Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns it all.

Rated M for several reasons.

Chpt 19 A Different Kind of Hunt

BPOV

In my ignorance, an' despite Alice's detailed description, I had imagined Rutilio's compound to be some sort of stark eyrie perched incongruously at the top of an inhospitably jagged mountain an' yet still chillingly at odds with its environment.

Instead I'm looking down from a leafy hilltop on a cluster of buildings arranged charmingly around a central house an' extensive gardens. Despite the generally populous area here it is quite an' secluded. Peaceful.

Irrationally I feel jealous. Why should that vicious fucker get to live in an oasis like this when we spent our time running from place to place in fear for our lives? I can tell by the look on Char's face she's having similar thoughts.

"Nice." Pete comments dryly.

"And empty." Demetri growls bitterly.

As soon as we met up with the scouts they informed us that the compound had been abandoned. There were recent scents of ten vampires, all headed north in a hurry.

Beside me The Major is staring down the hillside, impassive face hiding the thoughts within.

"Is it a trap?" I ask him.

"To lure us into the jungle an' attack us?" He asks, letting out a huge breath. "Possibly, if he has enough men. He could simply be trying to dodge the inevitable. Either way we will have to go after him."

Demetri nods gravely but doesn't comment.

One of the scouting party drops down from the tree tops.

"Car coming." He states simply.

We watch as a Mercedes SUV pulls up to the ornate gates in the wall of the compound. A small dark haired vampire jumps out an' scans the hillside.

"Alice." Jasper an' Pete growl in unison.

I snort. Apparently the NORAD Jasper tracker is still up an' running.

"Master?" The Guard, Nicholas, enquires.

"Fetch her and hide the car." The Major orders in a resigned voice. "Make sure she is alone an' hasn't been followed."

Bowing slightly Nicholas flits away.

The Major turns to me. He doesn't really do apologies but I can see it in his eyes so I give him a tight little smile to show him there are no hard feelings.

Char, on the other handed, has folded her arms across her ample chest an' is openly displaying some very hard feelings. The Major stares her down until she huffs an' looks away.

"How did you come to be here?" Pete demands as soon as Alice is within earshot.

"What sort of greeting is that?" She asks cheerily, turning to regard The Major with open curiosity. "Hey Jazzy, you look different somehow, must be the hat."

Suddenly I realise that she's probably never met The Major. I know she saw Jasper lose it with Char but as he explained to me that had still been him because there had was real uncontrolled emotion behind his behaviour. Only Pete an' Char had really understood exactly how dangerous he'd been at that point, all that power ruled by nothing but feelings. She was brave going up against him like that, she might look cute an' fluffy but my sister has a backbone made of diamond.

"How did you come to be here?" Pete asks again, his tone several degrees below friendly.

"Carlisle sent Em down to see you guys with some texts on mating bonds he found." She answers, drooping a little. "When he came back and said the place was empty it wasn't hard to work out where you'd gone. Carlisle thought it would be good for me to come with you, for closure, and in case I can help."

"This is not really the place for you." Demetri says coldly. "There is likely to be a battle, you will be a hindrance."

"I can fight." Alice pouts. "Jazz taught me."

"I taught you basic self-defence." The Major states flatly. "Not how to fight."

"Bella fights." Alice retaliates.

"Bella is The Major's Mate." Pete snaps. "An' that is somethin' entirely different."

"Jasper?" Alice questions. "Why won't you stick up for me, you know I can take care of myself?"

"Charlotte." The Major growls.

Immediately she surges forwards easily pinning Alice to the ground an' turning her head to face us.

"Pete." He orders.

My brother leaps at me an' without thinking I whip around catching him by the throat and slamming him into the hillside despite his superior height an' weight.

"The Mistress." Demetri informs Alice. "Takes her place among us by right. If we take you with us we risk one of us being killed trying to protect you."

Char releases Alice an' they both scramble to their feet.

"Sweet thing." Pete rasps. "You can let me up now, we've made our point."

Chuckling I release my grip an' move back to stand beside The Major.

"Demetri is correct." The Major informs her. "Takin' you with us is a risk. Our other choice is to incapacitate you an' leave you here."

"Jazz, Jasper, I don't understand."

"This is not a game Alice." Char growls. "It's not like usin' your elbows on some other bitch durin' the sales at Neiman Marcus, if you fuck up someone might die."

"I won't fuck up." Alice says hotly. "Rutilio and his mate stole my life, messed with everything I thought I understood about myself, killed my brother and defiled me. If I get into trouble, so be it, let me die. But please Jasper, Bella, don't stop me from at least trying to get my revenge."

The Major turns to me an' I sigh. How can I deny her revenge when my own desire has the venom in my body fizzing an' popping. As I said, I don't care how he dies as long as he's dead.

"You can come." I decide. "But we can't afford you special treatment. Survive or die. It's up to you."

The Major an' Demetri nod their approval an' make preparations for us to leave.

"Thank you." Alice says quietly, looking at me properly for the first time.

"I'm sorry, Alice, for what you went through. It really sucks." I offer. "How's it goin' with Carlisle an' Esme?"

"Surprisingly well." She smiles. "We both thought that Esme would welcome me back regardless but I am happy with how well Carlisle is treating me." She pauses for a moment before continuing quietly. "I thought he would hate me for abandoning Edward."

I can't form a reply. I thought he would too.

"But he seems to understand." She continues brightly. "He's been very supportive of me trying to form some kind of relationship with you guys. He thinks it will be healing."

I supress a snort. Really? Trying to become bosom buddies with your ex-husband, his hostile family, protective coven an' insecure but lethal wife is healing? Carlisle must know something I don't.

"Can't we be friends again Bella? I've missed you."

My mouth opens an' closes. The truth is, after about a year I stopped missing her. I don't need or want her in my life now, I'd rather hang with my family, talk bodice rippers with Elise or fence with Simon.

"I don't know." I finally answer honestly an' lamely. "I've got issues I'm tryin' to deal with."

"I understand." She says sadly. "I am still in love with him too you know."

Okay, conversation over, unable to react with grace I turn on my heel an' hurry after The Major an' Demetri.

After adapting our formation an' forcefully reminding Alice to do as she's told we set off in pursuit of Rutilio an' his men.

"How far away?" The Major asks.

Demetri frowns before he answers. "A way." He says finally. "The gap is opening too fast for him to be on foot."

At that moment my cell rings.

"Ma'am?" Evans enquires.

"Evans." I greet him happily. "Any news?"

"Yes Ma'am." He replies. "The Brazilians report a HALO jump south of Altamira, the plane was registered to one of Asturias's subsidiaries."

"They used parachutes?" I ask in surprise.

"Yes Ma'am." He chuckles. "Large pockmarks in the landscape would be bit of a giveaway I imagine."

"Thanks." I respond, flipping the phone shut.

"Long run." Demetri observes. "Until he starts heading back towards us."

"You're takin' this well." I challenge, thinking of the bet.

"I can take anything Mistress." He drawls, thinking of something else.

The Major snorts an' Pete and Char laugh. Me, I'm just glad I can't blush, Demetri can be quite sexy when he's not being snarky. An' as much as I love my man, and god knows I do, following Demetri's fine butt as it leads us across a continent is not exactly a hardship.

So we run, heading northwest, as civilisation begins to drop away behind us.

I've never been anywhere as alive as the rainforest if The Major wasn't holding my hand tightly I would keep stopping to gaze at everything in wonder. I want to investigate every smell, animal an' insect and there are literally thousands of them. Most of them bugs, since my change I've developed a remarkable tolerance for bugs. Except spiders, they still scare the crap out of me, nothing good can come of having eight legs an' eight eyes, nothing.

Or pace is fairly slow. Forty odd vampires running full tilt would probably cut a swathe through the greenery that would be visible from space an' would certainly be audible to any other vampire in a hundred mile radius. Instead, for the purposes of stealth we are twisting an' turning across Demetri's straight line to his target, searching out the path of least resistance in the forest floor.

No one grumbles or complains, we're a disciplined an' focussed bunch when we need to be. An' I'm even impressed with Alice, her designer ensemble has all but disintegrated from the rigours of such a long run but she is stoic.

Night falls again an' after a couple of hours Demetri calls a halt. Not because we need a rest but because he senses we are nearing Rutilio who has now stopped moving an' we need an opportunity to prepare, an' for those of us who didn't dine classically in Rio, to top up.

A surprising number of the Guard decide to partake in this side hunt. One or two have actually come over to the dark side as Simon calls it an' become vegetarians, more than a few others have decided they can live on both an' tonight some of the rest are using the local wildlife as a convenient way to supplement their strength.

In two an' threes, The Major an' I hunted together, we drift back into the clearing gathering around an' crouching down to go over the plan one more time. At the end The Major relinquishes my hand an' rises to his feet.

"We are here for both personal an' professional reasons." He says, voice commanding an' hypnotic despite the lack of emotion. "Rutilio Asturias has wronged my family, my coven, more times than I will recount. You are all my coven."

Pete, Char an' I find ourselves nodding emphatically.

"Asturias betrayed The Volturi an' made a direct attack against us when he struck at the bond between my mate an' I. For that alone he shall be punished."

The Major's gaze takes in all of us before he speaks again.

"But know this." He growls, showing a little emotion. "The punishment would be the same no matter which of us he wronged in such a cowardly an' cruel manner."

"Master." As one, with the exception of Alice an' I, everyone sinks to their knees an' exposes their throats to him.

The power of the moment pulses through me, causing my skin to tingle an' the hackles on my neck to rise.

"We are The Coven." The Major vows. "An' none shall stand against us."

"Hurrah!" We all shout, filled with an overwhelming desire to accomplish his goal. An' he hasn't projected anything. Now that's charisma.

Surging to our feet we follow Demetri's mesmerising butt into the rising sun.

Eventually he calls brings us to a stop overlooking a vast depression in the rainforest.

"There are no vampires here." He announces, brow furrowed. "Yet I can sense Asturias nearby."

"What if he's like some of us." I ask quietly. "An' can project his lack of scent on others?"

"Then we could be in a lot of trouble." Demetri replies, frown turning into a predatory smile.

Stupid fight loving vampire.

The Major's dark eyes scan the bowl, seemingly able to penetrate the thick green carpet of trees.

"Newborns." He growls, drawing himself up to his full height. "Hundreds of 'em."

"Are you sure Master?" Demetri asks sceptically.

"I can feel 'em." The Major intones darkly staring down into the trees an' settling his hat low over his eyes. "Every single one of them."