Molten Sun

All the others in the Volturi did not seem all that worried about the fact I did not like to drink human blood. They were used to the fact I could not stand the smell and that I was more happy killing animals.

Aro in particular had been curious about that, but he knew not to pester me about it. After all, he knew i could block him from reading my mind without a second thought. Though they had also taught me to sheild others as well in the guard. I was not a newborn vampire any more, thank god that savage year was behind me, I'd been a vampire for twelve long years. To be honest, I enjoyed what I was, it was a lot of fun for me. The others were fun to train with and talk to.

Little Jane was one of my best freinds. We were so close that sometimes, were were refered to as sisters, though we did not really mind. After all, we saw ourselves as sisters, though we knew we were not.

Not to mention I had the most gorgeous of husbands now. Marcus, the only single one of the three Volturi ancients, Aro and Caius being the other two, was the one who had found me. Instead of killing me, he had bitten me, and he'd been there when I woke up to a life as a vampire.

I knew that for some reason, he was glad that I could not remember my human life. I never asked why, I trusted him enough. He was as talented as I was. Marcus could see relationships. he could tell how strong they were between couples. What a help that was to my master, Aro, when he wanted to destroy or aquire a member of a coven for the gaurd. All he had to do was find out from Marcus who was the closest to the vampire he wanted and threaten to destroy them. The vampires always wondered how he knew of these weaknesses in everyone else, and how he was aware of the relationships. You see, my master, Aro, can read minds, but he needs to physically touch someone's skin to do so. Ever seen a human looking at one of us? It is the most funniest thing ever. We are so perfect in appearence and they stand there, frozen in surprise at us. Makes it easy for the others to feed, but not for me. Sure I am always in the room when they hunt, as Aro has a few animals brought in, always carnivours for me. While the other Volturi members kill the humans, I hunt the live animals for myself. I'm used to hunting now and I do not make a mess of myself anymore. I ruined a lot of clothing during my first year with the Volturi. Not that any of them mind about that.

Jane and I like to do things together, even shopping in Volterra's stores. We've learned to fit in easily, we only go out when it is overcaste. I know why that is something we have to do. When sunlight touches us, we sparkle like diamonds. Physically too. It is annoying at times for us, but we all get used to it as time goes on.

It was then I heard someone knocking on the door. I had no idea who it was so I called softly, "Come in."

I smiled as Marcus came in. I loved him in a way that showed that if anything were to happen to him, I would be completely lost. There was nothing else that could possibly take his place in this entire world. His long black hair was as shiny as it always was, but this time, he had it out of his face. "Marcus," I said, rising to kiss him.

"Ah Bella." He was the only one who did not call me, Isabella. The rest did other than Jane. I loved him a lot. Marcus wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his loving embrace. I smiled up at him as our lips met. Not having to breathe really did have its advantages when times like this came for the two of us.

At length he finally pulled away from me, though I did not want to stop kissing him. When we had met he seemed to always be bored, but then things started to get interesting as the others noticed that we were drawn to each other. Nowadays, he was so full of life and love, nothing like the vampire I had woken up to find waiting for me.

"What is it, Marcus?" I asked.

"There is a meeting being held, and you have to be there as a member of the gaurd." I knew he hated the fact that I could not sit next to him when Aro and Caius could have their wives - Sulpicia and Athenadora sitting next to them. It was an annoying thing for me too. But soon, I would join him by his side. Fore now we were putting up with it as well as we possibly could.

"Whats going on?" I asked. I wondered why a meeting was being held now of all times. No one seemed to be doing anything wrong at the moment. Not that we were aware of though. I knew that could change any time. The gaurd was always prepared to have to spring into action at any minute.

"Aro wants to talk to all of us. He is going to send a member of the gaurd to see if a long time unseen freind of his is still around these days. He has not seen Calisle in about one hundred and fifety years."

"Hmm." I sighed. "This should be interesting." He smiled at me. I was always eager to do what I could for my master. Though in reality, I did things for Marcus more willingly than for Aro and Caius. They knew that too. Sure I was considered to be one of the wives, but I was young and strong. They trusted me to go outside of Volterra on the odd occasion. My abhorrence to human blood was a big help for some of the jobs I was sent on. It was helpful to not want to hurt the humans around me. "Shall we head over that way?"

"Of course. We would not want to keep them waiting now, would we?" I asked. I knew that Caius never liked to be kept waiting when there were things he could be doing with Athenadora. He really did seem less enthusiastic than Marcus at first had when it came to these meetings. We ran, hand in hand to the room the meeting was in. of course, not at a human speed, but at the speed vampires always ran at. I liked running, it was fun and never took any energy. I could run for days on end without stopping and still be full of energy. The Volturi owned thwir own castle, and Marcus and I had a whole quarter of it to ourselves. Unless Jane wanted to go out into the town, Marcus and I were always occupied in our area. He only ever left me when there was business that he had to be present for with his brothers. I did not know who Carlisle was. I'd never heard the name before while I was with the Volturi. This would be something new for me. For once i was learning about someone who had not been known previously. I smiled as we reached the others and I took my place in the line of fighters. If the Volturi decided a coven must be destroyed, then we thought nothing of it. We simply acted. Jane smiled as I took my place next to her and her twin, Alec. Of the whole gaurd, Alec, Jane and I were the most dangerous. Jane could have someone lying on the ground, writhing in pain with just a smile. Alec her twin could make someone: blind, deaf, numb, and unable to feel and smell as quickly as his twin could have someone on the ground. I was a great asset when it came to that as I was able to keep the gaurd from being affected by any mental gifts an opposing coven might have. I was only too happy to help the others when this was needed. We were all in the gaurd for a reason and we all knew that.

There were others in the gaurd who had gifts though. Demetry was a tracker, and there was Felix the fighter. I knew others in the group were gifted, but I was not sure what there gifts were. Felix had been the one to teach me to fight as he always did when he had a new member. Of course when we were using my sheild in the practise I knew Jane often got annoyed when it was her than I was sheilding the others from. She was not the best of fighters and she did not like having to physically fight with us. Even for practise she hated doing so. We all had a laugh after though.

"You all know why I called you in here," Aro began. We all nodded once. "I am worried about an old freind of mine, that some of you have met before. I have been talking with my brothers and they agree that I should send one of you to go and see if he is still where he was last rumoured to be seen by one of the other nomads."

We all waited. I knew from that, that it might be me, if he did not want attention brought to our kind from the humans. I sighed, though I hated spending time away from Marcus, I would do that if I had to and all three of my masters wanted me to. Only if he was alright with it would I ever go away on these trips.

"Since stealth is one of the things we need most in this little task, we want Isabella to be the one to go and locate my old freind. She is different to the rest of us in the fact she seems to respect human lives and will not draw attention to us while she is doing this task." It was Caius who had spoken this time. We were all watching the three leaders. Snowy haired Caius, the other two were dark haired. I wondered how one out of the three of them could have so different coloured hair breifly.

"Will you do this for Aro?" Marcus asked, his eyes on me. I smiled. "I would be honoured, master."

I knew that Marcus would miss me after I had left him and Volterra behind. To be honest I would miss him just as much. Not so long ago, about five years ago, I had found out that it was him who had actually bitten me. What he had been doing outside Volterra was anyone's guess, not one of the gaurd really cared.

Aro was happy that his brother had found someone for himself. Though the ancients never spoke about Didyme, Marcos' past wife, she was talked about a lot within the gaurd. I knew about her, but there was no jealousy in me that another vampire had once been with Marcus. I was not really concerned about that news.

"So what is known about Carlisle? Why am I the one that Aro is sending?" I asked Marcus after the meeting. We were back in our part of the massive castle. I was packing as we talked.

"Well, we know that he was last seen in a small town called Forks. Apparently, he shares the same aversion you have to our normal way of saiting our thirst. He has been there for a while and we're hoping for Aro's sake that he will welcome you as a visitor."

" I can see what you mean by the fact he is different like I am. This will be an interesting meeting for me. I did no there were others like me alive these days." I smiled as I shut my bag swiftly. I knew that I would be leaving shortly. Also that the sun was covered by the clouds, so there was no chance of us being exposed.

Marcus was the one seeing me off at the airport in Rome. He did not like to stay behind when I was going there, and I preffered that it was him that saw me off. He always waited for me at the gate for the plane to arrive. It was a long trip, a two day flight. I would manage though, the plane had the internet on it, so I would be able to talk to Marcus the whole way.

We both found it easier that way. Plus it was a good way of passing the time that seemed to crawl while I was up in the air once more. They were getting me to fly there because that was the only natural way for me to get there that was not alarming. I could have swum there, but there was no point in getting wet. Plus it would not seem normal to all the humans that I was about to be amongst.

"Aro said that you'll have to be on your gaurd while you're visiting Carlisle. There are humans there that are not really that freindly towards him. We don't know why, but hopefully you will be able to find out why that is for all of us back here."

We were talking via webcam already. My plane was well onto the second part of the journey and I could not wait to get back on the ground and meet Carlisle. "Not recpetive of us? How could they know that we are different to them? That makes no sense to me."

"We're not sure why they know we are different. That's something Aro wants you to look into while you're in Forks. Carlisle will be waiting for you at the airport, I'm sure he'll know you're coming by now somehow."

It was then that I heard the human flight attendant announcing that we were about to start out descent into Pheonix, Arizona. I sighed. "I have to go, dear. I'll talk to you again soon alright? The plane's landing shortly."

He nodded. "I love you Bella."

"I love you too, Marcus." I shut the laptop down and put it in its bag. Then I passed it to the flight attendant, who put it in the over head bagage carriers.

"Thank you, ma'm," he said.

I sat back in my seat and put my seatbelt back on. I was going to have an interesting time now, wasn't I? Though I knew to be on my gaurd, I knew that there was not much any of them would be able to do. After all, I was a member of the Volturi now.

"Good afternoon passenger, this is your pilot speaking. In about five minutes we will be landing in Pheonix. It is a warm overcaste day out there, and the current local time is 4.10 PM. i wish you a pleasent stay in sunny Pheonix. Good day."

I set my watch back several hours and smiled. I was here, and I was looking forwards to this.

The plane was very quick to land. I was looking forwards to getting up and moving again. It was not something vampires grew accustomed to, sitting down for so long. We were active people, as we never needed sleep.

As I walked up the terminal passage way, I wondered what Carlisle would be like. I had been told he was blond, and looked like a supermodel. Also that he was about twenty one years old, appearence wise anyway. That was the age he'd been bitten at.

Soon I was out in the main airport where the seats were for the people boarding the plane at my gate. It did not take me long to spot the other vampire. He was easily more beautiful than anyone else in the room. He had spotted me as well. I saw him moving towards me.

It was not long before we were standing infront of each other. Something on his face said that we had met before but I did not remember him.

"Welcome to America, Isabella," he said.

"Actually its just Bella. though only Marcus and Jane call me Bella. Feel free to though, if you like." I smiled, holding out one hand to shake his.

"Bella, then," he said, smiling as he shook my hand. "Shall we head back to my home in Forks?"

"I would be more than happy to, Mr Cullen."

"Please, call me Carlisle. Only those well, not like us as you know, call me Mr Cullen. Well, more Dr Cullen." He laughed.

I smiled. "Of course."

We headed to the baggage area and retrieved my bag. Though it was big and looked heavy, I was not worried about the weight I knew it really was. It felt light as a feather for me.

Soon we were outside and as promised, it was overcaste outside. He led the way towards a silver Mercedes, and opened the boot. I loaded my bag in easily and got in the car with him.

"I must admit it is a little surprising for me to find that there is a member of the Volturi Gaurd who has the same aversion to human blood as I do. I never thought that Aro would allow that."

"He's not so bad about it. They don't seem too put off by the fact I don't hurt humans, contrary to the rest of them. The smell of human blood actually makes me have to leave the room. Well at least it used. I'm used to the smell, and Aro always makes sure there are a few animals in there for me."

"Aro is being very conciderate of you. It's a good thing to hear that he looks after the members of his gaurd like you used to when I was staying with them," Carlisle said.

"He is a very generous man. I enjoy their company, but none so much as Marcus'. He was the one who bit me. All I know is that he found me in some forest somewhere, curled up in a ball, wanting to die or something. Something happened while I was human to cause that but i have no idea why."

"You cannot remember your human life?" Carlisle asked sharply.

I was surprised by the change in his voice. "I doubt there was anything I ought to remember. All I really know is the life I have as a vampire. I don't know who my birth parents were, and really if I can't remember them, what's the point of ever finding out who they were?"

He sighed. "I'm not the only vampire living in Forks, Bella."

"You had better twll me who else is in the area then. Do any of them know where I am actually coming from?"

"Well there are seven vampires including myself, but not including you. I'm the oldest, and the leader of the coven. The second oldest is Edward, he is about 120 years old now. Then there is my wife, Esme. She is about 70 years old now. Then there is Rosalie, she is about 50 years old. The last vampire I have created is Emmett, who is about 45 years old. Emmett and Rosalie are soul mates. We have had two others join us, Jasper and Alice. Those two are together as well." He paused. "Alice knew a visitor was coming, sent by the Volturi."

"Poor Edward, not having anyone to be with like the rest of you," I murmured.

"He did have someone, a human girl, but he left her twenty years ago. We don't know where Bella Swan got to, or whether she is even still alive anymore. Edward is very lost without her." Carlisle seemed saddened for the other vampire. I could only imagine what Edward would be feeling like. Marcus would have been in a similar state when he found me.

"I'm sorry to hear that he los tthe girl. Though it does seem strange to me that one of us could be really attracted to a human," I replied.

"We're all recovering slowly. He seems a lot different now since she dissapeared. Edward blames himself for her dissapearence, you know. Please don't say anything about that when you're around him."

"Of course. I would not want to make any of you uncomfortable because I'm here. I won't be staying long, Aro just wants me to get a feel of the place that his old freind is staying at." I was sure he would understand.

"Everyone is looking forwards to meeting you, Bella. You are welcome to stay with us as long as you need to, to get the things done that Aro sent you to do," Carlisle said.

"That is much appreciated, Carlisle."

I noticed that we turned off the road as I spoke onto a dirt driveway. It was long and windy but I found that we were soon coming up into a huge clearing. The three story house was beautiful. Plently of glass windows and pale walls. I smiled. "Nice house."

"Thank you."

The house really did look beautiful as he drove around it to a huge garage. Inside there he stopped the car and I got out. Inside the garage there was a red convertible, a silvo Volvo and a huge black Jeep. "Nice cars," i said, my eyes resting on the convertible in surprise. "How can you all get around in that?"

"It's rarely sunny here. That's Rosalie's little car. I own the Mercedes, Emmett owns the Jeep and Edward owns the ..."

"Volvo," a different male vioce finished for him. I spun around, surprised I had not heard this vampire come into the garage. He was tall, with messy bronze hair and dark eyes. Obviously he would have to hunt soon.

Carlisle smiled. "This is Edward. Edward, this is Isabella, the member of the gaurd Aro sent."

"Bella actually," I said, correcting him.

Edward shook my hand, but he seemed to be staring at me in disbelief.

Carlisle noticed. "What is it, Ed?"

"I can't hear her."

Carlisle raised one eyebrow in surprise. Edward shook his head.

"Sorry did I miss something?" I asked, looking back and forth between the two male vampires.

"What's your last name, Bella?" Edward asked. This time he spoke to me directly.

"Maison," I replied automatically. I had been Isabella Swan, but that changed when I married Marcus. His eyes looked down at my hands almost instantly. I was not exactly hiding the golden ring that meant I was married. "Not to seem rude, but what was your maiden name?"

I wondered what to say here. I knew my maiden name but it was the same as the girl he'd lost so long ago. Carlisle seemed to realise there was a slight dilemma going on but he said nothing. "Swan."

Edward's eyes widened, and I could see him searching my face for who knows what. He seemed to recognise me from somewhere, but I had no idea where.

"What?"

I was starting to get a little worried now. He seemed overly interested in me and for gods sake I was married now. I was happy and there was no Edward Cullen in my past as far as I knew.

"I don't think it is her, Edward," Carlisle said. "Isabella Swan is a common name in Italy."

"She's not Italian," Edward rebuked.

I was saved from the oncoming arguement when a small black haired girl appeared in the doorway. "Hi there, Bella. Why don't I show you around? I'm Alice Cullen." She bounded eagerly over to my side.

I smiled at her greatfully. Quickly I got my bag out of the already open boot. I knew what vampire arguements were like and there was no way I was putting up with one of them. Not right now anyway. I had work to do. There was no way they were going to get in my way.

I followed Alice out of the garage towards the house.

I knew that they would have a lot of questions for me. I knew that was always the way when I came to stay with any coven of vampires. Though not everything could I answer. There were things I was not allowed to talk about.

I knew the rules of being in the guard. And not one of them would I ever concider breaking, for anyone. I liked being with the others in the gaurd, Jane was a lot of fun. I knew she had her own gift but not once had I let her try and hurt me that way. It was something I would have to let her do one day.

For now though, I would enjoy myself. I had a whole week to spend with the Cullen Coven, before I had to return to Italy. Since this was merely a freindly visit, there was no need for me to be as formal as the gaurd usually was when talking to different covens. "It's nice to meet you, Alice," I said, as we walked up to the house. "So, you're the one who saw Aro sending me, were you?"

"Yeah, that was me. There is not any vampire who can surprise me, or the rest of us since I will usually tell them if something affects the whole family."

She seemed pretty happy about talking about her gift. And I knew that Aro would want to know about that as well. I wondered for a second if there were any ways around her gift. Every gift had its own flaw, but this one I was not sure if it did.

If it had one then I had no idea what it might possibly be. Alice seemed to be a very happy girl. It only took us seconds to reach the front door, and I was moving at whatever speed Alice was.

"Well, this is our home," she said. "It's very open," I mused. How could they keep the secret here? I was constantly on edge for anything that might possibly break that rule.

"No humans even have a clue what we are. There was one once, but she's a vampire now. I know where she is riight this second."

"Edward thinks I am that girl, but I do not remember him in any way that she would. I just share her name."

Alice laughed. "I know that. I'm jst warning you that you might find he is a little too intersted in you for your own liking, Bella." She was smiling at me. "I better go find Jasper and send him to the garage before those two fight. They're argueing already."

"Why are you going to send Jasper in there?" I asked. Who was Jasper? I did not think any regular vampire could stop a fight. Also I was aware that Carlisle was their leader.

"Why don't you come and meet him? I'm sure he'd love to meet you, Bella," Alice replied.

She had avoided the question. I let it go. "Umm." I paused, thinking quickly. "Sure." He could not be possibly as annoying as Edward. I followed her up to the first floor.

She stopped at a plain white door. "here's your room. Why don't you put your bag in here and then we'll go find Jasper."

I nodded and quickly dumped my bag on the bed. Then we walked out of the room and to a door just down the hallway.

"This is Jasper and my room." Alice grinned micheviously and opened the door. As soon as the door opened, we were face to face with another vampire. Like Carlisle he was blond haired. Instead of having the body of a model though, this vampire looked like he'd been in the army once. He had a very alert face, which changed into first fright and then realisation. Both different expressions I knew I was the cause of.

I knew why. On the top right part of my black shirt, the Volturi Gaurd's crest was visible. A snarling snow leopard flanked by two snarling black panthers. "Don't worry, no-one's done anything wrong here," I said. "Merely a freindly visit."

"Jazz, this is ..." Alice began.

"Bella Swan?" Jasper finished her sentence with a question.

"That was my maiden name, Jasper Cullen," I replied. I must be the girl who went missing, they all saw me as her. "I am Bella Maison now."

"Did you move on fron Edward then?" he asked.

"I don't know. None of my human life do I actually remember," I replied, feeling a little lost.

"Time for catching up lost years later. Jazz, you need to get down to the garage before Edward loses his temper in there," Alice said quickly.

He blinked for a second, confused and then flitted towards the stairs.

I smiled. "How's he going to deal with that?"

"Like Edward and I, Jasper is gifted. Though his gift is hard for me to actually explain. Would you like to meet Rosalie and Emmett? Esme's not home. She will be back soon."

"I guess I don't mind remeeting them. Since I have met them before, this won't be too hard."

I knew from what I had learnt that there were other people who I had actually forgotten. Like my birth father, Charlie Swan and my mother Renee and her husband, Phil.

Not that I remembered anything about them. All three were human which made a slight delimma. I could not be seen by them unless I was actually accompanied by Aro, Marcus or Caius. Caius would not allow it, there was no questioning that.

Aro, though a curious man, would insist I bite them. I would not make them share my fate. Therefore I would not ask him.

Marcus was open minded about this sort of thing. I knew he would allow the meeting. I knew he would come, he had said he would do anything for me. Though if indeed he did come, I knew that Jane and Alec would be with him. This was a large coven.

"I'm just going to go and use my laptop," I told the Cullens. After all I knew my master's rules and I was the one who eagerly obeyed.

I had already been here for two days, and so far everything had gone good for me so far. If I went into the town with any of the Cullen's, a fair few people looked twice at me but no one recognised me.

Marcus was already at his computer when I logged on. Quickly I asked him to talk via webcam. He accepted my invitation immediately. "Bella." I could hear the joy in his voice as he saw my face.

"Marcus." My face was fixed in a smile. I could not beleive how much I missed him right now.

"Is Carlisle looking after you?" he asked.

"Of course. he's fine and he't not alone anymore," I replied. "I'm glad to hear than and I am sure Aro will be as well. We were all sad when he left us so long ago," Marcus said. "We did not want him to be lonely. What a relief to hear that he is not."

"Feel free to let them know, love." I sighed. "I need you to come and join me here in Forks." Might as well get this over with.

His milky crimson eyes darkened immediately. "What happened?" he asked sharply.

"Nothing that would constitute a broken rule," I replied swiftly. "It's just that I wish to see my father, but he is human."

He was smiling again. "Of course I will come. How big is Carlisle's coven?"

"Just bring Alec and Jane. No one can get past the three of us and you know that." I smiled at him. "I doubt any of the Cullen's will try anything but I still fear for your safety here." I knew there was something out there, watching my every move while I hunted with the Cullens.

They never said anything and that really bothered me. I thought they might be hiding something from me, though I did not know what it could be. I knew that when I had been human, they had not hid anything from me. Probably because they were waiting for it to be all too much for my human brain and for me to run away from them.

That had never happened and Edward had broken me. But only after Jasper had tried to bite me, at my own birthday party. How bad I felt for the human me, but there was no pity for him in these golden eyes. It was his fault that I was not with him, and no one else's. No matter how many times Jasper had tried to blame himself, I was not letting him.

"See you in two days," Marcus said. "I had better get moving if I'm going to be there any time soon."

I smiled at him. "I miss you."

"Miss you too."

I turned my computer off and left my room heading outside. Emmett had challenged to an arm wrestle and everyone in the family wanted to see how well he would do against a member of the Volturi. I had happily accepted and I knew that Alice would already know the outcome though she was not saying a word.

Though when I got outside, Edward pounced at me. I hissed and spun to face him, catching him and throwing him into a tree with ease. The sound of him hitting the tree would have been heard by the other Cullen's but I did not care. He came back at me, but I seemed to hold my own against him. He seemed to realise this and though he moved by instinct against me, I soon had him pinned ot one of the trees. I had been careful to move the fight right away from the house. "Whats gotten into you, Bells?" he asked.

I snarled at him, well aware of the watching Cullens. Esme was frightened for her son, I could hear the faster pace of her breathing. "Bella Swan does not exist, Cullen. What she felt for you once, is no more." I let him go, turning and running off into the trees. I would go back when I had calmed down. No one would see me until then. Hopefully this would be the last time i would have to tell him. If he dared to do this when Marcus was here, things would get a lot worse. He was lucky I had not ripped him to pieces. No I would not do that to Carlisle. Never.

If my words had not gotten through to him this time, he would only get more trouble from me. This time when I got back to the house, nothing seemed different. I could only put that reaction down to one person, Alice.

Edward seemed impassive as I saw him which meant he had not realised that I was much capabler of doing other things to him which I had not done already.

I glared at him as I swiftly said, "I never expected Marcus to let me live when he found me in the forest curled up in a ball waiting to die. The pain of changing was nothing in comparison to the agony you caused by saying you had moved on."

He blinked. "Bella, I still love you."

I snarled. "No you do not. Marcus is my life now." Then in a more freindly voice I turned to Carlisle and said, "Marcus is coming here. Jane and Alec are accompanying him." No anger did I have for Carlisle.

Carlisle may be the one who created Edward, but how was he meant to be blamed for how Edward had just acted? Where the hell would such an action have worked on me?

Then I thought back to re-meeting Rosalie. The blonde vampire had been surprised to see me again, but not as a human. She'd seemed dissappointed in me, but I had not pressed for details as to why. In fact until Alice had told her about Edward's reaction on seeing me, she did not believe Alice on who I was. not that I knew what to expect from her as I did not remember her.

Big strong, dark haired Emmett had joked around. He did not ever seemt o be a serious vampire. He'd challenged me to an arm wrestle which I accepted as soon as the words were out of his mouth. I wanted to see just how strong he actually was. Was he as strong as he looked? I doubted he had a chance against me. The Volturi Gaurd was practising fighting a lot.

Had I not just defeated Edward Cullen? For gods sake he was a century older than I was. Yet a newborn vampire would be harder to beat than he had just been. I had dominated him in that fight. Where was the strength of the mature vampire?

Then I realised what he'd done. He'd been toying with me. Holding back. He'd let me win. That enraged me. I did not let it show, I would tell Marcus everything.

The time of Marcus, Jane and Alec's arrival came fairly quickly. Because we had to pretend to be human, Jane and Alec were posing as Marcus and my children. I was meeting them at the airport, alone. Carlisle had offered to come but I had said no.

For since it was a member of the Volturi Leaders, I had to go alone. Twas my job as a gaurd member! "I do not have any thing against you coming, Carlisle, but as a member of the gaurd, I must meet them by myself."

He nodded and tossed something to me. "Feel free to us it, Bella."

"Thank you." It was the keys to his Mercedes.

I was really tense as I waited for the flight to land. Marcus was so close and it was getting hard to wait patiently. I missed him so much and that was what was making it so hard.

Finally his flight came to a stop at the gate. It was so good to see the plane land in front of me. Soon I could hear the passengers disembarking and walking up the passage towards me. I could smell them all too. What a challenge, Marcus, Jane and Alec had all had on that plane.

My eyes roamed, searching for Marcus' beloved face. At last I spotted him, and the twins. He'd already found me and was making his way over with them. I noticed that none of them were breathing. They all needed fresh air and quickly. I was glad that I remembered the way to the baggage collection area.

As soon as we met, Marcus pulled me into a bone crushing hug. My arms were around him immediately. Then I hugged Jane and Alec as well.

I was surprised to see how bright a red all their eyes were at the moment. It meant they had hunted before the flight. A good idea, what with all the humans crowded around them. It would have helped a lot with their natural instincts.

"Let's head home," I said. They knew I meant Forks.

"Missed you so much, Bella," Marcus said. His hand found mine and I held it again.

"Not as much as I missed you, I dare say."

He laughed. We collected the bags and got into the borrowed car.

"Who owns this?" Alec asked.

"Carlisle leant it to me so I could come and pick you all up," I replied. "He used the same car to come and get me."

"So what does he get up to these days?" Marcus asked. I knew that he was asking me to tell him everything I knew so far. And I would hide nothing.

I thought for a few seconds as I drove. There was certainly a good deal. "Well, there are seven in his coven. Three of which are gifted. I am nto quite sure what two of the gifts actually are. You'll have to figure that one out. I'm not good at classifying gifts."

He nodded, so I continued. "Forks is barely a sunny place. Carlisle works as a doctor in the local hospital. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett and Edward pose as high school students. Esme lives at home, taking care of everyone and the house."

"So there are a lot of people that know Carlisle nowadays," Marcus said. "It's good to know that there are other people who are able to live with him the way he is.

"Not only that, like him, they do not hunt humans," I said. "I've hunted with them once already just out of curiousity."

At that moment, I turned into the driveway. I knew that the Cullens would already know we were close and I wondered what Edward was going to try and do this time. He'd been annoying me a lot yesterday, and I'd had to defend myself from him several times more than I was interested in actually doing.

It only took me a few seconds to get the car over to the garage. "They'll likely be inside," I said. I parked and showed them the way over to the house.

"It's very open," Marcus said, his eyes narrowing.

"I know that, and I said the same thing. No humans come here so no one knows that the Cullen's are not human," I replied.

All three of them looked at me in surprise.

"No humans ever get curious about the fact that they are not aging?" Jane asked.

"Apparently not, but then again, Carlisle knows best for his family, doesn't he?" I replied. "I've seen the way they work, and the human charade that they are doing is working flawlessly. If I was none the wiser to what they really are, I would see them as human myself." I chuckled. "Though one of them is being a problem."

Marcus was instantly watching me. "Who?"

"His golden son, Edward. The vampire I was apparently in love with as a human before you found me, love," I said. "You'll know who he is as soon as I see him."

"What's he been doing?" I could hear the anger in Marcus' voice. Jane and Alec were wary now, on the look out for danger. They were standing on either side of Marcus and I, Jane watching in front of us, and Alec behind us. They were worried that someone would dare to attack Marcus. Or me, it seemed they were also protective of. I moved to take my normal place in front of Marcus, but he kept me there by his side, one arm around my waist. "We should get inside," he muttered in my ear.

I nodded and we all walked into the house, where the Cullen's were all waiting for us. They did not seem puzzled by how Alec, Jane and I oriented ourselves defensively around Marcus, Carlisle looked mildly amused. Then again, he had lived with Marcus, Aro and Caius a long time ago. He knew how the Volturi guard were about the safety of their three ancient masters. Jasper visibly paled, he was near where I was stationed. He knew Marcus from somewhere.

Then I noticed Edward entering the room and I watched him with unblinking eyes. I knew that he was more than likely to try and win me again, he did this every time I was in the same room as him. It was getting quite monotonuos. Which was an annoying thing for me. Everytime he tried, we ended up fighting, and he always toyed with me. It was a serious insult to me as a member of the royal coven's gaurd. He saw me watching and smiled in a flirty way. I growled softly. It was no pleasent sound.

I could see him watching me and I knew Marcus' eyes were on me as well. My body was really tense, I was waiting from him to try and get me again. Then Edward's attention shifted towards Carlisle as the older vampire crossed the room towards the four of us.

Carlisle was smiling at the four of us, I knew he was happy to see Marcus again. Jane, Alec and I were still in his way from reaching Marcus. Marcus sighed, he really was not one for all these fomalities the gaurd always acted upon. I was the one standing directly in front of Marcus, though for a different reason, than to block Carlisle. "Bella," Marcus said.

I turned, smiling at Marcus. Then I walked back to him, his hand taking mine gently. We all heard someone growl in the room and instantly everyone was looking at Edward. He was glaring at us and that worried Jane, Alec and I. I knew he would do anything to break Marcus and I up, Edward wanted me for himself. Not that I would ever leave the Volturi for him. I doubted they would give me the chance. Aro was a collector and I was one of the jewels in his guard at the moment. Also, it would hurt Jane too much to see me leave to live with some common coven of vampires, that might one day break some rule and have to be tracked down by Demetry.

Jane and Alec looked at me for instructions. I knew they would act as soon as I told them to. "If he pounces, he is mine," I said to them.

"Jane, why don't you show them why it would not be a good idea to try and attack me?" Marcus asked.

"Who would let me do that to them willingly?" she mused, though I knew she liked the idea that he had just given us.

I sighed. I was the only one out of Alec and I who had never had her use that little gift of hers on me. Alec never wanted to have to go through that again. I knew it was my turn, I would be able to handle it, I would think. Carefully I hefted my heavy shield out of the way from me, giving her a clear path into my head.

She noticed, looking at me in surprise. "You Bella?"

I held my hands up. "Go ahead, Jane. I'm not going to protect myself from you." Plus Edward really should realise now, just how strong the three memebers of the gaurd in this room really were when we worked together. I was the one able to protect us from what she would do to me.

Jane would be able to control her gift when it came to me though. I was her best freind, after all. She sighed and then focused her gaze on me. The little vampire was smiling but I hardly was aware of that.

As soon as her gift hit me, I fell to the ground, as what her gift was really hit me. I felt like I was being torn apart, and like the others who had felt her gift attacking them, found it very difficult to stay silent. It was a very painful thing to feel, though it was not really happened.

Then I felt her attention go elsewhere. All the pain left me and I sprang to my feet unhurt really. I saw Edward watching Jane in disbelief at what he had just seen happen to me. He was still growling. Marcus had his eyes on Edward now, and as I reached his side, muttered, "Thats Edward isn't it?" I nodded silently. "Are you alright?" He was worried about the fact I had just for the first time actually seen what Jane was capable of. Again I nodded.

I was more that aware than none of the gaurd would let her do that to them again. And I was no was no way I was going to endure that again.

It was then that I saw Edawrd's body tense, as he sprang at Jane. Jane did not attack him the same way she had just done to me, instead it was me who sprang at him. Marcus made no move to stop me either, and nothing he could have done would have stopped me. None of the gaurd would not protect little Jane. She was our best weapon against any vampire. I knew that Marcus would be worried about me, and the fact that I was already fighting with Edward. Though once again I managed to move the fight away from the house, outside into the woods. Again he only toyed with me, and I soon had him pinned. I was glaring with him, deeply offended that he was not really fighting back.

Marcus, Jane and Alec stood there, watching amazed that someone as young as me, barely not a newborn any more, had just beaten up a vampire a century older than me. I was still offended. "Next, time, give me a challenge, Cullen," I hissed. I stalked away back to Marcus' side.

Marcus wrapped his arms around me gently. He could tell that I was clearly offended by Edward. I could hear the clear anger in his voice as he said, "Edward Cullen, if you dare to annoy her like this ever again, you'll wish you never did." I knew what that meant. If Edward ever tried to attack me, or any of the gaurd again, he would die.

I smiled as I heard the words that Marcus had used. There was only the tiniest hint of a real threat to what he had said, but not from the words themselves. More the fact that his voice was quiet, and I knew that when that happened he was in a foul mood. Also that he was threatening the younger vampire.

When Bella said that several of the Volturi were coming I could not be more annoyed. The pack was going to be all over us while they were here and I knew that. Worse than that, I had no idea what was going on in Bella's head, and that was so frustrating. I sighed as I climbed one of the trees nearby the house. She would be back soon, I could hear the car coming.

How can they possibly live in such an open place? I heard one of the Volturi thinking. Then I heard Bella's answer in his head as she spoke it. "I know that, and I said the same thing. No humans come here so no one knows that the Cullen's are not human."

I hissed in rage. She was telling him everything. They'd sent her here to spy on us had they? Not realising obviously that I would be wanting her every second that she was here. I dropped to the ground, darting inside quickly to be with my family.

"No humans ever get curious about the fact that they are not aging?" a second female asked. Thats not something easy to pull off.

I smiled to myself. No it was not easy at the best of times.

"Apparently not, but then again, Carlisle knows best for his family, doesn't he?" Bella replied. "I've seen the way they work, and the human charade that they are doing is working flawlessly. If I was none the wiser to what they really are, I would see them as human myself." Bella chuckled. "Though one of them is being a problem."

The voice was old that answered her. "Who?" Who had been annoying my wife?

"His golden son, Edward. The vampire I was apparently in love with as a human before you found me, love," Bella said. "You'll know who he is as soon as I see him."

"What's he been doing?" I could hear the anger in the man' voice. How dare he annoy her. This is not something that will be easy for me to let past. That told me that the man was this mysterious Marcus.

I was not in the same room as the rest of my family when they came into the house. When I came in, I saw that the three younger vampires, Bella included had orientated themselves protectively around the oldest of their group.

Then I watched as Carlisle crossed the room towards them. Bella was the one blocking Carlisle from Marcus. She shifted though, when Marcus said her name. She dared to walk back to his side and I saw him take her hand in his own.

Before I could stop it, a growl of rage ripped from my throat, drawing everyone's attention. I was glaring at Bella.

The two Twins looked at Bella, as if she was the one in the leaders place, not the Volturi leader. "If he pounces, he is mine," she said to them.

"Jane, why don't you show them why it would not be a good idea to try and attack me?" Marcus asked.

"Who would let me do that to them willingly?" Jane mused, No one lets me any more.

Bella sighed. Jane looked at her within a second from the sound. "You Bella?"

She held her hands up, a peaceful gesture towards the smaller vampire. "Go ahead, Jane. I'm not going to protect myself from you."

Jane sighed then focused her gaze on Bella. She was smiling.

As soon as Jane's gift touched Bella, a lot of us stared in horror. No one had touched her, but she was on the wooden floor, writhing in obvious agony, while I watched in horror. Jane was smiling only at her now. No sound escaped Bella's lips as she cringed against the floor.

I was still growling when Jane looked away from Bella. I felt Marcus' eyes on me now, but I ignored that. I was unable to stop myself from leaping at Jane, I was too angry at her for daring to do that to Bella. Bella blocked me from the other vampire though, pushing me out of the house. Again I only toyed with her, I did not want to hurt Bella. The others I would not think twice about hurting, but Bella was different.

Again I let her pin me, and she was really glaring at me. "Next, time, give me a challenge, Cullen," she hissed. Bella stalked away back to Marcus' side.

This time Marcus glared at me. I heard the anger in his voice as he said, "Edward Cullen, if you dare to annoy her like this ever again, you'll wish you never did." If he dares to attack any member of the guard and not just Bella ever again, he will die.

I knew that sooner or later I was going to have to meet with Charlie Swan and Renee. It was going to be no easy meeting but I would be ready when the time came. Obviously he would not be happy about the fact that I had gone and gotten married without him approving of this. Which meant that Marcus and I would have to ask him.

Not something either of us looked forwards to in the slightest. From what we had talked about when it came to Charlie, he would not be coming to meet me alone. He was apparently married now, to someone I had once known, apparently, as Sue Clearwater. From what the other Cullens had told me, Sue had two children, both teenagers, Leah and Seth. They would be coming with Charlie, but they were not human. We also learnt that Charlie was coming at two in the afternoon.

"If they are not human, what are they?" Marcus asked, a little worried now about the idea.

"It s best if you find out when they get here. Just please understand that they are friends of ours, therefore they are welcome in this house, Carlisle replied. I smiled. Nothing easily done sometimes, Carlisle. I looked at my husband and Jane and Alec. They needed to hunt I could see that in their eyes. "I might take these three out to hunt." Carlisle nodded, he knew I would keep them from attacking any humans. With that I led the others that I knew better than all the Cullens out into the woods. Marcus knew that we could not hunt humans here, but once we were out of the area, they would be able to. Therefore they would do the best they could by not attacking any humans. I smiled as we all ran together. Finding the place the Cullen's usually hunted at, was easy to do. I knew the way well now. "Its a lot funner to hunt animals, you know. They atctually try and fight back," I said.

Marcus laughed. "I guess that is something that you get to enjoy and we don't. Humans don t fight back at all."

Jane grinned at me. "Well?"

I only kept moving for a few more seconds before I leapt up ito a tree making the huge wildcats run for it, they all leapt for the ground. Then down again I was, leaping at one of the massive creatures. There were four of the powerful cats. One each. I only had to fight for a few seconds, before mine was drained. Then I watched the others. Marcus did well, but Jane and Alec had a little trouble. Luckily nothing was damaged while they hunted the huge cats. There was fun in this and I could see that they found it hard to do. Finally they were finished and we headed back to the Cullens.

I was happy with the uneasy sucess of the hunt for them but happy none the less that they had managed to hunt the thing that I always did. Though I had to admit, what I did was a lot better on the environment. Aro always careful that he had animals brought in from areas that were overpopulated. Mainly carnivours too. That I was pleased about, they tasted best to me.

When we got back closer to the house I stopped moving for a second. Marcus noticed, because I was not beside him, where I had been and he turned back to me. "Bella?" he asked. He stopped next to me.

I looked at the ground for a few minutes. Jane and Alec had stopped now, but they could see I needed to talk to Marcus about something. It was a good thing the three of us knew each other so well. Without a word, they split up, moving to places they were able to watch all the surrounding woods. "What's wrong?" Marcus asked. He was closer now, and I could feel his arms around me, holding me gently.

I snuggled into him unhappily. "Charlie's not exactly going to be pleased about the fact I went and got married without telling him or telling Renee for that matter." I sighed.

He smiled at me. "That is easy to do. I can see that you want to make your father happy, so I suppose we can stay here longer than a week if you want and do all that for him and Renee."

I could not beleive how good he was being about this. Though it was a human thing, we'd already had the one back in Volterra. "What about your brothers? Would they not want to be here?"

"Yes, Aro and Caius would want to be here, I suppose. I guess we better tell them, though not until a day is set for it to happen. I daresay the Cullens would rather that as few of us are here in the area as possible, concidering our normal diet," Marcus said. "Though it does mean that most of the gaurd would have to come as well."

I smiled. "I was aware that most of the gaurd would have to come. It's a good idea that we do not get them to come too soon. I can only imagine what will happen when they do all turn up." After all, I was used to humans turning to watch me whenever I was amongst them. We were inhumanely beautiful.

"Now, is that all you were worried about?" he asked.

"Yeah, it was," I said, smiling at him. I looked at my watch. We had about five minutes before Charlie got to the the house. "We better run. Charlie will be here in a few minutes, and I think that I ought to be in the room."

We only took a couple more minutes to get back to the house. As we got inside, we heard tires come off of the road onto the driveway. I gulped, certainly nervous now. I saw Jasper watching me, and suddenly I felt really calm. Calmer than I rationally should. A surprise that was indeed. "Are you making me feel calm?" I asked him. Was that the gift he apparently had? To influence some one else's emotions without their asking?

"Yes, that would be me doing that Bella," Jasper replied. He smiled at me. "There's nothing for you to be worried about. I'll be keeping Charlie from yelling at you too much."

I nodded at him, greatfully. It was such a good thing that they had Jasper. I could only imagine the amount of times that he had come in handy. Who knew what the limits he had were. Could he fiddle with anyone's mind? My shield should have kept him at bay. yet he had gotten past it. What was the go with that? No one got past that unless I was told to let them through. And that was not a common thing to happen when it came to Aro. He liked to keep us all protected, and not some other coven. Just for a minute, Marcus and I went out of the room by ourselves. No one was going to listen in, I knew that. I could tell that Marcus had thought about the thing I'd said about Charlie. "We might as well, pretend we're not married Bella. I know you're a good actor, as am I so we should easily pull this off."

I nodded. Carefully I slipped the golden ring from my hand, pocketing it. He smiled at me. "This should be easy enough, though Edward's going to think he has a change against you when he sees that its missing. Not that anything is going to happen from me when it comes to him." I laughed. The bronze haired vampire could only try, and fail.

Then hand in hand we both headed downstairs, just as the car stopped out the front. We could all hear people getting out of the car and I waited with anxious thoughts about this. It was going to be no easy meeting for me, or for Marcus. Though we would be able to get past this, we could do anything together. Carlisle walked across to open the door, no one else moved. Marcus and I were sitting on the couch, talking to Alice when Carlisle came in followed by another man and his family. That the other man and woman were human was obvious. Though straight away when the two teenagers came in behind them, Marcus, Alec, Jane and I all recoiled. What was that smell!

"Bella," Carlisle called. Marcus squeezed my shoulder gently. "Go on."

I sighed, getting to my feet. This time, Jane and Alec would see just how easily I was able to blend in with any humans. Something none of the gaurd had an easy time to do. I did not even have to think as I walked away from Jane, Alec, and Marcus towards Carlisle. My eyes were flicking around the room, as if there was something else I was interested in doing. Immediately, Charlie was watching me. I knew he recognised me. I smiled as I reached him and the others.

There was no way I could put up with that smell easily. I could see from the two teenagers, that though they had the same mind about my own smell, they were used to it. No their eyes were watching Marcus, Jane and Alec, who were looking across the room at the teenagers.

"Bella, is that really you?" Charlie Swan asked.

"Yes, its really me, Charlie," I replied. I smiled, not parting my lips though, the smile we all had was quite distracting for humans. There was a lot I had taken the time to learn about what we could and could not do in the presence of a human. "Where have you been?" Charlie asked, stepping forwards to hug me. I let him hug me, careful not to touch his bare skin. He was a lot hotter than I was. Again another thing I had to be careful around. Charlie was a lot fragiler than Marcus was and I knew that. "In Italy. There's someone I want you to meet, Charlie," I said. "If that's alright with you."

"I suppose I can meet them, who ever they are," he replied. I could tell that he half beleived me about where I had been for the last twelve years of my life. Not to mention I had likely dropped out from high school. That was something that was not needed to be worried about. Marcus had made sure I finished school once my newborn year was over. That was something he was good about, he did not want me to be disadvantaged in anyway by being what I really was these days.

I turned to look at Marcus. "Marcus?"

He came straight over to me and I knew that my father was very surprised by the new face. I stepped back from my father, to stand beside Marcus. There was no mistaking how I felt about Marcus, even Seth and Leah could see what there was in me and Marcus. Though I could tell that someone they knew would not be pleased about the fact I'd fallen for someone else, and not him. I smiled at my father. "Charlie, this is Marcus."

"Nice too meet you," Charlie said. I was amused by the strange tone to his voice. I would have thought that he would be used to the Cullens by now and not be taken aback by Marcus' impossible beauty. "The same back to you, Mr Swan," Marcus replied politely. I squeezed his hand lightly. He looked at me and smiled. That was me telling him that he was doing a good job of fighting his own nature right now. I knew that there were a lot of people in the room that would try and stop him from hurting Charlie and his family.

"Why don't you come and see Jacob, Bella. He's been lost since you disappeared," my father replied.

"Umm... Sure, I'll come and see him I guess," I replied. Who the hell was Jacob?

"Uh, Bella, can we have a word with you?" Seth asked. Now that was a voice I actually remembered from somewhere. Odd. "Sure."

Seth and Leah turned and walked outside. I looked once at Jane and Alec, and then, letting go of Marcus' hand, he was more than interested in talking to Charlie and Sue, I was sure there was no threat from him. I walked out of the house, following the two teenagers. The unfamiliar smell was stronger outside. I was also aware of a third set of eyes watching me. Instantly I became more alert, my eyes watching the forest edge, trying to find whoever it was. "What is it you two?" I asked.

"You're not exactly allowed on the reservation, Bella," Leah said softly. I looked at her as if she was mad. "I can go anywhere I want. You can't stop me."

"Actually yeah we can. There are alot more of us than there are vampires at the moment in this area," Seth replied. That explained the feeling of being watched by someone else. "What are you talking about? How the hell do you know what we are?" I was slightly worried right now. "There is nothing that can stop me."

"Can't you figure out our smell yet? Or do we have to show you?" Leah laughed mockingly. She was circling around behind me now. "Stay where I can see you, Leah," I said. I growled, this time it was a clear warning. If she did not, she would wish she had.

Then something came out of the bush. drawing my attention right away. It was a huge black wolf, flanked by a slightly smaller russet one and a chocolate wolf. I snarled, leaping away from them. They were the size of bears. Which made no sense.

Then the black wolf did the one thing I never expected. It literally stood on its hindlegs, and in its place was a human man. It was then I knew what they were. Werewolves. Though these ones seemed to have perfect control over their actions which really startled me. They were not like the ones Aro, Caius and Marcus had told me about. Caius hated the oversized creatures, but there was not too much that was threatening about them to me. Then Seth and Leah were gone, falling back to the others. Both of them were grey in colour.

I growled, watching as the man approached me, flanked by the four giant wolves. Then to my shock, more wolves started to show in the forest. They split into two groups though. Seth, Leah and two other wolves stayed with the huge russet wold, while the other four split off to come to the man. There were ten of the wolves, though one was human right now. I loked at the human one. "What do you want?" I hissed. "Its about time you were found, Isabella Swan," the man said. It was clear that he was the one in command, but it seemed that the russet one was as well. "Who bit you."

I could tell that he wanted to know and that he expected me to tell him. "None of the Cullens," I hissed. I really was not enjoying this at all. We were outnumbered and that was a bad thing. I knew who bit me, and they were not a member of the Cullens. "Who then? Tell me Bella."

"I do not even know you. That means I do not have to tell you anything!" I was snarling now. I heard Jasper get up to come out and sort all of this out. This was no good thing. "And why the hell am I not allowed on the reservation?"

"You're a vampire. We made a deal with the Cullens, that they are not allowed on our land."

I wondered how the hell, Charlie was able to stay in the house talking away when there were ten werewolves outside. Seeing the massive creatures was clearly freaking me out. And I was a lot more durable that Charlie and Sue were. But maybe these creatures would not hurt them. "I have freinds to get back to." I turned and walked back into the house.

"Then thats settled then. We'll see you on the 25th," Charlie said.

I looked from him to Marcus confused. "What's settled?" Marcus smiled at me. "The day for our wedding, Bella." He reached over and pulled me into his embrace. "Wow, thanks dad," I said, beaming at my father.

"We better go. There's a lot for all of you to do, so I daresay you have no time for visitors," Charlie said. "See you later, Bells."

I grinned at him. "See you, dad."

He left with Sue and I was surprised to see that the wolves had vanished.