An: Okay, this is just a short little bit but it needed to be it's own chapter.

Chapter 10- Facing the Volturi

When I arrived, Alice grabbed me immediately and I was blasted with the image of myself smiling, radiating joy in a tux at the top of the stairs ready to go downstairs. Alice said, "Edward, I know it doesn't make sense now, but trust me."

Alice was hiding from me again, desperately locking down her brain. I didn't want that vision because it would be without Bella and without my daughter.

Suddenly, Alice was hit with a vision of the guard coming within the hour. Alice called out, "They are coming in fifty-two minutes. Something changed and I can't see why."

By the end, she was almost yelling. Instantly, my family was moving to action. We all changed quickly. Just as Esme was about to close the metal paneling over the windows we heard the approaching footsteps, but I couldn't hear any of their minds.

I growled out softly, "I can't hear their thoughts," with panic evident in my tone.

Quickly we filed out the door to face the guard.

When I looked, there were only four figures standing, waiting for us. Alice had told us that there were supposed to be more than this. The young hybrid girl from Carlisle's mind was standing there in the flesh. I could hear her heart beating wetly in her chest but her scent was less appetizing than any human I had met, it was a delicate mix of human and vampire. I saw two small vampires who could only be Jane and Alec but their expressions were softer than I had ever expected and their stance was casual. Something was out of place. The fourth figure hung behind the other three completely enveloped in a dark gray cloak a shade darker than Jane and Alec. It seemed as if the guard had a new weapon. I was suddenly distracted by Alice who seemed almost happy as she looked at the cloaked figure who had been staring back. Then the obviously feminine figure turned their head towards me. I could not see her face, but somehow knew that whoever she was had her gaze on me. She moved slightly in an abrupt manner. I could not figure her out. There was a strange energy that seemed to be radiating from her and I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away.

Carlisle grew tired of the silence and harshly said, "What do you want from us? We know you have come to destroy and acquire. I warn you, we will not go without a fight. Renesmee, I am surprised to see you in the company of these killers."

There was a split second pause before Jane said, "Carlisle, we had no knowledge of why we were here until we arrived. We believe this course of action is wrong. We will not fight with the guard against you. If it comes to that, we will take your side. We cannot tell you our reasons, but please believe that we want to protect your family from this harm. After the confrontation, we will return to Volterra and make Aro's greed and corruption widely known if they refuse to leave your family alone."

Carlisle was reluctant to believe them. He mentally asked me if I could read anything from them at all and I kept shaking my head slightly to let him know that I couldn't. As the time slowly crawled on, I became more and more frustrated. The only other time I had ever been this cut off was with my Bella. I was almost to my breaking point when the hybrid girl reached back and grabbed the hand of the anonymous women who quietly laughed for a moment. Her laugh was like daggers to my heart. It sounded beautiful and familiar but I couldn't figure out why. Then the hooded vampire bent down to whisper in Nessie's ear, "He's a mind reader and right now I'm stopping him. I don't think he likes it much."

Her voice made me realize why her laugh was familiar; it sounded almost like my Bella and I felt the bleeding gaping hole grow a little bit more. The girl laughed and it grew again. The pain, along with my frustration caused a growl to slip between my teeth unbidden.

Carlisle glared at me before saying, "Forgive my son, he feels uncomfortable when he cannot read other's minds."

Alice glanced at me and gave me a look of sympathy, almost as if she knew exactly what was bothering me. Esme looked at me with confusion and compassion. Jasper sent a bit of calmness my direction. Emmett thoughts shouted out to me that he felt sorry for me. Rose rolled her eyes at my immaturity.

Jane smiled smugly at me and then addressed Carlisle, "Renesmee's mother is a mental shield. We did not want to accidentally share with you more than we had planned. After all, we are still a part of the Volturi and have secrets that we cannot share. However, Ness can show you the commitment of our cause, if you like. She is much more practiced at blocking her thoughts from others."

When I heard the girl's full name it struck a chord that I was too annoyed to attempt to figure out. Then the girl stepped forward and held her hand out toward me with a smile on her face. Her emotions shining in her eyes were extremely complicated.

The moment she grabbed my hand I saw some of the meeting in the woods while she carefully avoided looking at the cloaked woman who she called mom. Then a thought she didn't mean to release began. She was thinking about how much she wished she could tell me everything. Then she got control and shared that she could not lie through her thoughts and proved it by recalling an incident where it had gotten her in trouble with her 'Uncle' Aro.

I gasped at the idea of anyone considering Aro in such a way. He must have been extraordinarily careful around this sweet child. Hastily, I confirmed the Volturis' claims, wanting to ease their anxiety. I smiled at her for a moment, thinking about how much I would have wanted my little one to be so sincere. That thought though made me see the image of the body they were sure was my love and the pain overwhelmed me again.

Jane and Alec went over the whole plan with us in detail. I was honestly surprised and hopeful for my family that it would work. Once they finished and we solidified some details, they turned in perfect unison and walked away. When they hit the tree line, the hooded woman turned back to look at us, seeming to focus on me again. I was intrigued slightly by her when a gust of cool breeze blew the cloak around her, showing more of her figure. The moment the wind hit me, my eyes widened and the hole in my chest consumed me. The smell was beautiful and overpowering and almost identical to my Bella's. I sank to my knees and without meaning to choked out, "Strawberries- and freesia."

The girl gasped, cried out and then turned and ran into the trees. Whoever she was, she had surely been sent to torture me or maybe she would be the one to take my life. Maybe her smell would be the last scent I experienced, the final taste on my tongue. Perhaps it was God's way of granting me some small final kindness in this doomed existence. I didn't know and I didn't care. I could feel hands as they picked me up and carried me into the house.

Late in the afternoon, I heard Alice let me know silently that Nessie would be arriving soon. She was going to be staying in the house during the fight to keep her safe.

Just before twilight, I heard two sets of footsteps and the quick heartbeat of the girl. I looked out my window to see Alice hugging the hooded figure and promising to care for her and then Alice's thoughts disappeared for a moment. The anonymous girl was shielding her, probably just to annoy me. Then I heard her voice, so tortuously familiar thank Alice. I walked from the window, not wanting to see her walk away.

The moment the girl came in the house her thoughts were immediately on finding me. Alice was going to help her for some reason. I had no desire to torture myself any further than I already had. I ran down the stairs and out of the house. I could hear the pain in Nessie's thoughts and became even more agitated with myself.

I ran straight towards the meadow, wanting it's serenity to help ease a bit of the agony gripping me so that I could be clearer for the upcoming confrontation. The moment I reached my clearing though, I saw that I could not escape even here. In the center of my meadow was the hooded figure, admiring how her hand sparkled in the sunlight. Then she turned quickly to face me. The moment she saw my face she took half a step back and her scent overwhelmed me again. It was cruel that someone who was supposed to be our enemy smelled just like my love.

After a moment, unthinkingly I spat out, "What are you doing here? Haven't you disturbed us enough?"

Immediately, her whole body slumped and she looked down slightly. Instantly, I felt guilty. The poor girl was probably trapped in service to the guard. Someone so gifted would not have been given a choice. I tried to think of something to say but before I could, the opening in her hood faced me for a moment before she turned on her heel and ran from the only sanctuary I had. While her scent lingered all I could imagine was my Bella running into our meadow to face me in shock. Then I would run towards her, wrap my arms around her and tell her that I lied and why I had really left. Then I would get to press my lips to hers and instantly everything would be fine. Another part of my brain told me how unrealistic I was being but I couldn't bring myself to care.

Exactly thirteen minutes after she disappeared. all traces of her scent were gone. A large part of me wanted to find her and follow her just to be able to inhale her heavenly scent and remember but I knew that it was a bad idea. Going near someone who reminded me so strongly of Bella was only going to make things worse.

I sank to the ground and remembered every moment of the first time I had brought Bella here in an attempt to not follow the Volturi girl, but every few minutes my memories were overcome. Finally, my phone vibrated and I found a message from Alice telling me that I needed to get back to the mansion. The family needed me there to discuss strategy. I quickly sent her a reply and reluctantly ran towards the mansion.

When I arrived, the strangest site I had seen in my long existence assaulted me. There, sitting uncomfortably on Esme's pristine white couch were four Quileutes from the reservation. The moment I walked into the house, I knew exactly why they were there. The wolf pack had been reformed in our absence. We had hoped that the last pack was the final one, but apparently, we had been wrong.

"Ahh, here is my son, Edward. His gifts will make him a central part of this fight," Carlisle said, nodding towards me.

Two of them took me in with indifference. The girl was annoyed that she had to fight alongside vampires and the last one, was furious with me. I looked at him for a moment until his features rearranged themselves into something familiar and I recognized that young man as Jacob Black, the one who had approached Bella at the prom. He was almost vibrating with anger at the sight of me. Apparently, he had feelings for Bella. As he thought about Bella, his visions became ridden with lust and I growled at the young boy who exploded into his wolf form at the sound.

The leader of the group rolled his eyes and humbly said, "Carlisle, I'm sorry. Jacob is still relatively young and occasionally had a problem controlling his emotions. Give me a moment to settle the young pup down."

Carlisle nodded, his eyes alight with curiosity, having never seen a wolf phase before. The leader, Sam, walked out behind a now wolfed out Jacob and the moment they hit grass he phased as well. They stood there glaring at each other for a few moments until Sam figured out the source of our quarrel. He then proceeded to give Jacob the nonverbal tongue-lashing of a lifetime. He was angry and equated our mating to the vampire version of imprinting. I was intrigued by his theory, but was quickly distracted when the silent communication ended and there were two naked young men on our lawn. I ran upstairs and grabbed two pairs of Emmett's shorts and tossed them out the window to the two wolves. Sam silently thanked me for my concern and I nodded.

The moment I rejoined the group Jacob reluctantly said, "Edward, I'm sorry. My thoughts about Bella were inappropriate."

"Please, try to keep her from your thoughts, I can't focus, I can't-" I said, fading as the emotion overwhelmed me.

Jacob was aghast at how broken I was without Bella, but attempted to focus on their purpose for being there.

"Carlisle, we will assist you in this. We do not want these vampires here. They are not like you and we will help you rid the area of them as quickly as possible. Moreover, we relish the idea of sinking our teeth into some vampires. Given that there is a chance of that, we have no problem participating. We would like to go outside and familiarize ourselves with your families' scents so that during the fight we do not become confused," Sam said gravely.

He was concerned. He didn't like the idea of being in league with vampires, but knew after Jacob's encounter at Charlie Swan's house that he didn't want them anywhere near the people of Forks and the surround areas. They decided to gather the pack and wait in the forest surrounding our house for the opportune time to reveal themselves if necessary. They were all eager for a fight since they hadn't killed a vampire in such a long time.

The only thought I had as they left, was that I was glad we rarely had dealings with the members of the Quileute tribe. Jacob Black had really gotten on my nerves. I was not looking forward to being around him again.

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