Ellis sat down on the snow covered grass, curling his legs under him as he watched the flames. Behind him, he could hear Edward and Bella talking to Reneesme. Voices soft through the material of the tent. Seth was curled around his back comfortingly. The pair not wanting to stray too far from each other. This behaviour was reflected by all the other couples milling around the end of the field.

They were camped in the corner, close enough to the trees that their shadows loomed over the snow. Carlisle, Esme, Benjamin, Tia, Carmen, Kate, Eleazar and Garret were all encircling the small campfire. They didn't need the heat but the light was soothing. Jacob was lying next to the tent, eyes sweeping over the groups. In the forest, Ellis could hear Leah and the rest of the vampires moving about. Some of them were perched in trees, others had gone hunting. On the ground, a safe distance away, was Sam's pack. The snow practically sizzled as it melted around them.

"Ellis". Esme's voice broke the hush. She stood up and crossed round the fire to crouch next to him. "Are you okay?" Her tone was soft and whispered. Eyes so warm and reassuring. Ellis rested his head on her shoulder. Seth shifted slightly for Esme to settle down next to Ellis comfortably.

"Mom, I'm scared". His voice wavered. Anxiety about the next morning bubbling in his gut. It felt like it was going to choke him, despite him knowing that it was impossible. Esme carded her fingers through his hair in reassuring strokes.

She made a shushing noise, heart cracking as she looked at her youngest child. "If I could, I would take you far away from here. Keep you and all of our family hidden safely from the Volturi's gaze. But I can't. If it was up to me, you would be running. Aro doesn't know about you yet. You could go".

"It's okay", Ellis muttered. He smiled weakly at her. The gesture made Esme want to bundle him up and keep him where the world couldn't harm him anymore. Her poor precious Ellis. The world had been to cruel to him already.

"I won't leave you. As soon as Aro touches one of you, he will know of me. Running would not help. It does not make me anyone's scared through". Esme curled her arms around his thin frame in a hug. Her lips pressing a gentle kiss into his hair. He was right, she knew.

But there was another threat that they had not told him. Ellis' gift of invisibility, which made him undetectable to mental gifts, was exceedingly rare. If he ran, there was no telling that Aro wouldn't follow. His taste for collecting rare and powerful people making Ellis a jewel. Esme clutched him tightly to her. Over his head, her eyes met Seth's gaze. The wolf blinked and inclined his head towards her knowingly. Edward had told Seth of the potential threat Aro posed to Ellis. How the Volturi might want to recruit him into their ranks.

"I know. I'm afraid too. I'm afraid for all my children, our friends and family. We just have to be brave".

"I killed Victoria. I can handle the Volturi", Ellis joked. Esme laughed lightly. Her little warrior. Her brave boy. Never mind that he was not her biological child, or that he had only been under their care for six months. He was her child.

"I don't doubt you", She smiled.

He was so fierce. Both physically and mentally stronger than Esme would have ever expected. But so young that it sometimes broke her heart. She had seen him change so much. From that scared, feral and traumatised boy to this loving, mischievous, and happy person. Seth had worked wonders. Under her family's care, and with Seth as a guiding friend, Ellis had bloomed. He had his humanity back.

And Esme would kill anyone who sought to take it away again.

——

They stood in a arched line facing the other end of the snow covered field. Bella, Edward, Nessie and Jacob standing at the point of their arrow. The rest of the Cullen's standing to their right, with the Denalis on their lefts. The rest of the vampires were dotted down each side of the line. Each coven in a small group. Ellis saw several of them reaching out to clutch hands. Mates sharing smiles and hushed whispers. He hung back. Seth was stood a short distance behind the line with Leah, positioned so that they flanked just on the edge of Jacob's shadow. Ellis waited invisibly at Seth's side. One hand in his fur to signify his presence.

Everyone waited with bated breath a soft noises came from the trees opposite them. "The redcoats are coming, the red coats are coming", Garret sang nervously. It sent a chill down Ellis' spine.

Garret was true in some respect. The deep black and red of cloaked figures seemed to melt out of the forest. Dozens of hooded red eyed vampires walking at human pace across the white snow. Their cloaks billowing out in the slight breeze like bat wings. Every part the nightmare Humans thought vampires to be. Deadly, beautiful and savage.

As the long line of Volturi, a line almost twice the size bigger than the Cullen's line, came to a stop forty yards away, a howl echoed. Ellis turned and watched as Sam's pack crept out of the trees. Wolves the size of cars stalking out of the undergrowth, snarling and growling as they came to stop in line with Seth and Leah. Ellis hadn't seen the all the wolves together since the first time he met them. The sight of the two packs together still made a shiver of fear tickle his throat. The instinctual fear of a predator. Each wolf's coat was a unique blend of browns, golds, blacks and silvers. Seth's golden brown coat stood out, for which Ellis was grateful. He did not want to loose him.

"He's searching for Alice", Edward's voice muttered. It broke Ellis' concentration away from the wolves and back to the Volturi. Three men had stepped forwards. The one on the left was tall, with a gaunt face and long curly brown hair that made his paper pale skin seem thin. On the right was a sharp eyed blonde. His mouth was set in a disgusted frown that promised pain. The one in the middle, the shortest, was the one Ellis assumed was Aro. He had long straight black hair and glittering red eyes that were calculating and slightly psychotic. Just looking at all three men left a bad taste in Ellis' mouth. He was suddenly glad that they could not see him. He did not want Aro's mad eyes on him.

Carlisle gave Esme's hand a gentle squeeze before letting go. He stepped towards and took a few measured paces away from the line and towards the Volturi. "Aro", he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Let's discuss this as we used to".

"Fair words Carlisle". Aro seemed to purr. Voice slightly scratchy from age but confident and weighted. "A little out of place considering the battalion you've assembled against us". He eyed the witnesses and the werewolves distastfully.

"I can promise you that was never my intent. No laws have been broken".

Aro smirked. "I see the child", the blonde on his right said. "Don't treat us as fools". From the angry expression, Ellis guessed him to be Caius. The one who was the most bloodthirsty and battle hungry according to Edward and Carlisle.

"She is not an immortal!" Carlisle shouted, voice echoing around the field. "Our witnesses can attest to that. You can look. See the flush of human blood in her cheeks".

"Artifice!" Caius snarled.

Aro raised a hand to silence his brother. "I will collect evidence and find out every facets of the truth. From someone more central to the story". His eyes danced over the Cullen family hungrily. "Edward. As the child clings to your newborn mate, I assume you are involved".

He stretched out a hand invitingly.