The morning sunlight was just beginning to dapple through the small cabin windows when Kiara awoke. The comforting sensation of Rosalie's cool touch on her skin lingered as she blinked sleepily, her hazel eyes catching sight of the blonde vampire tracing the detailed pack tattoo on her shoulder. There was a familiar tenderness in Rosalie's expression, an intimate warmth that permeated the air between them.

"You're awake," Rosalie noted softly without looking up, a hint of a smile playing on her lips as she continued tracing the tribal design.

Kiara shifted closer on their tangled sheets, closing the small gap between them. 

"I never get tired of looking at this," Rosalie murmured reverently, her eyes never leaving Kiara's tattoo. Kiara chuckled lightly at that, reaching over to thread her fingers through Rosalie's hair.

"And I never get tired of waking up next to you," she countered softly, tilting her head to press a lingering kiss onto Rosalie's forehead.

They lay there for a moment longer, simply existing within each other's space. Rosalie's hand slowly slid down from Kiara's tattoo, drifting across her skin as light as a feather as she reached the slightly faded scars of Kiara's newborn bite after their battle with the newborn army. Her smile dipped for a second as her other hand rose to lightly touch at the scars of where Victoria had ripped the skin from her neck, before finally pausing on the more recent mark that she'd left on Kiara herself.

Kiara sensed the change in her mood, reaching up and grasping on to both of her hands with her own.

"Hey, hey, look at me," she murmured gently, turning to look directly into Rosalie's eyes. The vampire hesitated for a moment before finally meeting her gaze. There was fear there and some sort of guilt that Kiara hated to see. She lifted one hand to softly stroke Rosalie's cheek, watching as her eyes fluttered shut at the contact. "I survived, alright? We're still here."

"I know," Rosalie murmured, her eyes meeting Kiara's with a depth of emotion that made her breath hitch. "It doesn't mean I have to like them."

"You don't have to," Kiara reasoned, sitting up and wrapping her arms around Rosalie's waist to pull her closer. "But they're a part of me, just like you are."

Rosalie sighed softly at that, leaning into Kiara's touch as she closed her eyes.

"I still wish I could have taken away your pain," she confessed quietly. "The thought of Carlisle..."

"Jealous?" Kiara joked, faking hurt as Rosalie slapped her arm lightly with a scoff. "I'm joking. I know... if anything happened to you and I wasn't there to do anything... I don't know what I'd do."

With a sigh, Rosalie allowed Kiara to pull her closer until they were nearly nose-to-nose.

"I love you," she whispered meaningfully.

"I love you," Kiara repeated with a warm smile which was met by a relieved one from Rosalie. 

They lapsed back into silence then, contentedly cocooned within their own world as the sun gradually began to illuminate the room around them.

"You know... with everything that's been going on I've been thinking a lot about us and where we've been, and I guess what comes next for us - if we survive the Volturi," Rosalie started, her eyes sparkling as she brushed a bit of black hair away from Kiara's face. The shifter's smile dropped a little, having a gut feeling she knew what Rosalie was angling at.

"I wanted to know if you would do me the honour-"

"I've been running secret tests on my blood with Carlisle."

Rosalie blinked fast for a second, the soft smile wiped from her face as she sat up in shock at Kiara's interruption. She grabbed the sheets of their bed closer to her chest as she felt waves of emotions run through her as Kiara sat up, sliding out of their bed without looking back at Rosalie as she began to grab at clothing that was scattered around the room.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, I've been running tests with Carlisle. On my blood," Kiara replied, scared to turn around. Instead she faced the wall, pulling on a pair of worn shorts, her back still to Rosalie.

Rosalie remained silent for a few heartbeats more before finally speaking, her voice just above a whisper.

"Why?"

"I've... been noticing some slight changes in me since being bitten," Kiara admitted, her voice barely audible. "I'd ignored them but after you accidentally bit me and nothing happened... I got scared. And I know I should've told you before, but I was terrified that it would just push you away and that you'd blame yourself. I didn't want to get your fears up in case something was really, really wrong with me."

The room fell quiet except for the soft rustle of movement as Kiara began pulling on one of the large discarded hoodies in their joint closet. She was sure it was one that Edward used to wear - but it seemed it had been donated to her side of the wardrobe. Alice had long stopped buying new clothes for her knowing that she was likely to shred them.

"You're right," Rosalie said after a long silence, her voice barely above a whisper and her expression unreadable. Slowly standing up from the bed, she let the bedsheets fall from her naked frame as she crossed the small distance between them and took Kiara's hands into hers, turning the girl around to look at her with a solemn look in her eyes. "You should've told me."

The words hung heavy in the air for a moment before Rosalie gently squeezed Kiara's hands and moved away from her. Rosalie breezed past her to reach into her side of the closet, getting changed so quickly that Kiara swore she almost had whiplash. Vampire speed.

"But... that doesn't mean it was wrong." 

Kiara blinked at her in surprise, relief flooding in as she saw understanding rather than anger reflected back at her from Rosalie's gaze.

"You're not mad?"

Rosalie gave a soft chuckle at that and shook her head. "Mad? No. A little infuriated? Maybe. Surprised, definitely. But... this is something we can figure out together. I don't want you to ever feel like you can't tell me these things."

"I wasn't sure how to break it to you," Kiara mused. "'Hey Rose, I think I'm gaining slight vampire abilities! How fun!'"

"Get changed," Rosalie murmured as she rolled her eyes. "I want to see the bloodwork."

"Does it... Does it change anything?" Kiara asked, worry creeping into her voice again.

Rosalie thought for a moment before leaning in and cupping Kiara's face gently with her hand.

 "It changes everything," she said softly, letting her thumb trace the line of Kiara's cheekbone. "And nothing at all. Because no matter the circumstances, you're still my Kiara."

The two held each other's gaze for a while longer before sharing a soft, tender kiss. As Rosalie gently pulled away, her honey-hued eyes bore into Kiara's with an intensity that nearly stole the wolf's breath away.

"I need you to understand that," she urged, her voice a mere whisper, "because what matters at the end of the day is not what you become but who you are."

"Okay," Kiara said finally, daring to feel a little hopeful. "Okay. I've been having like better eyesight and hearing than usual which wouldn't be that worrying, but it's like my temper is shorter... with all these vampires around I feel like I'm constantly fighting to stay under control."

"Who else knows?"

Kiara paused, her mind tricking away as she reached down to tie her shoelaces.

"Ehm, Carlisle and Esme. I told Rachel but no-one else from the res or pack knows. Edward definitely knows and I think Alice did too..."

"That's why she acted weird after she had that vision of the Volturi," Rosalie realised, not even taking a second to piece together everything. "What did she see?"

"I don't know," Kiara admitted. "It kind of freaked me out but... I think she saw me. She was gone before I could find out more, and Edward hasn't said anything about it. We're all spending so much time thinking that Renesmee is the only reason the Volturi is coming..."

"... but what if there's more than one reason?"

_____

Rosalie could almost feel Kiara's unease as they walked hand-in-hand back up the drive-way of the Cullen home. She didn't blame her - Rosalie could pick up at least 3 different covens that hadn't been there when they'd left the night before.

Leah was outside in her wolf form, Seth and Bree lounging around near her. Kiara nodded at them as they walked past, a tingle up her spine as she looked up and noticed many sets of unfamiliar red eyes staring back at her from inside the house.

"If it's too much, just tell me," Rosalie breathed lowly into Kiara's ear, and to anyone watching it would have looked like just an affectionate murmur rather than a concerned promise. "We can take a walk whenever you need to."

Kiara pressed a quick kiss to her lips, before allowing Rosalie to ascend the stairs in front of her. She hated the idea of her imprint walking into the room of unfamiliar vampires first, but she knew that Rosalie most likely knew them or at least knew of them.

As soon as they entered the room, a hush fell over the sea of unfamiliar faces. Kiara's eyes instinctively zeroed in on Carlisle, who was looking at her with a strange mix of concern and amusement. She guessed he was just wanting to see how the alpha was going to react to being in a small space with a lot of red eyes.

Jacob stood off to one side with Renesmee, his expression unreadable, but Kiara knew he was uncomfortable. He always had that specific furrow between his eyebrows when he was trying not to show his emotions, trying not to let his discomfort bleed into Renesmee.

A couple of vampires were lounging in chairs, their gazes cool and detached. One was standing by the window, staring out into the dark forest beyond with a far-away expression. She could make out three covens that hadn't been there before - two sisters from the Amazon, a coven of four that she assumed were Carlisle's friends from Egypt and a coven of three that were standing a little further away. One look at them confirmed to her that they were the Irish coven.

Her eyes scanned over the few individuals that were there too - seemingly more spaced out than those that had clearly travelled in covens. Nomads.

"Kiara," Eleazar said, a smile on his face as he extended his hand out to her. "It's good to see you're back."

Kiara forced a smile as she shook his hand, noticing how the other covens in the room were watching the exchange with beady eyes. She supposed that Edward and the others had explained their dynamic, since Jacob, Leah and Seth were here, but she wasn't sure what the overall vibe was.

A short howl from outside caused her and Jacob to snap their heads to the left, looking at where Leah had risen to her paws outside and called out for them. Jacob shared a look with his sister before he turned, taking off outside and into the forest behind Leah.

"Another?" Bella mouthed across the room, noticing the way Kiara's posture barely changed. She nodded, a displeased look on her face but allowed no words to fall from her lips. She didn't like this - but if this is what it took to protect their friends and family, then so be it.

Jacob had agreed to take over the training of the newer wolves while Kiara focused more on the vampire-wolf relations. She hated the politics of it but Sam had been feeding her pointers on staying level headed and neutral while around them.

"I'm going to take a walk."

___

Kiara and Leah pulled on their clothes as they finished their latest patrol - not that they had much to really look out for. The packs were working on the same wavelength once more, and with the sheer amount of vampires that were in the area, it was highly unlikely that anyone would be able to pull off a surprise attack.

Regardless, it just felt good to get to stretch their legs on all fours sometimes.

A harsh buzzing from the clearing to their left caught both of their attention, hearing the faint conversations between some of the vampires as they walked into the space. Kiara smiled softly at Edward who nodded back, a newfound understanding between them as he had learnt that he didn't need to keep the secret from Rosalie any longer.

Leah's eyes had skipped right over the rest of them in the clearing and were fixed on one person and one person only: her imprint. Her eyes were almost glazed over as she looked at the blue electric that seemed to come from Kate's hand as she grabbed on to Bella's arm.

"She's a shield alright," Kate said with a smirk as she dropped Bella's hand, her eyes flickering over her shoulder and meeting Leah's. "That should've put her on her ass."

Kiara flickered her gaze between Leah and Kate as they stared at each other for a moment, amusement spreading across her face as she realised that Leah was in fact NOT staring at her with disbelief or amusement. Kiara knew that look on Leah's face all too well as she and Edward both tried to hide their chuckles.

Leah definitely had the hots for her vampire imprint. Like, rip her clothes off in front of all of them, sort of hots - and Kiara was loving every moment of it. She was glad that she seemed to have passed through the internal 'I can't be soulmates with our mortal enemy!' stage that her and Seth had both been stuck in for a while. She wasn't so glad at the fact she knew she was going to see them ripping each other's clothes off in the pack mind link soon.

"Or your voltage has been exaggerated."

Kiara smirked even wider when she saw Kate wiggle her fingers in Garrett's direction.

"Maybe it only works on the weak."

Garrett trotted forward with a smug look on his face as Leah scowled in his direction, her arms now crossed tightly across her chest as she watched her imprint flirt with the vampire directly in front of her.

"Garrett, I wouldn't," Carlisle warned, but Kiara shushed him.

"Go on, Garrett," the alpha probed, pushing the cocky vampire to press his finger against Kate's outstretched palm. Within seconds, he was on the floor as he gritted his teeth and yelled out in pain before Kate pulled her hand pack with a triumphant grin on her face.

"You are an amazing woman," he breathed as he looked up to Kate, who just smirked back down at him before casting a quick glance over her shoulder at Leah who only seemed to be even more jealous at the action.

"Thanks," Kate replied, her eyes not leaving Leah's. "I'm even more amazing in b-"

"Kate," Tanya groaned, cutting off what she was about to announce as the rest of them chuckled in amusement. The younger Denali sister simply flickered her hair over her shoulder before turning back around and going to stand with the others.

Suddenly, Kiara, who had been laughing along with the others, froze. Her eyes darted towards the woods edge, her body tense, on high alert.  She sensed it first, her eyes widening as she sniffed the air, catching a whiff of an out-of-place scent. It was unfamiliar and made her fur bristle instinctively. She tilted her head toward the woods, her dark eyes narrowing at the rustling leaves.

"Kiara?" Edward's voice cut through the casual banter around them like a knife, commanding immediate attention. Everyone fell silent instantly, eyes on Kiara.

"What is it?" Edward asked, his golden eyes scanning the surrounding trees. As the mind-reader of their group, he tried focusing on any minds within range but found nothing out of ordinary.

Four howls broke through the air at the same time as the other vampires picked up on the rushing of uninvited guests, Kiara being unable to hold back her shift and falling on to all fours without a second thought. Edward tugged Bella out of the way at the last second, her claws almost catching the brunette from where they'd been standing together.

She took off, the rest of the vampires hot on her heels as she skidded into a small clearing, her body instantly slamming against Jacob's russet coat as she tried to stop at the last minute. The two wolves rolled for a second, the three younger pups behind them yelping in surprise at the speed Kiara had came flying round the corner.

Up on a large discarded tree above them, two vampires laughed at the actions of the wolves, almost taunting them. Kiara snarled and growled up at them, almost going to lunge upwards until she heard the familiar voice of Carlisle from behind them.

"Vladimir, Stefan, you're a long way from home," Carlisle called out as the rest of the group rushed into the clearing, 

"What are they doing here?" Kate murmured lowly to Eleazar. The alpha looked over at the blonde, noticing that a human Leah was standing just slightly in front of her - and if the situation hadn't been so serious, Kiara would have snorted.

Instead, she flicked her tail - a habit she had developed whenever she felt slightly irritated. She watched as Edward and Bella approached the unfamiliar vampires, their faces mirrored expressions of guarded surprise. Carlisle, with his usual calm demeanor, urged everyone to stand down.

The two vampires, Vladimir and Stefan, ceased their laughter momentarily to acknowledge the greeting. Their dark eyes gleamed with a mischievous light as they remained perched on top of the tree.

"We heard the Volturi were moving against you," Vladimir replied with a grin. "But that you would not stand alone."

Carlisle shook his head defiantly. 

"We didn't do what we were accused of."

"We do not care what you did, Carlisle!" Vladimir replied, a sing-song in his voice as he chuckled at the serious looks everyone was shooting him.

"We have been waiting a millennium for the ltalian scum to be challenged."

Great, Kiara thought, someone else that has beef with the Volturi.

"It's not our plan to fight the Volturi."

Do you think they're on our side? 

Kiara lolled her head to the side to look at Jacob, ignoring the overlapping thoughts of the three new wolves that they'd welcomed into the pack. He stared directly at her, and Kiara wasn't sure if he wanted reassurance of realism.

No. I think they're just on whatever side isn't the Volturi.

"Shame. Aro's witnesses will be so disappointed."

What does he mean by that? Jacob replied, sharing another look with his sister. 

Kiara's tail flickered as she looked to Bella, who had a confused look on her face. Edward looked back at the conversing siblings, nodding slightly as if to say he'd explain later.

"They enjoy a good fight."

"Aro's witnesses?" Eleazar asked, all of the wolves lowly grumbling in agreement with the sudden new information that was being thrust upon them.

"Aww," the vampires on the tree cawed, noticing the change in body language of the rest of the groups surrounding the Cullens. "Still hoping they'll listen?"

____

"When Aro wants someone from a coven it's never long before evidence turns up proving that coven committed some crime."

Kiara rested against the kitchen counter, her shoulder flush against Sam's checked flannel. She knew that having agreed to take over was a lot, and having Sam here meant that she could approach the situation a lot less personal.

He'd came almost as soon as she had called, Paul and Jared flanking behind him and remaining in their wolf forms outside. Seth had done the same, using it as some time to properly catch up with them. 

Things had been easier since they'd all found a mutual common ground but Kiara was glad to see that the cracks in the pack bonds were being moulded, even if the circumstances left a lot to be desired. It made her wonder if she was due a visit back to her father, and also made her wonder if it was time to tell Leah and Seth to spend a few days with their mother too.

Kiara was still pretty sure there was some unofficial love triangle playing out between her own father, Charlie and Sue - so maybe they'd be able to find some gossip from their mother that she was yet to get out of her father.

"So he's done this before?" Bella asked, her arms wrapped tightly around Renesmee as she looked at the Denali man.

Rosalie looked at Kiara from across the room, noticing the way her mate was fidgeting with her hands. She tried to catch her eye, but it was clear that Kiara's gaze was fixated upon Eleazar and his stories about his time with the Volturi. She hadn't really seen much of Kiara in her prime as an alpha, but she could almost feel her influence from across the room.

"It happens so rarely, I never realized it was a pattern."

"Apparently he always pardons one person whose thoughts he claims are repentant."

"This person always has an ability," Eleazar continued from Carlisle. "And they're always given a place with the Guard."

Kiara didn't even have time to think about who out of the many gifted vampires that Aro could be after, because Edward answered it without a single moment of hesitation.

"This is all about Alice," Edward said to the room, Jacob and Kiara sharing a small look with each other. Sam knew exactly what they were thinking - this was the first time something maybe wasn't because of Bella. "He has no one like her."

"Which is why she left..."

"Why does he need witnesses?" Sam and Emmett both asked at the same time, nodding to each other in respect at the shared thought. Kiara finally looked at Rosalie, who was standing between Emmett and Beverly with a rather concerned look on her face. 

Kiara was pretty sure the concern was for her family, especially Alice, but when their eyes met and she saw the look in them... Kiara knew that it wasn't them Rosalie was thinking about. They had their suspicions that it wasn't just Renesmee that Aro was using as an excuse to come, and if he was bringing a crowd then it certainly wasn't looking good.

"To spread the word that justice has been served."

That's not too bad, Kiara thought.

"After he slaughters an entire coven."

Nevermind.

Sam felt Kiara tense up against his side, noticing that the smaller girl had moved from one foot to the other with the uncomfortable information that the nomad, Alistair, had just told them all. She wasn't the only one either - Carmen had grabbed on to Tanya's shoulder in support and Kiara even caught that Kate had moved so she was sitting a little closer to Leah.

Amun, the leader of the Egyptian cover, was on his feet and instantly moving once the words fell on his ears.

"Benjamin, Tia, we're leaving."

"And where will you go?" Edward replied, his hands clasped in the pocket of his hoodie as he looked down at the man that he was regarding as a coward. Kiara squinted at him for a moment, making a mental note to tell Edward that he actually suited black hoodies more than half of the other bizarre clothes Alice stocked his wardrobe with.

"What makes you think they'll be satisfied with Alice? What's to stop them from going after Benjamin next? Or Zafrina or Kate or anyone else with a gift? Anyone they want..." His eyes trailed over Kiara, Jacob and Sam for a moment before returning to the room. The wolves had tensed upon the mention of Kate - since she was now an imprint. "Their goal isn't punishment, it's power. It's acquisition."

"And leave everyone else to fend for themselves?" Kiara called out, challenging the vampire. Sam almost smirked at her confidence, but instead just made himself seem a little taller beside her in solidarity as the vampire spun around to glare at the wolf. "That's your solution?"

"Carlisle might not ask you to fight, but I will," Edward continued, shooting a nod in Kiara's direction to thank her for backing him up. "For the sake of my family. But also for yours. And for the way you want to live."

There was an extended silence before Sam and Kiara looked at each other, in agreement with what they were about to declare.

"The pack will fight," Sam spoke, no room for hesitation or wariness in his tone. 

"We've never been afraid of vampires," Jacob said, standing up and moving to stand beside Kiara and Sam. Everyone looked at the wolves, a little bit of confidence and encouragement filling their chests as their natural born enemies willing put their own lives on the line.

Edward and Jacob shared a glance. Kiara almost found it somewhat poetic - they used to not be able to be within miles of each other and here they were now, a little family that would do anything for Bella and Renesmee.

In the midst of all this, Rosalie stayed silent, watching Kiara's face closely. Kiara couldn't quite read the expression on her face this time. That unsettled her more than she'd care to admit.

"We will fight."

Leah smiled softly at Kate as her family rose to stand up, nodding in secondment with the wolves. Kiara knew that she was definitely going to bring up this later to wind Leah up.

 "This won't be the first time I fought a king's rule," Garrett added, his eyes flickering over to Kiara with a slight bit of admiration. She nodded to him, knowing that they'd had a pretty rocky start but they were slowly making amends.

"We'll join you," Benjamin replied, his hand wrapped tightly around Tia's hand who certainly looked a lot more scared than the rest of them. Nether the less, she nodded in agreement as Amun's face dropped in anger.

"No!"

"I will do the right thing, Amun," Benjamin replied, his voice cold. "You may do as you please."

Soon, the rest of the vampires all added in their agreement. Kiara watched as they all slowly broke off into their own groups once more, heading in their separate directions. Sam wished her a farewell, heading off back into the woods while the rest of the covens begin to arrange heading off on a hunting trip elsewhere.

Despite the dire nature of their gathering, Kiara felt a sense of warmth fostered by their unity. Natural enemies were putting aside their differences, coming together to fight for a common cause. She ran a hand through her dark hair, glancing sidelong at Rosalie.

"Rose?" she ventured, stepping closer and placing a cautious hand on Rosalie's arm. The vampire didn't flinch or pull away, instead turning to look at Kiara fully.

"You're scared," Rosalie noted, her golden eyes glancing down at their intertwined fingers.

Kiara scoffed, "I'm not scared."

Rosalie simply raised an eyebrow in response.

"Okay, maybe I'm a little scared," Kiara admitted, forcing a half-hearted smile onto her face. "But not about this battle, and I think you know that."

Edward looked at them from across the room, realising that Kiara must have told Rosalie about the discovery he'd overheard in Alice, Carlisle, Kiara and Esme's minds. He excused himself from Bella, Beverly and Emmett, walking over as Carlisle joined them from the other side of the room.

For a moment, the four of them stood there in silence. The only sounds being the rustle of leaves from the wind and the distant murmurs from their allies.

 "Kiara," Carlisle began gently, his eyes holding a weight that she'd only seen a few times before. "I think it might be best if we have a word in my office."