Edit to Add: - Amended a few things, nothing giant. I do intend on updating at some point soon. Just ironing out some issues with the plot.
Apologies for the huge hiatus, I had a promotion in work and it's all taken off from there!
Here's the next chapter, writing the next one as we speak! :)
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I was finishing the last of the second mountain lion I had chased down, throwing my head back in pure pleasure at how sweet it's blood tasted as the final few drops ran down my throat. I hummed, dropping the animal to the ground and kicking a pile of snow over the carcass. I glanced to my right and watched Kate doing the same, clearing her mouth of remaining droplets before joining me at my side, cracking her neck and dusting off her jeans.
"White jeans for hunting? That's just showing off." I commented, glaring at her pants that hadn't seen a drop of blood or dirt throughout our hunt.
"Well, I like to maintain my well earned reputation of a clean hunter, Rose."
"You're annoying."
"Welcome to our daily life." Irina spoke from the shadows, stepping out and frowning at the rather large blood stain on her denim jacket. "Fucking kidding me…"
"And still the best hunter in the USA, Kate Denali!" I shoved Kate aside, rolling my eyes and kicking a little extra snow over the carcass of my last hunt before my phone vibrated against my thigh.
Bella's coming.
"Ah fuck."
"What?" Tanya quizzed, leaning against a tree beside Irina watching as I put my phone back into my pocket.
"Hello." All eyes snapped over to the opposite side of the small clearing, Isabella appearing from the shadows, eyes narrowed into slits completely rid of any colour other than a murky black. The look on her face was enough to have my knees trembling slightly, my eyes widening and looking to the blonde's for some type of help. They all shrugged and waved before disappearing in the trees back towards the house.
"Hi."
"You left." She hissed, refusing to step into the clearing and come any closer. I took a few tentative steps towards her, testing the waters and seeing just how comfortable she was with me approaching. She eyed my feet warily, body turning slightly as if to run.
"Please don't go." Her face softened at my words, body freezing in place. Clearly her thoughts were still screaming for her to return to the house as her face began to betray her. "You weren't talking, I thought that you'd benefit from some space. I decided to go for a hunt with the others whilst you had time to think."
She nodded and looked directly at me, staring fixedly at my own set of eyes.
"I just didn't know where you were, I got worried. I don't know why, I just felt like I had to find you."
"Bella, it's okay-"
"I just needed to know that you were safe." She continued to ramble, hands rubbing at the back of her neck as she gnawed at the corner of her bottom lip.
"Well…" I held out my arms, gesturing to my body. "I'm as safe as a vampire can be."
Again, she nodded, adding nothing further.
"Do you need to hunt?"
She shook her head but took a step towards me, holding out her hand palm up. My eyes flickered between hers and her hand, hers practically begging me to take it. I gave in and placed my hand in hers. She instantly raised my knuckles to her mouth and placed a gentle kiss against the skin, before turning my hand over and placing a kiss on the inside of my wrist. My body instinctively shivered at her gesture, my other hand falling to her shoulder.
"Bella…"
"I'm not stupid you know." Her eyes were studying me with a piercing scrutiny, relaxing as she saw my brows raising slightly.
"I've never once believed that you were."
"Yes, I'm what we call a newborn. But I haven't lost my intelligence, don't think I haven't noticed certain things between you and I since you brought me into this life."
"I've no idea what you're talking about." She rolled her eyes and dropped my hand, choosing to walk past me.
"Of course you don't, Rosalie." I could practically feel the waves of irritation coming from her as she ran into the trees, hissing at me before doing so.
Should I follow her? Would I make a bigger mess even bigger by doing so? Surely she would be wanting me to chase her down, stopping her from doing something stupid and talk this whole thing out. Clearly she had figured out what the deal was between us, though that didn't mean I wanted it to be something that she would have to deal with whilst still coming to grips with this new life.
Again my phone vibrated in my hand, Alice's name popping up with another simple text, 'Leave her be, come home.'. I huffed and put the phone away, staring at the dark spot that Isabella had disappeared into. Why did I choose to avoid serious conversations, why did I continue to refuse to resolve situations there and then. Now I was doing so with my mate before we'd even had the chance to have a serious conversation about us. But, then again was there even an 'us'. Had she actually figured out our mating bond, or was she referring to something else?
Turning and running back towards the house, I willed my legs to work harder, easing all of the anger out during my run. Being in Alaska was going to be a benefit for Isabella whilst she learnt how to control her bloodlust, however for now whilst staying with the Denali's, it could perhaps be detrimental to our very own progress together. There were far too many sets of ears in one building, I for one wasn't the type to enjoy my business being shouted within the vicinity of sensitive eardrums.
As I approached the house, I could hear Alice already ordering Jasper upstairs where to move things, and how it still didn't look correct. Carlisle was with Eleazar in the upstairs study, most likely discussing Isabella and her new found ability. Edward was cuddling with Tanya on the small loveseat, Kate and Irina of course were nowhere to be found as usual, along with Emmett. I sat on the remaining sofa and propped my feet up on the footstool in front, eyeing the cuddling couple opposite.
"I'm still certain that you're mates." I remarked earning me an eye roll from Edward and a smirk from Tanya.
"Whilst he's mate-free, he is my mate." Edward leaned back slightly and raised his eyebrow at the blonde in his arms, I sniggered at the pair and decided to turn the TV on. The news channel was the first thing to appear as always, the Volturi still demanding that Eleazar kept an eye on nearby situations. I chose to leave it on and keep an eye out for any situations that would require our intervention, preventing the Volturi guard having to make an appearance and give the usual garbage about how Alice and Edward should join.
"Where's Bella?" Edward quizzed casually, eyes still watching the television to void the glare he must have known I would aim towards him. I gritted my teeth and returned my focus back to the news, and relaxed my posture against the sofa.
"She came to find me after I'd gone for a hunt with Tan, Kate and 'Rina. I wasn't exactly expecting to see her, nor was I expecting her to tell me that she'd noticed things between her and I since she was changed."
"And you think she knows?" I nodded at Tanya's words and slouched further down into the sofa, throwing one arm over my eyes and sighing.
"I think she knows, and I told her I had no idea what she meant. She ended up storming off and Alice told me to leave her be. I probably would have just ruined it more anyway."
"You should have just told her-" Tanya's elbow in his side cut Edward's words off. If it wasn't for her action, the growl forming in my throat would have surely made an appearance.
"You do not involve yourself in someone else's mating-bond-decisions, Edward." He looked away sheepishly from the blonde. "Rose, I would probably have reacted the same. Don't go worrying about it. She'll be back soon and if you want a conversation about it, then you'll probably have to have it soon if she's noticing this soon."
"You're right."
Continuing to watch the news in silence, it wasn't long before we noticed an increasing number of disappearances in a much more residential area of Alaska. Young men and women were being snatched from the streets in the middle of the night, no trace being left behind - or at least not to the human eye. Eleazar had appeared beside me on the sofa after hearing the reporter discussing the disappearances. He looked deep in thought, elbows resting on his knees as he leant forward, eyes glued to the report.
"The Volturi will want this sorted; the entire situation reeks of our kind." Tanya commented, she moved herself out of Edward's arms and sat on the very edge of the loveseat. "Should we intervene?"
"We should. Though they're not always the most punctual, the Volturi will visit to deal with it if we allow this to continue." Eleazar glanced at me before continuing. "I believe it is best for Bella's sake that we prevent them from making a unnecessary trip, I cannot guarantee that they wouldn't attempt to lure Bella to join their guard. Her ability will be very powerful, and could be most useful to Aro."
I snarled at his words and Emmett chose this moment to return from wherever he had ventured off to. He sat on the floor in between my legs, head resting against the seat. Eleazar cleared his throat and muted the television.
"You know as well as I do, that no one here would allow them to take Bella. They will eventually learn of your new addition, and will choose to visit at some point in the future."
"He's right Rose." Carlisle agreed, "Ourselves and the Denali's are covens that are watched carefully because of our size, they will need to be informed of any recent additions and will have to meet her."
"They'll take her from me." My anxiety was beginning to rise, Isabella not being in the same vicinity didn't exactly help. Knowing that she was safe was an instant relief, and that was something I needed currently.
"They will not, and they cannot unless Bella actively chooses to join them. Despite their terrible reputation at times, they're not evil. They wouldn't force one of our kind to the life of a guard, without a reason such as punishment for a crime committed under vampire laws. They especially wouldn't do so to someone's mate." Eleazar managed to soothe my panic just slightly, patting my knee before walking at a human pace over to the stairs with Carlisle following. "Tanya, we'll leave tomorrow morning to inspect the situation with Kate, and probably Rose and Emmett."
Once he had returned to his study with our coven leader, the rest of us went back to our previous activities. Emmett remained sat between my legs, leaning his head against my jean-clad thighs. Tanya had shuffled her way back into Edward's arms, who looked much more content since she had done so. I turned the TV to the sports channel for Emmett, knowing he'd be much less fidgety with something entertaining him.
He was basically a giant kid, being changed so young of course would always influence that; at times I forgot that I was changed at 18. Being on this planet for so many years, never aging, yet maturing in ways mentally and emotionally was confusing. I still had the humour of an eighteen year old, and definitely still had the desires of a young woman.
"Man I wish I was able to compete in sports. I would kick ass in football, maybe basketball." Emmett sighed, cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders as he watched ESPN replaying the best moments of sport from the previous weekend.
"You're huge, of course you'd kick ass, Em." Edward laughed, Emmett threw a nearby cushion at his head in response.
"Shut up Eddie." Emmett mocked. Tanya burst out laughing at Emmett's favourite nickname for our bronze haired sibling, forcing him to storm out of the house in embarrassment. He deserved it for all of the times he'd embarrassed us with our thoughts. He'd actively started to cut down on showing that he was reading our minds, it prevented many fights.
We spent the next few hours dipping in and out of conversations, Emmett starting many that ended with us all in hysterics. Tanya questioned our friendship, questioned our involvement with one another in the past. During our conversations Carlisle and Esme had exited to hunt, Eleazar had joined Carmen in their room. Alice and Jasper had been going at it for hours, there was no way of forgetting where they were or what they were doing with one another. Sometimes our hearing range wasn't always a benefit, more so a hindrance.
Speak of the devil and she shall appear; Alice ran into the living area with Jasper's sweats and v-neck, looking dishevelled and distraught. She looked directly at me and cleared her throat.
"I wasn't watching her whilst Jasper and I-" Again she cleared her throat, understanding that she didn't need to make us aware what exactly they had been doing. "Afterwards I thought I would check up on her, and I saw her running back."
"You're missing out on what feels like important details, Alice. Who do you mean?" I hissed. Edward shot me a sympathetic smile, he knew I was repeating Isabella's name over and over in my head, subconsciously knowing it was about her. Who else could it possibly be about? Kate and Irina could look after themselves, it couldn't possibly be them.
"Bella, Rose. She's attacked-" Her words were cut off by the sound of feet running up the porch steps and bursting through the front door.
Isabella was covered in blood, her outfit completely stained from head to toe. Her face smothered with dried blood down her cheeks and throat, matted in the sides of her hair. Her eyes were darting between mine and Carlisle, who had appeared at the bottom of the stairs looking shocked. I couldn't help but scrunch my nose up at her appearance.
"Rose…" I held my hand up to Tanya, and turned back to my newborn. She was assessing my reaction, rejection being pretty evident in her eyes after I had scrunched my nose up at her.
"I don't know how it happened, I was running through the forest and climbed a couple of mountains and ended up in a small village. I heard a woman scream, and watched a man dragging a woman into the trees. I followed them and I… I killed him." My eyes closed at her words, forcing myself to swallow the venom pooling in my mouth. "She'd ran away but I didn't know if she had seen or not, so I had to kill her too."
I turned to glare at Alice, eyes as black as night and teeth showing. No it wasn't fair to expect her to be watching for Isabella at all times, but she was expected to be vigilant with Isabella being a newborn.
"Leave us." My arms crossed against my chest. I waited for movement but found that there was none. I spun around and repeated myself again, my voice bordering on venomous. Each vampire disappeared from the house, even our hosts. I began to pace between the sofas, hands rubbing at my face.
"Rose, I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't have run away, this wouldn't have happened if I was with you."
"I'm capable of looking after myself, I'm not a fucking child."
I turned to look at her with my brows raised. She crossed her arms petulantly, glaring at me with such ferocity that if I wasn't as mad as she, my knees may have given way and submitted.
"No, but you're a newborn. A newborn who was turned at the young age of seventeen. You hadn't yet matured fully as a human, nevermind a vampire." I stood in front of her, hands on her shoulders, giving her no choice but to look directly at me. "I gave you space because you were clearly upset about the outcome of our brief conversation. Had I of known you were running far enough away to encounter the closest possible village, I would have refused to give you said space."
"So I have to be babysat twenty-four-fucking-seven?"
I growled at the venom in her words, watching as she gulped and dipped her head slightly in embarrassment. She looked up through her lashes, an apologetic gleam in her eyes as she gnawed at her bottom lip once more.
"Had anything happened to you, I would never forgive myself. You're already one of us because of me - I have that on my shoulders for the rest of my existence."
"I'm a vampire, nothing can hurt me anymore surely?" She threw her arms in the air, still unable to move from her spot due to my hands keeping her firmly in place.
Her naivety wasn't reassuring. With every word that she had uttered since walking back into this house, my protective instincts were screaming at me to hurry up and claim her, to have my scent on her permanently. My anger was practically yelling that she ought to know how angry I was. But she was a newborn - she had no way of preventing this from happening. Her inner beast would have completely taken over her actions.
"We cannot be hurt by humans, or be harmed in the ways that humans can. But, a young… unmated female, is a gold mine for male nomads, even females. They can be vile beings. Most refuse to follow the law instilled by the Volturi, vampire royalty with guards who enforce these rules." I couldn't help but cup the side of her face with my hand, my eyes softening at how intently she had now chosen to listen. "They wouldn't think twice about hurting you, maybe forcing themselves upon you. You have a very, very long life to live. I don't want you spending it having to replay those memories."
She leaned into my hand and closed her eyes, her hands coming to rest upon my waist. Had the conversation not have caused my inner beast to want to keep her close to calm my own fears and anxiety, I would have removed her hands. We had yet to have a conversation about what it was that she had come to learn about us.
"I'm your sire, I'm supposed to protect you. You have to let me, and that means you have to get used to feeling watched over." She sighed and nodded reluctantly. "In future, please don't run. This is okay, it's happened and it's over now. You did the right thing in getting rid of the girl too, the Volturi wouldn't be pleased had she had seen and not been dealt with."
"So you're not mad?"
"I'm frustrated because you ran, I'm mad at myself for not ignoring Alice's message and just following you. You just followed your instincts, we're vampires - killing is what we're supposed to do."
"Alice text you?"
"Remember Alice can see the future? She must have seen us having an argument that wasn't fixable and told me to leave you to it."
"So why didn't she see me killing those humans?" She huffed, once again crossing her arms and subsequently tapping her foot as well, eyes narrowed. She looked adorable doing so.
"Perhaps we can ask Alice to come home and you can ask her yourself, love?" I smirked and pulled out my phone, handing it over to my newborn.