Title: Isabella Volturi

Author: MarieCarro

Beta: Project Team Beta

Translators: LaMomo (Italian) myworldisblue (Portuguese)

Genre: Supernatural/Drama

Rating: NC-17

Summary: After being left by Edward, I couldn't stand the thought of him controlling me even in his absence. I admit it was an act of defiance, but it was a decision that brought me more happiness than I'd ever thought I'd experience. New Moon AU/Canon

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

EPILOGUE

The door almost splintered when I entered my house with a loud bang. I was beyond furious, and I needed to take the anger out on something.

Whenever I closed my eyes, all I saw was how he looked at her so adoringly, and it made me sick to my core. Why did he look at her like that? Wasn't it enough that I disliked her before?

I tore off my cloak and threw it on the floor before I ran up to the second floor to search for Edward. I found him in the library sitting behind his desk with two books in front of him and his touchscreen monitor on which he wrote on occasionally.

I didn't know what he was doing and I was too angry to ask.

He looked up from his notes as soon as I entered the room, as he had already heard my angry entrance, and his eyes were worried. "Did something happen at the castle?"

"No! Whatever would make you say that?" I said, my tone laced with heavy sarcasm, but Edward didn't take it personally.

He knew me inside and out, and he gently closed both of his books before rising from his chair to walk up to me. "Won't you tell me?" he asked in a seductive voice.

"No," I said and crossed my arms. "I won't tell you because nothing happened," I continued to insist.

"But if nothing happened, then why are you upset?"

"I'm not upset!"

Edward shrugged and went back to his books.

I knew the trick he used too well, but it still annoyed me that he could get to me like that. "Fine! I just don't get what's so special with Adriana, okay," I exclaimed.

He once again closed his books and moved his chair back. He opened his arms for me to sit on his lap and I thankfully snuggled into my husband.

He gently stroke my hair and I immediately felt a lot better.

"What happened this time?" he asked softly. The volume wasn't out of fear of being overheard because we hadn't had any servants in the house for months, but he knew how much it soothed me when he talked for my ears only.

I sighed. "Only more of the same, really. I know it doesn't mean anything, but I just don't like it when Father looks at her like that. I remember when he looked at me like that. Now he doesn't as often anymore. It feels like I've been set aside, and it gets to me."

Adriana had been a vampire for eight months now, and she had weaseled her way into everyone's hearts.

Everybody liked her, including me … Sometimes.

But I couldn't stop myself from thinking about when I first joined the coven and how long it took before people started to accept me completely.

They liked me, but it took quite some time before I was accepted as one of them.

For Adriana, it had barely taken a month.

Benjamin and Tia had left Volterra two months back when he deemed Adriana to be fully trained in her gift, and he had told us that she was one of the most powerful vampires he'd ever met.

I hadn't liked hearing that.

Adriana could influence anything with water in it; snow, clouds, fog, rain, ice, hail, anything! Her only limit was that she could only handle six-hundred-thousand gallons of water at the same time, and then it was a strain for her. With that amount of water, she could create waves, waterfalls, and even walls of water if she concentrated.

She was even more powerful with water than Benjamin himself, which we'd all witnessed at one of their lessons, and it had elated Aro since Adriana was his.

"You have absolutely no reason to be jealous of Adriana," Edward said while nuzzling my hair. "If anything, she should be jealous of you. You are one of the leaders of the Volturi coven, the most powerful coven in the world. Why should you feel threatened by a guard? It's not like she can take your place." His arms tightened around me, and I started to draw random patterns on his shirt.

"I guess you're right."

He chuckled. "Love, I know I'm right. Aro loves you. You're his daughter and nothing could ever replace seventy-one years of loyalty. Your loyalty to your father has never wavered. Not once. And if I remember correctly, I believe that you, once upon a time, told me that Aro values loyalty above everything else."

He was right, and I was embarrassed of myself, but I tilted my head back and looked him in the eye. "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

"Of course I do. You love me almost as much as I love you." He winked at me and I laughed.

This was usually how we concluded things. He knew very well that our love for each other was equal, but we enjoyed teasing each other from time to time.

The sun changed position and shined through the window which grabbed my attention. I looked outside and my eyes focused on the glimmering water in the pool. "You wanna take a swim with me?"

"Definitely."

I was about to climb down from his lap to make my way to our bedroom for a bathing suit, but Edward stopped me before I could make a single move. He stood up with his arms under me and ran outside.

The sun reflected off our skin, but we weren't worried. The vegetation around the yard was too thick and the house was situated three miles from the heart of Florence. No humans were around, so we were completely safe.

"Why cover yourself up?" he asked in a whisper. "I'm rather partial toward your unclothed body."

It wasn't until that moment I realized that I had left my shield completely down and Edward had been able to read my every thought since I first entered his hearing range.

"Why didn't you tell me I left it down?" My tone was playfully accusative.

Edward chuckled. "Why would I? Your thoughts are too entertaining to deprive myself of them."

I lightly hit his chest and pretended to be put out with him. My shield was still down, though, now consciously so, and he knew that I was just playing him.

We reached the pool and he set me down on my feet, but he didn't let me out of his arms. He lifted me from the ground so that my feet dangled as he kissed me deeply, and when he licked my bottom lip to ask for permission to enter, I gladly gave it to him.

The sun was warm on my skin and I enjoyed every second of it.

Suddenly, we were falling sideways into the pool. We were still fully clothed and I knew that Edward did that on purpose.

When I broke the surface, I saw him grinning at me. "Oh, you are in big trouble now, mister."

I dove under the surface and pulled on his leg to drag him underwater with me. He was still smiling at me as he pulled me against his chest underneath the water.

We played for a while, but as it most often did, it soon turned into something else. Edward had me pressed against the edge of the pool—our clothes were floating around in the water—and he had successfully chased away all of my unnecessary jealousy of Adriana.

The night fell and we climbed out to just sit underneath the starlit sky. I was completely content as I leaned my head against my husband's shoulder and admired the glimmering lights in the darkness. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

*~IV~*

9 years later

The big double doors to the throne room were opened and Edward stepped inside, all dressed in black.

His pale skin and red eyes contrasted dramatically with the color of his clothes, and I hungrily drank him in. He was so insanely handsome.

My hands tightened into fists around the fabric I was holding, but I quickly released it. My long, sharp nails could make holes in the fabric, and I didn't want to destroy it.

Father opened up his arms and announced the reason for our gathering before directing Edward to come forward.

He walked up to the thrones with certain, confident steps and knelt down in front of us.

Aro walked up to Edward and put his hand on his head. "Edward, do you promise to be forever loyal to the Volturi?"

"I do," Edward replied, and a surge of pride went through me.

"And will you, Edward, uphold our laws and values by punishing those who deserve it?" Caius' hand joined Aro's.

"I will."

With every vow that Edward agreed with, more warmth spread through me. I felt completely filled with it.

"Do you promise to protect what we all hold dear inside of these walls?"

Marcus' voice had considerably changed since I'd pledged my loyalty to them. During my ceremony, his voice had been monotonous and bored, but now it was filled with authority and dedication.

I was so happy that my uncle had finally come to life again. He would always feel incomplete without Didyme, but by talking about the tragedy that had plagued his life for so long, he had come to realize that his late wife would never have forgiven him if he were to shorten his own life.

"I do."

I joined my father and uncles in front of my husband and placed my hand over theirs on his head. "Will you serve us willingly for as long as you shall live?"

The vow I made him promise had been tweaked a bit since this ceremony was different from when a guard joined the coven.

Edward wouldn't become a guard. He would become a counselor and an honorary family member.

Since I was one of the coven's leaders, I would never leave, and Edward's marriage to me meant that he wouldn't be able to leave either. His vow of serving us as long as he lived was like a renewal of his vow to stay with me.

"I will."

Aro made the finishing speech in Greek, and now I knew what he was saying compared to my own ceremony when I'd had no idea.

"This man has pledged his loyalty to this coven, the family, and its guard. We welcome him with open arms and without prejudices. Will you make him feel like one of us by teaching him our ways?"

The customary 'Yes' in all the languages of the guard rang out and Father gestured for me to drape the black cloak over Edward's shoulders.

Edward rose on Aro's command, and after my father had fastened the buckle of the cloak, I grabbed his right arm. I gently removed the cuff-bracelet with the Cullen crest on it and placed it in his hand. Then I reached into my pocket and presented my husband with the Volturi crest necklace.

He ducked his head, and I put it around his neck.

When his eyes met mine again, I gave him a small but passionate kiss.

"Welcome to the Volturi Coven, Edward."

A/N:

So, that's it. It's officially over.

Now I want to tell you how much I've appreciated your never-ending support on this story. I never in my wildest dreams thought that this story would get so much attention.

I have a few people I would like to thank!

First to LaMomo and myworldisblue for the translations to Italian and Portuguese.

Secondly, to all the betas on Project Team Beta that corrected my grammar and mistakes throughout the story. I would like to list all of them, but there's thirty of them so that would just take up a bit too much space ;-P

Hopefully, if anyone of them is reading this story, they'll know that I'm talking about them and know how much I've appreciated their help! Thank you!

Thirdly to all of you wonderful readers and reviewers. You've kept me going through this whole thing, but I would like to thank a few special ones,

Purradox – You faithfully read all my stories and review every chapter. Thank you so much!

Falling In Bleeding Roses – For giving me the review that kept me going in the beginning when the story was still fighting for attention.

dj071688-Coppertop – For always being excited about the next update and following it with dedication on FB.

LaPumuckl – You just recently joined this story, but you deserve a thank you here because you went through this story in what? Two or three days and took time to review each and every chapter. That meant a lot to me. Thank you! And also for being my 400th reviewer!

So that was the thanks.

Now I would like to try something out here.

It would just be awesome if each and every one of you told me in a review which country you are from so that I get to know exactly how far this story has reached out. I'll then make a list and put that up as an "update" after this chapter and you'll get to see as well!

And also, I would like to know what you all really thought of the story as a whole and what your absolute favorite part was.

Why was it your favorite part?

Was it something special you thought I did well?

I would be incredibly grateful if you told me these things and it would kind of be a fun thing as well :-D

Okay, I'm done talking now!

Thank you all so so much and I'll see you in my next story!

Lots of love and hugs and kisses

MarieCarro