A/N: A quick thank you to everyone who added this story in their alerts and/or added it to their favorite list.
Chapter 12-
Unknown POV-
She was clearly lying. I did not need any special powers to know that. It was evident as the day on her face. Rosalie Hale was never this sweet to anybody.
Not even to her own damn husband.
Bella was being overly trusting here. But that was simply her nature. Back in high school too, she had trusted any and everybody.
Exhibit A- Edward Dumbass Cullen.
I needed to be careful though. Bella could be the trusting one, but someone needed to be wary too, in order to protect her. And unfortunately, that responsibility fell on my shoulders.
Edward wasn't the only one to lose something that day in the woods. I had too. I had lost my mate.
Realizing that Bella was my one true one wasn't difficult. The sparks were there, and so was the desperate urge to keep her safe. But a small problem remained. Edward had seen her first. He had played dibs- to put it in simpler words. He may be a jackass now, but I couldn't split the family. And so, I played nice. I protected my mate from afar. Assuring that no harm reached her. It was difficult at times. She was a vulnerable human, but I kept my promise, decades after we left her life.
She got married. She got intimate with her husband. She had three children.
I saw it all. Sure, I was jealous. But it had been my decision to not disturb her human life, and hence I bore the consequences. She would return to my life in this manner, I had not expected.
Was I happy about it? Too early to say.
At least, this time Edward wasn't planning to call dibs.
Hopefully.
Anyhow, I followed Rosalie and Bella from far, rather careful to keep my scent hidden. I was an expert at that. You did not exist for centuries without having a few tricks up your sleeve!
I couldn't hear their conversation; the windows weren't rolled down. But the way the car was driving, this wasn't good. Rosalie was up to something. I half contemplated confronting her, but I couldn't do that. I couldn't expose myself. It was too early for that. If I ever decided to reveal the truth. I hadn't thought over it yet. There were too many variables to consider. The family, one of the major ones. Also, I wasn't completely comfortable getting Bella in my world.
Now, don't compare me to Edward. I wasn't a certified idiot. It was just that Bella deserved better. She didn't deserve to become a living corpse. She had a good enough life out there. It would be unfair to steal her life from her.
And she was so young yet. Only twenty-eight. What a waste of life?
Neither of us had any choice in the matter. Had I got the choice; probably wouldn't have chosen to be this. Hence, I protected that choice of hers…
What was Rosalie up to?
Why was she driving so rash?
Didn't she know that there was a human in there with her?
Rosalie, what the hell are you up to?
Maybe, I should place that call to the family?
She needed to be stopped.
Or I could…
'Wait.'
The message popped onto my phone out of nowhere. I waited for another one to come. They wouldn't leave me hanging.
'Trust me.'
Always did.
And so, I waited. I continued to follow the car deeper into the middle of nowhere, my instincts cautious as I prepared myself for anything that could come in front of me. And less than ten minutes later, it finally did.
She was driving towards a cliff. She was planning to throw Bella off a cliff. Shit.
How Machiavellian could a person be!
But what was to even be expected of Rosalie Hale!
I was saving her. Obviously.
Bella wasn't dying here today.
That I was sure of.
Rosalie would pay the price of her actions though. No one got away with crossing me.
Now, she didn't know that she was crossing me…but those were small particularities.
And she need not know it yet.
I jumped off the cliff less than a second after her car did, Rosalie flying out of the moving car with a proud smirk on her face. I was so going to wipe that smirk off her face!
But first, I had other important work to do. With haste, I grabbed an unconscious Bella. She had hit her head during the fall. Unfortunately, I had been too late to stop that. A bit of blood was trailing out of the open wound. Not enough in any manner to take her life. At most, she would need stitches.
But was I taking the chance now? No.
I had finally got my mate in my arms. I wasn't letting her go.
It was my time to be selfish.
I would deal with the family.
Or maybe, I would not. Bella and I could move elsewhere, consequences be damned.
And so, I did what I should have done ages ago. I let my lips caress her neck gently, my sharp teeth ready as I created my mark for the rest of her eternity.