No matter how many stars I wish on, I don't own Twilight or its characters, darn it! Twilight and its original characters are property of Stephanie Meyer. All original characters (Not many of them, but the few that are here) are the result of too many late nights and too many energy drinks! :) Take care all! ~AD

Chapter 11

Somewhere near the Canadian border, I stopped. Taking a deep breath, I let out a scream to try to alleviate the grief that weighed me down. It didn't help.

What the hell are you doing? I asked myself. I was running from hurt, pain and my responsibility. Turning, I spotted the three wolves who had followed me. I walked forward, and ran my hands through their fur. I'd always felt a special bond with Micah, Nathaniel and Avery.

Together, we started walking back the way we'd come, and the wolves gave me something else to think about for a while.

In the first year that I was a vampire and stayed around Forks, I'd spent a lot of time on the reservation among the wolves. Leah and I had had our differences, but in the end, we were too alike not to find a common ground. We'd both been "made into monsters", as she'd put it, and neither of us had had a choice. It was a little different for me, being that at one point, I'd wished for it, but it had come in such a violent and unexpected way that took any choice out of my hands.

Leah and I had become close friends. We'd confided in each other things that we'd regretted about our changes, the big one for her was that she was afraid that she'd never be able to have kids. She became more angry with each male pack member that imprinted, and not knowing what to expect for herself. Hell, no one had, being that she was the first female shape-shifting wolf in history.

A few years after Jacob and I had left, we'd heard that she'd been made an elder of the tribe in her mother's place. She'd gone to the neighboring Makah Tribe for some function or other, and she'd actually imprinted on a man there. She'd embraced the fact that she'd no longer have to change, and could choose to grow old. Two or three years after their marriage, she'd had a baby boy, and a baby girl followed not too long after. They'd held on to the Clearwater name so that she could remain in the tribal elder's position with a name that was so prominent in the Quileute's tribe.

From Leah's son, they got these wonderful twin boys, and both Micah and Nathaniel had the wolf gene. Leah's daughter married a man with the last name of Chase, and gave the wolf pack Gwendolyn.

Avery Aterra was a surprise to everyone, as she was officially the first female wolf to change since Leah. It didn't quite catch people by surprise as badly as Leah's transformation did, but it was still a shock. She was just barely 16, and in human form still looked like she was closer to 13. Pretty and petite, she was a happy-go-lucky thing who was fiercely loyal to her friends. She was hesitant to fight, but proved more than capable when asked to. Quil would have been proud of how she'd stepped up.

Jacob was...had been so proud of them all.

Jacob was dead, and that could hurt later. Right now, someone had to talk to Catherine and the kids. Make the funeral arrangements. Take care of the financial stuff. Take care of the pack business. I could take care of that.

I had more than enough time to do my grieving later.

I spent a while just watching the sun set over the mountains that Jacob had loved so much and remembering some of the close times he and I had shared through our long friendship.

Slowly, I rose to my feet, and began the trip back to the reservation.

The Cullens had helped bring Jacob back down from the mountains, and played clean-up with the vampire bodies there. Carlisle even offered to be the one to call Jacob's wife and tell her the news, but I couldn't let him do it.

In the end, I called and told her. It was, to date, the hardest thing that I have ever done. I comforted them as best I could, but I was still expecting someone to start pointing at me and screaming that it was all my fault that Jacob was dead.

No one did, and that almost made me feel worse.

Jacob would want me to make sure that his family was taken care of. I had more than enough money stashed away, and made sure that all the family's expenses were taken care of. I also insisted that Jake's kids have college money placed into their own accounts. They wouldn't have to worry or want for anything for a long time...and even then, I'd make sure to keep an eye out for them.

The service took place on a typical Washington rainy day. Both the Cullens and myself went to pay our respects, and afterward, we ducked out so that the Quileute tribe could continue their traditional ceremonies without our interference.

I walked slowly to my car, at a loss for the first time in a long time. What should I do now? Should I leave and start over somewhere else? Should I stay and try to watch over Jacob's family for a while? Could I stand seeing the almost accusing looks in Jacob's childrens' eyes?

And the pack...I couldn't be sure how they felt about the situation, but I didn't feel as if things could go on the same as they'd been.

I got into my car, and sat staring out the windshield. What do I do now?

A knock at my window tore my gaze from the road ahead. Turning, I looked at the group outside my window.

The "younger" Cullens were all there.

I opened my door, and stepped out.

Alice was the first to step forward. "Bella," she said, hugging me tight. "I'm so sorry."

I let myself be embraced. Laying my head on her shoulder, I accepted the comfort of an old friend. One by one, I felt more arms join us, and suddenly they were all there. Edward was at my back, his head resting on mine. Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie joined at some point, and I was fairly sure that they were the only thing keeping me on my feet.

I thought I'd understood what grief really was. I'd made it through my mother, father and even Phil's deaths. Yes, they'd been hard, but I'd known that they were going to die long before I would. I had prepared myself for it, and had said a sort of goodbye to them when I left what remained of my human life behind.

I'd never prepared myself for Jacob to be gone. He was my friend, my brother. The one who'd left everything behind to stay with me when I had no one else.

I'd let him down. He'd protected me, and I'd failed him.

He was dead...And all because of me.

Feeling like I was useless and a failure, I stood there in the circle of arms, wondering the same old question. "What do I do now?"

Chapter 12

I decided to stick around Forks for a while, mostly to keep an eye on Jacob's family and the pack. I had promised, after all, but I kept my distance. I didn't think I'd be able to make myself face the anger that they must be feeling, but I was still there watching.

I kept up appearances by going to school, but it was all so brain-numbingly routine that my mind sought out other avenues to occupy itself.

After the first week, Alice approached me at lunchtime.

"Hey, Ella," She said, using my alias. "We wanted to know if you could come have dinner at our place tonight."

I looked up in surprise. "Uh..."

She smiled sweetly at me, and added in a whisper, "Please. We have a new problem."

"Sure," I said, suspicious. What in the world could come up that they couldn't take care of?

It wasn't a great excuse, but puzzling over that was a way to occupy the rest of the day. Once school let out for the day, I made my way to my car. Alice didn't say what time to head over there, so I took the chance and went straight there.

Esme greeted me at the door, and led me in to the familiar living room. The walls were a new color, and the furniture had been updated, but it still had the same feel of welcome it had held for me so many years ago.

"You always did know how to decorate a house," I said, running my hand over the back of the love seat and admiring the plush feel. "This is wonderful, Esme."

She smiled brightly. "Thank you Bella. The others will be here soon. Make yourself at home."

Esme and I sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence while we waited. It was funny, really. I used to think of Esme as a mother figure. At one time, I had wished her to be a mother to me when I joined the Cullen family. Now, we were like polite strangers, struggling for something to say to each other.

Luckily, we didn't have long to wait. Soon, the house was full of Cullens, and every available surface had someone perched on it.

After a few minutes, I couldn't stand all the polite conversation anymore. "Not to break up what's turning out to be an interesting reunion," I said, "But why are we all here?"

Carlisle took the lead. "We weren't sure how to tell you before, Bella, but," He nodded towards Edward, "Edward received some information from Jacob, and it took some time to figure out what it meant."

I tried to ignore the sudden sharp pain in my chest at the mention of Jacob. "What do you mean that you got information from Jake?"

"Just before he died," Edward broke in, "He started passing information to me through his thoughts."

I laughed, bitterly. "What do you know, he actually listened to me back then."

When he looked confused, I clarified, "I drove him to distraction when I was first turned. I was moody, whiny and angry. I talked incessantly about your family and bemoaned the fact that I didn't get some cool ability like you. Like reading minds, or telepathy...telekinesis or something. If he was directing information to you, he must have been listening."

"In his defense," Emmett spoke up, "It's almost impossible to completely block out a moody female."

Rosalie smacked him in the shoulder hard enough that he almost fell out of the chair he was seated in.

"See what I mean?" He said ruefully from his new seat on the floor.

I choked back a laugh. "One of these days, Rosalie is going to seriously hurt you, and I hope I'm around to point and laugh."

He faked a cringe. "Ooo, harsh."

Edward sent his siblings a dark look. "He let me know that there was possibly a third vampire in the caves with them."

"Yeeeeah," I said, drawing out the word. "There was Emmanuel, who the wolves took out, Alexandre who you took out, and the red-headed psycho that I took care of." I'd been ticking off the names on my fingers, and held up my hand to show him, "That makes three vampires."

"No," He sighed, frustrated. "You were already dealing with Alexandre when Jacob was taken to the cave. There was another vampire there who Jacob didn't know. A female."

"Okay," I said, trying to get to the heart of the matter. "So, there's another female out there somewhere. What's the big emergency?"

"We didn't want to say anything until we were sure," Edward said. "But we think we know who she is."

"So you know her?" I was feeling a little confused. "That's good, right?"

"Not necessarily," Carlisle said, taking over. "Edward thought he'd recognized her, but Jacob's image of her was a little hazy. So, we wanted to check on a few things before bringing it to your attention."

"Bringing what?" Honestly, I didn't mean for it to sound annoyed, but it came out that way anyways. "Just give me the Cliff's Notes version please, and we can go from there."

Alice sighed and stood up. "Bella, there's a vampire that we know from the Denali clan in Alaska. Her name is Irina, and she'd gotten...close to Laurent. She must have found out that you and the wolves had somethig to do with his death, and came this way. She must have seen how many wolves there were, and is on her way to Italy to report their existance to the Volturi."

"Volturi," I said, searching my memory. That name sounded familiar. "Who are the Volturi again?"

Carlisle got to his feet. "The Volturi are a coven of vampires in Italy," He began. "They are a force unto themselves. The members are all in possession of very powerful and sometimes frightening gifts."

"So, what," I asked. "They're the Vampire's version of the Boogeymen?"

"No," Edward said. "They have proclaimed themselves the keepers of Vampire Law."

"Vampire law," I repeated. "What laws do they have to keep?"

"There are many," Carlisle said, sounding resigned. "First, and foremost, is not to call attention to the existance of vampires. Hunting must be kept inconspicuous. We have to change locations often so as not to draw attention...well, those who feed on humans do. Our coven," He gestured to the family, "Not so much.""

"Well, we haven't done that one," I stated. "Next?"

Esme looked uncomfortable, "Newborns, when created, are to be trained before letting them out on their own."

I tried, sincerely tried, not to laugh, but it still came out as a snort. "Next."

"False witness," Rosalie said, throwing me a disgusted look...probably about the poor attempt not to laugh. "Regardless of the intent, it won't be tolerated."

"Immortal Children," Emmett said. "There were some vampires who created others out of young children. It ended...badly."

I shuddered at the thought. "Is there more?"

"Volterra, Italy," Alice said. "It's where the Volturi reside. There is to be no hunting in Volterra at any time."

I was confused. "How do the Volturi feed if there's no hunting there?"

Rosalie answered that one with her usual grace. "Tourists. There are a lot of tourists that simply go missing in Europe everyday. A surprising number just happen to be passing through Volterra, and they just never arrive at their destinations."

I stared, disbelieving. "And no one has connected the dots?"

"No bodies," Rosalie shrugged. "Prove that's where it happened. They get picked up in impromptu tour groups, the kind that don't keep records of the names in the tours, then the groups just," She waved a had dismissive, "Disappear."

I felt a little sickened by that. "Anything else you're not telling me? I still don't see why they'd be interested in coming here."

There was a moment of silence that filled the room. There was something that they were not wanting to tell me, and I was afraid I'd go insane before they told me.

"The Children of the Moon," Edward said, looking towards Carlisle.

Carlisle nodded slowly. "They were almost a legend when I was with the Volturi. They'd been hunted and killed almost to extinction. Those that are left, stay under their radar and manage to remain alive by the sheer ability to remain hidden. Any interaction with the Children of the Moon is strictly forbidden, other than to hunt and kill them."

"What are the Children of the Moon?" I asked. I was getting a little tired of felling so far out of the loop, it was frustrating.

"Shapeshifters," Jasper spoke up, his southern drawl almost musical compared to his other family members. "Unlike your wolves, the Children of the Moon resemble the werewolves from the movies. They change in response to the moon cycles, and are powerful enough to kill a vampire in a one-on-one fight."

Finally, the pieces fell into place.

"Terrific," I spat out. "So now these 'Law Keepers' are on their way here to, what? Kill all the wolves?"

Alice's expression was almost vacant. She was physically in front of me, but she was seeing something far away. "They are more interested in adding the Wolves as part of their collection. They've all but killed off the wolves in Europe, Otherwise I think they'd have tried it before. The wolves here are different. They'd be interested in a pack of wolves that already work with a group of vampires. The wolves would just be an added security measure for them, and an added threat to all other vampires."

I stared at her, a part of me wanted to deny what I'd just heard...and yet a part of me already knew. "They're really coming for the wolves? What if they refuse to go?"

Alice looked up, and met my eyes. "Then they'll kill them all."