When we got to the cottage again, I sighed and wished that this mission was over. I wanted to go home, this was getting boring. Even though I loved spending time with Alec, I didn’t want to sit in a small cottage with eyes on me every second and interrogate someone who didn’t want to answer. It was a waste of time, time I could be spending by being with Alec. For a while I just closed my eyes and pretended I was somewhere else, alone with Alec, preferably on a beach, a hot, sunny beach where Alec and I could stay forever. A small sigh of happiness slipped past my lips before I could prevent it. I knew we couldn’t stay on that dream beach forever, Aro would never allow it, but just thinking of it made me happy and I pulled myself together and got ready for part two of operation interrogation of a werewolf. Alec escorted me inside, slowly stroking my back when no one saw. Just when I was about to open the door that led into the side of the cottage where Adrian was, Alec pulled me back and nodded at the door, giving Felix a silent command of going inside. As soon as we were alone, Alec pushed me up against the wall, one hand tangled in my hair and one hand of the small of my back – pressing me against him. For a second or two, he just looked at me and then his lips touched mine and I was on fire. I wrapped my arms around his neck. For a while I pretended that we were on my dream beach and that we lay in the soft water. But then I heard Felix clear his throat for the other side of the wall and I froze. I immediately stopped kissing Alec and pulled away. They can hear us; I mouthed and tapped my left ear with my finger. First Alec looked confused but then a smiled appeared on his face and he laughed silently. I know, he mouthed back and kissed me again. I smiled against his lips before I pulled away and shook my head slightly. Alec tried to pull me back into his arms as I walked towards the door. It was hard to resist, but after a few deep breaths, I managed to escape his arms.

“We need to work”, I said, pretending to be serious. Alec got his hard face on and nodded, but I could see a happy glimpse in his eyes. When I entered the cottage, I got a look from Felix that made my whole face and neck red from blushing. I locked my eyes the chair on the opposite side of the table where Adrian was positioned. As I sat down, I noticed that his eyes were very blurry and that he wasn't fully conscious. For a second I wondered why, but then I saw the needle in his arm and the tube that was connected to it. Morphine. He was not unconscious, he was just extremely high. In this position, he looked so vulnerable, not hard and macho as he'd seemed when he was awake. Now, Adrian painfully resembled Jacob. A stab of pain went through my chest when I thought of my former best friend and maybe future mate. I couldn't understand why he’d left. I could honestly not understand why any of them had left. But the knowledge that Jacob left was the thing that hurt the most. It was the biggest betrayal of them all. When I felt the tears starting to water my eyes, I quickly shook my head to get rid of the annoying thought in my head. They weren't my family any more. Alec was my family now, the Volturi was my family. I froze in the middle of that thought. As disturbing as it was, The Volturi – who'd tried to kill me when I was a baby – was now my family. And the family who'd protected me when I was a baby, was now gone. I laughed at the irony of it all and got a weird look from Felix. Felix gaze snapped me back into reality and I gave him an apologetic look. Back in reality, I wrinkled my eyebrows. How was I supposed to interrogate someone who was buzzed of and probably didn't even now his own name? I opened my mouth to ask Felix, but before I even had the time to take a breath, Alec opened the door and peeked his head in.

“He won't be awake for another hour or so”, he declared and smiled that crooked smile I loved so much. I didn't understand why he smiled though, we were stuck here another hour - an hour that we could be spending doing something entirely else, preferably alone. Alec didn't seem to be bothered by that, he just opened the door wide and smiled at me.

“So instead of sitting here were going on a trip.” Alec's smile grew bigger and I gave him a confused gaze. What did he mean? Felix didn't seem to get it either, because he started to protest. But one look from Alec made him silent and I wondered what was going on.

“Come on”, Alec said and nodded at me. I raised my eyebrows and wondered what the hell was going on, but got up and obeyed. As soon as I got within grabbing distance, Alec grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door.

“We'll be back in an hour”, he said over his shoulder – confident that the vampires would hear him. I started to ask why and where we were going, but he just hushed me and pulled me closer so he could put his arm over my shoulders. I decided to give up and just follow his lead, so instead of talking and asking, I leaned against him and walked happily in to the woods.

After a few minutes of walking – or rather running – we slowed down and stopped. I looked around in wonder. We were standing in the middle of the woods. Rays of sun peeked through the heavy leaves here and there and made a halo of light above our heads. One ray of sun hit Alec's face and he started to sparkle. I hadn't noticed that he'd removed his cloak, and was now standing in regular clothes. He looked so beautiful, so unreal and perfect. There was nothing I could do but stare at him and admire his beauty. I didn't sparkle as much, almost nothing at all. But looking at Alec made me happy, it reminded me of the times when me and my mom used to play out in the sun when I was little. The thought made my smile a little smaller, but as soon as Alec stoked my cheek it grew bigger again.

“Where are we?” I asked, breathless from all the beauty that surrounded us. Alec smiled at me and put his hands on my hips before he answered.

“Nowhere”, he said and kissed the tip of my nose. “Everywhere.” he continued to kiss my face. He started at my nose, and then kissed my eyelids, my cheeks, the corner of my mouth and my jaw. I groaned and searched his lips with mine, but as soon as I found them, he moved away. A disappointed sigh that changed into a groan of lust slipped past my lips when he kissed my neck and pressed my body against him. There was nothing I wanted more than for him to kiss me. But no matter how much I begged he still continued to tease me, kissing every part of my body except my lips. When I tilted my head backwards he made a trail of kissed all the way down my neck, to the beginning of my cleavage and back again. When he'd done that a few times – making me crazy in the process - he finally kissed me. Just like the first time we kissed, my body started to burn and every cell felt like burning lava. We were like magnets, when he tangled his hand in my hair, I ran mine through his. When my legs couldn't carry me anymore, we softly fell on to the lush grass. Even though my head was pretty occupied, I could still smell the sweet scent of the flowers, feel the warm air against my skin and hear the birds sing in the tree tops. If you thought about it, this was like a scene from a romantic movie. One of the good scenes that are shown before something bad happens. The only difference was that this was reality. This was real. Alec was real, my feelings were real and this was actually happening. For a second I almost wondered if this was a dream – like the one I had once before – that I would soon wake up and all that I'd been through had just been a dream. But when I thought about it, I didn't want this to be a dream. I didn't want Alec to be a dream. I wouldn't lose Alec even if it meant I'd get my family back. My family was gone, and Alec was right here and he wasn't going anywhere – at least not without me.

“What are you thinking about?” Alec asked and looked at me with a worried look. He lay on top of me, with his forehead lean against mine. I smiled at him and realized that I'd drifted away in my own thoughts. I quickly pushed them away and ran my hand through his hair.

“I was just thinking about us, about this moment, and how I never want it to stop.” Alec smiled his crooked smile when he heard my words whom I spoken directly from my heart. Instead of answering, he just kissed me and rolled around so that I lay on top of him. And in that moment, in that exact second, I was completely and utterly happy.

The time past way too quickly and it felt like we'd just arrived when we had to go back to the cottage. Alec seemed to feel the same way, though he didn't stop kissing me until we absolutely had to go. I groaned disappointingly and wrapped my arms around his neck, refusing to let him go. Even though Alec had a hard time letting go as well, he had – unfortunately - much more mental strength than me and let me go unwillingly.

“Come on, we got to go”, he said and stroked my cheek before he grabbed my hand and we started to run back to the cottage. When we reached our goal, Alec pulled me into his arms and gave me one last kiss before we parted ways and headed for different doors. As I entered my door, I saw to my relief that Adrian was awake and sober. Felix was standing in the corner, his eyes locked on the werewolf. With a small nod in Felix's direction, I took my seat and met Adrian's gaze.

“So, where were we?” I asked and crossed my arms – trying to look relaxed and alert at the same time. Adrian snorted and copied my motion by crossing his arms as well.

“You tell me, princess.'Cause I sure as hell don't know.” Adrian grinned and leaned back, looking like he was sitting as home talking to anyone - which was very strange and the exact opposite of his actions yesterday. I wondered what had changed for him. Was it just an act or was he still a little high from the morphine dose? I couldn't tell. I had no wish of pointing it out, though I just wanted to be done with this and go back to Volterra.

“I believe we were talking about why you were telling humans about the existence of vampires.” My voice was cold and I wanted to believe that I looked fierce and reserved. Hopefully I looked like a hard, cold bitch – which was exactly how I wanted Adrian to see me as. I didn't want him to see me as a vulnerable little girl; too small for the big role she had been given. Adrian didn't seem to think I was a bitch though, because instead of looking terrified, he gave me a smirk and laughed in silence.

“Well, you see princess, we tell humans about your kind, so that they will kill you. Because we both know they have the technology to do it.” Adrian still looked relaxed and had that annoying smirk on his face, but I could see the seriousness in his eyes. He wanted us dead, and he wanted a war between humans and vampires. I held my breath and was speechless for a little while, before I returned to reality. But before I had the time to answer, Adrian continued.

“And the humans won't fight alone. All the packs in the world will come together and help. And it's my mission to start the war.” When Adrian was done talking, I was once again speechless. He wanted a war between all three races. Fear consumed me and I starred at the shirtless man in front me.

“And... and how are you going to do that?” I finally managed to say after a while of silence. Even Felix seemed a bit of guard and followed my example my starring at Adrian in chock. Adrian didn't seem to notice Felix, though he had his eyes fixated on me. When I met his gaze, he smiled a wide smile so all of his white teeth were shown. But the smile wasn't pleasant, it was dark and evil.

“By killing you”, he said and jumped three feet up in air, transitioning in the jump. I couldn't move and just sat there, frozen and terrified. I closed my eyes for a split second and when I opened them again, the big wolf threw himself at me. The last thing I saw before it all went dark was two rows of deadly sharp teeth, dripping with saliva, aiming at my throat. I guess the time in the woods had been like the scene of a romantic movie, just before it all went straight to hell.