My Mate Saga (Twilight Fan Fiction)

Chapter Nineteen

  Jasper was sitting faithfully outside Edward's den when he returned from the disastrous confrontation with the Romanians. He had taken his time making his way back, his mind filled with a thousand different ways to handle Bella's indiscretion.

As he walked up to relieve his brother from his post, he still hadn't a clue how to deal with his beautiful little runaway.

"How is she?" he asked warily, strolling up with what felt like the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Jasper grinned, his normally hard exterior softened with sympathy. "Asleep. Or at least she's pretending to be."

Edward shifted his auditory scenes, blocking out the song of the early morning birds to capture the soft, even sound of Bella's breathing. As angry as he was at his female's betrayal, her tiny little huffs still filled him with a content awe. He sighed and leaned against the rock embankment of outside of his cave. Bella somehow managed to make him feel like an inexperienced juvenile and a thousand years old simultaneously.

"I don't know what to do," Edward breathed, running his hands through copper hair, "I spent so long planning for my mate. Collecting things to make her happy years before she was even born and now she's here and I can't keep her safe," he groaned with tightly clenched eyes, his thumb and index finger pressed into the bridge of his nose.

It was clear he was talking more to himself than his sister's mate but Jasper heard him clearly all the same.

"Brother, it's not an exact science," Jasper sighed, perching himself on a small boulder to settle in to offer some hard earned advise. "Until we actually find our mates we're led to believe that when she come things will be perfect, that everything will just click, but that's hardly ever the case."

His mind flashed to his first years with Alice, the disappointment, the power struggle. Though he loved her heartedly, she was far from the subservient little female he had been planning for.

Edward's eyes opened slowly, shaking his head in disagreement. "My Bella is perfect," he stressed because it was true, "She's everything I'd hoped for and more but I'm not the only one who sees that. Maybe I should take her away," he plotted solemnly, "Like her father did with her mother. Hide her somewhere obscure where I won't have to guard her so closely and have our child there."

The thought was heartbreaking. He had just made it back to his family and had been deeply looking forward starting his life with Bella amongst their love and support but he wasn't sure this was the safest place for her anymore and if it came down to it he'd take her to the arctic and learn to love penguins if it meant her and his little one were safe.

The native Texan tried to disguise his panic. Alice would be devastated without her favorite brother and "her new best friend", as she had perplexingly taken to calling Bella. He was also fairly certain that Edward wouldn't be safe without the coven's protection. Even the strongest and largest of male vampires, alphas like Edward Cullen, were vulnerable when on their own.

The number one killer of vampires is other vampires.

"That might have been true as of last year but now, with the trouble the humans are causing, breaking off onto your own would be counterproductive," Jasper dissuaded, "Small groups are extremely vulnerable. It is why Peter has agreed to stay with us once he and my daughter are mates."

Edward already knew he was going to be a better father than Jazz; he would have never let his little princess leave in the first place.

"She'd be safer as a nomad's mate then she would be sticking around our territory. The Volturi will be here in two weeks time."

The ex-fighter snorted. "Fuck those pricks," he spat dismissively, black eyes ominous, "With Peter here and Afton dead we have just as many males as they do. Aro may be a completely dick but he's not stupid. He'd lose full out or at least see the death of half his coven by provoking a battle with ours."

Edward's look of intense distress didn't ease so Jasper let out an uncomfortable chuckle and punched his brother playfully on the arm. "Come on, Ed. You've never been afraid of a little bloodshed before," he goaded lightly.

Edward glanced at the mouth of his den, his every thought on the beautiful pregnant female resting peacefully inside, "I've never had this much to lose."

Jasper followed his brother's golden gaze. He didn't want to lie and pretend that keeping the girl safe wouldn't be a problem. She was undeniably lovely; tempting enough to make the younger Romanian brother go against his impulse of self-preservation. A human drinking vampire's instincts to put himself before all others was a nearly impossible thing to overcome, it was the reason they had such a difficult time living in larger groups. For Stefan to risk his life to take Bella as a mate was extremely worrisome.

If a male that had not a chance in the world at winning her was willing to try and take a crack at claiming her Jasper could only guess how the Volturi's unmated males would react to the female when they actually had a small shot at taking her from her current mate.

"You need to keep her in your den," he decided. "Carlisle will attempt to stay civil, as always, but even still they can't possibly be staying long. She could stand a few days cooped up. Hell, after the shit she pulled tonight I'd tie her ass to the den wall either way."

Edward nodded thoughtfully. "If they don't see her they can't want her."

"Exactly," Jasper grinned, "We can take those fuckers easy but it would be much simpler if you kept your little doll a secret."

"They'll smell her," Edward fretted.

"So what? It's not like they can demand to see her. We tell Aro your new mate is young and pregnant and you have her resting in bed. Simple as that." Jasper shot his brother a sly grin and wiggling brows, trying to cheer the red head up. "You sure managed to knock her up fast, you fucking dog."

Edward's lips twitched with prideful amusement. "You have a dirty mind, Hale."

Jasper tossed his head back and let out a whooping laugh. "Me?I'm not the one feeling up my mate in front of the visitors," he snickered.

Now that his adrenaline had run dry Edward's ears turned pink with embarrassment at the mention of his earlier display. "I didn't want to do that. It was an important show," Edward whispered guilty.

Jasper snorted. "Yeah I know. But I also know that if I tried that shit on Alice she'd snap my fingers off and shove them down my throat for me to cough up later."

Edward felt like a hypocrite in telling him that he'd personally snap his neck and skip gleefully around his pyre if he did that to his little sister in front of him and their father; so he bit his tongue and steered the conversation back to it previous topic.

"This all depends on Bella's ability to keep herself out of eye sight. I don't even know if I can trust her at this point."

His stomach rolled with guilt-induced nausea. He couldn't handle talking about his angel like she was some untrustworthy re-captured escapee.

He wanted to ask her why she would run from him like that. Why she'd risk her life to get away from him.

He just didn't want to know the answers...

She said she'd love him forever, he reminded himself and calmed some.

"Just talk to her, Ed." Jasper urged, "Before I had Alice I would have told you to force her to obey you," he admitted, remembering his pre-Cullen philosophy on how to put a mate in her place. It was an outlook he had inherited from generations of ruthless males, "but I know that's a bunch of bullshit now. It takes four times as long to earn a female's respect with force than it does with affection."

It was simple advice but strangely enough, exactly what Edward desperately needed to hear.

He didn't want to hurt Bella in any way, her perfect body or her little heart. No matter how terrible her decision to run. He only wanted to love her and make her happy and Jasper hit it right on the mark by tell him it was okay to be gentle with her. After his father's nagging, it was a comforting alternative.

He knew that Carlisle was too worried about his son losing his mate to take Bella's emotional needs into consideration. He was the one that had taught them to respect their females in the first place but it seemed that Carlisle's morals took a back seat when it came to the wellbeing of his eldest child.

"You're right," Edward gave a slow, decisive nod. "She's a good girl. We can work through this."

He pushed himself off the limestone slab, suddenly very eager to be by her side, even if just to hold her as she slept, but Jasper was in front of him in a flash, obnoxious blocking his access to his female.

"Hey there, bud. She isn't going anywhere and you have some loose ends to tie up," he smirked with his hands out as a mock blockade.

"What?" Edward cocked his head in confusion.

His brother laughed. It was just like Edward to forget the harm he'd caused everyone else in favor of his own perceived problems. The effects of being a coddled first child, Jasper had long ago decided. "You were pretty fucking mean to your little sister. I think you better go apologize."

Edward growled at the reminder of the damage his small, nosy sibling had caused.

Jasper threw his hands up submissively to diffuse him. "Hey! I'm not sayin' she didn't do anything wrong but you shouldn't snap at a lady. I'd beat the shit out of you for talking to my mate like that if I wasn't so scared of your crazy ass," he half joked.

Edward scoffed. "I'm not saying sorry. I did nothing wrong," he muttered stubbornly.

"Well you're going to have to go see her at least," his brother snickered knowingly. "She still has your mate's pet. It's kind of a hostage situation."

Edward felt a surge of panic. Bella was going to want that animal the moment she woke up and frankly he owed the little mongrel his life. If he hadn't cut their tracking time in half it would have been too late. That scum would have put his filthy hands all over his angel.

"She will give me my dog back," he hissed, aware of how incredibly stupid he sounded.

The shaggy blonde tried not to show his amusement. "She's taken good care of your pup," he teased seriously, "Alice and Char fixed him up real good. Her way of making amends."

The eldest of the Cullen siblings grumbled angrily under his breath. His mild irritation coating his mouth with bitter venom. He turned abruptly and stomped off towards his brother in-law's cave.

"Watch her," he ordered without raising his voice, knowing well that Jasper would hear him. "I won't be long."

"Don't be a bitch," he yelled back.

He approached his sister's dwelling with his metaphorical hackles raised. He wasn't ready to face Alice yet. It was so much easier to blame her for what happened than it was to blame his Bella and he was more than willing to indulge himself at the pixies expense.

He didn't bother announcing himself as he entered, he could hear the girls' infantile giggles ringing throughout the room.

"He looks so much better!" Charlotte squealed.

Edward watched Alice nod vigorously in agreement; staring down at something he couldn't see from where he was standing. "So cute."

"Give me my dog, Alice," Edward demanded from the entryway. He had a strange feeling of déjà vu. He had come storming into her room numerous times as a youth, angrily demanding some trinket she had nicked out of his den.

His sister looked up at him with a soft smile.

"You have to let me say I'm sorry first," his tiny dark haired sibling mutters meekly. Edward was prepared for all of Alice's usual tricks, the kicking, the name calling, the atrocious screeching, but his snarky come back died in his throat.

Alice with his female counterpart; entitled and as stubborn as a mule so he certainly wasn't expecting an apology.

She inched her way over to him cautiously as he stood there gaping at her. Before he could refuse her she jumped forward and wrapped her little body around him in a surprisingly forcefully embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Edward!" she cried into his shoulder. "Jazzy told me about Stefan and Vladimir finding Bella and what could have happen. God, it would have been my entire fault," she wailed.

Edward's rigidness softened and he folded his large arm around the female's trembling frame. "It's not your fault, Ali," he admitted reluctantly, patting her thin back, Bella shouldn't have run and I couldn't have expected you to anticipate our mistakes."

"I want her to be safe as much as you do," she whispered against his shirt, "I've always wanted a sister."

"You have Rosalie," Edward frowned.

She giggled conspiratorially, "Rose was kind of a bust."

Edward chuckled and made a show of pushing his sister away for her less than kind endorsement of the female Hale. The two girls had always held a subtle rivalry. He hoped that his mate would blend in more seamlessly than Rose did.

"We fixed up Bella's puppy, uncle!" Charlotte thrilled, bouncing on her mother's bed with clear excitement.

The hardened male smiled fondly at his only niece, "Thanks, baby doll. May I have him back now? I need to get back to Isabella so your dad can get some sleep."

Charlotte beamed at him with childlike enthusiasm. She bent over, pushing the silk bed skirt out of the way to peek under the four-poster bed. "He ran under here a few minutes ago and refused to come out," the young female pouted. Edward heard Jake growl as Charlotte assumingly grabbed hold of him. The dog wriggled and jerked hopelessly as she dragged him out. "Oh! Here he is!"

Edward bit back a horrified scream.

The poor animal looked mortified. His hair had been trimmed sort, shaped round around his face, his ears cut to perfect tips in a way Edward had seen countless times on the lap dogs of the New York elite. He had on a humiliating miniature outfit, complete with a baby blue sweater and matching booties made all the more ridiculous by his awkwardly large puppy paws.

"Oh, God!" Edward gasped.

Charlotte squealed happily, clearly mistaking her uncle's exclamation as a positive response. She did some type of little jig and hugged the angry wolf. Jake whimpered and buried his shout into the girl's shoulder in a move Edward could only guess was his way of hiding his face in shame. "Oh! I knew you'd like him," she said proudly, "I gave him a proper 'puppy cut' while mom cut up an old shirt to make his outfit. Isn't he darling?" she crooned. Alice clapped animatedly in agreement.

Edward couldn't stand the thought of hurting his little Charlotte's feelings so he did his best to make his grimace form a convincing smile, the girl typically saw what she wanted to see so it wasn't exceedingly difficult. "Uh, you know he's a boy dog right?" he eyed the fringed puppy shoes, one for each trimmed paw.

Charlotte rolled her black eyes in an expression that ten years ago would have been complemented with a 'Duh.' "Of course we know Jake's a boy. That's why we put him in blue."

She held up the dog for closer examination. As if Edward could have missed it the first time he saw the travesty.

The baby blue cashmere was by no means a color masculine enough for Edward to put on himself or a son. Unfortunately Jake seemed to feel the same way.

"Right," He held out his hands to reclaim his mate's pet, suddenly very relieved that dogs can't talk hence wouldn't be able to rat him out for handing him over to his torturers.

Bella wouldn't be pleased.

Charlotte looked between his outstretched hands and the wriggling puppy in her arms, obviously reluctant to give him up. A few days ago Edward would have handed the mutt over cheerfully but after Jake's contribution to Bella's rescue he had earned himself a place under Edward's protection. A protection that covered stupid blue booties.

After a few tense seconds in which she looked like she may make a run for it, she sighed and handed over the warm bundle of fur. "It's ok," she comforted herself; "Peter said he'd find me my own puppy next breeding season."

Edward snorted. She was just like her mother; if someone else had something new or exciting she instantly needed one of her own. He took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. "Jesus," he sputtered, choking on the palpable scent rolling in waves of Jake. "He smells like a flower threw up on him..."

"Vanilla bean," Alice corrected, sticking her tongue out at her brother's scrunched nose. "We had to do something about that god awful wet dog smell," She shivered as if remembering something deeply disturbing and spayed another spurt of unpleasantly sweet smelling fluid into the air.

Jake gave the girl's a scathing look from over Edward's shoulders as the pair walked out the door.

When Edward had waved Jasper off and entered the safety of his cave he plopped the puppy on the soft couch cushion and ripped off the horrid outfit. "I'm so sorry, bud," he whisper to keep from waking Bella, "I didn't know they'd do this to you." He apologized sincerely. "I should have handed you to mom."

Thankfully Jake appeared view Edward as his rescuer instead of an accomplice. He whined and pressed his nose to his back paw, pointing out an overlooked bootie.

Edward stroked gently behind the wolf's tiny ears and instead of taking a snap at him like he had in the past, the dog closed his eyes while relaxing at the sensation. The vampire dutifully continued his ministrations until the animal fell into a deep and well deserved sleep.

Edward hoped it would be the first step in some sort of truce.

He was exhausted by the time he shuffled his way to their vampire equivalent marital bed. He wanted to sleep, he wanted to sleep for days. But as he looked down at his angel, twisted restlessly in the satin sheets, he couldn't get himself to do anything but stand over her and take in her gorgeous form.

Her waist long hair was spread like soft wooden waves along the white pillow, her sweet featured face rested on her folded hands. Two long, slim legs were exposed for his eager eyes, obscured slightly by the interwoven bed sheets.

She was the most breathtaking being on heaven or earth; of this he was absolutely sure.

He didn't deserve her but he'd spend every day of the rest of his life trying to be enough, striving to be good enough.

Despite his early anger at her betrayal he felt nothing but love and empathy for his mate as he gazed down at her. He recognized quickly that forgiving Bella wasn't going to be an issue.

He peeled his eyes off his mate long enough to pull off his shirt and kick out of his jeans. He climbed into bed carefully, doing his best not to jostle her.

He didn't feel entirely right about taking her into his arms while she wasn't awake to reject him, having no way of knowing if she had just accepted him in the woods out of fear of the alternative, but he needed to be close to her. His whole being ached for the feel of her smooth skin against his own so he lightly curled his body around hers, his front to her tiny back, and place one unimposing arm around her narrow waist.

He couldn't hold back his sigh of relief and if he wasn't mistaken, he believed Bella had released a sleepy coo of her own.

Edward braved placing one hand over her tender belly. He gave his 'little girl' a gentle rub, consoling himself with touching Bella so intimately by rationalizing that he was simply enjoying fatherly visitation rights.

"It's ok, my baby girl. Mommy's safe. Your safe," he crooned to the child not yet developed enough to hear him. "Daddy's right here and I'll never let anything hurt either of you."

"Oh my god! That freaks comforting a cluster of cells!" he heard Emmett yell from the clearing outside his den.

Edward blushed like he had never blushed before, worse than when he was a child and had walked in on Carlisle and Esme in a compromising position. Normally his cave was far enough from the others to offer auditory privacy but he had failed to remember that his father and Emmett would be crossing closely outside when they came back from the part of the meeting with the Romanians he had walked out on.

Stupid vampire hearing.

Still, he just lowered his voice, "He doesn't mean that," he reassured Bella's lower abdomen with more rhythmic pats.

He placed his chin on her shoulder when he could no longer keep his eyes open. After a night in which he almost lost her, being able to fall asleep with her tucked safely in his arms brought as much joy as the very first time he laid eyes on her beautiful face.

...

Bella's mind woke suddenly; full seconds before her eyes would have been able to spring open and take in the day light still burning bright through the den's narrow opening. Before she made a conscious decision to do so, the events of the previous night went flashing chronologically through her sleep muddled head.

By the time she relieved Stefan cornering her helplessly against a tree, she had started screaming hysterically.

"Whoa! Baby, easy."

Strong arms that she hadn't noticed already wrapped around her tightened, pulling her into a comforting embrace.

She was reluctant to open her eyes. She knew the velvet voice belonged to Edward and she knew the arms and scent surrounding her were those of her beloved; but to open her infallible eyes and find out she was wrong would be more than she could bare. There was no way he'd be holding her so tenderly. He bit her for goodness sake. Even if she had been rescued in time Edward had to despise her for what she did.

Instead of checking she continued to sob tearlessly, clenching her lids for dear life and burying herself into what she desperately wanted to believe was her Edward.

"Darling, please wake up," the voice crooned with obvious concern, "It's just a dream, my love. You're safe in bed. Please open your eyes my beautiful girl."

She did as she was told, slowly and cautiously. Warm topaz irises bore down on her from under a furrow brow. Even with his features strained with worry her mate looked more unbelievably handsome than ever before.

Instead of calming, her sobs strengthened tenfold, a mixture of relief and confusion until she ended up a quivering ball of emotion falling to pieces in Edward's lap.

He wrapped himself around her securely, pleased that she was at least clinging to him and not pushing him away, and tried his best to talk her down.

"Please stop crying, my love," he choke out, stroking gently across her lower back, "There's no reason to be upset. You're safe, our baby's safe. You're right where you're supposed to be and I swear on my life I'll never let anything hurt you. It's over, baby."

Bella looked up at him, blinking curiously with huge sad eyes. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she squeaked, her voice cracking half away through.

Edward frowned. The way she was looking at him, like she was waiting for him to start throwing punches, tore at him painfully. "Aren't I always kind to you?" he asked tightly. He thought he was being a fair mate but only her opinion meant anything to him at all.

Bella nodded through her shallow breaths. "I just thought..." she cut off refusing to meet his gaze.

"Thought what, baby?" he hooked a finger under her chin, tilting it up to read her hidden expressions.

"I thought that after what I did, you'd hate me," she whispered, crestfallen.

She looked devastated and by all means he wanted to whisper sweet nothings and rock her till she fell back asleep so even he knew it was inappropriate when he started laughing heartedly. The notion that Edward was even capable of feeling anything close to hatred towards his angel was ridiculous to the point of being comical.

Even in her clearly fragile mental state Bella didn't enjoy being laughed at and she tried to squirm her way out of his hold with an indignant huff.

"Stop," he ordered lightly, grasping her hips to keep her in place.

"Stop laughing at me."

He chuckled and nuzzled his nose into the crook of her elegant neck, planting a loving kiss on her temple. It felt fantastic to have his little fireball back in his arms. "I'm not laughing at you, my love, but I can either find the fact that you think I could hate you incredibly insulting or endearingly amusing and I've decided to go with the latter."

She peeked up at him sheepishly. "You're not angry?" She looked so small, like a frightened child and Edward was starting to figure out that it was a cleaver defense mechanism that would probably work on him without fail for the rest of their lives.

Edward had the strength of a god but Bella had the enticing glow of an angel and the seduction of the very most tempting little demon. She made him melt.

"Oh, I'm extremely angry," he tried to make his voice firm but the contented purr that was emanating from him due to her mere proximity was giving him away. "What you did was selfish and dangerous but I still love you a little more with every passing minute."

She sighed, resting her head against his chest as she allowed him to support the weight of her exhausted little body. "I'm so sorry, Edward. I know what happened was all my fault but I never meant for it to be like that. I was so angry because you lied and Jake was hungry and I just wanted a little run-"

Bella cut off when she felt Edward stiffen beneath her. She tried to consider what she had said wrong but it sounded like a pretty valid apology to her...

"You were coming back?" he asked softly, a sharp edge to his tone.

Bella scoffed. "Why does everyone keep assuming I'm trying to run off," she growled, thinking of Tanya, "I mean honestly... where do you expect me to go?"

Edward wanted to believe her. He really did, but it was hard when the facts were so stacked against her. "I don't know, Bella. It may have something to do with the fact that you snuck out while no one was around and hopped from tree to fucking tree so that no one could follow you," he half growled.

She yelped in surprise, realizing for the first time that he may actually think that she had abandoned him. After all they'd been through together.

"I-I swear I was coming back, Edward! I was mad but I wasn't that bad. I just wanted to go for a hunt alone. Show you that I could take care of myself," Bella shivered a little, getting a mental flash of hungry blood red eyes, "I didn't exactly do a great job," she muttered.

He was still looking at her skeptically and she started to squirm. "Just ask Tanya!" she blurted, "She saw me sneaking out. I told her I had every intention of returning after my hunt. I just wanted to do it on my own. I didn't want you to follow me and she suggested I run through the threes."

She knew well that she was throwing the Denali under the bus, so to speak, but Tanya had been unkind to her since day one and if it became a 'her or me' situation Bella was more than prepared to pass the buck.

She wasn't quite anticipating the intensity of the roar that came out of her mate's throat. It rang through the cave like a foghorn. "Tanya watched you leave?" he snarled.

Bella suddenly found herself sitting on the lap of two hundred pounds of pure predator and she was almost afraid to answer his question with a nod.

"She didn't tell you?" she squeaked innocently. She was pretty sure Tanya had ratted her out and just conveniently forgotten to mention that she wasn't making a run for it. How else could they have found her in time? "How did you know where I was?" she wondered.

He surprised her by smiling, just a tiny upward curve of his lips. "Jake."

"JAKE!" she screamed. She felt like the worse friend in the entire world. After everything that happened she had forgotten about her tiny playmate. "Oh god, Edward, is he okay!" she bit her bottom lip nervously. If anything happened to him it would all her fault.

"He being okay is the only reason you're safe now. He ran all the way back to our clearing, covered in mud and found us. We followed his scent trail all the way back to you."

Bella gasped, sitting up to look around for the puppy but Edward held her down, unwilling to release her for even the most trivial amounts of time. "Where is he? Can I see him?"

Edward looked over to the couch at what appeared to be a furry pillow curled up in the corner of the expensive cushion.

"I think you'd sooner resurrect the dead than wake that poor little animal. He needs rest and so do you, Bella," he noted the brightness of the beams flooding the room. He scooped her up and positioned her back against the bed, tucking the thick comforter around her shoulders. "You need at least another five hours of sleep before I want to see those little eyes open again."

She didn't fight his decree, just curled up to him and allowed her mate to run his nose along her jaw and rub gentle circles across her belly. "Am I in trouble?" she asked softly, anxious to know her what the near future had in store.

She knew Edward loved her but she still didn't expect him to be so calm and affectionate. He hadn't seemed at all pleased when he found her with the Romanians but in hindsight it was easy to see that he'd been more afraid than angry. She hoped he wouldn't punish her. If Renee had pulled that stunt with Charlie... she didn't even want to know what he'd do.

Edward looked down at her with nothing but unconditional adoration. How a male could go from the onyx eyed demon she'd seen in the forest to the besotted lover that was beaming at her now was a completely mystery. She hated herself for putting him through all that worry.

He traced the curve of her nose with the tip of his finger, hungrily taking in her face like it was the answer to all of life's questions. "I think you've been through enough, my little love. That certainly wasn't the way I intended it to happened but I think you've learn your lesson, no?"

The beautiful brunette nodded fervently. "I have," she promised.

"You know now that the rules I set are to keep you safe, not oppressed?" he pressed.

"I do."

"And you won't question my orders from here on out?"

Bella nodded her head again and melted into her mate as he wrapped her in a tight hug.

"And I didn't lie to you."

His tiny female let out a kittenish yawn, lifting her head up to give him a complex lift of an eyebrow. "But Alice said-."

"Alice didn't know of the dangers yet. Jasper should be explaining to her right now as we speak. Soon all the female will have limited freedom until we can be sure our territory is secured."

Bella placed her head back down, "Now I really feel silly."

Edward snorted. "Go to sleep my love."

Smiling, Bella closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.

He had been ready for an Alice-worthy tantrum and inevitable forced captivity but Bella never really behaved how he expected.

Free from the fear of frightening her, he allowed himself to let the rage he had been forcing back for the last few minutes to rise to the surface until it nearly over came him. He gave Bella a gentle kiss and tucked the blanket in around her as he removed himself from the bed.

He was barely able to control himself long enough to pull his jeans on before he was dashing from his den, ready to take a life.

Carlisle was perched high on a ledge overlooking the central plain of his territory, trying to control his fatigue while basking in the heat of midday. Even though the Romanian coven looked more than eager to put distance between themselves and Edward's barely contained wrath he wasn't going to risk a surprise attack while his family slept.

It was only because of his mild paranoia that he was able to catch sight of his son barreling through the territory on his warpath.

Carlisle hastily dropped his book and pushed himself to the extent of his speed in order to cut Edward off.

"Easy, son! Where are you going? Where's Bella?" he asked frantically, pushing Edward back with his shoulder.

"I'm going to fucking kill her," the younger vampire spat, hardly coherent as he pushed against his father.

"Bella?"

Edward paused long enough to glower at him. As if he could ever harm his angel. "My mate is safe asleep in bed but Tanya Denali is going to die. I've put up with her for far too long. It's one thing to buzz around me like a gnat but she's finally crossed a line. I won't put my Bella at risk by continuing to allow her to live."

Carlisle gaped at him. "Tanya threatened Bella?" The strawberry blonde's fixation on the eldest Cullen son was a secret to no one but Carlisle never thought she'd have the nerve to test Edward's dedication to his mate. If she really had gone to Bella, Carlisle wasn't sure there was anything he'd be able to do to keep his son from ripping the succubus to convenient match-sized pieces.

Edward snorted with bitter amusement, "Worse. I'd love to see Tanya try to hurt Bella. She wouldn't last a full minute against my female," Bella was tiny and delicate but surprisingly scrappy, "No; she saw Bella going out into the woods to hunt alone and did nothing to stop her. She even told her to take to the trees to evade a tracker," he snarled, working himself into an even deep state of agitation with every word.

His father grimaced. He love his only friend Eleazar and his lovely mate Carmen but their daughters, Tanya and Irene in particular, had been pressing their luck for years. Considering the 'girls' were over two hundred years older than Carlisle himself, he expected them to have developed a bit more class from their centuries of life experience. Only the pre-Rosalie Emmett had ever viewed their visits with anything more positive that annoyance.

Even still, Carlisle couldn't allow his son to kill the girl.

"Edward... Son, you can't har-"

"Don't tell me that I can't do everything in my power to protect my female," he growled in warning. He puffed up his chest to stand to his full impressive height, taking a slow step forward in a movement that had the undertones of a threat. "Not even you can keep me from fulfilling my obligations to Bella and our child, father."

The blonde coven leader was almost positive that his son was in a mindset that would lead him to attack his own father if he thought his pregnant mate would benefit from Carlisle's destruction. He took a semi-submissive step back, realizing that he was going to have to rationalize to keep from escalating things into a physical altercation.

"You have to think this through," he coaxed, discreetly shifting his weight to stand in between Edward and their coven's extra den, currently housing the three sleeping sisters, "I'd normally support your decision to reprimand Tanya, but for the time being I think it would be in everyone's best interest to let this go..."

Edward scoffed, "Our friendship with her father is only worth so much, Carlisle."

"That's not what I'm referring to. We need the sisters themselves this time."

The young vampires face heated with stolen blood, his body racked with tension. "We don't need Tanya. She'll never be more than a nuisance."

Carlisle shook his head, "That's not true. You're too angry to think clearly. The Volturi should be in our territory in a half-month's time and with them, Caius's unmated sons. Now if you don't want those two to be curious about seeing your new mate, I think it best that we have a few distractions around."

"You mean..." Edward trailed off. It wasn't like he was opposed to the idea of keeping the sisters around to 'distract the two Volturi brothers but it wasn't exactly something he expected his father to be okay with. Carlisle found the girl's behavior self-deprecating as it was and wasn't one to take advantage of their promiscuity.

"I mean that Tanya and her sisters are no strangers to Felix and Demetri and I believe it would be in everyone's best interest if we allowed them to stay and... eh, do what they do best," he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Killing one of them most liking wouldn't sit well with the other two."

Edward groaned. He saw the logic behind this father's words but that didn't help ease his frustration even slightly. He wanted Tanya dead. He didn't have a doubt in his mind that the Denali knew she was putting his mate in grave danger by sending her out on her own. The succubus had been alive long enough to know how vulnerable a beautiful little female was.

Hell, Tanya knew intimately some of the scum that would take advantage of his angel, should they ever get their disgusting paws on her.

"If she takes a step the direction of my den she's dead," he said, defeated.

His dad relaxed slightly, "Absolutely. But until then-"

"I let her live."

...

"You're out of your mind," Alice chimed, seated on top of a very valuable cherry wood dresser in Edward's den.

He had snapped at her numerous times to stop perching on the furniture but Jake had made a habit of trying to bite her ankles whenever she tried to sit somewhere the puppy could reach her; so she had taken to finding the highest point in the room when visiting Bella, which she had been doing daily for the last 2 weeks, much to her brothers annoyance.

Edward was lounging across the bed he had restricted Bella's movements to while they waited for the Volturi's visit. Aside from the unpleasant anticipation of their enemy's arrival it had been a blissful few weeks. Edward was relieved to note that the incident in the woods had only left the bond between him and Bella infinitely stronger and he thrilled in the way she would gaze at him like he was her absolute savior.

He viewed the rapid growth of Bella's abdomen with equal parts joy and chagrin.

"This doesn't mean anything Alice," he rubbed the small bump of Bella's belly while dodging her sharp fists as she playfully tried to push him off of her and get him to leave her be. He'd made a point of keeping at least one hand on her at all times since her solo outing.

Alice rolled her eyes are her brother's stubbornness. "Just ask mom. Baby girls don't grow so big so fast. Bella's only what, two months along? Tops. When I was carrying Charlotte you could barely tell I was pregnant at full term."

Vampires don't have the capability of gaining extra weight with pregnancy like their human counterparts. Any growth was all fetus and placenta, so coupled with their short pregnancies vampire females stayed relatively small when with child. Naturally the males' tendency to be significantly larger than the females starts in the womb so bigger bellies meant male babies.

Edward was in denial.

"Face it, dear brother. You're not getting that little girl this time around."

Bella giggled smugly at her disappointed mate, "Told you I'd give you a son."

"We'll see," he grumbled, pulling the giggling female into his lap.

"Why do you want a girl so bad," she asked softly, trying to keep all traces of bitterness out of her voice, "It's not like we have it easy in this life."

Edward held her tight and kissed her forehead gently. She reminded him of Daisy from The Great Gatsby,birthing a female and praying the child would be a little fool. "All right...I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool..." She still didn't get it. In Edward's mind females held all the power.

He looked into her eyes and thought about how deeply he adored her, how any sane male would fight to love her and defend her. He thought about the constant threat of losing her and what life would be like without her... how life had been like without her.

"She'd always be loved, Bella. I understand what it's like to feel like you don't have power but I've lived through the crippling loneliness of going through life without the guarantee of ever finding the second half of your heart and it's not something I'd wish on my child. Female's face their own set of injustices but that doesn't mean this is a male's world."

Bella looked back at her new mate, his eyes full of concern and sincerity and she suddenly knew exactly what he meant. Every time Edward pushed too hard and left her feeling coddled it was out of a never relenting fear of losing her or seeing her hurt. While a female's lot in life is to live under the constant rule of her male, it's a males cross to bear that he could at any moment lose the only thing that could ever mean anything to him.

She had wanted a son so that her child would never feel helpless and he wanted a daughter so that their child would never be alone.

Edward let out a strangled moan of surprise when he felt himself very abruptly wrapped in his mate's tiny arms, her lips pressed hard against his own. It took him a few seconds to kiss her back properly but when he did the heat from their embrace left Alice making exaggerated gagging sounds from on top of the wardrobe.

"Guys! Gross..." she whined at her brother and new friend.

He cheerfully ignored her and it wasn't until Emmett burst noisily into the den did Edward pulling reluctantly away, his love still tucked safely against him.

Emmett looked nervous, uncharacteristically agitated as he locked his older brother in a deadpan stare.

"They're here."