[  this is it. the last chapter. I can't believe I finished it bc I never finish books but here we are  ]

☽︎

NO ONE DIES, ROMAN.

Frankie didn't show it, but she was worried as hell as she walked in her human form to the huge clearing in the middle of the woods. The rest of the packs were waiting to come out, already shifted. Unlike them, Frankie was just as durable and strong when not shifted, so she wanted to remain human. She wanted the guards to recognize her from last time.

Of course, Frankie wasn't worried for herself. She was worried for Seth and Leah and Paul and Renesmee and Emmett and everyone she cared about. If things went sideways and she died, it would all be okay so long as everyone else lived.

The Volturi all emerged at once, a mass of black cloaks that greatly outnumbered the vampire witnesses gathered for the Cullens. Right at the center were the three leaders, and Frankie was able to identify them from a painting in Carlisle's office.

"The Redcoats are coming! The Redcoats are coming!" Garrett muttered nervously, making a smile twitch on Frankie's face as she grabbed Emmett's hand.

"Aro's looking for Alice," Edward whispered, looking in the king's mind.

As the Volturi witnesses — army — got closer, Frankie let out a short, high-pitched whistle, signaling for the wolf packs to emerge. That made the other vampires hesitate, not expecting the giant wolves to be there. Seth moved next to Emmett and Frankie, and Leah went to Rosalie's side protectively. Jacob joined Bella, Edward, and Nessie, ready to stop anyone from hurting his Imprint.

It was Carlisle who broke the tense silence, stepping forward and speaking at a normal level, knowing he didn't have to shout as they all had enhanced hearing. "Aro, Iet us discuss things as we used to. In a civilized manner."

"Fair words, Carlisle. But a little out of place, given the battalion you've assembled against us," he replied, eyeing the wolves uneasily. He knew Caius in particular was enraged by their alliance.

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

"We see the child. Do not treat us as fools!" Caius snapped, his eyes on Renesmee, who was clinging to Bella.

"She is not an lmmortal! These witnesses can attest to that. Or you can look. See the flush of human blood in her cheeks."

"Artifice!" Frankie couldn't help but roll her eyes. Did he really think they'd put blush on Nessie's cheeks and called it a day?

Aro raised his hand to silence his brother. "I will collect every facet of the truth. But from someone more central to the story. Edward, as the child clings to your newborn mate, I assume you are involved."

Edward looked uneasily toward Bella, who then looked at her best friend. "Frankie," she whispered, her quiet plea telling her exactly what she wanted. It seemed Edward needed her as a bodyguard too.

Together, Edward and Frankie walked with their heads high to Aro, who was looking at the latter with interest, picking up on her warm and inviting scent as she got closer. Frankie was half a step behind Edward, watching with interest as Aro took his hand, using his powers to read all of Edward's thoughts.

In that time, she studied the other two kings now that she was closer. The blonde one was glaring at her, so she just shot him a big grin, which made him roll his eyes and scoff. And she mirrored his movements before looking at the other, who looked as exhausted as she'd felt the last month.

When he was done looking through Edward's mind, Aro's eyes fell on Renesmee excitedly. "I'd like to meet her."

Edward turned and looked at them, nodding his head. Bella, Renesmee, and Jacob made their way over, and after Bella looked at Emmett just as she had Frankie, he accompanied them. All those of the Volturi noticed how he instantly wrapped an arm around Frankie's waist, keeping her close.

"Ah. Young Bella. Immortality becomes you," Aro complimented. Then he looked to Nessie and let out a mix between a laugh and a shriek, which made Frankie bite back a laugh of her own, finding him incredibly creepy. "I hear her strange heart."

Aro then held out his hand, and Nessie walked closer. But she wasn't going to let him have her hand. "Hello, Aro," she said in a soft tone. She surprised him by ignoring his hand and placing her small one on his cheek, using her powers to show him all of her memories. It was clear the ancient vampire was transfixed by what he saw.

"Magnifico!" he exclaimed before facing his coven. "Half mortal, half immortal. Conceived and carried by this newborn while she was still human."

"Impossible!" Caius snapped angrily.

Aro looked at him sharply. "Do you think they fooled me, brother?" he asked challengingly, which silenced him.

Caius clenched his jaw angrily as the others then began walking back to the other side. "Bring the informer forward." Demetri and Felix shoved Irina to the front of the group, and it was clear things weren't going to end well for her. "Is that the child you saw?"

Irina glanced nervously at Renesmee. "I'm not sure."

"Jane."

Before she could use her power, Irina was speaking, her voice trembling. "She's changed. This child is bigger."

"Then your allegations were false," Caius accused.

"The Cullens are innocent. I take full responsibility for my mistake," Irina said with a frown. "I'm sorry."

The guards were on her in an instant, her execution imminent.

"Caius, no!" Edward shouted helplessly as Caius tore Irina's head off as another set fire to her body.

"Irina!" Tanya screamed, both her and Kate running forward to attack Caius and the army.

Garrett quickly got a hold of Kate, who used her powers to electrocute him, but he wouldn't let go. Emmett and Eleazar held Tanya back, who was fighting violently against them.

"Blind them," Edward ordered Zafrina, who did as such. Without their sight, the two had to cease their attacks, not aware of their surroundings.

"Give me my sight back," Tanya muttered, shaking with anger.

"Tanya, this is what they want. If you attack now, we'll all die," Edward told her. "Don't make Frankie make you stop. It's not an enjoyable experience."

With a defeated huff, both Kate and Tanya gave up, and Edward nodded to Zafrina, who returned their sight. Then without being ordered, Jane set her sights on Frankie, wanting a bit of a rematch.

"Pain."

Frankie let out a howl of pain before dropping to the ground. Her fingers dug into the snow as she whipped her head back up to glare at Jane, her eyes glowing red. With a huff, she stood, ignoring the searing pain that was running through her. Jane's eye twitched angrily, trying to send more pain her way.

But it did nothing as Frankie began stomping toward her threateningly, only for Edward to hold her back. It was then that Jane focused her power on him, only to see that it didn't work at all. Bella's shield was now protecting him.

"It's working," Edward said, bringing Frankie back over to Bella and Emmett.

Everyone saw Alec step forward, a dark mist leaving his hands. But Aro quickly gestured for him to stop, knowing they had no reason to attack.

"Aro, you see there's no law broken here," Carlisle said, trying to reason with him.

"Agreed," Aro said before finding a new angle. He wasn't going to leave a defeated man. "But does it then follow that there is no danger? For the first time in our history, humans pose a threat to our kind. Their modern technology has given birth to weapons that could destroy us. Maintaining our secret has never been more imperative. In such perilous times, only the known is safe. Only the known is tolerable. And we know nothing of what this child will become. Can we live with such uncertainty? Spare ourselves a fight today, only to die tomorrow."

"Bullshit," Frankie muttered, beginning to shake with anger.

But it faded when two figures emerged from the nearby woods, walking with purpose toward the Volturi. Aro let out an excited laugh, realizing as they all had that it was Alice and Jasper, who'd finally returned after running.

"Alice!" Aro exclaimed with delight.

As Alice and Jasper walked up to him and the army, Demetri and Felix stopped them, keeping them in place.

"My dear, dear Alice, we're so glad to see you here, after all," Aro told her.

"I have evidence the child won't be a risk to our kind," Alice said, keeping her head held high. Aro just eyed her suspiciously. "Let me show you."

Always so desperate to see the future, Aro eagerly gestured for his guards to release her. Caius tried to sway him against it, but Aro wouldn't hear it as he took Alice's hands and searched her thoughts.

In an instant, Alice frowned and pulled her hand back, fury in her eyes. "It doesn't matter what I show you. Even when you see, you still won't change your decision."

At that moment, she turned to Bella and mouthed, "Now!"

Frankie watched sadly as Bella nodded to Jacob, who had Renesmee on his back. "Take care of my daughter," she whispered before he took off into the woods.

"Get them!" Caius yelled as two guards took off after them.

A growl tore through Frankie's throat as she lunged for them, shifting as she moved. She tackled one of the guards and ripped off his head, but the other got by and went after Jacob and Renesmee.

In the chaos and confusion caused by her shifting, Alice attacked Aro, kicking him hard and sending him flying. But he managed to land easily as guards captured Alice.

"Take her away," he ordered.

All the Cullens, Carlisle most of all, became angry as Alice was dragged away by Felix and Demetri. "Let her go!" he shouted.

He ran at Aro, and they met each other mid-air, crashing into each other so hard that it sounded like thunder. In a flash, Aro was back on his feet, and all watched in horror as Carlisle's body dropped, his head clutched in Aro's hand. In an instant, Caius was setting his body on fire.

Frankie saw red as she rushed toward the Volturi, the first of everyone to reach them as she was the fastest. Killing Carlisle had been the last straw — no one would ever let that slide. Absolute chaos broke out amongst them, especially when the wolves joined in.

Emmett and Frankie fought side by side, and Frankie was fighting to get to Jane first, who was trying to send a wave of pain at Jasper. It wasn't until Alec attacked Bella and broke her concentration that it worked, and Demetri ripped Jasper's head off. Alice's scream tore through the field, and Frankie charged at Jane, leaping over several guards to get to her.

Jane screamed as she was tackled, and Frankie's teeth bit into her arm, tearing it from her body. But suddenly, everything went dark. The wolf couldn't see the battle, hear the screaming, smell the smoke of burning bodies, feel the cold of the snow. She was trapped by her lack of senses, trapped by darkness.

Emmett was the one to see his mate falling at the hands of Alec's power, the one thing she wasn't stronger than. He growled lowly and went after him, knowing quite well that the twins weren't as trained in combat as the other guards, and that would be their downfall.

Alec was slammed into the ground, and the shadows surrounding Frankie dissipated, leaving her to gather her bearings as Emmett tore off Alec's limbs and finally his head, throwing it at his sister's feet. And she couldn't even bring him pain for it because of Bella's gift.

While Emmett ran to check on Frankie, who was taking deep breaths to try and reorient herself, Jane sought out someone not being covered by Bella. A small, brown wolf that was foolishly going up against Felix. She smirked and brought him pain, making the wolf whimper and whine as he fell to his feet. Felix wasted no time in getting his arms around him, crushing him in an instant.

The first to notice Seth's death was Leah, who let out an agonized howl, which is what caught Frankie's attention. She looked sharply at Seth, seeing him draw his last breath before going still.

The growl that tore through the land shook everyone to their core, all eyes falling on Frankie as her figure loomed over them all. Heat rolled off her in waves, melting the snow around her as the growl morphed into a roar that had every vampire and wolf dropping to their feet, even those on her side.

Angry tears welled in her red eyes as she lunged at the great Felix who was supposedly stronger than even Emmett. He couldn't even run as she took the top half of his body into her mouth, ripping him in half with her fangs. The others were freed from her commanding presence as she did so, and the fighting resumed.

Seeing that they were greatly outnumbered, Benjamin used his power to create a chasm in the earth. As it separated, many of the Volturi soldiers fell inside, but so did some of theirs. Leah spotted a guard dragging Esme into the chasm, so she launched forward and caught the guard's cloak, pulling him off. But there was no ground for her to grab onto, leading her to fall to her death.

"NO!" Rosalie's agonized scream tore through the air as she scrambled to the edge, not able to reach her in time.

Frankie leaped over the chasm to the other side, bits of Felix still in her teeth as she set her sights on Jane, who began to run like the little girl she really was. Being so reliant on her powers showed just how foolish she was as Frankie hunted her down.

Aro watched in horror as his most powerful asset was torn to pieces by the terrifyingly large creature. It was then that Caius joined the fight. But it was almost pathetic how quickly the Denali sisters and Garrett took him out, exacting their revenge for killing Irina.

Marcus didn't even try to defend himself when the familiar Romanians ran at him with the intent to kill. He raised his arms, welcoming his death with open arms. "Finally," he whispered before they tore him in half, committing their personal revenge.

Frankie and Emmett were picking off guards one by one, and Emmett couldn't help but grin at her after she threw a dead soldier at his feet. It fell in an instant though when she let out a sharp cry, her body seizing up.

No one had seen Aro moving toward her, still furious at them for taking out the twins. Frankie couldn't breathe as a hand punctured her chest, a cold fist wrapped tightly around her beating heart.

For the first time in his life, Emmett froze in fear, watching the red glow fade from Frankie's eyes. When Aro dropped Frankie and ran for Edward, Emmett couldn't even chase after him. He fell to Frankie's side, who was unmoving — dead. Blood matted her fur and fell from her mouth, staining the red snow.

"No, no, no," he whispered, tears welling in his eyes. "No one dies, Roman. No - no one dies. Frankie?"

From across the clearing, Bella looked at her best friend's corpse with a horrified expression. A kind of fury arose that she'd never felt before — the kind that could rival Paul and Frankie on a bad day — and Bella ran at Aro from the side, who was in the middle of attacking Edward. She screamed wrathfully and tackled him, the two rolling through the snow.

Aro threw her off, but Edward caught her. He then grabbed her hand and launched her toward Aro, kicking his chest hard. Edward managed to get him in a headlock, but he quickly escaped and got the upper hand. Before he could remove Edward's head, Bella jumped on his back, her legs locked around his neck as she began to pry his head off.

To give her more momentum, Edward kicked Aro's legs out from under him, and his head snapped off and rolled to the side. And as all the guards turned on them, realizing their last king was dead, Bella reached for the torch, knowing she had to burn him before he could be reassembled.

The last thing Aro's eyes saw were the flames and his death at the hands of Bella Swan.

Aro nearly flinched as the vision ended, looking at Alice in horror. She just squared her shoulders, daring him to not change his mind. "Now you know. That's your future. Unless you decide on another course."

Aro nervously glanced around the would-be-battlefield, his eyes falling on Frankie, then Bella, who would be his end. Having not seen the vision of his own death, Caius spoke out.

"We cannot alter our course. The child still poses a grave threat."

"But what if you were sure she could remain concealed from the human world?" Edward suddenly asked, looking into Alice's mind. "Could we leave in peace?"

"Of course," Caius scoffed. "But that cannot be known."

Edward smirked to himself. "Actually, it can."

All of them watched as two more people emerged from the woods, walking slowly and purposefully until they reached Alice's side. While the woman was clearly a vampire, the man had a strange heartbeat just like Renesmee. "I've been searching for witnesses of my own among the Ticuna tribes of Brazil," she explained.

Caius rolled his eyes. "We have enough witnesses."

Aro shook his head. "Let him speak, brother."

The man, Nahuel, spoke, gaining all their attention. "I am half human, half vampire. Like the child. A vampire seduced my mother, who died giving birth to me. My aunt Huilen raised me as her own. I made her immortal."

"How old are you?" Bella asked anxiously.

He looked back at her. "A hundred and fifty years." Bella and Edward sighed in relief, realizing they'd have forever with their daughter after all.

"At what age did you reach maturity?" Aro questioned.

"I became full-grown seven years after my birth," he explained. "I have not changed since then."

"And your diet?"

"Blood, human food. I can survive on either."

For the first time, Marcus spoke. "These children are much like us."

"Regardless, the Cullens have been consorting with werewolves. Our natural enemies," Caius said, glaring in particular at Frankie, who just smirked and flipped him off.

"Dear ones," Aro said, facing his army, "there is no danger here. We will not fight today."

Some of the Volturi looked quite disappointed — so did Frankie, to be honest — but they all listened to Aro and quickly left the clearing. Jane sneered at Frankie before disappearing. Aro looked back between Alice and Bella, no doubt thinking of how powerful they were.

"Such a prize," he muttered before leaving with the others.

While everyone else rejoiced, Vladimir and Stefan were displeased. "We have them on the run. Now is the time to attack."

"Not today," Carlisle told them, holding Esme to his side.

"You're all fools!" Stefan exclaimed. "The Volturi might be gone. But they will never forgive what happened here. Why not kill them now when you have a beast at your disposal?"

Most everyone ignored the Romanians, who ran off. Frankie did as well, moving to Emmett's side. He caught her in his arms and kissed her passionately. Alice watched with a content smile on her face, more happy than anyone that Emmett didn't have to watch her die.

☽︎

"Just keep your eyes closed," Emmett instructed, which was pointless as he had his hands over her eyes. Even though Frankie didn't know it, he was leading her to the roof.

"Where are we going? We need to be saying goodbye to everyone," Frankie said, trying to figure out what he was doing.

"We're gonna have time to say goodbye. I need their help with something anyway."

"Well, get on with it," she said, grabbing a hold of his wrists.

"Okay," he said, coming to a stop. "Remember high school?"

"That was just seven months ago. Of course, I remember high school," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't be a buzzkill, babe," he laughed. "Okay, open your eyes."

As Emmett removed his hands, she peeled her eyes open to see they were up on the roof. She looked at the trees with confusion, only for Emmett to put his hand on the back of her head and make her look down. Her mouth fell open when she saw everyone — vampire and werewolf — present and forming out letters in a familiar fashion, suddenly making her feel like she was back in the high school gym being asked to prom. The question mark was made of Mike and Jessica, and her father.

MARRY ME?

Tears welled in Frankie's eyes as she laughed, turning to look at Emmett, who was suddenly on his knee with a box in hand. "You fucking dork," she said, unable to fight the grin on her face.

"Mike said you probably wouldn't say no this time," he said with a little smirk. "What do you say, Roman? Marry me?"

"Answer fast!" Paul shouted from below. "The ground is uncomfortable."

Frankie laughed and then nodded, dropping to her knees in front of Emmett. "Yeah, I'll marry you, Cullen."

Emmett sighed in relief when she kissed him — Mike actually had said she'd say no this time around. Frankie didn't even really care about the ring. She just wanted to keep kissing Emmett, but eventually, she had to breathe, so when they parted for air, Emmett actually opened the ring box, revealing a beautiful but simple diamond ring with a silver band.

"You're stuck with me now, Roman," Emmett said while sliding the ring on her finger.

"Oh, Cullen," she said, tangling her fingers in his hair. "I told Mike a long time ago I was going to ruin your life. It's you that's stuck with me. Forever."

"Forever."