When The Cat Becomes The Mouse 31

“Will you tell me about yourself?” Athenodora asked Bella as the human sat on the couch in-between her mates eating. The queen had wanted to sit next her but didn’t want push the vampires. Athenodora knew that none of them trusted her completely and some thought that she was using the familiar bond as a way to take Bella away from them. She knew that nothing would change their minds until Bella accepted the bond. It would be Bella’s word alone that would convince the others.

“Uhm what would you like to know?” Bella shifted in her seat to try to get comfortable. Rosalie and Victoria were pressed up tightly to either side of her and Bella had little room to maneuver. That didn’t seem to bother her mates who took over feeding her and offering her sips of her lemonade. The whole situation was silly but Bella knew it was their vampire side that was fueling their need to lay claim on her.

“Anything you can tell me is fine.” Athenodora said.

Bella thought about what to say. She wasn’t usually asked about herself. “Well I’m 18yrs old. I moved to Forks to live with my dad after living in Arizona with my mother. That’s where I met not only the Cullens but Victoria as well.”

“What is your mother and father like?” Athenodora wanted to know what type of competition she and her mates had when it came to Bella’s affection.

“It’s alright.” Bella laid her hand on Victoria’s thigh hoping to calm the woman down as she heard her growl. Her parents were a sensitive topic and Bella knew that if she gave her permission Victoria would kill them both for the way they treated her. She sent a look of apology to Athenodora. “Sorry my parents aren’t the greatest of people.”

“No I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bring up something unpleasant.” Although Athenodora wanted to know about Bella’s parents she didn’t want upset her daughter.

“It’s ok. Let’s just say my mother isn’t worth thinking about and my father wasn’t really interested in having a daughter.” Bella told.

Athenodora frowned. She didn’t like hearing that Bella’s parents didn’t treat her well. “That’s to bad.”

“It’s no big deal. My life is good now. Even with the Cullens after me I wouldn’t change a thing. If I did I wouldn’t have Victoria or Rosalie in my life. Then I wouldn’t have met the Denali either. Although growing up was tough my life is better now than I’m away from them.” Bella said.

Kate smiled brightly hearing that Bella was happy to have met them. “We wouldn’t change anything either. You coming into our lives has made all of us happier.”

“It has.” Tanya agreed. Things may be up in the air but Tanya was still going to offer the triad couple a place in her coven. She didn’t know what was going to happen now that the queen revealed her bond with Bella but Tanya wanted to give them the option of staying in Alaska with her family. The three of them brought new life to her coven and having Rosalie living with them like Tanya always wanted made her extremely happy. Hopefully they would choose to stay.

“I know that I wouldn’t change anything either.” Rosalie wished that things were different with the Cullens but knew if they didn’t act like they did that Victoria wouldn’t be a part of their lives. Even though she would prefer not to share her mate Rosalie knew that Bella would never be completely happy without the red head.

“I’m full.” Bella told Victoria when she held up another fork with food on it to her lips.

“Ok.” Victoria set the fork on the plate and put it on the coffee table. She then repositioned Bella so she was sitting on both hers and Rosalie’s laps. “Is this ok?”

“It’s fine.” Bella snuggled into both her mates and laid her head on Victoria’s shoulder.

“Now that Bella is done eating I think it would be best if we talk about the Cullens.” Athenodora would have liked to talk to Bella some more but with all the vampires in the room it was hard. She just hoped that Bella would be willing to spend some time alone with her later.

“Rosalie is the one who is best to tell about them as she was the one who brought the information to our attention.” Tanya said.

Seeing everyone looking at her Rosalie tightened her arms around Bella. The queen intimidated her and she didn’t like the woman’s attention focused on her. She reminded herself that even though she was weary of the queen’s claim of the familiar bond Rosalie knew that she was there to help them. “It all started when Carlisle turned Edward and realized he had a gift. He got it in his head that if he could create enough gifted vampires then he would be able to control them. It is well known that I was chosen for my beauty and I personally believe that he would have changed me even if I hadn’t been on the verge of death.”

“You believe he targeted you when you were human?” Athenodora asked.

Rosalie nodded. “It was proven when I found out he had intended for me to be Edward’s mate. Luckily Edward didn’t want me, not that that stopped Carlisle from parading me around to make others jealous of his coven.”

“Who was turned after you?” Athenodora wanted to know how each member came to be with Carlisle.

“His mate Esme was turned before me and then Emmett after me.” Rosalie felt the familiar feeling of guilt she did when talking about Emmett being turned.

“He doesn’t blame you.” Bella reminded Rosalie. Bella knew of Rosalie’s feelings towards Emmett’s situation and didn’t like that she was having to talk about it.

Rosalie smiled sadly. “I know. Anyway Emmett was the last one that Carlisle turned. Alice and Jasper found us a few years later and have stayed with us since then.”

“Why did Alice and Jasper join up with Carlisle’s coven?” Athenodora couldn’t figure that part out. It seemed both Alice and her mate were incredibly gifted so the queen couldn’t figure out what they had to gain from joining up with the Cullens.

“Alice claimed that after she woke up from being turned she had two visions. One was of finding Jasper and the other was living with us. Even though I personally don’t think what she told us was true that’s what she claimed.” Rosalie had always been suspicious of Alice’s motives as it seemed Alice was hell bent on causing as much trouble as she could for Rosalie. If Rosalie ever stepped out of line a little bit Alice was more than happy to tell on her. Rosalie had never understood what she had done to Alice that made her so hateful towards her. After a while she just came to accept that was just the way things were going to be and there was nothing she could do to change it.

“What roles do each of the members of the coven play?” Athenodora asked.

“Carlisle has final say on everything. He listens to Edward, Alice and Jasper and takes what they tell him and forms his opinion on that. Esme has no say in anything and always goes along with what Carlisle says.” Rosalie corrected herself. “Except for when it was decided that we were going to leave Forks and not take Bella with us. That was the first time I have ever heard her stand up to him.”

“How did the others react to Bella?” Athenodora didn’t like the idea of Esme seeming to think she had some kind of claim on Bella. She and her mates already had a coven to compete against to get their daughter’s attention and Athenodora didn’t want to add more vampires to the mix.

“That’s the weird thing.” Rosalie said. “Carlisle never really let Esme mother us like she always wanted to. When Bella came into the picture he allowed her to do as she liked because Carlisle wanted Bella to voluntarily join our coven. He figured if he turned her by force then he wouldn’t be able to control her like he wanted to.”

Athenodora turned her attention to Bella. “So Esme treated you like you were her own child?”

“I didn’t think she did but when Rosalie explained the situation to me I see how she had been trying. I never actually felt that comfortable around her. She always seemed fake. If I think about it I actually knew more about each of the Denali from talking to them for an hour than I knew about Esme in all the months I knew her.” Bella told her.

“I see.” Athenodora was happy to hear that. She knew her mates would be as well. “What was your relationship with the others?”

“Well there was Edward.” Bella leaned over and kissed Rosalie’s cheek when she felt and heard her growl. “It’s ok, you’ll get your chance to take out your anger on him.”

Rosalie buried her head in Bella’s neck and inhaled her scent. All of this tension and not knowing what was going to happen was effecting her emotions. “I know I just hate that he took you away from me.”

“Well we are not only together now but as soon as I’m turned we will be together for eternity.” Bella told her.

“That’s true.” Rosalie agreed.

“Anyway,” Bella said getting back to her story. “I didn’t particular like Edward. I was fascinated with the fact that I knew he was different. It was my curiosity that drew me to him not attraction. The only reason I actually dated him was because he explained to me what mates were and claimed I was his. A claim that all the members of the coven excluding Rosalie and Emmett backed up. As time went on I didn’t really believe we were but the others kept saying that I only felt that way because I was human and the bond affected humans differently.”

“So not only did Carlisle support a false mate bond but each member of the coven except for Rosalie and Emmett did as well?” Athenodora was now sure that none of the Cullens were going to escape punishment. Emmet could be spared but it depended on his actions going forward.

“Yes, there was one time where I was talking to Alice about my attraction to Rosalie and how I felt more for her than I did for Edward. She told me it was part of Rosalie’s gift that was drawing me in and the feelings were artificial. I went along with all of them because I couldn’t figure out why they would lie about something so important.” Bella explained.

“What did Carlisle want with Bella? I know she has a powerful gift but what is his endgame?” Athenodora asked.

“As I told Tanya Carlisle is trying to collect gifted vampires to form an army big enough to overthrow you and the other queens.” Rosalie said.

Athenodora smiled. Tanya had told her about Carlisle’s plan and hearing Rosalie confirm it made her want to laugh. The fact that Carlisle thought a few gifted vampires could actually win a fight against the Volturi was hilarious. There was no way he would be able to recruit enough vampires to even poise a threat to the royals. “And how many do you think he has on his side?”

“I doubt he has many. I don’t know for sure of course but I know that Carlisle doesn’t have the greatest reputation amongst our kind.I’m not sure he could actually convince people to follow him into battle.” Rosalie told her.

“We feel that if Rosalie hadn’t made contact with Bella that Carlisle would still be in the beginning stages of planning his move to overthrow you.” Tanya interjected. “But because Rosalie met up with Bella and her gift shielded Alice from having visions of not only her but us as well we believe his plan is to come here and force Rosalie and Bella to side with him.”

“You said that before but what did you mean exactly.” Tanya had given the queens an overview of the situation but not the small details.

“When Carlisle called to find out about Rosalie he was very direct in his questioning about us having a vampire who is able to block Alice’s gift staying with us. At one point during the call after I denied we had encountered anyone like that Bella growled. Carlisle immediately questioned who the voice belonged to and I quickly ended the call. Carlisle knew that Bella was Rosalie’s mate and that she had the ability to shield herself mentally. From the bits we have pieced together we think that Carlisle knows that Rosalie and Bella are with us but thinks that Bella has been turned by Rosalie as he knows our opinion on a mate’s right to change their beloved.” Tanya explained.

“And if Rosalie sired Bella then he could use the sire bond to gain control over both of them.” Athenodora concluded.

“Exactly.” Tanya said. “That’s why we asked for your help. When it was obvious Carlisle was going to come here we figured that he would gather what allies he had and stage them around the property. That way if he couldn’t get Rosalie and Bella to comply with his demands he could kill at least Bella because her gift neutralizes Alice’s.”

“That would make sense. I wouldn’t want to lose a good offensive weapon like knowing how each decision I make will turn out.” Athenodora thought about what the next steps they would need to take. “Do you think that Bella is shielding me and the guards as well?”

Eleazar shrugged. “I’m not sure. You claim a bond and Bella did say she felt a connection to you right?”

“I mean I do feel close to you, not as close as I do to my mates and the feeling isn’t romantic. It’s more of a fondness.” Bella wasn’t sure if she was describing it right but the bright smile that came to Athenodora’s face caused her to think she did.

“That’s the bond you’re feeling. It will continue to grow stronger as time goes on. If you were a vampire you would feel the full effects right away but because you are human it might take some time.” Athenodora was happy it seemed like Bella wasn’t fighting the bond. It would make the bond fully develop quicker.

“With what Bella said then yes I believe she is shielding at least you from Alice’s visions. I’m not sure about the guards. Bella is using her shield without thinking about it so I’m not sure if she would protect the guards as they are here to keep her and her mates safe. I think it’s highly likely though. We couldn’t really confirm if it was true unless we asked Alice but I don’t think it would be a good idea to call her.” Eleazar said.

“No it wouldn’t be.” Athenodora agreed. “When do you think Carlisle will visit?”

“It all depends on is allies but I think soon. It was obvious that he knew we were lying. If I were him I would act as fast as I could for fear of us leaving and him not being able to catch us before we go.” Tanya told her.

“He isn’t going to miss the chance to get two of his prizes back. He only allowed us to leave Bella because she was young but all of us knew we were coming back for her. Now that he thinks that she was sired by someone other than him and that I got away as well will make him beyond pissed. His pride will make him act quickly.” Rosalie had no doubt that Carlisle was furious that he thought Bella was already turned.

“I can’t convince you to just come back to Italy with me and let me send some of our people to deal with this threat can I?” Athenodora asked Bella.

“It isn’t up to just me.” Bella did find the offer tempting though. If they let the Volturi handle the situation then it would be guaranteed that she, her mates and the Denali would stay safe. “I would have to talk to at least my mates.”

“And you would have to talk to us as well.” Kate wasn’t going to let Bella and her mates make this decision without Kate involved.

“Of course Kate I would never leave you out of such an important discussion.” Bella told her.

“Well then. How about I leave you all alone while I check on the patrols and call my mates to give them an update.” Athenodora knew that her mates would want to know about what was going on and she really wanted to tell them about the familiar bond.

“You can use my office your majesty.”Tanya offered. “It’s soundproofing wasn’t affected with the recent damage to the house.”

“Thank you.” Athenodora stood and walked up to Bella and offered her her hand. She smiled when Bella willingly took it. “I know that you don’t feel the bond fully yet but I know that once I tell the other queens about it they will want to meet you. Will you please consider having a video call with them some time in the immediate future.”

“Ok.” Bella easily agreed. She was curious about the queens and wasn’t lying when she told the others of her feelings about the woman. Bella felt like the queen was someone she could trust to never hurt her.

“Good then I will take my leave.” Athenodora said as she made her way to the door.

“Well it looks like we got a lot to talk about.” Kate said once the queen was no longer in sight.

“Yes we do.” Rosalie agreed as she shifted Bella’s position on her and Victoria’s lap so that Bella was cradled to Victoria’s chest and Rosalie was laying with her head in Bella’s lap. She sighed when Bella started running her fingers through her hair. Rosalie wasn’t sure exactly what she was thinking but the idea of going to Italy and letting the Volturi take care of this was tempting. Bella would be safest there as Rosalie didn’t actually think Carlisle could breach the defenses but she also didn’t want to leave the Denali. She had always felt close to the sisters and had wanted to join their coven as soon as she met them. Going to Italy meant leaving them behind and she wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do. Sighing she tuned into the beginning of the conversation. She had a feeling that before the day was out that the floor in the kitchen and the kitchen table wouldn’t be the only things broken.