Do it now!” I nearly screamed.

He tore open the collar of his borrowed shirt I was wearing and dug his teeth in right where his mark needed to be. I came immediately as his electric energy radiated throughout my entire body. My eyes rolled up, back arched firmly against him from the intensity of it. The ceiling lights exploded and his stereo blared before fizzling and going quiet again. I was going to need Maeve’s help fixing that before she left. 

The silencing spell was absolutely needed for this. I never would have been able to swallow down the cries of ecstasy that exploded out of me. He growled into my neck as he came. My core spastically clenching around him as his cock swelled and spilled inside me. 

Edward released his mouth from my neck with a groan and carefully repositioned us so that I was now on top, straddling him.

“I want you to fuck me, Dani. As hard as you can.” His voice was a low growl. Filled with a desperation I’d never heard from him before.  

I quickly lowered myself onto his still hard dick and rode him fast. He held firmly onto my thighs and watched me as I chased after my own pleasure. I lifted my hips and forcefully dropped them back down again, riding him until I violently came a second time. 

My nails dug into his chest and I pushed magic into him, healing the lacerations I was causing. His nearly black eyes took in every detail of my face as I cried out in pleasure above him. After my climax finally settled, I collapsed down next to him. He held me close while I fought to catch my breath. He murmured words of praise against my skin as he peppered my neck and shoulder with kisses. “You were so good, baby.” He whispered.

I curled into his side, panting for air as he held me tightly in his arms. After a few minutes, my heart rate settled and he spoke again. 

“So, a soulbond? I knew we were soulmates.” I could hear the smile in his voice as he brushed his fingers up and down my sweat dampened back. 

I exhaled a shaky laugh. “I kind of want to know more about that, but I also don’t want to leave this room again for… a while.” I met his lust-filled eyes with my own.

I lowered my head to kiss his chest as my hand moved down his body, reaching for his cock again. We had weeks of lost time to make up for. 

“Thank god you heal fast.” He quickly stood up and gripped my hips, pulling me to the edge of the bed with him. 

After throwing my legs up over his shoulders, he roughly slammed himself into me again. We went on like that for three more hours, taking short breaks from our marathon for me to catch my breath and rehydrate before going at it again. We finally got into the shower together, making love one more time in there, before we awkwardly made our way back downstairs to face our family once again. Unfortunately, I still needed to eat.

After we finally came down from the lust-filled haze we were trapped in, we met Carlisle in his office to actually talk about what was happening in a more controlled manner.

“From what I know, the mark binds two lives - two soulmates - together.” He started. “It is rare and is still pretty unclear on why it happens.”

“What does that mean for us? Are there consequences?” I asked as Edward held my hand, rubbing soothing circles with his thumb.

“Well, from what is known, you cannot separate. If a bonded pair are apart for any meaningful amount of time, both become very ill, unable to feed, or eat in your case, Dani. Your health would deteriorate. Essentially, you are quite literally two halves of a whole and you are incomplete without each other.” Carlisle’s expression grew more concerned as he explained.

“It seems that was happening before I marked her. When we were apart before, both of us experienced physical pain and a complete loss of taste for anything really.” Edward now held my hand in both of his, leaning toward Carlisle.

“He’s right. Food tasted dead and dry, I had to basically force myself to eat everyday.”

Carlisle nodded thoughtfully. “It would likely be significantly worse if you were to part now.”

“Are there any positives to this?” Edward asked.

Carlisle leaned back in his seat with a small smirk. “There are reports of a shared connection between soulbonded mates. Either emotional, physical, or both. They can feel what the other feels through their bond. I have heard that it is not an unwanted side-effect.”

My brows drew down. “We definitely don’t have that.”

“I have a theory about your bond, actually. It could explain that.” He offered and I gestured for him to continue. “I don’t think your bond is complete. With vampires, both parties are marked. Dani, your mark disappears and you don’t mark Edward in return. You also don’t have any venom to actually leave a mark on him. So, I don’t know if it would be possible.”

I glanced at Edward and we shared a look. I had been able to break his skin with enough effort and magic when biting him, not that I did that often, but he healed completely every time. 

“You might be right.” I frowned. “It’s not a huge inconvenience, but we’re probably going to have to keep doing this for eternity if that’s the case.” I huffed a laugh at Edward’s devilish smirk.

“I will do more research on the bond and the reaction between your blood and venom. We may be able to work out a solution. There is one more thing though…” His eyes darted between us.

“What?!” Edward suddenly straightened in his seat. “How sure are you of that?!”

“Not one hundred percent sure.” Carlisle held up a hand. “Again, this is incredibly rare, very few cases have ever been seen, let alone studied.”

“What?” I looked between them. “What the fuck is it?” I hated when they did this.

“Sorry, Dani.” Carlisle gave Edward an almost exasperated look. “There is a theory that when your souls are bound together, your lives are as well.”

“Okay…” I gestured for him to elaborate.

“It is possible that if one of you were to die, the other would die as well.” He answered warily.

“Oh.” I reeled back. “Well that seems pretty simple. Let’s just promise each other that we won’t die then.” I looked up at Edward with a raised brow and a small smirk.

He huffed a laugh and kissed my cheek. “I can agree to that.”

We agreed that Carlisle could carry out his experiments and research and we would just continue as we had been. We were really in no hurry to put a stop to what was, essentially, an incredibly erotic experience for the both of us. But it was clear now. We truly were soulmates.

Chapter Text

January 2007

Things had settled more over the past month. We fell into a good routine with everyone and the wolves and vampires seemed to grow accustomed to each other after spending so much time under one roof. It was actually nice having a full house. I felt a lot safer and got to finally spend time with the pack I had come to see as family. 

Seth was the only one who regularly left to go to school. I pushed for Jake and Embry to do the same, but they both argued that they’d already dropped out and were committed to making sure Sam knew I was protected. Their lives had been completely derailed because of me and I had no idea how I would ever make it up to them. 

Once again, Esme took the opportunity to make us all lunch. I sat with the pack as we ate amazing chicken parmesan subs and argued over whether The Terminator or Matrix was a better movie franchise. 

“They could learn literally anything by just uploading it into their brains!” Embry argued. 

Jake gave him an exasperated look. “Not in the real world, just in the simulation. None of it was even real!” 

I snorted a laugh as I took another bite. 

“You can’t tell me that a simulation beats actual time traveling cyborgs!” Jake said before stuffing the last bit of his sub into his mouth and grabbing an entire, full-size bag of chips. 

“I don’t know. I think I’m with Embry.” Seth interrupted. “Neo was pretty cool. Like a super powered ninja. Plus, it took them way too long to even make the second Terminator movie. The Matrix was definitely more popular.”

“Eh.” I spoke without really thinking. 

“What?” Embry asked with a mouthful of food and a hint of annoyance in his tone. 

I looked around at everyone seated at the table. “They only made four Matrix movies. They’re gonna keep making the Terminator movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger and a TV show. I think there’ll be like six or seven movies eventually.” I shrugged. “Plus the third Matrix movie was kind of a disappointment.”

They all gave me confused looks, except Leah who just smirked in amusement. 

“What the hell are you talking about, Dani?” Embry asked after swallowing his food. 

“She’s from the future dude.” Leah laughed at their skeptical faces. 

“She’s right. I’ve told you all that before. No one ever listens to me.” I shook my head and took another bite. 

Embry stared at me with a confused expression. “The old age thing?”

“Yup.” I nodded. 

Jake laughed nervously. “You’re not from the future… right?” He looked over at Edward where he was listening to our conversation from the piano with an amused smile. “She is not from the future…”

“Dani is full of surprises.” Edward paused. “And endless mysteries.” He winked at me, causing my face to heat with the slightest blush. 

I looked back at the pack of wolves, their eyes wide. “I have traveled through both time and space to get here my dudes. So I think that gives me more authority. The Terminator was definitely better.”

They burst into their argument again while I laughed and finished my lunch. I was hopeful we’d be able to keep hanging out like this even after the baby was born. 

After the Sun had set, we all gathered in the living room, crowded around the large television, for a movie night. I was seated at the center of the wide sofa with Leah to one side and Alice on the other. Edward sat on the floor between my legs, his arms wrapped around them. He was soothingly brushing his fingers up and down my calves. 

Every once in a while I would reach around the popcorn bowl I had balanced on my giant stomach to run my fingers through his hair and he would turn his head to kiss my leg. Everyone was seated around the room between the couch, the chairs, and the floor, filling the space completely.

Esme made a ton of food that the wolves were more than happy to dig into. Pizza, cookies, soft pretzels, nachos, and popcorn (of course). I was stuffing a handful of cinnamon-sugar dusted popcorn - a recent food craving - into my mouth right when Jake, Emmett, and Alice screamed.

“Jesus Christ!”, “Why?!” Emmett and Jake yelled over each other. 

Leah and I just started cackling. We were watching ‘The Descent’ and the cave-dwelling monsters had just unexpectedly dropped a body in front of the main character before they all started eating it. It was delightfully horrifying. I could feel Edward’s shoulders shaking with laughter below me. 

Seth came back in just after the scene was over and reclaimed his spot in an armchair. He still couldn’t handle the gore as well as Leah and me. I liked that that hadn’t changed. 

As I reached down to brush my fingers through Edward’s hair again, the baby gave me a good, hard kick, knocking the popcorn bowl to the floor.

“Oww! Nooo!” I pouted. “Why would you do that to us baby girl?”

Edward laughed louder now. He kissed my leg again before grabbing the bowl and standing back up.

“I’ll get you some more, love.” He smirked and leaned down to kiss me.

My heart swelled as I smiled back up at him. “Thanks.”

I wrapped an arm around Alice to pull her closer. She was definitely not a horror fan. It was initially just going to be Leah, Rose and I watching it together. Then Emmett, Embry, and Edward asked to join and it somehow ended up becoming a family movie night. We weren’t willing to change the movie we had chosen, so they were just going to have to live with their decision. 

“I don’t understand why you like this.” Alice whined in a quiet voice.

I chuckled and kissed the top of her head. Her short, spiky hair tickled my cheek as I leaned against her. “It’s a nice, low-risk adrenaline rush. What’s not to like?”

“We’re watching a rom-com after this. I’m going to have nightmares.” She pouted.

I snorted a laugh. “You need to sleep for those, Alice.”

“Oh, I’m sure my brain will find a way to make it happen. They’ll just be waking nightmares.” 

I chuckled again and Jasper pulled her away from me to tuck her into his arms. He kissed her lightly and smirked down at her as she wrapped her arms around his waist. They were adorable when they got all snuggly. 

There was another sudden jump scare and they all yelled out again just as Edward handed me a new bowl of cinnamon popcorn from behind the sofa. I smiled up at him and sat it back on my stomach. It made a pretty good table at this point. He came back around and nestled himself between my legs on the floor again.

After our movie night was over, Edward helped me stand back up. At thirty-six weeks, I was now officially full-term and was starting to get over the whole ‘being pregnant’ thing. I was huge, my back hurt all the time, and our little girl was strong. She seemed to really enjoy kicking the shit out of me too. Edward was incredible though. Between rubbing my feet, singing to her, and making sure I always had all of my many weird cravings readily available, he was doing everything he could to make me more comfortable.

He helped me up the stairs to our room. I was not loving the fact that we were on the third floor of the house. I found myself spending more time up there to avoid having to continually go up and down the stairs. 

The guys were all regularly coming up to check on me, bringing me snacks, and trying to pretend that they weren’t all utterly terrified by the concept of childbirth. Esme would sit with me and help me crochet. Alice and Leah would come to just hangout and watch a movie or have self-care time, and Rose would help me organize and reorganize everything we had for the baby. 

Our room now held a bassinet, a glider, and a dresser full of clothes for her. Since we still didn’t feel safe enough to stay at our house, we got our room set up so we could stay here with her after she was born. 

I got ready for bed and then went to sit down next to Edward. He was reading a book about the history of Wicca and witches. He was desperate to know as much as possible about how to raise our daughter. I climbed onto the bed and tucked myself into his side with a sigh. He closed the book and kissed the top of my head. 

“Everything okay?” He asked. 

“Yeah. It’s just… it’s getting more real now.” I looked up at him. “She’ll be here soon and I don’t know if I’m ready. If I’ll know what to do.” 

I never thought I would ever be able to have children. I didn’t want to do something wrong or make a mistake that would ruin her future. There was also the fact that it was going to hurt like hell getting her out of there. I was determined to have a natural birth. A part of me was scared that the wolves would change their minds after she was born and I needed to be able to defend her. I couldn’t do that if I was drugged up or paralyzed from the waist down.

He put the book down and held my face in his hand. “You’re going to do what you always do. You’ll be incredible.” He smiled and kissed me softly. 

“I hope so. I just don’t want to mess her up.” I said quietly. 

“Love, that is completely ridiculous. You are the strongest person that I know, Dani. All you really need to do is love her.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “And you’re already doing a phenomenal job.”

I smiled as I felt tears pricking behind my eyes. I reached up to cup his face in my hand. “I love you so much.” I breathed. “This baby is so unbelievably lucky to have you. I am too.”

He huffed a laugh. “I am definitely the lucky one here.” 

He leaned in to kiss me, his lips molding perfectly to mine. I pulled his lower lip between my teeth and bit down lightly. He smiled as he pecked my lips once more and slowly pulled away.

“Katherine?” He proposed yet another name.

I groaned at the loss of his lips against mine then scrunched my nose up. “She would end up being called ‘Kat’ or ‘Katie’ or something and I’m not feeling that for her. Sorry.”

He chuckled in response. 

“How about Willow? It’s also my favorite Buffy character.” I smiled widely. 

He laughed more wholeheartedly this time. As his laughter slowed, he kissed along my jaw before pulling away and looking at me thoughtfully. 

“Maybe. Ophelia? It’s classic and whimsical.” He smirked. 

I pursed my lips. “Ophelia Elizabeth Cullen. It doesn’t sound bad actually. It still doesn’t feel right though.” I sighed and laid down beside him. “She’s never going to have a name. We’ll just end up calling her beachball or whatever it is that’s the same size as her when she’s born.” I laughed at his annoyed expression. 

“We’ll figure it out. We’ve still got time.” He leaned down and kissed me firmly once more. 

After moving to lay with me, Edward placed a hand over my stomach and the baby immediately moved toward him, pushing against my skin beneath his palm. I breathed out a content sigh. 

“She can sense you too.” I looked down at his hand. “I wonder if it feels the same for her. Like electricity.”

He moved down to kiss my stomach. “What song does she want tonight?” He asked. 

I snorted a laugh. “Let me just ask her.” I replied sarcastically. “She has a favorite, you know.”

He looked back up at me with a bright smile and started singing ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ to our unborn daughter. I carded my fingers through his hair as his velvet voice soothed my nerves. She calmed too and I felt the love that she had for him. As I drifted to sleep, I felt Edward kiss my stomach again before pulling me into his arms and kissing my temple. 

“Thank you.” He whispered into my hair. I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me, our daughter, or the universe, but I felt the same way. Thankful.

Chapter Text

February 22, 2007

I was now four days past my due date and completely fucking over it. I tried everything to get her out. From eating a ton of spicy foods to twice daily sex with Edward, zero complaints about that method, but nothing was working. 

She was completely content in there and I was an uncomfortable house of a person. Carlisle brought up attempting an induction more than once, but I wanted her to come on her own as long as it was still safe.

I was walking around outside of the house with Leah and Alice. They had me wrapped in a blanket while I pulled at some of the natural magic around me. 

“She’s never coming out.” My voice was growing panicked. “What if vampire-witch babies are like elephants and she’s going to be in there for another nine months?!” I looked at Alice with a horrified expression. 

She gave me a sympathetic smile. “Carlisle said she’s perfectly ready. They don’t follow a schedule Dani.”

I nodded nervously. “You’re right. She’ll come when she’s ready.” My voice betrayed my anxiety.

I just kept telling myself that, despite the fact that my back and feet were killing me and she had no room to really move anymore. She often stretched out, kicking up into my rib cage and pressing her head down into my bladder. I could still feel her too. She was completely happy in there. I was happy that she was happy, don’t get me wrong. I just was ready for her to be happy on the outside and for me to finally have my body back to myself. 

Edward was getting more anxious as well. He was hovering even now. I could feel him watching from nearby. Listening to every beat of her and my heart and looking out for any sign that labor was starting. He had read so many books on childbirth and how to be a supportive birth partner that he could probably deliver this baby himself when the time came. The plan was to have him and Maeve in the room to support me while Carlisle handled the actual delivery. 

“What if you just, like, jump around or something? Maybe that’ll knock her loose.” Leah offered with complete sincerity.

I stopped walking and gave her a deadpan look. “Leah… I’m not a fucking ketchup bottle.” I started giggling.

She started laughing with me while Alice just smiled and shook her head. 

“I’m just trying to help!” Leah said through her giggles.

Eventually we calmed down enough to start walking again. Leah wrapped her arm around me, her increased body heat warming me against the cold.

“Have you guys finally chosen a name yet?” She asked.

“Maybe? We’re between Ophelia and Phoebe, though neither feels quite right still.” I sighed and rubbed a hand over my giant bump. “I think I just need to meet her. Then I’ll know.”

“I love both of them.” Alice beamed. “They’re both strong names for a unique child.”

I smiled over at her and pulled her in for a tight hug, wrapping her into the blanket with me.

“So what’s the plan for after she’s born?” Leah asked.

My brow drew down. “What do you mean?”

“Will you guys be able to stay here? Will you go to college? Will she be able to go to school when she’s older or anything?” Leah prompted.

These were very good questions. Edward and I had thought about and discussed them endlessly with Carlisle and Esme. “We need to know more about her first. She has a ton of magic right now, but we’re not sure if she’ll still have it after she’s born or if it’s just my body’s way of keeping her safe in there and it’ll all come back to me as soon as she gets out .” I sighed and leaned my head against Leah’s shoulder. “I hope we won’t have to leave. I know we can’t stay forever, but I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Leah squeezed my arm. “Hopefully it won’t come to that.”

“Do you think Sam will ever trust me again?” I glanced up at her.

She pursed her lips with a frown. “I really don’t know. I haven’t talked to him, obviously, but I’ve been shifted at the same time as Quil.” She hesitated. 

“What does he have to say about it?” I prompted.

She grimaced. “Quil is… conflicted. He feels bad, but he’s scared too. Sam really doesn’t like the idea of her. He still thinks she’ll be violent and dangerous. Throw in all the magic she has, and he sees her as a serious threat.” Her lips pursed to one side.

My heart broke. Sam and the pack were like family. I had once been designated an honorary member of the tribe. I couldn’t believe that none of that meant anything anymore. 

“No matter what happens, we’re all going to take care of you both.” Alice offered. “We’re family.”

My heart healed a bit at her words. “I know. I love you guys so much.”

“We love you too, Dani.” Alice gave me the gentlest squeeze.

“I’m not worried about it.” Leah rested her cheek on my head. “She’s half you. So she can’t be anything but kind and good. We’ll make sure Sam knows that.”

My heart clenched and I felt tears building in my eyes. “You can’t say stuff like that to a pregnant lady.” My voice wobbled. 

Leah and Alice both struggled to hold back their laughs. “Sorry, Dani.” Leah said through a chuckle. “I only speak the truth.”

That same evening I sat on the sofa with Emmett, Jasper, and Embry while we played a street racing game together on their XBox 360. I was doing my best to not crash into anything while they were all fighting for the lead.

“Dani, you’ve got to let off the gas a little around turns.” Embry tried to help, as usual.

“I can’t! If I let go, I might not find the right button again and-” I paused as I felt my abdomen tighten. 

Eh… Nope. It’s nothing. Definitely nothing…

“- and then I’ll just end up stopping or getting hit by a truck or something!”

Jasper gave me a sideways glance while I refocused on maneuvering around the other cars and not somehow getting turned around and facing the wrong way.

“Ye-eah! First place baby!” Emmett yelled as they crossed the finish line one after another.

They were going to have to wait for me to finish before we could play the next round. I grimaced as I ran straight into a wall. “I’m so sorry guys, I’m terrible at this.” I cringed.

“Do you want me to help?” Embry offered.

“No! I can do this man!” I argued as I made it closer to the finish line.

As soon as I finished, in last place, we started the next round. I honestly don’t know how they tolerated playing with me, but I appreciated it nonetheless. As we were rounding another bend, my abdomen cramped up again, just a little more firmly this time. I hit another wall and took a bit too long to recover. 

This went on for the next couple rounds. The intensity of the cramping gradually increased until I was overcome by a particularly bad wave of pain. It wrapped all the way around my back, like I was being squeezed way too tightly and all of my abdominal muscles cramped at once. I stopped pushing buttons and rubbed a hand to my side as I bent forward and tried to just breathe through it.

Within a heartbeat Edward was in the room. “Are you okay, Dani? Is she okay?”

“She’s been having contractions about every six to seven minutes for the last hour.” Jasper told him in a matter-of-fact tone. “They’ve been getting closer together in the last fifteen minutes.”

I looked up at him in confusion as the wave passed and I relaxed again. “I’m fine. It’s not that bad. It was probably nothing.”

“Dani, we should really have Carlisle examine you.” Edward came around and nervously took my hand.

“Dani? Come on. Maybe they’re right?” Emmett asked with an expression of pure fear. 

“I promise, I’m fine. I don’t want to freak everyone out for nothing.” I shook my head and started trying to play again.

For some reason I just couldn’t admit that this might be it. I wanted this to be over, I was ready for it to be over. But I was also completely terrified. I honestly didn’t know if I could do this. Right now she was warm, safe, and happy. The outside world was too dangerous for her. Plus, it was going to hurt like a motherfucker getting her out. 

I tried to just go back to the game, but they were all closely watching me now instead. I did my best to ignore their concerns. After five or so minutes another wave hit me, harder this time. I gripped the sides of my stomach again and bent over with a low moan as my uterus tried to crush me.

“Okay, you definitely need to get upstairs now.” Embry jumped up.

Edward put a hand on my cheek. “Please, baby. I think this is it.” 

I nodded at his anxious tone and let him and Embry help me up off the sofa. As soon as I stood, I felt a strange popping sensation right before a gush of warm liquid poured from between my legs and onto the floor. They all stood up at once.

“Fuuuuck.” Emmett drew out the word, matching my thoughts exactly. 

“Well shit.” I whined as I looked into Edward’s terrified face. 

Edward

Jasper had been keeping a close eye on Dani while they played a game together. She needed the distraction and they didn’t mind keeping her company. He mentally noted every time she tensed up and her breathing changed. When she actually doubled over, his alarm caused my own anxiety to spike and I was immediately in the room with her. She was being stubborn, as usual, and didn’t want to risk worrying us for ‘nothing’. As if we weren’t all worried already.

I had been obsessively watching her for weeks knowing that she could go into labor at any moment. I tried to remain calm for her, but I was completely terrified. Even perfectly normal human births are dangerous for the mother. We had no idea what to expect here and I couldn’t lose her. I read every possible resource on childbirth, natural labor, how to help her, everything. I knew there would be unavoidable pain for her and I didn’t think I would be able to stand it. 

When we finally got her up so that I could take her to the delivery room in Carlisle’s lab, her water broke. This was it. Really it. I looked into her frightened eyes, my own eyes probably betraying my own fear.

“Well shit.” She said in a low, trembling voice.

Without missing a beat, I lifted her into my arms and rushed her upstairs. “Carlisle! It’s time!” I said much louder than was necessary.

“I’m okay, Edward.” She said as she tried to wiggle out of my arms. 

“Please just humor me.” I held her to my chest and kissed her forehead. She relaxed in my arms again. 

Carlisle entered the room and started setting up the monitors he would need to place on Dani. “Okay, Dani. I need you to change into a gown and then I’ll get the pressure monitor on you so we can keep an eye on your progress.”

Dani nodded and I slowly lowered her to her feet. “Okay. I guess we’re doing this.” Her voice quickly shifted from anxious to determined. 

I helped her out of her wet clothes and placed the gown over her head. Before Carlisle could get the monitor on her she threw her head back and winced as she had another contraction. She let out a low moan, clutching her hands to her sides. I quickly applied counterpressure to her hips like the books said to do and she relaxed slightly.

“You’re okay, baby. You’re going to be okay.” I tried to keep my own voice calm. 

I kissed her soft lips as soon as her contraction was over. It seemed more intense for her that time. Everything I had learned indicated that they weren’t supposed to get any better either. 

Her wide eyes met mine. “Has anyone called Maeve?”

I briefly refocused my attention to all of the voices and thoughts throughout the house and found what I was looking for. “Esme is calling her now.” 

Dani nodded. “Good, that’s good.”

I helped her onto the bed so Carlisle could check her. “You’re already seven centimeters dilated. Let’s get that monitor on you, Dani.”

** Her labor is progressing quickly. I don’t know if Maeve will make it in time. **

Carlisle wrapped the monitor around her waist so he could keep an eye on her contractions. As soon as it was on she was hit by another wave of pain. She grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly as she cried out. I helped her with her breathing and brushed a hand through her hair, doing anything I could to comfort her.

“Do you want anything for the pain?” I asked her.

She shook her head as she leaned back onto the pillows. “Mm-mm, I need to be alert and able to move around.”

I knew that’s what she wanted, but was hoping she would change her mind. She wanted a natural birth so she could move freely and have complete control of her labor. She also didn’t want to risk being incapacitated if Sam decided to show up after the baby was born. Despite the fact that we have all repeatedly told her that we would defend them against any threats, she refused to budge. I truly just didn’t want her to be in any pain. 

She tensed up and released another agonized moan. I stroked her hand with my thumb and held it to my lips. Her contractions started coming quicker. Each one more painful for her than the last. She was putting on a brave face and breathing through them as I tried desperately to help. 

I felt completely useless against this. Every time she gritted her teeth and moaned in pain, my instincts screamed at me to protect her. But there was nothing for me to protect her from. All I could do was help her breathe through the pain and hold her hand. It didn’t seem like nearly enough.  

“I need to get up.” She panted after a particularly bad contraction that had her clearly fighting back tears. “I can’t just lay down.”

“Okay, we’ll walk around. Whatever you need, love.” I murmured against the warm skin of her hand.

I helped her up and followed closely as she paced around the room. I applied counter pressure, held her hand, supported her when she needed to bend over, and everything else I could think of to help her. Everyone was listening, worrying, and waiting. They were all excited for the arrival of the newest member of our family, but terrified by the pain and the risk that Dani was facing now.

Carlisle asked to check her again as she stood bent over. Her arms were locked with mine and her head rested against my chest as she groaned through gritted teeth. I was quickly becoming frantic. I wanted to give her any relief that I could. I’d have gladly taken the pain myself if it were possible. She held a hand to her stomach as she blew quick breaths out and I helped her back onto the bed. 

“Okay, you are definitely ready to push, Dani.” Carlisle said as he got up to quickly gather everything he would need. 

My head shot up to him. This was it, we were going to be parents any moment now. My mind quickly went through every possible way that I could mess this up. If I wasn’t gentle enough for even a single moment. If her blood called to me the same way Dani’s once did. If she, like most humans, was instinctively afraid of me. 

I was never supposed to be a father, yet here we were. My wife was breaking all of the rules we believed to be absolute. Giving me a life I never thought possible for myself. I would never be able to properly show her my infinite gratitude. I could only hope that I wouldn’t ruin it.

Dani’s heart rate went up at Carlisle’s words. “I can’t push yet, Maeve isn’t here!” Dani cried out. “I need her too,” she nearly sobbed.

Shit. No one had been able to get a hold of Maeve yet. She was assisting with an emergency surgery that they wouldn’t pull her out of. I figured a small, white stretching of the truth was probably the best approach. I held her hand and gently brushed her hair away from her face. “She should be on her way. Don’t worry, love. I’ve got you.”

“Alice?” She asked with pleading eyes. 

Within a moment, Alice was by her side. She had been anxiously waiting down the hall with Rose and Esme. 

“I’m here, Dani. We’re all here.” Alice gently took her other hand just as another contraction overwhelmed her. 

She threw her head back and let out a loud, pained sob while Carlisle started to set out everything he needed. Without warning, Carlisle was thrown away from her, crashing into the far wall. Alice and I were both still firmly by her side. 

“What the hell? What happened?!” I looked between Carlisle and Dani. 

“I don’t know. I think she threw her shield out. Dani?” Carlisle looked at her with barely concealed concern as he stood back up. 

Dani tried to breathe through the pain again. “She’s scared,” she struggled to speak, “thought… you were… hurting me.” The words came out as more of a groan before turning into another pained sob. 

Carlisle wasn’t able to come within five feet of Dani. He was being held back by some invisible barrier created by the child my remarkable wife was about to bring into the world. As soon as Dani’s contraction passed she started trying to soothe our daughter. She had maybe a minute before the next wave would hit her. 

Alice reached a hand up, wiping sweat from Dani’s brow with a concerned frown. I held her hand to my lips, willing her any kind of relief I could offer. 

She let go of Alice’s hand to hold it to her swollen abdomen. “It’s okay baby girl. I’m okay. That’s your grandpa, he’s helping us get you out of there so we can finally meet you.” She was smiling as she talked to her. She looked at me. “Can you sing to her? She doesn’t understand what’s happening and she’s scared.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her lips together as another contraction overwhelmed her. Clearly trying not to cry out and scare the baby again, she kept her moans low and deep. I hated this. She was in agony and I couldn’t do anything about it. I held a hand to the side of her stomach and started singing. I sang her favorite song. The song that our unborn daughter somehow, impossibly, knew. 

“Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me, starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee. Sounds of the rude world heard in the day. Lulled by the moonlight have all passed away.” I continued to sing as Dani relaxed again. 

“You need to let him help us, baby girl. I know you’re scared, but this is the only way we’ll get to finally meet you.” She breathed out a tearful laugh. 

After another moment, Carlisle was released and I finally took another breath. 

“That was perfect, sweet girl.” Dani said in a gentle voice. She was already a wonderful mother. 

Carlisle quickly moved forward to check Dani again. “Okay, on the next contraction, I need you to push.”

Dani did as he told her. I held one of her legs up for her as Alice held the other and she tightly squeezed our hands in hers. With each contraction she took a deep breath and pushed, squeezing my hand even tighter. 

She was so strong and determined as this went on for thirty-two more agonizing minutes. After a long push, Dani’s head dropped back to the pillow as she exhaled a long, almost relieved, groan. 

“Her head is out.” Carlisle declared. 

I couldn’t help the startled laugh that bubbled up as I looked around to see the top of a tiny, hair covered head beneath the sheet covering her. It was incredible. My Dani was a goddess bringing this miracle into the world.

“I see her! She’s almost here. You’re doing amazing, baby.” I kissed her hand and moved her beautiful hair away from her sweat covered forehead. 

“Give me one more good push Dani.” Carlisle instructed her. 

“You can do this, Dani. You’re almost done.” Alice gave her an encouraging smile.

Dani took a deep breath, gritting her teeth, and pushed with a barely contained yell. A moment later she gasped in relief and Carlisle placed a crying, pink baby onto Dani’s chest. Our daughter. Dani let go of me and Alice to instinctually grab her and held her close. Carlisle reached up and gently rubbed at her with a clean towel, leaving it to cover her and keep her warm. 

** She looks perfectly healthy, Edward. **

Dani let out a startled laugh as the baby calmed and tightly gripped one of her fingers in her tiny hand. “Hi.” Her voice was soft, yet elated. “It’s so nice to finally meet you Amara.” She spoke through tears. 

“Congratulations. It’s a girl.” Carlisle smiled before moving back down to continue helping Dani. “Seven pounds, two ounces. You did perfectly, Dani.” Carlisle gently patted her knee. “Edward, would you like to do the honors?” He held up a pair of surgical scissors and the umbilical cord. 

I was nearly overwhelmed by all of it. I huffed a laugh and took the scissors. When I tried to cut the cord with them they broke. I looked up at Carlisle with wide eyes, his expression matching my own. 

“Ah, um. It appears we need something stronger.” Carlisle looked warily between me, the baby, and the umbilical cord. 

“Sorry, you’ll need to bite it.” Dani said as she kept gazing down at our daughter, stroking her fingers through the fine hair on her head. “Or get my sword.” She shrugged. 

Alice giggled a little and tentatively brushed a finger over my daughter’s cheek. “She’s perfect.”

“Vampire teeth should work.” Carlisle held it up to me again with an awkward shrug and I quickly severed it. Though not exactly pleasant, it wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever bitten into. 

I looked down at our daughter. She had Dani’s beautiful blue eyes with rays of gold emanating from her small, black pupils. She was staring intently at Dani’s face as she spoke to her. Her eyes closely watched Dani as she talked to her in a low, comforting voice. It was as though they understood each other.

My focus snapped back to Dani. “Amara?” I realized she’d called her by a name we had never even discussed. 

Dani turned to meet my eyes with a teary smile. “That’s her name.” She looked back at our daughter. “She’s going to be extraordinary.” She gently kissed the top of her head. 

I exhaled a small sob. “She already is. You both are. It’s perfect.” The name suited her perfectly. A strong, beautiful name for our strong, beautiful daughter. “Did you see her? When you touched her?” I asked Dani. 

She nodded. “I did.” She gently held Amara’s head in her hand and stroked her thumb over the fine hair above her small ear. “He’s right here. That’s your dad.” She said softly. 

She turned to me again, her stunning, tear-filled, bright eclipse eyes looking into mine as she smiled widely. I reluctantly tore my eyes away from Dani and looked at our daughter. Her eyes met mine and I heard my own voice singing her favorite song. It felt like a question. Like she was asking if that was me. Her tiny mouth pursed as she waited for my response.

“Yeah, that’s me. I’m your dad.” A  joyful, tearless sob bubbled up from my chest. If I could cry, I would have been an absolute mess. 

She sent her thoughts to me. Her bright eyes met mine and she spoke to me in the only way she could. Alice was right. She was perfect. Round, chubby cheeks, a tiny rosebud mouth, fine hair covering her head, and those incredible, mesmerizing eyes. Her scent was a pleasant combination between mine and Dani’s. Vanilla, honey, and cinnamon. There was absolutely no fire behind it. She was safe with me. 

“You’re already healing, Dani.” Carlisle commented.  

I had almost forgotten he was even there. He finished cleaning everything up and came around to check on our daughter again. He checked her color, strength, and reflexes while Dani held her in her arms. He internally noted that her heart rate seemed a bit high, but she was otherwise perfectly healthy.

“She is perfect. Congratulations, you two.” He smiled warmly. “Try to get some rest, Dani. If you need anything, just say the word and someone will take care of it.” He placed a gentle hand on Amara’s head before leading a reluctant Alice out, leaving to give us a little privacy.

I reached out to cup Dani’s cheek and pressed my lips to her temple. She was going to be okay. She was amazing and powerful and, somehow, impossibly more than I could have even dreamed of. 

The fine hairs framing her face were matted down with sweat. Clearly exhausted but somehow glowing, she was more stunning than I had ever seen her before. Dani whispered to our daughter telling her how much she loved her and how happy she was that she was finally here. I leaned down to kiss Dani’s hand again.

“I love you so much, Danielle. You did it baby.” I whispered against her skin. 

She turned and leaned her forehead against mine with closed eyes. “We did it.”

That was completely absurd. All I did was sit here mentally panicking while she did all of the work. But we did make her together and she was truly a miracle. 

Dani started carefully wrapping the towel around Amara and turned toward me. “Do you want to hold her?”

“More than anything.” I breathed out as I took the tiny, fragile bundle as gently as I possibly could. As if she were a bubble that would break with even the slightest pressure. Dani gently released our daughter into my arms, caressing her head once more. Amara’s eyes met mine and I was filled with love. Both mine and hers. It was wonderfully overwhelming.

At that moment Maeve burst into the room. Dani’s attention redirected toward her as she rushed over.

“Dani! Oh I’m so sorry darling! I couldn’t get here any faster!” She paused as she took in the scene. A teary smile spread over her face. “I missed it all.” 

“No. You made it for the best part.” Dani’s voice was soft as she turned back to me. 

She came around to Dani’s other side and Dani reached a hand out to her. Maeve came closer and peeked over Dani to look at Amara as she lay contentedly in my arms.

“She’s beautiful.” Maeve crooned. “Congratulations.” She brushed a hand over Dani’s forehead and leaned down to kiss her. “What’s her name then?”

“Amara.” I said, looking back down at our daughter. She was carefully studying my face now with her bright eclipse eyes. Her mother’s eyes. 

Maeve let out a small gasp. “That was my mother’s middle name.”

“I know.” Dani said softly. “She was my grandmother after all, the woman who raised me. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. Although, I suppose I would have eventually.”

At the sound of Dani’s voice I saw an image of Dani looking down at me, or rather at Amara, and smiling. She wanted her mother again. 

“She wants you, Dani.” I looked up to see her watching us with a soft smile. 

I gently placed Amara into Dani’s waiting arms. Dani held her close and kissed her head. They were the epitome of perfection. 

Eventually Maeve took Amara to quickly clean, diaper, and swaddle her in a soft yellow blanket before returning her to Dani. Throughout the day our family came in pairs, not wanting to overwhelm us, to meet Amara. They were all immediately enraptured by her. She would somehow show them small snippets of their own voices as she remembered them. They felt the love she had for all of us as they took turns holding her. It appeared she could somehow project her thoughts to others. I supposed we would learn more about that with time. 

Esme and Carlisle showered them both with affection. Esme placed a small hat she made over Amara’s head and gave Dani a well needed meal. She was planning to breastfeed and we would need to make sure she was eating and drinking enough to keep herself and Amara healthy.

Rose and Emmett took turns holding and cooing over Amara as they spoke with us. Rosalie couldn’t have been happier to welcome Amara into the family. Of course, Emmett was looking forward to Dani having her full power back so she could rejoin their sparring matches.

Alice and Jasper both were happy to meet and hold Amara, but seemed more concerned about Dani and how she was doing. They promised to check in again to ensure her needs were met as she recovered. Our family was wonderful. We clearly had more willing help than we would ever truly need.

When Embry and Seth came to see her, Dani unexpectedly tensed up and held Amara in a more protective manner. She eyed Embry warily as he greeted her and asked how she was doing.

“I’m good. Remember my warning.” She gave him a pointed look as she slowly let him see Amara.

** Why the hell does she think I’m gonna imprint on her baby?! ** 

Embry, for once, kept his thoughts to himself. I was going to have to ask Dani about that another time though. 

“She’s absolutely beautiful, Dani. Congratulations.” Embry looked up at me. “Both of you.”

Dani visibly relaxed and allowed Embry and Seth to take turns holding Amara after they washed their hands. Jacob came to see her as well. He promised to talk to Sam and reassure him that Amara was, in fact, just a baby. Exactly as Dani said she would be. An incredible, beautiful, miraculous, and magical baby, but an innocent child nonetheless. After a short while we were alone again and Amara fell asleep. 

I held Amara closely, rocking her in my arms as she slept. Leah came in to check on Dani. She hadn’t had a chance to meet the baby yet, but she wanted to make sure Dani was okay first. I was eternally grateful to Leah for always being there for Dani. Especially when I wasn’t. 

“How are you, Dani?” She asked. 

Dani laughed lightly. “I feel great actually. A lot better now that my magic is back.” She held her hands up, looking at them as though she could see the magic on her skin. 

Leah pulled Dani into a hug. “I’m so happy for you.” She peeked over at Amara’s tiny sleeping form in my arms. “She’s beautiful, Dani.”

“Thank you so much, Leah. For everything.” Dani sniffled. 

I ever so gently stroked my thumb over Amara’s impossibly soft cheek. It was like the smoothest silk. Creamy skin with perfectly rosy cheeks. Her small nose looked like it might be from me and she didn’t have the dimple in her chin that Dani had, but everything else was all her beautiful mother. She started to stir in my arms. She had already nursed, she took to it beautifully, so she shouldn’t be hungry yet. 

“I’ve always got your back, Dani. So, Amara?” Leah asked. 

“Yeah.” Dani smiled widely. “I saw it when I first held her. Just a small glimpse at her future. She was maybe six or seven. She brought a dead flower to me and showed me as she brought it back to life before giving it to me. I called her Amara.” A tear fell to her cheek as she looked over at me. 

She hadn’t told me about the vision she had yet. “What did she look like?” I asked quietly. 

“Beautiful.” Dani’s smile grew soft as she looked back and forth between me and our daughter. 

“Well, I think it’s perfect. She’s going to be strong and kind, like you. I’ll make sure she doesn’t turn into a huge nerd though.” Leah laughed. 

Amara slowly opened her eyes and her tiny, pink mouth opened into the most adorable yawn. Her blue eyes met mine and she showed me Dani again. I laughed lightly. “Okay. I know.” 

I moved to hand her to her mother, my wife. “She wants you, love.” I looked up just in time for Leah to look into Amara’s eyes. 

I saw the shift as it happened. Leah’s entire focus zeroed in on Amara. She immediately bonded to her. Amara became the most important person in her world. Leah would protect my daughter with her life. She would do whatever it took to keep her safe and happy. She inhaled a sharp breath as tears fell from her wide, brown eyes to her cheeks. 

“Leah! Did you just…” Dani’s voice trailed off as she looked between Leah and Amara. “What the fuck?!”

Chapter Text

Dani

I watched Edward holding Amara in his arms. He was singing quietly while gently swaying her around the room. They were perfect. At only a week old, she had already bonded so strongly with him and he was completely devoted to her. Changing her, bathing, dressing, and singing to her. 

He would hand her to me every time she showed him that she wanted me and we would just snuggle or she would nurse while she showed me her memories of my voice and the first time she saw me. Often we would all sit on the bed together while I held her and Edward held me while reading a book aloud. It was more than I could have ever even dreamed of. 

Amara was almost impossibly beautiful. Wispy, blonde hair covered her tiny head. She had my blue eyes, the same eyes I inherited from my own mother. Her perfectly round, chubby cheeks and button nose could easily land her a Gerber baby deal. We were going to have to keep her hidden from the world for a while though, given her abilities and parentage. Though we were hopeful that she could eventually be as much a part of the world as the rest of us one day.

Carlisle performed a more thorough examination of her after we got settled back in our bedroom. She was healthy and, thankfully, not growing at an alarming rate. He noted that she was much stronger than a typical newborn and seemed to be a bit more durable as well, though no one was willing to really test that. Her heart rate was faster than normal, but it didn’t seem to be affecting her health. 

Thankfully, she didn’t appear to be able to perform any magic yet. It all came back to me as soon as she was born. She did, however, have the ability to project her thoughts to people if she could see them. My guess was that it was an ability she inherited from her father’s side. Her developing vision was still pretty limited, so her range was only a few feet. She also seemed to need eye contact to do it. We weren’t sure how much that ability would grow and change with time. 

She was intelligent too. It seemed like she could understand us as we spoke to her and would respond with images or sounds from her memories. Otherwise, she appeared to be a relatively normal newborn baby. There were no creepy baby fangs nor a strong desire or preference for human blood. She took right to nursing and my body produced what she needed. My iron levels had dipped slightly and Carlisle’s testing on me showed that I was providing a small amount of blood for her through my milk. We just kept up with my iron supplements to compensate. I had no problem giving her whatever she needed. 

Edward carefully placed Amara into her bassinet as she fell asleep and came over to join me on the bed. He pulled me close as I wrapped myself around him. I missed being able to press our bodies together like this. Now that there wasn’t a giant pregnant belly between us, I could hold myself flush against him and wrap my leg around his waist once again. 

“You know, we can move back to our house soon.” He moved a piece of my unruly hair away from my face and leaned in to kiss the tip of my nose. 

“That would be wonderful.” I sighed. 

“We have Leah to thank for that.” He reluctantly added. 

I let out a frustrated groan. “I know that.”

“I think you should talk to her. It’s not what you think it is.” He rubbed a hand up and down my arm. 

“I know that too.” I clenched my jaw. “I just wasn’t expecting it. I’m still processing.”

“She would really like to see Amara and you.” He added. 

I glanced up to meet his green and gold eyes. “She’s our daughter. She doesn’t get to claim some ownership over her because of some stupid magic spell that’s too strong for me to break right now.”

His brow furrowed and he pursed his lips. “If you break it, the pack might not feel any obligation to protect her anymore.” 

I groaned again. “Stupid imprints.”

Edward chuckled and leaned down to press a lingering kiss to my lips. It sent fire throughout my body. I audibly sighed as he pulled back and I leaned my head against his chest. 

“Rosalie and Esme finished setting the nursery up for her at the house.” He leaned down and spoke quietly into my ear. “We can move back into our room.” He kissed me behind my ear. “Have more privacy.” He kissed his way down my jaw. “A good silencing spell will ensure Amara isn’t awoken by anything that should occur in there.” He turned my head back up with a finger beneath my chin and kissed my lips. “I can take my time making you scream my name.” He whispered with a devilish grin, his intoxicating cinnamon breath ghosting over my face. 

“Yes, please.” I murmured against his soft, warm lips as I reached a hand up to lace my fingers in his hair and kiss him more deeply. 

Thankfully, Carlisle had inserted a hormonal implant into my arm. I could still nurse with it and there was no chance of any venom getting to it and destroying it. While we weren’t closed off to the idea of having another child one day, that day was definitely not going to be anytime soon. We at least needed to know what to expect as we raised Amara. 

I tilted my head just a little, inviting Edward to explore my mouth further. His tongue met mine and the taste of him nearly did me in. I bit back a moan as he nipped at my lower lip. My breaths started coming shorter and I hesitantly pulled away to breathe. 

“Yeah. We should move back home soon. Very soon.” I quickly kissed him again. 

He chuckled and rubbed a hand up and down my thigh as I pressed myself to him tighter. 

“You know, she has a whole slew of family members right downstairs who will gladly hold her while she sleeps.” He brought his mouth down to my neck. 

I whimpered lightly as his tongue met my skin and he began to gently suck at my pulse point. It had really only been a week, but it felt like it was so much longer. I was already fully healed and there was no reason we couldn’t get back to our nearly insatiable sex life. Amara slept very well for a newborn and we were already settling into a good routine with her.

“What if she wakes up before we’re done?” I asked breathlessly. 

“Mmm, I’ll hang a sock on the door.” He murmured against my skin, causing me to burst into laughter. 

Amara started making tiny grunting noises. We both froze as we listened to see if we woke her. Her grunting grew louder until it turned into a whine. She was definitely about to cry. Edward quickly kissed my neck one more time before extricating himself from my arms and speeding over to her. He always made sure to pick her up before she could start crying. Lifting her up, he leaned her against his shoulder and started lightly bouncing and shushing her. God damn the sight of that man with a baby, our baby, was absurdly sexy.  

“Yeah. We’re moving back home as soon as possible.” I said quietly as I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. 

His responding wink told me he felt exactly the same way. Our soulbond cycle had started again. My mark was gone and his eyes were nearly gold. We were rapidly becoming pretty desperate for each other.

As I watched him settle Amara back down, I couldn't help but imagine raising her in our own home. I pictured Edward settling her into her crib in the nursery, me reading to her in my library, him teaching her to play piano in the living room. He was right. That future likely wouldn’t have been an option without Leah. I grabbed my phone and sent her a quick text, inviting her over to talk. 

I sat with Leah on the sofa in the living room while Rose and Emmett had Amara out of the house for a walk. Alice and Esme went into the city to buy some more baby supplies to stock mine and Edward’s house and Edward went out running with Carlisle and Jasper. They wanted to give us some privacy while we talked. 

“You know I would have loved her and been a part of her life no matter what, right?” Leah asked. “Now we just get the added bonus of her and you being welcomed by the pack.”

“I know Leah. I’m not mad at you, I promise. It’s just… it’s weird. Plus, I don’t like the idea of someone thinking of her as theirs. You know?”

“I don’t. I just know that I need to keep her safe and love her. It’s almost…” she paused, “like a maternal instinct.”

My eyes narrowed to a glare. “She has a mother. It’s me. I’m her mother.”

“And I would never try to step into that role.” She quickly added with raised hands. “After everything we’ve been through together, you have to know that.” Her eyes were pleading with me to understand. 

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my eyes squeezed shut and sighed. “And when she’s older? What will that instinct be then?” I looked up at her again. 

She slowly shook her head. “I can’t know that. But I think it will be the same. I’m always going to need to protect her and want her to be happy. There can’t be any kind of…” she grimaced before continuing, “reproductive aspect to this, so I really don’t think you have anything to worry about there.” She raised an eyebrow at me. 

“How did this even happen?” I groaned as I leaned my head back against the sofa. 

“Because you’re my best friend. You and I have our own magical bond. And your daughter would have meant the world to me no matter what.” She put a warm hand on my arm, drawing my attention back to her. “Can I just meet her? Please?” She looked genuinely upset. My heart sank.

As soon as I saw the connection form between Leah and Amara, I made her leave the room. I hadn’t allowed them to be in the same room together since. It probably wasn’t fair, but I was rightfully freaked out.

I let out a long sigh. “Yes. You can meet her. I’m sorry I’ve kept her away.” I quickly glanced at her, meeting her sad eyes before looking away again. “I want you to be close to her. But in, like, an aunt role, not a ‘your life now revolves around her’ role.” I looked at her again, holding eye contact this time. “It’s not fair to you or her.”

“And that’s all I want. To be her overprotective Aunt Leah. Watch her grow up, teach her how to stand up for herself, and listen to her many complaints about how annoying her mom is.” She smirked. 

I rolled my eyes. “You’re my best friend Leah. I expect you to stick up for me, even if it’s against my own daughter.” My lips pulled up into a small smirk. 

Leah reached over and pulled me into a hug. “Always, Dani.” She said quietly. I returned her embrace with a tight squeeze before we pulled apart again.

I sighed and pursed my lips in thought. “She’s incredible. I really do want you to meet her. Rose and Emmett should be back with her soon, if you can stay?” I offered.

Leah’s smile widened. “I would love that.”

We sat and talked more while we waited for Rose and Emmett to return. It was nice to hang out with Leah after the awkward avoidance that I had initiated. The rest of the pack moved back to their homes on the reservation, now that the conflict was over and they didn’t need to hang around to protect me anymore. 

Leah was still in touch with Jess while she was away at college. They mostly emailed and called with the occasional visit when they were both free. She explained how the distance was starting to get difficult and she was sure Jess was going to want to make a clean break soon. I urged her to not give up that easily. Jess was amazing and they were both definitely worth fighting for. I myself was sad that I didn’t get to see her anymore. The last thing I needed was for my daughter to project her thoughts to my human friends and blow our whole cover. 

I was hoping she would eventually go back to college, but Leah informed me that she was planning on staying here. She wanted to remain close to me and Amara. We could probably all go to college together when the time was right. I still wanted to get a degree and have some kind of career one day. Once Amara was bigger and didn’t need me as much, Edward and I should be able to go to college together. She had a house full of family who would jump at the chance to help take care of her while we attended classes. We would never be in want of a babysitter. 

Hopefully, everyone else in the pack would soon be able to head back to their lives too. Seth was the only one who managed to stay in school during everything. All of the others had dropped out after Victoria came back with her army and had fallen behind. Jake, Embry, and Quil should have been finishing up their junior year of high school by now. The others were old enough to start looking into college for themselves as well. 

Sam and Emily’s wedding happened right before everything blew up and was apparently wonderful. Leah told me that they were actually hoping to start their own family soon. Things were starting to look up for all of us. 

Rose and Emmett returned with Amara less than an hour later and brought her straight to me. 

“How was she?” I asked them. 

“She was perfect.” Rose smiled widely. “She wants you though.” She gently kissed Amara’s head and laid her in my arms. 

“Mini witch is hungry.” Emmett gave me a wide, dimpled smile.

I looked down at Amara and she showed me the view she has of my face while she’s nursing. Not exactly the most flattering angle, but it gets the point across. I went straight to feeding her as Leah stayed with me on the sofa. She carefully grabbed one of Amara’s tiny feet, rubbing her thumb over her soft skin.

“She is so beautiful, Dani. You guys did an amazing job here.” She smiled softly.

I chuckled. “I definitely can’t blame that on any kind of bias. You’re right. She’s perfect.” I smiled softly at Amara before leaning down to kiss the top of her head. 

I cupped her tiny chubby cheek and brushed her fine, blonde hair away from her face with my fingertips. As soon as she was done nursing, I gently lifted her to burp her. Leah watched us as if it was the most incredible thing she’d ever seen. 

“Would you like to hold her?” I asked.

Leah’s eyes met mine and began to well with tears. “I would love to.”

I carefully handed Amara to Leah who cradled her as though she were a tiny bomb, set to blow with the slightest wrong move. “She’s so little.” She huffed a teary laugh.

“Yeah, she’ll be all grown up before we know it though. So I’m doing my best to soak it all in while I still can.” I smiled and brushed a finger down Amara’s arm.

Leah held Amara while she fell asleep. She kept her eyes on her as she rocked her and I opted to let her nap in her arms. “I’m gonna go get a shower, if you don’t mind watching her while she sleeps?”

Without looking away from Amara she said, “Yeah, you smell like a vampire. Go get cleaned up. We’re good here.” She quickly glanced up at me with a wink.

I snorted a laugh and left her to spend some time with her new niece.

By the next day Edward already had our things moved back into our house and was helping me get Amara settled into her carseat so we could take her home. Trying to secure a tiny, squishy potato of a person into that big, bulky seat was surprisingly tricky. 

After the wolves destroyed his Volvo, we replaced it with a new BMW M3. It was very fast, he wouldn’t accept anything less, but spacious and safe enough for Amara and the many things we had to lug around for her.

Once we were sure she was safely buckled in, we covered her with a soft purple blanket that Esme made for her and made the quick drive around the property to our home. Edward carried her in his arms through the front door, narrating the whole way.

“This is the entryway, over there you’ve got your living room. I’ll teach you to play the piano as soon as you can sit up on your own.” He smiled and leaned down to kiss her head as she yawned. “There’s the kitchen and the dining room. The high chair isn’t set up, but you won’t need that yet.” He carried her up the stairs as I followed closely behind. “And this is your room. I really hope you like it.” He entered her room and turned her to show her around.

“She’ll love it.” I whispered as I stepped up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. 

He turned to me and leaned down to kiss me gently. “I’m going to get her settled for a nap, if you want to practice some magic? Our room could use some sound-proofing.” He said quietly with a crooked grin.

I smirked up at him and pulled my lower lip between my teeth as he winked at me. With a quick kiss on Amara’s cheek, I turned to start casting a silencing spell over our room. Edward would still be able to hear every sound Amara made from the nursery, even down to her breathing and heartbeat, while we wouldn’t have to worry about waking her. 

I had designated one of the empty rooms upstairs as storage for my various witchcraft related items. Everything was neatly organized and easy to find. A labelled display case for all of my crystals, labelled jars of dried herbs and flowers, a shelf with a variety of offering bowls and athames, an entire cabinet of candles, plus a bookcase that now held three spellbooks. I even had a small desk where I planned to work on creating my own spells eventually. 

The sword I made during the battle against Victoria was displayed on one of the walls, right above the tapestry that the tribe made for me a year ago. The grimoire was kept in a magically protected and locked safe that was bolted to the floor. I had no desire to ever open that thing again, but I also knew that I couldn’t risk it falling into the wrong hands. 

Dark magic was way too dangerous and tempting. It had weakened, but I could still feel it just under the surface, waiting for the right moment to reemerge. Maeve had no idea if that would ever fade away completely or if it would always be there threatening to pull me back under. Thankfully, there hadn’t been any more slips since the fireball incident when we were frantically leaving our honeymoon. I was sure I could resist any future pulls to it.

I gathered a bag of candles, a bundle of sage, and a small amethyst crystal and took them to our room. I could hear Edward singing to Amara as I walked down the hall, causing my heart to flutter in my chest. By the time Edward had her asleep in her crib, I had finished the spell and was busy picking the smoking candles up from the floor. 

My magic really was so much stronger. The spell took almost no effort to cast and I was still able to do it non-verbally. I was hopeful that I’d be able to work towards casting purely by intent as I became more familiar with different spells and what I was capable of. 

I turned to grab the next row of candles and Edward was there, putting a candle filled bag by the door. He had cleaned up the rest and I didn’t even know he was there.

I giggled as he flew toward me at vampire speed and lifted me by the waist. I wrapped my arms and legs around him and his mouth met mine. He pulled back slightly with a low growl. “I’ve missed this. Holding you close, feeling your heart beat against my chest, all of it.” He leaned in to kiss me again. 

“Me too.” I mumbled against his lips as he lowered me to the bed. 

His mouth drifted down to my neck as one of his hands moved up to cup my face and the other slid over my hip to the top of my jeans. With deft fingers, he unfastened the button and lowered the zipper. His fingers slipped down beneath my underwear and quickly found my clit. Using precisely the right amount of pressure, he began circling his fingers. His motions elicited impassioned moans from me, my back arching up to press my body firmly against his. He slowly kissed across my throat to the other side of my neck as his fingers moved faster. 

“Edward. I need you baby.” I whimpered.

His lips lifted from my neck just enough to speak. “I’m taking my time here, love.” He went back to kissing and firmly sucking at my neck. 

His fingers dipped lower, exploring my folds before moving back up to my clit and spreading my arousal around for lubrication. He resumed firmly swirling his fingers at a quick, consistent pace. Another moan escaped my lips as tension built in my lower abdomen. His mouth moved up to my chin before silencing my moans with his lips. Rapturous fire built deep in my core as he brought me closer to the edge. His lips suddenly left mine, I was moments from coming.

“Open your eyes baby, I want to watch.” His breathy growl sent a chill down my spine. 

My eyes snapped open just as my orgasm surged through my clit and straight to my core. My mouth fell open with a cry of pure ecstasy.

His nearly golden eyes darted back and forth between mine. “Say my name, Dani.” 

“Edward.” I moaned again and again as I came. 

“So fucking beautiful.” He crashed his lips back down to mine, silencing my moans once again.

I reached my hands between our bodies and tore his shirt open. He broke our kiss to look down at me, his breaths coming in desperate pants. 

“Inside me. Now.” I demanded. My own voice was desperate with need. 

He smirked and quickly removed my jeans while I unfastened his for him. He made quick work of his own pants as I pulled my shirt over my head, tossing it across the room. Within seconds he hooked both of my legs with his arms, holding them up in the crooks of his elbows, and buried his cock inside me. 

Our groans of pleasure coalesced as we explored each others’ mouths, our tongues meeting, sending waves of fire through me. He picked up his pace, grunting lightly with each thrust as though he hadn’t been inside me for years. He filled me completely, his cock perfectly stroking against my inner walls and bringing me near another mind-blowing climax.  

“Edward! Fuck baby, you’re perfect!” I cried out against his lips. 

He placed wet kisses down my jaw and along my neck, stopping at the sensitive spot near my shoulder where he needed to mark me. He began nipping firmly, a request for permission. I moved one hand from his back, gripping his hair with my fingers. 

“Yes, baby. Bite me Edward.” I begged. 

He readily complied. Warm electric energy pulsed through my veins, igniting every part of my body as I came and our bond was reinforced. He groaned against my neck before quickly pulling away and kissing me fervently. I couldn’t stifle the high moans that escaped as I clenched around him and he came with me. I held his face in my hands, pushing his mouth away from mine so I could look into his eyes. His face was pulled down into a look of pure rapture. 

“I love you, Danielle.” He whispered. 

“I love you.” I leaned up to gently kiss him as we came down from our mutual orgasm. 

He released my legs and pulled me close, cupping my face in his hands while I ran my fingers along his arms. His thumbs stroked my cheeks and he carefully studied my face. His eyes were bright green again, two sage jewels set in his beautiful face. 

“I’ve got so much more planned for you tonight.” He said in a husky, seductive tone.

I bit my lip with a giggle. “I can’t wait.”

A crooked grin sent flutters to the pit of my stomach just before he leaned down and kissed me breathless once again.

Chapter Text

August 23, 2007

I had never seen so much pink in one place before. Pink, white, and gold balloons adorned the back yard. Tables covered in pink tablecloths with crowns, roses, and jewels scattered on each. Pink and white streamers and paper poms everywhere. Plus a two-tiered, pink and white cake adorned with edible pearls and topped with a tiara. I thought it was a little silly, especially since Amara definitely couldn’t eat cake yet, but I didn’t want to spoil anyone’s fun.

Alice insisted on throwing Amara a “half-birthday” party alongside her Wiccaning. We were all gathered in the backyard where she had the extravagant, princess-themed party set up. 

Amara had gotten so much bigger over the past six months. Not abnormally bigger, but more than twice as big as she was when she was born. She was close to crawling and was already showing an interest in the piano, to Edward’s extreme delight. 

There had been some small glimpses into her magical abilities, mainly flickering lights when she would become very upset. Though, given the family’s tendency to cater to her every want and need, that hardly ever happened. I swear I once even saw her pull a toy toward herself that was just out of her reach. We were definitely going to have our work cut out for us as she continued to grow. We were all doing our best to raise her to be the strong, responsible vampire-witch she was destined to be.

Leah, Seth and I were chatting as we added decorations to the tables in the pink covered yard when Rosalie brought Amara out. She was in the most adorable white princess dress, all taffeta and tulle, with a tiny tiara on top of her short, pale blonde curls. My own white sundress looked almost frumpy in comparison. 

Her blue eyes widened and her face broke into a toothless smile when she saw me. Her adorably pudgy little arms reached out, hands clasping at air, and I rushed over to grab her. 

“She’s all set for her big day now.” Rosalie smiled as I took Amara into my arms.

“Look at you!” I crooned as I propped her on my hip and kissed her chubby cheek. 

She reached up to hold my face and looked into my eyes, showing me an image of Edward with a questioning tone. She quickly learned that she needed eye contact and had developed a habit of physically forcing someone to look at her so she could ‘speak’ to them.

I laughed lightly. “Daddy will be here soon. He’s just picking up Auntie Maeve so he can help her get everything here for your party.”

“Believe it or not, Emmett picked out the dress.” Rosalie said quietly, making us laugh at the idea of him sorting through baby princess dresses.

“I had to make sure the mini witch was dressed to impress!” Emmett shouted from across the yard.

Leah snorted a laugh and reached out to offer Amara a finger to hold, gently shaking her little hand. “Hey kiddo. Happy half-birthday.” She said softly. 

She met Leah’s eyes with a tiny pout and Leah chuckled. “You got it. She wants a teether.” 

Leah rushed inside to get a frozen teething toy from the house. Amara was cutting her first teeth and made sure we all knew when she was uncomfortable. Having a family of vampires who never slept on call definitely made taking care of a baby easier. I would probably have to enforce some boundaries eventually, to avoid her becoming too spoiled, but for now she deserved every bit of the care and attention.

I handed her to Esme as she gnawed on her teether and went to help Alice with the decorations. She had accidentally torn the pink banner with Amara’s name on it when she was trying to hang it up.

“Here, I’ve got you, Alice.” 

With a quick pull at the repair spell magic, I fused the two halves back together as if they had never been torn in the first place. With a small wave, I then carefully lifted the banner back into place, securing it on the nails Alice had been initially trying to hang it on.

“Thank you, Dani. I don’t know how that happened.” She sighed.

I gave her a sympathetic smile. “No harm done.”

She hooked her arm in mine and we went right back to cooing over how adorable Amara was. 

“You are just so precious, my sweet girl. I could not have asked for a better granddaughter.” Esme crooned as she brushed a thumb over Amara’s cheek and held her close to her chest.

Amara smiled around her teether and looked into Esme’s eyes as she responded in the only way she could. Esme’s smile widened and she gently kissed Amara’s hand. I watched them with my own smile before giving Amara the thinnest shield. I didn’t think anyone was going to hurt her or anything, I just needed the practice.

I had been relentlessly working on strengthening my own magic. My biggest fear was that the Volturi would find out about her and decide they wanted to interfere. Whether that be trying to take her, harm her, or even just keep an eye on her, I didn’t like any of those possibilities. So I wanted to be prepared to defend her by any means necessary. 

A couple months after she was born I went back to training with the wolves. I wanted to keep my fighting skills up as well. I was meeting with them three times a week, rather than daily, given that I had a lot more on my plate now. 

Most of the younger wolves had gone back to school, so training was held in the evenings after they finished their schoolwork. Even Leah had started taking online classes to cover some of her electives before deciding what she wanted to do long term. I was glad that Sam was prioritizing their education now that he had stopped treating me and my family as a threat. We weren’t on the best of terms yet, but we were at least civil with each other.

Edward finally showed up with Maeve, carrying the altar in one hand and the box of supplies for the ceremony in the other. Wearing a white button down, rolled up to his elbows, and khaki pants, the sight of him sent my heart fluttering.

His lips pulled up into a crooked smile when he spotted me talking with Esme as she held Amara and Carlisle had one of his fingers firmly trapped in her tiny, strong grip. He placed everything where Maeve instructed him to and flashed over to me. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me close.

“Hello love.” He kissed my forehead. “How are you?”

I smiled up at him. “Perfect now.” He leaned down to place a quick, gentle kiss on my lips.

Amara let out the tiniest whine and Esme chuckled. “She’s been looking for you Edward.” 

Edward turned to her just as Amara reached for him. He released one arm from my waist and carefully took Amara from Esme, holding her between us. “Hello my angel. I missed you too.” He crooned before kissing her round cheek as she smiled widely. 

She was starting to take after him a little more. Her nose, brows, and long fingers were definitely his. She loved music as much as the both of us and usually settled down enough to fall asleep while he either sang or played the piano for her. She adored him and the feeling was definitely mutual.

“It’s almost time to start.” Maeve announced. 

I removed Amara’s tiny tiara and replaced it with a small, black hood that Esme made for her. Everyone gathered together for her ceremony. It was an opportunity to present her to the Divine Spirits, bless her, and vow to protect and care for her as her family. 

Maeve opened up a sacred circle around the group before announcing the purpose for our gathering. She then called Edward and I forward to present Amara to the God and Goddess. 

“We call upon the God and Goddess, as well as the generations of witches that have come before us asking for their guidance, care, strength, and wisdom to bless this child, Amara Elizabeth Cullen.”

Amara started making small gurgling noises as Maeve spoke, causing Edward and I to smile down at her. We both leaned down to kiss her head at the same time, our eyes meeting with a chuckle.

Maeve moved on to instruct us to take turns blessing Amara with the elements. Edward started with air as circled a feather around her blonde curls. “Amara Elizabeth Cullen, I bless you with the laughter of air.” She giggled in response, trying to grab the feather from his hand.

I was up next with fire, circling her with incense. “Amara Elizabeth Cullen, I bless you with the creativity of fire.”

Edward continued “Amara Elizabeth Cullen, I bless you with the resilience of water.” He sprinkled blessed water over her head. 

She scrunched her face up as the water dripped into her hair. I leaned down to kiss her cheek and she looked into my eyes, showing me an image of her getting a bath with a clear tone of displeasure. She hated baths. I laughed and reassured her that there would be no more water.

Finally, I blessed her with soil, smudging it on her forehead. “Amara Elizabeth Cullen, I bless you with the safety of earth.”

We moved on to carry her around the circle of family and friends that gathered to bless our daughter. They all took turns kissing her either on the forehead or cheek and offering her blessings of everything from courage and adventure to peace and kindness. It was incredibly moving seeing how much love her life was now and would forever be filled with.

We continued the rest of her party with some small gifts and food for those of us who could consume it. As everything wound down, Maeve closed the sacred circle and Edward and I headed back into the house so we could put Amara down for a nap. Esme converted our old room to a nursery for Amara, leaving our bed there in case we ever needed it again. Edward went up to sing to her and lay her down while I stayed downstairs to help clean up and spend time with the family. 

“That was pretty cool.” Leah came and sat next to me on the large, white sofa in the living room.

I leaned my head against her shoulder. “Yeah, her first ritual. Hopefully not her last. She’s definitely going to be strong.” I huffed a laugh.

“Just like you.” Leah gently nudged me.

“We want to make you her guardian. If something were to happen to us or we need to separate from her for any amount of time to keep her safe.” I glanced up at Leah. “Would that be okay?”

She leaned away to look at me. “Of course. You know I love her, Dani. I would do anything to keep her safe. Why would you ever need to leave her though?” Her brow furrowed in concern.

“I still owe a debt to some pretty powerful people who can never know about her. Edward and I can’t be away from each other for long. If that were to happen, I want you to take care of her.” I explained as I tried to keep my emotions in check.

She gave me a sympathetic look. “Hopefully that will never happen, but obviously I accept. It would be an honor to protect your daughter.”

I pulled her into a hug. “Thank you. You know I love you, right?”

She chuckled tearily. “Right back at you, Dani.”

Edward came back down with a small smile on his lips. “Thank you, Leah.”

She gave him a soft smile. “It’s not even a question, really.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with the family and cleaning everything up while Amara slept. Everything seemed to be falling into place for once.

December 25, 2007

Edward carried Amara down the stairs for her first Christmas as I got breakfast ready for everyone who would be eating at our house that morning. I had pancakes, eggs, and hashbrowns cooking while I sipped my coffee. Edward walked over, kissing the side of my neck before holding Amara up so I could kiss her cheek. 

“Merry Christmas my love.” He murmured into my ear. 

My face split into a wide smile. “Merry Christmas. And Merry Christmas to you too, my sweet girl.” I cooed at Amara as I rubbed my nose against hers, making her giggle. She still hadn’t spoken a word yet, but her giggle was easily the most beautiful sound in the world. 

He had dressed her in a tiny, red sweater dress and candy cane striped leggings. I lightly grabbed her bare foot, giving it a little shake to make her laugh again.

After returning back to the food I was prepping, I plated a pancake, cutting it into strips, and added some scrambled eggs on the side.

“These are for her.” I handed the plate to Edward so he could start feeding her. 

She was still nursing, getting all of the nutrients she needed from me, but she was taking to solid food really well. I was hopeful that she wouldn’t need to consume much blood when she was older. Though the choice would ultimately be hers. Edward had mentioned a few times wanting to take her hunting one day. I couldn’t fault him for the desire to share that with his daughter. Especially since it was something he would never be able to share it with me. Catching and draining a deer was the absolute last thing I would want to do. 

I moved all of the food into the warm oven so it would be ready as soon as everyone arrived. As I drank my coffee, I watched Amara stuffing a pancake strip into her mouth while Edward told her all about giraffes, gesturing to the toy giraffe she was holding. Edward loved teaching her new things and listening to her responding thoughts as she shared them with him. 

The Cullens all arrived together, followed by Maeve and Charlie, and finally Leah. Leah was planning to go back later to spend the evening with her family, but wanted to spend the morning with us and Amara. The imprint shifted all of her priorities and her family, thankfully, understood. I occasionally had a hard time dealing with the intensity of their connection, but had mostly accepted it by this point.

Those of us who could started eating breakfast together while the others took turns presenting Amara with their gifts and gushing over the thoughts she shared with them. We all did our best to keep Charlie from noticing anything strange with Amara. He and Maeve had become very serious and we likely wouldn’t be able to hide our true power from him for long. He was observant, but seemed just as taken by Amara as the rest of us, smiling at her overjoyed reactions to everything offered to her.

After breakfast, we gathered in the living room to enjoy the rest of Christmas morning together.

“We’ve built a playset at the main house for her.” Jasper informed me while he watched Amara play with a tiny wooden toolset he gave her.

I smiled back at him. “She will absolutely love that. Thank you so much.”

“Anything for this darlin’ girl.” Jasper cooed over her. An entirely bizarre sight to see, but she had that effect on people.

She suddenly squealed and toddled over to Esme who was holding up a giant crocheted elephant that she made for her. Amara buried her face in the elephant’s ear, likely smearing drool all over it as Esme laughed at her excitement. She looked up at Esme with wide, happy eyes. 

“You are very welcome sweetheart.” Esme smiled and gently stroked Amara’s cheek. 

Her first Christmas was absolutely perfect. I gave her a tiny triple moon bracelet, matching my own, and Edward made her a book filled with pictures and stories of all of us. That included the picture of us from the dance that was technically our first date and a wedding photo. Leah gave her a small toy bow and arrow set. 

“Seriously Leah? She just started walking!” I gave her a wide-eyed look. Amara’s motor development was nearly as advanced as her mental development. Being as strong as she was seemed to make it easier for her to learn how to crawl, walk, and climb. She would likely soon be outrunning me.

“What? I’ve gotta make sure she has some badass skills. I can teach her this.” She smiled proudly back at me. 

I rolled my eyes and watched Amara wave one of the suction cup tipped arrows around like a baton. 

Perfect. Now she’ll be magical, super strong, and armed. I’m screwed.

Leah and I exchanged gifts as well. I gave her a polished moonstone necklace, representing sisterhood, which I had cast a protection spell over for her. She informed me that her gift was a girls’ night that she planned for me, her, Jess, and Angela for New Years. 

“Holy shit, yes!” I exclaimed. I really needed to get out and have some fun, even if it was just one night. 

I hadn’t seen them since my first trimester. I did my best to keep in touch through email and text, but was anxious to spend some time with them again. I was already in the process of pulling away, eventually fading into the role of just someone they knew in high school. It was heartbreaking, but necessary.

As Leah was going over the details of the girls’ trip to Port Angeles, Rosalie and Esme offered to watch Amara that evening so Edward could go out hunting with the guys. I’d get a girls’ night and he would get a guys’ night. Then we could get back together in the morning and have free reign of the house for a while before they brought her back home. We were both looking forward to it.

That evening, after we settled Amara in for bed, Edward and I exchanged our gifts. He handed me a small, neatly wrapped gift. I eyed him suspiciously as I opened it to reveal a custom made CD. I was expecting it to be a mix CD of rock songs from the 1960’s.

“It’s all of the songs that I’ve composed for you so far.” He smiled his crooked grin.

My smile widened as I turned it over to read the handwritten titles. Danielle’s Sonata, Forever and Always, Bound to You, I Am Yours, and several more equally cheesy song titles. 

“This is absolutely perfect.” I exhaled a small laugh. “Thank you so much.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. 

His arms snaked around my waist, holding me closer. “You are very welcome, my love.”

“I love you so much.” I said quietly.

He pulled back to meet my eyes and reached up, holding my face in both hands. “You are everything to me. I love you more than I could ever express in mere words, Danielle. I’m hoping my songs will do a more thorough job.”

He leaned forward to kiss me, tipping my head back just enough to deepen the kiss and dip his tongue into my mouth.

I let out a small groan in protest and pulled back slightly. “Don’t start that yet,” I argued with a chuckle, “I still need to give you your gift.”

“You have already given me everything I could ever want.” 

“Not everything.” I smirked.

He raised an assessing eyebrow with a lopsided grin.

“Can I borrow your ring?” I gestured to his wedding band.

His brows drew down, but he hesitantly took it off and gave it to me. I removed my own wedding band and got up to grab the supplies I had put together the night before. I placed them into an offering bowl along with rosemary, mint, and a raw moonstone.

“Okay, Maeve did help me, but I haven’t actually tested this yet. I’m pretty sure it will work.” I confessed before I started the spell of my own creation.

“What are you doing?” His green eyes met mine as I got to work.

“You’ll see.” I smiled as I lit the candle with a small push and recited the incantation I wrote myself. The words emphasized the establishment of an open connection and communication between the wearers of the two objects.

As soon as I was done I slipped my ring back on and handed Edward his. “Here, put it on. Let’s see if it worked.” I bit my lip as my excitement grew.

He put his band back on his ring finger and I focused on sharing the moment that I knew I was in love with him. We sat in my room holding hands as he explained why ‘quasar’ would be the ideal ‘safe word’ for us. He had started researching astronomy for me. 

‘That was it for me. I was a lost cause after that moment. ’

I watched as his eyes widened and a smile spread over his face. “I heard you.” He whispered.

“It worked!” I exclaimed.

He laughed and pulled me back to him to kiss me firmly.

“Is it permanent? As long as we’re wearing these?” He quickly pulled away to ask.

“No, it has to be intentional. You can share your thoughts with me through it too. If you want.” I reached up to cup his face. I suddenly saw an image of myself in my mind. I was standing in the driveway of the old house I lived in with Maeve wearing his old leather jacket over a sundress and laughing.

** That was my moment. I was hopelessly devoted from then on. ** 

I heard his thoughts as clearly as if he had spoken them. My smile grew impossibly wider. We gave each other a few more Christmas presents that night in our soundproof bedroom.

March 2008

I stood in their yard with Rose watching Emmett push Amara on the swingset. She released high-pitched giggles every time he pushed her higher and I was fighting to survive the heart attack that hit me every time she ended up parallel to the ground. He was having a blast too though. Occasionally he would suddenly grab the swing, stopping her mid-air, and laugh with her until she started to kick her legs in protest and he would let her go again.

“I would give anything to have that with him.” Rose smiled sadly.

I hooked my arm with hers. “I know. I wish you could too, Rose. You’re such a wonderful aunt to her and she adores Emmett too.”

“We all adore her.” She glanced at me with a small sigh. “She showed me another vision earlier today.”

“What?” I looked at her in alarm. “What was it this time?”

“Nothing serious, just me, her, and Emmett throwing seeds to the ducks that have been gathering at the river. We were planning on taking her to do that this weekend. We haven’t said anything to her about it though.” Rose pursed her beautiful lips to the side.

I let out a heavy sigh. She had been showing us snippets of visions for the last couple months. It seemed way too early for something like that to manifest and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.

“I need to talk to Maeve. I just want her to have a safe, happy, and mostly normal life.” I watched Emmett push her again, flashing around in front of her to tickle her feet while she squealed.

“That’s what all of us want.” She paused. “How are you doing?”

“I’m good. Just trying to keep busy.” My brow furrowed at the skeptical look she was giving me.

“You’re going stir crazy aren’t you?” She smirked. “All of your friends are off at college. You should have been there by now too.”

I lightly shook my head. “Amara needs me. She’s more important.”

“You’re important too.” Rose argued.

“I’ve got my magic studies. I’m getting stronger all the time, creating my own spells. I need to be able to protect her.” My eyes widened. “Possibly keep up with her too if she continues at this rate.”

Rose chuckled lightly. “Not so high Em!” She called out when Amara went just higher than parallel to the ground.

He winked at her as he flashed around and grabbed Amara’s feet, stopping her mid-air. She whined a little and started kicking her feet again while he laughed. Without warning, Emmett flew back from her and fell onto his back, sliding a couple feet on the ground as she went back to swinging.

“Holy shit!” I jumped up and ran to her. “Amara! What was that?!” I turned to Emmett as I grabbed her from the bucket seat of the swing. “Are you okay Emmett?”

He got up and brushed the dirt off his back. “I’m fine, sorry mini witch.” He gave her a chagrined smile.

I looked back at her with wide eyes. “You can’t do that baby girl.” I said softly as she looked into my eyes. 

She showed me a replay of Emmett falling to the ground and I heard the word ‘hurt’ with a questioning tone.

“No, he’s not hurt honey. But you need to be careful with your magic.” I ran my hand over her blonde curls and kissed her forehead. 

This was exactly what I was afraid of. If she couldn’t control it, she could be exposed. She grabbed my cheeks, pushing my head back just enough so she could look into my eyes. 

** Sorry. ** 

The voice from her mind sounded a lot like mine, so it was always a little jarring when she did that. At just over a year old, she still hadn’t actually spoken a single word. She didn’t really need to when she could just project her thoughts from across a room.

“It’s okay.” I cupped her chubby cheek in my hand and gave her a soft smile.

“Is she alright?” Emmett asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, she just feels bad. She thought she might have hurt you.”

Emmett ducked down to meet her eyes and gave her a dimpled smile. “I’m a lot tougher than that mini witch.” He grabbed her foot and gently shook it.

She smiled back with a wide, baby-toothed grin. I kissed her cheek and handed her to Rose so she could put her down for a nap while I called Maeve. I needed advice.

Maeve came over to our house for dinner a couple days later.  She joined me and Amara while we ate the vegetable spaghetti I made for us. Amara also had a small sippy cup of mountain lion blood. Once I stopped nursing, she started to become slightly anemic and lost a little weight. We quickly realized that she needed blood too. They all started taking turns hunting for her and bringing back blood from large predators to keep her healthy and fed. A small amount with meals seemed to be sufficient and she took to it right away.

Edward stayed seated next to Amara while she ate. He was ready to stop her the moment she tried to throw her plate on the floor. It inevitably happened at every meal.

“You could bind her powers?” Maeve offered.

I gave her a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

“It’s temporary. She wouldn’t be able to perform magic until either she reaches a specified age or you remove the binding.” She explained.

I scanned Maeve’s face thoughtfully. “I don’t know if I like that. I want her to be able to control it as her power grows.”

“We wouldn’t have to keep hiding her.” Edward spoke up. “She could go to school when she’s old enough. Make friends.”

My heart sank. “It’s such a crucial part of her though.” 

I watched as she carefully picked up a noodle and slurped it into her mouth through pursed lips. She didn’t like getting too messy, it meant a bath and she still hated baths. I smiled softly as I thought of her being able to be a part of the world, but frowned again when I realized the cost.

“I think we need to at least discuss it. Do you know how to do it, Maeve?” Edward asked.

“I’ve never done it myself, but I know the ritual. I looked into it when I thought you might need it.” Maeve gave me a pointed look.

I scoffed at her. “I would have been pissed if you did that to me.”

“I never would have done it without your consent.” She looked at me as if that were obvious.

I looked at Amara again and sighed. “Could she even consent to something like that? I mean, she’s smart. She understands a lot more than a typical one year old, but she is still just a baby.”

“Exactly. She’s just a baby.” Edward started to debate. “She doesn’t understand that the things she can do aren’t normal. We could just bind her power until she’s old enough to understand. We don’t ever have to hide it from her either. She will always know how incredible and powerful she is. You and Maeve could continue to teach her. It would just be to keep her safe.”

“I know.” I replied with a sigh. “Can I have some time to think about it?” I looked between him and Maeve.

“Of course.” Edward reached across the table and took my hand. “There’s no rush.”

“I’ll make sure I have everything in case you decide to go forward with it. You both are doing a great job, by the way.” She smiled and touched a finger to Amara’s perfect button nose.

Amara gave her a grin before pulling another noodle into her mouth.

It took a week of discussing and arguing over it, but we eventually decided together. We bound her powers less than a month later. We set the spell to end when she turns fifteen with the hope that I could remove the binding sooner. I planned to start teaching her more about her magic and witchcraft right away.

May 2008

Edward and I were heading into another cycle. My mark was gone and his eyes were almost gold again. We had been doing this every two weeks or so for the past two years. Our anniversary was coming up and we asked Jasper and Alice if they would mind taking Amara for the weekend. Apparently Jasper noticed the change and the rapidly rising sexual tension between us. He took it upon himself to bring it up with Carlisle. 

“I think I might have a solution for you two. I’ve done a lot of research on both soulbonds and the effect your prodigious cells have on each other.” Carlisle started after asking us to speak with him in his office.

I couldn’t fight the blush heating my face and chest as Edward held my hand and bit back a laugh. He thought my mortification was hilarious. 

“What would that be?” Edward pushed him to continue while I considered just teleporting out of the room.

“Your venom mixes with her blood to create her mark, but she needs to permanently mark you as well to complete the bond. I believe that if she were to mark you with her blood that it would create the soulbond mark on you required to make it permanent.” Carlisle explained. “I can only assume magic is involved in the actual permanency and effects of it, but if it works the cycles should stop.” He added when neither of us said anything.

“You think I should bite him and then bleed into the bite?” I asked.

“As an example, yes. Just find a way to mark him and mix your blood with his venom. The changes it causes to his venom should be enough to complete it and make it permanent.”

I looked at Edward with wide eyes and he just shrugged. “Worth a try?” He smirked.

“What happens after that? Would it change anything?” I asked. 

“It seems to vary. The most commonly reported effect is that two soul bonded mates can feel each other’s emotions. There have also been mentions of physical and mental connections. You’ll just have to find out.” He shrugged. 

“Okay. That would be… interesting.” I glanced at Edward to see him smirking at me. 

** That would be incredible. ** 

He shared his thoughts with me through the connection spell on our rings. I smirked and rolled my eyes. He would give anything to read my mind at will. 

Alice and Jasper happily took Amara for the next two evenings while Edward and I had a small celebration for our second anniversary. He made me a fondue dinner with an incredible Gruyère based cheese and various foods to dip in it. He finished it with fruit and chocolate fondue.

After dinner we found ourselves upstairs sharing a bubble bath in our giant tub. I leaned back into his chest while he held me and we talked about our plans for the future. I still really wanted to go to college and have a life outside of being a mother and wife once Amara was older. Edward wanted to start showing me the world and seeing new places himself. 

“I’m taking you to France in two months.” He murmured in my ear as he kissed his way up my neck. 

I turned to face him. “Really? Like for real this time?” A smile spread over my face. 

His eyes lit up as he returned my smile. “For real this time. It’s all booked. Alice and Jasper are coming too. Esme and Carlisle will take care of Amara. Leah will help out as well.”

I huffed an excited laugh and held his face in my hands so I could pull him down to kiss me. He gripped my waist and turned me around until I was straddling him in the tub. My fingers moved up, lacing into his hair to tilt his head up and deepen the kiss. 

His hard cock was pressing firmly against my stomach. Our need for each other had reached its peak. I lifted myself up and he quickly reached down to line himself up with my entrance. A high groan of pleasure escaped me as I lowered back down onto him. Our lips remained locked together and I started to ride him. When I needed to breathe, he moved down to lick and nip at my breasts, pulling my nipple into his mouth. I kept my hands in his hair and threw my head back, soaking in every sensation. 

His mouth drifted back up to graze his teeth against the spot where his mark on me should be. He sucked the skin there, pulling it into his mouth with a low growl.

“Where do you want me to mark you?” I asked breathlessly as I dropped down onto him again.

He pulled back to meet my eyes. One hand gripped my hip, stilling my motions, and the other removed one of my hands from his hair. He moved my hand down to the left side of his neck right where his carotid artery would be.

“Right here.” He replied huskily.

I glanced down at the spot and back up into his eyes. “That’s a very… visible spot.” My voice was still low with desire.

“Exactly.” He smiled crookedly and lifted me up by the hip, encouraging me to start riding him again. I happily obliged.

My mouth moved to the spot on his throat that he chose. Lips kissing and blunt teeth biting at his sensitive skin as he growled. He went back to doing the same at the crook of my neck, sending a pleasurable shiver down my spine.

“Okay. We’ll bite each other, then you kiss me.” I managed to get out through a moan. “Then I can add my blood to my bite on you.”

His eyes were nearly black when they met mine again. His expression was filled with more lust than I had ever seen from him before.

“That is the sexiest fucking thing I have ever heard.” His voice was as dark as his eyes.

I smirked and picked up my pace, plunging him in and out of me and bringing myself closer to climax. “Now.” I whispered desperately.

He leaned forward and bit into the sensitive spot on my neck at the same time as I bit into his. I pushed at my magic and my teeth broke through his skin. Some of his venom trickled into my mouth. It was warm and sweet, spicy cinnamon and raw sugar. He groaned loudly as he came and my orgasm hit at the same moment.

We came back up to kiss each other deeply. My blood mixed with his venom tasted strangely pleasant. Coppery and rich, but also sweet with his warm cinnamon essence. I pulled away and ran my tongue over the open bite mark on his neck, mixing my blood into it. 

“Fuck! Danielle!” He cried out.

The bond that had been there since our binding ceremony sealed, solidified, and opened something between us. His grip on my waist tightened and he began thrusting up into me. We felt each other. I could feel every sensation he was feeling and, I assumed based on the sounds he was making, he felt me as well. I resumed riding him, meeting him thrust for thrust. 

His mouth met mine again, both of us still moaning in ecstasy as our climaxes bled into each other endlessly. Back and forth we experienced each others’ physical pleasure, love for the other, bliss at our complete union, everything. 

This went on for so long that I almost forgot we were separate people. Our bodies continued meeting, sharing every sensation. Mouths and teeth exploring each other until I couldn’t take anymore and found a way to close the connection. I pushed it away before I lost consciousness from pure exhaustion. We held each other tightly. Me fighting for air as joyful sobs wracked my body and him burying his face in my shoulder, inhaling deeply as we finally came back down. 

Now that our soulbond was completed, we were both left with faint white bite marks. Mine was lower down and easily covered by a collar, while his was right near the front of his throat for the world to see. We spent the rest of that weekend naked alternating between the bed, the shower, the sofa, the counter, and anywhere else that we happened to fall into each other.

After that the cycles stopped. Our marks remained and his eyes stayed the same beautiful shade of sage green from his human life. I became physically stronger, had better control of my power, and, according to Carlisle’s tests, I stopped aging altogether. 

Edward did go back to needing to hunt, though it was much less frequent now. His green eyes would darken to an almost brown shade as he became thirstier over the course of a month. He probably could have taken some blood from me instead, but he didn’t want to do that anymore since we didn’t have to. His body temperature rose slightly after he fed now and his skin would grow more flushed, appearing more human than before. We were both permanently changed and forever bound together. 

We quickly discovered that the physical connection we shared could be opened if we pulled at the bond between us together. I could feel what Edward was feeling and he could feel what I was. It was incredibly intense. Our joint pleasure would literally double resulting in the most incredible sex we had ever had, and we were already having pretty incredible sex. 

Now we could never be parted again. If one of us died, both of us died. Neither one of us had any intention of dying within the next few millennia, so we had no worries about that. We were lovers, friends, soulmates. Everything was completely perfect.

Chapter Text

July 2008

Paris, France

I did it. I finally took Dani to France. Three years later than I initially planned, but I would do everything in my power to make up for that. I was going to take her everywhere, show her everything. She would want for nothing and I would ensure that she has the life she deserves. A life filled with love, travel, fulfillment, and absolutely incredible sex. That was the first item on our agenda. This was our first trip away from Amara and we were going to take full advantage of it.

I got us checked into our luxury suite with a balcony view of the Seine. Dani got right to work casting a silencing spell and another spell to increase the durability of the bed, a very necessary precaution. 

Her powers had grown dramatically since Amara was born. She could cast several spells, including the silencing one, purely by intent. Her ability to teleport had no apparent limits anymore, extending to transporting objects and even other people independently. She also had almost an entire book of her own spells now. She was a true prodigy, as Maeve describes her. A goddess as I would.

I watched intently as she remained focused on the space around us. Her navy blue dress hugged her waist and dipped just low enough over her chest to fuel my impatience to tear it off of her.

As she was finishing the silencing spell I came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist. 

“You are so beautiful.” I whispered close to her ear. She hummed contentedly in response. 

With two fingers I moved her long beautiful hair behind her shoulder and ran my nose up her neck. I would never get enough of her scent, her taste, her. Her hand reached up to hold the back of my neck, running her fingers through my hair. She let out the smallest moan as I nipped at her pulse point. 

I made my way down to her mark, my mark, pressing firm kisses to it. I knew exactly how her body would respond. Both of our marks were incredibly sensitive erogenous spots for us. It took very little stimulation to get her worked up. 

She gripped my shoulder and pulled me around, throwing me onto the bed with a seductive smirk. As she climbed over me to straddle me, I quickly flipped us over, reversing our positions.

“Ah ah, love. Me first.” I gave her my crooked grin and her heart beat faster.

“No arguments here.” Her tone low and husky with lust, a smirk playing at her full lips.

I leaned down to kiss her firmly and clasped both of her wrists in my hand, pulling them up over her head. She bit at my chin as I looked up, thrusting her hips up to meet mine. Gripping her hip with my other hand, I pushed it back down to the mattress with a low growl. When she stopped moving, I slowly removed my belt. She bit down on her lower lip as she watched me wrap it around her wrists and secure it to two of the bars on the headboard.

“Now. Try not to break anything.” I whispered before tasting her delicious neck again.

Her moans fed the flames of my own desire as I pressed firm circles with my tongue down her throat to her collar bone. With one hand, I made my way up her thigh and beneath her dress, until I got to her incredible ass. I squeezed it firmly before hooking my fingers in the waistband of her barely there, lace underwear and pulling them down her legs.

“Edward, I need you so badly right now.” Her voice was breathy and desperate.

I smiled against her skin as I moved lower to her breasts. “You’ll have me, love. I just want an appetizer first.” 

I lowered the top of her dress and pulled one of her taut nipples into my mouth. She moaned again as I lightly nipped and swirled my tongue around it. I loved discovering a new sound I could elicit from her. I was hopeful I’d find another to add to my mental collection today.

“Is this a favorite dress?” I asked, briefly releasing her nipple from my mouth.

“Mm, not at all.” She panted needily.

I reached up and tore open the front of it, unwrapping her like the gift that she was. She let out a small squeak as I brought my mouth down over her other breast, giving it equal attention. I’d heard that sound before. I let my hands roam her body. Squeezing her hip in one hand, right where it transitioned to her ass, and kneading her breast while stroking her hardened nipple with the other hand. 

I loved every single part of her body. Memorized and worshipped every square inch of it over the past two years that we’ve been married. I released my mouth from her nipple with a faint pop and made my way lower. 

The open mouthed kisses I traced down her sternum had her slightly arching her back and breathing heavier. Her stomach was very ticklish, I needed to be careful in that area. Instead of nipping, I lightly kissed my way down her stomach and brought my hand from her breast to her waist. Lighter pressure was more pleasurable for her there and I was going to please her.

As I continued lower, she pulled at the belt, likely trying to reach for my head. She loved to grip my hair and hold me closer as I went down on her. Not this time though, I wanted full control. To give her my best work while all she had to do was experience it. 

My mouth moved down to her thighs. I mapped one of her inner thighs with my lips, tongue, and teeth, stopping to lift her leg and taste the back of her knee before moving lower. Every part of her was intoxicating. She tasted like the sweetest honeydew and jasmine. I moved to the back of her other knee and worked my way back up.

“Edward, please.” She begged.

That was good. I loved when she begged for me. It made it so much sweeter when I finally tasted her and made her come with my mouth.

“Patience, baby. I’m working.” I murmured against her skin. 

I could feel the frustration rolling off of her as I continued my ministrations. I wasn’t even close to done yet. I kissed and licked my way from one hip to the other, back up to her neck and shoulders, then back down again until I stopped at her mound, placing a firm kiss there. All the while, her breaths and moans picked up in both frequency and pitch. 

Perfect, I might get a new sound after all.  

I wrapped my arms around her thighs, holding her open for me. The sight of her perfect wet pussy was almost enough to make me stop and bury myself inside of her already. I needed to taste her though. To bring her to her highest point before taking anything for myself.  

I licked up the wetness that had been flooding out of her while I was busy exploring her body. She tasted fucking divine. If I could survive off of her arousal alone, I would never hunt another animal again.  

She whimpered as I lapped at her folds. I thrust my tongue inside of her and she made a high-pitched, half strangled sound. I’d heard that one before too, it was a favorite of mine. I briefly fucked her with my tongue before moving up to her clit and firmly circling it. Her sounds reached a higher pitch as I continued working her sensitive nub. 

“Shit yes, baby. God that’s so fucking good.” She whimpered above me. 

My erection throbbed almost painfully where it was straining against my jeans. I couldn’t wait to kiss her filthy mouth as she came around my cock. But first, I needed her to finish on my tongue. I switched it up and started quickly flicking my tongue over her clit. I unwound one arm from around her thigh and reached between her legs to quickly insert two fingers into her hot core.

“Nnn, ah! Fucking christ, Edward!” She cried out in a surprised, breathless tone. That was definitely new. I happily filed it away with the rest of them.

I didn’t let up for a second, flicking my tongue and plunging my fingers into her, pressing my fingertips firmly against her g-spot as I worked. I had her body down to a science. I knew I would have her coming in less than three minutes at this rate. 

She groaned pleasurably again. The belt strained against the headboard as she fought for control. Her thighs tensed, gripping my head tightly between them. Then her back arched up and she cried out my name. Her core clenched around my fingers, wetness dripping down my hand and her swollen clit throbbed against my tongue. She rolled her hips up into my face while she rode out her orgasm.

“Edward! God fucking dammit, yes!” She continued crying out my name along with a stream of profanities as her pleasure swept over her. I wanted to fuck her mouth and make her swallow down all of those filthy words with my cum. Experience had taught me that she was more than happy to oblige.

When her inner walls stopped spasming around my fingers, I pulled them back out. Then I licked every delicious drop of her from my drenched fingers before kissing my way back up her body. With one hand I released her wrists from the belt and the other cupped her face so I could tilt her head at just the right angle to kiss her properly. I couldn’t hold back the growl that rose up from my chest as our tongues met and her nails scraped at my scalp, now that her hands were free again.

“You have too many clothes.” She murmured breathlessly against my lips.

She reached down and grabbed my pants in one hand, quickly teleporting them away. Hopefully they were still in the room somewhere, I actually liked those jeans. That left my shirt and my underwear between us. 

I continued kissing her as she made quick work of the buttons on my shirt, shrugging out of it as soon as she was done. Next she slid a leg up the side of my body and expertly lowered my underwear down to my ankles with her foot. I kicked them off, finally pressing our naked bodies together.

My lips left hers as I kissed along her jawline and she kissed and bit at my neck and shoulder. Her legs came up around my waist and she rolled her hips forward, pressing my erection firmly into her lower abdomen. With one hand, I reached down between us and lined my cock up with her deliciously wet entrance. A deep growl rumbled up from my chest again as I quickly plunged into her hot core and she moaned my name. My hand moved to grip her hip and I started thrusting. Our bodies joined together perfectly, just as the universe intended. 

Dani grazed her teeth over her mark on my neck, sending an aggressive shiver down my spine. “Do you want to share?” She asked in a breathy whimper against my sensitive skin. 

“Fuck yes, baby.” I groaned as I picked up my pace, preparing for her to open her side of our connection. 

As soon as I pulled at the bond connecting me to Dani I felt everything she did and she felt me just as intensely. Our joint pleasure doubled in an instant. The result was that we would both come quickly. We cried out when our climaxes hit simultaneously. I pressed my forehead to hers as I groaned out words of praise and love and she cried out in ecstasy. 

It seemed to create an infinite feedback loop when we did this during sex. We would keep coming until the connection was broken. The longest we ever let it go on was nearly forty-five minutes before Dani passed out from the sheer intensity of it. 

I stared deeply into her eyes as the gold in her irises burst to life and danced around her pupils. 

“So beautiful. Fuck! You feel so good. Keep coming Dani.” I growled into her ear as I continued pumping my cock into her, giving her every last drop of my cum. 

“Edward! You’re so fucking big! Don’t stop!” She groaned back, her core squeezing me tighter as I felt both of our pleasure. I knew I was well above average, but it still did something for my ego whenever she reminded me of it, I was still a man after all. In response, I drove into her harder.

Her fingers gripped tightly into my hair as we held our mouths mere millimeters apart. Our breaths mingling together as we savored every sensation. 

I always thought the orgasms Dani gave me were the pinnacle of pleasure. It couldn’t possibly get any better than that. Then I felt her orgasms and was both humbled and self-assured. I made her feel such powerful, all-consuming sensations that often went on for minutes at a time. To experience it with her was akin to a spiritual awakening. There had been a few exceptions where life got in the way, but I was committed to making her come everyday until the end of time. 

After fifteen minutes of our shared orgasm, she broke the connection with a loud gasp. She struggled to catch her breath and I stopped thrusting. Instead I started to gently kiss her jaw, cheeks, forehead, every part of her gorgeous face. I saved her lips for last, she still needed those to breathe for the moment. 

We held each other close as we both came down from the high of our intense climaxes. I slipped out of her and rolled over, pulling her over me as I did. She traced lazy patterns over my chest as I combed my fingers through her caramel, gold, and auburn hair. 

“I want to have another baby.” I confessed quietly. I had been thinking about it for a while. Our daughter was perfect. We absolutely needed to bring more like her into the world. 

She looked up at my face and I looked down to meet her confused eyes. “Amara’s still a baby.” She replied. 

My lips pulled up into a content smile. “I don’t mean right now. But eventually. I would love to have another child with you.” 

I leaned down to kiss away the line forming between her brows, feeling her relax beneath my lips. 

“I would love that too. We need to focus on Amara for now though. But one day, definitely.” She sighed.

Her hand reached up to cup my face and pull my lips to hers. Overwhelming joy swelled in my chest as I kissed her firmly. She wanted the same. We could bring another amazing daughter into the world together one day. 

I loved being a father and she was an incredible mother. Watching her care for and love Amara had been the second most transformative experience of my existence. The first being falling in love with her. 

I could hear Alice’s thoughts warning me that she would soon be on her way to interrupt us. I pulled away from her lips with a sigh. 

“Alice is coming to steal you from me.” I murmured in a defeated tone. 

Dani chuckled. “I should probably get dressed then.” 

I laughed when she bit firmly at my chest before climbing out of the king-sized bed. She opened up her suitcase and pulled out a blue and white floral sundress and a set of black lingerie, taking them into the bathroom with a wink. 

I heard the shower running as she got herself ready to go out. Normally I would join her, but that would quickly result in us fucking against the shower wall and there wasn’t enough time before Alice arrived. Instead I threw on a plush white robe and waited. 

Dani pulled her hair out of the bun she had it in to keep it dry as she walked out of the bathroom. She was now, unfortunately, dressed and she looked as beautiful as always. I pulled her into my arms as she giggled right before Alice knocked on the door. Wanting just another moment, I held her face in one hand and tipped her head back so that I could explore her mouth with my tongue. Alice knocked again. I pulled back with a disgruntled sigh.

“I’ll be back before dinner.” Dani smiled and quickly kissed my lips before going to greet Alice. 

They were going shopping. Alice wanted to get some more outfits for the Fall and was planning to help Dani get a dress for our dinner out this evening. 

“Don’t worry, Edward! You’ll definitely be satisfied with the results of my labor!” Alice sang out as she pulled Dani from the room and disappeared down the hall.

After only a few moments alone, I decided to take a shower myself. I heard Jasper’s thoughts calling my attention as soon as I stepped out and toweled off.

** You wanna get outta here too? We could run to one of the mountains nearby? Maybe find a wolf? **

His tone was excited. He had never had a French animal before. For some reason he thought it might be more refined. I laughed to myself as I got dressed and met him in the hall.

“Lead the way.” I smirked.

We quickly made our way out of the clouded city and ran to one of the less visited mountains outside of Paris. Running through the mountains was exhilarating. It had been a while since we’d done this together. 

There wasn’t much besides deer and smaller animals. Jasper did manage to catch a lynx, but no predators larger than that seemed to be in the area. After burying our kills, we sat at the top of one of the peaks facing the city.

“We may be able to make a trip to the Alps while we’re here. There are bound to be better options there.” I offered.

Jasper smirked. “Alice would love that. What would Dani do while we’re gone though?” His face fell slightly in thought as he turned to me.

** Clearly she can’t join us. **

“She’s been wanting to visit the Richelieu Library. She could easily spend a whole day there.” I smiled at the thought of her carefully inspecting old books and taking in the architecture of the historic building. “Despite the fact that I’ve told her that I enjoy watching her browse and read, she becomes self conscious that she’s boring me and will often rush herself.” I shook my head. I could watch that woman watch paint dry and be completely enamored.

** Of course she does. That sounds about right for her. **

“She won’t mind being alone in the city for a day?” Jasper asked aloud.

“I’ll ask to make sure, but I think she would enjoy having a day to herself in Paris. Especially if we go on one of the many sunny days that will plague our trip.” I laughed shortly. 

I hated the idea of her being stuck inside, unable to see the city because of us. She could cast concealment spells over us, but the more she did the quicker the spell faded. We learned that unexpectedly during a trip to Sacramento that we took Amara on with Carlisle and Esme. She recast it before we were exposed, but it was alarming to say the least.

“I’ll ask Alice to look into the best day to go. I’m sure she’ll put together a whole itinerary for Dani while we’re gone.” He smiled wider.

“She does know Dani almost as well as I do.” I glanced at him.

“I do believe Alice would disagree with you on that point.” He chuckled. “It has been heavily implied that they tell each other everything.” He raised an eyebrow at me. 

I huffed a laugh. Dani was a very private person when it came to certain physical aspects of our relationship. “I doubt that.”

I smirked at him with a raised eyebrow at his next thought.

** We could race back to the city? **

“Sure. I could use an easy win.” I shrugged. 

Jasper barked out a laugh then jumped down and disappeared, getting a head start on me. That would make no difference. I was much faster than him on his best day. As I came up behind him, running at full speed, I was hit by an overwhelming drowsy feeling.

“That’s cheating!” I growled loudly as I started to slow.

He laughed and surged ahead. Despite his attempts to slow me down with his unsportsmanlike conduct, I beat him to the station where we would take a train back to the hotel. 

We arrived just in time to catch Alice and Dani in the other suite sorting through their things. Dani smiled brightly as soon as she saw me. She jumped up in a rush to wrap her arms around my neck and pressed her lips firmly to mine. My heart felt full as I held her in my arms again, like a vital piece of me was missing while we were apart. 

I started to rethink our trip to the Alps. Perhaps we could find a way to include Dani after all. She could ski nearby or visit one of the historical villages. That way I wouldn’t be away from her for so long.

We made it back to our own suite with enough time for Dani to get ready for our dinner reservation. I was taking her to have an authentic French meal in one of the more relaxed restaurants in Paris. I changed into my own suit with a light green button down, she liked me in green. 

Dani came out of the bathroom with her hair done up and red lipstick on, wearing a black cocktail dress. It had one wide strap holding it up over her right shoulder and the back dipped enticingly low on her waist. It accentuated her exquisite hips and ass and gave me an excellent view of her legs. I instantly grew hard at the sight of her. 

“Oh love. This dress won’t last very long past dinner.” I gave her a lopsided grin as I sped over to her and gripped her ass tight. I pressed our bodies together, letting her feel the effect she had on me. Her hands reached up to grip the collar of my suit jacket and a smirk pulled at the corners of her lips. 

“I’ll just take it off the moment we get back here then.” She replied in a low, sensual voice before nipping at my lower lip and rolling her hips forward against me.

I didn’t hold back the low growl that rose up from my chest. This wasn’t the first time that I thought this woman might kill me. She was easily the sexiest creature to walk this Earth and she was mine. We were absolutely going to be doing ungodly things to each other tonight. 

“We should go before we miss our reservation.” I reluctantly pulled away and took her hand in mine.

“Then let’s go. I’m starving.” She pulled me to the door and we made our way out of the hotel.

We were seated as soon as we arrived at the restaurant. I paid enough in advance to ensure that we wouldn’t have to wait and we had the best table they offered. Indoors and right next to one of the windows facing the Eiffel Tower. 

She spoke to the waiter in confident French. More formal than a native speaker would, but she clearly remembered much of what she knew in her life before. I ordered the mussels with the intent of Dani trying them. She ordered the risotto and finished with the crème brûlée. 

She told me a bit more about her ‘past life’. That she never had the money to travel when she was younger and then didn’t have the time to when she was older. We talked about the things she would like to see and do while we were here. Museums, libraries, markets, and cafes. I was going to give her the full experience. 

I watched as she thoroughly enjoyed her meal, sighing and throwing her head back when she took her first bite of dessert. Her tongue darted out to slowly lick some stray custard from her lips and all I could think about was having her wrap those sinful lips and her dexterous tongue around my cock. It was beginning to become painful. As soon as she was done, I paid cash for our food, leaving plenty extra as a tip despite it not being customary here, and practically pulled her out the door.

I held her close, occasionally leaning down to nip at her neck, causing her to giggle, as we walked the streets toward the train station that would take us back to our hotel. We stood closely together on the train. My hands on her hips and hers beneath my suit jacket as we gazed into each other’s eyes with no concern for the other passengers. I couldn’t stop myself from devouring her mouth as we stumbled down the hall toward our suite, like two drunken honeymooners. 

As soon as the door was shut, she transported her dress from her body to one of the chairs in the living area. That left her in only a silk and lace black thong. Her nipples were peaked and pink against the pale skin of her perfect breasts and I could already smell her heady arousal. With a groan, I bent down to wrap my arms around her thighs and lift her up. Without a moment of hesitation she wrapped her arms and legs around me, kissing me thoroughly. Her tongue danced with mine while her fingers gripped my hair and I kneaded her perfect ass. 

We didn’t even make it to the bedroom. Instead I fell down onto the sofa with her straddling my lap. As if she could read my mind, she immediately dropped herself to the floor and quickly opened and lowered my pants. In the next second she had my cock in her hot, wet mouth. Her head bobbed up and down as her tongue expertly massaged along the underside of my dick.

I gripped both hands in her hair and leaned my head back with a loud moan. It was fucking incredible the things that she could do with her tongue. She could make me come within a minute when she gave it her all. I had other plans though. I slowly moved my hands to her shoulders.

“Mind if I take control?” I asked in a barely contained groan.

She hummed, the vibrations sending another jolt of pleasure straight to my balls, and pulled her mouth away. She backed up slightly while I stood up in front of her. I held her chin as she looked up at me with those mesmerizing blue and gold eyes. Using my thumb, I gently coaxed her mouth open and she took me back in. 

“Remember, squeeze twice if you need to stop, baby.” I panted as her tongue went right back to working my cock.

I held both hands to the back of her head, fisting my hands in her hair, utterly ruining the elegant twist she had it up in. It took only two thrusts for her throat to open up for me so I could sink myself even further into her mouth. After a few more thrusts she adjusted and I was able to fit every inch of my cock inside her. 

“You’re doing so good, baby.” My voice was low and rough as I tried to keep it together. 

She started moaning around my already throbbing dick. The tension in my lower abdomen and my balls grew tenfold. I was seconds away from coming already as she moaned and repeatedly pulsed her tongue against me. My motions briefly sped up and I fucked her mouth faster. My hold on her hair tightened as the tension started to snap. 

“Fuck, Dani. God! Fuck! I’m coming!” I tried to give her as much warning as I could before I poured my cum down her throat with a practically feral growl. 

She swallowed all of it down as I released inside her mouth. When my orgasm finally stopped, she licked along my shaft and around the head of my dick, cleaning every drop off of me. It was the sexiest thing I had ever seen. 

“Truly a fucking goddess.” The words came out as a rumbling growl.

When she smirked up at me, I hastily removed my pants and lifted her off of the floor. Once I had her in the bedroom, I took her from behind as she held tightly to the headboard. She screamed out my name while I fucked her tight pussy fast and hard until she came twice. I was hoping to give her a third orgasm, but she was completely exhausted after the second. Within minutes of catching her breath, she was drifting to sleep in my arms.

I held her close to me, brushing my fingers through her hair while she slept in the crook of my elbow. I took in her long, dark lashes, her full pink lips, and her perfectly arched brows. I gently traced my index finger over the dimple in her chin and counted her freckles again. There were sixty-seven now. 

I always wondered how that worked. She had stopped aging entirely, but she still changed. Her hair and nails grew and she developed more freckles. She would even tan in the summer, causing her freckles to darken and stand out more. She had menstrual cycles and bore my child. She wasn’t frozen like the rest of us. But still, she didn’t age.

Carlisle claimed it was because she was still ‘mostly’ human and her magic was simply repairing her cells. However, I knew from his thoughts that it was just a theory. I tried not to dwell on it though. I was just relieved that we had eternity together. Though I would never admit it out loud, I couldn’t bear the thought of watching her slowly die. I would do it if it meant that I got to be with her, but losing her would destroy me. Forever was hardly enough time, several decades would have been far too brief. It was probably for the best that our soulbond meant that our lives were bound as well. I would never have to live without her. 

She made a small noise and I went back to brushing my fingers through her hair. She still spoke my name nearly every night as she slept. Sometimes she would utter entire sentences about me. Saying aloud how much she loves me or describing the color of my hair or my eyes. 

I would never be able to properly convey to her how much I love her. How she had indelibly changed me and brought so much light and warmth into my previously dark, cold existence. For a long time, I believed that I no longer had a soul. She changed that belief for me. The universe could not have given me such a perfectly suited soulmate if I didn’t have a soul. I smiled down at her and kissed her forehead as she continued to dream.

After about an hour her heart rate picked up. Her brows drew down and sweat started to form along her hairline. She was having a nightmare. They happened so rarely these days, but she would likely never be free of them. Not after everything she had gone through because of me. 

I failed her so miserably and she suffered greatly because of it. I’ve spent every moment since trying to make up for it and I would continue doing so for the rest of our lives. I cupped her face in my hand and gently stroked her cheek, trying to soothe her. 

“Shh. It’s okay, you’re safe Dani.” I spoke quietly enough that it shouldn’t wake her. “I’m right here, love. I’ve got you. Always.”

After another minute she shot up in the bed and I followed after her, wrapping my arms around her as she screamed and fought for air. 

“It’s okay, you’re alright. It was just a dream.” I spoke against her hair as she clutched my arms tightly. 

Her breathing sped up further until she was hyperventilating in my arms. I quickly turned her to face me. Her eyes were wide and filled with tears. “Hey, baby, you’re okay!” I held her face in my hands. “It was just a dream, Dani.”

She shook her head as her tears fell to her cheeks. “Not a dream.” She panted.

My stomach dropped. ‘Not a dream.’ That could only mean one thing. It was a vision. Judging by her state it wasn’t a good one.

“What happened, Dani?” I stroked my thumbs along her cheekbones, wiping her tears away as I held her terrified gaze.

Her voice was breathless and trembling. “The Volturi. They’ll be calling in a favor soon.”

Chapter Text

It was still late in the evening, barely even midnight, when I woke up screaming. Edward immediately called Alice as he threw a pair of jeans on and I hastily got myself dressed in the only pair of sweatpants Alice allowed me to pack and a long cami. 

“They’ll be here in just a moment.” Edward said anxiously as he pocketed his phone. 

I was still completely shaken up. He came over and pulled me into his arms. Holding my head to his chest as he pressed his lips to my hair. 

“We knew this would happen one day.” I said shakily. 

Edward shook his head. “It’s going to be alright, Dani. We’re doing this together.”

Alice knocked on the door. Not wanting him to let me go, I unlocked and opened the door with a small gesture from across the suite. 

“We’re in here.” I called out quietly. 

Alice and Jasper rushed over to us. 

“What happened?” Alice asked nervously as she came to rest a hand on my shoulder. 

“She had a vision.” Edward spoke above my head. 

Alice’s eyes immediately took on that vacant look they got when she was looking into the future before clearing again only a moment later. Clearly not seeing much from me, she and Jasper gave me matching curious looks. 

“Aro will be contacting me for a favor. I’m not sure when though. I saw Edward and I in the throne room with him. He unexpectedly touched Edward and found out about Amara.” My voice broke and Edward’s arms tightened around me. “He immediately abandoned whatever favor he wanted to ask for, demanding that we bring her to him instead.”

“That will never happen.” Edward’s voice was a dark growl. 

I shook my head. “I’ll die first.” I said quietly. “Alice, can you try to see how long we have? I don’t know if my visions work like yours and he’s already decided or not.”

“Of course Dani. We’ll figure it out. Amara is safe and no harm will come to her, no matter what.” She tried to reassure me. 

“So you don’t know what he wanted?” Jasper asked. 

I shook my head. “No. He greeted us and something happened. He rushed to take Edward’s hand, then his whole demeanor shifted. He’ll want her, I just know it.” I leaned my forehead against Edward’s chest. “We can’t let him find out about her.” I said quietly. 

Edward leaned down to kiss the top of my head again, rubbing his hand over my back in soothing circles. Alice moved over to the window as she started looking for Aro and his decision to contact me. My breath caught. 

I pulled back quickly. “That phone! I don’t even have that stupid phone with me!” 

Edward’s eyes met mine and a hand came up to brush his thumb against my cheek. “We all have the number programmed into our phones. If he activates your beacon, any one of us can call them.”

I visibly relaxed. Edward leaned forward to kiss my forehead and I continued to think. 

“We should get ahead of him. Once we know when he’s going to make the call, I want to be there before he has a chance to.” I explained. 

“Why would you do that?” Jasper asked. 

“I want him to know who has the power in this arrangement. He needs to understand that he can’t make a single move without me knowing. If he does find out about Amara, he’ll know that he won’t be able to get to her. That she’s heavily protected.” My jaw clenched.

Jasper smirked. “I know that I wouldn’t try to get between you and her. Not a bad idea to let him know that as well.” 

“They’re still discussing something about memory loss. It seems Aro is still weighing whether he should use a favor for whatever it is or not, so it’s not clear what they’re planning to do yet.” Alice interrupted. “The timing of when they’ll reach out varies between five and ten days from now.”

“Okay. That should be enough time to prepare and get there first.” I nodded. 

“I’ll keep monitoring him. It will become more clear as they make their decisions.” Alice offered. “It'll be difficult to see around you, but I can try to keep an eye on our immediate future too.”

“Thank you, Alice.”

“What if you can shield me?” Edward asked. 

My brow furrowed in thought. “I haven’t been able to do that since I stopped using dark magic.” 

“But it should still be possible.” He argued. “Maeve said that you would have been able to reach that level of ability on your own with enough time. You could practice now.” The hand he had on my face flattened, holding me firmly from chin to eyebrow. “We will need to do this together. If you can shield me, then Amara stays hidden.”

I looked into his sage green eyes. “Okay. That’s a good idea. I can start practicing now.” I immediately got to work trying to manifest a mental shield over Alice and Jasper. If I could do this, then I could protect all of us.

“You need to rest, love. You’ve been at it for nearly three hours.” Edward came over to wrap an arm around my waist and wiped away the sweat that started rolling down my temples.

“I haven’t even come close yet though.” I argued weakly. 

After hours of practice, the most I’d managed to accomplish was covering Alice in an impenetrable physical shield. No matter how much I focused, I couldn’t manifest a mental shield. I was physically and mentally exhausted.

“Edward’s right, Dani.” Alice interrupted. “You should get some rest. We’ll keep strategizing.”

“I think I might need to create a spell for this.” I squeezed my eyes closed and pressed my fingers into my aching temples. “My magic before was freed from needing to use spells. I need them now until I’m familiar enough with the magic.”

“Once you get some rest and have a clearer head, you can work on a spell.” She gave me a sympathetic frown. 

I let out a defeated sigh and nodded my head. “Fine. You’re right.”

“Oh, sure. Alice gets a ‘you’re right’.” Edward mumbled. 

I bit back a smile, pursing my lips as I glared at him. He smirked and leaned in to kiss me quickly, melting the glare off of my face. 

“Get some rest, Dani. We’ll make some calls and strategize some more.” Jasper reached a hand out to gently squeeze my arm before returning to Alice, taking her hand in his and placing a kiss to her palm.

Jasper and Alice returned to their room, presumably to contact our family and let them know what was going on, while Edward stayed with me. I had my head leaned against his chest while he held me close and brushed his fingers through my hair. It was the very early hours of the morning, the Sun still well below the horizon, and I was exhausted.

“Depending on what he wants, we might have to be away from Amara for a while.” I said, a hint of despair causing the slightest wobble in my voice. 

“I know, baby. She’ll be okay though. She still has most of our family with her and they will do anything to protect her.” Edward brushed my hair away from my face as I looked up at him. 

“She won’t know why we’re gone though. What if she thinks we’re not coming back?” I glanced between his concerned green eyes. 

“We’ll call before we leave and talk to her. We can tell her some of what’s happening. She’ll understand.” He nodded with a furrowed brow and leaned down to kiss me gently. “Sleep, love. I’ll keep watch.” He smiled softly, brushing the backs of his fingers over my cheekbone.

I tucked my head against his chest, wrapping myself around him securely. “I love you, Edward.” I said sleepily as my eyes began to drift closed. 

He began humming quietly as he held me close, deeply breathing me in through his nose. I slowly fell asleep while he resumed brushing his fingers gently through my hair. 

I slowly woke, groggy and with a throbbing headache. The sun was high in the sky and I could smell coffee. I groaned and reached for Edward, but the bed beside me was empty. I opened my eyes just as he came to sit on the bed with me. He leaned over, brushing my hair away from my face.

“Good morning, love. It’s a little late for breakfast, but I got some food for you. How are you feeling?” He asked as he gently tucked my hair behind my ear.

I gave him a small smile. “I could use some coffee and painkillers, but I’ve definitely felt worse.” I huffed a small laugh and slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep away from my eyes.

“I’ll get you something for your headache.” He kissed my temple and abruptly disappeared. 

He returned a moment later with a couple pills, a glass of water and a cup of coffee. I let out an approving sound as I took the medicine and grabbed the coffee like it was a lifeline.

“Thank you.” I kissed him chastely before taking a huge gulp of the almost too hot life-saving liquid.

“Of course.” He smirked. “I have food for you as well. I planned to take you to a cafe this morning, but then… plans changed.” He frowned slightly and sighed before bringing over a small tray with croissants and fresh fruit.

“This is perfect. Thank you.” I kissed him more firmly now and he held a hand to the side of my neck, brushing a thumb along my jaw before pulling away again.

“Do you need anything else?” He asked, lips still lightly touching mine.

“I’ve got everything I need right here.” I brushed my nose against his before pulling away to take another sip of coffee and tore off a piece of a croissant, popping the flaky, buttery pastry into my mouth.

After eating, I went to take a shower with Edward joining me. He washed my hair for me, I loved when he did that, it was supremely sensual every time. He’s told me several times over the years how much he loves my hair, touching it at every available opportunity, running his fingers through it as I slept. After he was done with my hair, we held each other beneath the steady stream of steaming water, needing to just connect and comfort each other. We didn’t leave the shower until we were both completely satisfied. 

I threw on a pink floral sundress, Alice really didn’t want me packing any casual clothes, and worked my damp hair into a braid. Edward, as usual, looked devilishly handsome in khaki slacks and a blue button down, rolling the sleeves up so I could appreciate his lean, muscular forearms. Then we got to work figuring out how I might create this spell.

“Garlic is a very strong protective herb, bay leaf too.” Edward offered as I started working on a list of potential ingredients.

“Those are good. Salt and silver too. Maybe I could spell an object? Like a necklace or something?” I thought out loud.

“That would definitely be easier than trying to hold a shield over me.” Edward nodded in agreement.

“Black tourmaline, lapis lazuli, or labradorite would each be good options to channel the magic.” I looked down at the list I had compiled. “Do you think we could find these things here?” I handed it to Edward. 

He nodded. “Jasper is very good at finding whatever we need. I’ll get this to him.”

“Thank you, baby.” I reached up to cup his cheek and kiss him softly. “I’ll work on some incantations while he does that. We’ll need multiple of everything. It’ll probably take a few tries to get it right.”

He wrapped an arm around my waist. “Whatever you need, love. Amara will be safe and I will be with you for whatever it is that they want you to do.” He leaned his forehead against mine and inhaled deeply through his nose. 

A knock at the door interrupted us. "It's Jasper." He whispered as he gently brushed our noses together, letting me go to answer it. 

“Jasper. We were just talking about you.” Edward greeted him. 

“Edward. Dani.” Jasper responded. “Alice is still watching the Volturi. She’ll let you know as soon as she sees anything more concrete.”

“Make sure she’s taking care of herself. She can’t constantly monitor them.” I gave him a concerned look. 

He smirked. “You let me worry about her, Dani. You’ve got a lot on your own plate right now.”

“Did you talk to Carlisle?” I asked him. 

“We did. He knows the situation. They’ve talked to Amara to explain that you’ll be gone longer than expected. She misses you both.” Jasper’s brows furrowed into a sympathetic frown. This was already the longest we had been away from her. The uncertainty of how long our separation would now be extended and the possibility of her becoming endangered sent waves of anguish through me. Jasper was likely picking up some of that.

I swallowed the lump in my throat before speaking. “We’ll call and talk to her before we leave here. I also want them to be prepared to have Leah run with her. Just in case.” 

“Dani?” Edward gave me a troubled look.

“We need to be ready for anything. I would rather have her somewhere safe in an unknown location than have the Volturi get their hands on her. She'll need to take her someplace that none of us know about. That way Aro wouldn’t be able to find her from any of our thoughts." I explained. Once it was safe enough, I would be able to cast a locator spell to find her again. Until then, we would all need to be blind to her.

Edward's expression grew sad and he reached a hand up to cup my cheek. “Of course. We’ll make sure she’s safe no matter what.”

“Now, if I can get this spell working, then we shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Aro might be pissed if he can’t read you, but that’s his problem.” I smirked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Edward’s lips pulled up into a small smile as he shook his head. He ran a hand down my braid, gently grabbing the end of it, running his fingers through the loose hair there, before turning back to Jasper. “We’ve got some supplies we were hoping you might be able to put together for the spell.” Edward handed Jasper the list. 

Jasper glanced at it, quickly scanning the ingredients. “What kind of silver jewelry?”

“Anything inconspicuous. A small ring or necklace that will look normal on Edward. Something that won’t draw attention.” I took Edward’s hand in mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

He laced our fingers together and kissed my hand. “Get a few different ones. Just in case.”

“That should be doable. Frankincense? Really?” He gave me a curious look.

“It’s a solid protection ingredient. An earth element too, good for grounding the spell.” I shrugged.

“Okay, I’ll get on this then.” Jasper pocketed the list before nodding at both of us and heading back out.

I got to work writing incantations with different focuses on establishing a mental barrier and blocking psychic powers. As I worked, Edward called Carlisle to explain what we needed from him. The plan was to call him before we left to head to Volterra and then call him again by the next day. If he didn’t hear from us, Leah needed to take Amara and run. They were going to start right away, preparing a go bag for her with everything they would need, leaving the destination entirely up to her.

After a couple hours of working on the spell, Alice joined us in our room.

“It’s narrowed down to four to six days from now.” She offered as she came to lightly sit on the edge of the desk where I was working.

“Can you see what would happen if you and Jasper came with us?” I asked her.

Her eyes went blank for a moment and she grimaced. “It’s not a good idea for us to join you to see them, but we should be okay to get back together after to work on whatever it is they want from you. It looks like they want to send you somewhere. Russia, maybe?” Her face drew down in confusion.

“What the hell would they want me in Russia for?” I looked between Edward and Alice.

Edward shook his head. “I have no idea.”

I let out a frustrated groan. “I need a break. Plus I’m hungry.”

Edward took my hand in his. “I’ll take you to get some dinner. Alice, call me if anything changes, please?” 

“I will. Go feed your wife.” She winked and started looking through some of the notes and incantations I had written down.

After two more days we had a clearer picture of when we needed to head to Volterra and I finally had a functioning spell. The first one I cast merely muffled Alice’s thoughts when we tested it on her. The second one did absolutely nothing and the third gave Alice a massive headache. I think that one accidentally blocked her from her own mind. I felt terrible.

It took some fine tuning and a couple more attempts, but I was pretty sure I had it this time. I added a silver ring, a black tourmaline stone, purified sea salt, garlic, and rosemary to an iron offering bowl. It actually smelled delicious, like Italian bread. I was getting kind of hungry by that point. 

I lit a purple candle and some dried sage. All of the elements were represented for the spell with various ingredients used for protection, mental fortitude, and protection from psychic attacks. It felt like overkill, but I needed this one to work. I recited one of the incantations that focused the intent of the spell on blocking external psychic powers. The contents of the bowl ignited, flames burning away everything except the ring and the stone. That was an excellent sign. 

I carefully touched the ring before taking it out. It was still cold to the touch when I picked it up. I examined it closely before holding it out in my palm for Alice to try. 

“Sixth time’s the charm?” I grimaced slightly as she took the ring and slipped it on. I looked at Edward expectantly.

His face spread into a wide smile and he let out an excited, musical laugh. “It worked! I’m not getting anything!”

I returned his smile and looked back at Alice. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. No apparent side effects.” She smiled softly back at me.

“I’m not getting anything either.” Jasper looked at Alice curiously. “It’s blocking my ability too.”

I fell back onto the floor with a relieved sigh. “Thank god! I wasn’t sure if I could add anything more to that.” I huffed an exasperated laugh.

“We need to head to Italy soon.” Edward interrupted my brief moment of contentment. “They’ll be calling in just a couple days.

I nodded from where I was on the floor. “We’ll go tomorrow. I want Alice and Jasper nearby, if that’s okay? Depending on what they want from me, we might need the backup.”

“Of course, Dani. That was never even a question. We’re all going together.” Jasper reassured me.

I sat back up to face them. “Thank you. All of you. After this I’ll only owe three more favors. Yay.” I said unenthusiastically.

Edward came to sit in front of me and rubbed his hands up and down my arms. “Maybe if this is a big enough request we can negotiate a reduction. Five favors just to let you leave was a little much.” He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t exactly in my right mind at the time. Literally. I had shut everything off so I couldn’t really feel the apprehension that I should have been feeling at the time.”

Edward frowned at me and leaned his forehead against mine, exhaling faintly through his nose.

“And I’m in a much better place now.” I reached up to cup his cheek. “We are in a much better place. A perfect place.” I reminded him.

He nodded and leaned in to gently press his lips against mine. 

“Well, we’ll go pack and get plane tickets to Italy booked for tomorrow.” Alice took Jasper’s hand and started leading him to the door.

“Get some rest, Dani. You’re going to need it.” Jasper gave me a pointed look and they left for their own suite.

“I’m so sorry, love.” Edward said quietly.

My brow furrowed in confusion. Literally none of this was in any way his fault. “For what?”

“It seems that I just cannot give you a proper trip to France.” He smirked.

I laughed and held his face in my hands as I brushed my thumbs over his cheekbones. “I don’t care about that. We have all the time in the world. I would have wanted to come back one day with Amara anyway. She deserves to see the world too.” I smiled and leaned in to firmly kiss him.

“She absolutely does.” He murmured against my lips right before deepening the kiss. 

His hand reached up, lacing his fingers into my hair. He gently tilted my head back and dipped his tongue into my mouth. We took each other there on the floor. More desperate and uninhibited than we had in a long time. As though, come tomorrow, we might lose everything.

When we were finally ready to separate, I got ready for bed and settled into his arms. 

“Are there vampire covens in Russia? What if he wants me involved in some kind of conflict?” I asked.

“There are vampire covens everywhere. There are likely several in Russia, but no large ones that I know of.” He closely took in my face, tracing his fingers lightly over my cheekbones, the bridge of my nose, around my lips, and down my chin. “I won’t allow anything to happen to you.”

I opened my mouth to protest and he interrupted with a raised eyebrow. “I know you don’t need protection, but you have it nonetheless. I just wanted to give you a heads up that I will likely become a bit overbearing for a while.”

I relaxed a little and chastely pressed my lips to his. “I will likely be the same. I can’t let anything happen to you either.” I sighed and nuzzled into his chest, finding comfort in his warmth and his familiar, cinnamon scent.

My sleep that night was fitful and filled with nightmares. Not the kind that caused me to wake up screaming, but bad enough to keep me from fully resting. Come tomorrow I would be facing the Volturi for the second time.

July 25, 2008

We made it to the airport early for our flight to Florence. From there we would drive separately to Volterra where Edward and I would seek an audience with the Volturi leaders and Alice and Jasper would hang back in Florence waiting to hear from us.

We called Amara to talk to her and let her know that she might not hear from us for a while, but we were safe and we loved her. She didn’t speak back, but we know that she heard and understood. We then spoke to Carlisle after Esme took her to play. He reassured us that she was doing well and they had everything ready for Leah to take her someplace none of us knew about. Just in case. 

Edward and I held our hands tightly together for the entire flight. Alice and Jasper sat together, further back, but both seemed to be handling it well. 

“Everything is going to be fine, love. Aro hasn’t shown any hostility toward you since we last met and there is no reason for him to do something aggressive now.” Edward quietly tried to reassure me.

I nodded nervously. “I know. He sent that letter and the necklace. If he wanted to try and get rid of me, he’s kind of lost his chance.” I huffed a laugh. “I’m worried about our family though. I don’t want to start a war with them, but I will do whatever we have to in order to keep Amara safe.”

“Agreed. Should it come to that, we have plans in place. Allies we can reach out to.” He brought my hand to his lips, softly brushing them over each of my knuckles.

I looked up to meet his sage eyes. “I know. But it would still be bad. People could still die.” I said quietly.

He shook his head. “It won’t come to that. We’ve prepared for every possibility here. We’ll just have to quickly grant his favor and try to enjoy whatever is left of our trip.” The corner of his mouth pulled up into a crooked smile.

I rolled my eyes and settled back into his side.

We landed in Florence after only a couple hours, meeting Alice and Jasper just outside the gate. 

“You two be careful. I’ll be closely watching Edward and the Volturi and, if something happens and we’re needed, we’ll get there as fast as we can.” Alice reassured me before pulling me into a quick hug.

“Don’t do anything reckless.” Jasper raised an eyebrow at me with a small smirk.

I bit back a smile. “No promises.”

He chuckled, then nodded to Edward before taking Alice’s hand and heading off in another direction. We wanted to avoid being seen together for now, just in case. They would be getting their own car and waiting there in Florence to hear back from us once our meeting was done. 

Edward rented a luxury sports car for us, wanting to at least try to have some fun, and we drove straight to Volterra. He kept a hand on my thigh as he drove. Occasionally squeezing it lightly and smirking over at me, trying to help me stay calm. I covered his hand with my own. Tracing the lines of his veins and watching his skin lightly shimmer as the sunlight hit it through the windows. 

He had covered up with a light jacket, and a baseball cap, but it was a bright summer day. As we got closer to civilization, I cast a concealment spell over him. The last thing we needed was for him to be put on trial because someone saw him shimmering in the sunlight as we drove past. 

“What if they want us to separate?” I looked up at him. “If they don’t want you to go with me?”

His brow drew down. “I won’t let that happen. Besides, once Marcus sees us they’ll know that they can’t keep us apart.” A small smile pulled up the corners of his lips. 

“He’ll see our relationship, the connection between us. But that doesn’t mean they won’t still try.” My anxiety spiked at the thought of having to do this without him. “If they think it could benefit them in some way.”

He lifted our hands to brush his knuckles against my cheek. “No, Dani. The last time Marcus saw the connection between us it was strong and very intense. We weren’t even together then. We’re bonded now. They won’t be able to make any kind of case for keeping us apart.” He kept his green eyes on mine as he spoke. 

I nodded as I scanned his face, there wasn’t a single ounce of doubt in his voice or expression. “Okay. Yeah. They can’t.”

“It won’t happen, Dani. Ever. I will follow you to the ends of the Earth.” He smirked and pulled my hand over to his lips. 

“That goes both ways.” I tried to smile back. 

As we neared the city, Edward pulled into a parking lot just outside of the square leading to the palace. We would walk the rest of the way. He slipped on the silver ring that I spelled to protect his mind and took my hand in his. As he led the way through the throngs of tourists and shoppers in the crowded square, he explained what we should expect. 

“We’ll need to request an audience. Given that it’s you, we may not have to wait long. So be ready as soon as we get there.” He gently squeezed my hand. 

“I’m ready. I may not be all-powerful anymore, but I’m still pretty damn strong.” I smirked. 

He looked at me with his own crooked smile. He stopped us right at the entrance to the palace and pulled me into a kiss. Cupping my face in both hands and kissing me tenderly before pulling back to scan my face. 

“Okay. Let’s go.” He said quietly before turning forward again and leading us through the doors. 

We approached the reception desk where a human employee was typing away at a computer. She didn’t even look up to acknowledge us. 

“Good afternoon. My name is Danielle Cullen, I’m here to seek an audience with Aro, Marcus, and Caius.” I confidently addressed her. 

“Appointment?” She said in a heavy, Italian accent without looking up. 

“No, but he will want to see me.” My voice hardened. 

She paused from her typing and looked up at me, glancing between me and Edward. I raised an eyebrow as she quietly assessed us. Before she could say another word, two guards appeared. Felix and Demetri. Felix smirked as he looked me up and down. 

Felix was fucking enormous. Easily as tall as Jake at six foot seven. His broad shoulders and strong, hard jawline gave him every bit the appearance of the soldier that he was. Demetri, on the other hand, was much more lean and slightly shorter than Edward. Beneath his pale white skin, he had a similar, almost olive complexion to Felix and long, dark hair. They had been working together for centuries with the Volturi, Felix having been with them for much longer than that. More things that I wasn’t supposed to know.

“It is lovely to see you again, Danielle.” Felix greeted me with an appreciative smile. 

The receptionist’s eyes widened before she quickly turned to them. Apparently she hadn’t heard their sudden arrival.

“Felix.” I nodded to him. “You’ve met my husband, Edward, haven’t you?” I smiled as Edward wrapped an arm around my waist. 

** I might punch him in the face if he has one more lust-filled thought about you. Prepare to get us out of here the moment that I do. **

Edward shared his thoughts through our connected rings and I bit back a laugh as I nudged his hip with mine. 

‘All of my own lust-filled thoughts are solely for you, if that helps?’

I shared a brief replay of the previous night’s activities. He let out the faintest growl as his hand squeezed my waist. 

“Pity.” Felix mumbled as he glanced between us. 

Demetri rolled his eyes in an exasperated manner. “We’ve been sent for you.” He said, interrupting the awkward tension. 

“Lead the way.” I waved a hand for him to continue.

They led us deeper into the palace to a small elevator. We piled into it and ascended toward the floor where the throne room was. 

“So, how has everyone been?” I asked as casually as I could. 

Felix snorted a laugh. “Well. And you?”

“Fantastic.” I smiled up at Edward and his eyes softened. 

The elevator opened and the guards led us down the hall. Edward held me closer to his side, his hand firmly wrapped around my waist and my fingers anxiously fidgeting with his. I dropped my hand and gently loosened Edward’s grip on me, lacing our fingers together between us and stepping slightly away. 

We were clearly united this time as we approached the tall, ornate, double doors to the throne room. Before we got close, the heavy doors creaked open and a woman I didn’t recognize came out, immediately offering Edward and I both necklaces to allow us entrance into the room. We slipped them over our heads and followed her inside. 

For the first time since making this deal, I was face to face with the Volturi leaders and it was time to start paying my debt. 

Chapter Text

“Danielle! How lovely of you to visit!” Aro enthusiastically greeted us as he stood up from his throne. “And you have brought your husband. I received the announcement of your marriage. Congratulations to you both.”

He looked so strange. Nothing like the movies. For one thing, he appeared much younger. He was in his early twenties at the most when he was turned. All three of them had strange, papery skin that looked like it would tear with the slightest amount of pressure and red eyes with an eerie, milky texture to them. Despite all of that, Aro was stunning in an otherworldly way. Long, dark hair that fell in waves down to his shoulders, sharp cheekbones, a strong jaw, and a perfect Roman nose. 

Before I could respond to his greeting, Marcus gasped behind him. “A soulbond!” His voice was a strange, feathery, flat sound. 

He stood up as he looked between us with a shocked expression. It was the most animated that I had ever seen Marcus. His apparent age was no older than Aro’s. Like the others, he was beautiful. Similar, long black hair, a strong brow, and square jawline. He just always looked so depressed, which was understandable given the millennia he’s had to live without his mate. 

Aro turned to look at Marcus then back at us with wide eyes, his mouth agape. He immediately appeared in front of us, producing a startled gasp from me, as I fought against the instinct to throw up my shield. The last thing we needed was to be attacked because I threw the vampire king on his ass. As soon as he grabbed Edward’s hand his face fell, eyes darting back and forth between us. 

I pulled my brows down and tilted my head slightly. “Is everything alright?” I asked innocently. 

“I see… nothing.” He said in confusion. 

“We shared a lot of ourselves when we completed our bond.” Edward offered. He would be handling the necessary lies. 

Aro studied the mark on Edward’s neck before turning his attention to my throat with a frown. 

** He bought it. **

“Mine is less conspicuous.” I smirked. 

I was wearing a white, sleeveless dress that buttoned up to a collared neckline. I figured I should look at least somewhat nicer than I did the last time I met vampire royalty. 

“Fascinating! Your eyes, Edward? Did the bond do that as well?” He asked as he studied Edward’s green irises. 

Edward nodded. “It did. Dani is just full of surprises.” He smiled softly at me.

“What is it like?” He glanced excitedly between us. 

I returned Edward’s smile with an affectionate one of my own. “It feels like home.”

Aro looked at me with a curious expression before turning his attention back to Edward. “And for you?” 

Edward’s expression as he looked down at me shifted into one of love and awe. “Like I am finally whole. Pure heaven.”

He opened his mouth before closing it again and tilting his head curiously. “Have you experienced any other shared attributes?” Aro’s expression remained fascinated. 

“We can establish a physical connection with each other at will and Dani has stopped aging and is physically much stronger now.” Edward explained. 

Aro gave me an assessing look. “Incredible! Have there been any other changes in you, besides your eyes, Edward?”

“My thirst for her is completely gone. I also seem to be able to go longer between feedings and take on more… human attributes afterward.” He explained. Aro slightly tilted his head, scanning Edward. 

“You are warmer and seem to have more color.” He observed. 

“Yes.” Edward nodded. 

“May I see your mark, Danielle?” Aro requested. 

I couldn’t control the disturbed look that crossed my face. He had no idea where my mark could be. What if it was on my boob or something?!

“Apologies if that was inappropriate. It is just that a soulbond is so very rare among vampires. To see one between two different species is… unique.” His voice rose on the last word. 

“Carlisle explained that to us as well.” I looked between the three leaders in front of us. “He actually helped us figure out how to complete our soulbond. We spent almost two years with it only partially completed.”

“How was it completed?” Aro asked with genuine curiosity.

My eyes narrowed slightly as I tried to decide how much we should tell him. “If you’d like, I can ask Carlisle to send you a report with his findings. It’s a little personal to be discussing like this.” I pursed my lips to one side as I looked behind Aro at the other two leaders.

Marcus had sat back down, but still seemed to be taking us in with an almost awe-filled expression. Caius remained seated on his throne, pointedly glaring at me. I still had no idea what his deal was. I smiled at him with a slight nod, which only seemed to make him angrier as his lip pulled up into a sneer. Caius was strikingly different from his co-leaders. He looked much older and his stark white hair stood out among them. His features were much softer as well, with a small, delicate nose and high cheekbones. He also seemed to be the ‘bad cop’ amongst them or something.

Aro drew my attention back to him just as I started losing control of my facial expression at Caius’ clear disdain for me. “That would be wonderful, I look forward to hearing from Carlisle again. Excuse me for the sudden interrogation.” He held his hands together in front of his chest as he leaned toward us. “What brought upon this unexpected visit today?”

I relaxed back into Edward’s side. “I thought I might save you an international phone call.” I gave him a knowing look. 

A wide smile spread over his face, revealing the top row of his dangerously sharp teeth. “Fantastico. How did you know? Alice?” 

“I had my own vision.” I shrugged nonchalantly. I wanted to keep Alice out of this as much as possible. 

“Ah, interessante. Your visions are uncontrolled though, are they not?” He tilted his head. 

“Sometimes. I can conjure them if I focus. I don’t like to do it though.” I paused at his confused expression. “It’s usually not worth the headache.”

“Yes. I suppose I can understand that.” He turned and stepped back toward his throne. “You are correct. We were just discussing reaching out to you.” 

He sat down and waved us forward with a smirk. I held Edward’s hand tightly as we approached him. We stopped just a few feet from the steps that led up to where they were seated. 

“What can I do for you then?” I prompted. 

“We have a very peculiar situation.” He started. “We have received reports of werewolf sightings in Siberia.”

My eyes widened. “You want me to hunt down some werewolves for you?!” I could feel the panic rising in my chest. 

** Try to remain calm, love. There’s more to it. **

Edward interrupted my spiraling thoughts with his own, calmer ones. He wrapped an arm around my waist again, holding me close. 

Aro gave me a curious look. “Not exactly. We have, of course, sent our own guards to investigate. We have sent three separate groups to find them and all have returned with no memory of where they were or what they saw.”

My brow drew down in confusion. “That’s super weird.” 

Shit, be more professional here, Dani!

“Yes, ‘super weird’ indeed.” He raised an amused brow at me as a blush slowly heated my cheeks. “We believe either one of them has this ability or there may be a gifted vampire working with them. Given your particular abilities, you are uniquely capable of assisting in this matter.” He explained. 

“And this would count as at least one of her favors?” Edward asked. 

Aro’s attention shifted to him. “It would. Yes.”

“What do you want her to do?” Edward’s jaw was clenched and his grip on me tightened. 

Aro redirected his focus back to me. “We would like you to investigate the situation. You may take him with you, of course,” he gestured toward Edward, “given the bond you now share. I will also be sending two of my own guards with you.” 

“Okay and if I find anything? What then?” I still wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted me to do. 

“Merely report your findings. If you are able to help my men handle the situation, that would be even better.” He held his hands out with a small shrug. 

“If she finds these werewolves and helps your guards, could her debt be considered paid in full?” Edward requested with a neutral expression. 

Aro raised an eyebrow and gave him a calculating look. “We could consider this request. After your return, of course.”

Caius audibly sighed behind him.

“When do you want us to leave?” I ignored Caius’ clear annoyance with my mere presence.

“As soon as possible. Tomorrow morning would be ideal. We will send a car to take you to our private airstrip where a plane will be waiting.” Aro began to launch into the details, but I interrupted. 

“I’m so sorry, but could we take our own car there? We’ll need to pack and make sure all of our affairs are in order. It would be easier to just meet your guard at the airstrip.” I asked. We also needed to make sure Alice and Jasper could join us without Aro knowing about their involvement before we left. 

Aro raised an eyebrow and seemed to be carefully assessing me. “I suppose I see no issue with that. Adriana, the receptionist can provide you with directions. Just be sure that you are not late. You will need to arrive by nine o’clock, sharp.” 

“Of course. Sorry to have interrupted, please continue.” I waved a hand, gesturing for him to tell us the rest.

His mouth pulled up into a small smirk and his eyes quickly flicked to Edward and back. “From there you will be flown to Barnaul in southwestern Siberia. This is the last place our guards have recalled being before their memories of their trip simply stopped and they returned. You will be venturing into the forested regions around there, so I suggest you ‘pack’ accordingly.” He gave me a pointed look. 

“Who will you be sending to accompany us?” Edward was clearly fighting to compose himself. 

“Alec and Felix. Alec can incapacitate a large group if there are more than one of them and Felix is my strongest fighter.” Aro gave him a curious look as Edward clenched his jaw and exhaled a low growl. 

‘It’ll be fine, baby.’ 

I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and he glanced at me. 

** This is an unreasonably dangerous ‘favor’. **

“Sorry, Aro. He’s very protective, as I’m sure you’ll understand.” My face pulled into a small frown. 

“Yes, of course. Please believe that we have no intention of allowing any harm to come to your mate, Edward.” Aro offered in a reassuring tone. 

“Neither do I.” His tone was low, bordering on threatening.

“Well, we should go and get ready to leave tomorrow. I’ll at least need to pick up some hiking gear. Is there anything else we should know?” I gave questioning looks to each of them. 

“Werewolves, when transformed, are incredibly difficult to kill and they are capable of destroying our kind relatively easily. Keep that in mind should you encounter them.” Aro warned. “My men will be following your lead, but do not try to interfere with their duties.”

“Of course. Thank you.” I gave him a small curtsy, not knowing what else I was supposed to do, before Edward turned us back toward the door and Felix led us out. 

“This should be a good time.” Felix said with a grin as we entered the elevator. 

“Oh yeah, a blast.” I muttered, making Felix chuckle in response. 

They escorted us back out of the palace and Edward sent a quick text to Alice to let them know we were on our way to the predetermined meeting spot back in Florence. I called Carlisle while we drove to fill him in on the situation. He was surprisingly excited to prepare a report on our soulbond to send to Aro. 

We arrived back in Florence relatively quickly, given Edward’s love for trying to beat the speed of sound. Alice was visibly relieved when we returned.

“It really is the worst that I can’t see you, Dani.” Alice anxiously wrapped her arms around me as I climbed out of the car. “I had no idea whether or not you two were okay the entire time.” 

“Sorry, Alice. I can’t help it.” I held her tightly. “We’re okay, but we’re going to need to come up with a plan here.” I pulled away and gave her a mischievous smile. “We also need to go shopping.”

Alice’s face broke into a wide smile of her own. “You really know how to woo a girl.” She laughed her beautiful, wind-chime laugh.

Edward smirked as he shook his head. “You go get what you need and fill Alice in, I’ll stay with Jasper here and let him know what’s going on. We need to figure out a way to get all of us onto the plane without Aro becoming aware of it before we’re gone.”

I reached for his hand and gently squeezed it. “Sounds like a plan.”

Edward pulled me to him and kissed me firmly before telling Alice not to overdo it as we got into her rental. I filled her in on everything Aro told us while she drove us to an outdoor sports store.

“Werewolves?!” She whisper-hissed at me. “Seriously?!”

I shrugged. “I guess so. At least reports of them, since they haven’t actually found anything yet.”

“So we are being sent to the Siberian wilderness. That’s just great.” She huffed in annoyance. “Okay, you’re going to need hiking clothes and an entire set of backpacking gear. I’ll get one for each of us too, so you’ll have plenty of supplies. We can hunt, but you’ll need to have enough food and water for at least a couple of days in the forest.” 

Alice got right to work picking out packs and full sets of hiking and camping gear for all four of us, plus suitable clothes for me. Thermal tops, tank tops, three pairs of cargo pants, two pairs of lighter shorts, and a light, water resistant jacket. She had me try on four pairs of hiking boots before deciding on a decent pair of treated leather boots that should be comfortable enough without breaking them in. By the time we were done, it felt like she might have purchased half of the store.

“How are we supposed to carry all of this, Alice?!” I asked as she loaded everything into the trunk and the backseat of the small sports car.

“Don’t worry about that. You’ll just have one pack to carry. Between five vampires, we’ll have no problem with the rest of it.” She smirked as she started the car. “Now. I’m going to need a whole new wardrobe!” She laughed as she peeled out of the lot and I held on for dear life.

When we finally made it back to Edward and Jasper, Alice had bought herself five new designer outfits that had no place in the wilderness. Jeans, blouses, dresses, and heels. It seemed a little ridiculous. Though, given that she wouldn’t feel any of the effects of hiking and camping for days, I suppose it didn’t really matter.

As soon as we arrived at the hotel we’d be staying at for the night, Edward wrapped me in his arms and Alice rushed to Jasper, holding his hands as he bent down to touch his forehead to hers.

“Did you get everything you need?” Edward asked as he placed a kiss to my forehead.

I huffed a humorless laugh. “And then some. She went a little overboard.”

Edward hummed affectionately. “What else is new?”

“Hey! You’ll thank me when you need a fourth outfit and a new tent! Plus the food! You will need to eat food, Dani!” She protested from Jasper’s arms.

“She’s got you there!” Jasper added in an amused tone.

I rolled my eyes as I fought against the smirk pulling at the corners of my mouth. Being constantly reminded of my feeble human needs while living with a bunch of transcendental vampires definitely never got old. 

That evening, they worked on getting the backpacks put together while I got to work creating a mental shield necklace for Alice and another ring for Jasper. I wanted them both protected just in case Aro got ahold of them after all. There was also the matter of Alec joining our excursion. I was sure that I could take him down if I needed to, but his power having no effect on any of us was a much better option than potentially starting a conflict with the Volturi.

“Okay, we’ll aim to meet them at the airstrip right at nine am and you two will get there no more than ten minutes later. We don’t want the plane to take off without you, but we also don’t want you to arrive early enough for Felix or Alec to alert the others that you’re joining us.” I explained. “They’ll almost definitely find out eventually, but we can deal with that when it becomes an issue.”

Edward held me close to his side on the small sofa in our joint suite. “That should work. We’ll make sure they don’t take off without you.” He smirked at them.

“Alright. I think that we are as ready as we’re going to be. Dani, you need to get some rest. We’ll head out for a quick hunt and I’m going to do some research into the area we’ll be going to.” Jasper nodded toward me just as Edward stood us up to lead me to our room.

“Solid plan, let me know if you find anything interesting. Thanks, Jas.” I pulled him and Alice each into a quick hug before retreating to our room.

Edward and I laid in bed facing each other with one of our hands clasped tightly together. His other hand was tracing along my jaw as he studied my face and I studied his right back.

“Are werewolves stronger even in their human form? Like the shifters are?” I asked quietly.

“They are.” Edward’s brows furrowed slightly. “They are also immune to our venom. They’re at their most dangerous during the full moon when they are transformed, though. They essentially become mindless predators.”

“Have you ever seen one?” My eyes darted back and forth between his green ones. He’s seen so many minds, there was a good chance he’d at least seen one secondhand.

“Not personally. Caius has strong memories of the one that almost killed him though. They are, honestly, terrifying when they are in their wolf form. Enormous, vicious, and practically rabid.” He brushed away some stray hair that had fallen from my braid. “We are nowhere near the full moon though, so we won’t need to worry too much. They are also practically extinct, so between five vampires and you, we should be able to handle one or two of them.” He gave me a reassuring smirk.

“Unless these werewolves have superpowers.” My eyes widened into a pointed expression.

“Now that I have never heard of. I suppose it’s not impossible though.” He returned to tracing his fingers lightly over my cheekbones.

“And they are created by venom as well? Just like vampires?” I was extremely curious, there was almost nothing in the books about proper werewolves.

“Yes.” His brow furrowed. “Their venom may be similarly poisonous to you. We will need to be very careful if we come across any. I need you to stay safe, Dani.” He gave me a pleading look.

“Of course, Edward. If I die, you die and that is unacceptable.” I smiled softly and reached my other hand up to cup his face.

He immediately relaxed under my touch. “Completely unacceptable.” He kissed my palm, then leaned forward to gently kiss me. When he pulled back, he began to lightly brush his fingers through my hair. “You need to sleep, love.”

I nodded as my eyes drifted closed. “I love you, Edward.” I sighed.

“Me too. More than words.” He replied quietly.

Edward and I arrived at the Volturi’s private airstrip with our backpacks just before nine am. I was dressed for a bushwacking trip. Light cargo pants, hiking boots, and a tight tanktop with a flannel tied around my waist. Felix and Alec were waiting in their hooded cloaks and sunglasses right beside the descended airstairs leading up to the doorway to a small plane. I had cast a concealment spell over Edward that would last until well after the plane took off, so he was safe to be out in the Sun for now.

“Danielle.” Felix greeted with a smirk. “Edward.” That greeting was slightly colder as he lowered his sunglasses slightly, assessing him.

“Good morning, Felix. And Alec, it’s very nice to meet you.” I smiled softly.

Alec looked me up and down before offering his own small smile. “A pleasure, Danielle.” He replied.

I felt an odd sense of protectiveness over Alec. He just looked so young. He was only twelve or thirteen when he was turned and it showed. His dark, tousled hair and round, almost cherubic face triggered some of the maternal instincts that I had for Amara. It was misleading though, considering he was over a thousand years old. I was going to have to put aside that instinct if I wanted to avoid treating him like a child and offending him.  

“I suppose you both can just call me ‘Dani’. Since we’re going to be traveling together for a while.” I smiled wider and shrugged one shoulder.

** You’ve made a good first impression on Alec at least. You feel somehow familiar to him. **

Maybe he didn’t mind that I saw him as a child? My brow furrowed slightly at Edward’s thoughts before I schooled my face back to a more neutral expression. “So, how long do you think this trip will take?” I asked.

“Each of the other teams returned after five days or less. Hopefully we can find their trail from the location of the last werewolf sighting and just follow it to wherever they went before their memories were erased.” Felix explained.

I nodded. “Okay, that should make it much easier. That way we won’t have to just wander aimlessly around the forest.”

Felix chuckled. “What is all of this?” He waved to our bags. 

“Camping supplies, clothes, food, you know? Human supplies.” I quipped. 

Felix tilted his head. “We have provided food and survival gear for you. Aro would not send you without covering your needs.”

I reeled back slightly. “Oh. That was very thoughtful.”

Felix gave me a small smirk. “Are we ready to go then? You may leave your things here, they will be loaded into cargo before we take off.”

I glanced at my watch, 9:05, we needed a little more time. “Actually, is there a restroom I can use before we board?”

Felix tilted his head a little and scanned my face carefully. “Yes, in the building just over there.” He pointed to a small building with an Italian sign that seemed to indicate it was for the pilots.

“Thank you. I should only be a few minutes.” I leaned up to kiss Edward on the cheek before going to waste some time.

When I came back out, Alice and Jasper were there facing off with Felix wearing large hoodies and sunglasses of their own.

“Hey! You made it!” I exclaimed as I rushed over to them. “Alright, we can go now.”

“What are they doing here?” Felix asked through gritted teeth.

I gave him a curious look. “Helping? Do you really think we couldn’t use a psychic and another badass vampire on our team here?”

Felix glared at me while Alec appeared to be biting back a smile. “Aro did not approve this.” Felix said tersely.

I shrugged. “I really don’t think he’ll mind. He likes Alice.” I smiled and grabbed Edward’s hand to lead us to the stairs. “You coming?” I called out behind my shoulder.

Edward laughed behind me as we ascended the steps to the plane.

** Well played, my love. **

‘It’s all about the confidence.’ 

I smirked as we found our seats and the others filed onto the plane to find theirs. Edward held me close as the plane took off and I tried to remain calm. I was pretty terrified at the prospect of having to face off with some actual werewolves. 

“You’ve been married for two years then?” Felix asked gruffly from across the aisle.

“Two years, two months, five days, sixteen hours, and eight minutes.” Edward replied as he smiled down at me.

“Always so cheesy!” I chuckled.

I looked back at Alec to see his face pulled up with a small smile again.

“The last time we saw you, you did not seem happy that he was there. What changed your mind?” Felix asked.

“He did. He’s my soulmate, in case you didn’t hear that discussion.” I gave Felix a pointed look.

“Hm. I thought those were a myth.” He replied shortly.

“Dani and Edward were made for each other.” Alice added. “I suppose we have you to thank for taking her to Volterra and bringing them back together.” She smiled widely at Felix.

“It would appear so, yes.” Felix did not seem amused.

“You’re gonna have to let it go, my guy. Even if we didn’t make our way back to each other, every other vampire’s venom is still poisonous to me.” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“All of them?” Alec asked.

“Well, I guess we can’t be completely sure, but I think so.” I shrugged.

“But you were bitten.” He pointed to the exposed scars on my shoulder.

“I was. Edward pulled the venom out before it was too late. He saved me.” I smiled warmly at him.

“We saved each other. Many times.” He brushed a finger down my face before resting his hand on the side of my neck.

We spent another couple hours of the plane ride in easy discussion. Alec wanted to know about American culture. He had a lot of questions about movies and television, apparently he had never actually seen any. It wasn’t something the Volturi invested in. They focused primarily on paintings, sculptures, music, and science. 

Felix carried on an animated discussion with Jasper about the Southern newborn wars. He couldn’t really avoid the topic given the crescent scars that covered his skin. It appeared Felix actually enjoyed that time, since he played a significant role in eliminating any covens that drew too much attention. He ‘saw a lot of action’ in those days.

When we landed in Barnaul it was evening. They, thankfully, thought to supply the plane with meals for me and I was able to read a book with Edward to pass the time.

“Okay, so what’s the plan here for when I need to sleep?” I looked between Alec and Felix as we deboarded the plane. “I can probably stay awake until morning, so we can move at night, but eventually I will need to rest. I’m not a sleepless vampire like the rest of you.”

“One of us could carry you while you sleep?” Felix offered with a raised eyebrow.

I gave him a deadpan look.

Edward’s jaw clenched and he reached out to take my hand. “We will make camp whenever you need, love.” 

“I just don’t want to hold us up any longer than necessary. I can get by on three or four hours of sleep to minimize delays.” I shrugged as I took my pack from the cart of bags the ground crew brought down from cargo.

“You’ll get as much sleep as you need.” Edward gave me a pointed look before turning to grab the rest of our things. 

Edward, Alice, and Jasper each grabbed a pack and joined the rest of us. Felix pulled out an enormous tactical rucksack and slung it across his shoulder like it was weightless. To him it likely was. 

There was a large, black SUV waiting for us. Felix opened the back and threw his pack inside, nodding his head toward us indicating we should do the same. After loading our things into the car, we all piled in with Felix taking the driver’s seat. 

“Where are we going?” I asked tentatively. 

“We will be driving to the last known sighting. In the forested regions northwest of the city.” Felix explained as he started to drive. 

We quickly made it away from the city and onto a small road, several steps below being considered a highway. The small buildings quickly gave way to darkened trees and forests. As much as I wanted to take it all in, it was dark and I couldn’t stop myself from drifting off against Edward’s shoulder. 

I jolted awake when the terrain changed and the ride suddenly became rough and bumpy. 

“Sorry, love.” Edward whispered. “We’re off the main roads now and onto the dirt trails. We should be stopping soon.” He kissed my temple and ran a hand up and down my arm. 

I yawned, rubbing at my eyes, before looking out the window. Pitch black greeted me. Felix didn’t even have the headlights on to light his way. A small shiver moved through me, it had become chillier while I slept. I untied my flannel from my waist and slipped my arms into the sleeves.

“Where are we?” I asked groggily. 

“About sixty-five kilometers away from the city. We have been driving for a few hours though. It is not a straight path.” Alec offered from the front passenger seat. 

I nodded. “Thank you. We’re almost there though?”

“Yes. We will have to get out to travel by foot soon.” He explained. 

I sat up straighter, stretching my arms out as much as I could in the back seat. Edward kissed my jaw as I settled back in and I hummed contentedly, pressing my cheek against his shoulder. 

After another fifteen minutes or so of being jostled and tossed along the unfinished terrain, we finally slowed to a stop. We stepped out into the night together and Edward quickly grabbed my new jacket for me. Despite being summer, it was near freezing outside. I thanked him as I pulled my arms into the light jacket and zipped it to my chin. 

After throwing my pack on, I looked around at the dark forest again and sighed. “We should get moving. Are you picking up anything that would lead us in the right direction?”

They all started taking in our surroundings with all of their senses. Scanning the area, inhaling the air around them through their noses, listening to every sound. I closed my eyes and felt for any magic as far as I could in all directions. My current range was about twenty-five miles, but it wasn’t very precise past about four miles or so. I picked up a faint glow about sixteen to twenty miles east of us. My eyes snapped open and I looked toward where I felt it.

“Are you getting anything from there?” I pointed.

Felix and Jasper sped over into the forest where I indicated and closely analyzed the area.

“There does look to be some disturbance in the grounds here and I’m picking up traces of another vampire.” Jasper walked confidently toward us with Felix behind him.

“Yes, it’s the guards from the last expedition. How did you know?” Felix looked at me curiously.

“I can feel something coming from maybe eighteen miles that way.” I nodded my head in their direction. “That’s probably where we need to go.” I explained.

Felix gave me a skeptical look. “What do you mean, ‘feel something’?”

“Some kind of magic. It’s not clear what it is from this far away though.” I shrugged. 

Now he looked shocked. “You feel magic?”

My brow drew down and I nodded. “I do.”

Edward’s grip on my hand tightened and he pulled me closer.

“What does that mean?” Edward angrily demanded.

Felix schooled his expression. “I have just never heard of this before. It was a surprise.”

Edward narrowed his eyes at him and I looked at Edward expectantly.

“Wanna fill me in?” I asked aloud.

Edward’s green eyes met mine and he lightly shook his head.

** He thought that shouldn’t be possible. It was a suspicious tone though. Aggressive. **

“Okay, well. Yes, I feel magic and I feel it that way.” I pointed toward the forest to the east of us. “So, we should start moving.”

“Would you like me to carry you, so we can move quickly?” Edward asked.

** The sooner this is done the sooner we can get you out of here and back to Amara. **

I gave him a sad smile. “That’s a good idea.”

I gave my pack to Jasper, since he had no problem carrying two of them. Edward moved his pack to the front of his body while I jumped onto his back and he held me tight. Once everyone was ready, we ran straight into the pitch black Siberian wilderness.

Chapter Text

I held on tightly to Edward as we ran through the forest at a slightly restrained pace. They were following the scent trail of the other vampires that they picked up. The cold air whipped my hair around my head and stung against my face. I tucked my face into Edward’s shoulder and kept my eyes closed. Focusing instead on the magic I felt so that I could redirect us toward it as the location became more clear. 

“About fifteen degrees to our left.” I called out. 

I felt our direction shift accordingly. As we made our way closer to the source of the magic I was feeling, Edward directed his thoughts toward me. 

** I smell blood. Human. **

We were a couple miles out from the magic I was sensing. But it didn’t feel right. It wasn’t coming from a living thing, I could tell that much. My instincts were screaming at me that something was wrong. 

“Stop!” I called out. 

Edward immediately slowed down and the others followed suit, walking toward us at a slower pace as they had stopped almost immediately at my shout. I opened my eyes, looking into the dark forest surrounding us. The Moon hadn’t even risen yet, the only light around came from the stars peeking through the trees overhead.

“What is it?” Edward asked. 

“I don’t know. Something is off. That magic is weird. I think we need to move more carefully from here.” I lowered myself back to the ground and took Edward’s hand. 

“How much further is it?” Jasper asked. 

“Less than three miles that way.” I pointed to where whatever I was feeling was coming from. 

“We’ll go ahead to investigate. You can walk if you’d like.” Felix gruffly said. 

Alec’s face pulled down into a confused frown. “We are supposed to stay with her.” 

Felix rolled his eyes. “Fine. We’ll walk.” He didn’t even try to hide his frustration. 

“I’m sorry, I just don’t think we should go in guns blazing here.” I pursed my lips to the side. 

“No, love. If you feel something is wrong, you need to trust your instincts.” Edward pulled my hand to his lips. 

“Do you see anything, Alice?” I turned to her. 

Her eyes unfocused for a few moments. “No. I think between you and, possibly, the werewolves I won’t be of much use.” She grimaced. 

“Now, that’s not true. You’re one of the best fighters I’ve ever seen.” I gave her a wink. She smirked back at me as Jasper pulled her close and kissed her temple. 

“There’s blood too. There are humans up ahead.” Felix noted. 

“I smell it too.” Edward informed him. 

“Well, let’s just slow it down then. Not rush into whatever is there.” I started walking and Edward immediately followed, keeping our hands tightly clasped together. 

I followed the magic that I was feeling, while they followed the blood. They seemed to be coming from the same place. 

“So, what are some other things that you can do?” Alec asked me. 

“I can do a lot of things. Pretty much anything if there’s a spell for it.” I shrugged. “What you can do is pretty cool, I hear.” 

“It has been useful.” He returned my casual shrug with one of his own. “Can you fly?” He asked excitedly. 

I burst into laughter. “So many people think that I can fly! I feel like I need to create a spell for it at this point.”

Alec chuckled at my amusement. “So no?” He prompted. 

I shook my head. “Not yet. I’ll work on it though.” I grinned at him. 

“She can teleport though.” Jasper added, a hint of pride in his voice.

“Now that I would like to see.” Alec sounded at least a little impressed.

I snorted a laugh. “I’m sure it’ll come up at some point.” It was one of my most commonly used spells.

“How did you throw me?” Felix finally spoke up in a non-annoyed manner. 

“I can slow my perception of time. I also learned some defensive fighting tactics. That plus adding in some extra magic made it relatively easy.” I raised an eyebrow at him. 

I heard an approving hum come from him, still unable to see anyone. Edward’s grip on my hand slightly tightened. He was so easily antagonized by Felix. I was going to have to find a way to remind him that there was absolutely no competition there. I was also pretty confident that I could take Felix down if I needed to. I mean, I’d done it before. 

We continued walking as they kept the conversation light. I realized if we did find werewolves or humans, that we should probably try to talk to them first. I was hoping this could all be resolved without anyone dying. Werewolves were still somewhat human, just because they were capable of killing vampires doesn’t mean they deserved to die.

“Do any of you speak Russian?” I asked. 

“Yes.” They all replied simultaneously. 

I burst into laughter. “I feel like that was a dumb question,” I forced out between giggles.

Edward’s laughter joined mine until the others started chuckling too. Even Felix breathed out an amused sound. That was good. If we all got along, then this should be a much easier expedition. 

I stayed close to Edward’s side and let him keep me from running into trees and rocks while I continued leading us toward the glow of magic. It was becoming more clear, the closer we got. At some point, it stopped being a distant source of magic and started gradually filling the air in front of us. I let Edward’s hand go in an attempt to separate his electric magic from whatever this was. I paused for a moment to grab a flashlight from my pack and clicked it on. 

“This is so weird. This whole area is almost encased in faint magic. I’m gonna see if I can find whatever is causing it.” I felt it surrounding me as I drifted closer.

I started to look around, thinking maybe it was coming from a talisman or a weird burial ground or something. Something ahead of me glinted brightly as the light moved over it. I slowly moved closer, it looked like glass. Leaves and twigs crunched beneath my feet as I approached and crouched down to carefully pick it up. It was a clear, glass jar half-way filled with a thick, red liquid. Blood. 

What the fuck?

I quickly turned around to show the others, but they weren’t nearby anymore. I couldn’t see any of them in the beam of light and I started to panic. I swept the light quickly back and forth across the forest in front of me. I was alone.

“Guys?!” I called out as I rushed back, retracing my steps. “Hey! Where are you?!” Fear sent my heart racing as I started to run, stumbling over roots and sticks in my panic. 

When I found them again, I stopped cold. All five of them were frozen in place. They stood in a line right inside the edge of the field of magic. Some of them were still mid-step, their expressions unmoving. Alice was looking curiously at Jasper while Edward seemed to be reaching toward where I had been. 

I dropped the jar and rushed to him, holding his statuesque face in my hands “Baby? Can you hear me? Edward!” I looked over at Alice. “Alice?! What the fuck?!” My body began to tremble as my panic grew. 

Just as I went back to Edward, I heard rustling in the forest behind them. I froze in place and clicked my flashlight off. I slowly took Edward’s hand in mine. For the first time ever, it was like touching a statue. He was completely rigid. I pushed a shield out around us and held my breath, trying to remain as quiet as possible.

“Ser'yozno? Pyat' iz nikh?” A feminine voice loudly spoke. 

“Pochemu oni ne sdayutsya?” A different woman’s voice replied. 

Russian. I quickly cast the comprehension spell so that I could understand them. 

“Let’s just wipe them and send them back.” The first voice replied with a hint of annoyance. 

“I don’t know. Maybe we should injure one somehow? To send a message.” The other woman responded. 

“Anya!” The voice chided. “They would only send more! Let us just do as we are told.” They were coming closer. 

Thinking quickly, I stepped around Edward to stand between them and clicked my flashlight back on. I pointed it right at their faces as I prepared to take them down if I needed to. The light startled them as they both screamed and jumped back. There were only two of them. Both women who looked to be between their early to late twenties. The younger looking one had long, wavy dark hair and an olive complexion, the other with dark hair, shaved close to her scalp and rich, dark skin. 

I felt for any magic from them, to see if they were vampires or werewolves. I was completely shocked to realize that they were witches. Stronger than Maeve, but definitely not stronger than me. I took Edward’s hand again and felt for the magic in the air. It was a spell. I could feel the magic holding him in place. 

“Who are you? Why are you with them?” The older woman asked. 

“Let my husband go.” I replied in Russian through gritted teeth. “If I have to do it myself we are going to have a fucking problem!” My panic was quickly turning to anger. 

“Husband?” The other whispered. “She is not a vampire.”

“Shh.” The other one silenced her. “We cannot do that. Why are you with them?” She asked again.

My frustration grew. Without another thought, I pulled the spell away from Edward through our contact. He finished the step he was taking forward before turning around and quickly moving between me and the other witches. 

“Dani? What happened?” He asked in an alarmed tone. 

The other witches both gasped and stepped back again. 

“How?” The younger one asked.

Edward moved toward them and the other started an incantation, a ball of light formed in her hand. Just as she went to toss it, I reached out and pulled it from her. As soon as it was in my hand, I balled my fist and snuffed it out. 

“Nope.” I said in English. “That was not a good idea. Release the rest of my family or I will.” I ordered in Russian again. 

“Vis magicae?” The older one whispered in disbelief. 

Edward looked back at me before returning his attention to them. “Witches?” He asked quietly. 

“Witches.” I confirmed. 

“We are not here to hurt you. We are actually looking for something else.” He told them in perfect Russian. 

They gave him a curious look. The older one focused on me again, squinting her eyes to try and see past the flashlight I had pointing right at them. 

“Who are you?” She asked again. 

“Yeah, this isn’t a meet and greet.” I reached my other hand to Alice, grabbing her hand and pulling the spell away from her. 

“Jasper?” Her tone was concerned. “What’s happening?” Alice came back to my side to face the two witches with us. 

“It’s a spell. I’m not sure of the logistics of it, but I can pull him out. I just need to touch him.” I told her quietly. 

Alice gasped and looked at them again. “They’re witches?” She whispered incredulously. 

“Yup.” 

“We speak English.” The younger one spoke up. “I am Anya.”

“Keep quiet!” The other one hissed at her. 

“But she’s a witch too?” She replied with a confused expression. 

“A witch who is working with vampires!” The older one responded through gritted teeth. She turned toward me again, still trying to see me through the glare of light. “How you break him from spell?” She asked in broken English with a heavy Russian accent. 

“You may speak Russian. I will understand you.” I replied. “And that is not your concern. Why is this here?” I waved a hand around, indicating the spell that somehow froze my family in place. 

“Protection from them.” She responded. 

I thought for a moment. “You have been erasing their memories?” I asked unnecessarily, I knew that was exactly what had been happening. 

“They keep coming back!” The younger one, Anya, argued. 

“You broke the spell. Stopped mine too. How did you do that?” The older witch asked again in an angry tone. 

Edward let out a low growl and moved into a protective stance in front of me. 

“It’s okay, they can’t hurt me. Trust me.” I gave his hand a light squeeze and he relaxed his posture. “I pulled the magic of the spell from them.” I offered a very basic explanation. 

Her eyes widened and the other woman gave her a surprised look of her own. “You are married to a vampire?” She asked, incredulously. 

“Also not your concern. I’m going to get my brother there out of the spell too. Don’t try anything.” I pointed a finger at them.

I let Alice’s hand go and tried to drop Edward’s. He tightened his grip and walked with me, facing the two witches the entire time as I approached Jasper. 

“He will kill us!” Anya called out in a panicked voice. 

“None of us are going to hurt you unless you attack us first. Except those two,” I pointed the flashlight toward Felix and Alec, “I don’t know them well enough to make that claim.”

While I spoke, Alice grabbed her own flashlight, clicking it on and pointing it at them so that I could find Jasper and still see them. 

“Thanks, Alice.” I smiled tightly. 

As soon as we reached him, I grabbed Jasper’s arm and released him from the spell as well. 

“-hear anything.” Jasper finished whatever sentence he was in the middle of before he was frozen in place. “Now, what the hell was that?” He asked as he turned back toward me. 

As soon as he noticed the witches, he rushed to Alice’s side, pulling her behind him protectively. 

“What’s goin’ on here, Dani?” He asked. 

“These witches were hopefully just about to explain.” I aimed my light toward them. “Here, how about I even the playing field a little. Maybe relieve some of the tension.” I offered in Russian as I manifested my own, large ball of yellow light. With a gentle flick of my wrist it floated up, hovering several feet above our heads and lighting the area around us out to about a ten foot radius. “There now we can all see each other.” I gave them a small smile. 

These were the most powerful witches I had ever come across. A part of me wanted to make a good impression at least. The older one took a step closer to me, carefully studying my face. Edward growled as she tried to take another step and she gave him a startled look. 

“I suggest you keep your distance from my wife.” His tone was threatening. 

‘It’s okay, baby. Please try to calm down.’ 

** I don’t like this. They’re too curious about you. **

I lightly squeezed Edward’s hand to try and reassure him that I was perfectly fine.

“I am just trying to see her face better.” She explained. 

“What? Why?” I reeled back in confusion. That seemed super weird.  

“I am Sabine. You are Dani? Also a witch?” She finally properly greeted me. 

“Yes. Can you tell us what’s going on here? We came here looking for werewolves, but it appears we found you instead.” I tilted my head in question. 

“We live here. Our village is hidden beyond this barrier. Vampires hunt our kind. You must know that?” Her face was drawn down in concern. 

“As far as I know, they haven’t done that for a long time.” I gave her a questioning look. Most vampires didn’t even know that there were witches.

“What do you mean your village? How many are in your coven?” Jasper asked in a shocked tone. 

Sabine glanced at him without answering and looked back at me. “This is a betrayal to your ancestors.” Her voice was quiet and angry.

My face immediately fell. “Fuck that noise. I can promise you, no one in my family here is going to hurt you.” 

“Why are their eyes like that? Not red?” Anya asked. 

“We don’t feed off of humans.” Edward told them. “We only hunt animals. It results in our gold irises. If we were to feed off of a human they would immediately turn red and remain that way for months.” He explained in a more subdued tone.

“But yours are green.” Sabine gave him a curious look. 

“That’s because I am bonded to her.” He gave me a soft smile and I squeezed his hand again. 

Sabine looked between us, still confused. “Why are those two with you?” She gestured toward Felix and Alec. 

I winced lightly. “That’s… complicated. I won’t release them… yet. How does this spell work?” I asked curiously.

Sabine eyed me carefully. “It stops anything larger than a rabbit that moves without a heartbeat.” She explained.

“Nice.” I nodded. “That’s a really good idea.”

Jasper scoffed at me. “Seriously? We were all stuck there because of it.”

“They keep sending teams of vampires into their territory, I think it’s a reasonable response.” I gave him a pointed look.

He rolled his eyes and returned his attention to them. “Why have there been reports of werewolves in this area?”

They still didn’t answer him. It seemed they were really only willing to talk to me and maybe Edward. “If you have a problem with werewolves here, we can help. That’s kind of why we’re here.” I kept my voice calm.

“You can pull magic from spells. Can you sense it too?” Sabine ignored my question and instead asked one of her own.

My brow furrowed in confusion. “I can. Why?”

“That is… extremely rare.” She looked at me carefully. “May I please see you more closely?”

My face pulled down into a confused frown. “I guess…? Don’t try anything weird though.”

Anya snorted a laugh behind her as Sabine came closer. Edward pulled me closer to his side and I put up the thinnest shield as she leaned in and closely studied my eyes. Her brows drew down and her deep brown eyes began darting back and forth between mine. 

“Can you try to pull magic now?” She asked carefully.

“No. Not until you tell me what you are doing.” I replied.

She moved away from me again, looking between each of us as if thinking carefully about what she was going to say next.

“Our coven is rather large. We are also protectors for another group. The werewolves I assume you are looking for.” she said.

It was our turn to be shocked now. “You are protecting the werewolves?” I asked in disbelief.

Why the hell would werewolves need to be protected by witches?  

“Why?”

“Why are you with these vampires? They are our family.” She explained softly. “We can take you to our village. Our High Priestess will want to meet you.”

“I’m not going anywhere without them.” I gestured to my family.

She looked at them warily. “You do not kill humans?”

“We don’t.” Alice replied in a reassuring tone.

“And them?” She nodded toward the still frozen Felix and Alec.

My face pulled into a grimace. “Yeah, they’re not really one of us. They do eat people, unfortunately.”

“They cannot come.” Sabine replied sternly.

I sighed. “We can’t just leave them here.”

“Your debt won’t be considered paid if they can’t tell Aro what happened here.” Edward said quietly.

I looked between Felix and Alec. “I’ll pull Alec out of it and try to talk to him. He at least seems more reasonable between the two of them. If he becomes aggressive, I can freeze him again.”

“No, please don’t.” Anya spoke up in a fearful tone as I approached Alec.

I looked at her with a confused frown. She seemed way more frightened of them than Sabine was. I wondered if she’d had a run in with vampires before.

“I’ll see if I can just release his head. How about that? Then he can talk, but not move.” It was at least worth a shot.

Anya looked at me with worried eyes before nodding her head anxiously.

I gave Edward’s hand a light squeeze and let it go before walking over to Alec. His child-like face was frozen with an amused expression, one foot held up in front of the other, mid-step. He really was so freaking young. I really only knew about his ability and that he and Jane were twins.

“Shit.” I muttered.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Edward asked anxiously from behind me.

I sighed. “I have to touch him. I’ll see everything.” I glanced back at Edward.

“I can at least help, that way you don’t get pulled in.” He offered me his hand again.

“You are a reader too?” Sabine asked in a baffled tone.

I gave her another confused look. “I don’t know what that is.” I turned back to Alec and reached up to carefully touch a hand to his face.

I was flooded with his childhood. The life he lived before all of this. I wasn’t sucked into it, thanks to Edward, but I still saw it all. I pulled my hand away with a gasp and my hand flew over my mouth.

“What did you see?” Edward asked.

My eyes met his as tears fell to my cheeks. “What do you know about him?” I asked, failing to keep the slight tremble out of my voice.

“Not much. Jane is his sister, they were very young when they were turned, and their abilities, of course.” Edward’s brow drew down as he scanned my face. 

“I know why I seem familiar to him. I look a lot like his mother.” I looked back at Alec.

“Really?” Alice asked as she slowly came to join us and look at Alec, likely looking for any resemblance between us.

“She was a witch.” I said quietly.

“I thought witches only had daughters.” Edward sounded completely confused.

“Boys are a bad omen.” Anya added from behind us. “They usually do not survive long after birth.”

“Not Alec. He and Jane were very powerful, even as toddlers. They used their abilities to protect their family. The townspeople feared them, burned them at the stake. His only concern was saving his sister. He wanted so badly to stop her screaming and her pain.” My voice broke. “Aro saved them and turned them. All he was focused on while he was turning was helping Jane. That’s why his ability is to completely numb his targets.” I looked back at Edward with a forlorn expression, wiping away the tears that had escaped and fallen to my cheeks.

“Dani, no.” He deflated slightly. His head tilted to one side. He knew exactly what I was thinking without me having to share my thoughts.

“I can’t do it, Edward. If I don’t release all of him, it would feel just like it was when he was tied to that stake.” I shook my head.

He took my face in his hands. “Baby, I know. But it’s not safe. He could just kill them. You couldn’t live with that.” He pleaded with me.

I took one of Edward’s hands from my cheek and looked back at Alec’s still form. “I don’t think he will. He knows he was a witch and he’s very curious about it. Let me just talk to him. If he makes a move, I can freeze him again.” 

“You want to let him out completely?” Anya asked in a frightened tone. “Just because he was a witch?” They had both been closely watching our exchange with fascination. 

I turned to her with a frown. “No, because he was a child. One who went through a trauma and I would rather not force him to relive that.” 

“Dani, he is over a thousand years old.” Jasper gave me an unamused look.

I shook my head. “That doesn’t matter. Please trust me.”

Edward sighed next to me before letting my hand go. He moved to Alec’s other side, ready to grab him if his thoughts indicated he was becoming aggressive. “Okay.” He nodded. 

I reached out and took Alec’s hand. With a simple pull, he was released. He finished the step he had been taking and immediately stopped. He looked down at our joined hands and quickly pulled his out of mine. 

“What is this?” He looked around at us, his confused eyes stopping on the two witches that weren’t here before he was frozen. 

I held my hands up in front of my chest. “Alec, it’s okay. They’re like me. They’re witches. You were all just caught in their protective barrier.”

“Witches? Not wolves?” He looked back at me, his crimson eyes examining my expression. 

I grimaced. “Apparently there are werewolves. They all live together. They’re willing to take us to their village, but only if we can guarantee that none of them will be harmed.”

“Truces with werewolves are punishable by death.” His eyes narrowed. 

“We’re not making a truce with werewolves. We’re making a truce with witches. The wolves just happen to be under their protection.” I tried to find a loophole for the situation. 

He studied my face carefully before glancing at Felix. “He is still in their barrier?”

“Yeah.” I grimaced. 

“That’s for the best. He’s too impulsive. How many of you are there?” Alec asked Sabine and Anya.  

Anya looked at Sabine, seemingly waiting for her to answer. When she didn’t I audibly sighed and rolled my eyes. 

“We are not going to get anywhere if you refuse to communicate with them.” I hoped my frustrated tone came across in Russian. 

Sabine clenched her jaw. “There are thirteen in our coven. The others are our family and friends. They just happen to also be werewolves.”

“And you have had no trouble with that?” Alec asked in perfect Russian with a bewildered tone. 

“Why would we?” Sabine asked with a furrowed brow. 

“They are volatile and uncontrolled. No more than rabid beasts when they turn.” His lip pulled up into a disgusted expression. 

“Only three nights a month do they turn. We help them with that. Sleeping spells, containment spells, whatever we can do to keep them from harming anyone.” Sabine explained. 

Alec’s brow drew down in thought. “Why would you bring us to your people?” 

That was actually a very good question. 

“We only want to bring her.” Sabine pointed to me. “But she will not come without all of you.”

“Why do you want her?” Alec suddenly moved toward her, placing himself between me and Sabine. 

She flinched back and looked at me with terrified eyes. “I believe she can help us. Our High Priestess will want to meet her.”

My head tilted to the side as I gave her a questioning look. “Help you with what?”

“If he will not harm any of us, we will take you to our people. The High Priestess can explain.” Sabine offered with a pleading expression. 

I looked at Alec. “Can you promise that?”

He looked back at me with an appalled expression. “And if they attack us?”

“If they attack us, we can defend ourselves. Obviously.” I gave Sabine a pointed look. 

Alec scanned me from head to toe, clearly deep in thought about the situation. “Leave Felix here for now. He will not agree to this. We can come back for him later.”

“Okay. Does that sound good to the rest of you?” I looked to my family. 

Edward came over and took my hand. “I’ll follow you anywhere, remember?” He gave me his crooked grin. 

“We can agree to those terms. We won't hesitate to defend ourselves, though.” Jasper took Alice’s hand and pulled her close again. 

“Alright. Lead the way.” I held a hand out. “How far is it?”

Sabine and Anya looked at each other with matching frowns. Anya looked back at me. “We did not walk here. It is about thirty-five kilometers past the barrier.”

My face fell. “Well shit.” 

I looked around at the group. They could all run that relatively quickly if they knew where they were going and I could just teleport if I knew. Walking would take at least a day. 

“We can make camp here, I do still need to sleep. Then we can start making our way there in the morning.” I sighed and dropped my pack to the ground.  

“You can come to rest in our village. We used a portal to get here. But it is not large enough for all of you.” Sabine looked between us all.

“What do you mean a ‘portal’?” I had never heard of anything like that before. 

They led me toward a small clearing where a circle of stones was laid out in the grass. It was only about five feet in diameter. Maybe four of us could fit if we squeezed together. 

“I’m guessing there is a matching one of these in your village?” I asked while closely inspecting the stones. They were a variety of, what looked like, everyday rocks and five quartz crystals connected into a pentagram. 

“Yes. It creates a doorway.” Anya explained. 

“Very cool! But would you really be okay with me sleeping in your village while my vampire family just hangs out?” I asked warily. 

“Hangs out?” Anya gave me a confused smile. 

“Umm, sits around?” I amended, I suppose English slang doesn’t always translate.

Anya nodded, still confused though. “They can rest too. Or do they sleep during the day?”

Now it was my turn to look confused. My face drew down and my head tilted to the side, assessing whether she was serious or not. “They don’t sleep at all.”

Her and Sabine both looked shocked by this revelation. “Not at all?” Anya asked. 

“Nope. Look, we can just stay here for the night and then we’ll go to your village through the portal in the morning. You probably want to head back to your village and let the others know what’s going on anyway.” 

I imagined them just showing up with the five vampires that they were supposed to incapacitate and get rid of would ruffle a few feathers. It was best for us to just wait until morning and give them time to explain the situation to their people. 

“Fine. We will return after sunrise. Do not attempt to venture into the village without us.” Sabine warned. 

“We are going to stay right here with Dani.” Alice reassured them with a soft smile. 

They nodded and warily stepped into their portal. Sabine recited an incantation and in a faint flash of orange light, they were gone. Edward got to work setting up a tent for me, while the others checked the perimeter to ensure there were no other traps set up around us. As I got settled into my sleeping bag, Edward climbed into the tent and laid down next to me. He slipped into the sleeping bag with me and nestled me into his chest. 

“That was unexpected.” He murmured into my ear as he began running his fingers through my hair. 

“Very.” I mumbled. I was exhausted. 

“What do you think they want with you?” He asked quietly. 

“I have no idea.” I yawned. “We’ll find out tomorrow.”

He gently kissed my forehead and tucked my head into his neck. “Get some sleep, love. They’re going to keep watch so I’ll be with you all night.”

I drifted to sleep on the hard ground in his comforting arms. I dreamed of my mother. Of the life we could have had if she had been the one to teach me magic and guide me through the many trials that I’ve had to face. She warned me that there would be more. I had a feeling that this was it. 

Chapter Text

The next morning, as the sun woke me, I decided I would probably never go camping ever again. If it weren’t for Edward, it would have been completely miserable. At least the forest was beautiful. Enormous pine and fir trees surrounded us, extending high toward the sky above us. The peaceful sounds of birds and a soft rush of water from a river or fall nearby. The magic around us was palpable. Apparently my ability to feel that was ‘extremely rare’. I supposed I would learn more about that soon.

After eating a quick breakfast and dry brushing my teeth, I stood there trying to stretch my stiff back while studying Felix’s frozen face. We were all still waiting for the witches to return. 

“What are you doing?” Alec asked as he came to stand next to me. 

“Seeing if he’s moved at all. I wonder if the spell is fixed or if it wears off.” I tilted my head as I looked for any movement in his deep crimson eyes. 

“You have visions when you touch someone, do you not?” He asked. 

I looked away from Felix and into Alec’s curious red eyes. “I do.”

“What was your vision of me?” His brows drew down as his eyes remained focused on mine. 

“Your human life. How you died.” My own face pulled down into a sympathetic frown. 

He glanced away and simply nodded. “I do not remember much from that time.”

“Yeah, I suppose you wouldn’t.” I studied his thoughtful expression. 

“I remember my near death, very little before that.” He quickly met my eyes and looked away again. 

I opened my mouth in an attempt to offer as much sympathy as I could just as Sabine and another witch came through the forest. 

“Good morning, Dani.” Sabine greeted me. “This is Jade, our reader.” She introduced a beautiful woman with bright blue eyes and pin straight sandy blonde hair. “The High Priestess would like her to read each of you to be sure that you harbor no ill intent toward us before we welcome you into our village.” She explained. 

I looked at her curiously. “You called me a ‘reader’ before. What does that mean?”

“It varies for different witches. In Jade’s case, she can determine someone’s intentions by reading them. You have visions, do you not? See their history?” She asked. 

“Yes. I did not realize there was a name for it. Or really for anything that I can do.” I shrugged. 

Her brows drew down in confusion. “Well I suppose you will learn.”

Jade approached me with a small smile and held a hand out for me. I looked down at it warily. 

“I will have a vision of you if I touch you. It happens the first time I touch anyone.” My face pulled into an awkward grimace. 

“You cannot control it?” Jade asked in a surprised tone. 

“I can pull myself out of the vision, but I can’t prevent it, no.”

Her brows drew down and she nodded. “I can teach you. If you would like?” She offered. 

I carefully studied her expression. She seemed genuine. She actually reminded me a lot of Maeve. Her hair and eyes were a close match, they were about the same age too. The offer to mentor me was very tempting. If I could truly control it, that would be life-changing. I had never even tried before. I didn’t think it was a possibility. 

I gave Jade a soft smile. “That would be really great. Thank you.”

“Since the High Priestess would like to see you regardless, I do not have to read you. I will need to read the others though.” She looked past me to my family, who had been hovering close by. 

“Are you all okay with that?” I asked them. 

“We have nothing to hide.” Jasper replied. 

“I suppose I have no choice if I do not wish to stay here with Felix.” Alec frowned. “He will not make for good company.”

I laughed, completely surprised by the fact that he actually cracked a joke, and he smiled widely back at me. Edward watched me with a curious smile of his own. 

** He really does seem to like you. **

I reached for Edward’s hand as my laughter died down. He laced our fingers together and held his other hand out to Jade. 

“It is lovely to meet you, Jade. My name is Edward. I am Dani’s husband.” He introduced himself. 

She tilted her head with a small smile and took his hand. After only a moment, she let him go again. “It is nice to meet you as well, Edward.” She looked at Sabine. “He is very protective of her, but no aggression toward us.”

“I imagine you will read similar intentions from the rest of our family.” He smiled softly and pulled my hand up to kiss my knuckles. 

One-by-one, they each introduced themselves to Jade as she took their hands and read their intentions. They were all the same as Edward. No aggression, just a desire to protect each other. I was surprised to find that even Alec showed an intent to protect me. Though it was likely that Aro wouldn’t be happy if something happened to his favorite witch and he knew as much.  

“Okay. Let’s do this then. Sabine, can you bring me, my husband and Alec? Then Jade can bring Alice and Jasper?” That seemed like the best approach. If Jade showed up without them, then I could just teleport back for them myself. 

“That will be fine.” Sabine nodded as she led the way to the portal. 

Edward pulled me close to his side and we stepped into the circle of stones. Alec eyed us warily before carefully stepping inside with us. It was a little cramped, but Sabine seemed far more comfortable than she was the night before. She recited an incantation and in an instant we were standing in a nearly identical circle of stones and crystals at the edge of their village. 

A large field of neatly rowed crops stretched out to one side of us. Directly in front of us sat a trail leading to what looked like a small neighborhood of single story log cabins. I counted at least twelve of them from where we stood. 

“We need to move so they can use the portal now.” Sabine said as she stepped out of the circle. 

We all followed after her as I continued to take in their village. There were mature trees all throughout the area, effectively obscuring it from view at both a distance and from overhead. It looked like there was another fenced in field on the other end of the village and I was sure I spotted brown and white animals moving around there. 

“Is your village completely self-sufficient?” I asked her. 

“We have everything we need here, yes.” She smiled softly. 

A moment later Jade arrived with Alice and Jasper. A wave of relief washed over me. I still didn’t fully trust any of them and I was a little worried that I was going to have to go back for them. They all quickly stepped out of the circle and Alice danced to my other side. 

“That was so cool!” Alice beamed up at me as she excitedly took my hand. 

I chuckled and looked at Jasper. “Are we all good here? Do you feel anything concerning?”

Jasper shook his head. “No. The most concerning emotion I’ve felt is their excitement about you. Hardly negative, but we really need to know what they want with you.” He gave me a pointed look as Alice flitted to his side and he wrapped an arm around her, holding her close. 

I looked up at Edward. “I’m assuming you can’t hear them anymore than you can hear Maeve?”

His worried eyes met mine and he shook his head. “Just the general tone. Their thoughts are anxious and fearful around us but, as Jasper said, excited and curious about you.”

He reached a hand up to cup my face and I leaned into it with a soft sigh. Leaning forward, he pressed a lingering kiss to my forehead. The warm, cinnamon honey scent of him soothed my rattled nerves. When he pulled back, I kissed his palm and took his hand in mine. 

Sabine and Jade were watching us curiously. “They can stay here while we take you to the High Priestess.” Sabine said. 

“No. She will not be alone with any of you. That is not even an option.” Edward firmly informed them. 

Jade’s brow furrowed. “We are not going to hurt her.”

‘My tattoo would warn me if any of them wanted to hurt me. Plus, I really am much stronger than them. They’re not a threat to me.’ 

** There are at least thirteen of them, plus an unknown number of werewolves. If they work together, you would be vulnerable. **

I reached a hand up to hold his face. “I will let you know immediately if I even think that I might be in danger.” Stretching onto my tiptoes, I quickly kissed his warm lips. “Stay with our family. Keep an eye on Alec.” I smirked at the offended scoff I heard from Alec. I turned to Alec and pointed a finger at him with a raised brow. “You’re not allowed to eat anyone here.”

He chuckled in response. “I will try to remember that.”

Edward sighed and pressed his lips to mine again before loosening his hold on me.

I turned back to Jade and Sabine. “After you.”

They led me down the trail toward the village. As we neared the border of the houses I felt a small wave of familiar magic. 

“A silencing spell?” I asked them. 

Sabine smirked. “You recognized it? That is very impressive. Their hearing range extends for kilometers. It is a necessary precaution.”

Jade continued looking at me curiously. “How old are you?”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Older than I look.” I still looked like a senior in high school, despite being nearly twenty-one in this universe. 

She smirked back. “So is Sasha, our High Priestess.”

As we walked further into the village there were people out and about just living their lives. Hanging laundry, tending to gardens, feeding animals, exactly what you would expect from an off-the-grid village in the middle of the wilderness. Men, women, even a couple children. All of them stopped to stare at me, wide-eyed and curious, as we passed by them. 

They led me toward the center of the village. It was a large, open area with an elaborate altar set up inside of a sacred circle filled with wooden benches. At the edge was a smaller cabin with an herb garden out front. They led me up the two steps to the door, knocking softly and waiting patiently for a response. 

“You may send her in.” An ethereal, yet commanding voice called out from the other side. 

Sabine nodded at me and gestured toward the door. I gave her a wary look before hesitantly going inside. The small space was dimly lit by a lantern in one corner and the light coming in through two windows, one by the front door and another at the back of the cabin. 

A small kitchen at the back held a wood burning stove, a small sink, and three cabinets. To my left was a small sitting area with a wooden bench covered in handmade blankets and a small bed occupied the wall to my right. Crystals, dried herbs, jars filled with a variety of colorful substances and preserved fruits and vegetables covered every shelf.

Directly in front of me sat a stunning woman at a small table in the center of the room. Her face was framed in a mass of wild black curls. Her deep brown eyes seemed to be reading into me as I slowly came closer. The red dress she wore appeared handmade. Leather cord laced the front of it together and the long sleeves sat loosely around her elbows. She looked young, late-twenties at the most, with flawless almost sepia toned skin. Her round lips pulled into a small smile. 

“Welcome, Danielle. I’m Sasha.” She greeted me in perfect English. 

I was slightly thrown that she used my full first name. I quickly reached out for her energy. She was strong. Very strong. I had no doubt that she was capable of hurting my family if she tried. But I was confident that I was stronger. 

“Hello Sasha.” I replied tentatively. 

“Please, have a seat.” She gestured toward the empty chair in front of her. A crystal ball sat at the center of the table between us. 

I slowly sat down, keeping my eyes on her. She was carefully watching me, her beautiful face still adorned with a soft smile. She held a hand out to me and nodded toward the crystal ball. “Would you mind? It would save us some time.” 

I lightly shook my head. “I’d rather not. I would read you instead.”

She tilted her head, still smiling. “I can block such mental abilities.”

“I can do that too.” I raised an eyebrow at her. 

Her smile finally faltered. “You do this naturally? Without a spell or object?”

“Yes. No mental abilities work on me.” I eyed her warily, trying to figure out how much she knew about me. “What will that do?” I asked as I frowned at the clear ball on the table, a warped, upside down version of my own face looking back at me. 

“It will just allow me to understand who you are and why you are here.” She gave me a reassuring nod.

I chewed my lip nervously in thought. Crystal balls act more as a tool for channeling messages from the universe, based on the intent of the user. It seemed harmless enough, so I carefully placed my hand in hers. I was relieved to have not been immediately immersed into her life story. The tension that always pulled my shoulders up whenever I touched someone new immediately relaxed. 

She gently held my hand as she stared intently into the crystal ball. After a moment her eyes went white. It scared the shit out of me and I tried to pull my hand away. Her grip tightened in response, holding me firmly in place.

“Please don’t move.” She slowly requested in her ethereal voice.  

After several terrifying seconds her eyes returned to brown and she let my hand go. I pulled it back to my chest, staring wide eyed at her. 

“It did work.” She said quietly. A wide smile spread over her face as she studied me more closely. “Do you know how you were brought here?” She asked.

“The portal?” I replied, completely confused by her question.

She shook her head, curls bouncing around her face as her smile softened. “No. Here. To this world.” One of her hands came up to wave vaguely in the air around her.

My eyes darted around her face, trying to figure out just how much she learned about me from that crystal ball. I immediately regretted allowing her to do that. She looked confident, as though whatever mysteries I previously held for her were now solved. “I was dying. My magic brought me here.” 

“Not entirely.” She raised an eyebrow and I couldn’t help the bewildered expression taking over my face. 

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

“How about I start at the very beginning?” She leaned back in her chair and set her hands on the table. Silver rings embossed with various symbols and holding various gemstones adorned her fingers. Gold and silver bracelets tinkled together on her wrists. 

I looked up from her hands to meet her eyes again. “That would be ideal.” I nodded for her to continue.

She inhaled deeply through her nose and leveled me with a thoughtful expression. “According to our legends, thousands of years ago powerful witches were prevalent. Entire villages around the world were made up of large covens. Witches often had various, powerful abilities besides spell casting. Premonitions, astral projection, force control, and many more. 

“One problem regularly arose among our kind. The more powerful a witch is, the longer she lives. See, our magic fuels our life force. It can keep us young and extend our lifespan well beyond that of a human. The problem with this was their partners. Witches are women, and just like any other woman they fall in love. Powerful covens were forced to watch the humans they loved grow old and die again and again. 

“Eventually, one powerful coven decided that they had enough of losing the people they loved. So, together they created a spell to ensure that they would never have to watch the humans they bound themselves to die again. Using the power offered by the Sun, it would keep them young, make them stronger, and give them immortality. These witches, however, used dark magic to accomplish their goals. What they ended up creating was essentially a curse and it had dire consequences. 

“Their mates did stop aging, they became literally frozen as they were when they were cursed. They became stronger, faster, and much more dangerous. The consequence of their actions was that they were no longer human. They were uncontrollable predators, only able to sustain themselves on blood and they were insatiable.”

“Vampires.” I said quietly.

She nodded with a grim expression. “As a result of their actions, entire covens and villages were slaughtered. Those who didn’t die, became cursed by their attackers. Frozen monsters consumed by their bloodlust. Witches who were turned lost their ability to perform magic, at best they kept whatever additional ability they had before they were turned. Every witch in that coven was either killed or turned by those they cursed. Those that were turned remained closely bonded with their mates.

“Over time, as their bloodlust waned and they gained more control, alliances were formed. Covens and what you know as vampires would join together in relative peace. But the vampires still needed to feed. This caused many conflicts with neighboring villages and covens as their people were essentially treated as cattle. 

“After a couple centuries of this another coven sought to fight back. They created their own spell using the power of the Full Moon instead. One to secure immortality for their human mates and give them the ability to destroy the vampires that were terrorizing them without turning them into frozen monsters themselves. They tried to word their spell in a way that would allow their mates to remain peaceful.

“Their mates also became faster, stronger, and stopped aging. But, as with the vampire curse, their curse had consequences. During the three days around every Full Moon they would transform into savage beasts, easily capable of destroying entire groups of vampires. They had no recollection of their actions while they were transformed. Often they attacked humans who were unfortunate enough to come across them. Occasionally, they even slaughtered entire villages of innocent people. As with the vampires, any human or witch that they bit would be cursed as well. Witches would lose their power and become what you know as werewolves.

“This caused a war. Witches aligned themselves with either vampires or werewolves as they fought to eliminate one another. The vampires had centuries to spread their curse before werewolves were created, so they had an advantage in numbers and often formed their own covens both with and without witches. 

“After centuries of constant fighting, one coven of powerful witches had enough. Their coven contained multiple witches with a particularly strong ability, an extremely rare one, that could help them put an end to it. Vis magicae. The ability to sense and control the magic in the world around them. They could differentiate between the magic needed for different spells and cast them purely by intent. These witches could pull magic from the world around them, stop spells in their tracks and, most importantly, break curses. 

“Now the curses of the vampires and werewolves are far too complex to simply feel and break at will. Their entire nature has been restructured to create something completely new. This coven worked to create their own spells to reveal the curses and give the witches with this ability the opportunity to break them. And it worked. According to the legends, they first cast it on a small group of werewolves.

“Werewolves were created using the power of the Full Moon, this is also when the consequences of their curse are most apparent. The condition required for the spell to reveal their curse was that it must be cast when day has been replaced by night, against the natural order. An eclipse would provide the perfect opportunity. When cast under a solar eclipse, the werewolf curse would become tangible to these witches and they could break it. 

“When breaking the curse on one werewolf, it would break the curse for every werewolf ever created by them as well. Their entire sire line was broken and they were all returned to their original human forms. No more transforming into mindless monsters and uncontrollably killing people.

“In a similar fashion, vampires were created using the power of the Sun and are most clearly inhuman in the light of day. Their curse could be revealed if the night sky becomes as bright as day. Such a thing is far more rare though. It requires either a major celestial event or… magical intervention. 

“During these wars, one particular group of vampires was becoming far too powerful. They had already destroyed several other covens of both werewolves and vampires who refused to join them. The coven that could break their curses targeted them, hopeful of finally putting a stop to the turmoil. 

“There were four powerful vampires leading this coven. The witches infiltrated their coven and got to work manifesting enough energy to significantly brighten the night sky and transform it into day for their spell. They managed to break the curse on one of the four vampires, returning them and every vampire that had been ever created because of them to their human state. Before they could attempt to cure the others, they were slaughtered. As soon as the other vampires realized what had happened, they quickly destroyed the entire coven.

“After that the hunting began. The three vampires that were left were terrified by what had happened to their companion and his entire line of progeny. Once the curse was broken, it could not be reinstated. They tried to turn him again, but he merely died. As a result, they sought to destroy every witch powerful enough to harm them and any witch with vis magicae. 

“In the end, they were successful. Every witch discovered with that ability was killed, along with her entire family, should the trait be carried down. Between the vampires and the human witch hunts they orchestrated, almost every witch that was even remotely powerful was destroyed. That is why we still hide. It has been over two thousand years since this world has seen another witch with vis magicae. There are so few of us left and none with the ability to break these curses. Except you.”

She raised an eyebrow giving me a pointed look. I inhaled sharply through my nose and nervously ran a hand through my hair. This was… a lot.

“As you now know, we protect a group of werewolves. They have come to us over the years in need of help controlling their curse and hiding from the vampires that are still hunting their kind. All of them wish to have their curse broken. Without vis magicae, this cannot be accomplished.

“Just over three and half years ago our coven cast a spell to try and return this ability to us so that we could break their curse ourselves. As soon as the spell was cast, the grimoire we used for it disappeared and not one of us were found to have the ability we attempted to manifest. This whole time we thought it didn’t work, that we had done something wrong.”

She paused again to smile at me with a subtle raise of her eyebrows. I had been completely enraptured the entire time. Her story was mesmerizing. The fact that both vampires and werewolves were created by witches was almost unbelievable.

“Recuperare Quae Amissa Sunt? That’s how I got here. Isn’t it?” I finally spoke.

The spell to recover something lost. The grimoire was theirs.

She nodded with a soft smile. “The spell must have found you, wherever you came from, with your ability to sense the magic around you, and brought you here at an opportune moment. It made space and took you where you would fit here. From what I saw, it appears the book found you as well. Where is it?” She asked.

My eyes narrowed slightly. “Not here. It’s somewhere safe.”

She merely nodded. “That is probably for the best. We had never used anything from the grimoire before that spell. It was deemed too dangerous, but we were desperate.” She paused to look at me thoughtfully. “You met Anya, yes?”

“I did. She seems very nice, but… scared.” My face pulled into a sympathetic frown.

“She is. Before we chose to cast the spell her fiancé Lev, a werewolf, was captured and killed by a group of vampires. He hadn’t even done anything to provoke them. She lost the love of her life because of this curse.”

“I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine what she’s gone through.” I nearly lost Edward once and it threw me into a blind, dark magic fueled rage. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend what would have happened if I had truly lost him.

“But you are here now. You can help us break their curse.” She smiled widely as her eyes began to glisten with building tears. “Events seem to have happened exactly as they needed to in order to bring you here, to us.” Now she laughed. An infectious, bright laugh that brought a smile to my own face. “Do you happen to know what is going to take place here in only four days?”

I gave her a confused look through the smile still spread over my face. “No?”

“Four days from now, there will be a solar eclipse over this area. The spell can be cast and their curse can be broken.” A tear fell down to her cheek.

“No. Fucking. Way.” This was completely insane. The stars had literally aligned to bring me here to do this. It was the closest thing to fate that I had experienced since falling in love with Edward.

“Yes, ‘fucking’ way.” She laughed again.

My own laughter joined hers. “This is what she was talking about.” I said quietly. My mother’s cryptic message nearly two years ago had to have been about this. 

When skies defy nature’s design, reveal a curse the Fates malign. 

“What do you need me to do?” I asked eagerly.

Her smile softened. “Stay here for a few days. You’re welcome to stay longer, if you wish. When the time comes, we will cast the spell to reveal their curse to you and you can break it for them. We would be greatly indebted to you. Some of us are bonded to one of them and have been desperate to end their plight for a very long time, myself included.”

I nodded. “Of course I will. I would be happy to. I only ask that you welcome my family as well.”

“They are welcome here so long as they don’t attempt to harm any of us.” Her expression grew serious.

“That won’t be a problem. They hunt animals. Except Alec, but he knows better. I’m hopeful that, if he needs to feed, he’ll join my family on one of their hunts and stick to a non-human diet. If not, I can take care of him.” I tried my best to reassure her, hoping that I was right about Alec.

“There is something else you should know. The witches with vis magicae all share a similar physical trait. Their eyes contain strange lines of gold, we believe it is linked to their ability to see and feel magic. When pulling at magic the gold in their eyes would react to it, moving and changing. This trait is a secret we have managed to keep well hidden since the purging of witches. Vampires can never know about this. It would make it far too easy for them to identify you as having your ‘forbidden’ ability. You would likely immediately be killed.” The look on her face was filled with concern for me.

My own face likely reflected hers. Amara had my same eyes. I never really looked too closely, but I was pretty sure that she was right, there was gold mixed in with the blue in both of our eyes. Amara likely had this ability as well. I was more sure than ever that the Volturi could never know about her. 

Given Caius’ reaction to me and the witch hunts Eleazar told us about, I was also pretty sure that the vampire coven from her story was Aro, Marcus, Caius, and some other unknown vampire. It explained Felix’s reaction to my ability and meant I would likely need to be a lot more careful around him and Alec.

“I understand. Please trust that I would never reveal any secret that is shared with me.” I smirked. “It’s sort of a policy of mine.”

She smiled knowingly before standing up. “It has been so wonderful to meet you Danielle. My door is open to you. If there is anything that you need, any member of the coven would be happy to help. Jade will set you and your family up with a cabin to stay in and I believe she is eager to help you with controlling your ability to read people as well.”

I stood with her. “Thank you for sharing everything with me Sasha. You have actually answered a lot of questions that I’ve had for years. And thank you for welcoming me and my family to your village. I really should warn you though, I was sent here as part of a debt that I owe to the Volturi. They sent me to help investigate the werewolves reported here. I’m hopeful that by breaking their curse they’ll be satisfied that the situation has been handled. I’ll do my best to keep your coven safe from them, but it will require cooperation from Alec. He is a member of their guard.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “We can work something out. Thank you for your honesty.”

“Of course. I’m a terrible liar, so I really don’t have a choice.” A small chuckle bubbled up.

“How old are you? Your true age?” She asked curiously.

“I guess I’ve lived about forty years now, it’s a little complicated though. And you? Sabine noted that you’re also older than you look.”

Her smile turned mischievous. “Two hundred and thirty-seven.”

My eyes widened in response. 

Holy shit! She looks, at the absolute most, thirty!

We exchanged parting words and I met Jade outside who led me back to my family, just outside of the village. As soon as he saw me, Edward rushed to me and pulled me into his arms, lifting my feet off the ground. The others more slowly made their way toward us, likely hoping to not terrify the witches behind me.

He sighed in relief as he held me close and I wrapped my arms around his neck. “You were gone so long. We can’t hear anything in the town and I can’t hear any of the witches, so I had no idea what was going on.” He pulled back and lowered me back down to cup my face in his hand. “Is everything alright?” His eyes scanned my face.

I smiled and reached up to softly kiss him. “Everything is perfect. I learned… everything.” I laughed lightly. “We’re going to stay here for a few days.” His strong brow drew down in question and I ran my fingers through the bronze hair above his ear. “They need my help. Given that I’m here because of them, it’s the least that I can do.”

“What do you mean?” He gently brushed his thumb over my cheek.

“It’s a long story. Let’s go get settled and I’ll tell you all about it.” I reached up on my tiptoes to touch my lips to his and took his hand, following Jade back into the village, with the others following closely behind.

Chapter Text

“Holy shit!” Edward stared at me wide eyed as I finished recounting what Sasha had told me about the history of witches, vampires, and werewolves. “We were created by witches?”

“According to Sasha.” I held both of his hands firmly in mine, trying to gauge his reaction to all of the information I just dumped on him.

We had settled into a small cabin together while the others were out exploring, giving us some time to talk in private. I had cast a silencing spell over the space so that we could speak freely. It consisted of a small kitchen with a wood burning stove, a sink, and a two person table, a compact bathroom, a full sized bed in one corner of the cabin, and a makeshift living room in another corner with one wide, cushioned, wooden bench and a rocking chair. 

“That would explain why Caius is so anxious to kill you. But I wonder why Aro doesn’t feel the same way? He actually likes you. Wants to keep you close and have you one day join them.” Edward’s hold on my hands tightened as we faced each other on the small bed in the room, his thumbs brushing over the backs of my hands.

“I don’t know. Maybe because I didn’t actually know anything? I mean, it’s been thousands of years since there’s been a witch with this ability or even my level of power.” I still could hardly believe that this was all really happening.

“The damage you can do to our kind was already significant. But if you can actually end entire lines of vampires…? They can never find out that you have the potential to do this.” He shook his head and reached up to cup my face.

“I agree. Amara is in more danger now too.” I said quietly, nuzzling my cheek into his palm. “She likely has the same ability.”

His face drew down with concern. Green eyes boring into mine. “How do you know?”

I shook my head. “It’s really better if you don’t know.”

He nodded in understanding. “Alright. We really need to come up with a plan on how to handle Alec’s knowledge of what’s going on here. Even if he is on our side in this, Aro will still know everything he does as soon as he touches him again.”

“I know.” I chewed my lip nervously. “I can try to talk to him. Figure out what he knows about our history. He wasn’t around when all of this happened, so he likely doesn’t know any of it, but he at least already knew that witches existed.”

Edward gently pulled my lip from between my teeth with his thumb. “Just be careful not to tell him anything. He is still loyal to Aro, no matter how much he likes you.” He gave me a crooked grin before leaning in to kiss me gently. “I can’t believe they’re the reason you’re here too. That the recovery spell was capable of such a thing. I definitely owe them a gift basket.” He smiled widely with a wink. 

I burst into laughter and pulled his face to mine, kissing him deeply. My fingers gripped the hair at the nape of his neck and he groaned lightly. I hummed contentedly when I pulled away. 

“We should get out of here. I’d like to meet some of the others that live here. I’ve never met another coven before, and never any witches with nearly as much power as these ones have. Their High Priestess is more than twice as old as you!” My eyebrows raised up.

His eyes widened and he leaned back. “Seriously?”

I nodded. “She looks so young too. It’s wild.”

He took my hands again and slowly pulled me off the bed with him. “Let’s go for a walk then. Befriend some witches and werewolves.” He grinned.

We left the cabin, hand in hand, to walk around the small town and greet its residents. He looked amazing, as usual, but also out of place in his perfectly fitted jeans and a black, long sleeved button down. Everyone we saw was dressed in more rustic attire suited for living in an undeveloped community deep in the Siberian wilderness.

There were three young children in an open area near the center of the town playing some sort of game with sticks and polished rocks together. I smiled and waved to them when they looked up. They tentatively waved back, giving Edward wary looks before returning to their game. 

“Sorry. None of them have ever seen a vampire before.” A deep voice spoke up behind us. 

We turned to face him and Edward raised a protective arm in front of me, pushing me slightly behind him. 

“We have explained the situation to them, but they have been told almost their whole lives how dangerous vampires are.” The man stood about two or three inches taller than Edward with light brown hair that almost matched his eyes and a short, scruffy beard covering the lower half of his face. 

I reached a hand up to take Edward’s and lower his arm back down. He glanced sideways at me with concern. 

** He’s a werewolf. **

“That’s completely understandable. I wouldn’t expect them to feel comfortable having us all here. Hi. I’m Dani.” I offered him a warm smile. 

‘He’s clearly not going to hurt us.’

“It is very nice to meet you Dani. I am Igor. That one,” he pointed to a tall boy with his same hair color among the group of children, “is my son, Alexei.” 

Edward looked at the boy curiously before looking back at Igor. “He is a werewolf too?” He asked in a surprised tone. 

Igor’s smile dropped. “He is. We were attacked and turned together.” He warily took in Edward’s reaction to this revelation. 

“I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what that must have been like for either of you.” My face drew down into a sympathetic frown. His son was so young. He couldn’t have been more than twelve. “This is my husband, Edward.” I squeezed his hand and introduced him since he clearly wasn’t going to do it himself. 

Igor nodded and held a tanned, calloused hand out. “It is nice to meet you, Edward.” He smiled when Edward took his hand. “I have never met a vampire before.”

Edward smirked back at him and huffed a laugh. “I have never met a werewolf before.”

Both of them seemed to relax a little as they dropped their hands. I smiled at their awkward exchange. The less animosity there was between everyone, the better. 

Igor looked back at me. “Jade was hoping to find you today. She said you wanted her help with something.” 

I nodded. “Yes. She was kind enough to offer to help with one of my abilities.”

“One of?” He asked curiously. 

My brows drew down in confusion. “Yeah. I guess I’m a reader?”

His face twisted into a confused frown. “I thought you could sense magic?”

My head tilted and I frowned in response. “I can.”

Now he just looked baffled. “You have two abilities?”

“I mean… I guess not just those two. Why?”

Edward was intensely focused on Igor, likely following his thought process. 

“That is unheard of. From what we know witches, if they have an ability, only have one. How many do you have?” Igor asked. 

I shrugged. “I don’t really know. Sasha never said anything about that when I spoke with her.”

Igor’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Yes. She often keeps what she knows close. She always has our best interests in mind, though.” He scanned my face for a moment before speaking again. “Well, Jade lives just over there.” He pointed to a small cabin nearby. “I believe she is out working in her garden now, if you would like to speak with her.

“I would. Thank you.” I looked up at Edward beside me. “I should go see her alone.”

‘You make friends with the locals.’

I directed my thoughts to him with a raised eyebrow. He sighed and leaned down to kiss me before releasing my hand. As I started to walk away, he picked up a conversation with Igor. 

“So, Igor. How long have you been a werewolf?”

I found Jade working in her garden, just as Igor said she’d be. She was pulling up weeds around the tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers she had growing there. She sat back on her heels and waved politely when she spotted me.

“Hello, Jade. I heard you were looking for me.” 

“Dani. Yes. I thought maybe we can work on getting your ability to read people more controlled.” She brushed her gloved hands off before removing the gloves and standing up. 

“That would be wonderful. It would be really nice to not have to avoid touching people all the time.” I huffed a laugh. 

She led me inside and gestured for me to take a seat while she put a kettle on the stove for tea. 

“How does your ability to read others work?” She asked me as she gathered an array of dried tea leaves from a cabinet. 

“Well, it only ever happens the first time I touch someone. With humans, I just get a glimpse at some memory of theirs. Usually something they’re already thinking about in some way. With other magical beings it’s much more intense. I see a lot more and, unless Edward is there to balance me, I get dropped into it and experience it as well. With vampires I see parts of their human life and maybe a little after they were first turned. And with the shifters, I see everything starting when they first started the transition through to their present memories.” I explained in as much detail as I could. 

“Shifters?” She asked curiously as she set a small jar of honey on the table. 

“Yeah. We have shifters where we’re from. Ironically, they shift into wolves. They’re not werewolves though.” I shrugged. 

“Interesting. I have never heard of these.” She nodded thoughtfully for a moment before speaking again. “You can pull yourself out of a reading? Yes?” 

“Yes. It takes some effort though.” My lips pursed to one side. If she could truly help me with this, I don’t know how I’d ever be able to repay her. 

Her expression grew more thoughtful. “Have you ever tried to intentionally read someone? Perhaps someone you have already touched?” 

“No. I had never even thought to try.” 

“You should. It will help you to better understand how it works for you. If you can control it in that direction, it will be easier to control it in the other.” She explained as she poured hot water over the blend of tea leaves that she added to a small teapot. 

“I can ask one of the others to join us so I can practice? If you don’t mind having a vampire in your house?” I grimaced slightly. 

“No. That is something you don’t need me for.” She smiled softly. “How it works for me is, I feel for a person’s aura and when I make contact, I set my intentions and pull at it. Then I can read and understand their intentions. I want you to try and feel for my aura with your hand. Don’t actually make contact, just come close.” She held her hand, palm up, on the table. 

I reached out and held my hand just barely above hers. I felt the heat from her skin, but that was it. “I don’t feel anything.” I shook my head. 

“Feel with your mind and your hand.” She nodded for me to try again. 

I focused on feeling for her energy as my hand hovered over hers. After several seconds of intense focus, I felt a warm tingling between our hands. “I think I feel something.” I said quietly as I focused on the energy I was feeling. 

“Good. Now, instead of pulling at it, push it away with your magic. I believe that it may be conflicting with your ability to sense and pull at magic. It is likely that you automatically pull and absorb anything new that you come into contact with. So, try pushing it away instead.” She gave me an encouraging nod. 

I took a deep breath and on the exhale, focused on pushing at the warm tingle of energy between us. I felt it fade as I continued to push it away. 

“When you’re sure that you don’t feel it anymore. Make contact.” She confidently instructed. 

I focused closely on the energy I felt between our hands as I pushed at it. Easing back carefully and stopping as soon as I didn’t feel anything from her anymore. “Is that okay?” I asked as I remained focused. 

“Yes, you may make contact if you are sure.” 

I slowly touched my palm to hers. Nothing happened. I let out a startled laugh. 

“You are the first new person that I’ve touched without having a vision.” I smiled widely and pulled my hand away. 

“It will require less effort the more you practice. Feel for the auras of others and practice pushing it away to prevent a reading and pulling it to conjure one.” She smiled softly. 

“Thank you so much.” My face pulled down with gratitude. “This seriously will change my life.”

“It is my pleasure. I myself was trained when my ability first manifested. I was much younger than you though. I feel I must pay it forward. I just ask that if you come across another witch in need, that you do the same.” She smiled softly before pouring tea for us both. “So, how long have you been practicing your witchcraft then?” 

I pursed my lips in thought. “That’s a little complicated, I guess. I’ve practiced pretty much all of my life, but I didn’t have the power I do now until a few years ago.”

Her brow furrowed in confusion. “What changed?” 

I gave her an assessing look. Sasha likely hadn’t yet told everyone, if she’s told anyone at all. “I was brought here by the spell you all cast. The world I came from had almost no magic, but I still had some power. Here it is… everywhere, in everything. I think that’s why I can feel it.”

She reeled back in shock. “The spell worked? That’s why you’re here?”

I pursed my lips and shrugged. “It would seem so.”

There was a knock at the door just as she went to ask another question. She quickly got up to answer. A girl stood there, I would guess no older than eighteen, with tight curls of dark brown hair pulled back away from her warm, ochre face by a strip of cloth tied around her head. She was holding a large basket filled with fruit. Her dark brown eyes widened when she saw me. 

“Freya, come in dear. I have your jams, just leave those there on the counter.” Jade greeted her. 

The girl, Freya, gave me a small smile and a nod as she passed by me toward the kitchen. 

“Mother says these ones are not as sweet as the last bushel. She is hoping that you can add more honey or something to help.” Freya said as she put the basket onto the counter. 

Jade smiled warmly. “I will see what I can do.” She turned to me. “Dani, this is Freya. She is our youngest member of the coven.”

I stood up to greet her. “It’s really nice to meet you, Freya.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Dani.” She smiled wider and held a hand out for me to take.

I glanced at Jade. She gave me an encouraging nod. 

“Is it alright if I practice trying to prevent a vision when I touch you? Apparently I’m a ‘reader’.” I asked Freya. 

Her brow furrowed a little. “Oh. Yes, I guess that’s okay.”

I held my hand near hers and as soon as I felt her energy, I pushed it away and slowly took her cool hand. Nothing. No vision. I smiled as I gave her hand a quick shake and let go again. 

“You are a very fast learner.” Jade said in a bright voice. 

I chuckled. “So I've been told.”

I stayed and spoke with them for a while. I learned that Jade had been with the coven for the last seven years and was married to one of the werewolves, Kiara. They lived in the cabin together, but Kiara was out helping tend to the animals. Everyone had specific roles and responsibilities in the community to keep it safe and to ensure that everyone had what they needed. Jade did most of the canning and preserving of food for everyone. Her small garden contributed pickled vegetables and even homemade sauces. They had a communal dinner every night and invited me to join that evening.

Eventually, Freya offered to show me around the village. She was only seventeen and lived here with both of her parents. Her mother, Zoe, was one of the other witches and her father, Milo was actually a werewolf. 

Freya had an elemental ability to control earth elements. She enthusiastically showed me as she held a hand to the ground and flowers grew and bloomed near the garden outside. I had done this a few times as well, I thought it was just me using magic. It made no sense that I could do as much as I could. I was beginning to think that I should start keeping some of it to myself. 

Freya was very interested in me and my family. Asking questions about Maeve and the Cullens.

“So you actually married a vampire?!” She asked with an astonished smile. 

I returned her smile with a content one of my own. “I did. He’s my soulmate.”

Her smile widened, showing her top row of bright white teeth, lighting up her delicate features. “How did you know?”

“Well, first I was immediately drawn to him. I can feel his magic even when I’m just near him. It pulls me to him like a magnet.” She practically swooned as I spoke. “He complements me in every way, together we’re complete. There’s also the fact that every other vampire’s venom is poisonous to me except his.” I chuckled as her previously delighted expression quickly shifted to confusion. 

“What do you mean?” She asked. 

“Vampire venom will kill me. Except his. We are actually compatible, our magic is anyway. His venom doesn’t hurt me. It’s why we can kiss and be… close.” I couldn’t stop the blush that started to heat my face. 

Her own face pulled into a sheepish smile. She reminded me a lot of Angela when we were still in high school. I missed her and Jess so much. “So, do you like living here? Are there other kids your age?” I asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Her brow drew down a little. “Not really. Alexei is the closest to my age. He’s technically sixteen, but it’s strange because he is still physically ten years old. I mostly help to care for the children and carry out small errands.” She didn’t seem overjoyed about that. “Since my initiation though, they’ve been letting me do more with the coven.” 

“That must be difficult. Not having others your age to spend time with. I’m sorry.” It must have been incredibly isolating. 

“It could be worse. My family is safe here and that is all that really matters. Plus, when you break the curse, we might be able to move to the city. I could go to a real school.” She seemed genuinely excited now. 

I watched her light up with hope just as Alice came bounding up to me. Freya flinched back when she got close. 

“Dani!” Alice exclaimed. “I’m so sorry to interrupt. Edward and Jasper are out with some of the werewolves racing.” She rolled her eyes. “I was hoping I could hang out with you?”

I laughed. “Of course they are. I kind of hope one of them is actually faster than Edward. He’s gotten too cocky.”

Alice threw her head back with a beautiful, wind chime laugh. Freya couldn’t hold back her own laugh at the contagious sound of it. 

“I should probably head back anyway. It was so nice getting to know you Freya. We’re in the third cabin on the left from the trail into the village. Stop by whenever you want if you’d like to talk some more.” I smiled and hooked my arm with Alice’s.

“How did everything go?” Alice asked as we made our way back to the center of the town.

“Really good. Jade helped me figure out how my contact visions, my ‘reading’ ability I guess, works. If I take a moment to focus before touching someone, I should be able to actually prevent them now.”

“That’s wonderful, Dani! Now you won’t have to be so terrified about touching people.” Alice hugged my arm.

“Right! What have you been up to? Making any friends?” I asked as I nudged her lightly.

She pulled back with a slight grimace. “People still seem pretty scared of us. I’ve mostly been keeping an eye on Alec instead.”

“How’s he doing?” I looked around for him.

“I think he’s okay. He’s very curious about the witches here. He wants to know more about male witches, but nobody will really talk to him.” She frowned slightly.

I sighed. “I’ll talk to him. Maybe I can pull him into a conversation with one of the more experienced witches or ask Sasha about it or something.”

“I think he would appreciate that. How did that go, by the way? You said you learned a lot?” Alice asked.

I gave her an excited smile. “I did. I can’t tell you all of it outside of a safe space, but one thing I can tell you is that they are the reason I’m here.” She gave me a confused smile. “They cast a spell about three and half years ago, right when I got here. Apparently that’s what brought me here.”

“No way! What are the chances?!” Alice’s eyes widened.

“Pretty high, actually. It seems like the grimoire they used found me and everything from there happened exactly the way that it needed to bring me here, now.” I shook my head. “It’s almost unbelievable. Like destiny.”

“Hi, Dani.” Alec suddenly appeared at my other side. 

“Fuck!" My shield flew out, slightly bumping him away, and I threw a hand to my chest, trying to calm my now pounding heart. “Sorry, you scared the shit out of me. I hate when vampires do that.” I laughed lightly, trying to recover from my latest heart attack.

He quickly recovered. “Sorry, Dani. I didn’t even think about it. You live with vampires. Should you not be used to it by now?” He gave me a curious look, an amused smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

I chuckled. “Vampires who are used to playing human. And no. I’ll never get used to it. They startle me all the time. Don’t worry about it though, it’s my problem to deal with.” I gave him a small smile.

He chuckled lightly. “Do you know why they wanted to bring you here now?” 

“I do.” I eyed him carefully. “They want me to cure the werewolves here.”

His eyes widened and mouth fell open into a look of complete surprise. “You can do that?!”

I shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out.”

Alec glanced at me thoughtfully. “So all of these witches have been hiding here for a while then? Aro truly thought you were the last one left, from what I gathered.” 

“That’s what I thought too. Do you think he’ll want to do something about it once he knows they’re here?” I asked him carefully, closely gauging his reaction.

His brow furrowed in thought. “I do not think so. None of them seem to be nearly as powerful as you are. While they might make compelling vampires, he may not wish to harm his relationship with you.” His smile widened. “He is still hopeful that you will join us one day.”

I pressed my lips together, fighting against a grimace. “While I don’t have a problem with any of you, he will be waiting a very long time. I have no intention of joining any government body. I really just want to live my life. Go to school, open a bookstore or something.” I laughed at his confused expression.

“A bookstore?” He looked almost appalled.

My laughter picked up. “Yeah, man. That or a library! It’s a lifelong dream.”

He chuckled. “To each their own, I suppose.”

“What about you? What would your dream job be?” I asked him.

His face pulled into a chagrined smile. “I have always enjoyed sculpting. I studied under Michaelangelo for a short while. I quickly surpassed him, but I admire his work nonetheless.”

“What?! No way! That’s amazing!” I scoffed. 

His smile widened. “I could show you some of my pieces when we get back?” He offered.

My smile softened. “I would really like that.”

We chatted a while longer while we walked and greeted the other members of the community. We met Freya’s parents and ran into Anya again, she at least seemed a little more relaxed this time. We also met a pair of werewolves that were married to each other, Olena and Sergei. Both tall, broad and extremely friendly people. Olena immediately pulled me into a tight hug, causing Alice to hiss lightly and quickly pull me away. 

“I am sorry. We are just so grateful that she is here. We have wanted this to end for so long. Before we discovered the coven, we were always having to move around, running away.” Olena gave me a sheepish grin.

“It’s fine, really. I am just so glad that I can help.” I gave her a soft smile as I pushed her energy away and carefully placed a comforting hand on her arm. Sergei reiterated her thanks and welcomed us all to the village.

We eventually made it back to our cabin, where I was able to tell Alice the story Sasha told me about the origins of vampires and werewolves and what they wanted me to do. She was just as baffled as Edward was. She was in agreement that we needed to find a way to keep this all from Alec and Felix.

When Edward finally came back, he seemed to be in a very good mood. I jumped up as soon as I saw him. He rushed over to me and pulled me off my feet into a tight hug. 

“Hey baby.” He murmured happily into my ear. 

“Hey.” I smiled widely. “You’re happy.” 

“I am the fastest creature on this Earth.” He said joyfully as he pulled back to meet my eyes. 

I laughed and took in his practically sparkling, sage green eyes. “I’m guessing you won then?” 

“I slaughtered them.” He whispered before leaning in and pressing his lips firmly to mine. 

I pulled back with a chuckle. “Who were you with then?” I asked as I gently scraped my nails against his scalp. 

His smile softened and his eyes darkened. “Igor and his son, Alexei, plus another wolf, Milo.”

“Freya’s father?” I asked. 

“Yes. He told us a little about his family here. Did you meet her?”

“I did. She’s wonderful. She reminds me of Ange.” A small pang of sadness hit me.

He slowly lowered me back to my feet and reached up to hold my face in his large hands. “I always liked Angela. She was a good friend to you.” His thumbs stroked my cheeks. 

I sighed and closed my eyes as he leaned his forehead against mine. 

“I’m sorry for what you’ve had to give up.” He said quietly. 

I shook my head lightly. “It’s for the best. To keep our family safe.” I felt his lips lightly touch mine. 

“I’m going to go find Jas.” Alice interrupted us.

I turned and gave her an embarrassed smile. 

“He’s scouting the area, checking for any aggressive emotions.” Edward told her as he slowly turned my face back to his.

In a flash, Alice was gone.

“How was your day?” He asked softly. 

“Really good. Made some friends, learned new things, mastered new skills. You know, typical Monday.” I smirked and tightly gripped his soft hair with my fingers.

He breathed out a low growl and pressed his lips firmly to mine. One hand moved from my face to my ass, firmly squeezing it and pulling me closer. His mouth moved lower, kissing along my jaw to my neck where he began lightly sucking at the sensitive skin there. 

“Do you need these shorts?” He asked in a low, husky voice. He had gotten better about asking before just tearing clothes off of me after ruining a pair of jeans that I actually loved.

“I only have five outfits with me.” I chuckled as my need for him spiked and desire pooled between my legs.

He groaned softly before moving his hand around to open the button and zipper. His other hand moved down to grab the waist of my shorts and he quickly lowered and removed them, lowering himself along with them. 

In one smooth motion, he lifted me and wrapped my legs around his shoulders. He abruptly stood back up, burying his face in my pussy as I held my grip in his hair. I laughed in surprise, then struggled to bite back a moan as he sucked lightly on my clit. He carefully carried me toward the bed and sat down. Instead of flipping us over, he slowly laid back, so I was sitting on his face. 

As I started grinding against him, he slipped two fingers into my core. I gripped the headboard, splintering the wood beneath my hands, my clit throbbing in his mouth. My hips moved in short undulating thrusts, pushing myself down with just the right amount of pressure to quickly push me over the edge. He continued working me with his tongue, having no need to stop for air. Just as I came and cried out his name, he removed his fingers and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, pulling me down even harder and thrusting his tongue inside me as I rode it out on his face.

When my fluttering core and pounding heart settled, he gently lifted me and I braced my hands against his shoulders as he lowered me back down his body until I was laying on top of him. Our lips met and I kissed him deeply, tasting myself on his tongue. 

I pulled away and met his eyes. “What was that for?” The words came out as a breathless chuckle. 

“I love you so much, Danielle. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.” He said in a low, reverent voice.

“The feeling is mutual.” I smiled softly and gently touched my lips to his again. 

He held me close as we talked a little more about our day, occasionally interrupting the conversation as our mouths inevitably collided. 

At the communal dinner that evening, I sat between Edward and Jade. Alice and Jasper took Alec out on a hunt, hopeful that they might find a tiger or a bear for him to try. It likely wouldn’t compare to the taste of human blood, but it might be enough to keep him from killing anyone while we were here. Edward sat next to me, carrying on an animated conversation with Igor about the works of Tolstoy versus Thoreau, surprisingly. 

Before the meal started, Sasha led the group in a prayer to the Gods and Goddesses, thanking them for bringing me to them and asking that they guide us through the coming days. We ate together and I got to know a few of the others as well. 

Jade introduced me to her wife, Kiara. Her dark brown hair was cropped into a short pixie-style cut and her narrow, brown eyes held so much excitement as she spoke. They were both very open and willing to share their stories with me. 

“I was in Eastern Siberia on a research expedition of the salamanders of the region as part of a study for the Max Planck Institute in Germany. I am… or was a research molecular cell biologist. My work focused on regeneration.” Kiara was completely animated as she explained her research to me. She spoke English, but her German accent became stronger as she grew more excited.

“That’s fascinating! Getting to do real, hands-on research like that must be incredible! How did you two meet then?” I asked, looking between her and Jade.

Her excited smile grew soft. “I was collecting specimens in the forest one evening, under the Full Moon. I suppose you could probably guess how that played out.” She raised an eyebrow. “After the initial attack, I managed to escape and hide inside a hollow tree until morning. The damage was done though, I had been turned. I had to abandon my research, instead I began searching for a cure for myself. That led me to more… alternative solutions. That’s when I met Jade.” She looked to Jade with an enamored expression, pulling her hand to her lips and kissing it. “She was working as an herbalist. After we got to know each other and confessed our true natures to each other, we sought out this village.”

Jade spoke up now. “I had heard of the hidden coven of witches. A safe haven for those seeking refuge from vampires.” She paused and grimaced slightly.

“It’s okay.” I waved her concerns away. “We take no offense.”

“We managed to find someone on the outside, trusted by the coven, who led us here about seven years ago. We have been here ever since.” Jade’s blue eyes were filled with so much love as she looked at Kiara.

“While I am sad for what you’ve had to go through, I am so glad that the universe at least brought the two of you together.” The conflicting emotions nearly overwhelmed me.

Thus far, everyone had been so kind and welcoming to me. I was hopeful that it wouldn’t be long until they warmed up to my family as well. 

The only person from the village that I hadn’t formally met by that point was a man sitting with Sasha. He had beautiful, almost midnight skin and shoulder length dreaded hair. He made eye contact with me a couple times, but never attempted to introduce himself. That was fine, he was likely struggling with the vampires I brought with me. 

We still had three days left until the eclipse. I was hopeful that I might be able to build some lifelong relationships with some of the people here. There were so few witches left in the world. It would be really nice to know more of my kind.

As dinner wound down, everyone dispersed to their respective homes. Each cabin was adorned with a small lantern by the front door that seemed to light on its own.

“How does that work?” I asked Jade, pointing to the lanterns.

She smirked. “It’s just a spell. A sort of light sensor. When it is dark enough, they light automatically.”

I laughed lightly. “That’s so cool! I might need to start taking some notes here.”

She smiled softly. “Zoe keeps records of our more basic spells. I am sure she would be happy to share them with you.”

“That would be wonderful.” My smile widened and I felt Edward take my hand in his.

I looked over to see him smiling affectionately at me.

** I see you’ve had no problem making friends. Ready to turn in? **

I returned his smile and nodded slightly before turning back to Jade. “Well, I’m going to head back to the cabin for the night. I’d like to learn more about your traditions here tomorrow, if that’s okay?”

Jade nodded. “We could arrange that. I’ll talk to Sabine.”

We said our good-byes and made our way back to our cabin. I took a quick bath without Edward, the tub was much too small. As soon as I was ready for bed, Edward held me close, resting my head on his shoulder as he brushed his fingers through my hair.

“Alec doesn’t think Aro will come after the witches here. He says he wouldn’t want to risk damaging his relationship with me. I think we can use that. I have no desire to cure any vampires against their will. If he somehow finds out that I can do that, maybe Alec could vouch for me?” I turned to look up at him.

He was staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. “We need to keep him from finding out about it at all. But, if he does manage to, then having more allies will definitely be in our best interest. Alec is growing attached. He wants to impress you, make you proud. He is actually hunting animals right now.” He chuckled.

I smiled to myself as I relaxed in his arms again. “He’s sweet. It breaks my heart how young he was though and what he had to go through.”

“Of course it does. That’s a part of who you are. One of the infinite reasons why I love you.” He kissed the top of my head. “You get some sleep now, love. I’ll keep watch.”

I hummed happily, nuzzling my face into his chest as my thoughts drifted to the endless possibilities of this universe. There was still so much that we didn’t know. It was much more complex and full of magic than I could have imagined. 

Chapter Text

On our second day in the village, I was determined to learn more about the history of witches from the women here. I wanted to know more about the grimoire, spell creation, and my abilities. Maeve was very knowledgeable about Wiccan rituals, crystals, and herbology, but knew little about our true history and the things that I could apparently do. 

The others would be staying indoors and listening around as much as they could. It was sunny out and they wanted to avoid freaking the locals out any more than their mere presence already did. I planned to try a longer acting concealment spell I had been working on creating for them later.

I found Sabine after breakfast to ask if there was anything I could help with. She directed me to find Kiara, who might have something for me to do. So I set out to Jade and Kiara’s cabin again.

“Hello Dani.” Jade greeted me warmly. Her blonde hair was worked into a long braid and she wore a light, white tunic dress that, like most of their clothing, appeared to be handmade. I was really interested in learning more about how they made their fabrics and clothing here. “Is everything alright?” She asked as I just stood there in silent thought like an idiot.

“Yes, of course. Sorry, I was just looking for Kiara? Sabine said I might be able to help her with some of her work today.” I fought the urge to nervously fidget with my hands, stuffing them into the pockets of my pants instead.

“Oh.” She drew back a little. “Yes, she actually could use some help. She and Maria are out at the pasture at the back of the village, where the animals are kept. Do you need help finding it?” She offered.

“No, thank you though. I can find my way there.” I gave her an awkward wave and headed toward the other end of the village.

When I got to the pasture, I spotted Kiara and one of the witches I hadn’t really spoken with yet, Maria, working on a broken part of the fence. There were a few cows and sheep calmly grazing in the field nearby, but from the noises I heard coming from the barn, there were more animals under their care. It looked like they were trying to repair a large, broken section of the wooden fence with a few pieces of extra wood and lengths of rope.

“Hello.” I called out to get their attention. They both stopped their work and looked up at me almost warily. “Sabine said I might be able to help you out here today.” I smiled as confidently as I could. “How did your fence break?” I waved a hand at the split and shattered pieces of wood.

“Hello Dani, I’m not sure if you’ve met, this is Maria.” Kiara gestured to Maria next to her, who merely nodded. Maria was almost as small as Alice with pale skin and brown eyes. Her straight, black hair was tied into a low ponytail that fell down to the middle of her back. I smiled and lifted my hand in an awkward wave.

“One of our more aggressive goats chased one of our cows and she tried to jump over it. She did not succeed.” Kiara explained with a chuckle.

I laughed in return, trying to stifle it with my hand. “Is the cow okay?” I asked.

“She is fine.” She waved a dismissive hand. “We locked her up in the barn with the other trouble makers for now.”

“Probably a good idea.” I chuckled. “Do you need help fixing this?” I gestured to the fence again.

They both eyed me up and down. “Do you know much about fixing fences?” Maria asked.

“No, but I know what it should look like and can pretty quickly fix it… If you don’t mind me cheating with magic?” I offered a nonchalant shrug.

Their brows drew down in confusion and Kiara tilted her head at me curiously. She took a step away and waved a hand toward the broken sections for me. “Let’s see what you can do.” She said with a raised eyebrow.

I looked at a complete section, visualized the broken section whole again, then pulled at the repair spell magic with a raised hand. The pieces of broken wood quickly pulled back together, snapped into place, and the cracks and splinters mended. Within seconds it was just like new again.

“That was incredible!” Maria gasped. “I’ve never seen a spell cast without an incantation!”

I pursed my lips. “Yeah, I didn’t realize how unique that was until I talked to Sasha yesterday.”

“You plan to help us then?” Maria asked. 

I smiled softly. “I do. I think I was always meant to. I mean, it’s kind of incredible how everything worked out to bring me here, now.” 

“Yes. It seems to have taken a while though.” She chuckled. 

“Well, I think the spell dropped me in the most logical place for me.” I shrugged. 

They both gave me questioning looks as their brows furrowed and Kiara’s head tilted to one side. 

I bit back a laugh. “I was never actually born here. It seemed to have made space for me as the daughter of the woman who was my mother in my original universe or timeline or whatever this is. She died shortly before I got here though.” I pursed my lips, pushing down the loss I felt whenever I thought too much about my past.

Maria’s eyebrows drew up. “That is incredible. I suppose it makes sense.” She shrugged, then narrowed her eyes at me. “How did you end up with vampires though? You even married one! That is… unnatural.” Her lip pulled up into the smallest sneer. 

I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes in return. “They’re my family. Edward is my soulmate in every sense of the word. He’s the only reason I’m even here now. I would have died years ago without him.”

She didn’t look convinced. “They have for thousands of years tried to destroy our kind. I just don’t understand how you even feel safe with them.”

I gritted my teeth, my eyes narrowing further. “My family had nothing to do with that. They are no more of a threat to me than any of the werewolves or witches here. In fact, I am confident that I’m more dangerous than they are. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t imply that my marriage is in any way wrong.”  

She shook her head. “I apologize. I meant no offense. It is just difficult to reconcile after generations of witches have had to remain hidden from them.”

I softened a little. “I can understand that. It can’t be easy having them here. My husband is a good man though, one of the best.” A warm smile spread over my face. “I promise you, none of them would harm any of you.”

“We trust you. Jade would have recognized if they intended to harm any of us.” Kiara added with a reassuring smile.

I looked past them toward the barn full of animals. “Is there anything else I can help with?”

“Now that this is fixed, we can let them all back out, we need to clean out the barn. Add the mess to the compost.” She raised an eyebrow.

I nodded. “I can help with that.”

They looked me up and down doubtfully before leading me to the barn. I greeted the animals as they flocked out through the wide doors and back into the pasture. I spent the next couple hours shoveling manure into wheel barrows and adding it to the compost pile further away from the cabins. By the end I was a sweaty, stinky mess in desperate need of a hot shower. I waved at them as I headed back to my cabin to clean up before getting some lunch.

The others were all still inside discussing what they found so far about the witches and werewolves here. They all stopped to stare wide-eyed at me.

“What happened to you?” Alice asked in near horror.

I broke into a laugh. “I helped clean out the barn. I need to get cleaned up.” I waved to myself. “Here, I’ve got a new spell I wanted to try for you all anyway. It’s a longer lasting concealment spell. You guys can get away from the stench and let me know how it works.” I went to my bag, grabbing a tourmaline crystal before rejoining them.

“What will it do?” Alec asked.

“It’s just to cover your skin’s reaction to sunlight. So you blend in better.” I answered with a reassuring nod.

His face pulled into a mildly impressed expression. “That would be very useful. I am sure Aro would be interested. Could you spell an object to conceal the effect for the wearer?”

My head tilted to one side, an impressed smirk pulling at my lips. “That’s actually a really good idea. I’ll definitely work on that. I could probably have something delivered to the Volturi if I figure it out.”

His smile widened. “Okay, I am ready, I suppose.” He stood up while the others watched with their own amused smiles.

I cast the spell over them all and they cautiously got up to step outside into the Sun. No one sparkled, not even the faintest shimmer.

Edward smiled softly at me as he came back inside. He lightly kissed my lips. “Please try to take a break. I know you want to be useful, but I don’t want you to overdo it. I’ll see if I can help with anything while you get cleaned up.”

I gave him a serious nod. “I’ll think about it. They’re housing us and feeding me with their limited resources though, so I want to contribute. I also have a lot more questions for them and it’s easier to talk while working.”

He sighed and kissed the top of my head as he went out to find something to do while I cleaned up. After a thorough bath, I cast a cleansing spell over my filthy clothes and went back out to find the others. I spotted Jasper and Alice speaking to Zoe and Milo outside of their cabin. They appeared to be working on creating rope from dried bark fibers as they chatted.

“Hey guys.” I smiled as they looked up at me.

“It’s working really well.” Alice beamed as she held her bare arms up to show me her non-sparkly pale skin. She was wearing a ridiculously out of place pink silk and lace designer dress with black and white peep toe heels, but you get used to her preference for fashion over practicality after a while. 

“Perfect. We’ll see how long it lasts.” I chuckled. “Can I help with this?” I asked.

“Actually, Edward wanted you to meet him at the big kitchen when you finished getting cleaned up. He didn’t want you to rush, but you need to eat.” Jasper raised an eyebrow at me.

I pressed my lips together and nodded. “I’ll go find him.” I smirked as I headed toward the open cabin that served as the main kitchen where the communal meals were prepared.

I found Edward inside quickly dicing a massive amount of potatoes while chatting with one of the werewolves, Sergei, as he was cleaning a dead chicken. I quickly smoothed the grimace from my face as Edward looked up at me. He dropped his knife and came over to wrap his arms around my waist. 

“Hey, baby.” He smirked as he nuzzled his nose into my neck and breathed me in. 

I held onto his biceps as a blush crept up my face. “Hey. I heard you wanted me to eat.” I laughed as he started kissing along my jaw. 

“Mmm.” He pulled away to look at me with his bright, green eyes. “I do. They set aside some lunch for you.” 

Edward released me and entwined our hands together as he led me to sit at one of the benches where they usually prepped food. He left for a moment and returned with a bowl of stew and a large chunk of bread. After setting the food in front of me, he bent down to kiss the top of my head. 

“Eat. I’m helping with dinner prep. Sergei here was just telling me about some of the ways the witches help them during the Full Moon.” Edward gave me a soft smile and returned to quickly dicing potatoes. 

“Yes. A lot of sleeping spells and herbal concoctions. They quickly lose effectiveness on us though, so they will also use barrier spells to keep us contained until they can be recast when we awaken and they dose us again. They have to watch over us in shifts, to ensure mistakes are not made.” His brow drew down with worry. “There have been… incidents. They have been working to create a spell to keep us docile and calm, but haven’t had much luck.” He shrugged. “If your magic works to cure us, I suppose we won’t have to worry about any of that anymore.” He gave me a wide smile as he pulled the stray feathers from the chicken.

“That’s the plan.” I responded after swallowing a mouthful of, what tasted like, venison stew. “Are there any plus sides to being a werewolf? Things you might miss?” I asked curiously. 

He paused his work to look at me thoughtfully. “Our minds work faster. We have excellent pattern recognition, typical of any predator. The strength, rapid healing, and enhanced senses are nice too, but none of that is worth the danger we pose to those we care about.” He looked down again and started back on the chicken. “Most of us have lost a lot and all of us have lost our freedom.” 

I stopped eating and watched him with a sympathetic frown. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what you’ve all had to go through.”

He shook his head as he kept working. “We try to honor those we have lost without dwelling. We cannot help our nature any more than your husband can.” He looked up and smirked at Edward. “We just try to do better with the things we can control.” 

Edward raised an eyebrow with his own smirk and nodded. 

“I have some questions about the book they used to bring me here. Do you happen to know who I could talk to about that?” I asked Sergei after finishing my food. 

“I believe it originally belonged to Lena. She can probably answer your questions.” Sergei answered gruffly as he started pulling the guts out of the chicken. 

I couldn’t stop my grimace now as I stood up to wash my bowl and look for Lena. I went to kiss Edward goodbye and he quickly grabbed my waist and pulled me around into his lap. He cut off my laughter with a kiss. I held his face in my hands as he deepened the kiss with absolutely no concerns about the werewolf in the room. He pulled back with a crooked grin and spun me back to a standing position, making me laugh again.

“How long have you been married?” Sergei asked.

I smirked down at Edward. “A little over two years.”

He took my hand and kissed it. “Best two years of my existence.”

Sergei chuckled. “Newlyweds.” 

Sergei moved on to another chicken and Edward lightly smacked my ass as I walked away. I turned back with a scoff, then pressed my lips together in an attempt to hold in another laugh. He was in a very playful mood and, though I had no idea what brought it on, I was here for it. I figured I could ask him later.

I found Lena working in one of the herb gardens clipping entire mature plants, presumably for drying. She looked to be, physically at least, one of the older witches here. Maybe early forties at the most with long, brown and gray curls pulled away from her face with a thin cord of rope, hazel eyes, and tanned skin. 

“Lena?” I greeted her. “Hi, I’m Dani.” I waved when she looked up. 

She smiled softly as she paused her work. “Hello, Dani. How are you? I hope you’re not having any trouble settling in.”

“I’m good. No trouble at all. This place you’ve all built is amazing.” I came over as she stood up, holding her small basket of herbs in the crook of her arm. 

“Did you need something?” She asked with a furrowed brow. 

“Actually, yes. I was told that you might be able to answer some of my questions.” I pursed my lips, fidgeting with the Cullen crest ring on my index finger. “About the grimoire. I’ve kind of had it for a while.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Yes. I suppose I would be the one to answer your questions. My ancestors wrote it after all.” She started walking toward her cabin. “Would you like some tea?” She called over her shoulder. 

I relaxed and followed her. “Tea would be lovely. Thank you.”

Her cabin was neat and clean. The only out of sorts part was the kitchen. It was covered with strings of hanging plants and herbs set out to dry. It appeared all of the cabins had a similar layout, she had a small, two seat table in the kitchen and a sitting area with a blanket covered wooden bench and a rocking chair. She gestured for me to take a seat at the table as she went to put on a kettle for tea.

“So, the book found you then?” She started.

I met her hazel eyes as she sat down across from me. “It did. In a somewhat traumatizing way.” My eyes widened and I laced my fingers together to try and suppress my urge to fidget.

She tilted her head curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” I took a deep breath, “when I first touched it I was dropped into a never ending series of visions of my own death at the hands of a psychotic vampire.”

She looked at me carefully as she thought for a moment, then nodded her head. “It was likely trying to warn you, in order to guide you here so that it could complete the intent of the spell.”

I reeled back and my brows drew down. “How would it do that?”

Her lips pulled into a tight, sympathetic smile. “It sounds like you were in danger. If you died, then the intent of the spell, to bring your magic here to us, would have never been achieved.” She studied my face for a moment. “That book may be full of dark magic, but it is nothing if not committed. Once a spell is cast it sticks. That magic stays until it is no longer needed or wanted by the caster.”

I nodded in thought. “That explains the fire balls.” I murmured in English.

She looked at me curiously. “How many spells have you used from it?”

I chewed my lip nervously as I looked back and forth between her eyes. “Four. A curse and three spells.”

Her brows drew down with concern. “That wasn’t very wise.”

“Oh, I know.” My eyes widened and I shook my head. They may have saved my life, but the consequences were dire. It was barely there, but even now, I could feel the faintest hint of that dark, blackhole magic under my skin. It grew stronger with my rage, but thankfully I almost never felt that kind of anger anymore.

“You didn’t get pulled in?” She asked.

“I almost did.” I sighed. “My husband brought me back. He saved me, as usual.” I smiled softly.

“That cannot have been easy.” She stood up as the kettle began to whistle and poured the hot water over the tea leaves she added to a ceramic teapot.

I watched her carefully as she brought the ceramic pot and a couple teacups over. She turned back to the kitchen and came back with a small jar of honey.

“Where did the book come from? You said your ancestors wrote it?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “It has been in my family for centuries. My ancestors dabbled a bit too much in dark magic. It had… consequences.” She grimaced. “We have kept the book safe since pulling away from that, until it disappeared.” She raised an eyebrow at me.

“Why didn’t you just destroy it?” I asked.

Her expression softened. “Why didn’t you?”

My brows drew down as I thought carefully about that. “I don’t know, I never really thought about it. I guess… I couldn’t?” The realization hit me that I never once considered destroying that book. In fact, I wouldn’t even allow anyone to take it from me.

“Exactly. It is covered with protection spells. Even if you made it past the ones keeping you from trying, it would likely need to be dropped into an active volcano to be truly destroyed.”

My face drew down and I nodded. “One book to rule them all.” I said in English and bit back the urge to laugh at her confused expression. “Do you all have an ability?” I asked curiously.

She smirked as she added some honey to her cup and offered it to me. “Not all of us, but most do. Usually something minor like aura sensing or healing. I have a low level of compulsion. It doesn’t work on anyone with more magic than me though.”

“I can do that too!” I exclaimed. “I don’t like using it though. It feels… wrong. I’ve really only used it in defense.”

She smiled softly. “That is really the best way to use it. It is a lot of responsibility, having the ability to remove someone’s free will.”

“Yeah. It’s come in handy with men who can’t seem to accept ‘no’ as an answer.” I rolled my eyes and she started to laugh, her eyes crinkling at the corners with it. 

“I’m pretty sure that is the reason this ability even manifested in witches in the first place.” She covered her mouth as her laugh grew and I laughed with her. 

“What about Sasha?” I asked. “What is her ability?”

Lena gave me a thoughtful look, pausing for a beat too long before answering. “Well, she is very skilled at spellcasting and a strong leader. As for her ability, she has a type of… knowledge absorption I suppose. It only works with books though, as far as I know. You will need to ask her if you want to know more.” 

I nodded, my face drawn down in thought. I wasn’t completely sure what that meant, but it sounded fascinating.

We chatted more about some of the history of witches, particularly in Russia, as we finished our tea. After the witch trials they lived fairly nomadic lives until small, hidden communities like this one formed. Lena was very kind and open to answering my many questions. Our cups sat empty between us for at least an hour before I finally left her to get back to her work. 

The Sun was just beginning to set as I went out to find my family. Alice and Jasper were sitting in the grass hand in hand watching the sunset together outside of our cabin. I sat next to Alice, crossing my legs underneath me and leaning back on my hands.

“It’s beautiful here.” Alice said dreamily.

I grinned and looked over at them. “Yeah, it kind of is. It’s really peaceful. I like that.”

Jasper met my eyes with a lopsided smile. “Well deserved peace.” 

“For all of us.” I huffed a laugh and looked back at the sky. “Everyone here is so kind and welcoming. I learned a lot today. What about you guys?”

“Oh yeah. Werewolves are fascinating! Did you know that with enough time and practice, they can partially transform at will?!” Alice exclaimed. “Like, drop their fangs or grow claws!”

My eyes widened. “I did not know that. That is kind of horrifying. I guess I can see why Caius is so afraid of them.”

Edward suddenly appeared next to me, dropping to the ground to sit with us.

“Shit! God, baby, you know that scares the crap out of me every time you do it.” I laughed as I lightly pushed him before hooking my arm with his.

He chuckled and kissed my temple. “Sorry, love. I was excited to see you were finally available.” 

He unhooked my arm, then reached around my waist to pull me into his lap. I giggled and leaned back against his chest. A sense of calm settled over me as he held me tighter and I sighed.

I hummed happily as he started kissing my neck. “You’ve been extra cheerful today.” 

He pulled away slightly. “Just happy to be with you. My incredible, impossible wife.” A smile brightened his words as he murmured in my ear.

I turned my head so I could see him and he leaned down to gently kiss my lips.

“Such a romantic.” Alice crooned next to me.

A content chuckle left Edward’s lips as they were still pressed to mine. “She brings that out in me.” Edward breathed me in and I settled into his arms again.

We sat there watching the sunset together, trying to just enjoy a little bit of our unexpected adventure. The more I learned about our shared history and how I got here, the more I wanted to know. I was hopeful that we were not only doing something important here, but also making lifelong connections with some of the men and women who lived here. If the Volturi ever found out about Amara, we might one day need more allies. As it was, I was happy to be making friends with more witches. I grew a little more hopeful that my daughter would never be alone in this world.

Chapter Text

Edward

We had been with the coven for three days now and Dani had met and spoken with each of the witches and the wolves in that time. As expected, they almost all seemed to take an immediate liking to her. The werewolves were overwhelmingly grateful that she was going to free them from their curse and the other witches seemed fascinated by her abilities and level of power. 

I watched from a distance as she spoke with Zoe and Olena in the fields. Dani insisted on helping out and being useful while we were staying here. We were supposed to be in France with her relaxing and me showing her a piece of the world she has always wanted to explore. Instead we were here, back in the middle of a dangerous situation where she felt the need to try and take care of everything herself. I have refused to allow that to happen. 

I couldn’t hear any more than just the tone of the witches’ thoughts, but I could hear the werewolves. I had been paying close attention to every single thought, looking for any ounce of hostility toward her. So far, the most concerning to me was Sasha, the High Priestess. I couldn’t get anything at all from her and neither could Jasper, just like with Dani. I didn’t like that she was intentionally blocking us. It felt like she was hiding something. I was keeping a close eye on them all.

There was an instinctual fear of the werewolves that we all felt. They were extremely dangerous and we could sense it. Still, I spent some time getting to know some of them.

Igor and his son, Alexei, had been turned six years prior and pretty quickly found and were welcomed by the coven. Igor was friendly and rarely kept his thoughts to himself. I appreciated that quality. It reminded me of Emmett. I did, however, learn from his thoughts that he wasn’t quite truthful with Dani about his turning.

Alexei was turned during a camping trip they had been on as a family. He wandered off and was attacked, but he managed to escape with merely a bite. They thought it was a coyote, or at worst a wolf, that had attacked him and didn’t believe him when he told them it was a ‘monster’. Alexei then attacked Igor and his wife during his first Full Moon. He lost his wife, Alexei’s mother, and barely escaped with his life, but never told him. I would keep his secret as well. I understood the need to protect your child above everything else.

Olena and Sergei seemed more friendly and willing to interact with me as well. They met and married more than fifty years ago, after they had been turned. Olena was turned in, what is now Ukrainian territory, more than one hundred years prior. Sergei was turned sixty-two years ago in western Siberia. They met when what was left of Olena’s pack found him. In that time the others had gone off on their own after constantly moving around when vampires came too close to discovering them  

I had been under the impression that werewolves were lone creatures. That was clearly wrong. It appears that was merely a result of vampires hunting them down over the centuries. They are much harder to locate when they are alone. The other werewolves, Kiara and Milo, were understandably frightened of us and kept their distance. They were much more open to Dani though.

Alice had a little more luck with the witches. Given her visions, it was likely that she was a witch before she was turned and they were at least interested in learning more about her and where she came from. She and Dani had spent some time with Zoe and her daughter, Freya. Getting to know them and their journey to the village with Milo, Zoe’s husband and Freya’s father. He was also one of the werewolves hoping to be cured by Dani. 

Milo had been a werewolf for more than two centuries now. He explained how he met Zoe nearly twenty years ago and they began looking for a place where they would all be safe after their daughter was born. I didn’t even realize that werewolves could reproduce until I heard their story. The curse is apparently not passed on genetically, so Freya was purely a witch. They found this village when she was only three and had been here ever since. 

Sabine was also more open to Alice, given she had a weaker clairvoyant ability. With focused meditation she would receive brief visions of the people around her. Sasha kept her close, often meditating with her to try encouraging her visions. 

Alice was doing her best to watch the future choices of the witches, it was tasking though. Jasper was monitoring everyone’s emotions while they spent time with Dani and kept close to Alec as well. We were all vigilantly keeping an eye on everyone to ensure that Dani was safe here. 

Dani’s conversation suddenly grabbed my full attention. She began using her magic to hold her basket up as she worked on pulling corn away from the stalks with two hands and Zoe was confused. It turns out that wasn’t something that every witch could do. ‘Force control’, she called it, Dani always just referred to it as ‘energy manipulation’. Yet another ability Dani had. 

“Sorry, I just thought this was part of being a witch. I didn’t even realize it was an ability.” Dani responded to Zoe’s surprise.

“You are very powerful and you still have so much more potential.” Zoe’s tone was almost enthusiastic.

I couldn’t tell exactly what the witches thought about these revelations, but they mostly seemed baffled and curious. So far, I counted six additional abilities of Dani’s. Clairvoyance, ‘reading’ people, compulsion, her ability to sense and influence magic, possibly the shield over her mind, and now energy manipulation or ‘force control’. I was sure there would be more, she was phenomenal after all. She was also an extreme anomaly among witches. Our daughter was likely to be the same. 

As they brought their harvest back to the village, I set out to intercept so that I could just be near her again. I didn’t want to interfere with her time with the other witches, but I hated being away from her for too long. As soon as our paths crossed, I took her basket of vegetables to carry for her. 

“Hello, love.” I leaned down to kiss her gently. Even damp with sweat from working in the field, she was gorgeous.

She smiled up at me and wrapped her arms around my waist as we walked. The others were appalled by our marriage. There had been mentions of it being ‘unnatural’ and even a ‘betrayal’ to all of the witches before her. I was delighted that Dani didn’t seem to care about their reactions at all. She held nothing back in showing her affection when we were together. Every time it was brought up she spoke out against the accusations and comments from the others. She was always so ready to defend the people she cared about, me especially. I would not hesitate to do the same for her. 

“Hello, Edward.” Zoe greeted me with a small smile.

“Zoe, it is nice to see you.” I nodded and returned her smile with one of my own. She had been very helpful in sharing some of their spells and history with Dani since we’ve been here. Her daughter Freya had also become somewhat attached to Dani. I found nothing threatening or concerning in the tone of either of their thoughts.

“What have you been up to?” Dani asked as we walked with the others to drop off their harvest. 

“Just keeping an eye on things. Getting the lay of the land.” I smirked down at her knowing expression. 

** Spying on people? **

I loved when she opened her mind to me. One of the many impossible gifts she has given me.

‘Ensuring that we’re still safe here.’

I sent my thoughts back to her. She rolled her eyes and pulled her lower lip between her teeth. She held me the slightest bit tighter as we walked.

We dropped off her basket with one of the other witches, Sofia and her young daughter Amelia, in the communal kitchen. Dani politely excused herself and quite literally pulled me back to our cabin. After a quick wave at the door she turned back to me and pulled off her top. She rushed over and fisted her hands in the fabric of my shirt. 

“I need you to fuck me.” She spoke breathlessly before crashing her lips to mine and unbuttoning my pants. 

A startled laugh erupted from my lips. I cupped her face and kissed her harder before slightly pulling away. “What happened?” I spoke against her lips as she lowered my pants with a small push of magic. 

She hummed and pulled back to look into my eyes. “Nothing. Just you, being you.” She smirked and dropped her shorts. 

She often got like this, needing me almost more than I needed her. It always resulted in the most sublime sexual experiences. Over two years of marriage and I still hadn’t figured out what her triggers were, but I had zero complaints.

Within seconds we were both naked and I had her pinned beneath me on the small bed. I was in no position to question her considering my cock was already rock hard and throbbing for her. 

My hands were all over her. Her hair, breasts, waist, thighs, everywhere. My mouth moved down to her neck, where I sucked and nipped at her mark. Her heart rate picked up as she moaned and begged for me. One of her legs wrapped around me and the other was bent up so high that her knee was beside my chest. 

She reached down between us and grabbed my cock, firmly stroking me before running the head of it along her wet folds and against her clit. On her way back down to her entrance, I thrust my hips forward, burying myself inside of her with a growl. As always, it was absolute euphoria being inside her. 

“Yes! Fuck, yes!” She cried out and wrapped her arms around my back. 

I braced one arm on the bed beside her head and tightly gripped her waist with my other hand. Giving it everything I had, I fucked her into the mattress. Thrusting forcefully into her until she came almost violently. Her nails digging into my back, her teeth biting at my neck, and her screaming my name again and again. That was my absolute favorite sound of hers. The bed collapsed beneath us with a loud cracking and splitting of wood. We paid it no mind, Dani could easily fix that. 

As she started to come back down, I slowed just a little and gave her several more long pumps of my cock. My own pleasure built as her walls tightened around me until it exploded across my entire body and I came with an uncontained growl.

“So good baby. You feel so fucking good.” I groaned.

I drove into her faster as I continued pulsing inside her. Spilling into her and not letting up until she came again. Her high-pitched moans of pleasure had me desperate to keep going, but I knew she needed a break after back-to-back orgasms.

We laid there naked for several minutes, her nuzzling her face against my chest as she placed slow kisses wherever she could reach and me brushing my fingers along her bare back.

“I’d be happy with you putting another baby in me when we get back.” She spoke against my skin.  

I looked down at her with a satisfied grin and chuckled at her choice of words. “I would very much like that too.” 

She looked up to meet my eyes. “Amara could have a sister close to her age. They would always have each other.” 

“We would get to bring another amazing person into the world and raise her together.” I gave her a crooked smile and she pulled her lower lip between her teeth.

Dani pushed herself up, kissing me slowly. I wrapped a hand behind her neck, lacing my fingers into her hair. With a slight shift, I tilted her head back and our tongues met, tangling together as we more passionately explored each other’s mouths. She threw her leg over me, straddling me, and had her way with me again. When we finally managed to free ourselves from each other, she exhaled an almost disgruntled sigh. 

“I need to speak to Sasha again. Figure out what I need to do tomorrow. I’d also like to figure out what she knows about me. About us.” She was still laid over my chest, her chin resting on her arm as she looked up at me. 

“I would like to go with you. If that’s okay?” I needed an opportunity to talk to Sasha as well. I wanted to see how she perceived Dani. Though I may not be able to hear her thoughts, I could still closely examine her expressions, body language, and heartbeat effortlessly. 

Dani’s lips pulled up into a small smirk. “I’m good with that.”

The tension that I didn’t even realize I was holding in my chest released and I was filled with a sense of relief. She always wanted to try and handle everything alone. I was incredibly grateful that she was willing to let me be there with her. 

Keeping her eyes on mine, she casually raised a hand and the bed lifted up. She repaired it right from under us with a mischievous grin. I loved her so fucking much. I pulled her in for another deep kiss, inhaling her incredible scent as the flames that erupted every time we kissed consumed me. She pulled back and brushed her nose against mine before sitting up. 

“We should head back out there. People might start to worry.” She looked back at me with a wink. 

I watched intently as she scooted off the bed and bent down for her clothes scattered across the floor. Desire flared through me at the sight of her. I flashed over, gripping her hips and kissing her neck as she stood back up. My lips nipped at her earlobe as she giggled and ran her hand up through my hair. 

“You’re far too irresistible, love.” I murmured into her ear. 

“I’ll try to tone it down.” She responded in a low, seductive voice.

She turned in my arms, held my face in her hands, and kissed me fervently. I felt every ounce of the love she had for me as she opened her mind to me, sharing her thoughts and feelings. I still didn’t understand how I could possibly be worthy of her. How, after everything I had done, she not only managed to forgive me, but to love and trust me just as completely as I did her. 

We eventually got ourselves cleaned and dressed, with only a couple more distractions, and headed toward the center of the village where Sasha’s cabin was. When we knocked and Sasha called out for us to enter, she seemed surprised to see me. Her deep, brown eyes widened and dark curls danced around her head as she flinched back slightly. It appears she wasn’t all-knowing. She gave Dani a questioning look. 

“Hello Sasha. I was hoping you had some time to talk this afternoon? I’d like to know what to expect tomorrow.” Dani smiled, ignoring the tension caused by my presence as she took a seat. 

Sasha glanced at me and back at Dani before smiling herself. “Of course. I was planning on finding you later today anyway.”

“The eclipse is tomorrow.” Dani started. “I figured we could go over what’s going to happen. What exactly do you need me to do?” 

“We will start the spell as soon as the eclipse reaches totality. We would like for you to cast it with us, but it is not necessary. This is the incantation, if you choose to assist.” She slid a piece of paper over to Dani and I read it with her. 

It was written in Latin. Calling upon the Guardians of the Watchtower in each of the four Cardinal directions to reveal the lines of magic for a curse of ‘immortal beasts’. 

Dani read it carefully as she nodded. “What do you need me to do after the spell is cast?”

“The magic behind the curses will be revealed to you and you will break them.” Sasha explained. 

“Will I be able to sense all werewolf curses, or just the ones nearby? And how do I actually break them?” Dani’s brow furrowed in question. 

“There are no records of the spell being cast, so I cannot know for sure. We will find out, I suppose. Breaking them should come naturally for you. You have broken strong spells before.” 

That caught my interest. I closely examined her expressions. Did she know this from Dani’s past or was she merely referencing their spell that she pulled us out of?

“I’ve pulled them. I don’t know if that’s the same.” Dani replied. “We should definitely take some notes this time. It’s unreliable to pass history down through word of mouth alone. Tends to muddle the details.” Dani raised an eyebrow. 

She was clearly referencing the story Sasha had told her about our origins. Sasha stiffened slightly and her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. She didn’t seem to like the implication Dani was making.

“Yes, we will be sure to record this for our history.” Sasha returned to her pleasant demeanor. 

“And all of the werewolves want this? I won’t make someone human again without their consent.” Dani asked unexpectedly. I hadn’t even considered the idea that some of them might not want to be cured. It made sense though. Perhaps one or two were happy being powerful and immortal.

“It is a curse.” Sasha grew serious. “Nobody wants to be cursed. You are welcome to ask for their consent before tomorrow though.” She waved a hand toward the door, gold and silver bracelets tinkling against each other on her slender wrist. 

Dani nodded. “I will.” She paused. “Do you happen to know why I seem to have so many abilities?” Dani asked her with a curious tilt of her head. 

Sasha clasped her hands on the table in front of her and looked at Dani thoughtfully. “That was a surprise. If I had to guess, I would say that the world you came from had different rules and magic. When you were brought here, our rules did not apply the same to you. Both your strengths and your weaknesses”, she glanced at me, “are likely because of your origin.”

“What do you mean by her ‘weaknesses’?” I asked for clarification on that comment. 

“Her reaction to vampire venom, for one.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “With the exception of you, of course. She cannot be turned, it is likely such a curse never existed there. There is also the fact that her magic can be depleted if she uses too much too quickly. It should be a fixed part of her that just limits her capabilities. Fatigue after heavy magic use is normal, but not draining yourself of magic entirely and needing days to weeks to recover it.” She looked at Dani now. “It appears this is also a strength of yours. Your power grows the more you practice. That is not typical of witches either. We can gain more control with practice, but our level of power is set at maturity.”

I closely analyzed her as she spoke. She seemed to be telling the truth. However, this was something she could really only know from the reading she did on Dani. What else did she know?

“Maeve has commented on that as well.” Dani offered. “How much of my life did you see? All of it? Just the big things? Do you know what my husband looks like naked?” She nodded toward me. 

I bit back a laugh as my head snapped to her and Sasha nearly spat out her tea. 

Christ, this woman. I suppose that’s one way to get the answers she wants. 

Sasha recovered quickly and gave Dani a reassuring smile. “Please do not worry. I do not share the things that I learn during a reading. Anything that you might consider private is safe with me.”

That was hardly an answer. I didn’t like how she seemed to consistently dodge this question. We really just needed to know if she knew about our daughter, but we clearly couldn’t outright ask her. I was sure that Dani was powerful enough to compel it out of her, but I would never ask her to do such a thing.

Dani asked her lighter questions about the village and its history. Sasha recounted the story of how her mother brought her here as a child when the village was first built. She spoke of the Russian witch trials of the 1700s. Even before then, witches practiced in secret. Then the witch trials forced most witches into hiding either in isolation or in small villages such as this for centuries after. 

After they finished their tea, we set back out to find the rest of our family and touch base. I quickly found Alice and Jasper, their thoughts clearly showed them speaking with Jade and Kiara near their cabin at the back of the village. With a simple call of their names and a request for them to meet us back at our cabin, they started their goodbyes. 

Alec was slightly more difficult to find. I could have called for him as well, but I wanted to know what he had been doing first. He had found another portal and was closely examining it. It wasn’t the one we arrived in, so his thoughts were alternating between asking someone about it and just moving on to find something else of interest. I casually called his name and told him that we were meeting. His attention immediately shifted to us and he rushed to meet us at the cabin. 

I held Dani close on the small wooden seat in the living area of the cabin while the others stood around the room discussing what they had learned so far. 

“I’m still getting a lot of discomfort and fear toward us, but no outright hostility from anyone.” Jasper shared. “I don’t like that I’m not getting anything from their High Priestess though. She is pretty effectively blocking herself.”

“I don’t see anything from her either. The others don’t seem to have anything that concerns me in their immediate futures, but I can’t see around the werewolves or her or you, Dani, so there are a lot of blind spots.” Alice added in a frustrated tone. 

Dani looked around at us with a concerned frown. “Yeah, she told me that she can block mental abilities. I think it might be a spelled object, like what I made for you all.” She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I’ve spoken with everyone except her husband, Andrei. Have any of you had a chance to meet him?” Her eyes darted around the room, stopping on each of us. 

None of us had any idea who she was talking about. “Who?” I asked. 

“Andrei. He’s one of the werewolves. He sits next to her at every dinner. Giant black man with dreads. He’s kind of hard to miss.” Her face pulled down with confusion. 

“We’ll keep an eye out for him, but it is strange that none of us have noticed him. Could she be hiding him somehow?” Jasper asked. 

Dani sighed. “Yeah. A distraction spell could do that. I’ll feel around him the next time I see him. If there’s anything besides his own, inherent magic, I’ll feel it. We can decide what to do from there.” 

“Don’t approach him on your own.” I took her hand in mine, squeezing it lightly. “If she is trying to hide him from us, it might not be for a good reason.”

Dani nodded and pursed her lips. “What about you Alec? Have you had a chance to speak with anyone?” She looked toward him and he smiled faintly. 

“Yes, I have spoken with a couple of the witches. Most have been very reluctant to speak with me though. Lena has been more open. She seems interested in my history as a witch. I presume since male witches are, apparently, incredibly rare.”

** Perhaps she has learned more about this? I should ask after I tell her about the tiger. Though hardly satiating, it was better than expected. **

Alec remained intent on getting onto Dani’s good side. He truly did see her as a sort of maternal figure. I smiled to myself at his thoughts of trying to impress her.

“I asked some of the others about that. It seems male witches that survived past infancy were often very powerful. There was a lot of fear around them among witches. Mentions of their existence being a result of dark magic - which I can’t believe is true -” she raised an eyebrow and shook her head, “and they were said to have trouble controlling their abilities.” Dani smiled softly at him. “You don’t seem to have that problem though.”

He returned her smile with a contained one of his own. “True. My ability is well under control. Maybe one day I will have a chance to show it to you.”

Dani chuckled lightly. “That would be cool. Hopefully on willing participants though.” She returned her attention to the rest of us. “The eclipse is tomorrow. They want to have a celebration after the curse is broken. We can head back after that. I think that Sasha wants me to stay with them, but I have no interest in that.” 

“I would like to get back to Italy as soon as possible. See if we can renegotiate your deal with Aro.” I lightly squeezed her shoulder with the hand I had wrapped around her.

Alec’s thoughts suddenly grew alarmed.

** Shit! Felix! **  

“We will need to get Felix and give him an explanation for why he was left out of everything.” Alec offered. 

Dani’s eyes widened as she threw a hand over her mouth. “He’s gonna be pissed!” She was clearly stifling a laugh.

“Let me worry about him.” Alec nodded firmly. 

“We can get him now? Explain the situation, that the werewolves won’t be an issue for much longer. If he becomes hostile, I can just refreeze him. I know that magic now.” She offered with a shrug. 

Alec looked at her thoughtfully. 

** Is she really so willing to put herself in danger? Felix will not take this lightly. **

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. 

Absolutely she is.

“He will be very irritated. Though, it would be ideal if we were all able to report what happens here back to them.” Alec looked to the rest of us for our opinions.

Dani stood up. “Yeah, he’ll be more upset if we wait any longer though. We definitely need to get him.”

I let out a defeated sigh. “I’ll go with you.” 

“We’ll keep trying to get to know some of the others here and figure out what Andrei’s story is.” Jasper nodded as he moved to take Alice’s hand. 

“I can teleport us there from here. I’d rather they didn’t know what we’re doing. They’ll all just worry.” Dani offered. “Besides, if things go sideways, it might be best that we have someone they don’t know about in our corner.” She shrugged. 

“What do you mean?” Alec asked. 

“They’re somehow keeping you all in the dark about Andrei and I still don’t completely trust everyone here with my family. They clearly don’t like vampires. If Felix is there keeping watch from the outside, he might catch something we miss.”

I was glad that she was trusting her instincts here. I still didn’t completely trust Sasha myself. She was deliberately hiding too much from Dani and us.

Dani stood up and gave Alec a brief explanation of what to expect when being teleported. She then hooked her arms with mine and Alec’s and teleported us all to the barrier spell where Felix was still frozen in place. Alec still stumbled a bit on the landing. To be fair, it is pretty disorienting the first couple times you travel that way with her. I could see Dani biting back a smile as she watched him try to regain his composure. 

We walked over to Felix and Dani began to closely study his face. “You guys have perfect memories. Has he moved at all?” She asked as she squinted at him. 

Alec stood next to her and glanced at Felix. “No. He is exactly the same.”

Nothing about him except the placement of his attire had changed. He was completely rigid, with the exception of the gray robe he wore fluttering lightly with the breeze  

Dani looked mildly impressed. “Huh. This is a pretty solid spell. I might ask them if they wouldn’t mind sharing it.” 

“Okay, pull him from the spell and I will talk to him.” Alec nodded toward her. 

I moved to the other side of Felix, ready to intercept if necessary. “If he becomes even the least bit aggressive, you freeze him again.” I gave Dani a pointed look.

“I will. I’ve got this.” She gave me a small smirk before returning her attention to Felix. “Okay, here goes nothing.” She blew out a sharp breath and shook out her hands. 

She slowly reached one hand out to Felix’s arm and made contact. After a look of intense focus, he was abruptly released. She quickly let go and stepped back as Felix moved forward.

“-is she-?” He gruffly started to finish whatever sentence he was in the middle of when he was caught in the barrier. “Che cazzo!” He yelled as he flinched back and looked up.

** What the fuck?! Why is it so bright? What did she do? **

Felix practically glared at Dani before Alec grabbed his attention.

“Felix.” Alec greeted him. 

Felix looked around at us in complete bewilderment. To be fair, it was the middle of the night when he was initially trapped here. Now it was midday. I supposed that must have been confusing.

“What is this?” Felix demanded in a suspicious tone. 

“It has been a couple days.” Alec informed him. “You were caught in a barrier spell. Dani pulled you out of it.”

Dani gave Felix a small wave as he glanced at her. He merely nodded in return. 

** The witch is lucky she has so many… attractive qualities. **

Felix smirked at me and locked down his thoughts as I released a low growl. “What happened? How is this here?” Felix pushed for more information. 

“We found the werewolves.” Alec started and Felix practically lit up with excitement. “They are being protected by a coven of witches.”

Felix’s face fell again into a confused expression and he looked at Dani. “Do you know them?” 

“I don’t. I honestly didn’t think there were any other powerful witches out there anymore.” 

“Have you taken care of the situation already?” Felix returned his attention to Alec. 

“It will be resolved soon. Dani is going to cure the werewolves, return them to their human state. Then we will leave and report back that the situation has been handled and there are no more wolves.” Alec stood straighter as his thoughts grew more annoyed. He outranked Felix in the Volturi guard and didn’t appreciate his tone. 

“She will ‘cure’ them? How?” Felix eyed Dani warily and I moved closer to her. 

“It’s a spell. We can cast it in a couple days during the eclipse and then leave.” Dani explained, keeping the details conveniently vague.  

“Why don’t we just kill them and leave now?” He took a step toward her and she lifted a hand, stopping him in his tracks before I could make a move myself. 

** Stronza! **

She narrowed her eyes at him as he growled at her. “We’re not killing anyone. They haven’t done anything to warrant that. If they attacked us, obviously we would defend ourselves, but they have been nothing but welcoming.”

“Let me go.” He demanded of her with clear rage in his eyes. 

I moved to stand between them. “You came toward her first. She will let you go when she feels you’re not a threat to her.” If he made one more move toward her, we were going to have a serious problem.

“I’ll let you go if you agree to listen. No one is being murdered for simply existing.” Dani argued.

His jaw clenched and he nodded tensely in agreement. Dani released the hold she had on him and he relaxed slightly.

** She is quite strong. Does that mean you do not have to worry about holding anything back with her? **

Felix directed his crude thoughts toward me and I shot him a warning glare. His mouth pulled into a self-satisfied smirk. He definitely enjoyed pissing me off.

“Our truce is with the witches, not the wolves.” Alec interrupted the building tension. “They have been very gracious with us and are simply grateful that Dani is here and can help them.” 

“How can she help them?” Felix asked. 

“I apparently have a particular set of skills that will allow me to cure the werewolves. They really just want to get back to their lives and stop living in fear of every Full Moon and of the vampires trying to wipe them from the face of the planet.” She raised a pointed eyebrow at him. 

Alec explained what we had learned so far, with the exception of the vampire origin story that we never shared with him. Felix was still hesitant to agree to our plan to wait another day, cure the wolves, and then head back to Volterra. He didn’t like the idea of not informing the Volturi leaders about what was going on here. He believed Aro would want to do something about the witches as well. Dani let him know that she wouldn’t hesitate to throw him right back into the spell if he couldn’t get his violent tendencies under control. I smirked at him as his thoughts betrayed his fear of her. 

We eventually agreed that Felix would stay on the outskirts of the village, monitoring the situation from a distance. Since Sasha seemed to be hiding so much from us, it seemed like a good idea to have our own backup, in case she tried anything. We made plans to check in after the eclipse and Dani teleported Alec back to the cabin on his own, then grabbed me and Felix, dropping us all in the middle of the woods far outside of the village.

“Felix, please don’t make me regret this.” Dani gave him a wary look and he grinned back at her.

“I would never wish to disappoint you.” He winked and my jaw clenched in response. I couldn’t believe he was still trying to flirt with her.

** Want me to curse him with a debilitating fear of squirrels or something? Because I’ll do it. ** 

Dani glanced at me and mischievously wagged her eyebrows once. I pressed my lips together to bite back my own smile and shook my head.

‘Later. Definitely.’

After a quick goodbye with plans for each of us to check in with him regularly, Dani took my hand and sent us back to the cabin. The others were there waiting for our return.

“Felix is outside of the village. I’ll pay close attention to his thoughts to make sure he doesn’t try to take matters into his own hands.” I informed them.

“Did we miss anything?” Dani asked.

“No.” Jasper shook his head. “It’s been relatively quiet out there. Everyone is still just carrying out their regular duties.”

Alice came over to Dani and took her other hand. “Could you introduce me to some of the friends you’ve made?” She requested with a bright smile.

Dani returned her smile with a warm one of her own. “I would love to.” She looked back at me. “Can you try to find out more about Andrei and Sasha?”

“Of course.” I grinned before leaning in to kiss her soft lips. 

“Can I join you? I would like to talk to some of the wolves as well.” Alec requested.

“I don’t see why not.” I nodded to him. 

Alice and Dani went out again to socialize. 

** I’m gonna try to get a sense of what Felix is out there doing. See if he feels any sort of anger or hostility about the situation. **

Jasper nodded to us once before leaving the cabin at full vampire speed.

“Shall we?” I waved toward the door for Alec to leave ahead of me. I took one more look around the space, quickly memorizing its current state to compare to when we returned. So far they seemed to be respecting our space, but I would remain vigilant. I was ready for this to be over already and was missing Amara terribly. Just one more day and hopefully we could get back to our daughter and our lives. I was going to have to make new plans for a trip to France… again.

Chapter Text

Dani

July 31, 2008

Things had been going well so far. I wanted to both help this community of wonderful people while still keeping my family safe. So, at dinner the night before the eclipse, I made it a point to feel around Andrei. He wasn’t covered by a distraction spell, like I suspected. Instead, he was wearing a spelled object. I wasn’t sure what its purpose was or how it might have been keeping at least the vampires from noticing him, but I was determined to figure it out. I was seated next to Zoe and whispered to her, asking about him.

“He was actually the first werewolf to arrive in the village. At the time it was only witches here.” She said quietly, her deep brown eyes glancing back and forth between him and me. “He was being hunted by vampires and they offered him protection. That was several decades ago. Over time, Sasha and him fell in love. She is very protective of him. She gave him a talisman to keep him hidden from vampires.”

I gave her a confused look. “Why wouldn’t she give one to all of the werewolves? They’re all at just as much risk.”

“It is not a common object. It was created with ancient magic. You might be capable of creating such a thing, but none of us have that kind of power.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “The rumor is that it had been in her family for centuries. It was meant to protect a witch.”  

I nodded in thought. “She must really love him. To give him something so significant to her family and her history.” I carefully watched them as they ate silently together. There was an intense energy between them, even though they seemed to hardly acknowledge each other. 

“They have been together for decades. They are bound together, just as you are with your husband.” Zoe’s voice was soft. I looked back to her warm face. Zoe was kind and, so far, had been far more accepting of me and Edward than the others. I was hopeful that we’d be able to stay in touch after this was all over.

After dinner, I found Andrei and greeted him. “I’m sorry we haven’t met yet, I’m Dani.” I held a hand out to him.

He merely nodded. “Andrei. It is a pleasure.” His voice was deep and lightly accented with a clipped cadence that I couldn’t quite place. He didn’t take my hand so I dropped it back to my side.

“So, are you looking forward to tomorrow?” I asked with a small smile.

He tilted his head slightly as he studied me. “Yes.”

Okay, the strong, silent type. I can respect that, I guess.

“Well, it was nice to finally meet you, Andrei. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He watched me curiously as I walked away.

I made my way back to our cabin for the night where I told Edward what I had learned about Andrei. He held me close, listening to me talk about my excitement over everything that would be happening the next day. He cupped my face and carefully studied it as I spoke.

“Please be careful tomorrow. If you feel like you’re overdoing it, stop.” He kept his sage green eyes locked on mine. “You don’t owe them your well-being.”

“Pulling spells away requires none of my own magic. Feeling for magic does, but it’s very minimal. I imagine breaking a curse will be no more taxing than that.” I smiled softly and leaned in to kiss him. 

He pulled me closer, pressing his lips more firmly to mine. When he pulled away, he gently moved my hair away from my face. “I just can’t allow anything to happen to you. You’ve already been through so much.”

My expression softened to a sad smile. “This isn't like that. I have you. That alone makes me infinitely safer and stronger.”

“So long as you allow me to protect you.” He chuckled and kissed my forehead. “Get some sleep, love.” He pulled me to his chest, running his fingers through my hair as I fell asleep.

The eclipse wasn’t taking place until much later in the day. Everyone was busy preparing for the spell and the celebration that would take place after the curse was broken. The witches had gathered the ingredients for the spell. Several moonstones, bunches of wolfsbane, star anise, and silver offering bowls. They wanted to have the ingredients available to cast the spell for each of the werewolves, in case that was what was needed. Hopefully we would only need to cast it once, we only had a couple minutes of totality to work with. 

Everyone was practically vibrating with excitement over what was coming. Honestly, I was pretty excited too. It felt like I was about to fulfill some sort of destiny. This was the reason that I was brought here. Once it was done my life could be whatever I wanted it to be. Any strings that I still had tied to me would be cut loose. I could return to my family, my daughter, and just live for us.

I had never actually seen a solar eclipse before, at least not that I could remember. It would be my first, major celestial event and I would get to perform some badass magic during it. Edward was helping me and a couple of the other witches get everything set up for the spell. There was one large altar set up with all of the ingredients and we were sorting them into the silver bowls. 

“So, what is the coolest spell you’ve ever cast?” Freya asked me as I added a large moonstone to each bowl.

I laughed. “I turned his car bright pink once.” I looked back at Edward with a wink. He shook his head and raised his eyebrow in a completely unamused manner.

Freya bent over with laughter. “Seriously?! Why would you do that?”

I laughed with her. “It was a dare. I can never back down from a dare. I also know a spell that lets me slow my perception of time. I don’t use it much anymore though. It’s really only good for fighting, but it’s pretty cool.” I smirked.

“Why would you be fighting?” She asked curiously.

I winced slightly. “It’s been pretty chaotic since I got here. The last year has actually been the most peaceful since then. Then this happened.” I waved a hand around with a small laugh.

Freya’s face pulled into a grimace. “Sorry.”

I shook my head. “It’s not your fault. I was meant to be here and do this. You and your family can have a decent shot at a normal life. It’s definitely worth it.” I smiled back at her just as Edward came over and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“I think everything is ready. We still have a few hours before the eclipse reaches totality. What would you like to do?” He asked.

Freya gave us a shy smile and told us she was going to go to find Alexei.

“Where’s Alice and Jasper?” I asked as I turned to face him, holding onto his strong arms.

“Walking around somewhere. Jasper is enjoying everyone’s excitement and joy about what’s coming.” He smiled down at me and tucked my hair behind my ears.

“Good for him. I’m glad he’s getting some peace for a change.” I reached up on my tiptoes to quickly kiss him. “I’d like to check in on Alec again. Make sure he’s doing okay too.” I looked around to see if I could spot him anywhere. 

Edward caught my gaze and gave me an amused smile. “Alec is fine. I don’t want you to worry about anyone else. I’m keeping an eye on everyone that I can hear.”

I sighed and pulled him closer, pressing my cheek to his chest. “Thank you. What would I do without you?”

He chuckled lightly. “I was thinking we could kill some time back at the cabin? Everything else is handled out here and I still have promises to keep to you.” His voice was low as he leaned down to whisper into my ear. His cool breath ghosted against my skin and a pleasant chill ran down my spine.

I pulled back to look up at him with a smirk, pulling my lower lip between my teeth. “That sounds like a pretty solid plan.” I answered in my own, low voice. 

Without a single word to anyone, I teleported us into the cabin and waved a barrier spell over the door. His hands reached up to hold my face and his lips met mine. We were licking and nipping at each others’ mouths as we quickly removed our clothes. 

We didn’t even make it to the bed. I jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist and tightly gripping the hair at the nape of his neck. Apparently I used a little too much strength. He collapsed down onto the floor with a laugh as I wrapped myself tightly around him. One of his hands left my back and reached between us to rub firm circles over my clit. I moaned into his mouth as he sent jolts of blissful electricity through my body. Reaching my own hand down, I grabbed his thick cock. He moved his hand away and I used the velvety soft head of him to stimulate my clit instead. 

“Shit, Dani. I need to be inside you. I want to feel you come.” He growled against my lips.

“With pleasure.” I smirked as I lifted myself up enough to guide his dick to my entrance. 

Slowly, I lowered back down, pushing him into me one delicious inch at a time as he made the most enticing moaning sounds. Before he was fully seated inside of me, I lifted myself back up, pulling him out to just the head and slowly lowering back down again with my own moan.

“God damn, baby. You’re going to kill me.” His hand tightened on my waist and I resisted as he tried to push me all the way down onto his cock.

“Don’t worry,” I smiled against his lips, “I won’t let you die.” I rose up again and rolled my hips, pushing him in at a different angle.

He growled and gripped my hips tightly. I continued rolling my hips, moving him just barely in and out of me. The pressure around my entrance as I massaged the head of his cock inside me was incredible. My breath escaped as a moan and I pulled his lower lip between my teeth, biting down firmly. 

He pulled away, tucking his face into my neck and gripping me tighter. “Please, baby. That feels unbelievable, but I know you can’t come like this and I won’t last much longer.” He was breathless and panting against my neck as he spoke. 

He was right, while it felt amazing, it wasn’t enough to push me over the edge and I knew it. I smiled widely as his teeth grazed against my mark. “I’m just taking my time. You can keep going and we have hours to kill.” My own voice was heavy with lust as I continued shallowly moving him inside me. 

He growled, a deep, rumbling sound that I felt from his chest. “Come for me now and I’ll give you hours. I’ll fuck you until you’re begging me to stop.” He placed warm, wet kisses up my throat until he found my mouth again and dipped his tongue inside. 

I didn’t even need to think about it. I pushed myself down until our hips met and he was fully buried inside me. I felt him hit something particularly sensitive deep inside me and couldn’t stop the desperate cry that escaped. 

“Ah! God, I love how big your cock is, Edward. The way you fill me, complete me.” I groaned as I pressed our foreheads together.

His mouth moved to the crook of my neck, right over my mark. I started riding him fast and hard. 

“Touch yourself.” He ordered, his voice strained with need.

I reached a hand down between us to lightly pinch at my clit. Massaging it between my fingers until I came around him. I slowed down and cried out his name, my core tightly gripping him as my orgasm tore through me. 

“Good girl, Dani.” My favorite words came out of him as a growl. 

A high, desperate moan escaped my lips when he took control. His hands returned to my waist and he started rapidly thrusting up into me. He was perfectly hitting a spot deep inside me that had me seeing stars. My orgasm built back up deeper in my core before it could stop completely. My hands gripped his shoulders as we both cried out in ecstasy. I quickly pulled at our bond and he did the same. 

“Oh fuck! Dani! Fuck!” More profanities fell from his lips as he felt the sheer intensity of the orgasm that had me trembling and fighting for air above him. He started pounding into me harder. “God baby, I want to make you feel this daily, hourly. To fuck you so hard you forget your name. I love you so much, Danielle.” 

He moaned low and deep as he came hard. His cock swelled and pulsed inside me and I could feel his cum spilling out of me, coating our joined bodies as he continued thrusting. I couldn’t speak. I was still completely consumed by my orgasm, his orgasm, his words, the electric energy that flowed between us, all of it. He flipped us over and continued thrusting, pushing me into the floor beneath his body. 

“Edward! Yes, that’s so fucking good!” I cried out as he relentlessly fucked me.

“God, baby. Keep coming. That’s it, take it all. All of me. It’s all yours.” He groaned into my ear as my heart burst in my chest. 

His words sent my desire for him skyrocketing again. “Edward, I love you.” I breathed out in a high groan. 

He groaned louder as he came again, letting me feel it with him. Our connection allowed every sensation to flow between us so that it was both of ours. I tilted my hips up, pulling him deeper into me as our orgasms continued rolling between us. Impossible pleasure moved through me in waves, consuming my every thought. 

My back and chest were beaded with sweat, our bodies noisily moving together as we kept going. I eventually broke the connection when it became too much, but Edward didn’t let up. He flipped me over and took me roughly from behind. Then pressed up against a wall, more slowly and tenderly on the bed, everywhere. He made me come again and again and again. His cock staying within the warm embrace of my core until I could no longer tell where I ended and he began. 

As promised, he didn’t stop until I begged him to more than two hours later.

“Please, baby. I can’t. I need to breathe.” I huffed a laugh through strained pants as I came around his cock yet again. By that point I had completely lost track. 

He chuckled darkly and kissed along the column of my neck before slipping out of me and lowering us from the table to the floor. I laid breathless in his arms, covered in sweat and both of our cum. His fingers gently traced up and down my back as I tried to catch my breath. He was smiling widely as I studied his face. 

“You’re pretty happy.” I chuckled as I smiled up at him. 

“That was incredible. We need to do that a lot more often.” He leaned down to kiss me, humming happily against my lips. 

“We don’t have that kind of time anymore. Adding a second baby will definitely take even more of our time.” I bent my head down to gently nip and suck at my mark on his neck. 

He growled from deep within his chest. “We would still have at least nine months. Our children will be grown before we know it. We have eternity. I plan to take full advantage of it.”

“Good, me too.” I smiled against his skin. “We should get cleaned up though. People might be wondering where we are.”

“Oh, they are.” Edward laughed. “They’ve been looking for you for about an hour now.”

I looked up and pushed myself up onto my elbows. “What?! Why didn’t you say anything?!” I exclaimed. 

“You were preoccupied. Far be it for me to interrupt something as important as your immense physical pleasure.” He smirked and leaned forward to rub his nose against mine. 

I burst into laughter. “Oh my god.” I rolled my eyes and stood up on weak legs. As soon as I was vertical again, I stretched my arms up, popping several joints in the process. 

“You are so unbelievably sexy.” Edward murmured as he appeared in front of me, wrapping his arms around my waist. 

I ran my hands up his sculpted chest and around his strong shoulders. “You’re one to talk. I have married a real life Adonis.” I smiled as his lips met mine and pulled him to the bathroom. 

I had to cast a spell to get rid of the heavy scent of sex in the cabin after everything we had just done to each other. Still, we managed to get ourselves cleaned up and dressed with plenty of time before totality began. We stepped outside and the sky had already started to darken a bit. The air had taken on an eerie sunset feel that conflicted with the deep blue hue of the sky. The world around us had gone silent as the animals tried to reconcile the pending darkness with their natural circadian rhythm.

“This is amazing.” I let out a startled laugh as I took it all in. “Have you ever seen an eclipse before?” I turned to look at him. 

“Several. It never gets old though.” He took my hand in his, lacing our fingers together.

“There you are!” Alice bounded over to me in a royal blue dress with a flowing, ruffled skirt. Her face was bright until she glanced at Edward, giving him an annoyed look. “They have a dress for you!” Alice excitedly told me.

My own face pulled into a disbelieving expression. “No they don’t!” 

“They do!” Alice took my hand and pulled me away from Edward. 

He smiled widely as I reached for him and he gave me a small wave. “I’ll see you soon, love.”

Alice pulled me over to where the coven had gathered. They were all dressed in flowing, black dresses and hooded robes.

“Danielle!” Sasha beamed when she saw me. She turned to Jade who brought a folded stack of clothes for me.

“These are for you, for the spell and the celebration.” Jade smiled softly.

I thanked her and went to quickly change into my own black dress and hooded robe. The black, wool dress had long, bell-shaped sleeves and a long, flowing skirt that had a slit up to my mid thigh on each side. I worked my hair into a French braid and went back out to meet them. The sky was significantly darker already. It was almost time. 

The coven was quickly gathering into a circle around the werewolves. I was to stand at the center with them considering I would likely need to touch them to pull each curse away to break it. I had been practicing pushing back at the natural energy given off by everyone in order to avoid having a vision whenever I touched one of them and was already nearly to the point where I could do it with almost no effort.

I looked around as the sky took on a faint orange glow around the entire horizon, we had moments left. I caught Edward’s eyes as he was watching me with a soft smile from outside of the circle.

** I love you. I’ll be right here the whole time. **

I smiled back at him.

‘I love you too.’

The sky suddenly darkened to night and Edward’s smile widened.

** Look up. **

I looked up just as the witches started the incantation. It was breathtaking. The Moon had completely covered the Sun. Rays of gold burst out from behind it, offering the smallest amount of light in the dark sky. There were stars visible all around in, what was supposed to be, the middle of the day. The magic in the air was thick and palpable. I could feel it vibrating against my skin. My smile widened and a tear hit my cheek as my breath caught. 

When the incantation was done I could feel it. I didn’t need to reach out for the curses at all, they were all there. Visible and tangible only to me. 

“It worked.” I gave them all a wide smile. 

Each wolf was wrapped in it, like thorny vines of silver magic. Some of them had tangled cords of it leading away from them in all directions. Those were the lines to others that they had turned. 

Milo had nearly a dozen strings leading away from himself like strange, barbed tentacles and Kiara had one. Olena had two silvered cords trailing away from the tangle of magic around her while Sergei only had his own curse wrapped around him. The most surprising of all was Alexei. He had six, one of which connected to his father, Igor. He had turned his father, plus five others. Igor told us they were turned together. He clearly lied to spare his son. I gave Igor a sympathetic look as I approached Alexei. Breaking his curse would break Igor’s as well, so I started with him.

I needed to act quickly, we only had a few minutes before totality ended. I pushed away at Alexei’s energy and gave him an encouraging smile as I held a hand to his cheek. His brown eyes nervously darted back and forth between mine as I pulled at the curse, untangling the thorned ropes of it from him and freeing him from it. When it was done, he and Igor both fell to the ground, unconscious. 

The curse was with me now. I could feel it filling me. It was dark and hot and entirely unwanted. I had to get rid of it. It needed something to latch onto and seemed like it was trying to take hold of me instead.

I gritted my teeth as I held it at bay. “I need a moonstone.” I forced out and rushed toward one of the bowls to grab one.

** Dani! Are you okay?! **

Edward’s thoughts reached me. “I need to put it in something!” I shouted as I pushed it into the stone. The stone glowed brightly with a strange silver light as I rapidly pushed the last of it away from myself. The stone heated in my hands and I dropped it with a sharp gasp when it burned me. 

I shook out my hands and moved on to Olena, repeating the process with her. She fell to the ground as soon as her curse was pulled away from her. I grabbed another moonstone to push the curse into when it was done. I picked up three more stones and quickly pulled the curses from Sergei, Milo, and Kiara, simultaneously bleeding the dark magic into the moonstones as I pulled it from each of them. 

Totality was almost over, there were mere seconds left. I felt like I was forgetting something. I looked around. All of the curses were gone and five of the moonstones were left hot and glowing with a bright silver light. The Sun peeked out from behind the Moon just as I realized what I was missing. 

“Andrei.” I said quietly and looked up at Sasha as she smiled, tears falling over her dark lashes to her cheeks. 

The moonstones stopped glowing and the sky began to brighten again. The people that were laid on the ground around us were human again, no longer cursed as werewolves. They started to stir, but I kept my eyes on Sasha as she began joyfully hugging her coven sisters.

‘Where the hell is Andrei?!’

I sent my thoughts to Edward. Keeping my eyes on Sasha the entire time.

** What do you mean? **

‘He’s not here! I didn’t cure him!’

My panic started to grow as I watched Sasha excitedly helping the cured, former wolves up from the ground as if there wasn’t a glaring omission from the group. I held a hand out, pulling her away from them and freezing her in place.

“Where is Andrei?!” I shouted at her as the others immediately froze with her.

“Dani?” Sabine interrupted. “What are you doing?”

I kept my eyes on Sasha, waiting for her response. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t fight against my hold on her.

“He left last night.” She said as tears fell from her eyes.

I reeled back. “What? Why?”

“He didn’t want to be cured after all. So he left us.” She kept her eyes on mine.

“It’s true Dani. We would have told you sooner, but no one could find you until right before the spell needed to be cast.” Anya offered.

‘Edward, can you tell if they’re lying?’

** She seems to believe what she’s saying. Jasper still isn’t getting anything from Sasha though. **

I glanced over to him with a confused expression, then looked back at Sasha. I dropped my hand, immediately releasing her. “I’m so sorry, Sasha. I realized he was missing as soon as it was too late and I panicked.” 

“I understand.” Sasha gave me a sympathetic smile. “After everything you’ve been through, I can’t imagine it’s easy to put your trust in others.”

I looked down at my hands before moving over to help Alexei up. He gave me a sheepish grin before moving to embrace his father. 

“Thank you.” Igor’s voice was heavy with emotion as he held his son’s head tightly to his chest. 

I smiled softly. “You are very welcome, Igor.” I had no intention of ever telling anyone the truth about his son.

Everyone gathered together again as the sky continued to brighten. Edward appeared at my side as I watched them all celebrating together. He pulled me into his arms and buried his face in my shoulder.

“You were incredible, love. How are you feeling?” He asked quietly.

I held him tightly. “I’m good. It was intense, but not draining at all. I’m mostly embarrassed by how I acted afterward.” I sighed.

He pulled back and held my face in his hands. “You couldn’t have known. I probably would have reacted the same way.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I would have known had I not been… preoccupied.”

He grinned and leaned forward to quickly kiss me. “Worth it.” He whispered.

Alec walked up next to us. “Is it done then?” He asked.

I pursed my lips. “Yeah, except Andrei. It appears he left. That might be a problem. Especially with his talisman. If the Volturi want to find him, they’re going to have a hell of a hunt to deal with. I don’t know if I could even find him.” 

“If he makes himself known at all, we will find him.” Alec nodded. “They should be happy with what you’ve done here. You have essentially neutralized six werewolves.” He smiled.

“More than that.” I smirked at his confused expression. “I also cured any werewolves they each created. There were almost twenty others.”

“That many?” Edward’s voice was baffled.

I turned to look at him.  “At least. If those twenty have turned any, they would all have been cured as well. The entire sire line down, they’ll all be human again now too.” 

His eyes were wide. “That’s amazing.”

Alice rushed over and took my hands. “They’re setting up a dance floor in the middle of the village! Let’s go!”

I laughed as she pulled me away, grabbing Edward’s hand to pull him with me. “Do you dance Alec?” I called out as we made our way there.

He glanced nervously between us. “Only ballroom.”

I smiled widely at him. “Well, you’re gonna learn some new moves today!” I winked and laughed as he looked completely terrified by the concept.

We ate, danced, sang, and celebrated the newfound freedom of the former werewolves. They each took a moment to come up to me and thank me, offering small gifts. Edward advised me not to refuse them, it would hurt their feelings considering each one was something intentionally made for me. Everything from jars of jam to a handmade skirt. Freya asked for my contact information so she could keep in touch. We planned to head back to Italy in the morning.

As things started to die down, Sasha found me. I started to apologize again, but she stopped me.

“Please, don’t worry yourself over it. It was alarming, but no harm was done.” She smiled softly. “We are planning a blessing tomorrow afternoon. Nothing too elaborate, it will just be the coven. We will cast the blessing over the coven and then have a ceremonial tea together. They would all love for you to join.”

I looked over at Edward. He gave me a smirk.

** I don’t see why we can’t delay a few hours. **

I looked back at Sasha. “That would be wonderful. Thank you for including me.”

Her smile widened. “They will all be so happy that you are joining us.”

I narrowed my eyes slightly. “Just for the blessing. I have my own coven and a life to get back to.”

“Of course.” She lightly nodded her head, an amused smile pulling her round lips up.

When everyone started to turn in for the night, we went out to find Felix and relay the day’s events to him. We found him deep in the woods where he seemed to be taking in the night sky above him.

“Felix.” Alec greeted him.

“How did it go?” Felix asked, his gaze darting between the five of us.

“Perfectly.” I answered. “There are now at least twenty-six fewer werewolves in the world.”

His eyes widened and he looked at Alec. 

“Yes. She returned at least twenty-six werewolves back to their human state.” Alec smiled widely. “Aro should be satisfied.”

Felix grunted. “We will see. He may still wish to do something about the witches here. Especially since they had aligned themselves with werewolves and were interfering with our guards.”

I shook my head. “No. That’s stupid. They didn’t hurt anyone. They merely protected themselves. None of them have nearly enough power to be a threat to the Volturi. It took two of them just to cast the memory spell on your guards. Even so, no one was ever hurt.”

Felix glared at me, his jaw clenched with clear frustration.

“No one is coming for them. Killing witches was never on the table here.” I argued, straightening up and balling my hands into fists as I resisted the urge to take him down.

“Dani, I’m sure it will be fine. Felix here is just mad that he missed out on any real action.” Jasper smirked.

Felix released a low grumble before shrugging. “I was sent here to fight. No fighting has occurred.”

“That’s usually considered a success, dude.” I rolled my eyes. 

Edward wrapped an arm around my waist. “We’ll meet you back here tomorrow. Dani can send you back to the plane before we say our goodbyes in the afternoon and we can all meet you there.”

Felix nodded. “Good. I am sick of these woods anyway.”

We made our way back to the cabin where Alice stayed with me while Edward went out to hunt with Jasper and Alec stayed with Felix.

“That was so cool.” She smiled widely.

“I’m glad I was able to help them. There were some surprises, but they all have a shot at relatively normal lives now and can stop living in fear.” 

“I still can’t believe that I was probably a witch.” She shook her head.

“I can.” I grinned at her. “You sort of still are too. You have a badass ability and you’re part of my coven. Pretty sure that makes you a witch.”

She took my hands, squeezing them lightly. “Never tell Rose, but you’re by far my favorite sister.”

I laughed and nudged her with my knee. “Same.” I replied with a wink.

We stayed up talking about what we planned to do when we got back home. First on her list was a spa day with the entire coven. I just wanted to be with my family again. My heart ached for Amara. I missed her terribly. I couldn’t even so much as call her to reassure her that we were fine and would be returning soon. As soon as we were reunited, I wasn’t going to be letting her go again for a while. 

The next hurdle was just convincing the Volturi that the work here was done and, hopefully, knocking a few more favors off of my debt to them. Alice couldn’t see how that would go, since it depended too heavily on me and my choices. I just had to hope for the best. Always a solid strategy.

Chapter Text

The morning after the eclipse was a beautiful, clear day. Everyone was busying themselves with either their regular duties or making plans for their futures. The coven asked that the vampires and former werewolves stay away from the village for the blessing ceremony. They wanted to keep the secrets of coven rituals from any non-witches. The children and humans were all heading to a clearing several miles into the forest where they usually got together in these situations and the vampires were asked to go with them. 

I definitely understood where they were coming from, but Edward was not happy about leaving me behind with the witches. I had to repeatedly reassure him that I could handle myself and, if needed, I could communicate with him immediately through our rings no matter how far apart we were. Alice and Jasper were just excited to finally go back home that afternoon. 

“Try not to raise the dead or anything, Dani. But have fun doing… whatever it is you’re about to do.” Jasper chuckled and gave me a wink.

I snorted a laugh and rolled my eyes. 

“Good luck! We’ll be back as soon as it’s done. Then we can finally head back home.” Alice offered me a smile and pulled me into a quick hug before taking Jasper’s hand and rushing to join the others. Since the werewolves were human now, they couldn’t really run there, so they’d all be hiking it together. I was hopeful that they’d be able to have at least a little fun together.

Alec came over to remind me that he wanted to show me some of his work when we made it back to Volterra.

“There is an entire room of the palace just for my sculptures. Some are even displayed in museums, under a pseudonym of course.” He smirked shyly.

I returned his smile with an excited one of my own. “That’s pretty awesome! I honestly can’t wait to see what you’ve created. I’ll make sure I keep an eye out for your work at any museums I visit in the future as well.” I winked.

His smile widened and he wished me luck before heading into the woods to catch up to the others.

Edward lingered, pulling me close. “You are truly incredible. Do you know that?”

I laughed, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I do my best.” I shrugged.

He let out a heavy sigh. “You’ll be careful? Stay alert?” He asked. 

I ran my fingers through his hair. “Of course. Our lives are tied together, remember? Do you really think I’d let anything happen to you?”

He smirked and leaned down to kiss me. “All it took was binding your life to mine for you to stop taking so many dangerous risks.”

I chuckled as I rubbed my nose against his. “I’ll let you know as soon as we’re done. I’m ready to go home.”

His hold on me tightened slightly. “Me too.” He leaned forward and firmly pressed his lips to mine again before pulling away with a small sigh. “I love you.” His voice was low as his cool, cinnamon honey breath ghosted over my face.

My lips pulled into a content smile. “I love you too.” I reached up for one more chaste kiss and gently pushed him away. “Now go!” I chuckled. 

He smirked before turning away to catch up with Alice and Jasper. 

As soon as Edward was out of sight, I went back to the center of the village to see if I could help with anything. The sacred circle was all set up and they had added a long table inside for us to have tea at. I went to help Lena and Anya with the altar they were putting together. 

“Hey, ladies. Anything I can do here?” I gestured to the objects they were carefully arranging. 

“Actually, Sasha was asking for you just a moment ago.” Lena nodded toward Sasha’s cabin and I glanced behind myself toward it. 

Sasha was standing there speaking with Sabine and one of the other witches, Nadia. She waved me over when she spotted me. I approached and Sabine nodded in greeting before her and Nadia headed back toward the group where they were still setting everything up for the blessing ceremony. 

“Would you please come inside? I’d like a chance to speak with you again before you leave.” Sasha held a hand up, gesturing for me to follow her. 

“Of course. I would like that too.” I eagerly walked in behind her. 

We sat together at the small table in the center of her cabin and she held her hands clasped in front of her as she carefully studied my face. 

“I want to thank you all for being so welcoming. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you to put any trust into my family.” I started. 

She waved me away. “You were meant to be here. They were an important part of your journey.”

My brows drew down and I shook my head. “I don’t see it that way. They were always my destiny. This was just one of the many adventures for me along the way.” I chuckled. “Hopefully the last one too.”

She nodded. “I suppose that is one way to see it.” She gave me a small smile, then sighed. “Well, I know you have already given us so much, but I would like to ask you for something.”

I paused, examining her expression. She looked hopeful. “Okay…” 

What the hell else could you want from me?

“You have a unique opportunity to do a lot of good for this world. You are… close to the vampire leaders… the Volturi.” She raised an eyebrow and leaned forward before speaking quickly. “We can end all of this together. Witches will no longer have to hide their power. We can stop living in fear and be a part of the world again. Rebuild our covens and communities. Thrive together.”

I shook my head in confusion. “I don’t know if I really understand what you’re saying. What do you want?”

She slowly took my hand. “You will be with the leaders soon. A few of us can follow you, conceal ourselves. Then, if we manifest enough energy to bring day to night, we can cast the spell and you can return them to their human state. Cure them.”

My eyes widened and I sharply pulled my hand away as I leaned back with a gasp. “I won’t do that. They have no desire to be human. Plus, they’ve been turning people for millennia. I have no idea how many other vampires that would kill!”

Her eyebrows drew down into an imploring expression. “You wouldn’t be killing them, Dani. You would be curing them. Making them human again. Returning natural order to the world.” She kept her voice soft. “Vampires were never meant to exist.”

She seriously thought that she could convince me to do something that, if it worked, could potentially destroy every vampire in the world, including my family. But if it failed the Volturi would just kill us all anyway. There was no way I was even considering this horrible idea.

“No. I won’t do something like that to someone who doesn’t want it. And I can assure you that they don’t want it.” I crossed my arms and met her deep brown eyes, unwilling to blink or look away. 

Her eyes were pleading now. “Consider the countless lives you would save. The humans that will no longer be treated as mere cattle to them.”

My breath caught. “You can’t put that on me.” My hands were trembling now as I balled my hands into fists, my magic vibrating against my skin. “Vampires have been around for thousands of years. If they were that big of a threat to mankind, they wouldn’t be out there literally living in the shadows. You’re asking me to essentially cause an extinction.” I practically hissed the words at her. 

She carefully scanned my face before she spoke again. “You would no longer have to fear for your daughter. She would be free to exist openly in a world without them.” 

I reeled back in shock as my eyes darted back and forth between hers, scanning her eyes carefully. They were still pleading. There was no hostility in her expression, but I was terrified. My heart started beating faster and I placed my hands on the table, tightly gripping the edge of it until it crumbled under my fingertips. 

“Don’t you ever use her against me. I won’t do this and I will not hesitate to destroy anyone who threatens my family.” I growled the words at her and a jar exploded in her kitchen. It was a warning. I could have done a lot worse with the rage boiling inside me at that moment.

She seemed to calm a little and raised her hands in a placating gesture. “I apologize. It was not my intent to come across as a threat. She is just as important to us as you are. Another powerful witch in a world where such witches have been all but exterminated. I know you have been desperate to keep her hidden. You wouldn’t have to do that anymore if they did not exist. She would be safe.”

“Me and my family keep her safe. I won’t play God here.” My jaw clenched as I stared into her eyes, refusing to back down. 

Her expression shifted. She seemed to deflate with resignation. “I understand. I am truly sorry for pushing. I was just hopeful that we could finally bring an end to all of this. I will not ask again.” She gave me a small smile. “I really do not wish to have you leave us on bad terms. We are all extremely grateful for everything you have done for us. I am hopeful that we will see each other again someday.” Her eyes softened. “The others are eager to see you again before you leave, so I will not take up any more of your time.”

She stood up and walked me to the door. I was still struggling to process what just happened. She knew about Amara, which seemed very bad. I felt no threat from her or a desire to harm me or Amara, but I still didn’t like it. She said Amara was important to them too. Witches had been nearly eradicated here, she represented hope. Still, I couldn’t be sure if she would just let this go. Her ridiculous plan to destroy the Volturi, as well as a significant number of vampires, could get us all killed. 

I slowly joined the others as they were getting ready. I tried to school my expression and remain calm for them. I was more than ready to just get the hell out of there now. I went back to the cabin I had been staying in and changed into the black dress and the hooded robe they had given me the day before. I took a few minutes to sit and get my magic under control again before heading back out. When I returned to the group, Jade came over to help with my hair.

“Dani, I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us.” She smiled widely as she stood in front of me, working a crown braid around my head. Her blonde hair was artfully braided around her own head as well.

I met her bright blue eyes with a warm smile. “Thank you. You have helped me control something that has been almost debilitating for years. Without you, I would still be avoiding touching everyone.” I chuckled. “You have no idea how rude I’ve come off to people every time I had to refuse to shake their hand.”

She waved a hand at me. “That was really nothing. You are a very good student.” She smirked. “Kiara and I are talking about getting a small apartment in Novosibirsk. She can hopefully get back to her research and I have always dreamed of becoming a teacher.”

“That sounds wonderful. I’m honestly happy that I was able to help you all. I have all this power and I hate wasting it when I have the opportunity to do so much good.” 

Her smile widened. “That power is in very good hands. We are all very lucky that it was you, it definitely could have been much worse.” Her smile faltered almost imperceptibly.

My brow drew down in thought. They intended for the spell to return the ability that I have to them. If Sasha had that power, she would likely have already taken down, or at least tried to take down, the Volturi by now. There was a good chance that the world would be virtually wiped of vampires, given how many have likely been turned by them over thousands of years. 

I was sure that there were some vampires out there, like Rosalie, who would love to be human again, but most seemed relatively happy with their lives. They were out of their time, displaced from the world, and had almost no memories of their human lives. To be thrust back into that would essentially leave them with nothing. They would probably quickly die just because they don’t even know how to be human. There was no way I could do something like that.

After my hair was done, we went back out to join the others. Zoe spent some time asking me questions about the US and what the schools are like there for teenagers. Her and Milo were keeping their options open, but were hoping to get out of Russia soon. 

I spent a little more time with Anya as well, talking about her plans to find her father. 

“I had to leave him behind after my mother died.” Her expression grew sad. “She wished for me to join a coven, hoping I could find safety and community. That’s how I ended up here. I was sixteen.” She gave me a small smile. 

“I could help you with a locator spell, if you have anything of his we could use?” I offered. 

Her brown eyes brightened as her smile grew. “I have a photo. Would that be enough?” She asked. 

“That would be perfect. If you don’t mind, I can take it with me and cast the spell as soon as I have some maps to use.” I returned her smile with a warm one of my own. “I promise to send the photo back to you with a location, as soon as I have one.”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you.” She pulled me into an awkward, loose hug and I chuckled as I returned it. 

When the Sun was highest in the sky, we all gathered back at the sacred circle to start the blessing ceremony. Freya rushed over to stand next to me just as Sasha and Sabine began gathering everything they would need. 

Lena and Kamilla began handing candles out to everyone. I hadn’t spoken with Kamilla very much. Between her waves of white and silver hair and laugh lines, she physically looked to be the oldest member of the coven but I didn’t know how old she actually was. Given Sasha’s true age and what she told me about how magic keeps us young, any one of them could have been just as ancient as my family. 

When everything was ready, Sasha called for everyone’s attention. After welcoming us all and quickly explaining what we would be doing, she asked Sabine to light her candle so that we could all light ours. 

“I can take care of that. If you want?” I offered with a small smile. 

Sasha’s eyes met mine with a satisfied smile and she nodded toward me. I focused on the candles in everyone’s hands and gave the tiniest push at my magic. The candles all lit simultaneously. I smiled widely as they all let out startled laughs.

“That was nothing.” I winked at Freya as she giggled beside me.

Sasha called on the Guardians of the Watchtowers in each direction, presenting the elemental offerings for each one, to get the ceremony started. We recited the incantation together and went around the circle, each offering our own blessing to the group. I offered a blessing of peace and tranquility to the coven. The best blessing came from Eva, who offered a blessing of joyful days and ‘satisfying’ nights. I snorted a laugh as the others chuckled and shook their heads. 

After the blessing ceremony was finished, Sasha closed the sacred circle and we all moved to the table set up in the center of the village. Freya sat to one side of me, while Anya took the other. Sasha and Sabine went to get the tea ready while the rest of us settled in and passed around the food that had been prepared. They had small, honey sweetened cookies, biscuits with a variety of homemade jams, and an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables from the gardens.

“So, what did you think?” Anya asked.

I turned to her, meeting her bright, brown eyes. “It was beautiful. I haven’t participated in a ritual in a while. It was really nice to feel that communal bond again. You’re all very lucky to have each other.”

She gave me a soft smile. “We are. Even when we go our separate ways, we are all bound together. Our journeys are tied together forever.”

“I know the feeling.” That was the exact bond I had with my coven. It helped that they were also my family. Two incredible women who were essentially mothers to me and my sisters, one of whom was magically bound to my daughter. I would trust every single one of them with not only my life, but my daughter’s as well. Watching this coven of incredible women laugh and celebrate together made me miss mine more. I planned to get them all back together as soon as I was back home.

Sasha and Sabine came back out with the tea, filling cups and handing them out as they made their way around the table. The cups looked to be a hodgepodge mixture from various tea sets with different patterns, colors, and even small plates. The cup Sasha handed me was a small, white china teacup with hand painted green and yellow flowers. It looked like something that would have been given as a wedding present twenty years ago. 

We each placed our cups in front of us and waited until everyone had been served. When they sat back down, Sasha started with a short speech.

“Blessed be, sisters. Danielle, thank you for staying and helping bring some peace to our families. We called for you years ago and had almost lost hope before you finally arrived.” She smiled while the others watched with a range of emotions flitting over their faces. “I do not believe that this will be the end of our journey. My sisters, you have all been so strong and brave as we have dealt with our many struggles. I could not have asked for a better coven. We may finally rest.” She smiled and lifted her cup, taking a sip before the rest of us took ours.

It was a strong floral tea sweetened with honey. Small, brown and black loose leaves collected at the bottom of the light orange liquid. I smiled to myself as I wondered if any of them knew how to read tea leaves. It wasn’t something I had ever looked into, but I knew it was ancient magic. I figured I would ask Maeve if she knew anything about it when we were back home. The group returned to chatting as we ate and drank together.

“So, what will you do after this?” Freya asked.

“Go back home. I’m hoping to actually start college soon. I haven’t had a chance to yet.” I pursed my lips. “What about you?”

“I can’t wait to go to a proper school. College, definitely, once I finish high school.” She smiled widely. “My mother has talked about trying to move us to the United States. We would have many more opportunities there.”

“What do you think you’d want to study?” I asked as we finished our tea.

“I have always loved animals, so I was thinking maybe Biology or something.” She looked down at her hands, her brows drawing down. “That’s probably stupid. I’ve never even taken a proper science class.”

I gently took her hand, subtly pushing her energy away before making contact. “It’s definitely not stupid. If it’s something you’re interested in, you’ll find a way to make it happen. After everything you’ve been through, you can definitely handle some catch-up courses if you even need them.” Her face lit up as she looked back up at me. I returned her wide smile with one of my own.

“What about you? What would you want to study if you go to college?” She returned my question.

“I wanted to study Literature before life got in the way.” I huffed a laugh as I swirled my cup and looked down at the leaves settled at the bottom of it, closely examining the abstract patterns they made. I could barely make out a wavy, snake-like shape at the bottom of the cup and an almost rectangular shape to the far right, near the handle. The rest were just random speckles that I couldn’t make anything of. “I think I’d still like that.” I finished my answer. 

“Do you read a lot then?” Freya asked, drawing my attention back to her. 

I looked up to meet her eyes and was hit by a wave of dizziness. I shook my head a little, only making it worse. “Uh… yeah.” I rubbed my fingers over my eyes as my vision swam.

“Dani? Are you alright?” Freya’s curious tone had shifted to one of concern.

I felt Anya grab my arm. “She wouldn’t do it?!” 

I looked up at her, but she was looking away from me. I followed her gaze across the table as I became more disoriented and my vision doubled. Two swirling Sashas were frowning at me, disappointment all over her gorgeous face. 

“I’m sorry, Dani. We need to end this. It is the entire reason that you were brought here.” She looked over at Sabine, who stood up just as my arm started to burn. I yanked my arm free from Anya’s grip. 

“Take her to the altar portal.” Sasha’s voice had fallen flat, almost indifferent. 

“What are you doing, Sasha?!” Jade flew up out of her chair on the other side of the table, knocking it back onto the ground.

“What we have to do!” Sasha hissed back at her with furious eyes.

“Didjyou drug me?” My words were slurred as I tried to shake the fog away again. I gripped the table, knocking my cup over. I frantically pushed at my magic, but it was unfocused. Teacups shattered, spilling tea all over the table, and chairs clattered to the ground. Some of the witches fell from their seats with startled gasps. 

“I won’t help with this!” Jade yelled across from me.

I tried to stand only to immediately fall to the ground, barely catching myself with my hands.

‘Edward! Help!’

I called out to him through our connected rings and pulled at our bond, trying to open the physical connection between us. I was fading fast. I had no idea what they were planning to do with me, but I knew that it couldn’t be anything good. 

“Sasha! Stop this! Please!” I heard Freya begging, but her voice sounded muffled and distant now.

Sasha spoke again. “We do not need you. Anyone who wishes to remain a prisoner is welcome to stay here. But if you want freedom, power, you will join us at the altar.”

Anya and another witch lifted me up off the ground, wrapping my arms around each of their shoulders as they started to drag me away. I was too out of it to even try to fight back. My legs were too weak to hold me up anymore as I put every last bit of strength I had into trying and failing to regain my footing. 

‘please’

The world around me swirled and my thoughts grew weaker. I thought I felt a hint of panic that wasn’t my own and heard the faintest call of my name just as everything faded to black.

Chapter Text

Edward

The witches wanted Dani to stay for their blessing ceremony. I understood their desire to keep their rituals private, but I didn’t like the thought of her being completely alone with them. Once we were outside of the village, we couldn’t even hear past their silencing spell. She promised to reach out if anything felt wrong. I would just have to trust her as I held her close and kissed her deeply before parting. I hated being separated from her. I was literally leaving half of myself behind and it felt horrible.

“Do you ever wonder what they do at these things?” Jasper asked with a smirk as we walked with the former wolves toward their gathering spot. Apparently they were often banished from coven ceremonies. They made the best of it.

“I imagine they break out their pointy hats, fly around on brooms, chant over smoking cauldrons… That sort of thing.” I shrugged and laughed as Alice scoffed at me.

“That is borderline offensive.” Alice glared and pointed a finger at me.

“Well, you won’t ever tell me anything about it, darlin’.” Jasper pulled her close and smirked as he leaned down to kiss her.

She held his face and smiled back up at him. “What happens in the sacred circle stays in the sacred circle.” She laughed.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. It must have been a running joke, Dani has told me the exact same thing. 

** Witches, right? **

I chuckled at Jasper’s thoughts just before I spotted Igor walking with Alexei and sped up to join them. I liked Igor, he was honest, intelligent, and seemed to be more welcoming of us than the others had been. Plus, now that they were human again I didn’t feel an instinctual fear of them anymore.

“How are you feeling now?” I asked him as I caught up at a restrained pace.

He gave me a wide smile. “Wonderful. It is like a huge weight has been lifted.” He looked down at his son. “We are free.”

“I can finally start growing again. Being ten for the past six years has been a literal nightmare.” Alexei rolled his eyes.

“I can relate. I’ve been seventeen for ninety years. I won’t physically get any older either.”

“That does sound awful. At least you have Dani though. She looks about the same age as you and she’s not aging either, right?” Alexei asked.

“Yes. She was already aging very slowly. It has stopped entirely since we were bound together. I am impossibly lucky to have her.” I felt a wide smile spread over my face.

We finally made it to the clearing they typically gathered at, miles from the village. They had large logs set up around a wide fire pit. Sergei got right to work starting the fire as the others took a seat. I stayed near Igor and Alexei. 

“It is strange. My mind still works the same. I thought we would feel… slower. The physical strength and speed are gone though.” Igor explained some of the changes they had noticed since having their curses removed. 

I gave him a thoughtful look. “Perhaps the mind is just more difficult to change?” 

“Perhaps.” He nodded. “Your wife is quite extraordinary. We are all in her debt.” His earnest thoughts matched his words.

I chuckled. “Believe me, she does not see it that way. She was happy to help.” I smiled to myself. “I still can’t believe the spell we used to return her memories actually managed to bring her here from another universe.” I huffed a laugh. “If we knew the kind of power that spell had, we likely would have never cast it.”

Igor’s expression quickly dropped into a mask of shock. “She has used that spell?”

I studied his horrified face, his thoughts were appalled. “Just to return some memories. She had no idea who she was when she first came here. She had lost everything.” My brows furrowed as I explained her situation.

“But… I cannot believe she would do something like that just for memories.” He shook his head.

** She seemed far too kind for that. To kill someone just to regain memories? **

“Whoa! Wait…” I held my hands up to stop him. “What are you talking about? What spell did they cast?”

Igor shook his head. “I cannot be sure. It was from Lena’s old book, dark magic. Sasha sent Andrei to find someone to sacrifice. They held a vote and the majority decided that it was worth a life to break the curses and secure our freedom.”

I reeled back in shock. “That is not the spell we used. Nor is it what Sasha told Dani they used to bring her here!

Alice, Jasper and Alec immediately rushed to my side.

“They lied?” Alec asked.

I met his worried, crimson eyes. “It would appear so. At least about the spell they used. Why would she lie about that though?”

“If Sasha lied about that, there could be a lot more she’s misled Dani on.” Jasper added.

I thought for a moment, recounting the spells that required a heart. Manifesta Potentia, to manifest power. It was dark. Used to imbue power into a witch or even create a new witch. However, it came with a warning that the results were unpredictable and it often wouldn’t work exactly the way the caster intended. They killed someone without being sure that it would even work.

“We need to go back.” I turned to leave and Alice grabbed my arm.

“Think first. They were desperate. Maybe they were just too ashamed to admit what they had done?”

** Remember how much it affected Dani? It took her so long to forgive herself. **

I studied Alice’s imploring face. I understood that, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong here. I looked back at Igor. “Did Andrei tell any of you why he left? Where did he go?”

“No, I do not know. Most of our interactions with him were during training. Milo knew him a little better, but he usually stayed near Sasha when he wasn’t out gathering supplies or scouting the area. She just told us that he did not want the cure and left.” Igor’s voice grew more concerned.

“You said before that Sasha likes to keep what she knows close. Do you have concerns about her?” I asked, closely monitoring his thoughts.

** She has a lot of anger and she hides too much. **

“She has been alive for a long time and seems to have become more resentful of her isolation over the years. She pushed all of us to master partial transformations, even Alexei, saying it was to protect our village. Andrei and Milo taught us all how. She also does readings on each of us regularly. She does not wish for any of us to have secrets, though she surely has plenty of her own.” His tone was bitter.

“No. Something isn’t right. We need to go back.” I turned to head back to the village when I heard it.

** Edward! Help! **

Dani’s terrified voice hit me as if she were right next to me. 

“Shit! She needs me! They’re doing something to her! Alec! Get Felix to the village, now!” I started running.

I pulled at our connection as Alice and Jasper followed behind me. All I felt from her was an overwhelming dizziness that caused me to stumble and almost lose my footing. 

What the fuck did they do to her?!

** Edward! What’s happening? **

Alice’s thoughts reached me as I continued to sprint through the forest back toward the village.

“I don’t know! She needs our help though!” I yelled back.

** please **

Her voice was fainter this time, barely there as she called out to me. I felt for her again as my panic grew. 

‘Dani!’

There was just the dizziness again and then nothing. She was completely gone.

“No!” I cried out in pure fear and pushed myself faster. 

We made it to the edge of the village after a few minutes and I rushed to the center where the ceremony had taken place. The empty table was scattered with knocked over chairs and broken teacups. I listened for the others. I heard crying coming from one of the cabins and rushed there, throwing the door open in an explosion of wood. They screamed in response.

Jade, Zoe, and Sofia were there holding a sobbing Freya. “Where is she?!” I yelled, not even taking a moment to assess their situation.

“They took her!” Freya cried out through a heavy sob.

I knelt in front of her. “Took her where?” I tried to keep my voice calm as my fear threatened to throw me into a rampage. 

“To the altar.” Jade said in a trembling voice. All I got from their thoughts was a tone of horror and anguish. 

I met her terrified, blue eyes. “What altar? Where?”

She glanced at Zoe before looking back at me. I could hear Alice and Jasper outside checking all of the cabins for any sign of Dani. 

“The sacrificial altar.” Jade quietly answered me.

I reeled back in shock. “What?! Where is it? How do I get there?!” I fought the urge to grip her by the shoulders and force her to take me there immediately.

“They disabled the portal, we couldn’t follow to stop them.” Zoe said as she tried to comfort her sobbing daughter.

“Where is it?! Alice! Try to find her, look at ALL of them!” I shouted.

I rushed back outside, Alec was there with Felix now.

“What the hell is happening now?” Felix asked.

“You’re getting your chance at a fight. They took my wife.” I growled as I started breathing in the air around me, looking for any hint as to where they might have taken her.

“Oh god!” Alice met my eyes with her own horrified gaze as the vision played out.

She was able to get something from Sabine. Dani was in the peripheral, laid out on a stone altar. They were going to cut her heart out. Sacrificing her to give themselves her power. 

“Where is she?!” I roared through a furious growl. I would kill every single one of them myself.

“I don’t know! I just see the altar. It’s in the woods somewhere!” Alice’s voice was filled with fear.

“It is about fifteen kilometers in that direction.” Jade was there now, pointing to the southeast.

“Thank you.” I gave her a pleading look. “We need to spread out, call out if you find any sign of her.” I ordered the others and we immediately took off.

I followed each of their thoughts as I ran, focusing on what they were seeing as well as my own senses. If any one of us caught a single hint of her scent or voice, we would converge. None of those witches were making it out of there alive. They were planning on fucking killing her this whole time. I couldn’t believe they managed to hide that from us. From her. 

** I’ve got her! **

“She’s this way!” Alec called out. 

He caught her scent. I shifted directions and called out to the others, just in case. I smelled her as soon as I got near where Alec was. We followed her scent as it grew stronger, too strong. It was the scent of her fresh blood. I was terrified that we were too late and pushed myself to run impossibly faster. Just when the chanting became audible I was hit on the side. I tumbled across the forest, slamming through a tree before I finally got my hands into the ground and stopped myself. 

** Edward! What happened?! ** 

Alice’s frantic thoughts reached me as she tried to find me. “Forget me, get to Dani!” I yelled as I stood up and looked around for whoever took me out. Dark venom and coagulated blood leaked from a long gash along my side as it started to heal.

I saw another blur just as my legs were taken out from under me. Another three slashes appeared across my calf. I could smell him, but I couldn’t quite see him. 

“Andrei.” I growled as I stood back up, my leg nearly healed already. 

I was sure it was him. None of us had even seen him yet. He was effectively hidden by whatever talisman he had. If I could hear his mind, I was sure I could take him out. Crouching into a fighting stance, I focused on any thoughts near me, pushing away my family, Alec, and Felix. His thoughts were muffled, but I could faintly hear him.

** Bloodsucking monster… whore too… deserve- die! **

I saw a faint image of myself with his thoughts. He was to my left. I quickly reached down, grabbing a handful of dirt and threw it in that direction. I briefly saw the scattered debris hit his blurred form before disappearing with him. It didn’t matter, I knew where he was now. 

I followed his thoughts as he tried to attack again and grabbed him. He was strong but without the Full Moon I was much stronger. I caught his shoulder and quickly wrapped an arm around his neck, snapping it with a tight squeeze. I felt around his neck until I found a chain and pulled the talisman away. It was a thick, silver pendant of the Eye of Horace. I pocketed the necklace as he became visible and dropped him to the ground. I looked him over as I snarled down at him, he was just as Dani described him. 

I knew he wasn’t dead yet. Killing a werewolf wasn’t that simple. From what I learned from Caius’ memories, you need to remove their head or their heart to keep them down. I briefly contemplated leaving him there and letting him live, but he was going to help them kill Dani. All so they could take her power for themselves. After everything she had done for them, she was still no more than a tool, a weapon. 

My rage took over. I felt no remorse as I bent down and rammed my hand into his chest, ripping his heart out and tossing it away. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, I stepped onto his neck with one foot and kicked his head away from his body with the other. I watched his head fly across the forest floor and left his bleeding body right there on the ground.

Steeling myself for more bloodshed, I turned back to join the others and get to Dani. Their thoughts were gone. Everyone but Felix, who seemed baffled as he stared at the ritual taking place in front of him. I slowed down, something was wrong. I made it to the circle where they had Dani. Alice, Jasper and Alec were all frozen in place just outside of the sacred circle containing the altar. Only Felix remained mobile, pacing anxiously outside of it. They had surrounded it with their vampire barrier spell. 

“What are you doing?!” I hissed at Felix. “Why haven’t you stopped them?!”

“We cannot get through here. They have spelled it. I don’t know how to get to her.” He looked genuinely frightened. 

** Aro will be furious with us if she dies! **

“So you chose to do nothing?!” I screamed furiously. 

I could see the altar at the center, nearly thirty feet away. Dani was laid out unconscious and surrounded by candles on the stone slab. The front of her dress was torn open. Eight of the witches chanted in a circle around her and Sasha. Sasha raised a dagger over her chest. I quickly grabbed a handful of stones from the ground and flicked one at her, knocking the dagger away from her hand. 

Sasha’s head snapped to me. Her eyes widened in surprise as soon as she saw me. She quickly recited an incantation and threw a white hot ball of light toward me. I easily dodged it and growled as a tree behind me burst into flames.

She inhaled sharply. “I’m sorry, Edward! We have to do this! It’s the only way! She wouldn’t do it herself, so it is up to us.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?!” I screamed at her.

“She has the power to end the Volturi for good! To bring peace and restore order to this world again. She refused!” She looked at me warily before her expression grew determined. “Think of Amara! She would be free! No more hiding in fear.” Sasha dared to bring up my daughter as she threatened to kill my wife.

I growled and rolled another stone between my fingers as Felix spoke. “Who is Amara?”

Sabine returned the dagger to Sasha as she gave me a small smirk. “If we don’t do this now, we will never get another chance. There are already so few of us left. Do you think Danielle will be able to see you as anything but a monster if you kill us?”

She quickly cast another spell and my head exploded in pain. It was far less painful than what Jane was capable of and I pushed past it as pure rage coursed through my veins. “She’ll forgive me.” I gritted out and flicked another stone at Sasha, hitting her like a bullet to the head.

As soon as she fell, the pain stopped and the barrier spell dropped, releasing the others. She must have been the one to create it. The witches that still surrounded Dani began to scream. They rushed to their High Priestess, but it was too late. She was dead and she couldn’t hurt Dani again. Good.

I flashed toward Dani as fast as I could. Another witch, Natalya, picked up the dagger and started toward her. She didn’t make it anywhere near her before I gripped her tight beneath her chin and snapped her neck with a sharp twist. Dani was laid out on the altar with an offering bowl full of blood beside her and a blood sigil drawn over her chest. Her arms were covered in blood where they had cut her open. 

“Oh, baby. What did they do to you?” My voice trembled as I reached for her. 

Thankfully her wounds had healed before she could bleed out, but they clearly had no qualms about killing her. Her heartbeat was strong as I pulled her into my arms, lifting her off of the altar. I took in her scent, there was a bitter undertone to it. 

“They fucking drugged her.” I growled as I looked at the others. 

“Is she alright?” Alec asked with worried eyes as he held Sabine by the back of the neck. 

He had her kneeling down in front of him as she struggled in vain to get away from him. With his other hand, he had sent out his numbing fog, covering the remaining witches where they laid immobile on the ground. 

I looked back down at Dani’s beautiful face. Her eyes were closed, but her breathing was steady. “She’ll be okay.” I tucked her securely against my chest and gently pressed my lips to her forehead.

Looking back up at them, I saw Alice, Jasper, and Alec were each surrounding and staring down at the incapacitated witches, waiting for me to tell them what to do with them. 

“They should not be allowed to live.” Felix finally said exactly what I was thinking as he stood next to me.

“I agree.” My voice was dark, laced with the hatred I felt toward these monsters who tried to take Dani’s incredible light from the world.

“Edward?” Alice’s thoughts were unsure.

“They already tried to kill her once.” I gently turned Dani’s arm, showing Alice the vertical stream of blood from where they cut her from her elbow to her wrist. “I won’t allow them another chance. Will you?”

Sabine began to sob. “Please, it was Sasha! We could not refuse her!” She tried to beg through her lies.

Fury blazed through me as I met her cold brown eyes. “Then why are there four of your coven still back at the village trying to stop her? You all had a choice!” I roared at her.

She flinched back. “We just want to restore order. To fix our ancestors’ mistakes.” Her eyes widened as tears built in them. “It is one life for countless others.”

I felt absolutely no mercy toward a single one of them. “Alec, let them go so we can at least kill them honorably.” I growled.

Felix didn’t hesitate as he rushed forward and latched onto Sabine’s neck, quickly draining her. She fell from Alec’s arms as he dropped her to the ground. 

** My first witch in millennia. A shame it was so disappointingly easy. **

We were going to need to watch for Felix. It appeared he knew about our history with witches after all. Alec pulled back his numbing fog and went straight for one of the other witches. Lena started quickly chanting a spell beside me as she recovered and I kicked her back down, crushing her neck beneath my foot. Dani needed to remain safely in my arms, I could easily destroy them without the use of my hands. 

Jasper, Alec, and Felix began dispatching the witches as they got up. Jasper, breaking their necks and the other two tearing into their throats. Anya, with her weak force control, tried to throw me down unsuccessfully. 

I snarled at her as I pushed through and she whimpered. “Please.” 

I moved toward her, but Jasper intercepted, snapping her neck before I had a chance to crush her into the ground beneath my foot. 

Alice waited until they started fighting back or trying to make it to the portal before she acted. She took out Eva and Maria quickly and painlessly as they attempted a spell together. Her thoughts on the matter were less conflicted now that she saw what they had already done to Dani. 

As soon as they were all dead, I told them to leave their worthless bodies there to rot and we made our way back to the village. I held Dani close, gently brushing her colorful waves away from her face as her hair fell from the braid around her head. Alice came over and carefully pulled her torn dress closed to cover her chest.

“She’ll be okay. She’s just unconscious.” Alice reassured me as she tucked some of her hair back into her braid. “Her healing doesn’t protect her from drugs and alcohol, remember?” She gave me a small smirk.

“I know.” I leaned down to kiss Dani’s forehead again. “I just hope she can forgive me.”

Alice’s brows drew down in confusion. “There is nothing to forgive, Edward. They were going to kill her. She would have done the same for you and you know it.”

“She’s right. Dani is just as protective of you as you are of her. If the tables were turned, she would kill an entire army of vampires for you.” He placed a hand on my shoulder with a smirk.

** She’s done it before. **

I carefully took in Dani’s face. She was completely out. Whatever they gave her was strong. I had no way of knowing when she would wake up again. 

“You’re safe now. I’ve got you, my love.” I pulled her up and leaned down to press my face into the side of her neck, kissing her and breathing her in. 

Alec came over to check on her. “She is not harmed?”

“Not anymore. She heals quickly.” I reassured him.

** That is good. She is strong. **

“The strongest person I know.” I smiled softly down at her as I held her close to my chest, feeling her heartbeat against me.

When we arrived in the village, Jade rushed over to us. 

“Oh thank the goddess! Is she alright?!” She cried out. 

“She’ll be okay.” Alice told her in a soothing voice. 

Freya ran from the house and stopped in front of me, taking in Dani’s state. “What did they do to her?” She asked in a quiet voice.

“They tried to kill her.” I answered with barely suppressed rage.

Freya’s eyes met mine as a tear fell. “And are they-?”

“They can’t hurt her again.” I replied coldly as I carried her back to the cabin we had been staying in. I heard sobbing behind me, but couldn’t find it in me to care. 

Felix inappropriately winked at Jade as he passed her. 

“When did you get here?” She asked as she quickly backed away from him.

“Do not worry yourself with me. We will be gone soon. This was fun.” His tone was far too jovial for the situation. His thoughts, however, betrayed his fear at almost losing someone highly valued by Aro. Apparently there would be consequences if they allowed any harm to come to her. I felt the slightest bit of relief at that revelation. 

When we arrived at the cabin, I laid her down and assessed her heart, blood pressure, and breathing. It all seemed normal. Even so, I wished Carlisle were here. He might at least know how to wake her. I just needed to talk to her again. To know that she was okay and that she could forgive me for letting the monstrous side of me take control. I killed them with absolutely no hesitation or remorse. I would do it all over again, but I needed to know that she understood. That it wouldn’t change anything between us.

The others stayed outside discussing what to do with the witches and humans that were left behind. I stayed by Dani’s side, waiting for her to wake. It was more than an hour before she finally started to stir. I held a hand to her face as her eyebrows drew down.

“Dani? Love? Can you hear me?” I stroked her cheek with my thumb.

She let out a faint groan as she turned her head toward my hand, pressing her cheek into my palm.

“Edward?” Her eyes slowly opened and locked onto mine. Those beautiful blue eclipses were still alive. I almost lost her yet again. She raised a hand to her forehead. “They drugged me.” She said weakly.

“I know. But you’re okay baby. We got to you in time.” I leaned down to kiss the crease between her furrowed brows.

“What happened? Why would they do that?” She asked groggily.

I exhaled a pained sigh. “They tried to kill you. They were casting a spell to try and take your abilities for themselves.”

Her breath caught. “All of them did?”

I quickly shook my head and stroked her soft cheek with my thumb. “No, not all of them. Jade, Sofia, Zoe, and Freya tried to stop them. They helped us find you too.” 

Her face pulled into a look of complete despair. “Why would they do this?” She asked through tears.

I wanted to kill them again for hurting her like this. She trusted them and they broke it in the worst possible way. 

I brushed her hair away from her face and tried to soothe her. “Because you are stronger and filled with more compassion and virtue than they could have ever imagined.” 

“I wouldn’t destroy the Volturi for them.” She said quietly.

“I know. They wanted to take your abilities and try to do it themselves.” I leaned down and pressed my forehead against hers.

“What happened to them?” She asked as her hand reached up and she laced her fingers in the hair at the nape of my neck.

I froze. “They’re dead.” I said quietly.

Her breath caught for only a moment. She nodded and tilted her head up to press her lips to mine. The relief that washed through me was unimaginable. Like a soothing balm over my burning soul. 

I held her face in both hands and deepened the kiss. She pulled me down to her and I laid next to her on the bed. She gently coaxed my mouth open and touched her tongue to mine. I kissed her back with every bit of love and relief that I held in my body. Alice was right. There was nothing to forgive. We wouldn’t hesitate to protect each other at any cost. 

She slowly pulled back. “I just wanna go home.” Her voice was strained with sadness.

“Me too.” I gently pulled her up. “Let’s get you changed and get the hell out of here.” 

I carried her to the bathroom and helped her wash the blood from her body. I kept close to her as she shakily put on a clean outfit. She was still weak from whatever they had dosed her with. Once she was safely in my arms again, I carried her back out to the others. She tucked her head against my chest and held me tightly. We needed each other right now. We likely weren’t going to separate again for a long while.

They had all arrived back to the village while Dani was out. Gathered with their families, some even appearing to mourn. Sofia held her daughter and her husband closely while Milo tried to comfort Zoe and Freya. 

Freya pulled herself from his arms and rushed over to us as soon as we were back outside. “Dani! Are you alright?! I am so sorry! I promise if I knew, I would have-”

“No.” Dani softly interrupted her. “It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known. I’m okay, just tired.” She gave her the smallest smile. 

Freya nodded, wide eyes brimming with tears. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She responded quietly. 

“Are we finally leaving this primitive hovel?” Felix rudely interrupted. 

I fought against the urge to glare at him. “Yes. Are they coming with us?” I asked about the others from the community. 

“There's still a lot of work to do here. Many of us also have lives to get back to.” Jade’s face was drawn down with concern. The tone of her thoughts reflected her fear of us.

I looked at Alec in question. “They may stay. If it is a problem, we will handle it.” He nodded. “Though, there is not much we can do should they disappear from here after we leave.” He said thoughtfully. A not-so-subtle hint to them that they probably ought to leave.

I went over to Igor and Alexei. “It was very nice to meet you. I hope you are able to find some peace now. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything.” I gave him a slight nod.

“You as well.” He smiled softly at Dani. “Thank you, Danielle. And… I am truly sorry for what has been done to you here.” He frowned before looking back up to meet my eyes. “Take care of her.”

“Taking care of her is my sole purpose.” I looked down and she reached a hand up to cup my face.

“That goes both ways.” She said quietly as she smirked up at me. Yeah, I definitely wasn’t letting her go again for a long time. She looked back to the others. “Thank you. All of you. I’m so sorry for your loss. If I had just-”

Igor cut her off. “They did this themselves. They allowed their fear and hatred to consume them. It is not your fault.”

I gave him a grateful look. I should have expected her to blame herself in some way. I felt no remorse about killing the monsters that hurt her, but she, of course, felt for those that had been left behind. The ones who would need to deal with the aftermath. More suffering that I had caused her. She had already forgiven me, without me needing to even ask. I would never fully deserve her. 

“We should leave now. Report back to Aro and Caius.” Felix interrupted gruffly.

I nodded toward him. “Of course.”

‘He knows something about Amara.’

I shared with Dani and her eyes widened in fear as she looked up at me. 

‘Sasha brought her up. Alec didn’t hear her.’

There was a bitter tone to my own thoughts now. 

** Shit. I should have gotten their spells before now. I could have erased it from his memory! **

I looked down at her thoughtfully. Scanning her beautiful face as we started to leave.

‘It will be okay. She is safe no matter what.’ I gently reminded her.

Without Dani to teleport us, we relied on Zoe and Jade to take us through the portal. Dani argued that she could still get us all to the plane, but I wasn’t willing to risk her overexerting herself in her current state. I could still smell the drug in her system, she needed to rest and recover. I held her close as we raced through the woods together.

When we finally made it back to the airstrip Dani was asleep again. She mumbled my name and I smiled as I carried her up the steps to the plane. She stirred when I got her into a seat, but didn’t wake. I held her securely in my arms as we finally made our way back to Volterra. Now we just needed to explain what happened to the Volturi leaders and, hopefully, make it back home with her debt erased.

Chapter Text

I jolted awake in Edward’s arms on the plane. The last thing I remembered was being held tightly against his chest as he was running through the woods, so the abrupt shift in setting was a little alarming.

“You’re okay, Dani! I’ve got you.” He held a hand to my face as I turned in his arms.

His bright green eyes were filled with worry. I closed my eyes and sighed, turning my face into his hand and kissing his palm. He held my head to his chest and smoothed my hair down. I felt him press a firm kiss to the top of my head as I tightly fisted my hands in his shirt. 

They actually tried to kill me.  

I was a little suspicious of Sasha, but I still never expected her or any of the others to try and do something like that. To say that I was shocked and hurt was an extreme understatement. I was completely blindsided and betrayed.

I took a deep inhale of his comforting cinnamon scent before pulling back to look up at him. He gently brushed his fingers over my cheek. 

“Are you alright?” His worried eyes scanned my face.

I pursed my lips, fighting against the tears prickling behind my eyes. “Not really.” My voice broke.

He kissed my forehead. “God, I’m so sorry, baby. None of us saw that coming. If I even suspected, I never would have-”

I stopped him with a hand to his cheek, putting my thumb over his lips. “I didn’t know either. None of that was in any way your fault. I was supposed to keep you with me.” I brushed my thumb over his lips to his cheek. “You saved me. Again.” I gave him a soft smile.

He leaned his forehead against mine and closed his eyes with a sigh. “I really need you to stop almost dying on me.” He said quietly.

“It’s never been intentional.” I huffed a laugh. “I’m over it too.”

His lips pulled up into a small smirk and he tipped his chin forward to kiss me. I was aware that there were others on the small plane with us, but I had no fucks left in me to give. I held his face in both hands and deepened the kiss. My need to be closer to him overwhelmed everything else. His tongue met mine as he pulled me tighter to his chest, his fingers lacing into my hair. I heard Felix clear his throat somewhere nearby. Instead of stopping, I tilted my head, giving him better access to explore my mouth with his. My teeth nipping at his lower lip as he lightly growled.

** God, I need you. Think you can cast a silencing spell over the bathroom? **

I snorted a laugh and pulled away. He had an eyebrow cocked and a crooked grin on his devilishly handsome face. I gently kissed him once more.

“That’s a terrible idea.” I whispered.

“I disagree.” I could hear the smile in his tone.

I shook my head with a sigh as I looked back up to meet his eyes. “How much longer until we land?” I asked.

“Just a few more hours. Do you need anything?” His sage green eyes carefully scanned my face. 

“Food and water would be nice. Pretty sure I suffered some blood loss.” I grimaced as his eyes hardened and his jaw clenched.

He kissed my forehead and glanced up at the others. 

“I’ve got it.” Jasper offered as he stood up and went to get me something. 

He returned a moment later with a bag of chips, a granola bar, and a bottle of water.

“Thanks, Jas.” I unwrapped the bar and started eating.

“How are you doing, Dani?” He asked as he crouched down in front of me.

I shrugged as I swallowed. “I’ve been better.”

He nodded. “Let me know if you need to talk about anything. I’m always here if you need me.” He lightly squeezed my knee.

I nodded back. “I know. Thanks.” I gave him a small smile as he stood back up and went over to sit with Alice.

I met her wide, gold eyes as she watched me closely. “We’re doing a lot of pampering as soon as we get back.”

I smirked and shook my head. “Good luck prying me away from him.” I tightly wrapped my arm around Edward as he chuckled.

“Are you alright, Dani?” Alec asked from where he sat behind us. 

I let out a small sigh and looked back at him. “I’ll be better once this is all over.”

“Don’t worry, Dani. I think they will be quite pleased.” Alec gave me a small smile. “You and your family have eliminated many threats against us.”

I nodded and tightly smiled back at him. We just had to hope that Aro didn’t see me as a bigger threat now and decide to try and do something drastic about it. 

“They will have questions for you though.” Felix gruffly added.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” I raised an eyebrow at him and he winked back. I rolled my eyes and laced my fingers with Edward’s.

“We can address any of their concerns.” Edward sternly replied.

I leaned my head against his chest again as I finished my snack and the others picked their conversations back up.

By the time we landed in Volterra, it was late in the evening. The flight was over ten hours long and we still needed to drive from the private air strip to the palace. Felix at least knew Amara’s name now and that she was someone important to us. Edward managed to convince Felix that it was his idea to ride back with us while Alec and Alice went to the palace together in their car. We couldn’t all fit in one car and, this way, none of us could try to leave. I was going to at least try to compel him. 

After piling into the rental car that we left behind, Felix took a seat in the back with Jasper, while Edward drove and I took the front. We had just hit the highway when I turned in my seat to look at him.

“Hey Felix.” I met his deep crimson eyes. 

One corner of his mouth pulled up into a smirk. “Danielle?”

I hadn’t tried this on a vampire since that first attempt with Emmett years ago but after what I learned from Lena, if my magic was stronger than his, it might work. It had to work. I decided to try something light, non-threatening, to test it. 

“How old are you?” I pushed power into my voice. Willing him to answer me. 

He raised an eyebrow. “I was turned over two thousand three hundred years ago, give or take a few decades.” He shrugged casually. 

My face pulled into an impressed expression and he smirked. I glanced at Jasper and he shook his head slightly, indicating that it didn’t seem to work as I intended. 

“What do you know about witches then?” I asked, more forcefully. 

“More than you apparently.” His eyes narrowed slightly. 

‘Shit. It’s definitely not working.’

** I know. It’ll be okay. We have plans in place, remember. She’s safe. **

Edward reminded me and I nodded slightly. 

“Do you think Aro will try to move against the people we left behind?” I asked Felix with a concerned frown. 

“I think he will want to know more about them. If there are other werewolves, more powerful witches, threats.” He raised an eyebrow. 

I nodded in thought and turned back around. “They’re no longer a threat to any of you. I’ll make sure he knows that.”

We arrived at the palace to find Alec and Alice waiting just outside. They hastily led us inside. Felix went to report our return while Alec waited with us. I felt out of place once again, wearing khaki cargo pants and a black, fitted tank top.

“My sculpting room is in the east end of the palace. I’m sure you are eager to return home, so please don’t feel any obligation to see my work.” He gave me a chagrined smile.

I smiled softly back and reached a hand out to gently touch his arm. “I would love to see your work. I don’t think an extra hour or two will kill us.”

“Is it alright if we join you?” Alice asked.

His smile widened and he nodded. “As soon as we are done here, I can take you all.” His face fell a little. “We should avoid Jane though… she dislikes you, Dani.” 

I snorted a laugh. “Completely understandable. I kind of threw her ability back at her the last time I saw her.”

“How did you do that, by the way?” Alec asked curiously.

I nervously bit my lip. I wasn’t sure if I could even do it again now. “I could feel the magic she used and sent it back to her.”

He gave me an impressed nod. “She was very upset about that. She has never felt what her ability is like before. It was far more excruciating than she imagined.”

I shrugged. “Maybe she’ll use it more responsibly now.”

“Probably not.” Alec deadpanned.

A laugh bubbled out of me and I pressed my lips together to stifle it just as Felix returned with Demetri. “They are ready to see us now.” They handed us each a brooch to allow us entry into the throne room. 

I looked nervously up at Edward as he gently pulled me to his side. “It’s going to be alright, love.” He tried to reassure me as we followed them to the elevator that would take us up to the throne room.

We all crammed into the small space and Alice moved closer to take my other hand in her cold grasp. “We’ve got you, Dani.” 

Alice and Jasper had put on their spelled jewelry, in case Aro tried to read them as well. It would absolutely raise red flags and Edward wouldn’t be able to hear them, but it was better than him finding out about Amara. We just had to hope that he would respect our choice to not allow him to touch any of us. He didn’t seem like the type who cared about respecting the privacy of others, but it was never too late for someone to learn about boundaries.

All six of us stood outside the throne room doors waiting to be granted entrance. Edward held me close to his side, Alice kept my other hand in hers, and Jasper kept an arm firmly around her small waist. We were facing this as a family. The doors opened and Aro’s face lit up when we entered. He stood up from his throne and slowly approached us. 

“Alice! What a surprise!” He exclaimed. “I have very much been looking forward to meeting you for some time now.”

“Hello Aro. It is lovely to finally meet you as well.” Alice offered him a kind smile, but made no move to approach him. 

“This is your mate? Jasper Whitlock.” He drew his name out, enunciating each consonant sound in his last name. “We have been meaning to reach out. There are… questions about your involvement in the Southern wars.” He raised a curious eyebrow at him. 

I looked over to Jasper, ready to defend him if needed. He nodded to Aro. “That was a long time ago. My creator led an army herself. I left her over sixty years ago and haven’t been involved in these activities since.”

“Yes. The wars are still ongoing, though they are being more careful now. We may have more questions in the future.” He shifted his attention to Alec. “Is everything handled then?”

Alec nodded, his expression stoic now. “It is. She did well.”

Aro approached him and reached for his hand. I stiffened and pushed a shield out around the four of us as Aro read Alec’s entire experience of our time in Siberia. After a few moments Aro turned to me with wide eyes and a frown. 

“You broke the werewolf curses.” He said sternly and Caius flew up from his seat. 

Edward pulled me behind himself just as Caius approached. I quickly expanded and reinforced the shield around us, resisting the urge to flinch against the burning tattoo on my arm. Not even a tank destroying missile would be able to get through. 

“Caius!” Aro rushed to him and put a hand to his chest, forcefully stopping him in his tracks. 

Every single one of us stood there in shock. Even Felix’s eyes were wide as he watched it all unfold. 

“Do not act rashly.” Aro warned him more calmly. 

“Aro, do not act like a fool! You must realize the danger she poses to all of us!” Caius practically growled at him. His soft features had contorted into a furious sneer. 

Aro’s head snapped back to me. “There has not been a witch like you for millennia. Do you understand what you are?” 

“I do now.” I nodded, keeping the shield up around us. “Apparently the coven we found summoned me here. That wasn’t their intention, but it’s what they got.” I shrugged one shoulder. 

“And why, pray tell, did they summon you?” He tilted his head, keeping his wide, curious eyes locked on mine. 

“They were hoping I would destroy you.” I answered honestly. 

Caius growled and Edward growled right back, attempting to push me further behind himself. I held my ground, taking his hand in mine.

‘We’re shielded. I can’t let them see me as weak.’

** Not weak, never weak. But you are protected, love. **

His response filled me with more courage and a sense of safety as we faced this together.

“Most of them are dead now though. Your mate and coven helped to kill them.” Aro glanced at Edward. “Why would they do that?”

“They were going to kill me because I refused to do what they wanted.” I kept my voice as steady and confident as I could. 

“It is true. They attempted to sacrifice her for her power so that they could try to eliminate us themselves. I saw it all.” Felix spoke up and my attention suddenly shifted to him. I was a little surprised that he was actually defending me.

He approached Aro and offered his hand. Aro reluctantly looked away from me to take Felix’s hand and acquire his side of the story. I tried desperately to maintain my composure and hoped that he wouldn’t take notice of what Felix heard about Amara. 

“You cured the werewolves, so why would you refuse to ‘cure’ us?” Aro eyed me skeptically with his milky red eyes.

“Because they wanted to be cured. I’m assuming you don’t.” I waved a hand at him. “Not to mention the, potentially, thousands of other vampires that would be cured with you. I have no interest in forcing that on anyone or wiping out the vampire race.”

“Why should we believe you?!” Caius yelled, still furious.

I raised an eyebrow, giving him an unamused look as my arm continued to burn. “Would I be here right now, telling you all of this? Do you seriously think I’m that stupid?” I paused, raising both eyebrows as I held my family tighter. “Besides, curing any one of you would likely do the same to my family. I would never take that choice from them either. I told you before that I have no interest in interfering in your affairs and that hasn’t changed. I just want to live my life without living in fear that you’re all going to send an army to try and kill me one day.”

“From what I have seen, she appears to have no interest in pursuing this aspect of her abilities.” Aro glanced at Caius. “Please tell me, Danielle, what did they tell you about us?” 

“That witches created vampires and werewolves with dark magic… that they are curses.” I carefully examined his expression. His face remained curious as he stared unblinking into my eyes.

Alec darted his attention to Aro. “Is this true, Master?” He asked quietly.

Aro nodded slightly. “It is. What did they tell you of their reasons for wanting to destroy us and our… conflict with them?”

“I’d actually like to hear your side of that first. Given everything that happened, I don’t exactly trust the story I was told.” I stepped forward, moving right next to Edward again as I tried to remain calm.

Aro nodded and looked back at Caius and Marcus. He waved a hand to Caius. “I suppose it is more your story than it is mine, brother.”

“You cannot be serious.” Caius glared at him. 

Aro merely raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to comply. 

Caius sighed and gave me a dirty look before speaking. “Yes, witches created vampires. We lived in relative peace with the witches until another coven created the first werewolves.” He sneered. “This caused factions to form. Pitting us against each other and instigating fights over territory for over a thousand years. 

“Before we came to power, our coven consisted of the three of us and my younger brother, Nikolaos. He was the more… charismatic between the two of us. Easily building trust with other vampires, finding suitable humans to recruit and turn, with their consent.” He seemed to be fighting against an eyeroll. 

“We eventually formed an alliance with a small coven of witches, as many vampire covens did at that time.” For possibly the first time ever, a small smile pulled at his lips. “The witches adored Nikolaos. They used their spells and abilities to help us and we ensured their safety in return. We were quickly gaining a following, establishing order in the chaos of our world. We wanted to establish laws, find a way to keep the peace between the different species. Part of this involved dividing up territory and remaining separate from humans and their business. Not everyone wished to comply.”

Caius’ eyes darted to my family and his eyes narrowed slightly. My jaw clenched, waiting for him to say something about them. Instead, he continued.

“A coven of witches aligned themselves with a group of werewolves that held no interest in relinquishing any part of their large territory over much of what is now Russia. One day they came to us under the pretense of negotiating terms. It was only myself and my brother there at the time. They waited until Aro and Marcus were away negotiating peace between the different covens in Dacia, now Romania. It was a deception, instead they cast their spell.” He glared at me.  

“One of the witches with the unique ability you appear to have, vis magicae they called it, took it upon herself to ‘cure’ Nikolaos. He was made human again along with more than half of our coven. They were only able to hold the spell long enough to cure him, but it didn’t matter, the damage was done. In our weakened state, the werewolves and witches attacked us. I attempted to turn my brother back but he merely died. All of them died. Once cured they could not be turned again.”

His expression grew almost sad. He lost his own brother. I started to understand his aggression toward me a little better. 

“Those of us that were left fought back against our attackers. We killed several of them before they fled. After that we decided that witches could not be trusted.” He turned and glared pointedly at Aro before returning his attention to me. “We turned our surviving witches, then hunted down and destroyed the coven that attacked us first. Any with this ability to ‘cure’ us were found and destroyed. I am not ashamed to admit that we initiated and encouraged many witch hunts throughout the world to end them. They may have created us, but that did not give them the right to unilaterally destroy us.” He narrowed his eyes at me.

I put my hands up in a non-threatening gesture. “I agree. I swear to you, I would never do anything like that. That’s a bit different from the story they shared with me.” I raised an eyebrow. “They said you were after world domination and attacking any coven, vampires and witches alike, that refused to join you.”

“They lied.” He hissed at me.

I nodded and glanced warily at Edward.

** I don’t think he’s lying. **

“I believe you. I have no reason to trust their side of things after what they tried to do to me.” I glanced between him and Aro. “Killing all of the witches seems like serious overkill though.” My face pulled down into a frown. 

“We did what was necessary.” Caius kept his eyes on me as he tilted his head toward Aro. “To protect all of us.”

“How are we to trust you then?” Aro asked. “You have the potential to destroy us, after all.” His milky, red eyes widened as he raised his brows in question.

I sighed. “Even without the curse breaking aspect of my abilities, I had the power to do that before. Just ask Felix.” I gave Felix a smug look and he smirked back at me. “You let me leave then, knowing as much. I have no reason or desire to start a war with you. I think we might just have to trust each other.” My lips pursed and one eyebrow rose up.

“Trust.” Aro said as though he were feeling the word. Letting it roll around inside his mouth and tasting it as he carefully scanned me.

Edward pulled me close now. “Dani accomplished far more than what you asked for. She investigated the situation, neutralized at least twenty-six werewolves, and we eliminated the witches that posed a threat to you. I would argue that her debt to you is paid in full now.”

Aro’s attention shifted to him. “I do find this very fascinating.” He pointed a finger between us. “Did they tell you anything about soulbonds?” He tilted his head curiously.

Edward looked at me and back at Aro. “No, we only know that it is rare.”

Aro smiled, an unexpectedly charming smile that cast a light over his features. It made him look almost angelic and completely threw me. For the first time, I could kind of see how he had become the influential leader that he was. “Indeed it is rare. The understanding is that when vampires were first created, they were bonded to the witches that created them. The witches who became vampires were turned by their own magic and their lives and souls were bound together. The magic behind the curse changes slightly with each new vampire that is created. Since then, there have been rare instances where a vampire that was once a witch would find a mate whose magic somehow matched or aligned with her own and they could achieve a soulbond together. Danielle here cannot be turned into a vampire. So, how is it that you have been able to bond to each other?”

I smiled up at Edward. “Our magic is compatible. Plus, we were bound together at our wedding.” I squeezed his hand and he softened next to me. “I like to think that when I was summoned here, my magic found his magic and brought us together.”

Aro nodded. “That is an interesting theory. Carlisle has been closely studying your bond?”

“Oh yeah. He also finds it fascinating.” I chuckled, returning my attention to Aro.

“I would love to see his results as he learns more, if he doesn’t mind sharing them.” He looked back at Marcus who nodded to him. “Marcus has also been interested in learning more about your connection.” He let out a terrifyingly high-pitched giggle.

“I don’t think he would mind that at all.” I smiled softly at Marcus. It made sense with his ability to see the connections between people that he would want to know more, but I wondered if maybe he hoped he had a soulbond match out there somewhere. I knew he lost his wife Didyme and was never the same again. I couldn’t imagine going on for millennia without Edward.

“Well. Your debt.” Aro turned back to face his co-leaders. “You have achieved far more than what we asked of you. We also now know that your very existence is a threat to all of us.” He turned and sat on his throne, facing us again. “Perhaps we can make a new deal?”

“What? No!” Edward shook his head. “She will not join you.”

Alice’s hold on me tightened and I held Edward tighter to keep him from doing something that might get him killed. “He’s right. I have no interest in that.”

“What if we propose an alliance?” Aro asked and Edward looked down at me with concern.

My brows drew down as I looked between the three leaders in front of us. “What do you mean ‘an alliance’?”

“We maintain a mutually beneficial relationship. We may occasionally reach out to request your assistance with something, you are free to refuse, and you may reach out to us as well. You may find yourself in need of our help one day. Eternity is a very long time, after all.” He grinned.

I looked back and forth between Edward and Alice on each side of me, hoping one of them would be able to offer me some insight into what this could mean for our family.

“It is not much different from the relationship we hold with Carlisle. Friendly, but distant. We have worked together and helped each other several times over the centuries." Aro held his hands out to us.

Caius had softened the slightest bit, the burn in my shoulder reduced to a smoldering heat. I watched him carefully as he sat back down. Marcus was still watching us with as close to an awed expression as I think he was capable of. 

“You’ll let us live our lives in peace? No tracking us or randomly checking in on us or anything?” I asked, eyeing them all skeptically.

He tilted his head curiously, glancing between Edward and I with a thoughtful expression. Edward’s grip on my hand tightened. “You have a child, don’t you?”

I clenched my jaw, schooling my face as Alice subtly moved closer to me and Edward stopped breathing.

Aro tilted his head down, and held one hand out. “I would love to meet her. I imagine she is quite extraordinary.” His mouth pulled up into a small smile, as though he were trying not to frighten us. “Would you consider bringing her here?”

Edward shook his head. “Vampires cannot have children.”

Aro chuckled, more restrained this time. “We have investigated and taken care of the situation with Joham and his hybrids after receiving an anonymous tip about his disgraceful activities.” His lip pulled up with disgust. “We found them to be no more of a threat to our kind than any other vampire. So long as they follow our laws, we have left them to live in peace. Though Joham has been dealt with.” He glanced at Caius, who smirked. I assumed he was the one to spearhead taking care of that. 

** Carlisle tipped them off through his connections before Amara was born. **

‘What do we do?’

I glanced up at Edward.

** I don’t know if we can deny it. We may need to push that she is well protected. That they have no chance of getting to her. **

My face pulled down into a concerned frown and I looked back at Aro. I had no idea what the best approach here was to keep our daughter safe. We could try to convince him that he was mistaken, but that seemed moot now. If we said nothing, it might just make them more curious.

He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, waiting for us to confirm or attempt to deny his suspicions. 

I straightened up and lifted my chin. “She is extraordinary, but for the most part, she is a normal child. There are a lot of people protecting her. Us included, obviously.” I kept my eyes locked on Aro’s, refusing to show any sign of weakness. I would destroy every single one of them before I let them get their hands on my daughter.

Aro’s smile widened and he looked me up and down. “How is it that you survived the birth? From what we have learned, it kills the human mother.”

“I’m not human. Plus, Edward and I are compatible.” I replied shortly. “I had a relatively normal pregnancy and she is a relatively normal baby.”

“Is she still an infant then?” The papery skin of his brow drew down slightly.

“She is.” Edward answered.

** This may be to our benefit. He doesn’t seem to feel as threatened by this idea. **

He glanced at Felix, then back at me. “Her name is Amara?” He asked with a genuinely curious tone.

“It is.” I replied tensely.

“What a wonderfully fitting name. It is Greek, derived from the amaranth flower, a symbol of immortality.” His smile widened. “How did you choose it?”

“It’s a family name.” I relaxed a little.

His own smile softened in return. “Well,” he clapped his hands together, “we have no desire to interfere with your family. Should things change, rules be broken, we may find that we are needed.” He waved a hand nonchalantly. “Otherwise, I see no reason to damage our relationship.” He looked to Caius who tersely nodded, his eyes still full of wary suspicion.

“I don’t see why we can’t maintain a cordial agreement here. So long as you understand that I will protect my family at all costs.” I pushed some light into the shield I held over my family, allowing it to shimmer and become visible.

Aro’s face pulled into an amused smile. “Has that been there this whole time?” He asked.

“It has. Trust me, none of your guards could get through.” I pulled the light back, making the shield invisible again.

“You truly are exceptional Danielle. With more time, you will surely become more than any of us can imagine. Religions could be built in your name.” He raised an eyebrow with an almost sinister smirk.

I reeled back, completely appalled by the idea. “No, thank you. Cult leader was never part of my bucket list.” 

Felix chuckled and Aro’s face pulled into a toothy grin. “I suppose that is for the best.”

“Are we all free to go then?” Alice asked them. “We were in the middle of a vacation when this all started.” She raised an eyebrow at him. 

Aro looked at Alec. “I believe Alec wishes to show you around. A tour of the palace would make for a wonderful start to our alliance. After that, you are free to do as you wish. I implore you to take some time to see the city though. When your daughter is old enough to appreciate the culture here, please do bring her as well.”

Edward suddenly pulled his hand from mine and reached into his pocket, pulling out a silver necklace. “Here. Consider this a token of our mutual trust. This is the spelled talisman that Sasha gave to her husband Andrei to keep him hidden from vampires.” I briefly lowered the shield from his hand as Edward handed it to Felix, who took it to Aro.

Aro closely inspected the talisman with a fascinated expression. “This is indeed impressive. It appears to be medieval. How did you retrieve it from him? I thought he left the coven?” Aro looked back up at Edward.

“They lied, unsurprisingly. He stayed behind to help them kill us and Dani. I killed him myself instead.” Edward’s face hardened and I took his hand again, entwining our fingers together. I knew he was likely struggling with everything that happened and I needed him to know that I fully supported him.

“Wonderful. We will not have to worry ourselves with him after all.” Aro smiled widely as Chelsea appeared and he handed the talisman to her. “It was lovely to see you again, Danielle. I do hope our next meeting will not be business related.” Aro smiled and gestured for Alec to escort us out for a tour. 

“Do keep in touch.” Marcus suddenly spoke in an odd, monotone voice that sounded like it hadn’t been regularly used for centuries. 

I gave them all a small curtsy, causing Edward to press his lips together and shake his head in amusement. It still felt like the best way to part ways with vampire royalty. We followed Alec back out, returning our brooches to Chelsea as we exited the room. 

Alec was practically vibrating as he showed us around the palace. Constantly trying to rein in the wide smile that would spread over his face as he animatedly explained the history, architecture, and structure of that palace.

He told us that the palace held sixty-two private and guest bedrooms, most with their own bathroom, plus another one hundred and fifty-four staff bedrooms. There were multiple ballrooms, an opera house, and a labyrinth style garden in the courtyard. The estate was absolutely enormous.

I could have spent days in their massive library. It had a large, open central area with a high, glass domed ceiling and was surrounded by three stories of wall to wall books. Gorgeous paintings covered every bit of available wall space and sculptures sat in every corner. When Alec showed us the observatory, they had to practically drag me away from it. It held a giant, ancient telescope with a dome that was so old it had to be opened with a hand crank. He casually mentioned that Galileo himself had visited and used it several times. 

Alec saved his studio for last. He took us to a large room with no windows and a wide variety of marble, clay, and metal sculptures everywhere. His work was incredible. There was everything from sculptures of people to fascinating abstract pieces that I could have stared at for hours taking in every detail. My favorite piece was a wolf that was rising up out of a pool of water. The beads of water in its fur looked so realistic. I closely examined the fine details of his work as I moved from piece to piece.

“These are amazing.” I told him as I focused intently on one of a woman holding a small child on each hip. The way her hands pressed into the children’s skin made it appear as though it should be malleable under my own touch.

“Thank you.” Alec replied softly. “I enjoy finding a new challenge to work on. My new pieces have been attempts to create corporeal representations of the fundamental forces of the universe.” He pointed to one of the abstract metal pieces that looked to be a work in progress. It was all harsh lines and sharp angles. 

“That’s really impressive. God, these are so cool.” I reached a hand up to one of a hyper-realistic Minotaur, stopping myself before touching it.

“It is okay for you to touch them.” He gave me an encouraging smile.

I smiled widely back at him and looked up to see the others looking around at the various pieces, except Edward. He was closely watching me with soft eyes. I smiled at him and he came over, taking my hand in his.

“Allow me to escort you from the palace. Do you have a way to get back home?” Alec asked.

I looked over at Alice. Her eyes unfocused for a moment and her face pulled into a grimace. “There won’t be any flights that could take us all together for a few days.” She announced.

I looked at Edward with a frown. “I really just want to go home now.”

He reached up to cup my face. “I know, love. We’ll figure it out.”

“We could offer our plane to take you to another airport with available flights to get you all home sooner?” Alec offered.

“That would be great, actually.” I gave Alice a thoughtful look.

Her eyes unfocused again for a few seconds. “If you can get us to Munich, we should be able to get tickets for a flight that departs in about six hours.”

I looked back to Alec. “That should not be a problem. As soon as you are ready, one of our drivers can take you or you can drive there yourselves. We will take care of the flight plan.” 

“Thank you so much, Alec. For everything.” I gave him a grateful smile. 

Edward pulled me closer and I held a hand to his cheek as he bent down to kiss me chastely.

After a few phone calls to arrange our tickets and taking some time to gather our things, I pulled Alec into an awkward hug and offered to keep in touch. He really was sweet, for an ancient child vampire who has killed countless people. 

Once outside of the palace, we gathered our luggage, piled into a car together, and left. We were finally going home.

Chapter Text

We finally landed in Seattle and I was beyond ready to be home and back to our daughter. I needed to see that she was safe. To just hold her and reassure her that we were okay. We gathered our things as quickly as baggage claim allowed and made our way to the parking garage where we left our car. 

I looked at the black BMW thoughtfully before turning to Alice and Jasper. “Would you two mind taking the car and our things back without us? I can get myself and Edward there in an instant and I really just want to be home with Amara now.” I couldn’t stand to wait another moment.

“Of course, Dani. We’d be happy to.” Jasper smiled and pulled me into a gentle embrace. “Give her a hug for us. Tell her we’ll be there soon.” He winked as he pulled away and took Alice’s hand.

“We will, thank you so much. For everything.” My voice grew heavy.

“You don’t need to thank us, Dani.” Alice reached out to take my hand in her cold grasp. “There is nothing we wouldn’t do for our family. And you would do anything for us as well.” She gave me a pointed look, one side of her mouth pulling up into a small smile.

I nodded as I gave her hand a squeeze before pulling her into a tight hug. “I love you, Alice.” I spoke quietly as I held onto her tiny frame.

“And I love you too.” She gently pushed me away, holding a hand on my shoulder. “Now, go get your daughter.” A warm smile softened her face.

I huffed a teary laugh and looked up at Edward. “Ready to go home?”

He looked exhausted too for once. “Absolutely.” 

He wrapped his arms around me and held me close. Focusing on the backyard of our house, I effortlessly pulled us there. It was pouring rain when we appeared. I let out a startled squeal and laughed as I pulled Edward into the house with me. He chuckled as he shook the rain from his bronze hair and pulled me into a deep kiss. 

He pulled back with a small hum and brushed his nose against mine. “She’s not here. They probably kept her at the main house since we’ve been gone.”

“Easy enough.” I quickly transported us to the porch of the main house, not wanting to be dropped into the rain again.

Edward let out a surprised laugh as we landed just outside the front door. “They’re inside.” He took my hand and led me into the house. 

Rose and Leah were sitting on the living room floor with Amara as she was trying to put a puzzle together. They all looked up at us at the same time.

“Mama!” Her tiny, musical voice filled the room as she cried out for me. 

Everyone froze to look at her as she stood up and started running toward me. I rushed forward and scooped her up from the floor. It was the first time she had ever actually spoken. I held her close, breathing in her warm scent and kissing her cheek. Her tiny arms wrapped tightly around my neck, holding herself to me with much more strength than should have been possible for an eighteen month old.

“Oh, my sweet girl. I missed you so so much.” I murmured into her hair as I pressed my face against her head.

“Where were you?” She spoke quietly next to my ear and my breath hitched.

Edward came up beside me, resting a hand on Amara’s back and kissing her other cheek. “Mommy and I had to go help some people. But we’re back now and we’re not going anywhere again for a very long time.” He smiled at me over her head.

Amara turned and looked up at Edward. A wide smile spread over his face and his green eyes softened. “Of course, my angel.” 

She reached for him and I let him take her from my arms as he started to sing to her. Leah pushed herself up from the floor and came over, pulling me into a hug. 

“God, woman. We were all terrified.” She said quietly. She pulled back to look at me. “Is everything okay now?”

I gave her a flat smile. “We can go over everything later. Right now, I just need my family.” 

I turned to Edward and Amara. He was still singing ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ to her. I reached out and brushed the backs of my fingers over her soft cheek. Edward’s eyes flicked up to meet mine and his lips pulled into a soft smile. We spent the rest of the morning with Amara, holding her, playing with her, and reassuring her that we weren’t leaving again. 

Alice and Jasper had returned while Amara was still awake. She was nearly as excited to see them as she was us. Letting Alice change her into a green tulle Baby Dior dress she picked up for her and showing Jasper memories of her riding on the balance bike he gave her for her birthday. 

When she started to get tired, Edward took her up to our old room, now her room, and got her settled in for a nap. The others gathered downstairs, waiting patiently for us to go over everything with them. 

“So, what happened? What did you find” Carlisle started. “You said they were sending you to Russia to search for werewolves?”

I sighed and ran a hand down my cheek. I was mentally exhausted. “Well, it’s a little complicated. Initially, they wanted me to investigate reports of werewolves in Siberia for them.”

Emmett was grinding his fist into his palm, clearly frustrated. “Did you find them? Why couldn’t they just handle this themselves?”

I took a deep breath and blew it out through puffed cheeks. “Well, they had been trying to investigate themselves, but every time they sent their guards there, they would return with no memory of ever even leaving.”

Carlisle’s face fell into a mask of confusion. “That is very strange. Did you figure out what was going on?”

I looked at Edward and he nodded for me to continue. “We did. It was witches.”

“Witches?” Carlisle drew back in surprise.

“Yes. A coven of witches were there protecting a large group of werewolves.”

“No fucking way!” Emmett exclaimed.

“Language.” Esme whispered almost as a reflex. A small smirk pulling at her lips when she glanced at him and he gave her a guilty shrug.

The four of us took turns sharing the details of everything that happened in Siberia. Giving our different perspectives and experiences. Edward vaguely went over what happened during their ritual when they tried to kill me, mentioning that he killed Sasha, her husband, and a couple of the other witches. The others worked together to kill the rest that tried to hurt me. 

I fought against the heartache trying to pull me under. Anya, Maria, even Lena, women I thought I was growing close to. They wanted to kill me. They would have if Edward hadn’t gotten there in time. 

I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him close. “I would have done the exact same for you.” I said quietly, gently kissing the edge of his jaw.

His face drew down into a concerned frown. “I know.” He rubbed a hand up and down my arm and pressed his lips to my temple.

“I am so sorry, Dani. I can’t imagine what it must be like for you, having them betray you like that.” Esme reached out to gently take my hand.

I shrugged. “Yeah. It’s not a great feeling. There are still four of them left that had nothing to do with it though. I’m hopeful that I’ll at least see them again someday.”

Rose and Emmett wore matching frowns as they watched me closely. Emmett pulling Rose close as she reached a hand out to gently squeeze my knee in a comforting gesture. Carlisle broke the awkward silence that followed.

“So, you truly are an anomaly then? Not only in this unique ability that you have, but the fact that you have several other abilities as well?” He asked.

“It would seem so. As Sasha explained it, before she tried to straight up murder me, it’s likely because I’m not from here. My universe had different rules, different magic. Coming here, where there is much more magic, enhanced everything for me.” I shrugged a shoulder and Edward pulled away slightly, drawing my attention to him.

“She lied, Dani. They didn’t use the same spell we did. Theirs was darker and more… unpredictable. Manifesta potentia.” His eyes hardened and I inhaled sharply. 

“That’s one of the human heart ones.” I said quietly. He nodded in response. “How would that have even worked this way?” I asked. 

“The results are not closely tied to intent. It’s possible it took the easiest route or a path that whatever dark force they summoned determined would best suit its own interests.” His brows drew down as his eyes scanned my face. “There’s really no way of knowing.” He leaned forward to kiss my forehead.

I turned back to the others in thought. It was likely their spell gave me powers that I was never even meant to have. Why it chose me, I had no idea. Just another thing to compartmentalize for analysis at another time. At that moment I really couldn’t deal with any more. 

“And you can cure us?” Rosalie asked, interrupting my spiraling thoughts.

Emmett turned to face her now, studying her closely with clear love and concern.

“Under very specific conditions and with a spell to reveal the curse that created vampires, yes. It would also cure every vampire down that sire line and they would never be able to be turned back again.” I explained. “They wanted me to cure the Volturi. I refused.” My face drew down as I looked down at my hands.

“You did the right thing, Dani.” Edward reached a hand up to turn my face back to him. “There is no way that plan would have ended in anything but bloodshed.”

I shook my head. “It’s not even about that. The number of vampires that would have been unwillingly cured is… inconceivable. I can’t do something like that.” I looked back up at them. “That’s why Caius was so terrified of me. When they cured his brother it returned more than half of their coven to their human states. They all died.” I released a ragged sigh. “I really don’t know if they’ll just let this go.”

“I don’t see them going back on their offer to maintain an alliance.” Alice spoke up. “They have gone thousands of years without the benefit of witches to work with. They’re eager to have that again.”

Edward nodded. “Caius is still wary, not as much as before but he’s more… cautious than hostile now. Aro is very committed to keeping you close. To the point that he was willing to forego his strong desire to force us to bring Amara to him in order to maintain a good relationship with us. He is fascinated by her existence but, at least for now, wants to remain in your good graces more.” He gave me a small crooked smile.

I let out a defeated sigh. “I hate that he knows about her. It’s always going to be there, the threat of him changing his mind and trying to take her.”

“No one is touching our mini witch.” Emmett gave me a pointed look. A lopsided smile dimpling one cheek. “She’s got a vampire family, a witch coven, and a pack of wolves protecting her.”

I breathed out a laugh. “True. She’s definitely the most well guarded child in the world.” I felt a small flood of relief as Edward pulled me close and pressed his lips to my temple again. We both really needed that physical contact right now. To just be together. 

“I am still struggling to wrap my head around the idea that witches created both vampires and werewolves.” Carlisle pressed his fingers together in front of his lips as he tried to process. “As well as the fact that the Volturi have managed to successfully bury that information for millennia.”

“Their goal was to wipe witches from the face of the planet to eliminate any risk of them finding a way to break the curse they created.” Edward explained. “What they did to Caius’ brother was completely unexpected and it terrified them. From what I could gather from their thoughts, only a relatively small number of vampires, primarily the oldest of our kind, actually knew of the curse. It appears there was a general consensus that vampires were to turn or destroy any powerful witches they came across and keep the information to themselves.” He looked around at them all. “Knowledge is power. So long as the truth remained contained and reduced to myths, the threat was minimized.”

Carlisle nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose I can see their logic. If nobody knows of this curse, then their enemies would not even think to search for a cure.” He ran a hand down his face. “It’s just so hard to believe.”

We continued going over everything and answering Carlisle’s many questions about the werewolves and witches that we met. We were still talking when Amara woke back up. Edward rushed up the stairs to get her and brought her back down. I held her close, brushing my fingers through her growing blonde curls while she had a snack of cut grapes and a sippy cup of bear blood that Emmett caught for her. As soon as she was finished eating, she wiggled out of my arms to go play again. 

We shifted the discussion to lighter topics, since she was with us again.

“How were things here while we were gone?” I asked them.

“She missed you both terribly, but we did our best.” Rose gave me a soft smile.

“We’ve been trying to introduce her to new types of blood. Deer, elk, even bobcats. They’re easier to come by and less ecologically damaging than taking bears and mountain lions. She’s picky though.” Carlisle chuckled.

Amara looked up at me from the shape sorting toy she had already mastered. She showed me a replay of her throwing a sippy cup to the floor in the kitchen, the blood splattering all over.

** Yucky. **

A more child-like version of my own voice came from her mind. I bit back a smile and tried to give her a stern look.

“It wasn’t very nice to make a mess of it.” I tucked a curl behind her ear and softened as she climbed into my lap and looked up at me with her wide, blue eyes. 

“It was easily cleaned up.” Rose protested in her defense. “She just has high standards.” She grinned and tickled under Amara’s chin, making her giggle. 

We stayed near her, taking turns holding her, playing with her, and reading to her. It seemed like her bedtime came far too quickly. I made plans to spend time with Leah the next day and we took Amara back to our house. 

We sat together in her rocking chair where I held her close to my chest. Her head resting on my shoulder as I slowly rubbed her back and sang ‘Wonderwall’ to her. Breathing in her faint cinnamon and vanilla scent as she fell asleep in my arms. 

When I finally stood up to lay her down, Edward was standing in the doorway watching me with a content smile. He came over and brushed her hair away from her face before taking my hand, entwining our fingers together.

“I’m going to spell both of the houses.” I whispered quietly. “No one with a desire to harm her or take her from us will be able to get within miles of us. I’ll cast protection spells too.” I reluctantly tore my eyes away from Amara and looked up at him. 

“Of course.” He spoke softly. “Let me know what I can do to help.”

I looked back down at our daughter. “Just protect her. Above everything else.”

“It’s already done.” He squeezed my hand and pressed his lips to my temple. 

“Above me.” I glanced back up into his worried eyes as they darted back and forth between mine. 

“Should that nearly impossible situation ever arise, yes.” He reached up to cup my face. “The same goes for you. Above me as well.”

I closed my eyes with a small nod and he leaned his forehead against mine. “I really need a shower now.” I huffed an exhausted laugh. 

“Then let’s take a shower.” He led us to our bedroom through to the attached bathroom and turned on the shower. 

He then slowly took my clothes off, peeling my pants and shirt away while ghosting his fingers over my skin. I did the same with him, unbuttoning his shirt and pushing it over his shoulders, letting my fingers travel across his toned arms and sculpted chest. His hands drifted over my shoulders, down my sides, and settled on my waist. 

We stepped into the shower together and he went straight to washing and rinsing my hair. I picked up a cloth and began washing his body as he held a hand to my chest, feeling my heart beat beneath his palm. 

Just as my breath started to hitch, he took my hand, stopping the swirling pattern I was absently making over the same spot on his chest. His other hand came up to gently grasp my chin and tilt my head up to face him. I closed my eyes as he kissed the tears that were falling to my cheeks. I couldn’t stop it now. A sob burst from my chest and he pulled me close, engulfing me in his arms. 

“Shh. I know, baby. I’ve got you.” He whispered into my hair as I continued to cry. 

I wrapped my arms tightly around him and let him hold me together while everything that happened fully hit me. Sobs wracked my body as the pain of being betrayed and losing my sense of safety once again overwhelmed me. Edward held me securely, rubbing soothing circles over my back and whispering comforting words in my ear. 

When I was sure it was all out of me, I sniffled and looked back up to meet his worried, green eyes. I needed him now more than ever. I reached up and pressed my lips to his. He lightly ran his fingers through the hair at the base of my neck and pulled me closer. Then he tipped his head down, removing his lips from mine, and pressed our foreheads together. I glanced up to see his eyes squeezed tightly shut. 

“I need you so badly right now.” His voice was a low, desperate whisper.

My arms slid up around his neck, pulling his mouth back to mine. His hand slid down my waist and between my thighs until he found my clit and stopped there. His fingers swirled slow circles around my sensitive nub as I gasped against his lips. His tongue darted out, touching mine as he tenderly explored my mouth with his. I reached a hand around him and turned the water off as my breaths picked up at his motions. 

Pulling back from my lips, he gripped the backs of my thighs and lifted me, my legs wrapping around his waist as he carried me out of the shower. His mouth met mine again and we barely made it out of the bathroom before he laid me down on the floor. 

He slowly kissed his way down my neck and across my chest, stopping to worship each of my breasts. I kissed every part of him that I could reach before pulling his hand up and kissing from his palm down to his wrist and forearm. 

With slow, reverent motions, he came back up and cupped my face, kissing my forehead, across my brow, down my cheek, and back to my mouth. Reaching down to line himself up with my entrance, he slowly pushed into my aching core. We both groaned at the connection as he stretched me wide and filled me completely. 

My legs came up around his waist again and he moved one hand to my hip, caressing up and down my thigh as he began to thrust. He took me slowly, holding my face and kissing me tenderly.

When I came, he pressed his forehead to mine, staring deeply into my eyes. “I love you, Danielle. Anything you want, it’s yours.” He whispered.

“Just you. I just want you. Forever.” I moaned and his lips met mine again. 

Chasing his own release, he began thrusting into me faster. He cried out against my lips as his hips stuttered and his cock pulsed inside me. “Mmm!” He groaned. “I’m yours forever, Dani.” He spoke breathlessly as he came.

We eventually made it up to the bed where we made love again. I took my time kissing every part of his body this time before straddling him. His strong arms held me close to his chest. 

He spoke with a sense of urgency as I tried to pull away to look at him. “I need to feel this. Your heart beating against me.” 

I held him tighter, tucking my face into his neck. My hips continued rolling against him, taking him in deeper and feeling every inch of him move inside me. My head tipped back as I came with a desperate cry. His hold on me tightened and he kissed up the column of my throat. My inner walls clenched around him, bringing him to his own climax as his teeth scraped against the sensitive skin of my neck. 

When we were fully sated, I slumped over him, completely exhausted, and he laid us back down together. He held me as I fell asleep, tucking my face into his chest and gently running his fingers over my back. I knew that I was safe as long as I was with him.

After having breakfast with Amara and spending the morning with just the three of us, I set out to cast a barrier and protection spell over our property. As soon as it was done, we took her to the main house and I did the same there. Nobody with intentions to hurt or take Amara would be able to get anywhere near either house. Between that and all the protection around her, I felt slightly more at ease. 

We sat together in the house watching contently as Alice and Rose arranged a whole photo shoot for the new designer outfits Alice had picked up for Amara in France. She was loving all of the pampering as they cooed and fawned over her. I chuckled as she twirled around in a blue, sailor style dress until she became so dizzy, she toppled over. Rose rushed to catch her, smiling widely as Amara wrapped her tiny arms around her neck for a hug.

After lunch, Leah stopped by to spend some time together. Edward took Amara to the backyard to play outside with him and Emmett and give us some space.

“How are you doing, Dani?” She asked as she plopped down on the sofa next to me. 

“A little better now that the houses are protected. I know they said they wouldn’t do anything to damage our relationship, but I’m still terrified that they know about her now.” I looked down at my hands, panic slowly building in my chest again.

“She’s safe here, Dani… You’re safe too.” She said softly. 

I looked up at her as tears welled in my eyes. “I’m just so tired of being targeted. I feel like it’s never going to just be over.”

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me into a tight hug. “I know, Dani. You’ve had a really shitty go of it.” She pulled back to look at me again. “But you’ve also got a lot of people who love you so much, myself included.” 

I wiped a tear away with a shaky hand. “I know. And I love you all so much. I know that I’m so lucky to have this incredible family.”

Her face pulled down into a sympathetic frown. “That doesn’t mean that you’re not allowed to feel sad or angry about what’s happened to you.” 

I huffed a shaky laugh as another tear fell. 

“That little girl is so lucky to have you. And you deserve to be just as safe and protected as she is.” Leah quickly wiped my tears away.

I nodded and wiped a hand across my face. “Thank you, Leah.”

She wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into her side on the sofa. 

“How are you doing? How’s Seth?” I asked, shifting the subject.

“I’m doing alright. I have one more semester of online classes before I need to figure out what I actually want to do with my future.” She chuckled. “Seth is doing great. Spending more time off the reservation this summer. He has a girlfriend.” She smirked at me.

My face lit up and I huffed a wet, teary laugh. “Seriously?! Good for him! Anyone I know?”

She laughed and shook her head. “No, definitely not. She’s here visiting for the summer from Nevada. They’re hoping to do a long distance thing when she has to leave. He is obsessed.” 

“Well, I’m happy for him. He deserves some normal, teenage life experiences. All of them do. You too, though you’re a bit late on the ‘teenage’ part of that.” I bumped her shoulder with mine.

“Speaking of which! It’s almost your twenty-first birthday girl! We have to do something!” She waggled her eyebrows as she beamed at me. 

I grimaced and let out a groan. “I barely remember my first twenty-first birthday, and it’s not because of the amnesia.” I snorted a laugh. “I’d rather not repeat that. Honestly, I’d really just like to spend it with my family.”

She nodded in understanding. “We can do that. We’ll invite Maeve too, she came by a couple times to check in on Amara while you were gone. We told her you decided to extend your trip and visit Italy too.” She grimaced.

“I mean, it’s not completely false. We did go to Italy.” I pursed my lips. 

I hated lying to Maeve, but there were times when it was necessary to keep her safe. Though, given what we now knew, it was possible that we might be able to loop her in more after all, if she wanted.

We started making plans for my birthday in a couple weeks. Just a small party at the house, getting together with the wonderful family that I somehow managed to find here. Our topic of conversation had shifted to college and careers by the time Edward brought Amara back inside.

“She’s ready for a nap.” He smiled softly and leaned down with her so I could kiss her cheek as she yawned. He turned and quickly kissed my lips before taking her upstairs to get her settled in.

Alice and Jasper came to sit with us. “Would you want to start up our Tuesday games again?” Jasper asked.

We used to get together on Tuesdays and play chess or gin rummy while we talked and he helped me sort through my feelings and thoughts about everything that happened to me. He was tremendously helpful after we finally defeated Victoria and I had to try and cope with everything that I had done and been through. 

“I think I would, yeah. Thank you, Jasper.” My face pulled into a sad smile. A part of me worried about putting all of this on someone so close to me, but it wasn’t like I could just go to a regular old human therapist.

He reached out and took my hand. “Of course, Dani. We’re family.” He smirked and gave me a quick wink.

Edward came back downstairs a moment later. “How is she?” I asked him.

“Perfect.” He smiled softly. “Out like a light.” He came over to crouch down in front of me and reached a hand up to cup my face, brushing his thumb against my cheek. I fell forward into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck as he wound his around my middle.

He spoke quietly into my ear. “You’re okay, baby. You’re safe and Amara is safe. No one is going to try to hurt you again. None of us will allow that to happen.” He rubbed his hand up and down my back as my breath hitched.

I nodded my head against his shoulder. “I know.”

I pulled back to meet his eyes. He brushed my tears away and leaned in to gently kiss me. “It might be time to look into moving. We can finally start college together. Possibly go somewhere close enough that you can still visit to see Maeve. Leah, you can come too, if you want.” Edward looked at her.

“It’s definitely something we need to start planning.” I leaned into his touch and sighed.

“We’ll do whatever you want, love.” He said quietly.

The others voiced their agreement. “We stick together. Always.” Alice reminded me with a soft smile.

That evening, Carlisle and Esme got to work scouting locations that we could relocate to. Looking for openings in various hospitals and having Alice check for potential locations too. I loved our home here, but I knew we couldn’t stay forever. Now that the Volturi knew about Amara, it felt more urgent that we take her and try to start over someplace new. As long as we were all together, I knew I would be happy.

Chapter Text

August 16, 2008

I was officially twenty-one in this universe, though I would look eighteen forever, which was definitely not my favorite part of immortality. My family had planned an outdoor dinner party, inviting Maeve and the pack over. Jake, Embry, Seth, Leah, and (surprisingly) Quil came to celebrate with us. Esme was ecstatic to make full use of the kitchen. She spent the entire night before cooking, not needing to sleep gave her plenty of time to concoct elaborate dishes and a cake for the party.

There was everything from paella and beef Wellington to homemade pizzas and empanadas. She put together a large charcuterie board, filled puff pastries, bruschetta, even homemade jalapeno poppers. True, the wolves were giant garbage disposals who could effortlessly put away a week’s worth of food, but it still looked and felt excessive. It also looked and smelled delicious. I was looking forward to it all.

Alice, Rose, and I spent the afternoon in Alice’s room where we helped each other get dressed up for the party. Doing our hair and makeup, or rather them doing my hair and makeup for me. Alice even picked out a cream colored dress for me to wear. It was light cotton with narrow straps, a ruched top, and a skirt that flared out gently at my hips. 

“You know, Jasper’s excited about moving again.” Alice smirked as she tried to find a suitable shade of lipstick for me.

“Really? I feel like you should all be tired of having to move all the time.” My face scrunched up at the thought of having to do this every on a regular basis for eternity. 

Rose tilted her head with a soft smile as she glanced at me through the mirror where she was working on her own makeup. “It’s really not that bad. We get to see new parts of the world and have new experiences together. We spend about a decade somewhere before moving on again.”

I nodded thoughtfully. We would need to move again before then. If Amara were in school somewhere she would have to be uprooted. I was going to do everything in my power to keep her life with us as stable as possible, despite the unusual family she was born into.

“Will you all start back at high school? I really don’t want to do that again for… a while.” I huffed a laugh.

Alice chuckled and shook her head. “No. We’re all planning on starting college again together. Jasper has talked about studying History and even going for a Master’s this time.”

I couldn’t stop a laugh from bubbling up. “Isn’t that kind of cheating? He’s like a billion years old, so he was actually there for all of it.”

Her face pulled up into an amused smile before she laughed herself. “He’s only a hundred and sixty-four.”

Only.

I snorted a laugh. “Sorry, my mistake.”

She dramatically rolled her beautiful, golden eyes. “Besides, he’s more interested in ancient history, the Classical Period. He’s hoping he can tie together some of the recorded history with what we’ve learned about witches and our true history.” Her small, bow-shaped mouth pulled into a small smile. 

“That actually sounds pretty cool. I can see that for him. We should definitely factor ‘good History program’ into our search for a new home then.” I nodded, hoping they would mentally add that to the growing list of preferences for our impending move.

She smiled widely and pulled out a rose pink lipstick. With one cool hand beneath my chin, she gently tipped my face up. “Okay, now sit still.”

She expertly finished my makeup with a satisfied nod. “Done. You look perfect.” She turned me to face the mirror. She had worked my hair up into a low, wavy ponytail with lots of volume and soft smoky makeup, that mainly enhanced my eye color.

“This looks so good!” I turned my head from side to side, taking it all in. “Thank you, Alice.”

She quickly clapped her hands with an excited smile. “Thank you! I love getting to work with your hair, not having much of my own to do anything with.” She huffed a laugh and carefully rearranged the short, dark hair artistically laid over her forehead.

“So, what about you then? What would you both want to study after we move?” I turned back to face them as we talked. 

Alice furrowed her brow as she reached out to fuss with some part of my hair. “I’m thinking maybe Women’s Studies. It’s not something any of us have done yet and I’m finding the concept of women taking over the world more and more appealing.” She smirked and met my eyes again. 

My smile widened. “Yeah, our coven could definitely make some significant improvements to the world.” I gave her a wink and she laughed in response. 

Her tinkling, wind chime laugh followed her as she disappeared into her closet to start our process of choosing a dress for her. 

“Rose?” I met her eyes as she turned around.

“I thought maybe I’d study Music and annoy Edward a little. It’s always been his ‘thing’.” Her beautiful laugh nearly stopped my heart. 

I shook my head with my own laugh. “I don’t know if he’d mind as much as you think. What instruments do you play?”

“I mostly practice vocal performance, but I also know piano, flute, and saxophone.” She winked as my eyes widened. 

“I knew you were a phenomenal singer. How did I not know about the instruments though?!” My mouth fell open.

She just shrugged. “I haven’t played any in a while. Emmett loves to hear me sing, so that’s what I’ve focused more of my time on.”

I relaxed again and gave her a soft smile. “That man is obsessed with you. I would bet good money that he’d happily listen to you play ‘Hot Cross Buns’ on the recorder.”

She threw her head back with a laugh and I tried and failed to hold my own laughter in. It burst out of me in a loud snort, making us both laugh even harder. 

Alice emerged from her closet with an armful of dresses to try on and a wide smile as we calmed back down. We eventually settled on a flapper style, fringed, sleeveless black dress for her and finished getting ourselves ready just as guests started to arrive. 

When we came downstairs, Jake and Emmett were outside taking turns showing Amara how to throw a football. Luckily she was pretty sturdy for a toddler or I would have had a serious issue with them tossing the relatively large ball at her. I watched with an amused smile as she tried to catch it. She fell into a fit of giggles when it bounced off of her chest and she chased after it. It was very likely that she would have the hang of it before the end of the party. She picked up new skills, both physical and mental, very quickly.

I stood there chuckling when she finally caught it and they all burst into victorious cheers. Emmett tossed her up, giving me a panicked heart attack, before catching her and kissing her cheek as he released her back onto her feet. 

Emmett then pointed at me from across the yard and flashed in front of me, picking me up into a bear hug. “Happy birthday, little witch!”

I let out a startled scream that quickly shifted to laughter. “Thanks, Em. I’m gonna need you to put me back down though.” I giggled. 

He quickly dropped me back to my feet, rushing back to catch the football Amara just tossed across the yard. While I recovered, Edward came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Happy Birthday, love. You look beautiful.” He murmured in my ear and kissed my cheek.

I turned in his arms and reached up to lace my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. “Thank you. We need to have a party for you next year. June 20th, we’ll make a whole day of it. One-hundred and eight feels like a year worth acknowledging. And you are definitely worth celebrating.”

I smirked and he pressed his lips to mine. He pulled back with a chuckle, resting his forehead against mine. “We’ll see. Don’t give Alice any ideas though.”

“Too late!” Alice chimed as she walked out into the yard with us carrying a small gift.

I started laughing as she handed me the gift. After composing myself, I took it from her hand. “You don’t need to get me anything. None of you. I have literally everything I could possibly want and need.”

“You don’t have this.” Alice pointed to the gift with a raised eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes and pulled the tissue paper out of the bag. My head snapped up to her and my eyes widened. “No way!” I pulled the box out. It was the newest iPhone 3G, the first one with built-in GPS. “This just came out!”

“I know. I was first on the pre-order list.” She smirked. Jasper quickly came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her cheek. 

“Happy birthday, Dani.” He gave me a lopsided smirk and a wink.

“Thank you. This is about to be filled with baby photos you guys.” I laughed and looked up to see Amara chuck the football at Jake, just barely missing him. He quickly moved to catch it with ease and jumped right to praising her with an enthusiastic high five. This was definitely my best birthday so far.

Thankfully the phone was the only gift I was given by them. I really didn’t need anything but food and family. We ate and drank and I got to watch my family from the pack get to know my daughter better.

At some point Embry threw her up onto his massive shoulders so she towered over everyone as he carried her around. She waved and giggled at her smiling family below her, grabbing a fistful of Embry’s hair for stability. Eventually Edward went over and gently took her from his shoulders, raising an eyebrow at him as Embry smiled down at her and tickled her neck.

‘What was that about?’

I sent my confused thoughts to him. He glanced at me with a smirk and shook his head.

** Nothing to worry about. Just a very brief step-dad fantasy. Thought it was best to shut that down. **

I sighed and walked over to check in with Embry. We were in a good place and I really just wanted him to find happiness.

“How’s it going, Embry?” I asked as I came up beside him and bumped my shoulder into his arm.

He wrapped his warm arm around me, pulling me into a side hug. “Really good. That’s one cute kid you’ve got there.” He huffed a laugh. “Happy birthday.”

“She really is. Thanks.” I smiled up at him. “How are things on the res? You’re heading into your Senior year soon, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, Sam is pushing us all to go back and at least finish high school.” He dropped his arm and gave me a thoughtful look. “He feels kind of bad about forcing us all to drop everything in order to stay with you and keep you safe… from him.”

I pursed my lips to the side and nervously fidgeted with my hair. “Yeah… not his finest moment for sure.”

“You’ve been way nicer to him than he deserves, but it’s good having you back with us, even if it’s not all the time anymore.” He bent down to catch my eye and I gave him a small smile. 

“Well, you’re all still family and no family is perfect.” I shrugged.

He laughed in response. “Understatement of the fucking century!”

“Time for cake!” Esme called out from the doorway, interrupting our awkward exchange. 

Embry waggled his eyebrows. “My favorite part of every birthday party.”

I snorted a laugh as Esme carried the candlelit cake out and they all started singing. Edward rushed over with Amara to join me, kissing my cheek with a content smile. As soon as the song was done, I blew out the candles and took Amara from his arms when she reached for me.

Maeve dragged Charlie over as Esme was handing slices of cake out. 

“Happy birthday, Dani.” He offered a small smile and a nod. 

“Thanks, Charlie. It’s good to see you again. How have you been?” I repositioned Amara onto my hip as I greeted them. 

His face pulled into a content smirk and he looked down to meet Maeve’s love-struck gaze. She nodded and looked back at me. “We’re engaged.” Maeve smiled widely, showing me the beautiful, kite cut, blue sapphire engagement ring on her hand. 

“Oh my god!” I exclaimed, pulling her into a tight, one-armed hug. “Congratulations!” I glanced at Charlie with a teary smile. “Both of you.”

“Thank you, Dani. I’ll need you to be there standing next to me, of course.” Maeve chuckled in my ear before pulling away to take Charlie’s hand again. 

“Obviously! I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” I huffed a wobbly laugh and wiped a tear away.

Charlie nodded at me with a wide smile. “Guess I’ll be your Uncle Charlie then?” 

My face abruptly pulled down and I lightly shook my head. “No. Still just Charlie.”

Maeve laughed and reached up on her toes to kiss his cheek. I was so incredibly happy for them both. 

“Well, I’m gonna go get some more of that beef pie thing.” Charlie grumbled and I bit back a laugh.

“I’ll go with you.” Maeve smiled. “I need to get Esme’s empanada recipe before we leave.” She blew me a quick kiss before Charlie led her back to the food.

“Good birthday?” Leah asked, coming over and brushing a curl away from Amara’s eyes. 

Amara reached for her and I let her fall from my arms to Leah’s. 

“Perfect birthday.” I smiled and leaned in to kiss Amara’s cheek and give Leah a hug.

Amara met Leah’s eyes and she chuckled. “She wants cake.”

I pressed my lips together, biting back a smirk. “You already had cake, baby girl.” I responded with a raised eyebrow. 

Amara responded with the smallest pout. Her little lower lip jutting out and her blue eyes widening just slightly. She knew exactly what she was doing. 

“It is a party.” Leah piled on. 

I rolled my eyes. “A tiny slice.” I smirked as Amara smiled widely, meeting my eyes now. 

** Thank you, mama! **

“You’re welcome my girl.” 

“I can get it for her. I’ll clean her up when she inevitably gets frosting all over herself too.” Leah laughed. 

I thanked her as she carried Amara over to where Esme was still handing out pieces of cake to the four massive wolf shifters crowding her for seconds. 

As it started to get dark, Esme offered to keep Amara at their house so we could have the next morning together, just the two of us. I looked at Edward with an uncertain frown. We hadn’t been away from her once in the almost two weeks since we got back and I wasn’t sure how I felt about separating even just for the night.

“I think she could use a sleepover with her grandparents. Esme and Rose will spoil her in the morning and we can come over for her right after breakfast.” He smirked as he pulled me close.

I recognized the look in his sparkling green eyes. My eyes narrowed slightly as I bit my lower lip and nodded at him. 

“Yeah, okay. Let me just say goodnight to her.” I took her from Esme so I could give her a cuddle. She took my face in her hands, meeting my eyes.

** Love you mama. **

Her tiny voice filled my mind. I gave her a wide smile and rubbed my nose against hers. “I love you too, my sweet girl.” 

I kissed her cheek and reluctantly handed her to Esme so she could get her ready for bed. Once the party started to die down and our guests left for the evening, I took Edward’s hand and teleported us back to our house. I still hadn’t teleported with Amara. I was almost positive that it wouldn’t harm her, but I didn’t want to risk the fractional percent chance that it would. She would just have to deal with being driven around until she could one day cast the spell for herself.

When we got to the house, Edward went straight to kissing down my neck, his hands kneading my ass. I bit at and kissed his neck, jaw, and ears, tightly gripping his hair in my hands. He picked me up and carried me over to the dining room table. With one quick sweep of his arm, he threw everything off and laid me down. It brought back vivid memories of our honeymoon.

“God, we need to go back to that island.” I breathlessly spoke into his ear.

“Agreed.” He growled.

He reached up beneath the skirt of my dress and went to tear my underwear away, only to freeze when he realized I wasn’t wearing any. He pulled back and looked down at me with darkened eyes. “This whole time?” Pure lust in his voice.

I smirked and playfully nipped at his lips. “This whole time.”

“Seductress.” He grinned and crashed his lips to mine. 

With almost no effort, I tore his pants open. They fell to the floor as he climbed on top of me. His hand started immediately working my clit and I grabbed his cock. It was thick and heavy and practically throbbing in my hand. 

“God, Dani. You’re so fucking wet for me.” He groaned almost painfully against my lips.

“And you’re so fucking hard for me.” I stroked him firmly, squeezing slightly tighter when I reached the head of his dick.

He breathed out a deep growl and moved his mouth to my neck. “It’s all for you, Dani. And it’s your birthday…” He smirked against my skin. “What do you want me to do with it?” He kept his voice low and seductive.

A small moan escaped my lips as his fingers continued swirling firmly around my clit. I was desperate for a replay of our honeymoon. “I want you to break this table beneath me, then bend me over the kitchen counter and fuck me until I can’t take anymore.” I gently pushed him off and pulled my dress over my head while he took off his shirt. 

He reached down to spread me open and thrusted his cock inside me with a loud grunt. His mouth met mine again as one hand held my face and the other tightly gripped my hip, his fingers pressing firmly into my skin. Hips snapping forward as he pounded into me at a punishing pace. Loud moans of pleasure fell from my lips as I fought for air. 

When the table inevitably came crashing to the floor beneath us, we both laughed until I rolled us over. With my hands pressed against his chest, I pinned him to the broken tabletop. Running my hands over his sculpted chest as I immediately started riding him hard. I didn't stop, even when the tension building inside my lower body reached an impossible pinnacle and I came around him. 

“Fuck! Edward, god that’s so good, baby. I need you to come too.” I groaned.

I kept rolling my hips against him until he abruptly stood us up and carried me to the kitchen. An excited giggle burst out of me, stopping the moment he pulled out of me. Dropping my feet back to the floor, he turned me around and bent me over the counter, wrapping my long ponytail around his hand once. He gently pulled, causing my back to arch against him and firmly held a hand to my waist as he entered me again. 

“I’ll come when you come this time.” He groaned out as he started thrusting into my still clenching pussy. 

I gripped my hands into the marble counter, cracking it beneath my fingers as I begged for him to go faster. He complied, picking up his pace as he moved his hand from my waist to my clit. 

“Shit, Dani. Give me another one, baby. Please.” He moaned as his fingers worked my sensitive nub and his dick repeatedly hit more than one particularly sensitive spot inside me. 

I could feel incredible pressure building inside me again, filling my body and causing my legs to tremble beneath me. “Close, so close!” I cried.

He pulled me closer by the hand wrapped around my hair and bent over me, his mouth latching onto my mark as he sucked at it hard. I cried out his name a second later when I came and he growled loudly behind me. I could feel his cock pulsing in time with my inner walls as we came together. 

My body was on fire. His electric magic coursing through me to my very soul. Flames burning away at me until all that was left was the raw connection that bonded us together.  

His growls and satisfied groans grew deeper as he came back down, but he kept thrusting. He pulled his mouth away from my neck before speaking. “Can you take more, love? Or have you had enough?” His voice was low and dark. Warm, wet lips brushing against my tingling skin. 

“More. Please, more.” I begged. 

I needed as much of him as I could get. As much of this as was physically possible. 

I heard him chuckle behind me. Both of his hands moved to my ass, gripping me tight as he picked up his pace again. I laid my head against the counter as I focused on every sensation. His cock perfectly stretching and filling me, his hands on my ass and my clit, his mouth on my smoldering skin. 

He continued pumping into me through my consecutive orgasms. We went on like that until my legs gave out and we had to stop. 

He held me on the kitchen floor, both of us laughing breathlessly in each other’s arms. 

“So, do you think you’re still ready to try for another baby?” Edward asked as my heart finally settled. 

I sighed and rolled over, laying onto his chest. “I don’t know. I want to focus on keeping Amara safe right now. We need some time to think and talk about it more.” I kissed his chest and looked up at him. 

He brushed my hair away from my face, then gently kissed my lips and gave me a crooked grin. “That sounds perfectly reasonable. We have all the time in the world.”

Though I was doubtful that we could truly have infinite children forever - I was sure I at least had a limited supply of eggs to work with - we really did have time. I giggled and pulled him closer, nuzzling my face into his neck. I would be making the most of every minute. 

Chapter Text

February 2009

“It’s okay, baby. This is just part of life.” Edward tried to soothe me as I struggled to force back the tears building in my eyes. 

I sniffled. “I know that. I just don’t understand how it happened so fast.”

He sighed and reached a hand up to cup my face. “It happened just as fast as it does for everyone else.”

“But she was barely a baby! Now she’s a toddler!” 

A tear slipped out and Edward wiped it away with his thumb. I looked up into his green eyes to see they were full of amusement and he had his lips pressed together, clearly fighting to hold in a laugh. 

I narrowed my eyes at him. “It’s not funny.”

He schooled his face again. “You’re right. It’s not. It’s wonderful.” He reached his other hand up to securely hold my face. “These have been the best two years of my life. Our daughter is amazing and we have gotten to watch her learn and grow together.” He smiled softly and leaned his face closer to mine. “There is nothing more that I could ever want.” He tilted his chin forward and kissed me gently. 

I let out a long sigh as I kissed him back and pulled away again. “I know. I just feel like it’s gonna go by so fast that we’ll miss it all.”

“I happen to have a perfect memory. I can recount any day to you whenever you want. Want to know what she did on September 15th, 2007? It’s right up here.” He tapped his temple with a crooked grin. “She wanted you the moment she woke up. You put her in that little yellow dress with the ruffled sleeves. She threw her teether from her playpen and surprised us both when she reached for it and it pulled back into her hand. Leah came over before her first nap and read-”

I put a hand to his lips and laughed. “Okay, I get it. Thank you.” I smiled softly and moved my hand so I could kiss him again. 

We were helping Amara get dressed in the outfit she carefully picked out for her second birthday party. How the hell this was happening already, I had no idea. She smiled widely at us as she twirled around in a rainbow tulle skirt and a black and yellow striped sweater. Her blonde curls fell just below her shoulders and were held away from her face with a bunny-eared headband. Alice wasn’t going to be thrilled, but Amara was and that was all that mattered. 

She giggled as she stopped twirling and rushed to Edward on wobbly legs. He quickly lifted her up, gently tossing her once before settling her on his arm. 

“You look absolutely perfect, my birthday angel.” He crooned and kissed her cheek.

Amara had started speaking more, but still primarily communicated telepathically. It was definitely a trait inherited from her father, since it didn’t stop when we bound her powers. When she did speak, it was wonderful. She had the tiniest, most beautiful voice and spoke abnormally clearly for only being two years old. She looked at me, still giggling, and showed me an image of Leah playing with her.

“Yes, Auntie Leah is coming to your party.” I smiled and leaned in to rub my nose against hers. 

“Are we ready then? Everyone is waiting for us.” Edward asked Amara.

“Shoes!” She lifted her bare foot up and wiggled her toes.

I snorted a laugh and grabbed the pink and purple polka dot rain boots that she chose for today. I slipped some socks and the boots on her feet as she kicked them and giggled in Edward’s arms. 

“There. Perfect.” I kissed her perfectly chubby cheek. 

We loaded her up in the car and made the short drive around to the main house. As soon as we parked, Alice rushed over and helped Amara out of her carseat. Her brow furrowed and she thoughtfully tilted her head as she took in Amara’s outfit.

“Very fashion forward, Amara.” Alice smiled and kissed her cheek before dancing to the house with her.

Edward laced his fingers with mine and pulled my hand to his lips as we walked to the house together. It was a typical cold, wet February day in Forks, so we had to arrange an indoor party for her. The house was decorated top to bottom with animal decor and large, stuffed animals of practically every kind. A giraffe, a rhino, a koala, birds, two tigers, an armadillo, you name it, they found a stuffed animal version of it.

Amara wanted a zoo party and this was the next best thing. Especially considering the fact that if any one of her family members, besides me, took her to an actual zoo it would result in chaos once the animals sensed their predatory nature and freaked out. She was running from animal to animal, petting their heads and announcing what each of them were. 

“Elephant!” She rushed to a giant stuffed elephant toy that was almost as big as me. 

Amara threw herself onto its plush stomach and her muffled giggles had us all laughing with her. She loved elephants. The mural Jasper painted in her room before she was born ended up being perfect for her. 

She continued visiting and playing with the animals while her guests arrived. We reminded her to not project her thoughts to Uncle Charlie. He wasn’t “in the know” yet and it wasn’t really our place to have that conversation with him. It was going to need to happen sooner or later though.

“Will you tell him before the wedding?” I asked Maeve as we watched Charlie chatting with Carlisle over a plate of toddler party snacks. 

Maeve chuckled. “I feel like he knows something. I just don’t know how much, or how to even broach the subject at this point.”

“Well, secrets are hard, but he deserves to know everything about the incredible woman he’s marrying.” I lightly squeezed her hand. 

She gave me a soft smile. “He will. I just need to find the right way to do it.”

“I’m always here if you need backup.” I winked just as there was a quick knock on the door and Leah came in.

“Leah!” I moved around the chaos to go greet her with a hug. 

“Hey Dani. Where’s the birthday girl?” She handed me a gift bag and Amara came running over to her.

“Auntie Leah!” She jumped into the air just in time for Leah to catch her and toss her up.

“Happy birthday, kiddo!” Leah tickled her and let her loose again as she wiggled out of her arms.

The party continued with presents and a large cake covered in plastic animal toys. I sat in the living room watching Leah teach Amara how to use the handmade wooden flute that she gave her for her birthday. Edward came over to sit next to me, putting an arm around me and pulling me close to his side.

“How are you?” He asked as he pressed a kiss to my temple.

I hummed happily and leaned into his side. “Perfect. She’s having so much fun.” I smiled warmly at our daughter and looked back up at him. “How about you?”

He reached up and brushed his thumb across my cheek. “Incandescently happy.”

My smile widened and I leaned in to kiss him firmly. Emmett came over to sit on my other side.

“She is having a blast.” He chuckled and nodded his head toward Amara where she was dragging Rosalie around and showing her every single animal one-by-one.

I snorted a laugh. “Which one of them?” 

“Ha! Both, clearly.” He replied with a wide, dimpled smile. “This was a great idea.”

“You can thank Esme and Alice. I had no idea how to make it work when said she wanted to go to the Zoo for her birthday.” I leaned back into Edward’s side as I watched our daughter enjoy her party.

“I’m sure she would have loved anything you put together for her.” Edward murmured. 

“Seriously, you two are doing a great job with her.” Emmett lightly bumped my shoulder. “She’s pretty awesome.” He chuckled.

Our attention was drawn back to Amara when she started to giggle. Rose had picked up a stuffed snake and was tickling Amara’s cheek with the tongue that was sticking out of its face. 

“No kisses!” She giggled as she brought her little hands up to cover her face.

Rose laughed and dropped the stuffed snake back into its plastic terrarium before pulling Amara into a gentle hug and whispering something into her ear. Emmett smiled contently on one side of me, while Edward pressed his lips to my temple on the other. It was an absolutely perfect birthday for her.

The party died down as Amara started to get tired and a little grumpy. It was time for her nap. Rose happily offered to take her upstairs and ‘put her down’ for a nap. She always ended up just holding Amara as she slept, but I couldn’t find any fault in that. Her family adored her just as much as she did them. 

I started cleaning up from the party and gathering all the trash into a bag. Between the snack garbage and wrapping paper, it was pretty messy. I barely started to pick anything up when Esme came over and gently took the bag from my hand.

“We can handle the cleanup dear. You two should get out of here for a bit and take a break. You’ve been working too hard as it is.” She held a cool hand to my cheek and gave me a pointed look.

I rolled my eyes with a small smile and let go of the bag. I’d learned over the years that pushing back was pointless. “Thank you, Esme.” I leaned in to kiss her cheek right before she flashed around the room, trash disappearing along her blurred path.

I had been relentlessly working on my magic since we left Volterra. I was determined to ensure that they had no chance against us, should they decide to come for our family. I was almost impossibly stronger, created nearly two full books of my own spells, both offensive and defensive, and was further developing my ability to cast spells purely by intent and feel. 

In addition to magical training, I was studying in preparation for college. We would be moving at the end of the summer to Pittsburgh, PA. With seventy-seven percent cloud cover during the year, it was a perfect spot for us to relocate to. Carlisle secured a position at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital and we were in the process of closing on a house large enough for all of us that Esme was planning on restoring as soon as it was ours. 

Edward came up beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist. “We’ll be at our house, Esme. Just let us know when she wakes up.” He called out.

He pulled me close with a kiss to my forehead. I raised an eyebrow at him and teleported us back to our house. We smoothly landed in our living room and his hold on me tightened.

“It looks like we’ve got a free afternoon. Whatever should we do with it?” Edward asked with a crooked grin as looked down at me, eyes darting between my eyes and my lips.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, running my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. “We could get a head start on our taxes?” I pressed my lips together.

His eyes narrowed slightly. “We have an accountant for that.” He deadpanned.

I giggled and reached up on my tiptoes to kiss him. He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and tilted my head back to deepen the kiss. Our tongues met and he urgently explored my mouth with his. 

One large hand moved from my waist to my ass and he gripped me tight. My fingers curled into the collar of his shirt and I tore it open, the buttons clattering to the floor between us. After nearly three years of marriage, we still couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. I didn’t see that changing any time soon. 

He chuckled darkly against my lips and quickly lifted me up. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist and he carried me to the sofa. He sat down so that I was straddling him and his hands moved to rub firmly up and down my thighs as I started to grind myself against his hardening cock. 

A low growl rumbled up from his chest and he pulled his lips slightly away from mine. “I want you to come first.” His voice was low and rough with desire.

“Then make me come first.” I replied breathlessly and pressed our lips together again. 

He flipped us over on the sofa, laying me on my back, and kissed his way down my neck. His hand traveled down my side until he stopped at the top of my jeans. Long fingers slipped beneath my waistband and slid along toward the front until he got to the button and quickly popped it open with a deft flick of his wrist. 

With hot, wet kisses, his mouth moved lower to my chest and my stomach as he slowly pulled my pants down over my hips and legs, tossing them behind himself as soon as he freed my feet from them. Warm, velvet lips traced back up my legs, my breaths coming quicker as he moved higher, stopping at my wet center. He hummed low as he inhaled through his nose. 

“Every part of you smells so good, but this is by far my favorite scent of yours.” He nipped at my clit through my underwear and a small whimper escaped with my sharp exhale. 

His hands grabbed my hips and moved up my sides to my waist. Keeping his eyes locked on mine, he carefully bit into the top of my underwear, tearing it with his sharp teeth, and ripping them away. My hands moved down to tangle my fingers into his hair as he went to work. 

He ran his tongue over my pussy up to my clit where he started pulsing and massaging his tongue against me. I pulled his head closer, adding more pressure until it was just right and my moans grew louder. He looked down again, focusing all of his attention on pleasing me.

“God, yes! Right there!” I cried out as his tongue moved faster. 

His hands slid back down my waist and around to the back of my thighs. Grabbing my thighs, he pushed my legs further apart. Relentlessly, he worshiped me with his mouth. Flicking his tongue over my clit until the tension inside me reached its peak and I came on his face. 

Electric pleasure pulsed through my body while he held my legs apart. They tensed and I tried to squeeze them closed around his head, but he held strong. My fingers tightened in his hair as I cried out his name, carefully reining in my magic with practiced control. When I started to come down, he gently kissed my clit, wrapped his hands around my thighs, and sharply pulled me down to him. 

“Now we can both come.” He said in a quiet, husky voice before crushing his mouth to mine. 

My fingers loosened their grip in his hair and moved to his jaw. I brushed my thumbs along his jawline as we aggressively explored each other’s mouths. He reached down between us and quickly unbuttoned and lowered his own jeans. Without bothering to remove them completely, he buried his hard cock inside me with a low groan. His mouth against mine swallowed down my moans as he started thrusting into me. 

One of his hands held tightly to my hip while the other moved above my head to grip the arm of the sofa. My legs wrapped around his waist as he started plunging harder into my core. He broke away from my mouth with his own, loud groan of pleasure. 

“Fuck! You feel amazing, Dani.” He breathlessly murmured into my ear before he started sucking and grazing his teeth over the side of my neck and down to his mark on me. “Fucking perfect. So wet and hot and tight.” He said in time with his thrusts. 

I cried out again as his words drove my desire for him even higher. “It’s yours, baby. All of me, I’m yours.” I moaned as he started thrusting harder. “You’re so fucking good at this!” Each stroke of his perfect cock brought me that much closer to another orgasm. 

“I need you to come again. What do you need, baby?” He asked through another groan. 

“Mm… faster.” I said breathlessly. “Fuck me faster.”

He drove into me even faster, gripping my hip even tighter. The sofa jolted beneath us and I heard the arm crack off above me. He brought his arm back down to rest beside my head. His fingers moved into my hair, gripping it firmly above my ear before his mouth met mine again. 

I could feel pleasure inside my core building higher and coiling tighter. Reaching a precipice that I would inevitably fall from. I couldn’t stop the high-pitched moans that burst from my throat as he continued kissing me breathless. My hands moved from his face to his shoulders and I held on for dear life as I came. My core clenched tightly around his cock and my mouth fell open with a desperate cry. 

“Ah, god!” He muttered before growling as he quickly followed after me. 

“I want to feel you, baby.” I groaned and pulled at our bond only to find he was already there. 

We both cried out as our pleasure doubled. I felt the intensity of his orgasm as my walls squeezed him tighter and pulled him in deeper. His cock pulsed inside me, his motions lost their rhythm and his hips spasmed against me. 

“Danielle! Baby, I want to fuck you forever.” His voice rumbled in my ear as he gripped me tighter. 

“Yes, Edward! Mine. You’re mine.” I groaned out as toe-curling, overwhelming pleasure washed over me in waves. 

“Yours.” He whispered as he pulled back and gazed into my eyes. 

When my trembling legs started to grow weak and my breathing became strained, I closed my end of our connection. I was left panting for air and whimpering as my orgasm made its final passes through my body. 

I held him to me tighter as I finally started to come down. My lips traveled down his jaw to his neck, nipping at my mark on him, and he growled again. He leaned back and pressed his forehead against mine as he slipped out of me. His nose brushed mine and he huffed out a breathless laugh. 

“Sorry I broke the couch.” He said through a chuckle. 

“It’s easily fixed.” I smirked. With one hand casually lifted from his shoulder, I quickly pulled at my magic to reattach the arm he tore off. 

His lips pulled into a crooked grin and he quickly kissed me again. “Bath or shower? We should have enough time for either.”

I hummed as I kissed his soft lips again and murmured, “A bath would be lovely.”

He lifted me up off the sofa and carried me up to our room so we could get ourselves cleaned up before it was time to pick up our daughter. 

That same evening, I spent some time on the writing portion in my SAT prep program after Amara was settled in for bed. Edward and I were enrolled in the Literature program at Carnegie Mellon for the Fall. They acquired all of the documentation needed for my acceptance, but I still needed to be sure that I was actually ready for college. 

I spent the past six months catching up on all of the pre-requisite studies I would need and taking practice SATs to make sure I could actually achieve the 2150 score that they forged for me. It didn’t feel right otherwise. 

Leah would be joining us in Pittsburgh as well. She was fine being away from Amara for short periods of a week or so, but would start to feel the loss of her presence due to the imprint after too long. She was enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh to study Molecular Biology and we would be helping her get set up with an apartment nearby. Most of her credits transferred, so she had a decent head start. 

Though Leah wasn’t entirely sure what her long-term goals were yet, she knew she wanted to try and understand the science behind their shifting and the genetic component to it. She figured biology was as good a place to start as any. I was just glad that we were all staying together.

After finishing my latest practice test, I checked my email before turning in for the night. I had an unexpected message from Zoe. She and her family were hoping to relocate to the US. Given Milo’s true age and the fact that Freya has no real documentation of her existence, she was hoping we might be able to help. I called Edward over from his seat at the piano to read it and asked if this was something we could help with. 

“Yeah. It’ll take some time, but we can get them set up somewhere. Just find out where they want to relocate to and we can get the ball rolling.” He kissed the side of my head as I fired off our response. 

After a couple weeks of back and forth communications between myself, Zoe, and Freya, we mutually decided to move them to Forks. This way we could help them better adjust to an entirely new way of life before we moved ourselves. Carlisle and Jasper were taking care of acquiring all of the documentation they would need and setting them up with transportation from Russia to Seattle. 

It took a couple more weeks to get everything ready for their arrival and I was incredibly anxious to see them again. I likely wouldn’t even be alive if it weren’t for them and their refusal to join their coven in trying to take my powers. Helping them start over was the least I could do. 

Edward and I waited for them outside the airport in Seattle. We had a rented van to help get them and their things to Forks. When they finally exited, Freya rushed to me and pulled me into a hug. 

“Dani! I am so glad to see you!” She said in heavily accented English. 

I learned through our calls and emails that Milo spoke English fluently and had taught Freya since she was very young. Zoe spoke very little English, but Esme promised to help her learn. 

“Me too, Freya! How was the flight?” I asked as I pulled back with a wide smile. 

“Long.” She huffed a laugh. “But not very bad.”

“Hello Milo, Zoe.” I quickly hugged Zoe and gently squeezed Milo’s shoulder. “Are you ready to head to your new home?”

We helped them remotely search for a place to rent in Forks until they were settled enough to buy a home. The plan was to drive them there, help them get moved in, then leave them with the van for another week while they got everything else settled. They refused any financial help outside of the plane tickets and van rental, which we insisted on helping with. 

Carlisle helped Milo get set up with a job in the billing department at the hospital and Freya was enrolled to start her Junior year at Forks High School in the Fall. She would be a year behind, age-wise, but it was still impressive considering she had no formal education to date. She had been taking online classes to catch up and would be continuing them until the next school year. As soon as Zoe was comfortable enough with her English, we would help get her set up with a job too, if she wanted our assistance.

We made it back to Forks in record time and helped unload their things into the two bedroom apartment they would be living in for now. I reminded Freya to reach out as soon as she was ready for me to show her around and introduce her to some of the people she could trust. I didn’t want to throw too much at her at once, this would be a drastic change for her. She was excited to start attending a real school, but anxious about how she might fit in. I was hoping to get her set up with some friends before she was thrust into public high school. 

Leah came over for her weekly hangout with me and Amara. We found a good balance with her imprint and our friendship. She would come over about once a week to spend time with her and make sure that she was safe, while she and I took the time to catch up. We still trained together and hung out as much as we could to watch a movie or just chat at our waterfall, but it was far less frequent than it used to be.  

We were at the table sipping coffee while Amara sat across the room diligently working on building something abstract with her blocks.

“The pack is planning a get together at La Push this weekend. Jake said he texted you about it, but you never got back to him. You wanna come?” Leah asked.

I ran a hand through my hair. “I do. I just… There's still so much I have to do and not enough time to do it all.” I waved a hand at Amara. 

Leah tilted her head and gave me an exasperated look. “You’re allowed to have some fun and do things that are just for you. Just because you’re a mom, doesn’t mean you’re not a person.”

My brow furrowed. “I do things for me. Going to college is for me.” I argued.

Her expression didn’t change. “Going to college is a long-term, life plan, not something silly and fun that contributes nothing to anyone but yourself.”

I sighed and watched Amara. Her structure was becoming more clear now. It looked like she was building a maze for her cars. I smiled softly at her intent focus as she tried to add a second level to it. 

“I’ll be there.” I glanced at Leah and she nodded once. Giving me a wide smile before taking another sip of coffee. 

“She’s gonna be an architect.” She chuckled. 

I looked back at Amara as she turned toward us and smiled up at Leah. “She’s gonna be whatever she wants.” I turned my attention back to Leah. “Can I bring someone? If she’s up for it, I’d like to introduce Freya to the pack. Ask them to look out for her after we’re gone.”

She gave me a thoughtful frown. “Yeah, they won’t mind. We’re cool with witches.” She winked. 

I snorted out a laugh. “I’ll reach out and see if she’s interested then.”

When I got in touch with Freya and her parents about the La Push gathering, they were all excited about the prospect of her making friends that she could be honest with. In fact, her parents were interested in coming as well to meet with the tribal elders. I talked to Jake who talked to Billy. They were ultimately open to speaking with them, especially Milo given his former werewolf status. It seemed there was a lot of curiosity from both sides.

After preparing edible offerings for the pack of wolves we were about to hang out with, I drove Freya and her family to the reservation. I dropped Zoe and Milo off at Billy’s place on the way to the beach. As soon as we got out of the car, I was practically tackled by Embry.

“Dani! You came!” He lifted me up off the ground as I burst into laughter and tried to get out of his grip without resorting to magic. “You haven’t been here in forever!” 

“Need to breathe!” I gasped through a laugh.

He loosened his grip and put me back on my feet. “Sorry, thought you were tougher than that.” He winked.

I rolled my eyes. “I am, I just didn’t want to hurt you.” I raised a challenging eyebrow.

He held his hands up in front of his chest. “Point taken. I’m smart enough to know not to underestimate you.” He grinned and glanced at Freya with a curious furrow of his brow.

“Sorry, I’m super rude apparently. This is Freya, she’s just moved here from Russia. Freya, this is my friend, Embry. He’s about the same age as you.” I introduced them.

She reached a hand out to him, looking him up and down warily. “Really? You look much older than eighteen.”

He took her hand with a chuckle. “Yeah, they feed us well here on the rez. I’m nineteen.”

“She’s cool, Embry.” I tipped my head toward Freya. “She’s a witch like me. Dad was a werewolf too.” I waggled my eyebrows as she blushed.

“No way! That’s crazy! So are you, like, half witch half werewolf then?” He lit up with excitement.

She laughed lightly. “No, it is not genetic. He is human now, Dani cured him.” She smiled warmly at me, her bright smile contrasting beautifully against her ochre skin.

“Yeah, she’s a big fan of magically helping people. Saved my ass a couple times too.” He nudged my shoulder.

I rolled my eyes and hooked my arm with Freya’s as we started walking. “Come on. Let’s go meet the others.”

The pack enthusiastically greeted me and introduced themselves to Freya as we moved around the gathering. They had blankets and chairs set up with a low bonfire going for warmth. As usual, there was a ton of food. I dropped my contributions of sandwiches and cookies at the table and scurried away before I lost a finger. When I turned around, Embry was sitting on a log, stuffing a muffin into his mouth and carrying on an animated discussion with Freya. I was glad she was melding with them, especially Embry. He was a great friend to have.

I found Sam chatting with Paul on the outskirts of the group and made my way over to say hi. I at least tried to keep things friendly and peaceful with them. They seemed to be discussing some sort of coordinated plan.

“Hey guys.” I waved awkwardly. “How’s it going? Everything been quiet here lately?”

“Hey Dani.” Sam gave me a tight smile. “Yeah, all good. We were just trying to figure out what our job is supposed to be when our wives go into labor.” He chuckled and ran a hand over the back of his neck.

“That’s right! Emily is due any day now, isn’t she?! Congratulations! Both of you, apparently.” I gestured toward Paul. “I didn’t know Rachel was expecting too!” I smiled widely between them.

Their expressions both softened a bit as the tension seemed to ease between us. 

“Yeah, she’s still got three months left to go.” Paul grinned.

“Well, if you guys are interested, Edward has a ton of books from my pregnancy with Amara. He was also incredible while I was in labor. I’m sure he’d be happy to give you some tips.” I added gently.

They gave each other meaningful looks and Sam looked back at me with a small nod. “That would be great actually. Thank you.”

I tried to hide the shock on my face and made a mental note to gather the books that Edward wouldn’t need anymore, since they were now permanently etched into his brain. We chatted a little more about how everyone was doing and I asked Sam to tell Emily I said hello.

I found Leah and Seth back at the bonfire heating hotdogs on sticks and talking with Jake. 

“Yo. How’s Freya doing?” I looked around for her. She was no longer on the log where I last saw her.

Seth snorted. “Great. Embry has kind of latched on though.” He pointed a finger and I followed his direction until I spotted Freya and Embry walking along the beach together.

A smile spread over my face and I chuckled. “Guess I found him a badass witch after all.”

“What?” Jake asked.

I shook my head and pulled him into a hug. “Nothing. How are you, Jake?”

He lifted me slightly before dropping me back down and kissing the top of my head. “Good. Got into Bellevue for the Fall semester.” He pulled back with a wide, toothy smile.

“No way, man!” I grabbed his shoulders and excitedly shook him. “That’s awesome! What will you study?”

“Just an Associate’s in Business.” He shrugged through a laugh. “I wanna come back here and start my own shop.”

“You’re gonna do great. I’m so excited for you.” I squeezed his arm again before letting go and taking a seat on one of the big, blanket covered logs with Leah and Seth.

Seth filled me in on how his Senior year was going so far. Thankfully, he was still on track to graduate, but was planning to take a gap year despite his parent’s protests. I guess I got it, he needed a break. He was already making plans to come visit us in Pittsburgh after we all moved. He was also planning a long trip to visit his girlfriend in Nevada. They had actually managed to make the distance work and she would be starting her Senior year in the Fall.

It appeared everyone was finally settling into their lives. I watched contentedly as the guys joked and wrestled with each other. Though I planned to come back regularly to check in, I was going to miss them once we moved. We would probably move back to Forks once enough time had passed, but they would likely have all moved on by then. 

I was hopeful that they would be able to settle back into a normal life and never have a reason to phase again. The thought was bittersweet. I would outlive them, but they deserved some peace. After everything we’ve been through together, they were family and I cared for them deeply.

Leah lightly nudged my side. “Where’d you go, Dani?”

I smirked over at her. “Nowhere, just enjoying the moment. They look happy.” I tipped my chin toward the overgrown teens laughing and throwing each other into the wet sand.

She wrapped an arm around me. “They are. Are you?”

I rested my head on my best friend’s shoulder. “More than ever.”

Chapter Text

June 13, 2009

Rain pattered over the weather-proof tent Maeve, Alice, and I sat safely inside of. We were chatting around a small vanity while I worked on Maeve’s hair and Alice gathered the supplies she would need for her makeup.

“You’re sure the rain will stop?” Maeve nervously asked.

“Positive. Within the hour and it won’t rain again until tomorrow.” Alice smiled softly as she held a bright red lipstick up to Maeve’s face and put it back with a shake of her head.

Maeve visibly relaxed, but continued fidgeting with the blue engagement ring on her finger. I was meticulously curling her long, blonde hair, spraying each strand to help hold the spirals together. Once that was done, I would be pinning it up away from her face and adding the white flower crown that she had made for the wedding. 

“Everything is going to be perfect. I promise. We both peeked ahead a bit, you have nothing to worry about.” I smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to give her a reassuring hug.

She huffed a laugh. “I’m not worried about that. It’s just… What if this is a mistake? I mean he took everything really well when I told him about my witchcraft and you and your abilities, but what if one day it’s too much?”

“Oh Maeve.” I put down the curling iron and looked into her eyes. “He loves you. And if I know anything about that man, it’s that he does not give up on the people that he loves.”

She looked down with a smile and shook her head. “I still can’t believe he was already suspicious about you.” She chuckled. “Had been for a while, actually. Apparently he found everything with the car accident very fishy.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, he’s a smart, observant man and I’m a terrible liar. I’m surprised he just let me go home with Edward that day.” I rolled my eyes and went back to work on her hair.

“I’m surprised you let Edward drive you home that day!” Alice exclaimed. 

I grimaced. “Yeah. He was very persistent.” My expression softened and I smiled. “It all worked out though.”

“That it did. Alright, Maeve. Your dress is a dusty rose, so I’m thinking dark brown shades for your eyes, especially with how blue they are.” She held up a palette of brown, beige, and gold eyeshadows.

Maeve nodded. “That sounds good to me. You’re the expert.” 

“You need to like it too though.” Alice gave her a pointed look and went to work priming Maeve’s face for her makeup.

The bridal party consisted of myself, the friend that Maeve stayed with after the fire, Gina, Billy Black, and Harry Clearwater. My long, light blue dress rested just off of my shoulders and flowed comfortably around my feet in the flats that Maeve had no problem with me wearing. Maeve looked absolutely incredible. Her dusty rose dress had a long, tulle skirt and a matching tulle cape in lieu of a veil. The white hydrangea flower crown sat atop her curled, blonde hair, bringing the whole look together. 

As the music started, we found our places. I walked down the aisle with Billy, catching Edward’s eye among the guests as he smiled and winked at me. They held the ceremony in the Bogachiel State Park under a handmade, wooden arch. The Sun just started to peek out from behind the clouds, adding natural light to the forest around us. Charlie looked absolutely smitten as they completed the handfasting ceremony. He even teared up while reciting his personalized vows to her. It was a beautiful wedding.

The reception was held in a large, white tent. The guest list was kept rather small, so there were only a handful of tables, leaving most of the space open as a dance floor. A DJ set up in one corner playing a wide variety of music as the evening went on.

Edward held me close as we danced to Adele’s ‘Make You Feel My Love’. The relief I felt when her first album was released was overwhelming. I only had to wait one to two more years for her second album, 21 to come out. Though her songs wouldn’t resonate with me the way that they did in my past life, they were still some of my favorites.

“We should do this again.” Edward murmured close to my ear, his breath ghosting down my neck.

“Do what?” I pulled back to meet his eyes.

“Get married.” He gave me a crooked smile that sent my stomach into a somersault.

My sudden laugh caught the attention of Leah as she walked past. She just rolled her eyes and mumbled something about us reining it in. Whatever ‘it’ was.

I gave him a soft smile. “When the time comes to get a new marriage certificate, we’ll have another wedding. I promise.”

His warm, velvet lips quickly met mine. I tucked my head back into his chest and continued dancing with my husband.

We were only two months away from moving to our new house in Pittsburgh. Leah would be joining the following week after making sure everything was settled in Forks before she left. She wasn’t in the best of moods these days though. Jessica had broken up with her just before the end of the Spring semester. 

Jess accepted an internship at Mount Sinai in New York and, understandably, didn’t want to be tied down. It was a huge deal and would require her sole focus. Leah recovered better than she did from Sam, but was still in the mourning phase. She was letting me practice my reading ability on her. It was slow going but I got a few more glimpses of her past and even a couple of her future. She was going to be just fine. I was certain that a new start and new friends would push her to put herself out there again. 

Edward surprised me, again, with a planned trip to France that we would be setting out on in a month. I had Alice look into the future to ensure that nothing would get in the way this time. I didn’t want to risk spoiling anything for myself, but I also wanted to get ahead of any potential disasters. So far we were expected to have a wonderful time, just the two of us.

While Edward was telling me about Rose and Emmett’s third wedding at an actual castle in Ireland, Charlie came over and asked for a dance. Edward kissed my cheek and winked as he left me, claiming he was going to see if Esme wanted to dance.

Charlie took one of my hands and led me in an awkward sway to the music. “How you doing, Dani?” He asked.

I bit back a chuckle. “I’m good. How about you? The ceremony was beautiful.”

His face pulled up into a small smile. “I’m really good. Happiest man in the world.” His smile widened, crinkling the skin around his deep, brown eyes. “So, Maeve tells me you’re some kind of time traveling super witch.” There was a disbelieving gruffness to his tone.

I couldn’t hold back my laughter now. It burst out of me, nearly doubling me over. “Something like that.” I pressed my lips together, trying to calm my giggles. “I’m sorry.” I apologized as I composed myself.

He rolled his eyes with a sigh. “Is it true then? I mean, I don’t think she would lie or anything, it just seems a little… far fetched.”

I took in his confused expression and gave him a sympathetic smile. “It’s a lot, I know. If you ever want a more thorough explanation, I’m happy to sit down and talk about what I can. Maeve just didn’t want to have any secrets between you two.”

It looked like he was deep in thought as he processed. “You were the one that pulled her from that fire, weren’t you? The way it spread, there was no way someone could have gotten in or out of the house safely.”

He really was a good cop. It was likely he had his suspicions about everything this whole time. I just nodded in response.

“Thank you. I know Maeve and I weren’t close then, but I can’t imagine my life right now without her.” He sniffed and cleared his throat to push down the emotions he was clearly fighting against.

“No thanks are necessary. I would never let anything happen to her.” 

He nodded and swallowed thickly. “Neither would I.”

As the song ended, he kissed my cheek and I congratulated him again before heading back to my table where Rosalie was sitting with Amara.

Her light pink dress matched the ribbon tied in her curls. Maeve requested that she be her flower girl and she was definitely up for the task. She carefully covered the aisle in equally spaced rose petals before Maeve walked down the aisle. It took a bit longer than it should have, but no one seemed to mind. 

As soon as I sat down, Amara climbed into my arms and I snuggled her close to my chest. Within moments, Edward came over and crouched down next to us. He ran a hand over Amara’s curls and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

“Are you having fun, my angel?” He asked her.

“Dance with me daddy!” She beamed and jumped from my lap to his arms with a giggle.

Edward laughed as he caught her and stood back up. “As you wish.” 

With a smirk at me he carried her off to the open floor to dance. I watched him twirl and dip her as she fell into a fit of laughter. My face was almost aching from how much I had been smiling all evening.

“How’s that fever?” Rose asked me.

I turned to her with a confused expression, tilting my head in question.

“Your baby fever? Are you ready to have another one? I know Edward wants another baby.” Her eyebrow rose as she smirked.

I chuckled. “It’s definitely heating up. Look at them.” I waved a hand toward my family and Edward paused to grin at me. “They’re perfect. I think I want to finish my degree first though. I know I won’t be able to focus on much else with a new baby.”

“That’s understandable. You do have at least five more than willing babysitters though. Just so you know.” My eyes darted to her and she was smiling widely, waggling her eyebrows at me.

I started laughing. “Oh my god, you guys cannot start adding pressure! We have literally forever. There’s no rush.” 

She wasn’t wrong though. Edward and I had talked about it before. When the Volturi didn’t know about our daughter. I still wanted her to have a sister so that she wasn’t alone. To watch him care for another incredible person that we brought into the world together. I could probably still finish my classes, do some work online if I needed to. The idea started to take root as I watched him laughing with our daughter and swaying her around the floor. We would definitely be discussing it again very soon. 

Emmett rushed up behind Rose and my attention was drawn to them as she started to laugh. He wrapped his arms around her waist, buried his face in her neck and whispered something too low and quick for me to hear. A wide smile spread over her gorgeous face as she rolled her eyes. 

“We’re going to dance.” She winked and stood up, pulling him to the dance floor with her.  

I watched as my family moved around the dance floor together. Maeve and Charlie looking absolutely smitten with each other as they slowly swayed together. Alice and Jasper doing the absolute most with him swinging her around the dance floor. Rose and Emmett moving together in the most sensual tango I had ever seen. Carlisle and Esme smiling softly at each other as they moved together in a fast waltz. Then my husband and my daughter, him holding her to his chest, brushing her curls from her face, and kissing her cheek as she giggled. They were perfect. 

As the party started to die down, Maeve and Charlie went around to thank everyone again and say their goodbyes. They would be heading back to her house, their house now, for the night before heading out to a cabin in the Olympic National Forest for their honeymoon. It was perfect for both of them. 

Amara was asleep on Edward’s shoulder as we walked back to our BMW, hand in hand. He rushed ahead and carefully got her into her car seat without waking her. She was seated and buckled in before I made it to the car, allowing him to chivalrously open the passenger door for me. I smirked up at him and quickly kissed his lips before climbing in. 

Our hands were laced together on his thigh as he quietly asked me if I had a good time. I looked over at him with my head still resting on the seat back. 

“I had a wonderful time. I’ll never turn down a chance to dance with you.”

He gave me a crooked grin and pulled our hands to his lips, kissing the back of mine. “We’ll go out dancing in France. I promise.”

I sighed contentedly. “I would love that. How about you? Did you enjoy the wedding?”

“Very much so.” He paused in thought. “You know, Charlie’s thoughts are odd. They’re sort of muffled and hard to read. I was trying to see how he was handling the knowledge about you, but couldn’t get very much.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I probably should have warned you about that.”

He gave me a questioning look. 

“It was in the books.” I winked and he shook his head with a quiet chuckle. 

“Right. He was supposed to be her father.” 

“Yup.” I nodded. 

“Is it strange having him join your family?” He asked. 

“Nah. I got over my crush on him a while ago.” I waved a hand at him. 

“Your what?!” His voice suddenly rose and Amara stirred. 

I threw a hand over my mouth to stifle my snorted laughter. He looked back at Amara. As soon as he was sure that he didn’t wake her, he turned back to me and watched me closely with a raised eyebrow as I calmed down. 

“Sorry.” I whispered. “I forgot you didn’t know about that. Yeah, I low key had the hots for him when I first got here.” 

I stifled another laugh as his eyes narrowed. Carefully unlacing our fingers, I slid my hand up his thigh and down between his legs. 

“Don’t worry, he’s got nothing on you.” My hand found his hardening cock and I firmly rubbed along the length of him. 

A low growl rumbled up from his chest. “I’ll make you forget he ever even existed.” His foot pushed down on the gas and the speedometer rapidly approached 100 mph. 

I bit my lip and gave him a seductive smirk. “Please do.” I winked when his darkened eyes met mine again. 

We made it home in record time and Edward gently took Amara up to her room, changing her into some pajamas and getting her settled into her toddler bed. When he returned to our room, I was in our bathroom washing my makeup off. Without a word, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I laughed in uncontrollable, high-pitched giggles as he carried me to our bed and tossed me down. 

“Tying or spanking?” He asked in a husky voice as he quickly removed his tie and wrapped it around his hand. 

“Dear god, both please.” I tried to rein in my giggles.  

He raised an eyebrow and smirked as he unbuttoned his shirt. “We’ll try a little of both. Just tell me to stop if you’re not enjoying it.” His face was completely serious now. 

My thighs rubbed together, trying to relieve even just a fraction of the ache I felt for him. He pulled off his shirt, dropped his pants, and climbed onto the bed, crawling over me. His hand moved beneath me, lowering the zipper on the back of my dress. After pulling my dress down my body and tossing it aside, he sat back on his heels, straddling my waist. He loosely tied one end of his tie around my left wrist, lifted my hands above my head,  looped the tie around a beam in the head board, then tied the other end around my right wrist. 

My hips bucked up against him and he growled. “Any other ‘crushes’ I should know about?” He asked as his hands firmly moved down my arms to my sides. 

I shook my head. “There’s really only ever been you.”

He raised an eyebrow. 

“And briefly Charlie.” I bit back a smirk. 

His eyes narrowed and he leaned down to slowly drag his tongue up my neck to my ear. “I only want to hear my name on those lips. Understand?” His lips ghosted over the shell of my ear. 

A pleasurable shiver ran through me. “Completely.” My underwear was now soaked through and I could barely form a coherent thought. 

He went to work kissing and licking down my neck to my breasts. With his sharp teeth, he tore my lace bra away and began nipping at one nipple before moving to the other. As he made his way lower, he suddenly stopped. His eyes flicked up to my face, waiting.

I met his dark eyes. “Edward.” I whimpered. 

A crooked smile quirked his lips up and he lowered his head back down. Licking and nipping along my inner thighs, one hand firmly holding my waist while the other teased around my entrance. He stopped again. I exhaled a low whine. 

“You know what I want to hear.” His voice was a low rumble. 

“Edward.” I breathed out. He moved to my other leg, teeth grazing against my inner thigh just below my center. 

He pushed himself back over me to gaze into my eyes, fingers still teasing me. “Do you want my mouth or my cock?” 

Fuck! Lusty Edward is absolutely my favorite. 

“Both?” I raised an eyebrow. 

I struggled to hold back a laugh as his brow furrowed and his eyes darted back and forth. He was clearly trying to figure out the logistics of that scenario. He opened and closed his mouth once before sitting back on his heels with a confused expression. 

“I didn’t think that through. I should have expected an impossible answer.” He ran a hand down his face. 

I burst into laughter beneath him, my arms still tied up above my head. His lips curled up again and his eyes narrowed. He slid a hand up my chest to my neck and grabbed my face, crushing his lips to mine to silence my giggles. He growled into my mouth before pulling away again. 

In an invisibly swift motion, he sat up and turned me over with his arms around my waist. Then, using his knees, he pushed my knees forward so I was ass up in front of him. The strain on my arms was quickly becoming too much. He lifted me up, taking my hands in his to place them on the headboard. This way I could hold myself up, relieving the pressure on my shoulder joints. 

“You’re gonna want to hold on tight.” His voice rumbled out of him and another wave of desire rolled through me.

Thank god this bed was magically reinforced or I would have destroyed it by now. One of his hands rubbed down my back from my neck to my ass and he quickly tore my underwear off. Stopping there, he pushed my legs apart with his legs and settled himself between them. He sharply smacked my ass and I let out a startled yelp. The pain wasn’t any more than a tingling sting, but Edward reacted with a sharp inhale. Before I could even say anything, he gently rubbed at the spot, then lowered his face to place quick kisses over it. 

“I’m so sorry, love.” He murmured against my skin. His other hand slid around my waist and he held me tightly. “Are you okay?” 

“Perfectly fine.” I replied breathlessly. 

He huffed out a relieved laugh and laid his forehead onto the small of my back. “I can’t do that again. The last thing I want is to cause you pain.”

I looked over my shoulder at him. “You can start lighter. I didn’t not enjoy it.” I smirked.

He looked up at me with a small grin and shook his head. “Maybe another time.” 

I yelped again and giggled when he nipped at my ass before sitting back up. With a hand on each side of my waist, he sharply lifted my hips higher. One hand moved to lower his boxer briefs and firmly hold his thick cock. I craned my neck to watch as he rubbed himself up and down my entrance before shoving his dick into me. My head turned and fell down to my chest as we both moaned. 

His hand moved back to my waist and he started to thrust. The bed rocked beneath us as he pounded into me, pulling his cock out to the head before ramming back into me again at a jarring pace. As the tension in my core built, he leaned over me and lifted me with an arm around my chest. He raised me up just enough to reach my neck with his mouth. I cried out as he started sucking at his mark on me. He pulled his mouth away and traced his fingers over it as the pace of his thrusts increased. Pleasure washed over my entire body, radiating from the sensitive bite mark on my neck.

“Do you feel that, Dani?” He asked. 

I whimpered in response. 

“That means you’re mine. Only mine. You’ve always been mine.” He grunted out with each punishing slap of his hips against my ass. “Say it.” He growled. 

I moaned louder. “Yours. I’m yours, Edward.” It was no more than a high-pitched whimper. 

He pumped himself into me harder and faster with long, deep strokes. His mouth met my mark again, sucking firmly at it, and I came with a high, uncontrolled moan. My core tightly clenched around him, pulsing against his cock as he came himself. 

“Let me feel you, baby.” He ordered as he kept thrusting. 

I quickly pulled at our bond, establishing a physical connection and we both cried out together as we felt each other’s climax. 

“Fuck! Yes, Dani. That’s it baby, harder. Come harder.” He grunted as he wrapped his hands around my hips.

“Edward!” My voice was strangled by the ecstasy engulfing my entire body. 

Edward quickly untied one of my hands and pulled me up so my back was tightly pressed against his chest. One hand held my breast, rolling my nipple between his knuckles while his other moved down to work my clit. His mouth moved up and down my neck as his thrusts slowed. I turned my head to press my mouth to his, our tongues immediately meeting and greedily devouring each other. We continued coming together as I rolled my ass back against him to keep him moving inside me. He broke our kiss with a gasp and moaned in my ear. 

“Love you. I love you, Dani.” His voice was breathless and desperate. 

“Edward.” It was the only word I could manage to get out. 

He closed his side of our connection first and wrapped both arms around my chest, panting into my shoulder. One of my hands held tightly onto his arm as the other came up to run my fingers through his soft hair. 

My gasping breaths returned to a normal, healthy rhythm while he laid us down. He held me close as I nuzzled against his chest and he firmly kissed the top of my head. I looked up into his blissful face. 

“I’m thinking of asking Carlisle to remove my implant.” I said softly, carefully gauging his reaction.

The corners of his lips pulled up higher. “Rose got to you?”

I chuckled and pressed my lips to his jaw. “No. You did.” I kissed my way down his neck. “You and Amara. I want more of that.” 

He hummed contentedly. “Me too.” His hand moved down to grip my ass. “Can we start tomorrow?” A laugh colored his tone. 

“We can practice as much as we want right now.” I bit playfully at his neck as he growled. 

“You’re over Charlie then?” He asked. 

I rolled myself on top of him. “Who?”

He smiled widely and tangled his fingers into my hair pulling my mouth back down to his. 

July 2009

Seated together on our family’s private plane, Edward held one arm lazily around me as I leaned back against him. He had his blue, button down shirt rolled up to his elbows and I absently traced my fingers up and down the arm around me as he read aloud. His beautiful velvet voice pulled me in, keeping me enraptured by his words. 

“Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being in love, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.”

He paused a moment from his reading. Dropping the book into his lap. “We’re one tree.” His fingers moved up to brush against my cheek. 

I looked up at him and kissed his soft, warm lips. “That we are. A very strong tree.”

His lips pulled up into a smile and he took my chin between his thumb and forefinger, gently tipping my face up. Our lips molded together, tongues tentatively touched, breaths mingled. We were one. We shared our bodies, our minds, our very souls. Two trees rooted irrevocably together. To separate would be the end of us both. 

The flight to France was long. We spent the plane ride together reading, playing chess, making out, and talking. He made sure the plane was stocked with everything I would need. Food, pillows, blankets, and entertainment. I would have been more than happy with just him… and food. I did still need to eat.

He still hadn’t told me exactly where we were going, just that it wasn’t Paris this time. We used the private plane so I wouldn’t even know where we were landing. To say that I was excited would be an understatement. 

We finally landed at a small airstrip where there was a sleek, red Porsche waiting for us. Edward opened the passenger door for me with a crooked grin before loading our things in the trunk and taking the driver’s seat. He sped through the busy highways to smaller, beachside roads with a hand on my thigh. Slowly pushing the skirt of my dark blue dress up above my knees. 

“Which coast is this?” I asked as he continued to drive with a completely blissful expression. 

“The southern coast. Between Montpelier and Marseille.” He grinned. 

I gave him a deadpan look. “That is basically the entire southern coast.”

He started to chuckle and took my hand, pulling it to his lips. “I’ll tell you… eventually.” He glanced at me with a wink. 

I rolled my eyes while biting back a smirk. “You’re impossible.”

“And you love it.” He smirked as he dropped our hands back down to his own thigh, brushing his thumb over the back of my hand. 

Eventually we pulled into the driveway of a beautiful, isolated, two-story stone house that backed up to the beach a hundred or so yards away. The front held a small herb garden beside the arched doorway. There were only a couple small windows at the front of the house and there didn’t seem to be another house within miles of this one. 

Before I even made it to the door, Edward lifted me into his arms. Surprised giggles erupted from my chest as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Thresholds are kind of my thing.” He shrugged and quickly kissed my lips. 

He carried me through the front door, through the small entryway and into the living room where he set me back on my feet. The house was furnished with a large, red sofa in front of a small, gas fireplace. The walls were painted a deep, navy blue with elaborate gold wall panels. There was an entertainment area and built-in shelves filled with books, movies, and games. 

Edward took my hand, pulling it to his lips, and led me further into the house. The dining room held a six person table beneath a gold chandelier. The kitchen looked to be fully stocked with everything I could want or need, including an elaborate espresso machine that I had absolutely no idea how to use. I was hopeful that Edward would be able to figure it out. 

“The primary bedroom and bathroom are downstairs as well as an office. There are two more bedrooms, another large bathroom, and a small library upstairs. What do you think?” He asked as he nervously took my other hand.

“It’s incredible. This is probably the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen.” I laughed as his eyes lit up. “How long are we staying?” I asked.

His smile widened. “As long as you want. It’s ours.”

I tilted my head in question. “Ours?”

With an arm around my waist, he pulled me closer. “Yes. Ours. I bought it. We can come here whenever we want. Stay as long as we want.”

I looked into his beautiful, green eyes as mine filled with tears. “Are you serious? This is ours? We own a house in France?” A teary laugh bubbled up from my chest.

One of his hands came up to hold my face, wiping a tear away with his thumb. “We do.”

My smile widened and I reached up to quickly kiss his soft lips. “I love it. However, this is the last time you’re allowed to surprise me with an entire house.” I laughed again.

He chuckled and brushed his nose against mine. “I cannot promise that.” My eyes narrowed and his smile grew mischievous. “There’s a room for Amara and another for her sister, should we wish to live here for a while.” 

“Her sister?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I figured, with your implant gone, she will probably have one soon.” He smirked down at me. “We could make her while we’re here.” His mouth moved down to my neck where he placed warm, nipping kisses all the way down to my mark.

“I like that plan. We should start right away.” I replied breathlessly as my hands moved up into his hair.

He gripped my ass and lifted me, my legs quickly wrapping around his waist. “Mm, let’s.” He mumbled against my skin as he carried me toward the bedroom. 

I barely had a moment to take in the room before he dropped us onto the large, dark cherry, four poster bed. His hands slid up my legs, beneath my dress, to pull my underwear down and over my feet. Mouth still nipping and licking up and down my neck, he moved to the other side. His hand came up to firmly knead my breast as I rolled my hips up against him. 

My hands moved from his hair to the front of his shirt as I quickly unbuttoned it and pushed it over his shoulders. He stood up and hastily removed his pants, freeing his massive erection. I took him in as I sat up and started to undress myself. His chest was heaving, muscles tensed and ready, his thick cock held firmly in his hand. He stroked himself slowly as he watched me slip out of my dress.   

His eyes hooded, his expression pure lust. “You’re so beautiful.” 

I reached a hand up for him from the bed and he eagerly came to join me again. He kneeled between my legs and grabbed me around my shins. Pushing my legs up, so my knees were bent and splayed open, he settled himself between them. 

Gripping his arms, I pulled him down and he fell over me, catching himself on his forearm. His chest lay against mine, our breaths coming in quick pants as our lips met. He kissed me with fervor, one hand cupping my face. I reached down for his cock again, firmly stroking him when I had him in my grasp. He growled against my lips before pulling away. 

“I am going to make you come at least four times before we leave this bed again. Orgasms are supposed to help with conception.” He gave me a devilish grin before disappearing and burying his face between my legs. 

“Oh fuck! Shit, Edward!” I cried out as he thrust his tongue into my pussy. 

His flicking tongue quickly brought me to my first orgasm and he kissed his way back up my body as I writhed beneath him. When his lips met mine again, I gripped his shoulder and flipped him over. His cock was completely rigid and practically throbbing when I grabbed it. I pushed the head of his dick inside me and sat down, impaling myself on him. Immediately, I started to ride him. His hands tightly gripped my hips as he threw his head back with a moan. 

“Fuuuck!” He groaned. “I’m making you come twice like this.” 

His eyes met mine again and one of his hands came between us to rub my clit. As soon as I came, he grabbed my hips again and started thrusting up into me. He kept up a punishing pace, pounding against my g-spot with every stroke. 

“Come for me baby, give me another. I’m gonna fill that tight pussy with my cum and you’re taking all of it.” He practically growled. 

I didn’t even have a chance to come down from the last orgasm before the third tore through my core. My walls fluttered and clenched tightly around him. His eyes squeezed shut and his mouth fell open as he came with a loud groan.

“Yes, Dani! Such a good girl.” His arms encircled me, wrapping tightly around my waist.

“God, Edward! So fucking good!” I moaned as I fell over his chest, panting into his shoulder. 

He quickly recovered as he held his arms around me, brushing his fingers up and down my back. “Catch your breath. You owe me at least one more, love.” His husky voice swept over me, sending a shiver down my spine. 

As soon as my breaths started to stabilize, he turned us over again. I brought my legs up high around his waist and he reached down to guide his cock back into me. 

“Mm.” He growled as he pushed himself all the way into my pussy, completely filling me.

He gripped the back of one of my legs just above the knee and lifted it over his shoulder. The change in angle allowed him to push his cock in even deeper. He crashed his mouth to mine, then he started thrusting. I could feel him hitting a particularly incredible spot deep inside me. It was slightly painful, but somehow more deeply pleasurable than anything he’d ever reached before.

I began struggling for air and he moved his mouth down to my neck.

“Oh my god! Edward!” I cried out as the sensation grew. My entire body heated as tension and pleasure built in every corner of my being. “That’s… fuck! Don’t stop! Just like that!” I chased the feeling as he kept his pace steady.

It built higher and higher as he pumped himself into me and hit that spot again and again. I couldn’t tell where the edge was, but I was sure I had to be close to falling from it. He pulled back to watch my face. 

“So fucking beautiful. Mine.” He growled and in two more thrusts, I fell. 

It washed over my entire body. Consumed every part of me; mind, body, and soul. My back arched, toes curled, fingers dug into his back, thighs held him tightly, and an almost soundless scream erupted from my chest. Lights exploded, windows shattered, and I pushed more magic into him. It was the best orgasm I had ever experienced in my life.

“Oh shit, baby! Dani, god!” I pulled at our bond, letting him feel what I was feeling and he came hard. He kept repeating the same stream of ‘oh fuck’s as we came together. His dick swelling and pulsing as he released deep inside me. 

He grunted and moaned into my shoulder before pulling back just enough to press his lips to mine. My climax continued as his lips moved down my jaw to my neck. I continued crying out his name in between unintelligible moans. He grazed his teeth against my neck and nipped firmly at my skin. 

I closed our connection and finally started coming back down. His motions slowed until he stopped thrusting and lowered my leg back down, breathing heavily above me. My entire body felt boneless and weak. 

“Holy fucking shit, Dani. What was that?” He asked, breathlessly, which really should not have been possible for him.

I exhaled a weak laugh. “I have no idea. But I’m gonna need you to do that again at some point.”

“As soon as possible.” He growled and went back to kissing and sucking at the skin of my neck.

“I need to recover first. I can’t move.” I laughed again, still struggling to just breathe.

“Do you think that made a baby?” He chuckled against my sensitive skin.

“It’s not instantaneous. We’ll need to just keep at it. It could take a while.” I exhaled a shaky laugh and nipped at his neck as he laughed.

He pulled away to look into my eyes. “If it takes more time, so be it. We do have a boundless future ahead of us, my love.” 

His full lips pulled into a crooked grin before he lowered his face to mine again, firmly kissing me as I melted in his arms. I was his and he was mine. No matter where we were in the world, as long as we were together, we were home. 

We were finally heading into our happily forever after.