•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

𝐅𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐁 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐒, 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄, 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐓. That overwhelming discovery brought new struggle to Jacob Black's once simple life.

He wasn't able to talk to Bella now that he was a shifter werewolf. It isn't safe for her, he rationalized, She shouldn't be exposed to me right now. I don't want to hurt her. His vehement rejection of her love for Edward still pulled at his mind. He couldn't let her be with such a monster. A vampire, a bloodsucker, there were so many names for him to call the Cullens and other vampires.

Bella did not know the reason why Jacob Black was ignoring her, and now she had a stupid sister to drag along with her. Would the russet-skinned boy question this new twin of hers? She hadn't managed to mention her, rather preoccupied with her own sadness and the motorcycle she and he were fixing.

Andromeda had no idea the kind of trouble Bella would bring with her, just like she did not know that her sister was starting to unravel her secret life. First questions about the skin and then about her skin's frightening chill. The princess did not answer any of them honestly, still praying that Bella Swan did not understand the nature of her condition. She had health issues her whole life, but vampirism was a whole new world filled with violence and soulmates, covens and war.

The two girls dragged their feet all the way to the reservation. Andromeda, both done with her sister's grip on that pale wrist of hers and walking at a human pace, hummed. This caught the mortal girl off guard. If she was deaf, why did she hum?

One simple unspoken answer: vibrations.

"We should be here soon," Andromeda was unable to see her sister's face, but felt the change in her body's natural vibrations. It was still not enough to be able to comprehend her sister, who could not get it through her thick skull that Andromeda Volturi is a deaf girl. "Jake!"

Jacob Black had come back from a run all but three minutes prior, heart beating at the speed of light. Hands shaky with anxiety as he saw Bella, his childhood crush who his heart longed for.

Whisking his eyes to the very human girl, Jacob found himself sniffing the air. The most intoxicating scent filled his nose, pulling those dark chocolate brown eyes to the right, where he saw her.

A click in his very soul had him falling on the ground, his eyes locked on the woman beside Bella. His old crush meant nothing. This girl was perfect, almost perfectly shaped to what he thought could be a goddess. He felt alive, the wind knocked out of him as his jaw dropped. Jacob felt his heart twist and turn, tugging all of his attention and directing it at whoever she was. His life, both the best memories and the worst, flashed before his eyes, pushing him into a dreamlike state.

Sam Uley's explanation of his imprinting did Jacob no justice. The shape-shifting werewolf's world turned upside down, correcting itself only by centering in on this girl next to Bella.

Euphoria hit the senses of Andromeda at the same time, her eyes turning a deep black at the sight of her true mate. The feral vampire inside of her forced her into stillness, her mind contracting back into herself. A single push to the shoulders did not phase her. Bella screamed and shouted at the deaf girl, angry that she was not moving.

"Mate," Andromeda could manage a single word, almost instinctual. She had not spoken in years, not ever being able to hear herself, but this feeling brought her back to reality. The girl would have cried if she had the ability to.

"Oh my lord why aren't you moving? Look at me!" Bella forced her sister's eyes to hers. "Come on, we have things to do."

No, no. He's my mate, Andromeda thought. Bella was perplexed, but not intrigued as to why her twin sister did not move from where she stood. The girl took a new extreme with her actions, pulling Andromeda's silky smooth hair. When Andromeda screeched and took three steps back, she didn't know the implications of such a cry, or how loud she had been.

Jacob heard the scream and lost control of himself, shifting into his wolf form. The pack, alert and on the scent of a new vampire, shifted and came tumbling into the scene, ready to rip apart Andromeda Volturi and burn her alive.

Filled with protectiveness over his imprint, Jacob growled and ran next to Andromeda, pushing her away from his former crush. His new life revolved around her, and nothing would lay a single hand on the vampire unless they wanted to face his wrath.

Andromeda came out of her own obliviousness the second she was knocked onto the ground. Unhurt, but horrified to find that her mate had turned into a humongous brown wolf. A wolf. If her mate was a werewolf, her papa would kill him. It was well known that Caius Volturi hated any dog, even the domesticated kind.

Leah was the first one to reach the scene, trying to corner the confused vampire. Andromeda did not understand the treaty or what these people were. The only tales she knew of wolf-people were the Children of the Moon, those evil and uncontrollable monsters. Even with all of the hate directed at them, Andromeda would not reject her mate. It was impossible, and could bring about emotional turmoil.

Wolves quickly surrounded Andromeda and Bella, who was still at the scene and screaming bloody murder.

"Get away from her!" Jacob exclaimed through the pack link, standing his ground.

"She's a cold one, Jake!" it was Paul who spoke next, "She's on our land! Stand down!"

"No! You can't hurt my imprint!" The reveal of Andromeda's species passed over Jacob's head, in one ear and out the other.

"Imprint?" Sam's voice came in next, "Fucking hell did Jacob imprint on a leech? Is that even possible?"

She's on the ground, Jacob thought, finally able to reign in his inner wolf. Many of his fellow wolves shifted back into human form, albeit reluctantly. If this vampire was their pack mates' imprint, they could not harm her, as much as they wanted to rip any cold one apart.

Andromeda shifted away from the wolves, instinctually letting out a stream of high pitched hisses as she tried to run. These people had tried to hurt her, wanted to hurt her still. She knew that glare.

"Hey," Jacob said, not knowing that Andromeda did not understand him, "My name is Jacob━"

"She can't hear you," Jacob growled and turned to face Bella, who was glaring daggers into her twin sister, "Andromeda is deaf."

The vampire got herself up, annoyed and terrified at what had just happened on the reservation. Wolves were not her cup of tea, but perhaps her mate bond with this one would be an exception. A soulmate was a perfect match played by whatever destiny-writing forces are in the beyond, who was Andromeda to question them?

Jacob pulled himself together, honing in the ASL knowledge he had learned from his elective. Andromeda thought she would be screwed, but the fates had different plans.

"My name is Jacob." Andromeda was shocked, but her face remained like stone, cold and unwavering. "What's your name?"

"Andromeda Volturi," she responded, not knowing what more to say. He's my mate! This shouldn't be so uncomfortable. We're meant to be, Andromeda thought, I want to leave with him! Perhaps he would be open to a date, given our soul bond.

Given this fuss, Bella Swan found herself frazzled by the ongoing stare between Jacob and Andromeda after their exchange. Surely her twin couldn't just barge into her life uninvited and steal whatever claim she had over Jacob. That would be bogus, Andromeda may be a beauty, but Bella knew memories would resurface for Jacob the second he could pull away from her sister's tantalizing reddish locks and short white skirt. That had to be it, the skirt, showing her pale, perfected legs.

The Volturi princess did not know of the hold Bella once had over her mate's heart.

Confidence soared through her as Jacob held her close on his chest. Sickeningly sweet warmth flashed across that pale skin of hers, which carried a cold embrace on Jacob's tanned arms.

Glistening sun shone down through the epic forests of Forks, painting Andromeda's exposed skin like crystals. Jacob had never seen a cold one's flesh under the sun, laughing when he heard about the nature of it all. His imprint was pure, crystallizing radiance to his wolf instincts, that of which pulled her to the forefront of his teenage mind.

Aware of this exposure, Bella Swan gasped when she saw her sister shimmering like a rogue disco ball under the sunlight. Freak of nature as she was, it was this abnormality that made Bella increasingly jealous. Andromeda could catch anyone's eye with her sparkles, being so damn siren-like under sunshine.

"Get inside," Jacob said to his imprint, "You'll be exposed out here."

"My sister has seen me in the sun, my mate, she must either turn or die. It is vampire law." Jacob frowned at his imprint, unaware of the complexities of a cold one's coven, especially not the ruling one that she is a part of.

"YOU━" Bella started to rage, infuriated that her sister was of the same species as Edward Cullen. Another jealous pang struck at her heart at the thought that perhaps her ex knew this beautiful girl. Rosalie was enough to deal with already, but Andromeda as well? "NEVER TOLD ME THAT YOU WERE A VAMPIRE━"

Jacob tried to quickly sign to Andromeda what Bella was shouting at her, but the vampire raised a single hand and stared at her twin sister, who soon realized that she had not been paying attention. Bella found it highly insulting.

"You never said you were a vampire." Bella was lucky that her facial motions were recognizable to deaf ears. "You shouldn't be here in Forks. The vampires are gone. Everyone is gone."

Andromeda did not understand what Bella was on about. Vampires in Forks? A small town with wolves is a terrible place for a snack, or any meal for that matter. Oh, some do like a good hunt with all the added value of battle. Papa would, she thought.

"There were other vampires here?" Bella visibly raged at the use of ASL. Could she not find a way to make this easier for her? To actually communicate? Bella thought she was doing this on purpose, to somehow get revenge for either having her parents or what she said earlier. Jealousy pooled inside of her once she remembered the kind of childhood Charlie said she had. Andromeda was some rich, untalented, and utterly enchanting Italian vampire who was getting on her last nerve.

"Her ex boyfriend she's been whining over for the past six months. I told her I would have been better," Jake realized the second he said it that he had fucked up. Andromeda started to growl and stare down her mate for even suggesting such a thing with her sister. "I am so sorry-"

"What? For what, Jacob? For insinuating that you have feelings for my twin sister, or for making me upset?" Andromeda's hands shook with jealousy and anger, two emotions vampires knew well.

"Would saying both make it worse...?" Andromeda rolled her eyes at her mate and sent a heated glare over to where Bella was standing, infuriated herself.

Staring battle stopped by Andromeda's own sense of self-respect, her eyes wandered to the handsome mate she had picked up. Starry eyed sorcery would not work on a man like this, but she suspected that starry skin could do the job. Jacob almost bent to her every move, unlike most of the mate bonds she had seen during her eighteen years of life. Jacob Black was like a new, wolf toy that she could be with.

"What were you saying?" Bella questioned, a toned hiss underlying her usually dull and submissive tone, "Why are you looking at her like that? Why did you hug her? You hate vampires, Jake, you always used that against Edward."

"This isn't Edward Cullen, Bella, this is Andromeda Volturi." It was not often that Jacob Black became this hurt by what someone said to him, even as a sensitive person himself. The way Bella cut at his imprint made him take a step back internally, assessing what to say next. "My imprint."

"Jacob," Andromeda got his attention through her hands, having understood Jacob's words to Bella. While others were sometimes a struggle to read fully, Andromeda could map those lips with her shielded red eyes both completely and simply.

Her mate smelled like wild berries and windy Sunday afternoons, with just a small flair of minty freshness. Andromeda sniffed the air next to her precious mate. God, why does this man smell like ambrosia? Better than blood. This is my own personal heroin, clawing my senses to it's likeness.

"Yes?" Jacob Black's focus was instantly on his imprint, who now held the reins to his life.

"Do you like Bella?" Andromeda asked the most horrifically difficult question Jacob could ever be asked to answer. Of course he liked Bella, but liked, as in the past tense. Jacob Black's heart belonged to Andromeda Volturi.

"I did before I met you," Jacob answered with honesty. Hiding things would only lead to heartache, and Jacob had been through enough of that this year.

Andromeda didn't consider the before I met you. "You like my twin sister, great. Just fantastic."

"You're my imprint-" Jacob was cut off by a very upset Andromeda, who had never experienced anything close to the jealousy that lingered next to her heart. Clamping down, it beckoned her to allow it's dark embrace to comfort her.

"Well, I'm mated to you. You're in love with my twin, who doesn't want anything to do with me. What a wonderful start to a relationship," her words broke Jacob's heart in the worst ways. It was no rejection, not in the slightest, but her distrust of him burned his soul and inner wolf. "If she's what you want-"

"No, no, no, don't say that. Bella is not my imprint and my feelings for her are long gone." Jacob's words softened Andromeda, allowing most of the hidden jealousy to fade. "Please, give me a chance to prove it to you. I'd do anything. I would do anything, big or small. Tell me to jump off a cliff and I will. Bella will be out of my life in seconds if you want."

Andromeda had never seen someone do this for a mate. Heightened, quicker feelings formed within at least a few days, perhaps hours if under the right conditions. This air of pure and utter devotion was foreign to the Volturi princess. It took her some time to find the words to describe what she felt for him, but she knew that this level of undying loyalty and whispers of passion lining his voice did not reciprocate just yet on her line of the bond. Andromeda wanted him, but she worried that her needing a day or two would hurt Jacob, and in essence their mateship.

"You are my mate." Andromeda took in an unneeded breath. "Loyal to one another until the end. There is nobody else in my life but you."

Bella frowned, not knowing what was making the two bondmates so lovey-dovey. Bella was certainly interesting enough, a vampire fell for her. She crossed her arms childishly and stomped her foot on the dirt ground below her muddied navy boots.

"I'm going!" She shouted at the two of them, hoping to get some attention from Jacob. The werewolf boy rolled his eyes, remaining fixated on Andromeda.

"I'll take you home, Andromeda." Jacob thought about using a pet name, but realized that he had met her but maybe half an hour ago.

"I'm staying with my father." Andromeda would always call Charlie her father. Caius was her papa, and the two terms remained separate. "Charlie Swan. You know, the police chief."

Jacob nodded, taking her over to his car, which really was Sam's, but he sent a message through the link for confirmation. Andromeda knew the vehicle did not fit his style, too macho and manly man. Still quite comfortable.

Bella was both literally and figuratively left in the dust. She would cover for them, but not for the right reasons. Bella Swan hated Andromeda Volturi, but she wanted Jacob Black back.

One girl riding shotgun with her mate, Bella's thoughts would be invisible to all.

Bella Swan had picked her poison, letting jealousy creep in like a demon in her human heart.

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•