The Locket Chapter 25, a twilight fanfic

Hello! Sorry for the delay. Can you believe that I have had this chapter written and sitting on my computer for a few weeks no? Shame on me!

Anyway, this story is finished. The next chapter should be an epilogue and after that a few outtakes - including a steamy scene between Garrett and Jane.

I won't be writing the wedding ceremony because I don't see much point in that, but I might surprise myself once I start writing the epilogue.

Ideally, I'd like to update this story next weekend, but I can't promise anything, sadly.

I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you take a tour through my profile for much more vanilla fics that I'm sure you'll still like.

In the meantime, have fun, and a million thank yous for all the support and love.

THE LOCKET.

Chapter 25.

Jane and Garrett stood side by side before the three Volturi kings, waiting for their decision. It was a simple decision, and Jane knew it. She was too valuable in the guard to be let go, so the best course of action would be to take in her mate. It would keep her happy, loyal, and obedient.

"What the hell." Caius threw his hands in the air in surrender. "We've accepted three others in the last six months. What's one more?"

Marcus' life was getting pretty interesting, with so many people requesting to join. He smiled – one of the few genuine smiles he'd given since his mate was killed. Jane bowed her head obediently to Marcus and then to Caius. As Marcus' ward, the final word primarily relied on him. "I'm with Caius. But at this point, we might as well start expanding this place."

Aro laughed with his usual theatrics. "Well, nothing more to be said." He moved his hand in a weird flourish to dismiss them.

Garrett thanked them for their time, and taking Jane's hand, they left the throne room.

"I swear there must be something in the air." Aro murmured as he, too, left for his office.

Caius trailed after him, leaving Marcus alone in the throne room.

"If only you were here, love." He said to the empty air.

…

As Bella and her mates came out for air after a few days of very needed alone time, they readied to meet the other man who had entered Bella's life and now Jane's in such an important place.

Alec was battling with jealousy and protectiveness. He was jealous of yet another man he had to share his mate with, though luckily this time, in another capacity, and protective because the same man was his sister's mate. He didn't trust anyone to be true to her. He didn't trust anyone to be good enough for her. He would have to measure this guy and closely monitor him. He was no fool; he knew he couldn't antagonize him, not if he didn't want to risk Jane's wrath. Because one thing was to scare away potential suitors that would warm her bed for a few days, and another was coming toe to toe with her mate, especially with the bond so new.

With Bella's hand wrapped in his, they walked toward the meeting room, the only neutral territory he could think of that would be good enough to meet this man. He shot Bella a side-eye glance and saw her mouth lilting upwards a few times as if trying to rein in her smile. At some point, curiosity got the better of him.

"What's so funny?"

Bella didn't hide her smile this time as she looked up at him. "You." She simply said.

He gave her a smile of his own. "What about me?"

"All of you." She stopped them in the middle of the corridor, still far from the meeting room. At least they were away from prying eyes and ears. "I know you well enough by now, Alec. I know what brews in that beautiful mind of yours."

He had improved in self-confidence and self-love, but when she said things like that, he felt the urge to blush like she used to when he complimented her. The way she saw him was still amazing, and sometimes, he found it hard to believe. Every day, he thanked whatever deity put her in his way.

"Care to enlighten me, little mate?" He stepped closer, eliminating some distance, but there was still enough space for her.

She smirked. "For starters, you took less time showering than usual, which means you wanted to hurry back to my room. Then, there's the little thing of not letting go of my hand since you took it when we left my room. You're quiet, yet you have enough presence of mind to rub your thumb on the back of my hand. Like you're with me, but also far away."

"That doesn't mean much. For all you know, I simply wanted to have more time with you after these fantastic days." He lowered his voice and gave her a salacious grin.

"Oh, that totally came to my mind. But if that had been the case, you would have commented about it already. So, I have a theory."

He closed the remaining distance and ran his thumb on her cheek. She leaned into the contact without breaking eye contact. "What's your theory?"

"You're nervous about meeting Garrett because of who he is now to Jane."

She was not wrong, and it was not difficult to conclude that it would be challenging for him to meet the man who would replace him in his sister's life. Honestly, Jane never needed him, she has always been fierce, independent, and a badass bitch. But she was still his sister, and all he wanted to do was protect her so she never suffered heartbreak or disappointment at the hands of any man – or woman, if she were so inclined.

Alec kissed his mate's cheek. "That's true, but that's not all the truth." He dropped any pretenses and games. This was his mate he was talking to, his fiancé, who knew him better than anyone – including himself.

"It's not?"

He shook his head. "You forget that he's also now a part of your life. I'm struggling with the adjustments of another man in your life."

Bella's eyes widened widely. "Are you jealous?"

He shrugged.

"Do you feel jealous when I'm with Felix or Demetri?"

"No, not at all." It was the truth. It was the same for the other two. They didn't get jealous of each other.

"Why is it different with Garrett?"

"Because he will have a different place in your life. And I don't like to share you."

Bella snorted but kept a smile on her face. "You didn't seem to have that problem yesterday, this morning, or the day before yesterday."

Alec chuckled. "And I won't have a problem sharing you again with your other mates."

Bella nodded, sort of understanding where Alec was getting at. "Is it because he is not my mate but just a male?" Alec nodded slowly. "But he's your sister's mate. What is there to be jealous of? He's a mated male, and if he weren't, I don't think he would look at me with any interest. It would feel incestuous."

"I never said it had to make sense, darling. It's just how it feels for me."

"Thank you for sharing that with me." She pecked his lips.

"You'll be my wife soon. I don't have anything to hide from you."

Wife, that sounded like a dream. He still couldn't believe that she had accepted their marriage proposal. It was unconventional but not out of the ordinary for vampires. They were not the first and would not be the last group of mated vampires. If anything, they were the least remarkable bunch.

"Wife. I like how that sounds." She smiled sweetly.

Once Alec had slid the ring on her finger, and after a celebratory round of lovemaking, she asked her mates which last name she would bear. They had said it didn't matter what last name she had as long as she was their wife for the rest of their days. Demetri had said they didn't use their human last names anymore since they'd been going by their first name, and any reference of them was followed by a combination of either expletive, a call to their long-diseased mothers, or simply the acknowledgment of their coven.

"Let's go, future wife. Before I change my mind and show you what we can do on our wedding night." Bella laughed delightedly and followed her mate to the meeting room.

…

Bella snorted and rolled her eyes when she saw who awaited at the conference room doors. "Seriously, you too?"

Felix raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'Were you expecting anything different?'

Behind Felix, waiting by the door, was Didyme. Bella learned that she loved gossip. She said that being a ghost sometimes was boring, and she had to look for new sources of entertainment.

"How did you even know I was coming here?"

Demetri pointed shamelessly at Alec, who shrugged when Bella directed her stare at him.

"You know, snitches end up in ditches." She didn't wait for either of her mates to reply before opening the door and entering the room.

As soon as Jane saw the entourage that followed Bella, she raised an eyebrow in question. Bella rolled her eyes as if that would convey, 'You know how they are.'

To his credit, Garrett remained impassive and relaxed, offering Bella a wink before she took the sit directly across from him. Demetri sat loudly and frowning on the seat next to her. Felix followed, and Alec sat across from his sister.

Jane and Bella remained quiet, holding in the amusement and some of that frustration at the guys' behavior.

Felix, of course, couldn't just start a conversation like a normal person. He had to antagonize Jane because he wouldn't be him if he did things normally. "What's up with you, witch?"

Jane's mouth ticked upward, not in a smile but a barely-there snarl. Years and years of living in the same place, she still couldn't let go of the taunting title Felix had for her.

Garret was paying attention to his mate and found he didn't like the tension in Jane's shoulders and her snarl. He sent Felix a death glare. "Be careful with what you say."

Felix smiled in mock and looked Garret in the eye to say, "Or what?" Felix had centuries of training over Garrett and could easily swipe the floor with him. But Garrett was a solider through and through, not easily intimidated.

"You won't like what I'll do." Garrett threatened.

Jane caught Bella's stare, and they seemed to have a silent conversation once again. 'What's happening right now?'

'Your guess is as good as mine.'

"Why are you even here, Felix? Are you not allowed to play alone?" Jane taunted back.

Garrett frowned. Bella smiled. This was old news to her. Felix and Jane would protect each other to the death, but they loved to taunt and torment each other. If Felix wasn't her own mate, and if she didn't have irrefutable proof of his loyalty and love for her, she would have thought these fights were some sort of foreplay for those two.

"Ok, enough, you two." Bella intervened. She had no power over them. Rank-wise, they could dismiss her and continue their weird dance, but they stopped either way. They heeded Bella's request.

Garrett looked between his mate and Felix, jealousy flashing in his eyes, clear for everyone to see. Felix noted it, and he did the only thing he could to reassure the male on the other side of the table that he had no interest in any other woman besides his mate. "As you say, wife."

Jane jumped out of her seat, screeching, "What?"

Bella laughed. "Not yet." She gave Felix an amused smile, to which he responded with a smile so big that her heart sang. He might have said those words for show, but he meant them too. A secret message for her. "They proposed a few days ago." Bella stretched her hand out for Jane to see the ring they'd chosen for her.

"Oh, it's gorgeous, Bella." Bella nodded, smiling happily and retrieving her hand.

Jane knew Demetri wanted to propose, but she'd thought it was a solitary mission, not a group effort.

"Congratulations, Bella." There was something like nostalgia in Garrett's voice. Perhaps it was the fact that she descended from one of her sisters – the one he didn't know about. Perhaps it was because he never saw either of his sisters marry and be happy. Bella smiled at him.

Still not over his possible jealousy, Demetri took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. He winked at her playfully.

"Ok. Enough distractions. Let's get to the point here." Jane clapped loudly, earning a scowl from her brother. "You are a bunch of ridiculously overprotective bastards, but whatever. Everyone, meet Garrett; he's my mate. Garrett, meet everyone. They'll make your life harder, but they mean well…Most of the time."

Bella snorted but refrained from making any comment.

"You hurt her, and we'll kill you." Alec deadpanned.

Bella's eyes widened. Alec was passionate and protective of his sister, and it shouldn't have surprised her that he'd said that, but somehow it still did. Bella expected Alec to leave the room after that, but he stayed sitting. He was trying to be respectful and not a hard-headed male. The last time Jane showed interest in a guy, Alec scared him away. But he couldn't do the same with Garrett since he knew how precious the situation was.

"I don't plan on hurting her." Garrett said to Alec but looked Jane directly in the eyes. Jane smiled adoringly at him.

Felix whistled lowly. "I thought I'd never see the day where you look at someone like that." Jane raised an eyebrow in question. "I'm being nice here. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks. I'm happy for me too."

…

After the weirdest meeting ever, Bella and Garrett walked alone to the library, where she would show him the journals she'd recovered from Didyme's hideout that recorded her – their family's history through a simple necklace.

Garret looked at the state of the room and snorted. Bella smiled, a bit ashamed. The place was a mess. Since Jane was done building the site, it was now on Bella to mash everything together. She wanted to get a similar system Marcus had done, but now, instead of having hundreds of books, they would get links to follow the cross-referencing. It was still a pilot program, and that required having most of the books scattered. It was good that she was no longer human; otherwise, this system would have driven her insane.

Bella walked to the desk, where the journals were carefully stacked, and took the book with that one passage on Garrett. He caught up with her, standing to her side.

"It's not much information. And it says mostly what I already told you, but you can read the rest." She put the book in front of him on the table and watched as he hovered over it, trying not to touch it.

Bella watched him silently like she did when they returned from meeting him. He was respectful and seemed to hold himself to his eighteen-century manners. Jane was loud, mischievous, and loved to give everyone a piece of her mind, but Garrett seemed to be on the quiet side, analytical and observant. It was an interesting match, and she was curious to witness how their relationship would progress. Garrett seemed smitten with Jane, always following with his eyes and a soft smile on his lips. If he wasn't in love already, he might be well underway.

Garrett finished scanning the books for any information on their family but remained quiet, staring blankly at the pages before him. She let him process the information and busied herself with other books. It was difficult, and contrary to Jane's teasing about her patience, she was patient, and she would give Garrett the time needed to think through what he'd learned. There was no hurry to talk. They had an eternity before them, endless time. If he weren't ready to discuss anything today, she would accept it.

…

After a few hours of Bella typing in her computer and walking around the library in what Garrett suspected was her system, he cleared his throat unnecessarily, getting her attention.

"Do you want to talk about this?" He pointed to the journals scattered on the desk.

"Only if you're up for it."

He smiled softly at her. "What would you like to know?"

She smiled back. "Only what you're comfortable sharing."

"You're extremely noble. Has anyone told you that?"

She shrugged. "I have three mates with different pasts and baggage. I learned not to push and to be there only when they were ready to share something."

He nodded. "I don't know anything about my sister. I didn't know I had another one until you told me about her. But I'd like to think she was as noble as you are. Beautiful too. Maybe she got some of my mom's red hair or my dad's black hair. I wonder if she got the blue eyes or just brown like my mom. If she was stubborn or quiet but mischievous. I want to think she was a good person and happy in her marriage. That my dad took care of her after my mother died, and they didn't suffer too much hardship."

Bella's throat tightened, and her eyes burned with the pressure of tears that wouldn't come. She hadn't stopped to think about those things. But she supposed this was harder on Garrett than it was on her. For her, this girl was a distant relative, an ancestor she never knew about, but for him, it was a sister he didn't get to know, a sister he couldn't take care of from afar.

"It doesn't make much of a difference now who she was. You can picture her however you like." He knew she wasn't saying this to be cruel but as some sort of comfort. He knew she was right, but the knowledge that he hadn't known his little sister weighed on him. That he'd been so close to her, and yet, he'd never known. "I know she would have loved you and looked up to you had she had the opportunity to know you."

"How do you know that? You don't know me."

Bella shrugged. "I'm observing. You'd known Jane for three days and didn't hesitate to come here. That shows compromise and strength. You may know little about her, but you do everything in your power to let her know when you're thinking about her and let her see what you feel for her in this short time of knowing her. You faced three overprotective vampires mated to your niece and didn't even flinch. Not to mention, these guys have a reputation of their own. And you faced them as if they were just another foot soldier. Alec was all but giving you a death glare, and you didn't even mention it."

Garrett smirked. "They were trying to intimidate me. I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing they were succeeding."

Bella snorted. "They can be a bit much sometimes, but their hearts are in the right place. They care about Jane. No matter how many times Felix calls her a witch or how many times she insults him. Those two are ride or die for each other. It's the weirdest friendship ever." Garrett nodded. "I don't know much about you personally, but I know enough to make a pretty good guess that your sister would have looked up to you and sought those characteristics in her husband."

Garrett's throat closed. He shut his eyes, trying to picture a red-headed woman with blue or brown eyes and a gentle smile. Would she have looked like Bella? Would she have had those freckles on her nose or that dimple on her cheek? He sighed. He'd never know what his little sister had looked like, might never know if she had been happy. But for his sanity, he chose to picture a noble woman of gentle heart and good feelings, being doted on by her husband and having a beautiful family.

"Thank you." He murmured.

"For what?"

"For believing in me without knowing me." He opened his eyes and met her eyes.

She took his hand in hers and squeezed. "That's what family is for."

He kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you found me."

"Because I brought you your mate?" She teased.

He snorted. "The best sex I had in my life."

Bella shoved him away, and he laughed that laugh that made his head tilt backward. He was a beautiful male, and she was glad Jane had found such a genuinely good male.

"I expect an awesome wedding gift."

"Having me as your uncle isn't enough?"

"You are too full of yourself, old man." But she smiled. Conversing and teasing Garrett felt natural. She had been a bit worried about how they would get along, but he was an easy person.

They spent hours in the library, discussing their respective human lives and what each could remember. Garrett had no qualms about sharing his entire life with her, even sharing details of his mother and father and details about the only sister he had known. In turn, Bella told him about her shenanigans as a clumsy toddler who insisted she wanted to learn ballet and her adventures while visiting her dad every summer. She told him about the wolf pack, Jake, and how much she missed him. He told her about the one woman he loved when he had been a human and how she still haunted him but that he'd learned to let go.

They worked in tandem with the books, organizing the next batch of information to be uploaded onto the page. Sometimes, they worked in silence, and sometimes, their laughter could be heard in the hallways, making vampires frown and hurry away as if laughter in a place like this was forbidden.

They noticed the rising and hiding of the sun, but they lost track of time. They were brought out of whatever trance they'd gotten themselves into when Felix arrived. He knocked gently on the door before opening it and going inside.

He stopped by Bella's side and greeted her with a peck on the lips. "I came to see if you had fallen inside any of these books or If you'd run away together."

Garrett snorted derisively in mock disgust. "As if I would run away with her."

Bella gasped theatrically. "And here I was thinking of inviting you to lunch."

Felix noted their dynamic; they were less tense than the previous days. Whatever had happened in here had been good for them.

"I wanted to invite you for lunch." He pouted, not caring about what the other male would think about him.

She turned towards Garrett. "Sorry, old man. Invitation rescinded. I have plans." She took her mate's hand and rushed out of the room.

Garrett smiled and watched her disappear. She might descend from a different sister, but he could see much of the first one in her. He could see some of his father's mischief in her, too. With that thought, he closed the books and left the library, searching for his mate.

He was ready to start making this place his home.