AN: Sorry for the long delay guys I've been having computer problems. My husband is trying to fix the computer now but I wanted to update for you since it has been so long. This is what I had written for chapter 8 before the problems started, I had intended to add more to it but I think it's okay on it's own. Let me know what you think and check out my new oneshot 'Fighting Fate'!! Much love, quickbunny01

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight

Chapter 8

"Why can't I do this anymore?" I yelled at my impatient husband.

"You're just not trying hard enough Bella. You have to concentrate. Stop letting yourself get distracted!" He yelled back.

He was trying to teach me how to fight three attackers while still protecting an injured guard. I used to not have a problem doing this but since my newborn strength had waned a month ago there were a lot of things that I could do my first year that I was having trouble doing now.

"I. Am. Trying!" I said through clenched teeth.

"You know what Bella, I'm tired. If you're not going to listen to me then let's just stop for today." James sighed in frustration.

I glared at him. He thought he was frustrated! I turned to the three guards I'd been practicing with and indicated for them to attack again. They didn't go easy on me. All three attacked at once not giving me a chance to move from where I stood. I did fine at first, fending them off while keeping Evan behind me but they slowly backed me into a corner. When I was in a corner then I could protect Evan better but I had no room to move and they all launched themselves at me at once. This was the same way our last four sessions had gone and this one didn't end any differently. I screamed in defeat and punched yet another hole in the wall of the training room.

"Isabella enough!" Aro said quietly from the doorway. "If I have to replace yet another wall in here I am going to be upset. Now that is enough for today go spend some time with James and your friends then come back tomorrow and try again." He ordered his tone leaving no room for argument.

"Yes Papa." I said. Thanking the guards I stormed passed James and ran up to our room. I wasn't really mad at him I was mad at myself. This shouldn't be such a problem I'd already mastered this once so why couldn't I do it again? The stress of training was taking its toll on our relationship. James and I had been fighting more and more lately. These fights weren't like our usual petty little arguments. These were fights where we said and did things that were almost intentionally hurtful to the other. Before when we would fight we would always make up by spending a few hours in bed having mind-blowing sex. Now we avoided each other. We hadn't made love in almost a month. Ever since my strength became that of a normal vampire and my training went to hell because I'd gotten cocky, relying on my newborn strength and not paying close enough attention to the tactics James had tried to teach me.

James entered the room behind me. I didn't turn to acknowledge him or speak I just continued to get my clothes so I could shower. Suddenly I found myself pressed face first into the wall. He had one arm twisted behind my back roughly and the other pinned above my head.

"Let me the fuck go! Now!" I growled.

"I'm sick of this, little girl. You're not stronger than me anymore. You can't stop me." He whispered harshly in my ear.

I felt wetness pool between my thighs. Not a normal reaction I guess but did I mention I hadn't had sex in a month besides I'd always liked it when James was dominating. I whimpered as his grip got tighter on my arms.

"Now, I think we need to have a little chat. You've been a total bitch for the past month Bella. Not just to me but to everyone. Do you think that you're the only one who ever had trouble adjusting to losing their newborn strength? That's ever had to relearn something that came easy to them before? I understand that you're having trouble babe but if you don't talk to me then I can't help you. I'm sick of this Isabella. My wife won't even look at me half of the time; she flinches away when I touch her. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?"

His grip grew steadily tighter as he spoke almost to the point of pain. "I'm not flinching now." I purred as I arched my back and pushed my ass into his crotch. He groaned and buried his face in my neck.

"This isn't about sex Bella." He barked when he regained his composure. "Okay it's partially about sex but…I can't do this anymore." He sighed as he released me and turned to walk away.

"What do you mean you can't do this anymore? Can't do what?" I fumed. Okay so maybe I'd been a little bitchy and I'd pushed him away but he was just going to give up on us. "One little speech and you're done? That's all our relationship is worth to you? I thought you loved me." I finished sadly.

"Oh Isabella that's not what I meant."

"No. It's fine. I'm going to take a shower now." I once again turned my back on him and started toward the bathroom. I hadn't taken more than three steps before I once again found myself pressed against the wall. James jerked my body around roughly and lifted me so that I was face to face with him.

"What happened to you Bella? The woman I married never would have doubted my love for her. Haven't I shown you over and over how much you mean to me? All I meant was I couldn't deal with your training anymore. I think I'm going to let Demetri and Felix take over. We can't take the stress it's putting on our marriage so from now on I'll only be involved when you want me to be. But listen to me Bella; I need you to concentrate hard in training alright? I have a feeling that things have been peaceful around here for too long now. Nothing really bad has happened in the six years you've been here and that's the longest the Volturi have ever gone without some kind of tragedy or threat of war. I need you to be ready to protect yourself, to help protect our family and home."

I found myself smiling despite James' dire warnings. He still loved me even though I'd been a horrid, frigid bitch who'd on more than one occasion deliberately said and done things to hurt him. "I love you!" I freed my hands so I could bury them in his hair. How long had it been since I'd done this? I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt his silken locks flowing through my fingers.

"I love you too Bella. That's why I want you to promise that you'll do everything that Demetri instructs you to and train harder so you'll be ready."

"I promise." I whispered as I stared into his eyes.

"Thank you, Tesoro." He said, brushing his lips lightly against mine. "Are we going to be okay now?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I've been so awful I'll try harder from now on and not bring my frustration at myself out of the training room."

"Well then how about that shower?" He was the one purring now.

"That depends on whether or not you're going to join me."

"And if I am?"

I pulled his shirt over his head and kissed him with all the pent up emotions I had in my body. Our shower lasted much longer than I'd expected. It's a good thing that cold water doesn't bother us because the hot water ran out about forty-five minutes before we got done. We did have a month of celibacy to make up for. After we dried off I led James to the bed and massaged his back and legs until he was so relaxed he could barely lift his eyelids. Then I cuddled up next to him and apologized again.

"Let's forget about it Bella. It's over now so we'll just treat it like all our other fights. But if you make me go so long without touching your body again I might die. This has been the worst month of my existence. You know what it does to me when you wear those tiny little shorts you like to train in. When I have to see my bite mark every time your shirt rides up, exposing your perfect hips and then you ignore me and won't let me touch you. I thought my days of jacking off were over when I married you but once again you've proven me wrong."

I moaned at the image his words conjured in my head.

"What? Did I say something wrong already?" He asked, his worry undoing all the work I'd just done getting him to relax.

I giggled as I pressed my hand to his cheek and showed him what I thought he looked like jerking off while watching me. Then I thought of how much this turned me on; making him growl.

"Later Bella, I want nothing more than to live out that little fantasy but we're due in the feeding room for a 'family dinner' with the brothers."

I huffed but got up and went to the closet to dress. I had just pulled on my shirt when the bedroom door burst open.

"Bella, James you have to come now!" Edward shouted, pacing back and forth frantically.

"Edward, what's wrong?" James said as he took Edward by the shoulders and shook him roughly.

"Cassandra." Was the only thing Edward got out before I was out of the room and racing down the hall. I threw open the door to the throne room with so much force that it bounced off the wall and fell from its hinges.

"Where is she? What has she done now? I swear Papa I'm going to kill her this time this has gone on long enough!"

Cassandra has plagued my life for the past six years doing everything in her power to make my life hell and I have had all that I can take.

Aro lifted his head from his hands and looked at me with so much grief in his eyes that I fell to my knees. She has done something horrible this time; something that I might not be able to fix.

"She's gone Bella. She took Esme and…Sulpicia." Aro had never called me Bella before and I didn't know what to make of it but I pushed it to the back of my mind. It wasn't important now. That bitch had taken both of the mother figures in my life and she was going to die.

"How? How did one not very talented vampire take two of the most protected females in Volterra?" I growled. James entered the room behind me and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me from the floor and clutching me to his chest.

"We think she's been spying for the Romanians. She had help; she couldn't have done it alone. Sulpicia and Esme wanted to go shopping and insisted that Evan could protect them. I'm sorry Bella I know he was a friend. She killed him." Marcus explained.

I would have fallen back to the floor if James hadn't been holding me up. I knew that she was a vile, lying evil excuse for a vampire but I never thought she would go against the brothers. I thought all her animosity was directed toward me.

"Papa, how did you not see it in her mind?" I asked gently. I wasn't trying to blame him for anything I just needed to understand how she had gotten around his power.

"She was demoted to cleaning up for Heidi. Remember? I haven't had a need to read her because I wasn't sending her out on assignments anymore. I haven't read her since the night of your wedding." Aro sobbed.

I pulled away from James and ran to him. I hugged him so tightly that I thought I might break his frail feeling bones. "I'm going to get them back!" I vowed. He nodded but didn't say anything as he clung to me.

"Bella we're putting you and James in charge of this. You'll have everything and all the guards you need. Just find them." Marcus said looking between James and I.

I met James' eyes for a moment. He nodded. Sometimes we didn't need to speak to communicate or use my power it was like we could read each other's minds.

"Demetri, Felix, find the Cullen's and ask them to meet us in the training room. Find the rest as well." James barked. He didn't have to tell them who 'the rest' was everyone knew he was referring to Sasha, Victoria, Laurent, Jane and Alec. They nodded and started to leave the room.

"Ask Carlisle if he would like to join us in here." Marcus added before dismissing them again.

After reassuring the brothers that we would find Esme and Sulpicia, James and I stepped into the hallway where I promptly collapsed against him.

"I know your upset and pissed off B, but we all need you to be strong now." James whispered against the top of my head. I held onto him for another moment before nodding in agreement. I pulled away but held onto his hand as we made our way to the dudgeons where the training rooms were located. I pulled James into an alcove at the top of the dudgeon stairwell and pressed my hand to his face.

We communicated silently for ten minutes going over the basics before joining our friends. When we entered the room we were met with distraught faces and pleading eyes from the Cullen's while our friends who had been trained to always show respect to whoever was in charge of the mission were standing at attention. They didn't relax until both James and I had nodded at them signaling that there was no need for their formality.

"What are we going to do?" Rosalie asked, pulling her face away from Emmett's neck to look around the room.

"James and I have been put in charge of finding them and we would like for you to help, if you want to." I told the Cullen's as I met each of their eyes.

"Of course we want to help, Esme is our mother." Edward fumed.

"She didn't mean to offend you Edward. We just don't want to ask you to do anything that you guys don't think you're ready for." James explained. Edward took a deep breath and nodded before going to stand next to Sasha.

"We've decided that Rosalie, Alice and Heidi will remain in the castle when we go to get them." I started to explain the tentative plan James and I had worked out but I was interrupted by outraged cried from Alice and Rosalie.

"Let us explain before you start arguing." I shouted. I looked at James silently asking him to continue.

"Rosalie we want you to stay here and take care of Carlisle he really needs a member of the family to be here for him. Alice we can't take the risk that they might capture you, we really need you here reporting to us what you see in your visions. Heidi your orders are to stay here and protect them, besides the brothers will need you. Now tell us why you disagree."

Rosalie and Alice argued that they could be of more help if they were with us while trying to get their mates on their sides. Jasper and Emmett were losing major points by not agreeing with them. Heidi knew better than to argue with a direct order so she stood quietly to the side and waited to hear the rest of the plan.

"Alright, enough!" I shouted "We were trying to be nice about this but the truth is you're not trained with the guard and if you can't follow orders then you'll all stay here." Quiet settled over the room as Alice saw that they weren't going to win this fight and told Rosalie to just shut-up. "I'm sorry but you have to be willing to do as you're told or you're going to cause more damage than you're going to help."

"Demetri, Edward, Jane and Alec find out everything you can about the Romanians and whatever else they've been up to lately. The rest of you go through Cassandra's room and talk to everyone in the castle, find out everything you can about her." James spoke, his voice full of authority. "Bring everything you find to the dining room we'll set up in there. And no one is to leave the castle alone. I don't care if you're just going out to pick up a newspaper you take someone with you! Does everyone understand that?"

Everyone in the room nodded but James was looking directly at me when he spoke the last three sentences. I raised an eyebrow at him but nodded in agreement.

"Good. Get to work."

Everyone scattered leaving James and I alone.

"What was that?" I asked crossing my arms.

"I'm going to follow my own orders Bella and I expect you to as well. I don't want you thinking that this is somehow your fault and that you can solve it by running off to try and get them back on your own. And we need to be careful because we don't how many people she has helping her." His voice was an odd mixture of commanding and pleading while his demanding eyes never wavered from mine.

"Let's just get to work." I said shaking my head at him. He glared at me and refused to move out of my way. "I promise I won't leave by myself alright." I sighed.

"Thank you." He breathed deeply in relief.