Disclaimer: I do not, nor will ever, own the Twilight Saga, or any of its characters and plots.


Where there is power, there is resistance.

Michel Foucault, 1978


Four days, six hours, and thirty two minutes later, I found myself locking lips with the most feared vampire in the world.

It was entirely innocent; it was the easiest way for them to reattach my tongue, and Major wasn't about to let me kiss his mate. It was only a small relief that they had decided to do it while they took me "hunting".

I still refused to call tackling defenseless animals hunting. At least humans could somewhat fight back.

"Make sure it's completely healed." Alice piped up, sounding way too at ease with her mate's tongue in my mouth.

And Goddamnit, Major was skilled.

His tongue swirled around mine, slowly pushing more venom into my mouth as he guided my tongue back where it should be. The burn from his venom mixing with mine only caused the burn in my abdomen to grow.

I wanted him. No, I needed him. I had to know what it felt like to have him. The fact that he could feel my lust for him and wasn't stopping, only excited me further.

He wanted me too. He wanted to –

"Okay, that's enough of that." Alice interrupted, and Major instantly pulled back.

I made a tiny, almost unnoticeable movement to follow him, and both of them looked at me. If I had been human, my face surely would've been on fire. As it was, I was still cold. And alone.

The wind picked up from the east, and I paused as a delicious scent drifted across my face.

"Stop breathing." Alice commanded sharply, walking towards me at a human's pace.

"Elisabeth-" she was echoed by Maria, the distant call demanding to be answered.

They had fucked up.

The bloodlust was swirling through my mind, making it hard for me to think straight, and combined with Maria's persuasion, it was maddening.

A small but firm hand wrapped around my wrist, but I wasn't moving, my eyes staring blankly at the grass. It was easier with Maria.

As long as I obeyed her, my life was simple. Feast, train, kill. There was no reason to do anything else. There wasn't a necessity to form bonds with anyone but Maria, my creator.

My mistress.

The order in my mind was shifting. I didn't have to return anymore. No, the command was simple: kill.

I knew Major would see to his mate first, so I turned quickly, sinking my teeth into her shoulder. She gasped, pulling away from me, and I was off.

The scent led me to a human campsite. Four men and three women. Though my throat burned with need, I refused to taste a drop of their blood as my hands ripped through their flesh like wet sand.

By the time Major and Alice caught up with me, the campsite was destroyed, the remnants of the seven humans scattered across the meadow. There wasn't even a single recognizable piece.

I knew I was in deep trouble when Major's black eyes met mine. This was the moment. He was going to kill me.

My body automatically fell into a submissive kneel, my hands lying palms-up on top of my thighs with my legs folded underneath me. My head was down, my neck bared to him.

"Give me one reason, girl, why I shouldn't just kill you." He demanded, my ears catching his footsteps drawing near despite my eyes being closed.

I remained silent. His hand came down on the top of my head, his fingers twisting through my hair.

"Elisa-?" A far too familiar voice sounded from the trees, and my head snapped up automatically, my eyes meeting his.

The boy was barely sixteen when he was changed, his bright red eyes filled with fear as he glanced at Major, whose hand tightened in my hair.

"Mistress told me to find you." He said, looking back to me.

"Jasper..." Alice whispered, and Major released me just in time for the boy to almost tackle me.

"We thought you were dead." He cried, his arms tight around me.

I didn't embrace him back, staring blankly at the trees.

"How angry is she?" I asked quietly, and he pulled back, his face grim.

"She killed all of the newly changed." He said, lowering his eyes. "She made me do bad things to the new girls before she changed them. She said it was 'character building'."

I said nothing. The boy slowly pulled back, concern twisting his face.

"Why didn't you come back?" His voice dropped, his eyes widening. "Did you go rogue?"

I heard the others' footsteps, and I knew we were surrounded before they even stepped from the trees. The boy glanced towards them, his face darkening.

"You didn't kill the golden eyes." He said, meeting my gaze.

When I stood to walk away, he jumped up and grabbed my arm tightly.

"You've betrayed us, haven't you?" He demanded.

I felt nothing as I tore the arm from his body, ignoring his pained cry as I tossed it at his feet. My fingers wrapped tightly in his hair, and that was all it took for him to drop to the ground, shuddering.

"My loyalties remain with our mistress, boy. You'd do best to remember your rank."

The words sounded hollow, uncaring, and the boy flinched hard.

"Thank you for your mercy." He murmured.

I crouched down, moving my hand from his hair to cup his face.

"Elisabeth, step away from him." Carlisle spoke, walking from the trees.

The boy spun around into a crouch, his face twisting into a snarl. The leader instantly stepped back, raising his hands. I ran my fingers down the back of the boy's neck, and he turned to me, his face softening.

"I did miss you." He whispered, his eyes flickering nervously to the Cullens.

My fingers brushed gently against his cheek. I wanted to ask him to stay, but how could I? I knew he would... but he'd be as much a prisoner here as he was with Maria.

"You need to leave." I murmured, looking into his cloudy eyes.

Did my eyes look like that as well when I was under Maria's control?

He blinked, distracted as he glanced to the south.

"Soon?" He asked, his voice lighter than before.

He was already shifting away from me, his disembodied arm clutched against his chest.

"Soon." I promised, my hand brushing his dark hair back.

Then, he was off, chasing after the voice echoing through our minds.

Edward shifted to follow him, and it was then that the panic bubbling deep inside my chest erupted like a volcano.

He was running back to his death. Maria was going to kill him for not returning with me in tow.

I ran after him, for once not chasing the call as I struggled to catch up.

The boy was fast... his natural gift of evading wasn't helping either. It was useless. He was already gone.

I only made it a few miles before Major lunged from the trees, his face dark. Then, we were back to square one, his teeth in the back of my neck, and his limbs pressing mine to the ground. Alice and Carlisle stood nearby, watching silently.

"Do it then." I hissed, glaring at them. "Kill me. I don't fucking care!"

Why did it matter anymore? The boy was going to be killed soon. Maria didn't give a shit about me. I was a prisoner in a comfier prison.

There was nothing comfy about Major's venom pumping through my veins. It burned - even worse than Maria's did, considering he wasn't my sire.

"Fuckin' cowards." I spat.

"Jasper, son, let her up." Carlisle soothed, walking forward.

His answering growl vibrated the back of my neck, sending tremors down my spine.

"Carlisle, you may want to leave." Alice muttered, staring at us.

He looked like he was about to argue before Major bit deeper into my neck, drawing a gasp from my lips. There was a burn being lit from deep inside of me, the flames only expanding with every vibration of his growls.

The ripping of cloth alerted me to a change in our dynamic, but I didn't care, too focused on the desire rushing through me.

Major Whitlock wasn't gentle in his ministrations as he took me, pounding his hips against mine as his mouth continued to pump venom into me, but there was a carefulness to his actions. His movements weren't mindless; he knew what he was doing.

The shaky hand I had on time fell away as he claimed me. When he finished, he didn't leave me in the dirt like Maria's personal slaves always had. His hands were gentle as he pulled me up, nuzzling the burning wound at the back of my neck.

Alice moved forward from her spot in the grass, and I flinched, thinking that she was about to destroy me for Major's actions. Instead, she knelt in front of me, her arms somehow warm as they wrapped around me.

"You belong here." She whispered. "With us. You're not a prisoner."

I disagreed with her, but hers and Major's touches were gentle. I felt her smile against my shoulder when I reached out to embrace her.

"He's going to live." She murmured, predicting my question.

I said nothing, though her words did make some of the tension flow from me.

"I didn't mean to kill those people." I said quietly.

Her arms flexed around me, but she didn't pull away.

"It was the lesser of evils." Major muttered against my neck.

Alice hummed in agreement.

"It's over now. Maria believes you are still loyal to her, but she doesn't know what sort of gifts we have. She's hesitant to attack." She said.

I couldn't say anything.

Wasn't I still loyal to Maria? And yet I recognize that it's better for me here, with Major and Alice, and the Cullens.

We sat together in silence until the sun was beginning to go down, and then Alice sighed.

"We'd better get back. Bella is coming over tonight."

Thankfully, Alice had enough foresight to bring extra clothes, since Major had ripped both his and mine. Alice took my hand as we ran back after hunting, smiling soothingly as I hesitated.

I still didn't understand why she wasn't pissed. Weren't they mates? I couldn't find the words to ask, though, and we were soon surrounded by the others.

The vampires were all aware of what had occurred between me and Major, if their speculative glances were any indication. He said nothing, though, and I remained silent.

Bella was oblivious to the reason behind their looks, but she still noticed them and looked curious. Her curiosity seemed to spike when, in the middle of whatever movie we were watching, Major placed his hand on my knee, soothing away the irritation bubbling up at their constant glances.

Of course, this only caused them to look at us more, but his gift soothed it all away.

The movie wasn't as interesting as the others made it seem. Their laughter was background noise as I glanced around the room. I found it strange that this coven acted so humane... so much like our natural prey.

They treated Bella, a human, like one of them. It was albeit with a bit more care, but even Rosalie was polite towards her. She would've been torn apart in an instant if she was around Maria's army. How could they stand being in the same room as her?

Edward was staring at me, probably making sure I wasn't about to lunge forward. How would her blood taste? Probably much better than animals. Bella noticed my stare, and her face was slowly reddening the longer I looked at her. It would be like drinking cold water after being parched in the desert for weeks.

They were all looking at me now.

"Do you need to go hunting, Elisabeth?"

Carlisle's tone was polite. Understanding. How could he ever understand? He'd never been interested in human blood.

"No."

I looked away from Bella. She was off limits.

"Don't be shy." Esme said, smiling at me.

Most of the Cullens would've died in the army. They were too soft. Hardly vampires. Edward scoffed.

"You must've forgotten the battle. How is that 'too soft'?" He asked, and Bella turned her head, intrigued.

"Newborns are quite easy to destroy. They may have strength, but they are fucking stupid." I replied, ignoring Esme's soft 'language' warning.

"We're not soft because we refuse to kill innocents." Emmett said, sounding offended.

"You don't 'refuse' to kill innocents; you're incapable." I corrected, and he lifted his eyebrows.

"I bet I could take you." He challenged.

"No! We're not fighting." Esme cut in, looking between us.

Major's calm trickled over me like ice water, and I felt myself relax into his side. He didn't sedate me entirely, but I found it increasingly hard to think as the night continued. I became mostly unresponsive to everything but Major's, and occasionally Alice's, touch.

I felt like I was sleepwalking when we finally retired to our room. It had been decided two days ago that it was better if they could keep an eye on me. Alice was still in Edward's room with Bella when we curled up in the large bed. I expected Major to sedate me then, like he did every night, but he didn't.

"When Alice first introduced me to the Cullens, I despised them." He whispered, his breath softly brushing across my closed eyelids.

I felt a hint of surprise before it was lost in exhaustion.

"They made hunting animals seem so easy... when all I really wanted to do was go into town and hunt our natural prey."

His voice was soft, unassuming. Comforting.

"Why didn't you?" I asked, my voice just as quiet as his, when he didn't continue.

He chuckled.

"Oh, I did. For years I snuck off to hunt, though I made sure it was never often enough for my eyes to change. I usually hunted criminals, predators of the night... but, it was the innocent ones that tasted the sweetest."

He paused, and I felt his thumb brush against my cheek.

"When Alice found out, she was hurt. She wasn't even angry, more betrayed. I hated hurting her, so I was determined to only hunt animals. Aside from two slips, I've managed it for about thirty years." He finished.

I wanted to ask him then, what their relationship was. It was the perfect moment, but I couldn't find the words to say, and his calm was making it hard to think of any.

So instead, I allowed myself to sink completely into his embrace and gift, the world falling away. I barely noticed when Alice joined us, her small form curling into me.