I want to first thank everyone who has left reviews. Reading what people are enjoying or not enjoying helps me greatly. I cherish each one and am thankful for any time any reader gives to my story for reading or reviewing.

Secondly, I want to apologize for the delay. First it was an issue with the characters not wanting to work with me. Surprising how much characters can control the writing process. They just refused to cooperate.

Then, once I managed to rein that all back in, my computer's autosave to my backup location failed and I lost a bunch of my writing, and it took me a few days to recover the lost information. So, sorry for the delay.

I know you have been waiting a while for the next chapter so let's just get straight into it.

Where we last left off:

He kissed me deeply. "Let's see if we can find us some clothes, shall we. Then, perhaps a hunting trip is in order. You have not been able to properly hunt in days. Not since you first awoke."

Rising to our feet, we gathered the scraps of clothe laying around and started walking back towards the homestead. My shield had held throughout our activities, and it easily fell away as I sighed. We walked, hand in hand, back at a human pace. A pile of clothes had been left at the back of the barn and none of the others were in sight.

Jasper helped me dressed before he pulled on pants for himself. Once we were decent enough, we took off into the forest, Jasper leading me towards areas he knew I could find a meal.

The sweet tang of blood filled my throat and dripped down my chin. I dropped the black bear carcass and used my fingers to catch the stray drops of blood and bring them back to my tongue.

"Damn, darlin'. You're sexy even when you are a messy eater."

Jasper's drawl sent shivers up my spine and throbbed within my mating mark. It had felt right earlier. My mind kept trying to tell me that he would not want me and that I was useless. But all that I could feel was that he was mine and I was his. Nothing would feel more right than this feeling, right now.

Facing the blonde vampire, I skirted over to him, leaning up and swiped my tongue across his lips. They parted and I moved my arms to wrap around him and I heard a whistle shrill out behind me.

Instantly, I was in a protective crouch, Jasper behind me. He chuckled softly. "Really, Captain. I sometimes swear you were dropped on your head since you left Maria. She may yet attack you. Isabella is a newborn still, even when she does not always act that way."

He finally entered my sight and I forced myself to straighten and lower the growling I had not even realized I had been doing.

"Major – trust me." Peter held no mirth in his voice as he walked towards us and stood along side us, facing the east.

"Shit. How long?"

I tensed at the exchange – my entire being holding its breath as I feared the worst. Instinctively I wrapped my shield around each of us, pulling them close to me. Peter's arm brushed mine and I felt his scars scrap against my granite skin.

Fear!

Anger!

Frustration!

Fear!

Regret!

FEAR!

I shook my head as I pushed the feelings away.

Peter yelped. "What was that, Chickie?" He rubbed his arm that had brushed against me. His scars glowed red some.

But before I could respond, three pairs of feet thundered towards us. I dropped into a crouch as did the others. As soon as their scents reached me, I wrapped my shield around them as well. Emmett, Rose, and Char were family.

I must keep my whole family safe!

Rose and Emmett were disheveled and their arousal scent on each other could not hide what they had been doing.

"I got them here, hun. Do not ever ask me to separate them again!" Char came and took up stance next to Peter, protecting his left side.

Rose and Emmett joined the line, and we waited.

"What is going to happen?" I whispered while testing to ensure my shield held. The slight glimmer at the edge of my vision gave me a sense of security.

"Shit load of trouble. Straight for us, Chickie."

I looked towards Peter at his comment, he simply tapped his temple without even glancing my way, focusing on the east, knowing my question without even needing me to ask. I bit my lip.

My new home.

My new family.

This location has been protected from everyone for so long. I can't change that now, not if I can fix it.

"How long, Petey, I believe you failed to answer Jasper's question." His low growl at my nickname for him was ignored as I waited, in silence after my question.

Finally, he huffed, while Emmett coughed to hide a laugh. "5 – maybe 10 minutes. Can't say any more accurately."

I nodded and took off running – straight towards the direction Peter had been focused. The others had not expected my reaction and took a second before following. I was faster with still being such a fresh newborn, but I did not want to lose them, so checked my speed until they caught up.

"What the fuck, Chickie?" Peter snapped as he took up my left flanked shortly after Jasper took my right. The others fell into line as we ran, dodging trees, bushes and across the terrain.

"Homestead."

"Huh? Umm, Isabella, I did not think it was possible for a vampire to forget something, but we are going the wrong way if you want the Homestead." Emmett chirped in.

I shook my head and growled, squeezing his shield some as he yelped.

"Protect." My brain and body were reacting on one-word commands, and I could not focus enough to explain.

But it was enough for Rose. "She is taking the fight to them, as far as she can from a place she wants to protect. Her instincts are amazing!"

After three minutes, strange vampire scents hit me, and I dropped into a fighting crouch and holding the others in place beside me with my shields. A strange 'tapping' sounded to my right. I turned my head and Jasper was offering a soft smile but had his eyebrows raised. He was tapping on the shield I had around him. The others I could now see were all stuck in strange positions, mid run.

Closing my eyes I focused on calming myself and I felt the shields soften. Each one shook off the feeling of being trapped before standing straight next to me. I tried to follow suit and stand up, but it was hard. I kept bouncing from foot to foot, the need to be in a safer position strong but wanting to following the leadership of the others who had more experience than my barely a week of training provided.

Jasper's hand rested on my forearm as he tried to push some calm towards me. I allowed it to flow over me, needing his help, not knowing what to expect next.

Thirty seconds later, the sounds of running feet reached our ears until they slowed and appeared in front of us. Surprisingly, all three of the Volturi kings were there, with about fifty vampire guards, including the evil twins. Their names were just out of reach in my fuzzy human memories, but I could remember what I learned about their powers and 'gifts'.

Just behind the three kings, stood the four Cullens. Edward's face contorted in frustration.

"How are you doing this? How come I can't hear?"

Alice was muttering, pulling her hair like she had been in the field the day my dad had died. "Crazy bitch, I can't see! She is ruining everything!"

The middle king held up his hand. Edward scowled as he stared at me, but it took Esme and Carlisle to shush Alice at the king's command.

The middle king had jet black hair and bright red eyes. The starkness of these two colours to his nearly translucent skin made him look even more 'otherworldly'. He clapped his hands together as a smile lit up his face.

"Well now. It seems you all knew to expect us. Tsk, tsk. You must realize you have all been naughty." We kept quiet on our side, Jasper holding firm and tall, hands fisted at his side, telling us to wait without words. After a moment, the vampire realized that bait did not work so he spoke again. "So, I hear that some of you have been breaking the law. We all know it is wrong to interfere with the mating bond."

I crouched some, growling. I could not help my instincts. Jasper's hand gripped around my forearm. Asking me to back off.

Fear, anger, thirst.

Both Jasper and I gasped quietly, as he jerked his hand away. I looked and saw some scars on his hands glowing red, just like Peter's arm had. This confused me and I stared at Jasper, my head cocked like a dog, to the left.

A throat clearing in front of us drew my attention back and I realized I had forgotten the Volturi were still here. The vampire king on the left with the stark white hair, raised his eyebrows. "Seems we know which two are the culprits. Those first to react most often are."

I bared my teeth at him when Edward spoke up. "Bella, that is not becoming of a lady. Behave and come here. You belong at my side. Then they can deal with the lawbreakers."

Snorting in disgust, I rolled my eyes at him. The third king, also having black hair but who appeared more dazed than the others spoke softly. "Interesting. Brother . . ."

He held his hand out to the middle king and suddenly, information flowed to me. He can read every memory and thought you have ever had with a single touch. The middle accepted the hand, whipping his head towards us.

"Yes, interesting that is brother. It does seem that there has been someone interfering with mates."

Edward looked smug and everyone on our side growled low, lowering their stances. The Volturi guard matched our stances, awaiting the command from their king. It must have been issued as the three kings stepped back and all but ten of the guard advanced towards us.

The clash of vampire bodies thundered and echoed as it shook the ground. Trees fell and splintered. Rocks crumbled into dust. Punches and kicks were thrown around me, but I focused only on getting to the witch twins. I knew from deep in my core, they were the biggest threat to the others.

Running full speed towards the two that stood side by side, I dodged those aiming for the others. I ducked and flipped the few that had attempted to wrap their arms around me or dived my feet to take out their knees. At the moment, I knew that would not keep them down, but I needed to neutralize the bigger threats.

Finally, they were within range, and I lunged. The boy stepped in front of the girl to block me, meeting me mid air. We tussled around each other as I attempted to get beat him. His actions were slow, weak, and limited. As I managed to get my mouth to his throat and my hands around his right arm, a tear screeching sound tore out along with the scream from his mouth as I tore his arm off at the shoulder. I get my mouth's grip on his neck, the foreign venom stinging in my mouth as I reached for another hold and tried to rip his head off.

The screeching sound came as his neck started to break but before it was cleanly removed, small arms grabbed my arm and twisted. I let go as a tearing sensation vibrated through my body, a guttural scream tearing from my lips. Spinning towards the direction the arm was being pulled, I managed to not lose it completely, though it hung unusable at my side as I faced the young girl.

My balance off without both arms, I threw myself to the left, kicking out my feet, knocking her to the ground. I closed my eyes and focused on her head, wrapping it in a shield and shrinking it, tighter and tighter. My eyes opened as I felt a jolt within the shield to see the girls head flattened and removed from her neck. Rising to my feet, I kicked it back to the other side of the battle ground.

Three vampires surrounded me, and I growled, as I readied myself for their attacks. They charged me all at once and scratches and slashes were felt all over, venom dripping from my own wounds when I heard a sound that echoed out above the field.

Jasper's roar had me lose focus, my eyes searching the field for him. There were several Volturi bodies on the ground and a few random body parts. I finally saw Jasper, with five guards on him, one pulling on each appendage and the fifth at his head. They were pulling him into pieces, the cracks visible to my eyes, even from across the field.

"NO!"