BPOV
Previously "Alice had a vision," he said grimly, "The Denali coven is in the area and has decided to visit. They'll be here in a couple of hours." Emmett's jubilant expression turned serious; an odd look on his usually cheerful face.
Without another word we all went into the living area where Alice was informing the others. "Well," Carlisle sighed, "This could create some problems."
I looked at them, confused. "Why would it be a problem, aren't they your friends?" I asked.
Emmett snickered and Edward aimed a soft growl at him. "We are Bella," Emmett explained, a mischievous grin on his face, "But Tanya's been trying to seduce Edward for decades – he's always rejected her of course, but she still hasn't stopped trying."
I let out an involuntary snarl which caused everyone to laugh at me. I shrugged, "Well he's mine, and if she tries anything I'll just have to show her who's boss, and how to act." I stated calmly. There was no way I was going to let another vampire try to steal my Edward.
Emmett was now sporting a full blown grin. "This is going to be awesome! I can't wait to see what happens when Tanya gets all bitchy and you take her down!"
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not going to take her down for being bitchy Emmett." His face dropped, "But I will hurt her if she tries anything with Edward," I assured him.
"Yes!" Emmett whooped, "BITCH FIGHT!"
We all rolled our eyes. Carlisle cleared his throat and we all quietened down and paid attention to him. "Tanya aside, I'm sure I mentioned to you while we were in Volterra Bella that Irina was quite attached to Laurent." Realisation dawned on me as I nodded. I had killed Laurent- if anyone had killed Edward I would want revenge. Irina was not going to like me one bit.
Beside me Edward tensed. "I won't let her hurt you Bella."
I scoffed, "Please Edward, she can't hurt me."
Edward sighed, "I know, but I can't help my protective instincts love- you know that."
I smiled softly at him. "I know. Anyway, Uncle Aro likes and trusts Eleazer, and by extension his family, so it's okay for me to tell them who I am- although the likelihood of them actually believing I'm the Volturi Princess at first isn't high," I said wryly.
Carlisle frowned, "You will have to stress that they can't tell anyone though?"
I nodded, "Yes, but from what I understand they would be unlikely to tell anyone anyway- it's not like they run into vampires a lot."
"No they don't," Carlisle confirmed, "And even if they did the likelihood of them mentioning the Volturi in casual conversation isn't very high."
"Good."
"Well, at the moment they haven't made any decisions other than to drop in for a short visit," Alice announced, "They are planning to ask us whether Laurent has passed by here- Irina's worried, and she's dragged everyone along with her to find him."
I winced, "Well she'll find him alright," I muttered, wondering how I would feel if I were in her place. I was very thankful that the vampire I had fallen for was Edward- who would never leave me to help another vampire hunt down a human girl.
We all settled and watched the TV in subdued silence as we waited for them to arrive.
After about half an hour Alice's eyes glazed over for a second. We all waited impatiently for news, Jasper flooding the room with calmness in an effort to restrain our anxiousness. "They'll be here in five minutes," Alice announced as she broke out of her haze.
Those five minutes passed slowly, I cast out my shield, automatically shielding everyone in the family both mentally and physically. This time though I stretched my personal mental shield around everyone so that Edward would still be able to hear his family's thoughts, as well as my own. I didn't know what talents the three succubi sisters had, if any, but I figured it was best to keep my family safe.
Of course, Edward loved the fact that I was letting him into my mind. He grinned at me. I rolled my eyes, Don't get used to this Edward, I like my privacy," I thought to him. He sighed, but nodded resignedly. I stretched a separate shield out, feeling are the end of my range. I soon felt the five vampires enter it, heading a medium run towards the house.
Through my mind Edward could monitor them with me. "Wow," He muttered, "Now I can really see what you meant about being able to feel people with your shield."
The other Cullens looked intrigued. "Bella can feel them getting closer; she knows exactly where they are using her gift," he informed them.
It seemed that they had finally gotten used to the idea that my shields could do almost anything. Jasper winked, "That's our Princess," he drawled. The others chuckled lightly, but there was a nervous edge to it.
Finally Alice got up and waltzed to the door; opening it just as the vampires reached the top step of the porch. "Hi guys, it's good to see you again- although we weren't expecting a visit so soon." No, we certainly hadn't.
Alice stepped back and allowed them inside. "Hi Alice, Irina dragged us out here since Laurent seems to have gone missing, and while we were in the neighbourhood we thought we'd stop by. How's Edward? Has he gotten over his little human pet yet?" I snarled in my thoughts at that and Edward hugged me closer to him.
The voice was female with a seductive quality. As she finished speaking she stepped into view. She was a strawberry blonde vampire- quite pretty, but nowhere near Rosalie in the looks department.
Edward chuckled softly at my assessment. The other four vampires came in after her. Her two sisters were also pretty, but they also had nothing on Rosalie- or Alice and Esme for that matter. Behind them was an older couple- a Spanish looking woman who I took to be Carmen, and a male- Eleazer.
We all stood to greet them. I saw Tanya's eyes look me over critically, and beside me Edward tensed- obviously Tanya's thoughts about me weren't favourable ones. I stared confidently back at her and cocked an eyebrow. He's mine, I thought, lightly tracing over the cuff Edward was wearing on his wrist. Edward smiled at me, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"Hello again Eleazer, Carmen, Kate, Irina and Tanya, it's good to see you again," Carlisle greeted them politely and Esme did the same.
Emmett was looking back and forth from me to Tanya, a hopeful look on his face. Carlisle and Esme continued to exchange pleasantries with Eleazer and Carmen while the three sisters eyed me speculatively.
Tanya's face turned up in a sneer. "You must be Bella; the human he's so enchanted by- although I can't see why." She looked me up and down with disgust before I said "same goes to you minus the enchanted part because Edward is not interested in you." She snarled "Watch it little human."Almost immediately after I said "To insult me, I must first value your opinion, Nice try though." she ignored me turning to Edward, "Well Edward, when you get bored of this little distraction you know where to find me."
Edward tensed and opened his mouth, but I placed a hand on his arm reassuringly. "No Edward, obviously your polite attempts at turning her down have had no effect. It's my turn." I stated and He shut his mouth and relaxed slightly.
I stepped forward, towards Tanya, holding her gaze with my own and letting her know that I was in no way afraid of her, nor was I a meek little creature that could be pushed around. Tanya's eyes flashed with surprise before turning cold again. I didn't need to be Jasper to feel jealously and hostility rolling off her.
"Tanya, it's nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you 87% of it is about you hitting on Edward." I said in a sickly sweet tone. Then my voice turned cold. "I think it's about time that you got a few things straight in your head Blondie. Edward is mine. We are mates. Our souls are irrevocably intertwined and we love each other. Neither of us will leave the other, especially not for the likes of you." I looked her up and down and outut of the corner of my eye I could see a big grin spreading across Emmett's face as my words got more venomous. Incredulity was on the faces of the Denali coven, although Tanya's also held anger.
She glared at me, but I just glared back. "Remember your place human," she sneered at me, I smiled "I could kill you with a flick of my wrist. You should learn not to antagonise those stronger than you." The entire Cullen family, even Esme, were now glaring at Tanya due to her utterly useless threat.
I chuckled. "I'm not scared of you Tanya, in fact it's almost laughable. If you think threatening me would make me leave Edward your sadly Mistaken. It's also incredibly stupid of you to think that if I wasn't here he would run to you- from what I hear he was rejecting you long before I showed up." Emmett looked positively jubilant. Alice, Jasper and Rosalie looked amused.
She snarled at me, her eyes now blazing with fury. Her sisters looked concerned, but made no move to calm her down. I snarled back at her, secretly pleased that the chances were high that I would have an opportunity to hurt this annoying vampire.
Sure enough, my snarled comment provoked her. Her eyes flashed with anger and she leapt towards me. I pushed out a shield, stretching it in a dome that covered us and reached out a few metres in front of us. Tanya slammed into it hard and was thrown back into her sisters.
The blow knocked some of the fury out of her, and while her eyes still showed how mad she was she didn't immediately try again. Instead the five Denali vampires looked at me with shocked expressions- something I had been getting used to of late.
"Tanya, If you're going to be a smartass, first you have to be smart. Otherwise you're just an ass. you also would do much better if you stopped to find out what you are facing instead of getting mad and charging at me," I said smirking at her. "I am not a weak human, and you cannot hurt me, so get over your stupid and unwanted crush on Edward because he will never be yours." My voice was menacing at the end and everyone could hear the threat in my voice.
Tanya tried to maintain a shred of dignity. "This isn't over," she said in a soft, but determined voice. It was so low that I wasn't meant to hear it.
I held her gaze, "Oh, But it is, and I mustn't waste my time on garbage." I said and I continued glaring at her until she looked away, shock in her expression.
"Amazing," Eleazer spoke up, looking at me with interest, "I've never met a human who could control a gift like that. I'm guessing you have a shield of some sort since I can't feel you with my gift," he continued, his eyes piercing. I nodded, but refused to get into details with him.
Carlisle cut in tactfully, "Everyone, I would like to formally introduce you to our newest family member," he said, stressing the word family so that they understood that I was a permanent fixture, not a temporary distraction. "This is Bella Swan."
Kate stepped forward first, confidence in her stride. Beside me Edward tensed, then smirked. "Bella, it's nice to meet you, the Cullen's have told us a lot about you," she said politely. "I'm Kate."
I took her proffered hand and shook it lightly. "It's nice to meet you too Kate, I've heard a lot about you and your family too." I watched with interest as her confident expression turned into a confused frown.
Beside me Edward grinned. "Your gift won't work on her Kate, her shield is much too strong for that."
I arched an eyebrow at her and she had the good grace to look sheepish. "Sorry," she apologised, "But I had to test out your shield. I can zap people by touching them."
I shrugged my shoulders, "I understand, you're certainly not the first person to try out your gift on me."
The others greeted me, but felt no need to close the careful distance between us.
Finally Eleazer got to the point of their visit- something I had not been looking forward to. "We came this way looking for Laurent," he explained. "We haven't seen him in a few weeks, has he passed by here by any chance?"
I winced. Despite the fact that Laurent had tried to eat me, I still felt sorry for Irina- this was going to be hard for her to accept the truth. "Yes, I'm afraid Bella had a run-in with Laurent while the rest of us were visiting you in Alaska," Carlisle admitted. There was compassion in his eyes as he looked at Irina.
It was my turn to say something. As the Volturi Princess I had been taught (although I'd never had to put it into action before) how to inform vampires of another's death, since the Volturi were often responsible for killing vampires who did the wrong thing.
"I'm sorry to inform you that as Laurent threatened my life I felt the need to defend myself by killing him," I informed them, watching sadly as the last shreds of hope vanished from Irina's face.
"No!" she shrieked, "He can't be!" She sobbed silently and her sisters converged around her, rubbing her back and soothing her slightly. Eleazer and Carmen looked sad, but resigned- I had obviously confirmed their suspicions that he was already dead.
I remained silent, waiting for it to sink in. After a few moments Irina composed herself. She straightened up and turned to me, determination in her eyes. She wanted retribution. "You're lying," she accused me. "Laurent was doing just fine on our vegetarian diet! He just had to visit an old friend again and then he was coming back to me. You killed him for no good reason- he didn't drink human blood anymore."
"I'm afraid that you are wrong. Laurent met with his friend- Victoria and was doing her a favour by finding out whether there was any way for Victoria to get to me and kill me. However, he was hungry, and he decided that I would make a nice snack. I warned him a couple of times that I would kill him if he tried to eat me, but he didn't listen. I even let him try to bite me before I killed him," I explained, although I knew in reality it was useless. He was her mate, and although she hadn't known him for long she loved him and didn't want to hear about his faults.
She glared at me. "Judging by your shield, I may not be able to harm you. But I will go to the Volturi and tell them about you. Let's see how happy you are when they kill not only you, but your precious mate as well," she sneered that threat at me.
I swallowed my laugh; knowing it would only make her angrier, but Edward smirked. Emmet and Jasper chuckled; earning them glares from Esme and Carlisle, and curious glances from Eleazer and Carmen. Tanya and Kate stood with their sister; their stances telling me that they would back their sister 100%.
"Look," I said, "If I hadn't killed Laurent when I did, the werewolves of La Push would have anyway since they showed up afterwards- there was no way you were getting him back alive." She growled at me, "And threatening me with the Volturi really doesn't scare me. In fact, go ahead, I'd love to see you try," I felt slightly guilty for issuing such a challenge since my Volturi family would probably threaten her, and possibly hurt her for wanting to kill me.
This time it was Tanya that growled. "You'll regret this human when the Volturi show up to kill you- they are invincible. I'll have to request that they leave Edward alive; it would be such a waste for him to die along with you when he could be with me," she sneered.
That really annoyed me. "I was always tought to think before I act, so if I punched you in the face, rest assured I've thought about it and I'm confident in my decision." I snarled at her, and Edward's hand came up to my shoulder to help calm me. The platinum swan on his cuff glinted in the light and Eleazer's eyes suddenly zeroed in on the seals stamped into it. "What's the second seal on your cuff Edward," he asked suspiciously. "The first one is the Cullen Crest, and the swan is obviously for Bella, but the other seal almost looks Volterran in design- like something Felix would create.
Edward looked at me, silently asking whether it was okay to tell them the truth. It's fine 'Edward, go ahead, I reassured him.'
"It's the personal symbol of the Volturi Princess," he announced, holding out his wrist so that Eleazer would see it better. All five Denali vampire's jaws dropped in shock, even Irina momentarily forgot her fury as their eyes took in the seal. The Cullen's looked on, somewhat smug looks adorning their faces. While in Volterra they had seen my personal crest a number of times.
"Have you met the elusive princess?" Eleazer asked, a shocked look on his face.
Edward smiled, "Indeed I have, in fact we all have," he said, motioning to myself and the rest of the Cullens. "She is the one who gave me this cuff," he informed Eleazer, a proud note in his voice.
Eleazer's eyebrows lifted slightly, "If I didn't know better I'd think she was claiming you," he observed, confusion now in his features.
"She is," Edward admitted, smiling in amusement.
Eleazer frowned, "But you said your mate is Bella." He stated.
"Exactly," I spoke up. "I'm afraid when Carlisle introduced me he only used the shortened version of my name. My full name is Bella Marie Swan Volturi, or, as I'm sure you've heard, the Volturi Princess."
The five vampires froze. They remained completely still as Emmett's laughter burst forth. It was no surprise that Emmett found their reaction amusing.
Surprisingly, Carmen was the first to recover. "It is a pleasure to meet you Princess," she said softly, "Although I must admit that it is quite a shock- we were led to believe that the Volturi Princess was a vampire."
I smiled, "Yes, I'm afraid that was purposely done- we did not wish for people to believe the Volturi was weak for having a human in the family, and I will be a vampire soon enough."
Then I turned to Tanya and her sisters, "I'm afraid Laurent signed his death certificate when he threatened to eat me. If I hadn't killed him then my guards Felix and Demetri would have tracked him down and disposed of him instead- and nothing would have been able to save Laurent. There would have been no place he could hide where Demetri couldn't find him." They had no doubt heard about Demetri's extraordinary tracking talent- it was well known in the vampire world, and often feared. My tone was severe and the warning in my voice was obvious. I hoped that they would get the message- if they even thought about hurting me my guards would be after them.
The three sisters glared at me, so I continued. "But please, you are by all means welcome to go to the Volturi and tell them about your encounter with me- I'm sure my family would love to see you," the dark tone in my voice left no doubt of what would happen if they ever mentioned their encounter with me.
There was silence for a moment before Eleazer broke it. "Well it was lovely seeing you all again and meeting you Bella, but I'm afraid we can't stay longer. I believe it would be best if we went back to Alaska. Thank you for informing us of Laurent's demise." With that said he ushered everyone out the door. As they left I said "Have a great day somewhere else.- that statement only applies to the one who jumped at me (AKA Tanya) and miss I'm going to tell the Volturri (AKA Irina). The rest of you may actually have a great day!"
Once they were outside of mine and Edward's range I retracted my shields and sighed, melting into Edward's comforting embrace. While I was annoyed at Irina for threatening me, I was also incredibly sorry for her loss.
Emmett of course, knew exactly how to brighten the mood. "Damn Bella," he stated, "It's times like these I wish I could eat a large bowl of popcorn without having to throw it up later. Having you around is the best entertainment ever! I wish I'd had the video camera recording when she lunged for you and bounced back into her sisters." His laughter was contagious, and we were soon all laughing as we relived that scene.