Chapter 36

Never was and never will be.

You don't know how you've betrayed me,

And somehow you've got everybody fooled.

Without the mask where will you hide?

Can't find yourself lost in your lie?

I know the truth now.

I know who you are.

Bree led the trio, followed by Eliza, and lastly Isabella; as they made their way out of Carlisle's office and down the stairs, into the gauntlet of the assembled Cullen's and Denali. Even Bree could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on them. The majority of the Cullen family; Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie , Edward and Alice were all gathered in one area by the massive white couch. Isabella idly wondered where Jasper and Adara were, but assumed they must have both been out feeding.

All seven members of the Denali Coven were spread against one side of the wall, watching them cautiously with differing degrees of curiosity and concern. Then when Isabella appeared after Eliza all eyes were on her. Most appeared shocked, despite the common knowledge that she was alive and whole again. What was the most bizarre to those present, was the fact that she showed no signs of the damage that had reduced her to little more than a charred skeleton.

Bree was very conscious of the stares, but she deliberately held her head high, proud to be a part of her new family. Proud to call herself one of them, and utterly secure in the knowledge that they had risked their lives to protect her and certainly weren't going to abandon her at the first sign of danger. She was looking forward to the training ahead, even though she had a vague rumbling in the pit of her stomach. Still they were probably right in their concern, she might've been safer with the Cullen's. Then she realized that Isabella and Eliza had stopped in the middle of the room. She paused and turned around, slowly, confused as to what was going on. She was under the impression that they weren't going to start a fight. She had even promised Carlisle they weren't going to start any fights.

Isabella crossed her arms as she squared off her shoulders as she scanned the room with a neutral expression. The only pause was when she locked on Edward for just a fraction of a second before moving on in her sweep.

When she started to speak, she kept her voice formal. "I want to thank you for your hospitality during my convalescence. As Carlisle has no doubt just informed you. Eliza and myself are no longer members of the Volturi. To be clear, they now want us dead. So we are leaving so that we do not cause you any further problems. Unfortunately I have to add, just to make things official, that if you try and stop us from leaving we'll kill you. That isn't exactly a threat, more like a warning... which make no mistake, I will follow through on."

All of the Denali, especially Tanya looked shocked. Esme looked devastated, and Edward just scowled. Carlisle, Rosalie, and Alice all frowned, but didn't really react since they had all heard it a few minutes earlier. Eleazar drew attention to himself, scowling and moving forward a couple of steps, his face turned down in a thoughtful frown.

"Is that your way of making sure that we'll be declared innocent of any charges of aiding or conspiring?" Isabella nodded once.

Eleazar's mouth twitched into an amused smirk, "Cute. I guess it goes without saying, since I know better than to ask where you're headed, but I hope you make it far and find a place to find peace and a good life."

Isabella shrugged a little bit, "Thanks for the sentiment, but we're not going far at all, just down to La Push."

Tanya gasped audibly, and spit out with a touch of residual venom from the argument they had never really resolved, "So much for your attempt at keeping us from having to risk ourselves. If that's where you're really headed, and the Volturi ask us... we have to tell them, or we we'll be judged just as co-conspirators and executed summarily."

Eliza spoke up, "Not at all. If they ask, we want you to tell them where we're at."

"But… why? You know the wolves won't be able to protect you, not if they really want you dead. The Volturi are vicious, they won't hold back." Esme's face was filled with concern as she looked at all three women.

This time Eliza grinned a little bit "The Swan Coven isn't afraid. As the movie says; 'Bring it on'."

"Oh it's already been brought." Bree murmured quietly from near the patio doors, as the other vampires in the room seem to process the "Swan Coven" comment.

Eliza blinked in surprise and then turned toward Bree with a horrified expression on her face. "Are you freaking kidding me? You've seen that drivel of a movie but you have no idea who Captain Picard is? We have so much to teach you!"

Bree looked self conscious but her reply was cut off by a sigh from Isabella. "Save the geek outrage for later. I'm fairly certain that teaching her to defend herself is more important than a Star Trek marathon." Eliza just huffed in mock offense.

She turned fully to address the room, her voice turning cold. The intensity of her expression seemed to extend out and make the room itself grow darker. "Let's make something clear. The Volturi tried to kill my family. They failed. It the worst mistake they've ever made, and one of the last ones. I may not have declared this war, but I will sure as shit finish it. So when Eliza said we want them to find us, we mean it. We would take the fight to them, rain down hell on all their heads in their precious Volterra, but we will not leave our allies behind."

She let the statement hang in the air for several long seconds before she turned to leave. When she was brought up short, and forced to turn around again by another voice.

"The Swan Coven? You can't possibly be serious?" Edward took a few haughty steps forward, although he kept just over half the distance of the room between them.

Isabella crossed her arms and didn't say anything. She was determined to keep her daughter's promise of not starting a fight. However, just hearing the arrogance in his voice was putting her willpower to the test.

Eliza however didn't feel her mother's restraint. She stepped forward slightly, deliberately placing herself between the two, hoping her presence might temper Isabella's rage. She folded her hands in front of her, and raised her shoulders to appear mockingly flirtatious. "Well actually we had a debate, I didn't like her suggestion of the 'Goddess Bree Coven', and Bree didn't like the idea of us being called the 'Goddess Eliza Coven'. So we unanimously hated the idea of naming our Coven after silverware. Why? You don't approve?" Eliza's voice was sugary sweet, causing Edward to scowl.

"Personally I like the 'Goddess Isabella Coven'" Alice suggested in an attempt to defuse the situation. Edward turned and snarled at Alice in response, then turned his nearly furious glare back over to Eliza for a moment before shifting to meet Isabella's eyes.

"Why do you keep letting her control you?" Edward asked with a quick irritated gesture towards Eliza.

Whatever Isabella had expected Edward to say, she never would've guessed that. "Control me?" She echoed clearly confused. She didn't like the implied threat towards her daughter, and stepped deliberately around Eliza to face Edward. Eliza sighed and wondered whether Edward really was that stupid.

"Yes! Control you. Ever since you arrived here all you've done is pick fights, lose control over nothing, and follow her around like a little puppy obediently submitting to whatever she wants. The anger she brings out of you is totally unwarranted and unfair, hell, you even attacked and almost killed me! Then there's that newborn bitch that's somehow a part of your fucked up little Coven for less than five minutes and she attacks me too! You're even willing to pick a fight with the Volturi for fuck's sake. Why can't you see that she's hurting you? Don't you see that she's going to get you killed?" Edward threw his hands up in the air dramatically several times as he spoke for emphasis. His voice becoming more petulant and nasal as his pleas got louder and louder with his mounting anger.

Oddly Isabella's face shifted as he spoke, and to Edward it felt like he was finally getting through to her. When she finally spoke she conveyed a level of emotion no one in the room had heard from her since she was human. "I don't know what to do, we didn't try and pick a fight with them they just..." Alice narrowed her eyes slightly, confused by Isabella's sudden submissiveness. Rosalie scowled, this was the Bella she remembered all too well. Eliza kept her face twisted into a mask of mock pain, she knew exactly what her mother was doing.

"That might be a little too obvious Mom." Eliza quipped through the connection, half to rebuke her mother, and half to fill in a very confused Bree. Isabella ignored her.

"It was her fault." Edward pointed a finger toward Eliza, Isabella glanced at her daughter with a worried expression. "Did you honestly think the Volturi would accept Eliza's relationship with that mongrel bitch as anything other than an absolute perversion of our ways. They're an abomination, something to be studiously pitied, shunned without hesitation, and disposed of as quickly as possible. The Volturi were absolutely right in their actions, I just wish you didn't have to endure that pain too. It would've been okay if she hadn't reciprocated the mongrel's foolish imprinting... I just don't understand why you didn't admonish her right away. You were a Volturi princess... you should've known better than to encourage such a reprehensible union!" Edward leaned forward as he spoke. A condescending, patronizing, and coddling tone of voice replacing his wild and furious rage.

Isabella's face went slack as all her feigned emotion drained from her face, replaced instantly by look so cold that ice could've formed around her eyes. Her piercing a low voice matched her icy expression as her eyes began to shift from their usual red to black. "Interesting, exactly how did you come to that rather specific conclusion Edward?"

That brought Edward up short as he realized that he had made a huge mistake, revealing information he shouldn't have known. The room turned on him almost in unison, their expressions mixed from concern to outright anger. "I… what? I... I don't know what you mean." He stuttered out, totally caught off guard.

"I mean this... how exactly did you find out about Eliza? How would you know what the Volturi based their decision on? How did you know what set off the conflict?" Isabella's voice was whisper soft and seemed to enthrall the entire room.

"I read minds!" Edward snarled in response, trying to put the focus on Isabella. He didn't want to come out and admit that he wasn't reading minds very well at the moment. The static was starting to fade, and he was starting to get flashes of people's minds, especially when they directed their thoughts towards him directly, but whatever backlash occurred when Eliza changed Bree was still affecting him. He was still only able to get occasional flashes, unless someone was deliberately trying to talk to him.

Normally Isabella didn't play these sort of personal manipulation games; preferring instead more expedient methods. Still she wouldn't have gotten very far in the Volturi without some social and political instincts. Isabella's voice became mocking, though underneath her sarcasm the same cold undertone remained. "I don't think so. That excuse only works when the information is out among minds that are open to you. The only people that know the exact circumstances of our disagreement with the Volturi are Eliza, Bree, and myself. We only found out right before they tried to blow up our house. And you can't read our minds." She was careful not to make any sort of accusation. She let others draw the conclusions.

"Oh… Edward… you didn't!" Esme said, her face and voice conveying her horror at Edward's appalling behavior, as she was the first to bring together Edward's rants to the only logical conclusion available.

Edward spun around to look at Esme and then around at the other accusing stares. He ran a hand through his hair in agitation, even with his mind reading abilities on the fritz he could tell what they were all thinking. "All right, yes I did! I couldn't let it go on!" He was desperate to make them all understand, he couldn't stand to see the stares accusation, he had to convince them he was right.

"You couldn't let what go on?" Isabella's voice was once again ice cold, and seem to lash at him like a whip.

"I had to protect you!" His voice was again full of a kind of self-righteousness anger. "Why can't you see? You're completely in over your head… again, unaware of what you really want. You haven't changed in a hundred years, I had always guide your hand before, and now you're letting her manipulate you! I had to do something to fix it! Just like I always did!"

Everyone was staring at him, no one noticed Eliza's hand grip her mother's shoulder tightly, holding her back. Isabella's stare had turned deadly, the black in her eyes had spread from the iris out to cover the whites of her eyes, and the lights began to dim from her power.

The multitudes of stares, and the snippets of thoughts behind everyone's enraged expressions spurred Edward on. "I had to constantly tell you what you really wanted, since you could never make up your simple mind. She has you so wrapped up in her that you'll do anything she wants. You don't seem to care about anyone but her. So you're blind to her! So yes, all right... I admit it. I called the Volturi! I did it to protect you from her wicked intentions and abnormal desires. Not to mention the wolves. Those mutts aren't worthy of the air they breathe! I absolutely agree that they should be erased from this world. Who do you think suggested that your alliance was doomed to fail?!"

At this point years of pent up emotions seemed to spill out of Edward. "The fact that her... perversionwith other girls extends to a wolf shows you just how depraved she is. You have to know that I have your best interests in mind, I always have. You never knew that I saved you from that same abnormal perversion that first day in the cafeteria all those years ago!" He practically shouted pointing a finger in Isabella's face.

There was silence and confusion all around the room at the end of Edward's tirade. His statement even confused Isabella through her growing rage.

"You... knew..." Alice's voice hissed out in sudden accusation as realization hit her like lightning. That moment had replayed so many times in her mind, that revelation clicked into place the second he said it. She thought she had kept that vision hidden, but she'd been wrong all these years. Anger, grief, and shock warred for supremacy in her mind as she stared at Edward. She stepped forward, away from the light hand Esme had casually rested on her shoulder when she had tensed up during Edward's outburst.

Edward stiffened at the accusation and turned to face her with a combination of pity and disgust contorting his face into an hateful grimace. Still he couldn't quite meet Alice's gaze, instead he focused his gaze over her shoulder at Esme who seemed totally lost. He had to make her understand, she would always side with him. So he managed to soften his expression, so that Esme could see his compassion. "Of course I saw your vision that day. I knew I couldn't let… that happen."

The confusion in the room shifted, and everyone began to look from Edward to Alice and back again. Esme was utterly lost, and couldn't understand what Edward was trying to tell her. He frowned when revelation didn't cross his mother's brow so he began to scan the room. Isabella looked lost, and so did Eliza and Bree. Then he glanced at Rosalie and Emmett, . Rosalie's face was narrowed in suspicion, clearly searching Edward's face for something. Alice just stood there in shock for several seconds. She stared at Edward unspeaking, not that she could form the words around the horror of his betrayal.

After several long seconds Alice realized what she needed to do. She pulled her eyes away from her adopted brother to Isabella. Again she opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't quite find the words to explain. She took a deep breath and stepped away from the family she had been a part of for over one-hundred and fifty years. Tentatively she walked forward, her steps slow and carefully measured. Edward tensed up, prepared for the inevitable slap as she approached him, but Alice turned when she was a few feet away from him, and passed right by him to approach Isabella.

Alice stood silent for a moment, building up her resolve before she spoke. She didn't want to appear unsure or apprehensive. Isabella's black eyes softened slightly as she looked down to met Alice's amber eyes. "Does the Swan Coven have room for another member?" Alice's voice was very soft, but her question had the effect of a bomb going off.

"Alice!" Esme's voice called to her daughter, her voice sounded desperate and broken. It was clear her entire world was spinning away from under her. Alice had to fight the impulse to run over and comfort her, so she refused to even respond the Esme's tortured plea.

"Absolutely!" Eliza answered brightly before anyone else could respond. Isabella's head whipped around to stare at Eliza for a second before being drawn back to meet Alice's eyes.

The black slowly receded from Isabella's eyes, as she stared into Alice's unflinching expression for several moments that seemed to stretch on. When she finally spoke up, she kept her voice quiet but firm. "You realize what coming with us would mean. The Volturi want to kill us and won-"

"Never again." Alice cut her off, but this time Alice's voice was so soft that only Isabella, Eliza and Bree heard it, not that she made sense to anyone but Isabella.

Isabella's expression was unreadable for several moments as she tried to read Alice's eyes, wondering what exactly it was that Edward had done that had her so upset. The silence stretched on before she nodded slowly in agreement, though her eyes didn't leave Alice's. Alice broke eye contact reluctantly, and turned to stand beside Isabella and face the others resolutely.

"Alice… what are you doing?" Esme stepped forward with an outstretched hand as if to reach out to her adopted daughter.

Alice met Esme's eyes, her own filled with compassion for her mother's pain, but at the same time she couldn't shut out the pain and fury she felt at Edward's stinging betrayal. "I'm sorry Mother. Edward… has… I have no words for it. He's… betrayed me in the worst way imaginable. Even if Isabella and her Coven didn't accept me, I could no longer live in his presence. I can't even bear to look at him. I'm sorry if that hurts, but I cannot be here. Not with him. Not anymore." She couldn't hide the sheer disgust clearly evident in her voice. No one had ever heard that level of hatred coming from Alice, so it seemed to throw the entire room into a state of hushed shock. Except Edward who was glaring daggers at Alice

Isabella murmured quietly as if she were trying very hard to keep a bottle cap on her emotions, "I think it's time to leave." She felt agreement flow from both Eliza and Bree and felt them turn to file out the door. She turned with them to follow, if she stayed much longer she was going to kill Edward which would betray her daughter's word by breaking her promise to Carlisle.

Alice turned as well, but her gaze remained locked on Edward. Her hatred for him broke ever so slightly, as she realized that she had finally won, so she threw a very quick smirk in his direction, and then very deliberately brought up the memory of Isabella kissing her in the forest after the newborn attack, and directed it at Edward.

Edward caught the snippet of memory as something hazy and passionate. His jaw unhinged and he let out a gasp and then a vicious snarl of rage. It was one thing to see his Bella corrupted by Eliza, since there was obviously nothing sexual there. Alice though, was a completely different story. She had dared to touch his mate, it sent him into a rage unlike anything he had ever felt before. "How DARE you spread your filth to her! She's my mate... not yours! I won't let you taint her with your filth! I'll fucking kill you before I let you touch her again!" He screamed at Alice, who along with Isabella, Eliza and Bree had turned around to face him at his outburst.

"Edward!" Esme gasped in horror at her son's vitriolic outburst.

He began to move forward, clearly intending to attack Alice. Alice's attempts to hold Isabella back with her arm were futile. She had promised not to fight, but no one could fault her for defending herself. She stepped right in front of Alice, ready to meet Edward's charge.

He didn't make it that far.

An arm grabbed his shoulder from behind and threw him up against the wall. He looked up in surprise to see a scowling Emmett in his face. "You will NOT attack our sisters." Emmett half shouted through gritted teeth. He stepped back a fraction of an inch to give Edward a bit of room, but as soon as Edward tried again he pushed Edward back against the wall with even more force.

Carlisle moved forward to say something to calm the tensions in the air, but any attempt he was going to make was cut off by Rosalie. Rosalie walked up to Emmett and laid her hand on his arm pulling it lightly down from Edward. She stepped in between them, turning her back to Edward and then she gently pushed Emmett back away from Edward a few feet. He met her gaze stubbornly but he complied.

Edward pushed himself away from the wall, his voice still an angry snarl, "You have no idea what-"

He was cut off as Rosalie spun around and slapped him across the face. "That was for talking to Alice like that."

He opened his mouth to reply in a snarl again, but she slapped him across the face a second time. "That was for talking to Isabella like that."

She lifted her hand a third time, but this time he lifted his arm to block her incoming slap, however, instead of slapping him across the face, she suddenly and roughly gripped his shoulders and brought her knee up into Edward's crotch with all the force she could muster; which wasn't insignificant. Edward gasped in pain and collapsed to the ground, hitting his knees against the hardwood and splintering it, before rolling onto his side and curling into fetal position.

Rosalie hissed down at him, rage flowing freely over her face, her foot lashing out to kick him in the stomach once, then twice, and then a third time. "And those were because I have a pretty fucking good idea what you just confessed to, you fucking bastard. If so, you've spent the last century manipulating this family to fit your twisted views. Now that Isabella's back in our lives you're obsessed with the idea she's yours." She kicked him again to illustrate her point, "If it hasn't sunk yet... She's not!"

Rosalie brought her foot up to kick him again, only this time Emmett wrapped a thick arm around her waist and pulled her back. "I think that's enough baby." Emmett whispered in her ear. Though it was clear to her that he wasn't entirely sure he meant it. Then she looked back and realized that he was acting mostly for Esme, who had also sunk to her knees in grief. Her body shaking in tearless sobs. Carlisle was holding her, his own expression teetering on the edge on his own emotional collapse.

Rosalie took several moments to calm down, her eyes locked with Carlisle's. Then she looked at Esme, and then back to Carlisle trying to figure out what she needed to do. Then she looked back down at Edward, and realized they might never abandon him. She looked up at Emmett who gave her the most sincere smile she had ever seen. She knew he would be there for her no matter what she decided to do. She kissed him then, unabashed at the witnesses. "I love you."

Then she pulled away from her husband and walked to the center of the room, staring at the members of Isabella's Coven with a strange euphoria spreading through her body. She knew what she need to do, and it felt right in a way she had never experienced before. She had always been a part of Carlisle's family because he had saved her, yet he had given her a life that she had never wanted. Still she felt she owed him something for that, because without his actions she would never have met her Emmett. But that was an old debt, one she had paid with two hundred years of companionship and loyalty.

Bree needed her, now more than ever. Isabella was strong, but Rosalie wasn't sure she was quite compassionate enough to be a true mother. Not yet at least, since Isabella clearly had her own issues to work through. Bree would need someone she could talk to, someone she could turn to about the inevitable questions she would have about life, feeding, whether or not to kill, how to deal with her new sister, and boys. Especially since she already had Seth, and Eliza seemed more like the sort of person to encourage Bree into jumping things with both feet instead of thinking them through, and Isabella didn't strike her as someone who should hand out romantic advice. And Rosalie desperately wanted to be that for her. To be a mother for someone else for the first time... in truth it was all she had ever wanted to do.

Edward's betrayal was enough to finally cement that need in her mind. Isabella needed allies right now, she didn't need a Coven, she needed a real family to back her up. Alice needed Rosalie too, no matter how much she felt the need to hide her feelings. Rosalie had always known that Alice's true feelings for Bella were more than she let on.

All those mini-revelations came in a rush, confirming the one thing that she knew for sure. She turned to look at Carlisle, her expression shifting to one of sorrow. "I'm sorry." Her voice was soft and full of unspoken emotion, and she was happy she didn't have to conceal the tears that would've fallen in that moment. Then she turned back toward Isabella, and walked towards her with purpose. Emmett stayed behind for a moment, before following as he realized what his wife was about to do.

"I'm going with you." Rosalie stated as she met Isabella's curious gaze. The slight curl in her lips betrayed the amusement she felt at Edward's humiliation.

Isabella blinked a few times, in an attempt to pick her metaphorical jaw up off the floor. Still all she could muster in response wasn't anything more eloquent than "W..what?"

Rosalie squared her shoulder and lifted her chin a little bit "I'm-"

"We're!" Emmett broke in correcting his significant other.

Rosalie hesitated, not truly surprised, but definitely pleased as a smile broke over her face momentarily. Then she met Isabella's gaze. "We're going with you. Assuming that your Coven has room for two more."

Isabella once again felt gob smacked and her jaw actually hung open slightly. Isabella knew that for Rosalie, that was the equivalent of begging. It was something she never would've thought she would see in her lifetime. Isabella ran a hand over her face, and muttered to herself, "never would've thought it was Rose with the goatee." Eliza smirked and nudged her mother slightly.

"Why?" Isabella asked bluntly after taking a moment to recover herself.

"I'm not about to let Alice go off on her own, not after..." She looked back at Edward, who was still on the floor, for a lingering moment before turning back to Isabella and continuing, "also while you were napping, I became rather attached to Bree, and think that she might need someone else in her life that can teach her more than '101 Ways to Kill a Vampire'." Rosalie said as she glanced over at Bree, her expression softening for a moment into a smile, before meeting Isabella's eyes again solemnly.

Isabella was battling with shock, blindsided by Rosalie's sudden declaration. Not that she really had a chance to absorb Rosalie's actions. Without warning Bree stepped forward and half tackled, half hugged Rosalie. "You want to come with us to Aunt Rose? That's awesome!" Then she turned and looked at Isabella with her best puppy dog eyes.

Eliza spoke up, "Just to be clear, 'Goddess Rosalie Coven' is not going to be an option either." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Emmett let out a little chuckle. Isabella sighed and with an accusing glare at Eliza nodded her head slowly. Not trusting herself to speak.

Carlisle reluctantly let go of his wife, and took a frantic step forward, panic and grief dominating his nearly wild expression. "Rosalie… Emmett… Alice… I know we can talk this out. Emotions are running high, and things were said... but that's not a reason to abandon us! Pla... please don.. don't rush off so... impulsively!" He glanced at each of his adopted children before glaring down at Edward who was still in the fetal position on the ground. He wondered briefly how Jasper would react when he returned from hunting, and wondered whether or not they would lose two more children when they found out.

Rosalie turned and met Carlisle's eyes. "No we can't, however, If you want to know why... talk to him." She nodded her head toward Edward. "Though I wouldn't trust anything that came out of his mouth, I bet he's been a liar longer than I've been alive." Then she turned and stomped out the door with both Bree and Emmett in tow. Eliza followed her after one last smirk at Edward.

Alice glanced down at Edward and then looked up at Esme before turning and walking out the door, but stopped just outside to wait for Isabella. Isabella's gaze swept the room, first to the Denali Coven, then towards Carlisle who had returned to comfort an absolutely broken looking Esme, and then she turned and walked out the door, without sparing Edward even a glance.

Edward couldn't let it go. "You ungrateful bitch-" He shouted viciously towards Eliza's back, despite the fact that he was still laying on his side in a relaxed fetal position.

Isabella whirled around and flew towards Edward so fast that not many in the room could track her. Then there was the sound of shattering wood and the crunch of concrete. Eliza and Bree rushed back in the house, followed by Rosalie and Emmett. Everyone was dead silent, because Isabella's fist was imbedded into the floor up to her elbow, less than half an inch from Edward's wide eyes. Her eyes were jet black again, and a lethal hiss escaped her throat. That would've been enough to give anyone pause, but what had everyone frozen where they were in shock, was a definite outline of shadow surrounding Isabella, shadows that seemed to pulse with her anger.

When she spoke it was with a voice even colder than before, it was so deadly that it seemed to cut into everyone in the room, forcing a chill run through them. "You do not speak to my family that way. You wanted to kill me. Fine. The feeling is mutual, but you crossed a line when your manipulations cost a good man his life, and when your mindless hatred extended to my daughters. I know you were too scared to do anything yourself. You tried to get the Volturi to do your dirty work for you. They failed. If you come after me or my family again, you will find out the true definition of a monster."

Edward sneered at her, holding himself like he was suffering the worse pain he'd ever experienced. Isabella leaned in even closer and narrowed her eyes to slits. "You think that's pain... I've suffered through more than your selfish mind could begin to comprehend, so let me be perfectly clear... if I see you again I won't just kill you... I'll do to you what was done to me. So if you like pain, and truly wish for a horrible death... I would love to oblige you."

"This hurts, but fuck we've all endured the fires of transforming into a vampire and you don't see any of us parading around like some hateful bitch. I can't believe you, you fucking BEGGED to be changed for Christ's sake!" Edward spit out.

Isabella's voice was a hiss, "Victoria made sure I understood the nature of pain, before she turned me and buried me alive for a decade. You're lucky in that regard... I don't have the patience to wait ten years to kill you."

Isabella jerked her arm out of the hole in the floor, and then stood so she could leave the pathetic vampire behind once and for all. She didn't notice the blank stares of everyone in the room. Esme had stopped actively sobbing, and instead a look of absolute desolation and inconsolable grief had cross into her expression as she stared at Isabella. Carlisle was trying to help her, but it was clear Isabella's confession had pushed his own emotional turmoil over the edge as well. The Denali all blinked, as they tried to comprehend the concept of ten years in a hole.

Edward could see it in her eyes and posture, this was it. The final moment, his last chance to confront her. He'd never considered that Victoria had gotten to her, it changed everything. He stood as quickly as he could and grabbed her right shoulder, in a vain attempt to keep her engaged. "I'm sorry I didn't know." He started. She twisted out of his grip and spun on him. Her face showed her full rage to him for the first time, and it frightened him down to his core.

He was right before, there truly was nothing left of the girl he once knew. He hated this new creature, her unnatural powers, her abnormal behavior, her betrayal of the very rules he lived by. She was something that had to be destroyed. She was right about one thing, he had done the cowardly thing by using the Volturi... this time would be different.

He backed up a step, pretending to back down. She turned again and started towards her family. Then he lashed out, putting all his strength into one carefully aimed punch, intending to take her head off with one strike. Isabella turned fluidly, without a sound, and caught his swing with one hand, and then she immediately tightened her grip on it. He felt his marble skin begin to crack from the pressure. Then she shifted her body quickly, and tossed him over her shoulder out the back window. He flailed helplessly as he crashed through the thick glass, and down the slight hill towards the river at the back of the property.

She followed so quickly that only Eliza and Bree could follow her movements, as she leapt into the air before he landed, with shadows gathering behind her which seemed to propel her faster towards him. She slammed down into his chest from above, with far more velocity than gravity itself would have lent. The power of it drove him into the dirt with such force that the ground rumbled from the impact.

When the dust settled, Edward found himself in a small crater, his chest was practically shorn in two. He gasped from the pain, which was like nothing he had ever experienced before. Isabella was still standing over him, shadows billowing from her back and surrounding him in a terrible darkness, as she stared down at him with obsidian eyes that seemed to pulse with an unnatural energy, she gave him a wicked smile. "There's a taste. I won't be so... friendly next time." The smile faded, and so did the darkness surrounding her. She took a deep irritated breath before continuing. "Understand me very clearly. You are alive right now for two reasons. Carlisle showed us hospitality while I was recovering, which means I will not repay him by killing you, and Bree promised there would be no fights this visit, and I would've kept that promise if you hadn't attacked me. But you have wasted my debt to Carlisle, I am repaying it by not ripping your fucking head off where you lie. Edward... never try to touch me or anyone in my Coven again or I will finish you."

Without another word, she jumped out of the crater and headed down the slope towards the river. The newly formed Swan Coven followed her, each with a different expression on their face. Bree was staring wide eyed at the circle Edward still hadn't crawled out of, in bewildered awe. Alice was watching Isabella closely, her concern outweighing her pride. Rosalie didn't bother to give her former brother a single glance as she followed behind Alice, she knew that she had to show her loyalty now if Isabella was going to ever truly accept her. Emmett on the other hand wasn't really concerned, or awe struck, he was angry. He threw Edward a disappointed and disgusted glare, it was the one look that hurt Edward worse than any of the others. To add insult to injury, Emmett took a moment to kick a bit of dirt scornfully onto Edward before following after the others.

Eliza hung back to smirk at Edward, who glared at her through hate filled eyes. When Eliza spoke, her tone belied her smirk. "Mother hated you for years for what you did you piece of filth. You don't have to worry about bumping into Mom anywhere. Because the gloves are off. If it's possible I am going to make your life a living hell before I kill you. It seems fitting since that's what you did to her." Eliza waved playfully as she disappeared after the rest of her Coven. Worried that if she stayed for another second she was going to give in to her urge and finish him then and there.

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The group of six walked away from the Cullen house in silence. Everyone was eyeing Isabella, waiting for her to break the ice, yet Isabella didn't meet anyone's eyes as they headed into the forest. She appeared lost in thought, as she turned over all the events she had awoken, again and again.

The quiet continued to stretch into minutes as they followed Isabella's lead, though it was clear she wasn't headed for La Push. Instead she made her way back toward her ruined house. Isabella, still turning things over in her head turned to glance at Eliza. "I hope you know I blame you for this."

Eliza frowned, and tilted her head curiously, though the rest were quiet.

"We came here with the two of us. Enforcers of the Volturi. Out of the two of us, I think it's fairly obvious which one of us is to be blamed for making friends." Isabella said raising an eyebrow at her daughter.

Rosalie piped up in an attempt to join the banter. "This coming from the girl who, as a human, befriended vampires, and then werewolves."

Isabella blinked in surprise at Rosalie's sudden jump into the conversation; but Eliza's reply beat her to the punch. "See, I told you, some of that shit's genetic."

Isabella sighed and rolled her eyes, "Now there are six of us."

Isabella watched her carefully for a moment before she stopped walking. Everyone else seemed to be taking their cue from her because they stopped as well. Isabella turned to Eliza first. "Someone should find Jacob's patrol, and tell them to head back to Quileute lands." Eliza nodded once in agreement. "Tell Jacob that he's going to need another council meeting. Preferably tonight if at all possible." When Eliza gave her a questioning look Isabella met her eyes seriously. "Things have changed. We need to make sure that we're on the same page."

Eliza nodded again in understanding, and then turned without replying and sprinted off into the forest. She didn't want to come out and say it but she had been anxious to see Leah from the moment her mother woke up. They'd only seen each other very briefly over the week.

Isabella turned to Bree and met her eyes "Bree, why don't you go on ahead and take Rosalie and Emmett up to the house? We'll meet you there."

Bree's responding look was puzzled, though a quick glance told her that Isabella was serious. "Okay Mom… C'mon Aunt Rose and Uncle Em." She gestured with a hand to lead them into the forest somewhat reluctantly towards the house. She had only spent a day in that house, and despite the fact that it was gone, she still felt a connection to it. Rosalie and Emmett both gave Isabella and Alice lingering glances before they turned and followed Bree.

Isabella watched them go, the names "Aunt Rose" and "Uncle Em" flitting through her mind briefly, before she turned to regard Alice fully. Alice made attempt to hide that she was watching her. Their eyes met and the two of them stared at each other, unspeaking, both somewhat unwilling to start the conversation.

Finally Isabella broke the silence. "So are you going to explain it to me?"

Alice raised an eyebrow, a nervous smile playing over her lips. "What exactly would you like me to explain."

Isabella clarified slightly, "Well to start with, how I've gone from three members in this… Coven, to six in a single afternoon."

Alice's fixed her features into a serious expression. "We each have our own reasons." Alice replied thoughtfully, though it was clear that Isabella wasn't going to just accept so little an explanation. "Rosalie and Emmett..." Isabella shook her head cutting off Alice's attempt to deflect, so she changed tacks.

"I already told you when... I meant what I said... Never again." Her voice was quiet and earnest.

Isabella tilted her head curiously, "And none of this has anything to do with Edward's little rant?" Her tone made it clear that she didn't believe it was that simple a choice.

Alice looked down at the ground, the first time her eyes broke away from Isabella's since the conversation began."Are you sure you want to know?"

Isabella nodded slowly, her piercing eyes not leaving Alice for a moment. "Yes, I think I do."

Alice sighed a little bit and dropped her shoulders slightly. This wasn't a conversation she had planned on having so soon, and she was entirely unsure how Isabella would respond. Yet she had promised herself that she would never intentionally deceive Isabella again. "It's hard to... no one really recovered from leaving you behind. No one said it exactly, mostly because of Edward... and after hearing your story I can't begin to claim that we had it worse than you, but… life was... difficult for us. I don't think most of the family realized how much you had become a part of us until you were gone."

Alice looked up at Isabella briefly before looking down again. "Everyone missed you in their own way. Emmett missed the fun you brought to the family. Jasper missed your calm, I know that sounds strange but he always admired your resolve and bravery. Esme couldn't talk about you without practically bursting into tears, it was so plainly obvious that she felt like she had lost a daughter, and I could tell that Carlisle missed you just as much. Rosalie… was the most peculiar. She was… out of sorts for years. Snippy and crabby at everyone, especially Edward. It was like she was missing something, but she couldn't explain what it was. I know she ever realized how much you affected her, I think she was so against you because she didn't want to admit that she had grown to like you. Edward's reaction of course, was just a weird. For the first few years he went on and on about his whole "noble suffering" bit, then one day he moved on and obviously felt better about himself. The rest of us were suffering, and he seemed almost happy. He said it was because he was convinced that you had moved on... I wish I could say I didn't believe him."

Alice looked at her hands for a moment as she paused. Isabella interrupted her though. "I honestly don't care about what Edward did or didn't do. What did you feel?"

"See that's just it. I thought if Edward could get over you, then none of us had an excuse. I thought he loved you." Alice said emphatically. Isabella just nodded once with a surprisingly warm smile, in an effort to coax it out of Alice. "I felt… like my entire world was gone."

Alice sighed visibly. "Edward sent the Volturi after you and Eliza. My guess is that he was either hoping they'd just take Eliza out, or maybe he was thinking if he couldn't have you no one could. It's clear his issues with Eliza are... complex and irrational. If he's being honest in his belief that she's controlling you, well that's a whole new level of crazy I didn't know he was capable of. I know she has a low opinion of him and makes no attempt to hide it, that's probably why he's all about getting rid of her. All he cares about are other people's opinions, he prides himself on his image as this sort of 'golden boy' ideal."

Alice's eyes flicked back up to meet Isabella's. "Obviously he doesn't approve of the relationship between Eliza and Leah. I honestly can't tell what upsets him more about the concept, that Leah is a wolf or that they're two women. Edward has always been extremely old fashioned in his beliefs and convictions. His world view hasn't changed since the early 1900's."

Isabella's lips thinned to a straight line as she murmured quietly. "I noticed that."

Alice smiled sadly. "I thought you might have. The fact that you're not swooning into his arms is driving him even more crazy. I think he fancies himself this grand hero who made a huge sacrifice by letting you go to be human. In his mind you should be singing his praises, falling to his feet in gratitude for being so magnanimous."

"Snowballs chance in hell of that." Isabella snorted, her eyes darkening a bit at the thought. "And the part about protecting me since that first day in the cafeteria?"

Alice flinched a little bit, she knew Isabella was far too canny to even think about deflecting that one. She looked down at the ground and paced a few steps back and forth so she wouldn't have to meet Isabella's gaze.

When she did speak her voice was soft. "The first day we met you, I had a vision."

Isabella raised an eyebrow, that was something she had always wondered. What was the reason Alice left the cafeteria that first day alone, and why hadn't she seen Bella coming into their lives?

Alice didn't look up again, as she stopping pacing. She could face her either, so she had stopped facing away from Isabella. It took a minute to build up her courage, before as she forced the words out. Alice was absolutely terrified of Isabella's reaction. "That first day in the cafeteria. I had a vision of you. They were really just flashes and glimpses, different things like reading a book or combing your hair, though in all of them you were a vampire with amber eyes like us. Then it shifted, and I saw... us in the forest, just talking and laughing and... kissing… it was a vision of us... together." Her voice was full of longing and an old hurt and deep seated pain.

She let those words hang between them before she elaborated to make sure there was no misunderstanding. "Together, together. As a couple. As lovers."

She gritted her teeth and continued, "Then Edward saw you, and immediately those visions vanished... no it was like someone shattered them like a pane of glass under the impact of a sledgehammer. In a micro-second he had made the decision to claim you, and that decision sent ripples through the future, effectively erasing our future together."

She felt Isabella shift behind her, and when her voice came out it was very soft. "So he was lying about trying to stay away from me?"

Alice shrugged a little bit, not turning around to see Isabella's expression. "Lying is something Edward does very well… At the time I didn't think he'd seen my vision of us, until he said as much today."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Isabella asked her voice still soft, but Alice still couldn't tell what Isabella's reaction to her confession was.

"Because you were with Edward. From the moment the two of you got together it was clear you were very much in love. Who was I to ruin that?" Alice hung her head in shame at how pathetic she sounded. She felt tired, and empty inside for a long moment. Until she felt a grip on her shoulder, in the next instant she was spun around to face Isabella.

Alice bit back a small gasp, Isabella's eyes were purely black again and she was staring down at Alice. "Why?" Isabella's expression felt dangerous to Alice, and there was no mistaking the demand. She needed an answer.

Alice looked up unflinchingly into Isabella's eyes, though her voice came out very softly. "I… didn't want to interfere… I just wanted you to be happy… even if it wasn't with me and I-"

She was cut off as Isabella's pulled her tightly against her, and pressed her lips against Alice's. For a split second Alice was frozen, unable to process that it was Isabella kissing her. Her shock didn't last long, as she melted into the arms of her dark beloved.

Isabella pushed them against a nearby tree, feeling a hunger she couldn't fully explain. Once again the kiss wasn't a gentle one. It was a ravenous and passionate kiss, one that had that same undercurrent of anger and force behind it as the first one did. Yet the kiss had more to it, it was deeper and longer and the intent was far more clear to Isabella. She wanted Alice... perhaps she had always wanted her. The effect was something even more intense than their last embrace. It drove Alice into a fit of conflicted ecstasy and she couldn't stop the moan of contentment from escaping her chest. Her heart almost swelling from the impossibility of this moment. For nearly a century she had never dreamed to hope... and suddenly that hope came flooding back to her. Drowning her in the moment, holding her under until there was nothing but the bliss of her requited love.

For Isabella, she didn't care that she had acted on her urges again. Even though she had no idea why she seemed to keep losing control like this. There was something about Alice that felt… so right. As Alice told her about her broken vision something in that unknown future... about what could've been had it not been dashed by one selfish and ignorant act... something inside Isabella reacted, her instincts coming to the fore. Then Alice said the one thing that no one except her parents had ever said to her, that her happiness was more important than her own desires. Her confession spoke of a truly selfless act of sacrifice.

The kiss came easily, she needed Alice in a way that didn't understand and never knew she wanted. So when she heard Alice's moan and it ripped through her senses, and she pulled back from the kiss with a grunt of effort. She retreated several steps away from Alice, her chest heaving to get rid of the scent of cinnamon and lilacs.

Her beast was right at the surface, and she was a hairsbreadth from losing control and giving in. However, for the first time Isabella could remember, the monster wasn't urging her to inflict pain, no, in a very real way it was something even more instinctual, which represented a much more powerful need. The beast began to pace beneath her fragile control, roaring at her to turn back and take Alice. It felt like a demand, that she had to lay claim to Alice in the most primal way possible; that Alice was hers. That she belonged to her.

"You… should go." Isabella rasped out, still struggling to bring all of these sudden new urges under her full control.

"I'm not going anywhere." Alice's voice was firm as she watched Isabella carefully, her back still pressed into the tree.

Isabella spun around to face Alice with a snarl on her face "You don't understand! I-"

"You're dangerous. Yeah I got that memo." Alice said, stepping forward again and looking up unafraid into Isabella's black eyes. "What are you going to do? Hurt me? Kill me?" Her voice wasn't taunting or challenging, her tone was curious as she met Isabella's gaze unflinchingly. "I don't care what you do to me... I'm never leaving your side again!"

Isabella wasn't ready for Alice's complete lack of fear, nor did she have an answer to the questions Alice posed to her. She didn't know what she was capable of doing, but she was shook her head immediately at the thought of hurting Alice, or killing Alice. The idea of something committing any kind of violence against her sent a jolt through Isabella so intense that it made her shudder. The beast inside her reacted, and her shadows flared out into the forest in a flash.

Alice was plunged into darkness, and all she could see was the outline of Isabella's eyes. It was enough though, and she pushed off the tree and closed the short distance between them. The instant Alice's fingers brushed against Isabella's face something clicked inside, and Isabella recognized the feelings that surrounded her as familiar. It was the same kind of feeling she got when Eliza was hurt or in danger. Only it had a different tenor to it… they were emotions connected to protection... yet they weren't a part of some maternal instinct... they were more primal... less focused... and far more confusing.

The darkness faded, and Isabella's eyes finally returned to the red Alice had grown accustomed to. Then a long silence stretched between them, as Alice dropped her hand to her side but refused to back away.

"Let's head to what remains of the house." Isabella said abruptly, though she held her hand out to Alice.

Alice blinked, surprised at Isabella's sudden suggestion. She was partially lost in the memory of their kiss, and her body was still absolutely on fire with excitement from the sheer intensity of Isabella's embrace. She also felt a touch of relief, her concealed feelings were in the open finally, and Isabella hadn't shied away from them. However, she could see the conflict in Isabella's eyes and had no desire to prod her further than she was willing to go.

Alice smiled shyly at Isabella's extended hand, and took it firmly. Isabella sighed slightly, it was the first time she had done anything to initiate a friendly contact with anyone except her daughters, well except for the two soul searing kisses. Alice's fingers intertwined with Isabella's and she squeezed her hand in a way that let her know that she would follow Isabella no matter where she was headed. Isabella repressed a smile, relishing the feel of Alice's hand in hers.

"Welcome to the... family." Isabella's voice was very small and soft. She still wasn't sure about Rosalie and Emmett, but Isabella couldn't deny that Alice was a part of her now. Even if she didn't exactly know what that meant.

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Author's note: Woohoo. LONG chapter!

1) I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was a fun one to write. I was really looking forward to the aftermath. I know updates are coming slower but that's because work has gotten way busier.

2) I hope those of you who are screaming at us for some Bellice are pleased with this chapter as well :P It has been a long time coming. However, I shall once again caution you. They're not all lovey dovey yet. Isabella's issues's stand. But the two of them are fun to write!

3) A couple of broad thanks yous, Chaseherchiss, Neb87, Quintana2, viciousviolet, Iheartdanradcliffe and Mary Ali Cullen. I've not shouted out to you before but I see your reviews for every chapter and they're substantive and appreciated! Thank you! It's reviewers like you that make writing this worth while.

4) Samantha Minuet's Co-Author's Note: I'm starting to feel sorry for poor deluded Edward... okay I couldn't keep a straight face, he's a total asshat and deserves everything he gets. Speaking of which since Rosalie went all mafia knee breaker on him, we had to have Bella one-up her a little. Sorry if it felt a little too Goku... we honestly couldn't resist. I hope you all liked the chapter, I know we'll try to get the next one out faster.

5) Thank you to Samantha for her hard work once again. I've had a few people ask me privately why I call her my co-author and not my beta. It's because she is FAR more than a beta. Huge sections of chapters are written exclusively by her. If there was a way to link this story to both of us. I totes would. We're a team. Neither one of us is in charge. When we get to a plot point or dialogue or issue that the two of us don't agree on, we argue and dither until one or the other agrees. She is AMAZING, and not just because she hasn't tried to reach through the computer screen and smother me to death with a pillow in my sleep.

6) Please read and review! We still have a goal of 5k reviews. O_O which is a ton. especially considering... that i can't even say for sure we're at the halfway point yet.

Next Chapter: Leah and Eliza, also another meeting of the minds.