"You should of seen it Peter. The cubs ran right up to Rosalie and fought for her attention. The mother even greeted her like an old friend." Charlotte told Peter from her seat next to him on the couch.
"Really? How did they act around you?" Peter asked groaning as his character died from a headshot in the video game he was playing with Jasper , Emmett and Bella.
"They were standoffish at first but after getting reassurance from Bella they let me pet them and we all played with them." Charlotte told them.
"Aren't they so cute?" Alice asked from her seat on the arm of the chair Jasper was sitting on."I just want to bring them all home and keep them as pets."
"It would be nice to be able to have a pet. These are the first animals I've been around since I've become a vampire that haven't been afraid of me. Do you have that effect on all animals Bella?" Charlotte asked.
"Animals are usually fine with me unless I'm in tiger form hunting them."Bella told her from her spot on the floor stretched out in between Rosalie's legs.
"Did you ever have a pet?" Victoria asked. She had gone with them to see the cubs but it had been hard to be around Bella in tiger form so she hadn't stayed the whole time.
"No, Rosalie and I were going to adopt a cat but with all this Edward stuff going on we haven't gotten a chance." Bella said.
"Oh my god!! You guys are adopting a pet together?" Alice glared at Jasper." Why have we never adopted anything together?"
Jasper payed extra attention to the game trying to avoid direct eye contact with Alice. "Um, because animals are uncomfortable around us and don't like our company?"
Alice crossed her arms."They like Rosalie just fine."
Rosalie feeling sorry for Jasper answered. "They weren't at first. It was only after Bella introduced us that they felt comfortable around me."
"Hey Bella, are the wolves coming tomorrow?" Emmett asked.
Thankful for an excuse to change the topic of conversation Bella replied." Yes, Sam said he would come with himself and a few of the wolves in the morning. They are very eager to see you train."
"On your right Bella!" Emmett yelled giving Bella a high five when she shot Peter's character." Are they going to train with us? I really want a chance to fight a wolf."
Rosalie rolled her eyes. "No one is fighting a wolf. They are just coming to observe and spend time with Bella. "
"Fun police strikes again." Emmett grumbled.
"It's the first meeting so maybe as you build a better relationship you can ask if one of them would like a chance to wrestle you. I'll even vouch for you Emmett." Bella told him.
Emmett gave her a big smile. "You're the best Bella."
Rosalie pulled Bella closer to her chest and laid her chin on Bella's shoulder whispering low enough for only Bella to hear." You need to stop being so indulgent with them. They are going to become spoiled."
Bella leaned back and gave her a kiss before whispering back. "They are harmless."
"Is that Carlisle?" Alice asked as the sound of squealing tires stopped in front of the house.
Rosalie jumped up and pulled Bella behind her. Ready to protect her from whatever was going to come through the front door. "If it is something is definitely wrong."
Carlisle crashed through the front door holding up an envelope. "The Volturi have sent a message."
Rosalie rushed forward." What message?"
Calming himself down Carlisle handed the envelope to Rosalie. "One of their people came to me at work and hand delivered this. They told me they would be back tomorrow to receive a reply."
"What does it say?" Jasper asked.
"I don't know, it's addressed to Rosalie." Carlisle said.
Rosalie looked at Bella." Let's go to our room and read this."
"WHAT?!!" Emmett yelled." We handle things as a family. If it concerns you it concerns us."
"Emmett we need a minute to ourselves to discuss whatever this letter says. When we are done we will come down and talk to you all about it." Bella said trying to reassure him.
Alice looked distraught."But how can we help if we don't know what's going on?"
Rosalie looked over the entire group."Just gives us a few minutes and we'll be right down."
After receiving nods of agreement she grabbed Bella's hand and led them to their bedroom. Closing the door she turned to Bella." Do you want to open it or should I?"
"You read it to me." Bella said.
Rosalie opened the envelope pulling out stationary with the Volturi crest,covered with beautiful calligraphy writing.
"Dear Rosalie,
We are overjoyed to hear of you finding your mate. We would be honored if you both, along with your coven would come to Italy for a celebration we would like to throw in honor of this monumental occasion.
It has also come to our attention that you find yourself in an unfortunate situation with one of your coven members. As this is a threat to your newly found mate bond we wish to offer you our help by sending some of our guard to deal with the threat. Please let us know how many you would need.
Your Friends,
Aro,Marcus and Cauis"
Bella chuckled. "Is by signing it your friends supposed to make the whole thing sound more informal."
Rosalie reread the letter. "It's quite obvious they want to send the guard members to spy on us. We can easily put off the celebration but there is no guarantee that even if we decline the help that they won't just send them anyway."
Bella thought about their options."We don't actually need the help do we?"
Rosalie shook her head."Jasper is confident we don't even need their help, that the two of us can handle the whole situation ourselves."
"We still don't know what allies he got though or what exactly his plan is." Bella said.
Rosalie put her arms around Bella seeking her warmth for comfort. "It would be so much easier if the Denali would help us. Although they can't get to close to Edward without tipping him off."
"You said that they didn't really like Edward all that much. Do you think because of this, Edward would stay away from them so that they didn't know he was involved?" Bella asked.
"We have to consider Edward's mindset. If he has gotten to the point of being overconfident he might not even care. I have a feeling he reached out to the Denali in the first place out of spite. He knows we consider them family so it would be a giant blow to us to have them against us. The fact they are Volturi loyalist is probably just a bonus for him." Rosalie told her.
Bella pulled back from the embrace to look at Rosalie."Ok, so like you said we can easily decline the invitation to Italy and instead of outright denying not wanting help, we can claim that this is a family matter that we can easily take care of. Carlisle can once again reach out to the Denali to see what information they have for us and tell them we no longer need their help during the fight. I think the best thing for us to do is contain this to those who are here and if we need help we can ask the wolves."
"That's a good idea." Rosalie agreed." I know we don't want to tell everybody to much but I think this is a good chance to plant the idea in everyone's heads that the Volturi will be coming for us and they will have to choose a side."
"They don't need to know any in-depth plans but you're right. This is a chance to let them know the seriousness of the situation because I don't think all of them have realized what they are getting themselves into by associating with me." Bella said.
Rosalie kissed Bella." Let's go tell them and then you're mine for the rest of the night."
Bella reached for Rosalie's hand and led her to the door. "I like that idea."
"So we are fighting the Volturi?" Emmett asked before Rosalie even had the door closed behind them.
Walking down the stairs and into the living room with Bella she ignored him taking a seat on the love seat. "We are not fighting the Volturi."
"But they are coming after us right?" Emmett asked.
"Let Rosalie tell us what's going on before we jump to conclusions." Jasper said.
After Bella settled next to her,Rosalie spoke." The Volturi have offered to send help to deal with the Edward situation."
"That's good right?" Alice asked.
Bella shook her head." We believe they just want to send someone to gauge how much of a threat myself and Rosalie are."
"They have also extended a summoning in the form of an in invitation to a celebration of my new mate bond. The entire coven has been invited." Rosalie told them.
Jasper looked at both women. "You've decided to decline both?"
"Woah, you aren't going to go?" Emmett asked eyes wide in surprise. "Can you even do that?"
"Bella is a shifter, as her imprint and because of the changes I've gone through I'm no longer a vampire. They have no power over Bella or myself any longer.That and because going to Italy is most likely a trap to capture myself and Bella, are the reasons we are declining." Rosalie explained.
Alice's voice was laced with distress."Why would they want to capture you guys?"
Jasper pulled Alice close to comfort her. "They would want to study them. Bella is the great white tiger and the fact she is supposed to save all supernatural races leaves a lot of questions of how she will do it. The Volturi no doubt are afraid to do that she will likely try to overthrow them. They have probably heard about Rosalie's changes from the Denali by now and are most likely very interested in experimenting on her. The fact that her heart was restarted alone would have them wanting to figure out how to replicate it."
Emmett looked at the room full of serious faces."Well we can't let that happen. Rosalie is my sister and Bella's my Bella bear. There is no way the Volturi are getting their hands on either of them if I have anything to say about it."
Rosalie gave him a sad smile. "Emmett before you make any decisions you need to think of the repercussions of standing against the Volturi. It's not something to go into blindly."
"You don't want my help?" Emmett asked sadly.
Bella went to Emmett taking his hand in hers. "Emmett there is no finer a vampire or a person I would like to be by our side more than you. I just want you to think about all the things that could happen if you do."
Emmett stood up and pulled Bella into a big hug. " I don't care. You're family Bella and I won't let you go against anyone or anything without me with standing beside you."
Instead of ruining the moment Rosalie watched with a smile on her face. For all she complained about them, they were her family and Bella was right she did love them in her own way. It was nice to know they loved her and her mate just as much.
Alice jumped up and joined the hug. "I'm with you to Bella. You're my best friend and Rosalie's my sister so matter what we are on your side. Right Jazz?"
"Of course sweetheart. I'm with them also." Jasper reassured her.
"Hopefully we will not being going against them but it's nice to know you have our backs." Bella said trying to end the three person hug.
Coming to her rescue Rosalie pulled Alice off Bella and set her next to Jasper. He quickly wrapped his arms around Alice and held her back while Rosalie grabbed Bella by the waist breaking the hug with Emmett and sitting down with Bella in her lap.
"Now we need to decide what to do about Edward." Jasper said looking to Bella for answers.
"We need you to contact the Denali." Bella said to Carlisle. "We want you to inform them we no longer want their help to fight Edward just their help with finding out his plan through Laurent."
Carlisle stood up."I'll do that right now. Will you have your reply written for the Volturi for me to give the messenger by tomorrow? He is meeting me at the hospital to pick it up."
"I'll have it ready for you by morning." Rosalie told him. "Until then unless anything life threatening happens we can discuss the Denalis and anything else in the morning. Bella and I are going to spend the rest of the night in our room."
"Oh man." Emmett whined. "We didn't even get to finish our game."
Rosalie glared at him. "I've shared Bella enough for today. We are going to our room."
Stopping Emmett from getting hurt Jasper interrupted." We will see you in the morning to begin training."
"Goodnight." Bella said giving the group a wave as she made her way up the stairs behind Rosalie.