Rose

I took Bella from Jasper and carried her upstairs. I admit that I may have underestimated her capabilities. We all knew now that she was capable of handling herself.

Just look at what happened to Seth.

But I still couldn't help but worry. She had been through so much abuse and now she has to deal with one of the wolves again. Our home is supposed to be safe for her and now there's a dog staying with us. She felt threatened. I understood how she was feeling.

Bella was sitting on the bathroom rug while I turned on the bath. The water came streaming out and turned around to get some towels from the cabinet when I saw her. She was staring at me with large wide eyes and looked as if she were about to burst into tears.

I knelt down in front of her. "What's wrong Bella?"

She hangs her head low and her long hair covers her face. She hugs her knees to her chest and whispers. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

I brush her hair back and she's forced to look me in the eyes. The look I see is absolutely heartbreaking, she's shaking and there's terror in her eyes. She flinches away suddenly when my hand is in the air. I was just going to touch her arm.

She thought that I was going to hit her.

"Why are you sorry?" I ask quietly.

"I hurt you." She softly ran her fingers over the crescent mark on my arm.

"Bella, it's alright. You haven't been bad. You were just scared, angry, frustrated. It's normal to feel that way when there is a lot of stress." I tell her. "Trust me when I say this. You will not be punished by me or anyone else in this house. Nobody will hurt you."

Bella looks at me shocked. "No punishment?"

"No punishment," I say. Her body immediately relaxes and a look of relief flashes across her face.

"How about that bath now?" I say.

A Cheshire cat grin spreads across her face. I smile back and set towels by the edge of the tub. She has undressed and is waiting patiently.

"Do you want me to stay or would you like to try the bath by yourself this time?"

Her face scrunches up in concentration and after a few moments of hesitation she answers, "alone."

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. She always chooses the first option. But I guess it was fine, I would respect her wishes. I can't worry about her forever eventually, she'll gain her independence back.

"Alright, just shout if you need me." I exit the room taking one last look at her.

"We needed to have a talk." Carlisle says, capturing our full attention.

All of us were seated in the library having another family discussion. Bella sat by my feet, still very much so afraid of furniture, and the rest of us waited for Carlisle to continue. We had no clue what he wanted to talk to us about.

"I think we've been acting very cocky."

I'm taken aback. What was he talking about? He saw the confusion on all of our faces.

"All this time we've been talking about fighting the wolves but we haven't even stopped to think about how strong they actually are." He pauses. "The shapeshifters turn into the wolves by the presence of vampires and we don't know how large the pack is. We can't fight by ourselves or else we'll lose."

"What do you suppose we do then?" Emmett asks.

"As opposed as I am to the idea, I think we should call some of our friends." He states. "Such as the Denali's and others."

"Well, they certainly have a reason to get revenge on the wolves," Alice says. "They killed Irina's mate."

I nod in agreement.

"What about the Volturi?" I ask. "They will certainly take care of those dogs."

Carlisle hesitates, unsure how to respond.

"That's not a good idea." Says Jasper.

"Why?" I demand. "It's either our lives or those mongrules and the Volturi is the fastest most efficient way to save Edward!"

"Have you forgotten that they have been after him and Alice for years?" Jasper yells, putting a protective arm around his mate. "And that Bella has a gift so powerful, the Volturi will be dying to get their hands on her."

I hiss at him in anger. No, I hadn't thought of that but that doesn't mean they are going to do anything.

I look to Carlisle to back me up. "Jasper is unfortunately right. The Volturi will most likely see this as the perfect opportunity to take Alice, Edward and possibly Bella. Even if we do decide to trust them, there is no way that they will stick to their promise of protecting us. It's too risky."

I stare at them all in anger. Everyone seemed to be siding with Carlisle and Jasper. I couldn't believe them! They were actually willing to let our whole family die.

"Well, I'm not going to stick around and watch you all get yourselves killed! I'm going to fix this on my own!" I storm out of the room with Emmett hot on my trail.

The sun has risen. Emmett sat by my side all night.

I paced and growled then paced some more and growled even louder.

I was seething. I was only thinking in the best interests of Bella and Edward but my so-called familywasn't even willing to give the Volturi a chance. I knew what I had to do.

I booked a plane ticket last night. Emmett didn't know.

"We have to leave," I state.

"Babe, what are you talking about?" He stared at me like I had grown two heads.

"I can't explain now but I need you to trust me."

"Rosie, of course, I trust you. But you're acting a little crazy. What's gotten into you?"

What did he mean? I was acting for the good of our family! But they failed to see it.

"How about we wait for the rest of them to come back from hunting and then we can discuss this all together." Emmett proposed.

I shook my head. "We don't have time. They won't understand and will try to stop me!"

Emmett is unsure what to do. He didn't understand. "Babe, understand what? Why would they try to stop you?"

"I'll tell you later but right now can you just pack our bags?" I demand.

He reluctantly agreed and I took this chance to write two notes. It didn't take long for either of us to finish and pretty soon we were all ready to go.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" Emmett asks again.

I nod my head.

"What about Bella?" He asks. "She's lost everyone she cares about and now you are leaving. How do you think she is going to react?"

I didn't want to think about that. I needed a clear head.

"Bella will be fine in the end. She will recover." I say in a dead voice.

"Then what about our family? What about the fight? Are we really just abandoning them?"

I have a plan and it's going to work. "If everything goes accordingly, we'll all be safe and Edward will be back." He doesn't seem to sure but I don't let his hesitation faze me.

"Is this about the Volturi?" He finally asks.

I don't answer.

"Rose…"

"Everything is going to be fine, Em," I say confidently. "Everything is going to be fine."

I head out the door with Emmett calling after me. There is one last thing I need to do.

I run to Edward's room and knock on the door.

"Bella, can I come in?" I call from the other side of her door. It doesn't even take a second before I hear her soft voice say my name.

I walk into the room to find her on the ground.

She's currently living in Edward's room, as that was her favorite place. She sat every day on the floor, gripping onto his black jacket, that had his everlasting scent. She didn't let anyone else touch it, afraid that they would ruin the smell.

Her eyes lit up as I came and sat down right across from her. I knew I had to make this fast and simple. I couldn't let myself get caught up in the emotions.

"Read to me?" She asks innocently. She grabs, Alice in Wonderland and holds it out. I place it on the floor.

"Bella I can't do that today." I sigh. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"But why?"

I shake my head. "Because Emmett and I are going on a special trip."

"Can I come?" She asks, suddenly excited.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, this trip is only for the two of us." She hangs her head in sadness and buries her face in the black sweatshirt.

"You will be back soon though?"

I can't bare to tell her the truth. I honestly don't know when we are going to be back.

"Yes, I'll be back soon." I lie.

"Promise?" Her voice wavers.

"Yes Bells, I promise."

I pull her in for a hug and relax in her arms for just a second. I didn't know when I was going to see her next.

"It's time for me to go now." My voice is thick with emotion.

Without another word I stand up and turn away from Bella. She's calling my name but I've already raced out the door and down the stairs into Emmett's arms.

I place two envelopes on the dining room table and remove the gold necklace from my neck and place it on top of the letters.

"Rose, we don't have to do this," Emmett repeats.

I shake my head. I don't have to do this. I need to do this.

For Edward. For Bella.

I grab our suitcases and head out the door to my red Porsche. I toss the bags in the back seat and the next thing I know, Emmett and I have taken off.

"What's our plan?" He asks.

"First we have to go to Italy," I say.

Bella:

Rose was gone. Edward was gone. My parents were gone. My once best friend was gone.

But Jasper was not gone.

He was just away and was coming home soon.

Everybody seemed to leave me. Everybody seemed to abandon me. What was wrong with me? What had I done to make everyone hate me?

I sat in Edward's room and stared out his glass window into the forest. It's hard to imagine that just months ago, I was found out there. It had once been such a scary place. So dark and lonely. But now I found it mysterious. I wondered what else was out there.

I knew Edward was so close but staring at the densely populated woods made him feel so far away. I just wanted him back.

He was supposed to be mine and I was supposed to be his. We were supposed to be together forever and be happy.

But because of those wolves, my life had been ruined.

The happy memories of my parents had vanished and all I could remember of them was their horrible deaths.

My happy memories of Jacob had been replaced by his vicious grin and evil torture methods.

Even Seth, who I had once considered a brother, was no longer a happy memory. He was the epitome of everything wrong in my life. The blood that ran through him made him just as much as a monster of the rest of his pack.

I didn't care that he supposedly saved me. I didn't care that we were once friends. I didn't care that he had been the only person to view me with sympathy.

All I cared about was having revenge for those who did me wrong. Who did Edward wrong.

And I was willing to do anything to get him back. No matter what the cost.

I listened to the sound of Seth's heartbeat coming from the second floor. His wet dog stench filled my nose and I gagged in disgust. I had been told to stay away from him and to let him heal but why should I do that?

He deserved to die.

I had been humiliated and abused. I was treated like an animal and denied my basic rights.

I deserved to have at least one thing good in my life. So much had been taken from me. I wanted to feel happy again. I wanted to show everyone that I was not broken no matter how broken I felt.

I would not get my wish until I met the man who was the source of all my pain.

It was obvious Rose was one some sort of mission on her own and everyone else was planning something big but nobody asked me what I wanted to do.

Maybe it was time to take actions into my own hands.

"Get up." I ordered.

Seth glanced at me wearily. His arm was in a sling and the bruise on his face was getting worse every day. He winced when he turned to his side and I noticed a gleam of sweat on his forehead.

I thought wolves were supposed to heal quickly. He didn't look like he was even close to being healed.

"Bella?" He questioned.

I growled at him, shutting him up.

"I said get up." A rumble sounds from my chest.

His eyes widened in fear. It was obvious that he was too weak to even sit up on his own but I wouldn't take that for an answer. I currently had the advantage because I had injured him so I was bound to be stronger.

Besides, my bite lethal to him. If I really wanted to, I could kill him right here, but now isn't the time or place for that.

He would have his death soon.

"What are you doing?" His voice shook.

I stalked toward him. My eyes were black and hands were clenched into fists. He wouldn't fool me.

"Bella whatever you're thinking, please don't do it. Please." He pleaded with me. Tears filled his chocolate brown eyes.

I let out a snort. He was unbelievable.

"Do you really think I'm going to buy that?" I say. "All those times when I cried for help you did absolutely nothing. I don't care that you saved me now. It's too late for your forgiveness. I'm already damaged."

Seth cries in shame.

"I want answers. I want to know why my master hates me so much. I want to know what I did wrong besides becoming a vampire against my will!" I scream furiously. "You're going to help me with this whether you like it or not."

I yank him by his arm (that's in the sling) and pull him out of bed. I hear the crunch of his bones as he hits the floor and he screams in pain. The sound of his obvious agony makes me more than pleased. He is finally feeling the pain the tiny ounce I pain I felt.

"You're coming with me. We're taking a little visit to La Push." I hiss. "They can't kill me or Edward if I have you. You're too valuable to them."

Seth starts to shake and tries to get out of my arms. "Bella, please! I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I really do just want to help!"

I ignore him. He never listened to me so why should I listen to him now?

"I may not be very smart but I am no longer that weak girl. I won't stop until I get what I want… even if that means killing you in the process."