Weaponised

~ EPOV ~

I grabbed her hand and pulled her behind me. It was instinct. A habit so deeply ingrained that I moved without thinking.

The primal need to protect her came from somewhere deep within. Etched into my bones, embedded in my soul.

But what I wanted didn't matter.

Believing that we were safe had been a mistake. Another was ever allowing them to see how strong she was.

For not considering what they would see when they looked at her. All those horrible possibilities.

They arrived in the dead of night, red cloaked and masked faces. An army that had laid in wait. Hiding in the blind spots of our abilities.

Renesmee fast asleep in her room. While I sat on the edge of our bed, watching Bella present our daughter's birthday gifts to me. Explaining her reasoning for each one. Imagining her reaction when she received them. A soft kind of domestic bliss that I was growing far too comfortable in.

She'd seen it in my face first. Eyes wide and jaw tightened.

Then she'd heard them. Feet beating against the ground. Our front door kicked down.

We had fought them, of course. But we were no match.

Alerted by the sounds, my family arrived. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice.

I hadn't seen Jacob come in, and that had given me hope. But eventually, that hope in him would crumble.

My home had become the battleground, and in the end, my daughter was the armistice.

The sounds of the foundation of our house cracking beneath our feet.

The breaking of the glass.

Collision of bodies.

Snapping of wood.

I can still hear her voice in my head, that sudden fear. So intense that it froze all of us in an instant.

"Stop. Everyone, stop." She cried out. Her voice broke in the most painful way imaginable.

Then nothing.

All of it over in a single second, when Felix appeared holding my daughter in his cold, hard hands. A wolf wailing at his feet.

Jacob knew his role well. His priority had been Renesmee. But just like the rest of us, he had failed.

It was amazing how quickly all your strength could turn into a desperate plea.

Aro entered, holding the hand of Emmeline. A shield whose power worked much like Bella's, but could only expand to others by touch, and was unable to fully protect them.

She was of very little use to the Volturi.

"What do you want?" I growled from deep in my chest.

All eyes fell on my wife.

That was how I found myself here. Standing in front of Bella, amidst the ruins of my home, wanting to keep her safe. Knowing with absolute certainty that I couldn't.

Carlisle raised his hands in surrender. "This isn't how things are done. Let's have a civilized conversation" he implored.

Aro tilted his head to the side. Smiling, as his eyes narrowed in like a snake. "Desperate times, Carlisle."

"Just get on with it." I growled through my teeth.

"Mrs. Cullen will come to us. We will return her to you once she has fulfilled her purpose. She he will not be harmed."

"Okay. Just-." Bella cried out, her voice shaking as she spoke. "Just give me my daughter." She begged, reaching for Renesmee.

Aro turned his head slightly, offering a small nod.

Felix's large hands, finally releasing my daughter.

Renesmee looked down at where the Wolf lay, before stepping around him and running across the room toward us. We caught her in our arms, burying her into the space between us.

Aro then explained his demands again. Assuring that he reminded us that if we play by his rules, no one will get hurt.

"Can you hear me, Edward?" She asked silently, allowing me one last look into her mind.

I squeezed her hand in reply.

Her thoughts were clear. She wasn't lost in panic or fearful of what awaited her. She cared only about one thing.

She had kissed me and held my face in her hands. Lined our eyes to search mine, to assure I understood my assignment.

In one swift moment she wrapped her arms around our daughter, kissing her brow, before leaving her side. Not daring to linger in that moment for too long. She couldn't bare it.

It all happened too fast for Renesmee. It was clear that she didn't fully understand what was happening. She hadn't been able to wrap her mind around it.

She left quickly. She didn't look back.

As the room suddenly emptied, my daughter looked to me to rectify this wrongdoing. To return her mother to her. I was incapable of both.

All I could do was hold her while she called out for Bella. Her small hand reaching toward her mother. Those tiny fingers straining and flexing, even though there was no hope of reaching her.

I stood frozen in place. Feeling that tether to her stretching, until it had been cut. Lost and severed from pieces of myself.

She would be returned to us.

But when?

And in what condition?

I didn't know exactly what they wanted her for. But I had no doubt that her shield, used only to protect, would be weaponised.