Chapter 6

Author's Note: Not as many reviews as I had hoped for in the last chapter... Ahh, well. This one is in Jasper's POV. Please, if you are taking the time to read my story, take an extra minute and let me know that you are. I don't care what you say in the review, it's just nice to know that people are reading it.

-----

- - - - - - - Jasper's POV - - - - - - -

Rough.

That's the only word I can use to describe myself when it comes to Maria. Everything about me gets rough. I don't laugh, I don't smile. There is no joy, no affection. It's simply raw need that drives me to her, a sense of my old life familiarity. And I am not gentle with her. But she seems to like that even more... It makes me feel ill to think of what I am doing with this vile woman when my wife is God-knows-where, risking everything for me. But with Maria I lack self-control. She has this way of making me feel like... she owns me.

I twist away from her, shifting off the bed in the run-down bungalow that Maria currently resides in. I feel her vivid red eyes following my every movement as I cross the room and slowly redress myself. The waves at lust that she is pushing on to me is getting annoying. I have enough trouble on my hands as is, I won't lost control again. This is a business visit. I will not taint myself with her again.

Suddenly, I feel small, slender arms wrap around my waist, a head resting against my back coming up between my shoulder blades. I freeze, my body etched in stone while her hand dips underneath my shirt. I grimace, gripping her hand then spinning to face her. I'm sure my fury is written on every inch of my face, and I slam her against the wall. My teeth are bared and close to her jugular, but she just grins at me. No doubt remembering last night when I did something very similar to this... But that was in passion, not in anger and hatred.

I hate her.

"Don't touch me again, Maria." I spit, shoving her as I step away. My eyes drift over to glance out the window at the sun rising. Great. I'm stuck here, with her all day in this place. I cross the room, closing the blinds in one swift movement. Her high-pitched laugh makes me turn and face her, a mocking smirk on her face.

"'Don't touch me'? That's hardly what you were saying not an hour ago."

"A lapse in judgment, nothing more." I stare at her, wishing she'd have had the decency to have put on a robe or something. But that was not Maria. She enjoyed the torment as much as the end results. It was all an ego boost to her, and she enjoyed flaunting that into my face.

"I've noticed that you are wearing your wedding band." she snickers, obviously reflecting on how that very hand with a simple golden band had caressed her last night. I feel ill at the mental images that come forth, at the thought of what Alice's face might look like when she discovers what I have done.

She has probably already seen it.

Oh, God.

"That's what I like about you, Major." Maria purrs, slinking closer to me. I back away uneasily, my back coming up against the wall. I don't want to hurt her, but so help me if she keeps coming closer... "The strong silent type. You probably take orders from your little wife, don't you? 'Jasper, honey, be a dear and fuck my brains out'." Again, she snickers and I growl in warning. No one talks about my Alice like that. "Oh? Does she prefer to play the male role? It wouldn't surprise me in the least if she did..." I lunge at her, backhanding her with all of my strength. She goes reeling, slamming straight through a wall and ends up in a pile on the ground in the kitchen.

I very slowly make my way to the kitchen, crouching to go through the wall where Maria had flown. All my instincts tell me to be on guard, and I am extremely wary. Maria is malicious when she wants to be, and I'm not sure if this is a trick or if she is just stunned. It would appear to be the latter, and I kneel down next to her, turning her slightly so that her face is up towards mine. Her eyes are closed. I stand smoothly, going back through the hole and gathering up the sheets on the bed. I return to her side, where she is beginning to come around, blinking a lot. I wrap the sheet around her and lift her up, carrying her back into the bedroom. I lay her on the bed then back away across the room.

About twenty minutes later, she slowly sits up and looks around. She appears slightly dazed but I force myself to not care. She deserved to be hit. Then again, I remembered the old saying about not hitting women, and I try to be a gentleman... But she brings out the absolute worst in me. Slowly, a grin forms on her face. A fucking grin! What is wrong with her?

"You hit me."

"That's really not something to smile about." I reply curtly. She laughs and tosses her hair over her shoulders and moves to her hands and knees. She crawls to the edge of the bed and I glare at her. The sheet is starting to bunch at her waist, my fists clench in pure unadulterated loathing. I loathe her, I loathe me...

"Sure it is. You are still you in there. The same man who stood at my side and helped me raise the strongest army that Texas had ever seen. You were always my favorite, Jasper Whitlock. I was so proud when your gifts made themselves known. I was so proud to be the one who turned you. You. The only one who was able to control and guide so many newborns, and it was so easy for you to detach yourself from them when it was time. What happened to you? Why did you let Peter and Charlotte go? Why did you leave me? We could have had so much here." Pain, disappointment and anger flicker at me from all angles. I try not to laugh.

"Because Peter was my friend. I would not harm him, and I couldn't harm her. You were getting irritated with me anyway. It would have come down to me having to kill you, or me leaving. I didn't want to destroy you, Maria, you were the first ally I ever had." And the first enemy, I add mentally. She seems unfazed by my talking about her demise so easily. "This life isn't the one for me."

"That is what you think. Look at how natural it was for you to fight me. Your accent is back almost as thick as the day you left." She chuckles and I frown. I hadn't noticed my accent returning. I thought it long-buried, but I was wrong... She stands, pulling the sheet up and around herself as she crosses the room to stand before me. Her small hand lifts and brushes against my cheek, I fight to keep from leaning into her hand. This is a very delicate situation. I cannot afford to misstep, even once more. "And your eyes are all wrong." Her voice is sad. It is strengthened by the emotion radiating off of her. "You always had the most beautiful red eyes that I had ever seen. Now they are gold. Drinking animal blood." Her laugh is bitter. "That is completely beneath you."

"I don't feel what the animals feel when I drain them. I feel what humans do. It's more tolerable for me to drink their blood."

"You never minded much here." She points out. "You drank from humans multiple times daily for almost a century."

"Alice showed me a new way of life. I trust her and I love her. She is more to me than anyone else ever was. She is my soul mate. She is my everything. If she asked it of me, I would try to completely stop drinking at all." She sneers, disbelief predominate now. I find myself shoved back, her hand resting over my still heart.

"You are a fool. A blind fool, and you will realize someday that she can't possibly love you. Look at yourself! Scar-ridden and a monster. You have struck me, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if you have hit her." I grimace at the thought. "It's in your nature. You were born to be a fighter, a warrior. I see the guilt in your eyes, Major Whitlock. How many times have you 'slipped' in your animal diet? How many times have you put her in danger? And where is she now? Do you even know?" Her nails rake down my chest, I try to keep control. "She is probably sharing a bed with someone as we speak. She's just using you, Jasper."

"That's not Alice." I finally say, pushing her away from me. I walk to the other side of the room and turn the television on, the volume on very low. The news is on, so I force myself to pay attention to it just to keep myself from attacking her again. I feel the bed shift as she sits down beside me, no doubt watching me instead of the news. Has she no concept of personal boundaries?

She doesn't touch me, though, and her emotions are harmless enough. Curiosity, determination, and a hint of regret. When she speaks, it's in a low voice. "Thank you for coming to help me, Jasper." She says. I frown at the sudden display of compassion. "I won't say anything else bad about your woman." I turn and stare at her, and she fights off a snorting laugh. "Well, for today anyway." I sneer at her. "She sent you here, so I am grateful. I'll need you to use your gifts to help me raise up an army the Volturi cannot take out. They are after me, and I won't live if they take my army out." My gaze is far away, thinking of the future... If there was an army that could take out the Volturi then there would be problems. Especially if it was under Maria's guidance.

"On one condition." I reply after a long pause. "I will help you, Maria. But my condition is that after this battle if we win, I will take the army apart. We cannot risk the chance of so many vampires being the stronghold of our kind. Newborn vampires, no less. So, I will help you take out the Volturi, but you must keep to your end of the bargain."

"You want me to give up the chance to be the ruling class?" She asks me, incredulous.

"Maria, we know how you would handle the 'ruling' part. This is the only way you will have my help. And my family's help. And our friend's help." Her eyes widen. She clearly thought I was on my own in this mission.

"How many other do you intend to bring into this?"

"The Volturi are slaughtering people for no reason now. Carlisle and I have been calling friends from all over the place, using all of the favors we can get. Obviously it will be me, Edward, Bella, Rosalie, Nessie, Jacob, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett... Maybe Alice." I frown, wishing I knew where my mate is. It doesn't go unnoticed by Maria, but I continue anyway. "Eleazar, Carmen, Tanya and Garrett will fight at our sides. The Volturi have taken their sister, and Garrett's mate, Kate. Peter and Charlotte are coming." Her eyebrows raise. "If we can get a hold of Zafrina, Senna, and Kachiri then they will be willing to come up here. They're an Amazon coven. They helped us with Nessie when the Volturi came for her. Carlisle will try Alistair again, but he didn't stay last time. I doubt he'd stay this time... Amun, Kebi, Benjamin and Tia will likely come to help. Benjamin would be a very good ally." I tell Maria, looking at her full on in the face, now. "We have to get him before the Volturi can find him. No doubt they want to possess him as much as we want him to help us."

"Why?"

"Benjamin has... Very strong gifts. He has elemental control of all four elements." Her jaw slackens and I smirks a little bit. "So if Alice comes to help us, then I think we have an extremely good chance."

"You have gained many friends since you left, Major." She says, still watching me in surprise. I laugh lightly, surprised that I could even laugh around her. She seems to feel the same way. Her eyes widen.

"Carlisle is a wonderful man. No one wants to be his enemy, not even the Volturi. But he will defend what he has to. And if the Volturi keep gaining power, they will force Edward and Bella to join them. They would force Alice to join them." I wince at the very idea of her being in their midst. "Maybe even Nessie and I. I don't know for sure. They're trying to be all-powerful. It must come to an end." Her olive-coloured hand grasps mine and squeezes. She grins at me, delight flying at me. Obviously, she hadn't expected to have so many allies. "We may even have some shape shifters-- mortals-- help us. They become wolves."

"Wolves?"

"Bella introduced us to many friends."

"When will they be here?"

"I'm not certain." I look at the clock, as if that could help me. "A few days? A few weeks? I will work on training your newborns, we'll adjust to our friends when they come in. I want to be ready in case Aro decides to attack early."

"This is almost too easy." She laughs. The sound is so coarse compared to Alice's bell-laugh. I grimace, trying to push the thought from my mind. No need to compare them like that.

"Don't ever think that. The Volturi are ruthless."

"So am I." Her teeth shine in the dim light when she grins at me.

I already knew she was ruthless.

My family is going to have to be careful here.

End Chapter 6