"But there is the grave danger you warned us of," Tanya said. "Not directly from this child, I see, but surely from the Volturi, then. How did they find out about her? When are they coming?"

I was not surprised at her quick understanding. After all, what could possibly be a threat to a family as strong as ours? Only the Volturi.

"When Bella saw Irina that day in the mountains," Edward explained, "she had Renesmee and Demetri with her."

Kate hissed, her eyes narrowing to slits, "Irina did this? To you? To Carlisle? Irina?"

"No," Tanya whispered. "Someone else ..."

"Alice saw her go to them," Edward said. I wondered if the others noticed the way he winced just slightly when he spoke Alice's name.

"How could she do this thing?" Eleazar asked of no one.

"Imagine if you had seen them only from a distance. If you had not waited for our explanation." Edward replied.

"She also saw Alex, in wolf form" Rosalie added looking at me "it must have been the final straw"

I looked away, we all knew how she felt about the wolves, and I couldn't help but feel a little guilty I was the one to kill Laurent. Tanya's eyes tightened. "No matter what she thought... You are our family."

"There's nothing we can do about Irina's choice now. It's too late. Alice gave us a month."

Both Tanya's and Eleazar's heads cocked to one side. Kate's brow furrowed.

"So long?" Eleazar asked.

"They are all coming. That must take some preparation."

Eleazar gasped. "The entire guard?"

"Not just the guard," Edward said, his jaw straining tight. "Aro, Caius, Marcus. Even the wives."

Shock glazed over all their eyes.

"Impossible," Eleazar said blankly.

"I would have said the same two days ago," Edward said.

Eleazar scowled, and when he spoke it was nearly a growl. "But that doesn't make any sense. Why would they put themselves and the wives in danger?"

"It doesn't make sense from that angle. Alice said there was more to this than just punishment for what they think we've done. She thought you could help us."

"More than punishment? But what else is there?" Eleazar started pacing, stalking toward the door and back again as if he were alone here, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the floor.

"Where are the others, Edward? Carlisle and Alice and the rest?" Tanya asked.

Edward's hesitation was almost unnoticeable. He answered only part of her question. "Looking for friends who might help us."

Tanya leaned toward him, holding her hands out in front of her. "Edward, no matter how many friends you gather, we can't help you win. We can only die with you. You must know that. Of course, perhaps the four of us deserve that after what Irina has done now, after how we've failed you in the past - for her sake that time as well."

Edward shook his head quickly. "We're not asking you to fight and die with us, Tanya. You know Carlisle would never ask for that."

"Then what, Edward?"

"We're just looking for witnesses. If we can make them pause, just for a moment. If they would let us explain ..." He touched Renesmee's cheek; she grabbed his hand and held it pressed against her skin. "It's difficult to doubt our story when you see it for yourself."

Tanya nodded slowly. "Do you think her past will matter to them so much?"

"Only as it foreshadows her future. The point of the restriction was to protect us from exposure, from the excesses of children who could not be tamed."

"Demetri and I aren't dangerous at all," Renesmee interjected. I listened to her high, clear voice with new ears, imagining how she sounded to the others. "We never hurt Grandpa Charlie or Grandma Val or Eve. We love humans. And wolf-people like Aunt Alex and Seth." She dropped Edward's hand to reach back and pat my arm.

"and Leah and Embry" Demetri added. Tanya and Kate exchanged a quick glance.

"If Irina had not come so soon," Edward mused, "we could have avoided all of this. They grow at an unprecedented rate. By the time the month is past, they'll have gained another half year of development."

"Well, that is something we can certainly witness," Carmen said in a decided tone. "We'll be able to promise that we've seen her mature ourselves. How could the Volturi ignore such evidence?"

Eleazar mumbled, "How, indeed?" but he did not look up, and he continued pacing as if he were paying no attention at all.

"Yes, we can witness for you," Tanya said. "Certainly, that much. We will consider what more we might do."

"Tanya," Edward protested, hearing more in her thoughts than there was in her words, "we don't expect you to fight with us."

"If the Volturi won't pause to listen to our witness, we cannot simply stand by," Tanya insisted. "Of course, I should only speak for myself."

Kate snorted. "Do you really doubt me so much, sister?"

Tanya smiled widely at her. "It is a suicide mission, after all."

Kate flashed a grin back and then shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm in."

"I, too, will do what I can to protect the children," Carmen agreed. Then, as if she couldn't resist, she held her arms out toward Renesmee. "May I hold you, bebe linda?"

Renesmee reached eagerly toward Carmen, delighted with her new friend. Carmen hugged her close, murmuring to her in Spanish.

"it worked!" Demetri spoke with such elation that the others looked at him in amusement. Rose and I chuckled.

Edward smiled "Demetri was dressed to impress, he believed it would make you like them"

"he really is your child Rose" Kate laughed looking at the boy. He cocked his head to the side. It was like it had been with Charlie and my mom, and before that with all the Cullens.

The pups were irresistible. What was it about them that drew everyone to them, that made them willing even to pledge their lives in their defense?

"What is the werewolves' part in this?" Tanya asked then, eyeing me, and looking out into the woods where I knew my pack was.

Demetri huffed looking at her, Kate, who was holding him looked at him with a smile "you don't like that term much do you?"

He shook his head "not werewolves"

I answered the question before Edward "if the Volturi are coming they pose a threat to not only my family but the tribe. When they see, they will see the wolves. Our job is to stop them"

"Very brave, child, but that would be impossible for more experienced fighters than you are."

"you haven't seen her fight" Rose spoke up, I knew she was remembering the newborns, my desire to protect her overruled anything in that instant.

"it is our nature, we must. No matter the outcome" I replied looking back at Kate and Tanya "and I will protect my son and Renesmee, no matter the costs"

"your pups?" Edward said teasingly, I rolled my eyes but didn't deny it.

Tanya shrugged. "It is your own life, certainly, to spend as you choose."

My eyes flickered to Demetri and Renesmee, if I died so they could live it would be worth it. I know my mom could take them in, Leah and Seth would watch them... Worst case Sam.

"they're special" Tanya mused "hard to resist"

"A very talented family," Eleazar murmured as he paced. His tempo was increasing; he flashed from the door to Carmen and back again every second. "A mind reader for a father, a shield for a mother, and then whatever magic this extraordinary child has bewitched us with. I wonder if there is a name for what she does, or if it is the norm for a vampire hybrid. As if such a thing could ever be considered normal! A vampire hybrid, indeed!"

"Excuse me," Edward said in a stunned voice. He reached out and caught Eleazar's shoulder as he was about to turn again for the door. "What did you just call my wife?"

Eleazar looked at Edward curiously, his manic pacing forgotten for the moment. "A shield, I think. She's blocking me now, so I can't be sure."

I looked between the two confused about what was going on.

"A shield?" Edward repeated, bewildered.

"Come now, Edward! If I can't get a read on her, I doubt you can, either. Can you hear her thoughts right now?"

"No," Edward murmured. "But I've never been able to do that. Even when she was human."

"Never?" Eleazar blinked. "Interesting. That would indicate a rather powerful latent talent if it was manifesting so clearly even before the transformation. I can't feel a way through her shield to get a sense of it at all. Yet she must be raw still - she's only a few months old." The look he gave Edward now was almost exasperated. "And apparently completely unaware of what she's doing. Totally unconscious. Ironic. Aro sent me all over the world searching for such anomalies, and you simply stumble across it by accident and don't even realize what you have." Eleazar shook his head in disbelief.

Bella frowned. "What are you talking about? How can I be a shield? What does that even mean?"

Eleazar leaned his head to one side as he examined Bella. "I suppose we were overly formal about it in the guard. In truth, categorizing talents is a subjective, haphazard business; every talent is unique, never exactly the same thing twice. But you, Bella, are fairly easy to classify. Talents that are purely defensive, that protect some aspect of the bearer, are always called shields. Have you ever tested your abilities? Blocked anyone besides me and your mate?"

"It only works with certain things," she told him. "My head is sort of... private. But it doesn't stop Jasper from being able to mess with my mood or Alice from seeing my future."

"Purely a mental defense." Eleazar nodded to himself. "Limited, but strong."

"Aro couldn't hear her," Edward interjected. "Though she was human when they met."

Eleazar's eyes widened.

"Jane tried to hurt me, but she couldn't," she said. "Edward thinks Demetri can't find me, and that Alec can't bother me, either. Is that good?"

Eleazar, still gaping, nodded. "Quite."

"A shield!" Edward said, deep satisfaction saturating his tone. "I never thought of it that way."

Eleazar had recovered slightly. "Yes, no talent ever manifests in precisely the same way because no one ever thinks in exactly the same way. Not so different from what Alex is doing either"

"what about Alex?" Rose asked concerned and on alert.

"she is blocking me from seeing anything, just like Bella. Only hers is more encompassing. Even protecting her scent, she is for all intents and purposes invisible. We can see her, and her heartbeat is quite. I can barely hear it, mixed with the other two I cannot decipher it"

The others looked at me listening as well "I can hear it just fine. And smell her" Rose spoke looking at me.

"it's the mate bond, before that you couldn't" Edward added. I looked at Rose, her face confused but she only grabbed my hand. "she was like this as a human too, I couldn't read her thoughts, Alice can't see her future and Jasper can't feel her emotions"

"invisibility from our powers" Eleazar added.

"I wonder" Edward thought.

"what?" Bella asked.

"Alex can open her mind to allow me to read it... or can open it to communicate, I wonder if she can do the same and allow you to read it all" Edward responded looking at me.

I shook my head "I don't know... I only can when in wolf form, and I can only show you what I want. Even when I was open all the time and with the pack they still could only see what I want them too."

"maybe you could try" Eleazar said.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this, it wasn't comfortable to allow Edward in, the pack was easier since I had enough Quileute blood to have a better connection with them but only what I want them to see, they could never see everything.

I looked at Rosalie "only if you want to"

I was curious but still afraid it would get used against me, but then again maybe if Aro knew he would think twice about attacking, about threatening may family. I mean if I had a skill rare enough.

I nodded then breathed out, I opened my eyes to look at Eleazar. I could feel Edward in my head and another person. I didn't know how long it would take but it was starting to feel uncomfortable, a small pain at the back of my head.

Before the headache could fully form Eleazar breathed out "amazing"

"you can relax now Alex" Edward responded. I nodded and looked back at Rose. She put her head in my neck rubbing my back.

"what did you see?" Tanya asked, relaying the question I knew everyone was thinking.

"very powerful" Eleazar spoke in amazement. "physical invisibility to protect her, similar to Alec's ability all sense of scent, sound disappears. It protects her. Then she has an Electrokinesis and tracking sense"

"tracking is part of the Amarok" Rose added "so is the invisibility. Lucia read about it"

I nodded "yeah, it's a protection"

Eleazar nodded "yes, all of your skills are defensive. Your Electrokinesis gets stronger, you absorb it."

I thought about it, the pull of the impulses leads me to my target. i wondered if maybe I just had a tracking sense instead. "I can feel the currents, they tell me where someone is and where the go. I can feel when they move"

As if to test my theory Kate zoomed behind me and reached her hand out to grab me, but because I could feel the impulses, because I could feel the disruption through my feet and the air I was able to move slightly, grabbing her hand before it touched me.

The others gasped I turned to look at Kate "checks out"

She then smirked and Edward spoke in a stern voice "Kate"

I didn't know what he was talking about, but it was obviously she was thinking about something. On cue I felt an increase in electricity, originating at my point of contact.

But instead of hurting it felt as if I was pulling it in and disposing of it. A small tingle in my hand and arms.

Rosalie jumped, leaping from me "ow"

I let go of Kate and turned to Rose "are you okay?"

She smiled "yeah, you just shocked me"

"Sorry"