Disclaimer: Only the new storyline is mine, the rest is Stephenie Meyers.

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Aro moves to stand in front of Alice and says: "Alice Cullen, you have been found guilty of giving false testimony and of trying to kill the true mate of Major Whitlock. Your punishment is death by dismemberment, after which you will be burned. Nothing you will say or do now will change this verdict. The Volturi have spoken. Your family wishes to say goodbye."

And with that chaos erupts again. Alice starts screaming and kicking, while Edward and Carlisle try to calm her down. But my gaze never leaves Esme, who turns around and lunges for me. Oh boy, this is turning out to be a long day.

Jasper - JPOV

I monitor their feelings as we wait for Alice to regain her senses as Bella squeezes my hand. I follow her gaze and find that Bella is looking at Esme. Her face is a perfect mirror for her feelings. I lean down and whisper in Bella's ear, so low that no one can hear us: "I know, darlin', Esme is feeling quite determined about something. This is not going to end well."

I listen as Aro moves in front of Alice to pass her verdict. My eyes however never leave Esme. Her determination grows more and more with every passing word from Aro. I can't believe the stupidity of the woman as she lunges for Bella while Carlisle and Edward try to calm down Alice. I don't even try to hide the evil smirk that manifests itself on my face as I throw a massive dose of fear her way.

Carlisle rushes to Esme's side as she hits the ground, but he runs into an invisible wall. He drops to his knees, begging and pleading for us to stop and let him help her. I stop sending Esme fear as I pull Bella closer against me and purr into her ear. "Let him help her, pumpkin. They're not strong or fast enough to hurt us." She gives me a passionate kiss and nods before lifting her shield. God, I love that my mate is gifted. It turns me on like hell. I can't wait for everyone to leave.

I take a quick look around my front yard before repositioning myself and Bella near my front porch again. Peter and Char follow us in silence. The three kings move to our right side with Renata, while the rest of the guard moves to the left with the Cullens. Alice is under the influence of Alec's gift once again, while Felix is holding Esme in place. Carlisle's eyes keep flicking between Esme and Aro. The fear is clearly visible on his face; I don't need to check his feeling to know that. Edward is looking worried. I still wonder why he's here.

Aro raises his hand to capture everyone's attention and takes a step forward before saying: "Major, it seems that there are more people determined to end your happiness. Can I assume that you wish for us to handle this matter as well?"

I bow my head slightly and say: "Yes, Masters. The only thing my mate and I want is to live in peace, together with our coven. I can't imagine why the woman that called me her son and Bella her daughter only two days ago would suddenly feel the need to attack us. You possess the gifts to get to the bottom of this mess fast and accurately. Something is just not adding up."

Aro nods while looking at Carlisle and Esme. He looks rather puzzled as he asks Demetri to bring Carlisle over to him. "Carlisle, dear friend, I hope you don't mind me reading your thoughts again. I must admit that the Major had a point. I just can't put my finger on it." Carlisle looks back at Esme and Edward with a rather weird look on his face. His emotions are the usual mix of love and pride, but I have this gut feeling that things are not what they seem. Carlisle turns back to Aro and extends his hand so that Aro can read his thoughts.

Aro looks at Carlisle's hand and turns to Bella. "Bella, could you try to shield my thoughts from Edward? I don't want any of my thoughts to trigger another fight. I love a good drama but I think we had enough of that today."

Bella - BPOV

Aro surprises me with his question. I bow my head and say: "Every use of my shield so far was purely instinctive, Master, but I will try." Aro gives me a kind smile and I try to extend my shield in his direction. I notice that Jasper is monitoring Edward's emotions to see if my efforts are successful. A sudden burst of pride and love tells me that I did it. I look at Jasper and see him smiling at me. He pulls me close and whispers: "You are incredible, darlin'."

Aro raises his brow questioningly and I say: "I believe I'm successfully shielding you, Master." Aro smiles and looks at Edward for a few moments before saying: "Indeed, you are, Bella. Thank you very much." He takes Carlisle's hand in his and closes his eyes. Ten minutes pass before his eyes snap open and Aro shakes his head in disbelief. "How did I not see this before? Felix, bring Esme to me."

The large bulky vampire nods and leads Esme to Aro. Carlisle gives her an encouraging smile but it doesn't reach his eyes. Esme raises her hand toward Aro and he grabs it immediately. He spends a significant amount of time going through all of Esme's memories before opening his eyes. He looks at her with pity and shakes his head. "Esme, will you please tell my brothers why you decided to attack Bella. Be honest, because I will know if you're lying and be warned, Caius doesn't handle liars well."

The evil smirk on Caius's face can make grown man pee their pants, of that I'm sure. I can hear Peter snickering behind me and I smile as Char slaps him against the back of his head. Caius smiles at her but it happens so quickly that I would have missed it if I wasn't looking. I guess smiling isn't his thing either. Esme takes a deep unneeded breath and says:

"I'm angry with her. She disrupted my whole family, my wonderful and beautiful family that we build so lovingly over the years. We were perfectly happy until she got changed. Emmett and Rose loved each other deeply, Jasper and Alice were perfectly content and Edward had finally found a girl that made him happy. He loved Bella so much; the attraction was mutual so we all assumed that they were mates. We had finally found the last piece that would make our family complete but her change ruined everything. I wish that Edward succeeded in draining her. We would have found another girl to make him happy. Seeing she was not his mate, he would have gotten over her in time. Our family would still be whole if not for her."

I put my hand on Jasper's shoulder as he starts growling at Esme. He pulls me close and kisses the top of my head. I send him my love and smile as he sends me his in return. I quickly process everything that Esme said and shake my head. She never loved me for who I am. She loved me because I made her son happy and because I completed her perfect little family. I could have been a total bitch and she still would have been happy. How fucked up is that?

I look back to Aro as he says: "I understand your obsession with wanting to have a family, Esme. Your human life was quite the opposite but you tend to forget that you can't force people to love each other. Their true feelings will reveal themselves eventually. Your happy family would have fallen apart someday anyway."

Jasper - JPOV

I wonder where Aro is going with this. His emotions are all over the place. He saw something important when he read Carlisle's mind, I'm sure of that. The amount of surprise and shock that radiated from him as he went through every thought Carlisle ever had, was so large that it shocked even me. Esme doesn't give him all the information he needs, because I can feel his impatience and eagerness to move on. I growl as Esme tells Caius and Marcus why she attacked Bella. She's walking on this ice here.

Bella's touch calms me down significantly and I pull her closer to me. I kiss the top of her head and send her my love as she sends me hers. Aro's next words are so cryptic that he could give Peter a run for his money. The mind-reading isn't annoying enough so now he's going to talk in riddles. Aro orders Felix to take Esme and Carlisle back to stand with Alice, while Demetri leads Edward to stand in front of Aro. Edward looks back to Carlisle before raising his hand hesitantly so that Aro can read his thoughts.

Aro takes his time to read Edward's thoughts and I have no trouble pinpointing the exact moment in which he finds what he is looking for. His eyes snap open and he motions Edward to stand next to Carlisle and Esme. Aro turns to Marcus and whispers something in his ear. It's so soft that I can't tell what's being said. Marcus nods and then his eyes glaze over as he looks at Cullens to check their bonds. Aro touches Marcus's hand and says: "So it is true. On with the drama."

Caius seems to share my opinion about the mind-reading and the cryptic remarks being very annoying because he snaps at Aro. "Tell us what is going on, Aro! At this rate, we'll still be here at Christmas." Aro turns to his brother and says: "It's not that simple, Caius. It's a rather complex matter. I need to test a theory before I can reveal what is really going on. Bear with me." Caius huffs in annoyance but nods for Aro to continue.

Aro turns to the Cullens and takes a long hard look at Carlisle before saying: "Carlisle, you are one of the few vampires out there that I call my friend so I hope that you understand that what I'm about to do, is in your best interest. You'll have to trust me on this. Esme Cullen, please step forward!"

I can see the horror in Carlisle's eyes as Esme takes a few steps forward and kneels before the kings. Aro looks at her and says: "Esme Cullen, you admit that you wish for Bella to be dead. You tried to attack the true mate of another vampire which is punishable by death. You have shown no regret for your actions and we fear that your hatred for the Whitlocks will only grow until you successfully disrupt their happiness by killing Bella. You leave us no choice.

Your death will cause your mate unimaginable grief and pain. He will want revenge and after that, he will seek a way to end his own life. Carlisle is my friend and I don't want him to suffer that way, so I would think it's best to sentence both of you to death. It is harsh but I believe it to be the best solution for everyone."

I watch with an open mouth as the drama unfolds in front of my eyes. The resignation in Esme's eyes mirrors her feelings perfectly, whereas the panic in both Carlisle and Edward surprises me. Aro's reasoning is perfectly logical. Killing Esme and leaving Carlisle alive would result in him wanting revenge. He would most likely try to kill my Bella and that would end up in me killing him slow and painfully. Aro is granting Carlisle a swift and painless death by killing him together with his mate.

Aro is looking at Edward with a strange look on his face but neither Edward nor Carlisle notices it. They only have eyes for each other. Wait a minute! I tap into their emotions again and I find not only panic. There's also an insane amount of love and it's not the paternal kind. Aro motions Carlisle to stand next to Esme as Felix and Demetri move to stand behind them. Felix pushes Carlisle to his knees and grips his head, while Demetri does the same with Esme's.

I squeeze Bella's hand as I feel her worries and send her a wave of reassurance. I realize that Aro is waiting for Carlisle or Edward to cave and admit what they've been fighting for decades. Aro moves his hand up to signal his guards as he is stopped by Edward who yells: "Don't, please, don't. He's not Esme's mate, he's my mate. I love him!"

Yes, another cliffhanger, I can't seem to help myself.

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