Disclaimer - Obviously I do not own The Twilight Saga.

"She's not even moving."

"I know."

"Well what do we do?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe I should get Carlisle."

"Not a good idea, too many questions."

Silence.

Then, "Bella? Come on, love. Come back."

I could see Edward but his face was blurry as I looked past him at my dad. He was standing in the doorway looking very unsure of himself.

I screamed at him in my head. C'mon dad! Remember when you found me in the woods when I was a kid? Get me out of this, please!

I felt stuck in my own body. Edward didn't know what to do. But I knew my dad could get me out. "Felix would know what to do," I heard him say. He came over and stood in front of me. It was silent in the room. I didn't like it.

Then, very slowly, he knelt down to my eye level and looked me straight in the eye.

"Bella, you need to hunt."

And in the same second I shot out of my chair. My thoughts were no longer the most prominent thing around me, but Edward's arms were. They wrapped around me tightly.

I exhaled a huge breath.

Edward's arms left me and my face were in my dad's hands.

"Are you okay? I knew I shouldn't –"

"No!" I interrupted. "No I told you the truth when I said I knew already. It was different hearing it. I mean – It's James." I shrugged. "He's been conducting my whole life. I just…"

"You need to hunt."

I just nodded.

He turned my face a little – as if inspecting it – then dropped his hands.

I grabbed Edward's hand and started pulling him out the door.

"Be careful in those woods!" Dad shouted after us.

Edward and I were squeezing each other's hands – a little too hard – as we made our way to the back of the castle and into the forest.

I just needed air. And blood.

As soon as we were out of the castle I sprinted forward to a denser area. A smile broke out on my face. I was glad to be out, to have fresh air to breathe – not that I needed it. I let out a laugh as Edward easily passed me.

It only took a couple of seconds for me to catch up and I jumped onto his back. We both laughed as my arms went around his back and my legs around his waist. I kissed his neck.

I looked around me. The trees slightly blurred as Edward ran past them. "Wow. You really are fast."

He stopped suddenly and then we were chest to chest. "That's what they tell me."

I pushed his chest and stepped back. "Let's do this. I'm starving."

We both stopped and listened. A breeze blew by and I smelled a herd of deer.

I looked to Edward and met his eye, and then we took off towards the herd.

They started fleeing but I grabbed the largest one I saw and took it down – I heard Edward do the same close by. After snapping its neck I dug my teeth into its collarbone. The blood stopped the itch in my throat and calmed me.

After draining my third deer I sensed Edward behind me and spun around to find a smirk across his face.

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you smirking at?"

"You." His grin grew wider and he glanced down at my shirt.

I followed his gaze and found a streak of dirt and deer hair across my shirt. I'd never been very good at keeping clean while hunting, but since I'd switched to animal blood it grew worse.

I looked back up at him and pointed to myself. "Oh you think this is funny?"

"Yeah, I do."

Before he could finish the sentence I threw a glob of dirt at him and it splattered on his shirt. He glared down at it and back up at me.

"You're gonna wish you hadn't done that."

"Yeah, Cullen?" I asked playfully. "Bring it."

He leaned into a crouch and I took off deeper into the woods and stopped when I reached a small clearing. I'd stopped for a little too long and Edward crashed into my back. We fell down onto the forest floor and Edward rolled off of me.

I caught him before he could stand up again but couldn't get a proper grip. He flipped up to stand and I quickly followed.

Suddenly there was a crack of lighting above us and rain and thunder followed.

I pounced back at Edward and we fell back to the ground. Finally, I managed to dig my knee into his abdomen and had a secure grip on his head.

"I win." I smiled and blinked through the rain dripping down my face.

He smiled up at me and I rolled off him and into the mud beside him. He clutched onto my hand as we both stared up at the rain.

I could've stayed like this forever.

"I don't want to go back," I said quietly. It was something I never thought I'd say. I didn't want to go back to the fear, the drama. I wanted to stay out in the woods with the fresh air and no worries.

"It is pretty nice to be out, huh?" Edward said lightly. I knew he didn't want to talk about anything waiting for us back at the castle, I didn't either. But it was hard not to think about.

"I don't remember ever going so long cooped up in there."

A comfortable silence fell between us and the rain continued to beat down on us.

"You scared me back there you know," Edward said, breaking the silence. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I turned my head to see him. He kept looking up at the raining sky.

Suddenly my words came tumbling out. "I was expecting it. I really was. But this is the guy who killed my parents we're talking about here. My whole life revolved around his little plan and when I killed him I thought it was finally over, but it's not. My life is still about his plan. Only this time it's different because now all the people I truly care about are in danger. And it sucks."

Edward finally turned his head to look at me. "You know what I think?"

I swallowed hard. "What?"

"I think you are the strongest person I have ever met. And I would have never met you if you weren't part of the Volturi. I think everything happens for a reason; however sick that may sound."

We just looked at each other for second. It was true. James may have screwed with my life, but I met Edward. All of it seemed worth it because Edward was there.

But he took my silence the wrong way. "That did sound sick. I'm sor –"

"No!" I cut him off. "I needed to hear it."

I stood up. The mud was caked against my back thanks to all the rain. I felt in desperate need of a shower.

"Let's go." I held my hand out to Edward and he stood up and took it.

"Where?"

I squeezed his hand. "Back to the castle. I'm not going down without a fight."

There were things that needed to be done back at the castle. I was tired of all the secrets. They were driving a wedge between Edward and his family. And I hated that the rest of guard had no idea.

When we got back inside the castle, Edward stopped me.

"Bella, love? I can tell you're on a mission – I'm not sure what it is but I'm sure I'll find out soon – but I think you should change first," he said rubbing some dirt off my cheek.

I'd almost forget about the mess I was in. "Good idea."

Just as we reached our room Alec walked by. "Woah, what happened to you guys?"

I shrugged. "Just some rain."

He was about to go on about his business when I stopped him. "Hey Alec, could you do something for me? I need you to get the guard to meet in the throne room in about fifteen minutes. Invite the Cullens, too."

He looked confused, but I knew he wouldn't say no. "Alright. I'll get on it."

Just as he rounded the corner behind me, my dad, Caius, and Marcus appeared in the hallway in his place. And they did not look happy.

Without taking my eyes off of them I opened the door to mine and Edward's room. "Go ahead, Edward. I'll be there in a second."

Without a word he slipped inside.

"What are you up to, Bella?" Caius asked.

"What do you think?" I snapped. "I'm tired of all the secrets around here."

Dad's eyes narrowed. "Bella, you can't–"

"It's wrong for them to be in the dark and you know it! We need to be prepared for this!"

All a got was a couple of glares. Marcus avoided my gaze.

"Marcus?" I pleaded. But he kept avoiding my eyes. "Dad?"

"It's dangerous. I don't want word getting out that we're getting ready for something like this," Dad looked apologetic.

"This is the guard we're talking about here. Not some random bunch of people." I lowered my voice. "If we see that someone seems weary about it, we'll just get Chelsea to tighten a couple ropes a little. Problem solved."

"No," Caius spoke up. "You can't just call a meeting, when did you get to make rules around here?"

Dad looked a little annoyed at Caius' comment, but not as annoyed as I hoped to see.

I stood my ground and took a step closer to Caius. "I started the minute I got here. And if you think lying and keeping secrets is a way to run a guard you're wrong. How about they don't find out from one of the four of us? How do you think that would turn out?"

He was silent. His mouth formed a tight line.

"So it's settled," I tried to finalize.

"But the Cullens. They're not part of the guard." He looked smug, like he thought I wouldn't be able to rebuttal.

"I love Edward. I love the people he loves and they're not going back to Forks until its safe. So what do you propose? We throw them out into the vampire world while Edward joining the guard is the hottest topic of the vampire world and the rebels would kill to have one of them on their side?" I scoffed. "Yeah, I don't think so.

"Does anyone else have any complaints?" I asked. I watched the three of them, trying to determine if they were trying to come up with any other excuses. But they didn't seem to have anything else to say. "Then I'll see you in ten minutes."

I turned to go back into mine and Edward's room and just before I slammed the door, I swear I heard my dad mutter, "That's my girl."

A/N - I meant to post this chapter a lot sooner but school is kicking my ass. Anyways, this is getting exciting! Stay excited my friends! This is definitely one of my fav chapters so let me know what you think! Thanks for being amazing!
Sidenote: I didn't edit this chapter much cause I just wanted to get it up, so sorry for any mistakes!