Eleven
Several things happened simultaneously.
Firstly, Edward warned his family. Bella stood up quickly, her eyes searching beyond the window, looking for any sign of their physical presence approaching. Jacob, alerted to the sudden change in temperament from the vampires, did the same.
Carlisle ran outside, warning Esme, who, having heard Edward from outside, was already making her way in, to him.
No one knew where Rosalie and Emmet were, although Edward got a quick breakdown of the afternoon's events back at the house from Alice. His mind was filled with broken glass and bathtubs and he shook it violently to clear it.
"We should have Jacob take Ness, again." Bella suggested. Memories of that long ago afternoon in the mountains when they faced down the Volturi jumping through her mind. She had thought that day that she would never see her daughter again, and those same long-dead fears flooded her mind once more.
"Rose and Emmett," Edward told Bella. "No one knows where they are."
"We'll have to face them," Jasper said, crossing the clearing to approach Carlisle and Esme. He and Alice were hand in hand and Edward didn't miss the quick flash of future memory from Alice showing Jasper would be the first to run toward the strangers to fight them.
Jacob objected to the clammer. "Can someone tell me what's going on?"
Esme answered him. "Alice saw the Volturi. They're coming here."
Jacob's fists clenched. "Good. We can take them out this time."
Jasper turned to him; eyebrows raised. "You have no idea what you're getting into."
"Oh, I think I do," he argued. But just as quickly as he had said it, he blood ran cold in fear. "We have to get Renesmee out of here." Jacob turned to the window, where behind the glass he could see Bella and Edward standing protectively in front of their daughter.
Bella reached for Edward.
He said, "I want you to stay in here, with Ness. If things go bad you have to take her."
"I can't," she stammered. "I can't leave you."
"You can't leave her," He corrected, bringing his lips to her forehead for the quickest of touches. He let go of her, fleeing Renesmee's bedroom and darting in a quick flash of movement outside to the rest of his family.
The vision hit Alice again, sharper, and sudden. Jasper broke his stare from the tree line to make sure she was alright.
"They're coming," Edward told them. What Alice had seen was now in his mind. Footsteps. Bootheels indenting into wet mud. A silent tread with the sharp tang of anger. A hand clenching into a fist, flesh angrily meeting flesh. A gleam of opalescent fang, red blood on a lip. He thought he could smell his daughters' blood in someone else's nostrils.
The row of vampires tensed, taking up their fighting stances. Jasper released Alice and darted forward. Ready to welcome whatever danger was approaching, headlong, without fear.
"Jaz!" Alice shouted; her voice filled with a bitter regret.
Jasper didn't stop. He didn't turn back to console her. His stance didn't give away that he had heard the pain in her voice.
The forest all around them seemed to still; the wind stopped its guttural howl and the rain became a hollow splutter in the leaves in the trees above them. Suddenly, a figure appeared through the trees. Shockingly, it was Emmett.
Jasper looked him up and down, "What's happening?"
Rose stepped forward; Emmett's gigantic frame having obscured her from the other's eyes.
Carlisle called her name, weary, and she lifted her arms up in a gesture of supplication, placating him.
"We found them in the woods," Emmet explained, and two additional figures stepped forward. First came Garrett, their old friend who fought beside them in the previous war with the Volturi, and then Tanya, the leader of the Denali coven.
Esme called out to Tanya, the two had been friends for many years. Initially Esme's face softened when she saw her old friend, but just as quickly she worried. Why had they not said they were coming?
"Please," Tanya offered. Her face had softened as well, at the sight of Esme. "Forgive us for this sudden appearance. We did not mean to startle any of you, my friends. Our dearest friends."
"I don't understand?" Carlisle questioned.
Garett made to speak, but Tanya stopped him with a hand on his arm. "He came to us some time ago," she began, knowing that the Cullen's would listen to her. "He asked for sanctuary. I should tell you that at first, we did not believe him either. It took us time to believe."
Carlisle interrupted, "What are you trying to say, Tanya?"
Tanya steepled her fingers, trying again to make herself clear. "He asked for sanctuary. He told us that he was done with them. He wanted to stop taking human life, and to stop working with a clan that held such low regard for life, both human and immortal life. We didn't believe him at first. It took us time, but we came to give testimony, to show you."
Another figure stepped forward from the trees, rainwater tumbling off his black trench coat, bootheels indenting into wet mud.
Jasper tensed again. "Alec!" He braked.
Edward stared the boy down. He was Jane's twin brother, and equally as dangerous to them as she would be, despite the fact that he had been trapped in the eternal frame of an adolescent teenage boy. He was surprised, however, to see that they eye's that stared back at the Cullen's were just as amber gold as the rest of them. He had not fed on human blood long enough for his eyes to change completely.
"Tanya," Carlisle began. "As thrilled as we are to see you, our friend and cousin, we are shocked that you would bring this stranger amongst us."
Garett finally spoke up. "We knew you would say that, Carlisle. That's why we decided to come with him. To show you."
Tanya interrupted, speaking quickly. "He's been with us for months. We had to be sure of his change before we brought him to you."
"And why would you bring him to us?" Edward asked.
Tanya explained, "He wanted to apologize. To make amends. He knew if he came directly to you, you would not believe him. He wanted you all to be assured of his change."
Alec finally spoke. "Carlisle, I know you are the leader of this coven. You and I have known each other for hundreds of years. We knew each other quite well during your time with the Volturi." Alec raised his hands to his chest, further mollifying them. "I am a changed man. I have lived for hundreds of years under the yoke of Aro. I've acted as his henchmen… preformed deeds that sickened me at the time and continue to haunt me to this day. I could not go on. You, yourself, know the sadistic nature of Aro, his plans, the delusions that he harbors about vampires and the world we inhabit."
"And what of Jane?" Edward asked. They all knew Alec and Jane had been a part of Aro's army for centuries. Where one went the other followed. Alec had always seemed to be aligned with Jane and the rest of the Volturi.
"I have broken all ties with my sister," Alec revealed to them. "She will always be my sister, my twin, but I can no longer consider her my ally. I have chosen to leave. She, however, will never do so."
"I cannot underestimate the damage your sister and the rest of the Voltui could bring upon us if we choose to harbor a known enemy of them. Is that what you are?"
"I will not lie to you, Carlisle. My leaving was not kindly met. Although I am no longer welcome in the catacombs of that coven, I do not anticipate reprisal from Aro or my sister."
"How can that be?" Jasper asked. "You are one of Aro's best weapons against any vampire who would challenge him."
"Aro believes that one day I will return to him. He views my believes as mere trifles. He and Jane both believe I cannot live without human blood, my appetite, my desires, will one day bring me back to him. Time is a very strange creature to Aro. I have been gone for months and I believe he has barely noticed that I'm gone."
"Why should we believe anything that you say?" Carlisle commented. "It's true, I remember you from my days with the Volturi. You were not as sadistic as your sister, and I choose to believe that there is compassion in everyone, even amongst our own kind. It would be foolish of me to allow you to stay with my family. It would be to put a mark on us all."
Rosalie stepped forward. "He knows what's happening to Renesmee," she told them. "He said he can help her."