A/N: I have no excuses as to why it has taken 3 years to get back on track with this. I suppose life gets busy, you enter new phases, and you place these things on the back burner until you're able to fully immerse yourself in it again, at some point.
I've mulled over continuing this - I re-read it and fell back in love with the ideas that I had for this FF. Therefore, here is Chapter 3. I'll update with further chapters when I'm able to. Thank you for reading.
Chapter Songs:
Joy Oladokun - Blink Twice \\ BELLA & EDWARD'S CONVERSATION
d4vd - Romantic Homicide \\ REMAINDER OF PARTY / CULLEN & DENALI CONVERSATION
Chapter 3
"Bella, you're not my mate."
It had been a silent few minutes. Neither Isabella nor Edward had spoken since his admission.
I continued standing in the doorway at the back of the house, swirling the remainder of the whisky within my glass. My eyes studied Isabella's face, silently urging her to respond in some way. Her expression had alternated between confusion, anger, back to confusion and now sat unreadable. Edward hadn't moved an inch, clearly unsure on how to continue or whether he would be right to continue.
Isabella finally shifted in her seat, her back straightening and legs crossing as she chose to stare directly into Edward's hesitant eyes.
"This feels familiar." An almost sarcastic smile appeared as she spoke, her hands flattening her dress and resting upon her knee. "You have gone from supposedly loving me, to tossing me aside in the woods and claiming you did not love me. I saved your life in Volterra, you again said you loved me, proposed to me and have been promising our 'forever'."
"What happened before Italy-" Edward's attempt to explain was quickly cut off by Isabella's hand raising to stop him, her head shaking.
"I have clearly been blind this whole time, allowing myself to see you as something that you're not, and obviously will never be."
Emmett had approached me from behind during the conversation, his hand now lingering in front of me wiggling that damn whiskey bottle, enticing me to drink more. My eyes remained upon Isabella, whilst placing my glass beneath the neck of the bottle as he poured.
Our coven had been told very little of what had happened in Volterra, by Alice. She and Edward had always seemed reluctant in sharing that story, hesitant to explain why Edward had made the trip to Italy and why Isabella had to 'save' him. We had come to the conclusion that he was just mad quite frankly, Tanya never being more grateful to not be his mate.
"Bella, I love you." He leant forwards and placed a hand on top of hers, stroking her hand with his thumb, sending her a pleading look.
I immediately hissed in response, gripping the glass tighter and downing the fiery liquid. My eyes squinted slightly as I savored the burn that progressed down my throat, reveling in how it encouraged my body to follow through with my thoughts of snatching Isabella up and taking her to Alaska.
This was not the plan we had discussed in Carlisle's study, this wasn't how Edward was supposed to conduct the conversation. It was clear that he had no plans of graciously stepping aside and providing me with my mate. He had willingly led Isabella to a future of dishonesty and infidelity, knowing he could potentially find his true mate. He wouldn't have batted an eyelid at the prospect of casting her aside the moment he encountered his mate, he wouldn't have thought twice about ending her life to begin a new one.
My mind was also twisted with thoughts surrounding Alice's involvement in this mess, pondering if she was aware that Isabella had never been truly Edward's. I internally slapped myself - of course she was aware. Alice wasn't an oblivious vampire, and Jasper had already admitted to being unsure about Edward and Isabella's bond through the emotions that had been present throughout their time together.
Edward, If you continue down the path that you're beginning to take, I will ruin your life in ways that you cannot imagine. I thought.
His eyes closed in response, head dropping whilst his hand remained on Isabella's. A pang of hurt cut through my chest at the sight of her not rejecting his touch. She was allowing him to hold her hands, allowing him to remain close. Was she not feeling a pull towards me instead? Did she not suddenly feel incredibly repulsed by him? Were these thoughts incredibly selfish? Frankly, I didn't give a shit.
"I don't understand why you're telling me now, I can't understand." She finally removed her hands from beneath his, crossing her arms against her chest and lowering her eyes to the floor.
"It's a very, very long tale. I don't believe that now is an appropriate time to explain it all, not here or now."
"But you felt it was an appropriate time to admit that I'm not your mate, and that I've just been some temporary entertainment that aided your tolerance?" She spat, eyes flickering in my direction, though it wasn't clear if it was due to seeing me there or simply to avoid looking at the bronze haired vampire. My hopes were resting on the former.
"Again, I can't give a simple explanation as to why now had to be the moment. We can talk about this properly later, if you'll allow me?"
Edward had begun to shift his chair closer to the bride's, just as her father approached, drink in hand and a sway to his steps. I chuckled, noticing his intoxication immediately. Isabella uncrossed her arms, placing quite the smile on her face as she registered his presence. I silently commended her acting, rejoicing in being able to see her relationship with her father briefly evident.
"Time for the ol' father and daughter dance, Bells!" He managed to get out between hiccups, wrapping an arm around her and guiding her away from Edward, and towards the makeshift dance floor that was emptying in preparation for their moment. I wondered if he had sensed the tension when he approached - I'm sure he wasn't a stupid man. Isabella's posture and glare would have been clear as day, even to the drunkest of humans or vampires.
Upon Isabella's exit, Edward advanced towards where I remained throughout the confrontation, a grimace firmly on his face.
"I hope you're happy with what you have caused." He growled as he now stood directly beside me, fixing the sleeves of his tux. "There was no harm coming to her, she would have had a happy life."
I laughed as I shook my head, tossing my glass aside and ignoring the resulting smash against the Cullen's deck.
"A happy life? You planned on preventing her from meeting who she was supposed to spend an immortal life with. You actively chose to take this away from her, you decided that she would make do whilst you awaited your real mate. I cannot understand how you see no fault with the plan you had made?"
"Because it was going fine." He snarled, pressing his face entirely against my own, intending on trying to intimidate me.
I sighed, immediately gripping on to his arm, sending an intense shock radiating throughout his body, grinning as he fell to his knees in agony. I continued to hold his arm, my charge of electricity didn't let up as I lowered myself to his level and lifted his chin up to ensure his eyes met my own.
"You have misled my mate, with intent. I will not forget this. No matter how much Carlisle believes this is easily resolved by a simple apology, it is not, and I will decide how you're punished and when." His body sagged as I released his arm, turning to enter the house and join my sisters who had been sitting in the living area, listening to the exchange whilst gracefully indulging themselves in large glasses of wine.
Tanya eyed me carefully as I took a seat across from them, grabbing a bottle of wine from the table between us and taking a healthy chug. This wasn't how I had envisioned our visit to Forks to pan out. I had hoped to drink a vast amount of alcohol and irritate Rosalie by getting Emmett drunk to the point that he would appear to be in a coma of sorts. But this? My mate was now married to a Cullen, Edward Cullen. She had been lied to, led astray and manipulated by at least one, if not two Cullen's. She was being told on her wedding day that her life the last few years had been a complete farce. How was I expected to mend this? How would I win the heart of a human that would now deem all vampires untrustworthy. And would I manage to tempt her to relocate to Alaska?
The party continued throughout the night. Isabella stumbled her way through the father and daughter dance - it was difficult to understand if it was due to her father's alcohol consumption, or what looked like her two left feet. As the first dance between her and Edward had been announced, it wasn't hard to miss her reluctance to join him on the dancefloor. She hadn't raised her head to look at him during the dance, choosing to rest her chin on his shoulder, eyes closed with a sad smile gracing her lips.
Alice and Jasper had joined the wedding party at some point, choosing to dance away from others, immersing themselves in one another before disappearing again for what was most likely some private time. Rosalie and Emmett had kept us company at points, excusing themselves at times, returning disheveled and looking smug when pressed over their whereabouts.
My eyes had regularly been glued to Isabella. She looked ravishing - she was truly heartbreakingly stunning in her wedding dress, dancing with her friends as she downed glass after glass of champagne. As the night progressed, strands of hair had come loose from what had been a neatly prepared hairstyle. A light sheen of sweat had formed across her hairline and across her lower neck. My patience had been tested as I had admired the sight of her enjoying herself.
Tanya, Irina and Carmen had regularly laughed as I would prepare to leave my seat to join her, and immediately reclined back in my seat after my resolve to speak to her would disappear. Sasha would be entirely ashamed of me at this point.
The human guests had begun to leave, gathering their belongings and saying their goodbyes to both Isabella and Edward, who had remained separate after their dance. Isabella was evidently exhausted as she stumbled towards the house, hopping as she attempted to take off her heels, struggling whilst doing so.
I flashed to her side, placing my arm beneath her free hand that was hovering as she was gripping on to her shoe encased foot with the other. I watched as her eyes slowly moved to my own, lips parting and heart rate increasing. My other arm reached out to balance her, my hand resting on her hip. A slight intake of breath and I was again assaulted with her scent. Bending down to her feet, I nudged her hand away and undid each heel, tapping one foot as a sign for her to lift her foot out, taking the same action with the other afterwards.
"Thank you." She finally spoke as I stood back up, now a few inches taller than her.
"Perhaps you'd like some help getting inside?" Re-offering my arm for her to hold onto, she smiled and eagerly grasped it. Her eyes shot down after an electricity-like current, that was not my doing, ran through our connected limbs.
"Thank you, again." A blush appeared across her slightly sweaty cheeks, appearing to spread across her neck and upper chest. Humming to myself at the sight, I led her into the Cullen residence, ignoring an awaiting Edward and Alice, and helping her to the main stairs for her to take herself to bed. She glanced at me with a small smile, eyes switching between staring at my lips and my own set of eyes. I silently begged for her to say or do something, refusing to make a move towards her first, as it was her wedding day. But she did not.
The second her hand left my arm and her head turned towards the stairs that she began to climb, I ached. As she took her first steps, I began to follow instinctively, but was stopped by Irina to my right who was gripping my shoulder.
"She will be fine, sister." She coaxed me away from the stairs and back to the living area where the Cullen's and the remainder of our coven were gathering.
I sat beside Rosalie and Emmett, Irina taking her place on the other side of me. Carlisle appeared in the doorway, the top few buttons of his shirt undone, tie thrown over his shoulder and a tense look across his face. Esme looked worried as she stood beside him, eyes glancing towards Edward who stood against floor to ceiling windows, staring out forlornly.
"It appears we have matters to discuss that relate to the issue at hand." Carlisle sighed, gesturing for Esme to sit in the lone armchair, as he sat on the arm of it. "Kate, perhaps you're best starting."
"Nemám na to čas." I muttered, leaning forwards in my seat, ignoring the look that Tanya shot across the room at me. (I have no time for this)
"As I made clear earlier, Isabella is mine. Edward, or perhaps Alice, I demand to know why this was kept hidden throughout Isabella's time with you all. Why was she led to believe that she was your mate, Edward?" My voice was calculated, the alcohol within me currently being burnt by my venom, but still impacting my system. My eyes shot a glare towards Alice and then to Edward, awaiting one of them to speak, watching as they looked at one another before Edward sighed and turned to face the room.
"It should have been clear from the beginning that Bella was not my mate, she was just my singer. As I explained to Bella, I wanted to improve my tolerance to human blood, and her being my singer allowed me to do so. In the midst of improving my tolerance… I fell for her. I presumed she was my mate therefore." I growled in response. "I did. I truly believed she was. That was until her birthday, and she was injured which resulted in her blood leaking amongst a room full of vampires..."
Jasper sighed and chose this moment to leave the room, Alice watching his retreating form but choosing to remain in the living area, aware that she was very much involved in this.
"...I realised that night that being around us was never going to truly be safe. I made the decision that we should leave, leaving Bella in forks and removing all traces of our existence from her life. This was when I realised that she wasn't my mate. But during this time I also began to struggle with tolerance again, almost missing her presence and how her blood kept me alert. I attempted to end my life through the Volturi, trying to rid myself of the struggle. Alice however, brought Isabella to Italy to prevent me taking this action. She believed that it was better that Bella be in our lives, if it meant I didn't end my existence."
Alice had progressively shrunk deeper and deeper into the sofa as Edward explained how the mess had worsened. She had clearly become more aware of the amount of eyes that had turned to her when hearing of her decision and what it had now led to.
"I spoke to Alice about my struggle, about Bella not being my mate, about how this now changed a lot. She believed that Bella and I could still have some sort of a future together. She had visions of us getting married, how I would then reluctantly change her due to the Volturi's interest in her still being human, and how we would have a happy enough marriage."
I began laughing loudly, interrupting Edward's tale. Throwing my head back against the sofa, I turned to Irina who rolled her eyes at me and gestured for me to say what I wanted to say.
"I'm sorry, I'm just struggling to believe that either of you thought that this was anything other than selfish." I looked at them both expectantly, watching as they lowered their eyes to the ground and remaining silent. I then turned to a serious-looking Carlisle. "Let me make this very clear Carlisle. The actions that Edward and Alice have taken, have consequences. I do not know what punishment I wish to take, but please believe me when I say that I will find one. And if Isabella has any input on these consequences in the future, then I will take whatever action she feels necessary."
Carlisle nodded solemnly, patting Esme's hand that was placed on his leg in a supportive manner. "I understand Kate. I cannot, however, force Bella to amend how she feels towards Edward, and I cannot force her to leave this house or family."
"I will not be leaving Forks whilst Isabella is around Edward or Alice. Isabella is my mate and I will remain nearby as such." I spat, choosing this moment to storm out of the house.
I ran into the nearby trees, speeding to find some sort of four-legged blood source to quench my anger, ignoring the two sets of feet I could hear following me out of the door.
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