AN: A huge thank you and shout out to everyone who reviewed this story after the last chapter. I know a few people are wondering about Isabella's powers and yes there are other stories with similar powers in them, though the main ideas and extent of her gift is unique to mine. I also want to say that I am giving Isabella's gift limits, one of which is the inability to block against Demetri all the time. I love you all and sorry that I'm taking so long to update. I lost my muse for a bit and it's the last week of the semester for me so tons of tests and stress to overcome.
*** I am reposting chapters 6-9. I am taking the story in a slightly different direction with a different main pairing. Because of this, I had to go back and rewrite certain parts. I hope you all enjoy!
A few months had passed since the game had taken place and Isabella had quickly advanced through the Volturi ranks. Her training had gone smoothly and she was officially initiated into the guard. Alongside Jax, Alec, and Jane, Isabella had become a well-known member of the Volturi guard across the world. With missions in Greece, Brazil, Egypt, France, and dozens of other countries and destinations, she had earned the title of Nyx from a local Greek band of vampires that had spread ahead of her much like the story of the witch twins had decades before. The name was in reference to the Greek goddess of the night who even Zeus himself was said to fear. A woman of exceptional beauty and power, deadly in her anger and attack but also gentle and motherly in her moments of savior and protection.
So, it was this powerful group that single handedly wiped out countless threats to the vampire race in the span of a few weeks. The witch twins, the mysterious shape-shifter who never actually shifted form in battle, and the proverbial goddess of the night… it was certainly an enemy none hoped to make. However, there would always be those that wished to usurp power from the Volturi or reveal the existence of vampires to humans and it is for those such vampires that the group found themselves sitting in the private jet for now.
"Where are we headed this time? Aro rushed us on this one, didn't even brief me before we left besides that this is an emergency." Isabella turned curiously to her partners, smiling subtly as she noticed Jane looking absolutely bored and hateful on the sofa across from her. The group had grown unimaginably close from the time of their first mission to now, and it was this closeness that drove them to work so well together in battle.
Alec shifted in his seat awkwardly, though everyone knew that vampires do not feel discomfort as humans do. Isabella raised an eyebrow at him and glanced at her blonde friend expectantly, trusting her to be as blunt as always. What Jane responded with though came as a complete surprise to Isabella.
"Forks."
Before Isabella could protest, feeling the anger and repressed emotions of her abandonment as a human welling up inside of her, Jax jumped into the conversation.
"We received word that there is a newborn army being created in Washington, just outside of Forks. From what we know, the Cullens haven't been back there since they left. Your father still lives there in the same house, though Aro believes it best if you don't try to visit him. You don't look or act like the fragile human daughter that he knew all that time ago."
Isabella nodded her consent, her body still tense. They discussed their plan of action and went back to playful chatter after a few minutes, deciding on a scouting mission by Jax and Isabella while Jane and Alec checked back with the Volturi to see if there were any new tips or bits of information of use to them.
The group landed hours later as night fell across Forks, Washington. Isabella and Jax handed their go bags to Alec and Jane to take to the hotel they would be staying in for their mission before they headed out toward the land surrounding Forks. Isabella cloaked them both as they began their trek through the wilderness, smiling to herself as Jax shifted the moment her shield wrapped itself protectively around him.
Jax was careful to avoid shifting around anyone other than Isabella, relying on his shifter instincts and years of experience in battle to take him through their missions. The first time that they had fought together, while in training at the Volturi, everyone was amazed at the connection that they had. Much like the witch twins themselves, they were formidable individuals that complemented one another so well that they practically moved as one against their opponents. After that, Aro had demanded that the pair work on perfecting their fighting technique together, working as a pair. Though no one knew, the mental link that existed between Jax and Isabella worked well in their favor after a few weeks of practice.
With the unbreakable bond that existed between the two pairs of fighters, and the friendship that bound the pairs together, it was the obvious choice to create a group with them. Including anyone else would simply take away from the cohesiveness of the group, as would taking one of them away. Isabella had become even more fond of Jane and Alec throughout her time with the Volturi, especially the little blonde sadist. Jane was terrifying and unmistakably good at creating pain for others, but she was also loyal and held a certain child-like happiness to her that only those in the group had gotten to know. When they were alone, Jane would often tackle Isabella to the ground and poke at her sides as if they were in a tickle fight. Together with Alec, Jane would also play pranks on her friend around the Volturi castle including taking the screws out of her chairs so that she would fall through them.
It was about half an hour into their silent exploration of the area around Forks, moving more into the area that Isabella herself once lived in, that Jax and Isabella heard the distant sound of growls and voices. As they approached closer, the smell of wet dog attacked Isabella's nose and she paused in her movements with a look of disgust. Jax nudged her with his large head, his violet eyes gazing up at her in curiosity.
"What is it little one?" his voice rumbled in her head.
"It smells like someone let a bunch of dogs play in the sewer water outside of town all of a sudden," she responded. In reaction to the horrible smell, Isabella had stopped breathing, making sure that she avoided the smell at all costs.
"Shifters. Likely wolves by your description. I can smell them as well though it is definitely not the same smell."
Isabella scrunched up her nose and began their careful approach once more. She was certain that her shields were consistent and strong but it was best to be cautious regardless, especially since it sounded like a fight was brewing. As they came up to the group, Isabella and Jax were able to spot six large wolves of varying color, hackles raised with deep low growls emanating from their chests. Their attention was on a group of vampires, newborns by the looks of it, numbering in at twelve within range of sight.
Isabella recognized the largest black wolf as Sam from the La Push tribe, though she didn't recognize some of the others. The young vampires however were completely unfamiliar to her and she could quickly tell that the pack was going to start a fight it couldn't win. With a glance at Jax, letting him know her plan through their mind link, Isabella took off toward the group of newborns. She decapitated two of the closest ones before the rest began to panic and disperse into the forest. Cloaked by Isabella's shield, Jax burnt the bodies that Isabella had killed. The pack looked absolutely terrified by the sudden turn of events, seeing nothing but two bodies suddenly drop headless and then burn as the rest of the newborns scattered. To them there was no explanation, no way of knowing that Isabella and Jax stood smirking at them from only a few yards away.
Isabella nodded at Jax and they took off toward the hotel, laughing at the faces of the wolves the whole way back. Once there, they explained the newborn army they had encountered to Jane and Alec, relaying the message back to Aro as well. Isabella told the group that she had a feeling that this was a very orchestrated attack and that there were bound to be more than the 12 newborns seen in the woods with the wolves.
Everyone agreed, though neither Aro nor anyone else could come up with a suspect for who was behind the forming army. Jax gave Isabella a worried look when the twins were turned away and Isabella nodded to him, taking into consideration his concern about who may be behind the group. While Isabella and Jax were gone, Jane and Alec had managed to gain bits of intel about where the group may be forming, a headquarters so to speak.
However, the group decided that they would prefer to rest, go out and have fun on the town before they tracked down the group in the morning. It was late, probably midnight or so when they finished getting ready and made their way to town. Jane and Alec both had in their signature, vampire specific contacts that masked their red eyes underneath much more inviting brown ones. The Volturi had developed them to wear on undercover missions, noting that red eyes tended to scare off humans and intimidate other creatures. Regular contacts however would be destroyed in a matter of minutes by the venom that flowed through a vampire and so the Volturi decided to employ some of the smartest vampires around to solve the problem. What they came up with were a set of contacts that were made of a material strong enough to withstand vampire venom entirely, and that allowed for perfect vision.
Music thumped loudly across the room, sound waves crashing into the group's sensitive inhuman bodies. Jane grimaced as they entered, looking murderously unhappy even without her blazing red eyes. The club was busy, packed with sweating humans and heartbeats that practically drowned out the music to the predators that had just entered. Isabella watched with a smirk as Alec's nose flared and he tilted his head, his gaze resting on a group of young women in a booth near the bar. Jane just sighed and sauntered after him, her hips swaying seductively and catching quite a few turning heads.
Jax looked wholly uncomfortable in the new environment, watching as young men and women pressed their bodies against one another to the beat of the music and threw back their drinks with enthusiasm. Isabella smirked and winked at him, telling him to have fun and loosen up a bit before she disappeared into the crowd as well.
Jane and Alec had approached the group of young women and Jane nearly rolled her eyes as her brother flashed his perfect smile at them. They had perfected the routine over the years, Alec taking advantage of his sister swinging both ways. They would approach a group or a pair of girls, Jane would decide which weak human she hated less and Alec would begin his charm of the other. Jane would then seduce the other girl away so that Alec could take his own home, and Jane would decide whether or not she wanted to take her own home or leave her. If Jane decided on a lone man instead, Alec would find a lone woman instead.
However, Jane definitely preferred women as was obvious by her track record. It was no secret that Jane had developed feelings for Isabella, though Isabella herself was completely blind to that fact. The human that had caught Jane's attention looked kind of like Isabella, a beautiful brunette human with a shy smile and an air of veiled confidence about her. Alec smiled at his sister as he noticed where her gaze had fallen and played perfectly into their little game as he winked at the blonde sitting next to her. He turned on his vampiric charm and let the conversation flow between them, astutely aware of his sister drawing the other girl away with a few drinks and some well-played seduction. It was easy for a vampire to draw a human in, no matter which way they swung, if the vampire wished to do so.
Isabella for her own self was having a great time, letting the music guide the sway of her hips as some man's hands wove their way up and down her body. She had already forgotten his name, and was soon growing tired and disgusted by him, though she wasn't entirely sure why. Since Edward, Isabella had been with plenty of men, even tried out her fair share of women, but the vampire in her knew that they were not her mate and so it rebelled against them. She had seen firsthand how strong the mate bond was between two vampires, an immediate and all-consuming feeling. The vampire mate bond worked similarly to a shifter's imprint as Jax had explained to her, though a vampire would only feel the bond with another vampire. In all his life and that of the Volturi, there had never been a mate bond between another creature and a vampire, though Isabella assumed it could be possible.
She knew that the mate bond did not work between vampires and humans so she knew that Edward could not possibly have known she was his mate, nor did she believe so herself. She also knew that Jane, Alec, and Jax were all hoping to run across him someday so that they could punish him to hell and back for hurting their Isabella. This thought made her smile, wrapped up in her own thoughts. She was brought crashing back down to reality as her instincts roared to life upon catching a certain enticing scent amidst the crowd. It was sweet and feminine, a mix between amber and vanilla with a hint of something light and fresh like strawberries.
The smell made her body freeze and her nostrils flare, losing track of every other smell except for the one. The vampire within her was fighting to chase after the smell that was quickly disappearing from the building, but her body felt like every nerve had just been brought to life, though not in a painful way. By the time that she gained her composure and followed the scent outside, it was faint and hard to track so she went back inside, trying to shake the feeling. Hours later, the group found themselves back in the hotel with whomever they had taken home for the night, though Isabella found her woman to be sorely lacking in helping soothe the tingling sensation that subtly coursed through her body.
In the morning, they all came together once again to decide a course of action for the day. Much like yesterday, Jax and Isabella would silently make their way around Forks and see if they could catch wind of the newborns while Jane and Alec did the same in the surrounding cities.
Just a few minutes later, Isabella and Jax found themselves strolling through the woods of Forks once again. The smell of wet dog was near so Isabella knew that they were probably close to the wolves' land. From what she could remember, the wolves and Cullens had established a treaty line which she guessed was what they were walking along now.
As they broke through another line of trees, Isabella signaled for Jax to stop. His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath, his violet eyes boring deep into the woods before them trying to see movement. His soft black fur and wings were tucked neatly against his back and his huge paws fit nearly perfectly in the muddy tracks of one of the wolves. He was wary upon hearing growls further in the forest, his nose picking up the scent of vampires as well.
"The newborns are back for the wolves, I can smell them a few miles ahead of us. Keep your shield strong, we will follow them back to their hideout this time."
Isabella nodded and the two ran quickly to the location of the growls and the smell of vampires. Taking to the trees, Isabella and Jax got within a few yards of the standoff and watched from above. However, it was not the newborns that stood just a few breaths away this time.
Isabella's throat tightened and rage consumed her as her eyes locked onto a familiar bronze haired individual. A deep growl began in her chest and was only cut off by Jax's gentle nudge against her cheek. Her mind was filled with gentle words of reassurance and support, though he vowed that she would get her revenge.
They didn't have time to think much further though as Paul lunged toward the Cullens, his clothes shredding onto the forest floor as he transformed into a large dark wolf. Isabella extended her physical shield out against them, creating an invisible wall that Paul smacked into with enough force to make Isabella glare at him as she reinforced her shields. Both parties became extremely confused and accusatory, growls and raised voices heard from both sides.
Isabella leaped down from the tree with Jax beside her, still completely invisible to the senses. As her eyes connected with Edward's, though he had no idea it had even happened, Isabella felt rage consume her once again and saw Jasper stumble back from the sheer force of her emotions. Her violet eyes were boring into him as Jax made sure that the wolves were being kept at bay by the shield.
Suddenly the wind changed direction and Isabella froze. Her nostrils flared as amber and vanilla filled her senses. Her head turned slowly in the direction of the smell and as her eyes connected with familiar golden orbs, she felt a surge of energy course through her body, causing her to drop her shields all at once. Gasps were heard from the Cullens side and similar sounds of surprise were also heard from the wolves as some shifted back to their human form. Jax stood in front of them, his violet eyes daring any to move closer as the wind slowly ruffled his regal black mane.
"Shit," she thought, her eyes never leaving those of the woman before her.
"Bella?" a soft, angelic voice asked.
"Rosalie," Isabella replied, amber and vanilla overwhelming her as she moved closer.
"Mate. Mine." Isabella's instincts called out to her. She was suddenly aware of Emmett's presence, the man that she knew to be married to her newfound mate. A deep growl tore through her throat as she locked eyes with him and he bowed his head to her in submission, his signature innocently playful expression on his face.
Rosalie too could feel the power of the bond, the smell of chocolate and musky earth radiating off Isabella's skin making her head feel light and dizzy. Violet galaxies melted into golden honey as their eyes continued to stare at one another. As Isabella reached out her hand, her fingers inches away from Rosalie's porcelain skin, another marble hand reached out and grabbed her wrist.
Within seconds, Isabella had the intruder on their knees, fingers wrapped around their throat and a slight pressure applying upward. Gasps were once again heard chorusing around the Cullen group as Isabella tightened her hold on the bronze haired man before her. Carlisle made a move forwards but stopped when violet eyes met his own and a deep growl reverberated around the field from behind Isabella. Jax, having sent the wolves back to the reservation with a promise to visit and explain everything later as well as painful death if they did not comply, had come to stand at Isabella's side. When Carlisle moved toward Isabella, Jax growled and unfurled his wings to their full extent, baring his white fangs at the vampire.
"Wait please, don't hurt my son. Let's talk, Bella, no need for violence," Carlisle proposed cautiously. Isabella looked at him for a long time, a threat evident in her features before she released Edward, throwing him into a boulder beside the family.
"I have called for Alec and Jane; they will be here soon. She is beautiful little one," Jax's voice rumbled through her head.
"If you ever touch me again I will not hesitate to tear you limb from limb and watch you burn. If you so much as look at my mate the wrong way you will meet the same fate. Make no mistake Edward Cullen, I spare you now, once, out of old respect for your family."