DISCLAIMER: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight not me. I just love playing around with the characters we all know and love. :-)
AUTHOR NOTES:
*At this point my story already has 63 reviews, 51 favorites, and 92 followers. WOW. Thanks for all the support. I really love reading the reviews so if you haven't left one before, in a little while, or have any questions or comments to share, please do. Even on earlier chapters, if you want.
*I've had a couple people ask me about the time period of this story. I basically combined a couple different periods to make what I felt society would be like in old times but with the added benefit of immortal creatures with time on their side, enabling earlier advancements in certain fields (i.e. medicine/etc...). There's no real one century I had in mind for the story but if it helps anyone envision it better, I'll try to paint a picture. The castle opulence of the 15th century (I love castles), with 17th-18th century society, and finally some late 19th century advancements. I hope that helps but remember this is a FANTASY world where vampires and werewolves rule over everything so don't search to hard for historical accuracy. LOL. At it's core this story is how I would write the twilight story during "medieval times" (I use the term loosely) with some more modern stuff thrown in.
******HOPE THIS HELPS******
*Sorry for delay in update. I've had a lot going on in the world outside fanfiction. DAMN YOU REALITY! Lol. Preganancy, working 50+ hours, my oldest starting school, youngest is sick, house repairs, my other fanfiction, etc... you get the idea. Anyway sorry for delays. Here's the longest chapter I've ever posted for any story to make up for delay. :-) Now please show some love and leave lots of REVIEWS! :-) :-) :-) :-)
*I kind of rushed posting this today so forgive grammar problems. I wasn't in an editing mood. Thanks everyone :-)
**Words represented like this are said mentally so only Edward can hear them**
CHAPTER #5: The Ties that Bind
EPOV
I wanted the opportunity to get to know Isabella more, to learn everything about her but it was late and she WAS human. She was yawning shortly after we arrived home. A small part of me was disappointed we wouldn't have the chance to talk more but another part of me was looking forward to holding her as she slept. No noise, no voices, no doubt, no worries, just us... being.
I needed to enjoy this calm while I still could. It wasn't as if I was delusional up until this point, I knew we had been fortunate in our own peaceful state of calm and comfort, safe from the world's scrutiny. That was going to change now, and it was going to change fast. I wasn't going to be able to keep her a secret much longer, even if I wanted to. Truthfully I didn't want to anyway. I wanted to announce her to the world. The new Crowned Princess of Olympia... and my future Queen. As much as I wanted to focus on the excitement this image caused me, I knew there would be fallout. My homeland had been met with no shortage of judgment, jealousy, fear, distrust, and anger by the other covens over the centuries. The reasons were countless as we had quite the history, and sadly it was no secret to the other kingdoms.
Vampires, werewolves, humans,... it didn't matter because in many ways we were all the same. We rejected the unfamiliar, and immortals are far less comfortable with change then humans are. This was a problem as since my father, Olympia has gone through a LOT of change. The first vegetarian, Carlisle. The first imprinting, again my father. The first imprint, my mother. The first pure born, myself. The first and only society offering equal rights to humans. The kingdom with the largest number of imprints and therefore pureborns. The one and only society not struggling with blood shortages. The strongest nation both militarily and socially. The list went on and on. The other nations would openly deny the last point but we all knew the truth.
Now we would have a whole new list of firsts to add in. The first pure immortal to imprint, again myself. The first imprint to a pureborn, Isabella. I smiled internally, as my mind shifted to what would hopefully be a first as well... The first child of a pure line, Isabella and I's future child... I couldn't stop my mind before it drifted away on thoughts about children. Isabella had asked me point blank about having a child with me, MY CHILD. Now I couldn't stop thinking of her like that... as the mother of my child. The image of me being a father left me breathless. I pictured a daughter, kind and gentle... the embodiment of her mother... with a small amount of my stubborn will thrown in as well... but hopefully not to much.
If I was being completely honest with myself, her asking about having my children also caused me to think non-stop of the process of making that child. I loved Isabella with everything in me, and I wasn't going to deny how much I wanted her physically on top of every other way, because I certainly did. I wanted her, in absolutely every possible way, including her body. The mere thought of being able to make love to her, cherishing everything she was to me, aroused me more than I'd ever been before, and that was without her even touching me. I knew I wanted to worship her but I also wanted to possess her, to claim her as mine alone. Dominating emotions... certainly, but I really didn't care. I wanted her and I needed her, and I wasn't going to deny that for a moment.
All these thoughts were on my mind as I picked her up in a bridal hold to bring her to bed. She was beyond exhausted and I wanted to let her sleep but even as I held her in her sleepy state, my body reacted to her. Her arms held onto me loosely as she nuzzled her face into my neck and moaned softly in contentment. If my body wasn't fully excited before, her soft moans alone, certainly fixed that. I kissed her forehead then used my full speed to get her to my... now our room.
My room was on the top floor of the castle, far from everyone else. This was due to my ability of reading minds. I liked to give my family their privacy and they liked to give me peace from all the noise. I'd never really thought about my room's location as inconvenient until now though. Isabella was human, she didn't have super-speed or stamina to get to the main section of her new home. Maybe we would need to move closer. I knew that I would hate the mental noise, but I didn't want to be separated from her even more, so I would have to put up with it.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" Isabella spoke from my arms, with an amused expression, as my mind trailed off thinking of which rooms downstairs would be good alternatives. I smiled before placing her down, just past the doorway of my quarters. She glanced around for a moment before looking at me with a small expectant expression. Clearly she wanted my answer.
"I was just thinking of my room's location." She looked around at the said room before frowning at me, waiting for elaboration. "I specifically have this room because it's as far as possible from everyone else." She looked just as confused as before. "I can't really turn off my mind-reading and it gets tiring,... so I stay far from everyone else so I can have some peace and quiet from all the... noise." I pointed to my head as I spoke the last word and she nodded slowly. I held her face in my left and pulled one of her hands up to my face so I could kiss it. She blushed at my gesture, causing me to smirk.
"It never bothered me that this room is up 5 flights of stairs and at the far end of the castle." I shrugged nervously. "However this would be quite the walk for you everyday." I glanced around the room in contemplation, wondering what location would be better for us. I looked back at her and she was looking incredibly nervous now. She was twiddled her fingers, and wouldn't stop glancing around the room. One of her hands shifted to lightly rubbing at the other wrist, and it seemed like she was purposely not looking at me. "What's going on in that head of yours?" I repeated her question and she let lose a very soft sigh.
"This is your room... and I'm sleeping... here?" I was about to respond with something simple like 'of course' or 'yes' but realization dawned on me before I spoke. Yet again something that should have seemed obvious to me, I completely overlooked. I shouldn't have assumed she would want to stay here with me.
"I'm so sorry Isabella. It wasn't my intention to be so forward..." My words sounded as horrified as I felt. I hadn't intended to be demanding of her... intimately. Even the idea made me sick. I was more than willing to wait as long as she wanted or needed to. I just wanted to be with her. I wanted to be able to watch her sleep in my arms. I wanted to sleep with her... just sleep. Wanting desperately to fix this I tried to think of what to say, but the more I tried to think of something, the more awkward the words felt before I could even utter them. She still had her face downcast and I pushed aside my own awkward feelings to see that she was okay.
"Where would you feel comfortable sleeping?" In the end it had to be her choice. I may be her mate but Olympia was her home now, and I wanted her to FEEL at home here. I wouldn't want her to stay with me to make me happy or out of obligation, it had to be for her as well. She would be with me eventually, in her own time, and I could wait. She stepped forward and reached for my hands. I interlocked our fingers as I waited for her to respond. I had no idea what she needed or what she was thinking in this moment. I wasn't used to not knowing what people were thinking. Up until now I've always been able to anticipate what to do based on someone's mind. My imprint having a silent mind prohibited me being able to do this, leaving me helpless for the first time in my adult life. I knew that being imprints didn't make us magically know the others needs and wants but perhaps I had falsely hoped we would have a little more insight into the other than I seemed to at this moment.
"I want to be with you... here." I wanted to smile at that but I couldn't ignore her hesitation, just like when she had asked me to bathe her. I quickly shook those images from my head, as my earlier problem still hadn't gone away.
I grabbed her chin and made her look at me. "Are you sure Isabella? You sound hesitant. I NEVER want you to sacrifice your comfort to please me." I wasn't going to lie to her and say I was happy with the idea of her sleeping somewhere else, because I wasn't. I wanted her here, where I could keep her safe, but if that wasn't what she needed maybe I could at least get her to stay close by, somewhere I could get to fast if needed.
"I wasn't hesitant... I was nervous." I wasn't sure I understood the difference, given the circumstance. Where was Jasper when I needed him? Him and his infuriatingly accurate ability to read the mood in any room?
"Why, sweetheart?" She wasn't afraid of me, so that couldn't be it. We had already touched and kissed, numerous times, so she couldn't be exactly uncomfortable with me. Hell I've seen her naked, from the back at least, so why should this be difficult?
She still had her face downcast but there was no hiding the red in her ears, as they poked out from her mahogany hair. I reached forward and brushed her hair aside so that I could see her. She looked up at me from her lashes and I waited patiently. "I've never... done this before... slept with... someone I mean."
"Isabella." I pulled her close to me and hugged her tightly to my chest, She wrapped her arms around my waist and I kissed the top of her head repeatedly. Dear lord, she thought I wanted sex when I brought her here. Well in all honesty I did, but I certainly didn't expect it. GREAT, now my thoughts were THERE again. I swear imprinting was making me go a little stir-crazy. "That wasn't why I brought you here. I just want you close." I whispered the words to her and she looked up at me in confusion. Uh-oh, did I just say way to much? My head was screaming 'DANGER' at the expression on her face. What if I offended her?
"Why you brought me here? Don't you want to...sleep with me?" Ooookay, did she mean sleep or... sleep. At this point if I was wrong I'd feel like a fiend, so I decided to let her handle the specifics of our intimacy.
"Of course I do, my beautiful girl." After-all answering 'yes' to either would be entirely true so my answer wasn't a lie, just perhaps evasive. Sadly she was far to perceptive to fall for my word choices. She looked at me with clear expectation and I sighed. It was now, painfully clear that she had meant sleep as in just sleeping and I would have to confess that I thought she meant sex... wonderful. "I thought you meant something else, and I didn't want you thinking I expected any such thing." That didn't sound to bad, right?
"What did you think I meant?"
"You seemed so uncomfortable when you said you hadn't ever slept with someone, that I thought you meant more than sleep." I really didn't want to say the words and prayed she didn't force me to. On top of everything else, I was now paying more attention to the words she had said. 'I've never... done this before... sleep with... someone I mean.' SO on top of already feeling like a cad I was focusing on the fact that my imprint had just admitted to being... untouched by any male before. I suppose in the back of my head I'd already figured that out but her declaration left zero question.
Her eyes widened and her face turned beet red. Well she finally understood what I'd imagined in her words, at least she didn't look disgusted, just embarrassed. She tried to turn away but I anticipated it and kept her face on me. "I'm sorry for the assumption, Isabella." I leaned in and kissed her sweetly before letting this horrible conversation drop.
I led her into my room fully and showed her where everything was. It was a large space with a connecting room that I currently didn't use for anything. There was the sizable bed at the far end of the room, near the large window, and across from that was my wardrobe. Near the front of the room was a dining room table. I had a lot of memories of sharing meals with my mother there. Well she ate, while I drank, as even when I was a child I only ever drank blood.
At the beginning, after I was born, my father had suspected that I would be a hybrid of some sort, half human and half vampire. He had offered me human food, and while I could digest it, unlike created vampires, it held no appeal to me and tasted absolutely awful. That was one of the first clues that I wasn't a hybrid but rather a new species of vampire.
There was a small armory on the wall across from the table near a smaller window. We didn't really need weapons as vampires preferred to fight hand to hand, but the weapons were worn ceremonially. Plus in the event of a duel, sometimes an opponent chose weapons to illustrate skill with them. My weapons were sharp enough to harm a vampire but not kill them, especially a pure born. On the wall next to the adjoining room were two large bookcases where I kept my favorite books and across from that was a large lounge chair, large enough for three to sit comfortably reading.
After I was done there wasn't much else to show her and I knew she was tired. "Would you like some clothing to sleep in?" She smiled and nodded. I considered getting some clothes from my mothers room, as they were close in size, but felt that would be in poor taste, given that she wasn't here to ask. I wished I'd have thought of it while we were in Sanctuary. Even with something to sleep in tonight, she had nothing for tomorrow.
I went to my wardrobe instead and found a large shirt for her to wear. She took it with a soft smile before turning red again. "What is it, love?" I loved her blush but it also peaked my curiosity as I had no idea where her mind went.
"Could you help with my dress. It's tight on the arms." I smiled and nodded. I had helped her put it on so I knew I could do this, after all I had made the observation that I preferred to take her clothing off rather then put them on. I playfully motioned with my finger for her to turn around as I gave her a wink. She blushed deeper but complied. I chuckled as I started untying the laces, slowly this time as I felt absolutely no rush to get this over with, like I had in Denali when I wanted to get her out of there quickly.
After I got the laces done I watched her back intently as I lowered the dress from her arms. I was gentle as she still had the bandages underneath the sleeves. I lowered her dress slowly to the ground, not that I had to, I just loved brushing my hands down her legs. She turned around and I offered her the shirt. She looked up at me and shook her head no before gesturing to her under-dress, motioning that she had to take that off as well. I internally froze at the thought that she would only be wearing my shirt to bed. My frozen mind luckily wasn't reflected in my outwardly appearance. I gave her a gentle nod before turning my back, allowing her to undress. After a brief pause she grabbed my arm and I turned back around, watching her curiously.
"Could you get these... as well?" She turned around, and I groaned, loudly enough that I was sure she heard me, though she gave no response. Much faster than with the first set of laces, I undid the ties and she started to shrug out of it. I watched in slow motion as the dress went lower, and lower. I snapped out of my ogling in time to turn around before the dress reached her backside. Just seeing the skin of her back was driving me wild. It was going to be a very long night.
…...
Not for the first time, it amazed me how the sexual tension could build up to such an overwhelming level then just as quickly, die down to just a background feeling. It was strangely comforting that it never actually went away though. I didn't exactly understand why that was so encouraging, but it was, like the feeling was a part of us. After Isabella changed into my shirt, thankfully and regrettably without my assistance, a bit of the tension came back. I couldn't fathom how dressing her, undressing her, bathing her, telling her my past, hearing hers, and everything else had seemed so easy by comparison to simply sleeping beside her.
The nervous energy certainly wasn't coming from me alone though. Isabella had turned dark red again as she approached the bed. I smiled internally when she, without prompt from me, went to the far side of the bed, my side was the closest one. Ridiculous thing to get enjoyment from, but I couldn't help but enjoy the symbolism of such a thing. She just stood there a moment as I watched from near the wardrobe. At my full speed, I was by her side in an instant, and she looked up at me with that shy smile that always made me smile in turn. I loved that my speed never seemed to scare her. Vampires weren't the most patient creatures at times, and it was natural for us to run, rather then walk, for even the shortest distances. I didn't want to make things tenser so I simply kissed her hand, then her forehead and gestured for her to get comfortable. She did and I took advantage of her turned back to quickly change myself.
Normally I slept with little to no clothing on, as it was more relaxing for me when I could feel my surroundings. From my understanding, this was another pure born characteristic as created ones didn't have a preference. I would refrain from sleeping like that... most likely forever now, as I didn't want my cold skin to bother my mate. By the time she had settled in bed and noticed me she looked surprised but didn't comment, again she already seemed used to my speed. I used it again to lower the curtains so that the only light in the room was a gently dim from outside the windows, from the cities below. I could still see her perfectly though I knew she would hardly be able to see me. I used normal speed to get into bed as I didn't want to startle her.
I expected at least a short pause of awkward silence to pass between us in this moment. It would be understanding as this was our first time sharing a bed. First of many, but first just the same. Like so many times since I met this girl though, I was pleasantly surprised. I had every intention of staying to my side of the large bed and giving her space, but that didn't seem to be her goal at all. As soon as I was in the bed she crawled from her side and draped her arm across my abdomen and nuzzled her face into my chest. I smiled, though she couldn't see it. I turned to my side, taking her into my arms and kissing her head. Leave it to my perfect girl to show just how brave she was under her quiet demeanor. I knew her own boldness had surprised her as I could feel the heat in her face where she snuggled me, and it just made me love her more. How cute was it that even her own brazenness could make her blush like this? Could she be more perfect?
"Good-night Edward." I could still feel the heat of her skin as she whispered into my chest. I chuckled and gave her another kiss before wishing her good-night as well. She fell asleep almost immediately but I stayed awake, just listening to her breathing. Vampires needed very little sleep, though it wasn't uncommon for pure born's to sleep more then created ones. We were affected more by our surroundings since we didn't have the 'frozen' mentality that other vampires did. My father rarely slept whereas I slept as much as a couple times a week, though never for more than a few hours at a time. I really was exhausted though, as I hadn't slept for almost 2 weeks due to the discomfort of being in Denali, warding off the Queen's advances.
I watched Isabella as she slept in my arms and I couldn't resist repeatedly kissing her head and face as well as stroking her hair and back, where I held her. Another advantage of announcing my imprint to the world was that I would no longer have to tolerate any unwanted attention from available vampires as it would now be known that I wasn't available. I had never fully understood some of the harsh imprint related laws our societies had until now. All 6 kingdoms had agreed to certain rules involving mating and imprinting and a few of those rules were considerably severe. One of the most important was that no matter what the situation, an imprints safety was above all else. If an immortal felt their mate was in danger they had every right to harm, kill, or even torture if needed, to defend them. This was actually how I had gotten away with defending my mothers honor when I was 15, and used my gift for the first time. Of course she wasn't my imprint but it was accepted that since she was my mother the right to defend her went to me just the same as it did my father. Truthfully once my power to read minds was revealed, the courts were just to scared to question my actions as they all had their own secrets they didn't want me revealing. There were certainly a lot of perks to my invasive gift.
In addition to the right to defend our mate to the death we also had the right to ensure our imprint was always respected. This was the one rule that I had never fully understood until now. Imprints bond to their vampire/ware just as much as the immortal bonds to them and as such they depend on their mate for protection, love but above all else loyalty. Jealousy is a perfectly natural emotion that has it's good and bad sides. It ensures we don't take one another for granted as well as many other things. This was where the respect law came into place. It had come to be needed during a very serious fight with the first ever ware imprinting.
Historically speaking, this was the imprinting the most well known, next to my fathers since his was the first. The first ware imprinting in Lyan resulted in so many things happening though it was like a tidal wave among the ware community. The imprinted ware, named Killian, was the most powerful warrior of his kingdom and despite being a human blood drinker, he was actually a very compassionate man who I had actually known personally, and got along with exceedingly well. He imprinted on a girl named Emma, who was only 14 at the time, but was considered to be beyond beautiful, though I'd never physically seen her.
Killian claimed her as his imprint and the wares backed down as no one wanted to test him or his reputation as a skilled fighter. Much like Isabella, she had lost her whole family and had no one so he took her in and cared for her. Due to his love for her he wound up being the first... and as far as I knew ONLY ware to renounce human blood, simply because she asked him to. It was the ultimate act of love for him to do so as hunting wasn't just for food or a thrill for wares, like it was for vampires. Feeding was a religion for the species. The process of turning into their animal specters made them actually worship animals over humans. So when he chose to feed from said animals rather than humans, he didn't make any friends among his people.
He had actually gone to me for help in adopting the diet as he knew he would find no allies among his tribe. Wares had never fed from animals due to their religious beliefs and he felt ashamed for what he needed to do, but felt even worse for being ashamed of what his mate needed from him. I did the best I could to help him and actually used my gift to accomplish what I was trying to teach him. I showed him the minds of a crowd of wares, then I used my gift to show him the minds of a crowd of vampires, then I did the same with a crowd of humans. I didn't need to explain what I was doing for him to understand. All the minds were similar. There were differences but they were so small they didn't matter. I heard his mind struggle with everything but in the end when he looked at a human all he could see was Emma, and that made his decision easy. I taught him how to hunt animals in a way that killed them mercifully, fast and painless. I may not be able to read the minds of animals but I wasn't foolish enough to think they didn't think and feel like the rest of us. I never wanted to see an animal suffer so I always killed them fast.
It was shortly after he adopted this diet that he ran into a lot of problems. His people turned on him and called him a monster for killing the creatures they worshiped. He tolerated the insults and did his best to keep all of it from his imprint as he didn't want her to feel guilty about any of it. His plan worked at first but not forever.
LaPush and Lyan had long since been the closest of all alliances and treated each-other as family but no clan had a greater affinity with animals than the LaPush tribe so Killian's friendship with them practically evaporated the day he announced his new diet. At a peace conference between the two, Killian brought his mate and quickly regretted it. He had been fighting the insults over his diet for a couple years at this point and in that time, Emma had flourished into a very beautiful woman that apparently no one could not notice. One would have expected the LaPush wares to insult her but the opposite happened. She was leered at, objectified, and treated with complete disrespect by all the wares from LaPush and no one from Lyan spoke to defend her. The behavior lasted only a couple minutes before Killian challenged the champion of LaPush to a fight to the death, in order to defend her honor. Immortals are prideful creatures and as such, battles of honor were not unheard of but it was when in reference to doing it for a human.
Killian won the fight quickly and LaPush was forced to stand down. A war between the two did erupt soon after as the soreness over the religious beliefs along with the jealousy over Killian mating first couldn't be ignored by the Alphas of LaPush. The war has since all but ended though the hatred is still deeply rooted, even a couple hundred years later.
I hadn't seen Killian in a long time as he took Emma into seclusion about fifty years ago, with not even his people knowing where he went. I had heard from him a few times as he considered me a close friend but he never told me where he was, and I never asked out of respect. I had long suspected that his timing of taking her away was strange and believed that the reasoning was that she had become pregnant or injured, or had been threatened, and that was why he had done it when he did and not earlier, such as when the war happened.
…...
I woke up to the most wonderful warming sensation all over my chest where my silent heart was. I opened my eyes and they immediately went to Isabella. We had readjusted in the night and I was laying on my back with her draped over me. The surprising part though was where her hands were. Both had been around me when she fell asleep but now only one was under me, just slightly and the other was under my shirt, rested over my heart. I smiled as I watched her in amazement. How did my temperature not bother her? I had worn more clothing than I preferred to prevent her from being cold but she seemed to crave my temperature as she was wrapped around me tightly and her arm was firmly in place under my clothing, not that I was going to complain in the least.
KNOCK KNOCK. I sighed at the interruption.
"What?" I could tell it was Jasper outside the door so I spoke at a normal level, since he would easily be able to hear me. I heard the door begin to open and I briefly panicked. "STOP, JASPER!" My words were slightly louder but still quiet enough as to not wake her up.
**Edward, I need to speak with you.** He was calm but adamant, though not as much as I was. I glanced down and she was well exposed to the elements and there was no way in Hell my brother would see her half dressed. I pulled up the blanket to cover her more, not that I had any intention of letting him in regardless.
"Then speak. Isabella is asleep." If he'd had any question of where she was sleeping, he didn't now. His mind was surprised but he got past it quickly. He was never one to dwell on things that didn't concern him or our families safety. His mind already registered Isabella as said family, and he knew that meant that the safest place for her was with me.
"Our parents sent a messenger." That caught my attention. Denali was the only kingdom within only a days carriage ride of our home, since Denali Castle was built on the far edge of their land rather than in the center of it like with the other kingdoms. My parents were vacationing in free land near Lyan, which was about a 5 day carriage ride from here. A messenger meant they had sent a vampire on foot to get us a message faster. It was about a day or two run, depending on the vampires speed. Obviously the message was important.
"Give me a minute." I kissed Isabella a few times and stroked her face while pulling myself from her. I left the room at full speed, eager to get this over with so I could get back to her. "What did the messenger want?"
Jasper smirked at me while glancing at the door but kept his mind amazingly blank. He was about to stick to the topic but my curiosity won out. "What?" I didn't know if my irritation was from his amusement or the fact that I was away from her.
"Nothing brother." I narrowed my eyes and began digging into his head. He grabbed his head in pain, as I wasn't exactly nice about it but he gave as good as he got, I felt waves of lethargy begin to hit me, making me exhausted. I refused to give in, we fought like this a lot, if mom wasn't around of course, and I almost always won so this time would be no different. He held up his hands in surrender and I released him, smirking as I did. "I'm just not used to feeling such... emotions from you."
"What emotions?" He made it sound like I was an unfeeling monster. I frowned at him and he chuckled. He placed his hand on my shoulder and I felt a wave of bliss, contentment, lust, and happiness. I nodded and he smiled but let the topic drop... at least for now. Brothers specialized in making your life hell at times. I would get him back after he became a slave to his own imprint, since now I knew pure-born could imprint.
"The messenger didn't have a lot of detail from the King and Queen, but I sensed that was more because they didn't have much either, not that they wanted to be vague. They said that they will be home tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest."
"Does this have to do with Emmett and Rosalie?" My parents had been on their trip for a few days before Emmett and Rosalie had to urgently deal with a disagreement in LaPush. Emmett had been left in charge since I was in Denali, so he sent word to me and at the time I was going to send Jasper back to run Olympia until I could get home. That changed after the horrible ball happened and Jasper and I came home together. Perhaps our parents were worried no one had been here to protect Sanctuary?
It was then I realized that they had sent the messenger here, not to Denali. They knew I was home somehow. As if to answer my own silent conclusion Jasper shook his head and glanced at my bedroom door. "I think they heard something about the disagreement with Denali." I shook my head in annoyance. Disagreement? That was putting it mildly. I had already done all I could for the moment to re-solidify our 'friendship' but I was sure my father would have his own insights.
"Okay. Let me know if there's any updates on when they will be home." He nodded then left and I was just about inside when I called back to him. "Jasper?" He looked around at me. "Would you please find Ben and see if he can find a dress for Isabella. I will take her shopping, she wants to see more of Sanctuary anyway, but she will need something for today.
"You could borrow one from Rosalie." Jasper tried and failed to contain his smirk at the idea. I rolled my eyes but otherwise ignored the comment. I would not be doing anything to upset Rosalie more than she was all the time already. What my brother saw in his mate, my sister, Rosalie, would always be a mystery to Jasper and I.
I stepped back into our room silently then used my speed to get back to our bed. I watched her for a brief moment before removing my shirt and getting in beside her. Despite being asleep she immediately wrapped herself around me again and I smiled before kissing her head and willing myself to fall back to sleep with the most perfect imprint in my arms.
…...
I woke up sometime later, slowly, with a peculiar sensation over my chest. I opened my eyes slightly and noticed that Isabella was wide awake but not looking at me. Isabella was in the same position she's been in the first time I woke up, draped over my chest. This time however she was watching her hand as she lightly traced with her fingers over my bare chest. She wore a small smile as she watched her hand and my chest. Was she honestly checking me out? I'd worried I was being to bold when I went to sleep without my shirt on, but now I was absolutely thrilled that I had. Her eyes were so focused on her hand as she traced all over my torso. I had no idea how long she'd been doing this, so uninhibited, but now that I saw it I wasn't going to miss a moment. She was always so shy and timid with me, and yes, I loved it, but it was nice to see another side. This bolder side that allowed her to touch me without permission, prompt, or real reason beyond her simply wanting to was something I could more than get used to. I watched her eyes as they began to move up so I quickly closed my eyes. It wasn't my intention to be dishonest with her, even over something small, but I couldn't bear the idea of her stopping, which she certainly would if she knew I was awake.
I felt her fingers lightly caress my face near my eyes and mouth and it was very difficult not to smile at her soft touch. After a little while her hand lowered back to my chest so I risked opening my eyes again. Luckily she was again looking at my chest and I couldn't help but take pride in the obvious appreciation she had over my form. I had no idea how long I watched her but eventually she lowered her face and kissed my bare chest and I couldn't hold it in anymore.
I picked up my left hand and cradled her face, still lowered to my body, so she couldn't see me. As soon as I touched her, her face jolted up and starred at me wide eyed. I smiled encouragingly and stroked her face softly. "Good morning, Isabella." She smiled sweetly but there was no blush. I had come to expect it with most of our interactions and determined that she hadn't realized I'd caught her attentions toward me.
"Morning." She was as soft spoken as always and I chuckled softly. Her hand was still on my chest but she casually lowered it, probably hoping I hadn't noticed, as if that were possible. "Ummm, what happened to your shirt?" Well she just opened herself up to some fun, now didn't she?
"I woke up in the middle of the night and you had your hand up my shirt so I figured you wanted it off." I kept my face completely calm as I spoke the words simply. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head and she turned the darkest red I'd seen yet. God she was beautiful.
"No I didn't." She argued with zero conviction and a large smile broke out on my face.
"Yes, you did." She shook her head as the blush spread down her neck and I tried very very hard not to follow it further south... I didn't succeed.
"Why would I do that?" She sounded so serious while at the same time so hesitant. I continued to sport a wide smile as I stroked her warm cheeks.
"For the same reason I woke up and found you stroking me, I suppose." Her eyes, which had returned to normal, widened again. "You like the way I look." She nodded not in disagreement, but denial and I just smiled at her.
I rolled on top of her and she let me as I continued to stroke her face gently. She looked up at me with those big beautiful eyes and I swore I could get lost in them. "So you don't like the way I look?" I was having way to much fun with her as her reactions were both amusing and amazing to watch.
"No." Soft whisper again.
"No what? No, you don't like the way I look?" She shook her head and looked down. I didn't force her to look back at me but I continued to stroke her face for a few moments. She looked up on her own and took a deep breath.
"I like the way you look." There was that blush again.
"So you were watching me this morning as you stroked my chest?" She nodded in defeat while slightly averting her gaze to the side, pretending to look out the window. I bent down and nuzzled her face softly until she looked back at me. "Don't be shy, baby girl. I love the way you look too." She smiled in spite of herself and bit her lower lip. I was done joking now.
I leaned down and kissed her intensely. As always she kissed me back easily, and I moaned as her hands went to my chest slowly, stroking and rubbing tenderly. She was so incredibly warm, soft, and I didn't want to stop kissing her, or for her to stop touching me. My hands were rested on either side of her head, where I was holding myself above her, my body just barely touching hers, light feather touches each time she exhaled. Each caress overwhelmed my nerves and all I could focus on were the points where my skin met hers. Her hands on my chest, my lips on hers, and my abdomen ever so slightly brushing hers, where her shirt had ridden up.
I let myself fall to my side but brought her with me, unwilling to let our physical contact end. I pulled her on top of me entirely, so I could hold her face to me. I felt her warmth as she blushed but didn't pull away. I didn't let her body stay above me, like I had done above her. I pulled her directly on top of me, in which she came willingly and I loved every second of it. I drifted my hands down her face to her neck before moving them to her back. I moaned when I felt her skin at just her mid back, her shirt... my shirt, had ridden up higher leaving more of her exposed.
I continued to stroke my hands up to her neck, then down again, over and over again. She seemed to enjoy the touches as much as I did but I so badly wanted to feel more. My whole body was warmed by hers and I'd never felt more alive, mortal, vulnerable, or incredible.
"Edward?" I stopped to look at her and she looked so nervous but so resolute.
KNOCK KNOCK
"You have got to be kidding me!" Isabella giggled before collapsing on top of me in silent laughter as I glared daggers at my door. I couldn't be irritated at her because her giggles were the most beautiful sound in my world. Now the unfortunate soul on the other side of my door on the other hand... that person was dead to me. At my max speed I pulled Isabella off me before rushing full speed to my door and opening it dramatically.
"May I help you?" Part of me really wanted to feel bad for the tone I directed at the completely innocent maid, Claire, but I really didn't. I wasn't being openly terrifying but she had worked here for about a year and I'd always been very polite, so I was sure to be scaring her a bit.
"Umm." Great she couldn't speak and her mind was to frazzled for me to solve why she was here on my own. Jesus, what was wrong with me? Why was I so impatient to get a simple answer?
"What is it Claire?" I softened my tone a bit, and it seemed to help. Claire looked up at me, and I realized then that she had been staring at my chest. I actually felt the growl in my throat but held it back. I had no desire to feel threatening to my human servants but the idea of her looking at me, like that, how Isabella looked at me, was upsetting.
"Umm, Ben sent me to deliver this." She held up a dress. It was a beautiful pale red color in a velvet material. It was simple, elegant and undeniably perfect.
I reached out to take it with a sigh. "Thank-you Claire." She nodded but didn't leave. "Was there anything else?"
"Ben thought your guest would need some help getting ready. I would have gone straight to her, but I didn't know which room was hers." She was blushing and I was surprised how much less cute it was then when Isabella did it.
"I'll get it to her. Thanks Claire." She gave a curtsy and left as I closed the door. I turned back toward the bed and Isabella was sitting up with her arms wrapped around her legs. Her head was down, obscured mostly by her knees, with just her eyes peeking up at me. I narrowed my eyes while smiling at her. She was swaying slightly as she sat and despite her obscured mouth I knew she was smiling.
It was going to be a tense and awkward night but until then I was going to enjoy my first and possible last day alone with Isabella, as my home was going to be filling up fast.
…...
We had a relaxing morning or rather Isabella was relaxed while I was slightly nervous. My head knew there was nothing to be concerned about with my parents finding out about me imprinting but I couldn't shake the feeling regardless. I didn't feel right keeping this from Isabella and there was really no point as she would find out soon enough.
After I checked her wounds, her arms were fully healed and her neck was healing much faster than I thought it would. It was no more than a scratch now so it didn't need to be covered. Since she was healed now she was able to bathe on her own, much to my displeasure. She was happy not to be an 'inconvenience' to me though, her words. I quickly corrected her rather ridiculous thought on being any such thing to me, by kissing her repeatedly, but then left her to bathe in peace while I did the same in the adjoining room.
Soon we were done and I had taken Isabella to the kitchen to have breakfast since she wanted to see more of the castle. The staff was surprised to have guests as for the most part, the kitchen was used for themselves and my mother alone, since the rest of us didn't eat. I introduced her as my guest as I still had no intention of telling anyone who she was until my parents knew. I felt a little bad about it but Isabella seemed to understand as she smiled and greeted everyone politely and of course shyly.
As we were walking through the vampire part of the kingdom to get to Sanctuary, Isabella was watching everything in amazement. I followed her gazes and tried to see everything from her new perspective. There were vampires everywhere, as usual, and many were heading towards Sanctuary, just like us. Most likely they were heading to the blood bank and she seemed so fascinated by it all.
"Are humans allowed to walk around freely in the vampire part of the city?" She spoke for the first time as we reached the walls separating us from Sanctuary.
"No one stopped you right?" I was kidding but she seemed confused.
"You're with me though."
"Yes, vampires and humans are both equally allowed to cross into the other section. The only reason they are even kept separate is because it's a bit more comfortable for humans to not be surrounded by carnivorous vampires all the time, not to mention with the number of humans we have the scent can be overwhelming to the vampires." She nodded and lowered her head at my comment.
"What is it?"
"Nothing." I stopped walking and stood in front of her expectantly. She sighed then shrugged. "When I was living in Denali there was this vampire... and he would follow me around and tell me how good I smelled all the time." I growled at her confession and she looked up at me with sad eyes.
"How long did that happen for?" My voice was deadly calm and Isabella took notice. She reached forward and took one of my hands in both of hers while shaking her head.
"It doesn't matter Edward." I knew that was a lie, even if she didn't realize it. It was clear that this had some significance in her past and if that was the case it more than mattered to me.
"Isabella." I meant to ask her to elaborate but my tone was more demanding than pleading.
"Since I was a little girl." My growl came back at that. I was grateful that he never acted on it though I was curious as to why.
"He never hurt you?" I must have been more of a masochist then I thought. Did I really want to hear the answer to this?
"Um, a couple times. Nothing major though."
"Isabella." I reached forward with my free hand and pulled her face to look up at me. Her eyes were full of sadness but what broke my heart was the amount of resignation. She was used to the treatment she had received. She tried to give me a small smile and it broke my heart that she would try to comfort me in a moment like this. She stepped forward and released my hand so she could wrap her arms around my waist. My hands automatically went to her head, where I rubbed stroked her hair and face soothingly. "What did he do, love?" She shook her head rigorously and as much as I wanted to know I decided not to push it right now. "Is he still in Denali?"
"Yes. I saw him a few days before we met." That had my interest. She looked up from my arms and saw my silent question. "He wasn't one of the vampires that um... cut us to make us more appealing to the vampires. He wasn't there... I would have seen him."
"He did cut you though...before that?" I really didn't need to ask. With his obvious obsession with her scent it was obvious he wouldn't miss out on the chance to get access to her blood, repeatedly. God the idea of her blood in another vampire made me sick. Every part of her belonged to me, including her blood. Anyone else touching her was the deepest sin. The idea that this man hurt her for enjoyment... I needed to stop thinking about the specifics of that. She nodded in response to my rhetorical question and I picked her up before hugging her to me briefly.
She started crying and I immediately felt powerless. I carried her to a secluded corner and sat down on the ground as she sobbed into my shoulder where she was pressed to me. I rubbed her back and let her get this out, knowing in that moment, that she'd never had anyone to talk to about this. I held her for awhile as I listened to the heartbreaking sound of her tears. Every-time I moved, even a fraction of an inch she grasped onto me tighter and I loved that I was the one that could bring her comfort but at the same time I despised that she needed that comfort. "What else did he do to you?" I didn't want to push her to much but I could tell she needed to get this out.
"A couple months ago my parents... saw what he was doing to me and..." She trailed off and a fresh wave of tears came over her. What the hell had they witnessed?
"You don't need to tell me if you can't." As much as I wanted to know I wanted to see her smile more and if that meant dropping this horrible topic that's what I would do.
"My dad didn't think, he just... tried to stop him." Her arms had moved up to my neck and she was sniffling into my neck as she whispered the story to me. "I'll never forget how... he... the vampire smiled at me, never removing his eyes from me as he snapped my fathers neck, like it was nothing." In that moment I almost thought I could cry. I could hear so much pain in my soul mate that I just wanted to be with her, and to protect her by simply feeling everything she did. "I didn't even cry, I froze, staring back at him as he then grabbed my mother, who was crying so hard, but hadn't done anything wrong... then he... bit into her." Isabella stopped speaking for a moment and I continued to rub her back, waiting for something, though I didn't know what. "He never stopped starring at me as he drained her."
I pulled Isabella back so I could look at her, there were tears pouring down her face but there was that resigned look in her eyes that I hated. It was like what had happened was acceptable on some level to her, or at least expected. I kissed her head then placed my own against it. I made myself a silent oath in that moment. Whoever this vampire was, wherever he was... when I saw him, I would end him. Past or not, legal or not, he had hurt my mate beyond anything she would ever be able to get past and I would kill him for any and all crimes against my imprint.
"Isabella,..." She sniffled but listened as I spoke. "... I love you with every part of who I am or will ever be. You are more than my imprint. You are my partner, my soul mate, my missing half, and the most important thing to me in my eternity." She didn't realize it right now as she didn't know anything about imprinting but these were the words we typically said during our mating ceremony. The words varied imprinting to imprinting, but the feelings were the same. I had never allowed myself to think of the exact words I would say as I didn't like to think about the possibility of imprinting since my kind never had. In this moment though everything came naturally as I essentially told Isabella my marriage vows to her. "I will never allow anyone to harm you... ever again." These weren't idol words, as I meant them with every fiber of my being, I just hoped she knew that.
…...
Sadly after telling me her story, Isabella didn't seem as happy to be out and about as she had been before. She turned quieter than usual but smiled everytime I touched her, which was often. By lunch I decided to change the subject to my parents arrival.
"Do you think they'll like me?" What an adorably ridiculous question.
"What's not to love?" She blushed as I gave her the most charming smile I had.
"I'm serious Edward." She was blushing but trying to look serious.
"I am serious. You're my miracle, how could they not love you for that?"
"What do you mean?"
"I told you I'm the first pure born to imprint, didn't I?" She nods while looking at me curiously. "Well the truth is no one thought a pure born could imprint." This definently surprised her.
"Why not?" I shrugged as there were to many theories to count plus since I had now imprinted all of them were wrong anyway.
"Lots of reasons but my mother had always felt that I would. She even put a stop to my father considering an arranged mating for me." The look on Isabella's face made me immeditely regret my words.
"Arranged mating?" I didn't know why that was upsetting her but it clearly was as she lost her smile and blush, in fact she turned a little pale.
I got up from where I was sitting across from her and kneeled by her side. "I don't think he ever actually intended to follow through with it Isabella." She nodded but didn't seem to believe me. I stroked her face and she leaned into my palm while watching me. " As the crowned prince, he wanted me to have a mate... a wife by my side. He simply didn't want me to be alone." In the vampire world a mate was our other half but I used the human term of wife so she understood it.
"I guess that makes since." She gave me a weak smile. "I just don't like the idea of anyone else..." She turned bright red as she trailed off and I laughed.
"Of anyone else being mine?" She nodded and I just starred into her eyes. As if anyone could mean what she did.
"Did he have anyone in mind?" Oh God why did she have to ask that?
"He did. He wanted me to be with someone of a similar noble background." She lowered her head again but I pulled her attention back to me. Royalty or not, Isabella was perfect and would be the most perfect princess. "He also wanted someone... powerful and who's union would benefit Olympia."
"In other words someone not like me?" She didn't sound bitter as she spoke, she just kept that resigned tone.
"Isabella don't ever speak so lowly of yourself again. You are perfect, for both me and our people. Do you understand me?" She smiled at my commanding words and actually seemed to be fighting laughter. Apparently my fierceness was amusing to her. It typically terrified just about anyone but my small, fragile, HUMAN mate found it funny. Go figure.
"You're avoiding the question." She lost her smile as she called me out on my avoidance.
"He had... tentatively," I really hoped this didn't upset her as much as I thought it would. ", very tentatively considered Queen Tanya of Denali." Isabella's face was blank as she listened to my words.
"Why her specifically?" I had never heard Isabella sound so detached but I decided to answer anyway, though I knew she wouldn't like the answer.
"Tanya had expressed an interest in me for a long time and had gone to my father about an arrangement between our kingdoms.
"An interest?" Why was she focusing on this so much.
"She had found me... appealing... physically and had developed the start of a mating bond towards me."
"Like an imprint bond?" Isabella looked horrified and I had no idea how to fix it.
"NO, not at all!" How could I explain this? "A vampire is very much frozen in the state they were when they were turned, this includes emotionally. It's difficult for a vampire to form an emotional attachment to another beyond friendship because of this." My words weren't comforting her at all and she looked crushed. I rubbed her hands and she let me but her hands rested limply in mine. "So romance, especially, in any stage of development, whether attraction, like, love... it's hard to do. Tanya was almost 1000 years old when she developed true attraction, beyond the physical, for the first time... and it was to me."
"So... what does that mean?"
"It means she wanted me to take her as my mate, just as much as she wanted to take me as hers." She averted her eyes again and I waited until she looked at me again. "I felt zero affections towards her Isabella, and I refused all of her advances, which is why she went to my father... Queen to King, I suppose."
"Your father didn't push the issue?" I had to laugh at that as I remembered the conversation.
"He never had a chance to. I honestly hadn't even spoken a word when he told me of the possible arrangement, before my mother put in her own opinions." I smiled thinking back on how my mother put my father in his place that day. I honestly didn't think he ever would have pushed me into it, but the fact that he even considered the union with that 'Evil Queen', my mothers words, was disgusting to her.
"What did she say?" Isabella had thankfully cheered up and now just looked curious.
"Essentially she told my father that she would never allow me to settle for anyone who wasn't worthy of me." Isabella laughed and I shrugged. "My mother from the moment I became of age wanted me to imprint." Isabella smiled at that and I winked while smiling back. "Even though no pure born had imprinted at that point, and it was so rare, she didn't care." I couldn't resist taking the opportunity to make Isabella blush with my next words. I stroked her face while continuing to smile at her. "She always knew I would find you Isabella." She didn't disappoint as she turned dark red, gave a coy smile, and released a small giggle.
"What happens when a vampire takes a mate?"
"When a vampire opens themselves up for love, it only really happens once for them. If they take a mate, it's for eternity. It's one of the few things it does have in common with imprinting.
"If you had... t-taken Tanya as your mate..."
"I never would have Isabella." I didn't like her thinking this way. She shook her head before she continued as if I hadn't spoken.
"If you had... and you'd met me. What would have happened?" I had no idea how to answer that question. There was so much more unknown than known about both imprinting and mating.
"I don't know Isabella. Theoretically mating is for life, so if a vampire falls in love they can't do it again. Who really knows though, because up until just a couple days ago no one thought pure immortals could imprint at all. Plus pure vampires aren't exactly frozen like created ones, so perhaps it would be different." She nodded but didn't respond.
"None of it matters though, because I have you now." She smiled at me before we got up and began to walk back to the castle. She continued to ask me questions about my parents and I answered everything happily. It didn't escape my notice that most of her questions were about my mother though. I knew she had to be curious about her if for no reason other than the fact that they were both imprints and my mom would be able to answer a lot of questions that I probably couldn't.
I loved telling her about my brothers as they could be quite hilarious, Emmett especially. He was the youngest of the family and his personality matched that perfectly. He was a prankster and Isabella laughed at nearly everything I told her about him. I tried to bypass most questions about my sister, Emmett's mate, but it was impossible. Isabella wanted to know all about their bond and how it differed from imprinting. I was happy to focus on this part but explaining the harsh, mean, and at times cruel ways of my sister was not something I wanted to explain, mostly since I didn't know how.
We were in my quarters cuddled up on my bed as I told her everything she wanted to know with me occasional getting a few happy memories from her past, when Jasper knocked on my door.
"Come in." I already knew why he was here as his thoughts were loud but out of courtesy to Isabella I'd have him say it all out loud.
He entered with a smile aimed at us as Isabella was backed up against my chest with my arms around her. I didn't have to look to know she was blushing, which was amusing him. "Good evening Lady Isabella." Jasper was always a gentleman as he bowed to Isabella. She blushed deeper while I rolled my eyes, not that she could see.
"Good evening Prince Jasper." He stood up and sent a smirk my way along with some annoying thoughts about how she was to good for me. I agreed of course, but he was only saying it to get a rise out of me. "Mom and Dad are here." I nodded as Isabella took a deep breath. I got up and offered her my hand which she took tentatively as she rose from our bed. Jasper led the way from our room and Isabella walked noticeably slower than normal, not that I was going to say anything about it. Jasper decided to greet them first and used his speed to get there ahead of us.
"Did you want me to speak to them first before they meet you?" She didn't respond right away but with the fierce grip she had on my hand I gathered she didn't want to be alone. I squeezed her hand back reassuringly before walking down to the throne room. It was a very large room near the entrance of the castle but I hadn't shown it to Isabella yet as most of time had been spent in Sanctuary. I lead her to the entrance which was fortunately closed. I pulled Isabella to me and kissed her sweetly and she returned it just as tenderly. "They will love you Isabella. You're to perfect not to." She smiled at me genuinely and I kissed her hand before turning around and entering the room.
As we walked in, my eyes went to Jasper, who was currently in our mothers death grip hug and I could hear the eye-rolling from here. She had just seen us a couple weeks ago but she always acted like it had been years. There was no resisting her hugs though. She may be human but she was a force to be reckoned with when it came to her sons. My father was watching them with amusement as she refused to release Jasper.
"Wow." I looked down at Isabella's soft comment and she looked back at me nervously. "Is that the Queen?" I nodded and she looked down nervously. "She's so pretty." I chuckled at how sweet Isabella was. I had zero doubt that my mother would absolutely adore her.
"As are you, Isabella." She smiled up at me and I released her hand so that I could give my mother my traditional greeting. I'd been doing it since I first developed my speed at only 6 years old. Ah the trouble I caused my poor frail mother. "Will you be okay for just a moment?" She nodded with a smile and I looked back towards my mother and Jasper just as she released him. As soon as she did I used my full speed to appear in front of her before scooping her up and kissing her cheek just as she gave a soft scream. It amazed me how this still managed to shock her after almost 500years, but it did.
"Edward don't scare your mother." I chuckled but otherwise ignored my fathers scolding. Mom wrapped her arms around my neck as I spun her around a few times. I placed her down and she put her hands on my cheeks in the traditional way she did as she looked me over for imaginary injuries. Why she felt the need to check for injuries on her invulnerable children, I would never understand but I loved that she did it every time.
"I missed you mother." I hugged her again and she kissed my cheek.
"I missed you too Edward. Are you okay?" Her brow was furrowed and I gathered she thought something was wrong and that caused my early departure from Denali.
"I'm absolutely wonderful, mother." Jasper scoffed causing both our parents to look at him curiously and me to give him a death glare which he completely ignored.
"Why did you leave Denali so suddenly without giving the Queen much of a reason? My father spoke with a slight edge of disapproval and to my amusement my mother rolled her eyes so he couldn't see. If there was anyone that disliked the Tanya more than me, it was my mother.
"Oh believe me father, Tanya knows exactly why I left... unless of course she's as stupid as she is monstrous.
"Edward!" His voice was soft but firm causing me to roll MY eyes, though he saw that. He gave a heavy sigh before his attention went towards Isabella. Quick as a flash I was by her side again and took her hand politely in mine and lead her into the room further as everyone waited patiently. She gripped my hand tightly and I rubbed her hand with my thumb to soothe her.
"Mother, father. I would like to introduce you to Isabella. Isabella these are my parents. King Carlisle, and Queen Esme. Isabella was pink but manged not to turn red as she gave a little curtsy.
"Oh aren't you just a sweetheart." My mother stepped forward and took Isabella's hands in hers. Isabella looked up fully and my mother smiled kindly at her, getting a soft smile from Isabella in return. "Oh and you're such a beauty too." At that Isabella did turn red and I pulled her slightly to me, draping my arm around her shoulders protectively.
"Mother, you're embarrassing her." Truthfully I liked someone else telling Isabella how perfect she was, maybe that way she would start to believe it. My mother waved me off before taking one of Isabella's hands back.
"Are you a new arrival to Sanctuary?" It wasn't uncommon for us to bring new humans here to introduce ourselves to them though I rarely handled such a thing personally. That was my mothers specialty. She loved finding homes, jobs, and anything else needed for our new citizens and it was a source of pride for her to make everyone feel at home here.
"Umm."
"Have you found a home yet? I believe there's a few openings in the newer developed areas..." I knew she was trying to help but I didn't like even the illusion that Isabella wouldn't be staying with me.
"Isabella is from Denali." My voice was a little cold and my mother of course noticed. She looked at me for a moment before looking back at Isabella, who had lowered her head again and had seeked out my hand with both of hers. I grasped her hands happily and it brought me so much comfort. "Some things happened in Denali that I couldn't allow."
"Allow?" My father was beyond uneasy by my words.
"During the feast of our two kingdoms, Queen Tanya brought in... live humans... injured for the crowds... enjoyment." Jasper spoke the words and I was grateful for that. I didn't think I could have spoken them so to the point, and even he was fighting his disgust. My mothers eyes turned horrified, before her eyes went to Isabella's neck.
"Oh my God. You poor thing." She reached forward and hugged Isabella with everything she had and I was a little worried it would scare her but as always, Isabella surprised me. She hugged my mom back sweetly and even buried her face into my moms shoulder.
My eyes went to my father and his thoughts sought details.
**Did you save all the humans?** I nodded and he nodded before looking at Isabella with sympathy.
**What did the Queen do?** I took a deep breath and decided we would need to sit down for this conversation. I said as much and my parents agreed. Without a second thought, my mother wrapped her arm around Isabella's shoulders and led her towards our family sitting area in the next room. I couldn't help but smile at how much my mother already cared for Isabella. When my mother almost led Isabella to a seat next to her on the couch, with my father, I had to intervene though. I guided Isabella gently from my mother and brought her with me to the couch across from them.
My mother gave me a pointed look. **Edward, she may be more comfortable around a woman as well as a human.** I pretended not to hear her. There was no one that cared for Isabella more than me and I wasn't going to abandon her while we retold this story to my parents. I sat down and Isabella automatically sat close enough to me that we were touching. I held her left hand in my right and rested them on her lap. She covered them with her other hand and looked up to give me a small smile.
Jasper stood on the other side of where I was sitting, he never did like sitting during tense conversations. I cleared my throat and gave my parents a vivid recount of everything that had happened starting with my morning run and hunt before the ball. I had left out the imprinting part thus far as I didn't know exactly how to say the words.
"So you took Isabella without asking?" My father looked really worried. I knew he didn't mean it the way it sounded but I saw Isabella cave in on herself and even Jasper shot our father a disapproving look.
"I had to. She was injured and..."
"Edward, that's an act of war." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"I didn't have a choice." I was getting angry now and I was trying to explain but my father wouldn't let me get the words out.
"Denali could try to turn the other covens against us for such a thing. We're the only ones that value human rights." **We would have no sympathy from any of them for doing it to save her.** I could almost be grateful that he didn't say that last part out loud but it was more than enough that I heard it. For the first time in my life I actually growled at my father.
I stood slowly as I stared my father down. I felt my eyes go black in my anger but I reeled it in as best I could. Surprisingly my brother wasn't manipulating me. I gathered he wanted me to convey my feelings clearly. Without looking I reached back and grabbed a hold of Isabella's hand. She stood up in response and I held her close to me, needing her comfort desperately. "I DIDN"T HAVE A CHOICE." I spoke slow and clear, with anger at the forefront of my emotions. "The moment I saw her I had no choice. All I knew was that I had to save her, because..." I was holding Isabella's hand in mine as I stood still as a statue, and I felt her begin to rub my arm with her other hand. It was soothing but I was still tense. The images came back to me from that awful night. Seeing my very soul injured, unconscious, and surrounded by monsters. Never again would she be in a situation like that. I would sooner die. "...Because she was mine." My father's eyes widened and my mother looked like every emotion was overwhelming her. "I took her because I imprinted on her." I looked at my shocked parents for a moment before looking back to Isabella and enveloping her in my arms.
Only one thought registered as I held her. MINE.
END NOTES:
*It's amazing how no matter how many times I proof-read a chapter before I post it, any time I glance at it again I find errors. I went back and re-read 'Beautiful Promise' recently and found so many mistakes by the time I fixed them all the word count went up by over 1000. lol
* A little bit of an awkward talk between Edward and Bella at the start of the chapter. I was going to skip past any sex discussions, due to the awkwardness, but chose not to. It always bothers me in stories where at least one partner is... shall I say... inexperienced, and yet everything has no awkwardness and it all happens so magically easy. *Eye Roll* I wanted to show my characters getting to know and understand each-other, and be vulnerable with the other. I combated it with Edwards inner monologue trying to both comfort and scold him. LOL Hope it read as good as I intended.
*How did everyone like the morning after scene? I really wanted it sexy, but sweet to match Bella's character. I also wanted it fun so I had to have Edward toy with her a bit. ;-)
*Any thoughts on Bella's name? Does anyone like/dislike that Edward only calls her Isabella? I did this because the name is more adult in a way and I love picturing Edwards Velvety voice saying it. LOL. Plus I love it's meaning of 'Gods Promise' as I feel it's more symbolic for the story than the more superficial Bella meaning of 'Beautiful'. Don't get me wrong, Bella rolls off the tongue better, but I just love Isabella. Thoughts?
* I did plan on having more conversation this chapter with the parents but this chapter is SO LONG as it is. LOL, next one, I promise. What did everyone think of the parents so far?
*This story continues to grow in popularity so thanks to everyone. I'm still hoping for more REVIEWS on each chapter though. :-)