Reluctant Mate 6

“Are you both alright?”Bella grunted as a hard body suddenly pulled her in a tight hug after she heard Victoria’s panicked question. Bella wasn’t surprised by the panic in Victoria’s voice. She expected that it was going to turn to disapproval and anger once Victoria calmed down. She and Rosalie deserved whatever lectures and anger Victoria gave them but Bella wasn’t looking forward to it. Bella rolled her eyes when Victoria pulled out of the hug and slowly spun not only her body around to check for injuries but Rosalie’s as well. Bella had a feeling if Victoria who was the most level headed vampire Bella had ever met was acting like this then Irina and Tanya were going to make her strip down so they could check her naked body for injuries. It wouldn’t be the first time they had done it and Bella doubted it would be the last.

“We are fine sweetheart.”Rosalie assured her.

“Are you sure?”Victoria didn’t see anything physically wrong but didn’t mean they weren’t harmed mentally.

“Yeah we are fine. As a matter of fact I would say we are great. Not only did we get to see Edward and Alice arrested but the rest of the Cullens are being summoned as well to be tried for their crimes.”Bella couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.

“They are?”Victoria was happy to hear that.

“Yes and I doubt that any of them will be making out of the situation alive.”Sulpicia could guarantee they wouldn’t.

Victoria stiffened when she heard Sulpicia’s voice. She hadn’t even noticed that the queens were in the room with her. Her gift hadn’t alerted her to any danger. That confused her because there was nothing more dangerous than being in the presence of the royals.”Your majesties please forgive me for my lack of proper greeting.”

“It’s no problem. If we were in your position and our mate and vulnerable human coven member were in this situation our first priority would be to make sure they were safe.”Athenodora wasn’t offended by Victoria not following protocol. Rosalie and Bella were in a situation that could have ended very badly. It was no surprise that Victoria would ignore everything except the two of them.

“Why don’t we all take some seats and we can discuss what has gone on so that we can relieve some of Victoria’s worries.”Sulpicia suggested.

Didyme took a seat on the couch and patted the seat next to her.”Bella come sit next to me.”

“Uhh.”Seeing the look the queen was giving her Bella felt like prey who was being hunted by a large predator.

“Yes Bella come sit with us.”Athenodora took seat on the other end of the couch leaving the middle seat open.

Rosalie held back a laugh at the expression on Bella’s face. Her poor friend didn’t have a clue what she was getting herself into.”Good idea that would give Victoria and I a chance to sit next to each other in the visitor chairs.”

“I could sit in on your lap Rosalie.”Bella wasn’t quite comfortable sitting with the queens. She feared not only what they would do but Bella wasn’t sure if she would be able to keep her hands to herself. Not knowing how they were linked to each other Bella didn’t want to act on her feeling if they had some kind of familiar bond.

“If you want to sit on someone’s lap why don’t you sit on mine. That way Rosalie and Victoria can have a chance to be close to each other after the scare they had and I can still sit with my mates.”Sulpicia thought that was the best option. Then she could sit with her mates and have the chance to hold Bella close.

“Perfect. Now everyone sit down.”Didyme would prefer being the one to hold Bella but wouldn’t put up a fight as it was obvious Bella wasn’t comfortable with them yet.

Bella looked to Rosalie for help and received a nod of encouragement.”I guess that’s alright.”

“Come on Bella.”Sulpicia took Bella’s hand and guided her to sit on her lap. Once she was there Sulpicia wasted no time adjusting Bella so not only did her mates have access to the human but that Sulpicia could snuggle Bella as close as possible.

Bella jumped when she felt Sulpicia’s breath on her throat followed by what she was sure was a kiss. A far away thought of wishing Sulpicia would bite her caught her up short. She leaned forward as far as she could to put some distance between them to stop herself from actually speaking that thought out loud. Bella didn’t get far because as soon as she leaned forward Sulpicia readjusted again somehow pulling Bella closer to her body. If that wasn’t enough to fluster Bella both Didyme and Athenodora took one of her hands and held it in their own. Feeling Athenodora’s cold fingers trailing up her arm caused her to shiver and Bella wasn’t sure if she was more scared or turned on by the predicament she found herself in.

“So what happened to get to this point?”Victoria thought Bella deserved to be a little flustered and uncomfortable for all the stress she caused Victoria with her impulsive decision to follow Alice on a suicide mission. Victoria would be doing nothing to help her out of it as she had a feeling that by being the queens’ mate she wouldn’t be able to properly punish or lecture the human. Victoria however was going to be having words with Rosalie. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do to punish her mate but it would most likely include restraints and denying orgasms.

“Well it all started with Alice having a vision of Bella jumping off a cliff and thinking she had committed suicide. That was not true however. Bella was just cliff diving with some friends.”Rosalie told her.

“And why was Bella doing something as reckless as jumping off a cliff?”Victoria asked.

“I always wanted to try it so when my friends suggested we go to the beach and we saw the people doing it I took the opportunity.”Bella was ashamed of her actions. She would do it again if she had the chance. Something she doubted would not happen if the way Sulpicia’s arms tightening around her and Didyme’s growling meant anything.

“If you wanted to go cliff jumping why didn’t you talk to your mothers about it. The would have been able to make sure you were safe while you did it.”Victoria said.

“They wouldn’t have let me do it at all. That’s why I went with my human friends.”Bella knew that Tanya and Irina would have forbid her from even going to the reservation ever again to keep Bella from even being tempted to go cliff diving. Kate would have volunteered to go with Bella but wouldn’t have been told no by her mates.

“They would have had good reason not to let you go. It’s very dangerous for humans to jumping off cliffs diving into the ocean. You could have hit rocks on your way down or worse you could have broken bones if you hit the water wrong.”Didyme took a breath to calm the panic she felt just thinking of everything that could have happened to Bella while she diving off the cliffs.

”People go cliff diving at that spot all of the time and there hasn’t been any kind of severe injury or death in decades.”Bella was definitely going to do it again. She just had to think of a way to sneak past her many vampire guards.

“It doesn’t matter whether there was or not you will not being doing it again while you are human. After you are changed we will revisit the idea and decide if it’s something we will allow.”Sulpicia wasn’t comfortable with Bella jumping off a cliff even when she was a vampire and her body was almost invincible.

Bella rolled her eyes.”I have a feeling you guys are going to be worse than Tanya and Irina.”

“It’s a parents job to keep their child safe. Even if that mean they have to keep them safe from themselves.”Rosalie was in full support of Bella not being an allowed to go cliff diving. She would rather Bella not go after she was turned either.

“Let’s talk about something else.”Bella didn’t want to keep arguing about this because she knew the subject would be brought up again when the sisters came to the castle.

“Yes let’s talk about what you were thinking when you agreed to come with Alice to save Edward?”Victoria asked.

Bella shifted closer to Sulpicia being thankful that the queen was holding her because Bella knew that she would protect Bella from Victoria’s anger.”Well she said if I didn’t go then the queens would have killed all of the Cullens and the Denali if Edward succeeded.”

“We wouldn’t have killed all the Cullens and the Denali wouldn’t have even been brought up.”Athenodora told her.

“Even though they hadn’t informed you of their plans to change me?”If you were planning on changing a human that was underage you had to report it to the queens so that they made sure you actually changed them. Bella’s family hadn’t reported her because they were afraid the queens would have taken an interest in her gift and tried to force her to stay in Italy.

“That is something that we will be discussing with them when they come here but when it came to Edward’s actions the only ones who would have been held accountable were Edward and Carlisle. Edward for breaking the law and Carlisle because he is Edward’s coven leader.”Sulpicia was very curious why the Denali had kept Bella hidden. Especially because if they didn’t they could have reported Edward and the Cullens for facilitating a false mate bond.

   “Stupid Alice.”Rosalie should have known better than to trust the seer. She was a liar who manipulated everyone around her.

“You aren’t going to punish the Denali for not reporting me are you?”Bella didn’t want her family to be hurt because of her.

Didyme was quick to reassure Bella.”We aren’t going to punish your family. We just want to know why they didn’t follow the law.”

“It’s because they were afraid that if you found out about my gift you would force me to stay in Italy with you.”Bella told her.

“Yes let’s discuss your gift.”Sulpicia was very interested in how Bella’s gift worked.

“There isn’t much to say about it. I can block Edward, Japer’s and your gift it seems. Plus Alice’s visions of me are spotty at best and when I’m outside I can block vampires from being effected by the sun but only if they stay within ten feet of me.”Bella didn’t really think her gift was that special.

“Eleazar thinks Bella is some type of shield.”Rosalie didn’t mind talking about Bella’s gift now that she knew about the mate bonds.

“A shield makes sense but I’m most interested in Bella being able to protect us from the sun.”Athenodora couldn’t even imagine all the benefits being able to be outside on a sunny day could be. They would be able to travel anywhere in the world without worrying about being exposed.

“It has come in handy when we have traveled places.”Rosalie liked that fact that she could drive a convertible with the top down on a sunny day like she had always dreamed of doing ever since she learned what a convertible was.

“And you say it only works in a ten foot radius?”Didyme was already mid plan of spending time with Bella at the beach wearing bikinis laying in the sun. She bet Bella’s skin would look lovely illuminated by the sun’s rays.

“Eleazar believes that once Bella is turned that it will strengthen and the area that she can cover will be a lot more than that. He also thinks it may be not only a mental shield but physical one because blocking uv rays is something she is physically doing not mentally doing.”Rosalie explained.

“Amazing.”Sulpicia had never heard of a vampire that could shield both physically and mentally.

“We are going to have to figure out who is going to train you.”Athenodora was running through a list of gifted vampires that had gifts similar to Bella’s.

“You don’t need to worry Kate is going to train me. Not only that she has already set up a place for me to learn how to adapt to my vampire abilities.”Bella was looking forward to getting Kate’s help because she knew Kate would make it fun.

“We will be in charge in your training.”Didyme and her mates were going to be the ones who taught Bella about her vampire abilities.

“I would prefer Kate do it. Beside if you were in charge I would have to stay at the castle and I’m sure my family would rather be at home in Alaska with me when I’m changed.”Bella would also prefer to be in Alaska.

Sulpicia growled at the thought of Bella leaving the castle.”You will not be going to Alaska because you will are living in the castle from now on.”

“I mean the castle is nice and all but I wouldn’t want to live here full time. There are way too many people.”Bella wasn’t a big fan of being around a lot of people let alone the hundreds she was told were in the castle at a time.

“Why don’t we wait until Tanya gets here before we start making plans on where everyone is going to live in the future.”Rosalie wanted to stop any fights from breaking out. Bella didn’t know about the mate bonds yet and once she did she would understand why she would be staying in the castle.

“Good idea.”Athenodora wasn’t worried about Bella not wanting to live in the castle. Once her coven leader talked to her it would sway Bella’s opinion on where she was staying.

“So what is going to happen to the Cullens?”Victoria asked going back to a topic she was curious about.

“Since Edward claimed a false mate bond we need to question the other members of his coven to find out who supported it.”Sulpicia told her.

“All of them supported it. They were constantly trying to get me to spend time with Edward. Anytime I said that I was afraid of him and didn’t want him around me they tried to convince me that it was just was because I was human I felt that way and once I was turned I would feel the bond. Me being turned something that Carlisle was pushing to happen as soon as possible.He didn’t even care that I wasn’t 18.”Bella had alway felt uncomfortable with Carlisle interest in her.

“I bet Carlisle wanted to turn you as soon as possible so that he could be your sire and have control of you.”Didyme said.

“He does like to collect gifted vampires and with Bella’s gift already so powerful she would be the perfect addition to his collection.”Athenodora knew that Carlisle had plans to eventually overthrow them but hadn’t made any set moves to lead to being charged with treason.

“Bella would have been his most prized possession.”Sulpicia could easily see Carlisle trying to turn Bella early just to make his coven more formable.

“He was rather pissed when I called the Denali to tell them about the false mate claim.”Rosalie had called Tanya because she was worried what the queens would do if they learned of Bella and her gift. Now she was kicking herself because if she had Bella would have been with her mates sooner. Then again it likely would have led to the Cullens dying and Rosalie not meeting Victoria and Bella never joining the Denali. So even though it would have been easier Rosalie preferred the way things turned out.

“Pissed is an understatement. When Tanya and the Denali claimed me Carlisle ordered you and the rest of the Cullens to kill them.”Bella reminded her.

“Yes but you protected me from the sire command and I didn’t actually do anything.”Rosalie hadn’t even known Bella could protect her from the sire command at the time. It wasn’t until the fight was over that Carlisle began ranting about it being impossible for Rosalie to disobey him.

“You protected her from a sire command?”Sulpicia asked Bella in shock. The queen had never heard of a sire bond being severed before. Not even Chelsea could do it.

“We think that my gift protects those I care about because it also protects Rosalie and the Denali from Edward and Jasper’s gift and just like with me Alice’s gift is kind of spotty when it comes to them.”Bella was happy that she was able to protect her family from those idiots.

“You are going to be an extraordinary vampire.”Didyme said.

“Of course she is. That was never in doubt.”Athenodora was unsurprised that their mate was turning out to be so impressive. Bella wouldn’t have been worthy to stand by their side as queens if she was a weak wilting flower.

Before anything else could be said Bella’s stomach growled. Bella blushed at all the attention she got for it.”Sorry I haven’t eaten in while.”

“Why didn’t you tell us you needed to eat?”Sulpicia was kicking herself for not remembering Bella’s human needs.

Bella shrugged.”With everything going on I really didn’t think about it.”

“We have a fully stocked kitchen that we keep for our human employees so I’m sure we can find you something there.”Didyme wished she could cook something for Bella and was already making plans to hire a chef to give her lessons.

“Let’s see if they have the stuff to make you a grilled cheese.”Rosalie knew that Bella liked to eat grilled cheese when she was going though stressful situations. It was a comfort food for the human and something Rosalie made for her when she wanted to cheer Bella up.

“I would love a grilled cheese.”Bella thought a grilled cheese sounded like heaven.

“If we are lucky they will have some bacon as well.”Rosalie said.

Bella untangled herself from Sulpicia’s lap and stood.”That would be even better.”

“If we don’t have those things we can send someone to the store to acquire them.”Sulpicia offered. She wanted her mate to have exactly what she wanted.

“Thanks.”Bella knew better than to say no to the offer. Sulpicia was obviously wanting to fulfill Bella’s needs and when a vampire was in that mode Bella had learned it was just easier to let them do what their instincts were telling them to.

Athenodora stood from her seat and picked Bella up bridal style holding her close.”Now let’s go get your some food.”

“You don’t have to carry me.”Bella was extremely uncomfortable being in this position with the queen.

“I know I don’t have to I just want to.”Athenodora smirked at red that was creeping from Bella’s cheeks down her neck.

“Uhm.. That’s.. You.. But..Walk.”Bella stuttered out not able to form a proper sentence with the queen’s face so close to her own.

“Oh you are going to be so much fun.”Athenodora said as she carried Bella out of the room making her way down the hallway towards the kitchen. Her little mate was delightful and Athenodora had so many plans to corrupt the human. The first one of those plans was to get a kiss by the time Bella was done eating. She didn’t think it would be to hard. Bella was obviously attracted to her and the other queens. Athenodora could smell the girl’s constant arousal around them. Athenodora was going to find out if Bella was a virgin because if she was then Athenodora was going to be Bella’s first. She would fight her mates if she had to but in the end it would be Athenodora who would take the girl’s innocence. She could of course share the experience with her other mates but Athenodora was the warrior queen and warriors loved to conquer and what better to conquer than Bella’s body. Just thinking about it made her smile.