Chapter 2

PPOV

I held Bella until she started to moan in her sleep, stirring in my arms. She was having a dream. I decided to pull her closer to me and whisper soothing words in her ear. It seemed to work and she quieted down. I reached down and pulled my phone out of my pocket.

I dialed the number and pressed the send button. I couldn't wait for morning; I had to know what happened between Bella and Edward. What would cause a vampire to leave their mate behind?

"Peter?" he answered, although it sounded like a question.

"Yes Jasper, it's me. How have you been?" I asked.

"Fine, how have you been?" he questioned.

"Well, let's see. Charlotte left me for Maria so I came to look for you, but all I found was a broken hearted human. Care to tell me what the fuck is going on?" I asked.

"Peter, you stay away from her," he snarled.

"Stay away from her? I'm not going to hurt her. I…" he cut me off.

"You feed from humans and if you hurt her…" now it was my time to cut him off.

"You'll what? I'm not going to hurt her. I have this overwhelming urge to protect her, but I have to know what happened. Tell me."

He sighed, "How much do you know?"

"All I know is that she was mated with Edward and he left. He told her some bullshit about being tired of pretending to be something he wasn't and that she wasn't good enough for him. So, what I want to know is what caused him to leave his mate?" I asked.

"Me," he said.

"You? How are you the cause of this?"

"I tried to attack her on her birthday. She cut her finger on the paper of one of her presents and I snapped. Emmett and Rosalie pulled me out of the house, but the damage was already done and Edward made up his mind the moment it happened." He spoke so quietly, I almost didn't hear him.

"What was his reason? That his brother tried to attack his mate?" I was pissed, no I was beyond pissed.

"Peter, it wasn't like that. He left her because she doesn't belong in our world."

"You don't believe that anymore than I do. I can hear it in your voice and if you were in front of me, I would see it in your eyes. She belongs in our world. It is her fate, her destiny." I said, matter-of-factly.

"You sense it? That she belongs? Edward isn't going to go back to her. Alice keeps looking, but she doesn't see them together ever again."

"Just because she isn't with Edward, doesn't mean anything. I'm going to stay here in Forks for a while. I promised her that I wouldn't leave and I meant it. Don't try to talk me out of it."

"Peter you don't know what you are getting yourself in to. She is very clumsy and she will end up bleeding in front of you."

"And I'll what? Attack? I have more control than that. Jasper, you know me. So quit acting like I'm here for a meal because I'm not. You are my brother and your support means a lot to me."

I was almost pleading with him to believe me. I heard him sigh on the other end before he finally spoke.

"Okay, I support you and your decision to stay. Take care of Bella. She means a lot to this family, even to me. Let me know how she is doing after a while, I'd really like to apologize to her in person. I should go now, but I'll be in touch soon. Bye, brother." He hung up before I had a chance to respond.

I would take care of Bella and I would somehow find a way to heal her broken heart. I just didn't know how I was going to do that, but I would find the way and find it soon.

Bella's eyes slowly opened and she tilted her head to look at me. How could one girl have so much sadness inside her? One beautiful, human girl. I tightened my arms around her and pulled her closer to me.

"Peter, you stayed?"

"I told you I would stay and I meant it. I won't leave you."

She pulled back and looked at me. I released her from my hold and she climbed out of the bed. I watched as she walked to her dresser and grabbed some clothes. She walked to the door without looking at me.

She opened the door and spoke softly, "I'm going shower, but I'll be back soon. Please don't leave."

"Bella," I ran to her side and pulled her against my chest. "I promise that I am never going to leave you. If you want me to leave, you are going to have to tell me, okay?"

She nodded and stood on her toes, placing a soft kiss on my cheek. She walked out the door and I immediately pressed my hand to the spot that her lips touched. She was so warm against my cold, hard skin.

I walked to her bed and made it the best way that I could. Once her bed looked suitable, I sat down and waited for her to come out. The thought of making her something to eat crossed my mind, but then I remembered that I didn't know how to cook.

I heard the shower come on and then I waited for what seemed like ages before the water was turned off. She finally came back into the room and even though she was clean, the sadness was still the most dominant thing that was seen.

What she was wearing, the color of her hair, how beautiful she was, none of that was noticed. Only the look of complete and utter heartbreak that was clear in her eyes. She was pale and she stared at me as if she could see into my soul.

I stood up and walked towards her, never taking my eyes off her. I opened my arms and she walked into them without any hesitation.

"I'll make everything better, Bella." It was a promise that I intended to keep.

"How?" she breathed.

"Let's go downstairs and get you some food and maybe we can talk," I suggested.

"Okay, but I'm not really hungry." We walked down the stairs and into the small kitchen.

I sat down at the table and she went to the cabinet and grabbed a glass. She walked to the refrigerator and opened it, pulling out a jug of orange juice. She filled the glass about half way.

She put the jug back in the refrigerator and made her way back to the table. She sat down in the chair next to me. She attempted to give me a smile, but it looked more like a grimace. I reached for the hand that wasn't holding the glass and gently squeezed.

She looked down at our hands and then back up at me. "So, tell me about yourself." She spoke so quietly that I nearly missed it.

"What would you like to know?" I asked.

"Everything, I mean, where do you live? What are you doing here in Forks?" she asked.

"Well, I was living in Texas with my wife, but the bitch left me for Maria. I came to Forks to visit with Jasper, but he's no longer here." I explained.

She gasped, "You know Jasper?"

"He's my creator and brother."

She nodded, but averted her eyes. I reached up with my hand and tilted her chin to look at me.

"I'm sorry. I know that you are hurting and I wish I could take all that pain away right this second, but I can't. I do, however, know that in time the pain will lessen."

"You know from personal experience." It wasn't a question that much was clear, but I decided to answer her nonetheless.

"Yes, my wife, well ex-wife since we are divorced broke my heart, but I got over it and you will too. I didn't have help to get over the heartbreak, but you have me, okay?" I asked.

"Okay. So who is Maria?" she asked.

I sighed, "Ah, Maria. How much do you know about Jasper's past?"

"I don't know anything about Jasper's past. He wouldn't tell me anything; apparently it wasn't his story to tell or something like that." She choked back a sob as she tried to talk to me.

I felt my heart breaking for this girl. I opened my arms and again she didn't hesitate. She stood up and slowly sat in my lap. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her as close to me as possible.

I breathed in her scent, she really did smell delicious, but not in the way that I wanted to drink from her. I began running my fingers through her hair and decided that I might as well tell her about my past now and get it over with.

So, that was exactly what I did. I told her everything about me. I told her about my change, about fighting the wars with Jasper by my side, about running away with Charlotte, marrying her, and then coming home one day to find that she left me for the bitch that we ran from all those years ago. Fucking ironic was what it was.

The day passed quickly with the two of us getting to know one another. I found out that Bella was living in Phoenix with her mom and step-father, but she decided to come and stay with her father because her mom wanted to go with her husband on the road.

I found out that she was clumsy and a great student. She told me that she loved to read and was very shy. I found out that her best friend was a human named Angela, but in the vampire world, her best friend was Alice.

When she spoke of Alice, a few silent tears fell down her cheeks. I wiped them away before I could stop myself from doing so. The first week of being in Forks went by much the same. We would talk, she would cry, and I would be there to comfort her.

The worse times for me, were when she was in school. I hated not being able to be next to her. Not being able to protect her, but I would never fit in with high school kids. So, instead I would sit in the woods right outside the school, watching and listening.

A few minutes before the bell would ring; I would climb in her truck and lay down as best as I could. The first day I did that, she screamed at the top of her lungs until she realized it was me. Then she shook her head and quickly started her truck, pulling off before anybody could question her.

Bella's father was so worried about her. He would ask her every day if she was okay and if she wanted to stay home. She would simply shake her head and avoid looking at him.

When I would ask her why she refused to look at her father, she said, 'because I can't handle the look of pity in his eyes.' The only thought that was running through my head after she said that was, I hope I don't look at her with pity because I don't pity her.

And I didn't. I never once pitied her. I wanted to fix her, I wanted to heal her. And for some reason, I wanted her to be mine. But, I knew she was not ready for a relationship, so that thought was pushed to the back of my mind.

I could see that Bella was beginning to trust me, but not nearly as much as I wanted her to. I wanted her to trust me with everything. I wanted her to know that I would never do anything to hurt her.

It was a Friday night and we were lying in her bed, which became a nightly ritual for us when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I grabbed my phone and flipped it open, not even bothering to see who was calling.

"Peter, how is Bella doing?"

"Not well, as can be expected." I answered.

"I wish there was something that I could do," he said.

I sighed, "I don't even know what to do, but I'm trying and that's all that really counts, right?"

"Right. So, I wanted to call and check on her, but I also wanted to tell you that I told the family that you were there with her."

I couldn't stop the small growl that escaped my lips, "And what? They don't want me around her?" I accused.

It was Jasper's turn to sigh, "No, you dumb fucker. They want you to keep her safe and to help her. Alice had a vision and it freaked her out. I told her that you wouldn't let anything happen…"

I cut him off, "What was the vision about?" I asked.

Bella looked up at me with silent tears streaming down her face. She knew, now who I was speaking with. I pulled her closer to me with the arm that was wrapped around her.

"Jasper, the vision?" he was quiet far too long for my liking.

"Okay, a few months back we had a run in with some nomads and one of them was a tracker, well he decided that he wanted Bella. Edward, read that in his mind and we came up with a plan to protect her." he paused for a moment and I tried to remain patient, but he was starting to irritate me.

"Just spit it the fuck out," I growled.

"Jesus, Peter. Are you with Bella right now?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Well, I'm sure that you growling and acting like a total ass isn't exactly helping her right now, so maybe you could chill the fuck out and listen." He spat.

"You're right, go on."

"Bella ended up with me and Alice, but James, the tracker contacted her and claimed to have her mother and well Bella decided that she was going to rescue her mom. Fortunately, he didn't have her mother, but he did manage to get to Bella and he injured her pretty badly."

I clenched my teeth together to keep from growling again. Bella rested her head on my shoulder and I had to remind myself that she was fine, she was here in my arms, safe and completely protected.

"We killed him, but he wasn't alone."

"What? How many were with him?" I asked and I knew he could hear the anger seeping in my voice.

"There were two. His mate and another male. The male left, not wanting to fight us. Carlisle told him about the Denali coven in Alaska and he was headed there."

"The mate?" I cut him off.

"She got away."

"So let me guess, the vision is of the mate?"

"Yes, Alice had a vision of the mate, Victoria coming to Forks."

"And she is coming to Forks for her?" I didn't want to know the answer to that question, but before I could stop him from answering me, he said the one word I dreaded to hear.

"Yes, apparently she wants revenge. Or at least that's the only thing that we can come up with, but we're not really sure."

"You know that is what that bitch is coming here for. You don't have to worry though; she will not get to Bella. I'll take care of the bitch when she gets here. I'll call you later."

I hung up without waiting for a reply. I was pissed. All this time that Bella and I have talked, she never told me about this. Why? I shoved my phone back in my pocket and looked down at the girl that I was putting my life on the line for.

"Bella, why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what, Peter?"

"About James."

"Oh. I didn't think I needed to tell you about him. I mean he killed him so…" she trailed off.

"Bella, look at me," she looked up at me. "His mate, the female, she's coming to Forks and Jasper thinks it is to seek revenge. I don't want you to worry though because I will do everything I can to protect you."

She shook her head, "Don't put yourself in danger for me, Peter," She raised her hand and rested her palm against my cheek. "I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt trying to protect me."

"You don't have to worry about that sugar. I'm a damn good fighter. Now, why don't you get some rest?"

"Good night, Peter."

"Good night, Bella." I inched closer and pressed my lips to her forehead. She sighed at the contact and I watched as her eyes closed. Within a few minutes her breathing evened out and she was asleep.

I held her in my arms all night. The whole time, though I was planning on how I would torture that fucking stupid ass vampire for bringing herself to Forks to take away my girl. My girl. I like the way that sounded. I would be ready for the day she came here, but she wouldn't be ready for me.