EDWARD

I sat in my study watching the little screen that gave me twenty four hour access to my pet. She was lying on the bed just staring at the ceiling. I could hear the occasional sniffles, but other than that, she was silent. I could only imagine what she was thinking. She was, no doubt, pissed at me, because I had spent the last month making sure that I did not kill her or give her the chance to try to commit suicide again.

Those emotions, however, did not bother me in the slightest. She had to learn that I owed every part of her and I was the only who was going to decide when she died. And that would not be for a very long time. She could accept that, or just go on being pissed at me, either way, I would have my way.

I was surprised that Ben had yet to be in to see her today. I knew about their fight where she told him to go away and stay away until he could grow a pair, however, he held true to his word. He left that day, but did not stay away. He went in to see her every day, as many times as possible, even if she simply ignored him. It was actually very entertaining to watch. Seeing the sadness in both of their eyes as he struggled to make things right for her was the most amusing thing that I had ever seen. I wondered where he was and what he was doing today.

Mike's panicked thoughts pulled me out of my amused concentration, long before he opened the door. They were flying too fast for me to be able to figure out exactly what he was upset about. He was mostly worried about how I was going to react to whatever the hell it was. I sighed as I was sure that my sister was somehow involved.

Mike burst in the door a good thirty seconds after the first panicked thoughts hit me.

"Sir, we have a problem." he said quickly.

"What?" I questioned, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"I did the daily head count and came up ten short." Mike answered.

"What?" I growled. How the hell did they get their hands on ten of them?!

"I called their numbers, but they were not there." Mike explained. "Lauren, Jessica, and Marcy searched the whole house, but they're nowhere to be found."

"Damn it!" I yelled, slamming my fists on the desk. The screen bounced about a foot. "When?"

"Somewhere between the humans' bedtime last night and ten o'clock this morning."

I took a couple of deep breaths trying to calm myself. I had to remember that this was not Mike's fault. He did everything he could to stop these raids from happening.

"Okay and what about last night's hunting party?" I questioned.

"They have not come back, yet." Mike answered calmly. "And Dimitri, who was leading, has not called yet."

"So we do not know if any of them are missing?"

"No, sir, we do not."

"Good." I sighed, trying to let go of my anger.

I could not believe the lengths that Alice was going to just to stop me from hurting the humans. Hell, I was not even sure how she was doing it. Not only was it utterly impossible for anyone to break the girls out of the house unless they had inside help, but she'd have to have a group of at least one hundred to even think of splitting them enough to catch my hunters as well as rescue my slaves. It did not make sense to me.

There was no way that she had collected that many vampires to fight with her. Unless, she somehow managed to convince the unwilling ones to come back. I had not thought of that possibility before. I did not think that Alice would be stupid enough to try. I mean, they hated my family as much as they hated me. Then again, Alice could've played on the fact that other innocents we being hurt worse than they had been. That might have been enough to convince them.

I silently cursed myself for being such an idiot not to think of it before.

"Mike, I want you to get the entire coven together, in the conference room." I explained. "Tell Li, Marcus, and Lauren to lock the slaves in the basement," There was plenty of room down there, now that Alice had "kindly" emptied it for us. "Have them stay down there with the girls, until we finish. Then send Jessica to await Dimitri's return. Tell her that I wanna know the casualties, immediately."

"Yes, sir." He nodded. "Should I tell them what we're meeting about?"

"Tell them that we are going to work on a plan to stop Alice and her army." I answered.

"But I thought that you did not think she had one?"

"I do now. So just get them together, now."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm going to pay Pet a little visit and get her dressed." I explained. "We'll be down after that."

"Okay."

Mike disappeared out the door.

I took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm myself before I went to see Pet. I was likely to kill her if I went to her this angry at Alice and myself. I wasn't going to make it that easy for her just because I was angry. Besides, it was more entertaining to punish her in front of the group. At least then, they got a little entertainment and stress relief out of it.

When I was sure that I had it under control, I clicked off the little screen and headed toward my room. I reached the door and typed in the seven digit number in a matter of seconds.

I looked down at the floor the second that I walked in. I had not really expected her to be waiting for me there. She had taken to disobeying even the simplest instructions, in the hopes that I would kill her out of pure aggravation. You would think that after a month, she would know better.

I shrugged and walked over to the bed. I guess I would just have to antagonize her a little before the meeting.

I sat on the bed next to her, but she still did not acknowledge my presence. I smirked; this was going to be more fun than I thought it would be. I leaned down until my lips brushed her ear; she flinched slightly, but did not acknowledge me further.

"What, no proper greeting? No sarcastic remarks?" I taunted. "Are you really that angry with me?"

She turned her body away from me, but did not respond in any other way. I really did not think that I could have this much impact on a human. And to think, all I had to do was deny her death.

"The silent treatment, really." I sighed. "What are you like five?" I chuckled and ran my fingers through her hair. She flinched just slightly, but still didn't say a word. "Now, I know you have a voice, so why don't use it?"

"And what Master, would you have me?" she questioned through gritted teeth, without turning to look at me.

I smirked. Did she really want an answer to that question? I could guarantee that she was not going to like it.

"Well, you could start with, Good Afternoon, Master." I taunted trailing my hand down her arm. "Then you could tell me exactly how much you appreciate my company." I continued the pattern to the waistband of her boxer. "And how you love it when I touch you." I slid my hand down her pants, allowing it to rest between her lips. I took pleasure in the fact that she cringed. "You could say that you are a little whore who loves it when I'm inside of you." I slid my index and middle finger in between her lips and began rubbing her clit. She let out a few more moans and I could tell that these were ones of pleasure. "Feel free to jump in any time, love?" I then slid both fingers inside of her and began pumping. It was interesting to see her physically and emotionally fighting me, but feel the wetness all inside her pussy. "You know you enjoy it." I taunted. She moaned again, this one was definitely disgust, but I was sure that it was at herself, not me.

"Go to hell!" she mumbled and just laid there, letting me do what I wanted.

I was not going to have that. I wanted to have some fun and hear her scream a little and damn it that's what I was going to do. Besides, she knew what she was doing when she used that phrase in front of me.

I flexed my fingers allowing my nails to dig into her vaginal walls. They cut through her sensitive skin like razors and she cried out. I chuckled and turned my hand over. I did the same things all the way around. She was squirming and screaming by the time I was finished. Good.

"I have told you a thousand times, Pet," I growled as I went back to pumping my fingers in and out of her. Her juices were getting into the cuts I made, making the pain ten times worse. "I am already in hell."

She had tears rolling down her cheeks by the time I pulled my fingers out of her. They were dripping with her blood and juices. I smirked to myself and held them up to her mouth. She hated when I did this, but knew better than to resist. She let me slip them into her mouth and sucked them clean. I could hear her attempts to keep from throwing up in the process.

"Now, it's time for you to get dressed, love." I said. "I have a meeting to get to, and you will be accompanying me this time."

"Why master?" she asked in a shaking voice.

"Because, your little friend, Alice, has struck again." I said.

It was interesting how that was all I needed to say to get a reaction out of her. She knew that she was to be punished for whatever Alice did that infuriated me. She also knew that the punishment would be public and ten times more humiliating than her normal ones.

I ignored her accelerated heart rate and crawled off the bed toward the trunk where I kept her clothes. Normally, I would have put in her in a very skimpy dress, just so I could show her off. This time, however, she was going just to be punished. That meant the outfit would most likely get bloody and ripped to shreds. I did not want to waste a pretty dress on something like that.

She just lay there, watching me, trying to calm herself down. What I would not give for a chance to see it her mind, just to find out exactly what she was anticipating.

I pulled out a pair of basketball shorts and a wife beater. It was the standard punishment outfit for her. I did not care what happened to it. I threw it on the bed with a smirk.

She eyed it warily as I unlocked her leash from the bed, but knew better than to object. She knew exactly what that outfit meant. I would not be holding back this time.

She quickly changed her clothes. I was sure she knew that we were in a hurry, because I did not spend as much time taunting her as I usually did. Once she had the outfit on, I clipped her leash onto her collar and led her down to the conference room.

Mike had already assembled everyone by the time we got down there. Everyone was seated in their usually spots. There were others, who preferred to stand, scattered around the room.

Everyone, of course, turned their attention to me when I walked in.

I led Pet over to the chair and hooked her leash to the arm, as usually. She took her place on the pillow beside my chair and sat, with her eyes on the floor. I patted her head as a compliment to her manners when I sat down.

"So Mike, have you heard anything on the hunting party, yet?" I asked without preamble.

"No, sir." he answered. "Jessica has not heard a thing from them.

"I see. Does she know to come to me as soon as they get home?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Good, then let's begin." I responded. "I have asked you all to come, because I am afraid that Alice and my family have become more of a problem than I anticipated."

ALICE

I sighed and flopped down on the Denalis' couch in their living room. I was more than a little exhausted and wished that I could do nothing but sleep.

I knew I sure have been as happy and excited as everyone else. We had, after all, just successfully performed our biggest raid of Cullen Manor- the fifth in a month- rescuing ten girls, thanks to Rosalie and Tanya's amazing team. Not to mention the fact that, thanks to Emmett's and Carmen's, Edward's hunting party would not only be going back to Cullen Manor empty handed, but also five short of what they started out with.

It was a very successful night and I had spent most of it at the safe house that Bella and Kate had bought for this purpose. I helped that team clean, dress, and feed the new girls. Our resident vampire doctor, Marissa Evans, had given every one of them a clean bill of health and put them on the right track to get their diets back to healthy portions.

Kenzi had also been a great help that night. She went around offering whatever physical and emotional assistance to whatever girls needed it, even the ones that did not treat her very well in the past. She even told her transition story to some of the girls who were still in shock over being free. It seemed to help calm them a great deal. It made them think that maybe it was possible for them to survive their new found freedom.

While all of this was good, I had too much on my mind to really concentrate on the victory. There were so many things that had yet to be resolved before I could even begin to be happy about any of our accomplishments.

First and most important, there was Kari. As glad as I was that we had gotten the girls out and stopped Edward from getting his hands on more, I had not forgotten that the victory did not come without consequences. God only knew what sadistic punishment and torture that Edward was putting Kari through at this very moment, because we were trying to save lives.

Her sacrifice, though unavoidable, weighed heavily on my mind. I knew the same was true for Kenzi. She hated that her sister was suffering, even if it was to save other lives. In her mind, Kari was the one who deserved saving the most. I agreed with her, but we could not so anything about her until we destroyed Edward. While both Kenzi and I understood this, it was a hard thing for both of us to deal. Kari deserved so much better, but would most likely never see it.

Secondly, there was the one thing that I had been trying to put in the back of my mind and not deal with for the last two months; Jasper and Bella, but it just kept cropping up at the worst possible moments.

It would not have been so bad, if it was not for the fact that, because we did not have much use for them until a war actually started, Jasper and Eleazar decided it would be most beneficial to divide their team between Emmett's and Bella's. That way, the girls had a little more protection and the Emmett's team had a few more hands, at least until they were needed elsewhere. Jasper decided to stay with the half at the safe house, while Eleazar went with to Emmett's team, with the other half. I bet you can guess why Jasper decided to stay at the safe house.

I had to spend all night trying to look happy and comforting while watching the two of them whispering in a corner. I did not try to hear what they were talking about, but I got the feeling that it was very intimate. They were extremely close and Bella was touching him. It hurt to see that they were still doing stuff like that. I mean, Jasper and I were still married!

I had to get out of there and used Kenzi's need for sleep as a means to do it. I was not too far off the mark on that assessment, though. She had been up the entire night doing everything that she could to take care of the girls. It was, after all, the only job that was safe enough for her to do. Besides, she really felt like she did the girls some good. I had to agree. Anyway, we were not even halfway back to the Denalis' before she was zonked out in my arms.

I tucked her without even bothering to undress her the minute we got back. Normally, I would have curled up beside her and comforted her as she slept, but tonight, I just needed some alone time. That's why I came down and sat on the couch.

I knew there was nothing that could be done about Kari at the moment, so I tried to push those thoughts to the back of my mind. However, the Jasper/Bella situation needed to be taken care of, and soon, if I had any hope of ever getting over it. I had put it off for too long already.

I was so far lost in my thoughts, that I barely noticed when Galen came in and sat down beside me.

"Quinn's running the perimeter." he told me. "It does not look like there is anything out there, but we have to be prepared for retaliation." I nodded, but did not say anything. "And I know how much you worry about Kenzi, so I searched the entirety of the inside of the house; there is nothing in here either."

"Thank you." I said.

"Just doing my job." he replied with a shrug. We were silent for a moment as I stared in front of me. "Are you alright?"

"Not really." I sighed and turned to look at him. "I know we accomplished so much tonight, but there are so many other things going on in here," I pointed to my temple. "To even begin to feel good about the outer stuff."

"Well, is there anything I can do to help?" he asked and I surprised by how sincere he sounded.

"Not really." I answered. "Unless, you can turn back time and stop Jasper and Emmett from kidnapping Kari, or even better, stop my husband from cheating on me with my best friend."

"Ahh." Galen responded. "Kenzi mentioned that you were having a hard time dealing with that."

"Kenzi talked to you about the affair?" I asked a little shocked that she opened up about something like that.

"Yeah." Galen answered. "She said she was worried that you were not handling it well. She actually asked me to talk to you about it."

"Why would she do that?" I questioned. Once again, shocked by Kenzi's behavior.

"Well, she seemed to think that if I helped you through it, then the two of us would fall in love and you could be happy again."

My jaw nearly hit the floor. What the hell was Kenzi thinking? I mean, other than the fact that now was not the time for me to worry about my own happiness, there was the fact that Galen hated me and the family. The only reason why he was here was to get his chance at revenge. That was it. There was no way in hell that he would feel anything more than camaraderie, if even that, towards me. Still, it was kind of nice to know that she cared about me that much.

"And, just out of morbid curiosity, what did you tell her after that?" I asked, unable to contain myself.

"Well, I told her that, you had more important things than your happiness on your mind at the moment. I said, in your mind, as well as mine, defeating Edward is the most important thing. We'd deal with the rest later." he answered, then hesitated for only a fraction of a second. "However, I also told her that when this whole mess was over, I would like to try to be the one to make you happy again."

I was not at all sure what to say to that. I was beyond shocked by his words. I honestly did not think that there was any way this man could possibly like me, especially after everything that my family did to him in the past. I could not fathom on what universe those things would be considered forgivable. What was more, I found that I liked the idea that he could possibly be romantically interested in me. How was the even possible?

"It's okay." Galen said after a minute. "You do not have to say anything to that. I just figured that since you have been nothing but honest with us this last month that I might return the favor. I know that you are going through way too much right now to even begin thinking about having romantic feelings for someone and I am fine with that. I only mentioned anything, because I want to help. I do not like seeing you sad."

"Thanks." I smiled. "For being honest."

"Save that thanks." Galen cringed. "You may want to take it back in a minute, because I am about to give you some advice, that you may not like."

"Okay."

"The biggest problem with the Bella and Jasper situation is your avoidance of it. Kenzi says that you have not talked about it, since the night after it happened. Is that right?"

"Yes, I just haven't had the energy to deal with it."

"That's understandable, but you have to understand that not talking about it isn't going to make it go away."

"I know, but I don't know what to say."

"How about just telling them how you feel?"

"Because, I don't know how I feel, Galen." I tried to reply calmly. "I want to hate them both. I want to walk away from them forever and tell them to stay out of my life. I want to tear them into tiny pieces and scatter them around the world. I want to scream and yell and call them every name in the book. I want to tell them how angry I am and how much I hate them. I do not want to feel better about them or this situation. I want to hate them, so bad that I cannot stand it."

"Which is completely understandable, honey." Galen put in when I stopped to breathe. "They hurt you in the worst possible way. They went behind your back and lied to you repeatedly for years. They broke your heart in more ways than they could possibly understand. You have every right to hate them for that, Alice."

"Then why can't I?" I questioned nearly yelling. "Why can't I feel the emotions that are owed to me?"

"Probably for the same reason they regret doing what they did." Galen sighed putting his arm around me. "The same reason that neither of them can look you in the eye any more. They're your family and nothing they or you do is ever going to change that. You love each other and have been through too much together to completely hate each other. It's just like with Edward, you know what he's doing is wrong and are fighting to try to destroy, but you will never stop loving him, because of it. That is it took you so long to finally do this."

"I suppose I can understand that." I sighed. "But it does not make this any easier."

"You are right, it does not. But just because you still love them, does not mean that you can't not like them for a while. That's okay, too." I nodded. "But you can't do or feel anything about it, until you talk to them."

"I do not if I can." I said. "I mean, it seems lately, that I can't even have a simple war conference with them, without us fighting."

"That's because you are not talking to each other. You are trying run from it, but it's constantly catching up with you. You cannot get rid of the bitter feelings by ignoring them, because they'll come out at the worst possible times. Like when you are trying to have a civil conversation. You lash out when you do not expect to and that causes them to lash out in return." Galen explained.

"And what about the fact that Jasper is always taking Bella's side?" I questioned, really needing to understand that part. "He's my husband, after all. Shouldn't he be defending me against the other woman?"

"That's where things get dicey." Galen answered shaking his head. "First of all, your opinion of Bella means more to her than she'd ever be willing to admit to you or anyone. That's why she's so hurt by the fact that you think she's a slut. Jasper, in turn, feels guilty about Bella's pain, because in his mind, it's his fault that you have a lower opinion of Bella. Then there's also the fact that Jasper always been crazy protective of the people he loves. His ability makes it easier for him to understand how much they're hurting. He hates to see any of you hurt and would do anything to make it go away, even if it meant fighting someone else he loved. In this case, he sees the way your words and looks, however justified, are hurting Bella and that pisses him off, so he takes the defensive for her."

"How do you know all this?" I asked amazed at how much thought he put into everything. I could not believe how much he cared about a group of people that he was supposed to hate. "I mean, I did not think that you took the time to even think about getting to know us. I figured you hated us too much for that."

"And, at the time, I did." Galen replied with a shrug. "That's why I took the time to observe you and learn so much. Know thy enemy." he quoted. "I was determined to find a way to use all of that against you, back then."

"But now?"

"Now, I know all of you better and see what you are trying to do. I could never even imagine using it to hurt you. However, I am finding it all very helpful now."

I smiled at him.

"But why?"

He shrugged.

"Things change and the only thing you can do is change with them."

"You were always the poetic type." I replied and he flashed me a grin.

"But seriously, you should talk to them about it. Take the time to listen to what they have to say and work it out. Things will never be the way they were before, but they can be different, maybe even better. You will never know, though, until you take that first step." he continued.

"What if I do not want to hear what they have to say?" I questioned.

"Then you do not have to listen, I guess. You do not owe them anything. But I think you do owe yourself the chance to hear their explanation. If only for the closure."

"I suppose, you are right." I sighed. "Things would definitely be easier if I got this out of the way."

"Yes, it will. Maybe not better, but definitely easier." he nodded.

"Thank you, Galen." I told him and wrapped my arms around him. "This is once again above and beyond the call of duty."

"And it's, once again, my pleasure." he replied. "But I have to go out and check on Quinn now. I do not want him to be alone, just in case Edward does send someone."

"Right." I nodded pulling away from him.

"You have my cell, though, so call me if Kenzi wakes up and needs calming. I'll be back as quickly as I can."

"I will."

He nodded and headed for the door.

"Hey Galen," I, wanting to give him something to hope for, called him back. He turned. "Do not give up on Kenzi's idea. I might just be ready after this is all over."

"As you wish, m'lady." he said with a grin and an over exaggerated bow before walking out the door.

I was then left alone to think about everything we had just discussed.