My Strength Chapter 10

Once Zafrina and Bella had caught the other two up on what all had happened, they had spent some time just talking. It was a surreal experience for Bella because while she knew the other two weren’t mute, she had thought they were both as close to mute as someone could get. Bella actually felt honored that they were willing to talk with her, to tell stories about their time as humans. It wasn’t remarkable stories; they weren’t famous warriors or invented anything. But just the fact that they were all alive back before the Europeans had taken over their part of world, before they even knew that people of different skin tones existed was remarkable in itself.

The three were of the same tribe but held unremarkable positions within the tribe itself. But Bella was more enthralled with how they lived and how they did simple things like making clothes. Bella found it fascinating to talk with someone that lived so long before technology or even electricity, that their main weapon was made from stones was enthralling to Bella.

If Bella were honest, she could listen to Zafrina talk for hours; not necessarily about her time as a human, but just to hear her voice. Bella was adult enough to admit that she found Zafrina’s voice very… alluring.

Once Bella was hungry again, Zafrina called for Heidi and that led to a whole new set of issues. The woman definitely was not shy and had no problems letting others know.

“Ready for food?” Heidi asked as she swung the door open to their little room, not even bothering to knock before she barged in. She was looking straight at Bella, thankfully looking to her for the answer instead of Zafrina like the Cullen’s tended to look to Edward when they asked Bella a question.

“Yes please.” Bella said with a smile as she stood up, not letting go of Zafrina’s hand. She turned to face the other two vampires in the room, “Do you guys want to join us?” She was having fun talking with them and listening to embarrassing stories about Zafrina, she wouldn’t mind them continuing the stories… even if Zafrina didn’t.

“We’ll stay.” Kachiri said with a small smile and then gave a pointed look towards Zafrina. She was trying to let the new couple have some alone time for them to get to know each other and to get used to each other without an audience. Bella was being pushed in so many directions that she hadn’t had a chance to just get used to one new bond and family never mind the Volturi situation; Kachiri wanted her new sister to just sit down and relax with her mate without pressure to do anything or say anything.

“Then come along little human, let’s see if we can find something to eat.” The look Heidi gave Bella had the human blushing and Zafrina growling. The Volturi fisher was known to be a flirt and known to cause havoc among unmated pairs.

Heidi’s logic was if they were really committed to each other, she wouldn’t be able to sleep with one of them. She didn’t use her gift when she played with couples; she knew that wasn’t right and Marcus in particular would very mad at her if she did but if she used nothing but her charms, everyone was fair game. If the couples were mates though, she didn’t try to get in between them; there was no breaking up mates after all. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t flirt… and she was very good at flirting.

“Watch it.” Zafrina growled, more than aware of how Heidi liked to play. Her antics had gotten her into plenty of trouble in the past; but luckily for her, she had never intended to break a mated bond and never forced anyone to do anything with her gift or otherwise.

Bella squeezed Zafrina’s hand, letting her know that there wasn’t going to be any problems. Bella had gotten used to be flirted with at her high school; granted none of the boys were as gorgeous as a vampire, but she could definitely ignore the flirting well enough. Just because she still blushed, didn’t mean she was going to reciprocate any of flirting. Bella was more than aware of how insecure, or jealous, vampires could get but she could at least let Zafrina know there was nothing to worry about.

“Thank you for showing us where to go.” Bella said; Heidi was one of the guard members going with them, she wanted to at least be on a friendly basis with the vampire.

“Of course, can’t have our new favorite human starving to death before all the real fun begins.” Heidi said in a serious tone, both because they really couldn’t let the human starve because their royals would be pissed beyond belief and because Heidi was looking forward to getting out of the castle to do more than fishing and quick errands for the family. She was hoping there would be a lot of fighting in the near future to remind her kings and queens how well Heidi could fight and that she didn’t need to be strictly on fishing duties.

“I wouldn’t let that happen.” Zafrina mumbled, as if she knew she was repeating an old line but couldn’t help but repeat it. Still, she kept her head held high and knew that even though she was repeating a line that had already been pointed out to her as repetitive she still wanted to say it.

“I know.” Bella said with a fond smile, happy that her new favorite vampire was still as persistent with the simple claim of protection as ever. As annoying as it was to practically hear her say it every half hour or so, Bella still thought it was endearing.

“Aww, you guys are so cute.” Heidi gushed, happy that the lone Amazon had finally found her mate. If she were in Zafrina’s shoes, always being around a happily mated couple that had been mated since they were created, she would have gone crazy. “Do you guys need a private room for after she finishes eating?” Heidi asked, not paying attention to Zafrina’s immediate glare; or really just not caring about it. “I know when Demetri and I finish a rather delicious meal, he and I always like to enjoy some alone time together.” She said with a wink towards Bella, “If you get what I mean.” She said with a wicked grin, enjoying the human’s blush.

“Yeah, I get it.” Bella said, doing her best to fight the blush and just to focus on Zafrina’s hand that she was gripping onto. At least she didn’t have to worry about Zafrina pushing her to get more physical with her; she hadn’t broached that subject with her Amazon, but she was thinking if Zafrina was as isolated as others have claimed her to be, perhaps she was just as experienced as she was. That was to say, she was thinking Zafrina had no experience like her; not for lack of trying with Edward at one point though.

“I’m kind of jealous that you’re the one mated to the Amazon,” Heidi said, more than happy to keep talking and see how far she could push Bella’s buttons and how much she could embarrass the ancient vampire. The Amazon’s had been friends with the Volturi for as long as Heidi had been a vampire and never once had she ever seen any of the Amazon’s talk as much as they have with the human, much less get flustered. She was having fun and was intent on seeing how much fun she could have. “I always wondered who was be fated to be with the ever stoic Amazon and if they would be able to get her to loosen up.”

“I don’t think she needs to loosen up.” Bella defensively said, “I think she’s perfect as is.” She said with a small hint of annoyance. She was pretty sure Heidi was fishing for a reaction from either her or Zafrina like Emmett would and that didn’t sit right with her.

Zafrina squeezed her mate’s hand in silent gratitude. Zafrina truthfully wasn’t bothered by Heidi; she wasn’t bothered by what most people said about her or her sisters. She knew Heidi had a habit of trying to instigate fights just for kicks and was more than capable of ignoring anything the woman had to say. But she was very happy that her mate was inclined to defend her; regardless of how unnecessary Zafrina thought it was.

“But what about in bed?” Heidi asked with faux innocence. The human truly did smell very wonderful and while Heidi was more than capable of controlling herself; who wouldn’t want a pretty flower to smell stronger? Plus, it was just plain fun to poke fun at people and helped to make sure she didn’t get too bored. “She’s been unmated for so long with no one but a mated couple as company; perhaps I should give you guys some pointers?” Heidi asked and was fully expecting a full out, full-faced blush from the human and perhaps a growl from Zafrina.

But what she got was completely disappointing and unexpected. If she was absolutely forced to admit it, she was actually a little impressed.

“Are you so disappointed in bed with Demetri that you’re trying to get us to do something so you can live vicariously through us?” Bella was finding it a lot easier to verbally spar with Heidi than she had ever found it with Emmett. While they had very similar tastes of humor, Heidi was more relaxed about it and wasn’t as in her face with the humor and actually gave her a moment to respond. With Emmett, he was always so loud and barely gave her time to retort before he claimed ‘victory’ over their supposed conversation. Bella’s face was still red, but Heidi was giving her enough time to not have to try and come up with a retort at vampire speed. It was nice.

“I’ll have you know that poets have written sonnets about our passionate love.” Heidi said with exuberance as she opened a door to the kitchen. “Feel free to use whatever you want in here; it’s all up for grabs.” She said as she sped walked to a small table and sat to watch Bella fix up a sandwich.

“Poets haven’t written sonnets that were in the mainstream in centuries.” Bella retorted, her face no longer red. She watched as Zafrina released her and simply stood nearby as she made a sandwich. “Has it really been that long?” Bella asked with a smirk. She was never able to be this ‘crass’ with the Cullen’s because Edward would always scold her about the ‘crass’ language even though literally everyone joked like that and she wasn’t even using bad language. So far, she was having a lot more fun since Zafrina kidnapped her; if only she wouldn’t feel so guilty about leaving Charlie with no clue about what happened to her and even about leaving the pack behind with no clue.

“Of course they have!” Heidi practically yelled in offense, trying to hide her amusement at how the conversation was turning out, “It’s not my fault you don’t know how to read any good literature and only read these trash fantasy stuff that’s come out recently in mainstream. You young ones simply have no taste in good books now and days.” She said with a huff.

“Says the old lady that needs to bug a ‘young one’ about her sex life because hers is so disappointing.” Bella said with a smile as she started to actually put together her sandwich after grabbing/finding everything she wanted.

Heidi couldn’t hold it in anymore and laughed out loud, not bothering to try to hide her amusement anymore. “I like you.” She declared with a wide smile. “You will definitely fit in very well here.” She added, looking forward to having the human around more and lighten up the atmosphere around the castle.

Bella gave Zafrina a look after Heidi said and knew that was a topic she would need to talk about with the Amazon and Athenodora and Caius. She was very much aware that vampires were very possessive and territorial; they tended to practically cling onto what they thought was theirs and didn’t let go very easily. She was mated to a vampire that lived in the Amazon and usually never left it. She also had a bond that she wasn’t sure exactly how strong that bond was compared to a mate with regards to being in close proximity to each other, that lived in Italy and apparently never left either. How was this going to work when she lived in Forks and didn’t want to leave her dad behind?

Zafrina gave Bella a small smile, knowing exactly what her mate was thinking. Her world was in for a lot of changes. But if there was one thing a vampire could do for the mate, a change of living locations was small compared to what could be asked. Living someplace else outside of the Amazing wasn’t going to kill her; she was more worried about what would happen with her sisters. But she, Bella and her sisters could talk about once the danger was dealt with. There was time and they didn’t need a resolution now.

“What exactly are you going to do with the people in town?” Bella asked as she finished her sandwich, giving Zafrina a smile as the woman zoomed around to put everything away her human had used. “They’ll be okay right?” She was worried that Heidi was going to use some type of mind control that would hurt the people of Forks and she really didn’t want that. That wasn’t fair to the those people that literally the only they did was live there.

Heidi gave Bella gentle smile, only slightly amused. It was nice that the human was concerned about others, but completely unnecessary. “Don’t worry about it. All I do is give very strong influence that may seem similar to mind control, but it isn’t. All I’ll be doing is suggesting to them, which they’ll do thanks to my pheromones, not to notice the strange Amazon in a loin cloth, the tall blonde that looks like she wants to kill everybody and the hot blonde that trails behind the tall blonde.” Heidi explained, “I’ll go to everyone in town over a night or two and make sure that everyone understands not only to not stare and not notice us, but for them to subconsciously not get us on someone’s phone camera as well. As far as the town will be concerned, we won’t be there. Not even your dad will notice Zafrina and he won’t think anything strange of Athenodora following you either.”

“That will work?” Bella asked skeptically. “Will you have to do that every night?” She asked as she sat down across from Heidi, Zafrina quickly sitting next to her.

“Nah,” Heidi said with a wave of her hand, “The effects, if I want it, can be permanent. Once I’ve influenced them, unless something drastic happens like Zafrina streaking down the street or Athenodora losing her cool and murdering someone in plain daylight, the effects won’t wear off. That’s a little known secret of mine though, so don’t tell anyone.” Heidi said with a wink.

“The Volturi hold many secrets.” Zafrina murmured into Bella’s ear, more as heads up than a warning.

“I figured as much when I realized there were queens as well as kings.” Bella remarked. The ruling class over vampires, a race that is kept secret from literally every human, keeping secrets themselves? Did they really think Bella wouldn’t assume as much?

Heidi couldn’t help but snort in amusement. “Yeah, we’re not very subtle with our secrecy. If anything, I’m pretty sure Aro has a kink about what secrets he can keep from others and which ones he can discover from others.”

Bella couldn’t help but choke from her laughter as she had just taken a bite when Heidi talked. “I really don’t want to hear about anyone’s kinks.” She said after Zafrina patted her back to help clear her throat. “A several millennium old man, I don’t want to hear anything about that.” There was just something creepy about hearing about an old man’s kinks. It was just plain disgusting and she wanted nothing to do with it.

“You do realize that your own mate is older than the Volturi and likely has kinks of her own, right?” Heidi asked, then turned a thoughtful look towards said older vampire. “Do you even know what a kink is?” Heidi asked with a serious look on her face.

“I really don’t want to listen to this conversation.” Bella said, her face becoming red again as she momentarily thought of what Zafrina’s kinks may be if they were something she could do. She quickly shook her head in an attempt to get rid of those thoughts. She definitely wasn’t in a position to think about that, about someone she barely knew. “Go talk about that someplace else.”

“Oh come now, surely you want to know.” Heidi said, eagerly catching on to the human’s embarrassment. Heidi was also willing to bet that the topic was a bit uncomfortable for Zafrina as well since she was such a private person and more than likely wouldn’t want to have this conversation with Heidi of all people that tended to be more of a gossip among the guard. “Spill it Zafrina, what’s your kink? I can tell you one of mine?” She offered in hopes of either embarrassing Bella more or getting the Amazon to talk.

“Heidi just drop it.” Bella said it, trying to get her face to go back to normal. She had hoped Zafrina would say something, but in reality, Zafrina was more likely to simply not say anything at all than to either answer or tell her to stop.

“What about you Bella?” Heidi asked as they all stood up, keeping up with Bella as she stood to put away her dish. “I’m Zafrina would most definitely love to hear what it may be. Come on, I’ll go first.” Heidi said with wide grin. “I am favorable to-” Heidi started but was abruptly cut off.

“Mom!” Bella yelled at the top of her lungs, resorting to the one thing she thought would get the annoying blonde to shut up.

Heidi’s eyes went wide with shock, but her grin never left her face even as her king and queen appeared in less than a second.

“What is going on here?” Caius asked with no small hint of annoyance. “It better be important.” He said with a small glare directed at Heidi, making her finally drop her smirk. She was still amused, but she knew better than to smirk at the surly king.

“Tell Heidi to stop talking about kinks, it’s disturbing.” Bella said with a frown as she realized she sounded very much like a child that she was trying not to appear like. Oh well, if it got her what she wanted, then she didn’t mind.

“That’s what this is about?” Caius asked as Athenodora looked from one person to another as she quickly pieced together that her daughter simply wanted out of the conversation that Heidi clearly wanted to keep going. She couldn’t help but shake her head at her hot tempered mate for not catching on quickly. Oh well, that just meant later that night their fun would last even longer. “How childish are you daughter?”

Bella’s jaw tensed in anger at the only male vampire in the room. “This is why I called for Athenodora, not you. I knew you would just get too angry to actually be of any help.” Bella argued back, making Athenodora have to hide a smirk. Both she and Heidi couldn’t help but think that whenever Bella and Caius were in the same room, things were going to be very amusing.

“If there was actually something to help with, I would be very helpful!” He shouted at the insolent human.

“Now who’s sounding like a child?” Bella asked with a smirk, completely amused with Caius now.

Caius was at a loss of what to say. In a normal situation with someone mouthing off to him, he would yell and likely throw them through a wall. But with his daughter, not only was a part of him proud of her for standing up against her, he was still very much annoyed and pissed off that she dared to talk back to him. He quickly looked to his mate for backup or assurance or something, but just a quick glance showed that his mate was simply amused; regardless of how apathetic she looked at the moment. The traitor.

“I am your father, I-” Caius started but as cut off by Athenodora, wanting to cut him off before he said something stupid. Again.

“Come, what was needed here is done.” Athenodora said, “Let’s go discuss the final plans of our travel and what will happen when we get there. We will be leaving the day after tomorrow to give you time to rest; so there is much to do.” Athenodora said as she wrapped an arm around her daughter to lead her to her own private room where there was a waiting room for them, the whole Amazon coven included, could talk and finalize the plans. “Follow along Zafrina and husband dear, we have plans to make. Heidi, go do something productive.” She said as she started to walk with her daughter out of the room.

Bella couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. She was sure Heidi would bring up that awkward conversation sometime in the future, but for the moment, she was safe for now. She would just have to come up with a way to get Heidi to close her mouth in the future.