Author's Note: Yeah, I know. I said that I'd wait a month to start this one, but the story just would not shut up. This is a direct sequel to Elements, focusing on a pair of threesomes involving David and Tyson's younger brothers Kaleb and Kolbi, the twin wolves Daniel and Devin Redwind, and Marcus and Felix of the Volturi. This is going to be a strange one, but then, so was Elements. So here goes.

Author's Note 2: If man-on-man isn't your thing, please don't read any further. You have been warned. ;)

Rated M for violence, strong language, adult themes, and M/M/M love scenes

Disclaimer: The Twilight books and characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer. I own nothing except my OC's.

Unstable Elements

Prologue: Impatient

Felix looked out across the forest, his ears tuned to the sounds of the night. He wasn't used to sneaking around like this; he was more of a take-action kind of vampire. But considering what had almost went down the last time he and his companion had been here, he could understand the need for caution. If the Cullens found them before they were ready to show themselves, there would be a huge mess.

So he and his companion kept a safe distance from Forks, being careful to feed only on animals. It was a disgusting diet, but Felix had to admit that it wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be. The mountain lion he'd bagged the night before had actually tasted pretty good. Not something he'd want to eat every day, but it was certainly filling.

He turned to look at his companion. "Not to sound impatient," he said, "but when are we going to make a move? We've been here for weeks now. I'm bored."

"Calm yourself, Felix," Marcus said. His inflectionless voice sounded a little more animated than usual. "We only have to wait a little longer. We are about to meet our destiny here and we must be ready for it." He turned his yellowish-orange eyes up to the sky and went quiet.

Felix regarded him for a moment and then did the same. He didn't know what to make of Marcus's so-called premonition. The ancient's gift was the ability to read people's emotional bonds, not seeing the future. Future sight was the province of that slightly annoying pixie-like female that had thrown a monkey wrench into the works in Volterra. If Aro hadn't wanted her power so badly, they wouldn't have been handed their first defeat in thirty-five centuries.

Alice Cullen and Bella Swan had had the bad luck to draw Aro's attention. A vampire with future sight had been too great a prize for Aro to ignore, while Bella's gift had been operating at full strength when she was still human. That had shocked the shit out of the guard, but Jane had taken it the hardest; the sadistic little bitch took great pride in her ability to inflict imaginary pain on people, and to meet someone she couldn't hurt was an inconceivable anomaly that had to be eliminated. Added to that was this fascinating tidbit: After she'd been turned, Bella had been able to shield not just herself, but her family, their witnesses, AND their canine allies from Jane and all the other Volturi guardsmen whose gifts attacked the mind. That had been more than the little blonde had been able to tolerate and she'd nearly blown Aro's plans to hell by trying to go for Bella's throat. It had been kind of funny.

Alec's power hadn't fared much better. The only thing that he'd accomplished was to illustrate just how big Bella's shield was. And to think that she'd seemed so weak when she came to Edward's rescue in Volterra!

It was another four hours before Felix's impatience got the better of him again and he looked to Marcus, about to ask a question. The elder surprised him by answering before the question was even asked. "It will be soon," Marcus said. "You must have patience."

"I know, I know," Felix said. "But it's not easy. You know it's just a matter of time before Aro realizes that we're not coming back. Once he figures it out, he'll send the others after us." He wasn't looking forward to that moment; while he hadn't been especially close to any of his fellow guardsmen, he liked to think that he'd made some friends among them. But those ties would mean nothing when Aro discovered what he and Marcus had done.

If he doesn't already know. And knowing him, he does. That wasn't a very comforting thought. In all likelihood, Aro had arranged for Chelsea to weaken Marcus and Felix's loyalty to the Volturi. But that didn't make any sense; Aro wasn't the type to release anyone from their servitude unless he was sure that he could get them back under his thumb later.

Felix wasn't exactly given over to thinking too much; it was an unprecedented leap of logic for him. Whatever had happened to sever his and Marcus's ties to the rest of the coven wasn't the conniving ancient's style. When Aro and Caius became aware of the situation, they'd lead an expedition to either bring them back or destroy them.

Felix frowned; neither possibility was very appealing. They were free now after God only knew how many centuries of indentured servitude and he, for one, was not going back to it. He'd rather die first.

"I'm aware of the consequences, youngling," Marcus said. He reached out and laid a hand on Felix's shoulder. "At this point, we don't really have anything to lose. In the meantime, we must continue our preparations and hope that the Cullens are in a forgiving frame of mind."

Felix's only response to that was a barely audible "Hmmmm." There was a small possibility that the Olympic coven would simply destroy them, but that wasn't their style. They were strong in ways that Aro had never anticipated. The wolves and Bella's shield had tipped the scales in their favor the year before; they were capable of putting up a good fight, assuming it got that far.

But Marcus was right: They had to be patient. Whatever had drawn them back here was going to happen soon and Felix wanted to be ready when the time came.

Author's Note: So ends the prologue. It's a little twisted in spots; I'm not exactly sure where some of the threads are going. But that's part of the fun: finding out where those threads lead and who gets tangled up in them. Please read and review. Thank you. :)