So sorry for the long wait, it took a week longer than what I expected and I think you'll enjoy this one. It has a lot of plot information so any questions, let me know and I'll try and answer them if they don't interfere with what the plot will reveal. I do so hope you enjoy this. Thanks to Insane and Soccer-Bitch for being my sound board!

"Well?"

The two girls stared at one another, one pleading silently while the other stood in silent resolve. Thoughts swirled viciously around Heavenly's mind. She had no doubt that Savannah, in a sense of misguided compassion, would tell the rest of her family everything that she revealed. Her palm flattened against the olive coloured wall while her chest heaved with adrenaline. Green eyes flittered between Savannah's and Raven's icy blue ones before searching out her father's. She flinched away when she didn't see the welcoming warmth that she had come to expect from his mocha orbs.

"Heavenly has information that she won't reveal about the Cullen's. But she says that they aren't like the normal humans around here." The sharp intakes of air echoed around the room, cutting across the comforting warmth from the flickering flames dancing in the fireplace.

"Lee?" Mikhail looked at her intently.

"I need to confirm my suspicions first," Heavenly pleaded, pressing back into the wall. It was like they all loomed over her, scary shadows and all. She didn't want to betray her friends but she also didn't want to go against her family. Every single fact that she learned was important, and Heavenly wanted all of her facts and suspicions correct and ruled up before she made any decisions. They looked at her sternly, the judge, jury and executioner. Swallowing convulsively, she waited to see if they would accept her decision.

"Not good enough," Raven spoke up sternly. "They could be a danger to you and I won't accept any risks for us."

"Coming here was a risk in itself, Mom. All I'm asking is for some more time to get a definitive idea of the Cullen family." Heavenly hoped that her patient and calm voice would aid her request. The Cullen family had not given her a reason to fear for her life; therefore she thought she was quite reasonable in asking for more time.

"Don't talk back."

"Lee, we've ruled out all the other suspects around here, even the addled farmers down the road," Mikhail explained patiently. "The only thing we need to confirm is the Cullen family and if they're not what we suspect and are human, we can leave and look elsewhere."

Heavenly bit her lip. Would it be plausible to claim that they were human? No, her parents would demand proof, and that was something she was sure she couldn't provide. "Dad please, give me more time, we want a peaceful settlement, remember? The more facts I find lead us closer to that result." The wall behind her gave her the support and strength she needed to look straight into his eye, pleading and resolve glowing from hers. A subtle touch on her mind gave her warning of Gregori trying to steal the information from her mind. Slamming down her mental blocks, she relished lightly at his wince. The one thing she learned from a young age was the strength that she had behind her blocks. No one could get past if she didn't want them too. Well, all except Edward.

For some reason, she swore could feel his touch in her mind, but never could block him or catch him in the act. And she was sure as gold that is was really him in her mind. He never pushed further than her surface thoughts, or at least that she could detect and never noticed that she wasn't completely human or completely Carpathian, a child of the earth. But he being able to slip into her mind didn't say that he was not human. All that proved was that he was psychic and the Carpathians had successfully turned several psychic women. And just because he and his family never seemed to eat, had the same eyes despite them claiming not to be blood relatives and had paler skin than even her, didn't mean that they were the descendents of a Carpathian experiment that somehow managed to escape a massacre.

"Heavenly Luminta Dubrinsky! I am your Father and Prince." Heavenly stared at the suddenly imposing figure, cringing against the wall once more. "You will listen and obey me!"

She stared at him shocked. The others stared at him with the same expression. In all the years that Heavenly had been alive, not once did her father raise his voice at her, preferring instead to talk over things rationally. This was completely out of character for him. The harsh tones struck her to the quick and her bottom lip trembled. She had never, ever, heard her father even use his rank. Darting between the bodies she ran upstairs, ignoring the voices floating up behind her.

"Give her a few minutes and I'll go up to talk with her," Gregori said quietly.

**

Lifemate. The other half of a Carpathian soul. The saviour of the Carpathian man. The gentle chain's of their beast. And a royal pain in Heavenly's ass. Everything that the Carpathian's stood for was the search of their lifemates and stop the extinction of their species. Heavenly sighed and stared up at the ceiling. For the past half an hour she had waited for someone to follow and demand more answers and expand on what Savannah had managed to get out of her. Yet still no one came up.

Thankfully it gave her time to think about why she defended the Cullen family. They all were still so uninformed about them. And no one went into a potential battle with only half the information. It wasn't just the strangeness that enveloped the family that had her curious. It was her reaction to Edward that made her pause on more that one occasion. She couldn't deny the intense longing that she had for him, or the rush of cool heat that flew through her veins every time he touched her. The ease that he slipped into her mind made her curious and worried. And it still wasn't confirmed that it was him anyway. But it felt like him. Groaning with frustration she flipped onto her stomach and buried her head into the soft covers. As far as she was concerned, it was him until proven otherwise. She could always ask Alice if he could during their shopping trip the next day. Her answers would be interesting.

Heavenly turned her head slightly, her fingernails picking at a loose thread. How did she hate finding those papers! Her life was content, learning about the Carpathian history and how to advance her powers. Studying under the most fearsome and violent predators that the world had advanced her power much faster than the other females, despite her only being half Carpathian. It was a feat in itself for them to begin training her in combat, but when Gregori mentioned causally that it would be much more beneficial for the women to know how to defend themselves just in case of an attack, the men had become much more willing.

Her bother-in-law was a man unto himself. He always had a plan, and tended to manipulate those around him to achieve his own goals towards the good of their race. The sheer brilliance of his plans usually outweighed the severity of his manipulations. Heavenly sighed. What was his plan now? It wasn't a secret that he despised the man who experimented on the blood of their people.

Footsteps thudded on the stairs, alerting Heavenly of an impending visitor. She sat up and glared at the door, her earlier feelings of hurt and stubbornness strengthening her back bone. The steps were heavy, unlike the gentle taps of a woman. So it was her Father or Gregori. Folding her legs underneath her, Heavenly began to think of what she would say.

If it were her father, she'd try and reason with him, and if that didn't work, the battle of the stubbornness would begin. However, if it were Gregori, perhaps she could gain his compliance and see if she could beat him at his own game. If she gave him a small amount of details and asked a few pointed questions, perhaps she could not only satisfy his need for information and her need for time and discretion. The door creaked open and his tall imposing physique filled the doorway.

"Why didn't you force my compliance downstairs?" she asked bitterly, unable to shake off the hurt that their behaviour caused.

He stared at her intently for a while before walking in and making a deliberate show of closing the door. He was starting early. Swallowing, she waited with a patient breath for him to answer and begin his questioning. Walking over to the computer desk, he pulled her black leather chair over to the bed and sat down in front of her.

"Before you closed your mind to me, I caught something interesting. Who is he?" she looked at him with uncomprehending eyes. "I caught you thinking about a lifemate. Explain."

Heavenly blinked. This was not what she was expecting him to ask, however it did help her for her quest for information. "I want you to promise you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. You have to give me your word as a Carpathian." Again he studied her intently before nodding.

"You have my word."

"What do you know about a female recognising her lifemate before the male is even aware of the situation?" she grabbed one of her bed cushions and hugged it to her stomach. Gregori froze slightly, obviously not expecting her queiry.

"Is this important?"

"To answer you question it is. I need that information to tell you some of my suspicions."

"A female finding her lifemate before the male is something that hasn't happened since before the massacre of our people," Gregori began awkwardly. The action seemed alien to the usual informed and experienced hunter. Heavenly waited patiently for him to continue. It reminded her slightly of all the times they sat in her father's library with him teaching her about their history, occasionally with the aid of some of the older hunters. "You have to understand that this was a time where there were only a limited number of males were turning into Vampires. The males often didn't lose their colour sight, their female was always around and it was the emotions themselves that people focused on, the longing, the lust, the heat, and the need, all of those kinds of things. Most of the time our people recognised each other through the absolute desire of being around a certain person and more often than not it was the woman who instigated the relations. Now, because of this time being our darkest hour, the men are forced to tie our lifemates in anyway possible and pray that it works out for the best."

Heavenly nodded absently as she thought long and hard on what she was told. Was it possible? It was the first thing that popped in her mind when she first saw him at school. The need to be around him was there, the lust and heat whenever he touched her was there too and the longing of his presence caused her an almost physical ache. Her thoughts drifted to the scientific notes that she found. The two escapees were the scientist's first pair and according to his notes, he had either repressed the need for the binding words or made it so they didn't have to say them, their connection unconscious. They could find their mates with next to no difficulty although with a few of his test subjects they found someone close to being their mate and establishing an emotional tie before finally finding their true mate.

"Heavenly?" She blinked and looked at the expectant silver eyes of Gregori. "Time to answer my question."

"I think Edward Cullen is my lifemate."

Please please please tell me what you think of this chapter. It was so hard to write!