[ Chapter Nine—italy ]

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The flight to Italy was long, but thankfully it was red-eye so I was able to sleep through most of it. It was entertaining watching the Cullen's on the plane.

The flight had rows of three making the arrangements Bella, Edward, and I in one row and Carlisle, Alice, and Jasper in the row behind us. In my row, Edward had taken the window seat, Bella was in the middle, and I was booted to the horrid aisle seat.

Though I wanted the window, Edward quipped that I was the only one out of us all who would need to use the restroom and that he did not feel like getting up every time I had to go. I flipped him off at that but sat in the aisle seat without further argument.

Bella was reading for the duration of the flight, Edward pretended to sleep (but we all knew he was really just reading people's minds), Jasper was sitting looking like someone had a gun to his head, Carlisle—alike to Bella—was reading, and finally, Alice was trying to find potential outcomes to Italy.

So far, she had shared none with any us, something that put us all on edge.

As Bella said before, when Alice was not keen on sharing the future, it meant one of two things. It was either really good or really bad.

Once we landed, I won't lie, I was not all that impressed with Italy. Sure, it was beautiful, but it was no more beautiful than Arizona during the fall. I was not sure what I was expecting—maybe for Italy to look as all those overdramatic people described—but nevertheless I was left disappointed.

We rented two cars (well, I'm pretty positive Alice and Edward stole them, but I won't mention that to Carlisle) it was Edward, Bella, and I in one while Jasper, Alice, and Carlisle following.

Looking behind me, I could see it was Alice driving the other car and if I did not know any better I would swear she and Edward were trying to have a street race. Both were definitely flying over the speed limit.

"Alice and Edward," my sensitive hearing easily picked up Carlisle's voice from the car behind us, "slow down."

Other things such as random snippets of conversations, car engines, and the sort were things I had grown accustomed to ignoring.

Edward, in response to Carlisle, only sped up. Alice, seemingly in response to Edward, (and probably not wanting to lose their silent race) sped up as well. I heard Carlisle groan from the car behind us, but he did not say anything as it was Kate and Garrett's lives on the line.

Some Lizzo song was playing softly in the background, myself taking to scrolling through Instagram. It may have been slightly cold, but unlike the others, I was not anxious. I had never met Garrett or Kate so the situation was not nearly as stressful to me.

My body was spread across the back seat of the sporty red BMW, my interest in looking out the window lost long ago. We were now just leaving the city part and heading toward the outskirts of Venice which consisted of nothing more than rolling hills and empty fields.

Thankfully, I was smart in choosing what to wear before I left. Alice nearly had a heart attack when I walked downstairs in a pair of sweatpants, a hoodie, and some Jesus sandals. I had not packed much, only taking the backpack out of the three luggage cases I brought with me to Maine.

My hair had long since been tossed into a catastrophic bun, and it was only while looking in the mirror at my appearance that I was truly grateful for what being a werewolf did to my looks.

Before my transformation had I been wearing any of this, I would have resembled a homeless drug-addict no doubt. However, now while I still resembled a homeless person, I at least looked like a hot mess of a homeless person.

"Okay," I shut my phone off allowing it to rest on my stomach while I nodded along to Lizzo, "remind again how close you are to these people?"

"Very," everyone answered, and that included Jasper, Alice, and Carlisle who were in the car behind us yet still heard my question loud and clear.

"Oh, wow, okay," my feet mindlessly kicked each other in the air, my Jesus sandals were strewn on the ground, "subject change, then. Volturi, what do you think they'll reaction would be if they saw me?"

When I thought of the Volturi, my mind went to the painting hung in Carlisle's study. Before I saw it, I imagined the Volturi as being ancient-looking jackasses that were the epitome of most politicians. However, I was blown away when I was met with the sight of three royal hot men (that still looked like douches) who's beauty was alike to the rest of the Cullen's in the essence that it was mystifying.

The one who truly surprised me of the three was the snowy-haired one. I had heard a lot about Caius Volturi from the Cullens, and all of it was negative. Apparently, he was the hothead, the one who killed without mercy, the one who hated werewolves and ordered for the extinction of my kind.

That was why I fully expected to be met with some old papery looking motherfucker, not some young hot guy who looked like he belonged on the cover of Vogue.

Seriously, Caius Volturi had a permanent scowl etched onto his face in the painting; however, it did not take away from his beauty in the slightest. He was physically the youngest, even younger than Carlisle as he was turned at the mere age of twenty.

If the Cullen's had not told me anything about Caius and it wasn't for the scowl, I would have wholeheartedly believed that Caius was secretly an extremely young millennial hipster.

"Ha, Caius a hipster, I would pay good money to see that," Edward snorted as Bella flashed him a confused look.

I had grown used to Edward hearing my passing thoughts, though I was grateful he did his best to stay out of my head as much as he could. However, he had mentioned multiple times that my thoughts were particularly loud and tended to attract his attention.

"I think the world would actually be ending the day that happens," Bella commented before her eyes snapped to mine, "anyway, assuming they don't kill you on the spot, it would overall be an extremely bad reaction..."

"Which is why it is in our best interest not to run into the Volturi," Edward cut in causing me to nod my head.

Grabbing my phone, I aimlessly began scrolling through TikTok in a bored manner.

"We're getting close..." I heard Alice say, something I did not take much mind to.

What happened next happened in a blur of motion. I vaguely heard Alice scream, "watch out!"

Edward had cut the wheel and Bella let out a yelp as something hard and heavy hit the windshield breaking through the glass. I cried out as my body was tossed forward (because I didn't wear a seatbelt, damn it, wear a seatbelt, next time idiot!) and I hit the seats in front of me harshly.

"What the hell?" I asked while getting up, any injuries and cuts that had appeared from the accident already starting to heal.

It was not a what that had hit the windshield rather it was who. A male vampire with long greasy hair snarled from his spot splayed out on the hood of the car, his fingers curling into metal causing dents and scratches to appear.

Thankfully, we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere so there was nobody around to witness this.

I heard the sound of heavy breaks from behind us, Alice stopping the car until it was just inches from potentially hitting us. Bella was the first to react, an aggressive hissing noise escaping her lips and she threw herself from the passenger seat so fast she was only a blur.

In moments, Bella had shoved the male vampire to the ground and easily ripped his head off tossing it behind her. Edward took a sharp intake of breath, flashing next to Bella. Carlisle, Jasper, and Alice soon followed, all of them standing outside of the car.

While I was quick, I was not nearly as quick as the Cullen's.

Pulling my shoes from the floorboards, I slipped on the Jesus sandals now truly regretting my decision in fashion. Yes, I was seriously about to fight some vamps in sweatpants and Jesus sandals.

Thankfully, I was still clutching onto my phone throughout the small accident and simply shoved it into my pocket. Throwing my legs out, I made the door go flying off its hinges releasing me from the totaled car in the process.

"Who the fuck—?"

"We don't know," Jasper answered my question before I even had a chance to finish it.

We all stood around the body, Edward quick to take a match out of his pocket and light the body on fire. Bella was staring heatedly in the direction the wheatfield next to us, Carlisle examining the burning vampire's body.

"Edward," Carlisle softly turned to his son, Edward rubbing his temples.

"Yeah, he was one of the vampires after Garrett, he had just attacked Kate when Garrett launched him away—"

"Someone's coming!" I cut off Edward, the scent of two mated vampires meeting my nose.

"It's just Kate and Garrett..." Edward explained just as two vampires suddenly appeared, both with wide eyes.

The female was a few inches shorter than the male, her blonde hair shimmering in the last rays of sunlight shining on the Italian ground. Her and the male's eyes were a piercing gold color identical to the Cullens.

Both were stunningly beautiful (just as all vampires I had seen so far), the man ruggedly so. The man was the type of ruggedly handsome that one might see in a soldier.

"Sorry 'bout that," a thick Midwestern accent came from a man who I could only assume was Garrett. He flashed a smile toward us all, his eyes landing on Carlisle. "Carlisle," he greeted, pulling the blond doctor into a hug, a hug which Carlisle eagerly returned.

"Garrett," Carlisle muttered softly, patting his back.

"Kate," Alice had engulfed the blonde woman into a hug,

"We just got off the phone with Esme when they attacked," Kate breathed while they all greeted each other, "she explained everything, and we can't thank you all enough for helping us."

I awkwardly stood off to the side while the seven vampires got reaccustomed to each other, speaking in low voices that we all easily heard. Turning my head away from the pale beautiful blood-suckers, my eyes came across the car which was now smoking from the engine.

My lips pursed as I looked back and forth between the vampires and the smoking car. A smoking car that they still didn't notice.

"Uh," nobody acknowledged me, the car engine now making a noise which definitely was not good, "guys?"

My eyes widened a second later when I realized the car was about to explode, and without a second thought, I darted toward the trunk where my backpack was sitting. Okay, fine, I know how stupid this sounds, but come on.

My wallet, my charger, my clothes, my damn house keys were in that backpack. And the backpack itself was a present for my sixteenth birthday, I was not quite ready to part with it.

"Jackie?" Bella called in confusion see me throw open the trunk and pull my backpack out.

Swinging the backpack around my shoulders, my frantic gaze met Bella's, everyone's attention finally falling onto me.

"The car is about to fucking explode!" I cried, racing away from the car.

"Shit," Bella cursed, everyone now realizing that the car was going to explode.

The vampires stayed ahead of me by a few paces, our extra speed allowing our entire group to get many feet away before the car finally exploded. There was a loud roar as metal chunks went flying everywhere, fire shooting into the sky.

We stood, mouths agape watching the scene play out.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Jasper asked me causing me to glare at him.

"Bitch, I tried to," I crossed my arms, everyone's attention slowly befalling onto our forms.

"Well, that's just great!" Edward exclaimed, motioning to the car on fire. "So much for not gaining anyone's attention, BA!"

"He has a point," Garrett shrugged, "we practically set ourselves up for all eyes."

"Wait," Kate suddenly rounded on us, her golden eyes focused on me, "who even are you?"

"I don't know?" I shrugged earning a look of confusion from everyone. "Ha! Just kidding, I'm Jackie," I waved as Bella stepped up.

"She's my biological cousin, practically sister," she explained as Kate and Garrett regarded me with caution.

"You have a heartbeat, you're still human?" Garrett sounded as though he did not believe his own words.

I opened my mouth to reply, catching sight of the nervous look the Cullen's were throwing each other. However, Kate spoke out before anything could come from my mouth.

"Ugh," she sniffed, looking around, "what is that wild animal smell?"

My pussy?

I sniffed the air to make sure my vagina did not actually smell that bad. Surely one of the Cullen's—especially Carlisle as he was a doctor—would have said something if it did smell bad, right?

Edward cringed, turning his head and giving me a disgusted look. "It's not that," he grunted earning a curious look from everyone around.

"Thank God..." I sighed in relief, but my relief was cut short at his next words.

"But the smell is you in general," I glared at my cousin's husband, "sorry, don't take it personally." He gave me an apologetic look.

"Well buddy, you definitely don't smell like a rose bush yourself," I crossed my arms, reeling my head back.

"Hold on..." Kate cut our bickering off, her eyes wide as she looked from the Cullen's and me, "only wolves smell like that, but she doesn't smell like the shifters, she smells more..."

"Wolfy," Garrett finished for her, shaking his head. "Carlisle, please tell me you didn't..."

"You're a werewolf," Kate deadpanned, her face blank.

"Man, is this a joke?" Garrett demanded, pushing Kate behind him and hissing at me.

Carlisle put his arms up calmly. "Garrett, Kate, please—"

"No!" Kate addressed all of them. "This is way too far, Carlisle. Yes, we will support you through a lot, but a werewolf? This is a definite law, one that will get everyone involved killed no matter what. Not only that, but you've brought her into the heart of the Volturi! They will have our heads!" Kate finished her rant in a scream, all of the Cullen's cringing.

Rolling my eyes, I decided we really didn't have the time to sit here and fuck around. "Yeah, well this werewolf is here to help you two..." I pointed toward them, both Kate and Garrett hopping backward as though I had a disease.

"Wow," Bella muttered at the dramatic reaction. "She's my cousin guys, it's different!" Bella piped, causing Garrett and Kate to look at her. "She was my family before she became a werewolf or I a vampire!"

"Yeah, well things change, Belly..." Garrett said sourly.

"Listen, we don't have time to keep dicking around!" I snapped, Carlisle cringing at my use of language. "Aren't vampires like after you or something?"

"Jackie is right," Jasper cut in, "where are the rest of the vampires after you?"

Kate relaxed, coming out from behind Garrett. "We ditched them a few miles back and confused them by crossing our scents in different directions..." she explained.

"Yeah, well they just got smart," Alice murmured, "we have two minutes and there are six of them."

"Hell, Garrett, who did you piss off?" Edward looked to Garrett who shrugged.

"Couple of old war buddies. I didn't hold up my end of a bargain and have been avoiding them for a few decades," in an instant, the fact that I was a werewolf suddenly did not matter.

Not in the moment, at least. At that moment, survival without any casualties on our end was the most important factor. We all stood in a circle back to back, my backpack feeling a hell of a lot heavier all of the sudden.

"We will address this problem after we get out of this..." Kate hissed, referring to me being a werewolf.

"What is it with you vamps being so damn old and racist all the time?" I questioned earning hisses from Kate and Garrett.

"It has nothing to do with age or racism, it has to do with the fact that just talking to you puts a death penalty on all of our heads!" Kate sounded a lot like Rosalie with that sentence.

I rolled my eyes wishing that I had a joint right about now. I really needed something to relax.

"These crotchety old-ass laws need to change, like damn," I scoffed, now hyper-aware of the fact that my Jesus sandals were loose and in no condition to battle vampires.

"Garrett, Kate," Carlisle calmly spoke, his voice alone enough to bring peace, "I know—while it may be hard to believe—that Jackie truly is not a danger as the Volturi have told us. There are not many werewolves left in the world at all, but Jackie is the only one I have encountered and she is not a volatile monstrosity. Please, keep an open mind."

Garrett and Kate did not respond, but I had a feeling this was their way of begrudgingly agreeing.

"On your right!" Alice shouted and suddenly the fight began.

The vampires were quick, but I forced myself to keep up with them. Bella, surprisingly enough, was the first one to go after the vampires. With a screech, she and a male were flipping through the air. Edward wasted no time in helping her, Carlisle and Alice taking care of another one.

Jasper was handling another by himself while Kate and Garrett teamed up against another.

But that was only four, where was the fifth vampire?

As though answering my question, a grasp on my neck caught my attention, a nose nuzzling into my neck.

"Mmm, a human?" He mumbled against my neck, breathing in before pulling away with a disgusted look. "A human that smells?"

What. The. Fuck.

With a war cry, I kicked up leg up causing my sandal to go flying in the air. Grabbing my sandal, I turned around and began hitting the vampire man with my Jesus sandal.

"Fucking telling me I stink? Well, fuck you too!" He was screaming as I hit him with so much force it was actually starting to crack his skin.

The vampire managed to twist away, but I only threw the sandal away before going at him full force. My backpack jangled as the vampire and I fought, fists and legs swinging all over. The others were now just finishing taking care of the other vampires.

A small scream escaped me as the vampire managed to grab both my arms, holding me down. A sadistic smirk ate at his face, his eyes gleaming.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A little wolf it seems, I've only heard legends, but maybe bringing you to the Volturi will earn me a spot on the guard..." his comment made me furious.

Allowing my eyes to light up and my teeth to grow, I released a thundering growl. The vampire holding me looked at me with wide eyes full of alarm, his grip tightening just a bit.

"Take this," my voice was lower-pitched and resembled that of a monster.

With no hesitation, I leaned up opening my mouth wide before biting down as hard as physically possible on the vampire's shoulder. From the corner of my eye, I could see the others just finishing ripping apart the bodies of the other vampires they were against.

Edward had taken a match out of his pocket and Jasper and Garrett were placing the body parts on top of each other in a pile. My attention was taken back to the vampire who staring at me with a shocked gaze.

He choked, falling to the side releasing me in the process. I watched with narrowed eyes as the vampire fell to the ground gasping as though there was not enough air in the world.

This is exactly what happened with Patrick-John when I bit him.

It was a familiar sight to me, but to everyone else, this was their first time seeing it. I had told the Cullen's many times over the summer what happened when I bit Patrick-John, but hearing and seeing something was completely different.

They all watched with huge eyes, taking in the scene in front of them.

Slowly but surely, the sound of thumping filled the air. It was not my heartbeat, but rather it was the vampire's as his once dead heart came back alive momentarily. The vampire began shaking, his body convulsing and shaking as though he were having a seizure.

Venom pooled from his mouth and the his eyes, his form desperately wheezing for breath. Tilting my head, I listened as his heart (which didn't beat more than six times) suddenly gave out, the vampire's body stilling.

His eyes remained open, staring at the sky as if he were seeing God himself. Soon, they turned unseeing, his life fading away in an instant.

Looking away from the corpse of the vampire, I addressed the shocked vampires who stood feet away.

"So," I walked to where I tossed my sandals, putting them back on, "that's what happens when I bite a vampire. You might not want to get on my bad side, vamps."