Once stung, thrice bitten - Chapter 12
AN: This chapter contains mentions of vampires' deaths, violence, abandonment (not done to the reader), and mentions of manipulation (not done to the reader).
Bella wasn’t sure what higher being decided to take pity on her as she walked into the house but she would be forever grateful that they did and that they sent Billy and Jacob in after her. Bella was completely silent as Billy came up with an impenetrable cover story about what had happened in the store and why Bella was late returning home.
“We can’t keep lying to Charlie,” Bella thought as she bit down hard on her lip. Out of Charlie’s field of vision, Jacob’s eyes widened and he signalled for Bella to cut that out.
Bella met Jacob’s gaze and she stopped biting her lip, “Right. Charlie knows that I bite my lip when I’m stressing about something. He’d know something was up immediately. Can I even tell him anything about the world that he’s unknowingly a part of?”
Jacob made the gesture again and Bella could feel the pressure of her teeth on her lip. This time she wasn’t so lucky and Charlie noticed. His eyes narrowed as he looked at her.
“Bella. What’s going on?”
Bella drew in a deep breath, “A lot, and I’m stressing over it. A lot of it has to deal with school.”
“It’s not lying,” Bella tried to reassure herself, “I met Edward at school and everything took off from there. Hopefully, Charlie thinks that I mean schoolwork.”
Bella ignored the other voice in her head that asked her if she was hoping that Charlie believed her lie.
Bella’s heart sunk as Charlie accepted her explanation, “Better go get started on it then, Bella.”
Billy and Jacob said their goodbyes and once Bella was inside her room, she opened her curtains, half expecting there to still be a crowd on her lawn. She wasn’t sure why she was both disappointed and relieved when she saw that there was nobody there.
Hours later when Bella had had enough of reading the same words over and over again and was packing up her books; she heard the text tone of her phone. Forgetting the pile of books, she dove for her phone and saw that Jacob had sent her a text. The text was brief and it told her to meet him on the border of the wolf territory and the town itself. If Bella remembered correctly, that was in the woods; hidden from even the most daring of adventurers.
The next day, Bella took several deep breaths as she stood in front of the forest. Just as she was about to walk into the forest, you spoke up next to her.
Bella jumped in the air and she turned to face you with an annoyed expression.
“I’m sorry; I really need to stop doing that. I think I’ve picked up some stealth habits from the Volturi,” you apologised even as your shoulders shook with your suppressed laughter, “I’m not laughing at you,” you quickly promised.
Bella looked at you, “Can we walk in together?”
“Absolutely. I won’t leave your side until we meet up with the others.”
The two of you made your way into the forest. The bases of the trees grew thicker and the roots grew larger which forced you and Bella to carefully climb over them. There were many times that the both of you nearly tripped only to be caught by the other. You knew that you were close to the middle of the forest when the shadows grew larger and although there was some sunlight still streaming into the forest, it was much less than outside the forest.
Bella waved to Billy as Sue helped him out of the car and into his wheelchair. The car that Billy used was a lot like Emmett’s Jeep but much thinner than her truck which explained how it was able to navigate in the forest.
Bella felt multiple whooshes of air and she blinked. The Volturi were standing around the both of you with Caius standing to your left.
“They’re here to protect Caius and (Name).” Bella thought and she was aware of the self-depreciating tone in her thoughts as Caius looked at (Name) as if to reassure himself that she was okay. He gave Bella a quick once over as well and she wondered why.
Multiple measured footfalls reached Bella’s ears and as the footfalls drew nearer, Bella realised that they were a combination of the residents of La Push in human and wolf form. There were ten huge wolves including Jacob. Bella switched her gaze to the human residents of La Push. There were women and children there as well and Bella felt her blood run cold.
“How many people will be drawn into this because of me? How many families have I already destroyed? Because of my choices?”
As if you could sense her thoughts, you gave Bella’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. She looked at you in thanks.
The Cullens and Qui-Gon appeared suddenly and this time, it was Bella’s turn to give your arm a reassuring squeeze.
“We join here,” Billy began, “to protect our people. Our families and our culture. The threat of the incoming Cold Ones is something that we must deal with. Our wolves are here to learn how to defeat the enemy in their current forms.”
Bella was sure that she wasn’t the only one who heard the underlying message in Billy’s speech – the wolves didn’t trust them enough to be in human form. Bella refocused as Billy beckoned Caius forward.
The collective gasp from the Cullens and the residents of La Push told Bella that they were not expecting Billy’s action. Bella was once again struck by how severe the situation was. Caius walked to the centre of the triangle that had been formed by the wolves and La Push residents, the Volturi and the Cullens.
Caius raised a hand and Jasper stepped forward. Caius crooked two fingers and Jasper made his way to stand opposite Caius. The two vampires circled each other while they called out pieces of advice and battle tactics. The wolves watched attentively.
“Never go for the obvious kill,” Jasper said but his posture was different. He seemed to be more in control and in his element, “they will be expecting that and you will lose.”
“Use your surroundings to your advantage,” Caius advised as he blocked a strike from Jasper only to throw a punch of his own which Jasper dodged easily. In one quick movement, Caius swept Jasper’s feet out from underneath him. Jasper rolled to dodge Caius’ next strike and was back on his feet in a flash.
“They have purposely slowed this down for us,” Bella realised. She was proven right as the fight escalated and sped up. She could see the interest on each of the Volturi’s faces and wondered how often they watched Caius spar. The speed of the fight increased to such a speed that the only thing Bella could make out was the blurred limbs that belonged to Jasper and Caius.
There was a colossal bang and both vampires fell to the ground. They acknowledged each other with a nod and then Jasper ordered the vampires to divide into pairs and practice. Once again the wolves watched with interest and Bella thought she saw a few of the younger wolves snap their jaws excitedly.
Jasper walked over to you and Bella.
“What can we do?” Bella demanded the second Jasper was in earshot.
Jasper’s grin was crooked, “You both will be staying on a cliff, guarded by Athenodora. Your combined scents will send the newborns into a frenzy and your scents will be the only things they can focus on.”
Bella saw you frown, “How do you know so much about newborns?”
Jasper’s crooked grin grew, “I was the youngest major in the Texas cavalry. One night, I was riding and I encountered three women. I immediately stopped and offered aid since I was taught to help women not to fear them. I spent three days in agony once Maria bit me and when I awoke, she placed me in charge of training the newborns.”
“Newborn vampire battles happened then?” Bella asked, not believing her ears.
“Frequent vampire battles over territories were more common than you think, especially in the South at that time,” Jasper explained, “my job of training the newborns was never-ending as Maria never let them live past a year. As you can imagine, with my gift, I felt every emotion as I killed them. Eventually, I grew tired of the senseless violence and left.”
“And you found your way to me. It took you long enough.” Alice chirped and Jasper smiled.
Whatever negative feelings Bella had towards Alice, Renee had always taught her to say thank you and so Bella awkwardly thanked Alice and Jasper for choosing to fight. She turned to look for you and she saw you and Qui-Gon standing off to the side.
As she walked closer to both of you, she noticed Caius’ expression. He appeared to be completely calm as he chatted with Athenodora and Demetri. With a jolt, Bella realised that even though Caius could probably hear everything that was being said; he wasn’t hovering around you like Edward used to hover around her and eavesdrop.
“Caius completely trusts (Name) and it’s not just because they are mates.” Bella felt a spike of envy as she realised that.
Now Bella could hear yours and Qui-Gon’s voices.
“Please, (Name), there is no need for you to be a part of the upcoming battle.”
“No, Qui-Gon.” Your voice sounded tired but it rang with finality, “Our relationship is well and truly over. This time it’s my turn to choose and I choose to stand by the side of my mates.”
