Too Late to Apologize

Cecily's eyes widened as she came to a stop, watching as Demetri launched himself onto another vampire, while a third started to jump for him. There were a couple of dead vampires on the ground, in the background, Alessandra watching with an amused look on her face.

There were far too many for Demetri to fight off on his own. But that was why they were here, wasn't it? To rescue him and kill Alessandra.

"There's too many," Alice said, taking in the fight.

"Speak for yourself," Emmett replied with a grin.

"Get Demetri and then let's get the hell out of here. That's the plan," Rosalie said, her eyes fixed on the fight. Cecily was watching Alessandra, who turned to meet her eyes.

"Ah look, the little mate has come to join us," she called out. "Just in time."

Demetri stopped fighting, his eyes turning to Cecily as they widened.

"Get out of here, Cess!" he shouted as he started towards her but was then caught up by two vampires taking advantage of his distraction. Cecily narrowed her eyes at Alessandra.

She was going to kill her with her own two hands.

Without a word, the Cullens launched into the fray. While the others worked to free Demetri, Cecily dodged around vampires, going for Alessandra, remembering that Demetri said they needed to kill her before the Volturi got involved. She couldn't help but think it was sound advice and she would enjoy ending this woman who was fucking around with her family and her mate.

But Alessandra was thousands of years older and faster. Much more accustomed to fighting than Cecily, even though Demetri had been working with her a lot over the past few years. But it was frustrating. Every time Cecily moved towards her, she changed direction, flinting around the garden and evading her in annoying fashion.

"Going to have to do better than that!" Alessandra sang out, clearly enjoying playing cat and mouse with her. Cecily growled and doubled down on her efforts to try and catch up to her.

"Cess! Come on!" Alice shouted. Cecily stopped, looking over to see that she and Rosalie had Demetri while the others were fighting off Alessandra's coven in an attempt to make a getaway. Cecily looked back after at the woman, wanting more than anything to continue going after her. But she knew they were outnumbered and needed to get out while they had the chance. So, she changed her course, moving over to help the others.

As they ran from the villa, she hoped they would get to the jet and out of here in time.

As the plane soared up into the sky, Cecily breathed a sigh of relief as she fell into the chair next to Demetri and began to assess him. He was fine, of course. But more than anything, she just wanted to touch him to know that he was really there next to her.

It had been a mad chase back to the plane, but they took off before any of Alessandra's coven could get close, having told the pilot to wait in the cockpit and keep the plane ready to take off as soon as they were inside.

"I was so worried," she said as Demetri took her hand and kissed the inside of her palm. "I thought she would kill you…"

"She wouldn't have," he replied, meeting her eyes. "How did you know where I was?"

"Mara. She somehow got some of Alessandra's memories. Saw the villa and we figured out where it was from there. And well, Lila, the vampire that Alessandra made, she gave more information that helped as well," Cecily said.

"She… but-"

"We stopped her from turning," Alice said. "Lila was able to get out the venom." Demetri seemed relieved. But just as suddenly, he was on edge again.

"We should have killed Alessandra. Her and her coven," he said, his face turning stormy.

"Trust me, I wanted to," Cecily said. "But we figured it was more important to get you back in one piece. There were too many-"

"They will follow us," he said. "She has made a deal with the Volturi. We must go back now and end it. What's more, she knows about Mara… she will tell the Volturi if she has not yet done so."

"What?" Cecily asked, getting a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"She made a deal with them - she would deliver me back to them and in exchange, they would allow her to join. I do not dare think that Aro would go through with such a deal. He will kill her once she is in his grasp," he said. "But as such, she still believes that he will follow through. She will not stop until she has me again. And she will use Mara to make sure that she gains her freedom if they should go back on their word."

"And we're leading her right back to Seattle," Cecily said dully. She looked over at the others. "Where should we go? I mean, maybe Demetri and I… we could disappear. Go off on our own. Lead them off."

"There's too many for you to fight them on your own," Rosalie said. "You need backup."

"But I don't want to draw you guys into this, especially if the Volturi are involved," Cecily said. "You've been trying to stay off their radar for so long-"

"We've never been off their radar," Alice said, smiling at her. "And we're family. We take care of each other. You'll need us." Cecily nodded. She knew that they wouldn't go for letting her and Demetri run off on their own. Not with the size of Alessandra's coven, even after they killed a few at the villa.

"So, what do we do?" Cecily asked.

"We lead them somewhere far from humans and we wait," Demetri said stoically. Cecily turned to look at him. "And then we end this."

"Preferably with some reinforcements," Emmett said. "We should tell the wolves."

"What makes you think they'll help?" Demetri asked.

"They'll want the chance to kill some vampires, trust me," Emmett said with a chuckle. "And if Mara is somehow wrapped up in this, then they'll want to protect one of their own. They'll probably be angry if we don't tell them."

Demetri nodded and looked over at Cecily, cupping her cheek gently.

"Then let's end this on our terms."

Mara laughed as she held onto her mug of tea, looking around Emily and Sam's living room at the packs gathered there. After what happened after the visit to Port Gamble, she let Embry talk her into taking more time off work - something she had never done before - and needing to get out of the house a bit, they decided a visit to La Push was in order.

Embry had been eager to see his mother, so after spending a few hours at his old house they then made their way over to visit the others. With the threat in Seattle passed, the packs seemed lighter and happier. Mara couldn't blame them. It felt like life was finally settling into something normal. Once she got back to work, it would be even better.

She hadn't attempted to use her gift again, not wanting to relive another death. But she knew that eventually she would have to get over herself. That was, after all, the whole reason she had been given it. But it didn't mean that she needed to go seeking it out.

"So how did Embry convince you to play hookie?" Paul asked, turning the conversation back to Mara. She smiled and glanced over at her boyfriend as he placed a hand on her thigh.

"Figured I could use a break after everything. Honestly, I'm not sure why it took me so long to finally use vacation days. Richard didn't even argue with me," she said, looking back at him. "And I had a ton built up."

"Hope you're putting it to good use," Paul replied, his eyes twinkling. Mara's eyes widened slightly as a light blush came over her face.

"Shut up, Paul," Embry warned, though he was smiling as well.

"All I'm saying is, Emily and Sam are the only ones with a pup on the way. Gotta play catchup," Paul said.

"Excuse me, you and Rachel have been together far longer," Mara said.

"Please don't continue that strain of conversation," Jacob said, grimacing.

"Why? We're all adults here, little brother," Rachel said, reaching over to ruffle his hair, though he managed to dodge it as more laughter rang out through the room.

"Yea, but still not ready to be an uncle yet," Jacob shot back, frowning at her and then glaring at Paul.

"At some point, you are going to have to get used to this," Paul said as he slid his arm around Rachel's waist. "We've imprinted. Can't change that."

"Still don't understand that," Jacob grumbled.

"Someone's still a bit testy without Nessie around," Seth sang. Jacob just shot a glare across the room at him.

"She's coming to visit in a couple weekends," he said. "After she's settled into the new semester."

"So, I finally get to meet the mysterious Nessie," Mara said, brightening. She had heard so many stories about her that in a way she felt like she already knew her. "Figure it's about time."

"You'll like her," Embry said, looking down at Mara as he moved his arm to drape over her shoulders.

"Gross. Too many imprinted couples," Seth said, making a face as he stood and started towards the kitchen to get something else to drink.

"Your time will come," Emily said as she walked into the living room with another plate of cookies. "Just ask Embry - it'll happen when it's meant to." Embry was still gazing down at Mara.

"Just gotta be patient," he said before pecking her on the lips. Though they had been together for months now, Mara was still a bit shy with the PDA in front of all of the packs, but she supposed it was just another thing she would eventually get used to. Wasn't like they were the only couple or even the worst when it came to showing affection.

Suddenly, every wolf in the room was on edge, looking towards the front door of the house. Mara sat up, wondering just what it was they were sensing. Or rather, smelling was probably more like it.

"The Cullens," Paul said, looking to Jacob, who was already on his feet. "Think they've finally killed the bloodsucker?"

"Suppose we'll find out," Jacob said with a sigh.

Mara blinked and the next thing she knew, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Cecily and Demetri were standing in the living room, grim looks on their faces. They brought with them an air of foreboding that had Mara's stomach sinking. It was clear that whatever was going on with Alessandra, it wasn't over.

"What happened?" Jacob asked as Sam quickly moved to stand next to him.

"We got away from her, but she's created a coven. It's big," Emmett said.

"And they're coming here," Alice said.

"So now you need our help," Sam said, frowning. "Why would you lead them back here?"

"Alessandra knows about Mara and will tell the Volturi if she hasn't already," Demetri said. "Even if we did lead them elsewhere, Mara isn't safe."

Silence fell over the room as Mara thought her heart might stop. Every pair of eyes turned to look at her. This was supposed to be over, or so they had all thought. That the Cullens would go after Alessandra and kill her. Why hadn't they done that? Just how big was this coven?

"Why weren't you able to take care of her?" Jacob growled, turning to look back at the vampires. "Isn't that what you were supposed to do?"

"None of us expected she had more vampires in Greece," Demetri said, stepping forward. "She's apparently figured out how to keep a coven together and it caught us off guard."

"And you're supposed to be Volturi," Jacob said, glaring at him.

"Look, even I didn't see this coming," Alice said evenly, stepping in between Jacob and Demetri. "Regardless, they are coming here, and they'll be here soon. We need to lead them as far away from humans as we can. And it's going to take all of us if we're going to fight them off." She looked over at Mara, a sympathetic look coming over her face. "We've called the others and they are on their way."

"Seth, I want you to stay and look out for Mara and the others," Jacob said. A scowl came over his face. "Leah will stay with you just in case."

"We need as many as we can," Demetri said urgently. "And most definitely all of your best fighters."

"Yea, and we need to make sure that they don't decide to use the fight as a distraction to come after Mara," Embry said, starting to get riled up. Demetri looked over at him, his face stern. He started to open his mouth to speak but stopped as Cecily put her hand on his arm.

"It'll be okay," she said softly. "We should have enough with everyone else. Besides, we really just need to kill Alessandra and then the others will hopefully stop." He looked at her and then sighed, looking back to Jacob. He nodded.

"Alright then, let's go," Jacob said, looking around the room.

"I know where we should lead them," Sam said, looking to the Cullens and then around the room. "Jared, go alert the others and tell them we leave now." Jared stood and nodded, then headed out of the house.

Mara rushed over to Embry, throwing her arms around him.

"Don't get yourself killed," she said.

"I don't plan on it," he replied, though it didn't really reassure her. She pulled away, looking up into his eyes.

"I'm serious. Be careful and do whatever you can to make sure you come back to me," she urged. He smiled and kissed her, then held her close a few more moments.

"I'll come back," he said softly before letting go and stepping away.

Mara moved to stand on the front porch with Emily, watching as they ran off throughout the town, some to gather the other wolves that weren't present, others to inform the tribe elders of what was going on. And still others stood in a group with the Cullens, listening as Sam spoke, pointing off into the forest.

"Is this what it's always going to be like?" Mara asked, her eyes fixed on Embry. "Watching them go off to do something dangerous and then wait here in the hopes they come back?"

"It's not always like this," Emily said soothingly. "In fact, before that rogue vampire, it had gotten pretty quiet around here." She placed a comforting hand on Mara's arm, causing the younger woman to look over at her. "It'll be okay."

Mara turned to look back at the group, now seeing them walk away as Seth and Leah discussed their game plan.

"God, I hope so…"

Cecily stood silently, glancing every so often at Demetri as they stood in a large group going over a plan. Sam had led them all to a large clearing far from Forks and La Push in the wilderness. It was a good place for a fight, she had to admit, and from how easily everyone else got there, she assumed they must have used it for that purpose before.

Sam looked over at Alice, waiting for something.

"We have about 10 minutes," she said. He nodded and looked around, making eye contact with the wolves. They all moved to the trees so they could shift. Cecily took the moment of distraction and grabbed Demetri's arm, pulling him away from the others.

"I'm so sorry," he said before she could speak. "I should have told you about Alessandra before now." Cecily just stared at him. "We were… I told you that I had been betrothed when I was human. Alessandra was my intended." Cecily's eyes widened. "When Amun slaughtered my friends and family, I assumed that she had also died. It was many years later that I discovered she had been turned - they had left her behind, thinking her dead. I was with the Volturi by this point."

Cecily was speechless. She knew that Demetri and Alessandra had history, but she hadn't expected it to be this.

"For a time, we did reconnect. And she wanted to join me in the Volturi. She had truly loved me before, or at the least had thought it was love. For me, it was merely a transaction between our two families," he said. "But she was too volatile. The Volturi would not accept her and as such, I turned my back on her."

He looked around the large clearing, his expression unreadable.

"This is all my fault," he said.

"Because you dumped her?" Cecily asked incredulously. "Seriously, Demetri, you can't blame yourself that your ex went off the deep end because she couldn't handle a breakup that happened centuries ago." He turned to look back at her.

"Because I did not speak on her behalf," he said. "I could have attempted to sway them, but my allegiance to the Volturi was much stronger than any bond I had ever had with her."

Cecily grabbed his face, pulling him closer to her.

"She was never going to fit in with them. If they hadn't accepted her then, they never would," she said firmly. "You basically said as much earlier. They won't honor the agreement she made with them. So whatever centuries-long hissy fit she's been throwing, that is not on you and I doubt anything you could have done would have changed that."

He didn't speak, just stared into her eyes. Cecily took a deep breath, guessing as to what he was actually worrying about.

"This changes nothing about how I feel about you," she said. "I'm not worried about you ever betraying me or going against our bond. I mean, it's pretty much impossible, isn't it? Isn't that what this whole mate thing is about? Unbreakable bond and all?"

Demetri leaned his forehead against hers, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer.

"I mean, yea, sure. Would have been nice to know about Alessandra before all this happened, but I get it," Cecily continued softly. "You have a much longer personal history to work through telling me about…"

"And I assure you, I never meant to keep it from you. Not intentionally. I never really thought that she would attempt something again, not if word got out that I had a mate," he said softly, staring into her eyes. "But I vow utter and complete openness from here on." Cecily smiled slightly.

"Yea, after this over, we're going somewhere on our own and we're not coming back until you tell me everything," she joked. Demetri's familiar smirk filled his face, causing more of her worry to dissipate.

"Everything?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Cecily rolled her eyes and she pulled away from him slightly.

"Okay, maybe not everything. I don't need all the detai-"

Demetri cut her off with a powerful kiss, his hands tightly gripping her as though he worried she would fly away if he let go. Cecily didn't fight against him, instead pulling him closer as well. While she wanted to believe that everything would go according to plan - that this would be over in a few minutes - she couldn't help the sliver of fear in her unbeating heart.

They didn't know the full extent of Alessandra's coven. Sure, they had seen a lot at the villa, but there was always a chance she had more. And with as long as it had taken them to get back to Washington, she worried it was far more than they were anticipating.

More than that, she worried that this would be the last time Demetri held her in his arms. That it was the last time she would see some of her friends and family. The others had been through this before, but she hadn't. And part of her was terrified because of that.

"I promise," Demetri breathed after he had pulled away from this. "We will survive this and afterwards, a very long vacation." She nodded, unable to speak for a moment. She finally swallowed.

"I'm going to hold you to that," she replied.

"They're nearly here!" someone shouted getting their attention. Both looked around the clearing, seeing that all the wolves had shifted, and everyone was taking up fighting stances, carefully watching the trees that surrounded them.

"Guess it's time to do this…"

Getting close to the end! Suppose this means I need to finish writing the last chapter...

Thanks for reading and following!