When The Cat Becomes The Mouse 9

"Rose."Bella murmured in her sleep causing Rosalie to smile as Bella rolled over and snuggled into her hard body. She looked over to Victoria and saw the same relieved smile on the red head's face. It had been a long night in which they had to put Bella in an ice bath two other times to get her fever down. It had been manageable for the last couple hours. Bella rolling over and talking was the first sign that she was going to be alright.

"I think she's feeling better." Rosalie whispered.

Victoria reached her hand out and touched Bella's forehead. "Her fever is still gone so I hope that she is going to be alright."

"Well as alright as a human who manifests her type of power can be." Rosalie carefully put her arm around Bella and held her as tightly to her body as she could without hurting the girl. "I wonder what lasting effects this is going to have on her mind."

"We need to worry about her controlling it. My gift doesn't work the same way as her's does, so I don't know how to help her train to use it." Victoria said.

"You have a gift?" Rosalie asked.

Victoria thought about what to reveal to Rosalie. She truly believed both of them had a mate bond with Bella but she hadn't stayed alive this long by giving up her secrets. However making Rosalie aware of her skills could make Rosalie more inclined to trust her in the future."I have the ability to detect danger and win at warfare."

Rosalie had never heard of such a thing. "What does that mean exactly?"

"I know when a threat is close and have the ability to outwit most anything to insure my survival." Noticing Rosalie was still confused Victoria explained. "It's on a purely instinctual level. When I'm in danger I can predict the outcome in advance. It's sort of like premonition but on a sub-conscience level. I don't get visions or hear voices but I let my mind take over and my body moves to protect me. I'm not making sense am I?"

Rosalie thought she understood."No it makes sense. Just like James was a tracker and knew where to always find his prey. Kind of like that right?"

"Exactly." Victoria smiled sadly at the thought of James. "I don't know what to do now that I am no longer trying to kill Bella in revenge for his death."

Rosalie was uncomfortable with this topic but felt it was a good idea to find out what Victoria's thoughts were."Do you still feel the need to avenge him?"

"It's not just me who wants justice. I have Laurent and now Riley who hold grudges against the Cullens."Victoria told her. "I convinced them that Bella has no responsibility for what happened but I'm not going to defend your coven. I will do my best to protect you but I do not feel any loyalty to your family."

"You would protect me?" Rosalie was stunned.

Victoria sighed as she looked down at Bella. "Although I wish it weren't true, I know deep down that you are Bella's mate as well and that means you are important to Bella. I would rather die than hurt her so if that means keeping you around to keep her happy then I will do my best to keep you safe. That doesn't mean I won't end you if you intentionally hurt our mate."

"You will never have to worry about that. I would never purposely hurt Bella but know that I am giving you the same promise. I may not have any gifts but if you harm Bella in any way I will hunt you down and cause you indescribable pain before I kill you." Rosalie warned.

Victoria smiled. "I think you and I are going to get along just fine."

"Are you going to hunt down my family?" Rosalie asked getting back on topic.

"I need to meet with Laurent and Riley again to see how they want to proceed."Victoria told her. "I want to inform them of you and myself being Bella's mates so they know the two of you are off limits. After that I guess we will see. Would it bother you if we did?"

Rosalie tried to sort out her thoughts. "I would like you to spare Emmett. He knows of my mate bond with Bella and was the only one out of the family that supported turning her when James came into the picture. Both he and I were forced through the sire bond to go along with Edward and Carlisle so he had no control over what happened. I wish I could be involved if you did go after them but because Carlisle is my sire I would be forced to protect him."

"So you would support the destruction of your coven mates?" She wasn't really surprised by Rosalie's reaction but Victoria was a planner and she needed to be sure Rosalie wouldn't interfere.

"I won't stand against you. What happened to James was wrong. Bella should never have been told about vampires if there was no plan for her to be turned. The only reason she wasn't was because of Edward's want of her blood, although I kind of think another reason was he knew the mate bond wasn't real. If Bella had been changed she would have known right away and he would have lost his prize." Rosalie mused." Aside from Emmett all of the others had a choice. Carlisle isn't Jasper or Alice's sire. They have free will and Alice was always there trying to reassure Bella about the strength of her mate bond with Edward. Esme just followed everything Carlisle did and always defended Edward and Alice. So if you want revenge then I won't stand in your way."

"If your friend Emmett doesn't stand in the way or go against us, I will try and leave him out of this as well. I don't know how much it will help but I will at least try." Victoria promised.

"Thank you." Rosalie really hoped Emmett would be spared. He was a good man that was stuck in a bad position. Like her he had stayed because he had nowhere else to go and even if either one of them did Carlisle would never had allowed them to leave the coven. Emmett and her were his trophies to show off. Emmett for his strength and Rosalie for her beauty. The life Carlisle claimed to save her from was actually something he forced her to be trapped in for all eternity. The only thing better about her current situation was that Carlisle didn't touch her. Nor did he offer her to others. Feeling Bella stir in her arms brought her out of her dark thoughts."I think she's waking up."

Victoria sat up and put her hand on Bella's back. "Bella, Bella can you hear me?"

"Ugh." Bella groaned. She wasn't exactly sure where she was, how she got there or what she was laying against. Her head was killing her but the soothing scent of lavender and something she couldn't quite make out but smelled familiar made her think she was safe. As she opened her eyes she realized three things all at once. One she wasn't in her own bed, two she had her face pressed into someone's chest and three that chest belonged to none other than Rosalie Hale. Embarrassed she jumped back and hit what felt like a brick wall.

"Bella calm down. You're safe." Rosalie told the distressed girl. She reluctantly loosened her grip on Bella as she pulled out of her arms.

Bella sat up confused. "Rosalie what are you doing here? Where is here?"

"You are at my apartment. Do you remember what happened last night?" Victoria asked looking the girl over carefully for any sign of injury.

"We were on a date." Bella blushed when she looked at Rosalie. She wasn't embarrassed about being on a date with Victoria but she had always had quite the crush on Rosalie.

Rosalie frowned at Bella's reaction to talking about the date. She now wanted to know exactly what happened on that date because it seemed more than fighting vampires occurred. "What else do you remember?”

"We were walking on the pier and those three vampires tried to take me from you." Bella tried to focus her thoughts. "Then I remember feeling really pissed off that I wouldn't be able to help keep Victoria safe. Then suddenly it felt like someone slammed an ice pick in my brain and I saw a white light. That's all. What else happened? Did those vampires get away?"

"No the I took care of the vampires. You won't have to worry about them coming for you." Victoria reassured the girl. "So you got angry, felt a sharp pain in your head and then you saw a white light that's it?"

"Well yeah I guess. Why did something else happen?" Bella asked.

Victoria grabbed one of Bella's hands. "Bella somehow you subdued one vampire while creating a physical barrier around you and I. I couldn't even get out of it until you passed out. You have been sleeping for the last 17 hours."

"Huh" Bella wasn't sure what to think about that information. "I guess I know why my head hurts so much."

Rosalie placed her hand on Bella's forehead. "You don't have a fever. Are you feeling dizzy or nauseous?

"No, just a head ache. Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything but what are you doing here? The rest of your family isn't back are they?" Bella asked Rosalie. Although she didn't mind having Rosalie there she didn't need the added stress of dealing with the rest of the Cullens.

"Only I'm back."Rosalie suddenly felt shy. She couldn't tell if Bella was happy to see her. Bella was her mate but the human might not feel the bond and she was dating Victoria. Seeing Victoria give her a supportive nod Rosalie made a decision."Why don't I make you some food while you take a shower and then the three of us can discuss why I am here, together."

"A shower would be nice." Bella felt herself blushing when she realized she wasn't wearing her own clothes. The fact that someone had undressed and redressed her was beyond embarrassing."Uh what happened to my clothes?"

Although Victoria wanted to tease the girl she held back. "You had a very high fever so we put you in an ice bath to get it down. Don't worry your modesty was preserved and your virtue is still intact."

"Uhm ok, cool I'll just go shower then." Bella scrambled off the bed blushing harder when she heard Victoria chuckle.