A/N: I know, I know. I've been gone for quite a while and updates on this story have been few and far in between. Life has been chaotic to say the least. There have been a lot of changes recently and a lot more to come in the future. One change that I am expecting is that I will most likely be moving in with my fiancé soon so that means a constant flow of WiFi. (Right now, I only have access at work). Which means more chapters, more quickly. Yay! Yes? Good thing? Possibly?

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this one..

Chapter 20

I splashed cold water from the creek on my face. The short hunt really did the trick. I felt like myself again. Snow still covered the ground; my breath visible with each exhale. All seemed peaceful, till a musky odor invaded my senses, alerting me of the incoming shifters.

I took a moment to straighten up and dust off my clothes. I had no idea how I was to dress to meet their leaders. I figured I couldn't go wrong with a nice black button-up and some nice dark jeans. Dressing too casual could seem disrespectful.

Jacob and two wolves broke the tree line on the other side of the creek. My wolf growled internally. This is not going to be easy.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Jacob called out. I raised my eyebrow.

"You're the one that outnumbers me," I pointed out. I put my hands in my pockets to indicate nonaggression. He seemed to accept this and beckoned me forward. Already regretting the position I'd put myself in, I leapt across the natural boundary with ease.

"Lead the way."

After a very tense run through the woods, we slowed to a walk when a group came into sight, surrounding a campfire. They consisted of mostly men, with the exception of one woman and a few wolves. The wolves flanked the others protectively with Sam standing out in front, in his human form.

"You made it," he said.

"You sound surprised. I gave you my word," I stopped a few feet in front of him.

"I have a hard time believing anything you say. You've lied before."

"Really? I had my reasons for my secrets, just like the rest of you. Now, can we move past the hypocritical remarks and get the point of my visit."

"Yes, please," called a voice from behind Sam. It belonged to a man in a wheelchair. He wore a black cowboy hat and had long black hair that ran passed his shoulders. "We have questions about what you are, and what happened the day you and Jared were attack."

I explained to them the major physiological differences between our species. I could tell it bothered them when I mentioned my superior speed and strength...bad memories, I guess. They were intrigued about the other shifters I had met in the past. They seemed taken aback that there were different animals, but given that they thought they were werewolves this entire time, I wasn't exactly surprised.

When it came time to explain what happened the day of the attack, the conversation took a somber tone.

"Why were they torturing you? What did they want to know?" Billy, the man in the wheelchair questioned.

"They wanted information about me to deliver back to the Volturi."

"What's the Volturi?" the woman, who had introduced herself as Sue, asked.

"The Volturi are like the royalty of the vampire world. They are the ones that make and enforce vampiric laws. Centuries ago, one of the Volturi called for a complete elimination of all werewolves. They hunted down and killed hundreds of my kind. I thought that they stopped actively searching a long time ago…that is until those two vampires showed up at my house."

"How were you taken down by only two of them?" Sam asked. I held back a smirk. You would be asking that question.

"They had wolfsbane, a rare flower that's poisonous to humans, but was used by my kind to stop the mandatory shift during the full moon. It was thought to be extinct after the Volturi had it destroyed during the early years of the genocide. I had never come across it before. The two vampires used it on me that day. It not only stopped me from shifting, but it practically turned me human. No super strength; no accelerated healing." I didn't dare mention the silver thing. I didn't want them getting any ideas. Revealing the fact about the wolfsbane didn't pose a great threat since the plant was so scarce. "For the record, I'm very sorry for what happened to your friend," I said sincerely.

Paul, who had been standing off to the side silently, spoke up; his face contorted with anger. "Had we known that you what you were, Jared wouldn't have felt the need to protect you, and he would still be here."

"Look, I express my sympathies for what happened to him, but I will not apologize for failing to announce my presence to you. I don't go making a spectacle of myself."

"It's your fault he's dead!" Paul was shaking with anger.

"I wasn't the one who killed him," I bared my teeth.

"That's enough, Paul!" Sam ordered in that authoritative voice again. Paul closed his mouth with an audible snap and bowed his head.

"To my knowledge, they were supposed to come back so they could take me to the Volturi. Alice found me before they did. You know the rest."

Sam and a few wolves lead me into a nearby barn so that their elders could deliberate on "the new circumstances". I willingly gave them their space, knowing that even if they wanted to keep me prisoner or something extreme, it wouldn't be hard to lose them. Even in their wolf forms, they weren't nearly as agile as I was. If I was dealing with the panther shifters again, I'd be way more hesitant. Those kitties could move. After some time passed, they summoned us again.

Billy spoke, "After hearing your testimony regarding the death of Jared, we cannot put any of the blame on you. As a supernatural creature, it would be expected that you would keep your true identity a secret. Also, it's unfortunate to say that even though Jared's intentions were pure, he had no business trying to protect you off of our lands." Paul growled, but was silenced from the looks of the council members and Sam.

"You've aligned yourself with the Cullens. Therefore, from this moment on, you will abide by the same terms of the treaty that they do. You will stay out of our territory, and you will also keep our secret from others. In turn, we will not attack you or reveal your secret. We will continue to only protect on our lands." he announced.

"I would like to add that you will not be allowed on my property either, and we must inform each other if any other vampire enters the vicinity, friendly or not. If we keep each other in the loop, we are less likely to run into more problems. Agreed?" I reached out my hand to Billy.

"Agreed." He said shaking my hand. I made sure Sam also shook my hand. "Sam will give you a quick run around the boundary so that there is no confusion." I nodded and said my goodbyes to the council and most of the pack.

Sam, Paul, and Jacob took up the rest of the afternoon running the borders of the territory. The shifters in human form were a great deal slower than their animal counterparts, but Sam wanted to be available in case more questions arose which there were on his part.

"You said that one of the Cullens was your mate. It was her, right? The short one? How does she not know that she's your mate?" Sam asked.

"Because she believes she already has a mate."

"The blonde male," he stated matter-of-factly. "That's gotta be tough. For us, the imprinting is instant upon eye contact. Two worlds become one. Trying to ignore the pull is nearly impossible."

"My inner wolf made the connection first. It took a while for the rest of me to figure it out."

"What will you do if she doesn't choose you?"

The question caused a sharp pain in my chest. "I…I don't know. I don't think I could stick around, but at the same time, I doubt I'd be able to leave her side regardless." It wasn't like I hadn't thought of that possibility. The mere thought of it, though, had my heart sinking to the pit of my stomach.

"My imprint, Emily, and I tried to ignore it when it happened to us. I was in a happy relationship with her cousin, Leah, at the time. Leah and Emily were very close, like sisters.

"Well, when Emily and I locked eyes after I had started phasing, I felt this overwhelming pull to her. I needed to be with her, be near her. I spent the first couple days trying my best to avoid her, but she was the only thing on my mind, and it made me physically ill to be away from her. I broke it off with Leah and immediately went to Emily's to tell her how I felt. Despite feeling the same way, we had an on again/off again relationship for a while. We were both very torn between wanting to be with each other and not wanting to hurt Leah. In the end, the imprint was too strong to ignore."

I quietly ran next to Sam, processing his words. I compared his story with his mate to my own. There were some similarities between them: my attempts to avoid Alice, becoming sick when I did stay away from here, the hot and cold times in our relationship. I just hoped I would have the same happy ending that Sam had.

"Just be patient. If mating in your world is anything resembling ours, she'll be yours soon enough."

I let out a small chuckle. One thing I had learned over my lifetime was that age did not necessarily mean wisdom. Wisdom comes from experience. I may have had several centuries on the alpha shifter, but I had no experience whatsoever on mates. It was in this area, Sam was older than I.

We finished out our perimeter run and ended up back at the same part of the creek I met the shifters earlier in the day. It was well past sunset now, and dark clouds shrouded the waxing moon that was beginning to rise up over the trees. I took my time getting back to my house. I opened my senses, feeling out the environment around me and pushed every stressful thought out of my mind. I enjoyed every deep breath of cool, crisp air and every sound of the crunching snow under my footsteps. I was so aware of my surroundings that I even felt the slight temperature drop before the light snowflakes started to fall.

Despite the events over the past week, I was more relaxed than I had been in months. All the secrets and the lies were practically all out in the open now. I only had two problems left to focus on, my relationship with Alice and the Volturi's hunters.

The light was on in my little house, meaning Alice was waiting for me. The thought made me smile, as her heavenly scent invaded my senses. The little vampire opened the front door as I walked up closer to the house. The next thing I knew, something hard impacted my chest and I felt something hanging from my neck. Alice had wrapped her arms and legs around my body in a vice grip.

"I was so worried about you," she whispered into my neck. Her body pressed against mine mixed with the coolness of her breath on my skin was making my mind fuzzy. I forced myself to unhook her from my body and place her on her own two feet in front of me. It wasn't until she looked up at me that I saw her jet black eyes.

"I thought you went hunting with Jasper. Why are your eyes so black?"

She shut them and looked away as if she was just caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. "I did hunt. I got back about an hour or so. You weren't back yet, and I was so worried about you. I didn't think your meeting with them was going to take so long, and I can't ever see any of you so I had no clue what was going on." Her eyes are black from concern…for me.

I pulled her back into another hug. One I was actually expecting this time. She wrapped her arms tightly around my waist as I rested my cheek on the top of her head, our familiar embrace. "I'm sorry for making you worry. The shifters were just showing me the perimeter line. They want me to stay on your side of the treaty line…since I aligned myself with you."

Alice looked up at me with a bright smile, her eye color already turning into a burning amber. "Really?"

"I'm on your side no matter where you stand. Always." I squeezed her tight for one more moment before letting her go. "C'mon, let's go inside so I can get this wet dog smell off of me."

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but…" Alice giggled as she disappeared back inside.

After my shower and some deep persuading, I convinced Alice to let me stay in my own home with the condition that she stay the night as well. Obviously, I wasn't going to protest to that.

"Sure you won't be bored staying awake all night?"

"No, I figure I could at least do all the homework you missed for school," she said as she pulled out a small stack of papers from a bag in the corner of her room. She smiled as I raised my eyebrow. "I brought a bag of my stuff just in case you would be too stubborn to come back to my house. I guess I was right."

"I thought you couldn't see my future?"

"No, but maybe you've become predictable." I feigned that I was offended. She giggled.

"And the homework?"

"Oh, Esme picked it up yesterday from school for you. We were busy so I just figured I'd do it for you."

"You really don't have to…"

"It's not a big deal. Besides, I could probably get it done faster than you. Oh, and Esme also made you a meatloaf. I stuck it in the fridge when I got here." My stomach growled almost on cue. Alice grinned. Sure enough, there was a meatloaf in my fridge, and it smelled amazing. I put it in the oven to heat up for a few minutes before sitting at the table.

"Does the smell of food bother you?" I asked.

"No," she answered, sitting at the other end of the table in the recent purchased second chair. "The smell isn't appetizing, but it doesn't smell bad either. It's actually quite fascinating to watch people eat. I personally don't remember what it was like."

"What would happen if you tried?"

"Well my body can't digest it. It would sit in my body till I threw it up. The venom makes everything taste bitter too. I've heard it being compared to a human eating mud. Nothing bad happens, but after trying it, you don't really want to do it again."

"Food equals mud. Got it."

"You never talked about that with Garrett?" she asked.

"No, we mostly talk about the past," And you. "Catching up on the last couple hundred years takes time." The little vampire smiled to herself, for reasons unbeknownst to me.

I awoke panting, drenched in sweat. My mother's scream still deafening my ears from the depths of my dream; the depths of my memory.

"Bella?" a small voice called cautiously. My eyes snapped toward the voice. Alice's silhouette stood in the doorway of my dark room. "Are you ok? You were growling, and your eyes are glowing."

I took a deep breath, willing my muscles and my wolf to relax. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a nightmare," a replied with an edge in my voice.

She still stood at the doorway, hesitant to come in any farther. I scooted over to make room for her on the bed. Alice lied down in a semi reclining position and gently pulled me closer to hold me. I laid my head on her stomach and wrapped my arm just below her waist. She lightly scratched my scalp. The sensation combined with her scent put me in a dreamlike state. With her other hand, she traced the already healing, deep scratches on my arm where I must have cut myself in my sleep. Wouldn't be the first time.

"Were you dreaming about your parents? You were calling to them in your sleep."

"Yes."

"Do you dream about them a lot?"

"Yes."

"How did they die?"

I reflexively held her tighter before answering. "The Volturi killed them. They found us, and my parents gave me the chance to get away. I was nine-years-old."

"Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry." Alice hugged me tight and kissed the top of my head.

"You shouldn't feel sorry. It was my fault they died," my voice void of emotion.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it's true." I pulled out from her embrace and got out of bed. The sheets, stained with my blood, were virtually ribbons from the shredding they took in my sleep, and the stuffing from the pillows scattered the floor near the bed. I stood in front of my window and looked up the moon, peeking from behind snow clouds. "It's funny. Most life revolves around the sun; mine revolves around the moon."

Alice didn't move or say anything. She just watched me from the position I left her in. I took a deep breath. "My parents and I were settled just outside of a small village in Italy. My mother would take me into town with her when she would run errands so that I could play with the other children around my age. She would always say it was important to mingle with people so that we could learn their ways and wouldn't suspect we were different. There weren't very many children in the village so when a new family came to town we always admitted the new kids to our group immediately.

"One day, there were two new faces playing amongst my friends. They were twins, a girl and a boy. They were couple years or so older than me. They were both pretty quiet, at first, but the girl and I, in time, became close. Closer than to anyone else.

"Eventually, she confided in me that she and her brother were not the same as other children. She told me they had 'special powers'. I obviously didn't believe her, but she after quite a bit of concentration on her part, she managed to kill every plant surrounding us. I was thrilled. There was another kid, like me, that was different. So…as an ignorant and naïve child does, I spilled my secret to her as well. She, of course, had many questions, and I answered them all. I didn't hold anything back. Why would I? She was my friend, right?" I sneered.

"A few days later, my parents got word that the Volturi had found us. For some reason, we didn't run. They didn't even try. That night, they came for us. My parents stayed behind so that I could get away. I can still hear my mother's screams." Tears were streaming down my face. "I found out later how the vampires managed to find us. Turns out, my 'friend' and her brother had a guardian by the name of Aro." Alice's eyes grew wide. "Yes. The head of the Volturi had a particular interest in the twins' abilities and used them to seek out other 'special children' in hopes that when they grew older and were turned, their gifts would manifest into something greater and would ultimately make them useful members of their Guard."

"I knew that Aro had an interest in special gifts, but I never thought it went to that length," Alice commented.

"Yes, well, as far as I know his little experiment never gained traction beyond the twins but as I understand it, they became his most feared Guard members to date."

"Jane and Alec," she whispered.

I clenched my jaw and gave a single nod. "The boy can rob you of all your senses, and leave you blind and completely defenseless. Jane, on the other hand, tortures with a look. A deadly duo with abilities on extremely opposite ends of a spectrum." I was trembling, overcome with emotion. Why didn't they run? "I've never told anyone the details about what happened to them. Any time anyone would ever ask about them, I'd find a way to get out of giving an answer."

Alice appeared next to me and gently held my hand. The sudden gesture combined with the vast temperature difference in our skin caused my breath to get caught in my throat.

"I want you to feel like you can tell me anything. No more secrets," she looked deep into my eyes as she spoke. The moonlight that spilled in from the window made her pale skin glow beautifully. My heart clenched in my chest.

"What if you don't like what you hear?" my voice broke.

She squeezed my hand and reached up with her other one to softly caress my cheek. "Nothing you say will change how I feel about you." The air around us vibrated with energy. Her eyes blazed with intensity, gazing into mine. She was the first to break, flickering her eyes to my lips. Her breath became shallowing, mirroring my own. I leaned closer to her face, my heart pounding. I paused an inch from her lips, hesitating, but before I could back out, Alice closed the distance, capturing my lips.