CHAPTER10
"Emmett, why don't you and Laurent go get to know each other while Bella and I have some girl talk," Irina said.
"It's okay, Emmett," Bella said at his questioning look. "Edward and Jasper never would have left if Irina was thinking about using me as dinner."
Emmett and Laurent moved out the back of the house and Bella looked at Irina curiously.
"Why don't you start with why you left Rosalie out of the list of Cullens you love?" Irina said.
Bella met her gaze unflinchingly and said, "Rosalie never gave me a chance to love her. She has disliked me from the beginning and has made no secret of it."
"And yet you spoke highly of her to your friend," Irina said.
"Just because Rosalie doesn't like me, doesn't mean I dislike her," Bella said.
"Alright," Irina said. "Tell me about the situation with you and Edward."
"There isn't anything else to tell," Bella said. "I love him and he walked away."
"Bella, he's mated to you," Irina said gently. "There doesn't seem to be any doubt about that."
Bella shrugged. "I don't really know what that means," she said. "He broke up with me and was going to take the entire family away. If that's being mated, I don't want it."
"It means he needs you," Irina said. "Like he needs blood. He would not have survived if he'd left you."
"And yet he still chose that option," Bella murmured. "He may be mated to me but clearly he'd rather die than be with me."
"You are serious, aren't you?" Irina said in surprise. "He really was going to leave you. I've never heard of such a thing. Mated vampires do not leave their mates, Bella. Ever."
Bella looked away and a tear ran down her face. Almost instantly, the wolves were in the room.
"Bells?" Jake asked quietly.
"I need to leave, Jake," Bella choked out. "Can we go to the reservation?"
"Of course," Jacob said with a glare at Irina. "Whatever you need. You know that."
Bella nodded and rose but suddenly Emmett was there.
"You can't leave, Bella," he said quietly.
The wolves all growled and Emmett stiffened.
"Stop it," Bella ordered. "Just stop. I will not have you fighting each other, do you understand?"
Irina watched in amazement as all the males in the room nodded.
"It's not safe, Bella," Emmett said. "I can't go to the reservation with you and between here and there..."
"Right," Bella said her tone defeated. "Victoria could be waiting with her newborns. I'll just...I'm going to go upstairs."
Everyone watched helplessly while Bella ran up the stairs and turned into Carlisle's study.
"What was that, Irina?" Rosalie demanded.
"You don't even like the girl, cousin," Irina said.
"I don't have to like her," Rosalie said. "But I don't torture her either. Do I want her to be with Edward - no. But he loves her and she loves him. Jasper is clear on that. So if you are here to try to give Tanya a little help in getting into Edward's bed, you're out of luck."
"If he was really mated to her, he wouldn't have been able to walk away," Irina said.
"He's still here, isn't he?" Rosalie sneered. "Just because he said he was leaving doesn't mean he actually would have done so."
"I don't know what's going on," Jake said. "But Bella's upstairs crying and I'm going up to see if she's okay."
Jake took the stairs two at a time and followed the sobbing until he found her. He gathered her into his arms without saying anything and rocked her back and forth. Bella wrapped her arms around his waist and cried against his chest.
"What the hell happened?" Edward snarled as he raced into the house followed closely by Jasper and Alice.
The vampires stopped short as Jasper doubled over from Bella's emotions and they took in the three wolves with their arms crossed glaring at Irina.
"What did you do?" Edward growled advancing on Irina.
Laurent moved to step in but Emmett easily pinned him to the wall.
"I told you I'd kill you if you harmed Bella," Edward said quietly, his rage a deadly calm. "I warned you that it wouldn't matter that you're family. I will do whatever I have to in order to protect her."
"And yet you left her," Irina said. "She told me herself that you walked away from her. She can't be your mate if you could leave her."
"Pay attention," Edward hissed. "I would do anything to protect her. That includes killing myself by leaving her if it would keep her out of harm's way."
"I think Irina needs to understand how much she hurt Bella," Jasper gasped out.
Edward nodded and Jasper let loose the pain and anguish that Bella was emitting, directing it to Irina.
Irina gasped and shuddered at the onslaught. Laurent struggled against Emmett's hold until Alice glared at him.
"He's only making her feel what Bella is feeling because of her. I ripped James' head off," Alice snarled. "Don't think I'd hesitate to do the same to you."
With that, Alice flew up the stairs and burst into Carlisle's study.
"Bella, sweetie, I know it hurts," Alice whispered. "But you're killing Jasper. He can't function with your emotions on overload like this."
Bella looked up and nodded at Alice. She started to take deep breaths and after a few moments she knew she had it under control.
"We should go back down," Bella said quietly.
Keeping an arm wrapped around her shoulders, Jake left the room with Bella and followed Alice down the stairs.
"Sorry, Jasper," Bella said, hugging him when she got to the bottom of the stairs.
"See, that's my point," Irina said waving in Bella's direction. "If she was Edward's mate, he'd have ripped the hands off both of those males for touching her even if one is his brother."
"We're more civilized than that," Carlisle said as he and Esme entered the house. "And I thought you were as well. Apparently, you did not come to help us against an outside threat after all. I'm very disappointed in you, Irina."
Bella moved forward but completely ignored Irina. Instead she went straight to the three wolves in human form. She hugged each of them quickly and then went back to stand in front of Jake.
"You guys need to go," she said quietly. "None of you are going to be able to keep from shifting for much longer. You're too angry. And Esme will be unhappy if you break her house."
"You're sure you're okay here?" Jake asked. "Say the word and we'll take you to the res."
"It's fine," Bella said. "I'm fine. I'll call you tomorrow."
"You're not going home tonight?" Jake asked.
"I doubt it," Bella said. "It's not safe."
"Okay," Jake said. "You just call if you need me. I'll be here in minutes."
"I know," Bella said with a sad smile.
The group watched as the wolves left the house and shifted as soon as their feet hit the driveway. Laurent and Irina both stared in shock at seeing the transformation and the four huge wolves who headed into the woods.
"Bella," Jasper said quietly. "I need you to calm Edward down. He's about to go for Irina's throat and nothing Carlisle or I do is making a difference."
Bella nodded and moved toward Edward. She almost stopped in shock when Rosalie moved to keep between Bella and Irina.
"Edward," Bella said softly as he continued to snarl at Irina. "Edward, you need to stop."
Everyone in the room stopped breathing as Bella reached up and put her hands on Edward's cheeks. As soon as she touched him, Edward's eyes closed and he turned toward Bella.
"Bella," he breathed out and gathered her into his arms.
"It's okay, Edward," Bella soothed and rubbed his back. "It's okay."
"So much pain," Edward murmured. He pulled back and looked her over. "You're okay?"
"I'm fine," Bella said easing back now that he'd left the precipice. "She never touched me."
"It's still unacceptable behavior," Carlisle said. "Irina knows better than to come into someone else's home with the purpose of causing them harm of any kind."
"I was not trying to cause her harm or pain," Irina said. "I was simply trying to ascertain the complete situation. Alice claimed Edward was mated, Edward acted as if Bella was his mate and yet he was leaving her. These things are not compatible."
"This is clearly something the family needs to deal with," Bella said. "I'm going to go upstairs and go to bed since I'm the only one here who needs to actually sleep."
"Bella," Edward's voice stopped her and she turned to look back at him. "There are pillows and blankets on the couch in my room for you."
"Thank you," Bella said quietly before fleeing up the stairs.