AN: Thanks for the reviews, glad you guys loved it as much as I did. And a special shout to TipsyMonkey! Big virtual hugs for my special friend. ;)

Chapter 49:

The next morning it began to snow.

A soft snow that sifted gently over the grounds in the windless winter dawn. It was the first snow all winter. Bella and I were already cleaned up and Carmen had cleaned up the room as well and we had dragged the dead girls outside for disposal. Snow had already dusted the tops of the stark green hedgerows and the fountain in the courtyard was powdered white like an enormous pastry. The water had been turned off to keep it from freezing over. The dead girls had been cleaned and removed of their shoes and stockings and they left drag marks in the snow, their bodies as white and pristine as the snow itself.

There was a small tool shed over by the side of the grounds, the roof sprinkled with snow like the hut of some christmas elf, and outside the shed was a large tree stump with a cloven face that was covered in axe marks from chopping firewood. The women of the house rarely chopped their own wood, of course, but we weren't chopping wood today either. Carmen took up a small hatchet, a one handed axe, and then she dragged the blonde girl over by her hair and put her head against the stump and began hacking at the arched throat. A pink grin erupted in that pale flesh but no blood. It took a few solid hacks of the hatchet and then the head came loose and the body sagged to the ground.

Carmen lifted the head and sighed at it. Both the girl's eyes and mouth were open, looking at Carmen in surprise as if she couldn't believe Carmen had just chopped off her head like that. Carmen tossed the head aside in the snow and then dragged the other girl over and hacked off her head in the same way, bending the throat back against the stump and chopping at it till it came loose. She regarded this head as well, a silent apology as she gazed into those glass eyes that were still so pretty in that pale face, and then she tossed that head aside as well. It landed softly in the snow and rolled to the side so that it was staring directly at the other head and together they lay there, blonde and brunette, gazing at each other in something like concern as snow sifted into their hair, their eyelashes, even their eyes themselves.

Carmen now set about trimming the bodies as well. They could've been buried without dismemberment, of course, but it was Bella's idea. She felt guilty that Carmen wasn't able to join in so she had suggested that Carmen could at least have a little fun with the bodies.

Carmen began with the arms, laying the limb across the stump—thin as a piece of kindling—and chopping at the wrists till the tiny hand came off. Then at the elbow, then at the shoulder. Separating the arms into logs like stovewood and tossing them into a pile. She worked naked, her black Spanish hair already dusted with snow, and Bella and I were naked as well, just watching, my arm wrapped around my mate's shoulders as if to keep her warm but of course she was now and forever immune to cold. I still liked to hold her, though. She watched Carmen work, the older woman moving on to those long pale legs, hacking at the ankle, the knee, and while she watched she told Carmen about her girls' final night. About how they had repaired their relationship briefly only for it to quickly devolve again into a deathmatch of dildos, Carmen smiling and even snorting laughter at her silly girls, chopping them up and throwing all the pieces into a pile.

By now all that was left was a couple of tiny torsos with tiny little dead breasts. Carmen placed one onto the stump and sighed and lifted the hatchet and sank the axe into the breastbone, right over the heart between the breasts, before wriggling it out and hacking again. Bella smiled at her.

"You gonna be okay, Carmen?" she asked.

Carmen nodded, smiling, and continued working. "Yes, I'm fine," she said. "I'm just glad you enjoyed yourself. They were quite the little experts at bringing joy, weren't they?"

Bella smiled at that and I smiled as well. The girls had indeed been little bundles of joy.

Carmen had one of the torsos done and separated into sections and she was beginning on the final torso when we heard a crunch of gravel. I looked over and smiled to see Tanya making her way toward us. She hadn't been home all night and was only now returning from her hunt. She was wearing a white dress and smiling at the snow that was sifting down into her blonde hair and she looked like some graceful winter spirit coming toward us out of the white morning.

Carmen continued hacking, sparing her coven leader a smile, and Tanya chuckled at the mayhem before turning to me and Bella. She didn't come forward for kisses. My arm was still wrapped around Bella and perhaps I drew her closer to me possessively now that we were under Tanya's eyes.

"Tanya," I said warmly. "You've finally returned. Did you have a nice hunt?"

Tanya smiled and reached into her purse and plucked out a pair of panties. They were white and lace and she dangled them playfully. "Very lovely hunt."

"That's wonderful."

Tanya tucked them back into her purse and glanced at the pile of body parts. "Although not as lovely as Bella's, it seems."

Bella grinned and gave a small shrug. "Carmen's the one who chopped them up. I just killed them."

Tanya chuckled and Carmen giggled and kept chopping. The axebit was smeared with fat and flecked with strings of pale flesh and it came down with a soft thump into the torso's crotch, right between the pale cleft of the pussy. Ouch.

Tanya turned back to us. "Did you have fun?"

I grinned and quickly broke in like a proud mother. "She did, she really did," I said. "You'd be so proud of her, Tanya. Her control is unlike anything I've ever seen in a newborn. Her hunger is every bit as intense as we thought, but it comes so naturally to her. I was worried we wouldn't have enough victims to sustain her, but now it seems we have a surplus. I would even be comfortable to unleash her on society right now."

I turned to cup my mate's face, to smile at her. Bella smiled back. Tanya watched us with raised brows.

"Really?" she said. "Wow."

Carmen was finished by now and sighed and tossed the last chunk onto the pile. She then sighed and leaned the hatchet against the stump and dusted her hands. The pile of body parts had been snowed on until the remains of the girls were like a pile of sweets dusted with icing sugar. Each girl was a similar size and weight and even the shade of their skin was a common pale. You couldn't tell which parts belonged to which girl. Laying there in pieces they seemed to have become one.

Carmen sighed once more and gave Tanya a smile.

"I can't even tell which pieces belong to which girl," she said. "Aside from their heads, of course. They really were so identical, weren't they?"

Meanwhile she had completely interrupted my parental gushing over Bella's newborn advancement. Although I suppose I could forgive her. She was very parental herself over those body parts.

Bella turned to me in excitement, snow in her hair, her eyes wide and bright red.

"Do you really think I'm fit for public?" she asked.

I nodded at her proudly. "I really do."

A grin spread over her mouth. "Does that mean I can go see Leah?"

I opened my mouth to hesitate out of instinct but then I stopped. Because why not? The control she had demonstrated last night proved beyond any doubt she was ready. I gave it a bit of thought and then I began nodding my head as a grin spread over my own mouth.

"Actually, yes," I said. "I think that would be perfect. Kate and Leah are still in the middle of their camping trip, so the entire area will be isolated. So if you can managed to spend time with her without ripping off her head, then we can be absolutely certain you'll be safe in public. And hunt in public as well."

Bella giggled excitedly and clapped her hands, bobbing up and down, naked and pale in the snow. I smiled at her warmly. I hadn't seen that kind of human emotion from her in a while and I suppose I missed it a little.

Tanya was smiling as well, watching us.

"Well," she said. "I'm happy for you, Bella. But if you're going to be hunting from now on, what will we do with Leanna?"

Bella thought about it, her head turning from Tanya to Carmen back to me again, and then something occurred to her.

"Why don't we all feed from her together?" she suggested. "Like a celebration?"

I smiled and lit up with my own excitement. "That's a wonderful idea. It'll be our first meal together as a true coven. And Christmas is only around the corner too. Leanna could be our turkey."

"That sounds marvellous," Tanya said. "What do you think, Carmen?"

Carmen was still a little depressed about her girls and she couldn't work up much enthusiasm. "Yes, that sounds fine. It's just a shame I can't actually cook the woman like a turkey."

Bella and I shared a glance, trying not to grin, sharing a mental vision of Leanna roasted and set out on a silver platter with an apple in her mouth like a roast shoat, garlanded with vegetables and a boat of gravy, vagina packed with stuffing perhaps.

Tanya gave us a glance as well and then she cleared her throat in amusement and turned and started toward the mansion.

It was early in the afternoon when Bella and I set out. Kate and Leah had left on their camping trip two days ago and by now they would be well-ensconced in the woods somewhere, cuddled up in the cold perhaps after enjoying the winter sunrise in the snow. Kate had mentioned which area where they were going but no actual details. Bella asked if she should call her for directions but there was probably poor reception out there and it would be nice to surprise them.

It would also be a good lesson in tracking for Bella. The snow masked their scent but I was able to pick it up as we circled through the snow cloaked forest. We were travelling entirely by deep woods and so we didn't bother wearing any clothes, only shoes to keep our feet from getting dirty, stepping over rocks and tree roots in high heels, holding hands, descending into a an icy clearwater stream that flowed about our ankles as we traversed the wet stones of the creekbed with the poise of ancient druids. Bella in particular enjoyed the nakedness. Her invulnerability to the elements and incredible sexiness had given her a confidence that was almost supernatural itself and she moved with swings of her hips and dainty steps through this rich green forest where there was no work of nature more beautiful than herself.

Bella soon had the scent of Kate and Leah as well and soon after she had other scents, rabbits or hares, small animals that had fled in advance before we came. You could see the tiny tracks in the snow. Bella was excited and we made a detour for her until we came to a place where a small doe was cantering among the trees. Bella smiled and watched it, her eyes alight like rubies in her face. I observed their shade with a smile. No hunger at all for the doe. Leah of course would smell much more delicious but it was a good sign. The doe had paused and now it stood looking back with a paw raised, staring directly at us as if we had caught it doing something naughty. Bella giggled at it and suddenly it jumped and scrambled away over a rise among the trees.

The sun was out and sparkling on the fresh fallen snow and Bella and I went on through that magical winter wonderland with our hands held, not rushing, just walking, the morning left behind us and now in the afternoon. Of all her vampire abilities the one she seemed to prize least was her speed. She rarely used it at all and she much preferred to take her time, especially now, smiling about at the snow and the small birds that perched in the boughs of trees, some of them singing, some of them flying up at our approach.

We were moving through an area of wildflowers and I paused to pick one and tuck it behind Bella's ear, Bella smiling and waiting patiently as I did it with care. The bloom was bright blue and looked beautiful in her dark hair among the light dusting of snow. She thanked me and kissed me and I kissed her back and soon we were on the ground, rolling through the wildflowers in each other's arms and moaning in the snow. Bella spread her pale legs, the snowflakes almost invisible on her pure white skin, and I leaned to lick her down there, licking quickly and lovingly, until she came with a cry and snow falling on her eyelashes. The flower fell out of her hair and we left it there like some symbol of lost virginity and continued on into the dusk.

It was dark by the time we came upon Kate and Leah's camp. The snow had stopped falling and the camp was empty. The only evidence of life was a lamp in the tent that made it glow in the night but there were no shadows or silhouettes inside. Bella joked that maybe they got eaten by a bear and I laughed as we followed their scent a little further into the woods.

Soon we could see a huge orange bonfire through the black palings of trees. We were going along a bluff that looked into deep black gorge. The bluff faced west and I realized they had probably been watching the sunset from the cliffside and then perhaps made a fire to relax a little. Their scent was getting thicker and I glanced at Bella but Bella's eyes were filled with nothing but anticipation and excitement to see her friends.

We went on, silently, watching to surprise them. Even in the dark of the night Bella was perfectly able to avoid every twig, every stone, stepping gingerly in her heels and smiling as we got closer. I smiled as well. It would be so nice to see them. I just hoped we wouldn't be interrupting anything. The bonfire was huge and already we could hear the spit and crackle of burning wood that was fresh and full of sap. Then we could hear other sounds as well. Soft moaning. My smile began to grow and we proceeded even more silently until we came to the edge of the glade and bobbed down behind some bushes. The roaring bonfire filled the entire area with blazing orange light and Kate and Leah were right there like I thought they'd be. Only they weren't relaxing.

They were making love.

Bella and I suppressed giggles. The bush we were crouching behind was full with snow but we could see clearly through gaps in the leaves, eyes shining in the fire light like mischievous wood sprites hiding there. There was a blanket spread over the grass and a huge pile of heavy winter clothes beside them. They were both naked, Kate with a leg around Leah, entwined there on the blanket before the fire. Leah's breath plumed whitely in the icy air but her body was covered with sweat and she seemed warm enough from the blazing fire and her passion for Kate. Their moans were louder now and Bella and I watched them, smiling, excited from both seeing our friends so happy and the naughtiness of perving on them.

"It seems we're right on time," I whispered to my mate.

"Kate would kill us if she caught us watching," she whispered back.

I smiled and linked my arm with Bella's. "Luckily I have a big powerful newborn to protect me."

Bella grinned and tried to keep her voice down. "Leah would still whip my ass."

I giggled and she giggled as well and we tried covering our mouths with our hands but we were still overheard.

Kate sat up suddenly.

"Did you hear that?"

Bella and I giggled again, louder now, and we must've sounded like a pair of giggling nymphs back there. We rose with our hands up, like prisoners of war or deserters in the woods, and grinned apologetically with our naked breasts revealed in the firelight. Kate had pulled half of the blanket over them and Leah was laying there on her back in shock.

She was looking at Bella.

Bella smiled at her, the first time they had seen each other since that Halloween party where Bella had been dressed as Harley Quinn and Leah had been dressed as Catwoman. Now Bella was a vampire, for real, no costume, a true and living creature of darkness, and Leah stared at her where she stood in the freezing cold, naked and pale and luminous like a moon.

Kate saw her too and suddenly panicked.

"Victoria!" she cried. "You can't bring Bella here!"

I had to laugh. Kate was positioning herself in front of Leah like a shield, spreading both her arms and legs. Not many women could manage to look protective with their wet vagina exposed like a barricade but Kate managed it.

Bella laughed as well, perfectly in control, and shook her head.

"It's okay, Kate," she said. "I'm not going to hurt her."

Leah was still staring, open legged herself and opened mouthed as well. Bella looked at her and tilted her head sweetly with her red eyes glowing like gemstones in the firelight and smiled.

"Hi, Leah," she said.

Leah finally snapped out of it and swallowed. "Hey," she said. "How'd you get so hot?"

Bella shrugged a bare shoulder. "I became a vampire."

Kate was glancing at Leah. Leah didn't seem to know how to react. Kate looked at me again and I smiled and made a little gesture with my head for her to move aside. Kate was reluctant to do that, her eyes flickering with uncertainty, but she did. She shuffled aside and rose up and stepped backward a short distance, leaving her lover there on the blanket.

Leah was still breathing heavy, covered in sweat, legs open, breath pluming. Bella smiled and came toward her slowly.

"Long time no see," she said sultrily.

Leah frowned and quickly closed her legs, her sense of modesty far stronger than the rest of us. She looked at Kate and then she looked back at Bella. Bella was advancing on her, slowly, methodically, and Leah almost seemed to panic.

"Wait," she said. "Aren't you supposed to be dangerous as a newborn or whatever?"

Bella nodded with a smile and knelt down on the blanket.

"I am," she said. "But not to you."

Kate was watching them intensely, frowning, grumpy perhaps from both being cockblocked and the fact that her girlfriend's life could be in danger. But I knew Leah was completely safe and I wandered over to Kate with a smile to set her at ease.

Leah was staring at Bella. Bella was smiling at her.

"I need to apologize," she said.

Leah's frown deepened. "For fucking Kate the other day?"

Bella giggled once at that and glanced at Kate. Kate giggled too. Leah frowned at them but you could see she wasn't really angry about that, just territorial about her girl. Bella turned back to her and continued smiling sweetly.

"No," she said. "I meant Chrissy."

Leah seemed to have forgotten all about that. "Oh."

Bella chuckled softly and reached to touch Leah's face gently. "Besides," she said. "Do you really want me to apologize for making love to Kate? That would imply it was wrong. But it's never wrong for friends to love each other. Don't you think?"

Leah gulped. Bella lowered her hand and brushed her fingertips over one of Leah's breasts. They were full and hard nippled in the firelight. Bella let her hand cup the globe of it and stroke it fondly.

Leah panicked and looked toward Kate. Kate was still watching them closely but she no longer seemed afraid of Bella. She gave her girlfriend a smile and a little encouraging nod. Leah turned back to Bella and Bella smiled.

"I'm sorry I interrupted your camping trip but I had to come see you," she whispered. "I've missed you a lot."

Leah softened at that. "I missed you too."

"You're not angry at me?"

"No," Leah said, shaking her head. "Kate explained it all."

Bella nodded slowly, still stroking the other girl's breast. She had the whole globe in her hand and now she flicked the nipple with her thumb. Leah gasped and shivered. Bella lifted her eyes with a smirk.

"Are you scared?" she asked quietly with her sparkling red eyes.

Leah looked at her. "Maybe a little."

"Well, don't be," Bella whispered. "Because I know the perfect way to earn your trust."

Bella then lowered her head and licked across Leah's glistening vagina.

Leah hissed in a breath, panicking all over again, and threw a wild glance toward Kate. Kate giggled at her expression and gave her a playful shrug.

"Just go with it, baby," she said. "You can't stop these two. Trust me, I've tried."

Leah turned back to Bella and winced suddenly as Bella kept licking her.

I chuckled and watched them. I was glad they were able to resolve their problems so simply and even gladder at Bella's absolute control. The bonfire continued to hiss and pop and the two girls looked very beautiful there on the blanket. Leah half sitting up, legs open, her tanned skin shimmering with sweat as white breaths burst out of her. Bella was on her knees, her whole body bent down to the other girl's vagina, and she moaned and licked and spread those netherlips with her fingers and licked even deeper.

Kate was mildly jealous, but only mildly, and she chuckled as she turned to me.

"Well," she said. "Hi."

I chuckled as well and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Good evening, Kate. So sorry to intrude."

"How long were you watching?"

I smiled and pulled her into my arms and grabbed two handfuls of her buttocks.

"Long enough to get a nice look at that sexy ass of yours," I told her cockily.

Kate giggled, wrapping her arms around my neck, and then she stood on her toes and pressed her mouth to mine.

Soon Kate and I were joining Bella and Leah on the blanket, the four of us arranged in two different pairs, giggling and teasing each other as we engaged in a romantic fourway there by the bonfire, filling the glade with moans and gasps and wild laugher of orgasms. Swapping girlfriends, sharing, doubleteaming and doublefingering, asses in the air and breasts rolling. Bella had already licked Leah to a climax and Leah grinned and said she couldn't believe she'd forgotten how wild Bella was. Kate chided Bella for seducing her girlfriend and then succumbed to her as well, moaning into her mouth and cupping her face. Leah meanwhile had her eye on me and I invited her with a smile to come hither between my legs.

It had been a while since Leah and I had seen each other as well and even longer since we had touched each other and we were eager to finally be reunited. She always did have a small hero worship for me and my womanly ways and I always did admire her athletic body and general air of badass-ness. Her body was warm and wet, her mouth delicious, and we moaned as we made love in the heat that surrounded the bonfire. She was gripping my tits, aggressively, and I smirked at her and arched my body into her hands and soon one of those hands was between my legs, three fingers shoved into my vagina as she pumped me to an orgasm with that assertiveness I enjoyed so much. I thanked her with a kiss and returned the favour by going down on her gracefully, licking at her wet and warm vagina with a hint of submissiveness until she came.

For hours the four of us enjoyed each other's company until Leah was so exhausted that she fell asleep. Bella smiled and watched her a little bit, perhaps remembering the days when she used to sleep as well. Kate and I were watching as well, whispering softly as Kate told us about their relationship and how things were going and how she honestly believes Leah was her mate. Bella and I smiled and told her how happy we were for her. By now the huge bonfire had consumed much of itself and the light and warmth was much reduced. Kate hated to wake Leah but she did before the other girl could get cold, shaking her hip and telling her to put her clothes on. Leah was surprised to have fallen asleep and she got dressed there on the ground, yawning and pulling on her pants before slipping on several tops and sweaters over her naked torso.

Kate then lifted her from the ground and carried her back to camp with Leah laughing and enjoying the gesture. Bella and I followed through the trees, leaving the firelight to recede behind us. The lamp in the tent was still lit and Kate carried her directly into the tent and helped her into her sleeping bag. Bella and I could see there silhouettes, Kate leaning over Leah to kiss her good night, and then the lamp winked out.

It didn't snow again for the rest of the night and in the morning the sky was clear. The sun rose, beautiful and bright, and the boughs of trees were sparkling with heavy loads of snow. Snow lay on the ground in a soft white carpet over the dark earth and the first calls of birds had begun through the icy forest.

Kate was preparing Leah's breakfast before Leah even woke. She had a small campfire going and she was arranging the coffeekettle in the coals like a little wife, kneeling there and making sure it was just so. She had put some clothes on, a heavy pink parka with the hood down, but Bella and I had nothing to wear and so we sat on a log by the fire with nothing to conceal ourselves but crossed legs. We had been chatting all night about this and that, Bella and Leah, relationships and plans, and we were all very happy to discover we were all very happy.

Kate had a skillet in her camping supplies and she was frying up some eggs and bacon when Leah finally emerged from her tent. Her hair was wild and her eyes were red and she seemed half hungover from her heavy night of orgasms. Bella said good morning brightly and Leah squinted at us where we sat side by side on the log, naked, pale, legs crossed like seductive woodland creatures, and she made a sound of disgust in her throat and told us to put some clothes on grouchily. Evidently she wasn't in the mood for nudity this early in the morning. Bella and I only smiled however, not moving an inch, and Leah cheered up a little as Kate gave her coffee and a smile and a kiss on her lips. Leah accepted the kiss and the coffee, took a sip, and then she handed it back and said she had to pee.

Kate continued cooking and when Leah came back from the bushes we were soon all seated on logs, Bella and I on one side of the fire and Kate and Leah on the other, one pair naked, one pair clothed. Leah sipped her coffee, perking up with each sip, and on her lap was a plate of scrambled eggs complete with long strips of bacon and bread that had been toasted over the campfire.

The food steamed softly in the icy air and Kate told Leah to eat quickly before it went cold. Bella watched her as she ate, smiling, and Leah kept glancing at us. Partly at our tits but also at the sheer outrageous spectacle of being naked in all this cold and all this snow, sitting there on a log with unnatural endurance to the weather, the woods, the world.

Mostly it seemed to be Bella who mystified her because Bella was the one who had been most human. She chuckled once at some thought that went through her head and pointed at Bella with a strip of bacon she had been nibbling at.

"So I guess you don't eat anymore, huh?" she asked.

Bella shook her head softly. "No."

Leah nodded and took another bite of the bacon. She looked around. Everyone was watching her eat, smiling, not breathing, perfectly still in the silent winter morning. Leah cleared her throat and continued talking to Bella.

"So what's it like?" she went on. "Being a vampire?"

Bella smiled and shrugged a bare shoulder. "I love it."

Leah nodded again, expecting some kind of elaboration. Bella only smiled at her. Kate giggled softly at Bella's lack of communication skills and Leah chuckled too.

"You talk a lot less," she said.

Bella laughed softly and looked down and then looked up again. "I know," she said. "Becoming a vampire changed more than my body. It changed my attitude as well. Settled me. Completed me. I'm basically immortal now. No pain. No fear. No impatience. Everything is much more…peaceful now."

I smiled at her and gripped her hand, lacing our fingers, the sun glinting off the diamond rings we wore. Leah smiled as well and nodded thoughtfully. Kate was watching her because she knew as well as everyone else did that the reason Leah was asking these things was because one day she might become a vampire as well.

We were all anxious for her opinion and finally she chuckled.

"Sounds pretty cool," she said.

Bella smiled, holding my hand in her lap and gazing at me. "The best part is having a mate to share it with."

Leah nodded and chuckled again, glancing at Kate. Kate smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her, the two of them thickly bundled in parkas and scarfs. Leah kept eating, scooping up the scrambled eggs with a plastic fork, and Kate turned back to Bella and I.

"So how long are you guys gonna be crashing our romantic camping trip?" she asked, mostly playing but perhaps kind of serious too.

Leah chuckled with a mouthful of eggs. "Romantic? It's cold as fuck and I've been washing with bottled water behind a bush."

Kate looked at her, a cold look that urged reconsideration of those last words. Leah gulped her eggs and quickly turned to Bella and I.

"I mean, yeah," she said, in an impressive backpedal to side with her girlfriend. "We were having a romantic time here, guys. When you gonna fuck off?"

Kate rolled her eyes. Leah tried not to smile too guiltily.

Bella and I chuckled softly.

"Bella just wanted to visit," I said. "We can leave anytime you want."

Bella nodded and then quickly spoke something on her mind. "Actually, we're planning a bit of a Christmas party. Huge orgy. You guys interested?"

Leah's eyebrows rose with piqued interest but she didn't dare speak before glancing at Kate. Kate noted her expression and sighed, reluctant for some reason but interested as well. Bella grinned at them and made her voice pleading.

"Come on, Kate," she said. "It's about time you moved back home, right? And I'm sure Leah would love to live in the mansion, right Leah?"

Leah grinned at that. Indoor pool. Tennis courts. Kate chuckled and gave a small shrug.

"Well, we'll talk about it," she said.

Bella was satisfied with that and so was I. You could tell the two of them had made a lot of progress in their relationship and they were ready for this step. Last night was even further evidence of how solid their feelings were for each other. They had needed their time alone but they didn't need to be alone anymore.

Leah had finished eating by now and she set the plate in the grass. The campfire had caused the snow to recede in a ring around the camp and inside the ring the grass was wet and dark green. Kate was fixing Leah another cup of coffee and Leah seemed a bit perplexed at the idea of a vampire christmas party.

"You guys don't even eat, though," she said. "How can you have a Christmas party?"

Bella smirked with a tiny and sinister shrug of her shoulder. "Just because we don't eat food, doesn't mean we don't eat at all."

Leah frowned puzzledly. "What do you mean?"

Bella didn't reply, she only smiled. Kate was handing Leah another mug of coffee and she seemed worried about where this conversation was headed. I shared her anxiety and in the interest of full disclosure I felt it was best to be completely honest with Leah.

"We have a girl we'll be dining upon," I told her. "Her name's Leanna. She's a supermodel."

Leah had been smiling. Now the smile began fading.

I watched her, giving her a moment. Bella was smirking. Kate was worried. Leah had obviously given this subject a lot of thought since she found out what we were and to her credit she managed to remain quite calm. She looked at me awkwardly.

"You gonna kill her?" she asked.

I smiled. Bella did too. Sitting side by side, naked, pale, sinister in our silence. Kate panicked and quickly broke in.

"Don't worry, baby," she said to Leah. "You know I don't hurt people, it's just them."

But Leah was less afraid than she thought and Leah even managed a small chuckle as she shrugged away Kate's concerns. "No, no, I'm not judging," she said. "I mean, I know you guys are vampires and all. It's just, wow. I can't believe you actually do that kind of thing. I never would've guessed."

Bella smirked braggingly. "I was doing it even before I became a vampire."

Leah grinned at her. "Then you're just fucking crazy."

Bella giggled, looking down shyly and then back up again. "Maybe," she said. "But to me it would be crazy not to. There's nothing more fun than killing a girl."

The bluntness of that statement managed to dim Leah's smile. Bella's smile, on the other hand, sharpened even further.

"You should try it," she said.

But before Leah could answer Kate quickly stood up and lifted her hands.

"Okay, that's enough," she said firmly. "You're gonna give Leah nightmares."

Bella and I chuckled. Leah smiled as well, still somewhat rattled but her dark eyes alight with cautious excitement. Perhaps deep down she knew it was only a matter of time until she was a vampire just like us. Perhaps a vegetarian like her mate or maybe even a hunter of humans.

Kate was scraping the remains of Leah's breakfast into the campfire and then she wiped down the plate and packed it away. There was still a bit of coffee in the kettle and she poured it into Leah's cup for her before tipping the rest out and rinsing the kettle with bottle water.

When she was done she turned to Bella and I and put her hands on her hips.

"Okay," she said. "You two come with me. I've been tracking a bear to the northeast and you're gonna share it with me."

Bella and I opened our mouths to make excuses at the same time.

"Um, no, thank you, Kate," I said. "It's a very sweet offer, but…"

"Fuck that," Bella concluded for me.

Leah grinned at our reactions. "You guys don't like animals?"

"Would you if you were a vampire?" Bella retorted.

Leah seemed to understand the lack of appeal in drinking blood from wild animals and she even nodded. Kate observed the nod, kind of annoyed that not even her own human girlfriend was on her side, and then she turned back to Bella and I.

"Hey, if you want me to try your diet, the least you can do is try mine," she said. "And afterwards maybe you'll see that you don't have to kill people."

Bella sighed but she stood up and agreed with a nod.

Leah would remain behind at the camp and we left her there on the log with a mug of steaming coffee in her hands. Kate gave her a kiss and told her they'd be right back. Bella gave her a wink and swaggered by with a slutty swing in her hips, Leah still somewhat in amazement at the resplendency of Bella's body, and I gave her a wink as well and blew her a kiss.

It didn't take long to find the bear Kate had been tracking. About a mile to the north we came upon the prints of it's great footpads in the snow and a little further on we found a big pile of dung. Kate seemed a bit embarrassed at this discovery, as if somewhat ashamed to admit she would be feeding from whatever made that mess. Bella and I gave her skeptical looks. The dung was cold, the bear long moved on, and we set out again.

Further to the east we found the cave where the bear made its den, although the bear itself wasn't home. The scent was very strong however, an odour of earth and dirt and general filth, and we followed tracks in the snow until we found the bear at a shallow stream to the east. The bear was standing at the water, watching for fish, and then it saw us across the stream. Two naked women and one in a pink parka. The bear raised up on its hind feet, over ten foot tall, and roared mightily to frighten us away. Poor thing. I felt more sorry for it than I would for any human victim. Kate again gave us a look of mild embarrassment and then she turned back to the bear and sprinted across the stream and jumped and slammed into the bear's chest.

The bear groaned, a pitiful sound that almost made me jump to its defence, and then it slammed to the ground. Kate tackled it and rolled through the snow and came up with the bear's jaw in her hands. She gave it a vicious twist to the side and that was all. The bear slumped down. Dead. No rape. No torture. Not even any conversation. How incredibly dull. And somewhat sad, too. Such a joyless hunt felt like a complete waste of a perfectly good bear.

Bella and I came wandering over, stepping through the stream. A bird shrieked in the distance. Kate was on her knees, kneeling before that great hairy mound, and now she pushed it over onto its side and ripped open the hide just behind one of the hindlegs, severing the artery there. Blood began to pump out into the dark brown fur and then, much to the horror of Bella and I, Kate leaned to blood and began to drink it.

The scent of the still warm blood was thick in the cold winter air and even Bella as a newborn had to wrinkle her nose. It was different than human blood. Similar but without any sweetness to the scent at all. No spice. Bella and I were probably expected to join in but we didn't. We just stood there as Kate, delicate blonde beautiful little Kate, knelt there in the dirty snow with her face buried in the thick dirty fur of this monstrous bear.

Eventually the artery began to run dry and Kate raised up and looked at us.

"Well?" she said. "Are you feeding?"

Kate looked at us expectantly, kneeling there with blood on her mouth and something else. Dirt. From the bear's fur. I hesitated, wondering how to be polite about this, but Bella just shook her head sadly.

"Kate, that's disgusting," she said. "I'm sorry, but that's just gross. I'm not feeding from that thing and it breaks my heart that you are."

I nodded in agreement. It was awful. Perhaps even worse than feeding from men.

Kate looked at us and looked at the bear.

"Well, it's not that bad," she said. "I mean, maybe it is a little…"

Kate trailed off, frowning, and reached into her mouth with her fingers. Something stuck on her tongue. She pulled it out and flicked it away in disgust.

"Eww," she said. "Bear hair."

I cringed and looked away. Bella knelt down beside Kate caringly and put her arms around Kate's shoulders as if to protect her.

"Kate, please," she said. "Stop this shit. Come to the Christmas party. Leanna is the most beautiful woman you ever saw. Tall and voluptuous and skin as warm and rich as velvet. Feeding from her will blow your mind. You'll never want to feed from something as hideous as this again."

Kate sighed and went serious. She looked at the bear, at this huge dead thing in the snow all covered with fur and dirt, and then back to Bella.

"She's a human being, Bella," she said.

"Yes," Bella said firmly. "And we're vampires."

Kate looked away with conflict in her warm amber eyes. She had originally refused to feed from humans out of shock and because of Leah. At the time she simply couldn't have done it. But now? Now the idea had been with her for a while. She had watched her whole coven change. Watched their new diet enrich their lives with forbidden delights that no women would even dare dream of. She was tempted. You could see it.

Bella was looking at her hopefully and finally Kate sighed and smiled.

"I'll talk to Leah about it," she said.

Bella giggled gleefully and gave her a hug, the two of then kneeling there by the bear. "Thank you, Kate," she said. "I just want what's best for you. I have a lot of mistakes to make up for. It would mean so much to me if you came back home."

Kate chuckled and then backed out of the embrace and gave Bella a kiss. Unfortunately Kate's mouth was still covered in animal blood and even that little taste made Bella recoil and spit on the ground.

"Eww," she said. "Gross."

Kate giggled and shook her head and ripped open another artery in the bear to continue feeding.

Bella stood up as blood lurched out of the carcass and sidled back to my side. I took her arm and held it and together we waited patiently and watched in good-natured dismay as our friend continued feeding.

AN: This chapter was mostly to set up the next chapters. Time to assimilate Leah and Kate back into the coven. From here, the story will be winding down. After the christmas party, they'll be leaving Seattle to go visit the Cullens. There'll be one last bit of drama with the Cullens and then after that it'll be happily ever after for Bella and Vicky and all the others too. :)

That's my vague plan, at least. We'll see how it goes.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, though. The snow was fun to write. It enabled quite a few cute metaphors. My favorite was how I described the pixie's body parts as a pile of sweets dusted with icing sugar. That was so perfect, lol. I couldn't resist giving them one last scene. Leah and Kate got their development too. Their relationship is at its peak, ready for the next step—orgies. ;)

Okay, new chapter soon. Hope you liked it. :)