Thank you everyone again for the follows, favourites, and reviews! And I hope everyone enjoyed their teaser with their review :)

Again, I will be holding up my end by replying with teasers to all reviews - if you can't wait and don't mind a little temptation for the next chapter, please review and you'll get a nice teaser in return.

And here's a little taste of Isabella again... enjoy!

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight.

Isabella

I closed my eyes, basking in the feeling of the cool breeze against my cooler skin as I took in a long, deep breath.

I could sense every single human as the smell of their sweet blood filled my nostrils.

A young woman walking across the street, pushing a their young child in its carriage.

Several intoxicated men heading into the local pub as their laughter travelled to my ears.

A teenaged couple, who were clearly very engaged… intimately, which strengthened their scents even more.

Not only could I smell them but my powers were so defined that I could see them as well.

I was quite the hunter. Which was fairly necessary in my present condition:

The leader of the Rogues.

Many Laimos claim I was absolutely wicked. Cruel to the very inches of my cursed body. That I'd been blessed with the rarest of power and instead wasted it as a tool for petty revenge.

How unfortunate that those pitiful Laimos had been twisted into believing lies and deceit.

Some may be true. I was cruel. And I was definitely wicked. Although my power was far from 'being wasted', especially not as a weapon for revenge.

They clearly underestimated me.

However, I understood why I was thought of so horribly by my own kind. I was, in fact, the Isabella. The one who had turned her back on the entire Laimos race and, in fact, created her own rebellion against them. When, actually, the real story was far from it.

I had never once turned my back on my own kind. What sparked this rumour was an attempt to undermine me even further due to the reality of my being a changed vampire, rather than a born one. I had not asked to be changed, nor would I have wished it upon any soul. But I took in my fate and dealt with my new life, accepting whatever road I would be led down.

There was no other reason behind my apparent treason aside from one person.

Carlisle.

His vile, vindictive behavior had led me to my own breaking point centuries ago and I had yet to regret any of the actions I had taken against him. However, my passionate hatred towards him had made me into the Laimos I was today.

For years I had trained and worked on my physical and psychological strength. I remained entirely concealed as I travelled across all of Europe in search for those few individuals who would train me mercilessly into the assassin I was today.

During my time with Carliel, I had heard silent rumours of three Laimos who were even wanted by Carlisle himself. It was said that, other than Carlisle, they were the oldest Laimos alive. Not only that, but their strengths were entirely unique and unheard of.

I had not known of their individual names, though I knew what they were called.

The Formalists.

When I had left, I knew I needed to find myself, my true self, while also needing to advance my strength and power, and quick. So I dedicated my time to searching for them. It became my obsession, as I knew they were the only ones who could make me powerful enough in my rebellion. I knew I would be sought out and of course, killed when found by Carlisle himself, so I had to protect myself by any means. If there was a chance that I was faced with possible capture, and possibly death, I was not strong enough at the time to have been able to fight for my life. In short, I had to abolish all weaknesses I had and replace them with infinitely powerful strengths. And that could've only been done with the Formalists.

Sixty four nights later, my search was complete.

Though with the end of my search brought intense, grueling, and painful training.

After I had convinced them to accept me as a student, I realized that I wasn't the only one against living under Carlisle's rule. My thoughts were not specifically directed towards that at the time, but it had certainly been a spark in my future endeavours.

My time had been separated into sessions with each of the Formalists.

Alec worked on improving my physical strength, pushing me each and every session no matter the pain I would endure and no matter how much I felt like I was breaking apart.

Demetri devoted his time towards advancing my natural Laimos attributes such as agility, hunting, heightening my senses and controlling my bloodlust.

Lastly, Jane spent every moment pushing my power beyond its own limit.

My power was entirely unique in the Laimos race. It had been said that very rarely would a Laimos be born with a power, blessed by the Goddess Lamia herself. The powers varied widely, affecting either the mind or the body as well as its variance in strength.

Carlisle had experienced this many times during his centuries of living, and it motivated him into putting forth another one of his worthless laws. Any Laimos who had a power must be presented to Carlisle and he would in turn promise those blessed Laimos a seat on the Council alongside him considering their rare status. What those ignorant fools didn't know was that their power would be judged. If Carlisle felt that the power was in any way unnecessary or unrequired, that Laimos would be executed. And, if you were given a seat on the Council, you would either take Carlisle's offer, or be killed.

Carlisle was never one to accept defiance, or let a Laimos walk away when there was a possibility that one of their powers might equal his.

That was, until I came along.

My power was that I had the ability to replicate and take in the powers of those similarly blessed as I was.

It only took a simple connection to the source of the power. If it came from the mind; I would touch the temple of that Laimos. If, say, the Laimos could create fire in his hand, I'd only need to grace his hand with mine. And that was it. I would have the exact same power they had. If I made contact with the centre of power, I would automatically receive it, and it would forever stay with me.

So, through my rigorous training with Jane, I had brought my power farther beyond its peak. Once I achieved another power, I would immediately know how to use it effectively. Not only that, but its strength would be much stronger than of the Laimos I had taken it from.

In the end, after months of my training with the Formalists, I was as powerful as I'd ever seen myself to be.

Feeling complete, I returned back to Italy. However, my plan of action at the time was far from even becoming a plan. I spent a few days attempting to organize my following plans, and that's when all the pieces finally fell into place.

It first came when I encountered Rosalie. She was blonde, curvaceous, stunning, and extremely harsh. After one conversation with her, I found out all that I had needed to know. For one, her hatred for Carlisle was almost as strong as mine.

Born to parents who had been denied their love for each other, she had hidden in fear along with them from Carlisle. Her parents were able to live in hiding for several decades until everything had fallen apart. Somehow, her parents were discovered. They put her into hiding, not able to lose their daughter to the same fate as theirs, and Rosalie watched in silent terror as her parents were murdered ruthlessly in front of her own eyes. Worst of all, she had seen by whose hands.

Carlisle.

Though her hesitation was evident in telling me, I listened to the story of her past as well as her current life attempting to live under a fake rule. But she couldn't live that life any longer. That night, her hatred had grown when she saw one of Carlisle's guards finding two Laimos together in a very intimate position. The guard was in the act of calling the other guards nearby when Rosalie took action under the law that had taken her parents from her.

She pulled them apart limb by limb, then burned them.

Once I had told her my name, it seemed as if Carlisle and the Council were not the only ones who knew of my immediate departure.

I had been well-known in the kingdom, it was true. But Rosalie had then told me that rumours were circulating of the reasons for disappearance. Some had said that I was banished because of my power, though it wasn't as believed of a rumour. Some also believed that I left and killed myself under the pressure of Carlisle's rule.

None were true, of course. There were only two people that had known the reasons for my departure.

Carlisle and myself.

After meeting Rosalie, there was no doubt that we quickly bonded and built a strong connection. We shared the same hatred for Carlisle and her extreme strength was obviously no better reason than to have her by my side.

Together, we had no idea what we could even accomplish.

And that's where it all began.

The Rogues.

One by one, Laimos from throughout Europe and North America came to find me. Searching high and low, they searched for weeks and even months to find me, going through many disciples before being able to stand before me. I was pleased with the amount of Laimos I had gathered into the Rogues, but we were missing one key factor.

Jasper.

Stricken with the same revulsion to Carlisle as Rosalie had, Jasper joined the Rogues.

Though it was not in the same way Rosalie had.

Through my many centuries, I had experienced certain pulls towards things that were unknown to me. I would see images of locations in my mind and feel a strong connection to them, being called to that place or person and having to go one way or another. It was unnatural for my kind, but I knew this was something beyond explaining and beyond me – this was another blessing from the goddess Lamie herself. It had brought me to my past before I had been changed. It had also brought me to Jane, Alec and Demetri.

And, many centuries before, it brought me to Jasper.

I could still easily recall our first encounter as if it had been days, rather than centuries, ago.

I perched up on the tree branch before hearing the soft whimpers of a young Laimos boy coming towards me.

Rather than hide further and ignore him, I remained where I was and watched until he came in full view.

He was small. Possibly before his teenage years, if not in the beginning of it. Though at his young age, his sharp features were clearly evident. He had wavy, blonde hair that flowed down to his jaw line. Through the shine of the moon, I could see his stunning, light brown eyes. Though they were striking, they were also full of unshed tears.

The emotions and connection I felt towards him were entirely new to me, but I felt a need to comfort him immediately. He was hurting, and I would have done anything to see the boy smile.

I watched as he stopped a short distance in front of the tree I was on and sat down on the ground, putting his face in his hands as he began to cry.

"Now, now. There is no need for such a beautiful child to spill unnecessary tears." I called out and his head snapped up to my direction. His hearing was strong, though not strong enough to have heard me in the tree before I had made my presence known. I slipped off the high branch, landing to the ground silently as he stared at me.

"Has someone been cruel to you?" I asked softly, slowly walking towards the young boy.

He was not scared as he nodded his head, not breaking his gaze from mine. "Yes. That's why I had to run away."

"Well, that's unacceptable." I said as I closed the distance between us and kneeled in front of him. "But I will make you a promise. I will never, ever let someone hurt you again. And I always keep my promises."

"I believe you." He said softly as he wiped his eyes of the remaining tears that had shed. "I'm Jasper."

I smiled at his ability to open himself quicker to me than I had expected. It was clear that my bond to him was reciprocrated. "I'm Bella. Now, Jasper, tell me who's been cruel to you so I can make them suffer for it."

It was then that I had found out that Jasper was orphaned.

Carlisle had made it clear to the entire kingdom that he would only keep those Laimos who would be able to contribute to their own race. Which meant those that could reproduce without any complications. However, Carlisle seemed to have also conjured an ideology of 'pure' Laimos. Without a doubt, our kind was impeccably unique. The essence of perfection. Although, in Carlisle's manic mind, there were those who tainted our perfection. In one way, unfortunately for Jasper, that went for a Laimos who had went against his chosen mate. Therefore, those two Laimos and all who followed their bloodline were destroyed.

However, this was not entirely Jasper's case. It seemed as if his parents, having refused their chosen mates, had been neglectful and abandoned him on the castle's footsteps when he was still an infant. Unfortunately, what Carlisle began to do with Laimos children who were orphaned or neglected, was use them for a purpose. They were seen as fouled, which was a quality that would not be borne in a Laimos.

He made them his own personal slaves.

I had not known of any of Jasper's strengths, though I felt a sort of maternal connection towards him. Several centuries younger than me, my heart pained towards Jasper. He had lived in the castle walls for many decades, not knowing anything but agony under the hands of Carlisle and his guards. Not only was he abandoned by his own parents but his own entire race turned their backs on him and treated him like garbage.

Involuntarily, I had attempted to comfort Jasper by gently running my hand through his hair. And that's when it happened.

The power soared through the very essence of my body as it flowed from Jasper's mind to mine.

It turned out, though he kept it a secret, Jasper had been blessed with a strong power. Through his mind, Jasper could inflict physical pain to another.

I had never seen a power such as Jasper's, but knew that it was right for him to keep it a secret. Who knew what Carlisle would have done to him if he knew.

And from that day forward, I kept my promise. I protected Jasper from harm no matter what, putting myself in danger to keep him safe. Even now, as he was centuries old, I still treated him the same.

The connection between Jasper and myself was envied amongst many of the other Rogues, which I had no need to explain. Jasper and Rosalie had become the closest thing to a real family that I had, especially during the time I had felt the most lost.

As my eyes remained closed, focusing on the petty humans miles away, I threw away those pathetic thoughts on my former, weak life. I opened my eyes to once again face the world in front of me.

I pulled back my strong sense of smell, lessening the effect of the aroma of blood, to focus back on the atmosphere around me.

Leaning against the tree trunk had began to slowly become uncomfortable, though I could not bring myself to shift Jasper's position as he lay against me, using my lap as an unusual pillow. I could see the rise and fall of his chest through his opened, button-down black shirt as he unnecessarily took heavy breaths. He had chosen to relish the feeling of the cool grass along his naturally cold feet by remaining barefoot.

Rosalie, on the other hand, chose to dress in her general Rogue clothing as I also had that night. The tight black leather pants rose low on our hips and extended slimly to our ankles, emphasizing the feminine curves of our bodies with knee-high heeled leather boots, seeming as if it was all one piece. However, Rosalie had chosen a slightly different alteration, as she topped everything with a very low cut blood red sleeveless shirt. Surprisingly, it managed to cover enough of her breasts without having exposed herself. Not that it would matter, considering the woman had no shame and had the body to show off anyway. My shirt, on contrast, was one that I had donned for many years. Similar to the rest of my outfit, the black sleeveless, leather top clung to the very inches of my body as it was cut into a deep v-neck shape in the front. Though I was not as daring as Rosalie, a body as I'd been blessed with only deserved to be flaunted.

Jasper's uneasy turning averted my attention towards him, realizing the anxious expression he was wearing.

"Bella, I should've been the one to get the girl. I wouldn't have failed like James had," Jasper argued with me yet again. It was unbelievable how he still sounded like the young boy in the forest that I'd first met.

"Are you seriously bringing this up again, Jasper? Questioning my orders again?" I asked him firmly before he let out a deep breath and shook his head. Jasper knew better than to replace my leadership with our personal relationship, which he remembered once he met my sharp glare. "Good. Because there was no way that I would let any of the Rogues complete an impossible task. And especially not you. It was James' fault for letting his fate fall into the hands of Carlisle. If he had not disobeyed me, he would still be in one piece."

Jasper's eyes filled with remorse as I reminded him of James, our most recently recruited Rogue who had idiotically attempted to obtain a girl said to have been Carlisle's daughter. Of course, he had been captured. And, knowing Carlisle and his rule perfectly, I knew that James was long gone by now. If he was lucky.

I relaxed back on the tree trunk, staring out into the dark sky and its twinkling stars.

"James may be dead, but I still call for a celebration," Rosalie said as she plucked blades of grass from the ground.

"Celebrate what, might I ask? We didn't win anything." Jasper questioned, raising his head from my lap and looking towards Rosalie.

"That we are still alive and well, of course," Rosalie said sweetly, smiling as she sat up on the earth beneath us. "I've heard rumours of this new club, filled with Laimos and humans. It seems that our own kind have been recruiting some silly naïve humans into the club and getting their fill on blood while remaining hidden by Carlisle's rule. I say we crash the party and check it out ourselves."

If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that Rosalie was suggesting for us to expose ourselves. It was extremely rare for us to do so, knowing that Carlisle and his guards were looking for us throughout every minute of the night; and it would have been foolish to forget that they would be searching more vigilantly because of James' vain escapade. But now, as we sat together uninterested, and my mind involuntary decided to reminisce on my much avoided past, it was evident we needed our own entertainment.

I raised my eyebrow at Rosalie curiously. "Are you suggesting we start up a little danger of our own, Rosalie?"

Rosalie's grin widened as she stood up, taking advantage of my subtle agreement. "Oh Bella, you know me so well."

Jasper returned his gaze to mine as I noticed that his expression had entirely matched Rosalie's. I couldn't help but resist.

"So, what are we waiting for then?"