Chapter 26: Victoria

Edward POV:

´Victoria,´ I whispered. I instinctively strengthened my grip around Bella´s waist. Not again! Was this Bella´s fate? Was she doomed to encounter danger at any time, simply because she was with me? Danger could not keep away from her and neither could I. So I quickly prayed to all the Gods that would listen, to please protect Bella from her. Please protect Bella from any danger and please, keep her safe.

How in the hell could Victoria be here? Victoria was a member of another coven, a coven that fed on human blood. A year ago, Victoria´s mate attacked Bella and almost killed her in the process. My family killed her mate as a result. Was that the reason Victoria was back? To get revenge on us?

Edward, I saw Victoria. She's coming! Soon! Listen to me, she´s after Bella. We need to protect her. Get Bella somewhere safe!

I heard Alice´s panic thoughts. She would soon be here, in front of us. I felt Bella stiffen, as she would have probably felt a change in the atmosphere. Before she could blink, Alice stood in front of us, a fake smile plastered on her face. As Bella did not hear Alice, she was surprised to see her here. Bella´s heartbeat quickened.

´Hello Bella,´ Alice said, a bit too happy, too excited. She tried to remain cheerful as if that would somehow resolve our current situation.

´Alice, what are you doing here?´ Bella asked her, her eyes wide.

Alice thought; The truth or a little white lie, Edward? It's your call. What is it going to be?

I signed, debating what would be best. Keeping Bella in the dark would be a nice option, but that had not helped us in the past. I figured we could better tell her what was going on. ´Alice saw a vision of Victoria, that's why she came here. To get you somewhere safe.´

I buried my face in Bella's hair. I´m so sorry for putting you into this mess again, is what I wanted to tell her. I felt immensely guilty for all of this.

´Alice, tell me what you saw,´ Bella, practical as ever, asked.

´I saw Victoria, but it was blurry. I don't know why. I only know that she's coming and she´s after you, Bella. Because we killed her mate, she wants to hurt you in order to upset Edward. An eye for an eye. So we need to patrol your house. Carlisle and Emmett are already there to protect Charlie and the rest are feeding themselves,´ Alice blurted out. I did not immediately react. How? How could this happen? How could I let this happen? Again?

´Alright, then we better leave,´ Bella said while getting up. She noticed I wasn't following her. She turned around and raised an eyebrow at me.

´Edward, what's wrong?´ Bella asked.

´I´m so sorry, Bella.´ I did not dare to look at her, afraid of the disappointment I would for sure see in her eyes. I had failed her, time and time again.

´For what?´ I heard she got alarmed at my attitude. But how could she ask such a thing? For everything, obviously!

´For all of this!´ I looked up and saw Bella grew agitated as she had every right to be. Her forehead creased and some tears shimmered in her eyes.

´Listen to me, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. Did you personally call Victoria to hunt me? No, right? So, you have nothing to be sorry for. You are not responsible for any of this.´ Bella said with a tremble in her voice as she tried to hold back her tears.

´You´re wrong, Bella. I´ve put you into this mess,´ I explained to her. Surely, she would understand this was all happening because of me?

´No Edward, I chose it. When I chose to be with you, I knew there would be some potential... Dangers. I knew that, yet I still chose it. I still choose you. We´ve already had this kind of talk before, so why won't you listen to me?´ Bella rolled her eyes at me. ´So you better get up and drag me home. Literally, stop moping around. We don't have time for that. We have to get moving.´

I heard that Alice agreed with Bella. Edward, please. She is right. We need to leave now. Bella is strong. She knows what's up and she can take it. But please just leave with her, right now.

And I knew at that moment that I was in the wrong. I might always feel slightly guilty for putting Bella at risk, simply for being with me. But Bella was right; she chose it. She knew I would always protect her from these dangers and she knew the risks she was facing. Yet she still chose to be with me. It was her choice and I had no say in that.

And I knew at that moment that Alice was also right. We had to leave. Right the fuck now.

So I put Bella on my back and quickly ran towards her house. Carlisle and Emmett were already there, watching Charlie while hiding in the trees in front of Bella's house. Alice joined them in the trees while Bella and I stayed on the ground.

´Took you long enough,´ Emmett complained when we arrived.

´Edward threw a little tantrum, but we managed to convince him to stop behaving like a little baby,´ Alice happily explained to my father and brother, who both had to laugh.

I gave them all a dirty look. ´I did no such thing!´

Bella looked at me with disapproval in her eyes. ´You kinda were in a mood.´

Emmett burst out laughing. ´Tell me everything, Bella.´

Bella first winked at me to let me know she was just joking. ´Oh, then we would be here all night, Emmett. You should have seen him,´ she laughed with him. Even Carlisle had to smirk at her little banter.

´Alright Bella, you need to get inside the house now. There will always be someone on guard inside your room and two or three of us will stay outside to also guard Charlie. The rest can feed in the meantime to strengthen for a battle. Is that alright with you?´ Carlisle, competent as ever, asked. Bella nodded to him to let him know she understood.

Alice faced Bella. ´I want to go first,´ she pleaded. ´Can´t me and Edward guard you while you´re still awake? It will be so much fun, I promise. Like a little sleepover.´

Bella grinned. ´You don't have to promise me, I know you can literally see it will be fun. As long as we aren't being too loud, we don't want to alarm Charlie.´

Alice almost fell out of the tree with her excitement. Carlisle could quickly grab her, not that falling would do any harm to her, but to prevent the neighbours from seeing it. ´Listen, we will wait outside until Esme, Jasper and Rosalie return. Then me and Emmett go feed. We switch during the night, as you both also need to feed.´ Carlisle addressed me and Alice. ´ We´ll see if we can smell Victoria in the meantime.´

I felt a low growl escape my lips before I could stop it. Leaving Bella tonight? Never!

´Yes Edward, you as well. We need to be strong for everything that could happen,´ Carlisle patiently explained to me.

´Gee Edward, behave for once,´ Emmett playfully rolled his eyes at me. I grabbed the tree he was sitting in and gently rocked it a tiny bit, making Emmett slightly lose balance. He had to keep a hand to his mouth to prevent his laugh from being too loud.

´Behave boys. Edward, bring Bella home,´ Carlisle ordered fiercely. But in his mind, I could hear he loved our brotherly mockery. And he had missed the lightfulness of conversation that we seemed to have whenever Bella was around.

I turned around and walked Bella over to her house. Charlie wasn't keen on my company yet, so I pretended to only bring her home and leave straight after. However, what Charlie could not see, was that I entered Bella's bedroom even before she had walked the stairs herself. Bella greeted Charlie and went to meet us.

Alice was already sitting on Bella's bed and I took the chair. Seeing us when she entered her room did not surprise Bella in the slightest.

´So, what do you guys want to do tonight?´ Bella asked the both of us.

´Can I braid your hair?´ Alice asked, already jumping off the bed to grab a brush. I grinned, if there was one thing Bella learned to tolerate, it would be Alice and her attempt to give Bella a make-over any chance she could get.

´If you insist…,´ Bella´s mouth curved into a smile. ´I mean, there is not much else to do, right?´

´Great! Now, go sit in front of me, please.´ Alice moved over, letting Bella also sit on the bed. She took a brush and started to comb through Bella's thick, brown mane.

As much as Alice tried to keep the mood light, I could hear she hated to be left in the dark regarding the future. She still couldn't see it happening and that bothered her greatly.

Think with me, Edward! What are we missing? Why can't I see anything? I only see glimpses of Victoria´s red hair, nothing else. I don't know anything. Think with me, please!

I hissed back that I also had no clue. And as if Bella could hear our silent conversation, she spoke to us. ´Allie, are there any updates?´ she asked and I noticed Alice tried to hide her upcoming fear. But as casual as Bella´s question seemed to be, her quickened heartbeat gave her away. Bella was also scared.

I could see Alice got more and more tense, as the answer to that question upset her. ´No, Bella. I'm afraid not. And I don't know why.´

Bella took a deep breath. ´I might know why.´

Bella POV:

As Alice combed through my hair, I could not help but wonder what was happening outside of my room right now. How were the rest of the Cullens doing? Did they manage to smell Victoria yet? Was she already in Forks? I knew we had a big disadvantage since Alice could not see the future for some reason. And also, why couldn't she? She said it was blurry and she didn't know why. But she never had that problem before, right?

I knew all of us were wondering that right now, but we still managed to ignore the topic altogether. I also wanted to avoid it, but as much as I wanted to, I couldn´t.

´Allie, are there any updates?´ I asked her. I could not hold it in anymore, I needed to discuss this.

And as I asked that question, a couple of thoughts came together in my head. Alice and I, shopping in Port Angeles. Alice who brought me home and Jacob who was waiting for me. Alice reacting weirdly to that. Me asking what was wrong. Alice telling me she could not see Jacob´s future. I paid no attention to that and let it slide. Edward who could not hear Jacob´s thoughts. And I, again, paid no attention to that. Jacob, telling me he was a werewolf. Would that… No, could that be related?

Holy shit. Alice did have that problem before. She had that problem with Jacob. My heartbeat quickened, thinking I had figured it all out.

´No, Bella. I'm afraid not. And I don't know why.´

I took a deep breath. ´I might know why.´

Edward immediately stood in front of me and Alice stopped combing through my hair. Edward gently took my hand in his.

´What do you mean, Bella?´ he asked, alarmed. He tried to come off as casual but I knew him long enough to notice the little tremble of his voice.

My breathing was irregular. Holy shit, this had to be it, right? ´Listen. Alice said she can't see Jake´s future. And you can´t hear his thoughts. Maybe that's the reason why Alice can´t see the future now. Because Jake is in it. That has to be it!´ I explained to both of them.

I heard Alice breathe out behind me. In front of me, Edwards' forehead creased. ´Why would Jacob be in it?´

Not onto the hard part. Telling them Jacob´s secret. I didn't know how to tell them without sounding off, but I had to give it a try. I mean, I had to convince a couple of vampires that werewolves exist, how hard could it be, right? This was my life now.

´Listen to me, and I know it sounds off. But… Jacob is a werewolf. You have to believe me.´ I looked at Edward, begging him to understand. His eyes widened. I then turned to face Alice who was constantly looking at Edward. I knew they were discussing this via Alice´s thoughts right now, but not knowing what they were talking about drove me nuts.

´What do you mean?´ Alice asked timidly. Damn it, they did not believe me!

I breathed in and closed my eyes. ´He told me. He is a werewolf. And I know what you´re thinking, I also did not believe it at first. But Jake told me everything he was allowed to and I believe him. Could that be the reason you guys can't see him in your visions or use your powers on him?´ I felt tears welling up in my eyes. They had to believe me!

Edward gently squeezed my hand with one hand and with the other, wiped a little tear away from the corner of my eye. ´We believe you, Bella. We truly do. In fact, we´ve heard about werewolves before but we had never… Encountered one, you know? This information is as new to us as it is to you. Could you please tell us more?´

´I can't believe it…,´ Alice whispered. ´How could we´ve missed it?´

I nodded. ´Alright. Well, he recently told me. That was the secret I was hiding about him. He told me in confidence and I did not want to betray that. I´m sorry.´

Edward´s crease furrowed. ´Bella, please. You don't have anything to apologize for. Please continue.´

But I knew why I was stalling. ´Please don't be mad. But Jake told me that vampires are the natural enemies of werewolves. I´m sure you both know that?´ I looked up and they both nodded in response. ´Well, Jake told me he knew what you… are. He knows you´re vampires. It was a tribe legend. He told me that werewolves shift whenever a human is in danger…,´

My eyes grew wide. Edward looked alarmed at me.

´Holy shit. He said he shifts when a human is in danger. He shifted two weeks ago. He thought it would be because of you guys but what if… What if...,´

´What if it's Victoria,´ Edward ended. ´We need to warn Carlisle. This changes everything.´

´What more can you tell us, Bella?´ Alice asked.

´So, this might mean that Victoria is already in Forks for two weeks, right? We need to inform Jake. He could help finding her. But how do we explain this to him? I mean, he really thinks he has changed because of you guys, so naturally, he is quite angry at all of you. Even when we were talking, he was very agitated and I tried not to upset him too much. So maybe I need to talk to him?´ I explained to her.

That caught Edward´s attention. ´What do you mean when you say, ´he was agitated?´

´Edward, he shifts when he is angry or upset. So we tried to keep him as calm as possible. So that he could not shift´ I told Edward.

That seemed to upset him. His eyebrows rose and his jaw tightened. ´So, not only were you alone with a newly changed werewolf? But also one that was angry? Bella, do you know how lucky you are to still be alive? Do you know how dangerous that was?´

I grew annoyed at him. ´Calm down, Edward. Jake would never hurt me, we made sure of that. We both kept our distance and Jake practically ran off when we talked about you guys. We really made sure he could not accidentally harm me, trust me!´

´It's not that I don´t trust you, Bella. I just… you amaze me every single day. Your strength, your courage. It's just… I don't know how to react,´ Edward stuttered. ´From what we've heard about werewolves, it would be next to impossible for them to control their emotions, yet you still managed to keep Jacob calm. That's utterly impressive.´

I reached out and cupped his face in both my hands. ´Edward, Jake is my best friend and he would never hurt me. Maybe it's the same as your thirst for my blood? Your desire to keep me safe is greater than that one. So maybe Jake feels somewhat the same. He wanted to be calm in order for me to be safe. So we both deserve the credit,´ I ended with a wink.

With my thumb, I softly caressed Edward´s cheek and my fingers made their way over to his mouth, gently feeling his cold lips under my warm touch.

Alice interrupted us. ´Guys, I don't want to be third-wheeling, but we still need to warn Carlisle and come up with a plan.´

´Alice is right. Bella, you just said Jacob was angry at us?´ Edward asked me.

I nodded. ´Yes, so maybe I can better call him now and explain everything to him. And with his help, we can come up with a plan.´

Alice handed me my phone. ´The more help, the better, I guess.´

I dialled Jacob´s number and Alice quickly got out of the window to inform Carlisle and the others. While I was waiting for Jacob to pick up his phone, Edward reached out and gently squeezed my hand.

Jacob happily answered his phone. ´Hey Bella, what´s up? Listen, I almost went to bed and then I thought; what do you call a sleeping werewolf? An unaware-wolf! Isn't that the lamest joke you´ve ever heard?!´

I bit my lip. ´Jake, please. Listen to me. I wouldn't be calling you this late if it weren't important.´ My voice cracked.

´What´s wrong?´ He worriedly asked.

´There is a vampire threat. You´ve seen my scar, right? Well, the vampire that attacked me had a girlfriend who is on her way to kill Charlie and I right now. I think that's why you´ve changed. I mean, I'm a human and I'm in danger due to a vampire. It all adds up. But the Cullens are on their way to find her and kill her and…,´ But Jacob had already interrupted me.

´I´m on my way, Bells. Hang in there,´ Jacob said before hanging up the phone.

I stared at the phone in my hands. ´He's coming,´ I said to no one in particular as Edward could have easily heard my conversation.

Suddenly, I felt scared. I was so proud of myself for connecting the dots of the missing future and Jacob, but right now, I was simply scared something could go wrong. What if I dragged Jacob into this mess and he got hurt because of me? Was this really the best thing I could have done? My shoulders shivered and I did not know why until Edward pulled me into his arms and I felt something wet against his shirt. Oh wait, it was me. I was crying.

´It will all be alright, Bella. Don´t worry.´ He tried to comfort me but it did not help.

´What if something goes wrong?´ I cried into his embrace. As much as the rational part of my brain assured me that they were all extremely strong, I could not help but feel guilty and scared. A horrible exhausting mixture of emotions.

´One werewolf and six vampires against one single vampire. We´re strong, so please don´t worry. And Jacob can lead us to Victoria, we have a really big advantage now. It will be alright, I promise you.´

´Six?´ I looked up. What did he mean by that?

´I won´t leave you alone, Bella. I´m staying here with you.´ Edward looked determined and I felt a little bit more hopeful.

´Do you really think we stand a chance?´ I asked, needed to be assured one more time.

´Yes,´ he whispered into my hair. I noticed my crying had stopped.

A knock on my window made me look up from Edward´s embrace. I released myself from the hug and walked over to see who was at the other side of the window.

´Jasper?´

I made room so that he could enter my room through the window. He walked over to me and he came very close. That surprised me, since I had only seen him at school. When I was visiting the Cullens, he made sure he was away and kept his distance.

He even put his hand on my shoulder.

´I´m sorry, Bella,´ Jasper said, smiling warmly. Why was he apologizing and for what?

Suddenly, I felt a heavy exhaustion seeping through my body; my eyelids were suddenly too heavy to hold up.

´Was that really necessary?´ I heard Edward´s cynical remark as he slipped his strong arms under my knees and behind my back. I drifted off to a dreamless state, before he even got me to the bed.

It was very early when I awoke. I had slept surprisingly well but I was more alert than I normally was when waking up. What day was it? Why was I this alert? I opened my eyes and immediately saw Edward, who was lying right next to me. He looked concerned. But why?

My eyes widened as I abruptly remembered everything from last night. The fight. Jacob. Jasper who put me to sleep. Had I missed everything?

´Sorry. Jasper thought you did need to relax. He felt how exhausted you were and he tried to help.´ Edward explained to me.

´Well, don´t tell him that. If he tried to relax me any more, I´ll be in a coma,´ I said annoyingly to him.

´So you noticed,´ Edward smiled and reached out to stroke my hair.

´He wasn't really trying to be very subtle about it,´ I pushed his hand away. I did not want to discuss Jasper or what he had done to me yesterday. I wanted to know more about the fight.

´How did you sleep?´ Edward raised an eyebrow at me as he didn´t know why I would push his hand away.

´Shut up about this. What happened last night? How many of you are dead?´ I grew angry at him. How could he lay here so nonchalantly while I was dying to know the truth about last night. What had happened? How bad was it? It must have been very bad as he did not talk to me about it.

Edward did not understand my question at all. He blinked a couple of times, until he gave me a perfect crooked grin. ´Oh Bella, it's over. We managed to find Victoria. She is dead. Gone. Not a threat anymore. And no one got hurt.

Well, maybe except Emmett´s ego a little bit. I heard Jacob was equally as strong as Emmett in the fight so I was very disappointed I could not directly see his face. But seeing it in the minds of the rest of my family definitely helped, though.´ He laughed as he thought about it.

My forehead creased. This did not make any sense at all! ´Then why did you look so concerned just now?

´Well Bella, I did not know how you would react to the ´putting you to sleep´ situation. You have every right to be mad about that, you know.´ He reached out again and this time, I did not stop him.

I pressed my lips together. ´But why did you avoid talking about the fight?´

Edward frowned as he made sense of what I was asking. ´Fuck, I´m sorry, Bella. With Jasper's ability, he had also calmed your heartbeat down so I did not hear how upset you were. I thought you were simply waking up. I had no idea how concerned you were about the fight. I´m so sorry.

The truth is, the fight happened really fast. Once Jasper had put you to sleep, Jacob came shortly after. He sniffed and my family quickly followed him. They found Victoria in the mountains, a couple of miles away from Forks. She knew she was outnumbered. So they circled around her and attacked her. It was over in mere seconds.

Jasper felt how exhausted you were, Bella. He tried to calm you as you had no reason to be so scared.´ Edward gently stroked my cheeks.

And I.. I don't know what came over me. Relief for what had happened did not even cover this immense feeling of pure blissful happiness. No one got hurt. Everything was over. The threat was gone.

My face lit up and I started grinning. It was truly over. Oh my. Edward was relieved at my reaction. He came closer to me, stroked my cheeks, gently grabbed my hair and finally kissed me on my lips.

And I… I don´t know what came over me. Call it relief, call it love, call it stupid teenage hormones, but I wanted him. I wanted him in a way I had not wanted anyone before. Anyone but Edward. So I kissed him back. I opened my mouth to welcome him and let my body react like it normally reacted around Edward. My face reddened as I reached out and placed my warm hand on the few inches of his skin that weren't covered by clothes. I placed one hand on the curve where his neck met his back and with the other, I tried to unbutton his shirt.

Edward stopped me. ´Bella, Charlie is asleep in the next room.´

´I don´t care.´

A/N: Thank you.

I don´t say it enough, but thank you. I truly appreciate that you´re reading this little story. I can´t wrap my head around the fact that there are real people out there (or vampires :D ) from all over the world who click on this story and then... start reading it. It´s mind-blowing.

So thank you. To each and every one of you. Thank you to the silent reader. Thank you to the people who ´liked´ this story. Thank you to the one that left a comment. Thank you to the ones that leave multiple comments.

Thank you, dankjewel, gracias, obrigada, Danke, merci, efcharisto, terima kasih, grazie, khop khun, arigatou, shokran, hvala, tak, kiitos, mahalo, grazzi, diolch