Chapter 30 - Unpleasant Surprises
Volterra
Alice's vision:
"Good job, Riley! Our little army is coming along nicely. I think these two will make excellent recruits," a woman praised, nudging two writhing, screaming figures on the ground, one male and one female.
A young male vampire, less than a year old himself, turned to face the woman, beaming proudly at her praise. "Thanks, Victoria. Are you ready to tell me yet why we need an army? Are we going to be running the region around Seattle and Vancouver the way Maria does her territory in Mexico? I haven't come across any marked boundaries around here or sentries running patrol, like we did in the South."
"We are going to be taking out all the golden-eyed vampires. They are a threat to red-eyed vampires everywhere. They hunt us down and kill us without provocation, destroying covens and mates for no reason other than a cure for eternal boredom. They consider us inferior to them and treat us like animals incapable of planning and forethought. Their reign of terror must end, so we can all live in peace, without continually looking over our shoulders, waiting for them to strike without warning," Victoria declared.
One of the newborns paused in her training and gasped. "That's awful! How can they treat us that way?"
"They're evil!" her mate replied, moving protectively in front of his mate, despite the lack of immediate threat.
"We will destroy them all!" Riley shouted. "Rip them to pieces and burn them to ash!"
"Hear, hear!" the other newborns yelled eagerly, enjoying the knowledge of their noble purpose. With a sense of pride and justice welling up within them, they returned to their training with a new determination.
Victoria watched them, smirking to herself. "You will pay, Cullens, for what you did to my James. Every last one of you, and your stupid little human too, will suffer my wrath and share my pain," she murmured to herself.
"Interesting," Aro commented afterward. "Seems Carlisle bit off more than he could chew this time. It'll be interesting to see how he handles this."
You must warn him! Alice thought. They will all be killed!
Jasper was right! We should have listened to him. I can't believe I didn't hear it in either of their minds. How could I have missed that they were mates? Edward wondered.
"Ah, that is one of the perils of only seeing the thoughts on the surface, child. There are so many secrets people keep hidden in the deeper recesses of their minds. You can see how easy it is to block your talent and even mislead you if one wishes, all without your knowledge," Aro mused condescendingly.
"No, I don't think I'll warn him," Aro decided, responding to Alice. "This will be a good test of Carlisle's abilities and the abilities of his coven. Your visions have shown I can't take him out myself, without bringing harsh repercussions to my entire coven. I have no link to this Victoria though. No one will blame me if some of his coven dies in the upcoming battle, and he will no longer be a threat to me. Of course, we'll need to step in and take her out after the fact. Can't have her leading a newborn army and causing trouble that will call attention to our existence. Not to mention, I will have to help my dear friends Carlisle and Eleazar avenge their losses. No doubt they'll both lose a few of their members."
Bastard! Edward mentally shouted.
Asshole! Alice sneered in her thoughts.
"Ah, ah, ah. Naughty children must be punished for such disrespectful thoughts toward their Master," Aro smugly chastised. "Jane, be a dear and teach them the error of their ways, won't you?"
xxxxxxx
Denali, with the wolves
The door swung open and a beautiful female vampire, with long strawberry blond hair and skin tight clothing that left little to the imagination, stepped out onto the porch. She slowly strolled down the steps, swaying her hips seductively, her body oozing sex appeal. All four of the visitors were struck dumb by her curvaceous attraction and lost themselves in appreciation of her feminine form, as she slowly approached, even Paul, who never thought he'd find himself affected by a vampire.
"Hello there, you fine fellows. Are you having a hard time? Is there anything I can do for you? My sister and I would be pleased as punch to entertain such physically fit specimens of muscular manhood," she purred. "My name's Tanya, by the way, but you can call me anything you want, as long as you call me." She flirted easily, smiling suggestively.
The wind shifted, sending their scents in her direction, and she suddenly wrinkled her nose, as she got her first whiff of their odor. "We'll just need to make a stop in the hot tub first. I've some lovely bubble bath that will do wonders for your, uh, complexion."
Paul was the first to recover his senses. "Back off, bloodsucker! We're not here to be your dinner!"
Tanya chuckled, but shifted uncomfortably at his clear knowledge of what she was. This comment also brought her family members flowing out onto the porch in a show of support, wondering what was occurring out on their front lawn.
"I don't want to drink your blood, dear boy. I'm sure it would be put to much better use pumping up your sword, which could then be plunged forcefully into my sheath over and over until we are both satisfied by the tightness of the fit," Tanya drawled, rubbing her hands slowly over her hips and upper thighs.
Paul gave her a look of disbelief. Did the leech really think he'd want to bed her? He'd sooner bed a snake! It'd certainly be a more trustworthy bedfellow.
Billy, on the other hand, felt himself responding to this vampire in a way his body hadn't even considered in quite a few years. He growled at the way she teased Paul and flaunted herself at him. Wanting to direct her attention where it belonged - on him, he used his Chief Black voice of authority to address her formally. "Excuse me, ma'am, but we are looking for the Cullens."
"The Cullens?" she asked in surprise, moving a few steps closer to Billy. "What business do you have with them?"
Her topaz eyes met his dark, nearly black ones and neither looked away. Both felt an odd sensation tingling inside them, as if the world were stopping and turning in the opposite direction. They felt drawn to one another, pulled to know, love, and protect each other. Tanya unconsciously drifted closer.
Paul snarled, growled out a warning, and shouted, "That's none of your concern! Where are they?" His harshness broke the spell, temporarily, between the succubus and the chief, calling them both back to the current dilemma.
"They're not here," Tanya replied simply and coldly, eyeing the rude boy with disdain.
"Don't lie!" Paul screamed, his body starting to shudder and shake. "I can smell their scents all around this place."
Tanya shrugged. "A few of them came to visit this morning, but they left a couple of hours ago. They have a house of their own nearby."
"Dammit!" Paul cursed turning and kicking at the snow, sending it soaring and scattering all around.
"Why have you come looking for the Cullens, handsome?" Tanya purred, stalking seductively over to Billy and crouching down in front of his chair to meet him at eye-level. "I'm sure I could make you much happier than any of them ever could. They're all mated already, but I have been waiting over a thousand years to make your acquaintance."
Jacob and Charlie stared in awed disbelief at the goofy grin on Billy's face as he licked his lips and stared at the vampire as if she'd just informed him he'd won the lottery, would recover full use of his lower body, and would soon be a grandpa, courtesy of Rebecca and her husband.
Billy hummed in appreciation, leaning toward her, his eyes on her lips, when Paul spun around and noticed how close Tanya was to his leader.
"Get away from him, you bitch!" he screeched, his whole body overcome with tremors. "I'll kill you!"
"Whoa, calm down there, son," Charlie quickly retorted, moving toward Paul in hopes of helping him regain control.
"STOP!" Billy roared in his Alpha voice, instinctively lurching his upper body in their direction, reaching out to grasp onto Charlie, but he was too late. Paul only had eyes for the vampire he viewed as a threat and phased to attack, not even noticing Charlie moving into the line of fire.
Paul's changing body knocked Charlie to the ground, his razor sharp claws, designed to cut through the marble texture of vampire skin, sliced effortlessly through Charlie's human flesh. Paul was so lost in his murderous rage, he didn't even notice himself trampling Charlie's body beneath his powerful paws as he sprung toward the dangerously tempting female within easy striking distance of his Chief.
Tanya immediately shoved Billy's wheelchair out of harm's way, risking her own existence to protect him. Jacob's brain spun as he watched his second father, the man who'd been there for him and his dad through thick and thin his whole life, was shredded and broken by his werewolf brother. Charlie Swan was dying, his lifeblood rapidly staining the snow around him, thanks to the careless actions of one of the protectors sworn to safeguard his life. Meanwhile, the vampire who had somehow bonded to his father in some freaky staring spell, uncomfortably reminiscent of Sam's and Jared's memories of meeting their imprints, had saved his human father's life. She had risked herself to protect Billy Black from one of his own 'protectors'.
Thankfully, Jacob's werewolf instincts kicked into gear long before his brain had finished processing the odd turn of events, and he found himself phasing and intercepting Paul before the out of control wolf could do any more damage. With the grace and power of a true Alpha wolf, Jacob quickly subdued Paul, his teeth buried in Paul's throat in clear warning not to move even a millimeter.
You fool! Look what you have done! Jacob screamed at him through the mind link. He replayed the memory for Paul of Paul's phase and the subsequent damage to Charlie. Paul's eyes found the dying form of the man he'd sworn to protect and was overcome by guilt and remorse. Jacob continued remembering, and Paul flinched as he watched the leech protecting the very man he'd mistakenly thought he was saving. He could see through Jacob's perspective how close he came to injuring Billy as well with his wild attack.
For the first time, Paul began to actually consider that perhaps Sam and Charlie had been wiser than he realized. Perhaps the leeches weren't all bad, and maybe the wolves weren't quite the perfection he'd previously believed. Maybe it wasn't all black and white, good and evil, right and wrong, like he'd thought. He closed his eyes in defeat and phased back into his human form, lying naked and defenseless in the snow.
"Charlie! Charlie!" Billy was wailing, desperately trying to get over to his friend, but finding his wheels slipping uselessly on the ice. Understanding his need, Tanya pushed him carefully over beside his dying friend.
Charlie gazed up into the now black eyes of the vampire standing behind Billy. "Ch-change m-me . . . v-vamp . . . p-please," he whispered with the last of his strength.
"Yes, yes!" Billy cried, not even having to think twice. "Change him! Please, Tanya! You have to save him!"
The agonized cries of her mate were all Tanya needed to give her the strength to resist the siren call of Charlie's sweet blood. She instantly set to work stopping the bleeding, racing against his failing heart to repair the damage. Seeing what she was doing, Kate raced over to help her sister, working in tandem to push in venom and close up jagged wounds.
Finally, after what seemed like hours to the sisters, but was really no more than a couple of minutes, Charlie's heart took off, pumping the venom throughout his body. All the external bleeding had been stopped, and they simply had to hope the venom would be able to repair the internal damage before it was too late.
"It's done," Kate announced sitting back on her haunches.
Paul's mind was screaming at him to protest the creation of yet another enemy, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
Billy nodded, looking ten years older than he had an hour ago. "Go home, Paul. Home to La Push. I will stay here with Charlie."
"But," Paul began, only to be rapidly interrupted.
"That's an order, Paul. The sooner, the better," Billy snapped. He sighed and turned to his son, who had phased back and donned his shorts again. "What of you, son? You should probably return with him."
"My place is with you, Dad, you and Charlie, whether that be amongst humans, werewolves, or vampires," Jacob declared. Billy smiled proudly and gave his son a hug.
"Go ahead and escort Paul back to the hotel, Jake," Billy instructed. "Then come back here. The keys are in Charlie's jacket pocket." Billy sincerely hoped Jacob didn't get pulled over, considering he wasn't even sixteen yet.
Kate deftly pulled the SUV keys and the hotel keycards out of Charlie's jacket and offered them up to Jacob, who took them with a smile and a thank you. Kate returned his smile, then carried Charlie inside the house to get him cleaned up and into fresh clothes. Once Jacob and Paul had driven away, the rest of Tanya's family disappeared into the house, leaving Billy and Tanya outside with the illusion of privacy.
"Now that all of the drama is over, I feel the intense need to claim you, my mate," Tanya crooned, running her hands over Billy's chest and up into his long black hair. "I need to feel you coming inside me, as you scream my name loud enough to let the whole world know you are mine."
Billy ducked his head and blushed, ashamed to meet her eyes. "I don't have any feeling below the waist, not since the accident. I won't be able to . . . join with you like that."
"Oh, my! That will never do," Tanya replied, alarmed. Then she relaxed and smiled beguilingly. "Well, it's a good thing vampire venom fixes everything. We'll just have to change you first. I'm sure you'll be much happier once you can run and jump and do other things again."
Billy stared at her in shock. "You mean, if you change me into a vampire, I'll regain the use of my limbs? I'll be whole again? It's not just fresh wounds it repairs, but old ones too?"
Tanya nodded happily. "Yes, indeed. Plus, you'll have Charlie with you forever too, going through it all with you. Not to mention, being mated to me for eternity."
Billy grinned widely at her. "I just need to write a letter for my son, Jake, explaining that I'm doing this of my own free will. That way you won't have to worry about him trying to retaliate or anything."
Tanya returned his grin with one of her own and quickly carried him inside the house, chair and all.
At the hotel, Paul quickly gathered his things. Deciding he'd rather run home than deal with an airplane, he and Jacob headed into the woods so he could phase. Once in wolf form, Jacob helped attach Paul's duffel to his back. As soon as possible, Paul took off in the direction of La Push, eager to return to where werewolves were always good, vampires were always bad, and everything made sense in his little world.
xxxxxxx
Alaska, with the Cullens (JPOV)
Bella was feeling overly emotional after her talk with Esme and Rose. She felt guilty that she didn't remember the people in the photographs spanning from her birth up until a few days before her 'death'. Even though she didn't remember them, the sight of them still stirred up feelings inside her. Pictures of Renee, her human mother, were accompanied by resigned exasperation and fondness, while pictures of Charlie, her human father, were accompanied by respectful affection and a quiet love. Pictures of Alice produced jealousy, resentment, and anger, while pictures of Edward brought pain and rage. She had torn up the first picture of him she'd seen, having it shredded before Esme and Rose even realized what she was doing. She was also full of confusion, having difficulty reconciling her emotions with the stories Rose and Esme had told her.
Recognizing this was causing her more pain, as she was feeling that her feelings were wrong, I held her safely in my arms and gave her more of the truth, exposing some of the things Esme and Rose had chosen not to share.
"Darlin', I'm gonna clarify a few things for ya, that'll help ya understand yer emotions a bit better," I explained. "Renee was never much of a mother to ya. She was too busy followin' her own dreams to worry about the reality of payin' bills, puttin' food on the table, washin' laundry, and all the day to day necessities of life. You had to learn how to do all those things, because if you didn't do them, they didn't get done. Ya reversed roles with yer ma, with you takin' care of her, instead of her takin' care of you. You were the adult, and she was the child. That's why you don't feel a filial bond with her like ya do yer vampire mothers."
Bella relaxed, already starting to feel better, her inner turmoil starting to settle.
"Charlie's a good man and loves you very much, but he didn't know how to express his emotions to ya very well, nor was he comfortable showin' his affection in demonstrative ways, like hugs and kisses. He showed his love quietly by the things he did to take care of ya, like buyin' ya a truck, so ya wouldn't have to go to school in his police car each day, or puttin' snow chains on yer tires before school so ya wouldn't have an accident."
Bella smiled up at me, content with my explanation and understanding the nature of her emotions better. "What about Alice and Eddie?" she wondered, nervously biting her lip.
"Alice claimed she was yer best friend, but she was always pushin' ya to do things ya didn't like. She didn't listen to ya, and she lied to ya too. Then, she abandoned ya when ya needed her most, so it's not at all surprising she triggers feelings of anger and resentment. I feel the same way when I think of her," I answered. I was confused by the sudden spike in jealousy Bella felt when I mentioned my own feelings in regard to Alice, but ignored it for the time period.
"As for Edward," I sneered, swallowing down my own rage and jealousy before it could consume me. "He claimed to love you and want you as his mate, but then betrayed yer trust in him. He said many hurtful things to ya, deliberately driving ya away from him. He broke yer heart, baby girl." I felt my sadness well up, aching for my Bella and what she'd suffered from the cowardly bastard's words, carefully calculated cutting remarks, designed to do maximum damage with minimum effort.
Bella's emotional pain overwhelmed her, and she began sobbing in my arms. I soothed her with my affectionate touches, murmured words, and soft kisses to her forehead and the top of her head. I shared her pain, but didn't try to hide it or change it for her with my gift, knowing she needed to work through it. It was hard to see her suffering, as I desperately wanted her to be happy, needed her to be content and joyful again.
At some point during our comforting session, Bella began making a buzzing noise in her chest, and I found my own body replicating the noise in response. It caught me off guard, as I had never in all my years felt my chest vibrating that way or heard that noise coming from myself. I felt mentally slow when it finally dawned on me that we were both purring.
But vampires only purr for their true mates, I thought to myself in confusion.
Yeah, dipshit, so what do ya think that means? Guess that pull you've been feeling isn't part of the sire bond after all, eh? My Major persona piped up inside my head. I don't know how ya managed to convince yaself of that shit anyway. It's not like ya ever felt that way toward any of the other hundreds of vampires you've sired, not even Pete and Char.
I didn't hear you saying anything about mates before now, so it's not like you knew either.
I knew she was MINE. Mine to care for and protect. That's all that really matters. It's not like she was ready for a physical relationship before anyway.
Right. She's still a child.
But growing rapidly. I'd say she's up to the equivalent of 11 or 12 right about now. At this rate, she'll be ready for us in just a few weeks. Maybe a month.
What do we do in the meantime?
The same thing we've been doing, asshole. We love her and protect her and be whatever she needs. Really, you're over thinking this. Don't turn into Eddie boy and make it all awkward and emo between you two.
Shit, don't even joke about it. I'll never turn into Assward.
So, just continue enjoying her company, and when she's ready for more, she'll let you know.
Good advice, I mentally chuckled. I knew there was some reason I kept ya around.
I was really glad Edward wasn't around to hear me debating with myself in my head. No need to advertise just how crazy I really was. I smiled down at my mate snuggled comfortably in my arms. She returned the smile and promptly dazzled me.
"Feeling better?" I asked her, giving her a gentle, loving squeeze.
"You always make me feel better, JasPurrr," she replied. I grinned, liking the new version of my name even better than the last one.
I heard a scuttling noise and looked up to see the rest of my family beaming at the two of us. I suddenly understood all the sly looks, smug smirks, muttered remarks, and snide innuendo from the past weeks. They'd all known, every last one of them. They'd known Bella was my mate and not one had thought to clue me in to it. Instead, they'd been laughing at me behind my back about how clueless I was. Narrowing my eyes and deciding payback was hell, I sent them the cramping pains and sense of desperate urgency resulting from impending diarrhea.
I shared my amusement with Bella, both of us watching with matching smirks, as the six of them bent over, clutching their abdomens and groaning, before racing out into the woods with the oddest looks on their faces. Yep, revenge was sweet.
xxxxxxx
AN: So, whatcha think? Several of you guessed the wolves were at the Denali's house, but I bet none of you saw this stuff coming, right? I don't think anyone has ever matched Tanya and Billy before. *snicker* And Aro is still a royal asshole. But at least Jaspurr has finally realized Bella is his mate. I warned you it was going to be a roller coaster ride from here to the end. *evil grin* Oh, yeah, and no more worry about Bella eating Charlie, right?