A/N: So I noticed at least one slight continuity error in the opening chapter of this little story. It was really Bella mentioning that Aro had laughed or done something before she had been properly introduced to him. Cue my cringe as I had only spotted it after publishing. But I guess for it being really one small mistake, I can still say I'm still proud of how it turned out in the end.

Always on the road to improvements still, I also noticed that my descriptions here and there I'd often repeat them (such as overusing Ragdoll I believe). But it's a process haha.

Anyways, onto the next chapter – let's see how this goes.

The Princess of the Volturi

II

-The Coven-

~Edward~

I slowly emerged from the edge of trees that lined the outer rim of the yard. With one small intake of an unnecessary breath, I gazed up towards the Victorian mansion that sat before me. It was smaller than my family's own back in that forsaken out-of-the-way town we once occupied. Esme took pride in her designs of our homes over the course of our time alive. She wasn't one to skimp out on luxury and space.

Snow was beginning to fall here, which isn't a shock considering Alaska is more northern bound towards the poles. I could see cars parked up the driveway of the home, many that I knew like the back of my hand. I held slight regret not taking my prized Volvo with me, but granted there was no use for it. My feet carried me greater distances than the vehicle could ever manage.

I hesitated, not wanting to approach. I didn't know if I was ready, to put it bluntly. I felt empty, felt desolate as if really nothing in this world mattered anymore. In truth, nothing did.

I am a monster for what I have done. I was a monster that hurt the one person that was everything to me, to my very existence. She was so sweet, innocent, fragile, endearing, and stubborn. While she was impulsive with her actions that would otherwise leave her open to danger and death, they'd work out in the end. Her reckless decision to isolate herself with that abhorrent nomad left him vulnerable enough for my brothers to kill him off. His bloodlust to slay her didn't give him time to brace for any outside attacks, nor did it leave any room for him to try and make an escape. She was enough of a distraction, even if it nearly ended in her turning.

My heart wrenched at the memory from that night, and I shuddered.

Ah… Bella.

Edward, I know you're standing around out there. A pixie's thoughts chimed internally at me. I huffed.

I know you'd rather be alone, but you have no idea how happy we all are to see you drop by like you are. Alice mused weakly; I knew my absence from the family had hurt them somewhat. But I felt that they understood the why.

Of course we understand why you have been gone for a month. It has been hurting us too that we did what we did. But I know it's been the worst for you… Please stay with us if you can. If you leave, I'll know right away. Her begging had me heaving a heavy gust of air.

A small part of me didn't want to isolate myself from the family. But I couldn't stand being around everyone for long after my awful deed. They have their significant others, I couldn't stand to be around their environment when the one I truly desire is not beside me. I can hear them, hear their thoughts… it was too much for me.

We know you're heartbroken Edward. We want to be here for you; we can't do that when you disappeared to the Amazon the minute you came back that day. I cringed and hissed lowly. I hoped she would take that a sign that I'd rather not be reminded of that day. I already bore the weight of it on my chest each passing second. I had to deal with it, but any outside reminders from the others would ease the resounding guilt I already had.

She heard. Sorry, didn't mean to upset you… just give it some thought please? She asked internally.

"Alright." I uttered, but I knew she had heard.

Eventually, I began trudging my way towards the front door to the mansion. This was enough to stir the others.

"Moody vampire is on his way up to the house finally." I growled minutely at Emmett's light teasing.

"Emmett, don't be rude to him." Esme chastised him inside.

"Oh, is Edward here?" I heard one of our "relatives" inquired.

"He is." Carlisle replied to them in a short manner.

They then began chattering to one another as amicably as possible, mostly talking about going hunting later – a means of a bonding experience. I approached the door and waited rather than deciding to knock. They knew I was here, so surely someone would come up soon to let me in.

I didn't have to wait for long.

The door swung open, and there stood Alice. She looked mostly the same as she had before. Same spiky inky hair and the same sense of fashion as always, she gazed up at me with dark eyes. They were marred with heavy shadows underneath. Once she had opened the door, Alice stood there waiting holding her hands together. I knew she wanted to give me a hug, but wasn't going to push it if I wasn't ready or wanted it. Eventually I sighed.

"It's been awhile anyways. Go for it you pixie." I muttered and she smirked, her eyes suddenly gaining some light and life to them. It didn't take her long before I was ensnared into an otherwise bone crushing hug from the small creature that was my adoptive sister. It really is a good thing I'm immortal and my skin's granite strength wouldn't be crushed underneath the weight.

"I've missed you." Alice murmured, and I eventually returned the hug to her.

"I know… I've missed you too, and everyone else." I let out in a short breath, sighing.

"So he does have a heart for us!" The heartwarming reunion Alice and I were sharing was cut short when the behemoth that was Emmett bursts the bubble with his shout. Alice pulled away then, and I looked around her to see the others were in the foyer with us now, standing around as patiently as possible. Of course Emmett's "patience" boiled down to him bouncing around on his feet like a two year old waiting for his treat. Once Alice had stepped aside and ushered me inside, I was passed around by my family members in varying degrees of hugs.

I whacked Emmett upside the head when I had got to him. "Ow! Is that any way to greet me after not seeing me for a month?" he whined and a heavy pout came about.

"Shut up you idiot." I grumbled at him, still unhappy with his remark. He continued to pout even as Rosalie tried consoling him, while I went over to Carlisle, Esme and Jasper. Jasper immediately sidestepped, avoiding all eye contact with me.

So sorry Edward… I know you're still upset with me for what happened… I'll never be able to forgive myself. His thoughts flew at me in the next second, grief evident in the tone. I nodded slightly in his direction, letting him know I had heard him. Perhaps it was for the better that I didn't hug him; a small, irrational part of me was still angry with him for the disaster that occurred more than a month ago. If he had better control over himself, it wouldn't have happened and I wouldn't be feeling this empty right now. Alice glared minutely at me, as if she knew what had been said silently between Jasper and I. I ignored her while I moved onto Carlisle and Esme.

Esme gave me a tight hug, murmuring words of welcoming and comfort. Her thoughts echoed what she was whispering out loud, as I knew she took it rather harshly that I just upped and left the family like I had for the time I was away. She never liked it whenever I was alone, from the very beginning of her joining this family to the point we are all at now. I nodded to her letting her know I heard her words in both forms, feeling small bits of warmth from her affections. Once she let go of me, Carlisle stepped forward to clap me on the shoulders.

"It's good to see you again my son." I briefly smirked at his greeting, noting that even with blackened eyes much like the rest of the family, there was a bit of a sparkle in them. A glimmer of joy, it was still nice to see again after having been away.

"It's good to see you all again too." I muttered, and he and I shared a small hug. Once we were finished, I turned and noticed the other "family members" of ours was standing in the doorway of the living room in their Alaskan mansion. When I say "family members", I mean it in light terms. Obviously they weren't our relatives by blood but we like to feel our bond is familial and close considering they learned of the "vegan" diet from Carlisle and take after it. They were the Denali Coven, having resided here long before us with their previous coven leader who was killed many years ago for a traitorous crime – something that Carlisle only mentioned under those terms but never fully going into detail. I'd try to get snippets of what the crime could've been by reading him, but he was also sure to block me and begged that I wouldn't pry out of respect. So I never pushed it beyond that point and left it alone.

The Denali Coven consisted of 5 members – four females and one male. But before us only stood two of the three sisters, and then the fourth female and her mate. The coven was mainly led by one of the sisters, a woman named Tanya. She was beautiful as any vampire, but never a woman that held a candle to the real woman that I truly still loved. She stood there quietly not speaking verbally. She knew of my powers, and whilst she had no clue what happened before the others arrived here, mentally she recalls hearing of snippets from the others. I see a memory play out in her mind to the day my family arrived here a month ago.

Tanya opened the door upon having smelled my family when they were close in proximity of the home. Through her mind, she counted everyone before her, noting that I was missing. She didn't miss the forlorn expressions that marred everyone's face.

"Cullen family, what a pleasant surprise to see you here." Tanya's smooth voice echoed in her flashback. She held a weak smile, but didn't understand why everyone looked so somber.

Carlisle greeted her and after she had let everyone inside, she stopped my father figure at the door. "Carlisle I must ask. Why is everyone looking so down? Normally before when you all have come by it's a pleasant visit and everyone seems to be in good spirit. Tell me what is ailing you all." She pleaded with him, confused and feeling helpless as to why they were all looking despaired and desolate.

Carlisle sighed in her memories.

"It has been trying times for us all, Tanya. It's a rather long story, none of which is really my place to share unless Edward would have been here. To keep it as short and brief as I can to respect my son's privacy, we had to leave behind a close friend of ours do to troubling circumstances that occurred. It's been exceedingly hard on Edward as much as it has been hard for us to separate from them, and he's since taken leave of joining us here in Alaska. I apologize that it's rather sudden of us to impede on your home. We'll most likely only be here for a brief amount of time until we can find a new place to reside. I hope it won't be a burden." Carlisle had explained in her memory, looking up at her with a weak gaze. He seemed drained of what had occurred back in Forks, and how it had driven me away from staying with the family.

Tanya, through her mind and the memory, wanted to press for more details. She was worried in how the family was broken by whoever had to be left behind. Even more so, she was saddened that I did not come along with the family. She was a woman who cared more for her personal desires and her wantonness of men. But, Tanya held respect for Carlisle above all else, and decided to not press for more information out of him.

"Your family is always welcomed here, Carlisle. You all are welcomed to stay here as long as you need to." She settled for that answer, giving him a warm smile. Her memory faded out to the present after that…

I refocused on the current setting, looking away from her penetrating gaze. Now that I've returned to my family, I knew she would be pressing us for more details on what had happened. Among other things, I just knew I was about to be introduced to a world of discomfort.

Moving on from her, I spotted the other sister that was here. Kate. She was just as equally stunning as any female vampire. Nothing that held my fancies of course, but undeniably Kate held the beauty that every female vampire gained upon transformation. She had blond hair – it was more of a standard blond versus Tanya's differing strawberry blond hair. She was also the nicest of the three sisters; she wasn't always looking to seek companionship with a male like Tanya and the third sister, Irina. Kate was the most tolerable of the three, and I feel like I could get along with her, share a decent conversation with her. She just usually was always hesitant to stay comfortable with chatting, as her ability was troublesome. She would claim she has grasp and control over it but at times I've found her to slip and it's there even when in amicable situations that she should otherwise be relaxed in.

The third female here was Carmen – olive skin, caramel hair and with a soft demeanor, she greeted me silently with a kind smile. She and Esme were much alike in personality and behaviors. Even if Tanya and her sisters were much older than her, Carmen held a motherly air to her presence. Beside her was the lone male of the coven – Eleazar. He was her hulking husband that stayed aloof and ready to spring when needed. He had slicked back dark hair, a tight expression and shared an olive skin tone with his mate and wife. He regarded me with a nod, his tight expression only loosening slightly.

"I'm sorry Irina isn't here to greet you. She's run off for the time being with a vampire… you perhaps know him as he spoke of your coven briefly." Kate spoke up first when my family finished greeting me with hugs. I peeked into her mind; an image of a dark-skin nomad whose previous bloody eyes, now beginning to turn a deep orange, graced my thoughts. I growled briefly.

"Laurent." I muttered, tightness building up within my chest.

"Well that bastard did say he would look into trying out our lifestyle…" Emmett grumbled; that night and all of its memories came to my head and I snarled at my brother.

"Do not remind me of anything to do with that!" I hissed, glowering darkly over at him. My family balked under the severity of my tone, with Rosalie wagering an equal scowl my way for attacking her husband.

"Sorry… you just know it's still sensitive for me." I grumbled, turning my gaze to the marble floors of the foyer.

"Perhaps you could clue us in on this mystery finally?" Tanya then proceeded to speak up. The Cullens all have been here for a month and been silent on whatever occurred between them. I left it alone because I didn't want to pry but with you here now Edward, I'd like to know what's been bogging you all down. She spoke to me through her thoughts.

I hissed again.

"Edward, I know it's touchy. They've been kind in letting us stay here. You know they won't judge." Esme had a feeling as to what Tanya was insinuating on her questioning.

"We will listen with full neutrality and open mindedness." Kate offered as support.

I just stood there in silence. I could feel all of their eyes on me.

"Fine." I uttered finally, and breezed past them to stand in the back of their living room by their large windows that looked out over the forest landscape surrounding their home. They all filed into the living room then, taking their seats.

They didn't speak. They were waiting.

Carlisle cleared his throat.

"I guess I can start. This is still not my place to tell – it is Edward's. But he will speak when he is comfortable and willing to do so." He began, and I glanced over at them on the couches. He shifted as I knew he felt me staring at him. He looked over at me quickly, asking in his mind if I was ready. I heaved a sigh and decided I'd take over.

"No, I'll talk." I muttered, rendering the beginning of his speech now useless. I felt their eyes on me but I decided to focus on looking outside.

"We were at the high school playing our role as human teenagers once more like we have had been doing so for years. I didn't think it'd be an exciting school year as it never was before. But, I was wrong. Fate had other plans for me – it took the shape of a human girl…" I began, breaking suddenly. She flooded my thoughts. Those sweet brown eyes, her milky white flesh, soft smile and lustrous brown locks, all of it came rushing back to my mind. Her maddening scent of sweet strawberries and delicate freesia, a hint of lavender assaulted my nose in memory. The peeling laughter when I first took her for a run, her small huffs of frustration at me when she didn't get her way or when I'd chuckle at her small trips; she was like a kitten trying to imitate a tiger. Every sweet memory of her proceeded to attack my thoughts and my senses. I released a crushing shutter of a broken sob, and I raised my fist to hit the back window with what little restraint I had; it thankfully wasn't enough to break it but it did crack.

I could feel Esme's disapproving glower at me, but mainly their reaction to what I had done was a sudden jump. Jasper though he was trying to keep himself far away from me to not draw my ire, did his best to blanket me with waves of calm and resolve. My guilt of what had happened, was reaching him ten times over and it was overbearing for him.

A harsh gasp soon came from the Denali coven.

"A human girl?" Eleazar was the first to speak; it was a slight growl.

"Oh dear…" Carmen was next to speak, a tone of concern evident. Tanya and Kate, with burning questions swirling in their mind, decided to remain silent.

"Yes, a human." Carlisle answered after a moment of silence passed when I didn't immediately continue. I gulped unnecessary air, and pressed on.

"I know, blasphemous. But… She was a human like no other. It was maddening that first day when I met her. I hadn't fed before that. Her blood called to me – it was stronger than any other humans' blood that I've come across in my lifetime. It was a delectable scent, and I was overcome with so many emotions. Bloodlust, curiosity, contempt and yet… lust and desire was there for differing reasons." I continued, rambling to try my best in explaining that first day when I was with her in that small classroom. "It took all what control I had built up for a century, to keep from taking her. I had felt I had such strong resolve with humans even when I hadn't fed in such a long time – and yet this mere human girl was causing it to crumble so easily before me. The curiosity that I held for her comes from the fact I can't read her mind. I've always been able to read any creature that has a conscious thought – and yet with her I was drawing a blank." I paused to smile ruefully.

"After that first day, I took myself away from that town. I felt disgusted with myself in how I nearly acted like a savage to her. It took a week of time before I had regained some control over myself to return. By this point, I had a plan set in mind to basically tell her I was dangerous and that it wasn't safe for to be anywhere near me. I knew that even if I couldn't read her mind and know exactly what was going inside her thoughts, she had questions for me. She was freaked out from our initial first meeting, and the expression in her face when I came back ready 'I demand answers from you as to why you treated me like filth the first day we met.' I tried my best though to stay away from her… but it's like she was a magnet that attracted danger and misfortune everywhere she went. Alice continued to have visions of her in danger – either her nearly getting attacked by a group of drunken bastards, or her simply slipping on ice and hurting herself." I recalled everything bad that seemed to come at her, frowning.

"I made the mistake though of possibly exposing who I was when I saved her from being crushed by a van." I paused when the Denali's hissed – a mixture between shock and disappointment. Rosalie echoed her disappointment in the matter, never having been happy with how she began to see through my façade as a human teen and began to question just what I was really. I growled right back at her, defensive.

"It's not like I could stand to watch her get crushed… Try as I did to keep myself from her, fearing that my presence is what brought her danger, I couldn't stay away fully. I had my desires, but overall I had the strongest desire to protect her. When I had rescued her, it left an imprint of my hand against the metal. She was observant as ever. No human boy could ever make it across a school parking lot as quickly as I had, to reach her, yank her down and be strong enough to stop a careening van skidding on ice with just my hand. She had heard the crushing of metal, and saw me use my vampire strength to push the car around as if it had been a mere toy. I did all I could to lie to her about it and try to get her to not see it for what it really was but the girl is a stubborn creature." I paused again, the regretful smile once again reappearing.

"Everyone was disappointed in me for not being more careful from that episode, but they could tell I was becoming attached to her. As the days grew on, she wouldn't leave me and continue to try and pry answers out from me. Thankfully, she didn't tell anyone else that she had seen the freak of a teen boy save her by speeding over to her in the blink of an eye and stop the van with a simple push to one's eye. As much as I had feared thinking she'd tell everyone, she was silent and only cared about getting answers. I didn't want her to find out the truth but she deserved it at least having almost died. And she wouldn't let up on it. But I never outright told her – she managed to piece together bits and pieces of information from what she's observed of me, and had the help of a shape-shifter wolf that is local to the area." I scowled slightly in the memories of that dog. Lord knows I would do anything in my power to still put that mutt in his place, I knew what his thoughts were of her. It sickened me then, and still sickens me now.

"Shape-shifter?" I heard Kate ask.

"There was a tribe that had been there for a long time. When we first came to the area in the past, they were hell-bent on killing us. We were the cold ones encroaching on their territory where they set out to protect the humans and their own kind – werewolves is what they'd like to call themselves but in my years of all the creatures I've ever encountered they aren't werewolves. They are closer in relation to shape-shifters as they can change and morph into a wolf at will." Carlisle quickly prattled off. He was right; as much as those pups would like to believe they were as strong or were werewolves, they're far from that lineage. The Denali coven made noises of understanding to his explanation.

"Anyways, she found out mostly on her own and wanted confirmation. I gave her an answer which she surprisingly took it well. I had anticipated screaming and her running off in absolute terror but she surprised me in saying she wasn't scared and that she wouldn't tell a single soul about our true nature. I was astounded by her, and from then she and I got to really know one another. She listened with rapt attention when I told her as much as I willing to discuss, everything about our world and our kind. We grew closer to one another – I fell in love with her." I continued, pausing when I heard several gasps from the coven; all but one reaction was different. The strawberry blond let a deep rumble off from within her chest. Her thoughts were a tangled mess of jealousy and upset. Tanya always held a certain fancy for me; I wasn't easily swayed to her charms that a mere mortal male would die for. I was one that she couldn't ever snag. I never gave her the time of day – again she holds no candle to her.

I rolled my eyes, ignoring that envious growl that came from her.

"You fell in love with a mortal. I've never heard of such a thing." Eleazar grumbled, his thoughts ringing with a disapproving tone. He was disappointed I believe more towards Carlisle for not stepping in and stopping the romance. I growled lowly again.

"Edward please…" Jasper groaned, unhappy with how angry I was getting.

"So much for a neutral and open-minded approach." I snapped out at the disapproving Denalis who didn't think the romance was safe.

"It's just hard for us to grasp Edward." Kate tried to defend her family members whose thoughts were unhappy with this bit of news.

"Hard is a bit of an understatement. That human was Edward's singer, she should've been dead by this point had he acted like a normal vampire." Eleazar bellowed out as an argument; my growling grew.

"How dare you even say such a thing to me!" I roared, whipping my furious gaze at him. "That human was more than just a piece of meat and blood running around for me, you fucker! She… She is everything to me!" I hissed in continuation, but another broken sob broke through from me. My family looked on in sympathy, knowing my sorrow and pain over the mess that occurred was still a freshly opened wound. The Denali coven heard that second sob, and from their thoughts they ceased their disapproval and apologized. Well for the most part they all did – Tanya was the exception and just huffed.

"Singer? What did you mean by that?" Alice asked out of the blue, looking over at Eleazar.

He cleared his throat in an unnecessary manner and sat up just a bit. "A singer to vampires is essentially when the being's blood is stronger in its potency to the vampire. A newborn or even just a normal vampire that's well beyond the crazed bloodlust years may be attracted to any type of blood. But a singer's blood is thrice as potent to a vampire's senses. It may drive them to brinks of insanity until they can satisfy their urges towards that blood. At least, that is the theory on the subject of singers. The… The Volturi has been looking into that matter for several centuries; mostly it's in between studies with feeding that they wonder if a singer would ever actually increase ones strength after drinking from it." Eleazar did his best to explain; the field of topic was still a grey area for vampires to know what a singer truly meant to the vampire world. This was all the knowledge he could offer.

My family nodded to this knowledge, never having looked at it from that perspective of what her blood really meant to me. The group waited until I had calmed down; it was obvious I hadn't calmed down from the early remarks. It took awhile longer until I accepted Jasper's attempts of trying to calm me further.

"So, this girl… I hate to pry especially since it seems that whatever tragic event took place is still causing great upset. But, what was the girl's name?" I heard Carmen speak up finally, her mind curious as to see what female actually managed to capture my dead lonely heart. She was really a secondary mother figure to us as a whole, truly happy that there was someone out there for me.

"Her name is… Bella. Isabella Swan." I whispered.

"So this Bella still lives, does she not?" Kate questioned then as gently as possible. I nodded my head weakly.

"She nearly became one of us. There was a night where it was storming in Forks, and the family wanted to go out and play some baseball. It had been ages since we really had a chance to play a game. Sh – Bella," I gulped again when I uttered her name. "She tagged along with us to see our game. It was such a silly thing for her to want to witness it but she wanted to spend more time with us. I wasn't going to deny her anything she wanted and I had the reassurance from Alice that nothing would come up nor would we have to worry about such a thing. It was until sometime in the middle of the game that Alice received a vision far too late – and then the nomads were on the field approaching us. We did our best to try and mask her obvious scent, but they saw through our ploy. One of them, a vampire named James, caught her scent and was maddened by bloodlust. I read through his thoughts that he enjoyed playing with his food – the humans – and make it a game to chase them. He was into his theatrics." I began again with the explanation.

"There were two other members – one of them being his mate, a fiery red-head named Victoria. And the other, is Laurent. Laurent didn't want there to be any arguments or fights seeing as it was his group of three versus our coven of five. He could see we'd outnumber them and more likely overtake them. So he did his best in trying to get them to leave peacefully but James was already set on his plan. So as a family we decided that we would have to run Bella out from the state as quickly as possible, and as far from the group as we could manage. Laurent had arrived at our home in our state of panic to warn us how dangerous James really was, and how sneaky he could be. That's when he said that he'd be running up north to you all to look into our lifestyle." I muttered after bringing up the subject of that night, shaking my head slightly as if thinking that would dispel the memories of that night.

"I was left to separate from her which agonized me and pained me greatly. Jasper and Alice were the ones to take her to her original home in Phoenix, Arizona. They stayed there with her while the rest of us tried both chase off Victoria and track down James to try and stop him. Eventually we lost the two of them and by that point the separation was eating at me. So we switched plans to where I would go to Arizona and get Bella, and we would hide away somewhere together while the family would take care of the problem for us. I thought everything was fine… but it wasn't until that when we were on our plane heading to Phoenix that I learned from Alice that she had lost sight of Bella. She hadn't seen anything or was able to keep track of her mentally through her visions to see that the girl had wandered off. I later learned that she had received a sneaky phone call from James himself and lured her away from my siblings, to go to an old ballet studio under the guise that she was to rescue her mother whom she thought was captured by the crazed fiend."

"We barely made it in time to save her – he was close to killing her from all of the messing that he did with her. He threw her around, breaking bones and giving her bruises and cuts. I stepped in after having made a mad rush for the studio, and made sure to rip him away from the dying human. She received a severe cut to her leg, a shard of glass having lodged itself into a major artery. And on top of that, he bit her on her wrist as he was attempting to feed from her in the middle of me fighting him. My siblings took care of James after I had ripped him away from her. But I was left with two options by that point – Alice couldn't see her future at that moment, and it terrified me… Carlisle left it up to me that either I left the transformation happen or I was to try and suck the venom from her system and save her." I sighed at that moment, having recalled that night once again in my mind. I wanted it to go away – it was still too much having seen her lying on the glass ridden floor in such a broken state.

"You have a stronger will than you think, my son." Carlisle admonished gently. He voiced within his thoughts, how proud he was of me for that night to having the strength that I did when I sucked out the venom from her. I glanced over at him, letting a corner of my mouth turn up just a bit in a weak attempt of a smile.

"I take it then that you chose to suck the venom out? If she had become a vampire, surely she would've been with you and your family." Tanya muttered offhandedly; I growled in a brief second from how cool her tone was. The other Denali members glared at her in warning, and she sighed, apologizing under her breath.

"I did though, yes. It was… tough to say the least with her being my singer as you put it." I continued, directing the last bit at Eleazar. "After that had happened, we moved from the studio to a hospital so that her wounds could be treated. She was unconscious for a bit but awoke to me and her mother being in the studio. Her mother was in a state of high panic after having received a call from her father about her sudden departure, to only then later hear about how she was now in the hospital bruised and broken. After that mess though, Bella and I stayed together as a couple. Things had balanced out in our lives, and we focused on one another rather than any other woes that may be troubling us. That is… everything was perfect until her 18th birthday that happened a month ago…" I trailed off, clasping my eyes shut. It still hurt too much.

Alice picked up on now I wanted to quit talking about this matter. She stood and walked over to me, leaving her husband on the couch. She hugged me from the side, her thoughts expressing her understanding.

"A disaster happened I take it." Kate surmised after seeing our interaction. Jasper fidgeted from his seat, not bothering now to try and calm me down from my sorrow. He still placed the blame on himself for what happened.

"It was a mistake, an honest accident of what happened. No one is to blame." Esme whispered to the group, finally answering in some form what happened. Rosalie looked away while Emmett clasped a heavy hand on Jasper's shoulder to try and comfort him. The Denali coven looked between me and the Empathetic vampire of our family, noting how he's refused to look me in the eyes during this entire explanation.

"What happened?" Eleazar pressed, and Jasper groaned before burying his head in his hands.

"Simply put, the human cut her finger while opening presents. And the problem was that several of us hadn't hunted in at least a week. Jasper, who still struggles with his urges, was the one to jump and nearly attacked Bella. But Edward here pushed her back, causing her to fall into some vases which only further opened up wounds. The damage was done by that point and we snapped out of our bloodlust, before we dispersed. She was patched up but Edward went into a state of despair and woe is me in thinking that he was just nothing but danger for her. So he broke up with her, lying to her and leaving her in the woods. And in turn he made all of us leave that town. Good riddance too, I was growing tired of it." Rosalie surmised for the group in haste, her tone flippant and biting.

I let loose a feral snarl. The nerve of her and her attitude towards Bella.

"Fuck you Rosalie. Your jealousy of the girl that I loved is still present as ever. Just admit it that you hated her for the fact she was willing to give up her life as a human – a chance to be a mother – was what irked you more than the fact a human knew about our secret!" I screamed at her, my anger flaring once more. Emmett growled at me in warning while Rosalie snapped a scowl at me.

"As if I ever would have reason to be jealous of her! She was mortal, and she was fragile, there was no way she could really stay with us!"

"Bullshit! You're talking to a mind reader Rosalie and face it – you suck at actually hiding your true feelings!" I bit back at her remark, wanting nothing more than to walk over to her and slap her. Sister or not, Rosalie was always the bitch of this coven.

"Edward, Rosalie enough!" Esme yelled to try and end the fighting, glaring at the both of us. She was using her mother tone, daring the both of us to disobey her now. Rosalie and I continued to growl and glare at each other. Emmett was trying his best to calm his wife, holding her close to his side. Alice was restraining me with her tiny pixie arms in a lock of a hug. Her mind was telling me it's not worth it with her.

The Denali Coven watched our exchange in scared silence. They took in Rosalie's hasty finish of our tale as best as they could; they felt sympathy for Jasper, Bella, and I. But they were unsure of how to proceed.

"As far as you know, that human was alive when you left her. Who knows if Victoria showed up to kill her or something else came along to make her happy? She probably is better off without you." Rosalie hissed with finality, before she stood and stalked out of the house, heading towards the kitchen back door. She was growling profanities left and right at me through her thoughts. She wasn't going to run far from the house – but she didn't want to be in the same room as me anymore. Emmett looked at me briefly, before he stood and followed after her.

Alice eventually let me go, telling me to ignore her and her words. She rejoined Jasper on the couch.

"Alice, you're a psychic yes?" Eleazar asked suddenly, looking over at her. She nodded.

"So is there no way for to check up on her?" I hissed at where he was going. Alice pursed her lips, sighing.

"Edward had asked me to no longer search for her. He wanted us to cut all ties and memories, and anything that could be tied to her. He wants her to try and live a normal life without us being involved. Besides, there are two issues to where I can't check up on her. For one, you know my power is only used if someone makes a decision – only then do I receive a vision of the possible outcome for that specific decision." Alice told him, tapping her temple. He nodded, but then prompted her to explain what the other issue was.

I heard it through her thoughts before she spoke; I was panic-stricken all the same.

"The other issue is even if I were to look for her, I can't. No matter how many times I try to force a vision about her, I draw just… darkness. It's as if there's something blocking my power to actually see Bella."

"What?!" I yelled at her, growling lowly from within my chest. Jasper glared at me minutely for getting angry with Alice.

"I had no way of telling you since you were unreachable Edward!"

"How long has it been like this?" I pressed. Alice bit her lip, and looked down at her lap.

"Ever since we left, it's been like this? An entire month?!" I shrieked my growling growing in its volume. Jasper tried his best to smother me with calm and serenity; it was a weak attempt.

"I'm sorry Edward. I had no way to call you and tell you this. And I was trying to respect your initial wish to leave it alone but I was worried about her. I miss her – I loved her like a sister and she meant something to this family as much as she was your lover! It's left me in a state of panic too. You know I hate being blind!" Alice retorted with an equally high pitched shriek of her own.

I released a howl of dismay at this piece of news, and slammed my fists into the glass window behind me; with it having already been cracked, it simply gave way to the weight of my crashing into it. I ignored Esme's harsh yell of admonishing, sinking instead to the floor in defeat. It was my own fault for leaving Alice in the dark like I had. I had forbid her into looking for her and any future visions of her. I wanted this, didn't I? I wanted to try and forget her as I had hopes she would forget about us and hopefully would be able to move on with her human life without supernatural creatures being involved. But now, I was regretting it.

"We'll get it replaced for you." I heard Carlisle offer to the Denali coven.

A moment of silence passed over the living room; no one wanted to say anything else to me. I could hear it in their thoughts that they had more questions about this situation but didn't know when would be the right time to begin asking. I just sat there on the glass-ridden floor, hearing their questions but not bothering to answer them out loud. Eventually one of them will get the courage to speak up on their own. I'd prefer to just up and leave now. I felt like this was a mistake for even coming here in the first place.

"Edward, don't even try to leave now." Alice immediately piped up as she possibly saw a vision of me deciding to do just that. I was too preoccupied going over the worst case scenarios of what could have happened, or be happening, right now to her. If something has already happened to her, I'd be too late in trying to run back to that small town now to try and stop whatever calamity that has or possibly has, fallen onto her.

"Just try and stop me." I muttered weakly to the carpet, not bothering to face them. As if any of them would be able to stop me as soon as I start running. I am the fastest one out of the whole bunch anyways.

"You won't even leave. I already can tell you won't." Alice retorted in almost a smug fashion.

"You don't know that until I make a final decision" I remarked back, growling to myself.

"Edward please don't leave again" Esme begged quietly and this time I sighed heavily. Fine, maybe Alice was right. I heard her snicker slightly under her breath. Never bet against the pixie.

"Perhaps now is as good as anytime, to set about to that hunt we were discussing about!" Kate suddenly piped up to try and break the awkward tension that had settled over this living room. The interrogation of my old love life and the disaster that followed it was over considering I had destroyed their window and drove Rosalie (and subsequently Emmett) from the house. Judging from most of their thoughts, they were finishing with their prying and wanted to give me my space to calm down. As if that were ever going to happen, I just think it boils down to them not wanting to piss me off further and keep the rest of their house intact.

Tanya was still grumbling to herself over the whole thing, jealousy rampant. I did my best to block her thoughts. I could hear outside the house, a distance away, Emmett and Rosalie were still within earshot enough so that they heard Kate's proposition and were in agreement that a hunt was most likely needed for everyone.

The others of my family were agreeing to the idea. I stayed on the floor slumped over, not making any moves to join them. I'd prefer to be left alone, but Alice was having none of it again.

"Edward please join us, a hunt will do you some good." She pleaded, gliding over to where I sat on the floor, crouching beside me to wrap a tiny arm around my shoulders. I glanced up at her to see she held a sad smile at me, her eyes trying to show some excitement and encouragement to get me to join them. It'd be a good chance to bond again as a family. You know how sad we've all been since you've been gone. I rolled my eyes at her thoughts. I have no doubts Rosalie would contest that.

Alice knew from the eye roll just what I was mentally thinking straight away. And I'm supposed to be the only mind reader in the family. Okay well, maybe not Rose but still. Honestly, you know she cares about you even if she's awfully annoying and intolerable sometimes. Rosalie doesn't like to have her judgment contested, and you're the only one who can really get under her skin. Trust me, I'm on your side and what she said to you was really uncalled for.

"You can say that again." I grumbled, and she snickered.

Please, do consider hunting with us. We all need to feed, and you especially need to. I'm worried you're going more insane the longer you keep yourself from it. She continued mentally, squeezing my shoulders then. I sighed. In one form or another, Alice was right. As usual, the pixie is right.

"Fine, I'll come along. I'd just like to keep my distance if you all would respect it – and no I'm not going to run off." I cut her off when she was about to verbally dispute my wishes. But she closed her mouth and nodded her head to it. I looked behind me to see Esme and Carlisle smiling over at me, happy to hear that I would go hunting with them.

Alice stood back and let me stand on my feet. We began making our way to the kitchen's back door, when it was so quick I felt that if I had blood still running through my veins, it would turn ice cold. Alice stopped and let out a harsh gasp of audible pain. I whipped around to see her still standing by the glass covered spot that I had been in. Her eyes were turning glassy.

She was having a vision.

"Alice?" Jasper voiced his concerns out loud, thoughts growing more and more concerned. I was pulled into her vision.

The vision focused on a black fancy car. It was driving rapidly through a heavily wooded forest that held snow on the ground. Whoever was in the car was in Alaskan, or some snowy area like it.

It transitioned to those who were in the car, and if I had a beating heart still it would be sinking to my stomach at this moment.

Inside the car were guard members of the coven that acted as the police, or highest authority of ruling, over the world that was vampires. They ruled with an hard iron fist, keeping to the most sacred rule that other vampires are to abide by – keep our secret as such, a secret, to the human. Anyone who breaks this law, is to be met with a swift death.

It was the Volturi.

Only 4 members were in the car, but it was the 4 strongest. They were the most feared. Unmatched mostly by their talents, it was this very reason the leaders of the Volturi made them as some sort of captains over the rest of the guard that was to protect the elders.

Jane and her twin, Alec, sat in the back of the car staring out the windows. Jane was as unsettling as ever. She may look like a young girl, but it wasn't something someone should take for granted. Her power, much like her brother's, was a mental weapon of pure torture – something I've only ever heard or read others thoughts, about. I never faced her or her brother's powers, but the tales chalk it up to be something no one should ever go up against foolishly. Her light brown hair was pulled back beneath the hood of her cloak. Her ruby red eyes stared out to look at the passing trees absentmindedly. She wasn't really looking at the trees but rather she was thinking.

The other two that sat in the car, was Demetri and Felix. Demetri sat with his hands folded together. His eyes were focused on the floor of the car as if he was focusing on something else, concentrating. I heard he was the best tracker amongst all vampires – the only other vampire I could think of as a comparison was James but even he was not on Demetri's level of skill. There was a reason Demetri was part of the Volturi guard, and James wasn't.

Felix looked as intimidating as ever as well. The only skill this hulking beast of a vampire had was unrivaled strength. Emmett of our coven was a bear, but again even my own adoptive brother couldn't compare to this guard member. Felix sat there, flexing and cracking his fingers unnecessarily.

Finally, Felix spoke up to break the silence. "I don't know why we had to take this car when we could've ran faster than this." He whined almost childishly.

Alec snickered at him but Jane regarded him coolly. Demetri didn't even acknowledge his outburst.

"Master wanted us to take this car to keep up pretenses. You know not to go against him." Jane cooed at him in a chiding manner. Felix balked; even this monster of a vampire feared the little girl.

"Of course not, but you know I'm just pointing out the obvious. Even more so if we had run to our destination, we probably would've reached the family quicker than they could've thought to run off and evade their summoning." Felix explained further, rubbing his neck to show awkward embarrassment for his outburst.

"They would be ignorant to attempt running" Alec reminded him, glancing over at Demetri.

Demetri was tracking.

Felix nodded then, giving in.

"It is merely all formalities. We are to personally escort them to our domain for their judgment, Felix. No harm must come to them as they are to be received to the elders intact. Their punishment, whatever they decide, will be dealt then." Alec continued, going back to looking out the window.

Demetri looked up then.

"And we are not far off from our destination." He spoke up, and Felix smirked then, happy with that answer.

The vision began to fade out then, where I could only see Jane's growing smile begin to form on her face…

I was pulled back to the living room. Alice and I were staring gravely at one another. The Denali coven, Esme and Carlisle stared at us in silent worry. Jasper was in full blown panic based off of our emotions. He knew that the vision was dire.

"How soon…" I uttered in a weak breath. My heart sunk when she gulped and stared down at the floor.

"They will be here in ten minutes." She whispered weakly, holding her head in her hands. Jasper rushed to her side, begging and pleading her to calm down.

"Who is coming?" Carlisle asked then, breaking the silence. He, in his thoughts, had an inkling – a gut-wrenching feeling – could only guess as to who would be arriving shortly. Esme stood close to his side in fear, concerned that her family was in danger. The Denali Coven stood defensively and guarded, waiting with unnecessary baited breath for an answer. They too knew that whoever was coming had no good intentions for their visit. Even Emmett and Rosalie, who were still waiting outside, now were waiting as well wondering why things inside the house had become so desolate and wrought with despair.

I gulped, staring down at the ground. I refused to look them in the eyes when I gave them the answer.

"The Volturi." I breathed.

Most of them gasped at this answer – mainly it was Esme, Carmen, Tanya and Kate. I heard Emmett and Rosalie growl from their spot but they soon whooshed back into the house, expressions hard. Eleazar growled lowly, pulling Carmen closer to him. Given his history with the Volturi, I could understand his nervous but otherwise protective disposition. Jasper mirrored him with his wife, ever the protective soldier. Carlisle digested the severity of it, looking grim.

"Why are they coming here?" Kate had then said in the next second, utterly hysteric.

"We need to run." Rosalie hissed, not wanting to face the vampire authority that was coming here to judge our family.

"There is no way of running. It'd be foolish to run." I growled at her; I also beat Carlisle to the punch in saying it. His thoughts were my words, so instead he nodded in agreement to my statement.

"Then we fight?" Emmett questioned, looking ready to throw down. Alice shook her head.

"Don't. Please no one, do not fight this. These guard members that are coming are much too strong. You wouldn't stand a chance against them Emmett" she did her best to dissuade his natural instincts to fight. Emmett wanted to argue, but she looked at him with such fierce fear and panic that it was enough to silence him. He nodded to please her.

"Why are they coming here? What has happened that they felt the need to make a personal visit?" Carmen cried out in worry, staring at each of us in confusion.

"Me." I surmised and they all looked at me shocked.

"How? There's no way they could've possibly found out that you shared our secret!" Rosalie snarled, staring at me with fury but confusion.

"They had to found out somehow. It's not like I told anyone else about our nature." I snapped back, matching her fiery glares with one of my own.

"Maybe through –" I hissed at Jasper's thoughts.

"No! There's no way they could've found out about her. There is no way they managed to find her to get her to spill the truth of her knowing who we are. She wouldn't do that to us." I snarled at him defiantly; I ignored Rosalie's huff as she mentally begged to differ.

Eventually we settled into a tense silence, unsure of how to proceed. There was no way for us to run from this; running from the Volturi was suicide. Demetri can easily track us, Jane and Alec with their mental powers (from the tales that I have heard of what they are like) would be sure to stop us in our tracks. If not them, then Felix would be there with his brute strength to be sure that we cannot escape them. We were trapped, and had to face this head on. No way around it, we had to take them on as civil as possible to avoid a fight and potentially, a death. I looked to Carlisle, hearing that he was thinking along the same lines as I was. He nodded to me.

"We should go outside to meet them." He muttered gravely to us, squaring his shoulders and hugging Esme closer to him.

"You're mad Carlisle!" Tanya finally spoke up in a hiss, staring at him as if he had lost his head.

"We have no choice but to face them, Tanya." Eleazar growled at her. He too knew there was no other solution but to face them directly.

Everyone looked at one another. We were uneasy, but knew this was the only choice we had. Our judgment was coming whether we liked it or not.

Soon, we mustered enough courage to walk out of the Alaskan home and out into the snowy forest of the property. We had to wait for them to arrive.

Ten minutes flew by and soon the black car pulled up the driveway. I could hear their thoughts. They mostly all centered on the fact that they wanted to deal their own kind of punishment, but would hold themselves back as they were to follow their leader's orders to go about this peacefully and cordially. We all stood there in front of the home waiting tensely for the car to stop. When it did, the four guard members filed out of the car and stood a distance away from us. I could feel Jasper tense beside Alice. In his thoughts he was highly uncomfortable with their emotions; it was mixed and swirling around them violently. There was anticipation, thrill, bloodlust, anger. It was sending him into overdrive with how it was affecting him.

Eleazar tensed as well upon seeing them. It had been many long years since he's been in contact with the Volturi. Being an ex guard member, I could tell old memories were coming to his mind again – many of which he had tried his best to shove down the deep recesses of his mind. All that he wanted to keep locked up and never face again. It was dark and troubling times for him when he was with the Volturi that much I could tell from the snippets in his mind. Carmen could sense his discomfort, and did her best to calm him down as well. She didn't like seeing her mate so easily disrupted by his dark past that was standing before him.

We stood there in silence for a brief period before Carlisle cleared his throat even though he really didn't need to.

"Greetings to you all." He spoke to them in a formal manner, trying his best to keep himself composed.

They all looked to him, and nodded.

"You are the famed Carlisle Cullen, are you not?" Demetri, the lanky tracker of the guard, spoke out loud seeking confirmation. My father figure to the coven slowly nodded his head.

"Aro's spoken so highly of you, Carlisle." Jane cooed out next, the terrifying little girl smiling creepily up at him while eyeing the whole family, and the Denali Coven that stood with us. She paused on Eleazar, her smiling curling ever so slightly into a sneer. She recognized him of course. Her thoughts were all but harsh to criticize him and his changing of ways to leave the Volturi for the Vegan diet we were accustomed to.

"I am but a modest man. Aro is too kind of course." Carlisle spoke humbly then. Alec sniffed at this answer, glancing between each of us as well.

"I guess it'd be of best interest to tell them why we are here, though I am sure they can already guess." Felix spoke up then, letting out a deep rumble of a chuckle. Emmett was sizing him up in his thoughts, still defiant and thinking he could easily take him on. Alice and I glared at him, hissing at him to stop.

"Please do tell." Carlisle continued, speaking solely for the group now.

"We can only give you the briefest of details. Full disclosure is only granted should you choose to cooperate." Alec barked, glaring over in Emmett's direction. I feared he could sense that my adoptive bear of a brother was itching to test their strength. That or as the one half of the terrifying pair that is the twins of the guard, expected at least one vampire to be foolish enough to defy their orders.

Carlisle nodded his head, agreeing to their terms.

"We are under the orders of Master Aro to bring you and your coven back to Volterra to face judgment to the Volturi. We have received news and information that has led us to believe you have disgraced the vampire world by breaking one of our most sacred rules – that one of you has exposed our nature to a human." Demetri stated out loud then, bringing forth the word of our crime.

Specifically, it was my crime. I could feel myself growing stiffer.

Jane sneered more evidently this time. Carlisle didn't know how to reply to this.

"I feel that we have done our best to keep ourselves a secret to mortals." Rosalie defied this ruling – stupidly.

We all hissed at her to keep quiet; the damn bitch didn't know when to stop with her arrogant attitude. The Guard all quirked a brow at her, daring her to prove she meant what she said.

"Please do ignore her. My daughter likes to… speak when she shouldn't." Esme pleaded, ignoring Rosalie's huff. The Guard all snickered in response.

"As much as you would like to believe that, it is not something you can so easily deny when we have proof straight from the very source." Alec tested her. Then, it happened. I was pulled into their minds again; they were recalling memories of an encounter with a particular human girl with doe brown eyes. I only caught brief glances of her in their minds. Snippets of her – be it the back of her head where I could see her full face or just a glimpse of those pouty lips biting one another in worry – it was enough to cause me to snap.

I let loose a feral snarl, wanting to lunge and attack. They had seen her, been near her. If they had done something to her, harmed her or touched her in any way –

Those thoughts were drowned by the crushing weight of forced calm and serenity that was being blanketed on top of me. It was so sudden I had no way of negating these feelings and let it overtake my rage to where I collapsed to the snowy ground below me, forcing me to kneel into submission. Jasper.

Alice crouched beside me protectively, using her thoughts to get me to accept the calm and to not go about this irrationally. The Guard watched our exchange, realization of my reaction coming to them.

"So, you must be the infamous Edward." Demetri spoke up, lips curling bemusedly when I snapped a glare at him.

"If you so much as hurt her…" I weakly hissed out in anger, but it was thickly coated with the calm Jasper was forcing onto me that it was a weak mumble at best.

Felix chuckled. "No harm came to that mere mortal. Aro took it upon himself to ensure that she wouldn't get hurt – she's in fact going to be there with you all when we deal out your rightful punishment." He informed us in almost a sickly gleeful manner. Some of us, at least those of us who cared about her, balked at his admission.

"Just take me. It was only me that told her. My family had nothing to do with it..." I argued weakly in my thick state. I was acting out in protection for them. I knew what I was to face - a certain, painful but accepted death for my crimes. I knew I should've ran away and stayed away when I had the chance. I should've never lingered around her as look where it got us? I was sure to die and so was she. They won't keep her alive. The least I could do was try and save my family from this mess. The Guard continued to snicker at me.

"Aro has rightfully said that the whole coven is to face this punishment, little Edward. The mortal was exposed to your family, and we're led to believe that your whole coven let up on the guise to act human and acted themselves around her. There is no way everyone is getting out of this. Do not fret though, you'll be facing fully for the crime of course as being the main exposer." Demetri spoke up then, sniffing in disdain. Jane giggled childishly, before looking to Carlisle with a disapproving look. I still did my best to ignore Rosalie's nasty thoughts; she was further cursing me and her to hell and back for what we had done.

"It is so sad to see that you, the highly spoken-of Carlisle Cullen that Master Aro fondly remembers, would let something like this occur." Jane absently said in a childlike coo once more, smiling in a sinister way towards us, her ruby red eyes lingering on me.

Carlisle looked down at the snow, again unsure of what to say.

"Perhaps we should bring this other coven along. No doubt they also know of this awful crime this coven has made." Alec spoke up then, glancing at the Denali coven. His eyes also lingered, this time on Eleazar.

"Please do spare them as they really have nothing to do with our crime." That was all it took to get Carlisle to speak up finally, trying his best to not involve anyone else with this mess. The Denali family had been quiet this whole time, tense and observing but doing their best to not draw the ire of the Guard.

"We may spare them. It is possibly already traumatizing as is to see us again… How is dear Sasha doing?" Jane spoke up again, her voice taunting. I looked over to see a resounding jump at the name being mentioned, and then grave, sorrowful looks passed over them. I was confused upon seeing this. Carlisle tensed even more at this trickery being brought down upon the family; he after all knew more than us Cullens knew of what happened to the original Denali leader. I only knew of her name but not of her crime – whatever it was but yet Jane knew. She must've been there to deal out the punishment.

"Please do not speak of her…" Tanya muttered weakly, jumping from Jane's cold and sudden, harsh laughter.

"Alright, I think we've taunted them enough." Demetri cut in then; he let Jane have her fun. But he was ready to have this meeting be over and done with. He was ready to escort us back to their home turf. Jane frowned at him for cutting her fun short but otherwise settled down, getting back down to business.

"We will let the other coven stay behind. But you, the Olympic Coven – the Cullens," Demetri began again, staring at each of us intently. "Are to follow us back to Volterra, Italy. We are to personally escort you per Master Aro's wishes. Of course, running would be a very foolish thought, else we'll be able to easily track you down and deal our own means of punishment in failing to abide by this order. You are to face for your crime, specifically you Edward Cullen, for exposing our true nature to a human. Do you all agree to these terms?" he finished his statement, raising his chin as if to ask us silently to defy this order they forced upon us.

I glanced between each family member of mine. They all remained stoic, even though their thoughts gave away their fears. Rosalie of course was cursing me for eternity still for the mess I had brought them in. Emmett was more concerned for our well-being – ever the protective one over us. Jasper was doing his best to keep everyone's emotions calm, even his own as much as he wanted to fight or flee from this place. But he had to be here for us. Internally he was thinking that it was the least he could do after what he had done to cause this rift between his and mine's relationship as brothers. Alice was doing all she could to keep the rapid decisions each of us were wanting to act on, under control else she would lose her own sanity. Esme and Carlisle both held thoughts of protectiveness and concern, mainly for me. They were terrified at the possible but ultimately inevitable decision that was to be made for me.

I was ready to face it. I welcomed the punishment I deserved.

"We accept them." I spoke up for my family. Alec snickered, finding it darkly amusing that the perpetrator of this crime was accepting his ultimate death that no doubt would come. Sinister glee if you will, filled him.

"We will keep our distance to a degree – to ensure none of you run off but to give you the comfort knowing we won't surely kill you at a moment's notice." Felix remarked in a dark joking tone. I could hear the deep rumble coming from Emmett, but Esme hissed at him to be quiet once more. Then, the Guard got back into their car they had arrived in. Their driver, whoever sat during this ordeal, turned around and drove off back into the trees.

Once they were gone, the Denali clan hissed out in worry.

"We could've gone with you. We wish nothing to happen to you and will be wrought with worry!" Kate growled to Carlisle, unhappy with how he decided for them to not come to Volterra.

"Please, you and Tanya suffered enough from the Volturi after… well what happened to her." Carlisle spoke to them quietly, grimacing at the second jump they gave. "Besides, if Irina were to return without knowing or having any way of contacting you, I am sure there will be more problems for you. Lest you forget you have a transitioning vampire to deal with that is Laurent… It is best to have more hands on deck in case his bloodlust is to careen out of control." He added. They all paused, looking at one another with pursed lips. They wanted to still argue their case to come with us, but knew he had the right mindset. They wouldn't want him to lose his control and only bring the Volturi down upon them again for another crime if he were to get out of hand.

"You have the right of it then." Tanya admitted out loud. She looked to me longingly; her desires for me were rearing their ugly head. I did my best to block her from my thoughts. "Do your best to keep yourselves safe from whatever's about to happen. I… I hope things turn out easy for you." She murmured; she knew most likely I am to be killed for my crime of telling her of our world. That was the usual punishment after all. The Volturi held no mercy for any crimes.

Carlisle nodded his head, but he knew he couldn't guarantee it.

Alice helped me to my feet after Jasper finally relented on his blanket of forced serenity. I still proceeded to ignore Rosalie's death wishes that she was hurling at me mentally, and looked to Carlisle.

"To Volterra then?" Emmett spoke up before I could with a sigh. We all looked at one another, grim but knowing it was time to face the music. Delaying the inevitable of leaving was only prolonging what we surely had to face.

Carlisle nodded his head. "To Volterra."

With a quick goodbye to the Denali coven, we took off into the forest in the same direction as the car. We were off to face our greatest fear.

A/N: And I shall call it there.

It took so long to really get through this chapter. Mostly was suffering from writer's block. It was in part blame that I wasn't too sure on how to prolong Edward's thoughts and feelings throughout this whole chapter. I also didn't want to drag out thought processes too much and didn't know truthfully how to proceed about bringing the Guard members into the chapter for the encounter.

Hopefully I did justice when it came to writing this in Edward's perspective. And hopefully it wasn't too boring of a chapter. Maybe it was mostly filler before we get back to Bella heading off to Italy.

I still have some inspiration of how to continue with this story. Possibly still going to be long periods in between chapter updates but I'm doing my best. Just whenever the motivation clicks with inspiration, I suppose.

Feedback is always appreciated. Till the next chapter,

~Lady Eleanora

(Apologies for any grammar and spelling mistakes, I do what I can when it comes to editing as I go.)