Here's the next chapter! Sorry it's taken me so long to update.
Quick recap: Charlotte and Peter arrived in Forks. They and Izzy talked, agreeing that she needed to talk to Major about when she would leave.
This was followed by a fight between Major and Izzy, as neither enjoyed the idea of the other participating in the fight against the Volturi. Finally, they came to an agreement that both of them would fight.
And, lastly, Alice received her vision that the Volturi would arrive after a snowstorm, and would be at the Cullen house in five days.
Hope you enjoy!
The next four days passed in somewhat of a blur. Major, Charlotte, Peter, and I trained day in and day out, trying to teach the werewolves and the other vampires how to fight more experienced vampires.
Major and I were the most experienced, Char and Pete following just after. The others had fought vampires before, yes. But they had never fought ones this ancient.
We trained without stopping, from dawn until dusk, only stopping when the vampires needed to hunt, or the wolves needed to eat and sleep.
We stopped training when the snowstorm grew too intense. The wolves could easily plow through the snow, with their huge, muscular builds, but it got so cold that even they shivered.
And, for the vampires, the cold didn't bother us. But the snow grew so deep that the only way we could move comfortably and quickly was by jumping from tree to tree.
The wolves stayed at the Cullen house, despite the fact that they wrinkled their noses at the smell of vampires every time they stepped inside, and that, twenty seconds after they had entered, their wet-dog smell had permeated the entire house, much to the distaste of all vampires inside.
By the fourth day, everyone was slowly going insane, having been stuck inside the house together for several hours.
One thing I had to say about everyone being trapped together-it had made everyone forget about my secret. But I had not forgotten-not at all.
I had taken to sitting on the windowsill on the first floor, staring out the glass into the driving snow, searching for even the slightest hint of the Volturi. I often didn't move for hours upon hours, not blinking, not breathing, not doing anything.
At five o'clockish on the fourth day, I was still sitting on the windowsill. I'd been sitting there since around midnight, and hadn't moved even the slightest bit.
"Izzy." I jumped. I had been so immersed in staring out the window, searching for them, that I hadn't noticed anything going on in the house behind me.
Major took a seat next to me, and handed me a tall ceramic coffee cup. I looked down at it somewhat warily, until I caught a thread of warm perfume, and realized that I could feel warmth seeping through the ceramic into my hands.
I took a small drink, which turned into a large gulp. Major had microwaved the blood, so that it was warmer, more like it was when it came straight from the source.
"Thanks." I said softly, setting the cup back down.
"Darlin'...what's wrong?" Major's voice was soft and concerned. I didn't answer, but my hands began tightening in the coffee mug. Major touched my cheek just barely with his fingertips, but I turned to look at him.
He gently stroked my bangs before tucking the lock behind my ear. His fingers lingered on my cheek, though, and he cupped my face in his hand.
"Come on. You can tell me." he said softly, cajolingly. I took a deep breath, and, instead of answering, I put my hand around the back of his neck, pulling him in for a deep kiss.
He pulled away far too soon for my liking, but, a second later, he leaned back in, and lightly touched his tongue to the corner of my mouth, then leaned away a second later. I gave him a curious look, despite the fact that the gentle touch of his tongue on my mouth had made my entire my body tense in pleasure.
Major gave me an-admittedly-charming smile. "You had a little blood." he explained. I gave him a half-hearted grin in reply. He sighed, and rubbed his thumb over my cheek.
"Look, sweetheart, I know that you're getting kind of antsy." he began, and I couldn't help my slight snort. He rolled his eyes. "Look, my dear, you don't have to worry. I also know that it's eating you up inside, that you didn't tell anyone about your...secret."
I caught the grimace that flashed across his face at the word 'secret', and his hand dropped from my face, only to tangle his fingers with mine. Reaching out with my free hand, I touched a lock of his golden hair, then traced my fingers lightly over his features.
His golden eyes closed as I ran my fingers gently over his eyebrows, down his cheek, and lightly drew them over his full mouth. Then, even more lightly than before, I pressed my fingers to one of the scars on his neck.
I dropped my hand, and, almost faster than my own vampire eyes could follow, he reached up with his other hand, lacing our fingers together so that neither of us had a free hand.
"Izzy, there is no reason for you to be worried. I won't let anything happen to you, or anyone else." he lifted our hands, and kissed the inside of my wrists. "I promise." he added, his soft lips brushing my skin gently.
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. "I'm not worried about anyone getting hurt. I wish..." I trailed off. "There is so much that you don't know about me, Major. I love you so, so much, but I'm worried that after you find out what my secret is, you won't want to be with me anymore."
Major's eyes widened. "That's what's bothering you?" he asked, voice just shy of laughing. I looked at him, a little offended, but gave a tiny nod, making him burst into laughter. I was a little hurt, and tried to pull my hands from his.
Instantly, his laughter stopped, and he adopted a contrite expression. "I'm sorry, Izzy. I didn't mean to laugh. But, no offense meant, you are damn crazy if you think I'd ever-ever-willingly leave you. Do you not believe that I love you?"
For a moment, I was silent. Did I believe Major loved me? The instant the thought crossed my mind, I knew the answer. Yes. It was one of those things you knew deep in your core, something you knew was completely correct.
I looked up, meeting Major's eyes. "Yes. I believe-I know-that you love me. But this...this secret is so much more than what you think." Major raised an eyebrow.
"What? Are you one of the three's illegitimate daughter?" I couldn't help my chuckle.
"Yes. You got me, Major. I'm Aro's bastard daughter." Major grinned, kissing my hands again. "See? Aren't you feeling better, Aro's daughter?"
I laughed. "Yes. Thank you, Major." "You're welcome, darlin'. Now, please finish your meal. You haven't hunted in days." his voice was insistent, and, obediently, I took a gulp.
Then, when my throat flared with a familiar burning pain, I quickly swallowed the rest of it. Major grinned, and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. "Good girl."
I rolled my eyes, making him chuckle. He only leaned away for a brief second, then groaned. "Too much." he said, so softly I almost didn't hear it. And he leaned in again, kissing me hard. As he did, he pulled the leftover blood from my mouth. When he pulled away, it was once again far too fast for my liking.
"Izzy, can you do me a favor?" he asked softly. I looked at him warily. "It depends." he sighed a little, then looked at me from under his eyelashes. My entire body tensed once again, except this time at the look.
"Please don't spend the night down here again." I worried my bottom lip between my teeth for a moment, and Jasper sighed, shaking his head. "Izzy, they're not going to show up now. Alice's vision was completely concrete."
I sighed. "Alright." I agreed a brief second later. He smiled. "Good. You need to rest." I chuckled. "I am a vampire, my dear Major. I do not actually need any rest."
"Izzy." he shook his head, but didn't say anything else, and I made a face. "Fine."
He looked at me, a half grin curving his mouth, then stood. "Come on." he offered me his hand, and I took it without hesitating. I sat my cup down on the windowsill, and Jasper tugged me up the stairs to the bedroom we shared.
Although we were mated, and human ceremonies such as weddings didn't mean anything to us, Major still wanted to wait until after we'd had our fist wedding. But that didn't keep us from resting in the same bed together.
Major shut the door behind us, and climbed onto the bed, me just seconds behind him. He lay on his side, facing me, and draped his arm over my waist, pulling me close to him.
"Rest, Izzy." he briefly raised an eyebrow, then said, "Well, rest as much as one of our kind can." I gave a half grin, then snuggled closer to him, resting my head on his chest. "I love you, Major." I said softly. "I love you too."
The next morning, I was up the second the peeked over the horizon.
Well, I tried to be up by the time the sun rose. But, since neither Major nor I had moved all night, his arm was still slung about my waist, and when I tried to get up, he tightened his grip on me. "Nope. You're not going anywhere."
I fell back to the bed, and frowned up at him. He grinned, ducking his head to give me a quick kiss. Major lifted his head a moment later, resting his forehead against mine.
"Now can I get up?" I asked. He frowned. "So eager to leave?" "No. So eager to make sure that they leave as soon as possible." he sighed, but, apparently seeing sense for once, released his grip on my waist. I lingered for another moment longer, however, and gave him another kiss.
I stood, and Major was on his feet in front of me in half a second. "By the way, Izzy, you reminded me of something." I bit my lip, waiting.
"As an incentive to not do anything stupid today, there's something I need to talk to you about. But it has to wait until after the fight. Which means you need to be unharmed, and in one piece."
My lip found it's way between my teeth again. Major rested his thumb against my lip, trying to pull it away, but I refused to release it. He sighed, a little frustrated.
"I can't kiss you if you're chewing on your lip." he reminded me.
That made me let go, and, true to his word, Major leaned down and captured my mouth with his.
Minutes later, Major and I were downstairs. The wolves were at the table, tucking into a mountain of food. I doubt Esme would ever admit it aloud, but I thought she was thrilled that the wolves were here, because they damn things never stopped eating. I think she enjoyed the chance to use her cooking skills-which, from my hazy time as a human, I remembered as being amazing.
But it seemed that, today, they were eating much, much more slowly than normal, the tenseness of the air getting to them.
In fact, everyone was tense. The morning passed in a, well, tense silence, no one saying a single word for hour upon hour, jumping at the slightest noise.
Then, around noon, Edward froze, his face a mask of horror. "They're coming." he said lowly. At first, everyone flinched, because he'd broken the silence, then froze. "Are you sure?" Jacob asked. Edward nodded.
I clenched my jaw, then, steeling myself, put my fingers to my lips. "Shh." I said softly. They all turned to me, eyebrows furrowed and faces confused.
"What are you doing?" Edward asked. "I said, shut up!" I snapped. He looked a little taken aback-I'm not sure why, because I'd snapped at him plenty of times before-but complied, and they all fell completely still.
Taking a deep breath, I extended my senses. There was the thundering of the wolves' hearts, of blood rushing through their veins.
Outside, the wind through the leaves. I noticed something odd, then: there were no sounds of animals moving through the woods.
Oh, I could hear their heart beats, the breath rushing in and out of their lungs, the slight rasp as they shivered inside their hidey-holes. It was as if they could sense there was something evil coming.
Well, not evil per se. They weren't honestly evil-just ancient, and firm in their ways. But, either way, the animals knew to hide-there weren't even any birds.
Then, I pushed past those sounds too, and found what I was looking for.
But I didn't hear their thoughts like Edward had. No, I heard the swish of their robes, the grass and earth bending and giving way under the steps, and, in the case of the more sadistic ones, the flexing of bones and muscle under smooth white skin as they thought of the coming fight.
Finally, I was forced to admit the truth, feeling a shiver ripple down my spine as I did.
The Volturi were here.
I hope you enjoyed! I didn't have to work today, so I got some stuff done for once. I will try to be better about updating.
Reviews make me very, very happy!