Chapter 10

"The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it"- John Ray

Tanya was laying in her bedroom, her eyes were closed, and she was breathing deeply. In a desperate attempt to center herself, she had her hands pressed down against her marble abdomen. Her bedroom fireplace was flickering warmly, but, as usual, it was dark outside. It could have been five in the afternoon, or it could have been one in the morning...though really, it didn't matter.

She wanted him. She could admit that to herself. Wanted him with a fierceness she had never wanted anyone else before.

She had learned something, at least, from her pursuit of Edward. Not every man—human or vampire-would fall prey to her wiles. And really, did she even want to use them? All of a sudden, they seemed so contrived, so…dishonest. She thought, no, she knew, it was different this time. But a newborn? How would he react to her past? Men never worried before, but they weren't the relationship sort, just wanting a quick, albeit mind-blowing, lay.

What was it about him? He was certainly gorgeous, but there were others, just as handsome, that didn't affect her like this. She was captivated by him before she knew his story. The parallels certainly would make her be more considerate of him-something she knew she wasn't really well known for.

Change? Relationship? Trying to be a better person? Oh, God. The facts pointed to it, and though she wanted desperately to deny it, she knew she couldn't.

Fred was her mate.

I am so screwed! How can I convince him?

She clenched her eyes tighter, not sure if she should be plotting, or cry out in defeat. Sure, she complained about being alone, but now? After a thousand years?

I finally find him, and he's so emotionally broken he didn't even recognize it? With a huff, she hoisted herself up out of her large bed, and wandered downstairs, only to find it empty.

Damn.

Fred sat in a leather overstuffed chair in front of the main fireplace. Kate and Garrett were together on the couch. Garrett's head rested in the blonde's lap, as she stroked his hair slowly. He watched them circumspectly, aware of the difference between this home, and all the places he had shared with the newborns. It was peaceful, quiet. He felt he could breathe here, and hadn't felt the urge to turn on his gift at all—he felt safe. Perhaps it was a false sense, but, even as a human, his instincts were pretty on target; after all, he knew better than to trust anything Riley told him. He knew to run, and he knew to protect Bree.

He stared into the flickering flames, listening to the quiet pops and hisses and the more subtle sound of Kate's fingers in Garrett's hair. As he continued to listen, he suddenly heard the sound of...a heartbeat? He concentrated harder, and paused in shock. His fingers dug into the soft, buttery leather, and a soft growl erupted from his throat.

"Fred, what is it?" Kate asked softly, her fingers stilling in Garrett's hair.

"A heartbeat. Why do I hear a heartbeat? It sounds so luscious." Fred's eyes grew dark.

"Can you stay in control, Fred? Or do you and I need to go hunt? Because I promise you, that heart is most certainly off limits," Garrett said warily.

"I. Will. Not. Lose. Control." Fred muttered through tightly clenched teeth. His fingers were digging holes in the chair and his entire body trembled.

Garrett slid to his feet. "Come on, Fred. It will be much easier to endure if you've had a fresh feed. And it's about time you hunted for yourself."

Kate stood as well. "We'll all go." They moved to Fred, each claiming a side and frog-marching him out the door. Once the fresh air hit him, he was more in control, and their grips loosened as they ran toward the feeding grounds.

The trio loped silently through the trees. Garrett and Kate shared a look of concern about Fred. The fact that he had fed so little recently and was still able to control his thirst boded well for his probability to remain a vegetarian, but they certainly weren't willing to test it with little Renesmee.

They fell upon the large herd of caribou, each one taking down an animal on the fringe, even as the rest of the herd stampeded off. Garrett and Kate watched as Fred chased down a second caribou, breaking its neck with a finesse that made it look as if he'd been living this existence for years. They observed him as he quickly drained the animal, then, taking his cue from his new friends, placed the carcass in the trees for the tundra wolves to find.

After clean up was completed, the three repleted vampires flopped down in the soft snow. "So, what was it I heard?"

"Bella and Edward's daughter, Renesmee," Kate responded with a soft smile.

Fred's eyebrows shot up.

"I know, hard to believe. No one ever thought it was possible—not even the Volturi. We came very close to a war over it. You should know that we aren't very high up on the Volturi's list of favorite people. You might be safer not joining us," Garrett added seriously.

Fred looked at him. "They killed Bree just for existing. So excuse me if I don't really care what they think."

Kate put her hand on Fred's shoulder. "Renesmee was born when Bella was still human, so she is half vampire, half human. That's why she has a heartbeat. She doesn't smell like food though, but you weren't close enough to tell that. The Cullens found another halfling like her, and discovered that she will grow until she reaches sixteen or seventeen, then she will be immortal like the rest of us."

"But didn't you say something about laws concerning immortal children?" Fred looked confused.

"That's what confused the Volturi. Renesmee grows; a true immortal child stays the age they were bitten at forever. No growing in control, and a serious lack of cognition. But Renesmee actually grows quite quickly. She should be fully grown in 7 years. She already looks like a four year old, and she was only born four months ago. And she sounds even older than that." Kate smiled.

"You really love her, don't you?" Fred answered her smile softly.

"We all do. My vampire mother was executed by the Volturi for creating an immortal child. It's one of the things we hate the most about being vampires; we can't ever have a child of our own. Bella's pregnancy was anything but normal, and they had to change her to save her." Kate's voice was filled with admiration for her new cousin, even as her visage darkened. "Our sister, Irina, saw Renesmee from a distance. She took our mother's execution the hardest, and was scared for our family."

Fred frowned, guessing at where Kate's story was going. He noticed Garret lean up on an arm to stroke his mate's back with his other hand.

"Irina is the one who told the Volturi about Renesmee. But when they realized that they couldn't use an immortal child as an excuse to kill off the Cullens," Kate paused here seeming to gather courage to finish. " They killed her right in front of us. They wanted us to retaliate so they would have an excuse to kill us." Anger flooded her voice, causing it to shake.

Garrett chuckled self-depreciatively. "You nearly did, my love. I would have been a toasted vampire if it were not for Bella's shield."

Fred looked at the couple, confused.

Garrett smiled. "You see, Kate also has a special power. She can choose to send powerful shocks over her skin. She lunged for the Volturi, and I had tackled her." He gave Fred the look shared by men. "Don't ever piss Kate off, is all I'm going to say."

Kate kissed his jaw. "And I'm thankful every moment that you didn't give up on me."

Fred stared for a moment, pondering the story. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the story, but why tell me?"

"A couple reasons. First, you're going to be family. It's what we do. There isn't much we can keep secret. And you have shared your past with us. Second, Well," Kate took a deep breath and Fred could see her squeeze Garrett's hand.

"Garrett came back with me, and he has really helped me a lot. Eleazar and Carmen have each other, of course. Tanya is having a really hard time because she's alone. You both feel like you failed your sisters." Kate bit her lip and Fred wondered what she was holding back.

"There is more history to us than you know, Fred, but please, I really think you can help each other."

He had the feeling she was giving him a warning, of what, he didn't know, but he knew he already felt himself leaning toward Tanya. There was an awareness, a concern, he felt for her that he didn't feel for the others.

He nodded in recognition of the statement, but didn't respond otherwise.

He had a lot to consider.