Rebirth

After the Battle

Edward tore a piece of Bella's sleeve to wrap the scratch on her arm. He tenderly stroked her arm as if trying to take the pain away from her. He looked away from her, almost embarrassed.

"Edward," she lovingly touched his face. "I didn't want you to see that," he told her, turning away. Bella stepped purposefully to him and touched his face. "It's okay," she said assuringly. My brother smiled at her, "I'll get you some bandages for your arm."

Just then, a werewolf named Seth ran up the mountain and gave us a warning bark.

Bree looked at the wolf with fear and then back at Riley and me. "What's going on?"

"Something's wrong," said Bella. "Alice needs us to go now," Edward told her. "Why? What's happening?" she asked. "The Volturi are on their way," he answered.

The six of us raced back down the mountain to meet with the rest of the family.

Riley and I kept Bree behind us for her protection. "Stay behind us, and don't make sudden movements," I warned. "Why?" she asked. "Some dangerous people are on their way; if they see you, they will kill you," Riley said with pity that she was in this situation. "Why? Why would they want to kill me?" "The Volturi forbid vampires from drawing attention to themselves," I informed her.

Alice and the others were waiting for us. "How long?" Edward asked. "A few minutes. Maybe ten," she replied. Bella was looking around for someone, maybe Jacob.

"They timed their arrival well," said Rosalie. Emmett walked beside her with his arm wrapped around her shoulder, "Probably hoping the newborns took a few of us out."

Emmett looked at Riley and me with a confused expression, but then we realized he was looking at Bree hiding behind us. "What's she doing here?" "We offered her haven if she stopped fighting; she surrendered alone," I told Emmett.

The wolves were still in the area, but it was dangerous for them to be there with the Volturi in tow. "The pack needs to leave. The Volturi won't honor a truce with the werewolves." Carlisle informed us. "Where's Jacob?" Bella inquired. "There..." said Edward.

Jacob was in his wolf form, approaching us. Bella sighed in relief, but suddenly a newborn vampire we hadn't caught was about to spring in an attack. Leah Clearwater was about to kill the vampire, but he saw her and jumped toward her.

"Leah, don't" Edward shouted. The vampire had attacked her, and Jacob rushed to her aid. The newborn roared ferociously and crushed his side, breaking his ribs. Edward, Carlisle, Bree, and I flitted to where the werewolf had fallen.

"Jacob!" Bella screamed. She ran to where we were and knelt beside Jacob to calm him down.

"Hold on, Carlisle is gonna take care of you." "The bones on the right half of his body are shattered."

Jacob could barely breathe, he was turning pale, and beads of sweat were forming on his face.

"Jacob, you idiot. I had it." Leah snapped. She was running with the other werewolves, who were now in human form. "Leah," Sam Uley warned. "I need to set the bones before his accelerated healing kicks in. It's already starting," said Carlisle.

I desperately attempted to figure out what to do, "We need to get him out of here. We're not gonna win a fight with the Volturi." "We'll take him to Billy's," said Sam. "I'll be there as soon as I can," Carlisle told him. "Hang in there, Jake. We got you." Bella told him; her face was full of concern for her best friend.

The pack carefully lifted Jacob off the grass and carried him off to safety.

"They're here," Alice told us grimly.

Jane, Felix, Dimitri, and Alec gracefully moved across the grass toward us like phantoms, their dark cloaks making them look as such.

When the Volturi approached us, the four vampires removed their hoods and surveyed the battleground; their crimson-red eyes seemed to glow intently.

"It appears you've done our work for us." Jane started. "Impressive. I've never seen a coven escape an assault of this magnitude intact."

"We were lucky," Carlisle said calmly.

"I doubt that," Jane replied with a glare. "It appears we missed an entertaining fight," Alec observed. "Yes. It's not often we're rendered unnecessary."

"If you'd arrived a half hour ago, you would've fulfilled your purpose," Edward told her, holding Bella in a protective embrace. "Pity," said Jane with a disgusted look.

She noticed Bree hiding behind Riley and me. "You missed one." "We offered her protection in exchange for her surrender," I told her, guarding Bree. "That wasn't yours to offer," she sneered.

Jane made her way to Riley and me, smiling, using her power on us, and knocking us down. We screamed in pain, and the influence spread through us.

"Leave them alone!" Esme yelled with horror. Jane looked away from us, and the pain stopped, "Of course."

Riley and I got up from the ground. My head was spinning. We suddenly realized why Jane did that, and she needed to push us out of the way to get to Bree.

"Why did you come?" she smiled, and suddenly Bree was on the ground, screaming in pain. "They came to destroy us, to kill Bella." Esme quickly said, attempting to stop Jane. The Volturi ignored her, enjoying Bree writhing on the ground and screaming.

"Who created you?" Jane asked, continuing the torture. "You don't need to do that; she'll tell you anything you need to know." I snapped, wanting to hurt her for torturing Bree. "I know," she smirked.

"Victoria!" Bree answered, gasping for air. She could barely breathe after the intense torture. "Perhaps you knew her," Edward observed.

"Edward, if the Volturi had knowledge of Victoria, they would have stopped her. Isn't that right, Jane?" Carlisle asked with calmness. "Of course. Felix." Jane motioned for the tall gruff vampire toward Bree.

"She didn't know what she was doing. We'll take responsibility for her. Give her a chance." I begged. I hadn't known Bree for that long but felt attached to her. I didn't want her to get killed for not knowing what she was doing.

Jane tilted her head to the side with amusement and then assumed her authority, "The Volturi don't give second chances. Keep that in mind." the vampire turned her gaze to Bella and Edward. "Caius will be interested to know that she's still human.:

"The date is set," Bella responded with confidence. Jane was surprised Bella spoke to her like that; a human would never speak to a vampire of that authority like that.

"Take care of that, Felix. I want to go home." Jane commanded. She turned her gaze back to Riley and me because she knew we would protect Bree. "Leave her alone!" I screamed while my head seared with pain. "She did nothing wrong!" Riley protested with me. Our cries were ignored, and Felix killed Bree before us and tossed her body into the fire, burning the previously killed newborns.

"Thank you, Felix. Until next time."

At that moment, we realized how dangerous the Italian coven of vampires was. They would kill anyone who got in their way without a second thought. The Volturi were like the royalty of the vampire world, and if one of the peasants defied them, then they would be disposed of.