AN Thanks to everyone that is still reading.

As you may have noticed, the story now has a cover :)

It was designed and made by YellowSmoke. So all credit goes to them :D

I'm also Betaing her story Kingdom Come, so go and check it out if you want.

As for all you patient readers, the next chapter is going to be an EPOV!

I'll try to upload it either today or tomorrow!

As always let me know what you think!

Chapter 13 - I've got to get the fuck out of here!

'Bella.' Kate scolded me. We were in the gardens and had been practicing with my shield for over an hour now. But I was distracted. My shield kept slipping evertime and I wasn't even getting to the one minute mark at all. Not even close. Kate had noticed of course and was getting annoyed by it.

'Keep your focus please.' She said yet again.

I sighed and bent over, putting my hand on my knees and panting heavily. 'Can we just take a break?' I pleaded.

Kate looked at me for a moment, then nodded. 'Can you get us something to drink?' she asked turning to Zafrina.

Zafrina looked between us for a moment then nodded and headed back into the house.

'Are you going to tell me what's going on?' Kate asked, sitting down on the ground.

I followed suit. 'Nothing.' I muttered.

'Bella.' Kate rolled her eyes. 'I know I've not known you for long, but even after a month I can tell something is bothering you.'

I looked away from her gaze. When I still hadn't said anything after a minute, Kate took my hand gently in hers.

'Is it about Edward?' she asked softly. My gaze shot to hers in surprise. What did she know? She gave me a small knowing smile, and squeezed my hands. 'Do you love him?'

My eyes widened in surprise. 'What?' I asked, my mouth dry.

'I know it was an arranged marriage, but you love him don't you?'

I dropped her hand. 'I don't.' I muttered.

'Are you sure?' she asked. 'Isn't he the reason you're so distracted right now?'

'No.' I said, but Kate only raised her eyebrow at me. 'I'm not' I insisted.

'Alright then. I won't press any further. Just know that even though a mate bond is a great thing, it can scare us sometimes. And it's okay to be scared about it. It's a big change to suddenly feel so strongly about someone else. To feel as if they are the only person in the world that matters anymore. So just know that although you might be scared, and he is too, that eventually you both will realize that you were meant to be together.'

I struggled not to roll my eyes at her. She thought Edward was scared of a mate bond and that's why he was holding me at arm's length? Please. That was the most stupid excuse I had ever heard. He was just a dick. And I most certainly did not love him.

At least that was what I was trying to convince myself of.

Zafrina returned with three bottles of blood and we sat quietly and drank them for a moment.

'Let's call it quits for today, okay?' Kate suggested as we fnished up the bottles.

I nodded eagerly. I was done for today. I was ready to get out of here.
Although it was slightly earlier than I had agreed on with Jacob, I was sure it was fine to make a break for it now. I didn't want to stay around here longer than necessary, espescially not with all these prying and deceptively perceptive eyes that seemed to be focussed on me.

'Sure.' Zafrina agreed. 'Same time tomorrow?'

Kate nodded and I gave a curt nod as well. As they both got to their feet I thanked them.

'Thank you for helping me. You didn't have to but you chose to help me anyway. So thank you. Thank you for being so kind to me.' I said, looking up at them.

They smiled back at me. 'Anytime, Bella.' Zafrina said kindly.

'We're here to help you.' kate said with a kind smile.

I nodded and thank them again before they turned and headed back into the house. I sat for a moment longer staring up at the sky above. It was overcast again, which seemed to be the norm for this place. I'd been here a while now and I had yet to see the sun. It was either overcast and threatening to rain, or raining. I missed the sun. Volterra had had sunshine nearly the year round. The large stained galss windows of the court would let in beautifully coloured light and the inner courtyard would almost look etheral, bathed in the golden glow. I was going to find the sun again, I promised myself.

I got to my feet slowly and started walking along the gardens. They were beautiful, not as landscaped as the one in Volterra, but more natural. There were rosebushes planted beside the house, there was a lovely pond in the centre of the garden with lots of flowers and bushes surrounding it, trees dotted the yard with little flowerbeds around them.

I took a turn around the pond and sat down for a moment on the edge of it. Fish swam merrily along beneath the surface and I smiled at the sight. Soft footfalls behind me caught my attention and I turned around, only to immediately wish I hadn't.

Tanya was sauntering over to me.

God did that woman not walk normally... ever? I had only ever seen her saunter anywhere. She was ridiculous.

'Bella.' She purred in that fake voice of hers. 'I had hoped to find you here.'

'Well you found me.' I muttered.

Did she also never dress herself fully? She was clad again in something barely there. A sheer see through top, that showcased her black bra paired with a ridiculously short miniskirt that left very little to the imagination.

'I wanted to talk to you for a moment.' she continued, stepping closer to me.

'What's up?' I asked, wanting her to get on with it.

'Well, I know you and Edward are having a little bit of a rough time of it. And I thought perhaps I could help?'

I cocked an eyebrow at her. 'What are you talking about?'

Her smile turned sour then. 'Look. I warned you before.' She said stepping even closer. 'He's mine. I've told you this and yet you continue to make advances towards him.'

I frowned and stood up. 'Listen, I don't know what you've heard but I haven't-'

'I don't care.' She cut me off. 'I don't care about your excuses. I came here to give you one final warning.' She spat at me.

'what?'

she stabbed her finger into my chest menacingly.

'You are a pathetic little Volturi brat. You are nothing. You will never be anything. You are a disgrace to vampires everywehere. You are pathetic. You will never be worthy of someone as great as Edward. You will never be worthy of the title of coven mistress of the Cullen Coven. You will never be worthy of being here.' She spat at me.

I recoiled slightly. Her words stinging me more than I wanted her to know. She was preying on all my vulnerabilities it seemed. She somehow knew exactly what to say to hurt me the most.

'look I don't know what Edward has told you… but you're welcome to him.' I said, crossing my arms over my chest, trying to put up a brave front, even though I wanted to curl into a little ball and cry.

'Oh you bet I'm welcoming to him. I'm the only one that is getting him.' she growled.

'Fine. You're the only one. Message received. Now can I go?' I asked, getting exasperated with her and her attitude.

Her eyes flared. Oops. Perhaps antagonizing the angry vampire that was already threatening me wasn't such a good idea.

'Now listen here you little bitch.' She snarled, her arm shooting up and wrapping around my neck. 'Don't you dare get snippy with me. Because I will hurt you. I know the rest of these imbeciles has fallen for your waif like innocent charm, but I can see through your bullshit. You're fake. You're disgusting and you're out to get Edward. I won't let that happen.'

I clutched her wrist trying to pry her hand off my neck. 'Fuck you, bitch. You're the only fake one here.' I gasped out.

she growled and snarled and snapped her teeth close to my nose. I growled back, pushing my nails into her wrist. She yelped and loosened her grip enough for me to yank her hand away and quickly twist it around her back. She yelped and struggled, but Emmett had shown me this hold and she wasn't getting out of it anytime soon.

'Do you really think Edward wants you? That he loves you back?' she spat at me, struggling under my hands. 'The first night you were here, he fucked me, telling me you would never measure up to me. Lissing you was my idea, you know. Just to fuck with your head. Give you the idea he was falling for you. Everytime he kissed you, he came back to me and we laughed and fucked.' She spat.

I shook my head unwilling to believe it had all been Tanya. Thinking back on it, it was vindictive enough to fit her behaviour.

I let her go. She stumbled from my grip and turned around, her face a nasty smile.

'That' sright. Do you see now? Do you see where you belong now?' she spat at me.

I shook my head again. 'it wasn't… he didn't…'

'Yes he did.' She assured me.

I stumbled back a step. Part of me was rebelling, surely this couldn't be true. But part of me was already accepting it. It was inevitable wasn't it?

'and everyone you know was in on it.' She said, her grin become more vindictive. 'Remember when Emmett asked you took keep an open mind about Edward? All part of the plan. Rosalie and Angela helping you being nice to you?'

I shook my head again. 'No. they're my friends.'

she scoffed. 'As if they could ever be friends with a Volturi bitch.'

'No. They didn't care…'

'That's right. They don't care… about you. We all laughed and laughed whenever you needed your alone time. How gullible you are... How desperate for attention you are...'

I stumbled back another step. My heart sank. Was this all just part of their plan?

'No one wants you here. No one. So you should just take all your shit and leave.'

I sucked in a ragged breath. I knew it. It had been to good to be true.

'Don't worry.' I finally managed to whisper through my suddenly consitrcted throat. 'I'm leaving.'

'Good.' She sneered. 'and don't ever come back.'

'I won't' I said, swallowing through the pain in my chest. From Edwrad and Tanya I could have expected this… but Angela… Rosalie… even Emmett? I couldn't wrap my head around it. It hurt.

I stumbled away from Tanya and started walking, then I started running. I wanted to leave. As soon as I possible could. I ran as fast as I could towards the edge of the woods. It was still too early, not even close to the agreed upong time that Jacob would be waiting with my bag. But I just couldn't stay here another moment. I couldn't go back in there and face Angela or even Emmett... I couldn't do it.

I struggled to keep my sobs contained. I ran into the forest as fast as I could. I was aware of footsteps following behind me and not a few seconds later it sounded like shouting was following me.

But I simply kept running faster and faster until the trees were blurring past me and the sounds faded into the background. Still, I kept running. The forests were dense and hid me from view of humanity, so I pressed on. Wind and rain, sun and warmth, I kept running. I wasn't sure in what direction I was running and I wasn't sure for how long I had been running, but suddenly I came across a heard of elk.

My thrist suddnely flared up and I stopped running. I had never hunted before but I was going to give it a whirl. Surprisingly I managed well enough, easily taking down a couple of bucks while keeping my clothes intact.

Once I had fed I made my way to the edge of civilization. I needed to get my bearings and see where I was. I knew we had been somewhere in Washington state. But I had been running for at least a day I figured. I could be anywhere. I could be in Canada by now…

After I disposed of the elk carcasses and cleaned myself up by the small stream of water I started looking for signs of humans. I quickly found a trail that had been used a few hours ago by humans. I followed their scent along the trail slowly, glad I was still wearing my exercise clothes. I was sure to blend in like this. It took about an hour at human speed to find the start of the trail. There was a little information cabin up ahead with a queue of people in front of it. I took a small breath just to acclimatize myself again to human scent. It was potent, but my thrist was well satiated and I simply strolled into the crowded area. No one seemed to pay me any attention and I strolled past the little cabin to pause at the map that was displayed to the side.

Ohio. I was in Ohio.

I didn't know much about American geography, but I knew Ohio was towards the east coast. It was a few states over from Washington. But it wasn't far enough for me to feel comfortable or safe yet.

I nonchalantly made my way back into the forest after studying the map. If I was going further east I needed to know which path to take to disappear into the woods. As I stepped into the treeline, I kept human pace for another fifteen minutes, in case anyone had been following me or paying attention to me.

They hadn't, so I stepped off the path again and started running again. I didn't stop until darkness finally fell.

I stumbled to a stop not far from the state border of New Hampshire. I knew that was about as east as you could go, only Maine was in front of me now. I didn't smell any humans or see any trails, so I figured I had to be in some sort of wildlife park or nature reserve. I didn't really care either way. I had no need for sleep. And although it was dark now, I could see just as well as regular. What I didn't know was what I should do next.

I was in the middle of nowhere. I was away from both of my tormenters; the Volturi and the Cullens. I was completely alone for the first time in my existence. What was I to do now?

I sighed to myself and sat down on a small boulder that protruded from the undergrowth. I held my head in my hands for a moment, just thinking. I was free it seemed for the first time in forever. Free in an age that gave women the opportunity to do what they wanted. In my own time women were still chained to the stove. My mother had been the exception to the rule and that had seen her shunned by society and even by my father. Now I had the opportunity to make her proud though. I could start my own life. right here, far away from the Cullens and the Volturi's, in between the humans. I could live side by side with them, learn with them, grow with them… hide with them. I took a deep breath.

Could I really do this?

I stood up and walked over to an outlook point. There was a bustling cityscape below us. The lights of the city filled up the skies and I could see the cars going past on the roads, the people milling about in the late night scene. There was faint music and noise drafting up with the winds. I took a deep breath to steady myself and thought about it logically.

I would need an income. Money was important in any society. I had to make sure to get a night job somewhere… that way the sun wouldn't keep me out of work. I needed a place to live, but no roommates, and somewhere close to nature.

I couldn't draw attention to myself… so it would have to be a bit secluded.

I could start learning things during the day… there were probably schools around. Or perhaps online classes? That was a thing nowadays wasn't it?

A feeling of excitement bubbled up in me. I could do this… I could! I would!