Hello! So, since I had some time today, I decided to get this out of my head :)

Thanks for all your comments and reviews.

Just to clarify: Aro dances to his own music. He's not evil like in the books. He's a mystery, even for me. But he's not evil. He doesn't have an ulterior motive to keep Bella at the castle while the others went to deal with an unknown situation. He wanted his best fighters in it, and his best shield.

As always, there is mention of violence, and explicit language. But if you've gotten this far, you already know how dirty this can get :)

Hope you like this!

Enjoy!

THE LOCKET

Chapter 20

Santiago and Bella watched as the cars left the garage, Bella holding Santiago's hand as she waited for the cars to disappear on the horizon. She understood why Aro had asked her to stay; it was the same reasoning she'd used had she been in his position. It was the same reasoning she thought when Felix had asked her to stay while they planned for this mission.

Aro was tired of sitting on his ass waiting for the threat to grow or announce itself. So, he'd held Demetri and Felix in a conference and conveyed the orders. She was sure the explanation had been so she didn't rebel against him.

"They're the best at what they do, Bella." Santiago said once the cars were no longer visible. "They'll be back in a few days."

She nodded. She knew they had tons of experience and that a newborn army was possibly the lowest of the threats they'd faced, but she still worried. It was only natural. It was the unknown that she feared. She felt useless as a newborn. What good was having a shield if you couldn't use it? What good was being strong if you couldn't hone and trust it?

"Are you busy for the foreseeable future?" Bella asked, turning to her friend.

"No. My mate just left with yours, so I have a lot of free time on my hands."

"Could you help me train in hand-to-hand combat?"

Santiago nodded and offered her a smile. "I'll do you one better and help you train your shield too."

Her eyes widened. "How?"

"I've seen my wife train her shield for the past couple of centuries, I might not have a gift of my own, but I can be a good substitute teacher."

Santiago's eyes shone every time he talked about Renata. It was sweet to see such devotion. Her friends deserved all the happiness that the relationship gave them.

"When do we start?"

Santiago chuckled. "When was the last time you hunted?"

Bella scrunched her nose. "A few days ago."

"Let's hunt, and then we can start. Deal?"

She nodded. "Deal."

…

…

…

It's been twenty hours since her mates and friends left the castle to handle the newborn army assembling in Seattle. If her calculations were correct, they should have already landed or should land soon.

She didn't have time to ask either of her men if they needed to hunt before leaving Italy or if they were thirsty. She'd been too content in Alec's arms, in the bliss of post-lovemaking. She'd been too focused on their emotional and mental well-being to pay attention to the color of their eyes.

She knew they could take care of themselves, they weren't children, but alone at night in her bed, without their noises, scents, and arms, it was hard to think logically. She could only think of everything that could go wrong, of every little detail she hadn't asked them before they left.

In the past twenty hours, she'd hunted with Santiago, trained with her shield, and went over the basics of hand-to-hand combat with him. After five hours of each, she'd gone to Marcus to find something to occupy her mind. He'd been sitting on his desk, a few books lying open on the wooden surface, while he stared out of the window. The alcove leading to Didyme's room wide open.

"Hey." She said softly.

He turned around and offered her a genuine smile. Didyme had been perched on the window seat next to him as if accompanying him.

"Hello, Bella." Marcus was the only king brother who didn't call her by her full name.

"Am I interrupting something?"

He shook his head, though the melancholy couldn't easily be shaken off his eyes. It must be so hard to lose your mate like that; try to carry on and be happy when your heart is dead inside. She'd felt like that when Edward left. Even if he wasn't her mate, his abandonment had felt horrible enough. But she knitted herself back together and learned to smile again; she learned how to be whole again. But Marcus, she knew there was something fundamentally broken in him.

"No, Cara." She stifled her surprise. It was true Marcus was the more informal of the kings, but she never thought she'd hear an endearment from him.

"Is there anything you need me to do?" She pointed to his wife's alcove. If he'd opened the door for the first time after she told him about it, maybe it meant he was ready to tackle whatever he needed.

Marcus sighed sadly. "I thought I could look inside. I thought I could handle her scent and handwriting, but it's still too hard."

She crossed the space, careful not to look over his shoulder at the weeping Lady hovering behind him. She took his hands in hers in a comforting gesture. "I know I'm only your ward, and perhaps that doesn't mean much. But I can take care of it for you. No one enters that room without my permission. Only my mates know about this, and they can keep a secret."

Marcus's smile was brighter this time. "Thank you, Bella. I appreciate what you're doing." He stood up and left the room without saying anything else.

Didyme went with him.

She prayed whatever God or Gods were up there, that she never had to feel such loss.

And so she spent the next four hours of her day. It'd been seventeen hours since her mates had left. She'd hunted, trained, and now she was working.

But after two hours of organizing Didyme's books and the next slot for digitalization, she couldn't focus on her task, so she closed the alcove and left. She debated which of her mate's rooms to go to first. But none of them had all their scents mixed. Each would offer her the comfort of the owner's scent, and she was seeking the comfort of all.

Her room was not better, since she'd spent the last few days with Demetri or Alec; her room didn't have a strong concentration of their scents. She huffed, frustrated. But desperate times called for desperate measures. She stole one shirt from Alec, one hoodie from Felix, and Demetri's comforter. She'd surrounded herself with their scents. And honestly, despite not feeling warmth or cold like a human, she found she was the most comfortable she'd ever been.

She settled on her bed with her computer, trusting that a movie would provide the distraction she needed until anyone from the mission decided to report.

Exactly twenty-two hours later, Alec's video call interrupted the worst movie she'd ever seen.

"Hi!" She greeted enthusiastically. God, she was pathetic. She couldn't go twenty hours without her mates without turning into a mess.

"Hi, darling. How are you?" She focused on his eyes. Bright red. She sighed, relieved. They'd hunted. Good.

"I miss you terribly." She pouted.

Felix and Demetri appeared behind Alec, and she greeted them as enthusiastically as she'd greeted Alec. "We miss you too, princess. It's like I have this hole in my chest."

"I know! I feel pathetic because you just left, and I had to steal your clothes and blanket so I could have your scent with me."

Demetri chuckled. "It's instinctual, sweetheart. I'm glad one of us thought about that. I wished I had something of you with me."

God, this was so hard!

"Are you already in Seattle?"

Alec smirked, knowing she had to change the topic; otherwise, she would go against Aro's order and jump on the next plane to the US.

"Yes, we touched down a few hours ago, but we had to hunt before reporting to Aro and calling you. We're waiting for Jane and Chelsea to return before moving to where Kane said the army was."

She nodded. "Bring them hell." She repeated her words from before they left.

Felix's smile was predatory. "Is that an order, little mate?"

Bella's answering smile was seductive. "The only order I have for you three is to come back to me in one piece."

Alec groaned. "Don't do that. That's not playing fair."

She giggled. "Sorry, loves." Demetri shook his head, his eyes full of lust.

"You can apologize later. On your knees." Bella's core pulsed at Demetri's words.

Yes, please!

"Stop it, you two!" Alec complained once more.

Bella giggled again. "I can be on my knees for you three. How does that sound?"

Felix let out a curse, Demetri smiled victorious, and Alec looked like he was in pain.

"Nice, darling. Now you have me walking with a hard-on."

She smiled, feigning innocence, when the truth was that her pussy was pulsing with need, and she might have some interesting material to barely satisfy herself for the time being.

Movement behind her mates caught her attention. Demetri turned his head and spoke to Jane and Chelsea, who had just returned. "We have to leave. We'll see you soon."

"I love you."

Her three mates smiled at the same time. "We love you too, princess. Very, very much."

They ended the call soon after that, and Bella resumed watching her horrible movie with a content heart. Even if her lady parts ached, she would just wait for them to soothe it.

She felt better knowing that the distance was not affecting only her but that they were affected by it too. That it wasn't just another damn feature of being a newborn.

…

…

…

On the other side of the ocean, three male vampires and three female vampires fastened their cloaks, pulled on the hoods, and started towards the newborn camp.

Alec, Felix, and Demetri felt the tug of their mating bond with excruciating force. It was hard to concentrate on anything but the instinct calling them to go back to that petite female and never let her go. The only way to distract the doe-eyed beauty on their screen was to arouse her and make that sadness and tension disappear.

Felix would forever make it his mission to see Bella's eyes shine with happiness and never sadness. When she picked up the phone, he'd recognize the sweater she was wearing immediately. His dick stirred at the thought of her wearing only that sweater and nothing else. He'd teased her about being naked for the three of them but judging by the gasp and the way her lips parted at the demand; she wanted it.

Oh, she did. And she would get it when they returned.

"Get your head out of the gutter." Jane barked.

Felix rolled his eyes and ignored the little witch. She always enjoyed pissing him off. Tough luck, girl. The only thing keeping him from running like an avenging angel and killing everyone on his path was the thoughts of what he wanted to do to his little mate.

"I think now's not the time to piss him off, Jane." Renata interfered. "He's on a war path, and whatever he's thinking, is stopping him from chopping heads first and asking questions later."

"He's not the only one." Demetri growled beside him.

As the head of the guard, not only was it his responsibility that this mission succeeded and that everyone behaved, but he was also fighting to end the threat against his mate's life. He was just as motivated to end everything here.

"Kane and any other leader need to stay alive." Chelsea reminded them.

Alec snarled. Another damn order from Aro. Take the bastard back alive. He'd given the same order about Edward.

"One wrong move and he loses his head." Felix warned.

"Agreed, but don't provoke him." Chelsea countered. Felix rolled his eyes.

They walked in silence for about half an hour after that, listening to the woods and picking up any and every scent that belonged to the woods and any scent that didn't.

Kane's intel had been truthful. They found the camp just where he said they'd be. He'd said something about a dozen newborns or so, neither could remember the exact number, but the numbers before them were way lower than he'd said. As if he'd lost people in skirmishes or had to put people down and couldn't afford to draw attention to himself by replenishing his troops by creating more newborns. At least the bastard had been clever. If Edward hadn't betrayed them, they would have had the element of surprise on their side.

Demetri raised his hand, and everyone halted, listening, observing, studying their movements. It was a chaos of fire, fights, zero control, and newborns running everywhere. This was not the refined order that Victoria and Edward had had. If this was the oldest army she'd created, she'd abandoned it quickly to create the one they'd ended in Italy.

Jane was swinging silently in her place, preparing to set her gift free upon them. It was a shame because they were innocents, but they lacked control, and they'd been left alone too long. There was no coming back from this madness.

They stayed silent, hidden in the shadows of the trees, observing and learning for a few hours. There was no leadership whatsoever. Renata wondered where Kane was and why he was not there. Had he heard of Victoria's demise? Of how utterly idiotic it was to try to raise an army against the Volturi? She could end this whole mess by herself without so much as getting a hair out of place, and she didn't have the penchant for war that her mate had or as her companions did. They were a lethal force.

Demetri, at last, gave the sign to advance.

They took down the newborns easily, sparing them the suffering of the madness they seemed to be in. No one fought. Alec's and Jane's gifts weren't used. It was all a very sad scene.

There was no sign of Kane, but he was still alive, so Demetri ordered Jane to come with him while he ran east, tracking the bastard that had dared to betray them.

Jane was a silent arrow next to him.

But neither of them was ready to be surprised by Kane and another male, who took down Jane and Demetri. Demetri quickly recovered, shoving Kane away from his body, but Jane roared in pain when the other male bit her bicep. He'd had the advantage for too long. Taking advantage of his size against Jane's petite figure. Demetri quickly pulled the bastard from his friend and helped her to her feet.

"Are you ok?"

Jane nodded. "Bastard bit me, but I bit right back." She gave the stranger male a taunting smile. He must have been the only mature vampire in there, but not by much since Jane didn't even have to use her gift to end his life and set him on fire.

Kane tried to escape, but he had miscalculated his resourcefulness. Demetri quickly caught up with him and pinned his arms on his back while he walked him to the main camp.

Alec rushed to his sister, having heard her scream, but she shook her head and reassured him she was fine. Alec tore her shirt and noticed the bite on her inner bicep. It wasn't deep, but it would scar. "Is he dead?"

"Beheaded." Jane confirmed. Alec hugged her and nodded. She hugged her brother back.

It took Felix an incredible amount of self-control not to behead Kane right there and then. He didn't know how he would make the trip back without killing the motherfucking bastard.

"Take him down, Alec." Demetri ordered in that way of his that he used for Felix and Alec since he found out they shared the same mate. They were equals on so many levels.

"Gladly." He smirked as an eruption of shadows and smoke immobilized Kane.

"Can you hold that for twenty-two more hours?" Alec nodded. "Good. Were there any other problems here?"

"A few more mature vampires hid around, but we took them out. We scouted the surroundings, but there were no more scents. This was all."

Demetri nodded. "Let's go back to our mate."

…

…

…

"Home sweet home." Jane murmured as she got out of the car, holding her bitten bicep in her good hand. It stung. She'd agreed not to hunt and to go home as soon as possible. She now realized it was a mistake.

"Go hunt." Alec ordered her and pushed her out of the door. "It will lessen the stinging."

"What about Aro?"

"We'll tell him. Go hunt." Demetri pointed to the door, and she followed his order, huffing about overprotective brothers and friends.

God, they were home finally, but their bond was still tugging incessantly, which meant their little mate was not home.

They took their prisoner to their master, who was sitting with Marcus and Caius at a round table in the throne room. The three brothers stood up and walked to the guards and the traitor.

"Release him." Alec released him from his gift while Felix released his physical hold.

Kane looked like a fish out of the water as he recovered his senses. "Kane Roland, you were brought here on the count of treason against one of my guards. You were found guilty of associating with another criminal, building newborn armies, and risking exposure. I want to know why." This was a trial, an execution. They knew he was guilty as charged, but they wanted to know why. Aro needed the information before letting the informant die.

"You killed my mate." Demetri and everyone in the room frowned, confused. Kane had been their informant for a few centuries. Who had been his mate? Whom had they killed that was his mate?

"Who was your mate?" Marcus asked.

"David was my mate, and you killed him without contemplation."

Marcus's usual compassionate nature disappeared. "Your mate kidnapped my guard and murdered my wife, my mate. He almost killed my guard in the same power move, all for what? Money? Greed? A senseless promise by some deranged loser who thinks he can overthrow the ruling company of the vampire world?"

Kane, wisely, remained quiet. "Do you want to know who your precious mate took down?" Marcus snarled in his face. "Not only did he take down a wonderful woman, who'd never hurt anyone in the Millenia she had been alive, but she was also Aro's sister. So, allow me, dear friend, to remind you that your precious mate was dead as soon as he plotted against us."

Marcus returned to Caius' side. "Why wait nearly three hundred years to exact your revenge? Why be so sloppy on it?"

And why, oh why, did they insist that a newborn army was the way to take them down? Alec added mentally.

"I bided my time. I played with the cards I had. I don't know who sold me out, but I had the element of surprise."

Demetri snorted, earning a curious look from Caius and Aro. "He'd let the newborns succumb to madness. There was no control, and we didn't need to use our gifts or even fight to take his army down. He had one mature second in command that bit Jane on the arm, but she quickly dispatched him."

He offered his hand to Aro, but the king refused to take it. That was a first.

"Did you have any other co-conspirators with you?"

"No." Aro took Kane's hand, and Demetri held his breath, praying that this mad game of cat and mouse was finally over.

"Good. This ends with you, then." Aro turned around—a power move.

Rule number one of combat is never to turn your back on your enemy, but Kane was a down man who knew he was about to die. It depended on him and his behavior, whether it was a quick death or if he would be tortured. He knew if he attacked the king while he had his back on him, they would choose the second option. So, he stayed kneeling on the floor, broken and pathetic, just like he felt.

"Take his head." Felix smiled.

"Gladly." So, the threat hadn't been directly against Bella's life like Edward had told them. Kane hadn't even mentioned Bella at all. He'd only used whatever scraps Victoria left for his agenda.

Still, Felix enjoyed the swift execution of yet another traitor. His ashes flying in the wind. Perhaps, he would be reunited with his bastard mate. At least the two traitors would be together in hell.

…

…

…

He left the ashes to the wind and entered the castle, ready to call his little mate and demand to know her whereabouts. He needed to have her in his arms again and fill his lungs with her scent. He didn't particularly care about the activity in which this occurred. He wanted her.

He'd missed her terribly in these few days. The bond was so new that being away from her had been nearly physically painful.

As if he'd conjured her out of thin air, his little mate skipped past him, completely immersed in her Kindle and the music blasting from her headphones. He smiled and trailed her silently. She was so engrossed in her book that she ignored the scent trailing her. But in her defense, she still wore that damn sweater that swallowed her body. He trailed her to the hallway that housed the conference room and other entertainment rooms.

Alec and Demetri were standing outside the training room, talking with Santiago. As soon as they scented their mate, they went quiet. Felix took his index finger to his lips in the universal sign of 'shh.' Santiago smiled and left to find his own mate. Bella continued walking, utterly oblivious to her surroundings.

"Bastard." She mumbled and angrily swiped left, starting a new page in her book. However, whatever she read in the following lines had her stopping dead and gasping horrified. "No! Why kill a perfectly good character?" She locked her Kindle angrily, and that's when she noticed two of her mates leaning against the training room door, staring amusedly at her.

Felix took that as the hint he needed to make his presence known. He tapped her right shoulder, and she whirled around.

"Hello, princess." Felix smiled seductively while he stared at his little mate. Alec and Demetri closed the space. Demetri gently took her Kindle and her headphones and set them on the floor.

"You're back!" She opened her arms and waited for her mates to hug her. "God, I missed you so much!"