AN Hi everyone! here's the next chapter.

There won't be many left after this one :) I don't know how many exactly but it's heading to the ending.

Hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter.

Chapter 18

BPOV

It would be close. I cursed silently as I ran. I hoped Jane and Alec were stalling for time. If not I would run into a battle scene. It wasn't something that I couldn't handle of course, but it meant that there would be casualties and I did want to avoid those as much as possible. Ideally only the brothers would die tonight.

I hated having to kill innocent bystanders. And though not all of the Volturi guard were innocent, most of them were. Most of them were good vampires that just roped into service for the Volturi. That didn't make them bad. On the contrary most of them were good and definitely useful to keep around.

I ran on and as I neared the Quileute lands I recognized the sound of wolves running towards me.

'Over here' I called out, veering off towards the left to head to the clearing where the Volturi were.

Jane had texted me the coordinates of their location. Technology sure came in handy in these situations. The wolves quickly fell in line behind me, pushing themselves to not fall behind at my breathtaking speed.

'Stay out of sight until I give the signal.' I went over the plan again with the wolves.

They growled their understanding.

It would be only moments now. I slowed down. I didn't want to announce my presence to anyone. The element of surprise was crucial to drive the brothers into a corner and deal with them once and for all. if I made the slightest mistake they'd run. I knew it.

I slowed down to a walk when I heard the sounds of an argument. Part of me was relieved that jane and Alec had managed to get the message to stall across. It seems the Cullens were arguing that they hadn't been given a fair trial.

I smiled. Perfect. That was something I could work with.

As Aro went on a spiel how the Cullens clearly broken the law. I called out. 'I don't recall instating that law.'

Within the same second I ran into the clearing, seemingly appearing out of thin air. I positioned myself between the Cullens and the Volturi and made sure to keep a defensive stance.

Jane and Alec sighed in relief as they saw me. I locked eyes with both of them for a second, letting them know that they did well.

They nodded their heads almost imperceptibly.

Aro and I faced down just like I'd predicted. At first he tried to weasel his way out of it. then he got angry then he resorted to begging. When the wolves appeared and I told them they had been wrong in their snap judgement, they doubled down. Especially Marcus. I'd anticipated that of course. What I hadn't anticipated however was that Marcus would dare threaten me.

As I was busy trying to keep Aro in check, Marcus somehow slipped away and got behind me.

A groan caught my attention.

Edward.

My blood ran cold at first. My fear had come true. Edward was being used against me. They were threatening him to hurt me. He was my weakness now and Marcus had seen it. He'd sensed the bond between us and he'd chosen to act on that. He knew he couldn't take me, but taking my mate would perhaps give him the leverage he needed.

It didn't take long for my shock to turn to pure hatred though. How dare he? How dare he threaten me so brazenly?

'Let my brother go.' Marcus snarled. 'Or I kill your mate.'

I turned around slowly. My furious gaze first met Edward's frightened one and then Marcus' crazed one.

A plan formed instantly. Marcus was not doing this as part of a scheme or elaborate plan. It was a spur of the moment decision and one that he hadn't thought through. That much was clear from his expression. He was bluffing pure and simple. I decided to play along with his bluff.

I lifted my shield. Play along. I directed towards Edward. I flicked my gaze to his, assessing if he'd heard me. his eyes lost their frightened gleam instantly. He'd heard me.

'Why would I care about him?' I asked Marcus in the coldest voice I could manage. Aro meanwhile was futilely clawing at my arm, trying to get me to lose my grip. Instead I tightened my grip on him.

Marcus seemed taken aback by my question. 'He's your mate.'

'Has your gift been declining in your apathy Marcus?' I taunted him. 'You of all people should know the difference between a mate bond and a potential mate bond.'

'I know what I see.' Marcus hissed but the crazed look in his eyes was being replaced by doubt. His eyes unfocussed as he was checking the bond.

'Stop this foolery, Marcus. Your fate has been sealed along with your brothers.'

He didn't give in just yet though. He knew I had him cornered though so he tried again. His grip tightened around Edward's neck. 'Let my brother go, or I kill him.'

My anger surged. 'I wouldn't do that if I were you.'

I flicked my gaze to Alec making sure he caught my eye before turning back to Marcus. I prayed Alec would understand what I wanted from him. I checked back to Alec and he nodded. I turned back to face Marcus.

Do you trust me? I asked Edward as I lifted my shield again. My gaze dropped to him for a second.

He gave a quick small nod. I nodded back and signalled with Alec with my hand.

Then I turned back around and grabbed Aro. Before he could so much as scream I bit through his neck, beheading him in one quick bite and a tear. His scream cut off with a gurgle. I threw his body to the ground as confusion reigned for a moment in the clearing. The wolves were getting antsy, Edward's family was damn near losing their minds and the guard had no idea what to do as in a matter of seconds their fearless and seemingly invincible leader had just been dismembered.

I turned to Edward. Step away from him, Edward.

He looked at me with surprised eyes for a moment, but then slowly got to his feet. He broke free of Marcus' grip and turned around to see why the Volturi leader was not doing anything. But his family didn't let him linger, they snatched him up and immediately formed a protective circle around him.

I smiled at that. They had noticed he was a target because of me and they were willing to help protect him. though probably for their own sake as they loved him as a brother and son. Still, I was thankful.

'Alec.' I ordered Alec to release his gift.

He did so instantly. Marcus gasped and stumbled, regaining his footing and getting his bearing again after having lost his senses for a while. He looked around a moment and then spotted his dismembered brother.

'You!' he snarled as he made a move to come at me.

He didn't get a chance. Even without my prompting, Jane had taken initiative. Marcus lay before me screaming in agony.

'Have you met my progenies?' I asked in a sweet voice. 'Jane and Alec. Their gifts are quite incredible. And I have trained them myself. You thought you could bring them into your guard and use them as weapons. You're all fools. I would never have allowed you to corrupt them.'

I signed for Jane to stop. Marcus stopped writhing.

'Marcus, though you do not deserve an explanation, I will give you one anyway. These wolves are not Children of the moon. These are shifters. Spiritual protectors. They just happen to take a wolf form. They are sentient and can shift at will. If you had checked your prejudice you would have seen the differences and you would have questioned the so called witnesses.'

'I know what they are.' Marcus hissed. 'I know what children of the moon look like.'

'Enough.' My patience had worn out. I was ending this now. 'Marcus and Caius your faith is the same as that of your brother. You've all betrayed me and do not deserve the power and responsibility I've given you.'

'You will never be able to kill us both.' Caius snarled. 'our guard will never stand for it!'

I wanted to roll my eyes at him. Was he really this dense? Did he not notice how the crowd had already shifted? The moment Aro had fallen to his knees to beg me for forgiveness the guards and the witnesses had stopped being loyal to the Volturi.

But still, I wanted to rub his nose in it a little bit. I turned ot the crowd and offered them a choice. They could contest my decision and try to fight me, or they could leave here in peace. Unsurprisingly no one came forward. Caius nearly turned blue, which was quite a feat for a vampire I thought, mildly amused by his disbelief. When the guard dropped to their knees I knew it was time.

I quickly pronounced the judgement and then without giving either Marcus or Caius another moment to stall, I sprang into action. Within seconds their body parts joined their brother in a heap. I pulled out my lighter and flicked it open. I threw it on their remains with a sick sense of satisfaction.

Though I wasn't quite happy they'd died this quickly. Honestly for threatening Edward I had wanted to make them suffer. For fooling me I'd wanted to make them suffer more. But with this many witnesses and potential dangers, I'd figured speed was of the essence.

'Jane, Alec?' I turned away from the fire.

They came over instantly. 'I'm so glad you made it.' Jane whispered as we stuck our heads close together.

I smiled at them both. 'I'm so proud of you. Thank you both for using your gifts to help me. You did well.'

They beamed at my compliments and I touched their cheeks for a moment. 'I need to finish everything up here. Then I'll head back to Volterra. Can you lead everyone back home?'

They both nodded immediately.

'Make sure to keep everyone in check. I wouldn't put it past a few of them to try a coup, though most of them should be scared straight right now, feelings might change in Volterra and they see the thrones are empty.'

'Who are you going to put in their place?' Alec asked.

'We'll discuss that when I get back.' I told him quickly.

'When will you be back?' Jane asked.

'A day or two at the most after you guys.'

'Okay. We'll manage.' She assured me.

I smiled at her. I was proud of both of them. They'd held their own so well these past few weeks.

Then I stepped back and addressed everyone. 'Jane. Alec. Take the guard home.'

They both bowed to me and turned around after I nodded at them to guide everyone back the way they had come.

I turned to Jacob next.

'Thank you, Jacob for answering my call. I owe you one.' I told him earnestly.

He shook his giant head.

'I'll stop by before I leave.' I told him then signalled for him to head out. he nodded and then the wolves set off again as well.

And just like that it was me and the Cullens.

I took a deep breath and then slowly turned to face the group of defensive vampires facing me.

'Bella.' It was Edward who spoke first. He sounded so relieved that for a moment I couldn't help but smile.

He was fine. Everything was fine.

But then reality came around the corner. Edward made a move to step out of his protective circle, but immediately his brothers grabbed hold of him and everyone closed ranks around him.

'What are you doing?' Edward exclaimed angrily.

I sank down into a defensive crouch in reaction, which of course set off everyone. And suddenly I found myself in another standoff.

'Stop it!' Edward growled, but he couldn't overpower two of his brothers.

'What do you want with Edward?' It was Carlisle who spoke first.

I sighed, I should have expected this. I straightened up out of my crouch and instead held up my hands, showing them I meant no harm.

'I'm sorry that I didn't tell you who I was.' I started. 'My name is Isabella the First. I am the first vampire ever created. I've lived on this earth for tens of thousands of years and I protect the balance of the world. I keep vampires and other supernatural in check and make sure the human population is maintained as well. I instate the vampire council and rule over them as they rule over you. I knew the Volturi was getting too greedy. I was witing for the moment they would betray me. I'm sorry they used your family to do so. He spoke of a seer among your ranks and I came to investigate whether you were indeed a threat. I didn't find you to be and was about to give my orders to the Volturi when I got the message they were marching on you.' I paused for a moment, letting everything sink in. 'I'm sorry you were caught in the middle of this power struggle. That was never my intention.'

'What was your intention?' Rosalie asked, her tone cold. It seemed any rapport we might have had had flown out the window. I couldn't say I blamed her.

'My intention was to asses Alice's gift and then disappear again when I established there was no threat.'

'You would have left just like that?' Alice sounded sad for some reason.

I simply nodded. 'Such is my life. I stand on the outskirts looking in.'

'What do you want with Edward then?' Emmett asked.

'I never imagined it would be possible for someone like me, but Marcus was right. There is a mate bond between us.'

'And you wish to claim him?' Esme asked. Her tone was soft. Not accusatory which I had expected.

My gaze found Edward's, who was still struggling against the hold his brothers had on him. I smiled softly at him. 'if after all this, he'll still want me, then yes.' I admitted to him.

There was no holding him after that.

Edward broke free with sheer force of will and ran towards me. He scoped me into his embrace without stopping and spun me around a few times. His arms were wrapped around my waist so tightly if I'd needed to breath it wouldn't have been possible. The fear and stress he'd gone through was making him clutch at me like he'd thought he'd never get to see me again.

He set me back down on my feet again, though his arms remained tightly around me.

'Thanks for protecting me' he said, turning only his face to his family. 'But Bella is the last person I need or want protection from.' He assured them.

That seemed to satisfy the family finally. They relaxed their hostile stances, though they were still not very happy with me, from the looks of their faces.

'You can go now.' Edward told his family. 'We'll be at the house in a little while.'

They hesitated for a moment, but then they set off, leaving us alone.

Edward gazed down at me for a moment, as the breeze ruffled his hair slightly. Then he reached up with one of his hands, cupping my cheek. His face lowered and his lips captured mine in a searing kiss which seemed to convey all of his fears from the past day.

The fear of losing me, the fear of losing our chance, the fear of us never seeing each other again. I wrapped my arms around his neck and reciprocated his passion. My fear of not being in time. my fear of him seeing what I was capable of and rejecting me for it. we kissed like that until both of our fears were assuaged and everything was ou tin the open for the first time since we'd felt that first spark.

We broke apart after a while, both panting.

'Thank you for staying alive until I could get here.' I whispered.

He chuckled. 'thank you for coming.'

'I will always come to you.' I told him earnestly.

'Will you?' he asked, his face open and vulnerable. 'even though what happened today may happen again?'

I gave a hesitant nod.

'I know you fear me getting hurt because of who you are.'

'I do fear for that.' I admitted. 'but it came true today and we managed.'

He smiled. 'we did. And we will in the future if we trust each other.'

I nodded in agreement. 'Thank you for trusting me today.'

'I will always trust your judgement, Bella. I know you are older and stronger than me and wiser than I can imagine. I can't promise you that I won't have an opinion form time to time that might differ from yours, but I can promise you that I will respect your decisions and I will do my best to support you in everything.'

'it doesn't scare you?' I asked softly. 'the fact that I am capable of this?' I gestured to the piles of ashes that were once the Volturi brothers.

He was already shaking his head before I could finish the question. 'Nothing you do can ever scare me, Bella.'

I smiled at that, starting to believe him. 'But what about your family?'

He frowned. 'I don't know. I will miss them of course. But we can visit right? and they can visit us?'

I nodded. 'We'll have to be careful about it, but it should be possible. I have friends all around the world and they've never been used against me.'

'Then we can make it work.'

'Are you sure? I'm leaving for Volterra in a few days to deal with the instating a new council.'

He took a deep breath then nodded. 'I'm willing to give this a chance.'

I smiled at him, then stretched up on my toes to kiss him again. He kissed me back for a moment before pulling back again with a dazzling smile on his face.

'Let's try this again then. Bella, I wish to claim you as my mate.'

'I accept.' I told him with a smile. 'And I wish to claim you as my mate.'

'I accept.' He muttered softly as he once more captured my lips in a fiery kiss.

His hands wrapped in my hair and tugged softly, titling my head back slightly as his lips travelled form my lips to my neck. My hands dropped down his chest, and I didn't hesitate for another rmoment, but gripped the fabric and ripped it apart.

My hands trailed his body eagerly, flicking my nails over his niples and earning a gasp from Edward. He pulled back slightly, only enough to pull my own shirt over my head. His pants were next. I snapped the button and pushed them down to his ankles. I quickly got rid of my own pants before I pushed his chest, pushing him down to ground and straddling his waist as I followed him down.

He grunted at the impact, but then groaned as the buzzing space between my legs made contact with the hard ridge of his erection. His hands were more urgent on my body now, clutching at my skin as his lips showered attention on my neck, my face and my breasts. I moaned as his lips found my nipple and he scraped his teeth over them for a moment. I shifted and ripped his underwear away, grabbing his member in my hand.

He hissed and returned the favour, ripping my panties away. His fingers quickly found my heat and his fingers slowly dipped into my wetness. He groaned at the feel of me as I groaned at the sensation his fingers were invoking in me. but I needed more. I shifted again and positioned him at my entrance.

For a moment we stilled. His gaze locked with mine, his hand was cradling my cheek softly. And then I sank down on him. We both adjusted to the feel of coming together like this, but then the urge to move became too great. I lifted my hips and sank back down over him. He moaned and sat up, clutching me tightly to his chest and wrapping my legs around his waist. We moved together like we'd done this hundred of times before.

His hand came down between us as his other hand massaged my breast. I gasped as his fingers found my little bundle of nerves and sent shockwaves throughout my entire body. I bit my lip to keep from moaning too loud. I moved faster against him, seeing his face contort in pleasure as well.

I brought my face to his neck, licking a trail from his jaw to his collarbone. 'Bite me.' I whispered to him.

He moaned as his own face sought out my neck and he copied my movement. 'are you sure?' he asked breathlessly.

I nodded. 'yes. Bite me.'

He nodded and as I felt his teeth sink into me I sank my teeth into him sealing our claiming once and for all. The pleasure exploded throughout my body and i felt him shudder under my hands as he felt the same. I came hard as white light burst behind my lids and I managed to release him before throwing my head back as pleasure rocked my body. He gave a few more thrusts before he too reached his climax, exploding inside of me with a guttural groan against the skin of my neck.

His hands gripped my thighs with bruising force before we both stilled and faced each other panting. I bent my head to his, kissing his lips once, twice more. Softly. Gently. He returned the kisses before smiling a most breathtaking smile at me.

'You're mine now. You won't be able to get rid of me anymore.'

I smiled at him. 'And you're mine.'

He smiled and nodded as he hugged me tightly against his chest.

The potential mate bond was now a fully-fledged mate bond and would bind us together until the day we died. We had marked each other and would bear the mark from now until the end. It would only grow from now on in strength as we faced the future together.