Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all Twilight Saga and characters.

Sarah

My dad was livid and so was the rest of my family. Only Lina and Liam didn't try to question or undermine me. My guard got into the plane with Lina, dad, uncle Jasper and the rest of the witnesses. Liam and I flew ahead of them in our bird forms to survey the area. We flew much faster than the jet so we decided to do reconnaissance in case Maria's informant was double crossing her.

"So what is the grand plan of yours or is this you showing off?" Liam asked me as we flew over the ocean. I was surprised by the tone in his voice.

"You and I both know the vampires are not going to take this allegiance seriously until they witness what we can do." I told him, but this wasn't the only reason and I knew he could see it in my mind. He could see how badly I needed this.

"So this is about showing off." He said annoyed.

"I thought you were on my side." I said confused. He and Lina seemed to be the only ones on my side since my announcement.

"I'm always on your side. Doesn't mean I have to agree with your decisions." He said in a snappy mental tone that I didn't like.

"We're alone now Liam. If you have a problem just say it." I told him annoyed. I hated when he got passive aggressive on me.

"I get that you are my alpha and my leader but you have no right to put our lives at risk without at least talking to us first. Ever since China, you have been making decisions that affect all of us without consulting us." He complained.

"Only because those decisions had nothing to do with you." I retorted.

"I'm sorry hun, but it has everything to do with us. We are your family and your pack. Any decision that you make will affect us regardless of whether it's a personal choice or a pack one. The way that you have been acting is as if you actually believe that your life wasn't tied to us anymore so it gives you some kind of right to make decisions without us. This imprint doesn't give you that right Sarah. You still belong to us and us to you. No imprint can change that." He paused for a moment and I saw a flash of a memory of when I was missing. I saw how upset and angry he was that I had gone running on my own but mostly I saw how hurt and scared he was because, he was the first one who thought that I might have imprinted on someone and that it made me run away. He was right. I did run away in a sense. I felt guilty all of a sudden. When I got back, we had talked endlessly about Duilio and Volterra but not about what happened that day that I ran.

"I'm sorry." I told him in a small mental whisper.

"I just feel like ever since China you've been acting like you have something to prove. Maybe even before China. Maybe it goes as far as Mac's death. Its like you stopped taking your family into consideration after your friend died before your eyes. I don't know Sarah… Maybe you've felt powerless for so long that now you would do anything for power. Isn't that why you said you hated the idea of imprinting? Because it took the power of making that choice?" He suggested.

"I don't know Liam. I haven't put as much thought into psychoanalyzing the decisions I make but maybe you're right. Something did happen to me since Mac's death and maybe I do like this power a little bit too much. But can you blame me after everything I've been through? I'm trying my best Liam."

"I know you are. It's a lot to adjust to. Sometimes I look at how you've changed and I feel so proud of you but sometimes… Look don't take this the wrong way but sometimes I think you are acting like a little brat who has something to prove. Like you are working so hard to be a leader that you are overcompensating. I just don't want you to turn into a tyrant." He tried to explain. I gave a mental sigh.

"I know… The thing is that I do have something to prove. Duilio doesn't trust me, my family doesn't trust me. Everywhere I turn, I feel like I need to prove myself. I do feel like I need some power and control but I also need some trust." I told him.

"I trust you. So does Lina and Will and Mac. And our parents trust you too. They just worry." He tried to defend them but he didn't even have all the facts.

"I know but their worry makes them do stupid things and think stupid things about me. Did they tell you that Chris is coming next week for the coming out ceremony?" I asked him.

"Yeah. So?" He said wondering why I brought that up in the conversation.

"Well, what they didn't tell you is that he is staying. Harry asked him to stay with us once the pack wan introduced to the vampire world because he was afraid that, once everyone knows about the Volturi pack, they will come for us. Now the Cullens are worried that some of the witnesses might try something after the ceremony, like they did to me in the last coming out party. Harry and aunt Leah want Chris here for you and Lina. He's afraid that everyone will be so concerned about protecting me that they will forget about you guys. They don't think I can protect my own family." I told him. He was quiet for a few minutes trying to decide how he felt about this information.

"How do you know all this?" He asked me.

"William. Will tells me everything. He's the only one that truly trust me." I told him. He felt a pang of hurt mixed in with a guilt. He was thinking that he too had thought about the possibility of a vampire attack on the Volturi pack. He was the one who told Harry about his fear. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to protect me and Lina which then turned into Harry worrying about who would protect him. Liam was the one who started all of this.

"Come one Sarah Bell, its not like that. I thought about a possible retaliation from the vampire community and I was worried about my sisters, I always worry about you two. You know that I trust you to protect us but I can't help who I am. I am you best friend and your brother and its my job to worry. You have the world to worry about so its ok to have someone worry about you."

"So you do trust me to protect you?" I asked him unsure.

"Of course I do! Just like you trust me to have your back. I just wish you would talk to us before you made these types of decisions. I am not questioning your judgment. I am just asking that you have a little bit more respect and consideration when you make decisions that affect all of us and that you stop pushing us away and start including us in your life. You are our family and our leader, but not our ruler." He told me.

"I know. Its just hard to find that balance. I can see why Duilio struggles so much. This isn't easy and I hate that I feel like everyone second guesses everything I do. Like I am not good enough or strong enough to do the thinks I set out to do. I am tired of having to prove myself." I confessed.

"I get it and I'm sorry you feel that you still have to prove yourselves. I guess the grownups have to learn to trust us more. Hopefully after this you won't have to deal with this stuff anymore. I know how powerful you are and everyone will too." He told me. I could feel the pride he felt for me. He loved that I had become a strong female leader. He admired me for it.

"Thanks Liam. I really don't deserve you." I told him. If I were in my human form I would be crying.

"Yes you do." He told me and swerved the air my way to nudge me out of his flight path. I laughed and swerved back into position. "So… What's the grand plan here?" He asked me.

"The plan is simple. We get there, I use my gift on them, we kill them." I told him. He laughed.

"Sounds simple enough. Will it work? Do you have any back up plan?" He asked me.

"It will work but if something goes wrong, I want the wolves to get involved in the attack. I am going to position you guys along the perimeter of the building. All you need to do is make sure no one escapes into town." I told him. He nodded and his strategic battle mind started to visualize entire the attack plan and all possible scenarios. We discussed alternative attack strategies at length. He approved our final plan just as we started flying over land.

We heard uncle Kal phase and that was the end of the discussion. Liam was a little nervous as we discussed the plan with him but for some reason I wasn't. I was ready. I felt like everything that I have gone through was preparing me for this moment. It wasn't the Volturi's job to protect humans. It was ours and that was exactly what I would be doing. More importantly, this will finally make everyone see that I was ready for this responsibility. I was ready to be Duilio's queen.

In the end, we decided that uncle Kal and the Quileute wolves would be on standby in case something happened. It wasn't really my first choice but he convinced us that having extra backup would be a better than any of the contingencies Liam and I had worked out. He sent a small pack of wolves to be 'witnesses' for the wolves but really they were there in case something went wrong.

We arrived at the location within hours. Uncle Kal and the wolf pack were waiting for us. They were all in their human form. Sammy was with them.

"Liam, so survey the area. See if you can get a count. I'll go talk to uncle Kal." I told Liam as our former pack came into sight.

"Ok." He flew over to Richard's warehouse and I flew down to the pack. I used my gift to communicate with them as a bird because I didn't feel like wasting time changing into my clothes.

"Where is your pack?" Henry asked me.

"They should be here in a few hours. They flew by jet." I told him.

"I still do not understand why you are doing this." Sammy told me.

"Because she has to prove that she's a big bad leech now." Henry said. My bird glared at him. It was the first time that I have ever faced my pack in my bird form. Even in this form his wolf recognized me and he stepped back.

"You will all remain here. I want you to run a perimeter along the town border to protect the humans in case any leech escapes. These are newborns but they may have powers that match those of my guard. Be careful and stay in groups of two or more. None of you have fought a vampire and I do not want any of you to face one by yourselves got it." I told them. They all nodded.

"I will fly overhead and let you and the boys know if any of the leeches are approaching out perimeter." Uncle Kal told me.

"Thank you uncle Kal." He nodded once and then he phased into his bird. His bird was much larger than mine but eagles were more independent. They did not have alpha's so they could not command other birds. Uncle Kal and Liam followed me out of respect just like I followed them. Liam, uncle Kal and I could communicate with each other at will but we did not have the connection that the wolves had in this form. In this sense, it was actually much easier to be a bird but it was also lonelier.

"Please stay close to them. They are not as experienced as Liam, Lina and daddy." I told him.

"I will not allow harm to come to any of my children. That's why we're here." He told me. I got a strong wave of love and overprotection from him. He was still overprotective but he was being very respectful about it. I could see why Liam was the way he was with a dad like uncle Kal.

"Thank you." I told him.

"Be careful and protect your pack." He told me. I got this odd feeling that uncle Kal overheard my conversation with Liam earlier.

"I will." I told him and I opened my mind so that he could see my gratitude towards him. His bird nodded at me in acknowledgment and I flew off to meet up with Liam. He was perched up on an old building.

"What do you see?" I asked Liam.

"Nobody yet but I do see several escape hatches where they can come out of. By my calculations, they can get to the town in 8 minutes running time if they go as full speed." Liam told me.

"Ok. I'm going to phase to see if I can catch some scents." I told him.

"Won't they be able to smell you?" I would have smirked at him if I could but birds didn't smile. I flew over the warehouse and landed on the roof as a cat, not a wolf. I had been practicing changing into other animals. I found a stray cat that I often fed scraps to. My connection with him allowed me to change into his form. That was the key to my shapeshifting. I had to form a connection to the animal, the problem was that it took the cat's life because of this connection. I haven't tried it again because of this. It was very unfortunate but the cat had a good enough sense of smell, good enough to scavenge. She was smaller and easier to maneuver. I could get into placed the wolf never could because I looked more like the size of a medium to large dog which was large but still an acceptable size for a cat. I scented one of the vents and I could smell 37 vampires. I could hear two of them talking.

"We attack on Maria's territory tonight my love." A make voice said. I assumed it was

"We need to be careful with the newborns. They may lead the Volturi back to us." The female told him.

"By the time the Volturi get news of this attack, we will be long gone. Demitri has never met us so he cannot track us and if he tries, I can use my gift to send him off our track. We will be fine." He replied in an arrogant tone.

"You're right. Do you really think that projecting your visions to them will keep them from killing the humans? Will it be enough?" She asked him. There was still detectable concern in her voice. She should be worried.

"All I need to do is block them from concentrating on the human scents long enough to will Maria's coven. I think I can do it for most of them. Some will escape my powers but that's why we have so many of them." Robert said. I read in the reports that his power was like mine. He projected a mental image of what he wanted onto vampires but his power worked more like inserting suggestions into their heads but the recipient could still choose to not do it. When I gave a command, it was followed whether the recipient wanted to or not.

"Sarah? We've landed. Where are you?" I heard dad ask me. He looked through my memories and started to panic.

"Sara Bell Black! Get the hell out of there!" His command was like an instant migraine.

"Uncle Jake, she needs to be able to concentrate. You can't distract her with commands like that." Liam scolded. Lina agreed and was annoyed with my dad.

"I heard enough anyway. I'm coming back. Meet me 3 miles out from the warehouse. There is a small abandoned ranch. "

"I see it. I'll tell them to follow me." Dad phased back to tell the others. I took that as my opportunity to phase back into my bird. Liam and I flew to the barn to change and wait for them. Normally reconnaissance was done weeks or even months in advance before the Volturi got involved but usually, that meant that humans had to suffer the consequence because of their waiting. I was trying to do what normally took weeks in a couple of hours. I knew it was risky and my gifts have never been tested on such a large population of leeches but I wasn't about to let an entire town pay the consequences. That's why I asked the pack to guard them in case I failed, but I had no intention of failing.

Everyone arrived at the barn including Maria, uncle Jasper and 5 other witnesses that were Marcus and Caius's guests at the castle.

"To our guests, I ask that you please stay back and watch. To my guard. Follow my lead." I put on my robe and my guard followed. I nodded at my dad and my pack who were all phased into wolves. I phased into my vampire form. Maria gasped since she was the only one who had not seen my vampire form. We ran to the warehouse within seconds. Liam phased into his bird to give me the bird's eye view.

"Lina. Run the perimeter at the weakest and keep a close eye to the weakest points. Dad, stay at my side." I walked forward and my guard followed along with my dad.

"Mason. I scented 37." I told him.

"Close. There are 36 mistress. Three are moving, the rest seem paralyzed." He reported.

"His ability is similar to mine but not nearly as powerful. Grey, put up a perimeter to disorient them, just as we practiced. Make sure they cannot escape the area."

"Already done, mistress." His perimeter had become more powerful. He could make a ring around the people he wanted so that those inside or outside of it would not be affected until they actually his the ring.

"For our guests, I suggest you stay close to us. Grey's ring can be quite uncomfortable and disorienting. Yaz. Smoke them out." I told her. She projected out her fear in a strong wave that was almost visible to our supernatural eyes. Her powerful was like Alec. It came out almost like a translucent fog. It wasn't long before all 36 vampires came running out screaming meaning that Yaz was able to break through Richard projection. The vampires came out in all directions but stopped as soon as they hit Grey's ring of disorientation around the building. They were contained within a 10 yard perimeter around the building but most were trapped at the front of the building where the front doors were. All the vampires started to moan as they felt his perimeter of dizziness. Some were even holding their heads.

"Freeze!" I commanded and every single vampire that came out of the building stopped. I used a verbal command so that the witnesses would know that it was my power making them do my will but I didn't really need to say it out loud. I was showing off a little but I had to play this act very well if I wanted to be taken seriously. I walked forward, my dad at my side until I got to Richard. He had also gone out with his mate out of the front door so he was easy to spot. He saw me coming towards him and I could see the fear in his eyes. I could tell he wanted to say something but he couldn't. He was frozen.

"You may speak but you may not move from your spot." I told him.

"Who are you? What are you?" He asked me and then grunted in pain from Grey's perimeter.

"My name is Sarah. I am Quilaute and the newest member of the Volturi family. These are my guard and the new Volturi pack. We have you surrounded."

"Why?" He asked me.

"You have far more newborns than what you are allowed to have by the Volturi mandates since the southern wars. You know very well you are not allowed to have more than 15 newborns at a time." I told him.

"I can command them." He retorted. I smirked.

"I heard your plan yet, look how easy an opposing coven was able to make your newborns scatter like roaches. How were you planning to control them if an opponent broke your concentration?" I asked him, His face was tense and uncomfortable.

"I was not planning to loose my concentration." He grunted back at me.

"You were hoping that you wouldn't. You were arrogant, reckless and you broke the Volturi mandate. Your life is forfeit." I told him in a cold voice.

"No! I can control them!" He said.

"You cannot even control yourself. If you had, you wouldn't be in this situation." I told him back.

"So what? You are going to feed me to your mutt?" He asked me.

"Hardly. The Volturi pack exist for the protection of humans not for the defense of vampire law. That is why they are surveying the perimeter. To ensure no one escapes. For your punishment, I have a more traditional plan." I turned to my guard.

"Gabriel. Please execute this peace of trash." I told him.

"With pleasure." He said and within an instant, he tore Richards head, followed by his mate.

"What of the newborns?" Maria asked me. Roberta hissed at her for questioning me.

"I'm sure Marcus will be happy for a new cohort of recruits to train." I told her.

"You are going to keep them?" Uncle Jasper asked me. Again, Roberta grumbled.

"The Volturi do not give second chances; however, these vampires were here against their wills. They will return with us to Volterra and my father will decide their fate. I am sure he'll fine them more useful as target practice for the guard than as piles of ash." I told uncle Jasper and the rest of the guard. I kept my voice calm and controlled because I did not want to be disrespectful to uncle Jasper. His brows furrowed as if he were thinking of something but he nodded at me after a moment. He agreed with this arrangement.

"The masters will be pleased." Roberta told me. I smiled at her then I turned to our guests.

"Spread the word. I can take down any enemy with just one word. The entire state of Washington and anything north of it, is off limits of any blood drinker. Any vampires who wishes to cross that border will forfeit their lives to the Quileutes and any coven that dares to challenge the Volturi will meet their doom at my own hand if need be. I will not hesitate to freeze any army and pluck them one by one until they are an army of ashes. Only the innocent will be spared because, the Volturi-Quileute alliance is not here to abuse power. The old Volturi would have destroyed every single newborn here. Instead the new Volturi offer them a chance to learn control. We are not here to abuse our power but to protect both vampires and humans from massacre. Obey our laws and you have nothing to fear from us." I told them.

"You may leave." All five vampires left one by one. Only uncle Jasper and one other guest remained.

"They are not going to like that." Uncle Jasper told me. He was referring to my announcement of the allegiance and my edict against vampires in Washington. I just shrugged.

"I only spoke the truth. I am a Volturi princess and it is my right to give such edicts. Its time the vampire community learns the new rules of the game." I told him.

"That's why you wanted this mission." He said to me.

"Yes. You know very well that the vampire community would not take the Quileute treaty seriously unless they could witness something like this and see the power that I have as a Volturi mistress. Marcus and Caius have been dealing the deck for far too long. Its time for me to shuffle the cards. Besides, the bloodsuckers are not the only ones who need to know what we can do." I told him. He was silent for another moment.

"We underestimated you… I underestimated you. I'm sorry, hun. I'm not making that mistake again." He said after a moment. I didn't care that one of Marcus's guest and an entire army of newborns were there, my eyes welled up with tears anyway. Uncle Jasper was probably the most skeptical of all the Cullens because of his experience in battle and he had just apologized to me. He was finally beginning to trust me and I couldn't be happier.

"Thank you, uncle." I told him, trying to keep my voice steady. He smiled at me and I at him. I cleared my face and turned to the newborns.

"Walk towards me and form 2 lines." I commanded them. They all did as I asked.

"Dad, Lina and Liam. Please inform the Quileute pack that they will not me needed after all and meet us at the airport when you are done." I told them I wanted to give them a chance to say hi to the others. Dad nodded and ran west. I saw Lina follow after him but Liam didn't follow. Liam stayed with me, flying above me and the vampires as we ran to the airport. I commanded the newborns into the plane and they stayed still and silent the entire flight. My dad was really quiet during the flight too. Lina and Liam were talking to the rest of the guard exchanging stores. Lina was telling Yasmin how funny it was when they all ran out in fear. I took it as an opportunity to go talk to my dad.

"Hi." I said as I sat next to him.

"Hi sweet pea." He stretched out his arm and I sat next to him leaning into his embrace.

"Why didn't you tell us you could do that?" He asked me after a moment.

"I had practiced on a small group of guard but wasn't sure I could it with a whole army. I know that I took a gamble but I had my guard as back up and you guys to make sure no one escaped. I trust my men and women." I told him. Gabriel looked at me momentarily before he continued talking to uncle Jasper and Roberta. I could tell that they all felt pretty good about what happened. We worked beautifully together.

"I underestimated you too." Dad said after a moment.

"I know. But you're my dad. Its your job to worry about me." I told him jokingly. He just shook his head.

"But its not my job to doubt you, and I did. I'm sorry." He said. He squeezed me tighter to him and I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Its ok dad." I told him.

"No its not. Duilio and Marcus had more faith in your ability to do this than I did. Like Jaz said, that's never going to happen again. I'm really sorry baby girl." He said again. I kissed his cheek and cuddled next to my dad. It was strange how hearing say this felt like a weight was being lifted from my shoulders. I never realized how his mistrust weighed on me before.

I thought about what he said. He did underestimated me a lot, most people did. It was always uncle Kal that was ok with all my crazy ideas. My dad always wanted to control my decisions because he wanted to protect me. I could see why Duilio found being controlled so irritating. In that sense, Duilio was a strange combination of uncle Kal and my dad. He was overprotective but he trusted my ideas. He went along with my plan to change Volterra, he went along with my plan to train my pack, he believed that I could train my guard and go to school, he went along with this attack, he just believed in me without any reservations.

It really made me wonder why he was so afraid of marrying me. It was the only thing he didn't want to go along with. He kept saying that it was because of Marcus but I wondered if there was more to it. I wondered if his hesitation was really because of Marcus or because he just didn't trust himself or me with our love. The way that he didn't allow us to be alone together made me think that he was afraid to be with me. I remembered that he had a bad experience with his first love but she was human. I was not. I just had to find a way to make him see that its ok to love me and that I will always take care of his heart.