Bella in Denali: Chapter 8 (THE LAST CHAPTER!)

You might think if your head was separated from your body, you wouldn't be aware of what was going on around you. Well, you'd be wrong. I was aware of my head lying right next to my body. I could see Edward grabbing hold of Victoria and Irina ripping her to pieces. I was even aware of my arm crawling away from me. I felt like whistling and calling, "Hey, arm! There's a good girl. Come on, come here so I can reattach you to my shoulder. No, don't go near that fire! Bad girl. This way. Over here." Luckily, Edward grabbed my arm before it reached the fire and brought it over to me with a pained look on his face.

Carlisle was working on me. He was placing my arm in the correct place and also my head. He also found the chunk of my neck that Victoria had bit off and placed it. It took about five minutes before I was completely healed. Thank God for vampire abilities. While I was healing, everyone grabbed the rest of the bodies and make a bigger bonfire than before.

I walked over to the newborn who had made the truce with Carlisle. I sat down next to her and saw Edward stiffen. I knew he was worried that she would turn on me and hurt me like Victoria did. I knew better than that. She was the one who tried to help me.

"Thank you for trying to save me," I told the girl. "I'm Bella. What's your name?"

"Bree," she said. She smiled at me and then frowned. "Are you alright? I saw you getting torn apart…"

I grimaced. "I'm fine now."

She nodded in understanding and looked down at the ground.

"How about you?" I asked. "Are you alright?"

She nodded after a moment. "Yeah… I just… can't control myself very well." She looked up at me with mournful eyes.

"Ah…" I said sadly. "I… understand. I'm a newborn too. I've been a vampire for a little more than four months. I know how you feel. I… accidentally ran into my father right after the change. He's d-dead." I looked down at the ground, trying not to cry.

I felt someone place a hand over mine. I looked up to see Bree smiling sadly at me. "I'm so sorry. But the past is the past. You need to let go or you'll be miserable forever. Don't forget, just… make peace with it. I'm sure your father understood and forgave you."

I smiled slightly, not truly believing it. "Thank you," I whispered almost inaudible.

Bree was about to speak, but we heard arguing begin across the clearing.

"Why is she still alive, Carlisle? She tried to kill me, and you let her live?" Tanya questioned loudly.

"Tanya," Carlisle pleaded. "She surrendered. She gave up the fight. No one, besides Bella was injured. I am positive Bree had nothing to do with it, since she is currently talking to Bella with no sign of aggression."

"She tried to kill me!" Tanya insisted. "I say that I should be entitled to defend and revenge myself."

"Tanya…" Carlisle sighed.

I interrupted before she could continue the argument. "She just wants to kill Bree because Bree's the only one who witnessed Tanya trying to kill me."

Everyone except Tanya and Bree stared at me with their mouths open. Bree looked at the ground whereas Tanya glared at me murderously.

"What?" Edward asked darkly.

Tanya spoke before Bree or I could. "She doesn't know what she's talking about. There was a war going on and she's the least experienced."

I glared at her. This time, Bree spoke before I could. "No, Bella's right. I saw this girl—" she pointed at Tanya "—trip her. Then when she tried to get up she—"

"Are you going to believe this little newborn who none of us know rather than me, your cousin," Tanya demanded.

"Edward," I called. He looked at me with confused eyes. I could tell that Tanya was doing everything in her power to lie in her thoughts. I walked up to Edward ad grabbed his face.

It took every ounce of my concentration and willpower to remove my shield from my mind. It was the hardest thing for me to do. I had both Eleazar and Kate help me with it. Eleazar was able to tell me more about my ability every time I took it down. It would only be down for a second or two, but it was enough.

I let the scene of what happened roll through my mind. I felt Edward stiffen. I continued and focused on my fear, betrayal, and my anger. She tried to kill me to gain my mate. When I couldn't hold it anymore, I released it and dropped my hands from his face.

He looked at me shocked. "How—"

"Later. I'll explain it later," I told him in a quite voice.

Edward turned to Tanya with a murderous look on his face. "You tried to kill my Bella!" It was a statement, not a question."

Tanya looked surprised. "You believe this newborn—"

"No! I believe Bella. She sucks at lying, let alone in her thoughts, but you—you— you're an expert at lying!"

Tanya turned to look at me. She gave me the look someone might give a rat. "You—" She couldn't finish because she lunged at me.

Before I could react, Tanya was thrown across the clearing by Edward. She came at me again, but Edward grabbed her. The next thing I heard was an ear piercing crash and saw Tanya on the ground. Edward had smacked Tanya.

"Don't you ever come at my Bella again! If you go anywhere near my Bella, or even myself, you will get much more than a smack on the cheek. Now stay away from my mate!" Edward yelled a shocked and scared Tanya.

She gave me a dirty looks, and Edward growled at he as he took a step forward. She backed up fast and threw Kate and Irina a pleading look. Irina turned and walked away to Carmen, who had her hand in front of her mouth. Kate walked up to Edward and grabbed his arm. I could tell she was speaking to Edward in her mind. Whatever she said made Edward relax.

Kate walked over to Tanya and grabbed her arm. Tanya dropped to the ground like a human being tasered. Everyone was shocked by what Kate did.

"I can't believe you would try to kill Bella— or anyone for that matter —because you wanted a guy. Edward's taken; he's happy. Let him be," Kate said with anger in her voice.

Tanya looked shocked and wounded. She stood up stiffly and took off into the woods. I knew she wasn't running away permanently; she merely had to get away from pain and humiliation.

The house in Chicago was ready a week after the battle. We were saying our goodbyes to the Denali's at their place. Tanya was upstairs not saying a word. I was both sad and excited to leave. I would miss Eleazar and his stories, Carmen and her passion for art, Kate and her humor, and Irina for her devotion to family, but I was excited to leave Tanya. I also wanted to see where Edward was born as a human. I know the town was way different, but the house would be the same.

I walked out the Denali house with my hand in Edward's. I saw our newest member, Bree, talking to Esme. I took a deep breath and took off running with Edward as we begun the rest of our lives together.

A/N: That's the end of this story. Please tell me in a review or a PM if you would like a sequel or just leave this story the way it is. Please tell me what you think in that lovely box that all fanfiction authors love. :D Hope you all have a great night, and thank you for sticking with this story. Love you guys.

~JerinAnn