Chapter 13: Dawn Breaks

Edward's Point of View

I couldn't stop pacing. It was so damn frustrating, not knowing what was going on.

'Something went wrong Jasper.' I twisted my fingers in my hair and pulled. 'Aro should have sent someone for us by now. They have to know they're gone.'

Jasper merely shrugged. 'Not much good you can do by pacing. All we can do is wait.'

'Its like Aro ordered all the guard to stay far away from us, I can't even catch a whisper from anyone's mind.'

I placed both of my palms against the door and braced myself against it. It could never hold me. I wished I could just break the door into splinters and get out of here.

Calm down Edward, you have to stay in here to make sure Bella has a chance to get away. That's all that matters now.

I took several deep breaths. Oh it was all useless! I'll never be able to calm down.

I shot a glare at Jasper. How could he be so calm?? My fingers were gouging great clefts in the massive wooden door. I didn't even care enough to stop myself. One way or another, our stay here was going to soon end.

Wait a minute. I was beginning to hear…

'Jasper! Someone's coming.' I hissed.

He was on his feet and at my right side before I could turn, his hand on my shoulder.

Be very still Edward. When they pause to unlock the door, push the door with me outward. That should give us a few seconds of surprise. After that…fight well my brother. I hope to see you on the other side.

He held his hand out to me and I clasped it, then pulled him in and hugged him tight.

I briefly wondered which other side he was referring to but quickly put it out of my mind.

Suddenly my whole world came crashing to a halt. The guards had moved within range and I could hear their thoughts.

'They caught them Jasper, they didn't make it.' My eyes met his, and I saw the same death in his that was rapidly filling mine.

Jasper shook his head, his golden hair flying. He set his mouth in a tight line. Then we'll take out as many of the bastards as we can.

I nodded. I had to hold back my agony. In just a few short minutes it would all be over, all the endless pain. But right now I had to focus, I had to fight.

We both waited in absolute silence, listening to the guards' footsteps come closer. There were three of them.

The footsteps stopped right on the other side of the door. Jasper tipped his head toward me and we both leapt at the door and ripped it from its hinges. Using it as a battering ram, we collided with the three hard, heavy objects in front of us.

They were completely unprepared for the attack and fell to the ground under the door.

Jasper yanked the door away and was on the guards in an instant. I was about to follow him when I pulled up in shock. I reached down and pulled Corin out from under the door. 'What are you doing-?'

Corin abruptly cut me off. 'We have no time Edward.' He quickly looked over my shoulder at Jasper, who was just finishing off the second of the two guards. Wow, that was some pretty nice work. I smirked, and then quickly came back to the conversation at hand. 'We can't stop to look for fire to burn them Jasper, we have to keep moving. Aro and Caius and most of the guard are out of the city stopping some sort of newborn invasion.'

'Newborn invasion!? What in hell is going on?' Corin completely ignored me.

'Aro took Alice with him. Now is the time Jasper, they will be distracted.'

Jasper was on his fight in an instant, eyes flashing dangerously. 'Can you show me?'

Corin nodded. 'I'll take you myself.'

Finally he turned back to face me. 'Edward, Felix has taken Bella-'

He didn't need to say another word. I heard the rest of it in his mind and I saw the path that I would need to take to reach the hall of the guard's quarters.

I was already sprinting down the hall as Corin and Jasper fled to save Alice.

I was running as I'd never run in my life. Every step that I took, all of my rage and frustration and wrath kept building. No one was ever going to separate Bella and I again.

If that bastard Felix put one hand on her…well no, he was dead either way.

I was so damn tired of vampires threatening Bella, threatening my own happiness. It wasn't my fault, it had never been my fault. But it was time for me to step up. No longer would I tolerate the Volturi and their meddling in my families' lives. It ends now.

Corin had shown me an elevator that would take me straight to the guard's quarter's hall. I jabbed impatiently at the button and growled low in my throat. What the hell was I waiting for?

I pried my fingers into the jam of the elevator doorway and shoved. The doors screeched apart and fell in ruin on the floor. I looked into the shaft. Damn, the elevator was on its way down. But I didn't have time to wait.

I leaned into the shaft and leapt straight up. I crashed through the floor of the elevator. A soft, classical jazz song was playing. I took a millisecond to roll my eyes. No wonder people nowadays don't appreciate jazz if this crap is all they're exposed to. I had paused only long enough to crouch on the ruined edge and gain momentum for my next leap up, then I was through the roof of the elevator.

I grabbed the cable and pulled myself hand over hand until I reached my desired floor.

I paused for the briefest of moments. I could hear Felix's mind loud and clear.

I bit my lip harshly and howled.

Felix must have heard me. I heard the question in his mind and then pain blossomed. Good girl. Bella must have seen his distraction and given him a good one.

I launched myself at the doors to the elevator and burst through them and they fell, wasted, down the elevator shaft to meet the elevator itself with a resounding crash.

I came out in the middle of the laughingly opulent hall. I stood tall and straight.

'Felix! Come out here and face me damn you!'

My hands were clenched into such tight fists at my sides that I thought my own hands would shatter.

And there he was. He emerged from the doorway to his room, a malicious smile on his face.

'Oh hey Edward. Come to join in the fun? I'm not really big on sharing, but I'll let you watch if you say please.' He winked.

I threw my head back and roared.

'Now there's no need to act like that pretty boy.' His upper lip curled into a harsh snarl. 'If you want a fight, I can always finish with your little girl after I'm finished with you.'

Then he accepted my challenge with a harsh growl of his own and jumped at me.

I stood my ground, unmoving, until he was only a bare few inches in front of me and then I moved in the slightest of ways.

As our bodies met there was a sound like thunder. He was bigger than me. He was stronger than me. He had centuries more fighting experience than me.

I snapped him in half like a twig. I threw both pieces of him onto the floor, utterly disgusted.

Bella slipped from the room with a lighter, I stepped back graciously and gestured to the pieces on the floor. 'Ladies' choice.'

She flicked the lighter on with a quick movement of her thumb, then placed her foot squarely in Felix's face and threw the lighter down. His body quickly caught fire and the hall filled with the sickeningly sweet scent of roasted vampire.

We stood side by side, silent and motionless for a few minutes as we watched him burn.

I risked a glance out of the corner of my eye at Bella. 'God, you're gorgeous.'

She lifted one corner of her mouth in an excellent imitation of my half smile that she loved.

'Just for the ease of your mind, he didn't touch me.'

I tilted my head toward her in a nod. 'I never imagined for a heartbeat that you'd let him.'

Her mouth quivered and she lost her half smile. 'It was a near thing… it's good that I have you. My guardian angel.'

And in that moment I forgot everything except my Bella. I forgot where we were, I forgot that there was a battle waging outside, and I even forgot myself.

I placed my hands on Bella's shoulders and backed her against the wall. I bent my head and tenderly kissed her neck, trailing my lips up her neck until I reached her ear.

I whispered, my lips brushing against her ear, my voice ragged and low. 'I need you Bella, I need to claim you and know that your mine and that you'll always be mine.'

She gasped and tilted her head back, exposing her throat to me. I swooped in and placed my lips against the tender flesh. I let the tip of my tongue brush against her creamy skin.

Bella moaned and pushed her hips toward mine. 'Oh Edward, take me.'

I obeyed and took her roughly against the wall. It wasn't love making, rather it was an animalistic need that roared through both of us, demanding to be satisfied. Who was I to deny the beast?

There was a large, picturesque window across the hall. Unheeded by either of us, the sun began to rise.

Emmett's Point of View

I glared impatiently at the horizon. Rose came up beside me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. 'You can do many things Emmett, but you can't make the sun rise any faster.'

A brief smile broke out over my face and I grabbed Rose up in my arms and whirled her around. 'I love you so much Rose!'

There was a hissing noise by my side. 'That's wonderful that you love Rose so much Emmett, but can you please try not to broadcast that fact to the entire valley? We are supposed to be incognito, if you hadn't heard.'

I shrugged sheepishly. 'Sorry Tanya, I can't help myself when it comes to Rose. She just has that effect on me. You know, she makes me want to shout.'

Tanya rolled her eyes.

'Oh, don't let her bother you Emmett, my sisters just jealous. It's been ages since she found a man who could make her scream.'

I grinned at Kate. 'Maybe you girls need to get together more often with vampires instead of human men. You'll be amazed how much our acute attention to detail can help.'

I inclined my heard toward Garrett. 'But you'd already be knowing that by now, wouldn't you Kate?'

Before she could retaliate the rest of our small party of vampires joined us. Siobhan frowned. 'Should you really be talking that way? There are children present.'

Seth bristled from his place next to his sister on a downed tree. 'I'm older than I look. Besides, there's nothing I haven't already heard. Pack minds aren't PG-13 places.'

Quil nodded in agreement. 'Sadly, it's true. I'm so glad I'll never have to relive one of Jared's evenings with Kim. Brutal. That's the only word for it.'

'Hold it Quil, you're in no real position to complain. I've had about as much as I can take of your cutesy baby talk with Claire.'

Quil scowled and took a playful swipe at Embry that would have left a sizeable dent in a normal man's arm. Embry just grinned.

'At least that's G rated.' Seth muttered, but not sounding any happier about that then he had about the higher rated stuff.'

Rose and I joined in the pack's laughter.

I drifted off to another fallen tree and set my equipment bag down on top of it, triple checking to make sure I had everything. I could just barely hear Carlisle and Esme talking, they were a short distance away.

'Oh Carlisle, I don't know if I'll be able to stand it. All these wonderful people. They're risking everything to help us. And it's such a poor chance that everyone will make it back. I wish there was some other way.'

'I would save you from this if I could, dear Esme.' Carlisle was gazing down at Esme's face, enraptured. 'But they've taken our family from us. We have to get them back.'

She bit her lip but smiled up at him. 'If it's going to end today, I am glad that I'll be with you.'

I felt like an intruder, I quickly stuffed everything back into my pack then beat a hasty retreat back to the main group.

I began to gather the members of our small army together.

There was Rose and I, of course. Then there was the Denali coven made up of Tanya, Irina, Kate (and it looks like I need to count Garrett in that coven as well, the way that he and Kate had been looking at each other all night left little doubt about that), and finally Eleazar and Carmen.

Charlotte and Peter were next. I was very grateful to have Peter. Since Jasper was gone Peter was our best war strategist. And standing next to Carlisle and Esme were Liam, Maggie and Siobhan.

Not to forget all of the wolves made up of Jacob's small pack which consisted of him, Leah, Seth, Embry and Quil. If we survived the day, we would forever be indebted to them. If they had not agreed to help the Volturi would know every part of our plan and would be waiting to slaughter us.

I smiled ruefully. And last but not least, our Romanian friends Stefan and Vladimir. They were, hopefully, somewhere down below us in the valley setting up whatever surprise attack that their twisted old minds had come up with.

With a shock I realized that everyone had fallen silent and were all looking to me for orders. It was an odd sensation, having so many look to me for guidance. I glanced at Carlisle out of the corner of my eye. If anyone, he would know of the nervous knot that was beginning to form in my stomach. He caught my eye and smiled encouragingly.

'All right everyone.' I clapped my hands. Ugh, did I really just clap my hands? Dork. 'We've been over and over this plan. But let's review it one last time while we wait for the sun.'

I glanced quickly around. Cool, I still had everyone's undivided attention.

'The Romanian dudes have told us that we are not to attack until dawn. Whatever distraction they have cooked up will begin precisely with the rising of the sun.'

'We have no way of knowing what they'll do, so we'll just have to be ready for anything.'

'Now the wolves have agreed to be our scouts. During our castle siege they are going to be on this hilltop in two different groups, Jacob and Leah in one, Seth, Quil and Embry in the other. Their job is to watch for the return of the Volturi guard. If possible at all, they are to warn us. If the returning party of guards is smaller than we imagine, they will attack. If neither of those two options exist then they are to flee to the rendezvous.'

I kept my eye on Jacob for an extra minute. He had not agreed with this part of the plan at all, but Carlisle had convinced him that the wolves were risking so much for us already that they should not be involved directly with the attack. Jacob had only agreed with Carlisle's logic when Carlisle asked him point blank if he wanted to go back home and explain to tiny Claire where her uncle Quil had gone. Or how he would handle telling Leah and Seth's mother that both of her children were dead.

He seemed reasonably resigned to the plan so I moved on.

'The rest of us are going to be split into smaller groups so that we can try to avoid detection as much as possible.'

I nodded at several vampires. 'Peter, you will lead your team which is made up of Charlotte, Tanya, Kate and Garrett.'

I gestured to several more. 'Carlisle will lead Esme, Liam, Siobhan and Maggie.'

'Myself, Rose, Carmen, Eleazar and Irina will be led by Eleazar.'

'Since Carlisle and Eleazar are both familiar with the Volturi castle, their groups will comprise the search teams. Carlisle's team will search the main part of the castle while Eleazar's will search the dungeons down below.'

I took a deep, steadying breath. 'It is our hope that the Volturi will leave our family behind when they go to meet the Romanian's distraction. If they took them…well, we all just need to pray to whoever we see fit that they'll all be in the castle.'

'Peter is leading the oh shit team.'

I cringed as Esme glared at me. Here we were, off to war, and she was mad that I was using bad language. Such typical mom behavior.

'Peter's team will be stationed near the castle gates. They will be in a perfect position to help with numerous scenarios. If one of the other teams need help they will be able to reach them quickly. If the wolves attack the returning Volturi, they might be able to reach them in time to help. If the Volturi make it back to the castle, they will mount a defense and try to give us as much time as we need.'

I felt hollow inside after this part of the speech. I knew that Peter's group had the most dangerous job. Scenario number three was the most likely. So his group would take the blunt of the returning Volturi's fury. I had not personally assigned the groups or I would have put myself in that position. But I couldn't dwell on that. Time was running low.

'I don't want to put a damper on our morning, it is incredibly early after all, but we need to run through our main target list. Obviously if you can get to one of the leaders, Aro Caius or Marcus, take them down. We can only hope that without leadership the rest of the guard may fall apart.' Carlisle had not approved of this part of the plan. When Peter had first suggested going for the leaders he had gone upstairs to his study for the entire night. He had not come down until morning. When he rejoined he was resigned to that part of the plan and he did not say another word against it.

'The most dangerous of all are those annoying little shits, Alec and Jane.' I made a very obvious effort not to look in my mother's direction, though I could feel her eyes boring into me.

'We may have a chance to take them by surprise. Barring that, we are going to need Bella. Its crucial that whichever team encounters them call it out. If all goes well Bella will have been freed by then and can take them down.' We all knew that taking them by surprise was going to be almost impossible. If we couldn't free Bella…well, I had already thought about that possibility far too much. Jane and Alec could doom our entire operation with one look.

'Watch out for Renata, I'd hate for anyone to forget why they were here. Oh, and Demetri cannot be allowed to live. If our rescue is successful, er, when it is successful, we can't risk the threat that Demetri poses.'

'As for the rest of them, they are all very experienced fighters and many have dangerous powers. You'll have to remember the briefing that Eleazar gave you earlier because our time is about up.'

I dug a tiny black earpiece out of my pocket and slipped it into my ear. 'Microphone up all.'

Everyone began to put their earpieces into place and check to make sure they worked. It was a good thing the Cullen family had a lot of money. These little babies were top of the line military grade. Just a tiny piece of plastic that fits into the ear. They were tuned to transmit nearby sounds with a particular tilt of the head.

'Any questions?' The sky was brightening with every passing minute and I knew the sun was just below the horizon.

There were none. I ducked my head briefly and then looked at everyone in turn while I spoke. 'I want to personally thank each and every one of you for being here. My family and I will never be able to repay the love and courage that you show by being here today.'

'Remember the rendezvous point. I look forward to seeing you all there.'

My eyes blazed a deep black. 'The sun rises. Let's go get my family back.'

The sun had indeed risen behind my back as I was making my final speech. Suddenly there were hugs and hand clasps all around as everyone prepared to depart.

The Quileutes all stepped into the tree cover and returned a moment later as wolves.

I dug in my pocket again and came out with a handful of earpieces and knelt before each wolf, affixing the piece to their ears with a special clip I had made.

They couldn't talk with us in their wolf forms, of course, but they could listen in on all of our conversations at least. We had also agreed that one wolf would phase long enough to tell us when they spied the Volturi. That way Peter's group would have some sort of warning.

My breath caught in my throat as the lithe grey wolf nuzzled the bigger sandy haired wolf. I knew enough about the wolves by now to know that was Leah and her younger brother Seth. I swallowed hard. I had pulled them halfway around the world to help creatures that they were previously sworn to kill. If anything happened to them…

Jacob trotted up to me and gazed at me with his deep black eyes. I put a hand on his massive shoulder. We stood like that for a moment and then we both turned away to see off our troops.

Rose was suddenly by my side. Ever since I had returned to my family with the wolves and given them hope, Rose had blossomed.

She had put aside her former misgivings and self doubt and she had thrown herself whole heartedly into planning and preparing for the rescue mission. I had never been more proud of her.

Suddenly my mind was clouded with the fear of losing her and I pulled her fiercely to me. 'I won't be able to stand it if anything happens to you, my Rose.'

She playfully bit my neck. 'Don't worry Emmett, I won't let anything happen to you. Besides, what are the Volturi compared to full grown grizzlies?'

I grinned and let her out of the hug but kept her close by my side.

The various vampire commando groups were ready to leave. Eleazar was gesturing for us.

Peter's group had already gone. As I joined Eleazar I glanced back over my shoulder. Carlisle was preparing his group to head out when he suddenly looked up and met my glance. I probably looked as grim as he did. He held up a hand in farewell. I mirrored his gesture and then they were gone.

I let Rose tug me along as our group raced down the hill toward the city. I had the worst feeling that I wasn't going to see any of our friends alive again.

Leah's Point of View

All the talk was finally over and it was time for action.

A sudden feeling of shame washed over me. I had just been thinking that I was secretly pleased that we would be left out of the action. Not for my own sake, but for the rest of our small, breakaway pack.

I had grown to like and appreciate all the members a lot more than I had when we were in Sam's pack. I also think they'd found my attitude greatly improved and had responded in turn.

Emmett had been right though, when he had talked Jacob into acting only as scouts.

As much as I joked about Quil and Claire, I would be heartbroken to come home to 5 year old Claire without Quil.

If we lost Embry, our little pack would suffer. He was the calm, supportive one who usually stepped in between my and Jacob's numerous arguments. He kept the peace, not in the same way that Jacob did as pack leader, but he kept it just the same.

And…I didn't even want to think about it, but if something happened to Seth…I just…I couldn't go home without him was all. Mom had only lost dad a few short years ago. I didn't know if she could handle losing her son as well.

Then there was Jacob. Notwithstanding all of our petty arguments and lost tempers, we had grown very close over this past month of preparations. If I lost him I wasn't even sure what that would do to me. And that scared me more than anything.

Jacob and I had just split off from the others and he bumped his shoulder against mine.

There's no shame in your thoughts Leah. After Emmett pointed out to me-

I snorted. You mean after he beat it into you.

Jacob did a pretty good imitation of a human shrug. Either way you look at it, I feel the same way as you.

We trotted along easily together, russet fur contrasted sharply against my grey, instinctively picking out the best path among the trees to our pre-chosen look out point.

Finally we reached our vantage point on a rocky outcropping of the hill that looked onto the valley and city.

We sat down on the extreme edge of the rock and surveyed the area. Neither one of us minded the great height.

It was a pretty good scouting point. We could see the back of the castle and most of the north and western sides of the city from here.

It was all so overwhelming. I thought I would never count a vampire as my friend, but now I had almost 20 vampire friends. I couldn't believe that I was able to overlook the fact that at least half of them dined on humans.

But overtime I had seen the courage and friendship and love for one another that these vampires possessed. It had touched me. I was reminded of my wolf pack and how we all felt towards one another.

And besides, it looked like one of the bloodsuckers, Garrett, was going to go vegetarian for his new girlfriend. If he could change, maybe they all could.

Why, Leah. The way you just thought about those bloodsuckers was almost friendly. Maybe you do have a heart, after all.

I snarled and nipped at the back of his neck.

I'm the ice queen, we all know that I don't have one.

After that exchange we sat in silence for a long time, vigilantly scanning the scene spread out below us. The humans went about their daily business like nothing was out of the ordinary. Cars came and went down the road and we could even see the distant specs inside the city walls that were people going about their normal routines. I shook my head. If only they knew.

We passed the time sitting silently and listening to our earpieces. It sounded like our operation was going relatively smoothly. The diversion of the Draculas had worked, whatever it was, and most of the Volturi were out of the city. Our groups encountered little resistance and weren't coming up against too many problems. They hadn't located any of the prisoners yet, but they were all moving slowly and cautiously so they still had hope they would locate them soon.

More time passed. Suddenly I started to laugh. Jacob looked at me out of one of his eyes, his face cocked toward me in a quizzical pose. Then he heard the joke in my mind and joined me in wolfish, barking laughter.

I agree. It's a good thing our eyesight is so good. It would be pretty difficult to use binoculars without thumbs.

It was insane for us to be laughing right now but we couldn't help ourselves.

Then my laughter cut off abruptly. It was as if someone had choked my breath away. Jacob saw it at the same time that I did.

Two miniscule figures had just come over the wall of the city nearest us and began to head for the forest to the northwest where the Dracula vamps had been staging their surprise. At almost the same exact moment, in one of those ironic twists of the universe, a group of about 7 grey cloaked figures had emerged from the forest and headed straight for the city.

Neither group could see at the moment, but they were headed straight for one another.

The fur on the back of Jacob's neck bristled and he stood, snarling.

The two figures that had just scaled the city wall could only be Bella and Edward, 1 was short and dark haired while the other was tall and had hair that reflected the rays of the sun. It was also unlikely that 2 humans could have scaled that wall. I didn't know how they had escaped, but that didn't matter right now.

They were alone, and in a very short time they were going to walk right into the hands of 7 Volturi guards.

My head snapped toward Jacob. He still loved Bella. I could hear it in his thoughts, see it in his desperate posture. He knew that there was no way he could warn Bella in time. Our earpieces were useless right now. Even if we did use ours to tell the other vampires, they could never reach them in time.

They would walk right back into the Volturi's hands. I doubted the Volturi would be very forgiving.

Jacob couldn't live without Bella. As this realization hit home, something shattered deep inside me. Something I had never even known was there until this precise moment.

He could never reach her in time to warn them, but I could.

No other wolf had ever been able to match my speed.

All of these thoughts had raced through my head in a matter of seconds.

I leapt to my feet, my head held high.

I wouldn't let anything happen to Jacob's Bella.

I had taken the first leap away from the outcropping, my nails scrabbling for purchase in the rocky descent before Jacob even realized what I was doing. His thoughts caught up with mine as I raced down the hill, sliding more than I was actually moving.

I could feel his shock and horror at what I was about to do. I knew he was coming after me, but I was already at the bottom of the hill. He would never catch me. I blocked out his urgent, desperate thoughts and I ran.

I forced my legs to move faster than they ever had before. If I were to reach them before the Volturi I was going to have to fly.

My ears were pinned back against my head with the force of the wind against them. My heart raced as my breath came more and more ragged. I wouldn't let myself slow down.

What I had finally let myself understand back there, up on the hill, was that I loved Jacob. I don't know how or when it happened, but I was deeply and undeniably in love with Jacob Black.

The only other thing I was sure of as I raced across the valley was that he did not love me, he loved Bella. And I would not have him hurt for anything in the world.

My lungs burned for air as I pushed myself even harder. I hadn't thought up to this point about what I was going to do to warn them. If only Bella and Edward would move upwind and catch the scent of the approaching vampires!

I had to do something! Even pushing myself to my greatest speed I would not reach them in time. There was only one thing left to do.

The Volturi would recognize my call the instant I made it. Our whole operation would be shut down as soon as they recognized it for what it was. But wasn't the point of our mission to rescue Bella and Edward?

They would hopefully come after me. As tough as I liked to think I was, I could never outfight 7 well trained Volturi guards. But it was the only option open to me if I were going to warn Bella and Edward. Hopefully they would recognize my call for the warning that it was and manage to escape.

I dashed another couple hundred feet and then I dug my nails into the ground and sat back, skidding to a stop.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight and sent my last thoughts out with all my might. I'm sorry, Seth, I'm…sorry Jacob. I love you.

I raised my nose to the burning noon day sun and howled.