Summary - "Bella is an average girl, struggling with her homosexuality and her life at home. Can the love of not one, but three vampires help show her that she shouldn't be afraid? A/B/R/V".
Author's Notes – Inspired by my dear friend Hollowgo...
Rating - Older Teen to Mature
By: WDG and Lash_Larue
The Garden of Four - Chapter Thirty One - The Fight of War
"Still this afternoon, Alice?" Bella asked. Sam and Jake from the Quileutes, along with Shelia, Alicia, and Melinda from the school and Tanya with her sisters Irina and Kate had all gathered in the Cullens' living room to finalize their plans for the battle.
"Three-thirty, near as I can tell," Alice confirmed, "they're all coming."
"Good," Emmett responded, "get all the rats in one trap."
"How many?" Charlie asked.
"Thirty-one, not counting the wives, and whatever they may be, they aren't fighters. The brothers; Aro, Caius, and Marcus. Renata, Aro's shield, Alec and Chelsea. Twenty-five fighters, the most dangerous of which are Felix and Demitri. Two of those will be with the wives, at least to start with."
A hush fell over the group as they realized the full gravity of the situation.
"And on our side?" Charlie asked further.
"The ten of us," Carlisle replied, (he counted Bella and Charlie among those) and Tanya and her sisters, so thirteen here."
"All of us can be counted as fighters," Bella said, and Emmett grinned as he looked at Esme. Esme was the gentlest soul any of them had ever known, but threaten her family and, well… "Sam?"
"Eighteen. 16 have fought vampires before. We've been running long patrols ever since you got turned, Bella. We got intel on where to find the sort we could kill, and we always took a couple potentials with us to encourage them to change. We're paired up, five pairs for the main battle, and four to sweep up any strays," Sam told her.
"Better than I expected," Bella admitted, "thanks, Sam." Sam nodded, and Jacob grinned widely.
"You know," Emmett said slowly, "I could get to like these mutts, if it weren't for the smell."
"Same here, Moose," Jacob replied. Charlie snorted; Jake was even bigger than Emmett.
"Shelia?" Bella asked.
"We did the commanded change earlier today. I have twenty full-wolf lycans and 15 intermediate ones, not counting Alicia and myself. All of the full wolf ones will fight. Most of the intermediate ones can serve as backup. Four of them are just too young to fight, but they can work parts detail, Bradley will stay with Melinda," Shelia informed her.
"Dad?"
"I couldn't make the change this time, but don't worry. I have my part to play and I have to be in human form to play it, anyway. I still have a duty to the citizens of this municipality, and aside from Tanya and her sisters, that means everybody here." Melinda embraced him. "Melinda will be at the back, waiting to help the injured. She and Carlisle have worked things out between them to handle the wounded. Don't worry, Bells, I've got more sense than to take on a vampire by myself in anything less than pure wolf form, and I haven't even done that yet. I'll hang back with Melinda and Bradley once things start. She and Brad will take care of me."
"Indeed," Carlisle said, "I've never met a healer like Melinda. If we can get the injured to the infirmary alive, they'll stay that way."
"Okay, so roughly two to one in favor of us, even if none of the Volturi run or surrender," Bella summed up. "Does anybody think we need to let them know what they're up against?"
"Fuck no," said Sam, "these assholes are coming here to kill. It's just their tough luck that they're biting off more than they can chew. They're coming expecting a slaughter, and they'll get one."
"Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke," Emmett agreed with a grin, and he and Sam slapped a high-five.
"All of the lycans and the shifters are familiar with my scent, right?" Bella asked.
"Uhhh, yeah, Bella," Jake muttered, "ummm, Leah and Taylor have kind of been broadcasting stuff since you gave us those samples."
"It's downright embarrassing," Sam admitted.
"Oh, sorry, guys," Bella said with a blush.
"Of course all of the lycans know your scent, Bella," Alicia assured her. Emmett was uncharacteristically silent on the subject. He knew Tanya's sister Kate would lay him out if he said anything lewd.
"Okay guys, I guess we're as ready as we'll ever be," Bella told her troops. "Sam, Shelia, you guys know what to do. I'll let you know when to move in."
"You sure you don't want us to thin them down some on the way in, Bells?" Jake asked hopefully.
"Why give them a hint? Let's just fuck 'em up all at once."
"Works for me," Sam said happily.
The group broke up and headed for home to finalize arrangements.
"Can you sleep, Bella?" Victoria asked her when the four had retired to their room.
"I can wake you in plenty of time," Alice promised her.
"I dunno about sleeping, but I could use a good cuddle," Bella admitted, and she curled up on the bed with the three cool bodies of her mates surrounding her. The scent of her lovers helped to ease the terror that was trying to creep into her mind.
"It will work out, Charlie," Melinda said as she pulled him to her.
"I know, I just –"
"Shhhh," Melinda whispered, and her lips found his.
"They're coming," Alice announced, "just a couple minutes now."
"Be cool everybody", Bella commanded, although she herself longed to be standing with her mates rather than concealed with Shelia in the forest.
The stage was set; all that remained was the arrival of the audience.
A shadow rolled from beneath the trees, and the Volturi swept majestically across the Cullens' broad lawn, only to draw to an abrupt halt at the sight that greeted them.
The Cullens and Tanya and her sisters were all wearing Seattle Mariner's jerseys and hats, and were casually tossing a baseball around at only slightly below the speed of sound. Charlie was squatting in front of a small fire, roasting two hotdogs on a forked stick.
"Hi," said Charlie in greeting, "we've been expecting you. We are gathered here to celebrate two great American traditions, baseball, and cooking out. Weenie?" He extended the stick towards the Volturi.
"You have no business here, mortal," hissed Caius.
"You're wrong there," Charlie replied. "I am the Chief of Police of this township, and the Cullens are my friends and my family. I know all about you. You've set yourselves up as some kind of authority, and that might work where you come from, but not here. This is my country, my state, and my town. I represent the law here, and the Cullens are citizens of my town. Carlisle, do you want these people to be here?"
"No, Chief Swan, I do not," Carlisle said calmly.
"Then you are all trespassing on private property," Charlie informed them. "Leave at once, or I'll have no choice other than to place you under arrest."
For a moment the Volturi were shocked into silence.
"Carlisle my old friend," said Aro sadly, "you have revealed us to mortals? You must know better. And what of Jane? What can you tell us of Jane?"
"Carlisle doesn't feel like talking, and I repeat that you're trespassing," Charlie replied. Aro ignored him, but Caius was fuming.
"Well, my friend," Aro said smoothly, "will you not touch me, that I might know the truth?"
"Enough!" screamed Caius. "They killed Jane, they consort with mortals, they must pay!"
"Bella," Edward sent, having read the Volturi's minds and seen Alec using his powers, "it has begun."
Things happened quickly after that.
Caius gestured to one of the fighters, a new member, since Charlie was only a mortal. The vampire rushed at Charlie carelessly, overconfident.
Charlie was of course far faster and stronger than a normal human, he executed a hip throw, and the vampire landed in the campfire, screaming in pain. That would not have mattered much, except that at the same moment one of the younger lycans who was concealed in a tree pressed a button, and with an ear-splitting shriek a mixture of gases flooded down the pipes that Rosalie had laid, and a huge column of white-hot fire erupted, reducing the vampire to ashes in seconds.
"You're under arrest," Charlie said as he backed away.
For a fraction of a second, the Volturi were stunned into immobility.
That was all Bella and Shelia needed. Two huge white shapes poured from the forest, and in an instant the top halves of Alec and Chelsea had joined the hapless young vampire in the inferno.
Bella skidded around and faced the Volturi, her teeth bared.
"On your face on the ground, or die!" she told them all.
Renata instantly threw herself to the ground, as did both of the wives and three of the fighters.
"Now we settle this!" bellowed Emmett as he launched himself at Felix, the two collided with the sound of a pair of semis in a head-on wreck.
Tanya and her sisters swarmed over Aro as he turned in confusion to his shield. Kate shocked him into immobility and the sisters ripped him to shreds and scattered the pieces widely. A young lycan took charge of the head, being careful to spit on it.
Edward and Jasper converged on Dimitri, and while the Volturi managed to give Jasper his one thousand and thirty-second bite, his head soon flew into the inferno and the pair moved on.
Carlisle and Esme attacked Marcus. Carlisle knew full well that the taciturn member of the Volturi was extremely dangerous, and wanted to neutralize him as soon as possible. Moving with deceptive speed, Marcus managed to dislocate Carlisle's right arm before Esme's teeth found his neck and ended that battle.
"Go to the house," Esme commanded him, and her eyes blazed as she sought other prey.
The fighters looked around in confusion; in mere seconds their leadership was gone, but whatever urge they might have had to surrender was buried under a swarm of Quileutes and lycans. The strategy they had decided on was for each member of a pair to seize a separate leg and then race off in opposite directions. The air was filled with screams and the sound of tearing metal.
"Help!" screamed one of the younger Quileutes, and Bella raced to his aid, Victoria riding on her back and Rose and Alice flanking her. Bella stopped abruptly, launching Victoria at the Volturi, then she wheeled and attacked the nearest fighter. Bella held the vampire firmly in her jaws while Alice ripped off his head. Meanwhile Rosalie tore off a leg and used it as a club on another Volturi. Bella then whipped around and tore him in two, with that done, Victoria leapt onto her back and Bella and her mates were off to the other side of the yard to break up a group of three Volturi trying to escape.
Several Quileutes and lycans hobbled towards the house, but the Volturi were too beset to pursue them. Charlie and Melinda escorted them to the infirmary, and Melinda and Carlisle set to work with Charlie's help while Bradley guarded the door. Melinda had already taken care of Carlisle's injury.
Emmett and Felix continued to pound on one another, their decades old hatred making them blind to all else.
Three of the fighters managed to flee, only to be torn to pieces in the forest by the waiting Quileutes.
"Come to me!" commanded Bella, and four more pairs of wolves joined the unequal battle.
The young lycan in the tree chuckled as he pressed the control of the blast furnace, and dense purple smoke filled the air.
"Back off!" demanded Emmett when Bella approached, and Bella sat to watch the fight. She would intervene if it looked like Emmett was in danger, but so far the fight seemed fairly even, the two elite fighters pounding relentlessly on each other.
Then Emmett was behind Felix, and the Mariner's jersey tore as he exerted all of his vast strength. There was a sharp cracking sound, and Emmett was standing alone. He kicked Felix's head into the fire.
In a few more moments it was done. The Volturi were no more.
"Edward, would you check out the ones that surrendered?" Bella asked him.
"Of course," Edward replied, and with Jasper by his side he approached Renata, who was trembling on the ground.
"She has been forced," Edward said calmly, "forced to become vampire, forced to serve, forced to feed on humans. She is truly relieved that it is over. Tanya, may she join your coven?"
"You vouch for her?" Tanya asked, standing with Emmett and checking him for injury while her sisters watched over them both.
"I do," Edward said plainly.
"Then be welcome, Renata. You are welcome with us so long as you uphold our principles," Tanya told her.
"Thank you my lady," Renata whispered.
Edward moved on, followed closely by several Quileutes as the lycans and the other Cullens helped the wounded to the house. Bella kept a sharp eye on things, along with Shelia and Alicia, who had joined her mate during the fight.
"This one does not repent," Edward said grimly, "he merely seeks to avoid death."
Leah and Taylor disposed of him.
One other of the surrendering fighters met the same fate, and then – "This one wishes to change. He just never knew of another way," Edward announced.
"Will he accept my authority?" Bella asked. Edward hesitated for a moment, then shook his head sadly.
Jake and Sam disposed of him efficiently.
Then Edward came to the wives…
"We have been slaves for time out of mind," one of them spoke up. "We were forced into this existence, forced to feed on helpless humans, forced to be wives to the brothers. End our suffering, we beg you."
"We ask only that the great wolf be the one to do it, for it was her power that has freed us," added the other.
Bella's huge teeth flashed, and it was done.
The dense cloud of purple smoke rose in the sky.
"What do you suppose the Chief is burning?" asked an officer back at the station.
"Dunno, but he said not to worry unless he called us," answered another. "Maybe it's some kind of fireworks. Who knows what rich folk get up to?"
Bella made sure everyone was where they where supposed to be before walking into the medical station where Carlisle and Melinda where working on putting the last of the wounded back on their feet. After checking on all the wounded herself and making sure they were okay, she moved on to check in on her family. Seeing everyone was doing fine and cleaning up, she went back outside.
She saw Sam gathering his tribe, and she walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you, my friend, for helping us with this problem, should you or anyone in your pack ever need help, just ask."
Sam nodded his head, "I will," he nodded once more to Bella before he and his pack members took off, heading back home to celebrate their victory against such a large group of red eyed vampires.
Bella watched them leave and smiled at their childish nature. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turning she looked into her father's eyes and grinned.
"I am proud of you, Bella," said Charlie and he gave his daughter a firm hug before turning and looking at Melinda. Blushing a little, he looked at his daughter. "I...me and Melinda are going to go back to the house for a while, I will catch up with you later, you hear, kiddo?"
Bella blushed just as much as Charlie had and looked at Melinda before nodding. "Yeah I think I get ya, I'll see you later dad." Charlie hugged his daughter one more time before Melinda came up and gave the girl a hug too, and then both of them left in Charlie's police cruiser, heading back to Bella's father's house.
Bella watched them go before turning back to the Cullen household. Smiling, she walked in and shut the door behind her, seeing that the only ones left were herself, Carlisle, and Esme. She guessed that the others had all gone out to hunt and see the Denali coven off. Walking over to the couch, she flopped down and sighed. It was all over with, finally. No more worrying about the big bad Volturi. Carlisle walked into the living room with his wife. Both of them sat down facing Bella.
Bella looked at Esme and Carlisle, they looked a little worried but she couldn't figure out why. "What's wrong? We took care of all that needed to be done, and we won with no losses on our side, just a few bruised and wounded, and those all got healed and patched up by you and Melinda, Carlisle." Bella looked at the woman she considered to be her mother now, and the man she considered her second father. "So why are you guys looking all worried and down?" Bella finally asked.
Carlisle sighed. "While it is true that we have defeated the Volturi, that means things in Italy are left unattended to, which means that even though this group of vampires are gone it doesn't mean the ones that the Volturi controlled won't try to take up the mantel and attempt to run it their own way. The problem with that is, will they be better or worse then the Volturi?" Carlisle sighed again. "It's true that there are many more human feeders then us vegetarians, and that is why I am so concerned. With no one there to strike fear into them about exposing us, or doing too much against other vampires, who will control them?"
Bella looked astounded. She hadn't even thought of that. "So, what should we do about this matter?"
Carlisle smiled then, for he knew that Bella wouldn't just let something like this fall onto the shoulders of others to worry about. "Well, I was going to suggest something a little far out in left field. What if you take over for the Volturi? You seem to have a great aspect of leadership, even if you are still getting used to it. Look how well you commanded such a large group of people today, plus you know we will be there to help whenever you need it."
Esme smiled and asked, "So how about it Bella? You know we would follow you anywhere, no matter your choice."
Bella looked up and thought for a while before a smile formed on her face. "You know what? I think I will, along with some others if they are willing to come along with us. We'll have to do things differently though, we aren't the Volturi, after all."
Bella began to tell Carlisle and Esme about her plans while they waited for the others to show back up.
End Chapter 31
Well guys the end is getting closer with each chapter me and my friend get done. Only a few more chapters left and then this story will be over. Its been fun doing this though its my first story co-op thats gotten so many reviews and that people have liked. Thanks so much for sticking with me so far, now will you stay on to the very end.