Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer is the creator of these intriguing characters. She and the filmmakers have made a fascinating and beautiful trilogy. I wish to borrow her background and add a plot twist of my own.

Chapter 13 – The decision and the Truth

Caius's POV

Aro had demanded my presence in his library and I reluctantly responded thinking 'what the hell did he want'. Well I would soon find out but I didn't like to leave my wings as of late, being much to distracted by my prize.

As I opened the room I saw not only Aro but also Marcus. Both of them were sitting in armchairs close to the fire and as I entered they both looked up. Marcus with his normal bored expression but Aro was absorbing my facial expression as his face turned stony "You seem to be enjoying your plaything Caius".

I saw the look and gave him an arrogant answer "Yes dear brother I am starting to recognize some delightful things about her".

With this Aro fell in a rage and shouted "Are you planning to kill her? We hear her screams all through the castle."

With a voice that would make hell freeze over I replied "She is mine and I will do what I wish with her"

His facial expression was one of cold practicality as he said "She may be yours but you clearly do not understand the treasure she holds. I am taking her; she will be part of my guard".

"You have no right!" I shouted and slammed my fist on the table in front of him.

He did not blink but said "I have every right. The law has laid claim on Isabella and therefore she falls under my jurisdiction".

"No!" I roared "she is my mate!"

Aro ignored me and continued as if I had said nothing "She will be taken from you and brought to my wing. The ceremony will take place tomorrow and I will change her as she will be part of my guard until further notice".

I looked at him in disbelief. First I was told to take her as my mate and now Aro wished to take her away.

"I will not stand for this Aro! Marcus has said she is destined to be my mate so only I may change her" I bellowed as I looked at Marcus.

Marcus looked back at me and nodded and saying "I have said she is destined to be your mate but Aro is right to disagree with your treatment of her. I can therefore only recognize your claim to keep her in your wing if you change her tomorrow".

Aro turned as if a snake had bit him "But you agreed Marcus"

"I did" said Marcus as he turned to look at Aro "but seeing Caius and hearing his words have convinced me that this would be better for the stability of our future reign".

Marcus then turned to me and said. The transition will take a couple of days and I wish to be present when you change her. I also wish anymore sexual assaults to end before she is changed. Can you guarantee this?

"But, she is mine" I shouted.

Marcus looked sad and said "I am well aware of this but being kind now will probably win her loyalty and that will be a larger treasure in the future"

Again the words of Marcus seemed to have a ring of wisdom in them and I answered "Agreed, but my wish that only you will attend"

After that I dismissed myself and headed for the tower to speak to the one person I had come to trust above all.

Edward's POV

While we were all together Sam told us of the capture of a vampire named Riley. The troop had caught and maimed him when he had just left Bella's house. By maiming him the troop could keep him imprisoned while in their camp so that I could question him.

All of us were allowed access to their land but we noticed that the prison was on the edge of our land so that none of their tribe would be close to him or us.

As I opened the door and walked into the prison I looked over to the cage holding Riley. I saw only his head and torso and understood by the mental signals of the Quileute tribe that his body had been dispersed over different places in their land.

I was already opening my mind to the thoughts Riley had about our group and as I listened in I understood that Victoria had been brainwashing him with half-truths. I then moved to sit down in the only available seat turning it around so that I could use the back of the chair to rest my arms, all the time observing this man.

"Are you the psychic, the one who reads minds?" he sneered.

"Yes I am and what I see in yours are distortions of the truth" I answered.

"She told me you would try and manipulate me" he snarled.

"I think I could never be able to achieve the same amount of manipulation as she has with your mind" I laughed. And then with a more sympathetic note I added "Do you wish to know the whole truth and not only the things Victoria wishes you to know?"

He didn't reply so I continued "If so I will ask you what you know and I think it would be beneficial to all involved if you tell me what you know as the truth".

"You and your family killed her mate and tried to prevent her from being able to take care of herself. That is what she has told me and up to now that is the truth as I see it" he answered.

I kept my eyes level with his and said "It is true; we did kill her mate because he was trying to murder mine. But in which way did we prevent her from taking care of herself?"

"You killed her friend Laurent, or at least your dogs did" he answered his head nodding towards the tribe members behind me.

At this the men behind me growled but only I turned to ask Jacob what had happened.

"Laurent found Bella in a secluded area and tried to attack her so we tore the bastard apart before he got the chance" Jacob filled in.

"Oh" is said as I turned back to look at Riley "so what really happened is that my mate was attacked for the second time by a friend of Victoria's and he was killed for it. What this all comes down to is the defense of an innocent person who's only fault was that I loved her and not acts of aggression as Victoria has claimed.

I stopped for a minute to let it sink into his mind and then said "But please tell me, what else she has claimed we did to prevent her from taking care of herself?"

"She couldn't feed she said you prevented her from that." he hissed.

"She fed on you didn't she or is that in any way different?" I sneered.

"I am destined to be her mate" he proudly declared.

"Oh, did she tell you that?" I snidely answered "I very much doubt it as you are nothing like her last mate. By the way, did she ever tell you about him?"

"No" he said taken off guard "only that he was all she wanted".

"Well, let me fill you in. He was a sadist, he liked to play with his food and he was vicious about it. The only reason he went after my mate is that she was still human and when he saw my affections towards her, something that his little brain could not understand, he wished to kill her and crush me. That is the only reason he went after her and I killed him for that."

After a pause I went on "Now I wish to tell you something that may help you understand your own situation. I have looked into the mind of Victoria's first mate and am now looking into yours. He and Victoria were both viciousness and ruthless. You are totally different than he was and therefore I doubt Victoria loves you as she did her previous mate. No, I think Victoria is using you, as she used Laurent to get back at me." I sighed and then continued "Bella, my mate has been killed strangely enough by a simple car accident and now that Victoria can't hurt her she wishes to hurt her memory by going after the ones Bella cared for. This will not only result in her death but in everyone she uses to do her bidding".

After a moment I decided to give him an update on the situation and said "We are privy to some information of which Victoria is not aware of. You see, her actions seem to have caught the attention of one of our lawmakers" When I saw the disbelief in his eyes I said "Oh yes, none of us are above the law! Anyway…. we have received information that if we do not terminate her within a week he will be sending someone to help us do so. He has decreed that she must be annihilated and knowing this lawmaker; if they find out she has followers they too will be destroyed"

"But why?" he asked

"Has she not told you the main law that all vampires must follow?"

He looked confused.

I sneered "I thought not. You see we vampires are all bound by one essential law stating we must maintain a low profile. Strange that she hasn't told you, as I said Victoria has a habit of telling her followers what they needed to know. How could she have forgotten to tell you about such an important law? This law would mean the death sentence to all her followers. "

I stood up and turned towards Jacob and said "Now all we can do is leave him to chew on this new information".

Before leaving the room I turned around to look at Riley and said "I will be coming back in an hour or two to ask some questions, maybe you might have some information to share with us."