Give into Us Chapter 9

We moved to an office not too far from the throne room. The room was a small sitting room with four chairs in it formed in a way so the chairs were all facing each other. The queens all sat on a chair, leaving me to sit next to Sulpicia and for Heidi and Jane to stand behind me.

“We are going to talk about what Sulpicia saw and then what we are going to do about what is revealed.” Didyme said, starting off the discussion.

I was still shocked they were still including me in the decision making and didn’t seem to keep anything from me. I was used to having to fight to know simple things from Edward; but here, they were more than willing to share any and all information with me. Their willingness to share with me, left me stunned. And happy. I was so happy.

“Rosalie was fully against Edward getting involved with a human she felt wasn’t his mate from the very beginning.” Sulpicia said, saying something I already knew. She was starting off with the easy news. “She even went to Carlisle to express her concerns and told him it was a bad idea; she was ignored. I will not fault her for not abandoning her family and sticking with them when she knew they were in the wrong. I find her innocent.” Sulpicia said.

“What of her mate?” Athenodora asked as she placed one leg over the other and leaned back in her chair.

“He wanted to be closer to Bella, but stayed distant because of Rosalie. He did what his mate wanted.” Sulpicia answered.

I couldn’t help but smile fondly at what she said. I always knew Emmett would have been a great friend, a great brother. But I had guessed he hadn’t gotten as close as he could have because Rosalie hated me. Turned out I was right.

“What do you think of this reveal Bella?” Didyme asked me as she gave me a curious look that I couldn’t interpret.

It took me a second or two to realize she was asking for my input. I had to fight a smile about how different they were from the Cullen’s in the way they were treating me.

“Rosalie never did like me.” I confirmed, making the two women behind me hiss. “I was told she acted the way she did towards me because I was a threat to her family. At the time, I really didn’t understand how a human could be a threat to vampires. Eventually, Edward told me it was illegal for humans to know about vampires and Rosalie was worried with me knowing about them, would get her family killed.” I said, adding little more detail to what Sulpicia had already said.

“And what of Emmett?” Athenodora asked.

“He would do anything Rosalie wanted him to do; he loves her too much to go against her.” I immediately answered. I didn’t know him as well as I would have liked, but there was no questioning his love for Rosalie. Those two were made for each other.

“It seems the only choices those two had, were to either betray their coven or do their best to fix their coven’s mistakes without hurting the coven.” Didyme concluded.

“It seems that way.” Sulpicia agreed.

“They should have just followed the laws and informed us of the situation.” Athenodora grumbled and I swore I heard Jane mutter an agreement, which caused me to send her a small glare… which she only raised an eyebrow in question at me, daring me to say something. I chose to continue listening to the queens.

“They were in a difficult position.” Sulpicia said in a soothing tone, probably to try and curb the warrior queen’s anger before it got out of hand. “Rosalie truly felt she would have been able to be rid of the human and her family could escape. But then her family grew too attached to the human and she couldn’t bring herself to betray her family.”

“What about the others?” Athenodora asked, seemingly not happy with the outcome about Rosalie and Emmett. I was the opposite; I was very happy that nothing would happen to them.

“Jasper is wrapped around Alice’s finger.” Sulpicia said and it was just another thing I already knew. “He warned against getting close. He knew Edward did not feel what vampires typically feel when meeting their mate; but Alice was determined to be friends with our Bella. So, Jasper gave in to her wishes.”

“No backbone.” Athenodora muttered and before I could say anything to defend the vampire I had the least contact with, Didyme spoke up.

“Says the one that does anything either Cia or myself ask because you refuse to say ‘no’ to us.” Didyme said with an amused grin on her face. “Out of the three us, you’re the most likely to be called, as this generation likes to say, ‘whipped’.”

Sulpicia chuckled while Athenodora crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Didyme, but didn’t refute it. I found it amusing and nearly laughed with Sulpicia; but I wasn’t sure what the blonde’s reaction would be if I did that, so I kept quiet. I didn’t want to get on her bad side; no matter what bond we had it wasn’t worth it.

“And what of young Alice, my dear?” Didyme asked when she noticed Athenodora wasn’t going to respond to her.

“She saw Bella as a vampire.” Sulpicia said. “She has always seen Bella as a golden eyed vampire, just not always with Edward.” That tidbit was unexpected. Sulpicia gained my complete and undivided attention and she knew it because she kept her focus on me as she continued to talk. “Either she saw Bella with Edward or she saw Bella with the entire family but not as part of it. Alice did her best to interpret the visions with what little information she was given to get Bella to be one of us.”

“Then why did she leave me?” I desperately asked. Alice told me she left because of her brother but I wanted it to be more than that. I wanted there to be a different answer. I didn’t want to believe it was so easy for her to leave me behind.

Both Heidi and Jane placed their hands on my shoulders. I instantly felt comforted by their contact. It was like they were keeping me grounded when my emotions overwhelmed me like when the Cullen’s left.

“She fought with Edward to stay, to not leave. But he was determined to leave.” Sulpicia explained.

“Drama queen.” Athenodora muttered. I was starting to suspect the woman always had snide comments during meetings. For as old as she was, she definitely had some immature actions.

“When she realized no matter what she said or did, Edward was always going to get his way, she decided to go with him in hopes of changing his mind.”

“But why did she not come back when she saw how depressed I was?” I asked.

“Because in her warped thinking, she did not look into your future per Edward’s request. The vision she saw of you jumping off a cliff,” None of the other vampires knew what caused Edward to think I was dead and they all hissed in anger. They probably thought I was suicidal. To be honest, I probably was before Alice came back. “Was a given vision that came to her, not one that she forced to come to her. At that moment, she couldn’t ignore you in her visions and refused to continue to follow Edward’s wishes; especially since he had already left the family.”

I felt my face fall. I had hoped there was some other reason Alice hadn’t looked to see how I was doing; that something, somehow, was preventing her from checking on me. I didn’t want to believe she just chose to do what Edward asked and ignored me. It hurt; it hurt a lot more than I thought it would. It felt like Alice let me down, betrayed me. But I already forgave her for leaving; it was difficult to not take the forgiveness back.

“I’m truly sorry my darling.” Didyme said with a frown. “I know this is hard for you to hear, but we feel it’s only fair for you to know everything.”

“I know.” I said with a tiny quiver in my voice I thought I did a better job of hiding. I knew I hadn’t because no sooner had I answered Didyme I found myself sitting on Heidi’s lap with Jane standing as close as she possibly could to us.

“I promise to do my best to protect you from ever having to go through something like this again.” Heidi whispered as she placed her head in the crook of my neck. “Jane and I will never leave you; we will never let you be left behind. Ever.”

I nearly cried at what she said. Even though I was very aware the Cullen’s abandoned me, I never thought they left me behind; I never put two and two together. But that was what they did. They not only abandoned me but they left me behind to wallow in my misery alone with no way to cope. They had so easily left me behind and I wasn’t entirely sure they wouldn’t do that again. No matter what they claimed.

“You’re safe with us.” Jane leaned down to whisper in my other ear. “We will always be there to protect you.” And I believed her.

Everyone stayed quiet for a few minutes while I gathered myself and took back control over my emotions. I wanted to get through all of this without crying. But if I was already this close to breaking down with just talking about Alice, I was worried about what would happen when they started talking about Edward.

“Alice’s main goal was to keep Bella in her life and to get Bella to be a vampire.” Sulpicia eventually said. “Although her actions were clearly not always the best, she did the best she could with what information she had. Jasper, I believe, was in a similar situation to both Rosalie and Emmett. He wanted her initially away from the family in order to protect his coven but went along with his mate’s wishes because he can’t say ‘no’ to her. I believe Jasper is innocent.” Sulpicia declared.

“I agree.” Didyme said as her eyes stay trained on me, as if watching to see if I was about to break down again or not.

“Do you believe Alice is as innocent?” Athenodora asked and for a few moments, no one said anything. I didn’t want anything to happen to Alice. I didn’t want anything to happen to any of the Cullen’s.

“No, I don’t believe so; she did push for Bella to be involved with the Cullen’s after all.” Sulpicia said and I was about to argue with her to defend Alice but I didn’t know what to say. Thankfully Sulpicia continued talking. “But ultimately, she wanted Bella to be a vampire and to be with her family. Without Bella’s involvement, I highly doubt we ever would have found Bella. She would likely never had a reason to come to Italy and we rarely bother the Olympia Peninsula. Without Alice’s actions, however guilty she is, gave us Bella. I can’t punish her for that.”

I felt relief sink through my body as I sagged into Heidi, completely relaxing against her in relief. Alice was safe.

“If we were anyone else, she may even think we owe her for bringing us our daughter.” Didyme said. “I think granting her innocence is a good enough gift of thanks.”

Athenodora didn’t say anything about Alice, but I could guess she wasn’t happy about letting another Cullen get off without any punishment. I was very grateful she didn’t say anything, not even a snide comment about it. I was even tempted to think she didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to say anything to upset me. It was touching.

“Carlisle was blinded by his love for his first turned.” Sulpicia said, not bothering to ask what I thought about what happened with Alice and Jasper, which I was very thankful for. I didn’t want to say anything that may change their minds about Alice since it seemed she was already on the border of being punished. “Both he and Esme felt so sorry for Edward being the only one without a mate, Carlisle bent to Edward’s wishes. It also didn’t help both he and Esme had so much trust in Edward because of his ability.”

“Did Esme go with what her mate wanted, or did she have her own thoughts on the matter?” Didyme curiously asked.

“She fought to stay with Alice, and even continued to fight after Alice learned it wouldn’t work. But in the end, she opted to go with her mate. Carlisle truly felt Edward knew what was best and he felt since Edward was so adamant it was best for Bella for them to leave, and from their complete trust in Edward, he caved.” Sulpicia explained and I swore her eyes bore into mine. She seemed to be looking for something. She sighed and looked away from me and faced her mates. “I believe I need to have a very intense talk with our old friend and explain to him if this situation happens one more time, his coven will be permanently disbanded due to they can’t be trusted to keep our secret. If they leave a human alive and unturned once more, Carlisle will be killed and his coven will be no more.” I couldn’t believe it, both they were so close to destruction while also being saved. It was what I wanted.

“I think that is more than fair.” Didyme said. “Bella, my dear,” She said, earning my attention. “Please bear in mind we are being extremely lenient with this coven because even though their actions risked our existence being known and that alone is punishable by death, all of their actions lead you to us. If that wasn’t the case, they would all be dead. They are getting off with warnings because they weren’t the actual ones to break the law, initially at least, and they gave us you. I cannot stress that enough. We are letting them go because of you. Because our love for you outweighs what we know should be done. You mean too much to us for us to do something that may very well cause you to hold a grudge against us.”

I thought that was the case but I didn’t want to believe I really had such a huge impact on the leaders of vampires, of the Volturi queens. To fully realize I had such a big influence on them was very mind boggling. I knew it was a great honor to be in that position but I was still on the fence about if I really wanted it. But having the connection was saving the Cullen’s, my family. Why not start to embrace what was saving who was important to me?

“Now that leaves Edward.” Athenodora said. “The boy who willingly stayed with his singer, the boy who can read the minds of mated couples and of mated vampires who have met their singers. The boy who knows the difference between a mate and a singer. The boy who even after being told you have met your true mates and has read the minds of both Didyme and Jasper to confirm the connections from a third-party point of view and from the minds of the Jane and Heidi, he continues to deny the connection you so clearly have. He will not be so lucky in escaping punishment.” Athenodora said.

“Please don’t kill him.” I full begged, my hands automatically gripping the Heidi’s arms that were wrapped around me. I couldn’t believe how nice it felt to be able to grip onto Heidi and to feel so grounded; it was vastly different than when I held onto Edward, it felt safer and more permanent. She seemed to give me strength. It also didn’t hurt that Heidi, or Jane from her position next to me, didn’t even show a hint of discomfort of being next to me like Edward did.

“We can’t promise that.” Athenodora said with a smirk that made me very nervous.

I may have been able to save the other Cullen’s, but I was starting to think I wouldn’t be able to save the one Cullen I wanted to the most.

What frightened me more though, was that I was starting to believe I didn’t want to save as much as I used to anymore.