Rosalie Hale's little sister

Final battle - part 2

We all went back to where our family was while the Volturi made a decision.

"How can you abide this infamy? Why do we stand here impotently in the face of such an outrageous crime, covered by such a ridiculous deception?" Caius spoke.

"Because it's all true," Aro said calmly. "Every word of it. See how many witnesses stand ready to give evidence that they have seen this miraculous child grow and mature in just the short time they've known her. That they have felt the warmth of the blood that pulses in her veins."

Aro's words made Caius think about it. But I noticed he was trying everything to attack our family.

"The werewolves," he murmured.

"Ah, brother...," Aro had a pained look.

"Will you defend that alliance, too, Aro?" Caius demanded. "The Children of the Moon have been our bitter enemies from the dawn of time. We have hunted them to near extinction in Europe and Asia. Yet Carlisle encourages a familiar relationship with this enormous infestation—no doubt in an attempt to overthrow us. The better to protect his warped lifestyle."

"Caius, it's the middle of the day," Edward pointed out. "These are not Children of the Moon, clearly. They bear no relation to your enemies on the other side of the world."

Caius was actually right about us being allies of the Children of the Moon. Ryan, Thomas, and Janet were Children of the Moon. Luckily, when Aro searched my mind he was only interested in my powers, and he didn't see anything about the real Children of the Moon.

I looked at Edward, even though the wolves that were in the battle with us were not the ones Caius was talking about, Edward still hid knowing about the real ones. I looked him in the eye and thanked him using my telepathy.

"You breed mutants here," Caius spit back at Edward.

Edward's jaw clenched. "They aren't even werewolves. Aro can tell you all about it if you don't believe me."

"Dear Caius, I would have warned you not to press this point if you had told me your thoughts," Aro murmured. "Though the creatures think of themselves as werewolves, they are not. The more accurate name for them would be shape-shifters. The choice of a wolf form was purely chance. It could have been a bear or a hawk or a panther when the first change was made. These creatures truly have nothing to do with the Children of the Moon. They have merely inherited this skill from their fathers. It's genetic—they do not continue their species by infecting others the way true werewolves do."

Caius glared at Aro with irritation. "They know our secret,"

Edward was going to answer his accusation, but Aro spoke first. "They are creatures of our supernatural world just like the witches and the Children of the Moon, brother. Perhaps even more dependent upon secrecy than we are; they can hardly expose us. Carefully, Caius. Specious allegations get us nowhere."

"I want to talk to the informant," Caius announced, taking a deep breath. "Irina, so you appear to have been quite mistaken in your allegations,"

"I'm sorry," Irina whispered. "I should have made sure of what I was seeing. But I had no idea..."

"Dear Caius, could you expect her to have guessed in an instant something so strange and impossible?" Aro asked. "Any of us would have made the same assumption."

"We all know you made a mistake," Caius said. "I meant to speak of your motivations."

Irina waited nervously for him to continue. "My motivations?"

"Yes, for coming to spy on them in the first place."

Irina flinched.

"You were unhappy with the Cullens, were you not?" Caius asked.