A/N: Hey guys. Sorry it has been so long since my last update. I have not abandoned this story. I have just gotten caught up in working on my own novels. I'm getting a little blocked on those, so I am going to take a bit of a break and give you guys something that you have probably been waiting awhile for.

ROSEMARIE

"Let me get this straight." I said an hour later as I tried to make sense of everything the Cullens had just told me. "My mother knew these Volturi were going to come after her and, most likely, kill her if she didn't become a vampire, but she left anyway. Why?"

Edward, who had been staring at the now cracked wedding picture on the mantle, sighed and turned to look at me. I didn't think it was possible, but his eyes had lost a little more life.

"Your mother had a big problem with guilt." Edward answered. "It killed her to know that she could never truly choose between your father and me. She may have married me and convinced herself that she loved me more, but she could never truly let Jacob go. It drove her crazy with guilt."

Edward turned back to the picture as if this was a good enough answer to my question. I still didn't completely understand, but I didn't want to push him. Reliving all of this for my benefit had to be hard enough for him. I didn't want to make it any worse.

Instead, I looked to Jacob who was sitting on the coffee table in front of me. He and Seth had been doing their best to get me through this conversation without doing anything I'd regret. Jacob smiled and laid a gentle hand on my knee.

"After we slept together, Bella felt that she was beyond forgiveness. She felt the need to punish herself by removing herself from our lives. She didn't think it was right to play with our hearts like that. I don't think she thought about the Volturi until after the decision had been made. And if she did, she would've decided she deserved it."

"Nobody deserves to die like that." I said shaking my head as tears fell down my cheeks. I had spent the last month trying to imagine what my mom had been thinking in those final moments. Did it hurt? Or had she already passed out from the smoke before she burned? Now other thoughts and imagines invaded my mind. Had the Volturi stopped her from escaping? "She made a mistake. It was a big one, yes. But it was just a mistake. She didn't deserve to die for it."

My body started to tremble as thoughts of my mother condemning herself for this ran through my mind. Why would she think that she deserved to go down like that? She was a good person who loved two people there was nothing wrong with that.

"Breathe, love, breathe." Seth whispered shaking my hand. "We agree that she didn't deserve to die like that. She may have thought she deserved a fate worse than death, but we never believed that."

"Not for a minute." Jacob said gently.

"But it was what she got." Edward whispered. His words stopped my heart in my chest.

"What do you mean? Did they make her suffer before they killed her?"

Thoughts of my mother being beaten and tortured by those four scary strangers made my angry again. My body trembled as the beast crept slowly forward.

"Maybe we should wait to tell her the rest, Edward." Jasper said. "You know, until she is a little more stable."

"Wait to tell me what?" I asked.

Edward turned to look at Jacob and they had a sort of silent argument. My body continued to tremble as anger coursed through me. I couldn't believe they were arguing about whether or not they were going to tell me the whole truth. She was my mother. Damn it! I had a right to know.

"Rosie, relax. We are all going to help you through this. Just breathe, please." Seth whispered.

"I'm trying." I said through gritted teeth. "It's really hard when you don't know the whole story."

"I know, love."

"And you're going to get it, soon. There's just a lot that we aren't sure how to tell you." Alice spoke for the first time. Her voice sounded sad, almost pleading. I found myself wondering once again if I should've just left all this alone.

"Don't ever think that." Edward spoke finally turning his attention from Jacob. "There is nothing worse than not knowing. Believe me. I've spent nearly two decades not knowing."

I didn't know how to respond to that. He was right. There was nothing worse than not knowing everything, but I was terribly afraid of what it would mean to know everything. What had happened to my mom before she died? How much had she suffered? I didn't think I want to know.

Erick, who didn't need Edward's gift to know what I was thinking, walked over to me. He knelt in front of me, taking my free hand in his.

"What I said on the drive here still stands, Rosie." He said looking me directly in the eye. "If you want to leave and forget all of this just say the word and we're gone. I won't make you hear anything you don't want to hear."

Seth let out a deep almost feral growl from beside me. Leah responded with one of her own and was beside Erick faster than an average human could've been. This whole imprint thing was a little too intense for words.

"Seth, Leah, knock it off!" Sam snapped. "This isn't the time to see who the bigger wolf is."

I squeezed Seth hand and felt him take a deep breath. Leah relaxed a little but placed her hands on Erick's shoulder. We were going to have to figure out a way to keep my friendship with Erick from getting in the way of our imprints, but that was something to think about later.

"Thanks, Erick. As nice as that would be, I can't go back now. I've come too far and I know too much. I don't want to end up the way my mother did.

"We wouldn't let that happen?" Edward said moving to sit beside Jacob on the coffee table. "I failed Bella in so many ways, but I will not let the Volturi hurt you, ever. None of us would."

I nodded.

"But it still doesn't change the fact that I am in way too deep right now. I know too much and I wanna know the rest. I'm just scared."

"You have reason to be." Jasper said in a calm, almost cold tone. I got the feeling he wasn't one to sugar coat things. I wasn't sure if that was comforting or not.

I swallowed hard.

"And I wanna know why."

"Then we should go outside and finish this." Jacob said in barely above a whisper. We weren't in wolf form, so I had no idea what he was thinking, but it didn't sound good. He sounded so sad it scared me even more. "You might need the space."

I didn't like the sound of this at all if he thought I was going to need space , it meant he thought I'd get angry enough to phase. My fear increased as we headed toward the backyard. The vampires hung back letting us werewolves go first.

"You're going to get through this." Seth whispered. "We are going to help you." I nodded and tried to keep my shape from blurring as my fear danced close to the edge of anger. Would it always feel like this? Would every emotion feel so close to rage that it'd be hard to tell the difference?

I did feel a little better once I was outside, though. The fresh, non-vampire-polluted air was very calming. I sucked in glorious breath after glorious breath as my trembles slowly began to calm.

The tension seemed to lift a great deal once we were out in the open. You could still cut it with a knife, of course. But there was something about being spread out that made this encounter a little easier. I noticed my "guard" had increased a little as a few more of my "uncles" joined us. I could even hear some growls from the surrounding trees. This must be bad.

I squeezed Seth's hand as Leah led Erick to the other side of the yard.

"Okay, just tell me what happened before she died." I growled. "All these extra precautions are driving me crazy."

"That's the thing." Edward said slowly. He and Jacob were standing a few feet in front of Seth and I. They were as close to each other as their instincts would allow. "She never died."

Everything fell away at those words. Nothing I had heard or experienced in the last few days had been as important as the words Edward just spoke. My mother was still alive. Hope sprang in my heart than had been so full of despair since the night I went home to find my house in ashes. I might actually see her again.

Edward shook his head.

"Don't do that, Rosemarie." He said.

"Do what?"

"Get your hopes up until you've heard it all."

"But she's alive. Doesn't that mean she can be saved?"

"It's not that simple, anymore. And to be completely honest, it'd be better for you if she was actually dead."

"I don't understand."

The more we talked about this the more my head spun. It was the worst kind of emotional roller coaster. The beast linger just above the surface waiting for its chance to break free wasn't helping matters.

"Your mother was taken to be a human pet to the Volturi." Jasper said in a cold monotone.

My feet disappeared beneath me at his words, and I hit the ground as my lunch reappeared in the mud. I had read enough vampire novels to know what a vampire's human pet was. I had even read an entire series about a complete vampire takeover. They had enslaved the human race turning them all into their pets. The things they did to our race were unthinkable. To realize they had been happening to my mother was more than I could take.

I was vaguely aware of hands pulling my hair back and rubbing my back as I fought to control the contents of my stomach. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks mixing with the disgusting pile of vomit on the ground.

"Jeez, Jasper, could you have been any less sensitive?" Edward's voice snapped from far off.

"How was I supposed to know that she'd know what it meant?" Jasper replied. I felt waves of calm and peace flow through me, though.

"It's alright." I panted. "I just read a lot of vampire books. I guess I should've known if the good parts of those worlds existed then the bad parts would as well."

"There's good and evil in all species." Carlisle said. "Our evil is just a lot worse than yours."

"But why didn't they just kill her?" I asked accepting Jacob's help to stand. "If that's what they do to humans who know the secret. Why was she any different?"

"It's a long story." Carlisle said. "But it has a lot to do with Aro's feelings towards our family. We have things he's coveted for years, but we always refused to give him. I supposed he chose to take it out on Bella by completely destroying her."

"And she let him, so he wouldn't come after me." I whispered as things started making more sense. "Those last two weeks, she kept reminding me that everything she did was to keep me safe, even if it hurt me. I always knew that, so I could understand why she felt she had to keep saying it. Now, I understand. The four that Aro sent made it clear that I'd be hurt if she didn't do what he wanted."

"You were her angel. Her only light in the dark after she left Forks. She wasn't about to let him hurt you. No matter what it meant for herself." Alice said. Her voice broke several times during the speech.

I stood in Seth's embrace letting everything sink into to my already fucked up brain. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I felt myself trembling but, for the first time since the vampire's entered my grandfather's house, I wasn't on the verge of transforming. I was too numb for that.

Of all the things I worried I'd discover when I came to Forks, none of this even came close. I came expecting the worst, and what I found was a million times worse than that. The vampire and werewolf thing wasn't so bad. I had always believed in their existence in an I-know-they-are-out-there sort of way. I never expected that I was one of them or that I'd be thrown into their world so deeply, but it didn't bother me much. The story about what really happened to my mother is what rocked me. It was worse than if she had just been dead. Much worse.

JACOB

Bella leaving Forks was the lowest point in my life. When she walked away, she took my heart with her, and I felt as if the world was crashing around me. I didn't think there was a worse pain than being abandoned by the woman who would never love you as much as you loved her, until I had to watch my daughter suffer through the cold hard truth.

I fought back tears as I rubbed her back while she vomited on the muddy forest ground. I wished I could comfort her as she came to terms with everything, but I didn't know what to say or do. I didn't have any practice with this father thing, but it killed me to see her suffering through it all.

She huddled closer to Seth as Alice confirmed what Rosemarie feared: Bella chose to save her daughter by becoming a vampire's pet. I could only imagine the things that were running through her mind. If she was anything like her mother, she would be laying the blame for all of it on herself.

I wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault, and that everything would be okay, but I couldn't. It wouldn't do any good. Besides, I couldn't promise that it would be okay, not until I could promise Bella's safe return. And I wasn't even sure I could do that. It killed me to know that I couldn't give her the thing she needed most.

I reached out a hand to give her the only comfort I could. She took it, but remained cuddled close to Seth. The imprint made her want his comfort more than mine, and I completely understood. I was just glad she didn't completely neglect me.

Erick was across the yard trying to get passed Leah, Paul, and Jared. It was hard for me to watch Rosemarie going through this, but I couldn't even imagine what Erick must be going through. He had probably been there for her through everything and helped her solve all her problems. It had to have been difficult for him to see this and not be able to do anything about it.

"It's okay, Leah." I said. "Let him come over. Rose needs him, and there are enough of us to protect him if he needs it."

Leah sighed, but stepped out of the way. Erick practically ran to Rosemarie and wrapped his arms around her. He actually pulled her out of Seth's arms. Naturally, she held Erick back and hysteria finally broke through. I suppose there were some bonds that not even an imprint could come. Seth seemed to understand this and backed off.

"Shhh." Erick whispered stroking her hair. "It's going to be okay. Somehow, some way, I'll make it okay."

The words sounded like a mantra that he had repeated often. Like something a big brother would say to his distraught sister. I wondered just how much they had been through together.

"How?" Rosemarie cried into his shoulder.

"I don't know, but I'll think of something." Erick told her. "We'll think of something."

"It's not that easy." Edward growled. "We may be supernatural creatures, Erick, but this isn't a fairytale. We can't just wave a wand and make everything okay. There's so much that you don't know about the Volturi and what they are capable of."

"There has to be something we can do." Erick snapped.

"If there was don't you think I would've done it by now?" Edward said. "I love Bella Swan more than your tiny human brain could ever comprehend. If I could save her, it would have been done by now."

"If you love her so much then why are you giving up?"

Before I could even process Erick's words, Rosemarie was in my arms and Edward had Erick pinned to a tree with a hand around his throat. His "fangs" were out, and he was growling low and deep. Jasper and Emmett were trying to pry him off of Erick while Carlisle whispered things to him so quickly that I missed them.

Leah was vibrating like a tuning fork. The only thing holding her in her human form was fear of hurting Erick more by trying to save him. Rosemarie had quickly processed the situation and immediately tried to crawl out of my arms. I held her tighter. I wasn't going to let her throw herself into the middle of a fight with vampires. She was untrained and could get herself killed. It was best to let the family handle this.

"Never question my feelings for that woman." Edward growled. "She is my world, and I would die for her, if I thought that was enough to save her."

Edward threw Erick to the ground, ripped himself from Jasper and Emmett, and ran for the house.

Leah and Rosemarie were at Erick's side in an instant.

"I'm alright guys." Erick told them as he massaged his throat. "I might be a little bruised in the morning, but I'll survive."

"Please forgive my son." Carlisle said holding his hand out to Erick. "He feels terribly helpless right now. He doesn't like being reminded that there isn't much he can do."

Erick nodded and accepted Carlisle's hand.

Seth reclaimed Rosemarie's waist while Leah inspected Erick for any wounds.

"So there's really nothing we can do, at this point?" I asked unable to believe the situation was truly hopeless.

"Not necessarily." Carlisle said calmly. "It's just going to take a lot of planning."

"Who needs planning?" Seth asked. "Why can't we just storm Volterra, kick some Volturi ass, and take her back?"

"We would last two seconds in a fight with the Volturi, dog." Rosalie sneered. "And even if, by some miracle, we did win, it wouldn't matter. Bella isn't going to come with us willingly anymore. Hell, she'd probably try to kill us if we tried to take her away."

"Rosalie." Esme admonished. "We discussed this."

"Bella's her mother, Esme." Rosalie growled. "She has a right to know, no matter what the mutt says."

"I have a right to know what?" Rose asked pulling away from Seth.

Carlisle sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry, Jacob." He said to me. "We had plans to discuss this with you before we told Rosemarie."

"Just tell us the rest." I said taking deep even breaths.

"Aro made Bella forget everything about herself, including her time in Forks, and then he changed her." Carlisle explained. "And turned her against us."

"What exactly does that mean?" Rosemarie asked in a quivering voice.

"The Bella we knew and loved is gone, and I don't know if we will be able to bring her back."

A/N: What do you guys think? Was it worth waiting for? It took me awhile to get it exactly the way I wanted it, but I really like it. I'm about to start wrapping it up, though. I've got a plan for the end. Let me know what you guys think.