Thank God it was only the one wolf.

Maybe Enkidu didn't think it would take more than one to kill a newborn. Maybe the other ten were attacking the Volturi. Edward couldn't see past the rush of grey fur, and when his hands came up to protect his neck, he felt fangs dig deep in his forearm. The pain was warm and wet. Matted fur brushed his skin, and in an oddly detached moment, he found himself wishing he'd kept his filthy shirt on.

All around him there was snarling and shouting and sharp thoughts in quick succession. He couldn't sort the voices by their owners, but none of them were from Bella's mind, and that was all that mattered. He wanted to hear her again before he died. It didn't seem like so much to ask. Hell, if he were really asking, he wanted a day with her, far from here, losing at chess and washing out clothes at the river. He would know what to do with a gift like that now.

The pain had stopped, or he'd stopped processing it, but he knew his right arm was a jagged mess. He could feel the fangs tearing back out through his flesh as the wolf released him so it could try again for his throat.

Bella

Had he called out, or was her name in his mind? There had to be a way to get closer. Only a second had passed since the wolf had torn into him, but he'd been knocked from his feet. He pulled back and attempted a shove at the too hot creature above him. Its jaws snapped close to his ear. There was no getting around it; if he was right about what Enkidu had done earlier, he had a means to fight back, so he made himself bite into the fur and flesh of the shoulder above him and managed to suck in a mouthful of bitter blood. It burned going down and spreading to his limbs, but there was power in it. He tried to force the wolf off again, and this time it flew backwards to the far side of the fire.

Ginnie was covered in blood and leaning over him, a tuft of grey fur in her fist. She'd been trying to pull the beast backwards, and that was a revelation. He knew she could fight – from the look of it, she'd taken down one of the smaller wolves – but he hadn't known she would fight for him.

Isabella

Everyone's thoughts were so loud that it was difficult to find the source of her name.

On the far side of the fire, he could see wolves circling and snapping at the other two Volturi. Jane had a nasty gash gaping at her throat, and she was laid out on the ground with only Alec to protect her.

The grey wolf had righted itself and was charging back toward Edward at a speed that made him brace for the hit. He caught a flash of light from his left. Demetri had pulled a burning branch from the flames and he moved in front of Ginnie to swing at anything that got close. Edward hadn't thought he wanted a Volturi near him, but the torch was working. The grey wolf skidded to a halt and began to circle while Demetri tried to stay out in front to hold it back. There were more wolves coming, and they cut off any path that would have let Edward near the fire. As they fanned out, Demetri wasn't going to be able to keep all of them back.

"Isabella!"

That was definitely Demetri's voice. Edward followed his gaze to the right to find Bella struggling with Enkidu and pushing him back. He stumbled but kept to his feet.

All told, it had been ten long seconds, and the circling wolf was ready to leap again.

Bella turned to it, and fear blossomed exponentially until Edward could taste it in the air, metallic and sharp against his teeth.

The wolf let out a whine that was half defiance, half wail, and blood spattered its muzzle. Its body collapsed so close to Edward that red flecked his bare feet.

He found her mind then – not thoughts, but something like the force behind a crashing wave. It felt like taking the next step on a staircase only to find that there was nothing there. She was going to snuff the life out of everyone here. If she wanted, she would make the entire world go away. There would be nothing left but her and the darkness and empty space. A sensation like nausea hit him. I know these thoughts. It's not true. She won't hurt me. She won't. He could feel himself shaking; a primal warning was blaring at the base of his skull, telling him to flee, but he was still standing, and he'd be damned if fear would drive him away from her.

The sickness receded, enough that he was able to react when Demetri grabbed for his arm, but it wasn't an attack. The guard's thoughts were a babble of incoherent terror. He was going to run, and Edward said, "Stay here. You're safer here." He took the torch from him, and only then did he realize that the rest of the wolves were laid out on the ground. Some were thrashing, but most had gone still, as though the fear had simply stopped their hearts.

"Dae, cease this now," Enkidu said.

With nothing left but whimpering and a low whine from Jane across the way, Edward moved past the fire to find Bella on the platform ahead.

"The last time I was Dae," she said, "the world was a different place."

"Not so different. Only a few moments ever alter the course of our lives. The night I turned you, I could feel how important it was that you became one of us. The night you slunk away, I knew it was wrong for you to be anywhere but at my side."

"I came back to explain, but you'd disappeared."

"You expected me to wait for you?" he asked.

"I expected nothing."

Enkidu put his hands behind his back and began to pace. "Why would you leave at all?"

"You weren't… I couldn't…"

"Try not to mumble."

A shudder passed over her, but she squared her shoulders and answered. "It was Ur. The temples and open air markets, the way humans had lifted themselves up. I didn't want to treat them like cattle anymore."

"Because they'd managed to throw a few stones on top one another? If I'd realized you were that easy to impress –"

"I was that easy. Look how I followed you around like a dog for so long, happy with any scrap of approval."

"Watch your words, Dae."

Edward could hardly mind his own. How dare he talk to Bella like she was an ignorant child. She was practically chanting at Edward in her head though. Quiet now. Let me. I understand him better than anyone. Don't interfere. So he watched and waited, knowing it could not go as well as she hoped.

"After I left you," she said, "I started to question our right to live like Gods among them."

"Their blood offerings were freely given, surely better than hunting them down and taking what's ours by force."

"You just wanted to see them on their knees. They knew the consequences of defying you."

"Or you."

"Enough. This is getting us nowhere. I have to go."

"You will not leave."

Enkidu raised his hands as though to restrain her, but he was shaking. Bella had been wrong about him; the fear she inflicted wasn't a thrill for him after all. It was as painful as the wolf's blood was bitter, but he felt a huge sense of satisfaction with every moment that he could remain standing in the face of it. For all Edward knew, he was probably the type that liked to flog himself as well. Whatever he was doing to stay strong, Enkidu was still managing to form complete sentences.

It was better than the others. Ginnie had started wailing in the background. Demetri grabbed her arm and pulled her – even as she thrashed and hissed at him – backwards into the trees where they stumbled to the ground. Alec had managed to drag his sister only a few feet before he'd collapsed, shuddering across her. The tear in her neck was so deep that her head was almost severed, and venom poured from the wound like water.

Only Bella, Edward and Enkidu were standing, and for the latter two, it was a near thing.

"Edward, go," she said. Please don't be stubborn. Just this once.

He didn't even bother to say no. He shoved back at the voice of doom in his head with its dire warnings and listened to her mind instead. She was still holding back, and she wanted him gone so she could really bring Enkidu quaking to his knees and leave him alive. There were flickers of her past, dark memories of the two of them together, Bella just behind Enkidu as they entered a village at night, Bella standing before him as he set his hands on her shoulders and pushed her down. Edward didn't think she would ever be free as long as Enkidu was alive, and he couldn't say he was sorry, because it helped to excuse the fact that he was going to kill her maker. Even if it meant she didn't forgive him. Better to set her free and let her write him off as a reckless newborn than let Enkidu have any hold on her.

"Edward," her voice was soft this time, coaxing him to give in, but she could just forget it.

She turned her attention back to Enkidu. "Let me take him home. I swear on my honor I will come back and make things right with you." This time it wasn't a lie. Though Edward knew she had some fucked up issues about debts and about the way she'd let this man treat her like shit for the small matter of several hundred years, her willingness to drop Edward off and come back felt like a hard knot of grief and fury. Even if she was only doing it to keep Edward safe… No, especially if it was for him.

"What is he to you?" Enkidu was shaking so hard that it was difficult to understand him, but he didn't look humbled by it. In fact, he seemed unreasonably proud. If anything dampened his sense of triumph, it was that Edward was still here too, and obviously less affected. "Why does it mean so much? He's only a child."

She opened her mouth but didn't speak. The way she was looking at Edward now was at odds with the ridiculous voice trying to convince him that she was Death. He'd never seen her so open. And then he realized why. She knew. He saw the thought flash in her mind and couldn't help but choke on his breath. She knew that he was her mate. She wouldn't say it to Enkidu, wouldn't say it to him either; hell, she would hardly even let herself look at the thought, but she knew, and it was there on her face for both of them to see.

Enkidu's lunge was so immediate and unplanned that Edward didn't catch the intent until he felt himself being knocked back. He managed to stay on his feet, but to keep his balance he reached out. It was a mistake. His attacker growled, "She's mine," and caught Edward by his ravaged arm and pushed up and back until the bone splintered and snapped. Even with all the sound around them, the break was loud in Edward's ear, and he looked down to see his arm hanging limp. Venom, pale like green tea, ran from the wound, and when he realized he was losing his mind enough to compare venom to tea he knew he was in trouble.

"She's mine," Enkidu said.

No, she's her own, he thought, but the breath had been knocked out of him, and he found he couldn't speak. Enkidu raised an arm to strike him again, but Bella stood behind his shoulder, and she yanked his head back with her fist in his hair. Enkidu started to turn but Edward clung to him with his one good arm.

There were no final words. Bella didn't shout, didn't growl. It was over in less than a second. With one hand on Enkidu's neck and another on his jaw, she twisted so hard that Edward found himself covered in venom and struggling with a now-headless body. Nothing in his life had prepared him for a moment this surreal. The arms didn't let go of him. The body stumbled, and the hands were clawing blindly now. Edward forced the thing back and looked over at Enkidu's shocked face. His thoughts were a haze of disbelief as his eyes searched below him and only found air. The one person that Enkidu was sure would be unable to defy him, the one he hadn't bothered to defend against, was clutching his hair in her fist. The blind body lurched back toward Edward and didn't crumple until Bella cast her maker's head sideways into the fire.

That was not how Edward had expected this to go. He should have been relieved, but it was going to take a moment for his mind to catch up. He fell to his knees. Even with the wolves and Enkidu dead, the clearing was a tumult of sound, and Ginnie was wailing in such a full throated expression of terror that he wished for her sake that she could black out.

Bella hadn't moved. One arm was still lifted toward the fire.

"Please, can you stop?" he asked her. It was the least he could do for Ginnie after she'd come to his aid in the fight.

Bella jumped backwards. She looked toward the trees as though she would run, but she wasn't willing to leave him alone with Alec.

"You don't have to leave. Just make the fear stop."

She took a few breaths. He could feel her trying, but it would be awhile before she could settle down enough to not frighten the others.

"You killed him," he said. Apparently he was a master of the obvious.

"He hurt you."

And there it was. Perhaps the closest to a declaration that he would ever get from his mate. He wanted to make her say more, but when he listened to her mind, she was already replaying the last minute, looking for ways it could have gone down without requiring her maker's death.

The gift of life or not, Enkidu was an asshole, but it wouldn't do to tell her that right now. "How did you know the wolves would be so susceptible to your gift?" he asked to distract her.

"I didn't."

Her words were a rough monotone, and he thought it was time for him to step up to the plate. He scrambled to his feet.

"Sit. Do your breathing thing."

She looked at him like he'd lost his mind, or maybe she was just startled that he was taking control. He wasn't sure, because all he could get from her was that the evening air was warm as it moved in and out of her, carrying the scent of dead leaves and moist earth.

The stupid mantra in the back of his head that kept trying to tell him that everyone was about to die at Bella's hands was now only repeating that he might be maimed, which seemed so ridiculous that he almost laughed. Maybe relief was making him lightheaded. He had half a mind to grab her by the waist and swing her around, but Ginnie was still wailing, and he guessed he should at least look at Jane long enough to find out if she'd still be walking around tomorrow. He didn't really know what would happen if her head was severed but not burned. That sort of question hadn't been part of his education.

It turned out that her head was only mostly severed – and wasn't that an odd phrase – but Alec gave him a hard glare when he tried to get a better look at Jane's wound, probably sensing that Edward's interest held far more morbid curiosity than concern.

"She only needs time to heal," Alec said. It was hard to believe that the sticky mush that used to be her neck was going to right itself, but Alec would have seen enough fights to know. "Isabella should return with us to Volterra. Caius will want to thank her personally for her assistance."

"Assistance my ass. She did your job for you." The words were out before he even knew he wanted to say them, and he had half a mind to grab Alec by the collar and see what came of a fight. It wouldn't be a fair match, not with Bella to back him up, but then again, he'd spent the last week in a pit thanks entirely to Alec's bosses, and he didn't feel inclined to worry about the moral ambiguities of kicking the guy's ass. He took a step back though. It would be childish to draw Bella into another fight he couldn't win on his own. His own self control made him smile, and he knew Alec thought he was a little crazy for it, but who the hell cared what Alec thought.

"I'll leave you to her," Edward said, and crossed to where Ginnie was huddled at the base of a tree with her knees up and her arms banded across her shins. There was a clicking sound, and it took him a moment to realize her teeth were chattering. At least she wasn't screeching anymore.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Fucking peachy."

Edward looked to Demetri who merely shrugged. The fact that Ginnie could throw around a little attitude meant that Bella's attempt to calm down was working.

"The next time Isabella does that," Ginnie said, "I'm damn well going to be holed up in my apartment, on the other side of the earth, watching a movie, grandfather or no grandfather. Jesus H., I thought I was dead for sure. I thought everyone was dead. The wolves were like teddy bears compared to the shit she just put me through. Did you feel that?"

"Uhm… we all did," Edward said.

Demetri gave him a hard look. "You and Enkidu seemed to do all right. I noticed you were able to stand your ground. Why is that, do you think?"

Edward shrugged. Let him think what he wanted.

"So a newborn suddenly has the will to handle it when three Volturi guards couldn't?"

"Maybe that says something about the Volturi."

Demetri shook his head. "Maybe it has something to do with why Isabella was so determined to get you back."

"Enough," Bella said. Edward hadn't heard her walk towards them. "Demetri, I need you to get us a ship. Buy it outright, and hire someone to pilot it."

Demetri blinked. "You want me to buy you a ship."

"I took care of your situation, so I think Caius can afford it. Head back to Mumbai. Then meet us due east of here off the coast."

"But I have to return to Volterra. I did what you asked."

"Whine much?" Edward asked.

Ginnie cracked the first smile Edward had ever seen from her, and Demetri sighed as he realized that no one here was going to take his side.

"Make sure the captain is one of our kind," Bella said. She glanced over at Alec, but he was concentrating only on his sister, and she lowered her voice to say, "You found Edward, and you had no part in the kidnapping, so you've earned one friendly warning, Demetri. You don't want to be in Volterra for long."

"What do you mean?"

Edward wondered as well, but Bella was counting in Greek. That was new. He wanted to call her on keeping him out of her head, but he couldn't without Demetri knowing about his gift. He would add this to the growing list of things to confront her with in private. Since he'd been holding back on pretty much every impulse he'd had for the last several days, why not a few more hours?

"Wait, he's going back to Volterra?" Ginnie asked.

"Just for…" Demetri looked completely at a loss. "I have to report back to Aro. And anyway, I didn't want to presume… didn't know if you would want… I mean I could take some time away to –"

"Oh forget it." Ginnie brushed off her jean skirt and marched past them back to the fire.

"It's not like I can't find you anywhere," he called.

"Go," Bella said. "I don't want to be here long."

"I shouldn't leave Alec, not until Jane heals. There's one last werewolf somewhere around here. The woman who was guarding Edward. If she returns and you're not here to put her down, Alec may not be able to fight her off."

"Enkidu's dead. She won't be immune to Alec's gift, and she's probably long gone anyway."

"All right then," he said, but he didn't take his eyes off Ginnie's back. Then he shook himself. Though Bella was calm now, Demetri would rather submit to anything than feel her power again. He gave her a small bow, turned, and set off at a run.

"So," Edward said.

Bella just looked at him.

"Do we have to check on Jane?" he asked.

"She'll probably survive." Apparently a beetle in front of Bella's broom warranted more care than Jane, and though Edward didn't know the girl, he could guess what kind of person she had to be to illicit a response that cold.

"We're going home then?" As soon as he said it, he realized that Bella might think he meant Carlisle's house. "To the cabin."

"We'll head east and wait at the shore. Swim out to the ship when it comes." She smiled for the first time all night, and he thought he might need to sit down. Did she not know what that would do to him now that he was flooded with relief? "You're the one who would know what Demetri's planning," she said. Didn't you read his mind?

"Demetri won't do anything to cross you. Not after tonight. He'll get the boat."

Good. All right.

"So we're alone now," he said.

We're not alone. She cut her eyes over to Alec and Jane.

"They're no threat to you."

"How is your arm?"

"Healing already." He managed to swing it slightly forward with only a wince. The break in the skin had already smoothed over, but it felt like the bone beneath was still knitting itself back together.

"Good." She laid her hand lightly on his injured arm. "We should get Ginnie and go then. It could be a day before the boat is here, but there's no reason to stay."

"You're not going to avoid me anymore," he said. "There are things I want to say to you, things I need to know."

"On the boat, then."

Did she never get tired of putting him off? She knew, for fuck's sake. She knew what they were to one another, and she still probably thought she should give him a few hundred years to 'grow up'.

"Fine, on the boat. But you'll hear me out. You won't leave all the time."

"Where am I going to go on a boat?"

"You didn't answer my question."

Edward.

"I mean it."

She leaned in and then she did the damndest thing. She tilted her head up to press her lips against his neck. She might as well have thrown him to the ground and mounted his hips for all the shock he felt at her making the overture instead of just giving in to his. "We'll talk as soon as we board the ship if that's what you want." Her breath was soft, and she pressed her lips to him again, and dear God, she had found the most effective way yet to distract him from his purpose. Her touch – even tentative like this – would've been everything he wanted if he didn't suspect that it was yet another defense. How nervous did she have to be for touching him to be less unsettling than honesty? Her mind was a blank of sensation, and it served to keep him out. He would put an end to that. She was right after all; she wasn't going to get away from him on this slow trip back by ship.

Thanks for reading.

All the usual characters, settings, etc. are the property of S. Meyer. Original characters and plot are mine. No copyright infringement is intended. May not be reprinted without express written permission.