trigger warning: sexual assault emotional trauma similar to that of rosalie's storyline. please don't read and just ask for a synopsis of the chapter if that will bother you!!

"Stop telling me to 'chill out' in your mind," Edward muttered.

"Alright," Valeria stated. "I'll say it out loud. Chill out, Edward."

Edward and Valeria were standing outside of Bella's house. She was in there with Jacob, letting him get a good hit on the vampire's scent. Having the two Cullens in the house would overwhelm his senses too much and make it harder to pick up on.

While Edward was staring at the house as if he was in physical pain from Jacob and Bella being alone together, Valeria was lazily leaning against Bella's truck. She didn't really want to be there, but Bella had asked, thinking that maybe she could settle any disputes between the two boys.

"I have good reason for not liking this," Edward told her in a sharp tone.

"Oh, yeah, cause Bella is totally up there fucking Jacob right now in her room," Valeria shot back in a sarcastic tone. Edward shot her an unappreciative glare. "She already picked you, dude. Yeah, Jake can't take a hint, but he's harmless."

"He's not harmless," he spat. Then he glanced from the house back to Valeria. "Since when do you call him Jake too?"

She only shrugged her shoulders, making sure to keep all thoughts of the wolves from her mind. Instead, she thought of how often Bella used the nickname, making him think it just wore off on her.

A moment later, Bella led Jacob out of the house. "Whoever it was, he left a stink behind. It'll be hard to miss when we cross it again. We'll handle it from here," Jacob told Edward, walking over to them. Valeria smiled appreciatively, but Edward wasn't so thrilled.

"We don't need you to handle anything or anyone," he said in a low tone.

"I couldn't care less what you need," Jacob said, glaring at him.

Edward shook his head, unable to stand Jacob and his attitude. "All right, we're done here."

"No, you're done here," Jacob replied, taking a threatening step forward.

Valeria sighed and rubbed her forehead as she glanced at Bella. "These two are exhausting."

"Stop!" Bella exclaimed, stepping in between the two boys. "I'm tired of this. From now on, I'm Switzerland, okay?"

Edward and Jacob both seemed to calm down a little bit and even backed off, but both still glared at the other, full of hatred.

"Why did that work?" Valeria whispered, leaning in close to Bella. "What's Switzerland got to do with it?"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "They were neutral in the war."

"What war?"

"World War One," Edward said, scoffing. "Could you not act like a dumbass for once in your life?"

"Hey!" Both Bella and Jacob had snapped at Edward.

"Just cause you're mad that you can't protect Bella all on your own, doesn't mean you can take out your anger on Valeria," Jacob told Edward, clenching his fist in anger.

Edward was furious, already having to deal with Jacob's friendship with Bella. He didn't have the time to wonder why the hell Jacob was suddenly defending Valeria. And a look in the wolf's mind was no help. There were no thoughts about defending Sam's imprint — only ones about how much he hated Edward.

"Let's just... figure out a schedule for watching Bella's house," Valeria said, rolling her eyes. She had learned a while ago not to take Edward's words to heart, especially when he was in a bad mood. "What works better for the pack? Days or nights?"

"Nights," Jacob told her. "Some are still in school."

Most of the wolves opted to drop out of school in order to better protect the land — or in Paul's case, he had horrible control over his anger and couldn't risk shifting at school. However, Seth, Embry, and Quil still attended most days.

"Days work fine for us, right, Ed?" Valeria asked, giving a pointed look to Edward. "This isn't about the stupid rivalry anymore. This is for Bella."

"Fine," he muttered stiffly. "For Bella."

☽︎

The alliance between the wolves and the vampires was not an easy one. They guarded Bella's house in shifts of two, and would trade off at sunrise and sunset.

Valeria hated the days where she had to guard the house. Not because she didn't care about Bella and Charlie's safety, but because it was boring. They had to take it very seriously, meaning there was minimal talking and you had to constantly be on alert. She was usually paired with Jasper or Emmett during her shifts, the latter of which she was with now.

Bella had been peeking down at them through the window, and Valeria offered her a comforting smile. A moment later, they heard leaves shifting behind them and could smell the arrival of the wolves.

Valeria turned to see two wolves glaring at them — well, at Emmett. She could tell that they were Paul and Leah based on their fur. Emmett simply grunted before glancing at Valeria.

"Time to go," he grumbled, not pleased with constantly having to see the wolves and relying on them.

And then Emmett was running off, expecting Valeria to follow. And she would, but first she offered a smile to Paul and Leah.

"There may or may not be a container of chocolate croissants hiding in the bushes under Bella's window," she said, whispering as if it was some big secret.

Leah let out a quiet yelp as if to say 'thanks' while Paul stuck his tongue out, already tasting the treat. Then Valeria waved goodbye before going after Emmett.

Bella smiled from her window, glad that at least one Cullen was enjoying the alliance.

☽︎

Valeria lounged on the couch in the living room with her feet propped up on Jasper's lap. They were watching the news — well, the others were watching.

Valeria was texting Jared, who was begging for the recipe for the chocolate croissants she had gifted them. She was also texting Sam at the same time, who was advising her to keep the recipe to herself. It was funny to see Jared mope around, claiming he'd die without the recipe.

She was listening somewhat to the news anchor in the background who was going over the recent and frequent killing sprees in Seattle.

"It's getting worse," Carlisle said, turning off the tv just as Edward came in with Bella. "We're going to have to do something."

"It takes more than one of our kind to cause the damage they're reporting. Quite a few more. They're undisciplined, conspicuous," Jasper said, looking at Edward.

"It's newborns," he claimed.

"Fun," Valeria mumbled sarcastically as she put her phone down.

"What, like new vampires?" Bella asked, not seeing what the big difference was.

"The first few months after the change," Edward told her.

"That's when we're at our most uncontrollable, vicious, insane with thirst," Jasper explained.

Emmett smirked at Bella as he cracked his knuckles. "Something to look forward to."

"Wait," Bella said, doing the math in her head. Her gaze fell on Valeria who she knew had only been a vampire for around two years. "That would've made Valeria a newborn when we met."

"My copied humanity gift makes me an exception to the rule," she explained, biting the inside of her cheek. "It took away my bloodlust. Without it, no way would we have been able to come to Forks and go to school. But before..."

"What?" Bella asked as she trailed off.

Edward wrapped a comforting arm around Bella's shoulder. "Val's control was particularly... bad."

"Bad means she had none," Emmett piped up. "Ten times worse the Jazz ever was. Couldn't even be within fifty miles of a human."

"If it weren't for Alice's visions and Jasper's mood control, she would've escaped and taken out a whole town," Edward claimed. "It was a particularly challenging first few months until Carlisle brought Emmanuel. None of us had ever seen a newborn with such a lack of control."

"I'm still in the room," Valeria mumbled, hating the memories of how she used to be.

Jasper shot her a sympathetic smile, and a moment later, Valeria felt his powers at work, easing some of the guilt she felt. "But now she's great and the best member of the family," Jasper said, grabbing her feet and making her laugh.

"Bestest and youngest," she said, grinning. Then she looked at Bella. "But you'll be coming for my title of youngest soon."

Bella smiled back, glad that Valeria hadn't remained in a bad mood for long. "So, these newborns won't be nearly as charming as V. I still don't get why there are so many."

"Someone's creating an army," Carlisle stated.

Emmett jumped up from the couch, excited by the idea of a fight. "Now we're definitely going to Seattle."

"An army of vampires?" Bella asked in disbelief.

"Regardless of why they were made, if we don't put a stop to them, the Volturi will," Carlisle mused. "I'm surprised they let it go on this long."

"Maybe they're behind it," Edward said, making them all look at him sharply. "In Italy, I read Aro's mind. He wants me and Alice to join him. He knows we'll never choose him as long as our family is still alive."

"An army could solve that for him," Jasper muttered.

"Of course, if they find out about Valeria's power, you guys will be useless," Emmett said, sitting back down.

Edward clenched his fist, frustrated with the whole situation. "Aro knows she exists, but was too consumed with Bella to look deeper into my thoughts about it. As soon as he meets her and touches her, it'll be over."

"Someone's being a negative Nancy," Valeria said, rolling her eyes.

"Valeria," Carlisle said in a firm tone. He wished that Valeria would take the threat of the Volturi seriously. "Aro, Marcus, and Caius would go to great lengths for the likes of Edward and Alice, but they'd wage wars for someone like you. If they really are behind this army, then you're in just as much danger as Bella."

"Well, we may not be able to count on the wolves protecting her," Emmett said, determination clear on his face, "but the Volturi won't be getting their hands on Valeria as long as we're alive."

Bella bit her tongue, the only one to know just how wrong Emmett was. She even found herself wondering if she should tell Jacob and the wolves about the threat to Valeria. They'd be even more determined than they already were to work with the vampires and take down any incoming threat.

No one would protect Valeria better than Sam Uley.

☽︎

"You know, I'm very proud of you guys for not being babies about this whole alliance thing," Valeria said.

She was sitting at the treaty line with Sam. He had crossed over into her territory and sat across from her, their knees brushing against each other. He was holding the end of the embroidery thread while Valeria made friendship bracelets.

She was making them for the pack members, many of which acted like it was dumb as she asked for their favorite colors. But then Seth betrayed them and their mind link, letting her know that they were all very excited to be getting them.

"We can all act like grownups when need be," Sam said, smiling. Then he nodded to the red and blue bracelet that she was working on. "Who is this one for?"

"Quil wants a Spiderman themed one," she answered. Then she glanced up at him with a playful glare. "You still haven't told me what colors you like."

Sam simply shrugged. "I don't really have a favorite color. You can choose for me — I'll love it no matter what just because it's from you."

Valeria shyly looked down. Sam had been a bit more forward since their almost-kiss the night of Prom. Of course, there weren't tons of romantic moments while constantly on the hunt for a vampire intruder, but he still did his best to slip in sweet or flirty comments when he could.

"Maybe yellow — like the sun. That's what you remind me of," she claimed, smiling softly.

"Why the sun?" he asked, tilting his head. He wouldn't mind the shade, as it would remind him of her eyes.

"Because... you always put me in a better mood and make me smile. Like my personal sunshine," she explained. "That's what I'm gonna call you now: Sunshine."

He couldn't help but chuckle, knowing he was always rather broody and serious when not around Valeria — the opposite of the sun. "What happened to you giving me a ridiculous name to embarrass me?"

Valeria gasped dramatically. "How could I forget? Okay, okay. You will be Sunshine, but wolf you shall be dubbed—" She paused to think for a moment. "—Pup Tart!"

Sam couldn't help but snort, shaking his head at how horrible that was. "That's a ridiculous name."

"That's the point," she told him, giggling.

"Please don't use that. You know the others will start using it too," he whined.

"Well, then they'll just get bad dog names too," she decided. "Jared shall be, uh, Bandit because of that different color fur around his eyes. It's like a mask. Seth's gonna be... Bark Twain!"

Sam was simply snickering to himself as she kept listing off stupid names.

"Paul is Sour Wolf, obviously. We'll call Jake, um, Woofer."

"We will not call Jake Woofer," Jacob said, walking through the trees and over to them. Valeria smiled sweetly up at him. "That's a dumb name."

"That's the point," Sam stated.

"And I already said it out loud, so it can't be changed," Valeria declared. "Also, aren't you supposed to be spending the day with Bella while Edward hunts?"

Jacob tensed up, a clear sign that something had happened between the two, but wasn't going to talk about it. "She decided to go back early. He's with her."

"Okay," she said warily. "Sorry if Edward did something to make you mad. You annoy him even more than I do."

"Yeah, I got that," he muttered. "Which, you're not even that annoying. He was out of line for snapping at you the other day."

"What'd he say?" Sam asked, beginning to get upset. He didn't want anyone treating his girl badly.

"Nothing I'm not used to," Valeria said, shrugging. "Your boy Jake stood up for me like a personal knight in furry armor."

"Please don't say knight in furry armor," Jake said, cringing. "It's horrible."

"Well, now that I know you hate it, I'm gonna slip it into every conversation possible," she told him with a smirk on her face.

"Great," he said, sighing. "I suppose that's on me for reacting to it—" Jacob stopped talking as Valeria's phone rang.

"Hold that thought," she said before answering the call from Edward. "Yes, Edweirdo?"

"Where are you? Everyone else is at the house?" he asked, sounding curious over the line.

"Hanging out with friends," she told him, not lying. "What? Do I have to rush home again because of a threat?"

"No, but you might due to an annoyance," he muttered.

"Oh my god, Eddie, get to the point," she groaned. "Is this not something you could text me?"

Sam and Jacob were both grinning, knowing how she hated phone calls. And her patience with Edward had been wearing thin the past few weeks.

"Well, I just thought I'd update you on Jacob's behavior since you seem to love defending him every five minutes," Edward said in a sharp tone.

Valeria glanced at Jacob, who suddenly found the ground very interesting. "What do you mean?"

"Your harmless buddy Jake, who you constantly insist isn't a threat, forced himself on Bella and kissed her today."

"What?" she asked, her voice with a new, dark edge that the wolves hadn't heard before.

"Yeah. She broke her hand punching him because he wouldn't let her go. Just seemed like something you'd take interest in," he said, almost sounding smug. "You've been asking me for reasons to not trust them — I know that's a pretty big one in your book."

"I'll be there to check on Bella in a few minutes," Valeria said, keeping her tone as level as she could. Then she hung up and angrily started putting her bracelet supplies up.

"Val—"

"Shut up, Jacob!" she snapped, shaking her head. "Don't talk to me, don't even look at me."

Jacob sighed while Sam silently remained seated, not knowing how to intervene — he also figured Jacob deserved to be yelled at for sexually assaulting Bella.

"Just let it go—"

"I will not!" she interrupted again. "Bella is always telling you no and no and no and no, and you won't listen to her! She doesn't want you as anything more than a friend. You had no right to do something so disgusting!"

"She doesn't know what she wants, and it was just a kiss!" he insisted. "It's not a big deal. You don't have to get so mad. You're overreacting."

"Consent is a big deal, Jacob," she shot back, spinning on her heel to glare fiercely at him. There were also tears that wouldn't shed in her eyes. "And excuse me for being mad, but I think that the trauma of being raped and left for dead in an alley allows me to react as such!"

Jacob flinched at her words and his face crumbled, but she couldn't care less.

"Unless by some miracle Bella wants to talk to you, you leave her alone," Valeria ordered. "In case the baking and the friendship bracelets distracted you from it, I am actually a powerful killing machine. If you look at her in the wrong way, I will set you on fire. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Jacob managed to say, keeping his eyes on the ground, full of shame.

"Valeria," Sam said softly, wanting to comfort her.

But a second later, she was gone, already halfway home.

☽︎

Valeria was still seething as she watched Carlisle bandaged Bella's hand. Her wrist wasn't fully broken. It was just a sprain and she'd need to wear a brace for a few weeks. Most everyone had steered clear of the youngest vampire who was filled with anger at the wolf she thought she could trust around Bella.

"Trying to walk and chew gum at the same time again, Bella?" Emmett asked, walking into the house.

Normally, Valeria wouldn't have replied with something sarcastic like, "you say it like you can do those two things," but she was in far too foul a mood.

"I punched a werewolf in the face," Bella said, chuckling.

"Badass!" he said, grinning. Rosalie, from her seat next to Valeria, looked sharply at her husband, not finding it at all funny. "You'll be one little tough newborn."

"Tough enough to take you on," Bella joked.

Rosalie, having enough of the conversation, angrily got up and exited the room. A moment later, Valeria got up and followed her. She glanced at Bella, who looked concerned. "Don't worry about it," she said, smiling softly.

Valeria went outside with Rosalie and stood next to her on the porch, holding her hand. Valeria may have enjoyed the life as a vampire a little more than Rosalie, but they understood each other more than anyone else in the family.

Soon, they heard Bella follow them, and Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Go blather to someone else about the joys of becoming a newborn."

"Okay," Bella said, taking in a deep breath and trying to get the courage to speak. "Rosalie, I don't understand what I did to make you hate me so much."

"I don't hate you," Rosalie told her, scoffing. "I don't particularly like you, but... Bella, I envy you."

Bella, who couldn't believe that someone as perfect as Rosalie could be jealous of the plain human, laughed in disbelief. "What? That's ridiculous."

"No, it's not," she said sharply. "You have a choice. I didn't, none of us did, but you do and you're choosing wrong. I don't care how miserable your human life is."

"My life is not miserable," Bella told them, walking closer. "It's not perfect, nobody's life is perfect."

"Mine was," Rosalie said, a sad smile on her face. "Absolutely perfect. There were things I still wanted. To be married with a nice house and a husband who kissed me when he came home. A family of my own. Royce King was the most eligible bachelor in town, I barely knew him. But I was young, I was in love with the idea of love. On the last night of my life I left a friend's house late, I wasn't far from home..."

Valeria suddenly flashed away, unable to listen to the rest of Rosalie's story. Once was enough. Rosalie kept going, unsurprised by her departure.

"They left me in the street thinking I was dead. Believe me, I wanted to be. Carlisle found me, he smelled all the blood — he thought was helping me."

"I'm sorry," Bella whispered, her voice hardly coming out.

"I got my revenge on them, one at a time," Rosalie said, a sinister smile on her lips. "Saved Royce for last so he would know I was coming. I was a little theatrical back then."

"Things got better after I met Emmett," she continued, her tone growing even sadder. "But we'll always be this, frozen, never moving forward. That's what I miss the most, possibilities, sitting on a front porch somewhere, Emmett grey haired by my side surrounded by our grandchildren, their laughter."

Bella managed to speak up after a moment of silence, taking in Rosalie's story. "I understand that's what you want. But there's nothing I'm ever gonna want more than Edward."

"You're wrong again," Rosalie said, a sad smile on her face. "After you've been changed there's one thing you'll want more. One thing you'll kill for. Blood. I'm sure Edward's praying every day you aren't like Valeria."

Bella bit her lip and looked away, her mind conjuring an image of a feral, red-eyed Valeria, blood coating her otherwise flawless face.

"Did she leave the house?" Bella asked, glancing back through the windows and seeing everyone but Valeria inside.

"Our stories are frighteningly similar," was all Rosalie said. "The memories are still fresh for her."

"I didn't know," Bella said, feeling horrible for her friend. Valeria always shared so much about her life, but she had never mentioned her death to her.

"You have to ask, and even then, she keeps it vague," Rosalie said, shaking her head. "We'll give her a few hours, and then Jasper or Emmett will go find her if she doesn't come back on her own."

"So, she's just out there alone?"

"She wants to be."

Except, Valeria wasn't alone. Her feet took her to the border without her brain telling them too. Sam found her there, catching her scent and hearing the quiet sobs leaving her mouth.

He didn't care that he was on patrol. He barked the order for Paul to grab someone else before rushing off to find Valeria. Sam didn't even waste the time to shift back before running over to her.

Valeria heard the soft whine that came from him as he nudged her arm with his nose. She pulled her head away from her knees for half a second before throwing her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly while burrowing her face into his fur.

It would be a long time before she let him go, and he didn't mind one bit.