Cat and Mouse

Disclaimer for ALL Chapters to come : I do not own Twilight. It belongs to Stephanie Meyer and I gain no profit from it whatsoever.

Chapter Eight: Everybody Talks (This guy just took it too far and I got annoyed)

Every bone in his body told him that he was walking into a trap, but he didn't care. Bella was his job too, or so he'd told his mate. At first, Victoria had been jealous of the fact that her husband fretted over another woman more than he bothered with her, but as soon as she had been showed the whole story, she wanted to kill Edward as much as Jasper did, and had personally seen to it that they got to Forks as soon as they could… which ended up being the next day.

He seriously loved his wife…

He could tell by scent that Bella wasn't alone. Ari was with her, as well as the dirt bag he didn't bother naming. He sighed and climbed through the window to find said dirt bag hissing in Bella's ears with his arms wrapped around her shoulders as if they were true lovers. How fucking dare he!

"Your mother is probably rolling in her grave, Masen." He snorted.

The boy's arms unfastened themselves from her arms and he could see her visibly relax. So she still froze up at his touch…

"You know nothing of my mother!" The boy had whipped around to face him, and a barely-piercing glare met an arrogantly withering glower.

"I know that little boys weren't raised to hurt little girls when she was alive. I know for a fact that she taught you not to play with your food."

Bella started to object, but kept silent when she realized his plan.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Edward spat.

"But of course you do, my good sir! She's your singer. You can't even think about her without your mouth watering and shame coursing through your veins."

"Why shame?"

"I thought you were one of those vamps who played nice with the humans?" He smirked. "Wouldn't want your family to disapprove now would you?"

"You have no idea what it's like!" The younger vampire snarled. "I'm surrounded by seven sets of thoughts every single day! They're all so annoying! The two leaders are delusional, three of them are clueless but one thinks she sees all because she's a seer. I have to go along with it so no one else finds out what I do in my spare time."

"Which is?"

"Like you said, I like to play with my food… but this one's special. She's my imprint, so I can't kill her. I think it's kinda cute, the way she tries to resist."

"Sure, if you like that thing. I found my imprint long ago, and she chose to stay with me. There's really no point in chasing after her if she rejects you."

"She doesn't know what she wants!" Edward snarled. "She hangs around my older brother like some lost puppy! That should be me!"

James shrugged.

"What does that tell you?" He smirked.

Edward stared at the spot Bella had been before the James guy came. He had a point…

"Where did you take my girl?!" He demanded.

James shook his head with a soft chuckle.

"She has legs. She was probably tired of you blathering on about her being a toy. You kinda ruined it there, buddy. Good luck with tracking her down." With those last words, the red-eyed not-so vampire watched as the moody loner blundered off in search of his "mate." As soon as the whiny fool was out of sight, he did his best to cover up the stench that was left behind.

How the hell do you stand it?! That guy whines enough as it is! His emotions must be haywire! And they all know that he's banging the wife… no matter how much shit he says about her. Do they think you don't know?

It's hard; yes, he does; they are; I know; they do; in that order.

"What the fuck do you have to stay for then?" He wondered aloud as he joined his brother in arms.

"Believe it or not, we both owe our lives… to Carlisle if not Esme."

"Both. Esme heals with food and care and all that cool mushy stuff and Carlisle has a way with evading death."

"Literally…" They both shivered at the memory.

"What other reason do you have to stay? Carlisle would've done just fine watching Bella."

"Leah helps. My job is more to keep an eye on Edward to make sure he doesn't act up again. If he does it'll be 1923 all over again."

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall!" James smirked. Jasper snickered and rolled his eyes.

"So where's Bella?"

"With Carlisle and Esme."

"Being coddled."

"You should try it sometime. Esme knows the cure to nightmares."

"You still have those?"

"They haven't failed me yet." Jasper grumbled. "When do I get to meet this Laurent guy? And how's Vicky?"

"A few days and you can ask her yourself."

"Deal. Later, Bro." James nodded and took off, leaving Jasper to square his shoulders. He couldn't afford to look weak in front of the others.