Author's Note: I'd love to know what you all think of this chapter. If you'd be so kind to leave a review, it'd make my day. And if you're nervous about commenting where people can see it, don't be afraid to PM me. I love feedback of all (not the hateful) kinds.
Part X: Aggressive Negotiations
Chelsea POV
Gioia's transformation went flawlessly. I didn't anticipate her blood tasting so delectable. But I doubt she expected to feed from me during the ritual as well. She spilled a little on her lips, but I took care of that once the mutual transfusion was complete. I need to contact Eleazar, she might have a gift that could be quite interesting. But then again perhaps she'll have to settle for being the most beautiful woman I've ever met. Hell, she was willing to seriously learn English for me. I'm lucky to have her; after all, she's my mate.
Aro and Caius weren't entirely pleased about my basically unannounced departure from Italy, but once I informed them it was in fact Lady Artemis who requested my presence, they shut up pretty quick. Caius was a moaning little shit about it, but it's not as if he could do anything. After all, the last time she visited Vulterra, it was only Marcus' lazy plea that convinced her to spare Caius' life.
Walla Walla was a fucking bore. There was a college there, so a few fraternity brothers learned the hard way that rape wasn't as fun the other way around. But they didn't exactly live, so on the plus side it won't haunt them. Gioia was nearly insatiable.
But that was our first night together as mates. It was glorious to not hold back with her, at last. Also, the whole covered in blood thing is a huge turn on for me, personally.
And after Artemis called us, we were headed towards a backwater town called Forks. Like, I know there are some absurd township names in my home country of England. But this was embarrassing, America. Please try harder. But we had specific instructions to keep to the trees around the town. Something about super racist wolves. Artemis was not very clear. But I suppose she reasoned that if we followed her directives, nothing bad would happen.
We moved faster than any car as we flew across the forest floor before taking to the branches like the ninjas in that Japanese show Gioia was obsessed with as a teenager. The one thing I'll grant this section of the USA, it had beautiful trees. It's a shame Gioia stepped on a dried out branch once and exploded through the trunks of the next three before getting her bearings again. I'm still chortling about it.
Soon enough though, a smell hit us. Rancid animal smell. Like if a dog shit itself and then stayed out in the rain. But the rain was sour milk.
Wolves. There were gigantic wolves standing in a staggered formation, writhing on the ground. Artemis was there, standing in front of another tall woman of similar skin tone. I could tell she was newly changed, just as Gioia was.
The Cullens were there too, well, a few of them were. I recognized Whitlock and Hale, but the other two were strangers to me. There was a little girl with them, not much older than Jane. She had long dark hair, and her face was marred by a look of anger I immediately wanted to make better. Hmm, that wasn't a reaction that I was used to.
Wait a moment. The girl…she was the one making the wolves writhe on the ground. Holy shit. It was just like Jane. Who was this kid?
Her eyes blazed a shade of orange that I found unique. Gioia was standing on the same branch I was. "Is that Jane? The one you told me about that hurts people?" Gioia asked with fascination. All this was new to her.
"No. It's not Jane. But I'd recognize Jane's powers anywhere," It would seem that Artemis left a few surprises for us, mia amata."
"Aww, your accent is horrible, but I love you too," Gioia sighed into my ear while jabbing me playfully in the ribs. The cheeky little…nah, I loved her too much for me own good.
On the ground, I saw Artemis tilt her head to the side slightly. Her eyes connected with mine, and her lips curved into a smirk. She addressed the shirtless boy. "You are going to instruct the rest of your dogs that–," She broke off as the girl beside her whispered something so quick and quiet into her ear that even among supernaturals, her words were a mystery.
Artemis cut off, and gave a shrug. Ceding the floor so to speak. The girl beside her laced their hands together before addressing the shirtless young man who seemed to lead the wolves. "I think you can tell I'm no longer just a shifter, can't you, Samuel?"
The boy, Samuel, flinched. Perhaps he didn't like his name? I didn't give a fuck.
He was beginning to tremble with rage, probably cause most of his pack was completely incapacitated. The sounds had stopped, but they were still twitching on the ground. The two wolves still standing unaffected, no–untargeted– did not look eager to interfere. "Leah, get her to let them go," he said, addressing the woman at Artemis' side. Leah, it was a nice name. The small girl's eyes flicked up to him for a moment.
"So you all can hurt my friends? No. I won't let that happen," the girl returned with equal malice.
"Let them go, you bitch," he hissed.
"If you shift and attack my IMPRINT, I'm going to murder you," Leah stated calmly. She didn't shout, but the way she said 'imprint' made me realise how sacred Artemis was to her. ARTEMIS FOUND HER MATE! Gioia had to grip me to strop me from screeching out my joy for all to hear, and compromising our tactically hidden position. "I obviously stand apart from this little sausage fest now. Sorry, Seth," she inclined her head to acknowledge the smaller of the standing wolves. "I'm no longer a part of the pack hierarchy, not under your control anymore. So I'll ask you again, do you accept that my imprint is a real fucking vampire?" Her voice didn't rise, but became dangerously quiet.
"If I say no?" Samuel asked with gritted teeth.
"Attacking them violates the treaty, meat bags," Whitlock spoke up. "I'm willing to forgive this one," he gestured to the wolf closest to the vampires. He was about to continue but Artemis cut him off.
"Well I'm not. I've waited twenty five centuries for my soulmate," she said wrapping an arm possessively around Leah's waist, who for her part squeaked at the sudden move. But she seemed to melt into Artemis' embrace anyway. "This one, to the best of his knowledge just tried to end my happiness. What would you do if I eviscerated your precious Emily?" Artemis asked with murderous intent in every aspect of her posture. I could hardly breath with anticipation; I've not seen Artemis this angry in a very long time.
Before Samuel could respond, she continued, "You'd try to murder me, obviously. As it would be your right." Samuel hesitated as she agreed that such an act would be deplorable in her eyes. I didn't know who Emily was, but equating her to Leah must mean Samuel would burn the world for this woman. "Leah has explained to me that 'attacking or hurting another's imprint is punishable by death.' Apparently it's your one immutable law. It governs how you conduct yourselves among your tribe. So tell me. Is she not entitled to take the life of this one for his attempt to murder me?" she gestured at the nearest and largest wolf.
The Cullens looked nervous. Hell, I didn't blame them. I wasn't even sure what would happen next. "Is Lady Godric usually so angry?" Gioia asked as she rested her head on my shoulder.
"No. She's remarkably calm, even among the stuffy old folks I usually spend time around," I reply.
"Have you ever seen wolves that big? Isn't Lady Godric in danger?" Gioia asked with fear in her inflection.
I thought for a moment before deciding, "I've dealt with worse. They might have some tricks up their sleeves, but I seriously doubt our friend is in danger. The Cullens might be, honestly. I confess I've never seen Artemis fight at full strength." Gioia looked slightly reassured, but I could tell she was worried about our friend.
Samuel sputtered. He clearly wasn't expecting a logic based argument. His annoyed look at the wolf on the ground wasn't one of shame. It was annoyance. Like he was upset at failure, not the attempt. Bastard.
My lip curled into a silent snarl. I reached out with my powers. My powers worked similarly to the man who originally brought me into the life of immortality, Lord Marcus. I inherited his powers, well, his basic power set. He could feel the bonds between people. After decades of experimentation, I realised I could go a step further and manipulate those bonds. End loves, make enemies inseparable, etc. I was still finding new ways to destroy my enemies. And these mongrels were enemies.
They were all linked to Samuel. Those links may have been made of irons. There was no flexibility where their bonds were concerned. He was their master. The wolf that Leah called 'Seth' had the weakest tether to him, I could see it unravelling by the moment. His bond with Leah was far stronger.
And now I new for sure what I suspected a few moments ago. If Samuel had wanted, no attack would've happened at all. The fact that there had been any sort of altercation meant it happened with his consent.
My eyes darted to Leah and Artemis. Their bond looked even more beautiful than the one between myself and Gioia, though it was no stronger. Perhaps because the new girl was a wolf before she became more? That meant…that meant that she was a slave before, even if she was never addressed as such. No trace of that bond remained with Leah. I could tell that Seth was her brother, but the she reserved only animosity for the other wolves.
I whipped out my phone and sent a text.
Before Samuel could reply, Artemis pulled out her phone. She tilted her head to the side, and nodded once.
"If the wolves attack, follow your baser instincts," I implored of Gioia. She nodded.
In the blink of an eye, we stood a couple meters from Artemis and the others.
"Cheers!" I spoke with a healthy dose of malice, addressing the wolves first. The Cullens gasped. Whitlock looked bemused, but the others looked apprehensive. Not fans of the Vulturi I see. I didn't blame them, we're a savage lot when situations necessitate violence.
Samuel flinched as he truly realised how outnumbered he was. But I had to acknowledge the inner strength it must've taken to steel himself. To bad I happened to be judgemental about slavery. "Since Leah is no longer a member of this pack, she can claim no such right within our rules," he bit out. "The Alpha Command doesn't work anymore, the connection is gone. Leah, as a blood-su–drinker, you are no longer welcome on our lands," he said. He didn't take pleasure in saying that, but his voice was hard all the same.
"You don't have the right to deny me seeing my brother or mother," Leah hissed.
"You're a monster, congratulations, there are consequences," Samuel spat back.
Leah looked at Artemis for a flicker of a moment and seemed to get some kind of invisible confirmation. "You can't stop me Sam. I'm not yours to command anymore." Her voice became deeper.
The large wolf on the ground got to his feet. His intent was obvious. He was going to try and finish what he started.
Artemis suddenly sprouted a smirk of pride and malice, as she stepped back from Leah, jerking her head to everyone else to do the same. Sam narrowed his eyes at the pair of them, but did nothing to stop the five foot tall wolf.
A growl unlike anything I'd ever heard, oily and laced with hatred. It sounded a lot like the Witchking from the third Lord of the Rings film (Gioia made me watch them when she found out I hadn't seen them before. Extended editions and all.). "So that's how it's gonna be," Leah got out. I felt a flicker of fear. A genuine chill that had never happened since Artemis raised me from Golem to what I am now.
Leah exploded outward in blood. It was horrifying. The Cullens and the Jane substitute sprang back with a variety of swears.
My eyes (and several other pairs) darted toward Artemis, beseeching her for a cue as to how to feel. She was almost glowing with pride and love? I looked back to where Leah was standing…there was something standing where Leah had just been. A very large something. A gargantuan wolf. At least twice as large as the biggest of the ones here. It was covered in Leah's blood, but the voice in head erased all doubt as to the condition of my maker's mate.
"So, Paul. Who's gonna get fucked now?" Leah's voice echoed around my head, and probably everyone else's. The originally big wolf–Paul– tried to abort his attack with a whimper.
Leah wasn't having that. She caught him around the middle in her jaws as he turned to flee.
He began to desperately howl in pain. But Leah wasn't in the mood to draw it out. She closed her jaws, and tossed her head back and forth, in a sharp jerking motion.
Blood was suddenly everywhere. It fell to the ground in litres. And we were all in the splash zone…I really liked these boots…oh well, this was fucking riveting.
Leah opened her mouth.
Paul fell out. He was in one piece, barely. But his spine was clearly visible. It was in three different pieces.
He was still alive. His whimpers intensified as he shifted back to human form. Frankly, it didn't help much. Sam started forward to help him out, but he was too slow. Leah wasn't done yet.
Suddenly petrified eyes and scream disappeared inside Leah's maw as she picked him up gingerly.
And then she flung him casually at one of the tall pines bordering our little rendezvous.
He hit the tree with an ugly wet sound. The sinew and tendons holding his body together was overcome.
There was a second splash of blood, and a sound that I found oddly appealing.
Paul's body tore into three pieces. His upper chest and partially severed head landed at the tree's base while his abdomen and lower half parted ways into the forest.
Nobody moved except Leah, who's hulking form almost lazily meandered over to where the head and collarbone lay. In clear view of everyone, she raised her left paw and popped his head like a tomato.
"So…Sam, would you like to reconsider barring me from my family?" Leah snarled at the pack, who had all but Seth, pissed themselves. Including Sam, who shat himself.
Artemis let out a peal of laughter that I found a bit deranged, but she couldn't help that was how her happy laugh sounded. She walked over to Leah and lithely leapt onto the nape of her neck, straddling her mate. She pressed a kiss into Leah's furry forehead before looking up at me and chuckling, "Chelsea, how about you properly introduce yourself? I think further bloodshed would be anticlimactic."