AN

I'm loving all your reviews! Thanks so much to everyone enjoying this story.

I know Edward is a pain in the ass, and i'm sorry but he will remain that way for at least a few more chapters.
Just bear with him and me ;)

Just a quick question to my readers:
I'm writing this story ahead, and I would like your input on the EPOV chapters, would you all like to read everything that has happened from Edwards point of view? or is a flashback style to the pivotal moments more to your liking? Let me know in a review or message!

Thanks!

As always thanks for reading, hope you enjoy and let me know what you think :D

Chapter 7 - I'm a lean, mean, killing machine... sort of.

True to their word Rosalie and Angela hadn't brought up Edward's behaviour to anyone else. Rosalie had asked Emmett to start training me, so the following day he was at my door ready to start my training.

'Wasn't I supposed to have court instructions first?' I asked Rosalie as she hurried me into a pair of yoga pants and a sport shirt.

'We will start that tonight.' She said with a wave of her hand.

'But what if I meet someone along the way and I insult them because I don't know proper etiquette around here?' I asked. That had been a big no-no in Volterra.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. 'We're not stuck in the middle ages here, Bella. No one expects you to curtsey or bow around here. Just say Hi'

'Hi?' I asked sceptically. She nodded and then gave me a pair of sneakers to put on my feet.

I stuffed my feet in my sneakers and tied the laces before getting up and heading over to Emmett who had been patiently waiting in the sitting room.

'Alright, Ms swan.' He started.

'Bella, please.' I said.

He nodded once with a grin. 'Bella, then. I've arranged the training room for us, that way you won't have to worry about anyone else watching or feeling embarrassed.'

'Thank you.' I smiled gratefully at him. I didn't want to have my ass handed to me in front of all my new coven mates.

'I've started a training regime that will get you combat ready in no time. I will be at your door at eight every morning to train until noon. The other half of the day you will be training with Kate to work on your shield.'

I took a deep breath and nodded.

'It is of course completely voluntary, so whenever you don't feel like doing something, just tell your ladies and they will cancel for the day.'

I nodded again. I still couldn't quite believe it was this easy to start my training. I had pestered Aro about it relentlessly when I had been in favour and he kept puttin git off, when I'd went directly to Felix, he'd just laughed it off saying a woman like me shouldn't be training with him. I had stopped trying after that, and when I dropped out of favour Aro definintly wouldn't spent any time or energy on me to improve myself.

'Alright. Let's go then.' Emmett said, pulling me from my thoughts and smiling at me. He stepped out of the room and I followed after him.

We walked down the hallway which was surprisingly deserted, and headed down the stairs.

'This is the main part of the house, it is where your and Edward's rooms are, mine, and Jasper's as well. He's Edward's other right hand man.'

'He has two?'

'He couldn't chose.' Emmett smiled over his shoulder at me.

'So you share the responsibilities of the coven?'

Emmett nodded. 'We're not really one for labels… Edward followed after Carlisle, that was your ceremony master, because he wanted to retire. He and Esme live in the property behind this house. They have an advisory role now. But when Carlisle stepped down, it was either, Edward or Jasper or I, who had to take over. I'm more of a brawns type of guy, so leadership isn't really for me. Jasper wasn't really looking forward to being a leader again, that's to do with his history you see. So only Edward remained really. He wasn't keen on it either, but Carlisle felt it was for the best.'

'So he was forced into this?'

'Forced… not really. More like… gently nudged. He's come to accept his role and he likes having a purpose. He needs to have a purpose, more so than the rest of us. So even though he bitches and moans about it, he's scretely quite content.' Emmett said, smirking slightely.

I frowned at all this information. It didn't quite seem that this was the normal way to run a coven. It all seemed… so informal. Aro would never talk about Caius or Marcus to a virtual stranger. He certainly wouldn't paint them in a bad light. Although Emmett didn't really do that. It just sounded like… a big brother talking about his little brother with affection but also a little bit of dirision.

'When did he take over?' I asked, my curiosity was peaked now.

'It's been about fifty years now.'

'That was around the time Aro said you guys began threatening the Volturi.' I muttered.

Emmett suddenly whipped around and I sprung back a step in shock. Was this the limit? Had I done something that would cost me now?

But instead of looking angry, Emmett was thoroughly surprised and a little amused. 'We threatened the volturi?' he asked bemused.

I gave an uncertain nod. Emmett let out a guffawing laugh, clutching his stomach and doubling over. I stared at him bewildered.

'Oh man, that is just too rich.' He finally said as he calmed down enough to speak again. Seeing my confusion he tried to explain. 'Fifty years ago there was a newborn problem over here. We, meaning Carlisle, Jasper, Edward and I, together with Alice, Rosalie and Esme defeated them. It should have been the Volturi's job to finish them off but they had hoped the newborns would take us out. We'd become too large, you see. They wanted to take us out, but we hadn't done anything wrong. When we finished off the newborns without any casualties, the Volturi had to back down. But they didn't want to, so they threatened us. Mostly Alice, Jasper and Edward, but us nonetheless. We had to fight back, otherwise they would have killed us.'

I frowned at that. that was not the story I had been told at all. And why would the Volturi target three vampires in particular?

'Ehat have they told you?' he asked seeing my confusion.

'The story I was told that fifty years ago there was a group of Volturi soldiers that had to go to America to help pass judgement on a Coven master. When they arrived that coven master slaughtered each and everyone of them in cold blood. They shipped body parts back to us and attached a note that if the Volturi ever dared to come in their territory again, it would mean war.'

'Let me guess, that coven master was Edward?'

I nodded once, afraid to confirm it in case it upset him, but Emmett only laughed.

'I will admit Edward, at the end of the 60s, was pretty murderous. But that was mostly because he was sick and tired of the Volturi throwing guards our way every few months. We had no rest, we were always on the run. That's when he finally put his foot down and we moved here and we started building our own army.' He started walking again. 'I mean don't get me wrong, we weren't saints. But we only retaliated, never sought confrontation. Your masters were the ones to do that. We just defended… sometimes a bit enthusiastically. But we never sent back body parts with notes.'

Emmett stopped in front of a doorway and turned to look at me again. 'I guess I can understand why they would tell you things like that about us… and I'm sorry you had to come here thinking we were like that. But I will try to prove to you that we aren't that… horrible.'

I gave him a small smile. My mind was reeling from all this information.

'If you have any other tall tales you would like to test for truth just fire away.'

My head was filled to the brim with horror stories i had been told about this coven and especially its coven master, but I wasn't sure Emmett would appreciate his entire coven being dragged through the mud, right now. I did have to rely on him for the training after all. Perhaps I could dose it. A story a day, or something...

Time would tell who was right after all.

'Not for today.' I smiled. He smiled back and gestured for me to go through the doorway. I stepped inside and was a bit fazed by what was in front of me. Although the house had been done up in a modern style, and a fully equipped gym certainly didn't feel out of place… it just felt so absolutely foreign to me.

There were several intricate looking machines off to the side, which intimidated the hell out of me. There was a large clear space with thick matts in the middle of the room. One wall of the room was completely done up with mirrors and had a barre installed along it. There were also several weightbenches along the room, although I frowned at them. Human weights were nothing to vampires.

'What are the weights for?' I asked Emmett as he pulled off his shoes and stepped unto the matts.

I followed his example.

'We have some guards at the house that like to use them.'

'You employ human guards? What effect are they?' this coven was getting stranger by the second.

Emmett grinned and shook his head. 'They're not human.'

I frowned. 'Then what are they?'

'You'll meet them soon enough.' He answered shrugging.

I frowned at him but he just smiled at me and gestured me over to the matts.

'What type of combat do you know?' he asked.

I just stared at him. He frowned. 'Nothing at all?'

'I was supposed to be a shield, kept behind the guard to incapacitate others coming for the Volturi. I wasn't meant to be in the thick of it.' I mumbled. Of course that plan had failed spectacularly.

'Aboslutely nothing at all?' Emmett asked incredulous. I just shrugged. He let out a low whistle. 'Well, allright then. It's been awhile since I've trained anyone up from scratch though… just tell me if I'm going too fast or too hard.'

I gave a nod, suddenly quite nervous about what I was about to do. Emmett however was a good teacher and I had nothing to be worried about. We spent three hours going over basic fighting stances and learning the basics of boxing. Throwing punches and learning how to dodge and defend myself. Emmett insisted that modern techniques were the best to start out with, the more advanced I would become, the more other forms and techniques he would throw in.

It felt good to be this physical and I was surprised at my strength. Emmett was too. I was slight and quite small, but I was strong. Strong enough to bring Emmett to his knees with one punch. I delighted in that fact. Jane and Marcus had drilled into me a sense of weakness and powerlessness that I never once had thought to fight back against them, sure that I would be in a world of pain and trouble if I did.

But now… seeing myself bring Emmett – the man who could put Atlas to shame – to his knees with a well placed punch to his abdomen. I had never felt more powerful than in that moment. And I sure as hell realized that I had been living like an absolute fool for the past fifty years. Cowering, jumping at their every command. I was worse than pathetic. God why had I been so foolish?

My frustration got the better of me as I started pummeling Emmett, who took it in stride. A low whistle from the doorway broke us apart after a moment and Emmett whipped around quickly to see who it was. He relaxed the moment his eyes landed on the man. I immediately recognized him as the blonde haired man from the photos in Edward's room. He was tall and stately, his blonde hair slightly longer and hanging in his eyes. He was smiling at us.

'I see you're giving Emmett a run for his money.' He said in a slightly southern accent.

'She's a natural. Strong too.' Emmett said, praising me, I looked to the floor slightly uncomfortable. I had never been praised… ever… 'Bella, this is Jasper.'

Jasper walked over and stepped unto the matts, extending his hand.

'Nice to meet you.' he smiled kindly at me.

I smiled back, but as I went to shake his hand, I noticed his arm and hand was covered with cresent shaped scars. I gasped before I could stop myself. Jasper looked down at his hand and gave me a small smile.

'Sorry, it's quite a sight.' He said, pulling his hand back.

'No, I'm sorry.' I quickly stammered out. 'I shouldn't have…'

'It's alright.' Jasper said in a soothing tone. 'I'm used to it.'

'Still.. I shouldn't have…' I insisted.

'It's fine. The only thing that marks our skin.' he muttered, rubbing his hand over one of the marks. 'I was turned in 1863 when I was a major in the confederate army. A woman, spotted me in the battlefield and knew something was up about me. So she changed me and I spent the next eighty years with her in the south. She was a coven master, who liked carnage… the south was different back then. Cutthroat. It was kill or be killed. I was her second in command and it was my job to protect her.'

'Hence the scars.' I surmised.

He nodded. 'It was another battle every other week, some times even more often. It makes for a lot of scars.'

'I'm sorry.' I said, putting my hand on his arm, tracing one of the marks.

He shrugged. 'I got out.'

'Yes, and he and his little wife have been here bothering us ever since.' Emmett said, throwing a punch into Jasper's shoulder. Jasper laughed and pushed him back and the heavy atmosphere in the room suddenly lightened.

'So what has this oaf been teaching you?' Jasper asked me.

'We should do double attackers!' Emmett yelled excitedly, not giving me a chance to respond. I stared at him blankly.

Jasper was grinning over at Emmett. 'Is she ready for that?'

'Ready enough. And what better way to get ready than to just do it?'

Jasper looked at me for a moment, then back at Emmett. He shrugged and nodded. They both turned towards me on the matts.

'Alright Bella. Now, just do what feels good and natural. Everything you did with me was good, just now apply it against both of us.'

I looked between them, absolutely bewildered. I wasn't ready for this. Not even remotely. But Emmett didn't give me a chance to say no. He nodded to Jasper and they suddenly lunged for me. I had expected myself to immediately drop down into a fetal position and cower on the floor. Instead some long buried and forgotten instinct seemed to kick in. Instead of cowering, I found myself planting my feet and bracing myself.

Emmett reached me first, I sidestepped him easily. His size made it hard for him to change course suddenly. I made sure to keep myself out of his way like that, using my speed and agility against him. Jasper however was lither on his feet and more nimble. He was harder to dodge. But I could use Emmett against him. They were not working together, but both attacking me separately. So whenever Jasper was about to make a move against me, I made sure that Emmett would be barreling into him or barely past him, so he would have to adjust course. For minutes I kept them at bay like that. When they finally started working together however, my time was up. As soon as they were working together I was disadvantaged and struggling. I kept blocking Emmett's punches, but Jasper was quicker and harder to track while my attention was focussed on Emmett. He almost brought me to my knees a few times.

Just when I had punched Emmett in the stomach once again Jasper was coming in with a kick that would knock my feet from under me when suddenly a voice thundered through the room freezing us all in our places.

'What on earth is going on in here?' Edward's furious voice struck out like a viscious whip.

Japer and Emmett striaghtned up immediately. They looked back at Edward with similar frowns.

'We're just teaching Bella some combat moves.' Emmett said in tone that suggested he didn't get why Edward was angry. But he was angry, murderously so. And his angry gaze was fixed on me.

'Why?' he barked.

'Because she has no experience.' Emmett said, still confused.

Edward crossed his arms over his chest, drawing my attention to it. He was wearing a fitted T shirt that seemed slightly too tight. it wrapped around his biceps emphasizing their size. the material stretched across his chest and I tried my hardest to keep my eyes from appreciating his fine physique.

'And you dind't think to run this by me?' he asked, his voice still angry.

'Why?' Jasper asked equally confused. 'We've always trained newcomers.'

'Yes, newcomers. Not Volturi members.'

'She's a Cullen now, bro.' Emmett said crossing his arms over his chest as well.

'She's still a Volturi and always will be.'

His words stung. God why did he have to be such a jerk? everyone else i had met so far was kind and gentle, but Edward... every thing out of his mouth was harsh and cruel. But I wisely kept my mouth shut. I knew any imput from me would not be appreciated right now.

Jasper frowned now, starting to look angry as well. 'Look, she's here now. You can stop-'

Edward threw him a glare. 'If you finish that sentence I will tear you apart.'

Jasper looked taken aback by that and Emmett took a an angry step forward.

'Now, you wait one minute. This is getting ridiculous. You don't threaten him. Not us!' Emmett warned.

The commotion was drawing curious eyes to the training room. A new man, the one I recognized as the ceremony master was heading towards us now as well. Emmett had told me his name.. but I couldn't remember it.

'What's going on here?' he asked, stepping next to Edward and putting his hand on his shoulder. To support him or restrain him?

'Ask him.' Emmett spat, pointing at Edward.

'I don't know what you're doing here, but if this is how you want to do this, then I'm ready for you.' Jasper said, squaring off against Edward with an equally deadly look.

Suddenly I realized that they had both been going easy on me. The absolute power they were exuding now was nothing compared to what they had been showing me.

'Carlisle I think it's best if you take Bella back to her room.' Edward ground out through clenched teeth, keeping his gaze firmly on Emmett and Jasper.

'She's got a session with Kate.' Emmett countered.

Edward shook his head. 'Not today.'

My stomach dropped. Here it was. But Carlisle looked over at Edward, a surprised look on his face. 'I think Bella can find her room perfectly well by herself. She's not a prisoner here.' He said in a calm voice. 'She also doesn't have to go back to her room if she doesn't want to.'

I sighed and hung my head. I knew it had been too good to be true. But Edward was the coven amster here, and he'd just made his wishes abundantly clear. I was not a free member of this coven. I was not allowed to do as I wished.

'It's fine.' I whispered. I stepped away from the matts and pulled my shoes back on my feet. 'I'll go to my room.'

'No, Bella. You don't have to go.' Emmett said fiercely.

'Yes, she does.' Edward visciously cut in. Emmett took three quick steps and was in Edward's face immediately.

'What are you doing?' he asked, his face angry and full of confusion at the same time.

I quickly made my way over to the door and waited for either Wdward or Carlisle to move aside to let me pass. Carlisle look at me with a kind but sorrowful look and stepped aside.

Just as I was about to pass through, Edward's hand shot out and he grabbed hold of my wrist in a crushing grip.

'Don't leave your room unless I tell you it's okay.'

I hung my head and nodded once. I was a prisoner once again. All the kindness I had been given was nothing. It seemed they had just wanted to give me a taste of life again just to crush me again. I took a deep breath ready to trudge back to my chambers to begin my confinement when I remembered what I had resolved.

I was a vampire. I was powerful. I was not going to go through the same thing I went through in Volterra. This time I was going to fight back!

So I yanked my wrist harshly from Edwards grip, making him stumble from the unexpected movement. It brought him closer to me and I put my face inches from his. His ocher eyes widened as he looked at me.

'I'm not your little plaything.' I spat at him. 'I know Aro sold me to you, but I don't intend to live like I have ever again. If you're so desperate to be rid of me, kill me. Now. Otherwise I'm going to live my life here like I want to live it.' I stared into his eyes challenging him.

It was now or never. If he backed down now, I was never again letting him walk over me. If he followed through and killed me… well then either way my miserable existence was over.

Edward's eyes were shocked and he looked flabbergasted. The rest did too. When he made no move to either speak or do anything else for that matter. I turned away from him.

'Emmett, will you ask Kate to meet me in the gardens? I haven't seen them yet, but I'd like to practice with her outside.' Emmett's shocked eyes snapped to my face and then a slow smile spread across his features.

'Of course. I will tell her.' Emmett said, nodding to me.

I turned back to Edward, who was still gaping at me. 'I'm going to the gardens now.' I said in a clear voice as I challenged Edward again with my eyes to do something afbout it if he didn't like it.

But he stood frozen as a statue, so I turned my back to him and walked from the room with my head held high.