.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

Big thank you hugs to Snarkymuch for beta'ing and Gredelina1, Verseseven, Augustmoon and Mary-Alice-Brandon-Cullen for pre-reading. Love you ladies.

This chapter is dedicated to LuvrOfEdward, WhitlocksHevyn and rubell. The song for the last chapter was Full Moon by The Black Ghosts.

Chapter Twenty-One — I'm Not Afraid

Bella POV

They drew into sight; their black cloaks whipped around them in the strong wind. They were hooded, but I knew three of them by their obvious size: Felix, Jane, and Alec.

Rosalie's hand gripped mine tightly. "What do we do?" she moaned.

"Stay calm and let me do the talking," I said softly, giving her hand a quick squeeze, then releasing it. I didn't want to appear weak.

They came to a halt in front of us, and the figure in the center threw back his hood. White blond hair framed the ancient face.

"Isabella, this is an unexpected pleasure."

"Caius." I greeted him with a polite nod.

Rosalie was gaping at him with horror. I wanted to kick her, but there was no way of doing it without them seeing. Instead, I pulled the shield a little tighter around her.

The other guards removed their hoods, and I recognized Afton and some of the other guards I had seen, but not been introduced to, and Fred. His presence made me relax a little. I liked him.

"Nice to see you, Bella," he said with a small smile.

When I met him before, I could feel his gift trying to work against my shield. I couldn't feel it now, which meant he wasn't using it. I wondered why he would have been so determined to affect me last time. I shoved that question aside as Caius turned his attention to the trapped wolf.

"I must say, you have simplified our task immensely. I expected this to be difficult. I wondered when Demetri lost the trail whether it was already dead, now I see you were utilizing that marvelous gift of yours to restrain it."

A tall man with inky black hair scowled at me. I thought this must be the mysterious Demetri. Eleazar had said he would be civil, but it seemed my interference with his gift had irritated him.

"Would you mind dropping your shield now?" Caius asked.

"Why?" I asked, shocked at my boldness.

"I have need of our abilities before it returns to its human form. I find it easier to question them when they have been exposed to Jane for a while first."

"If I let it go, it will attack us," I said, carefully. "I have already fallen victim to it once tonight."

"That would indeed be a problem if you were not able to separate your shields," he said shrewdly. "However, I know better. Please remove the shield that protects against psychic talents. Feel free to keep the physical barrier in place, though."

I didn't want to do it. The wolf had hurt me, but it was also a person.

"I grow impatient, Isabella."

I had no choice. Rosalie was with me, I couldn't risk them using her as a bargaining tool. Regretfully, I pulled the mental shield away from the wolf.

Jane's smiled angelically as she focused on the wolf; her eyes narrowed, and I became lost in agony.

I dropped to the ground, my back arched and my hands clawed the earth. I had never felt anything like it. It was as if I was being burned alive; it hurt more than the venom had. I heard howling and screaming. It took a moment for me to realize the screams were my own. I clenched my teeth shut, trapping the screams in my throat.

As fast as the pain had come, it ceased. I was left gasping on the ground. Rosalie was crouched beside me, one hand gripping my arm and the other cupping my cheek.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I nodded mutely and got to my feet again. Jane was looking at me with evident satisfaction; she was thrilled her gift had affected me.

"Well, that was unexpected," Caius said thoughtfully. "Did you forget to shield yourself too?"

"Yes," I said. "I didn't expect her to act so fast."

I was lying. I felt the shield around me the whole time. It was as if the physical shield had caused me to share in the pain Jane inflicted on the wolf. If this was more evidence of my ability to enhance, I liked it even less that I had before.

"Alas, Jane tends to get carried away when using her gift. I apologize."

The wolf was snarling, trashing its head against the barrier of my shield.

"What will you do with it?" I asked.

"It must be destroyed," he said.

"But it's a person!"

"Ahhh, Isabella, Aro said you were as compassionate as Carlisle, but he was wrong. You are even more tender-hearted. This animal is a danger to our kind and to the humans you value so highly. We cannot allow it to live. It may pretend to be a man for the rest of the month, but, as I am sure you have realized by now, it and its fellows are the cause of hundreds of deaths in this city."

"We can look after it!" I said desperately. "It's only a danger one night a month; I can shield it that night, and it won't be a danger to anyone."

Rosalie was evidently not so keen on this idea. She was gaping at me, her eyes wide with horror.

"You cannot," he said firmly. "I know you are new to this life, but there are rules that must be followed." He looked to Rosalie, who nodded mutely. "You see, she understands. If you could hold it a little longer, I would be grateful, but it is not really necessary. We can deal with it now if you wish to leave."

Did I want to leave? The moon was almost gone now; the wolf would be a man again soon and they would destroy it. No one would think less of me for escaping while I could, no one except myself. I would not run from this. It was better if I heard what the wolf had to say. I wanted to know why he had attacked the people of Nome, and if it was them that had attacked in Canada too.

That thought brought with it a new jolt of horror. There was a full moon, even now they could be attacking another town. They could be attacking La Push!

"I will wait," I said simply.

As the moon set, the wolf seemed to shudder. It raised its head to the sky and howled one last time. It was a sound of desperation and pain. If I had not seen the empty void of its eyes, I would have thought it knew what was coming and was giving voice to its fear.

I looked away, not wanting to see the face of the man who would be dead within minutes.

"You can release it now, Isabella," Caius instructed.

I drew my shield away, still not looking around. There was a brief pause, then the human equivalent of a growl. The sound of stone against flesh reached me, then a foul sound like raw meat being torn. The thick stench of spoiled blood filled the air, and I spun around.

Piled at the feet of Felix was a pile of torn flesh that was once a person. They had torn it apart as they would a vampire.

"What happened?" I asked.

"It attacked one of them," Rosalie whispered.

"But it's human now. It couldn't have hurt you."

"It was human," Felix said with a leer. "Now it is meat. There is plenty of blood if you are thirsty. I think it qualifies as animal enough to satisfy your guilty conscience. Feel free to indulge."

My hands clenched into fists at my sides. He was vile.

"That is enough," Caius sad harshly. "It is unfortunate that it forced our hand, but at least it is no longer a danger."

I didn't believe for a second that he was really regretful about what happened. I was certain this was all orchestrated before they arrived. This was done to hide something.

I wanted to get away from this place and these people. I wanted to be with my family again. More than anything, I wanted to get to them before they could see the Volturi. I worried that Alice and Edward's gifts would prove too tempting for them while they were here in force. I didn't see Chelsea among the guard, but even if she wasn't here, it wouldn't be too difficult for them to restrain them long enough for her to arrive.

"Felix, please dispose of that. I wouldn't do for the humans to find these remains."

Felix knelt and scraped at the dirt with his bare hands, creating a deep hole and kicking the remains of the wolf inside.

"I hear their scientific knowledge has grown so great now that they would be able to test the differences in this beast to a human," Caius said conversationally. "It amazes me that a drop of the blood that sustains us can be used for such discoveries."

He was trying to distract me, but I didn't know why. I couldn't feel any gifts working against my shield. Other than the strange way Jane had affected me with her gift when hurting the wolf, they hadn't tried to influence us at all.

Felix stamped down the dirt and turned to Caius who nodded.

"Well, our work here is done," he said. "It is time for us to go home. It was a pleasure to see you again, Isabella, and to meet another of your coven. Carlisle certainly has an eye for a pretty face when creating new vampires. I must commend him on his taste. Please pass on my regards."

"I will," I said formally.

He smiled at me, nodded to Rosalie, and then turned on his heel and walked away. Unlike their arrival, they did not move with the slow grace this time. Their pace was fast, as if they were as eager to be away from us, as we were them.

They weren't heading in the direction of our house, but they could easily correct that when they were out of sight.

"Bella, we need to get back. If they meet the others…"

"I know."

"I can't lose, Emmett," she said desperately, tugging on my hand.

I took one last searching look at the small mound that hid the body of the wolf. Then, keeping our fingers entwined, we turned away and began the trek home.

xXx

Edward POV

Esme's desperate screams reached me a moment before her thoughts. "Carlisle!"

We ran out of the house toward the sound of her racing footsteps. I was usually the fastest in the family, but Carlisle's fear gave him speed, and he reached her first. I couldn't make out anything clear in her thoughts. They were a stream of rushing images moving too fast for me to follow.

"Werewolf … Bella … Rosalie … Hurt …" she babbled.

"Who is hurt?" Emmett demanded.

"Bella, I think. She sent me away, but I…"

I didn't hear the rest of her words as I was already running. My thoughts were focused only on Bella, nothing else mattered.

I didn't get far before they caught up with me. Jasper's thoughts were clearest in my mind now as he was as focused on getting to Bella as I was.

Not one of the pack, Edward, he thought to me, a genuine werewolf.

His words pushed my speed even faster. A Child of the Moon was far more dangerous than the La Push wolves could ever hope to be.

Emmett was catching up to me. His terror for Rosalie was paramount. I caught a snatch of thought from him.

Bella will take care of her. She'll be okay. She'll be fine.

This was the first time he had ever felt genuine fear for Rosalie's life. Even when they were fighting the newborns, he had not worried as he knew she was more than up to the task. Now he was getting a taste of the fear I had lived with for years when Bella was human. Had I not been so preoccupied by my own fear, I would have pitied him.

I didn't know how long we were running before new scents joined Esme's back trail. I didn't recognize any of them, but Carlisle's moan made me halt in my tracks for a moment.

"Who?" I demanded.

"Volturi," he hissed.

Jasper winced as the shockwave of our fear hit him.

We set of running again, forcing my gift out as far as I could hoping to reach Bella or Rosalie, but expecting the Volturi. At least if I could hear them, I would know if they were close to Bella.

"Edward!" Carlisle called out to me. "The moon is gone."

That was good. The moon was gone, so the wolf was not a danger now, but the Volturi were still out there somewhere, and knowing Bella's luck, they were with her right now.

We're okay. We're okay. We're okay.

I choked a sob as Bella's thoughts reached me. I couldn't see what was happening around her, as she was repeating the same chant again and again.

"What is it?" Emmett demanded. "What can you hear?"

"They're okay," I said.

"What else?"

"I don't know. I can't hear Rose yet, but Bella is saying they're okay."

I suddenly felt like I had run into a brick wall. Though, unlike a brick wall, which would have crushed against my force, this was immovable. With similar expressions of shock, the rest of the family were halted.

"Bella! Let me free, now!" Emmett roared. He was desperate to get to Rosalie.

"She is shielding you for a reason, so shut the fuck up," Jasper snarled.

Emmett opened his mouth to answer, but I cut him off. "Both of you shut up. I am trying something here."

I focused on making Bella hear me and begged her to hurry.

I knew the moment she heard me as her chant of 'We're okay' cut off, and she answered.

Edward! Are you okay? Are the Volturi there?

No. We have caught their scent, but not seen them.

Oh, thank god. We saw them, but they've gone.

The shield holding us all in place disappeared, and I started running toward her again. I had barely started before she and Rosalie appeared on the horizon. They were running together, clasping each other's hand.

When they saw us, they released their grip on the other. Bella ran to me, and Rosalie to Emmett.

I caught her in my arms and clung to her. Words tumbled from us both, remonstrances and reassurances and vows of love. Emmett was doing the exact same thing with Rosalie.

I held Bella away from me and searched for a sign of injury.

"Esme said you were hurt."

"I was, but Rose fixed it for me," she said.

Jasper pulled her into his arms and then was passed from person to person, as was Rosalie; though Emmett clung to her arm, fearing that she would disappear if he let go of her.

When Bella reached Emmett, he and Rosalie both embraced her.

"Thank you, so much," he said sincerely. "Thank you for my Rosie."

She kissed his cheek. "You're welcome. She's our Rosie, too, after all."

He chuckled.

"What happened?" Carlisle asked. "Esme said there was a werewolf–"

Rosalie interrupted. "Can we please wait till we get home to talk about this? I really don't like being out in the open while they are still here."

Bella nodded her agreement and squeezed Rosalie's hand. "Probably a good idea. If I see that Felix again, I may be tempted to remove some of his vital equipment.

I quirked a brow, but she shook her head. Later.

Contrary to our race to them, the journey home seemed to take mere minutes. It was as if our panic had added miles to the journey.

When we got home, Bella and Rosalie sat together in the middle of the couch, their hands still entwined. Emmett and I flanked them on either side, comforted by their close presence.

"I really don't want to go through this all again, so I want to try something," Bella said, fixing her gaze on me. "Focus on sharing your thoughts the way you do with me."

I did as she asked. Unlike when she usually shared her thoughts with me, this wasn't a whisper, but a blast of noise.

Can you hear me?

"What the fuck was that?" Emmett said.

"Oh good it worked," she said relieved.

"What worked?" I asked.

"I heard her voice in my head." Emmett said.

"Hey, you're gifted after all, Em," Alice teased.

He didn't laugh. He was still too worried about Rosalie to find amusement in anything at the moment. The strength with which she was gripping his hand was a sign of just how upset she was. This was the first time she had feared for her safety since her change.

"How did you do that?" Carlisle asked.

"I pushed Edward's gift away from him, while sending my thoughts. I think it's what I did when I was changing." She shot me an apologetic look. "It will be easier if you can see exactly what happened, rather than making us describe it all again."

He nodded thoughtfully. He was thinking of her previous assertions that she didn't want to work with her ability to enhance gifts and wondering if this meant she had changed her mind altogether.

"I don't know how to focus it very well," she said. "I don't think the range would be too good, so if you don't want to hear it you could probably just step out for a minute." She was speaking more to Rosalie than anyone else.

Rosalie shook her head. "Let's just get it over with."

"Ready?" she asked.

I nodded. "When you are."

Her eyes slipped closed, and I heard her voice for a moment reassuring herself. Then her voice was replaced by a stream of images.

A rusted engine. A mass of brown fur. Rosalie's voice "Esme, no."A slash of claws. Gasping breaths. A thought: It doesn't work. "Please, Mom. I don't know what to do. I need Carlisle." Rosalie's worried face. Gaping wounds. A scream.

The images sped up.

Volturi. Black cloaks. Fred. Caius. Drop your shield. An angelic smile. Pain. Screams. Rosalie's face. "It must be destroyed." "It's a person."Attacking La Push. The moon sets. Tearing flesh."It is meat." "Our work here is done." "I can't lose Emmett." "I know."

The images cut off and there was absolute silence in the room expect for Esme's quiet sobs.

"You wanted to keep it?" Jasper said incredulously.

"Not keep it. It wasn't a puppy. I just didn't want it to be killed when there was another option. It doesn't matter now, anyway. They killed it."

"Him," Rosalie corrected. "It was a man."

The trauma had clearly addled their minds. Rosalie was still terrified. Bella had been mauled by the thing, but they were both upset that it had been killed.

"What did Jane do to you?" Esme asked. "It was you that was screaming, wasn't it?"

"Yes. When she used her gift on the wolf, I had to remove it my mental shield. I was still shielding it physically though, and somehow that made her gift hurt me too."

I hissed. I hadn't realized it was her pain I was hearing. I felt a wave of fury. Had Jane been in front of me in that moment I would have torn her head from her body, and I would have done it with a smile.

"That doesn't make sense," Carlisle said. "Jane's gift is not physical, but mental. She doesn't really hurt you, you just think she does."

Bella huffed. "Mental or physical, it hurt like a bitch."

Carlisle smiled sadly. "I imagine it did, what I meant, though, was that the mental aspect of her gift shouldn't have affected you while you were shielding yourself."

"I don't know," Bella said, "but if I had to guess, I'd say it's part of the weird emphasizing thing. When Eleazar gets back, we'll have to talk to him about it."

"Did they really leave?" Alice asked. "I know they said they were going home, but they could be anywhere now."

"I don't think they would have left," Jasper said. He was staring at the opposite wall, his face heavy with concentration.

"What makes you say that?"

I heard his answer in his thoughts and gasped.

"They weren't here for the wolf."

Thanks to all that read and reviewed. If you would like a teaser from the next chapter let me know in a review or PM. Once again thanks to Mary-Alice-Brandon-Cullen for the lyrics. Guess the song and artist and I will dedicate the next chapter to you.

~ Singing out "the dawn's early light". The silence of the rotten,forgotten Screaming at you. ~