Chapter 2
Alice and Jasper ran through the woods to the Swan residence. When they arrived, Alice was quick to climb up the tree next to Bella's room and peaked in, knowing that her mate would be there. She looked in the window and saw Bella and her mate lying next to each other on the bed. She invited Jasper to come up but before he could make it up the tree she turned around and saw her mate's flaming green eyes. She gasped, lost her balance and fell out of the tree. Jasper just barely managed to catch her.
"He saw me," Alice whispered, and then really panicked, "He saw me!"
Jasper was quick to reassure her, "It's alright. He'll understand why once we explain ourselves to him."
In the meantime, Harry had shot out of bed and carefully looked out the window. Bella looked at Harry confused as to why he got out of bed so abruptly. She asked him why.
"Someone was peeking through the window," Harry informed her, looking down hoping that he wasn't seen as well.
Bella gasped and scrambled over to the window. Once she saw just who it was she ran out of her room and to the front door. Harry cursed and ran after her, pulling his socks off as he ran. He did not need to slide all over the place when rescuing his trouble-magnet sister.
"Bella!" he shouted, "Where are you going? Come back! You do not run towards creepy peeping toms!"
Bella shrugged off her brother's warnings, threw open the front door and ran towards Alice. As soon as she was close enough she jumped on the pixie vamp, forcing her to catch the flying human. Alice had never looked so surprised wondering just what prompted Bella's behavior. She frowned, Edward would come in pretty handy right about now, she thought, Well he would if he could actually read Bella's mind. She grinned at her last thought.
"Bella?" she asked, rubbing her best friend's back, "Are you okay?"
Bella just tightened her grip on Alice. If Alice were human, she most likely would have been unable to breathe. She could smell freesia all around her, although it seemed almost dead. She swallowed her venom down, because despite the difference in Bella's scent she still smelled good enough to eat. Alice looked at Jasper to see how he was doing with Bella's scent but found that he was more concerned with whatever he was staring at. She finally spotted the elusive brunet, much to her surprise, glaring at them.
"Bella come here right now!" he ordered.
Bella shook her head and whimpered. She did not want to let Alice leave her again and if she had to stay in her arms forever then so be it.
"They're dangerous Bella!" Harry growled making Jasper and Alice look at him with wide eyes.
Bella turned her head slightly towards Harry, "No they're not," she said quietly.
Harry frowned, "You know what they are don't you?" he asked.
Bella blinked and nodded, "How do you?" she asked.
Jasper and Alice remained quiet, wanting to know that information as well. They had hoped to be the ones to introduce him to vampires. If he already knew about them, then they feared that they'd have to get past whatever he knew and convince him that he was wrong.
"That's not important," he waved off, "The real question is, why do you think they're not dangerous."
"Alice is my best friend," Bella told him.
Harry blinked, "Wait, that's Alice?" he asked, "But then… you're in love with a vampire."
Bella blushed, and buried her head in the crook of Alice's neck once more.
"We would never hurt Bella," Alice exclaimed, "Edward," Alice felt Bella tense, "really loves her and would do anything for her. He only left her because he wanted her to live a human life."
Bella snorted, "Did he tell you that?" she asked bitterly, getting down from Alice suddenly not wanting to be near her or Jasper. She walked over to Harry and buried herself into his side.
"It's the truth Bella," Alice said quietly, "Ed…He isn't doing well at all. He's been away from the family trying to hunt down Victoria."
Bella sneered which startled her best friend. She had never seen such an expression on Bella's face. Alice bit her lip, Oh Bella, what did Edward do to you?
"He didn't leave me to protect me," Bella exclaimed angrily, "He left because I was no longer interesting, I wasn't a good enough distraction for him."
Harry pulled Bella to his chest and hugged her tight. She buried her head in his chest and Harry felt her tears permeate his shirt. He glared at Alice, not liking how she upset his sister. He had got a smile out of her and felt that he could have helped her with time. The arrival of Alice and Jasper just stopped her healing in its tracks. He felt a foreign emotion invade his mind, and automatically resisted its effects. Bella on the other hand seemed to calm down.
"What was that?" he demanded.
Jasper spoke up, "I apologize, but I wanted to help Bella calm down."
"Who are you?"
"Jasper Lee Whitlock," Jasper said.
Harry frowned, "And what exactly did you do? I felt it too."
"It's rather difficult for me to direct calm to one person if they're standing so close."
"You're an empath," Harry correctly deduced.
"Yes," he said, "And Alice can see the future."
Harry nodded but before he could comment once more, he felt Bella's weight slump in his arms. He looked at her and saw that she fell asleep. Careful not to jostle her, he bent down slightly and lifted her up in his arms. Alice and Jasper looked like they wanted to take the burden from him but he seemed rather content.
"Wait here," Harry ordered, "I'm going to take my sister inside so we can talk. While I'm in there would you like some refreshments, maybe a chair?"
"We can go inside," Alice said, "It'll be more comfortable and we'll have less of an audience."
Harry snorted, "Like I'm going to let you inside the house," he said, "But if you want privacy then come to the backyard. I'll be right back."
Harry was gorgeous. Their mate had sable hair that looked as if he was just freshly fucked, and his jade eyes were shining with strength, love, and a hint of submissiveness but still determined, making Alice and Jasper almost moan. He was about 5'7, about a head taller than Alice and a head shorter than Jasper, the perfect middle ground. His body was lithe and strong, his thighs looked strong as if he was used to gripping something with them, and his face was the perfect mix of masculinity, and femininity. He had a 5 o'clock shadow. The Whitlocks had never seen anything so sexy.
"Who are you? How do you know my sister? What do you want?" Harry demanded once he returned.
Alice sighed and remembering how Bella had to lean on Harry for strength. Bella looked horribly gaunt and depressed. Edward had nothing on the girl he loved. In fact, he acted rather healthily compared to her. That didn't mean she loved him more or that he loved her less, but that he knew how to cope better. Jasper felt horrible. This was his fault. He only hoped his new mate would forgive him for almost attacking Bella.
"We're friends of Bella's, really! We never wanted to leave her behind and now thanks to you, we're back and won't ever leave again unless you ask." Alice explained, looking into Harry's emerald orbs.
"Why me? Why now? Why not months before," Harry asked.
"I…you…" Alice fumbled, and then just blurted out, "Edward made us promise not to come to see Bella. He used guilt to trick us into promising but we still promised. He went on and on about how we weren't safe. He even used Jasper against me. Edward is literally crazy in love with her."
"You mean to tell me that the bastard not only abandoned my sister in the forest after breaking her into bits and pieces but preaches her safety. What a hypocrite! Not only that, but he takes away her only sense of stable family! I'll rip him apart and burn the pieces. And you! Why did you allow this to happen to begin with? Bella always told me how close you were, like sisters! How could you allow a crazy man to dictate your every move?" Harry demanded, "And why did you break your promise?"
"I…we…" Alice was at a loss for words. Even her vampire brain could not keep up.
Jasper took over, "You see, Harry, we have a very strong sense of family, and when Carlisle says something, it gets done. The fact that Edward was Carlisle's first adopted child, well, it only makes Edward's opinion worth so much more to him. When Edward says that we have to leave to protect Bella, between Carlisle's orders and my guilt, we all listened and left." That was the most he spoke in the presence of humans.
"That doesn't explain why you broke your promise."
Alice sighed, "We're vampires," she said.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Harry demanded, "He broke her heart not her neck!"
"Jasper and I, hell our entire family is composed of vampires, and that is why Edward felt it was unsafe to be around Bella. Any moment we could have snapped and drunk her dry. He loved her too much to condemn her."
He frowned but allowed Alice to explain everything about the Cullens in brevity and everything that had happened since they met Bella in full. Harry was in awe at his sister's bravery, and proud of the vampire's restraint. He felt that having Bella around full time was like waving a juicy steak in front of Wilson after starving him for decades. It took real compassion for humans, and self-discipline to resist. He completely understood what had happened and forgave Jasper for Bella's birthday on his sister's behalf. Bella took a risk, fully understanding the consequences, and as an adult it was her choice, like it was a zookeeper's choice to work with lions or elephants, knowing they could go on a rampage.
"You do realize that Boo's birthday was not your fault, right Jasper?" Harry asked, "Despite what Edward (he spat out his name like a curse) said, Bella knew the risk of entertaining a house full of vampires, adding her clumsiness, it was only a matter of who, what, when, where, and if she would survive.
"I love Bella with all my heart. She's my little sister. But she also has her own life, and makes her own decisions. It's in your nature to drink human blood, and I'm surprised that you lasted that long."
"If he comes back, because no man is able to resist his love for long, and Bella decides that she want him back, I hope Bella holds out on him, and makes him sweat! He had no right to treat my sister like a doll; it's unhealthy that he holds so much power. She will make him realize that despite the fact he has 90 years on her, that she is an adult, and capable of deciding what is right and wrong for her.
"That still doesn't explain why you're here."
Alice took a deep breath, "Well, the truth is… we'rehereforHarry, ."
"Could you repeat that so the human could understand?" Harry asked wryly.
"We're here because of you, and Bella being here is a very convenient coincidence. So if Edward asks, we did not break our promise to him. We just took advantage of the situation." Alice looked at Harry shyly.
Harry was mad, "So let me get this straight. You came here for me, and not my suffering broken sister?"
"When you say it like that it sounds so bad," Alice whined.
"Why are you here for me? Did you have a vision of some sort? Am I going to be hurt?" he asked trying to understand, "Am I a risk to vampires everywhere?"
"It's nothing like that! It's just that…I…" Alice didn't know what to say so Jasper took over.
"What she's trying to say is that you're our mate."
Harry stared at Jasper, stunned by what he just said. It was not every day that he was told that he was someone's mate, let alone to a pair of vampires. He knew all about vampires, probably more than Bella did, and knew that if a vampire said that you were theirs they would move the heavens to make their mate happy. Harry was therefore understandably stunned by their announcement. He glanced at the two from the corner of his eyes and mentally shrugged, At least they were hot!
"Is Bella Edward's mate?" Harry demanded, "Is that why he could leave her?"
Alice immediately shook her head, "He's definitely Bella's mate. Normally when a vampire finds their mate they wouldn't be able to leave them unless they mated, but Edward has freakish control. He is too disciplined for his own good." She explained, "He somehow got it into his thick skull that leaving her was for the best."
Jasper shook his head in disgust and looked at his two mates with determination, "I would never leave Ali or you."
Alice beamed at Jasper and Harry couldn't help but feel giddy. With the first proclamation, Harry felt their bond flare into life. Sure knowledge about being mates made the bond loosely form, but once a person declared their intentions the bond grew stronger. It would solidify only after they mated.
Suddenly they heard a car pull up and spotted Portia stumbling out of the taxi, nursing a hangover.
"Is she your friend, Ry?" Alice asked, gesturing towards Portia.
Harry grinned at the sight of Portia trying to find the right key, "We've been close since I first started school. Portia is my best friend and I couldn't imagine my life without her." Harry explained.
"Now if you excuse me, I have to make sure she doesn't hurt herself and sobers up. I'll call you when I absorb everything you just told me. Maybe I can convince Bella about her mate's stupid noble intentions."
Alice and Jasper both nodded and watched as Harry jogged inside to help Portia.
"He's amazing, isn't he?" Alice asked, stars in her eyes.
"I can't believe that he's all ours." Jasper admitted. He still felt undeserving of good things.
Alice kissed Jasper's cheek, "He was made with us in mind, Jasp. We complete him as much as he completes us." She said, "I feel sorry for Edward though,"
Jasper snickered knowing exactly what his female mate meant. "He'll regret leaving Bella even more once he meets her overprotective big brother. I can't say he doesn't deserve it."
Alice scoffed, "I'm about ready to dish out some hurt myself. Did you see Bella and how horrible she's doing?" Alice asked.
Jasper nodded, "Edward is going to suffer before he is allowed to even look at her, let alone speak to her. I doubt Harry will ever let Edward hurt her again."
"Our mate is a firecracker, alright." Alice said before she suddenly went into a vision. When she came back to reality she couldn't help but laugh.
"What?" Jasper asked.
"We aren't going to have to wait long to see the fireworks between Harry and Edward. It turns out our brother found out about us in Forks and will be coming here in order to force us home. Harry won't exactly like that plan and somehow will get Edward hanging from a tree." Alice couldn't help but laugh.
Harry carefully helped Portia to the couch and made her a cup of coffee. He was about to hand it to her but saw that she had fallen asleep, so all Harry really had to do was make her comfortable and cover her up. He kept the coffee for himself. He walked over to the window and leaned against it, thinking about everything he just learned. He had heard of vampire mates but never in a million years thought that he was one of them. Harry considered what it meant for him. On the one hand he could become a vampire and live with them fully. He loved that idea because for some reason being a vampire appealed to him. The only things that stopped him from seriously considering it were his family and friends, especially Bella and Portia