Thanks for reviewing! Not a lot to say…enjoy the chapter! Thanks to; MaryMary123, LordXeenTheGreat, BELLA X STARFIRE7745231, Ta1ia, Jessie8, KourtET, ellaryne, TwiLUVA, and heartstrings13; for reviewing! This chapters song is called My love by Sia Furler

My love, leave yourself behind

Beat inside me, leave you blind

My love, you have found peace

You were searching for relief

Forks, Washington, 2008
Victoria's Eleanor Ferrell's POV

The wind whipped my hair around me as I swung my arms back and forth, gaining more momentum with each stride. My head was pounding and my heart clenched when I smelt smoke. I knew something was off, I just knew it.

I flew past every tree, rock, and patch of moss. Soon things became shades of brown and green, the only thing on my mind was reaching that rising pillar of purple smoke I could see in the distance.

I knew I was dangerously close to the Cullen clan's manor, but that just drew me in more. If they had anything to do with this smoke, I knew James was dead. And if they killed him I would kill them. That's just how it worked in our world.

These thoughts blurred my eyes as they rimmed red. I was already concluding my mate's death, and that should be setting off all sorts of alarms in my mind. I pushed myself to run faster.

I could see a burning pile of black ash looming near the tree lining of the Cullen manor. I froze in my spot, afraid to get closer and be caught by one of them. I looked down at the pile and the small ashes that drifted my way.

I inhaled and almost let loose a terrifying scream. It was James. They killed my James.

I clenched my teeth together to keep the sobs and screams trapped in my throat. It would do no good if I just stormed in their house and fought blindly. Stupid newborns did that…newborns….

That could work! I would make an army of newborns, like the ones from the south! Then I would demolish the Cullen clan, piece by piece, and enjoy their cries for mercy. And when I find the one who killed James, they will be my personal prey…maybe even their mate.

I smiled a bit and felt like laughing. The signs of insanity were showing, but I could care less. Smirking to myself, I turned myself around with one last glance at the house. I could smell more vampires coming.

I ran back to the house were Laurent and Irina were, buried deep within the northern forest of Forks. It was quiet simple to obtain, just knocked on the door and drained the poor fool. He was a lonely fisherman, so the news would probably erupt in a few days. I would be gone by then.

But right now, I needed to settle something. It wasn't just the Cullen's who had a role in the murder of my mate. "Laurent, Irina!" I screeched as I tore the door of its hinges and charged into the living room.

They were sitting on the couch next to each other looking scared out of their minds with fear of my vengeance. Laurent nervously rose from the couch and held his hands up. "Victoria, I know you must be in pain now-", I cut him off with one clean upper cut to his jaw.

Irina gasped and stumbled over to her mate on the floor. "You don't know what I feel." I snarled at the two of them. He pathetically patted her shoulder and stood from the floor with her behind his body in a protective manor.

"James is dead and it's your entire fault." My voice was cold and hard, like a frozen layer of ice covering a lake. He didn't say a word. My anger rose.

"You fucking knew something was going to happen to him! Didn't you?" I growled ferociously and tossed a nearby lamp into the wall parallel, watching as it exploded and shards flew around the room.

"Victoria, we had no idea! I swear!" Irina fearful voice called from behind Laurent. I narrowed my eyes at her when she peered over his shoulder. "Do I look like I give a fuck? He. Is. Dead. And guess what I plan on doing next?"

I smiled sadistically when I saw the fear and confusion rise on their faces. "Now let's not be rash. We don't want a fight." Laurent spoke steadily, but I could easily detect the threat in his voice.

I laughed in his face and raised a brow. "Honestly Laurent, I could kill the two of you off while filing my nails. But I have a better proposition, one with a much greater outcome than your deaths." The giddiness of my tone made them cower in fear.

"What do you have in mind?" Irina whispered and slightly took a step out from behind her shelter. "That's more like it." I nodded in approval at her obedience.

"We will help you Victoria with whatever you need. But once we are finished, you must no longer associate yourself with us. You must let us leave peacefully, and can no longer request our help." Laurent demanded. I smirked at him and extended my hand.

Irina wearily glanced at her mate, but his hard eyes were staring me down as he extended his hand as well. We firmly grasped each other and I smiled wider. They had no idea what they just got themselves into.

Seattle, Washington, 2008
Irina May Denali's POV:

God what have I done?

Laurent and I had unknowingly agreed to slaughter half a city in search for soldiers for Victoria's newborn army. I should have realized Victoria was more sadistic than we gave her credit for. She sought revenge with such a passion; I was terrified by the mere thought of its outcome.

Losing James had been the last straw for her, and now she was out for blood…literally, no pun intended. I didn't know she would go as far as to creating an army, but I should have realized she didn't want to kill off one. She wanted to annihilate the Cullen clan, saving the one who killed her mate for last. And I had a fairly good idea who did it.

Though I never liked Bella, she didn't deserve what was coming for her. No one did. I could tell it was her because I don't believe anyone else would have had it in them to destroy James and walk away from the battle unharmed. She deserved to be the one who ended him. I just couldn't voice my opining, otherwise I would join James.

I already learned that voicing my thoughts was dangerous. When Victoria was mentioning her strategies, I questioned her on whether or not the future-seeking Cullen would be able to see her plans. That had stumped her.

Instead of throwing some huge tantrum like I had expected, she did something much more horrific and terrible. She made me her second in command, and the one who would be making all the decisions so that Alice won't see them.

That also implied that I did the most killings.

I had killed before when I was a newborn, but being as old as I was meant that I gained plenty of control over the centuries. This one bite could ruin everything for me, and I didn't intend on going down that road again.

But I had to do it to protect myself and my mate. She would surely kill the both of us of she thought we weren't suitable for the job. She wasn't exaggerating either when she said she could easily kill us. Victoria was old, almost around my age, but she had been gorging herself with human blood since day one. She was immensely powerful and extremely sadistic.

My first kill had been a week ago. I had killed many more after that, and now my eyes were a vibrant ruby red. His name was Diego. I had found him eating out of a dumpster near an old rundown bar in a dirty neighborhood.

I felt bad for him and decided he didn't deserve this life. So I gave him another one. One where he could be more powerful and content. He never thanked me (not that I expected him) but he rarely even talked to anyone. He didn't act like most newborns, and I found myself picturing him as a vegetarian instead.

That thought died down quickly after seeing his first kill.

Now the entire city was on guard. Rumors were spreading quickly of the mass murders which were implied by Laurent, Victoria, and I. All our newborns were being taken away with Victoria to a rundown hotel she had found in a quant part of the city. She taught them battle moves there while Laurent and I searched for new members and hunted with them.

This army was growing fast. Faster than any of us thought possible. So instead of fighting in a month, Victoria is planning on fighting in a week. She believes she can train all of these newborns in a week! But I honestly don't know what to think anymore. I just take her orders and comply; otherwise she might as well tell her pets to kill me.

Forks, Washington, 2008
Edward Anthony Mason Cullen's POV

Emmett swung the bat with an incredible vitality that seemed to overlook his actual strength. It collided with the oncoming ball like boulders falling over the side of a cliff. As the sound echoed throughout the forest, the ball flew past me.

I was about to make a run for it when I saw Jasper leapt from a tree and caught it in his hands. He smirked at me and threw it back to his wife. Emmett grumbled a few profanities as he walked back to home base.

I smiled at my quirky family and crouched down low for the next ball to fly at me. Rosalie stood up at base, bat perched in the air and hips bent. Alice slung her arm back and threw the ball forward.

Instead of hearing the loud crash of the ball and bat, I picked up someone's thoughts coming from within my radar. I froze and concentrated hard, narrowing my eyes and lowering my head.

I see seven of them…where is the eight?...

I knew this voice, because I heard it last time their unwanted presence was looming around my family. Laurent had returned, along with Irina I could only assume. I rose from my crouch in time to see Rose sliding to home base and making it in safe.

Emmett tossed her over his shoulders while Carlisle patted her shoulder as they passed. I had to be the one to interrupt my family's sweet moment when I gasped out, "Stop!"

Everyone froze and turned towards me. I ran in towards home plate and they followed suit, just as frantic. "Edward, what is it?" Emmett asked while putting his wife back on her feet. "I just heard Laurent" I said in a harsh tone.

Their facial expressions turned dark. "He has some nerve coming back here." Alice snarled while Jasper rubbed her arm, equally looking angered. Emmett growled and Rosalie's lips twitched into a snarl. Esme looked nervous and Carlisle had a cold and calculating expression on his face.

What exactly did you hear, son? I turned my head towards him, my face stone-like. "He was counting to make sure we were all here. He noticed one of us was missing." Carlisle frowned and I heard a sharp intake of breath from Esme.

"Bella's still at the house, what if they go there?" Her question made us all think of the horrifying outcomes that could possibly occur. Before I knew it, I was already half way ahead of my family, flying through the woods.

They were right on my ankles as I charged my way through the dirt. I scanned the forest for any other thoughts, but came up blank. "Can anyone else smell that?" Alice nervously spoke up.

I sniffed the air and almost stopped dead in my tracks. Burning ashes, otherwise known as the death of a vampire. I let out a strangled whimper and flew ahead of my family, leaving them in the dust.

"Bella!" I yelled when I burst through the tree linings and came within view of the house. I could definitely see the purple smoke pillars rising in the distance and their ashes brewing with the wind.

I burst through the house, throwing the door into the wall in my process. What I came across stopped me in my tracks. My Bella was sitting curled up on the couch looking paler than usual as she stared at nothing. She obviously hadn't been alerted of my presences yet, she looked like a corpse.

I knew the winter was her most emotionally challenging season, but I have never seen her this bad before. Ever. And the fact that the ashes that contaminated the wind weren't hers, made me overly relieved and also frightened. I didn't like to come to the conclusion that she had killed someone, but I was pretty obvious.

Honestly, I could care less if she did. But she definitely would take this to heart. And I could see it eating at her from the inside out. Even the slimiest of creatures deserved to be mourned in Bella's mind. Another reason why I had fallen in love with her.

I hesitantly walked towards her. Her head shot up when she heard me, but fell back down in shame as I sat next to her. I put my arm around her and pulled her closer to me so that she was practically in my lap. I rubbed soothing strokes along her arm while she exhaled in sharp breathes.

We were silent for a few moments until that silence was broken when the rest of the family burst through the door. "Bella!" Alice yelled. "What happened?" Jasper demanded. "Are you okay?" Rosalie nervously said.

I threw them all a look, telling them to back off for now. She needed her space and she would tell us when she was ready. They all sat down near us, looking at me then Bella. Each expression showed sympathy and concern.

"It was James." A soft child-like voice said. We all turned towards Bella with shock as she slowly sat up. She leaned into me like a scared puppy, and I held onto her tighter. "He showed up…a-and I-he…he just got to me. He tried to kill me, so instead I killed him." Her voice wavered and her eyes casted down in pain.

"Well don't feel bad about that Bella! That asshole deserves to rot in hell!" Rosalie said, her voice louder than necessary. "Yeah Bells, James saw it coming." Emmett opted and frowned while glancing out the window towards the fading smoke.

Everyone expressed their sympathy, and even Carlisle told Bella she did something good. "Riding James from this earth just means that you saved many other lives. Don't feel regret over that Bella, you did everything with good intentions."

I knew their words meant nothing to her right now. She was still in shock and pain. This hurt me more than she ever could imagine. I scooped her up in my arms and walked towards the stairs. I nodded towards Carlisle, silently telling him I was taking care of her. He nodded back and turned towards Esme.

I continued my slow journey towards the end of the hall where our room was. I set her down in the bathroom, on the counter top while dimming the lights and letting the sunset's beautiful flow fill the room. I ran the bath in the middle of the room and watched as it instantly filled up with warm steamy water.

Bella was still staring at the floor, continued to scare the hell out of me.

I gently walked over to her and drew her face up with my hand. Her eyes were glazed, but once she saw me they sparked back to life. "Edward" she whispered. I couldn't stand seeing her like this. I pulled her to me and felt her legs wrap around my back.

I rested my cheek on the crown of her head and gently said, "I know love, I know…how 'bout a bath?" She slightly inclined her head and I took that as a yes. I gently let my fingers slid down to the hem of her shirt and she lifted her hands.

I pulled the soft fabric over her head and let my eyes shamelessly glance down at her body. We had so much going on, we haven't been intimate lately. As if sensing my mood, she spoke up. "I've been hurting you, Edward."

That woke me up. "What?" I asked. She smiled sadly and looked towards my hand. She grasped mine in hers. "I'm not upset because of James…I'm upset…that I've been hurting you." I looked at her confused but before I could protest, she stopped me.

"Don't just…don't. Edward, up until two hours ago I finally realized I haven't been with you lately. There is so much going on, and I completely ignored you. Were supposed to be partners…mates…and I'm not being such a good wife. I know this is hard, but I need to be there for you as well. We both need each other, and I just feel like I'm not 'holding up my end of the bargain'."

Her words cut deep. I knew we were both under a lot of stress, but I hadn't a clue that she was so worried about me. I hoped her mind would be thinking about her wellbeing, not my satisfaction. And I knew she wasn't the only one to blame about this situation. "I've left you alone in this." I whispered painfully. What can I say? The truth hurt.

I could see her slowly uprising from her dark state. She shook her head violently and pulled me closer. "No, Edward, it was me. All of this happened…because of me. So I'm the one who needs to set things straight." I sighed and pressed my forehead on hers.

"Love, you already did fix it. James is dead. What more is there?" I tried to ease her nerves, but by saying that I made things worse. She got stone hard and paler than normal.

"Edward, have you forgotten? Last I checked, the Volturi have been hunting me down since I escaped Volterra a few decades ago. Also, there is the problem with the wolves, do we really know if they won't come up again? And then there is Kara and Maria…Irina and Laurent…broken imprints…Alexander…the Denali clan…." She looked like she was hyperventilating, the poor angel.

I knew she needed to let it out. So I did the only thing I could. I scooped her up in my arms and crushed her into me while she cried. I carried her over towards the tub and didn't bother taking off the rest of our clothes. I gently sat down and put her in between my legs.

Her soft cries echoed in the silent room and I rubbed her arm and whispered sweet nothing to ease her. Each heart jerking sob that filled the room punctured my heart. She didn't deserve any of this, and she had been through so much. My Bella was so strong and courageous, yet she saw herself as a weakling, a threat to the family's wellness.

Moments later I felt a warm pressure being gently applied to my chest. I looked down and saw Bella slowly lift her head with a tiny smile on her face. "Thank you" She whispered like a child thanking their parent for getting them something they always wanted. I smiled brightly; glad to see she was better now.

"It was my pleasure, sweetheart. Now let's get you washed off…" I trailed off and started to scoop water into my palm and let it soak her hair and shoulders. Her small hand shot out and grabbed mine mid scoop. "Shouldn't we take off the rest of our clothes first?" I could hear the mischievous in her voice.

My eyes darkened slightly as she bent down to pull the legs of her pants off her legs. I stopped her and watched as she gasped in pleasure at the touch of my fingers gliding down her legs. After helping her change, she returned to favor by riding me of my own clothes.

And the rest was history.

After our intense session in the bath, Bella and I had changed and were currently cuddled up together on our bed. The soft scent of her strawberry shampoo filled my nose. I absolutely loved it.

I was kissing her softly over any skin exposed. Her neck, ears, lips, cheeks, arms etc. She giggled when my hands started to circle a sensitive spot. "Edward, I actually like this outfit!" She groaned and swatted my hand away, standing up and moving towards the book shelf.

I groaned at the slight rejection and rolled over to watch her. She had on black skinny jeans that molded to her legs perfectly and made her butt look amazing, a white flowing top that illuminated her skin, and a pair of five inch dark blue heels that made her legs look longer. I had to admit, I loved that outfit as well.

As she was reaching for a book, a shriek filled the air. Bella flinched and I shot off the bed towards her. We both looked towards the door when it went flying into the wall…and there stood a grinning Emmett and a smirking Alice.

"Can we help you?" Bella hissed, looking annoyed that they ruined our time together and made that god awful sound. Alice danced into the room and jumped onto our bed, not caring that we gave her a stern look. Emmett chuckled and waltzed in after her.

"Enough feeling each other up, you can do that tomorrow! Tonight our weather broadcaster-", Emmett gestured to Alice who then bowed, "predicts snow. You know what that means? Sledding, skiing, and snowboarding with the Cullen clan!" I rolled my eyes and saw Bella smirking at the two of them.

"You up for it love?" I asked her as I wrapped my arms around her waist and nestled my face into her shoulder. She grinned wider and replied, "I remember a few years back when I schooled Emmett in a snowball fight. Of course I'm up for it!" I grinned at the memory as well and saw Alice giggling and Emmett frowning.

"Whatever, were having a rematch." He narrowed his eyes at Bella and walked out of the room with his head held high. Five seconds later the three of us started to laugh uncontrollably. "Alright I should probably go, Emmett is going to cause a fit." Alice said while prancing down the stair case.

I sighed and grabbed my loves hand. "This will be…entertaining?" She asked looking confused and devious. I smiled and nodded. From reading my family's minds, I knew they wanted to make Bella feel like this would be a good Christmas. I was grateful for that, but I knew it would be a difficult challenge.

As we advanced towards the last step, I saw everyone had put on their coats, scarfs, and gloves. Though the cold didn't bother us, it was always fun to dress for the occasion. "Bella! I need to change you! Come with me my doll!" Alice said while dropping Jaspers hand and dragging Bella towards her room, Rose towing behind them.

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