Bad news

Edward:

The rest of the night we figured out which actions were possible – kissing, cuddling, patting on some areas – and which were unbearable – touching too sensitive areas or sucking on his neck were absolute no goes.

In the morning, when Jake slept in my arms Alice raced through the door without knocking, she looked at us franticly and whispered only three words that made me fear the worst "They are coming". She left immediately to order everyone in the living room.

I stroked softly over Jakes hair to wake him "C´mon honey" I said "something will happen and we need to discuss how we should act!"

He hasn´t get enough sleep and was just too heavy-eyed to stand up so I picked him up and carried him unceremoniously down where the others were already waiting for us.

I let myself drop on the sofa and held Jake still in my arms, his head pressed against my bare chest.

Alice started to describe what she has seen, I knew already what she would say but her words shocked me again.

"They come to check whether we have kept our promise. They want to see if Bella is still human or if she is one of us now." She told us.

"When?" Esme whispered

"Two weeks, maybe less!" Alice said in a low voice "I don´t know how we can stop them. Caius had warned us, he said there would not be second chance. We can`t change her just to save our own skin, that would not be right. Has one of you an idea of what we should do now?"

The only one who responded was Emmett, he wanted to fight them.
"Don´t be ridiculous Em, we're talking about the Volturi. We do not stand a chance against them!" replied Rose.

Alice suddenly gasped, she had a new vision. I watched what she saw in her mind's eye and I was sure Jake did the same. He was pale and got goose bumps when he saw the horrifying images.

All except Jake and I waited anxiously what Alice had to say.

"Rose is right," she said finally "if they decide to punish us, we will not be able to stop them." She didn´t say that she had seen the end of us all and Jake and I remained silent too.

A small smile crossed her face as she spoke again. "Maybe we're lucky and Aro decides nevertheless not to destroy Bella. He is curious like her gift develops when she's a vampire. His decision didn´t fall yet."

"We need to talk to her and the wolves." Carlisle said, "They must know what to expect. No matter how Aro chooses, I'm sure his visit will have consequences for us all." You bet

Jake was shaking in my arms; he was still shocked by the violence of the images in Alice's head. He couldn´t imagine leaving Bella to these monsters, just like I couldn´t get used to this possibility.

It was not long before Sam and the rest of the pack along with Bella arrived at our house. Alice had just told them initially that something bad will happen and that we urgently needed to speak with them.

When we were all gathered she repeated what we had already heard. Bella started to cry and Paul took her in his arms and gently stroked her arm to calm her. "It's my entire fault," she whispered, like a mantra over and over again.

"You're wrong Bella, if I wouldn´t be gone to them at that time, you would now have a happy, normal life instead of being frightened from a group of bloodthirsty vampires." I assured her.

As might be expected, the wolves were in contradiction of exchanging Bella for our lives; if at all Aro would accept it. As Emmett they were for fighting, for the safety of their tribe, for Bella and even for us. The worst for me was that Jake also wanted to join them, he would fight.

He would fight? The sudden knowledge hit me like a thunderbolt. The Volturi did not know about the shape-shifter, and above all, they knew nothing about my Jacob. He was unique and Aro was a collector.

I looked at Jake and desperately wanted nothing more than to keep him away from everything here. Suddenly it seemed regardless to me what would happen to Bella the only that mattered was that my wolf would be safe. Jake growled quietly as he followed my thoughts, for him it was unthinkable to let the others down.

We talked for a long time about various options but rejected all ideas once again. Our hope for a peaceful solution rapidly faded as Alice finally barely audible whispered, "The decision has been made," we realized how he had decided without she had to say it aloud.

Now the question was no longer whether we have to fight, but only how to survive.