AN: This chapter does have a scene with a person being whipped as punishment. The scene may seem harsh, but it is worse because the person isn't human and the more "extreme" needed to be used due to the person's skin and healing capability. If this bothers you please do NOT read.

(PPOV)

We had just gotten off the plane when we were met with two limos. Guess my in-laws decided to pick us up. We were all nervous about meeting Isabella's parents. I "knew" that none of us would be giving her the punishment her father was going to require. He was going to have all of us restrained by the pride and make us watch. Her father was a reasonable man from what I had heard from Godric and Eric, but from what I "know", he's going to be a cruel son of a bitch when it comes to her punishment.

"I think you're right Peter. Alice is having visions of Isabella's punishment. Her father hasn't really decided yet, but none of us are going to be able to do the punishment. So far his choices are a panther named Mark or a lion named Anthony." Edward said as we all loaded into the limos. The pack went into one limo while the rest of us piled into another one. When Edward mentioned Anthony I noticed Isabella shiver.

"What is it Angel? Why did you shiver when Edward mentioned Anthony?" I asked. I was beginning to think something had happened between the two. Isabella was avoiding my eyes. Since Isabella wouldn't answer me I turned to Zander.

"Who is this Anthony Zander? Why is Isabella afraid of him?" I asked in almost a growl. I was starting to get angry thinking that someone might have hurt my Angel.

"Anthony is a lion in our pride that has had a thing for Isabella since she was younger. He had wanted to imprint on her and when he didn't he still begged to be married to her. Once he found out that she had imprinted on a Cold One he lost it. He was banished for a decade and has been especially cruel ever since. I don't know why our father would even consider him to exact her punishment. He'll make it extremely painful for Isabella if he's the one to do it." Zander explained and I couldn't keep the growl in anymore and neither could any of the other vampires in the car.

"If he does the punishment you're going to have to allow it my mates." Isabella whispered out. She wasn't meeting any of our gazes.

"Like hell we will Darlin'. I am not going to let some revenge seeking son of a bitch deal out your punishment so he can get off on it." Jasper growled out. He had his hands balled into fists at his sides.

"Jasper, there's nothing you can do Cowboy. Father will have to exact punishment to show he isn't weak. The pride will rebel if he shows weakness. I'm willing to take the punishment. My father may be mad at me, but he is still my father and I wouldn't want him harmed." She explained as the limo came to a stop. We were all dreading this and the tension was so high that you could cut it with a knife, but we got out of the car anyway.

"I love you guys." She whispered as she looked at the five of us. It was almost like she was saying goodbye.

"I'm not saying goodbye baby. I'm just letting you know no matter what I love all of you and I have never regretted imprinting with you guys." She explained as she walked ahead of us. The town we had stopped in looked like something from the 1800s, but with electricity. There was a town hall and a general store. It reminded me of when I was human. From the look on Jasper's face it was reminding him of the same thing.

"This town is amazing. It looks like the town I grew up in when I was human." Jasper explained to all of us.

"My father has made this town prosper since he's led the pride." Isabella said as she stepped into a house that was next to the town hall.

"Is this your home Isabella?" Carlisle asked as he looked around, but before she could answer a man that looked almost exactly like Isabella came up to us.

"Yes it is. It's about time you returned home Isabella. I see your brother found you and your…mates. I see your Guardians are with you as well." He said the word "mates" like it physically hurt him to say it.

Isabella bowed her head before she answered, "Yes father. Zander found me during a fight with some newborn Cold Ones. I had already found my mates again and then I called my Guardians to me." She explained to him without raising her head. I didn't like seeing her submissive to anyone. She should always have her head held high. My brothers and her Guardians didn't seem to like it either. Jasper was struggling with his need to protect her. You could see it written on his face.

"Why were your Guardians not with you in the first place?" Her father growled out and I saw his eyes flash with his animal. I wanted to pull Isabella behind me, but I knew I couldn't. He turned his glare from his daughter to Eric and Godric. The two didn't back down, but they didn't appear threatening either.

"We had gotten into a fight and I ran away from them father. I shut our bond down so they couldn't find me. It was all my fault. I just recently opened the bond to them and they came straight away. They would have been with me the whole time if it hadn't been for my closing the bond. They've been looking for me ever since." She said as she got down on one knee and bared her neck. She was submitting to her father and it was only pissing me off more. I looked around the room and noticed the surprised faces of her Guardians. They didn't expect her to take the blame.

"For running from your Guardians your punishment will be ten lashes for each Guardian. For disobeying my orders your punishment is thirty more lashes. I have a few houses set for you and your guests. I am assuming you, your mates and your Guardians will be sharing a house. Your punishment will be in two hours Isabella. I suggest you prepare yourself and do NOT keep me waiting." Her father said as he walked out of the room.

"Follow me. I know where the houses are that he has set aside. They are far from the pride houses so we have a bit of a walk. He didn't want any of the pride around his daughter's mates." Zander said as he led us out of her father's house. Isabella didn't say anything and kept her head down. I wanted to say something and from the looks my brothers shared so did they, but Godric put a restraining hand on my shoulder and shook his head. I guess I would have to wait. We walked for about 5 minutes and passed many people in the village before we reached the houses. Zander showed the pack their house first, then he showed the rest of our family their house and then took us to ours.

"Here you are. Please be ready in two hours otherwise her punishment will be more severe. Everything you do here will be under watch and if you do anything wrong Isabella will be punished for it. The more you do wrong the worse the punishment would be for her." He advised as he walked away. We walked inside the house and went into the living room.

"Let me have it. I know you guys are pissed that I took the blame for you not being with me." She said as she looked in their eyes. All I could see was determination. She wasn't going to back down from this and I was proud of her. She was protecting people she loved.

"We are not mad min älskling, but we are worried. You're going to be getting fifty lashes. You know he'll choose Anthony. He is very mad at you." Eric said as he came to kneel in front of her. His eyes were rimmed red and so were Godric's.

"I couldn't let him try and take the Guardian bond from us. He would have tried to bleed me and remove our bonds. I know it can't be done, but he doesn't and he wouldn't listen to any of us if we tried to tell him. He probably would have ended up killing me." She explained as she grazed his cheek with her fingers.

"We'll be here for you min petite. We'll care for you after your punishment. I know there is nothing we can do to stop it." Godric said as he knelt on the other side of her. It pissed me off that they were so resigned to this, but I knew there was no getting out of it. If we ran with her we wouldn't get their help and we desperately needed it with everything coming at us from all sides these days.

"What do you mean there's nothing we can do?! I am NOT going to sit back and let them whip my mate. There has to be something we can do." Jasper cried out. He was taking this harder than any of us. Jasper had the harder time in the Southern Vampire Wars and when he found someone he cared about he held onto them with everything he had.

Isabella got up off the couch and walked over to him. He was pacing back and forth until she got into his path and wrapped her arms around his waist. I could see him squeezing her, but I knew he wouldn't hurt her. He was shaking with the effort to keep his sobs in. I'd never seen Jasper like this.

"Jasper, you have to allow this punishment baby. There's nothing we can do. If you can't witness it then stay here my mate. I won't have you hurt. He will shackle you if you try to interfere and then he'll punish you. The pride will be given free rein to do anything to you short of burning you. Please my mate? Please be safe." Isabella begged. She had tears flowing down her face and was shaking along with him.

"We'll take care of him Isabella. We won't let him get hurt and we'll make sure no one interferes." Edward promised. He didn't like it any more than any of us.

"WHAT?!" Jasper yelled.

"Jasper, none of us likes this, but what else can we do? We can't run from here and we're going to need their help against Maria, Victoria and the Volturi. I know her father will help after her punishment. He'll consider her crime void and everything will be fine on his end. It won't be on ours, but we will need his and the prides help." I tried explaining to my brother. I knew if it was anyone besides his mate he would be seeing the possibilities, but his heart was too involved to let him think rationally and strategically.

"I get it. I really do, but it doesn't make it any easier. I am going to have to stand there and watch my mate get whipped and bleed. I'll have to feel her pain while someone is hurting her. I know it's not going to be any easier for the four of you, but this is how I'm handling it. I know it's not very well, but I can't help that." Jasper said as he sat down and pulled Isabella into his lap. He immediately started nuzzling her neck. I knew he wasn't going to let her go anytime soon so we all sat on the floor around the chair he was in and had our hands on her. I sat on the arm of the chair to their right, Edward was on the left, Godric was in the floor on their right and Eric was on the floor on their left.

That's how Zander found us two hours later.

(JPOV)

I didn't know how I was going to get through this with my sanity intact. We had just walked into the town hall where they had a whipping post set up in the middle of the room. There were metal shackles attached to the steel pole. I didn't know if I could go through with this. I saw a man with a whip in his hand and I had to assume that was Anthony by Isabella's reaction. She simply nodded her head to my thoughts. His emotions were ranging from happiness to anger when he saw Isabella with us to smugness. I'm assuming the smugness is from getting to exact Isabella's punishment.

"I'm going to pull my shield around me when they are giving me my punishment. I will hopefully make no sound during this. If I do father may add more, but I don't want Edward to read my mind during this and I don't want you feeling my pain." Isabella whispered as she started to walk away, but I couldn't let her walk to that post without giving her one final kiss. It would be hard as hell to allow this, but I knew I needed to. It would be for the best in the long run, but to watch this was going to hurt me.

"I love you Darlin'." I said and then kissed her passionately. I could hear the murmurs, hisses and growls of the pride. They didn't like that she was mated to a Cold One let alone three of them. Once I pulled away I saw Edward take her into his arms and then Peter. Godric and Eric did the same which caused even more of an uproar, but none of us cared. All five of us were worried beyond belief about what was going to happen.

"I can't believe we're letting them do this to her." Edward whispered as he came to stand next to me and put his hand on my left shoulder. To anyone else it would look like a comforting gesture, but my family knew it was a restraining gesture. Peter moved to do the same thing on the other side while Eric and Godric were behind me ready to grab me if need be. We watched as her father went up to the podium to command silence and began speaking.

"Isabella Marie Swan, Princess of this Pride, come forth." He spoke with authority and I could see in the prides eyes that they respected him. Isabella walked up to the front of the podium and bent down on one knee with her head bowed.

"You are here to be punished for evading your Guardians which will result in ten lashes per Guardian. You are also being punished for disobeying a direct order from your pride leader and king. How do you plead?" He asked at the end of his speech. The whispers started up again. No one thought she would be punished since she was the pride leader's daughter. They also didn't think she would admit to what she did wrong.

"I plead guilty." Isabella yelled as everyone in the room gasped. I knew this would shock them, but their reaction still pissed me off. I saw the smug bastard standing beside her father smirk. I am going to kill him. He won't be breathing much longer, but his death will not be swift.

"Calm your thoughts Jasper. You're projecting your anger. You don't want to make Anthony angry while he is carrying out Isabella's punishment." Edward hissed at me. I tried very hard to rein in my gift and calm my own emotions. I sent a blanket of calm to the room just in case.

"Very well then. Anthony will get you setup at the post and he will administer your punishment." Her father stated as he walked down from the podium to stand next to a female who I assumed to be his wife and my Darlin's mother.

"Come on little cub. It's time you learn." Anthony sneered as he yanked her up to her feet only to push her back down when they were in front of the post. I couldn't contain my growl at his rough treatment of my mate. Everyone turned to look at me, but I didn't care.

"Do NOT interfere." Her father yelled out. Anthony just smirked at me.

"I won't interfere only because Isabella has asked me not to." I said in a growl. I looked into Isabella's pleading eyes and I knew for her I would watch and then I would take care of her. We could give her blood from either Eric or Godric. Hopefully that would heal all of her wounds. As I looked at my mate she mouthed "I love you" and then the lashes began. They didn't make her call them out and I don't think she could have even if they had wanted her to. At 20 they stopped and switched the whip from a leather one to a studded wire whip. I knew this would be worse and my brothers had to hold me back even more. Eric and Godric both had an arm around me restraining me from tearing Anthony into pieces. I couldn't contain my growls and I noticed as Isabella looked at me that her eyes went blue letting me know of her love when she couldn't tell me.

The lashes began again and this time they cut so much deeper. They bled more as well. I didn't know how much more I could take before I killed everyone in the room. Please let it be over soon. I silently begged. I knew Edward could read it in my mind and I could see that each member of my family had venom tears in their eyes. Eric and Godric had blood tears flowing freely down their faces and were shaking.

Finally they reached fifty lashes. I ran to her as quick as I could to release her. She fell limply in my arms. Her father stepped up close to us and everyone in my family growled at him. None of us wanted him anywhere near her right now. His emotions were of remorse and pain, but I didn't care. My mate was lying in my arms bleeding and it was all his fault. He could have chosen anyone else to do this punishment, but he chose Anthony.

"Take her back to your home and help her. She cannot be healed for another hour. This is part of her punishment. After the hour feel free to heal her. I do love her very much. I know it does not seem like it right now, but I have to appear strong in front of my pride. Take care of her." And with that I took off to our temporary home vowing that she would never have to come back here again. My beast was completely out and everyone knew it as they kept a distance as they followed behind me.

(EPOV)

We all followed Jasper, but at a slower pace. I knew he needed this time with her and we all needed time to gather our thoughts before we were in front of Isabella again.

"I can't believe her own father did that to her." Esme said as she silently sobbed in Carlisle's arms. Rose, Alice and Charlotte seemed to share her sentiments. I really couldn't believe he did it either. That Anthony got a lot of enjoyment out of punishing her. I could read it in his thoughts. He had loved doing it and would do it again if given the chance. I would love to kill him.

"I don't care how much he says he had to do it, he didn't have to give her such a severe punishment or let Anthony carry it out." Godric seethed. In his thoughts he went over every punishment he could give Anthony and Godric knew a lot of punishments. I guess that's what happens when you've been alive for over 2,000 years.

"Godric, we need to go take care of Isabella now. We can think on unpleasant things later, but she is our main priority." Eric reminded his maker and with that we all took off faster to get to her. Those two were just as devoted to her as the three of us were.

We found Jasper and Isabella up on the third floor of the house. He had given her a bath already and had her laying on her stomach naked. He was slowly licking the blood that was seeping out of the wounds.

"How much longer until she can be healed?" He asked us as we entered the room without stopping what he was doing or taking his eyes off of her back. The rest of the family decided to wait downstairs until we called for them or came back down.

"Twenty minutes brother." Peter answered his question in a whisper. I couldn't believe it had been forty minutes already since the last lash was given. I didn't want to think about it anymore. I tried blocking it out of my mind and tried blocking everyone else's thoughts as well. Everyone downstairs was thinking about it and the look on her face which had me wanting to cry.

"Jasper go wash yourself and change clothes. We'll care for her until you're done." Godric said as he tried to reason with Jasper. I knew there would be no reasoning with him until Isabella opened her eyes. I was proven right when he snarled his answer to Godric. None of us were surprised though.

"No! I will wait here with her until she is awake. I don't care how long it takes." Jasper snarled without even looking up from our mates back.

That is how we spent the next twenty minutes. Jasper licking the spilled blood up, Peter sitting on the side of the bed holding her hand, Godric and Eric talking quietly about what to do with Anthony and myself leaning against the wall counting her heartbeats and listening to her breathing.

"It has been twenty minutes guys." Alice called up to us. I could tell by her voice that she had been crying and was still shaken up.

"Thank God!" Jasper exhaled as he lifted his head from her back. His eyes had a reddish tint to them because he had been ingesting Isabella's blood. He'd been to hunt an animal soon if we were going to be staying here for any length of time.

"Who do we want to heal her?" I asked as I looked around the room. I didn't really care who did it as long as she was healed and soon.

"Let Eric heal her. My bond with her is stronger than his. This will help and heal her at the same time. We need her rolled onto her back or one of you will have to gently hold her." Godric said as he walked over to the bed.

"I'll hold her while Eric gives her his blood." Jasper said, but before he could turn her over Eric took a quick swipe of her blood with his tongue and then let Jasper turn her over. He cradled her in his arms while Eric bit into his own wrist and held it over her mouth allowing the blood to collect in her mouth.

"She's unconscious so you'll have to massage her throat." Godric instructed Eric.

"I know. I just wanted to let a little bit pool in her mouth." Eric responded. He gently massaged her throat and continued to allow his wrist to bleed.

"That's enough Eric. We don't want to give her too much. We still don't know if she can be turned by one of us." Godric advised.

Once the blood was in her it was simply a waiting game. We had to wait until she woke up. I was hoping it would be soon. I needed to see my mate's beautiful eyes again. I would do everything in my power to not let her get hurt again.