AN: Here it is, as promised! Hope you enjoy it . . .

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Chapter 49 - Finishing off the Newborns

Bella POV

Nstnx was in her element, guiding me to save my mother, instructing me on the best way to support my mate in battle. She knew how to keep me from distracting him from his duty during crucial moments, as well as when to step in and speed up the process of destroying our enemy.

Nstnx kept me focused on the threat when Mom got hurt, while still monitoring the situation with her to make sure Dad had it all under control. He was, after all, the best possible person to go to her aid and render any necessary care. My mate needed me to stay where I was and assist him with the last group of newborns.

At least, that was the plan until Nstnx alerted me to the suspicious body language of the leftover boy from the center group. Though his facial expression gave no hint of his emotions or intentions, his body language told a different story. Each tiny shift was so minute even a vampire could be forgiven for missing it, but put all together, he was screaming loud and clear his intention to do us harm, to try to take control.

From what I have seen of humans on TV, the body language signals are vastly different between humans and vampires. I'm relatively clueless about a human's thoughts, feelings, and intentions based upon the way they move, appear, and sound. However, the opposite is true with vampires. This was the reason Emmett could never put one over on me. He would try to throw me off with human expressions and behaviors, seemingly oblivious to what his vampire expressions and actions were telling me.

Nstnx was the genius behind this ability, which seemed to be innate, much as a baby animal learns how to 'read' its mother. I could tell when Mom was angry, anxious, or sad, no matter how widely she smiled, how upbeat or bright her tone of voice, or which activity she chose to distract her from whatever was bothering her.

Now, Nstnx was pointing out the signs warning of imminent betrayal. The dip of the enemy's eyebrows and tightening of his lips showed he had identified Dad as the leader of our 'army'. The flaring of his nostrils and backward shift of his weight clearly announced his imagined superiority to my father. The momentary flair of his right eyebrow, accompanied by the twitching of all his fingers on both hands and the brief widening of his eyes, indicated he had decided the quickest way to subdue Dad was to capture Mom. The left to right slash of his eyes taking in the current situation, the loosening of his left cheek, the straightening of his spine, and the curling of his toes warned me he would attack at first opportunity, while everyone was distracted.

He will not get away with it, I vowed, inching closer to my parents without drawing the enemy's attention. How do I stop him? I wondered, hoping Nstnx would have an idea.

We know he will attack, and we will get a very slight head's up when he eases into position to lunge, Nstnx reminded me. The real question is - do we attack him directly, intercepting him before he gets to her, or do we remove her from harm's way? To me, the choice is simple. Think about it for a moment, weigh the potential consequences of each, and you will have your answer.

The obvious choice is to intercept him, much as my Jasper has done with the newborns as they have attacked us. However, I am not a skilled fighter like Jasper and could possibly lose the upper hand. While it would successfully keep the enemy from hurting Mom, there is a decent chance I could get bitten or otherwise injured in the process. While I'm certain I would eventually prevail against the other vampire, even a small injury to my person would upset and distract Jasper, potentially at a crucial time. In the face of my injury, our semi-mated status would wreak havoc on his concentration, as every aspect of his being would be aching to heal and claim me fully. He or others in our family could be injured while he was struggling to focus on the battle, rather than on me.

Jasper would also be angry with me for risking myself, even in defense of my mother, believing it was Daddy's duty to protect her, just as it was his duty to protect me. Dad would be hurt and angry, mostly at himself, believing he had failed in his duties as a protector for his wife and daughter. While he would be thankful for the rescue of his mate, he would forever blame himself for any damage to me.

All of this negativity and risk would be avoided by the second option. Removing Esme from harm's way would remove myself from harm's way at the same time. It would then leave the attacker to the mercy of my father, allowing him to protect both of us. This would soothe his masculine ego, as Dad dishes out whatever justice he deems appropriate for the enemy who not only traitorously attacking during a truce, but also attempted to seriously harm his mate. Additionally, my Jasper would be proud of my quick action without fearing for my wellbeing.

The second option it is, I easily decided, crouching down into position, carefully aiming myself to scoop up mom without crashing into Dad.

Excellent choice! Nstnx praised. See how proud Jasper is! He is beginning to see you as his equal now, to respect you the way he should. Soon Major will agree, and they will claim you together, uniting the way they always should have, would have had Maria not tortured him, forcing him to dissociate his heart and conscience from his natural instincts. You will heal the damage, as only you can, making him whole again within himself.

Seeing the glimmer in his eyes when he glanced my way, I smiled to myself, knowing Nstnx was right. As soon as the threat is gone, he's all mine!

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Jasper POV

It was time to interrogate our prisoners, but Carlisle was in no position to give them the spiel on peace, vegetarianism, and brotherly love.

I guess we'll have to do it, I thought glumly.

Major rolled our eyes. Somehow I doubt I'll be able to give that speech justice. 'Come suck squirrels with us and sing Kumbaya, while helping widows and orphans, reciting the boy scout motto, and escorting little old ladies across the street. Come relive high school over and over, because it was so good the first time, and generally waste your life away listening to total idiots teach lies about things in history that never happened the way they claim, getting lusted after by your natural food source, and being unable to kill the pathetic cattle who hit on your mate, right in front of you. Be forever treated like a naughty little child, no matter how old you really are, and give up all hope of any privacy in your life whatsoever.' I don't know why they wouldn't be racing to sign up for his brilliant plan.

I tried really hard not to smirk, but he was way too fucking amusing and horribly accurate about my fifty years of life with the Cullens thus far. Somehow I doubted I'd ever be able to go back to the high school scene ever again after this. Really, it was so hard to pretend to care that somebody wore the wrong color shirt with last year's pants or so-and-so kissed such-and-such behind the bleachers last period, when it was so vastly unimportant.

Admit it! Major crowed. We'd be doing their parents and the rest of society a FAVOR if we just fucking ATE most of them!

You know Carlisle's argument - we might accidentally eat the next Einstein, I reminded him, not wanting to admit the thought had crossed my mind more than once. As if I could hide anything from the other part of myself that occupied the same mental space.

Ha! As if we couldn't tell the difference between a psychotic serial killer and a quirky inventor, Major sneered. You know as well as I do, that the only reason Hitler lasted as long as he did was all the meals he had delivered to the German vampires. Nobody noticed all the exsanguinated bodies mixed amongst the others in the mass graves from the concentration camps. Does Carlisle actually condone the Volturi's decision not to punish the Hapsburg coven for the aid they gave that madman, all in the name of a free meal? How could the Volturi condemn them when they practice the same cruelty, leading droves of tourists to their deaths, with no thought to who they are or what they have to offer? Still, the utter waste of human life in World War II was over ten times worse than the damage caused by the Volturi in a thousand years! How many doctors, teachers, scientists, and inventors were killed that could have made this world a better place given the chance? How many innocent children were tortured and murdered simply for being born at the wrong time in the wrong place? How many kind, loving, compassionate people met their fates in places of unimaginable cruelty, simply because they couldn't turn a blind eye to injustice? Somebody should have just eaten Adolf back when he was a pathetic loser of a teenager and saved the world all that trouble!

Hey, you're preaching to the choir here, I protested.

I know, he sighed. Maybe now that Carlisle has finally merged with his inner animal, he'll see that nothing is as simple as he wants to make it. Every significant decision ever made has both positive and negative consequences for somebody. Nothing is all good or all bad - the whole world operates in shades of gray.

As Major ranted in our mind, we had been making our way over to the cowardly newborns Carlisle wished to save. Suddenly, one of them snapped and attacked Rose, biting her on her lower leg. Emmett roared in defense of his mate, tearing off the bastard's head and tossing it into the fire without a second thought. He then allowed Rose to take out her anger, pain, and hatred on the remainder of the asshole's body while he attempted to put the fear of God into the other four runners.

Make that the fear of the God of War! Major gloated, seeing the way they were cowering back from us and our scars.

"What do you want me to do with these, Major?" Bella inquired, holding out the heads of Victoria and Riley, dangling them from her fingertips by their hair and wrinkling her nose as if they were the foulest pieces of shit she'd ever encountered.

"Burn 'em, sugar. We don't need 'em anymore," I replied casually, waving my hand dismissively.

"Sure thing, Major," Bella agreed with a wink and a smirk. She tossed them over her shoulders straight into the flames without even looking.

It was nothing more than a vampire parlor trick, but it still freaked out the newbies nonetheless. Their eyes widened in fear and awe as they stared at my mate and her ease in ridding the world of their masters.

"There, you have nothing more to fear from the ones who made you and filled you full of lies," I declared. "Vampire law decrees that all newborns must be properly supervised for the first year by experienced vampires. Normally, you would all be immediately sentenced to death for your part in attacking us, but our leader, the famous Carlisle Cullen, is willing to forgive and forget. His compassion is astounding to all those who hear of his deeds, even more so to those who have the honor of witnessing it. If you are willing to partake of his alternative lifestyle, he will allow you to join our coven, his family, with all the rights and privileges that conveys."

"Alternative lifestyle? Oh, hell, no!" one of the men shouted, struggling onto his knees, one of which was merely an oozing stump. "I'd rather die!"

"That can be arranged," Billy snickered, having moved in to help. He grabbed the man and pitched him headfirst into the flames. The venom leaking from his knee and ankle were enough to send the fire roaring to life, whooshing up over his body and consuming him completely in two seconds flat.

Two down, three to go, Major smirked.

"Billy!" Tanya shouted, smacking the back of his head. "He thought we were talking about homosexuality! You killed him over a misunderstanding!"

Billy raised an eyebrow. "The guy was clearly an asshole, Tanya! Would you really want a guy like that living in your house?"

"No," Tanya admitted, rolling her eyes. "But that doesn't mean he deserves to die."

Billy shrugged, not looking the least bit remorseful. "Oops."

Tanya huffed, folding her arms across her chest, and giving him the cold shoulder. Billy began working his mate magic to earn her forgiveness, nibbling on her neck and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. I chose to tune the both of them out at that point, not wanting to become distracted by their lusty emotions.

"You killed my mate! I hate you! I hate you all! I'm going to kill you!" one of the females started going berserk, trying to bite anyone and everyone she could, including her fellow newborns. They began screaming in fear and killed her themselves in an attempt to save themselves from her wrath. Emmett and I exchanged glances as the remaining two tossed the deranged one's limbs into the nearby fire. We both shrugged our shoulders at the same time and chuckled. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

I turned back to the final two, ready to continue my little spiel on life with the Cullen clan, but was stopped by a hand on my shoulder. I looked behind me, recognizing Carlisle's emotional signature. He was clinging to Esme, needing the comfort she offered to retain some measure of his customary calm and control. He couldn't hide the riot of chaotic emotions bubbling just under the surface from me, though nearly everyone else would be fooled by his demeanor.

I smiled encouragingly at him and ushered him forward, gladly turning over the diplomacy effort to him. As he began speaking enthusiastically to the prisoners, I pulled my mate away toward where several of the other family members were congregating.

"I hate feeling useless," Kate complained. She and Carmen had returned with Laurent, Irina, and the girl.

"Who's the girl?" I asked, nodding toward the young teenager helping Laurent fuse Irina's body parts back together.

"This is Bree," Carmen explained. "She helped take care of Irina all this time, trying to ease her pain and misery as much as possible, and showed us all the places Victoria tossed Irina's body parts on the way to the clearing. Laurent and Irina have decided to adopt her as their daughter, and she's amenable to the idea, having formed a connection to Irina while caring for her."

I could sense Bree's emotions were sincere in her caring and concern for Irina and Irina's for her. Laurent was highly grateful to Bree and willing to give Irina anything she wanted for the rest of eternity to make up for what she suffered at Victoria's hand. He blamed himself for allowing his mate to walk right into Victoria's trap, even though he didn't have any idea of what Victoria had planned.

"I see we're down to only four newborns, including Bree and Freaky Fred," Kate remarked in a bored voice.

"Freaky Fred?" Bella asked.

Kate nodded. "That's what Bree called the guy Peter, Charlotte, and Eleazar have been interrogating. He's got some kind of weird talent that makes people not want to be around him."

"Like Edward?" I asked, tongue in cheek, making Kate and Carmen laugh.

"Except, in Fred's case, it isn't a matter of personality," Kate snarked back. "Bree considers him a decent guy, a good friend."

"Don't you have anything better to do than pick on a guy who isn't even here to defend himself?" Tanya accused, coming over to join our group, with Billy still wrapped around her.

"Unfortunately not," Kate grumbled.

"What about finding and burning all the feet and legs of the newborns who've already had the rest of their body tossed into the fire?" Bella suggested.

"Good idea!" Carmen praised. "C'mon honey, let's go be useful."

"Great," Kate replied, rolling her eyes. She chuckled. "Well, it sure beats waiting around for something else interesting to happen."

Tanya, Billy, and Chief followed the two of them off into the forest to help them gather the missing pieces. They were soon joined by Jake and Jane, with Jane showing particular relish and satisfaction each time she sent a stray foot into the fire. Her feelings were closely matched by Jake, who seemed to be enjoying bringing the body parts to Jane for disposal, giving a big doggie grin in response to her smile each time. Chief brought Fred's feet to Peter and the other newborns' feet and legs to me, trusting me to return or dispose of them as Carlisle determined.

I took advantage of the lull in activity to quickly check over my Bella, making sure she hadn't been injured in her bid to save Esme. She did the same to me, worried one of the attackers might have gotten in a bite or a scratch before being beheaded.

I laughed, "Darlin', do you really believe I'd let an untrained newbie make a mark on me?"

"Oh, Major," she purred, smirking up at me as she rubbed her hands up my chest. "I believe an untrained newbie DID make a mark on you just a few hours ago."

Her eyes were laughing mischievously as she stroked her fingers over the mating mark she'd given me.

"Mmm, sugar, I did make an exception for you, especially since I was in a REALLY good mood at the time," I teased back in kind, nuzzling her neck. She moaned into my ear as my lips found a sweet spot, causing my dick to harden in my pants.

Good grief, we are actually making out in the middle of a conflict, smack dab in the center of the damn battlefield, Major groaned in shock.

I told you we would if we could! I laughed back, grinding my pelvis into my mate. I felt her little hands sneak up and grab my ass, squeezing it and pulling me closer. Our eyes rolled up into our head in delight.

Kiss her, damn it! What the hell are you waiting for? Major roared in our mind.

Uh, the battle? I reminded him smugly, pleased to see him just as affected as me, if not more so.

Fuck the battle! Major growled, taking control of our body and planting a passionate kiss on our mate. Both of us quickly became lost in her scent, her taste, the feel of her body against ours.

Nearly oblivious to our surroundings, only one small part of my mind monitoring for danger, I was jolted back to awareness by a wolf head butting insistently against the back of my knee. Reluctantly breaking away from my mate's mouth, I raised my head and looked around through heavy lidded eyes.

"Ooops," I murmured, my eyes opening wide.

Bella looked around too and began giggling. I rubbed the back of my neck and grinned sheepishly. "Guess I was projecting," I confessed.

"Guess so," she agreed, still giggling. She affectionately rubbed her cheek against my chest, freeing me from my embarrassment as I felt her pride, love, and amusement wash through me.

It is pretty amusing and a good testament to our passion, I admitted to myself. Laurent had paused in his mission of putting Irina back together and was now trying to distract her from her pain by bringing her pleasure, his hand quite clearly slipped under her skirt and into her panties, working its magic while his tongue danced with hers. Poor Bree was confused and embarrassed, her back turned to her new parents as she rocked herself back and forth muttering something about needing brain bleach.

Peter and Charlotte had lost their bottoms and were actively going at it against a nearby tree, while Fred watched them, jacking himself off in time to Peter's thrusts.

I don't like that boy. He doesn't need a talent to repulse others, Major declared in disgust. Peeping pervert. He couldn't have closed his eyes like a decent lad? Pete's gonna pop out the boy's eyeballs if he catches him staring at Char like that.

A little ways into the woods, Billy had Tanya bent over a fallen tree, eagerly taking her from behind, pounding into her hard enough to shake the large trunk with each thrust. Her arms were stretched up behind her, wrapped around his neck, clearly enjoying his ministrations. Eleazar and Carmen were still fully clothed, though she was lying down on the ground with him on top of her, her legs wrapped around his hips. Kate was watching Fred and licking her lips while fingering herself.

At least she's focusing on someone who's unmated, Major snorted. Maybe she should go help him out so he can take his eyes off of Pete's mate. The least he could do is focus on Kate instead of Char.

Emmett had Rose contorted in one of the oddest positions from the Kama Sutra, and the newborns were buck naked, furiously fucking with no regard for who might be watching. Most shocking was seeing Esme wrapped around Carlisle, her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, as he stood there dry humping her with abandon, oblivious to their audience. No matter how many times I had projected lust throughout the house, both intentionally and unintentionally, I had never seen him simply give into the emotion like that. He always managed to whisk Esme behind closed doors before expressing the physical aspects of his passionate love for her.

Like Laurent, Chelsea and Charlie had abandoned their mission of reconnecting Alec's limbs and were now seated on the ground beside the body, Chelsea in Charlie's lap, as they slowly and sweetly explored one another with their hands and mouths. Able to sense his mate's anxiety related to physical intimacy, Charlie was allowing her to lead their explorations, careful not to push her beyond her comfort level. For her part, Chelsea was surprised and amazed at the pleasure she was feeling from her makeout session, indicating she'd been abused in her past. I made a mental note to have Rose and Esme chat with her later.

Most disturbing to me was Jake and Jane. Jake, still in wolf form, was sprawled out on his back on the ground, displaying his stallion sized goods for all to see. Jane was straddling his neck and upper chest, and his snout was burrowed under her skirt. She was in complete control, firmly gripping the sides of his massive head in her hands, as his hot tongue lapped at her icy pussy, causing her to melt on top of him as he brought her to orgasm. Jane was just as shocked, awed, amazed, and surprised as Chelsea, informing me of the strong likelihood of abuse in her background as well.

She's just a child, or she was when she was human, I thought. Who would rape a child? Sick bastard! No doubt that was the first orgasm of her existence. Has she suffered as a vampire too, or simply shied away from intimacy due to bad experiences in her human life?

While I felt bad for her and glad Jacob was willing to let her dominate him, it was still disturbing to see her pale young body perched on top of the horse-sized wolf, engaged in what any uninformed bystander would consider bestiality.

"Okay, now that just gives me the creeps," Bella complained with a shudder. She was looking at the same couple I was. "Couldn't he at least have transformed into a human? Because that looks disgusting. Like she's having her pet dog service her. And don't his thoughts project to Chief and Billy when he's in wolf form? Does he really want to share that experience with them?"

Those are some good points. I need to have a little chat with Jake later, for all our sakes. I doubt he's had time to consider any of the ramifications of his new relationship, I decided.

Shielding my mate from witnessing any more of these inappropriate public displays of affection, I made my way over to Carlisle, shortly after he and Esme climaxed. They were nuzzling each other contentedly, lost in their own world, with their eyes closed. I hated to interrupt, but we needed to get back on track. I cleared my throat, simply to gain their attention in a nonthreatening manner, and they quickly sprang apart.

I saw and felt the moment the realization, of what they'd just done and where, hit Carlisle. If he could have blushed, he would have been redder than a stop sign. His eyes widened, his mouth dropped open, and his emotions became a jumble of panicked freak out. His gaze worriedly sought out Esme's, afraid she would resent the way he'd just treated her, embarrassing her in front of their friends and family in a vulgar display.

Instead of being upset or embarrassed, Esme had quickly moved on to relief and amusement. "Don't worry, Carlisle," she giggled. "I think everyone was too busy to notice."

Taken aback, Carlisle quickly perused the clearing, noting the compromising positions of everyone else. He laughed, trying to hide it as a cough, then met my eyes. "I take it somebody was projecting?" he teased, remembering the last thing he'd seen before becoming overwhelmed with passion himself. "That must have been some kiss, son."

I smirked and nodded.

Bella peeked out from my chest and giggled. "It's good to know the passion doesn't die with age, Dad. I'm glad things are just as exciting after eighty years as they are after one, right Mom?"

Carlisle harrumphed and turned away quickly. "Yes, well, time to get back to business."

Esme giggled and winked at Bella. Carlisle caught it and smirked at his mate before regaining his customary calm.

He nudged the newborns with his foot and barked, "For goodness sake, control yourselves. Time to come up for air now."

They growled but pulled apart and sat up, unashamed of their nudity. I knew this was likely a common occurrence for them, as it had been in the newborn camps I had run. Newborns were all about blood and sex. Maria didn't even bother trying to clothe them, having victims brought to the camp rather than sending the newborns out hunting. She kept the clothing off of our victims to have some on hand if needed.

"We've decided to join your group and try your ways," the male announced.

"Do you agree as well?" Carlisle asked the female, wanting to be certain she was making her own decision and not being coerced by the male.

"Yes, absolutely," the female agreed, nodding her head emphatically. I studied them carefully and detected an underlying current of deceit.

"Charlie!" I called. "Your services are needed over here!"

Carlisle looked at me in alarm, then nodded slowly, edging Esme behind him again. A few seconds later, Charlie joined us, leaving Chelsea to finish putting her son back together. Charlie quickly realized I wanted him to use his gift, without me having to say it to him.

As soon as I felt his supernatural truth serum pushing out and into the vampires around him, I turned to the newborns and sternly demanded, "What is your plan?"

The male promptly sung like a canary, "We're going to pretend to go along with whatever you say so you'll give us back our missing limbs. Then we'll bide our time until you trust us enough to share your secrets, your strengths and your weaknesses, and then provide us with the opportunity to escape, taking our knowledge with us. We'll then barter that knowledge with other vampires to get whatever we need to create a stable life for ourselves."

"Only sick, twisted vampires would choose to feed from animals instead of humans. I overheard Victoria talking to someone from Volterra over the phone one day. She was told Aro wanted you all dead, Cullens and Denalis, and was counting on Victoria to do the job for him. She knew he was sending some of his guard to pick up the gifted amongst all of us and hoped he'd spare her life if she accomplished his goal for him. She was told the Guard would be destroying any nongifted stragglers who survived the initial conflict. That's why I ran in the first place. Now I was hoping to be able to burn down your house with all of you inside, in an effort to appease Aro and continue my existence," The female casually informed us, her eyes widening in horror the entire time she was speaking. "What just happened? Why did I tell you that?" she shrieked.

Carlisle had gotten more and more tense with each word they spoke, each truth they revealed. With a sick, betrayed look on his face, he waved his hand dismissively to Emmett and Rose, who promptly discarded the potential traitors, removing the opportunity for them to harm us. Most of the other vampires had joined us by this time, having heard the newborns confessing.

Turning to Jane, he brokenly inquired, "Is that true? Are you here to steal our gifted, then kill the rest of us?"

Jane whimpered and nodded, admitting, "Those are the orders we were given by Aro himself. That's not the worst of it though. Alice and Edward are nothing more than heads in a box, sat beside Aro's throne. They refused to join the guard, so Aro had them beheaded and put their heads into an aquarium filled with human blood. Their bodies are hidden somewhere deep underneath the castle in the catacombs. Aro uses their gifts without their consent, needing only to touch their heads to know what they know."

"What?" Carlisle cried, falling to his knees in agony. "I have betrayed my children into the hands of a monster!"

Jane whimpered again and agreed, "He is the devil incarnate. He has been holding us against our will for hundreds of years, forcing us to do his dirty work. We have wished many times to run away, but Aro never allows Alec's mate, Renata any measure of freedom. She is constantly guarded, even during her private moments of intimacy with Alec. Aro even removed her voice box, rendering her mute, so she couldn't speak of anything she learned while protecting Aro from attack during his more nefarious dealings."

Jane's revelations shook us all, even Eleazar, who had witnessed some of the depravity of which Aro was capable.

"We must fight them, Carlisle," Esme insisted, her voice determined. "Edward and Alice deserved to be punished for their transgressions, but not to be tortured. Nobody deserves what Aro has done to them. We need to free Renata too and anyone else being held there against their will."

Carlisle drew himself up, squared his shoulders, and declared, "We will fight, and we will prevail."

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AN: So what do you think? It's coming along nicely now, isn't it? I've even got the next chapter outlined . . .