BPOV
I looked down at our intertwined hands as we walked into the forest. Edward’s index finger kept tracing over the engagement ring like he was reminding himself it was there. I tilted my head up to look at his perfect face and saw a serenity that he rarely possessed. I’m so thankful that he forgave me and I get to keep him in life forever.
“Where’s Seth?” It just occurred to me that the wolf had not been outside the tent when we left.
Edward grinned at me. “I think he wanted to get away from us. As soon as the fight was over he took off to join the others.” I just bet he did. I shuddered to think of what he must have thought of me. Though he couldn’t read my mind, Edward could still often read me. “Love, he didn’t think badly of you. He felt bad for all of us really. He hates for Jacob to be hurt but he likes me as well. He pretty much just wishes everything will turn out okay, regardless of who you end up with.”
I rolled my eyes. “There was never any doubt who I’d end up with.”
He laughed. “Says you.”
I pursed my lips at him. “Gah, I wish you could read my mind. You’d never have any doubts when it came to my feelings for you. Of course you probably would have run from me like you did Jessica Stanley and all her fantasies…” He winced and I couldn’t continue the thought because I started laughing so hard. My laugh cut off abruptly when he scooped me back up and plopped me on his back unexpectedly. It’s a lot like being on a roller coaster when he moves at his nonhuman speed. It used to scare me but now it excited me.
“Your fantasies wouldn’t have scared me, young lady. They would have inspired me.”
“You work on that inspiration then, sweetheart. You have a honeymoon to plan after all.” Ha, I know that’s going to freak him out. Really, I don’t know what he’s so worried about. He has the self control of one of those Tibetan monks we read about in class. Getting under his skin occasionally is a lot of fun. Edward’s skin…
“Bella,” he huffed. I giggled and leaned forward to nibble on his ear. “Stop it, you’re distracting me.”
“Distracting you from what? The fight is over.” No sooner had I spoken those words than Edward’s cell phone began to chirp. “Alice, has to be. Her and her timing.”
Edward chuckled and answered the phone. “Hello, Alice; Bella wants to thank you for your stellar timing, as always. I assume everything went well?” Since he insisted on holding his phone to the ear I’d been nibbling, I switched over to the right side instead. His body tensed up and I felt a surge of triumph go through me. I could excite him.
“What do you mean, she wasn’t there?” Oh, so it wasn’t me then. Wait a minute, who is she? Victoria? They didn’t get Victoria? “Did you catch her scent anywhere?” The tension had seeped from his body into his voice and I could hear a hint of his growl. That figures, just when everything started to make sense in the world we get sucked right back into drama. I’m so sick of the drama. Why doesn’t he just bite me now and we can get on with our lives? “We’ll be right there.” He snapped his phone shut and shifted me higher on his back. “Hold on, Bella, we’re going to hurry up and join the others. I don’t like the idea that Victoria might be lurking around here. I don’t hear her but she’s been blocking both me and Alice for awhile now.”
He took off and everything around me blurred. I saw flashes of green and white from the snow covered leaves but couldn’t make anything out beyond color. I usually loved this feeling of freedom, flying across the ground on Edward’s back but now I was too busy worrying that Victoria was going to pop out of nowhere and take us both down. Panic started to well up and I tried to shove it down. She was greatly outnumbered now, with all the wolves and vampires roaming the forest. We’ll be fine. Nothing to worry about, Bella, I told myself.
Edward’s head suddenly cocked toward the right and he came to a complete stop. How could he go from 100 to 0 like that? My face mashed up against the back of his head as my body tried to adjust to the lack of momentum. I wasn’t about to complain about having my face buried in his beautiful bronze hair though. “Edward, what…”
“Shh, I hear something.” Okay, did he hear something with his ears or with his mind? It was so frustrating having these weak human senses around all these creatures that could pick up on so much more. I couldn’t hear a thing. His cell phone chirped again and I knew this couldn’t be a good thing.
“Alice, you don’t have to warn me, I hear her now. She’s close. What do you see?” He listened to her for a few seconds while his eyes scanned the area to our west. “Will any of you make it here in time?” Oh God, she was coming and it was just Edward and me. I couldn’t help it, I started shaking. Victoria was crazy and she wanted nothing more than to kill me in front of Edward. It seemed she’d get her chance. “What do you mean, the vision disappears? At least one of the wolves must get here then. Just keep moving; maybe you will get here in time too.” He sounded calm but I could hear the fear in his voice. No doubt that was fear over me, he could handle himself just fine and he knew it. He snapped his phone closed and gently pulled me off his back.
“Bella,” his eyes burned into mine, trying to calm me. “Everything will be fine. I will protect you, I swear it.” I didn’t doubt him; I couldn’t when he was looking at me as if I was the only thing that mattered in the world. It took everything I had in me but I stopped shaking and nodded at him.
“Okay, what do you want me to do?” I had to do something, didn’t I?
He took me by the shoulders and placed me in front of a large elm tree. “Just stand here. Don’t move. Do not worry about me, I can handle myself. If you move, I’ll get distracted and something could happen to you. If anything happens to me, just start running, hopefully the others will get here in time.”
“What do you mean if anything happens to you?” I shrieked in pure terror now. “Did Alice see something? You are not going to die for me, Edward. Just bite me now and she won’t have any reason to keep after me.” It was the perfect solution.
“What good would that do, Bella? You’ll just be incapacitated and she could take you apart with no effort at all. Don’t be ridiculous. Stay here, I don’t have time to argue with you about this.” He whirled around and faced west again. “Victoria…I hear you. I smell you. Why don’t you come out and we’ll finish this once and for all.”
Finally I saw her. That bright red hair stood out against the snowy backdrop as she moved purposefully toward us from about a hundred feet away. Her stunning face was twisted with hatred. Her blood tinged red eyes glowed. “You’ve ruined all my fun, Edward. Your family and those foul creatures took all my toys away.” Amazingly she sounded like a preschooler who’d lost her favorite Barbie doll.
Edward’s laugh was chilling. “That they did, Victoria. And now you’re quite outnumbered. Are you ready to join your beloved James?”
At the mention of his name she let out a shriek of outrage. Then her eyes narrowed and she smiled the most blood curdling smile I’d ever seen. “But I’m not exactly outnumbered am I? From where I’m standing it looks like even odds, unless your little human is of any use against me?” Yeah, I’m useless, Victoria, go ahead and rub it in. Someday soon you won’t be able to say that about me, provided I do get out of this alive. “I can’t wait to taste her, Edward. I’ll be sure you’re still alive to see me do it.” She was about 25 feet away now, distance easily covered in one leap for her. I was frozen against the tree at her words and the rage on her face.
Edward’s voice was a purr now. “I don’t need any help to take you out. It will be a pleasure to end you.” I shivered. His voice was so cold, so un-Edward-like. “I’ve waited to get the opportunity to take you on for a long time now.”
She smiled seductively and let her tongue trace slowly over her lip. “No more waiting, Edward. I’m hungry and your little girlfriend is going to make a lovely meal.”
A guttural growl came out of his throat. I’d never heard Edward sound so savage. He took a step forward and motioned to Victoria to come closer. “Here’s your chance. See if you can get through me.”
At his words, she bent into a crouch and threw herself forward. He did the same and their bodies crashed together with a sound like thunder. They both fell to the ground, landing perfectly on their feet despite the powerful crash. She leapt on him and seemed to be trying to get him into some kind of bear hug but he broke that hold and twisted her arm. Oh my god, he didn’t twist it, he pulled it right off. She screamed and used her left arm to throw him into a tree about 10 feet away. I braced myself to push away from the tree and run to him but he was up before I could even think about moving.
He ran at Victoria in a blur of speed and all I could hear was growling and crashing. Their movements were too fast for me to focus on. I couldn’t tell who was winning. My attention was diverted by the sight of Victoria’s arm inching along the ground toward the two of them. It was macabre and fascinating all at the same time. When had I wandered into a B zombie movie?
The crashing of limbs continued. Was he alright? He still had all his body parts, apparently, so that had to be a good thing. I would hold on to that because I would lose my mind if he were to be hurt. Even if I died right after, the moments between his death and mine would be endless pain. Their bodies shifted and she was closer to me, Edward facing me now. His eyes were completely black. He had never looked more like a hunter, a killer even. The first time he smelled me in Biology had brought out the beast inside him but this was more. This was primal. I finally had a glimpse of the monster that he always claimed to be. This must be what he looked like when he hunted. I’d always wanted to see him hunt, sure that he must be so beautiful and graceful. Indeed, he still was. He was just deadly as well.
The battle continued but it felt like he was looking at me with those deep black eyes. I couldn’t look away if I’d wanted to. Victoria’s other arm came off with a grinding noise. Edward wrapped his arms around her torso and held her to him. He lowered his head and ran his teeth across her throat. Her head came off with a popping sound. I just stood there, frozen in place. He wasn’t looking at me anymore; he turned away and went about pulling her apart. Suddenly I saw one of the wolves come up with one of Victoria’s arms, throwing it on the pile Edward was making. When did he get here? I tore my eyes away from the carnage and saw that they were all there. Alice was standing next to me and I didn’t even notice.
“When…when did you guys show up?” My voice was almost breathy, like I’d been the one fighting.
Alice let out a trilling laugh. “Just a minute ago. Edward had it under control so we just let him handle it. He’s wanted to take her out for a long time.” She looked at me with a glint in her golden eyes. “Did you get yourself an eyeful, Bella?”
“Uh, yeah, you could say that.”
She studied my face for a minute and an impish smile lit up hers. “You actually liked it, didn’t you?”
I was not answering that question. I was not going to tell my future sister in law that watching her brother dismember a woman had excited me deep down inside. How could I have found that erotic? What was wrong with me?
She snickered at me. “You were made to be a vampire!”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that watching Jasper when he hunts gets me hot, Bella. That’s what watching Edward did to you, I can see it on your face!” I felt my tell-tale blush spread across my cheeks.
“Alice…” I hissed, hoping to get her to shut up before Edward heard. As if she’d just remembered that we weren’t alone she giggled.
“The forest has ears, Bella. We’ll talk about it later.” I looked up and saw several pairs of eyes staring at me. Rosalie was biting her lip to suppress her laughter but Emmett wasn’t even trying. He was on the ground laughing so hard that he was silent. If vampires could cry tears would be running down his face right now. Esme was smiling at me gently. Jasper had turned away but his shoulders were moving up and down. He was laughing too. Carlisle was talking to Sam. At least someone in the Cullen family knew how to give a girl privacy when she was embarrassing herself.
The wolves, at least seemed to be going about their business, helping Edward gather all the writhing body parts and dump them into the fire he’d started. Well, all but one wolf that is. How I had not been aware of his stare was beyond me. I felt like holes were being drilled into my head. “Jacob.” I took a step toward him but he shook his head and backed away from me. The look in his eyes ripped at my heart. “Jake,” I had to try again. “Please, can we talk?” He looked at me and shook his head again, then turned and walked away.
“Bella.” I turned my head. Edward was back by my side, his eyes had returned to their normal golden shade now that the fight was over. “He can’t talk to you now. He’d have to phase back to human form and he has no clothes here right now. Also, he doesn’t really want an audience.” Edward looked sheepish again. “He figures they’ve heard enough of your private thoughts for the day.”
“Oh. Yeah, I guess that’s a good point. Thanks for telling me what he was thinking, I know it isn’t your favorite thing to do. I am going to have to go talk to him, Edward. I owe him that much.”
He looked into my eyes for a long moment. “I understand that, Bella. I’d want the opportunity to hear you out if it was me.”
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at him. I know just how hard it is for him when I go off alone with Jake, but now he was sure enough of my love that he wasn’t going to let it bother him. Well, he wasn’t going to let him bother him that much. Knowing him, he’d still obsess over it. I stretched my arms over his head and stood on tiptoe to kiss him with all I had in me. He was safe. I was safe. Victoria was dead. He returned my kiss, gripping me tight around the waist and pulling me closer to him.
“You’re really not afraid of me, are you?” He asked, sounding awed.
“Of course not!”
“Watching me do that to her didn’t disturb you at all?” His eyes had a wicked glint.
“You heard what Alice said, didn’t you?” I shouted, turning bright red again.
“I sure did, fiancée of mine.” His smile lit up his whole face.
“Fiancée?” Emmett’s big hand clapped down on Edward’s shoulder and nearly caused his knees to buckle. “You two are getting hitched?”
Edward turned to me and cocked his eyebrow. “Yes, Emmett. We got engaged.” I held up my left hand.
“Welcome to the family, little sis!” Emmett boomed, picking me up and twirling me around.
“Put me down,” I managed to choke out between giggles. He did and I stumbled into Esme’s waiting arms.
“Now you’ll officially be my daughter, I couldn’t be happier.” Love was shining out of her eyes.
Jasper was the next to come up to me. He shifted uncomfortably and then reached out and took my hand. He lowered his head and brought his lips within in an inch of my hand before tensing up. “Congratulations,” he said softly before moving quickly away. It was still so hard on him to be around me.
Rose’s face showed her disapproval. She still didn’t understand how I could want to be a vampire. Well, she didn’t have to. I knew what was right for me and this was it.
Carlisle came over and took my hands. “We’ve always considered you to be a part of the family, Bella, but I want you to know how proud we’ll be to have you be a Cullen.”
I was truly overcome by his words. Tears streaked down my cheeks as I whispered, “Thank you, Carlisle, I can’t wait to be a Cullen.”
Edward wrapped me in his arms. “I guess you know what you’re getting into.” I did, more now than ever, but it was still what I wanted. My new life was beginning.
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It seems to be getting better and better every chapter. It feels to me that you are getting more and more comfortable with the characters. I absolutely loved that it turned Bella on when watching Edward fight. That part was definitely different from Eclipse, but I think it was very much an improvement.
I think this was the first chapter you had dialogue for the other Cullens. It was really good. It looks like you know those characters as well as you know Bella and Edward!! Can’t wait for more.
Thanks AGO! I’m glad you liked it. I was a little freaked at writing some action scenes but they came out alright. And I, too, liked that Bella found Fightward to be hot. I’m trying to introduce more and more sexual elements in so when I get to the good stuff it won’t seem to come out of nowhere.
It’s been amazingly easy to write for the rest of the Cullens, which I’m glad about. There’s definitely more good stuff coming up with Alice and Carlisle and Emmett and a little Jasper. Rose and Esme will get some attention as well. Glad you liked it.
Next chapter is my favorite, so hopefully you’ll really like that!
I found the line where Alice says that watching Jasper fight makes her hot! Oh my, that certainly was different then the Alice I remember! it is sort of like the Alice from “Wide Awake” though…
Can’t wait for the next chapter!
Hee, I took some liberties, I guess, but I figure Alice would like to join in on teasing Bella and that was a good way to do it. I want to make her lust for Edward in that situation be normal.
Next chapter up in a couple days!
Oh! I like the Alice from “Wide Awake”. I think it would be hilarious if she could join in the teasing with Emmet, since you know Rosalie and Jasper arn’t really going there…
She will! I’m not avoiding the sexuality topic like SM did, so characters like Alice and Emmett are going to be instrumental in getting that going.
It’s so difficult to find anything fresh to say. I guess my expectations of your writing as well as for my comments are growing exponentially.
I like how you’ve infused the sexuality to this chapter and again it reminds me of something I read at Twilighted in Vanity and Patience. Have you by any chance had the chance to catch up with that fic? The author is handling Emmett’s newborn phase quite brilliantly and I can’t wait how you’ll handle Bella’s.
I haven’t read that one yet but it’s next on my list. I just started a new fic and once I get that done I’ll post a second Twilight Fanfiction blog. I’m sure AGO needs more to read by now!
It is you and Tripp that help my writing to get better and better, I appreciate all your comments and guidance!