Chapter Text
Rose sat watching the sun set over the horizon, fury bubbling under her skin. How dare one insignificant human hurt her family like this! It wasn’t fair. They didn’t deserve to suffer because of her. ‘Well, it’s not really her fault, is it?’ Her traitorous mind supplied, ‘after all, it was leaving her that caused this and she didn’t exactly play a part in that,’ it added. Rose growled and thanked any deity that may or may not exist that her brother wasn’t around to hear her arguing with herself in her head. In truth this mess was mainly his fault, he was the one who decided to bring her into their lives, to expose them to her, to allow them to form bonds with her; then to force them to leave her. She hissed in displeasure, her whole family was in pain, and he didn’t even have the decency to stick around and face the suffering he had caused.
Rose felt a trickle of sympathy for the human, whilst she doubted any human was capable of feeling the full extent of feelings that a vampire could feel for their mate, it probably hurt more than a normal break up. She huffed and shoved the sympathy away; pushing it down, it was her own fault! She was the one stupid enough to fall in love with a vampire! Worst of all she wanted to become one of them, to be frozen as she was, to give up the possibility of having children. Sure, she was only 18, barely more than a child herself, but that only made it worse, she couldn’t possibly know the things she was giving up. No leaving her, however much pain it caused her, was the right call… for her. ‘But not for your family,’ Rose’s mind supplied. She sighed sadly and had to concede that, for her family, leaving Bella was not the right decision.
Venom tears that she’d never shed welled up in Rose’s eyes as she stared at the sinking sun. She hadn’t understood before, hadn’t seen the impact the human had on her family, she didn’t see the bonds that were formed. Her idiotic brother obviously didn’t either, so she didn’t feel too bad for missing it – at least she truly hoped he hadn’t seen them either. To know and to still force them to leave like this, it was unconscionable. Her brother might be an idiot of insurmountable proportions, but he wasn’t needlessly cruel, so she had to assume he didn’t know the damage he would cause.
Rose knew, in theory, that her family were unique, but in truth the only other Coven she had spent a lot of time with was the Denali’s and they held to the same diet as her own family did. She had met the Amazonian sisters, Siobhan’s Coven, and even met Amun’s Coven, they all seemed bonded enough, though she knew the Amazon sisters had been close as humans, and Siobhan’s mate Liam had taken time to accept Maggie. Perhaps she couldn’t say she knew, at least not truly. Carlisle had said it allowed them to form proper bonds of family, their abstinence from human blood allowing them to live together whereas they might not otherwise be able to do so. The only other Coven that was larger than her own was the Volturi, but even they weren’t truly larger, their guard made them seem larger, but the guard weren’t seen as true members like the brothers and their mates were. The guard only stayed because of Chelsea and her ability to tie others to her, to form false bonds. Rose hadn’t realized the bonds her family had formed with Bella, as much as she was loath to move and restart, she hadn’t thought moving could cause such pain.
It was obvious to anyone that Alice had been fond of Bella, Rose rolled her eyes and had to admit to herself that her sister loved Bella. She had obviously expected Alice to be sad leaving Bella, but not like this. Rose was not particularly close to Alice, they were too different, she got on better with Jasper, his quiet calmness was something Rose appreciated. The only thing she really had in common with Alice was their love of fashion, most other topics had them fighting like… well like cats and dogs. Still, she did love her sister, she would try to destroy anything that dared to harm her and seeing her so desolate was painful. Her sister had not shopped once since their move, their family was actually able to wear clothes more than once! All Alice would do was sit in her room and stare at nothing, poor Jasper had to drag her out to hunt.
Jasper, now Jasper had been in a similar boat to her Rose had thought, but she was wrong again. Rose let out a short laugh at that, she should be used to being wrong now really. Jasper was hurting too, though Edward had been far too cautious to allow him to get too close to Bella, apparently with good reason, they had formed a bond. Rose knew that wasn’t the biggest source of Jasper’s pain, the guilt her brother felt was indescribable. He blamed himself for this mess, which Rose thought was frankly ridiculous, they were a coven of seven vampires, a human was bleeding in front of them; only Carlisle had the strength to resist that kind of temptation. She had tried to tell him not to be so foolish, that this was in no way his fault, and he’d nearly bitten her head off, literally, so she had left it. Carlisle had cautioned her afterwards to leave Alice and Jasper alone and allow them to deal how they needed to. It did make being home uncomfortable however, as Jasper was constantly projecting his guilt. Her brother might not have been as lifeless as Alice, but he was hardly better off.
Not that Carlisle was even around much, he spent almost all his time at the hospital, only coming home when they forced him to. When he was home, he was a mockery of the caring father figure she knew him to be. Rose knew she still held some resentment towards Carlisle for changing her, for not allowing her to die, but she did still love him as her father. As much as it pained her to admit she knew he had at least begun to see Bella as a daughter, and she supposed Bella probably saw Carlisle as a father figure too; he was certainly more attentive to the girl than her own father was. She loathed to think anything positive about Bella but couldn’t deny the girl had an amazing capacity to love, though she’d challenge anyone not to love Carlisle once they got to know him. He was truly a good man, a good father, and Bella… Bella needed parents that actually cared for her and allowed her to be a child. Carlisle was no less loving now, not at all, but he was focused almost entirely on his work, even when not at work he was researching and experimenting. He made time for his mate but was not so available to the rest of them… not truly.
Thinking of Esme made Rose wish she could shed true tears. Esme was the perfect mother, there was no other way to describe her, and her idiot brother had forced their mother to do something no loving mother would ever do to her child. He had forced Esme to abandon Bella without any kind of goodbye. For all his claims that they were taking Bella away from her actual parents, there was no doubt Bella had come to see Esme as her mother too. Esme had loved Bella, first purely because Edward did and because she loved Edward in return, but it had taken Esme no time at all to love Bella for herself. Then, as if Esme was not suffering enough, Edward had left them too! Rose felt the rage swell up in her once more and for just a moment she wished she had her brother in front of her so she could rip him apart… she wouldn’t burn him, but she wanted to inflict as much physical pain on him as he was inflicting emotional pain on their family!
Rose had no idea how her brother was coping, Alice got glimpses sometimes, but never any clues about where he actually was. She was utterly furious at him for forcing them to leave and then leaving himself. He’d barely stuck around a week before he was off on some crusade. She hoped he was suffering without his mate, for that was what Bella was to him, even she had to admit that; Bella was perfect for him. The summer break had shown her that, Bella definitely kept Edward on his toes, and he needed that. As much as she could probably stand to stand up to him a little more, she was a match for him and would only be more so when she was eventually changed… well would have been if that had come to pass. As stupid and foolish and short sighted and just plain idiotic as the girl was for wanting to become one of them, it had seemed like the eventual path the relationship would naturally take. Vampires were not able to live without their mates once they had met. As very few things could actually kill a vampire, the death of a mate would lead the surviving mate to seek revenge with almost reckless abandon and once revenge was achieved, they themselves sought out death.
Finally, Rose’s thoughts turned to her own mate, her perfect match. It was physically painful to think of him right now. She had known he had been at least fond of Bella, though her own distaste had kept her seeing how much he truly cared for her. He confessed to her that Bella reminded him of his biological little sister whom he had absolutely adored. Leaving her had seemed to almost suck out all the happiness from her mate. Emmett was not known to worry about things he couldn’t change, but leaving Bella was clearly hurting him. Rose was ashamed to admit it angered her that Emmett was so fond of Bella and it frustrated her seeing her loving husband so morose. To herself only, she could confess that part of the reason she’d agreed so readily to leave Forks and Bella, was getting her mate back to herself; only she hadn’t been successful. Sure, she no longer had the human to compete with, but her larger than life, always happy and laughing mate, was a pale shadow of himself.
Rose hadn’t understood why her family was hurting so much, Bella was just a human, sure they had cared for her, but it was almost like one of them had been lost. Rose only understood now, with the Denalis visiting and having had a long conversation with Kate about vampires and vampire nature. Their families were truly different in their chosen diets, they formed true bonds of family and love, those bonds were not as strong as a mating bond but were not too far off. Members of her family had bonded in this same way with Bella and were now suffering from that broken bond and that wasn’t all.
Flashback
Kate looked at Rose and realized again just how young she truly was to this world, Emmett was younger, but only just. “Rose, I’m sure you know that as vampires we rarely change,” she hedged lightly.
Rose raised an eyebrow. “Of course I know that!” She answered tersely. She was still reeling over the fact her family had bonded with Isabella Swan and that was why they were all so miserable.
Kate took no offence to the caustic response; she had half expected it from the frustrated blond. “Well, one of those changes occurs when we meet our mates, it’s probably one of the most powerful changes we experience, a second occurs when we have intercourse with our mates for the first time, again it’s a very, very powerful moment, so powerful that the mates will likely bite one another, to claim each other.”
Rose resisted the urge to roll her eyes, rubbing her own mating mark. Emmett seemed to like biting her when they coupled. A small smirk appeared on her lips as she admitted to herself that she didn’t really mind that he liked to bite her and even liked to bite him in return.
Kate ignored the slight smirk on the younger vampire’s face, having a good idea what she was thinking of. “Though the change isn’t as powerful, with families like ours, a change also occurs when we add a new member to our families. Your family has all been changed by the inclusion of Bella into it, not as much as Edward has, but Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Emmett and probably even Jasper accepted Bella as a member of their family. That would have changed them, she would have become part of them. Leaving her now has not only left them with a broken bond but feeling like part of themselves is missing.”
Rose looked at Kate with a pained expression. “But she’s human,” she pointed out.
Kate nodded sadly. “And that in itself makes this even more painful. She’s human, she will die and so for them she might as well already be dead. They are grieving and mourning the loss of a family member,” she explained. She gave her cousin a sympathetic smile and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, careful to keep her power in check. “It won’t be forever, Rose. Everyone just needs something to distract them, eventually the pain will become less acute, though always felt.”
Rose looked up at Kate, reminded painfully of the loss of her own mother and placed her own hand on hers. “I’m sorry,” she murmured softly.
Kate gave Rose a small smile, “Thank you.”
“It’ll be like this for my family?” Rose asked tentatively.
“Most likely not as strong. Bella was not your creator and there’s a stronger bond between you and the one who creates you, but yes, they will feel her loss for the rest of their lives, that sadness will never truly leave them,” Kate confessed.
Rose clutched her hand over her chest, her heart truly breaking for the pain her family would endure. “How long?” She whispered in horror.
“How long until some semblance of normality returns?” Kate asked. “Who knows. It could take years for your family to stop grieving. As for Edward… he’ll never be the same again. Once his current distraction fades…” she trailed off.
“He’ll seek death, won’t he?” Rose trembled.
Kate glanced away for a moment. “Yes,” she finally stated. “The loss of one’s mate, it’s not something we recover from.”
“And then my family…” Rose murmured mostly to herself.
“Yes, they will experience the loss all over again,” Kate confirmed.
“Thank you, for explaining this to me,” Rose stated reluctantly, “I need to be alone now.” With that she raced away needing space to think as she really did not like the direction her thoughts were currently going in.
Flashback Over
That was how Rose had found herself sitting here staring at the sunset, as the last sliver of light fell behind the horizon and darkness spread. Rose was aware enough of her faults to admit she was a selfish creature, vain, self-absorbed, and cared little for others outside of herself. She did care for her family though, her mate was her main focus, but she did love every member of her family, even Edward whose rejection of her she had never fully forgiven him for.
Rose could not stand to let the status quo remain. The only person’s happiness that meant as much to her as her own was her mate’s and he- he missed his sister, was grieving a human girl as if she was his dead sister. She could change that, obviously she could. The question was could she subject another to this life, take away her choices, like hers had been? Well, the answer was obviously, yes, she could, she had done the same with Emmett, taken away his choices. This was different though, she didn’t even like the girl and would actually have to do it herself. She could not ask Carlisle to change her, as he would refuse due to Edward’s wishes, so Rose would have to do it herself.
Did she even want Bella around forever, the one person who was able to gain the affections of the only man to ever reject her? Did she actually want her as a permanent member of her family forever? Frankly, no she didn’t, but if Kate was right – and she had no reason to doubt her cousin – then Bella was already a member of her family. ‘Once she is turned, you’ll have no more reason to be jealous,’ her mind pointed out. It was true enough, once Bella was turned, she could not bring life into this world and Rose would feel no more jealousy towards her. Plus, and most importantly, it would fix her family. Edward could not stand to change her himself as he wouldn’t take her soul from her. Well, she didn’t hold those same beliefs; she did not believe their souls were lost at all, so that was hardly a concern for her, and even if she had, what was Bella’s soul to her against her family’s pain?
Edward was going to be furious with her, she thought with some amusement, but that didn’t really make much of a difference, they were frequently at each other’s throats. Not often literally, Carlisle didn’t like it when they fought, but occasionally she took a fancy to biting him. She supposed she was rather unfair to Edward in a lot of ways, as furious as she would get at him and as much as she wished to maim him, he was never physical towards her – too much of a gentleman to lay a hand on a woman. Plus, he loathed Carlisle’s disappointment as much as she did.
Carlisle, now he could potentially be disappointed in her, but he would forgive her, and he’d do all he could to help Bella adjust to her new life. He wouldn’t be mad at her, but she didn’t think he’d be all that happy with her. He had chosen to follow Edward’s wishes and move them away rather than change Bella against Edward’s wishes so, yes, he would likely be a little upset with her for going against Edward’s desires. He would definitely forgive her though, he would forgive them all anything, and he would be delighted to have Bella back with them. Though he would probably mourn the loss of her human life.
No one else would be mad at her, maybe Alice for going against Edward, but Rose firmly felt Alice would simply just be overwhelmingly happy to have Bella back in her life to be too angry with her. That only left Bella; would Bella harbor the same anger and resentment over her change that Rose herself did? The obvious answer to that was, no, Bella did not feel as Rose did that being human was worth more than anything else. Bella had asked Edward to change her, couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to, and apparently even wished that Edward had allowed James’ venom to change her. If she desired becoming a member of the undead that much that she’d want a vampire that hunted her for sport to have been the one to change her, then she’d hold no anger against Rose for being the one to do it.
It was the only thing that made sense, to change Bella, but something still held Rose back. What if Bella was happy as a human now? What if she’d accepted Edward leaving and had moved on, would Rose still force this life on her? No. No, if Bella was happy, healthy and moving on then Rose would leave her be and find some other way. Feeling the strongest sense of rightness at her decision Rose leapt from the tree and went on the hunt. She quickly found a herd of elk and fed until she was over full. It was an almost uncomfortable feeling being this full and she felt a little sloshy. It was the best chance she had though, smiling to herself knowing she was as ready as she would ever be, she ran to the house, she’d need the car to transport Bella. “I’m going for a hunt, I’ll be back soon,” she called to the house.
There was no response, but she didn’t really expect one, her family were too lost in their misery. She was the only one able to focus and think clearly. She would fix her family.