CHAPTER 13

You're Beautiful – James Blunt

Nearly ten years after Leah walked out of her own home, a large gathering forms at the Cullen house. An Audi, inconspicuous except for its tinted windows, is parked in the driveway. The smell and blankness of the interior made it obvious as a rental. Beside it, two other flashier vehicles were parked.

Leah groaned, as she parked her motorcycle next to them. She did not want to be here.

She took a moment to calm herself, pulling her helmet off like a leisurely human, listening carefully. A few hearts beating. The pack was here.

They would have heard her coming. She wasn't completely surprised when Jared comes out of the house. She was surprised that he was smiling at her.

"Leah! You're late! So glad you could make it!" he said as he approached her.

"What are you doing? Why are you touching me?", Leah asked, as Jared reached for her arm, intending to guide her inside. He would like nothing more than to steer clear of Leah and her rudeness, but Sam had been concerned about the she-wolf. That she is alone, vulnerable from attack, was constantly on his alpha's mind. Sam specifically did not want the Volturi guest to see any split within the pack. He wanted a unified front, for what he believed was for Leah's protection.

"The others are inside. We're so glad you could make it!" Jared repeated himself.

"Are you having a stroke?" Leah asked, sarcastically. From inside, Leah heard a snicker.

"Leah," Jared said her name through gritted teeth. "We should all sit together." He was trying to convey what Sam had instructed without being obvious.

"Get away from me, Jared."

She walked into the house to find the Denali coven and one unfamiliar vampire inside.

She locked eyes with the vampire, and realized that she had seen him on the field the day of the Volturi confrontation. There was something else. A thread of recognition between them. She realized that he must have been the vampire who had followed her the day she dove into the ocean.

There was another thread that she couldn't yet define… something that made her curious about this vampire. A thread she didn't want to pull.

Their eyes met, but his face didn't give away his thoughts.

"Oh, great, the flea circus is back in town," she commented, flippantly, suddenly conscious that people were watching her watch this vampire.

The burly vampire from the Denali Coven and Emmett laughed at her comment, while Esme admonished her, "Leah!"

Leah ignored her, and sat at the foot of the stairs.

"Why even come here if you're going to be rude?" Edward asked. He was annoyed by something, Leah didn't know what, but she had a feeling that her being here didn't help his mood. Bella was also glaring at her. Like a pissed off quokka.

Carlisle, maybe wanting to be a peacemaker, maybe wanting Edward to have the last word (she wouldn't put it past the doc), interrupted, "Leah, this is Demetri from the Volturi, and of course you've met the coven from…"

"Next time, don't invite me," Leah countered to Edward, talking over Carlise and shutting him up. She was really good at being rude. They should have known that by now.

So it was their tracker. She had studied the Volturi Guards. Snippets of information about them that she gathered on her travels around the world, encountering supernaturals. Rumors. News. Names. Whatever she could learn about them.

So she knew that this one was not to be dealt with lightly. And he came alone. He was sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by enemies that hate him, looking like he was bored by something on CNN. Whether arrogance or certainty of his own skills, it made a statement.

The statement being Don't fuck with me.

She pulled out a book from her backpack, and pretended to read while observing him from the corner of her eye.

"Leah," Seth approached, and sat down next to her. "I didn't think you would come."

"I didn't either, but it was either this or clean out my closet."

Leah saw Demetri smirk slightly. She wondered if he was amused or something else.

He made her nervous, but she didn't want to show weakness.

"Leah," Sam said. Leah raised her head to look at him, looking bored. "You will want to sit with us." His tone contained a warning, but it was for Leah's benefit or so it was in his mind.

She went back to reading.

Demetri was subtly observing the exchanges in front of him. He had come alone on purpose to set the tone of the meeting.

As soon as he made his exit from the freeway, he began playing Tchaikovsky's Odile variation for battement frappe in his head.

The human concept of multi tasking is actually a myth. Switching rapidly between tasks is possible, but their minds can really only focus on one task at a time. In a vampire's mind, on the other hand, splitting your mind between multiple tasks is possible. For someone like Demetri, whose gift is continuous and never on pause, splitting his mind was essential to continue functioning day to day.

He suspects that this is the same way with Edward Cullen. Which is why it was baffling the younger vampire's arrogance, believing implicitly in his ability to read minds.

When he walked up to the Cullens' house, he felt Bella project her shield. Too late. He already knew the Denali coven was inside. He'd known the moment they left their home in Alaska that they were headed here. Long before they were close enough for Bella to shield them from him. The Cullens invited the Volturi, but didn't feel secure enough by themselves; they had to call reinforcements. The thought of walking in alone made him smile. If bad comes to worse, he will have to escape. But even if they kill him, he can take a few of them out.

Power is wasted on those who didn't believe that they have it.

"Demetri," Carlisle greeted him.

"Carlisle," he replied, genially.

"You came alone?" the younger vampire asked.

"Did I need to bring someone else?"

Edward by now had caught on that his gift, that he relied on so desperately, was being blocked. There were words here and there, gibberish that he couldn't make sense of, overpowered by a very loud Tchaikovsky.

"He's up to something. He's shielding his thoughts!" he shouted a warning to Carlisle.

The party of wolves and vampires went into an immediate frenzy of hissing and growling. Emmett approached menacingly, but Demetri was much faster than he anticipated. By the time his hand was raised to take the Guard by the shoulder, Demetri was gone like smoke. They turned to find him sitting comfortably, one ankle over his knee.

His attitude didn't help things.

"Sitting there so calmly! You murderer!" Kate stepped forward to charge. Garrett and Tanya holding her back.

"No use, love," Garrett said, "Creatures like him don't…"

"If this is going to be another speech from you, Garrett, make it a shorter one than last time," Demetri said, sounding equally bored and annoyed. "We may be immortal, but wasting time is still quite blasé."

The sound of a motorcycle interrupted any further arguments.

Demetri knew that it was the she-wolf because his gift registered nothing. Not a whisper of that unique musical tone that he used to have in his mind.

The alpha, Samuel Uley, cocked his head to the side at another boy, Jared Cameron. Demetri assumed him to have an important role in the pack. Possibly a second or third in command. He was always nearby Samuel Uley, oftentimes leaving him then returning back after some time, perhaps running errands or reporting.

He listened carefully at the exchange outside, unable to contain his amusement at the outraged, "Are you having a stroke?"

Moments later, the she-wolf walked in. Demetri was seeing her up close for the first time. He had shadowed her from afar more than a few times. Once, she came close to discovering him. He intended to find out where she would go those times when there was no activity on her credit cards, but she had proved elusive.

Their eyes locked, and Demetri sat as still as he could. He concentrated on pushing Tchaikovsky to the forefront of his thoughts.

He had only seen old photos of her from the press or her high school. The most recent clear picture he had was the one from her university graduation. She was much lovelier in person. Her long black hair was in a braid down her back. Her skin had that translucent quality that made skin care a billion dollar industry . Dark, perfectly arched eyebrows and very long lashes framed her almond shaped eyes. A straight nose and high cheekbones on an oval face.

It was as perfect a face as could be, but without the coldness of a vampire's appearance that scared humans away. It took a while to realize she wasn't wearing makeup at all.

"Oh great, the flea circus is back in town."

Garrett and Emmett Cullen laughed, not getting that she was insulting them all and not just him. Demetri was then treated to a display of Leah Clearwater's legendary rudeness when she traded barbs with young Edward, ignoring and talking over Carlisle, her host.

She sat at the foot of the stairs and pretended to read a book. She looked up when Samuel spoke to her, with a stern warning in his tone. Then, she ignored him.

"Well, at least she's entertaining to have around", Demetri thought. He put the tips of his fingers together.

"Shall we begin?"