My Strength Chapter 36

After an endless torrent of burning pain, something she imagined was a taste of what Jane’s gift felt like, she finally heard her last heartbeat. Bella was sure her pain had lasted an eternity, or at least so much longer than what she had been warned about. The burning torment was a lot more intense than she had thought it would be and she knew, if she were human, she would have lost her voice.

But she wasn’t human. Not any longer.

Bella opened her eyes, staring in awe at the ceiling above her. She could see patterns of decay on stone that would have taken eons to show such wear and tear. She could see a spider crouched in the far corner, just barely in sight without having to turn her head. It was so clear, Bella had was sure compared to her human self, she had to have been blind before.

“Are her ears broken?” Bella heard a strong, deep timbered voice ask. She could make out the inflections of an accent that was being covered. She knew it was a vampire’s voice, but she couldn’t figure out who it was.

Which meant it must be a threat.

Bella bolted upright with such force and momentum, she ended up standing. She immediately crouched into a defensive position as she saw two blonde vampires staring at her from the other side of the room near the door. She could hear other’s were on the other side of the door but she couldn’t tell how far they were. Were they there to help these two? What were these two planning to do to her?

Bella growled in warning. Neither had moved from their positions but she felt from her core, she had to growl to show she wasn’t some weakling that would roll over and do what they wanted her to do. She knew, at least her inner beast knew, these two vampires were much older and stronger than she was and would likely very easily beat her in a fight.

The woman arched her eyebrow in amusement, “It seems our new newborn has some mettle in her.” She said with a proud smirk that irritated Bella while at the same time making her proud. Bella couldn’t name the woman but she was proud the blonde woman was proud.

“I expected nothing less.” Caius said with a tempered smile, looking forward to training his daughter and seeing how strong she was. They all knew she was a shield, what they didn’t know was how it would manifest once she was turned. He was really looking forward to seeing how strong his daughter was. She would be the terror of the Volturi. If he thought he could get away with it after his daughter realized her mates were in the same room, he would start training right away. But he knew as soon as Bella could focus long enough to realize there were more than the three of them in the room, she would be too focused on her mates.

“Who are y-” Bella started to ask but cut herself off as she listened to her new voice for the first time. It sounded so much different than what she was used to. Her old mental voice she had been using to tell herself to keep strong as she was burned, sounded so gravely and horrible compared to the voice she was now hearing with her own ears. It was such a difference.

“Ahh, newborn distractions. I trust you two will be able to keep her in line?” Athenodora asked but didn’t wait for an answer incase her daughter decided to look where she was talking towards. Once Bella saw her mates, her instincts were likely to take over. Right after a newborn was changed, there was always a brief moment of time where the newborn needed to get used to their new heightened senses. After that, it was up to the individual as to how lost they were to their new instincts they were. Some were worse than others. But that was going to be Zafrina and Victoria’s problem. Once their daughter had more control over wanting to mate with her mates, Bella would be brought to everyone after she hunted and they would talk about what was going to happen from there. “We’ll be on our way, please make sure no walls are broken.” She said with a smirk as she turned around to leave. Usually leaving your back facing a newborn was asking to be attacked but with her bond, she knew she was fine. Even if Bella didn’t realize the bond yet as a newborn, her instincts knew who Athenodora was and that in itself guaranteed her safety.

“There will be options for her to eat in the throne room once she is able. We will talk afterwards.” Caius added as an order, giving one last glance towards his daughter with pride. He knew, even without using Eleazar’s gift, his daughter would be strong. He couldn’t wait to utilize that strength and partner with her to destroy and all opposition. He swiftly turned and followed his mate out of the room to tell everyone Bella was awake and would likely still be a few days away from being able to see everyone; depending on how controlled she was by her instincts of course.

Bella growled in frustration as the two left, the sound of the door closing behind them breaking her from her thoughts about how different her voice sounded. She rushed forward, intending to only take a couple steps, instead ending up all the way on the other side of the room.

If it wasn’t for the sudden hand on her shoulder stopping her from running through the door, Bella was sure she would have ended up with splinters in her hair.

With another growl, because that seemed like the only thing Bella was capable at the moment after the burning finally stopped was growling at everyone, she grabbed the hand and tackled the owner to the ground. She had been so focused on whatever it was she was thinking or looking at, she hadn’t realized there was another person in the room. Her initial response to the hand was that she was under attack.

She growled again in warning, intending to attack her attacker first as she pinned her attacker to the ground, when she looked in the eyes of her attacker.

The woman below her smirked and laid absolutely still. The woman below her wasn’t concerned about being attacked, she was just happy to watch the emotions pass through Bella’s eyes as the newborn started to realize what was going on and who she was. It fascinated Zafrina.

“Mate.” Bella said as her eyes widened in recognition. “Zafrina.” She said with a smile, memories coming back to her about when they first met and what they had been up to see they met. She was leaning down for a kiss, without realizing she was moving, when she looked up at remembering Zafrina wasn’t her only mate. “Victoria.” Bella said with a smile as she saw the redhead looking at her.

Bella made to move to get up, to get closer to her other mate, but Zafrina’s hands on her thighs stopped her.

“Stay.” Zafrina said as her eyes darkened.

Bella’s eyes went black as she smelt Zafrina’s arousal. Her eyes immediately went back towards the Amazon, her mind going a million miles an hour as she thought about what she was going to; so many ideas flitted through her mind, her newborn thought process going too fast for her to pick on any one decision. She growled, not in warning and not in anger, she growled because she was excited.

Victoria prowled towards her mate, more than looking forward to what was about to happen. Victoria had been waiting for this day since she first saw Bella; it had taken for too long for it to happen. She was also painfully aware Bella was definitely coming back to herself with her newborn abilities; it was likely overwhelming to her with her new senses, thought speed and finally having the mate bond snap into place with a vampire strength. That was okay, Victoria was more than okay to take control.

“Having a problem coming up with what to do?” Victoria teased as she kneeled next to the pair. Bella’s black eyes meeting her own equally black eyes. “That’s okay, there’s plenty of time to do it all.” Victoria purred before attaching her mouth to Bella’s with a growl of her own, intent on getting Bella on her back.

Zafrina growled as Bella was pushed to her back, Victoria straddling the brunette. Instead of trying to attach herself to her mate, she opted to get rid of clothes instead. Zafrina was looking forward to what was about to happen; the clothes were only getting in their way.