Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga is owned by Stephanie Meyer. I don't happen to be her; therefore, I cannot possibly own it.

Rating: Rated 'T' for 'Teen'. May change later.

Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Family, Fluff, Friendship, First Time, General, High School, Horror, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Supernatural, Vampires

Warnings: Adult Content, Blood, Discriminatory Language, Violence

Pairings: Jasper/Bella, Emmett/Rosalie, Carlisle/Esme, Peter/Charlotte

Summary: Your typical story. Boy meets girl. They fall in love. A baby is quickly made. What happens when the boy's a vampire? What happens when said vampire is killed before the baby's born? Renée doesn't know what's going to happen to her baby, but Nahuel promises to keep it safe from his father. Jasper/ Bella

Author's Notes: If you have read Breaking Dawn or seen Breaking Dawn Part 2, you know who is coming up in this chapter. In addition, the entire time I was watching the movie, I was pissed because Peter did not have lines. I mean, seriously, it's Peter!


12. Illusionary


October 1988

Bella's P. O. V.

Nahuel had finally succumbed to my superior placement in the coven. It had taken him some time to realize he was not above Emmett either. My father was my right hand in leading the McCarty Coven. We were not just an estranged selection of vampires and hybrids. We were a family; even those of us that were currently unhappy with their status.

My brother was only ahead of Huilen, and that was only because of how docile the woman was. If it weren't for the fact that Mama and Daddy are mates, he would be prior to her as well. Mates took the same status in a coven with the exception that one always was viewed as more important and held more authority than the other held by just a smidge.

My father was this one, much to Mama's displeasure. It was not that she desired to be sought out for advice or authority; she was vain and wanted a higher position in the family. Still, she was my mother and I loved her greatly.

Once Nahuel finally submitted to my leadership, my stress level took a huge nose-dive. Our immediate futures weren't so hectic and I no longer had to fight for dominance over him on a near daily basis.

It was while we were practicing moves from the martial arts books I bought prior to our move out here that I felt the chime on my radar of a strange vampire. Then another. And another. They were moving quickly. Immediately, I could see where they were, and it was near the fishpond that we enjoyed playing in after a hunt.

"Nan, to the tree house. Daddy, we have three vampires on the move. They are coming this way. Their minds don't feel vicious, but they are feral in a way, animal like and instinctual. Be careful. I've got ya'll protected." I followed him, standing at the edge of the patio in the shadows. Even by vampire eyesight, it would be difficult to see me at all. They would not be able to tell what I was. The paleness would have them thinking I was a vampire; the heartbeat could belong to an animal.

I wanted to know why I seen their upcoming presence. 'They hadn't made the choice to visit. Typically, they hunt to the East; they switched their feeding grounds to keep the humans from becoming suspicious. They caught three other vampires' scent and became curious.' Still did not explain why I had not been warned before hand about the coven in the area. We could have left. 'You needed to meet these people.' Really? That's the reason? I 'needed to meet these people'? What kind of reason was that? A stupid one.

Would I have to kill them? 'No.' At least my knowing gift was working somewhat. I just did not want this bull-honky happening again. I worried about my coven too much as it was; I did not need this on top of it all.

'Everything will be fine.' Fantastic to know. 'Fine' was a terrific adjective concerning my family's welfare. It was the same dang word I used when I wanted to be left alone andnothing was a-okay. 'So melodramatic.' I seriously needed to stop talking to my gifts. It could not be healthy.

Surrounding our home was trees with cleared out underbrush. This place, and the surrounding few miles, were much cleaner and grew much more healthily. Therefore, the moment they were near, we could see them easily; unfortunately, they could see my family as well. I could feel another tingling in me, something foreign. It had the same type of tingling that physical shield had, but a signature all on its own. One of these visitors had a gift. It wasn't a visible one like the Empathy or Aura Reading; it didn't affect my mind like Peter's Clairvoyance or the Seer abilities. So far, I did not like it. What was it? 'The middle height one, her name's Zafrina. She casts illusions. It is ineffective against you. Surround the family with your radar if you're so worried.' No, I did not like this at all.

Quickly, I expanded the elastic band around my mind to surround my parents, Aunt Huilen, and Nahuel as well. This was particularly difficult. It was much easier to use it like an alarm system instead of focusing on certain psyches. I rarely did this at all, so I could feel the sudden pulse of power that flowed through my mind to protect theirs.

The three of them were women, and they were beautiful. Even around these parts, they looked exotic. Their looks were so similarlong limbs and long features. They were human drinkers, but so was Huilen, so that little bit didn't matter much to us. Like my brother and aunt, they wore clothing made from animal hide and had long black hair pulled back in a braid. I had been right; they were feral. Well, maybe not quite such a harsh word as that. More along the lines of 'undomesticated'. This coven did not care about the state of their appearancea trait I knew my mother would vehemently protest against me picking upand most likely only associated with other beings when they went to feed.

'They've met the Cullens. The Cullens have no intention to returning to this area anytime soon. Edward had been especially rude to Zafrina when she rejected his advances.' How Tanya was willing to put up with his spoiled, bratty behavior in her pursuit of him, I wasn't sure. If the moment ever came where he tried to put the moves on me, I would smack him down. Probably tear him apart as well. I wouldn't burn him; Carlisle and Esme were too fond of the egomaniac and my parents were fond of their sire and his mate.

Their personality fabrics were lovely. There was a great deal of a medium, welcoming teal that expressed their open-mindedness. Perhaps they would be accepting of Nahuel's and my particular heritage, at least the fact that we were not vampires. I also enjoyed the two violets: the dark seductive silk for the supernatural and the bright and glowing silk representing wisdom. Then there was a brilliant aqua for kindness and sunny yellow for their friendliness. Nevertheless, my favorite had to be the light and pulsing orange that showed their courage. These were good people.

I shoved back my clairvoyant gift, not wanting to argue concerning who was right about it not having had warned me about their upcoming presence. It's not as if it would be mentioned to anyone; that kind of thing would be kept to me and me alone. Along with the burning of my vision journal. I knew keeping one of those had been a bad idea. 'But it got Nahuel to stop testing your authority.' I really hated Peter's Clairvoyance.

After ordering my brother to stay in the house, I swung myself over the porch's railing and dropped down in front of my family just as the trio came to a halt. I had a stare down, a lot less dramatic than the western movies tend to make it, with who I knew to be their coven leader. There were no tumbling weeds or crows cawing. All the emotional ties pointed towards her held love, obedience, and loyalty. The definite mark of a coven leader.

We both had patience; hers came from her old ageI assumed anywayswhile mine came from managing my father's immature ways and fighting the family males for dominance. Surprisingly, she withdrew first; was no one willing to give me a true fight?

"Hello," I could tell by the way she pronounced her words, English was not her native tongue and she hadn't been using it for long. "We are the Amazons. You have golden eyes; do you know the Cullens by any chance?"

'Don't lie.' I wasn't going to.

"I know of them. Two of my coven mates have met them, but that was a long time ago." Any aggression she held quickly diminished knowing that she and her coven matesmostly Zafrinawouldn't have to deal with Edward's self-righteous attitude. "How is it that you know them? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"They came into the area what would probably be twenty-five years prior to now." That was when we lived in Mississippi. Hadn't Huilen and Nahuel been here then? They needed to pick better places to live, scout the area before setting up camp. I had idiots in my family. "Might we know how it is your coven mates know them?"

"Carlisle sired these two in the 1930's. They left the Cullen Coven a decade later and haven't visited since. For the first few years, they spoke over the phone, but there hasn't been any exchange between that coven and mine in nearly thirty years."

A mischievous smile graced all three sets of lips. "You call them a coven. They call themselves a family."

"They are fools to believe such. They are no more a family than I am your maker." If they realized such, then they wouldn't have such problems with other covens. Or, if Esme wasn't so oblivious.

My parents and the three newcomers chuckled. "We are the Amazons. These are my sisters, Zafrina," she gestured to the woman who was just a tad over six feet, " and Senna," this woman was the shortest of the trio but was still incredibly tall at an inch shorter than two yards. "I am Kachiri," she was the tallest being five inches taller than the shortest of the group. Compared to them, I was a midget at a mere four feet and ten inches. Of course, my mother shared Senna's height, which made me look short anyhow.

"This is Emmett McCarty and his wife and mate, Rosalie McCarty. This is Huilen. Nahuel is inside the house." As I spoke each name, I gestured to each person in my brother's case, the tree house.

"We smelt a few new scents East of our homeland; we had not been in that area in nearly a century. We apologize for intruding on your territory. My sisters and I had been curious."

"It is no problem. I welcome you. Come by anytime."

Us two coven leaders stepped forwards, away from the rest of our coven, as a show of good faith in believing we wouldn't try to cause one another harm. Within a few seconds, Kachiri noticed my elevated heartbeat. I knew she had known I wasn't a vampire from my rosy cheeks and brown eyes, but the steady, quick thumps of my pulse threw her off.

"As you have noticed, I am not a vampire. I am not a human either. I am a hybrid, a half-breed vampire." I could sense my family's worry and fear, so I quickly replaced those fabrics with confidence and trust. "I was born of a human woman and a vampire father. She had been his mate and her pregnancy had not been intentional. He had been killed while trying to take care of her, and the vampire who killed him, stole her away. This man is Joham. He had been intending to use me as breeding property for his own hybrid child, Nahuel.

"Thankfully, Nahuel did not agree with what his father was doing and stole my mother from his sister, Serena. She is another one of Joham's hybrid children. While Nahuel had been running away with my mother, she gave birth to me. She died when the contractions began. Eventually, he decided to hide me while he threw his father and sister off of his trail. Emmett and Rosalie found me. They raised me as their own. I have been with them for the past forty-four years."

I sighed, knowing my tale sounded so far fetched. "I don't expect you to believe me, but I do ask that you not mention our coven and our status as hybrids."

Quickly, Kachiri returned to her sisters to quietly converse over what they heard from me. They didn't know that I could hear their words through my gifts, and it wouldn't be something I would inform them of anytime soon. If they chose to befriend our coven, I would explain to them my physical shield and radar, but that would be all. In time, I might trust them enough to explain my gift mimicking trait, if only to understand how Zafrina's power worked, but that wasn't now or anytime soon.

'Trust them. They will be very beneficial. They will become family.' Oh yes, trust the magical talking voice in my head. It was too late for skepticism concerning the gift now, for I knew it never spoke lies and was never wrong. If it said they would be beneficial, then they would be so. Didn't know how, but they would.

"Do you think they have deceived me sister? I could hear her heart. I could smell her venom." Exactly what I didn't want, a family argument. Great. The angrier they got at one another, the more likely that anger would be lashed out at us. I quickly went to work, subtly easing back that bubbling rage into moderate irritation; I also let a bit of understanding ease in as well. There was no suspicion, as I let these emotions flutter in their intensity as they would naturally. Mostly, they were still curious about us.

An hour passed before they came to an agreement. Kachiri stepped forward like before, this time her sisters accompanied her from a bit of a distance. That show of good faith was still there, but they were more wary this time around. "My sisters and I, we believe your words. We will not mention you to any creatures we meet." There was an almost audible sigh or relief from my parents; Huilen had more trust in my abilities than them, and she knew that if I thought these sisters were trouble for us, I would have killed them.

"My coven and I thank you."

"You call yourself a 'hybrid'. Might we learn more about this?"

I smiled at our visitors, giving a wave in the direction of the tree house. "Of course. Would you like to move this conversation indoors? Nahuel knows more about our species than I, and he is more comfortable talking about it than I as well."


Ending Author's Notes: On my profile, there is a link to the 'General Affection' blog. It has pictures and links to stuff. Check the 'Extras' tab and the side-bar.

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