The Hidden Princess 19

“I expected you to take longer.Does this mean I need give you lessons on how to please your mate better Isabella?”Athenodora teased her daughter and Rosalie when they entered her office both sporting mating marks.The queen was happy for her daughter because although embarrassed for being called out for having sex Bella was practically glowing with happiness.Rosalie as well.Athenodora was beyond pleased with Rosalie’s bright red eyes.She and her mates had been concerned that Rosalie wouldn’t be willing to even try human blood with how strong Carlisle was in his convictions.Seeing the proof that Rosalie wasn’t loyal to her sire made Athenodora relieved as she was worried that the girl would try to vouch for him.

“Mother!!”Bella squeaked out.

”There is no need to be embarrassed.Sometimes it takes a few tries until you get it right.”Athenodora told her.

“Please mother can we not talk about this.”Bella pleaded.

Athenodora chuckled.“Alright I’ll leave you alone but only because Rosalie looks like she wants to take her own life.”

“Thank you mother.”Bella knew that it wasn’t the end of the teasing but would take whatever truce they had for now.

“Now why don’t the both of you grab a folder out of the file cabinet and get started on reading through everything.I’ve only gotten though a few files so far and there are still a lot to get to.”Athenodora said.

“Got it.”Bella grabbed two files out of the cabinet and handed one to Rosalie.She then took a seat in one of the chairs in from of her mothers desk Rosalie taking the one next to her.”Have you figured out what they were doing yet?”

Athenodora shook her head.”All I’ve read so far is that they were taking different samples from the creatures.Not what they were looking for exactly.”

“Alright.”Bella flipped open her file and starting reading through.The three women spent the next two hours silently going through files.It was Rosalie that broke the silence.

“I think I know what they were doing.”Rosalie said.

“What did you find?”Bella asked.

“Not only were they taking samples from children of the moon but they were taking samples from vampires as well.”Rosalie told them.

“Why were they experimenting with vampires?”Bella couldn’t think of a reason they would want to study vampires.

”From what I read it seems like they were trying to make a vampire werwolf hybrid.”Rosalie handed the queen some paperwork.

Athenodora looked over the papers feeling herself become angrier with each line she read.”Those stupid idiots.”

“What is it?”Bella asked.

“They had been trying to impregnate children of the moon with vampire semen.”Athenodora told them.

“That wouldn’t work would it?”Bella didn’t think a werewolf could carry a vampire child.

“No it wouldn’t because unlike a vampire getting a human pregnant and the child become half vampire our venom is deadly to children of the moon.Vampire semen contains that venom.”Athenodora explained.

“Did they figure that out?”Bella asked.

“From what is written here they haven’t.They may have made progress and it is in one of the other files.”Athenodora said.

“What would their purpose for creating a hybrid be?”Rosalie couldn’t figure that part out.What would Carlisle and Edward gain from all this.

“Carlisle has always held a grudge against us.Even before we denied his request to be a council member and live at the castle.I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought that if he created these hybrids that he could use them to overthrow us.”Athenodora and her mates had been excepting Carlisle to act against them eventually.They had wounded his ego by not accepting him as one of their advisors and he was too petty to let it go.

“How did he find children of the moon though?You hunted them to extinction centuries ago.”Bella knew that her mothers wouldn’t have left any alive if they knew about them.”How have they hid themselves so well?”

“Yeah Carlisle doesn’t interact with many others.Who would have told him about werewolves?”Rosalie didn’t think that Carlisle would have any clue how to find children of the moon.He isolated himself and the rest of the coven from the rest off the world.The only ones they had regular contact with were the Denali and Rosalie didn’t think they would keep them a secret.

“I don’t think he was the one who found them.”Athenodora said.

“You think the werewolves contacted him first?”Rosalie asked.

“If not the children of the moon maybe another vampire who has contact with them.”Athenodora didn’t think Carlisle and Edward were working alone.This project was to thought out for the pair of them to be the masterminds.

“It’s well known how much Carlisle despises you and the other queens.His hatred of you and his background in the medical field would make him the perfect person to get help from for this kind of project.”Bella could see the reasons for picking Carlisle to help.He may be an idiot but he had the medical background to be useful.

“That still leaves us with the question how did the werewolves hide themselves all this time?”Rosalie didn’t understand how there wasn’t any sighting of them for centuries.

“Maybe there aren’t that many left.The ones that survived the war could have been biding their time waiting for the opportunity to build their numbers again.The hybrid project could be the first step in creating an army.Their thinking being that if they could create a werwolf with vampire abilities it would be harder for them to be killed and it would give them an advantage over the Volturi guard.”Bella said.

“That would make sense.”Athenodora was pleased with Bella’s thought process.It showed that she had taken the training on warfare she was given to heart and was exploring every angle.

“If Carlisle and Edward weren’t the ones in charge how do we find out who is?”Rosalie asked.

“That is one of the questions we will be asking them in the interrogation.”Athenodora told her.

“Something momma said I was allowed to be involved with.”Bella reminded her.

“Your momma spoils you.”Athenodora would prefer Bella not be involved with anything other than reading the files but knew if she didn’t let her help with the questioning Didyme would throw a fit.

“She doesn’t spoil me.She just wants to make sure I get experience questioning prisoners.”Bella wasn’t spoiled.Her momma just wanted to make sure she was trained to get the proper answers out of the enemy.

Athenodora rolled her eyes.”Yeah that’s exactly why you are going to be involved because your momma wants you trained.It has nothing to do with the fact that you asked after you got into a fight and she was willing to do anything to make you happy with her again.”

“Regardless of why can Rosalie help out?”Bella asked.

“Why do you want help?”Athenodora wasn’t against the idea she just wanted to know the reasoning.

“Because I want to face Carlisle with my red eyes and prove to him that he no longer has control over me.”Rosalie told her.

Athenodora smiled brightly at the idea.It was things like this that proved that Rosalie was the perfect mate for the Volturi princess.”I will let you be there but you will control yourself.”

“I will be on my best behavior.”Rosalie promised.She would do anything to be allowed to rub it in Carlisle’s face that she was now a member of the Volturi.Them being someone he hated with a passion adding on to the betrayal he would feel seeing Rosalie.

“Good now why don’t the pair of you finish going through the files and I will go speak with the other queens.They will want to know what we have found so far.”Athenodora said as stood from her seat and walked over to give Bella hug and kiss on the cheek.

“We will let you know if we find anything that you would find interesting.”Bella told her.

“See that you do.”Athenodora sighed when once she was out of the room.The other queens weren’t going to be happy with the news she was going to tell them.Finding out that the children of the moon were likely to be trying to gain numbers wasn’t good.The fact that they were trying make hybrids was even worse.Luckily they figured it out before they had a chance to implement their plans.Maybe when they interrogated Carlisle and Edward she would thank them for being dumb enough to get caught.If they had just reached out to the queens about the newborns no one would have known of their plans.Their egos were their downfall just like so many other men who thought women were inferior.