Chapter 25
Bella sauntered her way down the stairs with far too much energy behind her step as she made her way into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and to have a piece of toast. She felt oddly awake even though she had not slept well if at all the previous night. She should be exhausted but wasn't. Not even close. Her eyebrows creased in thought and vowed to bring it up to Carlisle as he had made mention he wanted as much information as possible to help monitor and record what was happening with her and her body as a hybrid. She quickly washed her hands and dried them on her white long sleeve sleep shirt before putting the bread in the toaster and jumping on top of the counter.
Her eyes shot to the side as Alice skipped her way into the kitchen with a charming smile on her face, realizing at that moment that it was for sure her second favorite thing that Alice could do with her lips.
"Good morning! I didn't expect you to be awake so soon, especially after that restless night you had. I was going to bring you breakfast in bed but it appears as if you beat me to it." Alice smirked as she moved to stand in between Bella's legs, who's wrapped around her waist as Alice moved her arms around Bella's neck, gazing lovingly into her eyes.
"I don't know why but I'm not tired in the least. The plus side to my lack of sleep last night is that it allowed us available to do more…satisfying activities" Bella said in a low voice as she brushed her lips against Alice's soft locks.
"Mmmm, yes. Satisfying indeed." Alice purred out as memories of their passion filled night together moved to the front of her mind.
Bella pulled her lips from Alice's hair to move to her lips frowning as Alice distanced herself a few inches with a playful smirk.
"3…2…1…" Alice playfully sung out ignoring Bella's quizzical expression until she heard the pop of the toaster, causing her to roll her eyes.
Alice danced over to the toaster and neatly grabbed it before buttering it and placed it on a napkin, turning around with a smile as she handed the toast to Bella's outstretched hand, her nose scrunching up slightly at the smell, an action that did not go unnoticed by Alice.
"What is it, love? Did you not want butter? I could have put on cream cheese or something else. I should have asked, I just assumed since this is how you normally take it." Alice said slowly, her eyes watching Bella take a bite of her toast and scrunching up her face further.
"No, it's fine. You did nothing wrong. I was going to put butter on it myself. It just…doesn't taste right." Bella said as she brought the tea to her lips and immediately dropped the cup, causing it to shatter against the counter as she moved forward and jumped off the counter, putting her hands on either side of the sink and spit out the mouthful unable to restrain the urge to gag.
"Bella?" Alice urged, quickly moving next to her, rubbing soothing circles against the small of her back.
"Oh, god. That was absolutely the worst thing I have ever tasted in my life." Bella continued to gag out as she turned the faucet on and took some water in her mouth to get rid of the taste, finding that even the water did not taste right though not as terrible as the tea.
"Carlisle?" Alice called out in a nervous voice, not moving from her spot as she moved a stray piece of hair away from Bella's face to behind her ear.
"Yes, what is it?" Carlisle asked with curiosity as he took in the sight before him, followed by Carmen and Esme.
"I don't know. She took a sip of tea like she would any other morning and spit it out, complaining of the taste. It's just not like her. Something must be wrong. I think her body rejected it." Alice responded as she continued to watch Bella closely as she stood up from the sink, shaking her head slightly and wiping her mouth clean with the back of her hand.
"Babe, I'm sure it was nothing. My tastebuds are likely jacked from the venom I swallowed over the past few days, like my throat." Bella mused as she made note that her throat was burning more than usual, and this time she knew it was because she was thirsty. She felt herself swallow harshly before anxiously looking over at Alice.
"Bella, I think this is something more. Your eyes are significantly darker than usual. Perhaps we should hunt. I know what you're thinking since you just went a couple of days ago but I think all the signs match." Alice mused as she looked into her eyes. She was used to seeing them in a darker state when she was aroused but there was something different about it this time, a different type of glimmer to them that she had not seen before.
"You would have the expertise in this department," Bella tried to laugh as she cleared her throat again in discomfort, "But I think you're right. Something definitely doesn't feel right." Bella nodded as she rubbed her throat with her fingers before looking up at Carmen and Esme with concerned and tentative remorseful eyes.
" Bella, there is no need for that expression. We can begin training once you return. It's okay, I assure you. If anything, this need to feed sooner than average is normal for you as a newborn." Esme smiled reassuringly as she moved to clean the shattered cup and spilled tea. Bella eventually nodded as Carmen ran a comforting hand down her arm before taking off out the front door with Alice by her side.
Bella raced through the forest, neatly and gracefully avoiding low laying tree branches and jumping over boulders before landing in a nearby stream and pausing, feeling her converse become soaked as the cool water rush past her ankles. Alice came to a stop as she eyed Bella cautiously. As a newborn, it was likely that she would still be territorial when hunting and that was not something that Alice wanted to risk. She felt her own eyelids flutter as the smell of musky blood reached her nostrils. There were two deer just ahead. She looked over to Bella to find her gone. Alice smirked as she shook her head.
'Her innate ability to surprise me by making snap decisions will never get old'
Alice took off in the direction of Bella's scent, complete opposite to the deer. Alice leaped over a fallen log and stumbled in surprise into the clearing where she found Bella getting ready to sink her teeth deep into the broken neck of the lifeless cougar. Alice froze, realizing that she was very close to Bella, comprehending all too soon her mistake. Bella, froze mid-action and looked at the cougar and then back up at Alice with a slight growl, her teeth revealing themselves as she lifted her lips into a snarl. Alice backed up a few steps as Bella seemed to contemplate the situation. Finally, she gave a curt nod and a small reassuring smile, instantly lighting up her tense facial expression and dark eyes. Alice's own widened in realization as she took a tentative step forward, gauging Bella's reaction that did not change as she got closer. Alice finally moved onto the other side of the cougar and waited for Bella to sink her teeth into the upwards part of the neck, while she opted for the lower. Together, they held eye contact as they shared their first meal together and Alice couldn't help but shudder at the rather intimate act. She had been told of the magic that seemingly came from the first shared meal between mates but had not expected for it to happen so soon.
Bella pulled back a second before Alice did, closing her eyes as she savored the taste of the mountain lion and the way the blood coated her throat and mouth, effectively taking away the burn and the foul taste that the toast and tea had left in their wake. She felt her eyes fly open as she felt Alice's cool tongue sneak out, effectively cleaning the stray streak that had dripped from the corner of her mouth and down her chin. She then wrapped her arms around Alice, holding her tightly against her as they stood in the clearing.
"That was one of those life altering moments, my dear." Alice purred into Bella's chest.
"It truly was." Bella nodded in agreement as she pulled back to take Alice's hands into her own, gazing into Alice's butterscotch eyes.
"Feeling better? I would say so based on your eyes." Alice smiled as she noted that their eye color was identical once more albeit the green ring around the iris that appeared to be more gray than usual but Alice shrugged it off.
"Let us head back." Bella finally said and Alice nodded as they linked hands and headed back to the house, finding the family along with the Denali Coven patiently waiting their return.
"I am going to speak to the Denali Coven about the issue at hand and present the plan so we can strategize the placement of everyone. I also need to show them the boundary line. Please feel free to begin the training session while we are away. Emmett, I leave that to you." Carlisle murmured as he moved away from the house with the Denalis and Esme by his side, heading straight to the forest, obviously to get them used to the layout of the area.
Alice moved away from Bella with a light peck on her cheek and stood next to Rosalie, who was leaning against the patio railing beside Jasper. Bella faced Emmett and furrowed her eyebrows at his overly thrilled expression. That same gut feeling returned and although Alice had assured her that it would be okay, she began to feel incredibly uneasy. She turned her gaze to look at Alice, searching for some sort of reassurance in her eyes, finding none. Bella opened her mouth but closed it, unable to find words.
While distracted even just momentarily, Emmett launched himself forward without a single warning and body slammed Bella, sending her flying back. She gasped both in surprise and also in pain as she skidded across the dirt before coming to a stop at the base of a nearby tree. She didn't move for several seconds after the blow as she tried to get her bearings straight. She felt like she had just been run over by a truck.
"What the fuck was that?" Bella gasped out as she met the amused gaze of Emmett.
"Psh. So much for you being a challenge. Here I thought I would need to take you by surprise to get the upper hand. Jake must be a lot weaker than we thought." Emmett laughed, causing Bella to growl in frustration as she forced herself up from the ground, feeling her cracks along her midsection begin to heal. She shot a side glance at Alice and saw what appeared to be a sense of disappointment in her eyes and a slight frown across her face. Bella felt her jaw clench as she focused her eyes on Emmett.
'How dare she be disappointed in me. I wouldn't even be in this position if it weren't for her, for any of them.' Bella thought with disdain as she forced her glaring eyes from Alice.
"Emm, I'd be careful. Her emotions are a mess." Jasper warned as he suddenly felt Bella's feelings hit him like a train.
"Careful? Of what? I batted her away like she was a fly. I've met chihuahuas more intimidating than she is." Emmett retorted with a snort.
"Shut the fuck up." Bella said through tightly clenched teeth as she scowled at Emmett, feeling rather embarrassed and like a failure all in one. How could she have allowed him to take her by surprise like that?
"Why don't you make me?" Emmett smirked, seemingly ignoring Jasper's words of advice.
Without giving a second thought, Bella rushed at Emmett and the two collided, the sound of their bodies crashing sounding very similar to that of a rockslide. Emmett's feet skidded back a couple of feet from the force of impact. Bella countered with a hard hook with her left hand, which Emmett easily blocked. He grabbed her hand and shoved her arm behind her back, tackling her to the ground as he shoved a knee in between her shoulder blades. He leaned forward and scraped the skin off of her neck with the sharp edges of his teeth as she gasped in pain.
"You are very weak, Bella. If the Volturi are indeed coming, you have a lot of work to do. We won't be able to protect you if you can't even hold your own" Emmett said in a low voice causing Bella's frustration to only increase.
"Emm, maybe lighten up a bit. This is her first time for pete's sake." Rose chided with slight concern as she looked over Bella.
"I can't go easy on her. She won't learn any other way and we don't have much time. She needs to get on our level or at least be able to stand on her own. At this point, she's nothing but a liability to us all, mostly to Alice. We all know she would risk it all to save her mate." Emmett argued back as he got off Bella who made no moved to get up from the ground.
"I have to agree with Rose. I don't care for this approach at all. There has to be a better way. She obviously isn't going to learn like this. She clearly does not find the enjoyment in sparring like we all do." Alice argued back as her concerned and darkening eyes shot to Bella who was now on her hands and knees, shaking her head and taking in shallow breaths, glancing at her with a rather foreign expression, one she did not particularly care for.
"Oh, come on! You saw what she did to Jake's face. She has it in her. Maybe she just needs some motivation" Emmett grinned. With that he moved on a snap decision, and rushed at Alice.
Bella quickly jumped to her feet despite the protest her midsection made and bolted forward. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion. Bella was the fastest by far but Emmett had been a lot closer to Alice and she had not been anticipating this action from him. Her mind was filled with images of Alice's small body being thrown from the house and cracks spreading out against her marble skin from the impact as Bella reached out with her left hand, nothing but pure panic radiating off of her being.
"Stop!" Bella screamed in pure exasperation and terror. It was at this very moment Bella managed to get in front of Alice just seconds before Emmett's fist would have collided with her imprint. Bella felt an unfamiliar tingling sensation run throughout her spine, down her arm and dance off of her fingertips coupled with an odd flickering with her eyes before she saw Emmett's fist come in contact with some sort of invisible wall. Emmett was blown backwards a good several feet from the impact and away from the family. He landed on his back and skidded backwards against the dirt, his golden eyes wide in confusion as he stared up at the sky.
"What the fuck…" Emmett began but was silenced as he quickly rolled to the right to avoid a punch from Bella who had launched herself above him, a punch that left a decent sized crater in the ground where Emmett's head had been just moments prior. Emmett grabbed Bella by her leg and tossed her to the side only for her to twist herself gracefully even for a vampire as she grabbed a branch from a nearby tree before launching herself off and landing a solid kick against his chest, successfully creating several large and deep cracks across his skin at the impact zone.
Emmett staggered back, looking down for just a second to inspect the damage. He slowly looked back up in time to meet Bella's gaze and grinned. So caught up in the moment and thrill of the fight, he had not noticed the change in her eyes, which now resembled a metallic amethyst with a hint of red around the pupil. Jasper quickly moved forward with the family as Bella stood with her back to them, standing at full height, squaring her shoulders with a snarl. He watched Bella's movement intently from behind her and attempted to send a wave of calm, surprised for it to snap back at him with force like a broken rubber band, causing him to recoil.
"What on earth was that about?" Rose asked as Jasper shifted anxiously.
"She rejected my gift completely and rather aggressively I may add" Jasper said quietly as he began to move towards Bella and to the completely oblivious Emmett; he had no idea how much danger he was currently in but Jasper could feel the shift with Bella. This was no longer just a training exercise.
" Now, that's what I'm talking about!" Emmett grinned, the experience with the mysterious barrier completely forgotten about as he began to deliver blows to Bella, who didn't appear to be moving from her spot but he couldn't seem to land a single hit; it was almost as if he was off by just milliseconds. Emmett frowned as he stepped back long enough to glance at the ground and saw the markings where Bella's feet obviously had shifted when she was evading his blows but her movements had been too fast even for himself to register. His eyebrows knotted together in frustration before carelessly leaving himself open for attack as he attempted to catch her.
"Emm, no! Back off!" Jasper called out and moved forward earning curious glances from Alice and Rosalie, " This is no longer just a sparring match to her!"
Bella blinked and looked over her shoulder to meet Jasper's gaze who seemingly froze on spot. She lifted her lips up into an almost sinister smirk before turning her head around and reaching out, twisting her body to avoid Emmett's grasp. She placed her hands onto his shoulders, reaching her hands out mid-flip to take his head into her hands and digging her nails into his skin with force as she landed, effectively putting him into a chokehold that he could not get out of. Her eyes now black in color glazed over and became completely unfocused on anything but the fight and ending the threat to her mate.
" Shit, okay. You win. Now, let go." Emmett gasped out suddenly very aware of the situation he was in.
"Bella, please. This isn't like you." Alice said softly, causing Bella to shoot her a hard glance and held it for a few moments before letting Emmett go and took in a few breaths. Bella blinked a few times but her eyes did not revert to gold.
"Jesus Christ, I didn't know you had it in you." Emmett grinned as he ran his fingers against his deeply cracked and damaged neck as Rosalie moved to wrap a supportive arm around his waist.
Bella's dark eyes snapped to his and she felt her lip lift in a feral snarl.
" Just because it doesn't get me off to fight or be provoked doesn't mean that I am not capable. I was able to stand my own against Victoria and Jake. That should count as something." Bella said in a shaky voice as she tried to regain some sort of hold on herself, " It would be advisable that you follow Alice's suggestion and find out a different way to train me rather than to push me in that way and to attack my mate. Figure it out and let me know when training can continue." Bella spoke coolly before turning her back and getting ready to walk back to the house.
"Bella, love…" Alice called and reached out to grab her hand, only to find Bella ripped it away and glared at her over her shoulder.
"Leave me alone, Alice." Bella snapped before flipping her hair back around and walking into the house, leaving a very bewildered Alice outside.
"Oh god, what have we done?"