Author's Note: Just so everyone knows, I did not get my mojo back. In fact, this was actually very hard for me to write. I only managed to finish this chapter because I had managed to write most of it before I got my writer's block. I have no idea when I'll be able to post another chapter of anything, so please don't get your hopes up. Thanks in advance to everyone for their patience and understanding.


Chapter 12

It felt like an eternity had passed with Bella in agony, but then the pain slowly started to fade. Bella then started to wake up for the last time. Her eyelids fluttered, and when she heard a sharp intake of breath, her eyes opened to meet a woman's gaze.

The first thing Bella should have noticed was that she was in someone's arms. Instead, all she could focus on was the gorgeous red eyes staring down into hers. It was all too easy to get lost in them, and that's exactly what Bella found herself doing.

"Beautiful," the owner of the eyes murmured, her voice alone hitting a chord in Bella and making the brunette's insides quiver. The vampire then touched Bella's face with the hand that wasn't holding the brunette tightly against her body, feeling the new cool skin of her mate, relieved that the painful turning process was over.

You're telling me, Bella thought in reply as she took in the gorgeous face of the woman above her, overwhelmed by the woman alone. Unable to help herself, Bella shifted her position so that she was now pressed against the amazon, wrapping her arms around Zafrina's neck. Her entire body was buzzing, reacting to the woman holding her. It was like Bella was born to simply find her way into Zafrina's arms, and the newborn loved it.

A small part of Bella knew that she was a vampire now, knew that there was going to be so much to learn and explore and experience, but Bella just couldn't imagine anything beyond Zafrina right then. To Bella, her world was Zafrina, and she already had a lot to experience and explore; it was right there in front of her.

"Isabella. You are alright?" Zafrina said, sounding a little anxious since her mate hadn't said a word.

"Mm," Bella replied, pressing her face against Zafrina's throat and inhaling the woman's scent. It was a delicious, wild, homey smell, one Bella could never forget.

That's right. This was home. Not the city or the forest, but this woman was Bella's home, and it always would be. However, it wasn't thoughts of home that made Bella's mouth water; it was something much more primal.

Taking Zafrina by surprise, Bella shoved Zafrina onto her back, pinning her to the ground, and gave her mate a hungry smile. All she could imagine was kissing, touching, and taking the woman under her, and that was just what Bella was going to do.

The newborn didn't even get to peel off Zafrina's shirt before the coven leader flipped them over with Bella stuck on her stomach. Now Bella was the one pinned as Zafrina pulled Bella's arms behind her and pressed against Bella's back.

"You are not the dominant one, my mate," Zafrina whispered into Bella's ear, eyes darkening to black as she scented not just her own arousal, but Bella's as well. "It doesn't matter how strong you are."

Bella let out a frustrated snarl, but she didn't mind being on the bottom. She just wanted to fuck. To claim.

As Bella's arousal strengthened, so did Zafrina's desire. She lowered her face and kissed Bella's neck, making the newborn growl and writhe under her.

"Zafrina," Bella groaned, tilting her head to the side for more access to her neck.

"Say my name again," Zafrina ordered, scraping her teeth over the skin she had just kissed. While she had originally been worried about her mate, and ready to welcome Isabella into her new life, now all she could think of was needing to make love to her clearly willing mate.

Before anything further could happen between them, someone nearby cleared her throat, catching both Zafrina and Bella's attention. Bella's eyes snapped towards the intruder with a threatening hiss, while Zafrina had to tighten her grip on Bella to stop her from lashing out at her sisters.

"Sorry to interrupt," Kachiri said, not sounding sorry at all. She didn't even give the furious newborn a glance, instead focusing on Zafrina, who would have the clearer head of the two. "I just felt it best that Isabella hunt before you two start fucking each other right in front of us."

Zafrina let out a soft sigh and shoved her annoyance aside. Her sister was right, and Zafrina herself had been planning on going at least a little slower with Isabella after she had been changed. She glanced down at Bella and noticed that her mate was still furiously fixated on those who had interrupted them, and wondered how she should redirect Isabella's attention. Usually she would just use her gift, but as her gift didn't work on Isabella...well, she would obviously have to try and figure out another way to distract her mate. Preferably in a way that wouldn't serve to distract Zafrina as well.

Senna also realized the slight problem and reached out to her own mate, touching Kachiri on the shoulder. They shared a look, a whole conversation passing between them, before they took off to leave their coven leader and the newborn alone.

As soon as they were gone, Bella once again fixated on her mate. She rolled over so that she was once again on her back, letting out a low purr as she nuzzled Zafrina's neck. A hand slid up Zafrina's bare stomach, her destination being Zafrina's breasts under her top, but Zafrina caught her hand just in time.

"No," Zafrina said, staring deep into Bella's eyes to make it clear this was an order Isabella shouldn't go against. Unlike when Bella was a human, the girl didn't simply stare into Zafrina's eyes and nod in agreement, or even look away. Instead, Bella's eyes quickly darkened to black, and while she seemed distracted, she also appeared more turned on that ever.

On some instinct Bella didn't realize she had, she pulled her hand closer to her own body, causing Zafrina's hand, which was still gripping Bella's wrist, to follow. Then she changed her grip so that she was now lightly holding onto Zafrina's hand, and took Zafrina's pointer finger into her mouth, sucking lightly. While she wasn't sure why at the moment, she knew that Zafrina would like it, and she was right.

Zafrina's eyes couldn't get any darker, and she gritted her teeth, trying to find a reason not to jump the newborn and take her in every way imaginable.

"Isabella," Zafrina all but hissed as she jerked her hand away. "You must hunt."

Bella didn't care about hunting. All she cared about was the gorgeous woman above her. So with a coy smile, she reached up, planning on ripping off Zafrina's clothes and giving the coven leader another reason to give in to her desire.

Once again, Zafrina had Bella pinned in only a second. This time, Bella found her hand above her head, with a seemingly angry coven leader towering above her. Bella tried to move towards Zafrina, tried to rub up against Zafrina as she let out a whine of apology-she didn't like the idea of her mate being mad at her, after all-but she couldn't do it. While Bella did have more strength than Zafrina at the moment, breaking Zafrina's hold just to apologize would only make Zafrina angrier. At least, that's what Bella thought.

In truth, Zafrina wasn't angry. She understood that Isabella was being driven by instinct, and that for some reason, the newborn's lust greatly overpowered her need for blood. What Zafrina was doing was simply laying down the law. She was not just the dominant one in the pair, but she was also Isabella's creator and coven leader. Zafrina couldn't just let Isabella run wild or think she could do what she wanted, especially in her first year of life. She couldn't even let Isabella go, unsure if the newborn would try anything under the pretext of an apology. She had seen something similar happen between Kachiri and Senna after Kachiri had first been turned, and had watched the fights for dominance that had happened as a result.

Bella, growing more and more frustrated and worried that her apology wasn't going to be accepted, finally decided to give Zafrina the ultimate submission. She went limp under the Amazon, making it clear she wasn't going to fight Zafrina in any way, and bared her throat for the taking.

Zafrina recognized the act, and was all too eager to accept it. Driven by passion, need, and dominance, she didn't bother taking her time. Instead, before a second could even pass, she had her teeth fastened on Bella's throat, taking it hard enough that Bella could feel the pressure, but not enough to break skin.

It was hard for Bella to keep still, simply because she wanted to surge up and feel the length of Zafrina's body against hers, but she managed. She kept completely immobile, submissive, until Zafrina was done.

Letting go of Bella's throat, Zafrina pulled back, although not far. "You will hunt. Now," she whispered, her lips brushing against Bella's skin with every word. Giving Bella's throat a final kiss, Zafrina added, "Listen." She knew that there were poachers nearby, and knew they would be easy prey the human world wouldn't miss too much.

Had Bella been human, she would have been panting. It was near impossible for her to focus on anything else but Zafrina, especially after Zafrina had taken her throat, which had been a lot more erotic than Bella would have expected. And seeing that Zafrina was still on top of her...well, could anyone blame Bella for her distraction?

It took some time, but Bella eventually managed to focus on things beyond the gorgeous woman pinning her to the ground. And it didn't take long for her to hear two men only a few miles away. The more she focused on them, the more she could hear, and it wasn't long before her mouth was watering and her throat was burning at the sound of the two mens' heartbeats. Despite this, she didn't so much as twitch, still showing her submission to Zafrina.

That didn't mean that Zafrina didn't sense the change in her mate. She knew where Isabella would, what she would do, the second she was allowed.

She released Isabella without a word, yet her actions were more than enough to convey to the newborn what Zafrina was allowing. Bella was on her feet in a heartbeat, threw a look over her shoulder to her mate, making it clear that Zafrina should follow, and then took off in the direction of the two men.

Zafrina couldn't help but smile at how her mate moved through the forest, like she was as much a part of the Amazon as she was a part of Zafrina. And of course the coven leader followed, not to ensure that the hunt would go well, but because she wanted to be with her mate and watch Isabella in action.

When Isabella found them and pounced, Zafrina had been in awe of her mate. However, it was clear that neither men had been a clean kill. Not only was blood everywhere, but the poachers had been in a lot of pain before their deaths, and one had even been left alive, tossed aside as Isabella had focused on the tastier of the two, which had left Zafrina to kill and drain him. Zafrina didn't care about the agony the two humans had felt, but she had expected Isabella to show some remorse over them and was already trying to figure out how she was supposed to console her mate. Instead, the newborn turned to Zafrina, clear hunger for Zafrina's body in her eyes as she stalked forward.

"You must bathe," Zafrina said despite her own instincts screaming at her to take Isabella. But a blood-covered lovemaking wasn't a good idea for a first time; it had to be special, judging from what she remembered of the gossip during her human life. And Zafrina was determined to make Isabella's first time special, despite not knowing exactly how she was supposed to do that.

Bella paused at Zafrina's words, and since she wasn't being driven insane with need because of Zafrina's scent, was actually able to think Zafrina's words over. Then she nodded, holding out her hand for Zafrina to take, hoping the woman would lead her and then have sex either in or next to the river. Because even mostly sane, she couldn't get her mind off of how much she desired Zafrina.

For a moment, Zafrina didn't take it, having been distracted by the shine of the still-present overlapping bites on Bella's hand. A strange darkness started to well up in her, and she knew that at one point, she was going to have to add her own bite, just so she could fully claim every inch of Isabella's as hers. Then her mind wandered to who made the second vampire bite, as well as the fact that he was still living and unpunished.

Refusing to let her own fury at what someone else had done ruin her time with her mate, she pushed those particular thoughts to the back of her mind. Then she took Isabella's hand, lacing their fingers together, and started to lead her towards the Amazon River at a quick pace that only just managed to not seem desperate.

In the past, Isabella had been brought wet cloths, a bucket of water, a dry cloth, a bin big enough for her to sit in, and soap. Then she was left to her own devices without Kachiri and Senna present, and with Zafrina refusing to look at her lest she completely lose her control. This was going to be the first time that Isabella was actually going to get to bathe properly, as well as the first time Zafrina would get to see Isabella naked. And to say Zafrina wasn't staring with dark eyes and a slack jaw would be a complete lie.

Despite this, as Bella pulled her shirt over her head, feeling shy but too desperate to stop, Zafrina caught her hands, stopping her.

"Are...You are sure?" Zafrina asked awkwardly, just in case Bella had been after her in a newborn mate induced haze and wasn't actually ready.

Bella's eyebrow rose. "Do you mean am I sure that I want to bathe so I'm no longer covered in blood?"

At first, Zafrina felt a swell of panic. She immediately thought she had misinterpreted something and that Isabella truly only wanted to take a bath, and that they weren't about to have sex now that her mind was clear. Had she been human, she would have been blushing a bright red, but instead she only looked incredibly flustered. That is, until Isabella let out a soft laugh, wound her arms around Zafrina's neck, and gave the coven leader a soft, quick kiss.

"I'm sure," Bella murmured as she backed away from her mate and pulled her shirt over her head, tossing it to the side. While she had been shy and nervous at first, she now felt nothing but desirable as Zafrina's gaze dropped to her exposed breasts, the lusty look in her eyes unmistakable. "I want you, Zafrina. I want to make love with you, claim you, and…" At that moment, Zafrina looked back up, into Bella's eyes, and the newborn lost her train of thought. Swallowing hard, all she could do was remove her bottoms, baring herself completely, before backing up slowly, immersing herself in the water.

"Isabella," Zafrina breathed, taking in every inch of the newborn's body, even before Bella had submerged herself. Even if Zafrina had been the most articulate vampire in existence, she still would have been struck speechless by her gorgeous mate. And to think that Isabella would soon be hers was unbelievable.

"Come on," Bella finally managed to say, beckoning to Zafrina in what she hoped was a sexy gesture.

Not needing any further encouragement, Zafrina ripped off her clothes, and now Bella was the one who was stunned as Zafrina's perfect curves were revealed. But she didn't have long to ogle, as in a simple moment, Zafrina was in the water with her, Zafrina's burning gaze capturing hers.

Zafrina waded toward her, still choked up over the idea that this was actually about to happen.

Not only was she going to have her mate, going to claim her in every way, but a part of her was still amazed that she actually got her mate in the first place. And for her mate to be such an amazing girl, to be her Isabella…

Finally in front of the newborn, Zafrina took Isabella in her arms. Isabella, seeing the power of the coven leader's emotions in her eyes, felt similar emotions well up in her.

Who would have thought that after all Bella had gone through, she'd end up with such an amazing, beautiful, and loving woman?

"Zafrina," Bella murmured, wrapping her arms around Zafrina's neck. She pulled the taller woman close so that their bodies pressed against each other, the sparks she felt from the skin contact alone taking her breath away. "I love you."

In response, all Zafrina could think to do was give Bella a kiss.

So that's exactly what Zafrina did.