My Own Worst Enemy 3

“What’s that smell?”Rosalie asked as she joined the rest of her family in front of the Denali’s home.She had gotten her wish to drive by herself and had spent the entire car ride listening to breakup songs that she would never admit to if confronted about it.It was when she got out of her car that Rosalie was hit with a somewhat familiar scent.She couldn’t quite place it but it was very enticing.It had her wanting to find what the scent belonged to and keep it close forever.Rosalie didn’t understand how a scent could have such an effect on her.

Emmett took a deep breath.”I smell an unknown vampire.”

“Why would the Denali have a strange vampire hanging around their property?”Carlisle thought he knew all of the Denali’s acquaintances.This vampire he didn’t recognize though.

“I haven’t seen anything about it.”Alice hadn’t actually checked in on the Denali in decades but would have thought she would have been alerted to a new vampire.

“Well the only thing we can do is ask them.”Esme said.

“True let’s go make ourselves known.”Carlisle smiled as he walked up to the door and knocked.It was more of a curtesy because the vampires inside knew they were there and had probably heard their conversation.When the door opened and he was met with a red eyed Tanya his smile fell.”Hello.”

“Hello.”Tanya replied.It was hard to be polite to these people and it was obvious her displeasure showed with the way Carlisle was looking at her.

“Can we come in?”Carlisle wasn’t sure what had happened for Tanya to change her diet.

“Of course.The others are in the living room.”Tanya left the door open and rejoined her family taking a seat on the couch in-between Kate and Irina.Eleazar was sitting in an arm chair with Carmen on his lap.It would look to an outsider like they were cuddling but in reality Eleazar was holding Carmen back from attacking the other coven.

“Hello everyone.”Carlisle said as he led his family into the room noticing it wasn’t just Tanya who had red eyes but all the other Denali as well.Before he could question them about it Edward growled.”Edward what’s wrong?”

“I can’t read their minds.”Edward did not like this new development.

“Should you be reading our minds?”Tanya asked.

“Yes, because it’s the only way to know if you have led us here to attack us.”Edward wouldn’t put it past the Denali to ambush them.

“Edward!!Don’t you dare accuse our cousins of such a thing.”Esme was shocked Edward would say that the Denali were untrustworthy.

“Look at them.They hunt humans.They gave up on our lifestyle. They aren’t our cousins anymore.”Edward said.

Kate rolled her eyes.”We don’t hunt humans you idiot.”

“Your red eyes say otherwise.”Edward wasn’t going to let Kate lie to him.

“I’m sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why their eyes are red.”Carlisle at least hoped there was.It would be heartbreaking for his closest friends to have turned away from the more humane way of feeding.

“Not that it’s any of your business but I will tell you anyway.Our eyes are red because we have been using the synthetic blood.”Irina told them.

“You got your hands on some of the blood?”Carlisle was surprised to hear that.

“Yes we have an inside man who supplies us.”Tanya wasn’t going to mention their inside man was Bella.

“Who is your inside man?”Carlisle was very interested in having a contact that could supply them blood.

“That’s none of your concern.”Carmen snapped.

“As your friends it would be great if you could introduce us.”Carlisle said ignoring Carmen’s comment.

“Friends.”Kate scoffed at the idea of the Cullens being their friends.

Carlisle didn’t understand Kate’s hostile tone but didn’t pay it any mind as getting the blood for his family was too important.”We both share the same values so you understand how getting a regular supply of the blood would benefit us.”

“The person we work with would not be willing to help you get the blood.”Tanya told him.

“Why not?”Jasper wan’t sure what was going on but the Denali were all very angry.They were trying to hide it but it was coming off each of them in waves.

“They are very selective in who they associate with.You would have better luck asking the queens for a referral than us.”Kate knew that the queens would love the chance to deny the Cullens something so important.

“They work with the queens as well?”Edward was frustrated that he couldn’t just take the information from their minds.Then they wouldn’t have to play these silly games.

“They are very close to the queens.”Irina told him.

“How did you meet them then?”Alice asked.

“After the queens took the throne we accompanied Eleazar on a trip to visit them.”That wasn’t even close to being true but Tanya wasn’t going to tell them that the Denali were actually the ones who overthrew the kings and passed the crown to the queens.It was a secret that was kept by the queens and the vampires that were left alive in the throne room once the battle was over.”During that visit we became friendly with them.”

Kate laughed at how Tanya underplayed their relationship.”Very friendly.”

“Would you be willing to put in a word for us with the royals?”Carlisle wasn’t sure what was funny about the situation but if the Denali were telling the truth then they were even more valuable allies then they were originally.The queens weren’t known for being friendly with anyone since the kings’ betrayal was revealed.To have a positive relationship with them could be helpful in the future if the Cullens ever needed help.

“The next time I talk to one of them I will mention that you are interested in the blood.I will recommend that you contact them yourself however because they will not go out of their way to contact you.”Tanya said.

“Could you give me one of their numbers?”Carlisle asked.

Now it was Irina’s turn to laugh.”You honestly believe that we would be stupid enough to hand out the queens’ personal numbers?”

“Well…. it’s just ...us being so close it would make sense for my family to have a close relationship with the queens as well.”Carlisle stuttered out.

“Carlisle if you want to be friends with the queens you have to figure out a way to do it yourself.We aren’t getting involved.”Tanya told them.”Now what brings you to visit us?”

Carlisle was upset with the subject change but would bring it up again later.Gaining a relationship with the queens and getting his hands on the synthetic blood was too important to his coven to just give up trying.”We hadn’t visited in a long time and thought it would be nice to see you again.”

“Who is the unfamiliar vampire we smell?”Rosalie blurted out not able to hold it in any longer.

“What are you talking about?”Kate knew she meant Bella but wasn’t going to tell her anything about her daughter.

“I can smell a vampire that seems familiar but I can’t place where I’ve smelt them before.”Rosalie really needed to know who the scent belonged to so she could find them.

Irina stiffened hearing that.They hadn’t really thought about the Cullens picking up Bella’s scent.If they had they would have met the Cullens at one of their properties that Bella hadn’t been to yet.”We made a new friend that visits often.”

“Who are they?”Rosalie asked not willing to let it go.

“Why are you so interested?”Carmen was very suspicious of how focused Rosalie was on Bella’s scent.

“I don’t know why but I just need to meet them.It’s like their scent is calling out to me.”Rosalie admitted.

“What do you mean it’s calling out to you?”Tanya didn’t like the conclusion she was coming to hearing about Rosalie’s fixation on Bella’s scent.

Rosalie ran her hand through her hair in frustration.”It just is.Can you please tell me who they are.I fell like I will literally die if I don’t find them soon.”

“Rosalie are you alright?”Esme was very concerned as this wasn’t like Rosalie at all.The blond vampire was always put together and showed little to no emotion and when she did it was usually anger.To see her so flustered was completely out of character for her.

“No I’m not.I feel like my body is on fire and all I can think about is that smell.”Rosalie felt like her skin was too tight.Like at any moment she was going bust out of it.

Tanya shared a look with Irina.Seeing the resigned expression on her mate’s face Tanya knew that Irina came to the same conclusion she did.”What do you know about mate bonds?”

“You can’t be serious.”Edward didn’t believe that Rosalie would be mated before he was.Yes Bella had died but he knew that god would give him a second mate.He deserved it more than Rosalie.His sister wasn’t worthy enough to be given a mate.

“What are you talking about?”Rosalie asked.

“Tanya thinks and I agree that the reason you are reacting to the scent is because they are your mate.”Carlisle had seen a vampire react to their mate’s scent before meeting them in person.They acted the same way and described their feeling just like Rosalie did.

“I found my mate?”Rosalie didn’t think that was true.She had a mate and Bella had died.There was no way she would get another chance.

“Yes I believe you have.”Irina didn’t like this development but she couldn’t deny the truth of it.

Rosalie felt excitement flow through her body.”Then you know who they are.”

“We do however we will not tell you.”Tanya held up a hand to stop Rosalie’s objections.”I will speak to that person and will ask them if they want you to know who they are.”

“Why would you keep Rosalie from her mate?”Alice asked.

“Because the person you are mated to will likely not take the news of being mated very well.”Irina knew that Bella wouldn’t be pleased to learn that Rosalie was her mate.It made Irina have many questions for the Cullen coven.Questions she wouldn’t be able to ask until Bella gave them permission to revel herself.

“Why wouldn’t someone want a mate?”Mates were sacred to vampires.Esme didn’t know why anyone wouldn’t want to have the bond.

“It’s complicated.”Kate said.

“How so?”Rosalie asked not willing to let the subject drop.Now that she knew that her mate was out there all she wanted was to find them.

“It just is and that’s all we are willing to say on the subject until we speak to the person and they tell us what they want to do.”Tanya wasn’t going to give any more information.Even though she wanted to tell the blond vampire to go to hell because just like Irina she had many questions for the coven.There was no way that Rosalie didn’t know about the mate bond when Bella was human that meant that some if not all of the Cullens facilitated a false mate bond.With Rosalie having a real mate bond it would have disproven Edward’s claim meaning that he was well aware Bella wasn’t his mate and he couldn’t claim he made a mistake.Maybe this was the thing the queens could use to justify killing them.

“I’m sure Rosalie will happily go at the other person’s pace.”Carlisle said stopping Rosalie from arguing further.He didn’t want to upset the Denali because he needed them to help him form an alliance with the queens and get him in contact with their blood supplier.

“I will.”Rosalie didn’t like it but stopped herself from pursuing it further.The Denali were her only link to her mate and she didn’t want to piss them off and have them refuse to tell her anything about them.

“Good now why don’t you all settle in and tell us what you have been up to for the past few decades.”Tanya was happy that Rosalie had dropped the subject for now.The coven leader knew it would be brought up again but would take the break while they had it.She wasn’t sure what she was going tell Bella.Tanya knew her daughter wasn’t going to be happy about this development.Luckily Bella was at the castle where she could take her frustration out on a few guards.There was always a line of people willing to challenge Bella to a fight thinking she wasn’t worthy of the praise and attention from the queens.Bella of course would teach them the error of their way as she was always underestimated by people who thought just because she was smart meant that she didn’t know how to fight.Tanya hoped that she didn’t kill to many while she was at it.The queens would be upset if they had to train a bunch of new people.If it helped Bella work through her anger they would allow it as they were just as wrapped around Bella’s fingers as her mothers were.