Bella stood before the Volturi, with Edward by her side. She never imagined that she would meet the kings.

"Still, there must be a punishment." Aro chastised Edward like he was an infant.

"But I didn't reveal myself!" Edward argued back, sounding every bit the child he was being treated as.

"Either way, you broke the law, Cullen!" Caius snarled angrily. "You told her of our kind and didn't turn her or kill her. One of our most important laws."

"Exactly Caius! Thank you." Aro chuckled. "He's right, dear Edward. Now, it's only a matter of deciding the punishment."

Bella watched as Aro's face lit up; obviously, a decision had been made.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU! BELLA IS MINE!" Edward screamed before launching himself at Aro.

The biggest vampire Bella had ever seen quickly had Edward pinned to the ground with such force that a crater had formed around his body.

"Thank you, Felix." Aro praised his guard. "I'm sure you must be confused, dear Bella. I had made my choice, and it seemed a quite effective punishment for young Edward here."

"What is going to happen?" Bella asked nervously; her eyes bore into the king.

"I want you to join us."

For a moment, she stood there in stunned silence, not believing her ears.

"Me? But why? I'm not worth anything."

Oh, but you are! You have an extremely rare gift, my dear. Which is why I offer you a position here among my guard, and of course we will turn you. Join the Volturi."

Bella's gulped at being put in the spotlight. Her eyes darted to Edward's face; it looked as enraged as she had imagined.

"These people are monsters, Bella! You'd have to feed on humans here. Turn him down!" Edward demanded.

She didn't know if she would fit in here, but Bella knew one thing. She didn't want to stay with Edward, and if she did go back to Forks, he'd never turn her. Mind made up, "Yes."

"NO, BELLA! YOU CAN'T!" Edward continued to scream as Felix dragged him away from the castle.

Soon it was just her, alone in a room full of strange vampires.

Jane, dear, show our newest member to her room. We will decide on a date for your turning at another time, Bella. First, I think you should try to create some bonds among our guard so you won't feel threatened when you awake from your transformation."

Bella was grateful for the explanation. She was already getting honest answers here, something she could never get from the Cullens.

"Come on, you can ask me anything on the way." A small blonde vampire spoke.

She must be Jane, Bella thought while taking in her size. Jane was even smaller than Alice.

Bella liked her instantly. "Thank you."

She followed Jane through a large set of doors, which she hadn't noticed earlier. They continued down a wide hallway. It truly looked like an old castle on the inside. Rock and concrete walls and floors. Torches were mounted along the pathway walls. The floor had a very long red and gold rug running down it.

"Jane, what exactly do the Volturi do?"

"We guard the kings when they leave the castle and get sent on missions to handle other vampires that are breaking the laws."

"Sooo... your cops?" Bella smiled.

Jane giggled. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I think I heard that you have a twin brother."

"Yep. Alec. His gift is cutting off the senses. He's probably held up in his room streaming video games."

Bella couldn't help but snort at the normalcy of it. "Sorry, it's just so normal, teen boy." She made Jane giggle again.

Well, what else would we do? You think our interests change just because our species does? Should I have a virgin blood jacuzzi party?"

At that, both girls laughed until Bella had tears in her eyes.

"Okay, okay. You have a point, Jane."

"I thought so!" Jane smirked and stopped in front of a door. "This'll be your room. Mine's to the right of yours. Master Aro will most likely be planning to place you in the upper guard, so I figured I'd go ahead and give you a room with us."

"Thanks, Jane, but are you sure about being put in the upper guard?"

"My gift didn't work on you; neither did Master Aro's. The only explanation there is is that you have a mental shield. It's a very rare gift. Physical shields of some sort are a fairly common gift, but not mental ones. They only come from people with special minds. Trust me, you'll be up here with us."

"It was that easy to figure out? But every time I asked Carlisle, he said he didn't know why I could keep Edward out of my head."

"I don't like that man, but he should have known that at least."

"I'm starting to notice a few lies." Bella felt so betrayed. She thought of them as family. Loved them.

"I'm sorry, Bella. You'll only get the truth here. We take our jobs and being a coven very seriously. How about I leave you to get settled."

Bella nodded while rubbing her eyes.

Jane's eyes softened in her direction. "You look tired. This hallway ends at a room filled with fresh towels, if you want to shower and go to sleep."

"That sounds wonderful, actually. Are there any other rooms down there?"

"Nope, so you can't get lost. Nobody goes down there unless they want to take a shower, so the hallway is usually empty. Vampires can't stink."

"I didn't know. Huh. That's good to know." Bella waved to Jane as she started to head in the direction of the towel room. She smiled when Jane waved back before darting away.

Bella was still nervous about being a part of the Volturi, but so far, the coven seemed a lot nicer than she had been told. Another lie from the Cullens—big surprise. She thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

A strange noise reached Bella's ears, scaring her for a moment. Her first thought was ghosts, followed shortly by calling herself an idiot. Slowly, she tiptoed closer to where the sound was coming from. There was a spot in the hall where a torch had gone out, leaving a dark spot. As soon as Bella stepped into it, she could see what it was.

Her body felt frozen in place, and her eyes growing wide.

She gasped in shock loud enough to catch one of the vampires attention. Red eyes landed on her, but instead of feeling fear, she felt safe for a second. It was quickly ruined by the scene she had come across.

Bella's eyes darted to his bare ass, causing her to blush bright red at the display. She was ashamed to admit it took her a moment to notice the woman's whose legs were wrapped around him.

The moment her eyes met his, though, she knew who he was. She might be human still, but this man, currently balls deep in some bimbo, was her mate. Her real one. Not Edward.

She didn't know if she should be grateful it wasn't Edward or run off in heartbreak because she had actually found her real mate, only to find him in the middle of a hallway with his pants around his ankles, screwing someone.

It was obvious he had felt it too; she noticed how his eyes grew wide and his hips stopped. He had frozen in place; it was obvious he didn't know how to handle this situation. Neither did she. So Bella did the only thing that felt right in the moment. She turned around and walked away, leaving him there.

Relieved when he didn't race after her.