Disclaimer: I don't own it because if it was mine Bella would have said to hell with Edward and stole Jasper from Alice, Jacob wouldn't have been included, and Peter would have been more of a prominent character.

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Bella

I kept my arm around Bree as we walked into the house. When she saw everyone sitting around I felt her stiffen and move slightly behind me.

"It's okay," I whispered.

She eyed everyone again before relaxing slightly.

"Okay," I said and point as I went along. "Carlisle and Esme, my mom and dad."

Bree's nose scrunched up. "What?"

"We're a family not a coven. They are mom and dad."

"Oh, okay."

I gave her a smile and turned to the next ones. "This is Emmett and Rosalie."

They both waved and Rose said, "You can call me Rose."

I smiled a thanks and moved on. "Edward and Lexie. Edward can read minds."

"Really?"

"Yeah and it's a pain sometimes." Edward said causing Bree to giggle quietly and I felt her relax even more.

"This is Peter and Charlotte. He has a gift of just knowing stuff. However it's been kind of wonky lately."

"It has not." Peter huffed.

I smirked and moved on. "This is Daniel and Alice. Alice can see the future. Daniel's gift is better explained by show."

At my words he popped out his little blue bubble. Bree's mouth dropped open in wonder. "Can I touch it?"

I nodded. She took a step forward and reached out a hand. When it came in contact she said, "Cool."

I smiled as she stepped back to my side.

Turning her slightly we faced the Denalis. "These are our cousins. This is Carmen and Eleaz…" I trailed off as I remembered his gift.

"Bells what is is?" Peter asked.

"Oh nothing sorry." I said knowing I would need to talk with Eleazar alone soon. "This is Carmen and Eleazar. He can tell what gift a vampire has." Bree waved when they did and I moved on. "Tanya, Irina, Laurent, Kate, and Garrett. Kate has a gift, but you really don't want her to show you what it is.""I don't?"

"No," came from half the room.

"She can cause pain with a touch." I explained. Bree's fear shot up and I quickly reassured her. "You are safe here."

"Okay, sorry."

"Don't apologize. I do need to tell you that three others are here as well. They left for the night so as not to scare you more."

"You knew I was coming?"

"Yes and I will explain later, but you need to know that the three who are missing have red eyes instead of the golden ones like us. They will not hurt you though."

"Promise?"

"Yes sweetie. They are here to help get Jasper back like you are and when that happens they will return to their home."

"Okay. Can I ask a question?"

"Sure."

"Can you teach me to hunt animals? I don't want to hurt anymore people."

A sob came from Esme drawing our eyes to her. She stood and walked over slowly, opening her arms to Bree.

Bree looked hesitant for about a second before she kind of fell into Esme, her tiny arms wrapping around her.

"Of course we will honey. You're a part of this family now." Esme whispered rocking her from side to side.

The stood for a few more moments before Esme pulled back and cupped her face in her hands, giving her a bright smile.

"I always wanted a family." Bree whispered.

"Well you have it now." Esme said, hugging her again.

When she let go this time she moved back over to sit with Carlisle while everyone else was watching Bree. She finally glanced around and said, "I guess you want to know about me now."

"Whatever you're comfortable with." Carlisle said in his soothing way. "You can start from the beginning or just tell us why you came to help. It is completely up to you."

"I'll start at the beginning I guess."

He nodded with a smile and I guided her over to one of the couches. As much as I wanted to know about Jasper I also took Helena's words to heart. Bree needed to do this her own way.

Once we were settled on the sofa she glanced around again and started her story…

"I don't remember much from when I was human. Only a few things stand out. I know I was left on a church stoop when I was six months old, with a note that my name was Bree and the day I was born. That's what the people at the orphanage said when I came to them at 10. Before that I was in foster care. I don't remember my time in those places. I was at the orphanage in Texas for three years. The owners didn't have a lot of money and took it out on us. They would hit us if we were too loud or just looked at them the wrong way. I ran away one night after I turned 13. I hated it there and I was always hungry. I thought I could hide in the woods until the morning and then I could find something to eat. I don't know how long I was out there when a woman and man came up. At first I thought they were from the orphanage, but then I realized that I had never seen them before. I remember thinking the woman was so beautiful, with her red hair."

"Victoria," I hissed.

Bree nodded and continued, "She wasn't nice. She told me I was lucky they'd just fed, but then she bit me. It hurt so badly. I thought I was on fire and that I was going to die. But then I didn't and when I woke up she was still there. It scared me so much because I knew she had been the one to hurt me.

"I tried to run, but the man caught me and brought me back to her. She hit me and told me that I was a vampire now like her and that I had to do what she said or she would kill me. I was so scared, but then my throat started burning. She told me she could fix it if I promised to stay with her. I promised. She made me kill a woman. I hated it. I had blood all over me and then I killed a man and my throat felt better.

"She told me as long as I was good she would keep me from hurting. So I listened. She said we had to run to a place for help. I made the mistake of asking why and she hit me again. I didn't ask question anymore and just followed quietly. She did tell me the rules of being a vampire and that if I broke them she would kill me.

"We ran for days until we stopped at a big house. A woman was there and she was mean too. She said her name was Maria. I wanted to leave as soon as we got there, but I had to stay because Victoria gave me my food and I was always so thirsty.

"Maria didn't want us there at first, but then she and Victoria disappeared for a little while and when they came back she was okay with it. We were there a month when Victoria and Maria got into an argument in front of all of us.

"Victoria wanted the help Maria promised and she wanted it then. Maria said nothing. She stepped forward and just ripped her apart. Victoria had no chance. She burned her right there in the middle of the room. Then she looked at me and Riley, the man that was with us, and said if we didn't want the same thing to happen to us we would become loyal to her. We did the only thing we could. I was put in charge of watching the dungeon and the food. It was the only thing I was good for I guess.

"I hated living there. Maria was so mean, especially if you took too long to get what she wanted. Riley was sent away all the time. I didn't like him, but he was the only one I knew. I stayed out of the way as much as could and kept my head down. It didn't help a lot when Maria was mad because she wouldn't hesitate to hit you either. It didn't hurt but it just felt wrong. And she would burn others to prove a point.

"Then things changed the last time Riley returned. He came with someone else and for the first time Maria seemed to be happy. She disappeared for a few days and told me I needed to find a specific human before she returned. I was going to not listen and leave then, but the day I chose to I heard the keening sound and smelled the burning of a vampire. I got scared and stayed where I was only leaving to get what I was told to.

"Maria came back soon after and she wasn't alone. I could hear the voice of a new one and he didn't sound happy.

"When she called my name she told me to bring his favorite, the one I'd gotten while she was gone. I brought the human back to the room and he got so mad. He told me he didn't want her and I thought I had done something wrong. I told him that we had others, but he didn't want any of them. He said he wanted a redhe…."

Everyone was so engrossed in her story that no one noticed she'd stopped talking right away. When we did I felt her recognition.

"What is it?" I asked.

"None of you girls have red hair."

"Why is that important?"

"That's all he wanted. He made it perfectly clear that he didn't want any other color, especially brown. He told Maria that we weren't allowed to bother brown haired women any more either. They weren't even allowed in the house."

"That's a good sign right?" Emmett asked. "I mean it sounds like Jasper is remembering."

"It would seem like it." Carlisle agreed. "Unfortunately we know he's not going to just snap out of it, but we can hope that it will help when the time comes."

The others nodded in agreement and we turned our attention back to Bree.

"What happened after he told you he wanted a redhead?" I asked wanting to get back to finding out about him.

"I went and found one in town. He was happy and told me that from then on I was the only one allowed to get his dinner. He always said thank you afterwards. I liked Jasper, he yelled at everyone else but me. I didn't feel scared anymore.

"He got really mad when he found out how young I was and told Maria she wasn't allowed to change anyone under twenty from now on. She didn't like it, but agreed."

"Why did you decide to come here?" I asked.

"Because he doesn't belong with Maria. I couldn't do anything there, but here I can, so I waited until he sent me for dinner again and I ran. That was a week ago. I had heard that this is where they were coming when he was done training everyone. I made sure to confuse my path running over my trail over and over again until I crossed into Texas. Once I did I made a beeline here." She ended with a deep sigh like it felt good to finally get all that out.

"Thank you Bree, for telling us all that and for risking you life to come here." Carlisle said.

"You're welcome. Is there anything else you want to know?"

"Actually I do have a few questions if you don't mind."

"I don't."

"Okay. Can you tell us when Jasper plans on coming here?"

"No, Maria asked the same thing once and he said when he felt everyone was ready. I know he was having trouble with getting them to fight the way he wanted them to though. I also know he was worried about one of you and sent someone to find something."

"That would probably be in regards to Daniel's shield. Let's hope he doesn't find what he needs. Now do you know how many will fight with him?"

"When I left that took the number down to 29, including the Major and Maria. I don't think he was going to let me fight though."

"Was he going to change any more?"

"No he said he didn't have the time to train them."

"Well that's comforting. Even though that's still 29 against 19. We're going to have to be careful."

"Understatement of the century dad," Emmett said earning a smack from Rose.

Carlisle ignored him and said. "I just have one more question Bree and then Esme will take you to hunt if you want."

"Okay."

"How are Jasper and Maria together? Does he get mad at her often or vise versa?"

"Both. He puts down her training method. Said she slacked off from when she trained him. He also gets mad at the others a lot. Maria gets mad back, but even more so when he won't let her kiss him."

"What?" I asked my head whipping around.

"Yeah," Bree said nodding her head quickly. "She's tried a few times and every time she ends up being thrown across the room. I don't know why, but he won't let her near him now."

'So they haven't done anything like that?"

"No."

A sob built in my throat and I had to leave the room. Running out onto the porch I sucked in deep unneeded breaths and sent up every kind of thank you to God as I could.

I heard Bree ask, "Did I say something wrong?"

I smiled as Peter gave her the answer. "No honey, you just made her night. Thank you."

She had made my fucking week to tell the truth, by putting to rest my biggest fear out of all this. I mean it wasn't like I wouldn't be able to forgive Jasper when he came home if he had in fact done stuff with Maria, but I wouldn't be able to forget it. I was so incredibly thankful to Bree for letting me know that I wouldn't even have to worry about it.

I returned to the living room soon after and walked right up to Bree, hugging her tightly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She said returning the hug.

Everyone was smiling as we pulled apart and Esme stood. "Would you like to go hunt now and then I can show you your room?"

"Yes please."

"Good. While we're gone Alice will get you some clothes to change into for when we get back. You two are about the same size."

"Thank you."

"Can I go hunting with you?" Rose asked.

"It's fine with me. Bree?"

"I don't mind."

"Alright let's go." Esme held her hand out and when Bree took it they ran out the back door with Rose following.

"She's very brave." Carmen said. "To think at that age to go through all she has and still be the sweet girl she is."

"I know. I'm glad she's with us now. We can give her the love that she deserves." Carlisle said smiling.

Alice and Daniel stood from the couch bringing our attention to them. "We're going to get her some clothes and do a little shopping. Get her some things a thirteen year old would like."

"Thank you Alice."

"We'll be back later."

Once they left Carlisle said, "When Felix and the other two return tonight we'll introduce them one at a time. I think you'll need to be beside her Bella just to make her feel safe."

"Yeah. She'll be fine though when she sees that they aren't like the others."

"I don't doubt that. She's a very smart young lady."

"So what do we do now?" Emmett asked.

"We start training, but Bree will not be a part of it. We won't leave her here when we go to Mexico, but she won't be fighting either." Carlisle said.

The others agreed, but I held back my own. I didn't want her to physically fight either, but I knew she would have to be there. I just needed to figure out why. To do that I needed to speak to Eleazar, but that was going to be easier said than done.

While the others continued to talk I sat quietly trying to come up with a way to get Eleazar on his own. I couldn't catch him out on a hunt because he always went with Carmen.

"Alright Bella, spill it." Peter said bring me out of my thoughts about an hour later.

"What?"

"Whatever you're hiding."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. My wonky gift is working perfectly fine right now and I can tell there's something you haven't told us. What is it?"

"Bella?" Carlisle questioned.

"I can't."

"Why?" Peter asked.

"Helena said no one else could know."

"What did she tell you?"

I buried my face in my hands. They were not going to leave it alone now. Damn Peter and his fucking gift.

"Isabella?" Carlisle questioned again.

"Fine, but first you all have to promise something."

"Which would be?" Edward asked.

"That none of you will bother Bree. No one will tell her what I'm going to tell you and no one will question her about anything because she has no clue and it will only scare her away."

"We promise." They all said in mass.

I took a deep breath and told them what Helena had said about Bree. When I was finished Carlisle turned to Eleazar.

"Does she have a gift?"

"Not that I can tell, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have one."

"How is that possible? Is she a shield?"

"I don't think she's a shield because it's not like how I feel when I look at Bella or Daniel. It's more of how it is when I look at Tanya or Irina who have no gifts at all. No offence girls." They waved his words away and he continued. "Her gift if she has one could be buried. She's had a hard life and from the beginning of her change she's been beaten down pretty much. She's always tried to just keep to the background and it could be her subconscious trying to keep her safe and the attention off her by not showing it. If that's the case then from the way it sounds her being here will be what finally pulls it out."

"That makes sense." Carlisle said. "Thank you Bella for telling us and I'm sure I can speak for all of us when I say that the promise will be kept. No one wants to jeopardize anything that may get Jasper back to us."

"I know, just make sure if you tell the others you do so out of hearing range."

"That won't be a problem."

We discussed it a little more until we heard Esme, Bree, and Rose running through the trees. When they came through the door Bree was smiling.

"Did you have a good hunt Bree?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes. The taste will take some getting used too, but I can do it."

"Good."

"When will my eyes change colors?"

"In a few months. The animals will dilute it to orange first and then they'll change to gold."

"I can't wait until that happens and I don't have to see these anymore." She said waving her hand at her face.

Carlisle smiled at her and said, "Alice and Daniel went to get you some clothes and a few other things. They'll be back soon."

"Okay, what do I do until then?"

"Anything you want. If you want to go ahead and shower I'm sure between all the women they can find you something to put on or you can just relax in your room. There is also a full library on the third floor and movies and video games in the basement."

"I've always wanted to try a video game."

That was Emmett's que and he flew off the couch. "Oh you are going to love it. Come on little one. I'll teach you all you need to know."

Bree looked at me quickly and I smiled, nodding my head that it was okay.

She followed him slowly and Esme said, "Rose go with them. You know how he gets."

Now that all the talking had been done the family dispersed. I ended up in the library reading with Kate and Garrett, but not much was done as we spent most of the time laughing at Emmett. It seems Bree was a natural when it came to video games and she beat Emmett's ass on most of them.

Alice and Daniel returned a few hours later laden down with bags. We all watched with smiles as Bree pulled clothes, books, a laptop, an ipod, a cellphone, and magazines in complete awe that it was all hers. Alice kind of scored points there with me.

"I thought you were going to get her some of your clothes?" Carlisle asked in amusement.

"I was, but then I thought that most of my stuff wasn't really appropriate for someone her age."

"Good thinking, although you knew that when you left didn't you?"

"Of course."

He just shook his head.

When Bree was finished looking through her things and had hugged everyone we took her things up to her room. While she showered Alice hung her stuff up in her closet. Once she was done she sat with Edward and he showed her how to use her laptop and ipod while I programmed everybody's phone numbers into her new phone.

For the rest of the afternoon everyone went about doing their own thing. Bree sat in the living room reading one of the many books Alice had bought with her headphone in place. After hearing her story it was nice to see her just being a kid.

It was around 7 that night when Alice called through the house, "The others will be here in five minutes."

Everyone congregated to the living room and I felt Bree's fear come back. "Remember," I said. "They are here to help as well."

She nodded, but still stuck close to my side.

As they came from the trees I said, "One at a time guys."

They stopped on the back porch and Heidi came in first.

She didn't get to close, but said, "Hi Bree. I'm Heidi."

Bree nodded a greeting and Heidi moved over to sit by Rose.

Demetri came in next and did the same as Heidi, giving her his name to which Bree also nodded.

Felix I should have known would be the one that would get a bigger response from her. He walked in and grinned. "Hey Bree. I'm Felix and the most awesome out of the three of us. I'm also the best looking and smartest one." HE stage whispered.

Heidi and Demetri both snorted a laugh and I felt Bree's fear diminish.

Bree giggled and said, "Hey Felix."

He gave her a wink and went to sit by Lexie who shook her head at him.

"You were right Bella." Bree said glancing over at the three Volturi members.

I gave her a smile and she returned to her book and headphones.

No one else did much of anything the rest of the night. We knew that it was probably the last time we would be able to relax for a while so we took advantage.

Tomorrow we would start our training.

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Thanks for reading.

Next chapter will be entirely in the Major's POV.