Thank you all for your understanding on RL issues. Let's see what happens with Edward, shall we?

As always, I own the story, Steph owns the characters, and Ms. SunflowerFran works her red pen magic over it.

Chapter 10:

Confused, Edward fled the bedroom, running from the questions that troubled him. Isabella's refusal had been all so new to him. Not since he had left the Cullen family and joined the Guard had he been denied what he wanted. Never had someone, much less a female, told him no. He had never forced himself on a woman, and he no desire to do so, but they usually were more than willing to lavish their attentions on him at the mere hint of interest on his part.

Edward remembered his many conquests back in Volterra. At the time, they had been physically satisfying but nothing more than that. That had been wholly acceptable to him. He did not want anything more than a physical release.

But Isabella was different. She intrigued him and made him want to know more about her. He yearned to know her opinions, her thoughts, and her dreams.

He scoffed a laugh. Her thoughts.

To be unable to hear her thoughts when he already had been privy to them, that was a puzzle unto itself. He knew he had heard her before, first when she and that mutt had journeyed through the woods to see his 'castle' as she called it. Then when he performed at Carlisle's church, the utter joy and pleasure she could barely express in thought much less in word had pleased him greatly.

But Edward had not been able to hear Isabella's thoughts and dreams when she was sleeping in his bed. It was a fitful, agitated sleep, so she must have been dreaming, yet he saw and heard nothing. And then again, when she dared to deny him, there was nothing but silence.

Edward shook his head in dismay.

The icing on the cake was hearing his siblings as they laughed at him and their incessant praise of Isabella's ability not to succumb to his charms-that sent him over the edge. He knew losing control would not help him get back in the Volturi's good graces so he fled in the hopes of clearing his mind. Once alone, he would analyze just what had happened and plot a solution. She would be his, fully, before sunrise. Or that was his plan at the very least.

After ordering care for Isabella, which not surprisingly was already being gathered and prepared, he ran, the door slamming behind him as he ventured out into the dark rain.

Running always cleared his mind when he was a younger vampire. Freshly awoken from the fire that was his transformation, he discovered that he was fast. Even after his newborn phase had ended, no other vampire could best him in a foot race. That love for speed had never faded, though back in Volterra, the opportunities to stretch his legs were few and far between. This forsaken backwater he had been banished to provided ample space and opportunity for him to once again experience what had brought him much joy in the past.

Weaving in and out of the trees and vaulting rocks and bushes, he attempted to process what had happened. Edward thought rescuing Isabella from the squalor that was her home and providing her protection from any further advances from the sheriff would be a welcomed turn of events.

And then, of course, there was himself. He was handsome, talented, and wealthy. What else would someone in her situation want or need?

Edward had been certain once she thought logically about the situation surrounding her living conditions and her father's imprisonment, he would claim her as his and she would gratefully acquiesce.

But it was not to be.

He had seen her eyes widen when she first spied him, had heard her heart beat a little faster as he had approached her in his bed. He had heard her thoughts; wondering what it would be like to kiss him, to be touched by him in ways she could only imagine. He had scented the rich bloom of arousal on her skin when he whispered into her ear.

Logically, right now the two should be stripped naked and enjoying the pleasures of the bed rather than her alone in a bathtub and he running through the woods in a cold rain.

"Oh, no, my dear Isabella. Then you will be mine."

Something had drastically changed in her when he had said those words and he could not decipher just what had happened.

Without realizing it, Edward discovered he had run to the small parish church in town where Carlisle pastored. He came to a stop outside the back door and stood under an overhang, just out of the rain and waited.

Come in when you're ready.

Edward scoffed a laugh at his father's comment. He was not sure he would ever be ready to enter the sanctuary. He had long forsaken any thought of redemption or sanctification it might have for him.

He listened to Carlisle's innocent thoughts as the man bustled around the hall, cleaning and straightening, clearly waiting for Edward to make a decision.

Quietly closing the door behind him, Edward saw Carlisle standing at the front of the church as he gazed up at the old wooden cross he knew once belonged to Carlisle's father.

"So, you knew I'd come?" Edward asked, not moving from his place just inside the door.

"No." Carlisle paused, not turning to face his son. "I wasn't certain. I heard some rumors about what happened at Charles and Isabella's home. When I went to check on her, I found her missing and knew Jasper and Alice had been there."

"I couldn't leave her there alone!" Edward bit out, clenching his hands into fists. "She is mine, and they had no right to touch her. What if they had come back and … ?"

With a calm that had always infuriated his son, Carlisle turned to face him.

"Is she, now?"

A look of confusion passed over Edward's face. Carlisle's features hardened as his son refused to answer.

"Is she yours? You have taken her? Forced her?" Carlisle continued, a tinge of anger coloring his voice. He was ready to defend Isabella's honor should the need arise.

"I don't need to force anyone," Edward replied, his back stiffening at the accusation.

"So she turned you down."

"I don't need to answer that."

"So she did. Interesting."

Carlisle crossed the sanctuary and peered into the poor box. Seeing the meagre contributions therein, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a few coins to add. The gold made a dull thud as it fell onto the wood, but in the silence of the sanctuary, it seemed as loud as cannon fire.

"So what happened?" Carlisle finally asked.

"I don't need to confess my sins to you, Father."

Carlisle laughed at the stern look on his son's face.

"Always black and white with you, isn't it, Edward? No possibilities of anything else."

Edward remained silent as Carlisle cautiously approached him.

"So tell me what happened to put you in such a state. There was a time when we would have days-long discussions about anything and everything. I have missed those times."

Edward nodded at the memory of those events where many a question and problem had been resolved. Together. It seemed so long ago.

For the past few decades, Edward had convinced himself he needed no one and that he could rely solely upon himself. After all, that was what being part of the Guard meant—being at the top of the food chain, needing no one, caring for no one other than oneself.

But years before that, he had been part of Carlisle and Esme's family—the beloved, only child as well as a male, which in their society had been paramount. Even as a human, he had been the only son of parents that had doted on him to the day they died of a fever that had swept their community. Changed when he was seventeen, Edward had not completely matured emotionally and that had caused some problems that Carlisle and Esme had lovingly tried to resolve, and he had responded beautifully.

Then Rosalie had joined them and there had been hope that she and Edward would find happiness together, but that had not happened. Emmett filled the place Edward had been intended to possess. Truth be told, Edward had no interest in Rosalie as a mate, but the fact she had been brought in for him, only to be taken by someone else, pricked his pride.

And then Alice and Jasper joined their growing family. Alice with her ability to foresee the future and Jasper with his knowledge of how to manipulate emotions suddenly displaced Edward as the sole vampire in the family with mental abilities. Again, Edward was no longer the golden child.

A trip to Volterra had changed everything. There Edward had been coveted. From the moment Aro met him, every whim and desire Edward could dream of had been provided in an effort to woo him away from the Cullen family. The choice was so simple and he had grabbed it, leaving the only family he had known, convincing himself that he needed no one other than himself.

"Edward?" Carlisle said gently, breaking him from his thoughts.

Edward's head lifted and he saw no judgement on Carlisle's face, just love and understanding. A quick look into the mind of the man he had called 'father' for decades found nothing deceitful as well. There was a concern for both Edward's actions and Isabella's safety.

"She. Is. Mine," Edward said in a quiet but forceful whisper.

"She is no one's but her own," Carlisle replied gently with a shake of the head.

Edward petulantly spun around, biting his tongue so he would not give into the rage that was building inside of him. He clenched and unclenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut as he heard Carlisle try to formulate what he should say next.

"Edward," Carlisle said softly, but he received no response. "Why is she yours? What claim do you have to her? So far, you have treated her exactly like Sheriff Newton."

"I have treated her nothing like that worthless toad!" Edward sliced at the air with his hands as he spoke, earning a wan smile from his father.

"Really? You gave her a choice to be moved to your home? You gave her a choice in where she was going to be and who she was going to be with for the rest of her days?"

"It's not the same! I was protecting what is mine!"

"Again, Edward, how is she yours?"

"She…"

Edward's voice trailed off. He had no answer to that question. Other than the burning desire to possess her in every way possible, he had no explanation to give.

"Is she just a pretty object you want to put on a pedestal?"

Without consciously knowing it, Edward shook his head. No, she was much more than that. Although he did not know just how to vocalize what this human meant to him, she was something so much more than just a possession.

Carlisle's hand came to rest on his son's shoulder. Edward at first stiffened at the contact but slowly relaxed.

"Perhaps, you need to think about what Isabella wants and how she feels."

Edward remained silent in thought, mulling over this bit of advice as Carlisle reached for his overcoat and a large, floppy hat.

"Expected attire for my position and the weather," he explained as he buttoned the last button. "Come. Esme will be overjoyed to see …"

Carlisle was not surprised when he turned to see that he was alone once again, the candles on either side of the altar flickering in the breeze caused by Edward's sudden departure. He heaved a great sigh and tried to think of what his next course of action should be to protect Isabella.

And how to save his son from himself.

~STTBW~

Hope you liked this peek into Edward's past and my, he's a stubborn one, isn't he?

This week is another busy one—VBS at my church, and I'm a station leader so I don't get a lot of down time to plot and plan Edward's return to 'the castle' and to Isabella…that would be completely inappropriate to do while surrounded by preschoolers.

Now once I get home, that's another story…if I can move. LOL!

No guarantees on review replies and teasers this week, but I will do my utmost.

Thank you for your continued support. It truly means the world to me.

DeJean