Disclaimer: I do not own or pretend to benefit from the growing Twilight Empire.
Chapter 2
Edward headed to the meadow to protect his sisters. There were telling him that they could see a human, or what they thought was a human. Edward couldn't hear the thoughts of anyone in the meadow other than Rosalie and Alice's. The sun was shining in the meadow, both of his sisters were shimmering in the light. It wasn't just one human, there were four, plus four werewolves. Rosalie was snarling at the wolves, they had crossed the treaty line. The girl in the middle called the rest of the Cullen family out of the trees. He reached Alice and Rosalie, knowing the others were right behind him. They were outnumbered by one. That was if the four humans were really anything to worry about.
"You actually wanna make us leave? How cute." The girl in the middle with the long golden brown hair said with a laugh. It annoyed Edward that he couldn't hear anyone's thoughts.
"Bells, don't tease the poor blood suckers." Jacob said. 'Stupid wolf.'
"Bells!?" Alice jumped on the girl in the middle. "When did it happen? I didn't see it."
"What are you going on about Alice?" Carlisle asked.
"Carlisle, Esme, thanks for inspiring me to be a vegetarian after my change." Esme stared at the girl and only one word went through her mind. 'Isabella?' Edward turned and fled.
'There was no way that this was Bella. Well it looked like her, but she should be twenty-eight by now. Why did she not glow like vampires do? Why could I not hear any of them?' Edward slowed down when he reached Seattle. He spent a few hours sitting in a bookstore thinking about how this could have happened. He knew that Carlisle and Esme would have the story by now. 'Is that guy with Bella?Did she move on? Am I out of luck?' Two hours later he left Seattle and headed home.
When Edward reached the house his family was still sitting in the living room. They were talking quietly about what Bella and her friends must have said. They all smiled at Edward as he sat on the sofa that had just been vacated.
"They so aren't telling the truth." Jasper said in a hushed whisper.
"Jasper would you tell new people that you didn't know our family secrets?" Rosalie asked, her face seemed softened but Edward couldn't hear her thoughts through the song lyrics she was reciting.
"No, but this is Bella we are talking about. She is practically family." He threw back.
"Practically yes. Is probably not. Jasper we left her. She found her own family. Heck, she created two of them." Rosalie defended Bella's actions, despite the family looking at her like she had lost her mind. Rosalie was thinking about what Bella had done since her change. She helped people, no bloodlust, traveled the world, stood in the sun. She really wanted to know how Bella could stand in the sun without sparkling. What Rosalie wouldn't do to be able to walk through a crowd of people in the sun without giving away their secret.
'Bella bit someone? Two someones?' Edward's mind raced. Alice got up and sat beside him, she nodded and he looked into her memory. He growled at the thought of her between Victoria and Laurant, and again when they dropped her like trash and left her. He was angry that the wolves were her friends, that Jacob protected her, touched her, wanted her, loved her. His eyebrows shot into his hair line at the growling of the male's stomach.
"Alice would this have happened if we hadn't left?" Edward placed a hand on either side of Alice's face.
"Edward you know I don't have an answer for you. I can't see futures that go against the decisions that people have made. I do see things working out with her, I don't see where it will go from there. But I know that you will be friends again." Edward hung his head. That was all that he could really hope for. He knew that he had lost her when he saw Jacob wrap his arms around her in Alice's memory.
"She's been through a lot. A lot of pain. You can't expect her to welcome you back with open arms after everything that had happened. Give her some time to digest the information." Jasper said, trying to understand the lack of emotions that had come from the other coven. Edward grumbled and wandered upstairs.
"This is going to be fun." Rosalie muttered. "Which is better a moody, depressed, lovesick Edward or one that thinks he has ruined any chance at love and hasn't come to grips with reality yet?" Emmett laughed at Rosie's musings. No one answered as they heard Edward flop onto the sofa in his room. The family sat in the living room to talk about the developments in their little retreat that was Forks before drifting off to their own rooms to think privately.
Bella slid the car into the garage and jumped out of the car. She growled and punched the solid brick wall. Michael wrapped his arms around her and pulled her away from the wall. Serena opened the door into the house and flicked on the lights. Daphne pushed the garage door button as Michael dragged Bella inside. He plopped her in a chair in the kitchen. Daphne grabbed a bowl of pasta salad and a two liter of coke from the fridge. She popped the lid off of the bowl and spooned both Bella and Michael a bowl full. Serena grabbed four small bottles from the bottom of the fridge. Ordinary energy drink cans, emptied, refilled with donor blood and then resealed. A staple they had picked up from some vampires in Vegas. Like they had picked up the makeup while on a trip to Paris for fashion week. All four ate their quick pick me ups. Bella went downstairs to check on their security systems, Serena and Michael plopped on the sofa to watch a television show. Daphne followed Bella down the stairs and sat on the arm chair next to her.
"You okay Bells?"
"Not sure. I really loved him. Now... I'm a little confused. Daphne why did he not come back for me? Did he really not love me?"
"I thought you were over him Bells, its been a decade."
"A decade of regret. I never wanted to be without him. I was always hoping that we would bump into them."
"He didn't know you changed. Remember. Alice said that she didn't see you. Your shields blocks everyone unless you specifically let them in. Cut him some slack."
"I know I should. But I don't want him thinking that I spent ten years pinning for him." Bella's eyes flickered to the screens in front of her. All was clear, not a single blip on the monitors.
"Then don't. You are our leader. A Sire in your own right. A Lady of Volterra. You don't have to answer to him for anything. Although, if you want him back I'm pretty sure that he will have to answer to the entire coven pack for what he has done to you."
"I'm doing better now!" Bella said defensively.
"Would you be if you were still human?"
"No. Guess not." Bella's cell phone beeped, an incoming text message from Jacob.
-Hey Bells. You need a run?-
-Yeah on our way. We going East or North? -Bella texted back.
-How about North of the Meadow? -
-Sounds good to me. Meet you in fifteen. -
"Anyone else up for some hunting?" Daphne grinned and nodded.
"We are." Serena yelled from upstairs. On their way outside Michael grabbed a bag from the cupboard. Inside was the items they needed to take some blood from their kills tonight and save it for later. Their next shipment of prepackaged blood would be arriving from Los Angeles on Friday and it was only Monday.
They met Jacob, Quil, Embry, Sam and Seth, all in wolf form, at the line near the Meadow. The nine raced north, chasing each other. Every once and a while Jacob would tackle Bella to the ground and lick the side of her face, before jumping off of her and racing away. Bella would wipe her face and chase him into the distance. When they came across a herd of elk the four vamps jumped on them. Michael filled one of the emergency bags before drinking his fill. Bella smelt a mountain lion and they used that to fill the other emergency bag. The two elks they had caught were drained and skinned quickly. Sam handled the basic butchering. Serena and Michael each grabbed a carcass and took them to the reservation. They would be leaving one at the Clearwater's house and the other at the Black's home. The others continued their playtime in the woods.
Embry, in human form, caught Daphne around the waist and pulled her to the ground with him. Bella blocked Daphne's thoughts while the two stared at each other. Bella had seen that look before while on the reservation. She pulled the four wolves away towards the river. The four boys phased back and slipped into their jeans while Bella stared at the sky.
"Sam, Alpha, pack leader. What does it mean for the treaty now that the Cullens are back?" Bella asked, slipping into the speech pattern that she normally only used when they were sitting in the circle with the Elders. She checked her face and hair for stray blood in a compact that she pulled from her pocket.
"Isabella, Sire, coven leader. Nothing changes between our agreements."
"Do we need to redraw the agreement to be a three way agreement rather than two separate ones."
"I think that we should be fine the way we are for now. If the leeches give you any issues we will contemplate it."
"Thank you. Blessings of the moon upon you."
"Blessings of the moon upon you." Sam replied, ending the formal talk. Back to being themselves, not eternal teens with a lot of responsibilities. They tossed leaves, acorns, tree branches at each other while waiting for Embry and Daphne to join them.
"Quil, whats going on with Embry? I've never seen him like that." The three wolves shared a look.
"I, we, think that he might have imprinted on Daphne." Quil answered.
"Imprinted... on a leech, what will the tribe say?" Bella smiled. The tribe had only referred to her as a leech once after her change. Jacob, Billy, Sam and Seth had taken care of that and no one had referred to her or her coven as leeches.
"What ever Sam and I tell them to say." Jacob said with a grin. The perks of being the Alpha and the Beta of the official pack. Tribe Elder status instantly. No need to wait for his father to give him his place.
"Jake are you sure that you are okay with this? I mean that your pack brother imprints on a vampire and you and me were unsuccessful?"
"Honey." Jacob wrapped his warm arms around her colder body and pulled her to him. "We tried, fate and the spirits were against us. We ended it on good terms. We are still great friends. Nothing to be ashamed about." He kissed her nose. Bella smiled up at him.
Just then Embry came back into the woods holding Daphne's hand. They dropped each other's hands when they saw the other five watching them. Sam and Bella looked at each other, smiled, and then nodded to the pair. Their blossoming love was obvious to everyone in the little clearing. Daphne charged at Bella and grabbed her in a hug. When she let go she was replaced by Embry picking Bella up and swinging her around in circles.
"Thank you for understanding." Embry whispered in Bella's ear. They both thanked Sam.
"Sorry Man. I didn't think it could happen after you and Bella didn't bond." Embry said with his
head down, shoulders rolled back, if he was still in wolf form his ears would be rolled back as well. Embry stared at the dirt at his Beta's feet.
"Like I just told Bella, its okay." Jacob placed his cupped hand on the back of Embry's neck: a true sign of forgiveness amongst the pack members. Embry looked up and smiled. "Well that clears up the treaty questions. We can't keep our families apart. Now we are one pack." Jacob said with a smile. Together they raced back to the coven's house. When the reached the driveway they were met by Serena and Michael hosing down in the outdoor shower. Serena was in a royal blue two piece and Michael was wearing a pair of red board shorts. It looked like they were just getting ready to go into the pool.
"There are extra board shorts in the guest room guys, if you want to join us." Serena said with a smile, no doubt she could see the love between Embry and Daphne.
"I need them for a few minutes downstairs." Bella led them to the security room in the basement. "I would like to scan your finger prints, your retinas and get a sample of your blood in wolf form." She said in a business like tone. 'Why?' All five of the wolves asked a the same time.
"So I can set you into the security system. I want you guys to be able to get in if you need to."
"Bella, why our wolf forms?"
"So you can get onto the property without setting off the alarms." She said with a toothy grin.
"Bella you really went all out on the security stuff didn't you?" Embry said with a chuckle.
"Actually I want to add one to the reservation for your families. A central one that will protect the pack, the imprinted loved ones and the children from the baddies." Bella looked sheepishly at Sam. "I would also like to set one up that would be a safe place for any new members of the pack to phase the first time." If she could still blush she would have. The looks that the wolves were giving her was one of questioning, and love for her concern about their loved ones.
"Bells, there aren't going to be anymore of us. We are the last ones to change." Jacob said incredulously.
"Silly wolves. You'll be two packs in a year just from those of you born on the reservation. There are more coming. Serena told me that its going to be a rebirth of the bloodlines. There will be fresh blood for us all." The boys stared at her. "Not blood in that way. New members. Younglings that have heard the legends will come to you when their fevers start. She says it will be amazing. So many wolves. The reservation will flourish again... almost needing town status within a few years." Bella had a smile on her face.
"Any of your kind coming?" Sam asked knowing that the answer might not make him happy.
"A few. All vegetarians though. We would have to shift our hunting grounds to the other side of the reservation. That many never aging teens and young adults would draw attention to us in a bad way."
"Would your Elders be opposed to us attending the reservation school? Not now but in a few years. No one would have to worry about having to move cause we never age. We could attend school a few times. Pick up some extra knowledge and then work on improving our powers." Daphne took over talking as Bella sat down hard in her chair.
Outside Michael was pacing around next to the pool while Serena laid on a chaise lounge and muttered her vision out loud. He was too busy pacing to hear the intruders walk up to the property. That was until the alarm at the end of the driveway caused his watch to beep. Within seconds he had Serena's unconscious body in the house. He met everyone else running up the stairs. Passing Serena to Seth, Michael told him to get her into the safe room and stay with her until she woke up. She would need to be defended since she was unconscious. Normally, he would have stayed with her in the safe room but he couldn't leave the defense of his Sire up to Daphne and a few werewolves. He needed to help. Seth could see the determination in his eyes and wrapped his arms around Serena and ran back down the stairs. He slipped his hand into the fingerprint scanner, let his eye be scanned and rushed through the door as it opened. The rest of the coven and the pack rushed outside.
Sitting on the front porch was a basket. Bella motioned for everyone to fan out and search the surrounding area for trails of who had been at their house. Sam stood next to Bella with Jacob leaning against the bottom rail of the steps. Daphne was a little bit further down the driveway, with Embry off to her left searching the foliage between the properties. Bella tapped the basket with her foot. The contents of the basket cried.
'Cried. What in the world.' Bella leaned forward and looked at the basket. Trying to identify the contents without removing the blanket from the top. Tucked into a corner of the blanket was a note.
"Please help my baby. I am dying as I write this. I have done something wrong. Horribly wrong. My baby is a monster. You will probably not believe me. The father was a vampire. Who made it a point of telling me that vampires cannot reproduce. Take care of my baby. He said you would.. Please don't come looking for me." Bella read the paper and quickly picked up the basket. Pulling the blanket back she gasped. A beautiful baby girl, blond hair, green eyes, white skin, pointy teeth. A baby vampire. "Someone get Esme. And Carlisle." Bella said as she sat down on the porch with the baby in her arms. Michael and Daphne came and stood near her, looking at the baby in surprise. Embry and Quil joined them on the porch. Jacob pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Carlisle's cell.
"Yes Carlisle good evening." Jacob paused while Carlisle asked what was going on. "Your assistance, and that of your Mate is required at the old Swan place. Please come quickly." Carlisle said something else to which Jacob just said yes. A second later the phone was off and Jacob slid to the ground next to Bella.
"This is different Bells." Sam said from behind her. He squatted down to look at the baby. Never had any of the legends or the Elders mentioned that vampires could have children with humans. He took in the little baby's features with a smile on his face. "She doesn't even look like a vampire." the baby smiled, showing its slightly pointed incisors, the only teeth the baby had. "Bells, why don't your teeth look like that?"
"I have no idea. Every vampire I have ever seen has normal teeth. But we were all humans turned vampire. Never known a born vampire." Bella paused. "Can someone let Seth and Serena out. Serena can't remember the code and Seth is fuming cause I hadn't put real drinks down there yet and he popped and energy drink to find out it was really blood." Daphne giggled and went inside to free the pair in the safe room. There was a roar from the street and everyone turned to see the familiar silver Volvo and a porsche pull into the driveway. The entire Cullen clan jumped out of the cars.
"What is going on?" Edward asked, wondering why he could not hear anyone's thoughts. Bella sighed and pulled her shield back into herself, leaving just a trace in the minds of her coven mates in case she needed to slide it back quickly. He stumbled a bit as the internal thoughts and conversations of everyone in front of him bombarded his mind. Jasper was not doing any better with everyone's emotions. He was starting to sweat in the attempt to control himself and not return the emotions to those around him magnified. Daphne's left hand turned in a small circle and Bella nodded. Daphne grinned and grabbed Micheal's hand, a look passed between them and then he touched Serena's arm. They were having silent conversations. Ones that even Edward's telepathy couldn't touch.
"Lets take this inside." Bella stood, keeping the bundle in her arms pressed to her chest, just in case. When everyone was in the living room she looked at her house guests. The wolves were seated amongst her coven mates, with Embry holding Daphne's hand in his. The Cullens were grouped together on the opposite side of the room. She shook her head.'Is this how my life in Forks is going to be. Two sides facing off. Unable to get along?' She growled to herself.
"Carlisle, what do you make of this." Bella turned the bundle she was holding and the Cullens saw a baby in her arms. Edwards mind was racing again, trying to figure out the baby that his ex-love was holding. She handed Carlisle a sheet of paper. As he read it Edward read it in his mind.
"That's impossible. It can't be a baby vampire." Esme sucked in air. Her face looking like Christmas had indeed come early. "We can't reproduce."
"But what if one half of the couple is human still? Would that help. The baby would still have the blood it needed?" Daphne asked as she reentered the living room, no one but Embry had seen her get off of the sofa and go into the kitchen. In her hand was a baby bottle with a pale red liquid in it. She handed it to Bella who stared at it for a minute and then popped it in the baby's mouth.
"That could work. I don't know why no one has ever tried it." Carlisle said, his mind drifting to the possibilities that this child laid out for them.
"That's how it works with Bella's..." Bella slammed her hand over Daphne's mouth. She was not ready to let them in on all of her secrets. No one was really paying attention. "Anyways, Bells just in case its different the bottle is 50/50 blood to milk."
"Thanks Daphne. Esme come hold her." Bella held the baby out to Esme. The Cullens looked at their mother figure as she sprinted towards Bella and held the baby for all she was worth. Bella's eyes flicked to Michael who went into the kitchen and came out with two cans of an energy drink. They could feel the eyes of the entire Cullen family on them when they popped the top and drained the cans. Everyone could smell it, blood, fresh human blood. Jasper was fighting himself, like rest of his family he was wondering if the blood was Micheal's or the baby's, neither of which would be good to feed from. Serena grabbed another can from the kitchen and tossed it to him.
"Don't worry drink it." Serena said wanting to see his reaction.
"We can't eat human food. Neither should you. You'll make yourself sick." Jasper said handing the can back unopened.
"If that was human food I would. Trust me." Serena thought hard about putting out calm, nonviolent emotions. She wanted Jasper to see that it was okay. 'Believe me damn it. I'm not trying to make you sick. It helps. Read the damn can.' Her eyes shot to Edward as he smiled and leaned over to whisper in Jasper's ear. Jasper turned the can over in his hand and in small print on the back of the can it said 'Bottled by Blending, Inc. Human food substitutes for Vampires.' He popped the can and took a small sip.
'Its really blood. What in the world.' Jasper passed the can to the rest of the Cullens and everyone had a sip and then Jasper finished the can. They all agreed that it was real good. Tasted different than Animal blood but not as dangerous as human blood. It was only after he had finished the can that Bella realized that the can was not blue like the one in her hand but there was a ring of green around the top. The only identifier that this can was part of her research and not one of the products already in production. She was trying to think of how to talk to Jasper about it without letting the others know. Although, she was pretty sure that Alice would know within a few seconds of the wolves leaving the house. That was until they noticed Bella's eyes were red around the edges, as if she had been crying hard for a few hours.
"Bella whats up with your eyes?" Rosalie asked.
'I knew they would figure it out.' Michael thought closing his eyes for a second.
'I wonder what will happen when Bella tells them?' Serena thought while looking at Daphne.
'Total melt down. They are more vegetarian than most of the other clans that we have come across. Twenty for Edward flipping out on her.' Daphne replied.
'Ten for him being a gentleman about it and yelling at her in private, another five for him knowing that we made this bet.' Serena obviously knew that Edward was listening, but didn't care.
'Yes we get to be here to see the leeches be shocked.' Quil's mental self was doing a little jig.
'It doesn't really even taste bad.' That's when Edward noticed that Seth's eyes had a pink tinge to them but other than that were their standard pitch black.
"The same thing that always happens when you drink human blood." Instant outrage from the Cullens. Half of them looked betrayed. "Good Lord. Calm down. Its a mixture of human and synthetic blood. Most of it is fake, created in a laboratory. The red goes away in twenty minutes. The real human blood in it is donor blood anyway. From people that are willing, eager, and keep coming back." Edward leapt from the sofa between his sisters and pulled Bella from the room. But not before Bella saw Serena doing a happy dance in her seat, with Daphne smacking herself in the forehead. He pushed her into the downstairs office and shut the door with a bang. Bella prayed to any deity listening that Edward did not look around the office. She hadn't been planning on anyone but her coven being in there until the secret was out, if she ever told them. Scattered across the walls were the diploma's of all four coven members, on the desk were vials of blood. She was had been working on her research before she had walked to the meadow.
"What is wrong with you?" He seethed pushing her up against the wall. Bella felt the wall dent. Michael would have to patch it later.
"There is nothing wrong with me Edward." Bella looked him straight in the eye and forcibly pushed all of her feelings down and glared at him.
"You've jeopardized my family. You gave Jasper back the taste for human blood. How could you? You know how hard we have all worked for normal lives." He growled in her face. The anger rolling off of him in waves would probably kill Jasper in the other room, or cause the wolves to phase involuntarily. Bella slammed her shield down around the pair. Sealing everything that was going on in this room between the two of them, from the rest of the guests knowing.
"What part of synthetic do you not understand. You tasted it. Any bloodlust?" Bella knew her eyes would be almost back to their normal amber color. "I would never jeopardize your family. I love them too much. I know how hard they have all worked. I know how difficult it is for Jasper just to go to school. Now imagine being able to sit in the cafeteria, satiated, no need for him to fear being in the same room with a lot of humans. One little can of chemically created blood, and he is free from that worry."
"But you couldn't be sure. You didn't let him make that decision. You just gave it to him and told him to drink it." Edward growled.
"Did you even stop to ask if Jasper was okay before you decided to mentally skin me alive?" Bella paused counting to ten. "Did you look at his eyes." Edward shook his head. Bella removed her shield again. She was too mad at Edward to keep him behind her shields. If she was going to yell at him she wanted him to feel it, but she wasn't vindictive enough to do it while he was insulated in her shields, where thoughts and feelings were magnified and had no boundaries.
"They were turning blue you idiot." Edward looked at her like she had grown another head.
"Its part of the process of synthesizing the blood. They've been trying to figure out how to get rid of the two most identifiable traits, our inability to eat human food and the matching eye colors. If we could keep or go back to our original colors we wouldn't be that easy to spot. We would blend in better." Bella dragged him back out into the main room. Jasper was smiling as Alice stared into his eyes. They were still amber gold but there were small flecks of blue in them. Carlisle was talking to Seth and Esme was rocking the baby with Rosalie standing beside her. The look on Rosie's face was one of want and need. Bella knew that Emmett would not be able to fulfill that need. Rosalie, strong, tough Rosalie wanted a baby of her own.
"Jasper. Can I talk to you in private later?" He nodded at her. "I am sorry everyone for scaring you. Blending, Inc is a company that we found in Vegas that uses donated blood to create synthetic supplements for vampires. They are working on supplements for werewolves as well, at least those werewolves that want more control over themselves."
"What do you need to talk to Jasper about?" Alice smiled, an all to familiar smile that told Bella Alice already knew what she was going to say.
"Alice you can come to when we talk. Since you already know the topic. But right now we need to discuss the baby." Bella turned to Carlisle. "Is there anything that we can do about this?"
"We just need to see how everything unfolds. I've never heard of a vampire that will grow up." Carlisle said looking over at Esme holding the baby.
"Will you be able to start her on the vegetarian diet?" Sam asked.
"She is doing good with the bottle and its a mixture of human food and blood. I'll prep it with some formula tomorrow. She might be an edge."
"An edge? What's an edge?" Emmett asked, taking his eyes off of Rosalie, who was now holding the baby.
"She will walk the edge. Able to eat human food or blood. A perfect blender. She will have no need to hide. In the morning we will see if her skin glows. We'll take care of that if she does." Daphne answered.
"Who will raise her?" Rosalie asked.
"I was thinking that either you or Esme could raise her. The four of us are not ready to have a baby to take care of. There is no time with our careers." Bella said smiling at the woman she viewed as a second mother and the sister that she was desperate to have like her. Esme's face lit up. Bella could tell that it always hurt her that she would never be able to be a real mother.
"We'll take her. Oh Carlisle." Esme's voice cracked. A tear rolled down her face. Everyone stared in amazement. It was a well known fact that vampires couldn't cry. Bella shook her head. It was also a well known fact that vampires couldn't eat human food or have children either but that was slowly unraveling. She wondered what the next day would bring. The Cullens left right after the pack did. Bella's coven settled onto the sofa for a recap of the recent events.