The Hidden Princess 15

"Something has been in our house.”Jasper said as he pulled Alice off of the porch and rushed her to the front lawn of the Cullen’s home in Forks.He, Alice, Emmett,Simone, Rosalie and Bella had driven to the home from the airport while 8 guards ran along side the car for protection.Jasper would never admit it out loud but he was happy Bella had decided to travel with them because it gave Alice more protection.He was a cautious man and any extra help keeping his mate safe he would gladly take.

“What do you mean?”Bella was instantly on alert.

“The front door has been broken into.”Jasper told them.

“We’ll clear the house princess.”Felix said as he motioned for 4 of the other guards to enter the house while the other three and himself stood guard over Bella.

“Do you think some random human noticed we were gone and tried to break in?”Emmett wouldn’t be surprised as their wealth was well known by the residents of the area.

Jasper shook his head.”There were claw marks on the door frame.”

“Like those of the wolf shifters?”Rosalie asked as she kept herself close to Bella.If they were attacked Rosalie had faith that her mate would keep her safe.

“No, it didn’t look like the claws of an animal. Even one as big as the wolves.”Jasper said.

“Princess the house is clear but has been ransacked.”One of the guards told them.

“Were there any obvious signs of who the perpetrators were?”Bella asked.

“No your highness. I have never seen the type of markings left before.”The guard replied.

Bella thought about what to do.”Take pictures of everything and send them to Queen Athenodora.Each of you shadow one of the Cullens and find out what is missing and collect any evidence left behind.The rest of you patrol the area and see if you can pick up any trails.”

“Of course princess.”Felix quickly assigned guards to each of the vampires.

“Do we need guards as well?”Rosalie would feel more comfortable it they had extra people with them.

”No the others are needed to investigate.”Bella smirked.”Why are you worried I can’t keep you safe?”

“No of course not.”Rosalie denied.”I just wanted to know what was going on.”

“While you start packaging my I’m going to reach out to my mother and the shifter with the wolves to see if he has detected anything”Bella pulled out her phone and sent a message to Athenodora and then one to Fredrick the panther shifter.She was not surprised when the phone rang right away.The caller didn’t even give her a chance to greet her.

“What is going on?”Athenodora asked.

“It seems some type of supernatural the guards have never encountered before has broken into the Cullen’s home and ransacked the place.”Bella knew that her mother would prefer getting right to the point so she didn’t waste time on pleasantries.

“What are the guards doing now?”Athenodora’s voice somewhat echoed making Bella believe she was now on speaker phone.

“I assigned one to each of the Cullens so that they can find out what’s been taken and collect anything left behind.The others I sent to patrol the area to see if they can pick up any foreign scents.”Bella told her.

“That’s exactly what I would have done.” The pride was obvious in Athenodora’s voice.

“You will be receiving pictures soon.”Bella told her.

“Walk into the house and tell what you smell.”Athenodora said.

“Alright.”Bella took a step into the home and took a deep breath.”I smell vampires of course. Only the Cullens.Plus I smell the human Edward was attached to.There is something else I can’t really describe.It’s like shifter but more woodsy.”

“What do you mean?”Athenodora asked.

“I have smelled the wolves before but this smell is different.It’s like wolf mixed with a human that has spent their whole lives living in the woods.”Bella explained.

“Sent me a picture of the markings on the door right this instant.”Athenodora demanded.

“Of course mother.”Bella was curious at hearing the edge in Athenodora’s voice.She walked to the door frame and took a couple of pictures and texted them to her mother.”Sent.”

There was silence followed by a sharp intake of breath.When Athenodora spoke again her voice was panicked.”Isabella I want you to leave immediately and come home.”

“What about figuring out what is missing?”Bella asked.

“Shit.”Athenodora cursed.”Fine as soon as you figure out what is missing I want you home right away.Tell the Cullens to pack quickly and that your mothers and I will have people pack the entire house and send everything to the castle for them to sort through.”

“What’s going on mother?”Bella had never known her mother to lose her cool and it was obvious she was very close to it.That meant that whatever was happening was very serious.

“I will brief you when you get home. For now go help the others pack and call me as soon as you are done.I mean it Isabella as soon as they pack a suitcase all of you are to come back to the castle.”Athenodora said.

“I promise we will go through everything and come back immediately.”Bella was going to make sure that everyone hurried.

“Good, now go and hurry.I love you.”Athenodora told her.

“I love you to mother.”Bella replied disconnecting the call.

“Is everything ok?”Rosalie asked when Bella entered her room.

Bella shook her head absentmindedly.”I’m not sure.My mother almost sounded scared.”

“Queen Athenodora sounded scared?”Rosalie didn’t believe that for a second.People were scared of the warrior queen not the other way around.

“I don’t know.We need to hurry though. My mother said that everyone needs to quickly pack a bag so we can leave.”Bella told her.

“What about the rest of our stuff?”Rosalie didn’t think she could fit everything she wanted to take in just one suitcase.

“She and my other mothers are going to send people to pack the entire house up and ship everything to the castle for you all to go through there.”Bella explained.

“Princess you need to see this.”Heidi said as she burst into Rosalie’s bedroom.

“What is it?”Bella asked.Instead of replying Heidi just raced out of the room and led them into what Bella thought was someone’s study.She couldn’t really tell as the room was beyond destroyed.There was broken furniture scattered on the floor, broken bookshelves with books ripped apart thrown about as if the reader was personally offended with the book and decided to show their displeasure.The most concerning thing was that a wall safe had been pulled out of the wall and forced open. Bella inspected it and it seemed like the same claws used to get into the house were used to open the safe.

“I think they were looking for something specifically.”Heidi didn’t like the situation they suddenly found themselves in.This was supposed to be a simple trip to collect some personal belongings and speak to the wolves. Now it was turning into something that was obviously dangerous.She had already texted Chelsea who was on the plane to be on alert but Heidi was worried about her being in danger.If it wasn’t Bella that she was tasked with guarding Heidi would have already been by her mate’s side.

“What was this room used for?”Bella asked Rosalie.

“It was Carlisle’s study. I didn’t know he had a safe in here.”Rosalie couldn’t imagine what Carlisle would need a safe for.”I wonder what he was hiding.”

“Well someone was looking for something.”Bella knew this meant that Carlisle would have to be interrogated.It was a good thing they hadn’t killed him yet.”How bad was your room?”

“Not bad. My clothes where tossed around and the paintings and the bookshelves were torn from the wall but other than that it seemed like they didn’t focus much in there.”Rosalie said.

“Has anyone gone through Edward and Carlisle’s room?”Bella asked Heidi.

Heidi shook her head.”I was with Jasper and Alice. I wanted to touch base with you when I passed this room and saw how trashed it was.Everyone else is still with their assigned person or on patrol.”

“Then Rosalie would you mind coming with me to look through Edward and Carlisle’s rooms?Heidi I need you to go to the others and tell them that Queen Athenodora wants them to pack a bag quickly so we can leave right away.Anything left will be packed up by a team and shipped to the castle for them to go through at a later time.”Bella said.

“I can do that.”Heidi held in a sigh of relief as she left the room.She didn’t want to stay in Forks at all so them leaving soon was good news for her.

Bella held out her hand for Rosalie“Take me to Edward’s room first.”

“Sure.It’s on the top floor.”Rosalie happily took Bella’s hand and led her up the stairs to Edward’s room.”Edward has half of the floor and Carlisle and Esme have the other half.”

“I know this isn’t your room but can you see anything missing?”Bella asked as she entered the room.It was just as messy as the other’s rooms in the house with cd’s and records broken on the floor.There were a few bookcases tipped over and the books were in the same condition as the other ones Bella had seen. The curious thing was it seemed like whoever broke into the house had concentrated on Edward’s room as the smell of more than one of creatures was apparent.

“I don’t see anything obvious.”Rosalie hadn’t been in Edward’s room that many times.”Maybe you should have Alice come check.”

“It’s curious that they left the shelves full of model airplanes alone.”Bella said.

“I’ve always wondered about those.I’ve never seen Edward actually work on one before.”Rosalie had thought it was weird that Edward had the planes to begin with.He hated flying preferring to run when he could.

Bella went to the shelves built into the wall and examined the models.Something seemed off to her about them.She tried to pick one up but found that it was glued to the shelf.”Why did he glue them to the shelf?”

“I don’t know. Edward is weird.”Rosalie said.

“There has to be a purpose for this.”Bella tried to pick up each of the planes. It was when she reached the bottom shelf that she was successful.”This one moves.”

Rosalie gasped when suddenly the entire wall swung forward revealing a door.”What the fuck?”

“It seems Edward had a secret room.”Bella wondered if she should call for backup but decided to just put up a physical shield instead.

“Do you think it’s safe to open that door?”Rosalie wasn’t sure what kind of things Edward was into and didn’t know if she truly wanted to find out what he kept hidden.

“Only one way to find out.”Bella examined the door looking for any traps and finding none pulled the door open.It seemed Edward thought his hiding spot was so good he didn’t need to secure the door because it opened without protest revealing a room with a desk with a laptop on it, a chair and a file cabinet.”This is giving off I live a double life vibes.”

“Is it safe to come in?”Rosalie asked.

“Yeah I have my shield up.”Bella moved first to the file cabinet.It was filled with numbered folders.Pulling one out Bella skimmed some of the pages and moved on to the other files.”It seems like he was involved in something to do with the Children of the moon.”

“Why would Edward be involved with the children of the moon?”Rosalie couldn’t remember even hearing Edward talk about the creatures.

“I don’t know but this stuff needs to come back to the castle with us.My mothers will want to go through it.”Bella knew that her mothers would want see what Edward was involved in.”I don’t doubt that we will find Carlisle just as involved with this as Edward.”

“Me neither. Carlisle and Edward are attached at the hip. Neither would do anything without letting the other know.”Rosalie agreed.

Bella looked around.”Ok so we will need to get someone to pack this stuff up and bring to the plane.I will have to make sure I escort it there so I can defend it if we are attacked because I’m pretty sure this is what the burglars were looking for.”

“Do you want to search Carlisle’s room still?”Rosalie asked.

“Yes, we may find things now that we know what to look for.”Bella said.She figured that if Edward was hiding this room then Carlisle was hiding something as well. She doubted it was another secret room but she wouldn’t put it past him. Sighing she followed Rosalie into Carlisle’s room. What ever was going on was serious and by the way her mother was acting Bella doubted that she would be allowed to leave the castle anytime soon.That meant all plans of moving to the vineyard were going to be put on hold.Bella just hoped Rosalie wouldn’t be upset with her as she knew Rosalie wanted to have some time to themselves. Bella would have to figure out a way to make it up to her mate.Maybe she would ask her mother how she got forgiveness because Athenodora was always in trouble with her other mothers.First they needed to finish their business in Forks. Then Bella would worry about a way to woo her mate.