A/N- Hey there! I don't do these often but I just wanted to say a quick thank you to all of those who have either reviewed or dropped a PM. I know that I still have some room to improve with my writing but I appreciate you all sticking this out with me!


Chapter 21

Pure exhilaration flowed throughout the entire Cullen household like electricity. Even without being an empath herself, Bella could easily feel the emotions coming from her family as she stood out on her and Alice's private patio, sipping on a cup of steaming black coffee. It was now just two weeks before the wedding, and roughly three months since the quarrel that occurred between Sam and Jasper. On the surface, everything was going swimmingly which came to no surprise to anyone as Alice was anticipating essentially every move and every component of the ceremony. Just the day prior, Alice and Bella had completed the process of their personal gown fittings, which they had to do separately because Alice was adamant that they could not risk any bad luck by either of them seeing each other in their dresses before the wedding. Bella had thought for sure that Alice had looked ahead to see what Bella would choose but Alice had promised she was purposely blocking out the visions of the actual ceremony because she wanted to be surprised.

Bella sighed lightly as she brought the white delicate porcelain cup to her lips, continuing to sip on the steaming hot beverage doing all she could to figure out her out of place emotions. She knew that she should be elated. She was finally marrying the reason for her existence, her missing puzzle piece that she never expected to find and yet, she had been feeling off for the past few days. She had originally assumed that it was due to pre-wedding jitters but something else was there, some ominous cloud that was making her feel completely on edge. She couldn't quite place her finger on it but it was almost as if she knew she was far too happy and fate would be coming along to balance all of that out.

Bella finished her cup of coffee and sat the mug down on the wooden railing of the patio, before rubbing her hands across her eyes, doing all she could to get her head on right and push her feelings aside. She had told Alice of her feelings just the previous night as she was not able to hide her emotions anymore from her and didn't feel the need to. Alice had more than willingly searched into the future and swore that nothing was coming that could justify Bella's whirlwind of emotions, but promised if anything changed, she would let her know.

Bella sighed loudly once more and shook her head as the sun slowly came up over the horizon. Bella closed her eyes as she felt the warm rays hit her skin before walking into the bedroom, relieved to some extent to see that Alice had still not come back in after dropping off the cup of coffee. Bella couldn't help but feel as if they were back to where they had been when she was recovering from Charlie's death. She felt positively terrible knowing that Alice didn't deserve to be walking on eggshells around her, especially so close to the wedding. Determined to push these feelings aside and make the most out of the day, Bella put on a form fitting pair of slate gray sweats and a dark emerald sweatshirt over a plain white tee. She walked into the bathroom and quickly washed her face and brushed her hair out, pulling it back into a loose ponytail. Bella was getting ready to open the bedroom door to walk downstairs to join her soon to be forever family when her phone rang. She paused and looked over her shoulder at it, her eyebrows furrowing in thought.

' Who on Earth could that be? Everyone I ever talk to these days are here.' Bella mused and walked over as curiosity finally won. She looked at the number on her phone and smiled as she answered.

" Well, if it isn't my favorite bar tender! Long time no talk. What's up?" Bella smiled as she spoke with one her closest friends who lived in town.

"Bella, you know I'd never ask anything of you especially so close to the wedding… but I don't know what else to do." Elijah sighed back into the phone, causing Bella to sit down on the corner of the bed.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked as she instantly picked up the guilt and anxiety in his tone.

"You see… Jake has been here since last night. He's beyond messed up and I can't convince him to go home. He's in bad shape, Bella. Worse off than I've seen either of you. He's not okay mentally. I swear, he's going off on all this crazy talk, you know about vampires, werewolves and shit. It's starting to freak out some of the other customers. I'm worried they're about to call the cops to get him to leave." Elijah finally replied slowly after a few moments.

"Wait, hold up. What did you just say?" Bella asked, desperately trying to keep her voice calm but could feel her heart stop in her chest, frozen in fear as the implications of this news sunk deep into her conscious.

"I know it's just drunk talk and all but I think you're the only one who can get through to him. Please, if the cops find out that I've made an exception to serving minors for you and him, I'm done for." Elijah practically pleaded and Bella sighed as she closed her eyes.

"Yeah, honestly. That definitely does sound like some major drunk talk. Just let me get my shoes on and I'll be right there." Bella finally said with a flat tone as she hung up the phone and shakily put it down on the bed, trying her best not to destroy it in her grasp. She felt her jaw clenching as her mind took in this information.

' Of course. Here it is, the reason why I've been feeling like something was going to go wrong and of course Alice couldn't see it, she can't see anything past those damn mutts, with me being the only exception.' Bella thought to herself as she let out a shaky breath, one she had not realized that she had been holding in. She shook her head in disbelief over her dreadful luck and stood up from the bed and moved into the closet, quickly putting on a pair of running shoes. As she exited the closet, she found that Jasper and Alice were now in the room, obviously due to Jasper feeling her heightened emotions. Bella avoided their concerned gaze as she put her phone into her jacket pocket, snapping it shut.

"Bella, what's going on? Your emotions are through the roof, more turbulent and stronger than I have felt them since you were changed." Jasper asked, reaching out to put a comforting hand on Bella's shoulder like he had always done but to his surprise, she brushed his hand off with force and a slight hiss escaped her lips.

"Don't." Bella forced out through her teeth.

Bella pushed past Alice and Jasper, rushing down the stairs two at a time, her fear of this possible exposure increasing with each step. She felt Alice and Jasper behind her and only came to a stop when she ran into Rosalie who took a few steps back from the force of their collision. Rosalie put her steading hands on Bella's tense shoulders and looked into Bella's darkening eyes.

" Bella, hun. What's wrong?" Rosalie asked as she heard Bella's heartrate began to beat faster. Rosalie's concerned eyes shot to Alice and Jasper who both shook their heads in confusion.

Without a word, Bella tore herself from Rosalie's grasp and grabbed her keys to her bike from the hook near the front door. She quickly made her way into the yard and began to gulp down the forestry smells, trying to make herself feel grounded but found that meditating was not possible, not with how much fear she was currently feeling.

"This seriously cannot be happening. Not now." Bella said out loud to no one in particular, as she began to pace around anxiously as her family made their way out, watching her with curious and concerned eyes.

' Fuck, I'm going to murder that senseless and arrogant puppy, so help me.' Bella thought to herself as she paused her pacing and looked down the long road into town. She knew she could make it within matters of seconds if she ran but she couldn't. Elijah knew she was at home at there would be no way to explain how she got there in under 10 seconds. ' No, now is not the time to act irrotationally. I need to blend in and not do anything to give Elijah reason to believe anything that Jake is saying. I have to do whatever I can to stop the possibility of any further exposure.'

Bella groaned as she contemplated her options. Exposure of the shifters and the vampires would only mean one thing, the involvement of the Volturi, which is the last thing that needed to happen right now, especially right before the wedding and before she had the chance to talk to Alice and the family about everything.

" I know this was inevitable but it doesn't need to happen like this. Not now. Seriously, why can't you give me a break?" Bella said out loud again, thinking back to her conversation with Taha and Aurelias as she looked up at the sky.

"Bella, dear. What do you mean? We can help but you have to explain." Carlisle attempted to reason, his gentle gaze watching his youngest daughter's movements carefully.

" I-I can't. There isn't time. You have to trust me on this." Bella forced out through trembling lips as her eyes moved to make eye contact with Carlisle. Carlisle narrowed his eyes in thought, suddenly seeing the resemblance between this interaction and how Alice had acted when she left to go after Bella after she had first phased. He did not need Jasper's abilities to see the same type of panic that Bella must have been feeling. Carlisle was determined then to not make the same mistake he had made with Alice. He moved forward until he was facing Bella, standing just an inch from her. Bella had hung her head back down, fearing that she would have to fight through the family.

"Bella," Carlisle paused as he used his index finger to raise Bella's face to meet his gaze. His golden eyes locked with Bella's that were now black as night. The family gasped at the sight and Bella swore she heard Alice whimper at the sight of her mate being in such a state of pain " Go. We will discuss this later. I trust you completely and that you know what you are doing. I believe that you are doing what you feel is best. We will be behind you every step of the way, just tell us what you need."

Bella blinked a few times, and took an uneasy step backwards in surprise at his gentle words.

" Let me try and deal with this first. You can't always fight my battles for me. If I can't do this then I'll never grow." Bella finally replied after a few moments and Carlisle nodded in understanding before moving back to join the family.

Bella felt a single tear roll off her eyelashes and down her cheek as she quickly made her way into the garage and got her bike out, and slid on her helmet for appearance purposes only. She started her bike and stole one last glance at Alice, who pursed her lips in disapproval at Carlisle's words but nodded finally in understanding, giving her reluctant silent permission. With that final blessing, Bella tore down the road, heading straight to the heart of town.

"Come, we can be patient. We need to show we trust her in order for her to trust us. Let's wait inside. If you notice anything in your visions that indicate that we need to go to her please do inform us but for now we need to trust her, just like Carlisle had said. I know that if she needs us, she will let us know. She was right, we can't fight every battle for her." Jasper reassured as he put a gentle hand on the small of Alice's back and urged her back into the house but not before he stole one last glance in the direction that Bella had gone, unable to hide just the flickering of concern that flashed across his eyes.

' If Alice was not able to see what caused this, I bet my undead soul that it has something to do with those damn mutts. Bella, please… be safe. You have no idea how much you're needed here' Jasper thought to himself as he sent wave after wave of comfort to Alice, who had moved into her bedroom and had curled up into a fetal position next to Bella's pillow as she focused all her attention on Bella, hoping to notice a set of events before it was too late.


Bella parked her bike on the street in front of the bar and took her helmet off, shaking her hair free that had come undone from the ponytail as she had raced into town. Bella hung the helmet on the handlebars and quickly walked into the bar as she put on a pair of aviators on, effectively concealing her eye color change.

' This is all too messy for my liking. I hate just being a pawn. Maybe I should just go deal with the Volturi on my own.' Bella thought fleetingly to herself as she looked around the bar.

Elijah made his way from the back and sighed in relief as Bella nodded at him and sat down on a nearby bar stool, continuing to looking around the bar uneasily.

"Thank god you're here. I've managed to make everyone think he's just shitfaced and that we cut him off until he's sobered up enough to leave so no one calls the cops to have him removed but I'm not sure what the hell is wrong with him. I've seen him in bad shape before, but never like this. I didn't know what to do." Elijah explained as he leaned against the bar, resting on his forearms.

" I got it. Where is he anyway?" Bella asked as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Bathroom, near the back." Elijah replied with a nod of his head in the direction she needed to go before pouring a double shot of tequila and handing it to Bella, who picked up the glass with a raised eyebrow, " Just a feeling. I think you may need some liquid courage to deal with this shit."

Bella thought about it for just a second or two and nodded before slamming the shot, and feeling the now unfamiliar warmth of the liquor move throughout her system like fire. This was the first time she had anything to drink since she had been changed and she no longer had any type of tolerance. But she knew if she would have declined the shot, it would have only raised further suspicions.

"Good, thanks." Bella finally said after a few moments, and stood up from the bar and moved to the back flowing, carefully avoiding the small crowds. Bella waited, leaning against the wall, her sharp ears hearing Jake likely emptying his stomach something that she herself was thinking might be a good idea as she placed a comforting hand against her own stomach, knowing that the alcohol had not settled well.

A few more moments passed by and the aged wooden door the men's restroom opened as Jake emerged, wiping his mouth clean on the back of his hand. Without giving him a moment to get attuned to his surroundings, Bella quickly put her hand over his mouth and opened the door that led into the back alley with her free hand, dragging a struggling Jake outside. Bella looked around and saw no one nearby, and used her vampire speed to get away and deep into the woods, reaching a safe clearing within seconds before throwing Jake away from her in disgust.

" I thought I told you to stay out of my life." Jake growled, his hands clenching into fists.

" I didn't come to help you. I came because Elijah called and asked for my help. I mean, honestly? Exposure? How could you be so fucking stupid, Jake?," Bella paused she ran a hand through her hair in frustration, " There are laws about this, Jake. Laws that cannot be broken and the beings who enforce these laws are monsters, who will show absolutely no mercy to those who break them. Not to mention you put Elijah in a terrible spot. I mean after all that he has done for you and this is how you repay him?" Bella chastised rather harshly as she tossed her sunglasses aside, causing them to shatter when they connected with a nearby boulder.

"Whatever, Bella. Just go home to your leech." Jake growled and Bella shook her head as she sighed.

"You know what? I will. I honestly don't know why I even bothered to have this conversation with you. I should have just dropped you off at Sam's and let him deal with this mess. You've always been such a rotten drunk." Bella sighed as she turned around to walk away.

"Yeah, well. You turned out to be a pretty shitty best friend and that's a new development." Jake snapped back, causing Bella to pause.

Bella felt her eyes grow dark once more as her hands clenched into fists as her mind worked hard to comprehend what Jake had just said. A new bitter and rather unpleasant liquid found its way into her mouth, pooling up to the point where the excess dripped out the corners of her lips and down her chin, burning her skin slightly. Bella was too far gone to realize that this liquid was venom. Her venom. Bella shot around and faced Jake who growled deeply in his chest as he peered into her murderous pitch black eyes.

"How dare you. I have done nothing but take your abuse time and time again, always taking the option of the higher road with you. I have forgiven every outburst, every snide comment, every pathetic attempt at you to control me. I have come up with excuses for your behavior and defended you more times than I care to count. How dare you say that I have been a shitty friend. I almost died trying to protect you. You can't blame the victim this time." Bella snarled as a red vail began to come down over her vision.

"I wish you would have died. Anything at all would have been better than you turning into one of those leeches. I gave you my blood to help prevent any chance of you ever becoming one of them. My plan failed and look at you! You've become a threat to everyone. To my kind, to yours, to Alice and her family and hell, even to yourself. You're like a science experiment gone wrong. As far as I am concerned, Alice broke the treaty the moment her teeth pierced your skin. You shouldn't have lived. You should be dead and the fact that you aren't is just unnatural and sick" Jack snapped back.

Bella blinked a few times, suddenly finding it very difficult to breathe. Jake's words had cut through her like a knife and never could she have mentally prepared herself for this pain. Whatever scrap of resolve she had left was shredding into nothing and Bella felt herself slipping, heading into a very dark place. A place she had been fighting against since being changed. A place she was now ready to step into and embrace.

It was at this moment that Jake phased, and raised the fur on his back, growling viciously as he began to circle Bella, who had crouched down in a pure defensive move, her own warning hiss slipping out from her lips as she watched his movements with her onyx eyes. Still, Carlisle's words of how he and his family lived floated to the front of her mind. Those words and pieces of advice clung onto her conscious like a vice. As lost as she was in her angered state, she refused to make the first move. She would not let herself become the monster everyone had feared that she would become in her newborn state. She had a family to make proud, a family who trusted her.

Taking in a deep breath, Bella closed her eyes and fought her instincts, for the first time realizing just how nearly impossible it was. Without thinking, Bella unlocked her phone in her back pocket and pressed what she hoped was speed dial number three, the number to the Cullen household. She knew she was taking a risk but she couldn't very well pull her phone out in front of Jake and she couldn't trust that Alice would be able to see this play out due to Jake being there. Her only hope was that here family were at home and not out hunting and that someone, anyone answered the phone. She could take Jake but she didn't want anyone to think she violated the treaty.

"Listen, we don't need to do this. We don't have to fight. I understand that you are angry. I can understand that. But fighting like this will solve nothing. We've known each other our whole lives, and even if we aren't friends now, we can both leave peacefully without putting the treaty on the line. You have to see that this is so much bigger than just you and I. Please, consider this before you act rash. I am practically begging you here, you don't want to do this. You don't want to fight me and I really don't want to have to fight you but my ability to push past my instincts are growing very thin. If you make the first move, I will have no choice but to defend myself. For the last time, phase back and go home." Bella said out through clenched teeth as she struggled to hold her resolve.

Jake continued to pace around Bella, growling and barring his lethal canines. Bella sighed and shook her head as she felt a familiar tingling sensation run down her spine. She knew what was coming, and it was inevitable. She would have to take on the person who had once been her lifeline, her pillar of support. It was time for the bond to be severed. For her own sanity and wellbeing but also for her family's.

"Fine. Have it your way then. Just don't say I didn't try to stop this from happening, Jacob." Bella said through a strained voice as she removed her jewelry, not wanting it to be destroyed during the phasing process. Her phone was the last to fall onto the dirt as Bella began to feel her body shake uncontrollably, knowing her own phase was just moments away.

So lost in her current state, she did not hear the concerned gasp of her mate on the other line right before the line went dead.