Story:  Twilight

Song:  Burning in the Skies by Linkin Park

Written by: Kittyinaz

Banner by: Falling Stars

Summary:  Read to find out.

Author Notes:  This is dedicated to Ellie.   We appreciate you!

Disclosure: I do not own or make any money off of Twilight nor really anything I have written yet.  So no suing allowed, you won’t get much.

Blinded by the sunlight, Bella ran through the crowded square, trying to save Edward since he thought exposing vampires to all these people would be the only way to get himself killed after the Volturi denied his request.

She is barreling through the crowd, being hit as they shove back at her, getting angry at her pushy ways.  She is knocked hard enough a couple of times that she would have lost her way if it wasn’t for the tower that loomed over the square.

Getting angry at the crowd that she is saving, Bella starts throwing people out of her way as she runs to the tower to stop him.  The bubble that clears in front of her makes her pick up her speed, but that same speed causes her to barely make the leap into the fountain that had appeared suddenly in front of her.  As she leaps over the ledge on the opposite side, she struggles momentarily with her balance; the cobblestones slick under her wet feet.

When she gathers herself, she can see Edward shedding his shirt, getting ready to step into the sunny plaza.

“Edward, don’t!!” She screams. Somehow managing to make it to him before he takes the full step out in the sun. She crashes into him, driving him back into the shadows.

“Amazing,” he said, his voice full of wonder, slightly amused.  “Carlisle was right.”

He sounds bemused as his hand brushes her cheek.  He never seems to notice that Bella is panting, trying to get out of his arms.  “I can’t believe how quick it was.  I didn’t feel a thing-they’re very good,” Edward quietly comments as he holds her closer to him, his lips in her hair.

She is panting, barely catching her breath, relieved that she stopped him from revealing the secret and getting himself killed.  However, before she can get off the vampire, he holds her face in his hands as he reverently says, “Death. That hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.”

Romeo?  Really??? How about all that ‘I can’t play being human’ or the one she loved at the time, ‘Your mind is a sieve and you will forget all about me.’  Bella is ready to blast him for all this.

 And then his lips kiss hers.

Bella pushes at him, but he doesn’t react.  Soon, however, he ends the kiss murmuring, “You smell and taste the same as always, so maybe this is hell.  I don’t care, I’ll take it.”

She growls at him, “My personal hell maybe.”

When he looks at her in shock, she shakes her head, “Nothing.  Edward, put back on your shirt, we don’t want anyone to notice you!”

He is shaking his head as though he didn’t want to believe what she is saying to him.  But suddenly he yanks her to the alley wall and stands in front of her, crouching as he growls.

“What do we have here?” A female voice asks with a bit of humor in her voice. Three beings appear from the shadows around them. Surrounding them.

Edward growls out to them.  “You will not have her!”

The three laugh at him.  They move the fraction needed to show their faces from the hoods.  Two, a male and female, you could tell are related to each other but the last male was smirking at the two in front of him.

The female’s lips turn up slightly as she raises an eyebrow.  “And who do you think you are to deny the Volturi, Cullen.”  The last name is spit out in supreme distaste. Her voice reminds Bella somewhat of Alice’s, with the melody in it, but the accent she faintly speaks with is enough to dispel the illusion.

Before Edward can do much other than snarl at the vampires, Alice’s voice tinkles through the passageway. “Why don’t we visit with Aro before tempers get any worse?” She gracefully comes to a stop between Edward and the Volturi.

Bella sighs in relief as she hears Edward’s growl quiet. “Yes, before anyone else notices our little altercation,” she softly adds,  her head indicating some humans looking down the passageway at them.   Bella smiles at the little girl and, before anything else can happen, Edward takes her hand in his and bestows a kiss on it as he too smiles at the family.

The family smiles back, as Bella hands him his shirt.  She moves beside Alice as the group heads out. Edward, appearing by her side, now dressed, murmurs, “Don’t worry, love.  We will protect you.” She grits her teeth, not saying anything.

The female in front of them laughs lightly.

Edward frowns and asks, “Jane, is there something you want to tell me?” His voice was short and clipped.

Jane glances back at him, with a smirk on her face. “What’s wrong, Cullen?  Not able to read my mind?” He red eyes dance merrily, enjoying the fact he couldn’t read her thoughts.

Edward glares back at her, hatred in his very look.  Then his look turned sly as he comments, “I didn’t see you by Cauis’s side as normal, Jane.” The insinuation is clear that he thinks she has fallen from favor.

Her laughter rang out, reminding Bella of Alice’s, as Jane turns and walks in front of them.  The bigger man had moved in front of the group and lifted the cover off the sewer.  Jane turns to Bella and tells her, “You will have to jump, but one of us will catch you.”

Bella nods and moves towards the hole, the man who looks like Jane having already jumped.  Before Edward can react, Bella jumps through the hole.

Edward moves and looks down to only see the other male putting her lightly on her feet.  He jumps down to her side and checks her over.  Bella rolls her eyes.  “Enough, Edward.  Let’s get to where we need to be before the day gets too late.” She moves to Jane’s side, the woman having joined them while he was checking her.

Edward glances at Alice in shock, but her mind is reciting the Lollipop song in Russian in her head.  He hisses, always hating that song from when the Wizard of Oz first came out.

Alice glances up at him and smiles. “She is right you know.  We need to get moving.”  With that she moves to Bella’s side and they follow Jane and the others as they proceed to make their way to the castle.

Edward hears the manhole cover fall back into place as he feels a shove from Demetri. “Get moving Cullen.  You don’t want to make the Kings upset do you?” Again, the word Cullen is spit out as though it is a slander.

He snarls over his shoulder but starts moving.  Edward is watching Bella from behind, a frown on his face as he tries to make sense of her actions since she saved him in the plaza a few minutes before. Things are just not adding up to the girl he had left.

As he tries to understand, they move through a set of gates until the stop in front of an elevator that Jane puts her face up to.  A retina scanner lights up, and after it registers her, it opens the elevator doors.  She heads inside with the rest of them, Demetri giving Edward a little shove when he hesitates for a second.

Bella laughs as she hears a Linkin Park song as elevator music.  When they look at her she shrugs, but the laughter is still in her eyes as she purses her lips.  She watches the three other vampires drop their hoods.

The doors slide open a couple of seconds later and the group exits.  Edward is shocked to see that they are in the reception area of the Volturi castle.  He didn’t think they had been that close to it, but then he had not been paying attention.

Jane brushes by the receptionist desk and moves towards the doors that opened as she approached.  Alice and Bella are followed by the male and then Edward.  Demetri, stopping at the receptionist desk, writes something on a pad, then follows after them.

The woman at the desk looked at what had been written and nodded as she picks up a tablet and made a note on it.

Edward is a little dismayed all in all as they were escorted to the throne room.  There had not been much said and it was worrying him; comments should have been made by either Bella or the three Volturi about Bella.  But there was nothing. And, Alice was blocking him.  What was going on?

Soon they pass a set of doors sheathed in gold, and again the doors were thrown open in anticipation of their arrival. As they move through them, the two vampires by the doors watched, inclining their head as they pass.

Aro is standing and smiling as he greets them. “Edward, so nice to see you return!  I told you that you there was a reason we didn’t grant your request.  But then you don’t listen well to us, do you?” He claps his hands as he talks.

Edward barely kept the growl from erupting from him.  He looked quickly for Bella, and turned around when he didn’t see her right away, trying to see where she had been taken.

What finally pulled his attention to the other thrones was when he heard a loud purr coming from that direction.

Edward looked to see Caius holding a brunette in his arms, his robes obscuring everything else as he purred.  The tall blonde had slightly bent his frame to be closer to the person in his arms.  His red eyes were not as hard as they had been when Edward had met him yesterday and also missing is the look of pain he had had.

Further shocking him, he could not read any of the thoughts of the Kings nor many of the guards in the room.  Feeling very defensive, and not being able to find Bella anywhere in the room, Edward’s snarl ripped out as he demanded, “Where is Bella?”

Bella had enough and was eager to get to the throne room.  Edward had kissed her!  He had left her, not the other way around, and now he was acting upset that she was not hanging on him?!  She was barely holding on to her temper, only the anticipation of her reunion stopping her from lashing out.

She had been ripped out of her life yet again on the account of Edward Cullen and she was going to make him keep his promise of her never seeing him again. It would be the least of what he did to make amends to her.

When she had entered the throne room she had run to her mate.  He had met her and pulled her into his arms, snarling softly when he scented the other male on her.

Bella told him softly, “He kissed me.” But her frustration is giving way to her joy in being in his arms again.  She relaxes for the first time since she had left his arms last.

He nuzzled in her neck and started to purr to calm her down.  She couldn’t get close enough to him.  It had been a month since she had last seen him and she had missed him.  She softly tells him, “I don’t think I can do this anymore.” Her eyes are half closed in pleasure.

He smiles down at her. “Nothing would make me happier, la mia piccola colomba. You know I don’t like you to be that far from me.” He grins at her, his eyes showing his joy at her being back at his side.

Before the couple could say anything else, they hear Edward demanding her.  Caius lifts his head. Flashing her behind him, he snarls at the other male. The contact of Bella being held at his back with an arm, one of hers resting at his hip,  steadies both of them.

Jane and the other males that had accompanied them, soon are surrounding her, making sure that none can get through to her.  Their faces show their enjoyment of the coming reprimand.

Aro sighed as he sat back down in his chair.  He tilted his head as he asks, “Why does it matter to you, Edward?  As you can see, she is well protected and none of your business.  As I confirmed when I read your thoughts earlier, you had left her.” His voice has turned cold as he talks.  He has abandoned his earlier friendly pose, now that Bella is well away from Edward.

Alice had moved away from Edward, and now stood by Aro’s side. Lifting her hand to him, he doesn’t even glance as he takes her offering, intent on watching the young man in front of him.

Once Aro had read her thoughts, he glances at her, shocked at some of the images he had seen.  He tells her softly, “I don’t think others can understand what you have to go through little one.  Not even Edward with his ability can fully imagine the pain you see and have to go through each and every day.” But his eyes betray his thoughts as he is puzzled on how she is blocking him.  The thoughts she is blocking didn’t pertain to this meeting, but he is not pleased that she can block anything from him.

Alice smiles at the King, telling him, “Thank-you.  But my Mate makes it all worthwhile.   For without him, it would be a bleak world.”  Her smile is small and demure.  There is nothing that gives away that she has any indication she has successfully blocked Aro from seeing all.

Aro nods as he also comments, “And without your sister would be a great travesty.  But what to do with the young Cullen?” He figures that once they are done here, he will get to the bottom of the mystery.  It’s not like she can go anywhere.

Marcus had been watching the proceedings with slight interest.  “Maybe a call to his family?”

Aro shakes his head, “They are already on their way.  It is just young Alice and Bella were the first to arrive and had the best chance of stopping him.  The rest should be here in mere minutes.” He smiles as he can see the dismay on both Alice’s and Edward’s faces.  Anything that makes these two upset can only result in good endings.

Edward spat at Alice, “You called them?  Why??”

Bella answers him instead, “I called them.  Or actually, I had Caius call them after I let him know about your stupid stunt.  Seriously Edward, why would you kill yourself?!” She is livid that she had been yanked out of her life.

Alice had come, shocked she is still alive, but had told Bella that if she didn’t come, Edward would expose the vampire world to the masses.  Bella had huffed and gone with her, but she had texted Caius to let him know along with her guard.  She is not foolish and will not allow Edward to be close to her again.  Who knows if he can stop himself from draining her?

Edward looks at her shocked, this was not what he had expected of her.  This is not the broken girl he had left behind.

Catching the look Edward sent to his love, Caius looks at him and laughs.  “She knows you are not her mate, not with how you left her in the woods to die.  I can barely let her go back for short periods of time and even then we have to do some strenuous things to be able to do it.  And I had to send Jane, Demetri, and Alec to guard her, along with meeting with the shifters to hammer out a treaty for her safety.” He holds Bella to him close, remembering all they have had to do to try to give her father closure and Bella that little bit of time to say goodbye to him.

Edward is standing there completely shocked.  “No!  I left her to save her from this world.  You cannot bring her back into it!”

Aro just laughs as he settles in his seat. “Bella was right it seems.  You think nothing except of yourself.  Young man, what did you think would happen when you kill the mate of a vampire?  But then you wouldn’t know since what I have understood is that you just do not listen when others would tell you. But, listen to me now; you cannot leave your mate like you did Bella.  And all the grief and such you had since you left?  All in your mind.”  He just shakes his head at the audacity of Edward.

The doors open again and Aro glances over, a slight smile on his face as he greets the newcomers, “Ah, Carlisle.  So good for you to come.  It seems you need to discipline one of your coven members.”  He negligently shrugs, “Or we can end him. Your choice.”

Edward is floored as he rocks back on his heels.  How can this be going so wrong?  He barely notices Jasper ignoring his wife.  Nor how his family gathers behind him, Emmett taking up place with the tall vampire that could almost be his twin.

When Caius had called them here, he baldly told them their options: take Edward away or he will be killed.  They had been shocked when he told them that Bella is his mate and her pain is his.  As being mated, the family understood.  They had come to take Edward away, for his own good.

Carlisle nods to Aro. “My apologies for any trouble, Aro.” He is trying to keep an even face.  Also, doesn’t want Aro to touch him, because he is ashamed of what he has allowed to be done to not only Bella but his other son.

Caius has, by this time, retreated to his throne with Bella in his arms.  When he hears Carlisle’s apology he smirks.  “Don’t you need to apologize to my mate, in addition?  After all it is you who left her after calling her family.  You who followed an eternal 17-year-old’s suggestions, a 17-year-old who has never known love nor been mated, decide who should go after the other half of the hunter’s group?”

Unable to stay where he is when he finally gets to confront the group who left his mate, who hurt his mate, Caius moves Bella and places her in his place, softly trailing his hands on her face.  Without a hesitation he holds out a hand and a blanket is placed in it that he uses to tenderly tuck around her.  He looks up at the three around her and nods to them as he turns to confront his mate’s old family.

He smiles and it is not one that he will ever bestow on his mate and soon to be wife.  As he makes his way down the stairs, the doors open to admit Athenodora and Sulpicia.  Sulpicia moves to Aro’s side then after a murmur from him, heads over with Athenodora to Bella’s side.  Caius nods as he passes the two.

Standing in front of the coven who had left her, he tells them. “She had come to us through two nomads, who had felt she needed to be heard by us.  Bella’s grief from you leaving her, being ignored with her family and friends, and by the threat you left her to face alone, was so great.  You see, it seems the mate of James was hunting Bella.  Evidently, she had gone back into your home trying to find a way to contact you.  She studied for months, pouring over the books she had found in Carlisle’s and Jasper’s offices.  She located a book that may help her and had been on her way to Port Angeles, when the red head attacked her. Luckily for Bella, the sound caught the attention of two nomads.” His eyes darken as he remembers when he heard this the first time.  Only her being there had restrained him from ripping the red head in two.

Remembering, he turns and checks on his beloved, then continues the story. “The two nomads managed to grab the red head and subdue her.  They checked on the human, but with one look at their faces, she paled.  That was enough to tell them that she knew something she shouldn’t have.  Bella spent the next hour telling them everything she knew.  By the end of it, they told her that they would need to take her with them as they came here.   She paled even further, asking only to be allowed to go home and write her father a note.  They allowed it and that night they were on a flight here.”

With this Caius stares at the Cullen Coven.  “Imagine our surprise when she was brought in here with the red head; when Bella and I looked at each for the first time.” He smirks as he remembers the meeting, and the nights afterwards.  Especially the nights afterward…

Edward spits out vehemently, “But you already have a mate!!”

Aro laughs as he looks to Carlisle. “Have you not taught your Coven about mating?”

Carlisle looks down, “I did not.  True Mates are the rarest in the world.  How could I think that any of them will meet theirs?” He could not meet Aro’s eyes, knowing he is about to reap what he had sowed keeping his coven in the dark about that and other information.  He just hopes they will not find out more.

Marcus laughs for the first time.  “So first you fail as a coven leader in instructing young Master Cullen about Mates. Then, on top of that, you, of all the people, one of the few to see a True Mate couple, don’t teach your coven about them?”  He shakes his head.  True Mates, while thought a rumor, a fairy tale even, had been part of the tradition for the coven heads to teach.  He could see Jasper, who had only experienced the worst and never been with a real coven before being his own head, not knowing.  But Carlisle?  Who had learned from them directly?  What else had he not educated his coven on?

Emmett, being completely confused, finally asks, “Can someone please clarify what you are all talking about?” He kept his head down, not meeting anyone’s eyes as he was taught on the way here, but he is confused.  How can Bella be Caius’s mate?  He had only learned on the way that they hadn’t restrained Jasper because of his blood lust as was told to him and Rosie.  Instead, it had been to restrain him from going after Bella.  Which still made no sense to him or Rosie.

Athenodora answers from where she is by Bella’s side. “Mates can actually be different people to vampires.  It all depends on the timing and such.  It is the person most compatible with you at that time.  This is what most vampires experience, since they don’t change very much.  But True Mates are one in a million.  You have to be lucky to find them, there is no pull to them until they see each other eye to eye.  Then, there is the chance that your True Mate was born and died before you, or that you never met them and they passed away.  That is why mates are so important.  They make eternity easier to bear.  But True Mates, they are the reason for all the rules and laws.  Bella and Caius are one of the very few True Mates.” Her hand rests on Bella, supporting her.

Edward shakes his head.  “So you are willing to give him up?  Your mate?”

Athenodora laughs at the presumptuous vampire. “He was never my mate.  He was my husband.  I like it here, and he was lonely.  So we made the best of the situation.  He was holding out for that once in a lifetime chance to be completely dedicated to one person.  I am thrilled he found it and that it is Bella.  I have never met someone that is perfectly matched for him as she is.” Her eyes meet her ex-husband’s and they share a smile.

Edward stands there gaping at her.  Then he foolishly opens his mouth, “Why is she still human?”

With that comment, Bella bursts from the throne. She marches right down the stairs to stand in front of him, not appearing to notice that her Mate joined her and is by her side alongside her guards. “You dare to ask Caius that?  That is rich coming from you, the one who didn’t want me changed no matter what!  According to the horseshit that has been coming from your mouth, you evidently lied about your feelings to me, or you’re just jealous that someone else holds my affections.”  Then her eyes narrow at him. “Or it could be you are jealous that someone will taste my blood, the same blood that you are addicted to.   The same blood that you once referenced yourself to being a heroin addict for.  The same blood that because of a paper cut, you threw me into a wall of plates!  You, the perfect vampire, who says that he remembers everything, forgot about all the plates when you pushed me away?  From the one vampire who was coming to save me?”  Her eyes are snapping in her anger, and Caius loves it.  This fiery woman is all his.  He can’t help the smirk that appears as he watches his mate.

Bella is enraged as she sees the reaction that Edward has to her words.  The flinch may not be obvious to everyone, but to the one who so mistakenly worshipped him?  It was worth a thousand words. “That’s it.  You are upset because another would be getting your so-called high.  That is why you have been acting like a lovesick fool, because in your head, you are not a monster.  No.  You think that the tales have it wrong and that a singer can be a mate.  When all you ever had to do is study it like I did from Jasper’s and Carlisle’s books.  A singer is usually a mate of another vampire.  Such a sick world this is, almost like nature was trying to make sure that no matter what, that human is brought into the supernatural world, but in the worst possible way.”

By the end of this she is trembling and Caius pulls her into him, purring to soothe his mate.  His only mate and his beloved.  It was well worth the millennium to finally have her by his side.  And she wasn’t leaving this time.  No, her father can come see her here, if that is what his mate wants.  He will make anything happen to make her happy.

Edward had been gaping at Bella, his anger coming to the fore, but before he could do anything, he felt the calm from Jasper influence the room just as Felix and Emmett came to hold him down.  Aro is standing with his hand on Jasper’s shoulder as he stares at Edward.  He tells the two, “Take him down to the dungeon.  WE will deal with him later.”  And with that, Edward’s drama in the throne room is removed.  Esme collapses against Carlisle, knowing that they will probably end Edward unless he changes his attitude.

Athenodora comes down the stairs and looks at the remaining Cullen Coven. “Please follow me, I will take you to your rooms.”

They follow her out, all except Jasper.  He moves to Bella and kneels in front of her.  But, before he can say anything, Bella lifts his head with her hand. He is surprised to see a gentle smile on her face.

Caressing his face, Bella tells him, “Jasper, as I said earlier, I knew you were trying to save me.  But dealing with Fuckward’s bloodlust for me, along with everyone else’s hitting at one time, must have overwhelmed you.”

Jasper closes his eyes. “I would never harm you, Isabella.  I don’t think I physically can.  But his emotions that night…  I had to leave and run out the door when I got the chance.  I was the dangerous one.  If they all hit with their bloodlust when I was not prepared, I would have tried to attack again.  By the time I had calmed, they had me restrained from coming back to you.  I am so sorry, Bella.” His face pleading with her to understand that he would never, could never, abandon her.

Caius had jerked when he heard this, and Aro comes up and places his hand on Jasper’s head.  What he sees has him snarling. “They dared to call upon Maria?  Just to restrain you?” Aro’s jaw clenches.  Jasper, a Coven Leader was restrained against his will?  Lied to, his faith abused, there is a lot the Cullen Coven will be answering to.

Bella jerks her head up and meets her mate’s eyes.  “Who is Maria?  And why would they call upon anyone to restrain Jasper?”  She trusts Caius to answer her, he is always truthful to her to the point of being almost ruthless.  But it is what she had requested of him, and he will do anything for her.

Caius looks over to Marcus, saying quietly, “Why don’t we take this to the study, mi amore?  This venue is a little too public for my liking.” His eyes glance around the open room.

Aro still has his hands on Jasper and is still growling.  He leans down and helps Jasper up, telling him, “Come with us.  It seems there is more to this than just young Master Cullen’s indiscretions.” He lets go of the blonde, trying to regain his calm.

The four make their way out with Jasper, being followed by Bella’s Guard.  They make their way through the castle to the other side, through a double doors marked with their crest, and then farther down that hall.  Aro opens a door and stands aside as the group makes their way in, watching the hallway to make sure there are no stragglers.  Jane and Alec come up and offer their hand.  He takes it, and after seeing what they offer, thinks about it and then tells them, “Thank you both.  No one.”

They both nod and stand outside the doors, making sure this will remain a private conversation.

The three Kings settle themselves into their respective seats, Caius holding Bella in his lap.  Jasper collapses on the floor below her, his head resting by her thighs.  He needs to be close to her after the months of imprisonment.

Aro tells them all, “It seems the Cullen Coven has a lot to answer for.  They were all involved with Bella knowing about vampires, and they also kept Jasper from her.  She is a possible mate for him.  He doesn’t want it, being one of the few in that Coven to know what a True Mate is.  But as he said, he could never harm her.  Alice is a companion, one that he has adored for many a years.  But after she was the one to tell them the only way to restrain him was to send him here or call Maria, he has lost all affection for her.”  The rage that he had been feeling on Jasper’s behalf is reflected on the others.

He settles himself and asks Jasper, “What do you know of your past?” He knows Jasper’s thoughts, but sometimes he gets more than they know.

Jasper frowns as he tries to answer, “I know what I have read, I get slight memories of my life before the Civil War.  But mostly my memories are of the War and then the Southern Wars.”

Marcus sighs.  He looks at Jasper.  “You know my power, right?”

Jasper nods.

Marcus leans back in his seat and he tells Jasper what he is seeing. “You love Bella.  Adore her.  And there is nothing wrong with it.  In fact, I would recommend that Caius add you to her guard and make you in charge of it.  But her relations with the rest of us are different.  She looks at me as a mentor, and I have taken this duty with pride, both of us knowing it will probably turn into more as the years go by.  Aro is like an older brother to her.  Later you can see how much they tease each other.  Caius, well you know they share the ultimate mating Bond.” Seeing Jasper nod as he takes in the information, but seeing the puzzled look as he tries to figure out why Marcus is telling him this.

Then he leans forward.  “That is Bella’s bonds.  But yours?  You are already as a son to me.  And from what I can tell from the bonds, you are a direct descendent of mine.” Then he smirks, “But that fits with your moniker and my namesake.” He is proud of the man in front of him for what he has suffered through and not only survived but had found the strength in him to rise above it all.

“But, Jasper, it is not surprising to find you have no bonds with the Cullens.  It makes no sense to force the two of you apart.  Alice cannot say it was to make it for Caius to be able to recognize his mate, since he would have at one point.  I knew Bella had a mating bond with someone else, but we had no idea since you  all left her.  Now it makes sense since they had to restrain you and starve you to make sure you stayed.” His voice becomes hard as he finishes describing what happened to him.

Bella’s voice hitches as she asks, “Won’t it be cruel for him to stay much less be captain of my guard?” She has always admired the blonde, and if Caius had not been in her life, she could see herself being Jasper’s mate.  She doesn’t want to be the cause of more pain for him.

Jasper grins up at her, “No, it actually will be the safest for you, since I will never attack you, especially when I go back to my natural diet.”

Caius turns his love towards him and tells her, “Jasper can’t have a full mating bond because of us.  So he will be as your brother.  Your dedicated brother.  And he, by being here, makes me feel better.  If something should ever happen to me, he will take care of you.” His voice is bleak, as he could never think of leaving her.

Bella shakes her head, “No!  I don’t want to think of something happening to you.  But what about Jasper?  How is this fair?  How can he meet his own mate if he is with me??”  She is trying to make them understand, is frustrated as it seems they are ignoring her.

Suddenly kneeling before her, Jasper asks her, “How can you push me away?  How can you make me suffer the rest of eternity to not be by your side?  Bella, did you not understand what was said earlier, the chances to find your True Mate are so rare that I know of only two in the vampire world that have been made?”  He is pleading with her.  While they will not be mates, he still feels the pull towards her and the pain in not being with her.  For all intents, he is her mate to his vampiric side.  And if something ever happens to Caius, he might be the only thing to stop her from following him.  That possibility is enough to have him never to leave her side.  Not for the chance to have her, but for the chance to make sure she is in the world.

Bella just stares at him.  “But what are the chances are of you meeting your other half if you are always with me?  I’m sorry Jasper, I just can’t be with Caius and you.  And I don’t think it is fair to you.”

Smiling at her, with his dimples showing, he replies, “Darling, it doesn’t matter.  Truthfully where will I go?  I will not go back to the Cullens.  And here is better than anywhere else.  All vampires, at one time or another, come through here.  I have the best chance here.  In fact, that is my theory on why the only confirmed True Mates are the two kings sitting here.  They see everyone.  It was easier when the world was younger, but, if I am destined to have one, I will.  Otherwise I will be here with the only blood family I have and the sister I adore.  I will not ask you to be with both of us, plus I don’t think Caius can do that either.”

A light growl comes from her mate.  Caius is blunt as he tells her, “No, I cannot share you like that.  You are mine and mine only, Isabella.”  His arms pull her towards him, his possessive side coming out.

Marcus tells her gently, “I agree with Jasper and Caius.  It will do you good to have Jasper here for you.  No matter what happens, he will not betray you.  Though you are lying to her, Jasper.  You do have a place to go, your very own coven.” His voice is slightly rebuking him.

Jasper sighs as he looks down. “I don’t expect them to welcome me back with the way I treated them while I was with the Cullens.”  It didn’t matter to him that he was lied to, manipulated.  He had left them to be with Alice.

A knock sounds from the door before it opens.  Alec is standing there and asks, “Why don’t you let them choose that?  Milords and My Lady, the Whitlocks are here.”

To Jasper’s surprise, Bella flies out of Caius’s arms and lands in his brother’s arms.  “Petey!!  You came back!”  She lays a kiss on his cheek.

Jasper glances around and sees the rest of the Kings laughing at her.  He looks back at Caius and is relieved to find him grinning. He has already accepted the position in his mind, and though it would kill him to have to end his brother and sister, he would.  Peter and Charlotte would understand, Bella means more to him.  He has no choice.

Peter chuckles at the light Brunette in his arms.  “Hey Sweetheart, didn’t Char and I promise to come back?  We just had to make sure that the rest of the newborns were taken care of.  Then we came by to get ya to bring you back to yer mate, but ya were not there?  What is going on, sugar?” His face grows concerned as he takes in his little sister.

Charlotte has come through the doors and sees her sire.  She smacks Peter and indicates Jasper with her head.

Peter looks up and moves in front of Jasper, handing Bella over to Caius as he drops in front Jasper. “Sire.”  The amount of love and reverence is clear in his voice.  Jasper is his Sire, his brother in arms.  He has only stayed away because he knew it hurt Jasper to have to decide between the Liar and his coven.

Charlotte does the same thing.  She looks up and asks, hesitantly, “Jasper, are you back?”  The hope in her eyes would have floored him if he hadn’t already been feeling it from her when she saw him.

He looks down at his only two surviving children and can feel the love they have for him. “Yes. But I am going to be staying here.” He will leave them the choice of what they want to do.

Peter’s head straightens up and he looks Jasper in his eyes, “Thank god.  I never thought ya would ever see sense, Brother.  Now, I take it yer in charge of sweet cheek’s security?  Would you mind adding the two of us to that detail?” He smirks, loving to surprise him.  Jasper has come back and the life his knower told him would happen is finally back on track.

Jasper just stares at the two in front of him.  He finally shakes his head and tells them, “I haven’t been head of this coven in decades-“

Peter shook his head as he interrupts him, his southern accent strong, “Ya are always the leader of our coven.  Just now that yer head is out of yer ass, ya can do yer job.  And yeah, I know about ya and sweet cheeks. I promise Bella,  everything will work out for all of you.”  He grins down at the little brunette in Caius’s arms.  He knows that she needed the assurance to accept Jasper’s presence in her life.  It will take quite a few years, but everything will work out.

Bella smiles and relaxes against her mate. Caius smiles, too, and purrs when she runs her hand through his shortened hair.  She had commented that she preferred shorter hair once to Athenodora when they had been talking  and he had cut his.  She had been shocked, told him it was unnecessary.  When he had asked if she liked it, she had nodded.  He had told her that is all he cared about.   Since then, she has made a point to run her hands through it, and he became nothing more than a big cat in her hands as he purrs.

However, Jasper is confused about something that just occurred to him.  “How do you-“

Charlotte answers, “Know Bella?  Didn’t they tell you the story?”

He nods.

Peter puffs out his chest as he tells him proudly, “We are the two nomads that found her.  Who else do you seriously think can hold back a deranged vampire set out on revenge for her deceased mate?  There is just not that many of us out there, Jasper.”

There was laughter around the room.  Caius holds his mate close to him and asks her softly, “Will this work?  I still want the other three to be part of your detail, but I know you were anxious that I assigned my own Guards to you.  This way you have your own and so will I.”

Peter and Charlotte had been part of the detail when they left this last time, but their main focus had to be ridding Seattle of the newborns.  None of them had thought it would take long, and Bella could visit her father during the time.  Never did they anticipate the events that happened because she had gone cliff diving with the wolves, something she has done in the past.

She nods. “Caius, I can’t leave you again.  There is really nothing holding me there.  I was going through the process.  Graduation will be soon, and I can probably finish the work here.  Please don’t make me leave again.”  She is begging him by the end of her plea.

He nuzzles her throat as he purrs to her.  They are in their own little bubble as he tells her, “Never, il mio piccolo amore.  I told you before that when you came back, that I will never let you leave again.  I can’t.  And, now that the newborns are taken care of, as well as the shifters, there is no reason to go back.  Charlie can come here anytime to visit you.” He vows to her.

Jasper’s head turns to them, “Charlie knows?” His voice is shocked that they are allowing a human to know the secret and live.  He knows Bella wouldn’t have allowed it otherwise.

Aro looks up and answers, “It was part of the treaty with the shifters.  Washington is about to be banned from any vampires.  If any of the shifters wish to become wolves, they will come here.  In fact, the tribe is much happier since we have agreed to pay for any of the wolves who decide to come stay here as protectors.  It took a while, but we have found Bella’s other talent.  Once she becomes a vampire, she will be a Queen, and heading up the delegations to form allies.” He looks at his sister with pride, and a little teasing in his voice.

Caius comments with a soft voice, “With me and her guard of course.”

Laughter comes from Aro. “You think I will risk my sister?  You will probably be going with as many guards as is safe to send.  No, losing my real life sister was hard enough.  And to have to listen to the many years of rumors saying I killed her?”  He shakes his head.

Marcus sighs.  “I have tried to correct them over the years, but we have given up.”  They all look disgusted with the way the vampire world is set to make Aro be the evil manipulator no matter what the actual reality is.

The crowd in the library soon just settles and talks, some reacquainting themselves, others forming new bonds.  Marcus just smiles as he watches it all.  The two sisters come in and Sulpicia joins Aro in his conversations with Jasper’s coven.  Dora sits and smiles at the two mates who are just being together.  You can hear soft murmurs from them, but mostly they are wrapped in each other.

Later on, Bella is asleep in Caius’ arms, and he has been watching her.  He finally sighs, knowing she would be better in bed, and stands up with her in his arms.  Jasper springs up, but Caius shakes his head. “Stay.  Tomorrow will be soon enough to take up your new position.  I am taking her to our room.”

Jasper smirks and nods.  He opens the door to the library for the two.  The rest call out their farewells, being careful to not wake Bella.

Caius takes his love down to their suite of rooms.  He had them redone for her while she was gone.  And even though she will be turned soon, if he has anything to do with it, he added what he could for her human comfort, deciding that if she does not like it afterwards, they can change it for her.

When he gets to the door, it scans his eye, then walks in as the door opens for him.  He had upgraded the security when she came into his life.  It had given him something to do while she was gone.  Though their conversations online had been much needed, he had the time while she slept as dead time.  He could barely feel her in the bond when she was that far away, but while she slept it had been harder.

But those nights kept him alive as he used them to plan for their future.  He also would look forward to speaking to her when she woke.  He was her alarm clock, according to her, and the best way to wake in the mornings.  It also relieved him since he would feel her awaken in the bond and it would make it all worth it.

He walks into the room and lays her down on the bed he had made for them.  Nothing he has, has been touched by another, no he has spent the time to hand make all the furniture in their rooms, just as he would have done for his human wife in his time.  He wanted to give her everything, but knows from being around her the first time it will be a trial to get her to accept gifts from him.  So he slides in his gifts in as rooms redone when she isn’t here and replacing things for her.  Sooner or later in their long life, she will just accept them.

As he moves to get her something to sleep in, she moves and calls his name, “Caius.”

He is by her side in an instant, “Yes, my love?”

Bella wakes up and smiles at her King.  She had teased him that he couldn’t be her knight since he is a King, however he had teased her right back saying that he had been born a prince, and wasn’t it better to have Prince Charming than a White Knight?  They had a few laughs over that since then.

Caius climbs into the bed with his Mate, nuzzling her as he covers her body with his.  This is something he has learned with her earlier that she loves.  He will always give her what she wants.  He can be the hardass with everyone else, but never with the one woman that was his.

He will make sure she never regrets being with him.

Bella sighs as she lifts her head to allow her mate more access to her throat.  He loves on her, making her feel loved and at the same time it turns her on.  She reaches and pushes his robe down his arms, he lifting them one at time, never giving up his pursuit of her skin with his mouth, his tongue.

When he nips her collarbone gently, she arches into his body, causing him to smirk against her skin.  The smirk becomes a laugh as she becomes more insistent on the removal of his clothing.  He moves up by her ear and as he nuzzles he roughly asks her, “La mia amata, what has you so impatient?” The purr is coming without any work; he is content with his little one.

Bella moans as he attacks the spot right behind her ear.  She gets a little frustrated and hits him as she feels him shredding her clothing under his marble fingers that, after shredding the clothing, caresses her skin as though it was the finest silk.

Her hit does nothing but make him chuckle as he tells her, “Be careful, la mia piccola.  We don’t want to end this because you get hurt, do we?”  He rids her breasts of her bra and bends down to suckle one nipple.

Bella arches with a cry as he attacks her breasts, suckling them as a child would at her breasts. She chokes out, “Not…fair…oh goooood, Caius!” Lights explode behind her eyes and her world shatters.

Slowly she comes back down to earth, not embarrassed at all by her coming from him worshipping her breasts.  They had found out last time how sensitive he can drive her there and he enjoys making her come with that alone. He has also been teaching her that their lovemaking is nothing to be ashamed about.

He is up at her mouth, kissing her as his fingers make short work of the rest of her clothing, leaving her bare to him.

But as her hand ghosts back down to him, he had also removed his clothing also. She smiles as her hands caresses his back as he moves down her body, taking his time, making sure she knows how much he loves her by the open mouth kisses and nips.

He is between her legs, looking down at the neat trimmed area as he tells her, “Mia amore, tu sei la mia paradiso personale.”  Then he lowers his mouth to her, flattening his tongue as he swipes from her clit back.  His body lowers itself below her, as his arm is holding her down from her bucking up as he works his magic below her.

Bella’s eyes are closed in desire as she pants under his ministrations.  His mouth is pure magic on her, and he knows it.  What is worse is his purring, since it is making his whole body, including his mouth, vibrate, which he uses against her. She clutches to his hair, enjoying the feel of the silk against her fingers, loving the shortness he had down for her, but that he left enough length for her to have something to grab on during their matings.

As she comes apart in his mouth, he doesn’t relent, using his tongue to thrust in and out of her making sure he gets every drop of her essence.  Only after her fourth orgasm, and her begging, does he release her.

Quicker than she can track, he is nestled in between her legs and is kissing her lovingly.  Her hands slide down and cup his behind, one of her favorite parts of her lover.  She pulls him into her, as her legs wrap around his trim and fit waist.

As he felt her pull him to her, he allowed himself to sink inside, always thrilled as she takes him completely inside of her.  He stops to allow her time to adjust to his size.  He uses the time to rain kisses down on her, telling her he loves her and how wonderful she is in between the kisses.  She is everything to him, and he uses times like these to try to not only tell her, but to show her.

Unable to keep still anymore, Bella rocks her hips into him, her smile brightening his face.  Without anything else needed, Caius proceeded to lay claim on his mate.  While Jasper will hear all this, Caius isn’t that much of a cold hearted ass to make him hear her as he brings her to climax tonight.

Because Caius is going to make sure his mate has problems walking tomorrow, at least if he has any say to it.  He had kept his temper – well mostly – when Edward tried to claim his mate, and left his scent on her.  He kept it better when it was shown that Jasper would have been her mate until he found her.

But no more.  Bella is his and he was going to make sure everyone knows it.

As he thrusts into her, Bella is keeping pace.  But she knows from times previous that he will proceed to go faster than she can stand.  And she has a feeling that tonight will be one of those nights that, while she enjoys what he does to her, afterwards she will wish to be a vampire. But Caius also treats her like a princess and pampers her until she feels better.

As her pleasure builds, the moans and nonsense words that fall from her mouth increase.  Caius loves the effect he has on her and soon saves her from having to try to make words by kissing her deeply, swallowing her cries as she crests yet again under him.

But something in him, something dark and primal, is called forth and he snarls.  He pulls back long enough to reposition her on all fours and thrusts back into her.  He is going much faster and at first, he had just been behind her, but soon he encloses her with his body as he keeps up his rhythm. He is growling as he tells her, “Mine, all mine.  No other will have you.  MINE!”

Bella gasps as he goes faster, but even as he is, he is still careful with her.  He only puts enough force in his thrusts to relieve them both, but she can see how easy it would be for him to break her.  But as she listens to his words, she gasps out to him, “Yours, my love.  Only yours.” And with that, she jerks up against him as she cums again.

He roars and without thinking as he releases inside her, his teeth latch on her neck.  What he does is pump his scent into her, making sure there cannot be any question who she belongs to.

His release lasts through hers, and he manages to coax another right after as he continues to fly on his own release.  When they are both done, he releases her neck, and licks it, soothing it as he falls to the side with her, never budging from being inside his mate.  He is purring and only after he comes down from the coital bliss, he realizes what he has done.  He looks down to see that just like each time before, he has once again manage to bite the same spot each time.

Bella is trying to get her breath back as she feels him hold her closer to him as he tells her, “Sorry, my love.”

She looks over her shoulder at him and smiles.  “Caius, if you are going to apologize after every time we make love, I am going to get a complex.”

He smiles down at her, his crimson eyes reflecting her mirth.  He tells her, “It does seem like each time we make love, I do bite at one point. Doesn’t it?”

Laughing lightly as she snuggles under his arms as he wraps his body around hers.  She tells him, “And from what I gather, you always will.  But who knows, when you change me, maybe that relieve the beast inside. I will smell like you permantly.”

He looks over her shoulder at her and is relieved that she really does not care.  It is never painful, but the first time he had done it, he had been frightened.  He had waited until she fell asleep and with no sign of her turning, he had gone to the only other known True Mated male in the world, Marcus.

He had asked about what had happened and Marcus laughed.  He told his blonde brother that it is instinct.  He had bitten Didyme every single time they had made love.  And he has no doubt that Caius will do the same, being as possessive of Bella as he was of his own Mate.  But he explained that the bite pumped his scent in her.  But that when they get ready to turn her, there will be no problem and he will produce the venom needed.

But Marcus had warned Caius, “We have no idea what a long term exposure to your scent from your bite will do. I cannot see how we produce it, but there should be some venom in it.  Didyme was turned in a couple of days of our first mating.  Her turning was easier, but not much.  Since then, we have no idea what it will do.” He had never been able to find out what had been normal or not in his mating.  But now with Caius and Bella his knowledge was worth its weight in gold.  If nothing more than to relieve both of them when something happens like this.

With that said, Caius had discussed it with Bella.  She had asked to wait until they are similar in age.  She didn’t need to be his age, just to be able to pass for it.  He had agreed, knowing what Alec and Jane went through being turned early.  And since the ages seem to be later as time went by, he had no issue with his mate matching him in age.  Though he teases her that she will be physically older than him before she could match him in looks. She had just humphed at him and told him they would see.

Both had decided that they will continue what they are doing and what will be, will be.  And both have been happy with that.

Right now, Caius nuzzles her neck where his bite is as he listens to his mate fall asleep.  He will wake her many times to make love to her.  For now, he lets her sleep as he takes in her scent mixed with his.

He also uses this time to ponder all that has happened today.  Jasper was a surprise, and though he mentioned it once, his brothers and Jasper himself understood what he meant.  Unless something happened to them both, Bella would continue if he meets the true death.  Jasper will not be able to do anything but step in and claim her.  The only thing that can prevent it is theoretically meeting his true mate.  But they never had this situation.

True Mates are so rare because of the way they connect.  But as Marcus explained it, the bonds are silver and gold wrapped around each other and is so connected, it is hard to tell the difference between the two.

Regular mates are whatever color they are wrapped around each other, becoming more intricate over the years and the depth of their devotion to each other.

Companions are just side by side, and family from there.  They had not really believed that there were True Mates, chalking up Marcus and Didyme to a one time deal, no matter what the legends say.  But the second Bella’s and Caius’s eyes met, Marcus watched the bond flare into being.  The instant attraction the two have for each other is unprecedented.  Even mates have to fall in love, but it seemed like the two of them just fell in love the second they saw each other.  And neither would have it no other way.

They could not explain to anyone else, but Marcus and Aro had dived into the archives to find out more.  They had not unearthed anything new, but the common belief is that if your True Mate is yet to be born, the vampire will not find a mate until either they pass away, or they meet you.  The same is true of the other half. Jasper has blown that to pieces with his mating bond to Isabella.  And Marcus has confirmed it is a true bond.  But what is unusual about it, is while it is a Mating Bond, it is also as a brother.  Jasper will be closer to her than anyone but Caius.  And this pleases him.  He doesn’t want his mate to be unhappy and Jasper and he will do everything in their power to make her happy.

Caius smiles as he hears his name as she mutters in her sleep.  When she shudders, he pulls up the blankets to cover them both.  Jane had come up with the idea of a heated mattress to help ward off any chills because of him, and he had thanked her profusely.

Caius falls back into downtime as he contemplates the other issue that was shown today.  Jasper has certainly brought trouble with him, but there is no blame to the youngling.  No, instead they will be issuing punishments to the Cullens.  He suspects that Aro will demand them to stay with them for a period of time.  Alice and Edward would be problems.  He will need to discuss with his mate and brothers on what they are to do.

Another thought popped up and he decided to discuss not only having Jasper and the rest of the Whitlock Coven in charge of Bella’s security, but to be in charge of all guards.  Their knowledge of newborns alone would make it worthwhile.

Caius grins as he thinks his way through everything.  Nothing will be boring with his mate here.  No.  He turns his attention back to her as he gets ready to wake her in anticipation of mating with her again.

No, nothing will be the same, but how often does one get the happy ending?  He and Bella are getting it, and he will thank the Gods every day for it.  With that thought, he starts kissing his beloved mate to make good on his promise to himself that she will not walk tomorrow.

 Her story that inspired this is Unyielding Devotion. You can find it in the formats below:

WordPress Site
FanFiction Site
The Writers Coffee Shop (thanks Lady!)

Thanks for reading. ~Wendy