Alec's POV

Smile.

That was all I could do then. After all, my mate, the woman that I love with all that I am, just told me that she loved me.

It had taken all my self control not to jump around like Jane sometimes does whenever she feels happy about something.

And we shared our first kiss, too. It was magical. Now, I kind of sound like a girl. But hey, give me a break, I've been waiting for that moment since I knew she was my mate.

I wasn't fond of the idea that it wasn't her first kiss. Well, to be fair, it wasn't mine either. I had some lovers in the past. Nothing serious. I just courted them to fill my free time. Immortality couldn't be more boring than those times before Bella had been born. She lit up my world. She was my shining star. My angel. My home. My everything.

Sure, I could go on and on and on about how precious she was to me.

This morning when I told her how I've loved her all these past years, I hadn't expected her to say it back. I knew she would someday love me too. But I didn't expect her to just welcome this. Us.

Late that night after Bella went to sleep, in her room of course, Demetri knocked on my door, demanding my presence at the throne room immediately.

When we went in everyone was silent. There was tension in the air.

Before I could ask what was wrong, Master Aro stood and opened his mouth.

"Well, all Elites are here now. Let's begin the meeting." He said.

Meeting? The Elites were all here, that could only mean problems.

"There's an army of newborns in Seattle. This army is very dangerous. They mean trouble. We have to take care of that. I trust you, Elites, to take care of this. You all will leave immediately on the private plain straight to Seattle. I trust Demetri to lead you to their location. End all of them, but bring back the leader. Alive. She will be personally punished here. I'll take care of that." He said seriously.

The Elites nodded. Interesting. A newborn army. A good fight.

Usually I would be one of the most excited to go on a mission. But a mission means leaving Bella behind. I didn't really like that now. But duty is duty. I had to go. No matter what. Bella would understand. I would make it up to her, later, of course.

"Master, may I ask who the leader is? A woman? That's strange. I haven't heard of a woman being an army leader except for that Maria woman, back in Texas." Jane, my fierce little sister, asked.

Master Aro sighed. Not a good sign.

"It's Victoria." Master Caius suddenly said, understanding his brothers problem with the woman.

Victoria. That bitch.

Excuse my language, please.

I could only conclude one thing. She is trying to take Bella away from me. No. That wouldn't happen. I wouldn't allow it.

I personally thought that she was either stupid, or in denial. She should have figured out that Bella wasn't that pathetic Cullen's mate when he could walk away and leave her so easily. In the middle of the forest, no less.

I would personally kill her. No. I wasn't allowed to. Yet. Maybe I could compromise with Master Aro.

The fact that Victoria was the leader made this all the more exciting. I couldn't wait to get my hands on her. Kill her, preferentially.

The Elites left the room. I went to my room and changed my clothes to my mission uniform. Specially designed, by Heidi, for all the Elites. She made all of us wear it on every mission. I tried not using it once, not a smart move. In the end I just have to wear it. She designed differently for each member, a representation our power, she said.

I went to Bella's room and decided to just enter. It was almost midnight. Bella was still peacefully sleeping on her bed. I didn't dare to disturb her. So I just sat next to her and held her hand. I inhaled her scent. Memorizing her. I gave one last kiss on her forehead, and left her bedroom.

I was just about to close the door, when I heard her whisper my name.

"Alec..." She turned over. Still sleeping. "...Love...you."

I smiled. Dreaming of me, sweet girl? I shook my head and closed the door. I ran to the throne room where everyone else was.

Almost all the Elites were there. Ready to go.

Heidi was the last one to enter. As expected. We left as soon as Master gave the order.

The plane ride was excruciating. I felt anxious already.

Tension was in the air. I spent most of the flight siting on the farthest seat, near the window, away from the noise. Thankfully, my teammates kept their activity silent, respecting me. They knew I was already on edge, and even the always playful Felix knew not to disturb me.

Landing in Seattle couldn't be faster. No luggage. We used the private plane.

Demetri, as instructed, began leading the search. We found them near the harbor. It was a mess. Dead human bodies were laying here and there. Most of them missing parts.

A slightly older vampire, but still in his newborn phase also, stood in the middle. Screaming profanity to his army.

He couldn't be the leader. Such an amateur.

We watched as they tried to clean up the mess and leave. Stupid newborns couldn't even clean properly. Making huge mistakes that could endanger our kind by exposing our existence.

Demetri make a sign for us to attack as planned earlier on the plane.

The girls, or women as the insist to be called, Felix, Afton and Santiago were to attack the army. Demetri and I were gonna take the leader, both the boy and the woman. I couldn't wait to get my hands on her.

We didn't take long. We went to their base camp to attack. We waited until the leader, Riley left the newborns.

Few minuter later after he was no longer within hearing range, we attacked, and Demetri began tracking Riley.

We found him in an old abandoned building. He was standing on the middle.

'I'll take him. You go find Victoria.' I signed to Demetri.

'OK.' He signed back.

He took off quietly to find Victoria.

I straightened up my pose, ready to get my hands on him.

I stepped out of my hiding place and began my attack. I ran behind him and took ahold of his neck. He was startled, but he fought back. He flipped us over, but failed to dropped me, so I landed on my feet. His recently fed body was stronger than me, but centuries of experience certainly helped me.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" He asked cockily.

He began circling me. "Ah." He noticed the crest on my cuff links. "A Volturi guard." He laughed.

He tried to attack me again. But of course failed to do so.

He growled. "You think I'm afraid of you? NO. I don't care if you're Volturi or not, no one is gonna mess with me and my Vicky."

Oh wow. That nickname certainly didn't fit her.

"Arrogant much?" I said.

He growled again. With all his growling, somebody gonna think he was a werewolf instead of a vampire.

I concentrated and used my powers on him. I took away his senses but kept his ability to feel and speak.

"Can't do anything now, can you?"

I stepped closer to him and ripped off his middle finger. He screamed so loud. Louder than my sister used to.

I ripped some more of his fingers, and enjoy his screaming. Music to my ears.

No one dared to threaten, or even plan to hurt my mate without getting past me. They'll have to kill me first.

I ripped both of his arms off and enjoyed his even louder scream.

Out of nowhere, a vampire attacked me. I tried to get away but she succeed half-way ripping my right arm. And it hurt. Like a bitch.

I growled. I was caught off guard and Riley got his senses back. He fell to the floor, a sobbing mess.

"How dare you hurt him! You have no right to." The vampire, Victoria screamed at me.

"Oh, believe me. I have every right to do so." I answered.

She roared and attacked me. She definitely got a benefit out of my injured arm. But I successfully avoided her blow.

"You tried to hurt my mate! I have every right to hurt and kill you both!" I roared back to her.

I guess, all this roaring were getting to me.

"That bitch deserved it for killing my mate!" She screamed at me.

"No. Edward Culled and his family did! They killed your mate. Bella didn't!"

She didn't seem to care for what I said, instead she lunged again for me. This time she somehow managed to ripped my already hanging right arm completely off. Let me tell you, that hurt more than like a bitch.

Fighting with one arm, not to mention the left one, was quite difficult. Victoria fight dirty. She would hide and then suddenly appear out of nowhere and attack. Maybe it was her gift. Hiding. That could be why Demetri always had a hard time tracking her.

Geez. She always attacked on my vulnerable side. The right one. One time she got a hold on my neck and tried to rip it. Some of the right side skin there were actually ripped, it gushed a lot of venom.

God. Where were the others?

We continued fighting. Finally I succeed grabbing her neck and ripped her head from her body.

"Alec!" Screamed Heidi.

"Victoria? She's here? I tracked her and couldn't find her. She lead me circling this area and to the newborn's place." Demetri exclaimed, clearly sounding shocked and a little disappointed with himself.

So much for a help. They came when the enemies were dead on the floor.

Well I was in the floor too. The injuries effect's and exhaustion began entering my body.

"Alec! Are you okay?" Jane said, clearly panicked.

"Well Jane, he's laying on the floor, missing an arm and half of his neck skin is ripped. Do you think he's okay?" Felix said.

He's lucky he was her mate, else Jane would have killed him for saying that during this situation.

"Shut up Felix! This is not time for your stupid jokes!" Jane said.

"Guys! Let's just move him to our plane. Felix, Afton, clean all these mess up!" Commanded Heidi.

"Wait! Bring that bitches, body but don't re attach her head." Jane said, remembering Master Aro's order.

"Hey how about this one?" Asked Felix, nudging Riley's torn body with his foot.

"Whatever. He isn't important. He's yours to handle, just please, Felix, do not bring back any body parts to our room, or so help me, the next time you know it's you're own separated body parts you're gonna play with." threatened Jane, must be traumatized from that time where Felix did exactly that.

They moved me to the plane and tried to fix my injuries. They attached my hand back and helped me closed my ripped neck skin. God. It did hurt.

Not long after that, Felix and Afton came back. They said that they had cleaned everything up and we had nothing to worry about. We took off to Italy soon after that.

I didn't know if it was the separation, the injuries, or what but the plane seemed to take so long. I missed my mate so much already. Why couldn't it be faster.

Finally after what felt like a year, we landed in Volterra.

I'm a Barbie girl. In a Barbie world~

With an annoyed sigh, Felix answered his phone. "Ciao Maestro? Sì, è bene. Solo irritabile perché gli manca il nostro piccolo Bells. Cosa? No! Dille solo che sta bene e che ci sarà presto. Va bene, grazie, Maestro." (Hello Master? Yes, he's fine. Only cranky because he misses our little Bells. What? No! Just tell her he's fine and that he'll be there soon. Okay, thank you, Master.)

"What is it, Felix?" I said urgently.

"The new secretary told Bella you were hurt very badly, which is not really untrue, and she fainted. Probably thinking the worst. Poor Gi-"

I didn't need to hear the rest. The important thing is that I needed to get to her as soon as possible. She must had worried herself too much. My little mate, always thinking of someone else before herself.

I ran as fast as I could straight to her room. Before I could reach her door, Master Aro caught me.

"Master." I bowed to him.

"Rise, Alec. Now, where do you think you're going just now? Bella's room? I don't think so." He said.

What? He couldn't possibly do this right? This is a crime! "What? Why? I thou-"

"No. Go to your room, take a bath and change your clothes first. My poor girl doesn't need extra worry seeing your torn clothes, and honestly, you smell awfully close to ashes." He said. Oh. OH. Right. He was right.

"You're right master. Of course. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to my room." I said and got ready to leave. Half way there, Master called me back.

"Yes master?" I said.

"Thank you. You just once again proved that you're good enough for her." His face was serene.

"Anything for her. Thank you master." I said and left the room.

Good to know he's approving of me. Now where was my towel? I needed to take a bath.

I knocked on Bella's door later that night. Or dawn. Yeah... I really couldn't care less about it.

She was resting on her bed. Her usually peaceful expression was replaced with a mask of terror.

With a sigh, I sat on her side, being careful of my hand. I hadn't fully recovered, but Bella was my first priority. I tucked strands of her hair away from her face. Sigh. My beautiful mate. How did get so lucky? She started to stir and her eyes fluttered, as she let out a small moan of distress. "Alec..."

She trashed her head right and left, while still whimpering and moaning my name. I lift her body and rest it against mine, trying to hug her without disturbing my injuries. I lean her head on my chest, hushing her cries.

"Shhhh, I'm here Bella. Everything's gonna be alright. I'm fine. Wake up, honey." I told her over and over.

I rocked her back and forth. Her heartbeat increased and her eyes fluttered open. She titled her head up to look at my face. Her mouth opened and formed a perfect 'O'. Her face, a clear picture of shock. "Alec!" She practically screamed at me.

She launched her small frame and hugged me. It usually wasn't a problem for me but my injuries were definitely disadvantaging. I hissed when she nudged my injured shoulder. Her eyes quickly widen, and she started tearing up.

She retread back and looked at her bed, silently crying. "I'm sorry Alec, I didn't mean to. I-, I-, I'm just sorry." She babbled through her tears.

"No, it's fine Bella. Come here." I gestured for her to came back to my arms. She hesitated a bit but did so.

She hugged me carefully, mindful of my obvious injuries. Once she found a perfect position she hugged me tighter and started shaking up.

"You're here. You're okay. Oh, I was so worried! Sh-she told me you were injured badly and I just couldn't imagine, I-. Oh Alec." She choked up at the end.

I rubbed her back, and let her get it all out.

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm here. Don't worry, princess. I'll be fine. It was nothing."

She suddenly squirmed out of my arms, and looked my in the eyes.

"Nothing? Nothing?! Alec you are hurt! Look at your shoulder! Your right arm! It was ripped off, wasn't it? And what is that on your neck? She ripped your head off? That b-"

"Calm down! Bella! Your heart is racing! Deep breaths honey!"

"Calm down?! You told me to calm down! Alec! With those injuries she could have killed you!"

"But she didn't, and I'm here now. So please calm down."

She took some deep breaths and glared at me.

"Okay. Now, let me explain. Yes, my right arm as you can see, was ripped off. And no, she didn't rip my head off. She did bite my neck and ripped some skin off though. Just relax, these things have happened before and they are nothing serious, Hon. Sure it hurts but I guess I'm a little used to it. 'Sides, Afton and Heidi are helping me take care of it. It's almost healed, a day or two would do it." I told her softly.

She sighed and closed her eyes. I couldn't resist. I pulled her back into my arms, well as much as I could. She gave in without resistance and rest her head on my uninjured shoulder.

"I just hate that she hurt you. You don't deserve this, if anyone does it's me. I'm the one she's looking for not you guys, and especially not you. I don't like to see you hurt, especially because of me." She said.

"Bella... Where did that nonsense comes from? You know, if someone dares to hurt you they would have to cross me first. You don't deserve this. She blamed you for her mate's death. And it wasn't your fault. He tried to kill you. I swear if he wasn't already dead, I would torture his ass and by the time I'm finished he wouldn't dare to be even 1000 miles away from your presence. Besides you didn't kill that bastards. The Cullens did. So if her logic had worked right she should have come after those Cullen instead of you." I told her while stroking her hair.

"Now about me getting hurt because of you, that's bullshit. And you know it. Bella, I love you. I would give away my existence for yours. I'd do anything to protect you and make you happy. It is my duty to protect you." I continued.

She only nods softly. That's just like her. So selfless. Never think of herself, always putting others first. I hope she sometimes would think of her self first, especially for her safety.

She pulled away and slowly moved to my right shoulder. She looked up at me and search something in my eyes, as if she was unsure and searching for reassurance in my eyes, and whatever it was she found them. She slowly moved closer to my injured shoulder and kissed it. Then she moves to my neck and kissed my almost healed neck. Finally she titled her head up and kissed my lips.

"She's dead." I said while stroking her hair.

Bella hummed, readjusting her laying positions beside me. "Is it wrong if I say that I'm relieved?"

"No. It's perfectly normal to feel that way, Bells. She no longer could bother your life." I said, smiling down at her.

"No. Not my life. Our lives." She smiled back at me.

Our peaceful moments were disturbed by a knocking on my door. Heidi popped her head in.

"Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I'd like to check on Alec's injuries." She said.

"Oh no, it's fine. Come in Heidi." Bella said getting up from our comfortable positions on her bed.

Heidi walked in with her bag in tow. She sat beside me on the bed, and looked at my shoulder blades where my arm was ripped off. I intentionally had tore the right arms of my shirt so my injuries wouldn't be covered and easily checked.

She began pulling away the bandages. I put a smile on for Bella's shake who was now sitting on my other side on the bed.

I hissed when she touched the sensitive tissues there. She rolled her eyes and told me to suck it up. Finally she wrap it up in a new set of bandages and check on my neck.

"Everything looks good. Your arms will be all good in one or two days and your neck injury is all healed." She said while collecting her 'medical' stuff back to her bag.

"See Bells I told you so." I said to Bella.

Bella only rolled her eyes and accompanied Heidi out the door after thanking her.

She closed the door and got back in her place beside me.

"We should probably get up and around. Everyone would probably like to know that were still alive." She said.

She was right but I didn't want to leave just yet. It kinda felt nice this way.

"Fine. I'll go to my room now, you better get ready it's almost time for the 'after mission meeting'."

"Ok. Be careful, don't put too much strain on your arm." She said and kiss my lips chastely.

I walked out of her room and headed to mine. Well, hello reality.

A/N: So, what do you think? It's a little longer than usual. Don't forget to leave some love! See you on the next chapter!