CPOV

Mate?

Mate.

His...mate...

"Is everything all right?" I heard Aro's voice, but I couldn't concentrate. I could only focus on the shock that continued to flow through me, as it all made sense.

The feelings I was having.

Why it feels so amazing when he touches me...

Why every cell in my body seems to cry out to be close to him...

Why he denied these feelings in the first place...

Why I always felt much too old for the boys in my world...

Edward and Bella were mates.

Each one of the Cullens had a mate.

And Alec had a mate.

I was his mate, and he was mine.

"I wish for her to be escorted far away from the premises," Alec told Aro. "She is no longer welcome here."

"Hm," Aro said stiffly. "Felix. Demetri."

I only felt the breeze of their presences leave me.

"Please, escort this young lady out. And see that she does not return."

"Yes, Master," they replied in unison, and through my catatonic state, I could have sworn they sounded a little too happy about it.

"And, Camilla," Aro spoke slowly to her, his voice no longer friendly. "I already have pardoned you once. Do not make me regret allowing it twice."

I heard a loud shriek, cries of Alec's name, and then cursing as Camilla's voice faded quickly.

"Cheyenne," Alec's voice called to me. I felt the chill of his hands on my face, trying to coax me back. "Cheyenne. Tesora, look at me. Are you all right?"

All I could hear was the reverberating sound of Alec's words in my mind.

"She is my mate."

Mate.

It was the first time Alec had claimed me as his own, to other people.

More importantly, he knew something I didn't.

But, Felix knew it, too.

Again, it all was coming together. The way Felix always hesitated, yet suggested that there was something more to me being Alec's singer. What I suspected had been right.

He didn't tell me, because I wasn't ready to hear it, and neither of us liked each other at the time.

My thoughts were silenced by the feel of Alec's lips on my forehead, and I looked up at him.

My angry, confused, worried looking Alec.

"There you are," he mumbled softly, his brows pulled together as he began to ramble to himself. "Are you sure you are not hurt? Are you feeling faint? You look like you are going to faint. Have I finally scared you away now? I cannot believe I let this happen. I should have stayed closer to you. This is why I refused to leave you tonight. I am going to end her myself if I even get the slightest bearings of her scent..."

He continued on, and I felt my lips slowly move into an amused smile.

This was what Felix meant by Alec mumbling to himself the entire time.

It was so adorable to watch, that I almost forgot about what happened just seconds earlier.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" I heard him ask seriously as he frowned. "I need to know if you are all right, cara. Answer me."

"Yes," I heard myself reply, shaking my head. "I just...mate?"

He stilled, his form frozen as he stared at me.

"Have I driven you away with the truth?" he asked in a dead voice, and I shook my head slowly. I felt my face heat up, despite the wintry temperature of his hands. The warmth spread throughout my body again, as I thought about the word.

"I had not planned on unveiling it until you were changed," he added, gathering me into his arms. "However, the sight of her being that close to you..."

"I'm not scared," I reassured him. "I'm guessing it's another word for..."

"In our world, it is a much stronger word for one's true love, yes," he confirmed. "It suits us better, given the intensity of such feelings."

"Brother," a calm voice interrupted us, and I felt Alec stiffen. He reluctantly released me, and turned to his sister.

She was beautiful in her stark black gown, which was much more modest than mine. Her face was clearly unhappy as she frowned at her brother.

"Sister," Alec greeted, copying her tone. "I will dance with you again in a moment. I just need-"

"May I speak to you for a moment, please?" she asked evenly, but I wasn't fooled.

Jane was angry, and my suspicions were confirmed when she slid her eyes to me and narrowed them slightly, her chin pointed high. She had an expression that had no room for nonsense.

"Now," she said politely, reaching for his hand. "She will be fine in Felix's care. This is important."

"I'll stay with her," I heard David from beside us now, his tone strangely soft. "Go ahead, Jane."

Alec growled lightly at David, and then turned to me in a blur, giving me a deep, longing stare.

"Stay here. Please," he said in a low voice. "I will not be long."

"I'll be fine," I promised, glancing at Jane again. "Go ahead."

He looked at David one more time, then me, and followed his sister as she held on tightly to his hand.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I said quickly, as soon as they left, and walked away.

"Well, I'm going with you," David said, following me, and I stopped him, making a face.

"Um, no," I rejected him. "I don't want you listening to me pee. It'll just be a minute. I need...privacy. And I need a human minute after...all of that." I gestured behind us.

David looked at me for a long moment, before sighing.

"All right, fine, I get it," he said. "I'll walk you to the door, and I'll just wait for you."

I nodded, and followed him.

He opened the huge door, as promised, and let me travel up the three flights of stairs alone to my room so I could pee.

I took care of business, and I kicked off the dreaded heels that were making my feet hurt. I felt the ache in my lower back and my legs from my favorite person, Mother Nature. I quickly slapped on a new pad, and decided to go without my heels for the rest of the night. I couldn't take them anymore.

On my way back down, I saw the moonlight beaming through one of the huge glass doors on the second floor hallway. I always knew there was a balcony out there, but I never chanced going out there with the vampires around. But, the outside world loomed just through those doors, and I was alone. I could use the fresh air after everything that just happened.

It'll only be a minute or two, I thought to myself as I opened said door, and leaned on the stone railing.

It was breathtaking, what I saw before me.

The town of Volterra was dimly lit from this view, street lights and windows providing the light and life. I could barely make out the cobblestone designs of everything. The trees covered up everything else, and I breathed in the crisp, cool air deeply. It felt so good to bask in this, to feel normal and calm for just one moment and not have to be anything except myself. I could be alone, with my thoughts, where no one was watching me like a zoo animal.

The moon shone brightly in the sky, full, white and round, while the little beaming stars accompanied it. Even standing on this small balcony, I felt a small wisp of freedom.

It hadn't even been two hours, and I was already being attacked, stared at, and Alec unexpectedly professed our relationship status to everyone in that room.

I sighed, tilting my head back as a small breeze began to blow. I basked in the silence, listening as the leaves on the trees rustled in the wind, and the crisp air filled my lungs.

And suddenly, as I stood here, I remembered my plan to escape tonight. It hit me right in the face that I was standing here, alone, with nobody to watch me.

I could jump right off this balcony, and no one would notice, I thought to myself. That is, if I'm quick enough about it. Maybe I can whisper really loud for David, and he'll hear me, and then we can get out of here...

"There you are, dudette! God, I was worried!"

Speaking of David...

I jumped, turning around to face him, my hand flying to my chest.

"You scared me!" I chided. "I was just..."

Trying to make an escape plan for us, so we can get the heck out of here.

Alec is still here, a voice in the back of my mind reminded me.

I know, but...

"I needed a second," I finished.

"Yeah, I can tell. You're totally not avoiding me or anything," he said, his hands firmly in his pockets as he strode toward me. His face was hard, and a frown marred his features.

"No, I'm not," I protested, though it was a lie. "Did you not just see what happened out there? I'm pretty shaken up by it."

"Yet, you don't bat an eyelash when that asshole out there says you're his mate? His one true love?" David asked, scoffing in disbelief as he smiled sarcastically and shook his head. "You could have just told me the truth, Cheyenne. Why didn't you say anything?"

I shifted from foot to foot, my face flushing. I had no answer for him; he was there when it happened, and he heard every word. There was no more denying it, and there was nothing I could say now to get out of this. I was afraid that this would happen, deep down inside of me. I knew I would have to tell David about Alec and me, but not for a while. I had hoped we could hide it for much longer, because I knew he would react like this. I knew he was going to be mad.

"I..."

"Do you know how dangerous he is?" he continued, raising his voice, his face alarmed and angry as he stepped closer. "He's bruised you and talked shit about you, and you think you love him?"

"I never said that!" I shot back, getting angry myself. "I never said I loved him, and I didn't even know about the mate thing until he said it, remember?"

How dare he talk about Alec like this? He didn't even know him!

David continued to shake his head.

"All this time, and you didn't tell me," he grumbled angrily. "So, you mean to tell me that while I have been working my ass off to control myself around you, and being subject to Jane, you've been, what? Making out with him? And you've been in his bedroom, too? What the hell, Cheyenne?! You slept with him!"

"I didn't sleep with him!" I yelled, my anger rising even more. "We both know I would never do something like that! I'm not stupid, but it's none of your business what I do with him! Yes, we're together now! Like you can talk! What about you and Jane?"

His face changed, then, turning calmer, but very guarded. He was very still now.

"What about me and Jane? She's my teacher! At least I'm not making out with her, and sleeping in her bedroom!"

"Then what are you doing with her, then, huh? It sure sounds like it's more than just teaching! Don't tell me Alec is dangerous, when you have someone who's worse than he is! She's hurt you, too! But at least Alec apologized! He hasn't hurt me for a long time, and he never will again! You saw what he said to Camilla in there, and he meant it! He hates her! You don't know anything about him, David!"

"And you do?" he asked sternly. "What if he's using you, Cheyenne? Did you ever think about that? I know his type: the kind that knows how to smooth talk any female that walks by him, so he can get what he wants. Sound familiar to you? And you don't know anything about Jane, either! She's not all that bad!"

I shook my head in disbelief at his words, as a sucker punch feeling landed in my gut.

Alec used to be like that, but not anymore. He wouldn't use me. I knew him.

He wouldn't have threatened Camilla like that if he didn't feel that way. He said we were mates, and then he got dragged away by Jane. She couldn't have been happy about that, so it had to be true. I was the one who watched as Alec changed; not David. I was the one who felt the sparks and electricity when he merely touched me, and how he admitted how he felt about me, and...

"So you flirt with her just like you do everyone else?" I argued. "I heard Felix loud and clear. He told me what's been going on between you two, and it sounds like more than a student-teacher relationship! Alec used to be like that, but he's not anymore! You weren't there!"

"No!" David yelled, gripping the tops of my arms as he moved in a blur. The hard, cold grip of his hands were definitely going to leave bruises; it was a pressure I hadn't felt in a long time, but I knew it well from my experience with Alec. David's eyes grew wide and livid, a monstrous look taking over his look.

I didn't recognize him anymore.

This was not my friend.

"It doesn't matter what I feel for Jane," he growled at me. "You are the most important person to me in this entire place. If I can't keep you safe myself, I don't have my priorities straight."

"We can leave," I blurted, his words reminding me of my plan. "We can leave right now, if we want to. You know that, right? Look at where we're standing. Nobody's here. If you want to keep me safe, leaving is the best way to do that."

I saw his body quake, as his hard rock expression seemed to melt slightly, but his grip never left me.

"You'd still leave that asshole for me?" he asked tonelessly, his eyes boring into mine, his lips a hard line. "I don't believe you."

Disbelief crossed my face as my mouth dropped open.

"If you hadn't shown up, I would have jumped off the railing myself!" I told him truthfully. "Do you know how selfless I've been, waiting for this moment so we could finally get out of here? That's what you've been wanting, too! I don't care if Aro has you under his control, I know you want to get out of here, David! Think about it! We can finally leave and find Travis, so he can know we're not dead! Remember him? Travis, your best friend? My brother?! The one you made a promise to?! There's your promise!"

I tried to gesture behind me, but my arm was stuck in his bitter, icy hand.

David's bright, crimson eyes glazed over, almost like tears.

"It should be me," he whispered with conviction, much to my confusion. "It should be me you're with, dudette. Not him. Not that prick. I'm better for you than he is. I know you. I've known you for a long time! I know what you like, and don't like, what your favorite book is, your favorite food, music, TV show, movie...! Does he know any of that, huh? Does he know about what you went through when your dad died? Does he even know your favorite color?"

"Ye-"

Suddenly, so quickly, so abruptly that I had no time to react, his cold, hard, smooth lips crashed onto mine desperately. A chill ran through me, but not before my body freaked out.

At first, shock took a hold of my body, blood rushing and whooshing throughout, while freezing at the same time. My muscles locked, and my lips didn't move. His own tried to move and persuade mine to move with his, but I couldn't. Wouldn't.

Then, I struggled in a panic, freaking out, trying to free myself from his lips and his grip. His hands were too strong, his lips too hard, too cold and too wrong on my own. This wasn't right. It didn't feel right. I felt sick. His lips didn't feel the same as Alec's; they weren't gentle, didn't fit well with mine, didn't make my entire body erupt with warmth, comfort and electricity. It was the exact opposite. It was forced, cold, and unwelcome. I could feel the desperation, and unlocked passion that David was trying to emit in his kiss, and it was then that I realized:

Alec had been right. All too right.

David held feelings for me.

I had just been too blind to see it.

I wriggled some more, planting my hands on his sternum, trying so hard to push him away.

David, my best friend, my brother's best friend, was kissing me. And I didn't like it.

His grip once became too tight, before I felt his hands leave my arms and trap my face in a steel grip.

Wrong. Wrong. It feels wrong.

I didn't want his kiss, and I didn't return his feelings. How could this be happening?

I heard a deep growl come from his throat, as I tried to yank my head away.

And then, just as I gained the slightest bit of freedom, David's lips opened at the same time mine did.

I felt it; a pain like no other.

The razor sharp, piercing sting of David's teeth as they sank way too easily into the skin of my bottom lip, like a hot knife running through a stick of butter.

A strange noise escaped my throat; a cross between a gasp and a pained cry.

But, nothing prepared me for what followed next.

Burning.

Fire.

Hell.

Scorching, stinging, excruciating.

I became unaware of what was going on around me. I couldn't even tell if David was still kissing me or not. I couldn't hear anything except the piercing, wailing, painful scream that echoed all around me as I crumpled to the ground.

My body, jerking, writhing and protesting, came alive as the incomprehensible pain sizzled down my chin, across my cheeks, my neck, my chest, arms, stomach...

The pain was everywhere, seeping, crackling and searing through every single nerve and cell of my body.

And the only thing I could think about was how much I wanted it go away.

Oh, how much I was wishing for death.

If I had been able to speak, I would have begged for it.

Nothing, nothing could ever compare to this raw, scorching feeling of being burned alive, tossed into a vat of toxic acid, sliced open in every possible area...

I was praying for period cramps, for broken bones, for childbirth, for the cut on my leg.

Hell, I was praying for a kidney stone.

"Cheyenne!" I heard a voice bellow in horror, but I couldn't tell whose it was.

My agonized, horror filled screams continued, only one thought barely grasping its way through my distorted mind.

Alec.

"Cheyenne! Oh, cara...no!"

Then, my entire world collapsed around me, the darkness folding in around me.

OHHHHHHHHHHHH SHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITAKE MUSHROOMS. THIS IS WHAT Y'ALL BEEN WAITIN' FOR, HUH? HUH? YEAH, I KNEW IT. I'm so sorry to leave you with another cliff hanger like this, but I've been waiting to write this chapter for like six years lol. I told y'all more was coming, didn't I? Why do you think Jane wanted to talk to Alec? She didn't seem all that happy about the whole mate thing. Yikes.

I know y'all probably hate me because David has turned into such a monster *SOBS* WE WANT CUTE DAVID BACK. Yeah, I know, I miss him too. He's such a goofball. But, nevertheless, the story will go on! It's not over yet! This is merely a twist in the story. Sit tight! As always, review! Next chapter will be a APOV!