"Is that the Denalis pulling up?" Esme looked to Alice for an answer. No one had mentioned their cousins visiting, nor had she heard any phone call from them telling they were coming. It was a nice surprise as the Cullen home had been filled with tension ever since Edward's gift failed to work on Rosalie. No matter how many times she was asked Rosalie remained stedfast in not knowing how it happened. For the first time since she had known him Carlisle had been angry that Rosalie refused to allow him to test her in any way.Esme had had to reprimand the man many times to leave her daughter alone and that had been causing a strain on her relationship with her mate. Esme hoped a visit from the Denalis would provide a distraction for the family.
"I didn't see them making a decision to visit." Alice frowned as she followed Esme out to the front porch to greet them.
"I don't see Isabella do you?" Kate asked looking around. She had assumed the crazy woman was going to meet them at the Cullens but she was nowhere in sight.
Eleazar looked around in disappointment. "You don't think she already went home do you?"
"I'm sure she will be here soon, dear."Carmen reassured him. "She may have had to stop to hunt on her way."
Alice was now even more confused." How do you know Bella?"
"We don't know Bella but that is who we are here to meet. Is she here?" Tanya decided not to mention who Isabella was until she showed up.
"No, Rosalie took her to the library. She wanted to spend some time together. They should be back soon. Why don't you all come inside and we can speak about what it is you wish to talk to Bella about." Esme waved them into the house.
"What should we do? Isabella, Rosalie and Bella aren't here." Irina whispered low enough so only Tanya could hear.
"Get in touch with Rosalie and tell her we are here. If my suspicion is right she is keeping Bella away from Edward." Tanya would have to thank Rosalie later for her efforts. From what she had heard Rosalie wasn't a big fan of the human so if she was with her then she was doing it to prevent Edward and Bella from spending time together.
"I'll do it." Carmen said as she pulled out her phone and stayed behind as the rest of the Denalis made their way into the Cullen's home.
"Tanya and coven this is a surprise. What brings you here?" Carlisle greeted them in the living room where Emmett, Jasper and Alice were all watching TV.
"Just a friendly visit." Tanya gave Kate a sharp look when she heard her start to chuckle." We hadn't ever visited you here and thought it would be nice to see the area before you had to move on again."
Before anyone cold continue Edward flew down the stairs and got in Tanya's face and growled. In immediate response Kate grabbed him by the neck, slammed him down and shocked him. Kate growled in warning when Carlisle tried to come to his defense."What the hell is your problem?!"
"Kate please let him go. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for what just happen." Carlisle held his hands up to show he wasn't going to attack. He wasn't sure what Edward was thinking when he made to attack Tanya but he was sure he had a good reason.
Kate looked to Tanya who gave her a nod to let him go. She shocked him one last time and stood in front of her coven and warned. "Next time you do something like that even Tanya won't be able to stop me from destroying you."
Esme rushed over to Edward and helped him stand up looking him over for injuries. "What were you thinking Edward? Why would you try to attack Tanya?"
"I can't read any of their minds. They have done something to block me and I'm sure they did the same thing to Rosalie." Edward growled taking a step back when he saw Kate advance on him.
"Should you be trying to read our minds?" Tanya asked pleased that Isabella was telling the truth. It was another thing that was pointing to Isabella being right about her mate.
"Yes because you were asking about my mate. I have a right to know you intentions towards her." Edward said. He wasn't sure what was going on but he would be damned if he let these succubus near his Bella.
Tanya was unable to hold back her growl. Now that she was almost sure that Bella was her mate her inner beast wasn't going to allow anyone to claim her as there own. "Your mate. Are you sure about that?"
"Of course I'm sure and because of that I don't want you near her." Edward was now beyond angry. Why was everyone questioning his mate bond? He had given no reason for anyone to not believe that Bella wasn't his mate. It seemed something was going on that he didn't know about. First he was unable to read Rosalie's mind and she question his mate bond now the Denalis were here in the same state as Rosalie. It didn't add up. "As a matter of fact as she is my mate it is my right to keep any vampire I wish away from her. So I think it best if you and your whole coven leave."
"Edward! You will not tell our cousin to leave. You have no right to say who can be around Bella and who can't. It is up to Bella to decide that." Esme was getting even more suspicious of Edward's claim of a mate bond. If he was as secure as he claimed to be that the bond was real he would be possessive but this was paranoia. Especially not wanting Bella to be around Rosalie because he couldn't read either of their minds.
Edward was starting to get pissed at everyone going against him. Esme's thoughts alone made him want to just kidnap Bella and take her away from all other influences. If Bella kept hanging around people who doubted they were mates eventually she would believe it as well. "I have every right to tell them to leave. Not only are they a danger to my mate but they are a danger to this family. By not being able to read their minds I can't tell if they mean us any harm. It's to much of a risk having them around."
"Well I guess anyone who has a mind you can't read isn't welcome here them." Kate smirked seeing Edward nod his head. "I guess we will just have to go and take Bella with us. I mean you can't read her mind right. That makes her the biggest threat of all."
Carlisle held Edward back from once again advancing on the Denalis. He wasn't sure exactly what Edward's problem was. Yes it was interesting that he couldn't read the other coven's minds but that didn't mean they were untrustworthy. "Edward calm yourself. The Denali are always welcome here. Just because you are having problems with your gift doesn't change the fact they are family."
"I'm not having trouble with my gift. They did something. Whatever it was they did it to Rosalie as well and you will tell me exactly what that is or you can leave."Edward demanded.
"Your threats have been noted and will continue to be ignored. As you have no control over myself or my coven, I will not be telling you anything." Tanya stepped around Kate and advanced on Edward. She narrowed her eyes at the boy. "I want to remind you to watch your tongue because I'm at my limit with dealing with your disrespect. Next time you try to attack me or anyone in my coven I will give you a reminder of just how useless you are without your gift."
Edwards growl was cut off by the sound of a car pulling up to the house. He raced around the Denalis to the car and pulled Bella out of the passenger seat holding her tightly to his side."I missed you my love."
"I wasn't gone that long Edward." Bella sighed. She was really getting sick of his need to be around her constantly. It felt like the only time she had any time to herself was in the bathroom and even then he was right outside the door waiting for her.
"Oh shit I'm late." A female voiced said as she ran out of the trees." I knew I shouldn't have stopped at that jewelry store but Rosalie is really going to love that necklace."
Both the Cullens and the Denalis raced outside to see who the newcomer was. The Cullens except for Rosalie lined up in a defensive position. Carlisle looked to their cousins and frowned at the smiles on their faces,Eleazar looked like Christmas came early. "Do you know her?"
"Rosalie!" Isabella called out as she ran to Rosalie and wrapped her in a hug.
Rosalie sighed and hugged her back. "It's good to see you again Isabella. I see you found Tanya."
"Yeah, she was a lot harder to convince than you. I honestly think they still don't believe me."Isabella looked over to Tanya to find her staring wide eyed at a human version of her that was being held behind Edward's back with the same expression on her face as she looked at Tanya. "Well that should be enough proof to believe I've been telling the truth I think."
"Ok wait. What is happening right now and how do you all know a vampire that looks suspiciously like Bella? Rosalie, why have you not mentioned her?" Alice asked. The scene before her didn't make any sense at all. Rosalie wasn't a very touchy person and here she was hugging a strange vampire that looked like her best friend.
"I'll explain in just one minute. I just have to…." Isabella moved over to Edward who growled at her and pushed Bella up against the car they were standing next to. She walked up to him and dogged his attack easily, grabbed Bella and brought her over to Tanya who along with the rest of the sisters crouched in front of the human to protect her while Bella was being held by Carmen with Eleazar standing next to them.. "Ok cool now that that's done, we just need to take care of Irina and maybe figure out a way to help Kate. Then I can finally go home."
"No, someone is going to explain what is going on." Alice was getting frustrated. "Why is Tanya acting like Bella is her mate? And you still haven't told us who you are."
"Alice! This is nice surprise. I didn't know you would be with the Cullens." Isabella ignored the rest of the vampires and gave Alice a hug. She looked apologetically at Rosalie. "I'm sorry I didn't know Alice was with you. I'll fix the block. Usually she isn't around and because it takes a while to block her gift I didn't think to do it."
"It's no problem." Rosalie assured her, now excited about being able to block Alice's gift as well.
"Give me my mate." Edward growled. He didn't care about any of this other nonsense. He just knew that the Denalis had his mate and he was going to get her back.
"Oh I always forget about how stupid you are when I'm human." Isabella sighed and walked over to stand in front of Bella, Carmen and Eleazar and told Tanya. "I'll protect them while you three deal with him."
"I get first dibs."Tanya's smirk seemed to be the last straw for Edward. He raced as fast as he could to try and get the jump on Tanya but she easily deflected him.
"I think you should just up now Edward. We all know Bella is Tanya's mate and it's quite obvious that she already feels the bond. You should just walk away before you get hurt to the point it won't be easy to heal." Kate may have said it but she truly hoped he didn't though. She would love to get a chance to beat some sense into the boy.
"A harlot like you could never take my mate away from me."" Edward screamed as Tanya tore his arm off. He tried to retaliate but it seemed like Tanya was intent on causing him pain. He moved to hit her with his remaining arm but was grabbed by the neck and slammed to the ground. He refused to believe he could be bested by anyone even without his gift but as Tanya tore off his remaining arm he knew his chances were getting worse as the fight went on.
"Um I hate to break this up as I am a big fan of seeing Edward get his ass kicked but I really do want to go home. Can we speed this up? I still have to unite Irina with her mate and help Kate find hers. I know it's selfish but it is my anniversary and my mate really deserves the special day I have planned for her." Isabella sighed in relief as Tanya finished ripping the last of Edwards limbs off.
Tanya kicked Edward in the side causing him to hiss in pain. "I think we should take this inside and explain everything."
Bella was released from Carmen and went to Tanya. "Is it true? Am I your mate?"
"It is very true. Edward claimed a false mate bond." Tanya smiled as Bella threw her arms around her. She held the human tight as they walked into the Cullen house.