I decided to update today because I'm feeling nice... and kind of bored! And I'm excited. I signed up for my masters degree! I'm excited, hopefully I'll be starting August first! And tomorrow I am going to go look at new cars! I'm finally making enough money to afford one and my credit is good enough to get one! Lots of good things happening! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Forty-One
I gulped and slowly turned around. My hands were shaking and my mouth felt dry as I faced him.
There he was. As menacing as I remember, except now, he was covered in blood from some poor animal he had just killed. Where that animal currently was, I didn't know. From the looks of it, he ate it raw and sucked the blood from it. I clutched my satchel tightly and started to shiver as I met his eyes.
His red eyes moved down my body, stopping when he spotted my massive belly. He made a face of both disgust and disinterest. Just as the goddess said would happen. I was a mated female, he wouldn't have an interest in me. Hopefully now he didn't kill me just for the hell of it.
"Why are you up here, female?" He asked his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air, probably searching for my mate's scent. I was unsure if he remembered me or remembered if Edward was my mate.
"I-I came to see y-you." I said, trying to steady my voice to appear stronger.
He hissed in disgust. "Your large belly tells me that you are carrying a child. I am not interested in you."
Ouch. Okay, there was a shot at my ego. That was okay though, I knew he wouldn't want me because of my pregnancy.
"Do you remember me?" I asked, holding up my scarred hand from where he bit me.
He thought about it for a moment before his blond brows furrowed. "You are alive? How did you survive?"
"It's a really, really long story." I said. "Look, I didn't come up here to—."
"You are… the boy's mate?" He said, struggling slightly. "Carlisle's son?"
"Edward," I told him. "Yes, I am your nephew's mate."
"What a strange way of talking you have," He said. "What is wrong with your tongue? It speaks words that make no sense."
"It's my accent." I said. "I'm not here to talk about my accent. I need to tell you that—,"
"Leave girl," He hissed as he started towards me. I gasped and jerked out of his path, but it was apparent that he wasn't interested in me because he walked right passed me towards the caves that were resting higher in the mountainside.
"Caius please!" I said, running after him.
He stopped suddenly, causing me to almost run into him. His ears were twitching as he looked over his shoulder at me.
"Go back to the boy, girl." He said, his tone not so harsh. "You will die up here and I am not caring for my nephew's mate." He hissed the word nephew.
When he started walking again, I ran after him. I heard him sigh in annoyance, but otherwise, he ignored me running after him.
"Please Caius, I know you've been alone up here, but I know you still have some respect for females so please just listen to me!"
He spun around very quickly. The quickness of his movement made me gasp and start to trip over a rock that was behind me. Before I hit the ground, his large hand wrapped around my arm. His face was so close to mine that I could smell the blood that covered him. I wanted to gag but I kept myself together.
"Speak girl." He hissed. "Then you will walk back down to the family, and you will stay there."
He jerked me upright so that was I standing. I rubbed my arm from where he had grabbed it so roughly.
"T-there is a girl in the family…" I started. "T-Tanya… s-she—,"
He grunted in annoyance. "You came up here to tell me about a girl?"
"Please let me finish," I said. "Tanya is unmated. She was supposed to be Edward's mate, but he didn't make a heartbond with her. So she remains alone."
"And he mated you. You must feel very special then."
I rolled my eyes. "It's not like that, will you please shut up so I can finish?"
He jerked back slightly at my tone. He was quiet for a moment before relaxing his stance.
"You must be spending too much time with Esme." He said. "You have her temper."
"I am really close with Esme. I love her." I said. "I'm not here to talk about Esme though."
"You are here to tell me about Edward's unwanted female. I am smart enough to know where this is going." He said, making a face of disgust. "I am not interested in the unmated female."
"Only because you're afraid of coming down the mountain and facing the family." I said.
He growled at me, a warning for me to watch how much I disrespect him. Remember Bella, he could still kill you. Be respectful.
I gulped. "Tanya needs a mate. She doesn't deserve to be alone and childless. And you will go even crazier if you stay up here alone. I know you think you don't need a mate, but you do. The family needs you—,"
He growled again and shook his head. "The family... And why should I help them? They are not my family."
"I understand why you feel that way. They rejected you," I said as I grabbed onto his arm. "I'm sorry they did that to you. It wasn't right. And it wasn't your fault."
He looked down at my hand that was wrapped around his arm. He stared at it for a moment before letting out the softest sigh.
"Even if I wanted to help this female or the family, there would be no way Carlisle would allow me anywhere near home. The goddess herself would have to come down and convince him to let me back."
"Crok'kal's E'sno'l Ghirl'ur Lu'ss'e Mul'z'ains Dh'imo." I said effortlessly.
His eyes widened, his jaw dropping slightly. His ears twitched as if he thought it were a trick. God I really hoped he didn't make me say it again. Memorizing the phrase was hard enough.
"It's true," I said in English. "If it weren't true, I wouldn't be able to speak the old language. I am her daughter."
He took a step towards me, looking me up and down. "The boy could have—," He started before shaking his head, knowing that Edward teaching me the phrase was impossible. He sighed. "So, you are our second coming of Auk'ell'ieks'Ognil? And your first task is to reunite me and the family."
"Yes because you are a protector, just as Carlisle is and we need you in the sanctuary that is to come. To protect the females and the children."
He raised an eyebrow. "The sanctuary?"
I sighed and placed my hands on my belly as the babies started painfully kicking wildly. "Yes, it's just really, really complicated. But we need you in the family again."
Just as Caius opened his mouth to say something, he suddenly disappeared. I gasped as I heard loud, familiar snarls. I looked in the direction of the snarl to see a blur. Once I saw the blur, I knew it was Edward.
"Bella!" I heard another familiar, female voice call.
I looked over to see Tanya running towards me. She was dressed in a long, brown dress that closely resembled something that Viking women wore. It took me a minute to realize that she was dressed this way because of the cold weather. I was shocked by her dress because I hadn't seen such a conservative outfit like that around here.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her as she grabbed my arm.
"Are you hurt?" She asked as she looked me over. She forced me to sit on a nearby rock so she could look me over. "Oh my goddess, you are freezing!"
She pulled a folded blanket out of her large satchel and wrapped it around my shoulders. Then she reached down and grabbed my feet before gasping again. "Your feet! Bella…" She said in a disapproving tone as she looked at the cuts and bruises on my feet.
"W-what are you doing here?" I asked.
Her hands moved over my body, checking my temperature and my heart. "Esme could not come up here with the outcast. Someone needed to come with Edward to heal you."
When she took out leaves to wrap my feet, I pulled them away.
"I'm fine," I said as I stood, the blanket falling off my shoulders. I looked to the blur and screeched "Edward stop!"
The blur of movement suddenly stopped, and Edward was on top of Caius. His hand was on his throat and his teeth had grown longer. I ran over to them, placing my arm onto Edward's to stop him.
"Stop." I hissed. "Stop it now. Caius did not hurt me. I am fine."
Edward's head snapped up at me, his eyes burning with anger. His expression didn't soften when he looked at me, instead, the anger grew. I shivered as I took a step away from him.
Caius took the opportunity to grab Edward and slam him down to the ground. Edward growled and scurried to crouch in front of me. He let out a menacing snarl.
"I did not hurt your female," Caius snarled back. "She came to me!"
"I do not know what you have done to her!" Edward snapped back.
I moved from around Edward and stood in front of Caius. Edward's eyes widened and he reached to grab me, but I pulled away from him.
"I am fine," I said slowly. "Caius didn't hurt me."
I felt Caius stand up behind me, his shadow covering me completely. Edward stood too, looking horrified that Caius was so close to me and that I didn't seem to be afraid.
I stepped towards Edward and placed my hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look directly at me. "I know you're worried, but I'm okay."
His eyes met mine and his thoughts made me shiver. He was so angry. Angrier than I had ever known him to be. It was frightening and it made my heart sink. I knew he was going to be mad at me. I had braced myself for it, but it still stung.
Tanya came up behind him. "Bella come. You are going to freeze to death."
"I'm fine Tanya."
"You are the unmated female," Caius said.
Edward snarled at him, twisting his face out of my hands. "Do not look at her!"
Caius growled back. "You surprised me before, it will not happen again. Watch your tone… nephew."
Edward hissed in response and placed his arm around me, somewhat roughly shoving me behind him towards Tanya.
I bumped into Tanya, who was twisted towards me protectively, but her head was turned so that she was looking at Caius. I looked over at Caius to see that his arm was injured, and he was bleeding profusely from it.
I turned to her. "Tanya…" I didn't need to say anything more because she knew what I was thinking.
Her eyes met mine for a moment before she sighed heavily. She took a step towards him, standing beside Edward.
"I can fix your arm." She said, which made me smile; the vison I had seen was finally starting and I couldn't hold back my excitement. Finally, Tanya wouldn't be alone anymore, and she would have everything she deserved.
"I can heal myself, female," Caius hissed back.
"Mm hm," Tanya hissed back, her hands on her hips. "From the looks of it, you do not do a very good job. Take the help or die of infection."
Caius growled at her. "Fine."
"Do not waste your time Tanya," Edward said as he grabbed her arm to stop her from walking towards him. "Let him die."
"Shut up Edward," I snapped as pulled his arm away from her. "Go heal him, Tanya."
Tanya clutched her satchel a little tighter as she walked to him. She gently grabbed his arm and looked at the large gash. She sighed and shook her head.
"This will need stitches." She said. "You will need something for the pain—,"
"I do not feel pain," Caius snapped.
"Oh really?" Tanya said before digging her fingers into his injured arm and making him briefly yelp before snarling at her. "Taking something to reduce the pain does not make you weak."
Caius simply grunted in response.
"Do you have a cave or something you sleep in? It will help me if you were laying down."
"No Tanya," Edward started but stopped when I squeezed his arm and shushed him.
"Up there," Caius said as he turned and stalked off towards the caves.
Tanya rolled her eyes but followed. I started to follow but Edward grabbed my arm. I turned to face him, feeling a painful knot in my stomach form.
Now, remember that Tanya spent her entire life shadowing Esme. She's a healer as well, except she doesn't have the guidance of the goddess.
"Crok'kal's E'sno'l Ghirl'ur Lu'ss'e Mul'z'ains Dh'imo" - Translation: She could not come, so she sent me, her daughter.
I hope you enjoyed!
