AN: If you want to read a different sort of Aro, I recommend checking out KissKissCrush. Her stories are like nothing I have ever read before- she even has an Aro/Charlie story! And it works!
I have also posted a few one shots that I wrote for the Tricky Raven silent auction and a contest. I have another story posted on Tricky Raven and BetterinTexas fiction as well- Changing Tides. I won't post it here until it's complete though.
Chapter 8
Garrett POV
"I think we need to meet up with the Whitlocks."
The look of betrayal in her eyes was almost enough to make me back down. But as furious as I was at them, I could see that we did need to combine our forces and get ready to make our next move.
I was literally holding a ticking time bomb in my arms, and I could see the seconds tick down in the wide black depths of her furious eyes. She could kill a man with those eyes—bring him to his knees begging her forgiveness. Too bad I had no intention of backing down.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly. You want to visit with the bitch who killed our mates?" I gritted my teeth at her words, catching Tanya's visible flinch out of the corner of my eyes.
Bella tried to jerk her hands out of my grasp, but I held tightly and pulled her even closer. "That is enough," I growled, turning her in my arms to rest my chin at the junction of her neck and shoulder. She froze instinctively, which was just what I wanted.
"Now, I had no intention of leaving you—or Tanya—but I refuse to hide here in the forest just waiting for another attack. We need to gather our allies and prepare to strike while Aro is at his weakest."
To my absolute horror, Bella's shoulders began to shake and she dropped her head down. Her voice was shaky and her breath caught on a sob as she answered me. "I'm sorry, Garrett. I didn't mean to trap you here. I just–"
Unable to keep her tied up when she was so upset, I let her go and began to turn her back around to face me. Before I could blink, I found myself face down on the ground with a very pissed off little demon perched on my back, holding my arms behind me.
"Don't fuck with me, Garrett. It's a game you can't win. I learned all your tricks and Jasper's too, but I had sisters and cousins who taught me even more," she snarled quietly, her razor-sharp teeth mere millimeters from my ear. I had to bite back a groan as she tightened her grip, pulling my arms to the point of pain.
"You really expect me to leave my daughter, my little girl, the only tie to my husband I have left, and go gallivanting off on some wild crusade? You are clearly not a parent," she scoffed in a ridiculously patronizing tone, sounding more like the all-knowing teenager she was at the time she was turned than the mature woman I had come to know over the past decade.
"No," I growled back, inching my leg up to gain the leverage I needed to break her hold, silently cursing Jasper for training her so well. "But do you honestly think it's healthy for you to keep the poor girl holed up here in the cabin? She still has a family here that loves her. She has a pack, and grandparents, and little puppies to play with. She belongs here, in a way that you don't."
With that, I pushed up, flipping our positions and laying her out flat beneath me. She snapped and snarled at me, past all reason by that point. I let her struggle there until she began to wind down, never taking my eyes off her face in case she was trying to fool me again.
When she finally yielded, her face was still set in stubborn defiance, and I knew I had to hit below the belt. Leaning forward, I used my chin to turn her face away, keeping myself out of reach of her teeth. I breathed the words against her ear, soft enough that those around us couldn't hear me. "You haven't even told your father what happened here, you self-centered little brat."
Her answering screech was almost other-wordly, like something out of an exorcism movie. I glanced up as the vampires and wolves moved closer, their concerned faces mirroring their debate on whether to intervene in our little scuffle.
"Why don't you leave then, old man? Go fight the redcoats—God knows you love a good battle. No one's keeping you here! I sure as hell don't need you!" While I knew she was just reacting, her words still cut me. I was beginning to worry that we wouldn't be able to bring her around after all. And I wasn't sure I could keep up my strong front without her.
"Please! Just stop, please!" Tanya finally pulled away from Jacob, who had been holding her back since we first clashed. She fell to her knees near our heads and lifted her anguished face to meet my eyes. "Please don't fight. I can't take it. No more fighting, please," she begged, turning her eyes down to meet Bella's at the end.
As if she'd found a release valve, all the tension rushed out of Bella, and I had to catch myself when I was no longer meeting any resistance. Tanya lifted her hand to comb through Bella's wildly tangled hair, then raised her tear-filled eyes to look at me.
"I am by far the oldest vampire here, and I have lived through more pain than any one person should have to." She spoke quietly, and I noticed the others begin to disperse, though Alistair was still standing closer than I liked.
"The only way I lived through the pain of losing my mate—my sweet Sasha—was with the help and love of my sisters." Even after all these centuries, her voice still choked on the name of her lost mate. I wondered how long it would take before I would be able to speak my own sweet girl's name.
"I lost Irina, and now the rest of my coven has been decimated. All to satisfy the grudge that Aro had against us simply because we had the nerve to defy him." Her light gold eyes darkened in anger, and I couldn't hold back a growl as she spoke that bastard's name. I sat back on my heels, straddling Bella's thighs, still holding her arms on the off chance that this was just another ruse.
"Bella, he has to die. And we have to be the ones to kill him. I agree with Garrett on that," Tanya told her, and I watched Bella swallow heavily as she began to accept that. "I also agree that we need to have as many people on our side as we can get. Alice's gift is invaluable, and if we are with her, we know we will at least be able to see him coming again."
Tanya kept one hand on Bella's hair and the other resting on my forearm. "Please don't destroy the only family I have left, Bella. We can always come back here for your daughter, but we have to make the world safe for her first. Can you see that?"
Bella finally opened her eyes and nodded in concession. Tanya gave her a sweet smile and leaned over to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. As soon as she'd pulled away, Bella turned the full force of her gaze on me.
Her expression was one I had never seen before, but she looked distinctly uncomfortable and I suddenly got the feeling she would have been blushing if she was human. She bit her lip and ducked her chin down, looking up at me through her lashes. A strange flash of desire hit me straight in the gut and I almost missed what she was saying.
"Um, Garrett? You can let me up now. I won't fight you." As the words finally sank in, I looked down, finally seeing the position we were in. Tanya giggled lightly at the look on my face, and I couldn't hold back a smile of my own when I realized it was the first time I'd heard her laugh since we left Alaska.
I unfolded myself and stood up, reaching my hand down for Bella, but I wasn't fast enough. Alistair had stepped in and taken her hand to offer his unneeded assistance. She gave him a shy chuckle of her own, and that same uneasy feeling twisted in my gut. I really didn't like the way he was looking at her.
She giggled again when he bowed and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, and I found myself stomping off to hit a tree before I could hit him. I didn't know why it bothered me—it shouldn't have bothered me. She wasn't my ma–
Just like that, the pain I'd been suppressing came roaring back, and all I could do was curl up on the ground where I'd fallen, trying desperately to hold myself together around the gaping hole in my chest.
"Garrett? Where did you go? Garrett, what's wrong? Oh my god! Garrett!" Bella's voice drew closer as she followed my trail through the woods, and the soft touch of her hand felt like a cool breeze in the midst of my fiery torment. "Shh, Garrett. I'm here. I'm sorry."
She pulled my head into her lap and began combing her fingers through my hair, humming a tune I thought I recognized as one she used to sing to Renesmee when she was a baby. Tanya joined us soon after and simply rested her hands on my shoulders, not pushing me to recover, just supporting me as I fell apart.
I had no idea how long we sat there, but the sun was shining dully through the trees when I finally opened my eyes again. I took a deep breath to try and reset myself, grateful when the girls pulled back to give me space.
Bella waited until I was seated, with my knees bent and my head hanging down. It was the most I could do. She acted like we were sitting around the living room of the Denali house with her casual tone. "So are we headed to Mississippi, or are the traitors going to meet us somewhere in between?"
I ignored her choice of words, choosing to focus on the fact that she had agreed to travel with me. As much as I had grandstanded, I knew her shield was an integral part of our future successes. I had a feeling Alice knew that as well, and that must have played a part in her decisions about her visions. Understanding that didn't make me any less angry, but it did make me slightly more rational.
"According to Alistair, they have a good base for operations. They're northeast of Vicksburg and there is plenty of tree coverage to keep us hidden even when the sun is out. They were able to fend off their attackers without drawing the attention of the humans nearby."
I knew I was rambling, speaking faster as I watched Bella's eyes harden with each word. She was going to be very hard to live with until we reached her sister- and brother-in-law, and I had no idea what she might do when we did get there. "I just think known is better than unknown at this point, and if we want to draw the Volturi away from here, then that is the best place to go."
Bella sighed, then stood up, brushing the damp leaves and dirt from her pants. She pulled Tanya to her feet and put her hands on her hips, looking down where I was still sitting.
"Well, are you going to keep sitting there, or are we going to Mississippi?"
Flying. We were definitely flying this time. We just needed a cargo plane large enough for the three of us and the chip on Bella's shoulders. Look out Major, here we come.
