AN:
Here are the groups as they stand now;

On the plane to Australia – Charlie, Brenna, Briggita, Fred, Aro, Picia

Texas – Peter, Charlotte, J, Bella, Demitri with the Spirit Walkers and Jake

Volterra – Esme, Marcus, Caius, Dora, Mark, Evan, Emmett, Rose, and a few of the Elite Guard and Lower Guard (Evan and Mark are the boys captured in New Mexico and were small time Generals)

America/Canada – Felix, Eliza, Jane, Alec, Renata searching for Newborn Armies

Europe – Alice and Alistair

S. Meyer owns twilight

CHAPTER 10

Charlie POV- On the airplane from Iceland to Australia

The Volturi jet had been sent to take us to Australia. I'd never left the US when I was human, but now I was a world traveller. I missed the states. Hopefully, I'd be able to return soon. I watched the tiny island of Iceland disappear from our view. It was going to be a long flight.

There was a lot of room to stretch out. Aro, Sulpicia, Brenna, Fred and Briggita were the only ones travelling on this leg of the journey. The rest of Fred's pack stayed in Iceland. They hadn't been home in a thousand years. They'd earned the rest. I was lucky Brenna was open to travel. I had a feeling we'd be doing a lot of jet setting in the future.

I checked our stock of Chequer vodka. There were another twenty bottles. Feykir had told us there were forty wolves in the Coober Pedy pack and another seventy wolves scattered around remote Western Australia. He had called each pack master to let them know we were coming. We'd be landing in Bangkok to refuel, then heading to Coober Pedy airport. The pack master, Aaron, would meet us there. I was intrigued by the place, a whole city living underground. There were a few people living on the surface, but it was apparently uncomfortable with the extreme temperatures.

I tried to sleep, but after being in Iceland I felt stronger than I have before. Thankfully, I wasn't glowing brightly anymore. Aro's phone rang, he spoke quietly to the person on the other end. I wondered how Theresa got along with the Quileutes. I wondered how Jake was faring. It had been four days since Pete first called to tell me about Jake and his imprint.

Time seemed to crawl. Damn, this flight was long. I needed a distraction. I got up and arranged some Vodka for the wolves and blood for the vampires. Aro finished his call as I walked out with the tray of refreshments. He was practically vibrating with joy. I handed he and Sulpicia a cup of pigs' blood and asked what was happening.

"Rose, Em and our human scientists have done it! They've perfected synthetic blood. It's ready for mass production." Holy shit. "That's amazing. What was it like? How much have they made?" I asked. Aro laughed in delight "better than anything they've ever tasted. Rose said their eyes turned red again. They handed it out during the daily public audience and it was very well received. They've got a large drum of it so far, they've ordered another twenty drums which will be ready by next week. This is it Charlie, this is what we've worked so hard for."

This would change everything. I'd have to call Theresa. "Can I notify the Spirit Walkers?" I asked Aro, he grinned widely "of course. Find out how the young wolf is doing and send our regards to them all." He handed me the phone. I quickly worked out it was around nine AM in Washington, I called Bells.

Bella was glad to speak to me. She told me Jake was recovering from his treatment, but was struggling with resentment. He had a lot of anger and hatred for his wolf form because of the imprint. Theresa was making sure he drank enriched tea with herbs, trying to keep him connected with his spirit wolf, but he was rejecting his wolf spirit despite their efforts. He felt tainted by the connection and had accidently phased due to anger a few times, his human spirit was still connected with Lauren and it was tormenting him. Lauren and the kids in Forks were causing a lot of trouble for the Res, Pete called his lawyer to help.

I could tell we'd have to cut our trip to Australia short. We'd need Chelsea's help to reduce the bond between Jake's human side and his imprint, I would need to be there to heal the effects of the weakened bond. J had been sending him as much calm as possible. I sighed. Lauren had been a good kid until her father, Ross, had been promoted and was a senior member of staff at Forks Chamber of Commerce. Since his pay increase Lauren had become more and more spoilt, his wife was just as bad. She quit her job and spent all the income Ross brought in on girly shit. I knew Ross was cheating on her, Sam had caught him while he was patrolling for Vampires. He had been able to leave before Ross and Jennifer Stanley had noticed him.

Jennifer Stanley, the woman was a menace and her daughter, Jessica, was looking to follow in her mother's footsteps. She had spread a few nasty rumors about Bella when the Cullens left. I wondered if the gossip mill knew about Mrs. Stanley screwing Mr. Mallory. Life in a small town was sometimes like a fucking soap opera.

Bella passed the phone to Theresa and we spoke about ways of helping Jake. She was doing her best and could hold off the rejection in the short term, but the longer Jake rejected the Wolf Spirit the harder it would be for him to find peace. I couldn't blame the kid, he had a huge responsibility ahead of him. He was supposed to be the Alpha, but had abdicated, letting Sam take over. Jake's wolf spirit wasn't happy with the arrangement.

Theresa said she would take Jake with her to the Texas Res when she returned home, she hoped that a break from all the pressure would help. Before Theresa handed the phone back to Bells I told her about the good news. "The Volturi have perfected synthetic blood." I said, she squealed and told me she'd inform the Quileutes at the community dinner that night. She was going to return to Texas tomorrow with the Horsemen.

I told Bella all about Iceland and the pack, she was intrigued. "Hey dad, if Jake keeps rejecting his Wolf Spirit would it be worthwhile sending him to Iceland so meet the pack?" That sounded like a definite possibility. I heard Pete speak in the background "that's a great idea! Who better to teach him how to accept his animalistic side." I agreed. "We'll have to see how the Chequer berries work. There's no point sending the kid there if the werewolves have trouble controlling their instincts."

We eventually bumped onto the landing strip at Coober Pedy Airport. The land was so isolated and few buildings could be seen around us. There were no humans around. A man was waiting for us on the tarmac, I guessed this was Aaron, pack master of the Coober Pedy wolves.

I recoiled as the door to the plane opened, the heat was terrible. It felt like I was walking into an oven. I saw Aro and Sulpicia cringe as they left the plane. I hated having to wear the cloak and mask. Brenna, Fred and Briggita seemed fine with the temperature, even while wearing the thick woolen jumpers and jeans they'd worn in Iceland.

The man slowly walked over to us. He was tall, about 6'2" and had short curly blond hair. His skin was deeply tanned, he had a baby face. He was wearing flip flops, dark blue shorts and a white tank top. "Hi, I'm Aaron. You can take your cloaks and masks off, the humans are underground and only our kind works on the surface during the day." His voice was oddly accented, Australian with a Scandinavian lilt. He led us into the small airport. There was a bag sitting on one of the seats. "I had a feeling you'd need a change of clothes. Feykir said you'd be wearing cloaks to hide yourselves."

He handed each of us a pile of clothes. We thanked him and headed to the bathroom to change. It felt strange to wear shorts, a tank top and flip flops after wearing a cloak and mask for so long. I was glad for the change of clothes. I caught sight of Aro and chuckled. He looked so odd in casual shorts. He was walking strangely. "I can't figure out this footwear." He said, grimacing. My chuckles grew; his pale skin and long black hair clashed with the clothing. He gradually started to laugh with me. Fred walked out of his changing cubicle, his laughter joined our own, the clothes at least suited Fred.

We composed ourselves and headed out of the change room, giggling occasionally. Our laughter started up again as we saw Sulpicia. Brenna came up to me, the clothes suited her, the wolves' skin was darker than the vampires. The women were wearing a feminine version of our clothing.

"I see you guys haven't worn thongs before." Aaron chuckled. What the hell? I could feel my blush and stuttered "I'm more of a boxers kind of guy." Aaron looked shocked for a second and laughed a little. Aro, Sulpicia, the European Wolves and I looked at each other in confusion. Aaron shook his head. "Shoes." He said, as if that was supposed to explain. "Flip flops?" I said in confusion, he nodded. "They're called thongs here." He said amused. Oh. I guess in a weird way they were like G-strings for your feet.

"How do you walk in these things?" Aro asked Aaron. Aaron shrugged and said "you kind of curl your toes a little. It should hold them on." We gathered our old clothes and put them in the bag Aaron had used to transport our new clothing. The sun was blazing hot and there was a slight hot wind. I noticed that I could no longer sweat, the heat was trapped in my body. Aro and Picia almost blinded us when they walked out in the sun, their skin glittered brightly. We headed towards a large jeep, Aro and Sulpicia were walking a little bowlegged trying to get used to the 'thongs.'

We got in and Aaron passed us some sunglasses. "Sorry guys, I should have brought these with me when I met you."
"It's no problem, we're grateful for the new attire. I'll admit that when we got out of the plane I wondered if the mythology of vampires and the sun was true." Aro said. Aaron agreed, "Yeah, it gets bloody hot here. It's one of the reasons the pack came here; you vamps aren't keen on the daytime heat and the freezing cold nights. This part of the country is perfect for us; the isolation keeps humans safe from our kind, the temperature keeps us safe from vamps and there are good jobs in the mines." Aaron explained.

We could see signs of civilization ahead. Small buildings dotted the area, it was like a small desert suburb. "Me and the pack live above ground, we don't mind the temperature. I've arranged for you guys to stay in the hotel underground. Will you guys be okay around the humans?" Aaron asked. Picia replied "we have no problem staying near humans. We've actually changed our diet and don't hunt for blood like we used to."
"Yeah, I noticed the golden eyes. Feykir said you drank from animals." Aaron said, smiling.

"We'll be leaving before the full moon, so we shouldn't pose a risk" Fred said. "No worries. We have an old mine we use at our time of the month. We've lined the entrance with Rowan and the sandstone rock keeps it sound proof. The dug out houses are the same; we've booked a few rooms for you in the hotel underground. If any of you need to hunt we have feral cats and camels so you'd be doing us a favor." He pointed to a wire fence in the distance "that's the dog fence. It keeps dingoes away from the livestock. There are a lot of pests over there. We've put rowan wood scent traps along the fence so we can let loose sometimes." He added.

It was a short journey to the 'dug out.' We sighed in relief as we headed into the underground hotel. The floors seemed to be paved with marble and the walls were cut, jagged rock. The temperature was a lot lower in here. No wonder the humans preferred it. Aaron helped us settle in. "Do any of you need human food?" He asked. It had been a few days, I probably should eat something soon. "Sure." I replied.

He led Brenna and me to a restaurant in the hotel. I was surprised by the quality and variety of the food. "There are a lot of European settlers here." Aaron said. "This town was created in the early part of last century. Me and the pack moved here in the 1950s."
"Where were you before that?" I asked. "Western Australia. Our pack had grown so we decided to split up. We heard of this town and decided to move here. We fit in well with the humans; we became friends with a few people in the Aboriginal Nations and the white settlers. We help out when we can, it's nice being in a place where we're safe and accepted."
"I can imagine. I met Fred and his pack recently. They've had it tough; guarding the Romanians, living in Siberia, hiding from vampires. It's good to know there are safe places for werewolves."
"Yeah. Sometimes you got to do what you can to survive. I admire Fred for sticking it out as long as he did."

"Where were you born?" I asked Aaron. He looked up from his meal and replied. "Iceland. I was named Arn, I Anglicized it to Aaron when we arrived in Perth, Western Australia. When I lived in Iceland I was Feykir's second in command. I had been turned a couple of centuries after the Vikings settled. My ancestors were from Norway and migrated, settling in Ísafjörður. Me and a couple of guys from our village took a trip, we took a boat to the other arm of the Westfjords and walked for days, getting lost. We ended up in a cave during the full moon and got attacked. We managed to get out and once we passed the rowan wood we were safe from the wolves. We would have died from hypothermia on that damn glacier if we hadn't been bitten."

"Do you regret being bitten?" I asked, he shook his head. "Nah. I'm pretty happy with my life. Being immortal gives you fewer responsibilities; we can travel anywhere we want, put up with any weather we encounter. We're free." I finished and paid. Aaron guided us back to the room. He'd be taking Fred, Briggita and Brenna to meet his pack. Brenna would be giving them the Chequer vodka to drink before we met them. We didn't want to cause their instincts to flare with our scents.

Aro, Sulpicia and I went to explore the hotel. "I must admit humans still surprise me." Picia whispered. Aro smiled "they're incredible. It's one of the reasons I'm so keen to create the synthetic blood. Humans live such short lives, yet they gain so much information and constantly seek for answers. Immortality seems to curb our curiosity."
"I still see myself as human. There are things you're forced to learn about in order to function in the adult world. Sometimes our interest is sparked by something, if we're lucky we can turn that knowledge into a career. Most humans live fairly sedate lives." I explained to them.

We headed upstairs and had a look in the shopping arcade in the reception of the hotel. There was a lot of jewelry and I decided to buy a few pieces for Brenna, Bells, Rose, Esme and Dora.

BPOV - Texas

We had just arrived in Texas after staying at La Push for a week. I was sad to leave so soon, but we needed to help Jake recover from the breaking of the imprint. It was too difficult for him to be so close to Lauren, she was a constant thorn in his side. After Theresa and Pete had performed the first stage of the healing, he had woken refreshed. He had taken a walk along First Beach, enjoying the partial freedom from the imprint. Lauren was on the beach with Jessica. She had walked up and slapped him for not intervening when she was arrested. He had almost phased then.

When Jake had told Lauren he was done with her bullshit she went on a rampage, accusing Jake and the tribe or racism and sexism. She called him a lazy and swore to take revenge on him and the tribe. Jake had laughed at her and told her to get off the Res. Jess had pulled Lauren away, taking her back to her car and driving back to Forks.

Lauren had turned up an hour later with Mike, Tyler and many from the football team. Sam called the Forks police station. The man who had taken over from dad, Mark, arrived with Paul, Paul had been promoted to deputy. Sam, Old Quil, Billy and Sue stood with the police officers and told Lauren and her impotent army that they were no longer welcome on their land. Jake had made a personal call to the gym teacher, Coach Clapp. Coach Clapp brought Principal Green with him as they sped to the Res and threatened the football team with expulsion. Mike and his friends left with their tails between their legs. With a month until graduation they couldn't risk doing anything that could ruin their chances at getting into college.

Lauren spat at Billy and was forced to leave with Principal Green and Coach Clapp. They were taking her to her parents' house. We had thought that would be the end of it, but it wasn't. Lauren's father turned up with his attorney. They threatened to sue the Tribal Elders for racism and launched an official complaint about Jake stalking Lauren. Pete called J. Jenks in Seattle. He brought a whole legal team with him from his Seattle law office. Lauren's father and his lawyer waited impatiently, twisting the events that had occurred and making more libelous claims.

It had taken Jenks three hours to arrive at the Res. The Elders remained silent as Lauren's father and his lawyer yelled and accused them of every crime imaginable. When Jenks had arrived with three other lawyers they quickly took control of the situation, calling Police Chief Mark and sorting through the complaints against Lauren. Her father and lawyer knew they were beat, they left, seething with rage. I was annoyed I couldn't be in there, but we had to hide, I was supposed to be dead and J's presence would have raised questions.

Jenks began setting up a restraining order against Lauren, Mike, Tyler and Jessica. He would file it with the courts on Monday. The following morning Pete and Char put in some blue contacts and went into Forks to monitor Mike and his friends. They stopped by Newton Outfitters 'looking for fishing gear.' They had spoken to Mrs. Newton about 'a rumor' they'd heard about a gang of youths trying to cause a race riot on the Reservation. Pete had gone into detail, describing Mrs. Newton's embarrassment. A few parents of the kids on the football team had turned up, they overheard Pete and Char's conversation about the racist gang of Forks.

Pete and Char hung around outside the shop to listen to the meeting between the parents. A few made excuses for their kids' actions, but when details came to light about Lauren they had changed their tune. It appeared Lauren had cheated on many of the boys in the team. They had heard Tyler's mother complain his son was being treated for Chlamydia. After that the parents decided to forbid their children from having anything to do with Lauren. She became the scape goat.

Pete and Char had then gone to the local supermarket, Pete's gift told him Mrs. Stanley would be there. They posed as newlyweds on their way to Port Angeles for their honeymoon; they made up a story about meeting on the board walk two years ago. Mrs. Stanley ate up their story of romance, she was hooked.

Char then told her about a gang of youths that had been spotted near La Push, they said they had gone fishing on First Beach and heard a group of boys being led by a girl with long blond hair. They told Mrs. Stanley about the revolting things being said about the tribe and told her they were lucky to escape before being spotted. Mrs. Stanley hung on to every word as they described how fearful they were and how they had called the Police. Mrs. Stanley lamented about the youth of the day.

It was with perfect timing the Cashier overheard the conversation and asked Mrs. Stanley, "isn't Lauren one of Jessica's friends?" Mrs. Stanley had turned ashen and stuttered "absolutely not. She has more class than to hang around a slut like Lauren." A brawl had then begun, Lauren's mother had overheard Mrs. Stanley and they battled it out over which daughter was to blame. Emily had tears in her eyes from laughter, for once Jessica's mother would suffer the gossip mill.

Theresa offered Jake a place on her Reservation. He had grown angry with his heritage and was rejecting his Spirit Wolf. He felt betrayed by the Spirits and guilty for the trouble Lauren had caused. The wolf spirit was no longer bonded with Lauren, but his human side was. There was too much dissonance between his human and animal side. Billy and Sue promised to keep them updated on what was happening with any legal problems. Theresa said she'd speak with Celia, a Healer Spirit Walker who had decades of experience with the legal system. She would liaise with Jenks about any possible law suits.

The further we got from Washington the easier it was for Jake to calm down. He and J had become good friends, my mate's power was able to help him greatly. Theresa was still a little weak after the healing. She was now asleep in the back seat of our car, next to Jake. She and Jake would be spending the night at our house and would travel to the Res in the morning.

J and Char readied dad's room and mine for the two Spirit Walkers to sleep. Pete and I were in the kitchen. I was cooking them dinner and he was going through some herbs the Res had delivered. There had been a couple of notes sticky taped to the front door when we arrived. One was from Felix, he was thanking us for use of the house and had contacted the Res to give them the all clear to travel beyond their borders. The other was from the Res; they'd left a package of herbs for when Theresa arrived. She'd asked them to deliver some supplies to us before we left Washington.

Pete put the kettle on and prepared a couple of cups for tea. Jake needed to drink an immunity boosting tea and calming tea a few times daily to cope with the incomplete imprint. Theresa would have to drink a few cups of energy boosting tea daily until she recovered.

Pete called the two Spirit Walkers down. He handed the cups to them both and guided them to the lounge room. Jake chose a film to watch while they waited for their food. I heard the opening credits to Mr. Vampire and called J and Char down to watch it with the others. I hadn't had a chance to show them the movie yet.

Jake was telling them how it had become a favorite movie of the Quileutes. I enjoyed hearing them laugh. I plated the steak and roast vegetables I'd cooked and brought them into the lounge room so they could keep watching and eat at the same time. J smiled as I sat down next to him.

Theresa and Jake fell asleep on the couch halfway through our impromptu vampire movie marathon. I carried Theresa upstairs to dad's room while J and Pete carried Jake into the room I shared with J.

A couple of hours after midnight J led me outside, it was so quiet. We lay on the ground and watched the stars. They were so bright here. J kissed down my neck, my lust rose. We were finally alone to be together. We kissed, I pushed him on his back and climbed on top of him. We ground our hips together, becoming desperate for friction. He quickly pulled up my t-shirt, flinging it into the trees. My bra soon followed.

I pulled off his shirt, brushing my fingers down his scarred chest as we kissed. I was getting desperate for him. I fumbled with his jeans, he raised his hips so I could drag them down his legs. He opened the fly of my jeans and pushed his fingers into my underwear. I started to grind against his fingers, the cloth of my underwear dampened, increasing the friction.

I knelt beside him on the ground and took his cock into my mouth as he continued to rub me through my underwear. I ran my tongue up his shaft as I bobbed my head. I felt him pull my pants lower, he pushed a finger inside me. I groaned as I worked his cock. "Bella, I need to be inside you." He panted.

I released him from my mouth and straightened, he pulled me up and I stepped out of the rest of my clothes, he removed the rest of his clothes. He kissed me hard, pushing me against a nearby tree. I wrapped my legs around his waist and thrust him into me. He pounded me desperately. The tree groaned in protest. Our eyes met, dark and full of need. He growled and I purred in response, our inner vampires took over.

The tree snapped, we fell and rolled on the ground. He lay on top of me and plunged back into me. I pushed his shoulders back, fighting for dominance. We growled, both of us wanting control. He pulled out and I roared at him, he turned me over and pushed into me from behind. My knees sunk into the ground with each thrust. The different angle brought new sensations of pleasure.

I raised my torso up so I was kneeling, my back against his chest. I turned my head to kiss him. He palmed my breasts, holding me in place. One of his hands trailed down my stomach, his fingers finding my clit and stroking me with each thrust. I felt myself clench around him as I was engulfed in waves of pleasure. My back and neck arched and my teeth sank into the side of his neck. He gripped me tighter and froze. I felt him twitch inside me, his head fell forward. He bit me, growling lowly and he came inside me.

J licked the bite and kissed down my shoulder. I shivered, my nerve endings sensitive to his touch. I leaned back and brought my legs out from under me. He moved me to the side and lay down next to me. I rested my head on his chest, breathing in his scent. The hours sped past as we lay still, the sky lightened and the sun sent beams of orange and red light over the horizon.

Our skin sparkled as we searched for our clothing. Somehow my bra ended up at the top of a tree. I blamed J for it so he climbed up quickly to retrieve it. We dressed in our tattered clothes and slowly walked back, occasionally stopping to groom the leaves and twigs from each other's hair. It had been a beautiful, clear night, but sex on the ground wasn't as enjoyable. While our skin wouldn't break, the rocks and twigs digging into my skin had been irritating.

We walked in to the house and saw the others in the kitchen talking. I smiled sheepishly and led J to our room to shower and change. We returned soon after, looking a lot more civilized. Charlotte had made Jake and Theresa a large pile of pancakes. Pete handed us each a cup of blood. "Theresa helped me enrich it." He said as we drank. It wasn't as good as the Healers, but it was filling. We thanked them.

The conversation started up again. "Do you miss feeding from humans?" Jake asked Pete and Char. "No. I actually prefer the feed this way." Pete said. Char agreed and added "our instincts are easier to control. The longer we feed this way the less humans look like food. Our Masters' have created blood which is cloned from human blood and enriched by our healers. Our eyes will become red again when we drink it, but it'll mean the end of killing in order to feed."
"Are they expecting all leeches to change diet?" Jake asked. There was no malice behind his derogatory slur.

"That's the plan." J explained. "They're going to open up distribution centers globally. The blood will be given free of charge."
"How will they be able to cover the costs?" Jake asked. Pete told him what he knew of Aro's plans. "There will be a rotation of volunteers. Each of us will need to volunteer our time to provide blood to the covens and nomads. The Volturi have invested in mining companies and pharmaceutical companies over the years. A lot of Children of the Moon have been able to find work in the mining industry and Aro has a large interest in medicine. The Volturi are extremely wealthy and looking at increasing the quality of life for all supernatural creatures."

The sound of a car approaching broke us out of the conversation. "That's our ride. Thank you all for your hospitality. I look forward to seeing more of you." Theresa said. Jake looked nervous as he followed Theresa out to the van.

We were alone at last. I knew exactly what my first task would be; taking my car out for a drive. I had barely driven Binky since Pete gave her to me. J appeared in the passenger seat "where are we going?" He asked. I smiled "where ever the fuck we want." I said as I hit the accelerator.