50 | EXPOSED |

"YOU STRIPPED NUDE AND THEN SHIFTED INTO A WOLF IN FRONT OF CHARLIE?" Rory was having a hard time not slapping Jacob Black across the face again. With the baby napping upstairs, she had less of a reason not to hit the smirk right off his face. He had to have a death wish, really. Or be the biggest idiot on the planet.

"Look, I solved a problem. You guys were leaving." He shrugged while the room full of vampires glared at him. "What did you expect me to do?"

"Asked to come with? Suggested a different solution? Shut the fuck up?" Rory spat out, completely livid with her stepbrother. "I'm so telling Billy." Jasper rubbed her shoulders, concentrating on relieving the room of some tension before things got out of hand.

"Now who's the snitch?" Jacob groaned, knowing his father wouldn't be happy he had not only shifted in front of Billy's best friend, but he had further endangered Charlie, Bella, and Rory.

Bella glared at him. "You don't realize the danger you've put him in. The Volturi will kill anyone who knows about us."

"Another thing they can strike us down for," Rory groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "The damned secret."

"No, I didn't tell him about you. Just me. I only said you were different," he clarified as though he were a genius.

Edward narrowed his eyes as he read Jacob's thoughts. "And that we have a niece who we adopted."

"I mean, seriously?" Bella rubbed her face frustratedly. "Jake, he's not just gonna let that go."

"So, you're making Bella answer the rest of his questions," Rory pointed out one of the many flaws in Jacob's plan. "Job well done."

"Did you consider the physical pain he'll put Bella through? It'll be like sticking a white hot branding iron down her throat," Jasper described the agony of a vampire's first close encounter with a human they were actively trying to not kill. He glanced at Bella's vivid red eyes. "And that's assuming she can control her thirst."

"Look, Charlie's been in hell," Jacob tried to appeal to Bella, "And I know you'll be much happier with him in your life."

"Jacob, don't try and pretend you're doing this for anyone but yourself," Rory laughed bitterly. "I thought I was selfish for coming back, but you've really done it this time."

He was immune to her ire as he crossed his arms. "Sorry you feel that way because he'll be here in 10 minutes."

"Fan-fucking-tastic."

➖

Alice helpfully handed Bella a pair of brown contacts in a plain white case and a small mirror. "These will irritate your eyes at first."

They all watched the nervous newborn as her red eyes were masked under the dark brown shade. The entire family seemed to quickly realize Bella could not pass for human at all—her perfect, flawless skin, to her graceful, lithe disposition. To be fair, since she awoke, she never had to worry about pretending. It was easy to forget what normal humans were like. She needed a crash course in humanity from a room of vampires.

Carlisle offered his advice first. "The main thing is not to move too fast." Bella nodded slowly, taking a hesitant, measured step forward.

"Try taking a seat," Esme suggested with a warm smile. Bella turned, her gaze trained on the plain chair in the corner, as she took a step toward it. Then promptly slammed into it at speed faster than Sonic. Esme winced. "Maybe a tad slower."

Alice tapped her chin. "And blink at least three times a minute." Bella's eyes blinked repeatedly, almost ten times the amount Alice suggested in just ten seconds.

Alice smiled awkwardly. "Good."

Jacob snorted as he watched Bella's attempts. "For a cartoon character."

"Shut it," Rory gave him a dirty look. "If I have to make this man forget he ever saw you in your birthday suit because everything goes wrong, I will slap the shit out of you and Leah won't be able to stop me."

"You're so violent nowadays, Rory." Jacob leaned back into the couch comfortably watching the scene. "Chill. Everything will be fine."

"Hold your breath," Jasper advised. "It will help with the thirst."

"Just don't forget to move your shoulders so it looks like you're breathing," Edward said, running his gaze over his wife to make sure they didn't miss anything else that was a red flag.

"And don't sit so straight," Rosalie added with a humored smirk. "Humans don't do that."

Bella nodded, "Okay. I got it. Move around, blink, slouch." She stood up from the chair, failing to hide her nervousness.

"She looks somewhat human, but she looks nothing like Bella Swan," Rory shook her head. "Try to look as awkward and emotionally inept as possible, then he'll be convinced you're really his daughter. Throw a trip or something in there while you're at it."

"So helpful," Bella snorted sarcastically, albeit heeding Rory's advice by the way she practiced changing her facial features, forcing a nonchalant look on her anxiety ridden face.

The sound of Charlie's police cruiser turning it's engine off was a signal to the family. Bella began to pace back and forth while they all listened to the human make his way down the driveway and to the front door.

Esme patted Bella's arm supportingly. "Good luck," the matriarch whispered before leaving the room like the rest of the family, just as Charlie Swan knocked on the door.

"Come on, sweetheart," Jasper guided Rory up the stairs to their bedroom to wait.

Listening to Charlie and Bella's conversation made Rory a little bit envious. Aside from visiting La Push under severe disguise, Rory was practically bound to the house. She was beginning to feel restless, wishing she could go out into the world again. She loved being home with her family, but she hated feeling stuck. It was only a matter of time before her past caught up with her, no matter how much everyone tried to not think about the elephant in the room.

She wished Jacob had kept his mouth shut.

"Well done, Bella. Never seen a newborn show that kind of restraint," Jasper complimented her as they walked into the living room the moment Charlie's cruiser pulled out of the driveway.

It had gone well enough, it was a good thing Charlie knew when to leave things alone, even disregarding the fact he knew Renesmee was definitely not adopted. Bella looked happy to have her father back in her life and Jacob was much too pleased by how everything turned out. Rory still glared at him as everyone met up in the living room again.

"I'm not sure she is a newborn," Emmett chortled, eyeing Bella unsurely, "She's so tame. Where's the ripper at?" he joked.

Bella rolled her eyes as Emmett ruffled her hair.

Edward raised his brow at his brother. "Emmett, don't antagonize her. She's the strongest one in the house."

Emmett cracked his knuckles, his huge muscles bulging in effect. "Please."

Naturally, this was a challenge neither vampire took lightly, least of all a newborn vampire. And so, just before dawn, an arm wrestling match was set up in the woods between Bella and Emmett. Emmett hauled a ginormous boulder from the river onto the small plateau near the main house.

"Don't hurt yourself, Emmett," Edward said as he stepped back where the rest of the family watched, holding Renesmee in his arms.

"He's so getting owned," Rory smiled widely. "Show him what you're made of, Bella!"

The newborn shot her a grateful, yet slightly nervous glance, the sight of Emmett's rippling muscles scaring her a little bit.

Jasper stood across the middle of the boulder, watching both sides as the fair judge. "All right. On 3," he said, meeting Bella and Emmett's nods carefully, then smirked. "3!"

For a moment, neither arm wavered. Emmett grinned as he tried to use his full force to brung her arm down, but Bella was immovable. His cocky expression faltered. She clearly had expected to beat him, but she quickly realized her strength doubled his, and like a slingshot, she moved her hand and slammed Emmett's into the boulder, breaking it in half by the immense force.

"Damn it!" Emmett shouted as he brushed the dust off his pants, ignoring Rosalie and Esme's disapproving looks for cursing in Renesmee's presence.

Bella watched the piece of rock in her hand crumble in fascination while Renesmee giggled at her mother. She was amazed by her own power, no longer the weak, fragile human. She was always meant to be a vampire.

Meanwhile, Rory was bent over, holding her knees for support as she laughed uncontrollably. The sounds of her rambunctious amusement sent Jasper, Alice, and even Rosalie into chuckles themselves.

"Hey! It's just 'cause she's a newborn," Emmett glared at Rory, mortified at his loss. "I could beat you anytime now that you're tame."

"I hear a challenge," Jasper raised his brow. "You sure you wanna lose twice in a row?"

"You bet your ass it was," Emmett crowed, "come on, princess! I won't go easy on you like Jazz did during newborn army training!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Rory sang as she tossed her hair behind her shoulder.

The Cullens all stepped aside, leaving a wide space for an impromptu spar. Bella smirked and held her daughter closer, the baby watching it all with wide, curious eyes.

"And no speaking! Hah! Don't even try to tell me to do something ridiculous like dancing like a ballerina," Emmett said as he walked the distance across the other side of the makeshift arena.

Rory nodded in agreement, miming zipping her mouth shut with gleaming eyes.

"Ready?" Jasper questioned, as both nodded, slightly crouched forward as to attack each other. "Set...go!"

And they rushed at each other, blurs of white as they dodged each other trying to grab the other. It was supremely entertaining to watch, Rory's slim figure and speed letting her slip away from Emmett's powerful, well-aimed swipes. Emmett used his speed to climb up a tree and try to surprise Rory, who for some reason, stopped running away to face him with a wide, evil smirk. It was like she had given up in the middle of the fight as she met his confused stare.

Dance like a ballerina, Emmett. She commanded him through her thoughts.

Edward's mouth hung open in shock as he read her thoughts, the first one to realize what was happening as the others were surprised to see the spar stopped before it really began.

Emmett sequentially began to twirl on his tippy toes, his arms raised above his head elegantly, as he moved across the plateau, making use of his space to dance the Sugar Plum Fairy dance from the Nutcracker movie they had all watched as a family just a few days ago. Rory stepped aside with crossed arms, knowing most of the family was utterly confused by what just happened, having been unaware of the full extent of Rory's ability.

Emmett was horrified of his own actions, his expression staring at his body as he leaped and pirouetted before his entire family plus Jacob, Seth, and Leah who joined into watch, just in time for the sun to break through the clouds, it's rays shining upon them all, causing Emmett to literally become a dancing, disco ball.

"And that is why I fell for you," Jasper said as Rory joined his side to watch Emmett preform in the breaking dawn.

Rory snorted, leaning on his upper arm, not being tall enough to reach his shoulder. "You say that like you had a choice." He moved to wrap his arm around her waist, and bent down to kiss the top of her head.

"Exactly."

➖

"Tia Rory!"

Renesmee Cullen was only three weeks old when she learned to speak full sentences like she was any other adult in the house. She was now the size of a toddler who had the grace of a ballerina. It was creepy if you thought too long about it, so Rory tried not to as she looked down at the adorable face of her niece.

"Yes, mi cariña?" She lifted the little girl into her arms and held her close, flicking her button nose.

Renesmee giggled and placed her palm on her aunt's cheek, showing Rory the mountainside where snow fell ubiquitously. It was one of the first places outside the house the girl had ever been, the freezing temperatures didn't hinder the child who ran at a constant 100 degrees Fahrenheit and was surrounded by ice-cold vampires.

Bella and Edward were out "hunting", and so Rory nodded at her silent request, and cradling Ren to her chest, sped out of the house, arriving at the plateau in seconds where wispy pieces of snow drizzled.

Rory watched her niece run around the small area for a few minutes. Eventually, the little girl began leaping into the air, almost copying her Uncle Emmett's moves as she tried to catch snowflakes before they melted into her palms. Rory sat beside her, carefully watching each of her movements, just in case.

"So pretty," Renesmee sighed as she held a snowflake out for Rory's approval. "Are you and Uncle Jazz getting married?"

Completely thrown off by the unexpected sentence, Rory blinked rapidly, trying to find her words. "Uh, why do you ask that?" Instances like this reminded Rory that Ren was just like any other nosy, overly blunt child.

Ren shrugged, still preoccupied with catching snowflakes. She leaped over ten feet in the air to catch some, landing perfectly balanced on her two feet, and turning to show her aunt the quickly melting snowflake.

"Because you act like Mama and Dada. Or Auntie Rose and Uncle Emmett. And also Grandpa and Grandma. That means they're married," Ren detailed knowledgeably. "You and Uncle Jazz don't have rings though."

"Keen observations, little Ren," she smiled softly at the precocious child. "You really are your mother's daughter." Rory snickered, reminiscing over the days Bella Swan had kept track of Edward's actions and theorized what was his issue, like most normal teenage girls did.

"Well?" Renesmee had inherited her father's impatience. She even tapped her left foot.

"Hmm," Rory hummed, running her fingers through the girl's bronze curls, "since you are my favorite niece—"

"—I'm your only niece!"

"—I guess I'll tell you a secret, if you promise not to tell anyone else," Rory grinned widely, whispering loudly, even though there was no need in the

"I pinky swear!" Renesmee declared, holding out her tiny pinky finger to her godmother.

Renesmee's eyes widened and filled with excitement as Rory whispered into her ear. She let out a joyous peal of laughter, but then her eyes caught onto something behind Rory. Way behind Rory.

She had almost perfect vampire vision, only needing to squint to spot the stranger whose sparkling skin under the sun had caught her attention. "Tia Rory? Who's that?"

Rory frowned and followed the girl's finger to the opposite mountain, where a blonde figure, her skin shining in a tell-tale-that's-a-vampire way, stared at them. Rory hadn't noticed the woman in her distraction of watching Ren. Even though there were hundreds of yards between them, Rory and the woman could see each other as though they were just a few feet apart instead. Rory raised her brow, but wasn't alarmed as the vampire's eyes were gold, not red, so she wasn't part of the Volturi. Rory then remembered meeting the woman at the wedding, one of the Denali sisters.

"Uh, I think that was one of our cousins. Maybe." Rory tried to wave at the woman, but strangely, she just turned and ran away like she was scared of her. Hmm, rumors must've done her justice.

Rory quickly brought Ren home to tell the others, in case the Denali woman had come over for a visit.

"You saw Irina in the woods?" Carlisle questioned. "And she said nothing?"

"We never had the chance to meet properly. Maybe she thought I was gonna eat Ren or something, clearly she is a child," Rory said with a deep frown. "Hope I didn't scare her off."

"I'm sure it was a misunderstanding," Esme said, brushing the instance off. "I'll call Carmen now."

It turned out Irina had come down to Forks to make amends after her behavior at the wedding. Carlisle theorized that she must've thought Rory was going to feed on Ren and, offended by the action happening on the Cullens territory, she didn't want to visit anymore. It seemed communication issues were an epidemic in the vampire world. They waited to hear news of Irina's safe return so that they could reinvite the entire coven to Forks and formally introduce the newest additions to the Cullen family.

But, oddly enough, Irina never returned to Alaska.

➖

"JASPER WHITLOCK HALE!"

Emmett immediately hit pause on the movie they had all been watching as Alice's screech was heard throughout the house.

"Oh, come on, Kylo Ren was just about to kill Snoke," Rory frowned as she got to her feet, Alice arriving in the room with blazing eyes of fury.

"—AND AURORA ELENA REYES ADEN!"

"Alice..." Jasper said cautiously, focusing on bringing the vampire's anger to a simmer instead a full blown furnace.

"Ugh, not the full name...Guess the cat's outta the bag, babe," Rory snickered and swung her legs off Jasper's lap.

"HOW COULD THE BOTH OF YOU BETRAY ME LIKE THIS?!" the psychic wailed dramatically, still holding a vase of flowers for some reason, probably having been in the middle of arranging the orchids when Renesmee dropped the news out of nowhere.

"Do we have time to run away still?" Jasper whispered while Rory shook her head.

"I expected this from Rory, but from you!"

"What's going on?" Jake wandered into the family room to an entertaining scene.

"Dunno..." Emmett said excitedly, waiting to hear the full drama.

Alice was almost squeaking, "I had to find out that you two got ENGAGED from a month old child?!"

The E word shocked everyone, except the mind reader who had known the entire time, and had been waiting for someone to catch on. Edward just didn't expect his daughter to be the one to spill the secret.

"Ren!" Rory glanced at the little girl who was peeking at them from behind Alice's legs. "I thought you promised not to tell?"

"Sorry, Tia Rory," she said with a small pout. Renesmee didn't like the feeling of someone being upset at her, so she looked up at her aunt with a charming smile, "...Hitler promised not to invade Czechoslovakia, welcome to the real world?"

That did the trick, and Rory's mad expression (albeit completely fake because she knew it was only a matter of time before Renesmee told someone because she was still a month old child) faded into a grin. "You got me there, Ren." Happy that her aunt wasn't really mad at her, Ren ran across the room to hug Rory.

"Wow. She's only been talking for a week now and you already taught my daughter vine memes." Edward pinched the bridge of his nose as Bella withheld a laugh.

"She knows I can't get mad at that—clever girl," Rory tickled Renesmee until the little girl was laughing boisterously.

"Anyways," Bella interjected, utterly bewildered by the news, "back to the topic—when the hell did you and Jasper get engaged?"

"Last month."

"Last week."

The apparently engaged couple exchanged sheepish looks, having discussed whether they should tell everyone they had gotten engaged before they returned to Forks or sooner to ease the anger at keeping it a secret. Evidently, they had not come to a decision.

"What is the truth?" Rosalie questioned with narrowed eyes.

"Last month, right before we came here—literally," Rory grinned softly. "We went to our spot up the mountain, Jasper proposed, I accepted, bada bing, bada boom, engaged. Then we came down here to the house to find Bella pregnant pregnant."

"Wow."

Jasper smirked as he pulled the gold necklace around Rory's neck from being hidden by her shirt to reveal a delicate gold diamond and ruby encrusted ring that hung next to the original Cullen pendant he had given her a year ago. Not seeing the need, or well, seeing that there was no point in hiding anymore with all the drama over, Rory unclasped the necklace and pulled the ring off the chain, handing it to Jasper to put on. Endearingly, he got to his knees instead to slide it on her fourth finger properly. He kissed her hand and got up, facing their family who all clapped at the scene.

"Congratulations!" Esme hugged both of them joyously. Carlisle patted Jasper on the back as he congratulated the both of them too. The whole room went around saying the same to the relatively newly engaged couple.

"Ugh! I can't believe I didn't see it coming. If I have to—" Suddenly, Alice abruptly froze, her eyes glazing over as the vase she was gripping in her hands fell to the floor.

The second Rory registered the vase had slipped from Alice's fingers, she instinctively protected Ren, who had still been standing next to her and Jasper, from the shards of porcelain, backing up and turning around to cover the child instead of going to stop the vase. Everyone watched in shock as the vase shattered into a million pieces.

"Ah, shit."

"Right when everything was perfect...honestly not surprised given this family's track record," Emmett shook his head, as they all gathered around Alice.

"What is it Ali?" Jasper asked his best friend, feeling out her strong emotions of horror.

"The Volturi—they're coming for us." She blinked out of her vision. "Aro, Caius, Marcus, the Guard. And Irina."

Carlisle's brows furrowed together. "Why?"

"For Renesmee?" Edward asked worriedly.

Alice looked up, staring right at Rory and Renesmee. "For both of them."

"Honey, come here," Bella said frantically, opening her arms for Ren to run into from Rory. She needed to hold her daughter in light of the rapid, unexpected turn of events.

"If the entire coven is coming—that means they have convincing evidence that we're guilty." Rory couldn't breathe. "Damning evidence."

Edward turned to Rory. "What did Irina see in the woods?" He read her memory of the event that happened just days before.

"We were talking...but before, Ren was catching snowflakes. She must've been watching us longer than I thought." Rory felt her heart break, she had allowed so much to slip away in so much happiness she felt with her family. "I'm so sorry, Bella, Edward. I should've stopped her."

"It's okay," Bella said, running her hand through Renesmee's hair.

"They must believe Renesmee is an immortal child," Carlisle gathered from the facts. He knew the only thing that would cause the entire Volturi to leave their city had to be none other than the rumor of an immortal child, the worst of crimes a vampire could ever commit.

"Bullshit. Even if most vampires don't know what hybrids are—they do. Alec said so himself. They're like the Alexandria of the vampire world except Aro is the walking library," Rory growled, knowing this was all a front for the Volturi to destroy her happiness.

Jacob crossed his arms, infuriated at the thought of harm coming to Renesmee. "So can't you just explain that she's a hybrid to the Volturi?"

"It's not that simple," Jasper shook his head.

Edward nodded. "Aro has enough proof in Irina's thoughts that we're harboring a suspected immortal child...and the mind controller they've been searching for."

"They want Rory and they'll do anything to get her back," Jasper frowned deeply, staring at Rory worriedly. "Which means they'll act oblivious to the truth if they could use it to their advantage when they arrive with a mob of clueless witnesses to justify their actions."

"We can still run," she suggested, though her voice was full of doubt. Once the Volturi had a crumb, there was nothing in their path that would stop them, short of Rory upright giving herself up. And she wasn't even sure what they'd do once they found her—it was well past the time of open armed welcoming.

"It's too late for that now, the Volturi made their decision to come here to Forks," Alice said brokenly.

"You aren't giving yourself up, so don't even try!" Jasper said firmly, knowing Rory was debating the idea. He held her shoulders as their gazes locked. "We'll never see each other again."

Rory shut her eyes, exhaling shakily. "I'm not the only one they want."

"What do you mean?" Jacob questioned.

Rory looked at everyone, her family, her loved ones, her happiness. "Before I left, I overheard a plan I wasn't meant to hear. They were considering offering two more positions on the Guard to ensure my loyalty and increase their power. I guess they equate loyalty with love, but they wanted you Alice, and Jasper, too. But your visions—if I'm gold to them, you're a diamond."

"Aro's a collector. I've read his mind back in Volterra—he's never met someone who could see the future before," Edward further proved Rory's point.

"With me gone, they had nothing to tempt you to join the Volturi with," Rory admitted, pacing back and forth as she revealed the truth. "I guess planning to destroy the rest of our family is their solution. Two birds, one stone."

"So we fight," Jacob said in an emboldened tone.

"Their offensive weapons are too powerful," Jasper recalled the different warriors he had seen in Volterra, as well as recalling Rory's skills and she had only been in the Volturi for a few months compared to the hundreds of years other guards had on her. "No one can stand against Jane." He pursed his lips as he looked over at Rory. "Alec's even worse."

"Hey!" Rory interjected with an affronted expression, "He's not that bad. He helped me leave the Volturi in the first place."

"He's in love with you," Jasper reminded her, jealousy leaking in his voice, "you don't think there's any chance at all that he won't use this opportunity to kill the people keeping you two apart? Or what if this was part of his plan, all along? Help you escape to give them reason to destroy us all so you have no one but him?"

Not that she didn't trust Alec, but she had to admit he did have a tendency to choose himself over others. "I don't know," she shook her head unsurely. "But he's not like that. He wouldn't do that."

"You don't know that," Jasper said stoically while Rory shot him an annoyed look. "The Volturi will stop at nothing to get what they want."

"Well, then we convince them," Bella said.

Emmett scoffed at the suggestion. "They're coming to kill us, not to talk."

"No, you're right," Edward agreed with his wife. "They won't listen to us. But maybe others can convince them. Carlisle, you have friends all around the world." He turned to his father pleadingly.

Carlisle shook his head slowly. "I won't ask them to fight."

"Not fight. Witness," Edward declared convincingly. "If enough people knew the truth, maybe we could convince the Volturi to listen."

Esme turned to Carlisle, touching his shoulder with a nod. "We can ask this of our friends."

Jacob clapped his hands together, bringing the attention to his optimistic smile. "All right. Let's get this show on the road."

➖

‼️‼️ DONT FORGET THAT THE CONTEST ENDS NEXT MONDAY NIGHT! DONT MISS OUT!!  ‼️‼️

yall this story has over 260k+ reads....thats wild like we only hit 250K like two weeks ago...i love yall so much !!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

so jaory is engaged finally (ill drop the flashback to his proposal later on but i lowkey lost it bc i had written it during my TA class at school so it's probably in my locker 🙃) but now the volturi is after them yikes

COMMENT LIKE FOLLOW FOR MORE