AN: Thanks for the favorites and reviews! You guys are awesome for even reading this! And thanks to Aleena23 - who gave me some inspiration - I won't end this fanfic with this chapter, though chapter 17 will be the infinite end as I keep getting writers block on this story and hate making those of you who follow Smile wait for too long

Oh and those of you who have seen "Smallville" might reconise the theme song I'm using for this chapter ;) No? Well, totally coinsidence. I was so not watching some episodes of "Smallville" shortly before writing this. Nuh uh.

Chapter 16: Save me – Remy Zero

We decided to go hunting for a carnivore, seeing as Alec recalled Tom telling him about his sister – Ann I think her name was - eating cougars and bears as their blood was better than herbivores. Besides, I was still famished.

Alec had taken my hand when we left the carcass of my first kill and I'd happily intertwined our fingers. It was weird how ok I was with killing a defenseless animal, but I guess that was just due to the fact that if I didn't kill the animal, I might risk killing a human instead. Strange. I was so certain everyone had warned me about how newborns were driven by instinct and unable to feel remorse the first year, but despite the obvious changes, I still felt like me. I hoped that was a good thing and not a sign that I was going to suck at being a vampire – no pun intended.

I looked at Alec's profile as we ran. My chest swelled with happiness and I couldn't believe how lucky I was to get to spend the rest of eternity with the man I loved.

Yes, you heard that right. I just admitted to myself that I was in love with Alec, though I wasn't sure what kept me from straight out telling him.

He met my gaze and sent me a questioning smile.

"What's on your mind?" he asked as we slowed our pace to human walking speed.

"It's… I'm… It can wait ´till later. I'm just so happy right now" I smiled brightly up at him. I really couldn't say it out loud! I know how important those three words was, and I didn't doubt he felt the same, but when I tried to tell him, it was as if something got stuck in my throat and my stomach fluttered nervously.

He kissed my nose like he used to when I was still human and I knew I would've blushed if I could. It was so strange. It still felt like I was blushing though I knew I had no blood to physically make that happen.

"Me too. I feel like nothing could bring me down" he smiled and spun me around in a pirouette. I giggled as he pulled me down in a low dip.

"I could think of something that could bring you down" an unfamiliar voice resounded through the forest around us, effectively bursting our little bubble of happiness. Alec pushed me almost roughly behind him and held his hands out slightly, ready to summon his power.

A shadow emerged in front of us and formed into the body of a rather tall and muscular man.

"Now what are two little leeches such as yourselves doing all the way in our territory - a Volturi leech none the less. That have to be a delayed Christmas present" the man smirked with malice evident in his eyes. I covered slightly. I didn't like this. That man knew Alec was Volturi and still approached us with such confidence. Something wasn't right. I might not know all that much about the Volturi's businesses, but I knew they were feared throughout the vampire-society – and many other supernatural beings feared them as well.

"We wasn't aware we crossed your territory-lines. We'll find somewhere else to hunt" Alec must've sensed something was wrong too. He wasn't one to back down from a fight or giving out threats – he didn't even talk back to the stranger! He probably didn't want to risk anything. Maybe he even knew who this man was, or at least what he was. I could clearly hear his heartbeat, indicating he wasn't vampire, but he was standing in tailwind so I couldn't determine if he was human though I seriously doubted he was.

The man let out a barking laughter that sounded strangely sinister. Not even The Woman had frightened me like this man did. Maybe it was the uncertainty and feeling of him holding our lives in our hands. Or maybe it was because Alec was here with me, in the middle of the danger.

"You expect us to believe a Volturi member prefers the blood of animals! We're not that stupid" the man nodded once and suddenly more men emerged all around us. I let out a frightened whimper and clung to Alec's jacket. I caught the smell of some of them and stiffened even more. It smelled almost rotten and yet there was something familiar about the smell. I recalled one of my friends had a dog that liked to tackle people and lick them all over. These men smelled like that dog did after rolling in the dirt, only far more rotten and with a stench of sweat mixed into it.

"Alec, what are they?" I whispered.

"Oh, look, boys, it seems we have scared his little girlfriend" the man who I was starting to think of their leader said mockingly, and the others laughed menacingly.

"Please. We don't want any trouble" I pleaded still hiding behind Alec, though it wouldn't do me any good if they chose to attack from all sides.

"That's rich coming from a Volturi-lover. Do you even know what your mate was a part of?! The Volturi almost eradicated our entire race!" the man spat and the veins on his neck became visible.

"Don't talk to her!" Alec hissed and dark smoke appeared from his palms.

"Ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I was you. Do you think you can paralyze all of us before we kill the little redhead?"

I instantly grabbed Alec's hand and squeezed it tight. I was afraid of these men and I was scared Alec and I wouldn't make it out of this alive. Maybe I could distract them long enough for Alec to get away? No, Alec would never leave me. I doubted we could fight our way out of this. Alec wasn't used to hand to hand combat seeing as his gift usually did all the work without him having to lift a finger – and I remembered how he lost an arm in his last fight. I shuddered at the thought of Alec getting hurt again. Not to mention how I had no experience in fights. Demitri had told me how newborns knew how to fight per instinct, but I wouldn't count on me if it came down to a fight.

God, there really was no escaping this! I had been a vampire for mere hours and my happy ever after with Alec was already in jeopardy!

The man walked closer with a confidence that made me press myself further against Alec. He didn't move as the man came towards us, but I could feel him tense more than he already was. I suddenly realized Alec was just as scared as I was and that made me strangely angry. Something primal was starting to stir in my core – something I didn't even know was there to begin with. I didn't care for how these people or whatever they were scared and even dared to threaten my Alec. I felt something build inside me as my rage grew, but it didn't appear anyone around us noticed the change in me.

"I got to admit, it's hard not to be smug right now. Here I have not only one of the most valued Volturi members of all time, but additionally, I have his mate too, effectively rendering him defenseless. And you both just waltzed into my territory" he grinned sinisterly only fueling my rage further.

"I wasn't aware this area had been claimed. Furthermore, I'm sure Marcus will be more than happy to finish the job ridding this world of your species when they put the pieces together about what happened to us. I can assure you that a lot of people are going to avenge us" Alec seethed with condemnation and hatred, but I could sense the hopelessness that was starting to settle on him. If I hadn't been there, he would easily had been able to escape. Actually, if it wasn't for me he wouldn't even be here! But instead of getting frustrated and hopeless as I would've in the past, I only grew that much more angry. It felt as though I was going to burst! How dared they use his weakness against him?!

In one movement, I let go of Alec's hand, stepped in front of him and glared down the leader. He hesitated and recoiled slightly under my glare, but soon smirked like before.

"Noel, are you crazy?" Alec hissed and tried to stand in front of me again, only to have me move closer to the man, which made Alec stop his attempts.

"What is it, girly? Are you mad we're going to kill you and your precious little lover?" the man asked with condescension and a humorless smile.

"You're not going to kill us" I had no idea where those words came from, but I was too angry to care about the harshness in my voice in that moment. I let something out, something invisible that seemed to poses the men. They wobbled backwards slightly as if just being hit in the face by something powerful – or someone. They were connected to me like a puppet's strings are connected to its master.

When they turned towards me in a weird mix of confusion and determination, I put more force into the connection, faintly realizing this must be the power, Aro had been so obsessed with.

"No one is going to hurt Alec" I hissed and sent a wave of force into the connection I had to each of them for empathize. They stumbled backwards a little.

"Run" it was more of an advice than an actual command, but they scattered nonetheless. The connection stretched until I mentally cut the strings and instantly I felt the aftershock of the entire ordeal. Alec caught me before I fell to the ground, but I couldn't stop shaking violently. The anger had perished and left me feeling scared of myself. What had I just done? What was that?

Alec snaked one arm under my shoulders and the other under my knees before lifting me up all while whispering comforting nothings. It was all I could do to put a trembling arm around his neck even if he didn't need the help to support my weigh.

.:-:.

"What happened?" Felix asked as soon as we entered the castle - Alec still carrying me in his arms. He had caught me a mountain lion, which had made my shivering go down a little, but my muscles was still having weird spasms every now and again when I wasn't trembling in general. Was that supposed to happen? It felt… wrong.

"We ran into a pack of werewolves in the forest north-west of here" Alec explained, more focused on me than on answering Felix.

"I'll inform Aro immediately" he said all business-like and ran off.

"I thought we took care of the last werewolf-clan centuries ago?" Heidi said in confusion and I winced at her casual tone of voice. How could she speak so indifferent about murdering an entire species? No wonder those guys were pissed. Not that it excused their bad behavior to put it lightly.

"Obviously we missed some" Alec hissed in annoyance as he brushed past her with me still in his arms. He brought me to my room where we were met by Demitri and Beth.

"What the hell?! Can't you even take care of her on a teeny tiny hunt?!" Beth screeched all too loudly for my sensitive ears.

Alec cringed and clenched his jaw as he gently put me down on the bed, completely ignoring my best friend's accusations that kept coming along with some profanities I would've been outraged about if it hadn't been for the fact that my mind was still circling what happened back in the woods. I had felt so… powerful. It scared me. No one should hold that kind of power.

"Are you even listening to me?! Look at her! She hasn't even been a vampire for fucking 24 hours and she's already a mess! I told you to look out for her! I hope to God you haven't traumatized her beyond repair!" Beth was starting to sound like a crazy, overprotective mother and I wanted to roll my eyes at her – or tell her to stop. This wasn't Alec's fault.

Alec's hands curled into fists and I knew it was getting harder for him to ignore her, but as she spoke, he suddenly seemed to deflate and get a devastated look in his eyes. I instantly took his hand and he met my worried eyes. I gave him the sternest glare I could muster, but I never was one to be all that stern and I think my worry kind of ruined it, but it seemed he got the message... somewhat. He smiled gently down at me and brushed a stray lock of hair out of my face. I was still shaking too much to speak, as I feared my teeth would clatter too much for anyone to understand me if I tried. Instead, I intertwined our fingers and gave him an assuring smile. He leaned his forehead against mine and I briefly closed my eyes. I let out a heavy sigh. It suddenly hit me how close we had been to dying today and how we barely got away, which lead my thoughts to my powers. They truly frightened me, but that wasn't why I kept shaking. It actually scared me a little that my immortal body was acting like this seeing, as I couldn't get sick or have seizures or whatever this was. Still, I was so relieved I managed to save Alec and that overshadowed my fear of what was happening to me, or my disgust with the revelation of my apparent gift.

"Urg, please don't tell me the two of you are going to get all lovey-dovey again! I can't take all the mushy mushy stuff!" Beth groaned loudly and – by the sound of it – sat down heavily in one of my chairs. Soon after, my doors burst open and Alec quickly moved back.

I would have blushed if I could, because not only did Aro come, Marcus, Caius and even the wives were here too plus their immediate lifeguards. Jane, Tom, Felix and Heidi trailed after and soon the room felt much too crowded – especially when all the attention was pointed towards Alec and me. I knew they were here most likely to get the rumors straight about werewolves, if they had all thought them to be extinct for centuries, but it was still so embarrassing. I wanted to apologize to Aro for my uselessness as a vampire, but every time I tried to open my mouth, my teeth clattered violently and I closed my mouth again.

"Oh dear" Sulpicia let out as her husband came to my side. Alec respectfully moved out of the way of his master while I lifted my shaking hand towards Aro. I knew he was here to learn about what happened and to see if it was true about there being more werewolves out there. Hopefully, he would be able to see what was wrong with me too. It was starting to be a pain to shake like this even if it had subsided somewhat.

He closed his eyes for several moments, my hand clutched between the two of his, while I couldn't help but look up at Alec. Jane stood closely by his side showing her worry about her brother in her own way, but Alec never took his eyes from mine. This time it was his turn to smile at me reassuringly.

"It would appear your gift is far greater than I had initially anticipated, young one" Aro said somewhat hesitantly, but with a wondrous gleam in his eyes as I looked back at him with confusion.

"What do you mean, brother? Are you finally going to reveal what exactly her so-called gift might be?" Caius sounded impatient and displeased with his fellow leader. Aro stood from the edge of my bed and turned his attention towards Caius.

"When she was still human, I believed her power would be to influence others to follow her, seeing as she had the eerie talent of subconsciously making everyone around her like her. But now it seems, she can not only do that, she can make others do her biding. She made an entire clan of werewolves flee with their tail between their legs with the mere force of her own will and I believe she could've made them do far more than just that" Aro smiled one of his weird smiles and sounded as if he was just musing over his thoughts to himself. His words filled me with a feeling of dread and acknowledgement. He had only confirmed what I had gathered myself. Alec took Aro's place by my side and gently put his left and on my forehead while his right hand found mine and intertwined our fingers.

"But why is she shaking? Using ones gift does not cause… that" Athenodora asked with creased brows. Sulpicia and her stood near the footboard of my bed with slightly worried looks, though I wasn't sure if it was for me or just in general.

"It's merely the aftershock of today's events. They thought they were going to die and she discovered the magnitude of her true powers all mere hours after she became one of us" Aro chuckled already about to leave.

"What are we going to do about the… werewolf-problem, brother?" Caius almost snapped while following the black-haired leader.

"We'll send out someone to find them and eliminate them once and for all" I faintly heard Aro reply before their voices disappeared down the corridors. I felt a tug at my undead heart. I might not have liked the werewolves, but I didn't want them dead either. If only there was a way to avoid either party getting killed, but I guess the hostility and hatred had lasted far too long to ever be reconciled.

Marcus looked at me with eyes that didn't seem empty as usual. There was a glint of something, but it was difficult to say if it was gratefulness, pain, wonder, worry or something else entirely. He gave me a small nod and I automatically mirrored as best as I could, before he left and soon the room wasn't as crowded anymore.

"Told you she has a far too gentle heart for this shit" Beth muttered childishly from the chair.

"Maybe, but she certainly isn't one to me messed with anymore" Demitri chuckled and I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment, causing more chuckles to erupt. Alec pried my hands from my face with a wide grin.

"Don't worry, Noel, we'll help you gain better control over your powers" Felix smiled at me. My eyes flickered to Alec who nodded with an affectionate smile that made my insides curl in delight.

"Thank you for saving my brother" Jane said with an unreadable expression, before quickly grabbing Tom's hand and pulling him with her out of my room. He gave me a quick wave and told me to get better, before they were gone.

"That got to be the first time I ever heard Jane thank anyone for anything" Demitri let out in mock shock. "Noel has changed a lot around here without even being aware of it" Alec chuckled and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. I had to use all my willpower not to pull him down and kiss him senseless. Gosh, I really had to get used to everything being heightened – especially my raging emotions.

.:-:.

It had been a week since the little escapade with the werewolves. I was slowly getting used to everything. Alec took me out hunting almost every day so far and I was already getting better at eating without making such a mess of myself. Felix, Demitri or one of the other guards had taken to come along too, seeing, as Demitri hadn't been able to track down the clan – much to Caius' fury – yet, but everyone said it was only a matter of time.

Three days ago, I started training under Aro's supervision in order to gain a better control over my power without it frightening me, but it hadn't helped so far – not that I would tell him, even though I knew he knew. Much to my disdain, Alec was the one on whom I was supposed to use my gift. He had assured me he didn't mind and that he would rather have me train on him than anyone else, but the thought of having absolute control over him – or anyone for that matter - made me sick to my stomach.

We were actually on our way to yet another training-session. I wanted to take my time getting to Aro, and Alec didn't seem to mind walking in a slow human-pace with our hands locked. Alec tried taking my mind off things by telling me about the Vikings in their glory days in Western Europe. I didn't like all the pillaging, but it was fun listening to all the things Alec had seen and experienced – and I had always enjoyed history and different cultures. Especially the art-aspect of history fascinated me greatly, which was why I absolutely loved when he told me about the renaissance or baroque! I didn't know all that much about the Vikings, but I knew they used serpentine shapes in their adornments and jewelry with snakes and horses that was rather beautiful.

The serene smile Alec had brought to my face fell as we met other guards on our way through the jumble of corridors leading to Aro's private office. Ever since the revelation of my gift, others had taken to look at me with the same eyes I had caught them looking at Jane – as if we were a ticking bomb that could go off any moment. My friends had never looked at me as if I was someone to be feared and it hadn't changed even after they knew of my powers. But even though I knew I shouldn't care about what anyone else thought of me other than Alec and my friends, I still felt a dull ache every time someone lowered their gaze when I passed or seized talking when I was near.

Alec being Alec instantly knew what was bothering me. He leaned in to whisper encouraging words before kissing the skin right below my ear. A lovely fire sizzled all the way to my toes as I felt his lips on my exposed skin and I pushed him into the nearest empty corridor.

He gave me a curious and amused look, causing me to hiss slightly. He did it on purpose! But darn it! I crashed my lips onto his and instantly realized how much I had missed – and needed – kissing him. We might've been together all the time, but there was always others around too. We hadn't been just us since I turned – mostly because of all that had happened with the werewolves, my training and all. Nevertheless, I had needed to be alone with him and to properly talk about how I felt. I still haven't told him I loved him even though one would think it would be the first thing to say after a near-death experience, but it all just ended in Alec trying to convince me I wouldn't turn into Voldemort Jr. and otherwise keeping me from freaking out again.

I clung to him almost desperately with a firm grip on his collar as if I would drown if I loosened my grip even the smallest bit. He wasn't late to retaliate as his hands went to the small of my back and pressed me closer. He didn't try to take dominance by pushing me against the wall instead of the other way around, but I knew that was only because he was curious as to what I would do – which, to put it frankly, I was too.

When I pulled back, I couldn't help but smile shyly. Alec was an expert at making me feel all sorts of endearing emotions that I had absolutely no clue how to handle, but I kind of liked it. It was dangerous and safe at the same time, these new sensations. I was discovering all sorts of new things with Alec and I could only look forward to discover even more. However, even with all that, it didn't keep me from having this nagging feeling.

"Are you afraid of me, knowing what I'm capable of?" I asked in a barely audible whisper after letting go of his collar only to gently rest my hands on his chest. I already knew the answer, but it wasn't the question I truly wanted to ask – which Alec seemed to be aware of.

"You know I never would, but you also know others can't help what they feel. There will always be shown negativity against someone with greatness. Besides, they are only afraid, because they don't know you, princess. If they tried to look past what you can do, they would see nothing more than a gentle, beautiful and caring soul" as he said the last part, he kissed me after uttering each of the flattering words and I giggled, feeling strangely lighthearted. It seemed he always knew what to say to cheer me up.

"I love you" I said in the middle of my giggles without even thinking and I instantly felt him tense against me. I grew serious and searched his face for any sign of my telling him this – unintentional as it was as I had imagined telling him under different circumstances – was a mistake, but his face was unreadable. He had even closed his eyes.

I squirmed slightly in his arms, but that only made him tighten his grip around me. Gosh, what if I ruined everything? What if he wasn't ready to say it back? I knew he loved me, but that didn't mean he was willing to say it out loud, which quite frankly I didn't know I was yet!

I settled on watching him with growing worry, but there came no reaction for several moments.

"You know, you should probably say something by now" I couldn't help but say, just to break the silence. He opened his eyes and his face cracked in a big grin as he met my eyes. The nervous churning in my stomach turned to flutters and I couldn't hold back a smile of my own. Why had I even been nervous in the first place?

"Sorry, I was just relishing the moment" he teased slightly and I playfully hit his shoulder. Darn him for making me sweat it!

"Don't make me feel uncomfortable then! I was starting to think it was bad I said anything!" I tried to pout, but pouting never was my speciality – it was more Beth's thing. He chuckled and nuzzled his nose against the crook of my neck, effectively making me erupt in a new fit of giggles.

"Sorry" he breathed before pulling back and meeting my eyes with newfound seriousness and a gleam in his eyes.

"I love you too"

AN:

Brace yourself, lovelies. The last chapter is coming (well, as soon as I've overcome my schoolwork and all – life calls, you know). See you on the other side ;)