When The Cat Becomes The Mouse 47

“Are you alright?”Bella asked Rosalie.Rosalie wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the question.She didn’t think she was ever going to be alright again.The person who she relied on for her entire vampire existence wasn’t who she thought he was.Not only had he betrayed her but he was willing to kill her mate for the chance to force Rosalie into a false mate bond.She was far from alright.Taking a deep breath she focused on the feeling of being in Bella’s arm surrounded by her scent.The pair along with Victoria and the Denali sisters were all hanging out in the trio’s new living room.They had been shown their new wing and although Rosalie was grateful for all the help everyone was giving them she desperately wanted some privacy to deal with her emotions.

“No, I’m not alright.”Rosalie replied.

“I can’t believe Emmett has been a spy for Carlisle this whole time.”Irina hadn’t seen any sign that Emmett was working with Carlisle.The Denali had talked about how horrible it must be for him and Rosalie to be stuck with Carlisle.To find out he was more than willing to go along with Carlisle was shocking.

“I can’t believe he was willing to let Carlisle create a false mate bond.”Tanya couldn’t think of anything more disgusting then basically making Rosalie a mindless zombie.

“Sacrificing Emmett just proves how desperate he is to get Bella.”Kate knew that Carlisle had no respect for Rosalie.He had only changed her because of her looks.

“He wasn’t actually sacrificing Emmett.He didn’t know about Sulpicia’s gift so he had no reason to think the plan wouldn’t work.”Victoria was positive Carlisle wasn’t aware of the queen’s gift.If he was he wouldn’t have sent Emmett because he wouldn’t want to lose his strength.

“True Emmett was surprised when the queen asked to touch him.”Irina said.

“Even without a gift it was obvious Emmett was lying.I mean the excuses he used were pitiful.”Kate hadn’t believed a thing Emmett had tried to tell them.”Then again we all know how Carlisle feels about women.He probably thought the queens would be easy to manipulate.”

“What was Carlisle’s relationship with the queens when he lived in the castle?”Bella asked.She adjusted her hold on Rosalie so that she could run her fingers through Rosalie’s hair.It was something the blond had admitted relaxed her.

“When the kings were in charge they kept the queens by their sides and close Chelsea at all times.It was said that no one had ever heard them speak because the kings wouldn’t let them.I suspect when Carlisle was around he witnessed the complete control the kings had over the queens and that was what he based his opinion on.”Tanya told them.

“Carlisle has never said anything positive about the queens.He would constantly rant about how useless they were and how easy it would be to overthrow them.”Rosalie had been subjected to hearing him go off about the queens many times.

“It would have been if he had Bella.”Irina knew that when she finally mastered her gift that Bella would be able to take out the guard easily.

“His love of Edward screwed that up.”Tanya was happy that Carlisle was so obsessed with Edward.It caused him to go along with Edward’s plan to leave Bella making it so Bella ended up in Alaska.

“I use to hate how much Carlisle favored him and went along with everything he said.Now I’m grateful he did because if he hadn’t Bella would have been forced into a false mate bond and would have never met any of you or the queens.”Rosalie may of had a tough life but she was willing to do it all over again if things turned out like they had.Even with the Cullens after them they were in a much better situation than they would be if Carlisle had allowed Rosalie to pursue the mate bond.

“I can’t wait to get my hands on both of them.”Kate already had elaborate plans for how she was going to torture the pair of them.

“I don’t think any of us can wait for their turn with the pair.”Irina said.

“I wish I could help but Carlisle is my sire.I can’t even watch because my instincts would force me to protect him.”Rosalie hated that she wouldn’t be able to be involved with Carlisle’s punishment.Out of everyone except maybe Bella she had been wronged the most by Carlisle.Her beast all but demanded she get her revenge.

“Your bond won’t force you to protect the others.”Bella reminded her.

“True you will be more than capable of being involved with the punishment of the others.”Victoria was upset for Rosalie that she wouldn’t get her chance at Carlisle but she would make sure that she punched him a few extra times in honor of Rosalie.

“That’s if they can find them.”Kate wasn’t sure that queens would be able to capture the rest of the Cullens.It was one of the reasons she wanted to help because they would need as many people as they could get to track them.

“Well we know that Bella’s gift is most likely blocking Alice from having any visions of us and probably the queens.That means they won’t know what happened with Emmett or that queens sent guards after them.Depending on how Bella’s gift works it may make it so that the guards would be shielded as well.”Tanya wouldn’t be surprised if Bella’s gift protected anyone who was working to keep her safe.

“I don’t think her gift would be powerful enough to protect the guards while they are away from the castle.”Bella may have had a strong gift but Irina didn’t think it was that strong.

“Tanya could be right.I mean when Bella was human she protected us without even knowing she was doing it.It stands to reason that her gift would work in situations that she was the focus of.”Kate said.

“Although it would nice if that is true I don’t think we should count on it.”Victoria would be more than happy if Bella’s gift did work like that but it was unlikely.

“What allies do you think Carlisle was gathering?”Bella asked.

“I don’t know.We may have been friendly with him but I wouldn’t actually consider us friends.We only really talked to each other in the beginning because we both chose the animal diet and then stayed in touch because of Rosalie.”Tanya would have cut ties with Carlisle a long time ago if it wasn’t for the fact that she and her sisters loved Rosalie just as much as they loved each other.

Rosalie was somewhat humbled hearing that Tanya only stayed in touch with the Cullens because of her.Her place in the Cullens was to stay quiet and look pretty.For Tanya to see that she was more than that made her feel validated.”Carlisle never met with anyone when I was around.Then again I was only ever brought to the main houses.I didn’t even know that they had safe houses until the queen told us.”

“It seems like Carlisle was afraid of you finding out anything for fear of you breaking the sire bond.”Victoria mused.

“It does doesn’t.”Irina agreed.”If he was confident that he could keep you in line he wouldn’t care what you heard or saw.From what you have told us he went out of his way to make sure you never knew what he was up to.”

“His fears were justified because you were able to break through the sire command.”Bella was very proud that Rosalie was strong enough to fight off something as strong as a sire command.After hearing stories from the others about how they worked Bella knew that it wasn’t an easy feat.

“I always said that Rosalie was the smartest Cullen.”Kate had no problem believing that Rosalie was able to break through the command.She was underestimated and never given much credit.The sisters knew better.Rosalie was stronger than the rest of the Cullens combined.

“She’s definitely a lot smarter than Emmett.”Irina said.

“How you feeling?”Bella asked Rosalie.

Rosalie took a minute to think of exactly what she was feeling.”I feel betrayed, humiliated, angry and most of all I feel stupid.”

“Why would you feel stupid?”Out of all the things to feel Victoria didn’t expect Rosalie to feel stupid.

“Because I trusted him so blindly.All these years I have gone to him to share all my thoughts and feeling.Every hope and dream I have had I told to Emmett.When I was having struggles Emmett was the one who encouraged me to keep going.Ever since I’ve broken free of the Cullens I have worried about Emmett.Now to find out that the time I spend worrying he was plotting to force me into a false mate bond makes me feel stupid for not catching on to the deception.”Rosalie explained.

“You aren’t stupid for not knowing.”Tanya held up a hand to stop Rosalie from arguing.”Rosalie you weren’t being deceived by just one person.Your whole coven was in on the lie.We all saw the way Emmett was treated by them.They made him seem like just as much as an outcast as you were.We all believed the lie.”

“Still I should have seen something over the years.I can’t stop thinking about all the instances I went to Emmett with a plan to get closer to Bella and how all those plans were stopped.I always thought it was Alice who caught me now I know it wasn’t.”It made Rosalie wonder if Alice really hated her as much a she thought.Not that she was ever going to trust the small vampire but Rosalie didn’t think Alice paid as much attention to her as she originally thought.

“Don’t count Alice out.She was probably just as active in keeping track of you as Emmett.Especially when Bella came into the picture.”Irina wouldn’t be surprised if Alice put most of her focus on Rosalie in an attempt to keep her away from Bella.

“This all makes me wonder what Alice’s visions told her that they were so confident to leave Bella behind.You told me Alice’s gift was based on decisions.I didn’t decide not to kill Bella until I met her in the meadow.Until then I had made set plans with Laurent and Riley and only changed them last minute.Why did Alice not step in to protect Bella?”Victoria couldn’t figure that part out.Alice would have seen the brutal death Victoria had planned for Bella.

“Maybe she was focused on something else.”Kate suggested.

“It could be that or they thought Victoria would have been taken care of by the wolves.”Bella had been the one to tell Victoria about the wolves so the Cullens probably didn’t think Victoria would be able to defend herself against them.

“The wolves somehow block Alice’s gift.She can’t have visions of them.If we go by what Eleazar said about Bella’s gift activating because of the mate bond it stands to reason that as soon as Bella and Victoria met her gift immediately protected Victoria.That could also be the reason why they don’t know about Victoria.They could have thought that Bella was hanging around the wolves.”Rosalie said.

“When you add the fact that it took them so long to call to find you it points to your theory being right.They probably weren’t even worried about you breaking through the sire command.”Tanya had wondered why Carlisle had taken so long to try and find Rosalie.

“I bet the only reason he even checked on you was because he had lined up a potential suitor.”Irina was beyond disgusted with the idea of Carlisle pimping Rosalie out to form an alliance.

Bella growled just thinking about it.”I wish there was a way to force him into a mate bond with Emmett.”

“That would be epic.”Kate liked that idea.

“I would say bonding him to Edward would be more of a punishment but I think both of them would like it too much.”Rosalie said.

“They do have a very unnatural love for each other.”Tanya had seen the way the pair acted around each other.There was a fondness that couldn’t be solely based on the sire bond.

“Are we sure that they aren’t really mated?”Bella asked.

“I have thought that many times.Esme is such a weak willed person.She and Carlisle don’t act like they are mated at all.She is more like a prop he shows off to add to his traditional family image.”Rosalie had always been suspicious of the relationship Carlisle had with Esme.They never interacted that much and when they did it was Carlisle telling Esme what to do and how to act.

“If he was mated to Edward it would explain why he was willing to go along with Edward’s wishes when it came to Bella.I could never understand why Carlisle would leave a such a gifted human but mates can never deny mates.He had to have known what a valuable asset that Bella would be once she was turned.”Irina would have thought Carlisle would have at least taken Bella with them.Not leave her unprotected.

“He was very fixated on Bella ever since Edward found out he couldn’t read her mind.He would have easily allowed me to pursue the mate bond if Edward didn’t interfere.”That was something Rosalie was now thankful didn’t happen.Even with the trouble that Carlisle was causing it was better than what situation Carlisle would have forced Bella into if he was her sire.

“What do you think would have happened if Carlisle did sire Bella and she met the queens?Do you think the familiar bond would have overrode the sire bond?”Kate asked.

“I think it would have.If it was only one queen I wouldn’t think so but it being all three of them it would have easily negated the sire bond.”Tanya said.

“Luckily we don’t have to find out whether that is true or not.”Victoria was very happy they hadn’t had to deal with Carlisle siring Bella.

“I just hope that the guards are able to find all of them soon so we don’t have to worry about them anymore.”Rosalie was looking forward to the day the Cullens were no longer a threat to her mate bond.

“The guards aren’t going to rest until they do.”Victoria expected the guard to find at least a couple of them in the next few days.

“Until then we stay at the castle where it’s safe and wait until they do.”Rosalie said the others voicing their agreements.She really did hope that the Cullens would be found soon.That way she could finally take some time and enjoy being mated.After thinking it would never happen it would be nice for Rosalie to be able to finally relax.With the Cullens still out their they were still a threat.Especially because Carlisle had a way to control her.Snuggling closer to Bella Rosalie listened to the conversation going on around her.When the Cullens were dealt with she was going to try and convince Bella to go on vacation with her and Victoria.The queens and the Denali wouldn’t like it but they trio deserved a chance to get some privacy from everyone.They were newly mated.Usually when a vampire found their mate they spent years off by themselves.Rosalie didn’t think asking for a month or two was being unreasonable.Getting the queens and the Denali to agree was going to be a problem but Rosalie would have Bella deal with them.They wouldn’t say no to her.