Previous chapter: Isabella - IPOV

Aro nods with a playful twinkle in his eyes, and I smile as Demetri takes me by the hand and leads me toward the doors. Aro starts talking to Eleazar again, and I stiffen when I hear him say: "Eleazar, please tell me. How is my dear friend Carlisle? Have you heard of him lately? It's such a pity he doesn't visit us more often."

Demetri - DPOV

Isabella stiffens as Aro asks Eleazar about Carlisle. We keep moving toward the door while listening to Eleazar as he says, "He and his family moved back to Alaska about four months ago. We don't know exactly why, but something must have happened in their previous town. Edward only stayed for a few days and then took off on his own. The rest of the family is troubled by something, but they won't talk about it. However, I'm sure whatever it is will pass with time."

Aro sighs and says, "I'm sad to hear that. I hope you are right in thinking it will pass. I must thank you, Eleazar, for your help with our beautiful Isabella. Please give my regards to Carmen, will you? I do miss her gentle spirit around here."

I look back and see how Eleazar bows his head before taking his leave. I wrap my arm around Isabella's waist as we continue our walk and whisper, "Are you okay, tesoro?"

Isabella nods as she leans into me and says, "I'm fine, Demi. Come. Show me our quarters so that we can unpack our bags. I feel the need to try on one of my Christmas presents."

The image of Isabella in her deep blue teddy flashes through my mind, and I let out a low growl as I sweep her off her feet to carry her to our bedroom at vampire speed. Isabella squeaks as I drop her on the bed and stare at her like a predator stalking his prey. She smirks as she puts up a hand and slowly pushes me back while she says, "Tsk… tsk… tsk… Demetri Volturi, you're not getting out of unpacking our bags, and I need to slip into something more 'comfortable'."

I groan as I notice the determination in her eyes. I'm not going to win this discussion. I sigh as I run my hand through my hair and say, "But tesoro, why the need to slip into something comfortable when I'm going to rip it from your gorgeous body a minute later?"

Isabella gives me a sultry smile as she slips off the bed and says, "Because it turns me on when you do that, Demi. Why else?"

Isabella's laughter fills the room as she walks to the bathroom, leaving me speechless. I smile as I shake my head before quickly unpacking our stuff. I'm nearly finished as I hear her reenter the bedroom. I take an unneeded breath as I place her journal on her desk and groan as I look at my mate. She looks like an angel, a very sexy angel at that. Isabella smiles as I rush to her and say, "You look good enough to eat, amore mio. I love you so much."

Isabella's eyes darken as I pull her closer, and her voice is husky as she says, "I love you too, Demi. Do you like the outfit?"

I growl loudly as I rip the very sexy burgundy teddy from her body and stare possessively at the woman before me before saying, "I loved it. I can't wait to see you in the other outfits." Isabella smiles as she walks back to the bed, and I can feel myself grow even harder as she beckons me with her finger to follow. I happily give in, and we spend the next few hours in our bed making love. It shouldn't surprise anyone that I'm not amused as Alec interrupts our private time by knocking on our door and stating that Aro demands to speak to me in the throne room. I'm in a foul mood as I dress quickly and sigh as I kiss Isabella on the head and say, "I'll be right back, tesoro."

Isabella nods as she turns to the bathroom, and I fight the urge to turn back to her as I speed toward the throne room. This better be good. I hate being away from my Isabella. Aro is still bouncing around energetically as I enter, and I briefly close my eyes in annoyance as he claps his hands in joy when he sees me and says, "I didn't hear you coming, Demetri! That must be your Isabella's shield protecting you. You can't imagine how happy the two of you have made me. I want you to start Isabella's combat training tomorrow. The chance she will be an active fighter is slim, but she must know how to defend herself. Renata will help her with the development of her shield. Renata will see Isabella tomorrow afternoon. That's an order, effective immediately. Is that understood?"

I sigh as I nod my head, and I don't fail to see the glee on Aro's face as I leave the throne room and rush back to Isabella. If I didn't know better, I would think he planned it all, but there's no way he would have known about Isabella's existence when he sent me to Forks. I smile as I find Isabella behind her desk, lost in thought, while one hand touches the bite mark on her wrist. It faded during the change, but it's still visible to a vampire's eye. It's a cruel reminder of a previous life. I know she's thinking about the Cullens, and I can feel the anger toward those idiots building inside me as I say, "Do you want to talk about them?"

Isabella – IPOV (In the meanwhile)

I sigh as Demetri leaves the room while I walk to the bathroom. Damn you, Aro. What could have been urgent enough to make Demetri leave my side? Not having him close leaves a void, and I hate that. I fight the urge to follow Demi to the throne room as I take a quick shower and smile as I fix my hair in a loose bun. I love how Demetri's mark is visible in the crook of my neck. It gives me confidence, and it's nothing like the mark that James left behind. I smile as I put on a pair of skinny jeans and the new cashmere sweater I bought during my Christmas shopping. It's deep red and reminds me of Demetri's eyes. I smile as I look in the mirror. It still surprises me to see the gorgeous vampire staring back at me. Who would have thought I would clean up so nicely? I chuckle as I move over to my desk and open my journal. I sigh happily as I read the entry I wrote this morning. Demetri has made me so happy that I hardly think of my past life anymore.

With that thought, my mind starts to wander, and I sigh as I think of Charlie and Renée. I wish I could tell them how insanely happy I am in this life. I frown as I think of the Cullens and wonder how they would react if they returned to Forks to find out I'm dead. I can't stop wondering why they saved me in Phoenix, only to abandon me a few months later. I'm so lost in thought that I don't hear Demetri entering our room until he says: "Do you want to talk about them?"

Carlisle - CPOV

I know Alice will see this; she will see it right when I decide to drive to Forks to check on Bella. It must be done. I can't take it anymore. I thought Edward would have come to his senses months ago. Bella is the love of his life. I don't understand how he can live without her. I should have never agreed with his insane plan to leave her behind. He assured us Bella would understand, but it still affected the family more than we ever thought possible. It was Esme's grief over losing her daughter that finally broke me. I must know Bella is okay.

I get into my car at the hospital in Fairbanks and can't help but smile as I steer it toward Forks instead of driving to our home in the Alaskan wilderness. I immediately hear my cell phone ping with an incoming text and shake my head with a loving smile on my face, already knowing it's from Alice when I reach for my phone.

Tell her I miss her like crazy.

I smile even wider as I place my phone back on the passenger seat, and I can't help but feel a peace settle inside my heart as I push down the throttle, knowing Alice will inform Esme of my whereabouts. I'm on my way, Bella.

It takes me a little more than a day to drive to Forks. I exceeded the speed limit everywhere I could. That's how desperate I am to see my daughter. I'm that eager to explain everything to her, and if she still considers herself a part of our family, I'll take her home. I don't care what Edward believes; Bella belongs with us. I'll turn her myself if that's what she wants.

I smile as I pull into our driveway and park the car in front of the house. Everything still looks the same as when we left it. The maintenance crew is doing a fine job at keeping this place in order. I stiffen when I approach the front door because I can smell two vampires. The scents seem familiar, but the trail is too weak to determine who was there. I quickly check the inside of the house, but no one has been inside since we left. I frown as I lock up again and follow the weak scent trail into the forest. I keep going through my memories, trying to figure out who visited the house, when I notice the trail crosses the treaty line. I stop at the line and sigh as I stare into the forest, wondering if the Quileute tribe still knows about the treaty. Could I risk crossing the line? I slowly walk along the treaty line for a minute, debating with myself whether I should follow the trail into the tribe's territory or not. The decision is taken out of my hands as I hear someone approaching the line from the other side. A young man, wearing nothing but shorts, walks towards me. His expression is smug, like he's daring me to cross the line. I nod my head in acknowledgment as he stops at the other side of the line and say, "Good afternoon, I'm Carlisle Cullen. Are you a member of the Quileute tribe?"

The Quileute gives me a brief nod before saying, "Yes, my name is Sam Uley. I'm here to remind you of the treaty. Our people remember, and even though you're different from the others that are here, that doesn't mean I despise you any less. Stay on your side of this line and leave the humans alone."

I chose to ignore his hostile behavior and nod as I say, "Can you tell me more about the others? I followed their trail, but it crossed into your territory. I need to know what they are doing here."

Sam lets out a low growl as he takes another deep breath and says, "They first appeared about four months ago. People keep disappearing all around the Pacific Northwest, and we think they have something to do with it. I believe they are looking for someone specific, but I don't know who that might be. We scared them out of the reservation about ten times by now, but they keep coming back. We're simply waiting for them to make a mistake so we can kill them."

I frown at his words. It makes no sense. Why would two nomad vampires terrorize this region? Sam is probably right in his assumption that they are looking for someone. Is that why they visited our house? Are they looking for us? Sam lifts his brow questioningly as my eyes snap back to him and say, "Did you get a decent view of the two vampires, Sam? If I know who they are, it might help me determine why they are here."

Sam snorts as he nods and says, "Since they've been terrorizing my people for months, I got more than a decent view. The woman has long orange hair, and she knows what to do to stay alive. She evades every trap we lay out for her with ease. The male is dark-skinned and has dreadlocks. They have red eyes, and I'm sure they are why people are disappearing around here. Do you know them?"

I hiss as I realize that his description matches Victoria and Laurent. Had Edward been wrong when he told us James and Victoria were not mated? Because if they truly were mates, Victoria would come here seeking revenge. She would want to kill the one responsible for her mate's demise, which means she is roaming this region looking for us. Or even worse, she's here for our Bella. I pinch the bridge of my nose as I say, "Yes, we met them before. Their names are Victoria and Laurent. We had a run-in with them before the summer. We killed the third member of their coven, and I believe they are here looking for revenge. Do you have any idea how many people have gone missing?"

Sam looks grimly as he nods and says, "In Forks, only two people are missing. But if you look at the whole region, we're talking about twenty disappearances in the last month alone."

I bite back a curse at his words register in my mind. A vampire doesn't need to feed that often, so there is more going on here than meets the eye. I wonder what the local police force makes of all this. I shake my head as I say, "That's too many. They're not just feeding; they're probably turning people. This could end badly quickly. Do you know if the police have any suspicions? I remember Chief Swan being a close friend of the tribe."

Sam's face falls as I mention Bella's father, and he lets out a big sigh before saying, "Charlie isn't on active duty now. He took a much-needed leave of absence after losing Bella. He's staying with a friend at the reservation while his house gets rebuilt."

I falter. What the hell did he mean by 'after losing Bella'? My voice is barely a whisper as I say, "What happened?"

Sam gazes briefly in the direction of Forks as he says, "There was a gas explosion, and it took out part of the house while the rest burned down to the ground. Bella was asleep upstairs. Charlie had the night shift and was at the station. Bella never made it out of the house. There wasn't even a body to bury. Everything got turned to ashes. I know Bella was close to your family. They placed a memorial stone at the cemetery, if you want to say goodbye."

It takes up all the strength I can muster to say, "Thank you, Sam. We must keep an eye out for Victoria and Laurent. I'll get my family to patrol our part of Forks. Is there a way to contact you if need be?"

Sam nods as he turns to leave while saying, "Just come to the treaty line. There's always a wolf on patrol."

I nod as he walks away, my head still spinning from Bella's loss. I fight the tears that will never fall as I run to the cemetery at vampire speed while my cell phone keeps ringing every thirty seconds. I ignore it. I know it's Alice, but I don't have the heart to answer her call right now. Ice-cold tendrils curl up around my heart as I walk up to a recently placed stone, and I fall to my knees when I spot the inscription:

Here rests Isabella 'Bella' Swan

Beloved daughter and friend

Forever loved and never forgotten.

I gently put my hand on the stone as my dead heart breaks into a million pieces. I will never forgive myself for this. If only we had taken Bella with us.

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