AN: Hello again everyone. I know it's been a few months, but know that I have every intention of seeing this story through to its conclusion. It's just I've been dealing with some writer's block and also distracted by other projects and work. I have no set update schedule but this chapter's draft has been done for a while. Hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think.

Chapter 21

The Keeper of the Magic

(Charlie)

The last week had been fantastic. Not only had I asked Tanya to marry me, but she said yes. It was quiet at their Alaskan home, which gave the two of us the chance to just sit and talk about our dreams for the future; both of ours plans now including the other. I met the other two vampires, of whom I wasn't aware of. Another couple, Kate and Garrett, the latter which amazed me with stories from as far back as the revolutionary war. I was amazed at the history he told me, things that books could only imagine but he had witnessed first hand. He actually met many of the founding fathers, including serving as a guide for Thomas Paine and many other pamphleteers. In fact, Garrett still possessed a copy of Common Sense from the original printing run that was in amazing condition. He was new to the vegetarian lifestyle and had some issues with the dietary restrictions but was making an honest attempt. The most bizarre thing that he did tell me was that there were many figures in history that he came extremely close to biting but was normally denied the taste by a well timed, well for the human at least, bullet.

And then there was getting to know Carmen better. She reminded me a lot of my own mother and just had this calming way about her. I could see why Eleazar was so attracted to her; it was so easy to like her, very similar to the way Esme was. Kate was a little more difficult to figure out. She was more guarded, but after a few hours of talking together, she finally opened up. It didn't take long to understand why all of the sisters became fervent supporters of the Volturi's justice after their mother and brother were slaughtered for committing the ultimate taboo. That was why, after seeing that there was no way to satiate Vasilli's appetite, they understood why the ban on vampire children was created. If secrecy was as important to this world, as they claimed that it was I could respect that. After all, many of the vampires still hunted people, so that technically made them murderers not that any human police force would be able to enforce said law. Garrett explained that to the majority, humans were to be seen as nothing more than cattle for a passing army. The way he explained it was just so blasé that it almost made me shiver. How could anyone talk of mass murder like it was no big deal?

Garrett explained that the attitude towards humans was caused simply because that many of us simply saw themselves as superior to humans. Without a sincere reason to try the non-traditional diet, many wouldn't even attempt it. Kate was Garrett's reason, while Tanya finally was disgusted in the suffering she caused her victims. She in time convinced her sisters after speaking to Carlisle that a peaceful coexistence with humans was possible and worth the temptation.

But still I wondered. True, vampires had hidden for millennia but would it be possible for our kind, it still kind of felt weird to think of me as no longer human, would it be possible for us to expose ourselves to most receptive humans? For those of us on the non traditional diet, it might be a possibility. But there was only one way that could happen. Slowly I began to read a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

'When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature an of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.'

Nobody was exactly sure how long the Volturi had ruled, but what if the consent of the governed had left them? What if our kind was ripe for revolution? A conservative revolution. The French and American revolutions were nothing alike. In France, the people simply traded the tyranny of the monarchy for that of ultimately Napoleon. But in America, I learned more from talking to Garrett, the people threw off the chains of the monarchy and adopted republicanism. Liberty replaced tyranny and maybe history would repeat itself. This could be a risky proposition, but what if our kind was ready for what was to follow the monarchical Volturi with a more republican system of government? It was something to maybe discuss with Carlisle but after hearing from Garrett about their struggle with the Volturi a few years ago, he would definitely be on my side.

The five of us loaded into a large, darkly tinted Suburban and left for Forks shortly after nightfall. Tanya drove, while I simply couldn't stop staring at her. Even with the faint light that came through the tint, her skin still shone like a million points of light were emanating from within her. It still stunned me with her simplistic beauty. If I lived for a thousand years, I don't think I could ever get tired of just watching her. She must have noticed me staring a few times, because the smile she flashed was absolutely dazzling.

The drive from Denali to Forks took much shorter than I ever thought possible; hell we made it in only twelve hours. I was surprised to see more vampires than I had seen before. Not only was a dark haired, bronzed skinned woman who looked to be from somewhere in South America there, in addition to Zafrina and her sisters, but there were also two other younger adults who while their appearance held some sense of vampiric nature and at the same time they looked to have some traits of humanity. That's when I realized that they were some of the half vampires that the sadistic one had created.

"Charlie, please let us explain," Edward said as he must have been sensing my thoughts. I was pissed. Bella had told me that the other creator of the children at first had done so out of curiosity, but when he continued attempting to create more of them he did so with the hopes of creating a superior race. I didn't want to look at him in any way other than with disgust. "Charlie, we've never met their father so we cannot know what his true intentions were."

The male hybrid growled at Edward who further explained, "I don't know exactly what he was thinking, but I did have an assumption. He only cared about gaining pleasure and if a child was created from that it was even better."

My thoughts were correct; the other one creating vampire hybrid children really was a monster. Just then, entering the clearing was almost twenty huge wolves, plus another four or five of the young Quileutes as humans plus one more person I was absolutely stunned to see. In addition, Billy Black was walking; no running at a speed I had never seen from him. He came to me and hugged me like we were long lost brothers.

"Charlie!" he yelled as he patted my back with his bro hug. "Damn you look good."

"It's good to see you too, but how the hell are you walking?"

Billy shrugged. "Don't really know."

There was only one reason he'd be here right now. "So you were a wolf too?"

"Briefly," he said as I hoped he would share the story with me. I was relieved when he did. "I was four; that was the first time I saw my grandfather burst into his wolf form. When he first did it, it scared the living hell out of me but then he lifted me with his teeth, throwing me onto his back and took me for a ride." Billy smiled widely at the memory and I returned it. It was beyond great to be still so friendly with him after all that had passed. "My father never knew about that part since he didn't develop the ability since when he was in the right age, which is normally between about sixteen and twenty-one, no vampires visited the area.

My grandfather, Ephraim, prepared me for the possibility as soon as I was ten. He had no way to know when or if I would be exposed to one of the Cullens or some other vampire. But after hearing the legends and everything, I was ready for it; I wanted to be a mythical hero and couldn't stop reading wolf-man comics. My dad thought it was just a phase; that even though his father could shift, no vampires had been on our land for decades and they wouldn't come back when I would be vulnerable.

"The night I was exposed was just after my fourteenth birthday. I was visiting with my grandfather and all of a sudden he ran off for no reason that I could figure out at the time. I looked outside and heard Ephraim, Levi Uley, and Quil Ateara II all phased and started running. A part of me wanted to follow after, but grandpa ordered me to stay. I didn't know why, but something about the way he said it almost made it impossible for me to disobey. I know now that he was using his alpha voice on me. The three of them all returned a few hours later, laughing and joking. I still wasn't sure what happened to the bloodsucker they found, as they never told me.

"My first phase was amazing, taking place about a month later. Grandpa Ephraim was so proud of me, with my deep russet fur and golden eyes, he said that I looked like a fitting successors for him as alpha. But it didn't last. Every time that I phased I always heard scoffing and snickering towards me. About two months after I first phased, Ephraim was killed. He was accidentally shot by a hunter while out running. The bullet was well placed, piercing his heart. In fact that is pretty much the only way that one of us can be killed.

After my grandpa died, I had no more reason to want to be a wolf. I gave it up. It didn't help that Levi and Quil resented my birthright claim as the new alpha. I was barely sixteen at the time and they didn't want to follow me and did everything they could to turn on me. By the time Harry, young Quil's dad, and Sue phased, it was too late. I couldn't remember how to any more and there was no one to teach me.

"I ended up embracing the peaceful life, as all of them did not long after their kids were born. All of us ended up not wanting our kids to have to go through this, but when the Cullens came back we knew what it meant. Sam was the first, but since the Cullens appeared to be putting down roots, we knew that the pack would be very large. Still, the thirty-some we have has been a little overwhelming."

"But how are you walking?" I asked still wanting to know about the most important thing I thought about. Billy had been confined to his wheelchair for the last ten years or so, after his diabetes had taken away the use of his legs

"I don't know," Billy answered looking deep in thought.

Edward gasped from across the clearing. "That must be it."

"What?" I asked. Whose thoughts did he hear?

"The last phase of Taha Aki," Edward whispered looking at Jacob and then back to Billy. "Even though it's been long since your last phase, your wolf must be waking up."

Billy gasped, his eyes open wide.

"What's he talking about Billy?" I asked not completely sure what was going on.

"You remember the story, right?" Billy asked looking slightly annoyed that he'd have to retell it, especially to all of the vampires he didn't know all that well.

Of course I did. When the last wolf son of Taha Aki was about to be killed, his wife sacrificed herself by slicing her wrists which distracted the vampire who was attacking the village. "Oh," I gasped remembering the part of the story he must of wanted me to. "Even though it had been more than a decade since his last shift, the sacrifice of his wife caused him to burst into a wolf."

"Exactly," Billy said. "I'm not sure what has triggered me to begin the transition, but my legs feel stronger than they had in decades. But I still don't remember how to change. Sam's been trying to trigger me, but to this point it's done no good. Maybe I'll remember one day."

"I hope so, Billy." I really did. I missed my friend and if he would be able to join the world of the supernatural that would be a great bonus to what had happened in the last few months.

It was then that I noticed several wolves that I didn't know from before and even one other paleface, as Billy would call him, observing the activities of the evening. I recognized him from around town as Austin Marks, Ben Cheney's best friend, wrapped in the arms of Leah. "What's Austin doing here?" I finally asked Billy as Jasper and Emmett were sparring again.

"He and I are related. I just didn't know it until very recently. For some reason he phased for the first time while Leah just happened to be out east looking at colleges."

I did the math in an instant. That meant that Austin had the same genetic quirk that Billy and Jake did. "So he's a werewolf too?"

Billy nodded but his eyes dropped like he was a little disappointed. "It might make life more difficult if distant relatives could be triggered while they are far away from the reservation. But, so far, Austin is the only one who is more than one generation removed from the tribe to shift."

That's when I looked around the clearing again and noticed Esme was missing. I walked over to Bella, who had Renesmee in her arms. It looked awkward, Bella's tiny frame cradling her daughter who was barely shorter than she was now. "Hey kiddo," I said as I hugged my daughter, being careful not to disturb Ness who was asleep. It looked strange, seeing Bella hold Renesmee still as she slept even thought my granddaughter was almost as big as Bella was.

"Hey dad," she answered smiling. "How was Alaska?"

"Great. Tanya said yes when I asked her to marry me, and Garrett has so many stories to tell. The hunting was really great too." Polar bear was quickly becoming my favorite, and with the remoteness of where Tanya's family lived, it wasn't uncommon for them to go years without interacting with any humans.

"That's good," she added smiling as Ness began to stir just a little in her arms. Nessie was now looking like she was well into her teen years and there were a couple of questions that I hadn't had the courage to ask about, namely could she bear children. That meant getting into a discussion that I didn't want to have. "It's been kind of crazy around here though."

"Yeah, I'll bet." I did another quick look around the clearing and still couldn't see Esme. "Hey Bells, where's Esme?"

"She's back at the house with Ang," she said with a nervous look on her face.

"Ang," I said followed by thinking, did that mean, before saying again, "as in Angela Weber?" I asked sounding even more worried than she was. What could have happened to her in the past few weeks that Jacob had allowed them to change her?

"Yep," Bella answered looking at the ground. She was embarrassed about something; that I knew. "Long story, but when she came back to town a week ago or so another vampire had gone after her but Jake and Nessie were able to save her. Unfortunately it was a little too late and she'd already been bitten."

"Poor Ben," I mumbled since I had seen Angela before I left for Alaska, when she asked Alice to do their wedding.

"He's taken it quite well," Bella said which surprised the hell out of me.

"He knows?" I gasped.

Bella nodded nervously. "We kinda had to tell him. I mean his roommate is a werewolf and his fiancée is gonna be a vampire. He's kinda involved."

I laughed, trying to let it go. But Bella was right. "So are you guys?"

Bella stopped me before I could finish the question. She knew that I meant are they going to change Ben. "Someday. Alice has seen it, but the timeframe isn't definite yet."

"So what's up with all of this?" I asked pointing at the sparring going on. A silver wolf was sparring with Jasper, who was dodging the attacks with relative ease. It looked kind of strange to see them going at each other one on one. The wolves generally hunted vampires in their packs.

"The Volturi," she whispered. "They're coming back, we think, because the vampire that bit Angela was a member of their guard. We have to get ready for them, especially the new werewolves."

Just then, Alice let out a large gasp and bolted back into the woods towards the house. It wasn't long after that, but all of us began to follow after her. Edward was next to me before I realized why we were running so I asked him about it.

"Angela's about to wake up," he answered calmly. "We've got at most five minutes. I can hear her heartbeat accelerating."

By the time we had stepped onto the Cullen's lawn, I had heard Angela's pained shrieks many times. I could definitely feel for her, as hearing the pace of her heart along with the screams reminded me of my own conversion.

I remembered my own burning, which had been uncomfortable but not unbearable until the very end. Angela would be going through the very worse part of the change now. It wasn't fair to her or her family. I remembered how hard this all was on me, when I thought Bella was really sick but in reality she was pregnant with Ness. It wouldn't be fair to Allen or Cynthia, Angela's parents, or her brothers, both of whom were probably at the age where they'd think it was pretty cool that she was a vampire.

By the time we made it to the house, there was nothing but silence for a few seconds, followed by feral snarls coming from Carlisle's office. I distinctly heard the sound of furniture being broken.

Bella and I decided to stay downstairs. We both looked at each other waiting on Edward and Jasper to come back downstairs.

Clear as a bell, I heard Carlisle trying to explain everything to Angela. He offered her a small pouch of blood that I could smell from downstairs; rich, tangy blood. It was bovine. I had learned to differentiate some kinds of blood and I felt my own throat start to burn with thirst but I knew I needed to control myself. Carlisle, Jasper, and Edward had their hands full enough with just Angela.

After I heard the slurping of the pouch that Angela fed from, I could hear her sobs. She couldn't stop apologizing to all of them for the trouble she caused. Naturally, Carlisle tried to forgive her but she wouldn't forgive herself right away.

"You'll get past it Angie," I heard Alice say. "The first few months are the hardest, but after that everything gets easier."

Angela still was sobbing. She was embarrassed and ashamed and I could imagine why. Those first few moments after the conversion was incredibly dizzying but then slowly my mind was able to catalog what I was experiencing.

"We'll teach you," Carlisle said, his soft tenor voice absolutely genuine.

"We'll all help you," Alice added.

"Bella?" A strange new high bell-like soprano rang with absolute clarity. It was absolutely hypnotizing. I knew this had to be Angela. Of course she would want Bella. Who else would be best equipped to help her through all of the weirdness going on now? But still, for Angela's family the loss of their daughter would cut them to the very core. I was certain that the Cullens would think of something, some lie that would pacify them for the short term. But the only way that they could know the whole truth would be if the Volturi were forced from power. It was time to throw off the chains of the Volturi and allow the various covens to choose how they lived and who they told the truth to.