A/N: So here it is. The chapter you've all been waiting for is here (And it's the longest chapter of this fic by far ;D)!
I have to say that this is definitely my favourite chapter so far as content goes, but not so much when it comes to the writing. I hope that doesn't detract from this for you guys though! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I'm so happy this chapter is finally up that I don't even care that I only own the situation these amazing characters are in, because this situation is great (If I do say so myself!)!

CHAPTER 24

SETH POV

It was 2 am when Seth woke to discover they had reached the city the Volturi called home. From what he could see in the dark the city itself was beautiful, built from a pale brown stone on the side of a hill. The cobblestone roads and haphazard way the houses were placed made the city look almost medieval.

While the city was certainly nice to look at, Seth couldn't help but feel unsettled as the car wound its way through the streets. He didn't know if it's because he knew the Volturi lived there, but the city felt very unwelcoming and Seth was certainly not looking forward to spending the foreseeable future within its walls.

Alec pulled the car to a stop in a courtyard in front of an impressive cathedral-like building. They sat together in silence for several moments, simply staring at the foreboding building in front of them. Seth's mind was overcome with thoughts of what would happen once they finally entered and faced the awaiting vampire coven. It's hard for Seth to believe that, after everything they have gone through in the past few weeks, they have finally reached their destination; yet he also knows that neither he nor Alec could have predicted just how unsatisfying the completion of their journey would ultimately be.

Seth was drawn from his depressing thoughts by Alec letting out a deep sigh that was clearly for show (what with breathing being unnecessary for vampires and all), but served to lighten the mood in the car, and even caused Seth's lips to twitch in an involuntary smile.

Alec pulled the hood of his dark cloak up to cover his face, ensuring that his golden eyes were not visible at a glance, opened his door and disappeared into the night. Seth was about to follow when his door suddenly opened, seemingly of its own accord, to present Alec, who was wearing a smile so slight it would have been impossible to see had Seth not been looking for it.

"Har har." said Seth, voice positively dripping with sarcasm as he exited the car; but, as he passed his imprint he gently brushed their arms together to show that his efforts to lighten Seth's mood were appreciated.

En-route to Volterra, both Seth and Alec had agreed it would be best for them to limit their positive interactions once they entered the city. They had no way of knowing if Aro was having them watched. If he was, then a suddenly smiling Alec escorting a werewolf prisoner, who was completely at ease in the company of his vampire captor, would certainly raise Aro's suspicions and lead to questions they were not ready to answer just yet.

So it was that, as they entered the building and walked down a long corridor, Seth did not give in to the desire to grasp Alec's hand in his own.

They walked for a few minutes before Alec bent and picked up a grate on the floor, revealing an underground tunnel.

"Cosy," murmured Seth. Alec simply smirked and gestured for Seth to go down first.

Seth complied, but instead of moving out of the way of the opening he stood in place and, as Alec dropped, he caught his imprint in his arms.

At this angle Seth could see under Alec's hood and his imprint's golden eyes were staring into Seth's intensely. Alec's hands tightened on Seth's shoulders and his gaze became even more intense as he brought his face closer to Seth's. Their noses bumped together before Alec seemed to realise what he was doing. He looked away quickly and jumped down from Seth's arms before clearing his throat, murmuring "Thank you", and walking quickly down the tunnel.

Seth smirked before following, "It was my pleasure."

They left the tunnel and entered a well-lit waiting area which was empty except for a pretty human woman at the desk.

Alec didn't stop walking at the woman's protests that they didn't have an appointment, simply stalking past while saying "Aro is expecting us."

True to Alec's word, when they passed through an impressive set of double doors to enter a large, open hall it was clear that they had been expected by not only Aro, but by the entire Volturi coven.

"Welcome home Alec my dear, you have done so well to bring us the Cullen's pet in one piece." spoke Aro gently. His voice sent shivers racing down Seth's spine, and not the good kind.

Aro's voice seemed to take on a more dangerous edge as he continued, "I do wonder, however, what took you so long to return when it seems the boy did not put up a fight."

Alec didn't so much as flinch at Aro's clear disapproval.

"I apologise," he said. "Seth could not travel in his wolf form, as all wolves in his pack would have been able to read his thoughts and track us down. Additionally, we encountered the Romanian coven last week. Stefan bit Seth during the commotion and it took several days for him to recover."

Aro raised his eyebrows slightly at their story, but otherwise showed no sign of emotion.

"I see," he said. "And what, pray tell, happened to dear Vladimir and Stefan?"

There was no apparent emotion on the portion of Alec's face which was visible as he replied, "They have been dealt with."

At this news, Aro showed his first sigh of pleasure. He clasped his hands together under his chin and smiled at Alec in a way that made Seth's hackles rise.

"Oh, well done my dear, well done," he sighed. "I can see that we were indeed right to choose you for this mission. You have done me proud."

Alec inclined his head regally in acceptance of the compliment; however, Seth felt him tense slightly and knew that he was just as uncomfortable with Aro's tone as Seth was. It also didn't help that Jane's face had transformed into a violent scowl when Aro has praised her brother, apparently jealous that she had not been chosen to retrieve Seth herself.

Seth shuddered at the thought of how things would have gone if Jane had been the one to find him in the woods that morning and, despite their earlier cautions, he found himself inching closer to Alec for comfort.

Alec didn't look at Seth, but he did move slightly himself, so that his left shoulder was lightly brushing Seth's right, and Seth felt the both of them relax at the contact.

Although they thought they were being subtle, it was clear it hadn't been enough. Seth saw Aro's gaze zero-in on the point of contact between he and Alec, and when he looked around the room he also noticed that Marcus had a small smile on his face, his eyes twinkling in obvious delight. Seth couldn't help himself, he smiled right back at the only vampire in the room, apart from Alec, who wasn't acting openly hostile towards the werewolf in their midst.

Unfortunately, Aro caught that as well and, without removing his eyes from Seth, he reached across and rested his hand on Marcus's to read his thoughts. Seth flinched as he realised there was no way they could keep their relationship from Aro now. For someone with Marcus's skill of seeing the strength of relationships, a werewolf's imprint and a vampire's mate must be pretty visible and obvious.

Seth was freaking out, he'd been hoping they would have had longer than this before the Volturi realised just how close Seth and Alec had become on their travels, but now Alec was in just as much danger as Seth. Seth didn't think that falling in love with a werewolf was something that Aro would forgive, even to one of his favourite coven members.

As though he could read Seth's mind, Alec bridged the gap between them, tiny as it was, and grasped Seth's hand firmly within his own to show a united front against his coven, all of whom now seemed to realise that something very serious was going on.

Aro removed his hand from Marcus and leaned back in his chair, hands folded under his chin as he gazed at Seth and Alec through hooded eyes.

"I see" he said. "Well, this is not something I expected; however, I believe we can turn this to our advantage."

He turned his gaze to Seth alone and asked, "Am I correct in believing you have imprinted on our Alec?"

Sensing there was an ulterior motive behind Aro's question, Seth stared hard into the Volturi leader's eyes and spoke clearly, "Yes."

Apparently that was exactly what Aro wanted to hear, because the Volturi leader's face was taken over by a gleeful, creepy smile that made Seth's skin crawl.

"Excellent," he whispered. "I must say, I did not expect this, but I am very impressed with your initiative Alec. Making sure the boy became attached to you so he will refuse to leave us, even if his friends demand his return. I could not have planned this better myself."

"Excuse me?" Alec asked gently.

"Well my darling, it is simple," Aro simpered. "If the boy will not submit to our will, we will simply refuse to let him see you. He will not hold out for long, these wolves are almost as dependent on their imprints' as we are on our mates."

Seth flinched at the thought of being separated from Alec, and he was so busy worrying that when Alec spoke he jumped in surprise.

"No." said Alec firmly, and although he could not see his eyes, Seth knew Alec was staring at Aro intently.

"My dear, I understand that you may not wish to spend any more time around the werewolf than you already have; however, I am sure you understand that it is for the good of the coven."

Alec's staring did not let up at all as he replied.

"You misunderstand me Aro," he said. "I am not protesting spending time with Seth, I am protesting being separated from him by anything less than death, and even that would not be for any extended period of time, for I would ensure that I followed him to the afterlife swiftly."

Seth was sure you could have heard a pin drop in the hall following Alec's speech, even without supernatural hearing. He was not paying attention to the rest of the room though, he was too busy trying to decide whether to cry or kiss his imprint. He settled on both.

Seth could feel the tears running down his face as he grinned and used his grip on Alec's hand to turn his imprint towards him and push his hood back, exposing his beautiful face. Seth leaned down to press their foreheads together and gazed into Alec's lovely golden eyes as he whispered, "I love you so much."

Alec smiled right back and his eyes sparkled as he whispered in reply, "As I love you."

They were both smiling as they pressed their lips together. Seth gripped tightly at Alec's waist as his imprint draped his own arms around Seth's shoulders, their bodies pressed flush together as they both forgot about the room full of vampires and focused on getting as close as they possibly could through their clothes.

The next Seth remembered of the Volturi in the room was when he pulled away from Alec to catch his breath and realised that a most of them were either standing stock still or wandering around the room aimlessly, looking frustrated.

Seth furrowed his brows in confusion and looked at Alec. At the sheepish look on his imprint's face, Seth raised his eyebrows in question, trying his best to hold back a smile. Never mind that with his ruffled hair and kiss-swollen mouth Seth looked anything but intimidating, Alec quickly caved and told Seth he'd cut off their senses when he felt them moving to attack him and Seth.

Seth chuckled and cupped Alec's cheek, "That is a very handy skill you've got there."

"I know," smirked Alec. "But I cannot keep it up if we want to get out of here without either killing them all or being followed, and neither option is particularly appealing to me."

"Me neither," confessed Seth. "So what's the plan?"

Alec looked shocked and Seth chuckled, "You never actually planned for us to stay here, did you?"

Alec shook his head.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Seth. "You know I would have helped."

"I know you would have put yourself in danger before you would have let me risk anything for myself." Alec replied.

Seth opened his mouth to interrupt, but Alec cut him off.

"No Seth, you would have, as I would do the same for you," he promised. "But this is something that I have to do for myself, although I do appreciate you being here to support me."

"I'll always be here to support you Alec." Seth promised, before leaning in to press a gentle kiss to his imprint's mouth.

When they separated Seth waited for Alec to slowly blink his eyes open before speaking again.

"Now, why don't we get this settled so we can leave and have our happily ever after?"

Alec smiled and stood on his toes to kiss Seth on his cheek, which made Seth blush harder than any amount of heavy making out, and in the blink of an eye had retracted the mist cutting off the Volturi's senses. Apparently the ability to send-out and retract the mist quickly hadn't gone away after the Romanian's attack, which Seth thought was pretty awesome, and just made his imprint all the more badass in his eyes.

As they came to, it was clear that all of the Volturi, sans Marcus who looked about as apathetic as usual, were furious; but, before any of them could say anything Alec raised his hand in the air palm out in the universal gesture for 'be quiet'.

"I would like to make something clear," he began. "I did not return here to remain in a life of unsatisfying servitude, nor to submit my mate to even harsher treatment. I have realised many things during my travels with Seth, not the least of which is that I love this boy more than anything I ever have or ever will know. I will do everything in my power to ensure that Seth and I are never separated, and I know he will do the same."

Alec paused for a moment to smile quickly at Seth, who squeezed his hand in return.

"I have returned for the brief and simple purpose of ensuring that none of you will follow Seth and me when we leave here permanently," he concluded.

Alec looked at the rest of the Volturi expectantly and, after a moment of stunned silence, Aro was the first to reply.

"And what, pray tell, has led you to believe we will allow you to do that Alec?" he asked, all traces of his previous good humour gone.

"The answer to your question is simple Aro," replied Alec, his gaze hard. "As you have all just witnessed, I have significantly improved my skills since we were last together. As a result, my proposal to you is simple. I have been lenient to you all today in respect of the past we share; however, I warn you now that if any should follow Seth and me when we depart Volterra I will not be so lenient."

"I see," scoffed Aro condescendingly. "And how have you expressed this leniency, exactly?"

Alec raised his eyebrow and replied easily, "I did not kill you all while you were incapacitated."

Seth held in a gleeful laugh as Alec continued to speak through the deadly awkward silence that followed his statement.

"I promise you this here and now for the first and only time. If any of you should follow us, or threaten me or my mate at any point in the future, I will incapacitate you and allow Seth to tear your head from your shoulders before I set your remains alight."

Seth never would have expected it, but he found the thought of Alec threatening anyone who would harm or separate them incredibly attractive. He supposed it had something to do with the fact that his imprint could clearly take care of himself, in a way that Seth had not witnessed in the imprints' of the other wolves he knew. The thought that Alec would go just as far to protect Seth as Seth would for Alec made him feel safe as well as proud.

This time it was Caius who tried to speak, but Alec cut him off before he could get a single word out.

"This matter is not up for negotiation," he said firmly. "I am stating a fact. If you follow or threaten either of us you will die. If you have any questions that do not pertain to either of us remaining in Volterra then I suggest you ask them quickly, as we do not plan to remain for much longer."

Seth could see that Alec was looking at Jane as he asked this. He was clearly hoping his sister would have something to say, but she simply looked straight ahead, her expression completely blank.

It was Caius who spoke up, "What happened to your eyes?" he asked. "Please tell me you have not taken on that pathetic vegetarian diet."

"As a matter of fact Caius, I have recently decided to sustain myself on animal blood," replied Alec confidently. "However, the change in my eye colour occurred when I attempted to suck the vampire venom from Seth's bloodstream after he was bitten by Stefan."

It seemed as though the rest of the Volturi had nothing to say to that so, after one last glance at Jane, Alec turned and walked towards the doors, tugging gently at Seth's hand to encourage him to follow.

Seth complied, walking with Alec until he was suddenly knocked to his knees by a crippling pain in his skull. The ache was a thousand times worse than the last time Seth had been on the receiving end of Jane's 'gift', yet it was over even faster, and when Seth drew the energy to sit up from where he was curled on the floor it was to see Alec holding Jane against the wall by her throat. While choking is not an issue for vampires, the threat was still obvious and Jane looked genuinely panicked at what her brother might do.

Seth quickly got to his feet and jogged to Alec, placing a gentle hand on the arm holding Jane against the wall.

"You don't want to do this Alec," Seth whispered, trying and failing to catch his imprint's eye.

"She hurt you," Alec growled. "I warned them what would happen if they tried to harm us, and she ignored me."

"I know," Seth said gently. "But she is your sister Alec, and like it or not, killing her would hurt you too much, and that would harm me more than any physical pain ever could."

"I don't want you to hurt at all, Seth," Alec whispered, the pain clear in his voice.

"I know, trust me Alec, I do," Seth replied. "But we're leaving now. She won't be able to hurt me anymore and we never have to see any of these people again if we don't want to."

Alec hesitated, and his hand tightened around Jane's throat for a moment before he released her and she fell ungracefully to the floor.

Seth grasped Alec's hand in his own once again and this time it was him who tugged his imprint towards the door.

As they pulled the door open a high-pitched voice called out behind them, "So you're just going to leave me Alec?" asked Jane. "After everything we have been through together, you are just going to leave me for this boy?"

Alec blinked and Seth was sure that, were he human, he would be blinking back tears.

"We have been together for a long time Jane. You are my twin sister and nobody knows me better than you do, which is why I do not understand how you could do what you just did." he said.

"You know me better than anyone, so you should have known that I was not lying about my feelings for Seth, but you let your personal prejudices override your care for my happiness, and that is something that has been happening increasingly often in the past decades."

Alec looked really hurt and all Seth wanted to do was reach out and pull him into a hug, but this was something Alec had to get out of his system, so Seth settled for squeezing his hand in reassurance.

Alec squeezed back before continuing; "I love my sister Jane, I am just not sure if you are her anymore. I do not know how it got to this point, but I barely recognise you, and I think it is best that I leave before the person you once were disappears completely, because when that day comes it will break my heart."

Alec didn't give Jane a chance to reply, he just gave her a bitter smile and left the room, Seth pulling the door closed behind them.

The walk out of the Volturi's home happened in silence and it wasn't until they were in the open air again that either of them made a move.

They stopped in front of their car and simply looked at each other for a moment. Seth wasn't sure who moved first, but suddenly they were hugging. Seth buried his face in Alec's hair and simply allowed himself to be relaxed by the scent of his imprint. He could feel Alec doing the same, his cool breath tickling the skin of Seth's neck.

The process worked and both of them relaxed slowly until they weren't so much hugging as they were slumped against each other, each preventing the other from falling to the ground.

Eventually, they both recognised they would have to move soon, preferably before the sun rose, and Seth pressed a gentle kiss to Alec's hair, feeling his imprint return the favour by pressing the same kind of kiss to Seth's neck before they separated and entered the car.

They drove in silence until Volterra was no longer visible behind them, and Seth broke the silence by asking: "So, where are we headed now?"

Alec smiled and took Seth's hand, looking at him as he replied; "To our happily ever after."

Okay! So I know the end of this chapter is incredibly cheesy, but this isn't the actual end, so I hope you guys don't mind the overload of cheese too much! :)