CHAPTER SEVEN

BATTLE PREPARATIONS

He was still for a while, trying to get a hold of himself and get control again. I waited patiently. He closed his eyes maybe four minutes later and started kissing me again. I sighed into his mouth, "I love you Jasper..."

When I woke up the next morning, I noticed feathers littering the bed. I softly groaned and sat up slowly. The sheet fell, leaving my chest bare. I looked around and saw that the bed frame was bent a lot. But not broken. I blushed as memories of last night came to the forefront of my mind.

But then I noticed that Jasper wasn't there.

I looked towards the balcony doors, then the bedroom door, "Jasper?"

In the blink of an eye, Jasper was standing in the balcony doorway. He gave me a soft apologetic smile, "Sorry darling, but after..." he trailed off, making me blush, "I had to go hunting."

I slowly nodded, "It's alright."

His face suddenly twisted into an agonized mask. His eyes fell on my arm. I looked and saw there was a hand shaped bruise forming. It was subtle though, I couldn't feel it. I looked back up at Jasper, "Don't worry about it, Jasper. Last night... was amazing."

"I hurt you..." Jasper whispered painfully.

I cupped his face in my hands, "Lots of people get rough in bed and come up worse for wear. This is nothing. Last night was the best of my life."

He sighed softly and slowly leaned forward to kiss my forehead, "I love you so much..."

Jasper looked beautiful when he took control on the field. He slipped into military mode as he spoke, "The two most important things to remember are, first, never let them get their arms around you. They'll crush you so fast your head will spin. Second, never go for the obvious kill. They'll be ready for that. And you'll lose."

It made me think of his past. It was one of the saddest things I had ever heard when he told me...

I traced Jasper's bite marks on his arms as I laid against his chest on the couch in his room. "How did you get these?"

Jasper's hand over my cheek stilled, "You don't want to know, Heather."

I rolled my body to face him more easily and looked down into his eyes, "I know I just found out about you... so I don't know much. I want to know about you. Please tell me."

He sighed, "These.. are battle scars. I fought in the Confederate Army. Never lost a fight. Even against newborns."

"You fought in the Civil War? Against vampires?" I asked.

"I was the youngest major in the Texas cavalry. All without having seen any real combat," He told me.

"So when did you get these?" I asked softly. "It has to do with the woman who turned you, doesn't it? Who was she?"

"I was riding back to Galveston after evacuating a column of women and children... when I saw her... Southern gentleman that I was, I immediately offered her aid. She turned me to add to all the others," Jasper's face showed the anguish in reliving those memories.

"You don't have to-" I started.

But he shook his head, "I was her second in command. Back then, armies were common in the South. There were constant battles for territory. Maria won ever battle. She was smart and careful. And she had me. My ability to control emotions served her well. I trained her newborns – an endless occupation since she never let them live beyond their first year..."

"She just killed them when they turned one year old?" I gasped.

But Jasper shook his head, "It was my job to dispose of them."

He looked away, trying to find the strength to keep telling me this story. "I could feel... everything they felt." I could see the guilt and despair in his eyes. It was overwhelming.

"I thought what Maria and I had was love. But I was just her puppet. She pulled the strings. I didn't know there was another way..."

"Until you found Alice," I whispered, still so insecure at the history between Alice and him.

He nodded, "Yes. But Heather," He cupped my head, "I don't want you worrying about me and Alice. She doesn't hold a candle to you. She is just my dear friend."

I looked away.

"I don't want my past to..."

I didn't let him finish. I leaned up and kiss him swiftly, pulling away a moment later, "You'll never be that again. You're my Jasper."

Bella called to tell me that she had a dream. It gave her the revelation that Victoria is the one behind it all but she's hiding behind some puppet, letting them decide so Alice can't see her plans. So Edward and Jasper devised a plan.

We all went to meet Jacob in the clearing. When we told him the plan, Jacob smirked at Jasper, "You're not fighting? What, you pull a muscle or something?"

"He's doing it to protect us," I told him, "We can't be left alone because at any moment some newborn or Victoria could slip past you and get to us. So shut up."

Bella tugged on his hand to quietly urge him not to be rude. He huffed, "Whatever. Just tell me the plan again."

Jasper spoke stiffly, "This field will give us an advantage in battle. We can lure the newborns with the girls' scent, but it needs to end here."

"Jasper, Bella and I will hang out at the campsite. But even if he carried me there, they'd pick up on the scent," I explained.

"Your smell, however, is revolting," Edward said.

Jacob glared – he was still insecure with Edward's presence in all this with his past with Bella – "Dude, you really don't want to start comparing stinks-"

"That's not what he meant," Bella interrupted.

"Your scent could mask ours, if you carry-" I was interrupted by Jacob.

"Done," Jacob scooped Bella into his arms and ran off into the woods.

It worked though. Jacob was going to carry Bella. Seth was going to carry me. But Edward was going to be guarding us. Jasper said that Edward was the most alert. He'd know if someone found us much faster than he could. I didn't believe him. But I couldn't ask Jasper to sit out of the fight. Tanya was camping with us too. Jasper would stay the night with me and tomorrow go join the fight.

I was so terrified for him. I couldn't lose him. Not again.

I was packing a bag in my room when Dad walked in asking, "So you, Bella and Alice are having a girl's night?"

I nodded as I zipped up my duffel bag, "We're spending a lot of time together before the Fall Term starts at UW. Alice had even mentioned a Senior Trip somewhere."

I don't know why I slipped that in there. I guess, if I was going to turn soon, I'd need some alibi to buy me time before I could possibly see my father again.

Dad looked surprised, "A trip?"

I nodded, "Yeah, probably somewhere lesser traveled. And exotic. Alice always goes over the top."

Dad sighed, "Honey, do I have to worry about you and Jasper...?"

I abruptly looked at him, "You know you gave me the talk already?"

"You were eight."

"I think it still works the same way," I told him as I hitched my bag on my shoulder.

"I just want you to be safe," He told me.

"I am," I said as I kissed his cheek, "Don't wait up."

When I got to the house, it was late and quiet. Jasper met me at the front door, "Are you coming in?"

I smiled and leaned up to kiss his lips, "We're alone."

He looked down, embarrassed, "Everyone's hunting before the fight."

"Was the other night..." I began, "...a one time thing?"

Jasper took a while to respond. I know how worried he was that he would lose control and hurt me. But what he said made my heart burst, "I hunted about five minutes ago."

So the next thing I knew we were on his bed, making out like real teenagers, and he was taking off my jeans. Our shirts laid discarded on the floor. He un-hooked my bra and slid it off slowly. I leaned up to lay kisses on his chest and he groaned.

Soon enough – actually, not so soon enough – we were naked and intertwined. I was panting like crazy but he was perfectly composed. Damn vampires don't need to breathe.

He was kissing down my neck when he whispered, "Ready?"

I moaned, "Yes!"

He slipped into me, both of us moaning at the feelings.

Bella was cutting her finger and spreading blood on the trees she already practically humped to get her scent on them. I just brushed against them.

Edward smirked from behind her, "You're going overboard."

"If this is all I can contribute, I want to be thorough," She rebutted.

"The newborns will be frantic," Tanya smirked.

I handed Bella a band-aid just as Jacob entered. Bella and his eyes immediately locked and they smiled at each other, going to each other like magnets.

"Alice said there's a storm coming," Tanya told us.

"I can feel it," Jacob said, "We should get going. Seth!"

"We'll take the longer route. But we'll get there first. Set up camp."

Jacob nodded and scooped Bella into his arms. Jasper wrapped an arm around me when Seth tried to touch me. I gently kissed his cheek, "It's okay. I'll meet you up there."

I jumped onto Seth's back and he ran off after Jacob's lead.

Snow fell like it was going out of style. It was night time. Jasper joined us in the tent after he hunted. We were huddled in the tent. Jacob and Bella slept soundly in the cold, his werewolf heat shielding her from the cold. Edward had Tanya in his arms in the opposite corner.

Seth had me wrapped in his body to shield me from the cold. He held me right beside Jasper. Jasper would lean down every now and then to lay a kiss on my forehead or cheek or something. Never my lips. He didn't want to wake me. But he didn't know I couldn't sleep.

"Jasper... What were you thinking?" Edward asked quietly.

"He was thinking that he loves her," Tanya rebutted him.

"But he could have killed her," Edward argued.

"But I didn't," Jasper snapped. I felt his ice cold finger caressing my cheek lovingly. "Both times, I didn't. She helped me control myself."

"I still don't understand how you could have taken the risk," Edward said.

"I love her," Jasper whispered, "More than anything in this world."

"See?" Tanya asked, "He loves her. She loves him. They'll get married. She'll become one of us. And then this would have been a stupid conversation anyway."

"I guess you're right..." Edward sighed.

I felt Jasper's lips on my forehead.

I wouldn't let go of Jasper in the morning. It was still cold but not nearly as cold as it was last night. Seth was a wolf and Jacob went to talk to Sam. Edward and Tanya were quietly talking a ways away and Bella was still asleep in the tent.

"I don't like this," I told Jasper.

He lifted my chin with his finger, "I don't either. But I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Even if it means I have to die-"

"Don't you dare talk like that!" I interrupted, "I don't want to hear anything about you dying ever again. It's bad enough that you're gonna be out there risking your life..."

Jasper cupped my face slowly, "We have the numbers and the skill. We can't lose. Everything will be alright."

Bella came out of the tent quietly, temporarily stopping our conversation. She noticed the sandy wolf on it's haunches and smiled, "Seth. Hi."

Seth panted a little in hello.

Bella looked around, "Where's Jacob? Did he already-"

"Not yet," Jasper stopped her.

Edward and Tanya came over, "He's making sure the woods are clear before he goes."

Jacob entered the camp site just then and smirked at Bella, "Miss me?"

She did...

"It's time to go..." Jasper reluctantly let go of me.

I started to cry a little. I really didn't want this to happen. I wished I had the gal to ask him to stay with me up here. But I couldn't do that.

"No..." My voice shook on the word. Jasper looked agonized as he cupped my face again and smashed his lips to mine. I met him with passion and fervor. I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my toes to get as close as I could, pushing my body against his. But all too soon he had to pull away.

But he whispered, "I love you, Heather."

I sniffed, "I love you too..." My voice was slightly high-pitched with emotion.

The next moment he was gone. Off to fight in a war. With newborns.

Dun dun dun. The last chapter before the big battle. Hope you liked those romantic parts!

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RegalGirl94