Chapter 29

The fighting had gone on for not too much longer. When I was done with Aro, I wondered off in the forest thinking. After I was sure they didn't need me, I blocked the pack out so I could have my thoughts to myself. I was told that Alice had gone to get the pieces of Aro.

I sat on a huge rock next to a cliff for about forty-five minutes before I had gotten tired of my own thoughts. I didn't feel guilty for what I had done and that's what had me feeling sort of uncomfortable. I didn't really know how I should have felt. Overall it wasn't too bad. At least it wouldn't have been to the rest of the pack, but the Cullen's, they would be going home without one of their family. That part was what got to me most.

I couldn't process the thoughts of Edward being dead. I couldn't imagine him dying over protecting me, not after what had happened between us. I could maybe understand the arguing, but what could have happened that got him killed? Why would he have taken it that far? That is what I couldn't think about anymore. A slight pain shredded through my chest at the thoughts. That was what I did feel guilty about.

Once I had released the block, I got a rush of voices celebrating the success of the fight. I started to walked my way back to where I thought everyone still was. I wasn't ready to face the Cullen's yet though, but I knew there was no avoiding them.

Are you ok Bells? Jake asked.

Yeah.

The rest of the pack is heading back to the rez, I'll wait for you.

No, it's ok. I'll meet you there.

I felt a bit of relief knowing I wouldn't have to see the Cullen's right then, but there was still something nagging at me that I couldn't figure out.

Are you sure? I don't mind.

Yeah, it's fine. I'll be there soon. I won't block you out.

Ok.

I didn't feel like being in wolf form anymore, so I ran all the way back to the rez. Luckily I had thought to leave an extra pair of clothes at Jake's.

It didn't take too long to get back and everyone was all phased back, enjoying food Emily had just cooked. Paul had stayed behind since it was obvious he was in no shape to phase, or join the rest of us. He was excited to hear all the stories when we got there. He was also surprised to hear about me taking on Aro myself. He was sure I would have needed help, but he also didn't think Aro would have ran either, at least not from what he had heard about him anyways.

I grabbed one of the rolls Emily had put in a basket on the table a walked outside to sit on the porch. Jake followed behind me and sat next to me on the ground.

"Are sure you're ok?" he asked again in a quiet voice.

"I will be," I sighed.

"That was some pretty crazy stuff back there. I still can't believe you did that," he said.

"What was I supposed to do Jake?" I said quietly. "I know, I didn't fully think it through, but what else is new? I just knew I couldn't take it anymore and you guys were right. If we didn't go right then, we would have lost the chance to surprise them."

"Yeah, but if you would have waited two more minutes, we would have all gone together."

"Well it worked out ok this way, didn't it?"

"Sure, this time. What if he would have killed you?"

"At that point I honestly didn't care. There comes a time in someone's life where you just get tired of being hunted all the time. Well, that was that time for me. But I knew, even if I would have let him kill me, you would all still fight. So, I took advantage of being close. Like I said, it worked."

"Next time, don't do it again."

"Do you expect there to be a next time? Who else is out there that would want to kill me? Actually, don't answer that."

Jake laughed and put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against him. I rested my head on his chest and sighed. I was exhausted.

"I hope whoever it is at least gives me a break before they come after me."

After about a minute of silence, another thought occurred to me. Where were the rest of the Volturi?

"Jake, where were the rest of the Volturi?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It was only Aro there."

"Well, from what I heard, Edward killed Caius, that's why… Anyways, I don't know. I didn't really think about that. How many more where was supposed to be? I didn't see any that has those "abilities" you were talking about."

"Well, there's Jane, Alec, Marcus…. Well, quite a few more." I sat there in thought for a moment, until a car unexpectedly pulled up to the house. I stood up once I recognized the car.

"Carlisle," I said walking out to meet him.

"Hello Bella," he said closing the car door. "I thought I would come over and see how Paul was doing. I heard he was injured pretty badly."

"Oh, uh yeah. He's right in here," I said, leading him into the house.

My heart was pounding hard in my chest. I wasn't sure what his reaction would be towards me after the day we had all had, but by the way he looked at me and the light smile he wore, I didn't think it was too bad.

I stood in the doorway watching as Carlisle checked over Paul's injuries. Sam and I were right, broken arm, shoulder, and his knee was crushed. Luckily though it had been healing right and there wouldn't be another incident like Jake's.

Once he was finished he asked me to go outside with him, so I did. We talked for a minute. He told me that he wasn't mad at me. I guess I was making my curiosity with that kind of obvious.

"I thought for sure you would all be," I started, he rested a hand on my shoulder and I kept my eyes down on the ground.

"Bella, nothing about this day gone the way we had hoped. Nothing happened that was expected. You did what you had to do."

"Did I really? Did I have to kill him? Why don't I feel bad about it?" The words came out barely in a whisper. I couldn't stop the single tear that fell down my cheek.

"You did what you had to do. I believe that and so does the rest of us. He would have killed you, even if not today, he would have been back."

"Do you really believe that? Honestly? And where was the rest of the Volturi? What is going to stop them from coming after me once they hear what happened?"

"That's right. You didn't hear what happened before you had gotten there. The reason behind what happened to Edward."

"What do you mean? I heard Edward was killed because he killed Caius."

Carlisle laughed lightly, which I found a bit odd considering the topic. "No. Aro killed Caius for what he had done. Caius was already on a thin line with the rest of the Volturi for other reasons we don't really need to know about. Aro had had enough of it. A fight broke out before you had gotten there. I was in the middle of trying to discuss with Aro to stop it. Oh another thing, I thought you could see what all the other pack members were doing while you were phased?"

"Uh, we can. We'll when there's so much going on, it's kind of hard to see everything. Why, what happened?"

"Well, the Volturi were all there."

"They were? I-I didn't see them. I would have known. Wouldn't I?" I was confused.

"Well like you said, there was so much going on. I would imagine you were focused on Aro. I think Aro was pretty distracted himself. I don't think he really imagined your little mind block would affect the whole pack."

"Wait a minute." I shook my head as I tried to process it all. "All of them were there?"

"Yes. I didn't know that either. I was quite surprised when only Aro and Demetri had showed up at first. Well, of course a few of the other guard members. That is what happened to Edward. He had gotten into and argument with Aro and Demetri went after him. Edward tried to defend himself and Emmett had to step in. Of course the other guard members got involved and Jasper tried to help. Edward and Emmett successfully stopped Demetri, only Edward wasn't so successful. He was injured very badly. Moments after that, you came in, surprising us all."

"Wait, so if I came in a few minutes earlier, none of that would have happened?" I was even more angry with myself than words could describe.

"Bella, that would have happened rather you were there or not. It actually may have been worse if you did show up earlier."

"I can't believe that. Anyways, so when did the rest of the Volturi show up?"

"After the pack showed up and you phased. Once you started fighting Aro, Jane and Alec came in. When Aro ran, that was when he realized they were greatly outnumbered. He was hopeful that between Jane and Alec, we would have all been stopped. Their abilities only worked on us, not the pack."

"So, it did work... What happened to Jane?"

"Your pack leader, Sam, well he got a hold of her. Two of the other wolves got Alec. The rest of us all went after whoever was left."

"What about the rest of the Volturi though? Felix had to have been there, Marcus too. Were they involved in the fight too?"

"Felix yes, but I do not remember seeing Marcus there now that I think about it. Maybe he did stay behind, but why…" Carlisle drifted off for a moment and I took advantage of the silence to think about everything I had just heard.

I knew my mind blocked the pack from Edward and I had forgotten about the other vampire in the guard who said his ability wouldn't work. But hearing it stopped Jane and Alec, that was something else. I really hadn't even known they were there. I was even more glad knowing I hadn't blocked the pack out while focusing on Aro.

I stared at the tires on the Mercedes, lost in thought. Suddenly everything turned into a blur and I felt a tremendous weight on my brain. I had never felt something more overwhelming than I had in that moment. It was good to know that the majority of the Volturi was gone and to know they weren't able to harm the pack because of my block, but how long would it take for Marcus to prepare to get his own revenge. Of course I couldn't just assume he wouldn't.

"Bella, are you ok?" I heard Carlisle's voice ask.

"Y-yeah. I'm ok, I think. It's just a lot to process. How long do you think it will take for Marcus to come after me now?" I had to ask.

"Honestly I don't know. I don't even know that he would."

"He wouldn't build up a new guard and do it? Why wouldn't he. He lost the people he considered to be like his family. I know neither of you guys would sit back and let something like that happen."

"No, we wouldn't, but for some reason, I don't think he would do that. I think you all may be the one thing that could always get in the way of the Volturi."

"Your family too. Don't forget you were the original threat to the Volturi. Edward has said something about that once, I just can't remember it now."

"I suppose that is true. I don't know. Maybe now we will never know, but the point is now, you are ok."

"I'm not so sure that's as great as it sounded a few days ago."

"It will be better. As I said before, just don't forget who you are. It's not too late for that."

"Are you sure? I feel like I have already changed so much, I'm not sure I even know who I am anymore."

"I don't think that's true. Give it some time. Of course right now you won't know. That was a pretty big thing that happened today. That doesn't change who you are, just what you can do. You are not the version of yourself we all grew to love so much anymore, but you're you and your heart hasn't changed any. I can see that right now." He smiled as he turned to put his bag in the trunk of the car.

"Thank you Carlisle. I'll keep that in mind. So, how long are you guys staying around?"

"Not too much longer. A few more days at the most. It'll give us enough time to pack and prepare for the move."

"Will I get to say goodbye?" I asked, looking into his eyes.

"Of course. We could never leave without saying goodbye to you first. Nothing has changed Bella, we still think of you as our family."

"Emmett has said that, but I wasn't sure if you all still felt that way. Not after all of this."

He walked over and put both of his hands on my shoulders. "You are not to blame for this Bella. You need to understand that."

"Ok, ok I will. Thanks again, Carlisle," I told him, wiping a tear from my eyes.

"See you soon," he said as he got in the car. I stood in the same place and watched as he drove away.

I was so focused I didn't even hear as Jake walked up behind me. He put his arms around me and I jumped.

"Sorry. How's everything?" he asked.

"Well, everything makes a lot more sense now, I think."

"Really? How so?" he turned me around to face him.

"For one, all but one of the Volturi was there. I was so focused I didn't see them. I guess too that the reason Aro ran was because he thought for sure that Jane and Alec's ability would have worked on the pack. When it didn't he panicked."

"Was Jane the little blond who Sam took out?"

His choice of words made me shiver. Thinking of Sam "taking out" tiny Jane, was something I was glad I missed. Powerful vampire or not, I still pictured her as a child.

"Yes."

"So who was the one that didn't show?"

"Marcus, but Carlisle doesn't think he will want revenge, but we'll see."

"You don't believe him?"

"Like I can really assume anything like that anymore," I laughed.

The rest of the evening was fairly calm. The guys were running around goofing off like normal. All I wanted to do was go home and take a shower, but I knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Charlie and Billy came over to Emily and Sam's once they were done fishing. I was a little worried. I hadn't seen Charlie since I phased in front of him. I didn't know what his reaction would have been.

When they first got back, he was laughing with Billy when he was walking through the door. I was sitting alone on the couch, staring at the wall when he sat down on the couch next to me. He had a worried expression on his face and I didn't know what to expect.

"So, should I be concerned about what happened today?" he asked right away.

"What do you mean?"

"Paul's pretty beat up and Jake doesn't look to much better. You've got cuts on your wrist too. Well at least I think they were cuts, I never seen them before, but they look old," he pointed out. I never even noticed the cuts.

"Probably not something you really want to know Dad," I told him, and I felt a bit guilty.

"Actually, I do want to know, not now, but someday. I'm still taking in what, what you are now and what I'm assuming they are too," he said, gesturing to the guys in the kitchen.

"Yeah. It's something I'm still getting used to too."

He wrapped and arm around my shoulder and gently hugged me for a second.

"As long as you are ok now, I guess that's what is most important. I know it had to be something pretty big though to leave them in such bad shape," he laughed nervously.

"Something like that." I laughed too.

If only he really knew what all existed in the world. I don't think he could handle that all so soon. Finding out that your daughter has somehow been turned into a werewolf, well that is a big thing. Realizing that all the huge guys she hangs out with are too and that your best friend hid it from you the entire time, that's pushing his limit I think. But, finding out that there vampires, some you had even gotten to know and that your daughter had dated, that's a little too much. Like he said though, someday he will find out and that day will be a crazy one I'm in no hurry to get too.


A/N: A little shorter than before, but that's just the way it turned out. Sorry.

Hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to let me know if you did, even if you didn't. Always so interested to hear what your responses are.

Also, hope you all had a wonderful Easter. =)