A/N: Here we are, the end. It's a little sad, but I'm also excited.

I'd like to thank decadenceofmysoul for being the 100th reviewer! Thank you so much.

Enjoy! xoxo

– Bella's POV –

So. Let's recap.

Alice is a selfish, manipulative, jealous bitch who set out to get revenge on James and Carlisle. Those two are as evil as they come. James is dead. Carlisle is about to join him. It's a possibility Alice kept my mate and me apart for the last fourteen years. Possibly longer. But Peter's gift says Alice believed my death would be a mercy. Luckily, Vicky mated with my dad instead of killing me, so I guess it's all a moot point anyway.

Rosalie and Esme want my children. To raise them as their own. Why? I'm not sure. They can have their own biological children, why do they want mine?

Carlisle wants my girls for their power. Which, according to Eleazar is pretty damn epic!

"Captain!" The Major barked. "What exactly is Carlisle's plan once he has control of my children?"

After discovering Alice purposefully kept him from finding his happily ever after, he'd lost his temper. With a roar that rattled the windows, Jasper receded and The Major came forth and he was not a happy man.

Gently, with more tenderness than I expected from The Major, he placed Winnie into my arms and then launched himself off the couch. He's been pacing ever since. Like a caged lion. Waiting to snatch its prey and strike them dead.

"The usual, Major," Pete answered. "Rule the world. Kill the Volturi. Take over. Nothing that imaginative."

Garrett laughed. "He thinks he can do a better job than the Volturi? I'll be the first to admit, in the past, I've not been their biggest fan. But we've never had peace like this! More and more vampires are finding their mates. We can have children! They're working on synthetic blood and ways for us to walk in the sun without sparkling! What does he think he's going to contribute that hasn't already been thought of a put into motion?"

"Nothing," Pete answered, simply. "He wants to take everything the Volturi's built, snatch it from their grasp, and put his name on it. He wants to sit on their thrones, look pretty, and reap the benefits of being the one and only King!"

The Major shook his head. "It always comes back to money, material possessions, and prestige with that family! They always had to have the biggest houses. The flashiest cars. The latest fashions. They lorded their wealth over everyone around them. Especially the humans. Carlisle doesn't want to do any of the work. God forbid! He just wants the praise and glory!"

To be honest, it was a little . . . unsatisfying. Here I was thinking Carlisle had some great, genius evil master plan. And all he wants is to be famous.

Considering he's supposed to be the psychopath, evil genius type, I was disappointed.

"So, that's it?" I frowned. "All of this just to feed his God complex? Seriously? That's his master plan? Take over so he can get the glory?"

The Major stopped in his tracks and turned to me. "That's it exactly, Darlin'. It's the reason for everything! The reason he changed James. Everything he did to Alice. Honing her gift. Turning the entire Coven! Edward, Rosalie, Esme, and Emmett were on their deathbeds when he intervened and saved them! It's the reason he's a doctor. The reason he never studied anything else! It's all to feed his fuckin' ego!"

"And adding our girls to his collection," The Major hissed, "would be the icing on the cake. He'd have three incredibly valuable shields under his control, callin' him Daddy! And doin' whatever he asks."

"As far as we know, he's the only one in the Coven without a gift," Kate noted. "It makes sense that he'd surround himself with powerful vampires. They're his protection. Each of them is devoted to him. They owe him their lives."

"All but two." Peter nodded.

"Two?" I asked. "Alice, obviously. She's trying to get us to kill him. But who's the other?"

"Emmett," Pete stated. "He's under Rosalie's enslavement kiss. He'll do everything and anything she says. He lives only to serve her."

Poor Emmett. What kind of life must that be?

Pete sighed. "Emmett's story is a little darker than the one he was allowed to tell ya, Lil Bit. And it ain't pretty."

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"Well, it wasn't no bear attack, that's for damn sure!" Pete growled. "Emmett was twenty-one when he was turned. He was married and had two beautiful daughters and his wife was pregnant with number three."

The Major stopped his pacing and turned to face Peter.

"Rosalie came across him while the family was living in Gatlinburg in the mid-thirties," Pete told us. "She tried to seduce him, but he rebuffed her advances. He loved his wife and he wasn't interested in anyone else. Nobody had ever said no to her before Emmett. She was upset and still new to this life herself."

"That's no excuse for what she did to him," Charlotte hissed.

"No," Pete said quickly. "It ain't."

I had a bad feeling about this. "What did she do?"

"She lured him up into the mountains. When Emmett reached the cabin, he found his wife and children. She forced him to watch as she slaughtered them. Instead of killing him, as he begged her to do, she turned him."

"Then she enslaved him with her kiss. He's been a shell of himself ever since." Pete explained. "He does only what she tells him to do. If she tells him to kill. He kills. If she tells him to hunt only animal blood, he does. If she wants to have sex, he does that, too. If she tells him he was attacked by a bear and she recused him, that's the story Emmett's going to tell you."

He's a slave.

"That's horrible," Kate whispered. "Poor Emmett."

"Isn't there a way we can help him?" Garrett wondered, wrapping his arms around Kate to comfort her.

"The only way to break Rosalie's hold on him is to kill her," Pete answered. "But once he's free of her . . ."

"He might want to die, too." I realized. "To be with his wife and kids."

"As long as he ain't a threat to my mate, our children, or our family, we'll follow his lead." The Major stated. "If he wants to die, I'll make sure it's as quick and painless as possible. If he wants to live, he has a place here with us. He'll need as much support as we can give him."

We all agreed.

If Emmett decided to live, he was going to need all the help we could offer him. As well as a whole lot of compassion, love, and understanding. He's been a slave for the last eighty-seven years, thereabouts. That has likely taken a toll on his psyche. Who knows what condition he'll be in when we free him from Rosalie's hold?

"So, why do Esme and Rosalie want our girls?" I asked. "They can have their own children, why take ours away from us?"

"That's the thing, Lil Bit, they can't have children," Pete answered.

"Why?" I frowned.

"In her human life, Esme had a child," Peter told us. "But it was a rough delivery and there were complications, which led to her having an emergency C-section. Like you, she bled out and the doctors were forced to perform a hysterectomy to save her life. When she transitioned, the venom didn't repair the damage done to her body. Venom's good but I guess not good enough to regrow what's been removed."

I nodded. "And Rosalie?"

Pete sighed. "Carlisle removed her womb while she was in transition."

Oh, dear God! "Why?" I asked, horrified. "Why? Why would he do something so horrible and unnecessary?"

"Let me guess, Rosalie has no idea he did this to her, does she?" The Major hissed.

"No." Pete shook his head. "She knows she's unable to carry a child, but believes it's because of the gang rape. Carlisle told her the extent of the damage to her body was so severe his venom was unable to repair her completely, much like Esme."

"Why?" I repeated. "Why did he need to do this to her?"

"Because he could, Sug." Char hissed. "Evil doesn't need a reason."

"If he has one, I don't know what it is," Pete added.

I sighed and leaned back, resting my head on the back of the sofa.

Char was right. Evil doesn't need a reason. Carlisle did this awful thing because he could. He knew he could get away with it. Just like he knew he'd get away with hurting Alice.

He's a psychopath. They don't need a reason to be evil, they just are.

– Peter's POV –

I felt giddy as a schoolgirl!

Takin' out the Cullens was gonna be easy peasy! Okay, so it was an uneven fight. Four against a Coven of six. But, c'mon, The Major and I have taken out entire armies! Singlehanded! Six vamps who're weak, pathetic, and untrained, should be nothing to us!

I wasn't worried.

We might be an entire family—seven members to be exact—down, but we had The Major on our side. And his mate.

Okay. Granted, yes, Lil' Bit's untrained. And a two-day-old newborn. But it was only right that she was here with us.

She suggested she should be the one to stay home with the kids. Thank God The Major put the kibosh on that one! No way in hell would we win without her! And, if he'd agreed with her, I would have stepped in to tell him so; thankfully, he wasn't havin' any of it and told her she needed to be at his side when he went into battle.

It's a mate thing.

Trained or not, he wouldn't leave her home, and she wouldn't be able to withstand lettin' him walk into battle without her at his side.

This is why Maria never let mates in her army. It was far too dangerous. One of them, or both, would be distracted and someone's gonna end up losin' their head. No one wants that.

Kate and Garrett stayed behind with the children, instead. While the four of us dealt with the Cullens.

So, as I said, I wasn't worried.

Maybe I should've been. But I just couldn't bring myself to fear psycho-vamp, a midget dressed in Prada, and their band of merry fuckwits.

When we arrived at the Cullen home—just a four-minute run from the Swan residence—they were all inside leisurely enjoying the peaceful afternoon. Not one of them—well, except Alice—knew this was their last day on earth.

Carlisle was in his study talking on the telephone. Emmett was playing video games. Edward was at his piano. Esme was out back tending to her garden. Rosalie was flipping through a magazine. And there, sat in the window, looking out at us as we approached, was the she-devil herself.

She must've slipped in her thoughts because the next thing I know, Edward missed a few keys and shouted for Carlisle.

"Do you think he forgot we have superior hearing and he doesn't need to shout so loud?" Bella wondered, not expecting an answer.

A moment later, they were all standing on the porch facing The Major and his mate. Char and I took a step back to stand on their flanks. This was their show.

"Well, this is a surprise!" Carlisle called, smiling. "Why don't we go inside where it's warmer and we can all talk? I'm sure there's a lot we need to discuss."

Bella leaned closer to her mate to mock whisper, "Does he know we're all vampires and don't feel the cold?"

The Major smirked.

"You aren't pregnant anymore," Esme frowned. "Carlisle, she isn't pregnant anymore! Why isn't she pregnant anymore? Where's the baby, Bella dear?"

"And the twins?" Rosalie demanded. "Where are they!"

Behind Rosalie, lingering at the far corner of the porch, Emmett rolled his eyes. Maybe there was hope for him. He was, after all, innocent in all of this. Yes, he'd done despicable deeds recently, but that hadn't been by choice. He was enslaved by Rosalie. Forced to do her bidding.

"And why are you now a vampire, Love?" Edward pinched the bridge of his nose. "Who did this to y—" His eyes darkened as he turned toward The Major, who was smirking. "You drank her blood! You bastard!" He roared and went to lunge but stopped mid-step. "A-And you violated her!" His voice rose an octave. "You bit her perfect, flawless skin! I'll kill you for this!"

"You know," Bella pondered, "I never realized what a whiny, high-pitched voice you have, Edward. It grates."

"Try livin' with him, Darlin'." The Major drawled.

Alice shuddered. "Oh, Jazzy. Not that awful accent. You know how much I hate it; it makes you should like a redneck hick!"

Bella hissed in Alice's direction and stepped closer to her mate. Neither gave her the satisfaction of a reply, though.

"Uh, yes." Carlisle cleared his throat. How humanesque of him. "As the girls said, where are the little ones, Isabella?"

She smiled brightly. "Safe."

"Safe, where?" Rosalie snarled.

"Why are you so concerned with my children, Rosalie?" The Major asked. "Could it be, you've all been eagerly anticipatin' the birth of my daughter, so you can attempt to kidnap them again and raise them as yer own?"

"A-Attempt to . . . to kidnap them!" Carlisle blustered. "We would do no such thing, Jasper!"

"That's Major, to you, Carlisle." He snared. "And don't play the idiot. We all know you, Emmett, and Edward attempted to kidnap my daughters four nights ago. What, did you think I wouldn't recognize your scents?"

Carlisle huffed. "You can't prove anything."

"Well," Bella said, dragging the word out, "that's not quite true, Carlisle. It completely slipped my mind at the time, and I forgot to tell Jasper, but my Daddy—you remember him, right? Chief of Police. Big guy. Mated to a hot redhead—he's big on security, you see. He had cameras installed in our home. There's one in the girl's bedroom, hidden behind all their teddy bears. So, we have you all on film."

Holy shit. I didn't know that.

Carlisle didn't seem phased.

"While these guys went hunting, I emailed a copy to my good friend Angela Webber. You remember her, right? We all went to school together. Well, she works in media now. More specifically, broadcasting. I emailed her the recordings of you guys trying to kidnap my children."

When the hell did she do that?

"You think some small-town news anchor is going to scare us?" Rosalie huffed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you guys knew!" Bella laughed at herself. "Angela went to Europe after high school. She studied abroad for a few years. While she was there, she traveled all over, including . . . Italy."

The Cullens gasped.

"Mm." Bella nodded. "That's where she met her mate, Felix. You know the one, big guy, head of the elite Volturi guard. Answers to Masters Aro, Marcus, and Caius. When he mated with Angela, she took an interest in their operation." She smiled brightly at Bimbo Barbie. "So, no, Rosalie; small-town Angela doesn't work as a news anchor in Forks. She works for the Volturi's Public Relations team in Italy. More specifically, their broadcasting division which airs around the world."

The reaction was instant. And fuckin' epic!

"Alice!" Carlisle roared. "What have you done? We have to fix this! Now! If Aro sees those tapes we're all dead."

"Are you a total idiot, Carlisle?" Alice asked. "Aro isn't going to get the chance to do anything to us. Do you think The Major is here—with his newborn mate—to simply inform us of our wrongdoings and walk away? You attempted to steal The God of War's children. Do you think he's going to let that go and allow The Volturi to take action against you? He wants your head on a silver platter!"

"How can this be happening?" Carlisle was panicking now. "Your visions are never wrong! You said it would all work out. That The Major was gone. You assured me Jasper had locked him up years ago and he'd disappeared! You said we'd get the girls, run, and they'd never find us until it was too late! How could you have been so wrong, Alice?"

"Oh, Carlisle," she shook her head, "I wasn't wrong, you imbecile! I lied to you."

Carlisle stiffened. "You lied to me?" He hissed. "Wh-Why would you do that? Answer me, Mary-Alice! I demand to know! Why would you do this to us? To me! I am your Sire. Your partner. Your father! Your lover! We're your family!"

"Eww. Father and lover?" Bella gagged. "What the hell is wrong with this man?"

Alice's sweet, angelic smile turned sinister. "Family," she spat. "You aren't my family, Carlisle. You're my abuser. You spent FIVE years raping and torturing me before you allowed your son the pleasure of draining his singer! And then you turned me into this! I woke to this life ALONE! With no memory of my human life, or that I'd even been human! I massacred the entire asylum because YOU locked me inside!"

His eyes widened in horror. "You remember?"

"Not for a long, long time." She admitted. "But then it all just . . . came back to me. Can you guess when that was, Carlisle?"

"The baseball field," He whispered, realizing what he'd done. "Oh, God. Seeing James triggered your memory."

"Mm." She nodded. "If you'd just kept him away, none of this would be happening. I'd be blissfully unaware and you wouldn't be about to die."

Carlisle's eyes went from Alice to Jasper. "He'll kill you, too!"

She smirked as if she knew something we didn't. I didn't like that. I didn't like it one bit. What did she know that I didn't?

"You won't get away with this, Mary-Alice!" Carlisle stated, panicked.

Her smirk stayed firmly in place.

"So . . ." Esme frowned, "you planned all of this to get Carlisle killed?"

Alice rounded on the older woman. "He spent five years raping and torturing me! I was fourteen years old the first time he forced himself on me!"

"You were human, Alice," Esme said as if that explained everything. "It makes no difference what he did to you then. You were nothing but human. He was your future Sire. What befell you was his prerogative. If he wanted to take pleasure in your body, it was your duty to submit to him and please him. If he wanted to open your veins and drink your blood, that was his right as your future Sire, Coven leader, father, and lover. If he wished to share you with his son, that was his right. The moment he chose you, you were his and he could do whatever he pleased to you."

What. The. Fuck?

Wow.

I think we, the Whitlocks, were all stunned.

"What the fuck is wrong with these people?" Bella asked.

"The only thing that matters now, Alice, is our children." Esme went on, smiling lovingly at Alice. "Now, where are they?" She asked. "Use your gift to find them. I wish to see my children, right now Mary-Alice."

Alice looked over at Jasper and then at Bella. "For what it's worth, I am sorry for all the pain I caused the two of you. I had every intention of protecting you Bella, but then I saw you were mated with my . . . with Jasper . . ." she shook her head. "I'm so sorry for what I've done to you both. I hope, one day, you can forgive me."

"You knew," Bella said, "about me and Jasper."

Alice smiled. "Of course, I did, silly girl. I've known he was meant for you since the day you were conceived."

That answers that, then.

And ensured her death. The Major wasn't about to let her live now. Not after she kept him from his mate and put him through hell fer the last seventy years.

Alice looked back at Esme then and we all held our breaths, unsure what she was about to do. With Alice, sometimes you could never tell!

"Jasper and Bella's children are safe," Alice told Esme. "They're beautiful and loved. And they will grow up to be more powerful than any of us could imagine. I take great pleasure in knowing they'll never, ever know the likes of you or this Coven. Because if it's the last thing I do on this earth, I will protect them!"

And with that, Alice lunged for Esme.

The fight was quick. Esme couldn't defend herself for shit! Alice tore her head clean off and tossed it out onto the front lawn. The head rolled and came to a stop against Jasper's boot.

As Esme's body fell with a thud, the remaining Coven turned on each other. Edward snarled and lunged for Alice, shouting about his precious mother.

At the same time, Carlisle lunged for Edward. In the melee, I wasn't sure if Carlisle was tryin' to protect Alice and kill Edward, or kill Alice and protect Edward.

Alice was a vicious little fighter. Edward was missing an arm, a leg, and half his face when Carlisle finally ripped his head off, screaming about the eternal virgin trying to take his prize possession. Yep. That's what he called Alice. His prized possession. Apparently, Edward wasn't the Golden Boy everyone thought he was.

When Edward had been dealt with, Carlisle tried to reason with Alice. As he was backing away from her, his hands in the air. Didn't look like she cared all that much, to be honest. With an ear-piercing battle cry, she lunged at him and viciously tore the bastard apart.

"Well fuck me." The Major sighed as Carlisle's head was lobbed across the yard. "We didn't even do anythin'!"

Alice continued tearing Carlisle into tiny pieces.

"Uh, Major. You might not want to celebrate too soon. Emmett and Rosalie are missing." Char said, looking around for the pair.

I turned my attention back to the porch, where they'd been standing earlier. There was no sign of them. How the hell did we miss that? Fuckin' Ice Queen is sneakier than I thought!

"Uh, they're not the only ones missing," Bella said. "Where the hell did Alice go?"

Whirling around, we saw Carlisle in . . . well, fuck me. He was the thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle you get for Christmas every year that nobody wants to put together! Shit. That ain't gonna be easy to burn. There are tiny pieces of Carlisle and venom everywhere! One match and the whole place will blow.

Huh. That's not a bad idea!

Oh.

Oh.

My knower was tingling.

"Pete, ideas?" The Major hissed, looking around for our three missing fuckwits.

"Ice Queen is headed towards the former Swan residence to grab the girls. She plans to take 'em and disappear." I told him. "Go! Char and I will find the runaway midget."

Without a word, The Major took his mate's hand and the two took off towards the Swan residence, leavin' me and Char to clean up this mess.

Well damn. Why do I always get cleanup duty?

– Bella's POV –

When we arrived at Dad and Vicky's home, Rosalie was standing in the living room, looking out at the back garden via the massive gaping hole in the wall. There was a bewildered look on her beautiful face.

"Where are the children?" She whispered.

"I told you, Rosalie, they're safe," I answered.

Being a vampire is an interesting thing. My brain seems to be so big now, I can hold a conversation with Rosalie while also focusing on what my mate was doing, and Emmett. All while worrying about where Alice had gone and why she'd run away when she had all of us believing she only wanted to die and be at peace.

I had a strange feeling Pete and Char wouldn't find her. At least not today.

One day, my Major would find her and end her. Her time on this earth was limited and I think she knew that. But for now, I dunno, I just had a feeling the little pixie had disappeared without a trace. It was a little scary how she could do that. I hoped she wasn't planning anything nefarious!

As Rosalie whined and moaned, from the corner of my eye, I watched Emmett. He looked so . . . blank. There was no life in him. No expression on his face. No light in his black eyes. He looked completely and utterly dead inside.

I don't know why I feel so desperate to believe he isn't evil. I just can't wrap my mind around it. Emmett, my big brother. My Emmy Bear. He was so full of life and joy the last time I'd seen him.

I know he helped to kidnap the girls, but . . . that wasn't him, right? Isn't he as much a victim in this mess as me and Jasper? Doesn't he deserve to be saved and given the choice to live or die?

Emmett just isn't evil. I can't believe that. I won't.

My mind was made up. I focused and tried with all my might to project my mental shield. I wasn't sure it would work. I wasn't even sure I could project my mental shield.

It was easier to project my physical shield. That felt like an extension of myself. It was harder to force my mental shield to expand and protect Emmett. I wasn't even sure it would work to block out or undo Rosalie's mind control. Hers was a mental gift, so it should take a mental shield to protect his mind. Right?

"They are my children!" Rosalie was screeching. "I deserve them! I want them! You never wanted children! Why should you get to have them and I don't?"

"My God! Do you ever shut up, woman?" Emmett suddenly whispered, his voice sounding tired. Horse. As if he hasn't spoken in a long time.

Rosalie froze and turned to Emmett. "I thought I gave you specific orders not to speak unless I speak to you!"

"Yeah." He shook himself. "Ya did." He blinked a few times and . . . was he getting bigger? He looked bigger. He stood taller. His shoulders were tense. "But see, here's the thing, bitch, somethin' seems to be happening to my mind and well, fuck me, I feel freer than I have in . . . well, fuckin' ever!"

Rosalie moved closer to him, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look her in the eye. I could feel her gift attempting to control him. It felt like a little nudge on my shield, the feeling akin to my little nudger kicking me inside the womb.

"Not workin', is it?" Emmett said, a slow smirk appearing on his lips.

"What's happening?" Rosalie hissed. "Why can't I control you?" She demanded, then suddenly reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

There was a lot more nudging at my shield, but it suddenly cut off with a loud screech as Emmett removed Rosalie's head mid-kiss. Her lips were still puckered when he dropped her head to the floor.

"Fuck!" Emmett bellowed. "I've wanted to do that for fuckin' years!" His eyes shifted to me and he grinned. "If you can block her gift, you'll be so much more powerful than Carlisle thought you'd be, Bella."

I shrugged. "Maybe. But I'm not interested in power. My family is far more important."

"Glad to hear it." He nodded. "Thank you, for freeing me."

"You're welcome." I smiled.

His eyes shifted back to Rosalie's body. She was twitching on the floor, her hands blindly reaching out toward her head. Yeah, that was fuckin' creepy!

"There's something I've been desperate to do for years . . ."

"Go for it, brother."

"For my Sarah," Emmett whispered, venom filling his eyes. "For Betty, Grace, and my son."

With that, he lunged at Rosalie's body and began savagely ripping her to pieces.

Jasper wrapped his arm around my waist. "Well done, Darlin'." He smiled, pressing a kiss to my temple.

Well. That was that I guess.

Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Edward were dead. Emmett was free. Hopefully, he'd choose to remain with us, but if death is what he wishes, I'll let him go. Everyone deserves the choice and Emmett's spent his whole vampire life being controlled and used. Now it's time for him to choose.

Hopefully, Peter knows where Alice is or has already found her. But I doubt it. I think she's gone. At least for now.

It all seems very anticlimactic.

Fuck, we didn't do anything!

But I'm glad it's over.

Whether we killed the Coven or they destroyed themselves, it doesn't matter. They're gone.

Our girls are safe and, with any luck, they won't ever think about or remember this time in their lives.

Now that Rosalie's dead, the whole family will be free of her control. They can get back to their lives and their children. I know the boys will be glad to have their parents back and safe.

And Jasper and I have an eternity to enjoy our happily ever after.

What more could a girl ask for?

A/N: So, there we have it, the end of my very first story.

Bella and Jasper are together and mated. Bella gave birth to little Winnie. The children are safe. Bella's a vampire. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Edward are dead. Emmett's free of Rosalie's enslavement. And with her death, the whole family is free, too. Alice has disappeared to places unknown. Will she be found? Will the Whitlocks catch up to her? Who knows? Maybe one day.

For now, this is the end of the road. But, I will, at some point, come back to it. I'm not sure how or if it'll be a sequel or just a couple of one-shots. But there are a lot of things left to explore and I'm curious to see how Bella and Jasper handle parenthood as the girls get older. And will they ever get their little boy?

I've thoroughly enjoyed writing this. It's been a lot of fun!

Thank you all for your support, your wonderful reviews, your likes, and favourites. It truly means the world to me.

The next one will be out soon. I hope you'll join me on our next adventure!

xoxox