Jake looked around nervously at the marbled architecture and carved artwork on the walls before speaking, "I come from a tribe blessed by the spirits, where we transform into giant wolves to protect ourselves from vampires, as our ancestors before us had to do for survival."
Caius scowled, hearing about wolves.
"Then why come to us?" questioned Aro for all to hear.
"I was betrayed by those I thought of as family in the worst way, and have nothing left to live for. I want them to pay, all of them to pay," said Jake through gritted teeth, clenching his fist.
"Ah, yes, mortals can be so fickle," said Aro, moving towards him with Felix and Renata close behind.
"May I?" asked Aro redundantly, taking Jake's hand, who flinched as if burned by the cold, fighting against deep-seated instincts to rip it from his grasp.
Closing his eyes, Aro searched for the truth of his words and any information he could gather.
After a moment, Aro released his hand, stepping back.
"Well?" asked Cauis impatiently.
"I could gather very little. It seems our friend has an immunity not so dissimilar to dear Isabella's. Fortunately, it wasn't as strong. I see he was telling the truth," said Aro, not missing how Jake's eye twitched at the name.
"You know Isabella?" asked Aro with a raised eyebrow.
"We've met," said Jake resentfully.
"Perhaps you should tell us the whole story," encouraged Aro.
With a heavy sigh, Jake poured out all his grievances over the past few years onto them, revealing everything.
Caius stood up angrily, "I told you we should have wiped out those traitorous Cullens long ago! Now look at the mess they've left us with, and playing with that human girl who turned out to be nothing in the end."
Jane grinned at the news, looking forward to meeting Bella again.
Aro frowned, events did not go at all as he expected, and he was so very rarely wrong, and never to such a degree. It was unheard of.
Even Marcus couldn't help himself, "Caius is right Aro, look at where your games have gotten us, another pack of rabid animals threatening our kind," he drawled.
"I see that now, it seems even I'm not immune to the complacency of time," said Aro thoughtfully.
"We should gather our troops and go wipe them out now," said Caius.
Jake looked back and forth between the leaders, suddenly remembering something important. "If you could spare..." he began, but was interrupted by a hard backhand from Demetri. "Quiet dog! You will only speak when spoken to."
"Now, now, Demetri, no need to harm our guest, you were saying?" asked Aro gently, his devilish grin returned.
"I was hoping you could spare my father and sister. They aren't shifters so they are no threat to you," said Jake, glaring at Demetri.
"But they carry the gene, do they not?" said Aro, and Jake felt his heart plummet.
Aro's grin widened as a fun idea came to him: "How about a test? If you can beat Felix here, I'll spare your family."
Jake looked at the big guy warily.
"What!" shouted Caius, only to be silenced by a glare from Aro and sit back down in a huff. He knew there really was no need to overreact; the shifter stood no chance against Felix.
"What about these?" said Jake, shaking his chains.
"Release him," ordered Aro, walking back to his throne to watch.
Demetri and Santiago freed him, clearing the area, and Jake stood a little straighter, rolling out the stiffness of his shoulders, arms, and legs.
"You'll have to give me a minute, my wolf's been acting up since I left the tribe," said Jake.
"You talk as if it's a separate entity," said Aro curiously.
"Might as well be," said Jake, not hiding his distaste for the ability, "You should know that shifters are unaffected by gifts that directly target them. I'm surprised you were able to read anything off me," he said, internalizing all his animosity toward his inner wolf, thinking it just as treacherous as everyone else.
"Is that right? Shall we test it then, Jane?" said Aro excitedly, looking at the small female twin.
After hearing the good news about how Bella is now vulnerable to her, Jane frowned at hearing about others who might not be able to feel her gift.
"Pain," she said, concentrating everything she had on the man before her, wishing to see him burn.
Jake grimaced but did not cry out as his head snapped to the one responsible for his growing discomfort.
Aro chuckled amusedly, "I see there's some truth to what you say. We'll have to test more later. For now, let's see how you fare against our champion."
Jake then tried to shift with great effort, "Come on you bastard, shift already," he grumbled to himself, getting a few mocking laughs when he got down on all fours.
Even Caius grinned surprisingly, "Is this perhaps all some elaborate prank Aro?" he asked, looking over at his companion with amusement, knowing Aro had his moments of levity over the years.
Scowling at them, Jake finally shifted, and their laughs stopped, wiping the grin from Caius's face, quickly replaced by a scowl of hatred.
The russet brown furred wolf, not nearly as tall as the oversized vamp, was still intimidating at around 10 feet in length.
They sized up one another, Felix letting out a menacing grin in anticipation of a possible good fight against Jake's fierce growl and bared teeth.
Jake charged first, intent on victory for his family.
Felix maneuvered past his jaws, catching him in a headlock throw, cracking the marbled floor, and pinning him to the ground with ease.
After a futile struggle to free himself, Jake soon found himself choking for air before Aro called it.
"Enough, doubtlessly this new breed of shifter is no match for our champion," said Aro, quite pleased.
Felix released him and took his place back by Aro's side, giving his leader a respectful bow of thanks, though disappointed at the fight.
Jake shifted back, coughing up a storm, "Ple, 'cough', ease, 'cough'..."
Caius sneered, "Kill him."
Aro quickly interceded, "Ah, not yet, Caius, I still wish to see what else I can glean from him. Take him to the torture chambers. Oh, and do get him some new clothes."
Santiago and Demetri rushed over to put the werewolf bindings back on, dragging the naked fool away.
"I want everyone to be ready to leave at a moment's notice in the coming weeks, prepare the jets," ordered Aro.
"Everyone?" Questioned Caius, "I alone can go with guards and take care of this, there's no need to bother with everyone."
"It's high time for a show of force, and there's a chance we'll need to clean up a city or two along the way. I'll likely know more later, but everyone should prepare regardless," said Aro resolutely.