Hello! Thank you for your patience. I have written and rewritten this chapter so many times. It is a bit rough but we should be able to get this moving along now.

Enjoy!

In the months since the family left, I grieved for each of them. My grief danced between deep echoing pain, the kind where it feels like you're suffocating and can't breathe and someone is clutching your heart.

Every night I still have horrible nightmares that would result in my screaming, waking Charlie up. It was the same thing every time. It would be me being alone in those woods. Red eyes just staring at me as I run. The only change is who attacks me at the end. Sometimes it was Edward, Carlisle, sometimes it was the Volturi, or what I thought they would look like. Sometimes it was someone I had never seen.

Once the pain went away it was just anger. In my head I would scream and yell out all my betrayal. I would have these mock arguments with myself about how I am the one who deserved better. I would scream at him for wasting my time and for stringing me along.

Sometimes it was at myself for letting it all happen.

Now, after all of that. I can't think of a damn thing to say. All I can do is look at the dimly lit room, decorated like the rest of the castle, in dark wood and velvet drapes and look in awe at the man before me. This man who I used to love. His appearance was what caught me the most. His usual put together appearance was altered by the crumpled look of his clothes, it was clear that they had not let him change out of the clothes he traveled in. His shirt was half untucked from the front of his pants, the entire ensemble was crumpled and wrinkled. His hair had obvious signs of stress pulling and running his fingers through it. What caught me the most though was his black eyes. There was not a sign that they ever were any other color.

"Bella, Gentlemen…" The disgust that drips from his tone glaring at the boys behind me. "Do you really need to think things like that? You southerners have no manners!" He glares at Peter. I will have to ask him about that later.

"Enough. I need to talk to you Edward, I think you owe me an explanation." I say, finally thinking clearly.

"I owe you one? You insulted me in front of the vampire kings, and left me for these two in front of everyone." He snaps.

"Whoa whoa whoa, I left YOU?! Are you mental? You were the one who left me in the woods Edward. Get over yourself." For a second the fucker actually looks guilty and like he feels bad.

"I didn't want to leave you Bella. I had to. He tried to drain you! You saw his face. Carlisle and Emmett had to hold him back!"

"Stop talking to me like I am an idiot. Don't spin this at him. I cut my finger. You tried to go at me. Jasper sensed it and tried to stop you. Then you lost control and shoved me into a table. I am not as naiive and stupid as you think."

"I wouldn't have had to if his little secret hadn't finally come out!" Edward yells back at me. Little secret? Jasper said himself he is really good at hiding his thoughts from Edward. The only way he could have heard anything is….. "You knew." I say

"Oh I knew. Not until then, no my dear Brother was good at hiding the tidbit that he was depraved AND delusional that you were his mate. But when he felt my bloodlust for your blood, his mind slipped."

"Depraved and Delusional? How dare you. You wouldn't know your mate if they slapped you across the face. Mates transcend your outdated ideals of love Pretty boy" Peter pipes in. "Don't you dare stand there and try and lessen what this is."

"You are all sick."

"Is that why you left Edward? You learned the truth and thought I was tainted?"

"No, I didn't know about those two being a thing until the day in the throne room. I left because you are mine Isabella. You are MINE. I left so that he would have to. I told Carlisle what I found out and he told me we had to leave. Then I would be able to come back and get you, to finally have you for myself." He says. "Then I found out you may have killed yourself and the wolves knew about you. Carlisle told me there was too much at stake and I needed to beg forgiveness from the Volturi. I never intended for them to actually kill me. The plan was for Aro to get me on the guard to 'heal my heart' we didn't realize there was a spy in our midst."

"You were going to come back and kill me?" I ask, the realization hitting me like a ton of bricks.

"Your blood is meant for me bella. The way you smell, the fact that you were in my life. That is what you were created for. I had to wait for you to be ready.

"You are pathetic Edward. I wish the guard had killed you." I stand, staying strong while in the room. The things I wanted to say to him he didn't deserve. I turn and walk away.

JPOV

The cocktail of emotions rolling off Bella were intense. Anguish, anger, pain, betrayal. The list could go on. I know her well enough to know to let her feel it out. Peter on the other hand. He needed me to calm him down in there or he would have snapped.

"Bella, do you want to talk about it?" Peter asks when we get outside the room.

"Can we just go back to the room. If I start talking here I might cry." She says. We nod and direct her to her chambers. The walk through the castle is long and quiet. Bella's emotions eventually go to nothing. Not just like calm but unreadable.

"Bella—" I start when we get to the door.

"Do you know where my phone ended up. My dad is probably freaking out, Jake too." Her voice has lost all inflection.

"I am not sure but do you want to use mine?" Peter asks, him not knowing Bella as well as I do, he doesn't notice not as much. He feels some concern, but not much. He hands her the phone and finds his way oy me.

"Im concerned" I say quietly. "Her emotions disappeared."

"He said some pretty fucked up things in there babe. Do you blame her? The man she loved just told her he was biding time to kill her and taste her blood again."

BPOV

"Hey Dad, sorry for not calling. I am in Texas, Edward was in an accident and he tried to kill himself. He would only calm down if he saw me."

"Bella, you scared the shit out of me! I am so glad you are okay. Thank you for the note. Is Edward okay?"

"Yes, but hopefully he isn't with me when I get back." I can hear his smile from this side of the phone.

"Are you okay?" I turn around and see Jasper and Peter holding each other and all I can think is how I want to be over there. Fighting my emotions by shutting them down and burying them deep, like I did before the Cullens came back.

"I will be. I love you dad, I will be home soon."

"Love you too Bells." I hang up the phone and take a pause before calling Jake. When I left he was not happy. We had grown close but not as close as he would have liked. He was ready to kiss me when Alice showed up. I still don't know if I would have let him, knowing what I do now I wouldn't have.

I dial the number and pray he answers.

"Hello?"

"Jake, it's Bella" I say cautiously.

"Bella! Jesus fucking Christ! Thank god you are okay."

"I am find Jake, I just wanted to call and let you know. The mission was a success."

"I still don't know why you left for that blood sucker!" He yells at me.

"Don't call them that."

"Whatever, when are you coming home?"

"I uhh… Im not sure yet. We still have a few things to figure out." I say.

"We?" He asks "You better not be back with that scum Isabella, I will kill him myself."

"Calm your ass down, I am not. But there has been a new development. Jasper and his mate Peter… are my mates."