This Is How You Remind Me

Fast forward because the next year was peacful.

My time with the Cullens was as perfect as it could be. The occasional Strigio attack was the only disturbance to our weekly routine, but they kept me in practice.
College was OK, I never had been one for school, but college was undoubtedly better then high school, and at least we commuted in the four days week instead living on campus.
On weekends Ness, Bella and I always went back to Forks to visit Jake and his, dramatic pause, pack, they were awesome at soccer by the way, though the games tended to end with everyone throwing mud and no one knowing who started it. (Honestly the whole werewolf thing was freakier then anything I ever saw Rose and Emmet do, and trust me, they do not understand why PDA might be a bad thing)
My private cottage was tiny, per request, and always in close proximity to Ness's house (actually her parent's houses) and the main house. Emmet and I thought about making underground tunnels connecting the houses, but Edward vetoed that, says Hel-blar, Strigio, and boyfriends could sneak into them.
Renesme and I got close in that year, it wasn't like my relationship with Lissa had been, but you couldn't live with Ness and not love her, that was the danger of it. She had all the charm of an immortal child, Bella had explained that it was that charm that drew in the danger.
I only lasted about a month before guilt over came me. Ness and I were home from school for the weekend and Jasper had grabbed me from behind during a training session, trapping me agaisnt his chest. I'd lost it.
His hard ice cold touch had brought back every memory, I'd staked him and attempted to stake Edward who came in to help before Ness calmed me down. Esme found me crying in the woods later, and everything came tumbling out. Alec, Jane, the babies, Dmitri and Marcus. She didn't touch me until she'd wrapped me in a comforter, then Esme confessed that she already knew. I had noticed Jasper and Alice's gift right away and Ness loved showing off her's, but I hadn't know about Edward and Bella. And mind reader and a mind shielder. Edward had heard my thoughts and warned everyone not to touch me or sneak up on me. The fact that they'd known for three weeks and hadn't treated me any different really touched my heart. The Cullens may freak me out a bit but they were family now, and Emse assured me Bella was now shielding my mind whenever she could, they'd already taken some of my privacy, she wanted to protect the rest of it.
After my talk with Esme, after which I fell asleep then woke up in my bed, I called my mom. Esme was kind and loving, like Olena had been, but my mother was the one who every inch of me and knew when I needed a shoulder and when I needed a punching bag. It was a risk, she was loyal to the Mori and I was a convicted assassin, but she believed me innocent and kept my secret, from the authorities and from Lissa.
We started emailing, not regularly or anything, but we kept each other up to date on our lives. She talked me into calling Abe, and soon I was emailing him to. I couldn't call anyone else, but Adrian and Sydney (who knew, right? Love sure is strange.) got a wedding anavsery gift in the mail without a return address or card, just round trip to Athens and...a rose petal. Lissa and Christan got a very special wedding gift.
Abe had talked me into spending an Easter with him in Turkey, and surprise my mother just so happened to be near by at the time and got a couple hours off duty to meet up with us and get formally introduced to my grandparents. They are scarier than Abe. While I was there I met an Kangal dog breeder. I fell in love with a little male and couldn't help myself. The next day my Grandmother gave me a tiny female from my grandfather's own dogs, she said they worked better in teams of male and females.
A/N, this is true, I own an Anatolian shepherd/Akbash mix and while difficult to train and lacking in many social graces unless socialized to the max as puppies, they are incredible Guardian dogs, but they are not guard dogs, there is a huge difference.

Shadow (so named because she is always behind me like a shadow) and Shade (so named because he will hid in the shade just as Shadow hides in my shadow) were surprisingly effective at deterring the undead. Trained excessively, they were at ease among the Cullens and treated Ness and I as their little lambs, they even came with us to school, after a few bribes. Shadow, always with Ness and Shade always with me. The dogs seemed to share a telopathic bond that rivaled mine with Lissa.
For these reasons and so many more, I did some research and sent Abe off with two little Anatolian shepherds to their reception. Smaller by an inch, and a bit harder to train, but more at ease with strangers. When Christan and Lissa were pampered them like no ones business, I got a little worried, but Abe talked to Dimitri and he convinced the happy couple that for the sake of their babies they should see a professional trainer.
I knew all this because I unashamedly spied on Lissa whenever life got dull.
I ran into Amar's Coven once. Benjamin and I had a great time catching up, and Emmet had a great time tossing Amar into a lake when he tried to kidnap me, I might have goaded him into it.
That was the year I lived with Elders of my own free will. I saved most of my money and Alice gave me tips on where to invest. Then we received the invitation.
The entire vampiric world government would be meeting in Alaska this summer to discuss peace. The undead were becoming a serious problem and Hunters were becoming more effective. The Mori were an endangered species and the Raktapa Vampires looked like they'd be soon.
Helios-Ra, Rouge Dhampiri, Hunters, Warriors of Light, Guardians and Cursed were being brought into one place for the first time ever.
The Cullens, as one of the largest, most respected and gifted covens in the world were expected to turn out in full. Ness was a Elder Dhampir, and rest of her kind weren't very civil. Fear of Elders would be lessened with her presence, and where Ness went, I went.
Kieren would be coming with Hunter as a Helios-Ra, so at least I'd have one ally.
The real questions were A) Would the Mori make a kerfuffle over me? And B) Would the Volturi show?