I hate November! Not only does it get cold and wet, but as always I manage to catch each and every virus going around. Having just about finished with the mother of all head colds plus a nice bout of sinusitis thrown in for the fun of it, I finally managed to get on paper what had been in my head for the last three weeks. Have I mentioned how much I hate this time of year?

Twilight belongs to SM

Ah – before I forget: I found a story on ff recently, a continuation of Nusain Forks's Golden Moon (one of my all-time favorites), and now I've lost it again. Can anyone help me out there? Please PM. Thank you

10

J POV

Oh ,boy, the people who like you most are also the ones who will hit hardest.

We had not gone far, just out of earshot when Peter laid into me. He stopped the truck and told me to get out in such clipped words that I knew he was as angry as I had ever seen him. I stood there, flabbergasted, as I had been the one who had wanted to take him to task for spiriting me away from Bella with his hissed warning about danger outside when clearly he just wanted to get out shopping – I had seen the list on the little notepad on the dashboard – Usually I just about manage to call him to order, but this time I did not get a word in edgewise:

"Don't you dare hurt li'l Bella! She's real nice and Char loves her, an' that's apart from me likin' her like a little sister."

"I would never…" No one in their right mind would hurt Bella – I would make sure of that!

"You get drunk, you big idiot, and drunks don't know what they're doin' or what they're capable of. You were about to claim her in our livin' room, and now that you're half ways sober, can you honestly tell me: would you not have torn her apart?"

The reality of what he was saying hit me like a ton of bricks. It also sobered me up in a matter of seconds. "How did you know?" I asked in a small voice.

"I have eyes in my head, besides, if you had really been yourself, you would have noticed she was gettin' uncomfortable with your single-mindedness. Call yourself an empath – huh!" He looked angry, and Peter that angry is quite a sight.

"She's a shield…" I tried, but he only scoffed. "The state you're in you are a danger. We better get you in shape soon."

"I thought you were all for me and Bella being mates", I said stubbornly and against my better judgment.

"Man, I'm over the moon you've found her, but seriously: she was with someone else until recently, she's human, you kidnapped her and dragged her around the country with a bunch of mean vampires, her boyfriend tried to kill her… Do you really think what she needs now is a horny, starved, out-of-control vampire in her bed, no matter how much she is attracted to you?" He interrupted himself. "She needs a bed… and bedding, we better get that while we're in town." He took a pencil from the dashboard and added another item to the list before placing the pencil behind his ear. "What?" He asked when I grinned.

"Cool decoration", I commented.

"Force of habit. I'll build you a bed, but you make sure she does not run from you in terror before I'm finished!"

I shook my head. "I don't know what I would do without you and Char."

"I do. Scary things. Now man up and help my run these errands or the girls will be pissed with us."

We drove to the next small town and stocked up on food and other necessities Peter insisted Bella would need in a huge store where it seemed you could buy everything.

"How come you know so much about current human needs all of a sudden? You're not that much younger than I am", I asked him puzzling about what some of those items could possibly be used for.

"I watch TV; you get some idea of what they need from there." Peter's tone made it clear that he did not exactly want to elaborate. I blinked at the feeling of embarrassment coming from my friend. Hmm, something was going on there, but I was sure I would find out some way or another.

So far we had been playing the usual vampire camouflage game – moving at human speed, not carrying too much weight at once – but when we were at the parking lot, loading up the truck with groceries and whatnot, suddenly an alarmed expression came to Peter's face. He unceremoniously lifted the shopping cart and tipped it into the car gesturing for me to get in.

I know better than to contradict my old friend when he gets like that, besides, I could sense panic from him, the kind he only feels when Charlotte is in danger. If she was, so was my Bella. We drove off without regard for any of the regulations for traffic, and though the truck might have looked nothing like it, you can trust Peter to get the best, especially if it's for moving.

We caught up with a silvery car on the lane leading to the house. Peter grabbed a shotgun from the backseat and handed it to me. "Aim for the tires!"

As if I needed to be told. I took out the tires on one side to make the car swerve into the ditch on the first attempt – shooting from a moving point has never been a problem, and compared to a horse, the truck was standing still.

We passed the wreck at high speed, but I was under no illusion that an accident like that would slow down a determined vampire and got out of the moving car to run ahead of whoever could pose a threat to the women while Peter put pedal to metal behind me, blocking the other vampire's way.

I managed to get to the house just before our opponent and took up my place in front of my mate. Charlotte had already been protecting her, but there was no way I would leave that to someone else.

B POV

When we heard shots in the distance I was close to fainting before I remembered that that could not hurt any of my new friends. As soon as I regained my balance though I noticed that I was alone with my calm. Charlotte was still as tense as she had been once we had heard the sound of the approaching cars.

A rush of relief came over me when Jasper rushed to me – at least he had not been hurt, but it faded as quickly as it had come when he got in front of me in a crouch and gave off one of his terrifying growls.

Three yards from him Edward had come to a screeching halt from running, I realized, and was facing him in a similar position. A split second later Peter was next to Jasper, ready to fight as well. The aggression in the crisp Texas air was so thick; you could have cut it with a knife. Was I about to witness yet another vampire fight? I was pretty sure Edward would not have a chance against the Texans, but the thought of Carlisle and Esme losing their son made me sad and frightened at the same time. No matter how much Edward had hurt me, the people who had taken me in like a second family did not deserve that. How I could do anything to prevent that however was beyond me.

"Stand down!" Jasper commanded quietly but got no reaction from his friends.

"Captain, I said: Stand down!" Now there was no mistaking the military commando voice and Peter as well as Charlotte straightened grudgingly.

There was no such reaction from Edward though.

"What do you want, Major?" Peter asked – none of the usual flippancy in his tone.

"Stand by; I'll call when I need you."

Peter and Charlotte nodded and walked away toward the truck, I suppose, but also, I realized, blocking Edward's exit. Charlotte hissed at my former boyfriend when she passed him, which actually made him cringe. I could tell Peter was chuckling about that from behind.

Jasper wasn't. "What do you want?" He asked in a cold voice.

"I need to talk to Bella alone", Edward answered smoothly, as if the recent standoff with three vampires against him was nothing to talk about.

Jasper shook his head curtly. "No!"

Edward gave a light smile. "Bella, what do you want?"

I took a deep breath and was about to agree that breaking off with one's boyfriend was probably best done one on one, when Jasper turned to me and coldly said "No!" again.

"What…?" I started but was interrupted by Edward: "He's got you in his clutches, he's not letting you go."

I frowned and shrugged my shoulders, so he explained. "He's just regretting he did not 'mark' you earlier when he had the opportunity", he mimicked his inverted commas and when I was still unclear, he added: "He's a wild beast, Bella, there's nothing human about him. He only wants you for himself. Did you hear the sound that feral female made at me just now?" All righteous indignation.

I felt more aggression coming from Jasper and we could all hear a deep growl from a distance. "Jasper", I said as calm as I could in an effort to defuse the situation, "Could you give us a minute here?"

"No!" The same cold voice without turning to face me.

I was confused. He was not that insensitive – unless… but no, he did not look drunk. I tried again: "But why?"

This time I got him to turn. "It makes no sense: if I just move away, I'll still be able to hear what you talk about, and if I move out of earshot, I would leave you in danger. Don't ask me to do that, darlin'!" The last words came out a pleading whisper.

"I see", I said slowly.

Edward snorted. "Lies! Look at him, Bella! That is not a creature to keep you safe!"

I swallowed. I knew what he was referring to: with his eyes completely dark and his lips curled back from his venom-dripping teeth in a snarl, Jasper was looking as dangerous as can be imagined.

"Bella, I said I was a predator, but so is he", the cold voice again.

"Surely you can tell the difference between me and… him", Edward's silken well-educated voice, "You know me, you know how we live."

Before I could say anything Jasper cut in: "The difference is that of the two of us, you're the one who tried to kill her once before and who wants her blood." I could see the tendons and muscles move in Jasper's tense back in anticipation of a fight, and this time he did not turn when he addressed me in a carefully calm voice. "Bella, let me stay, I literally can't leave you alone with him. If you agree, I'll step aside."

"Ok", I said slowly, frowning at Edward. What could he want? He had already said I was no good for him, hadn't he?

J POV

Damn that calculating schemer! He had brought out the monster in me and now he was starting to use it against me on Bella! I should simply burn him and be done with it.

"He wants to get me out of his way by killing me", Edward promptly informed her, and suddenly I felt fear from Bella. No, I can't have her fear me, please, the only creature I would never harm… this can't be happening.

A smug smile spread across his features and I realized that to win this I had to remain calm and put my trust in Bella's fondness for me. I reigned in my panic, straightened and took a few steps away from them.

"How are you?" Edward asked in a concerned voice as soon as I was no longer in his way. "Esme was beside herself with worry when they arrived and you had gone."

"They came?" Surprise, thankfulness and love came from Bella. She really liked these people. And I was tearing her away from them…

"The whole family rushed there shortly after you had left. They were right behind me, only I was faster."

I felt Bella's regret and sadness. Damn, she should never feel sad to be with me. I hissed under my breath.

Bella looked at me kindly. "Jasper, they were like family to me, I… miss them." Then she turned back to Edward. "Maybe they can come to visit someti…"

She could not finish her sentence because at that moment he exploded with fury. "Are you telling me you're staying with this monster? He stole you from your father's house, Bella, he is complicit in faking your death!" The fury was there in the tone, but strangely enough, I noticed that there were other, stronger feelings underneath: jealousy, hatred and not a little bloodlust as well as lust for her. I fought down my urge to tear him to pieces at that.

In the meantime I had heard my darlin's voice quietly telling Edward that yes, she intended to stay with me. "I can't go back to Forks, you know that, and being with your family after splitting up with you does not seem right…"

"Why would you split up with me?" Faked surprise.

Bella frowned at him. "You broke up with me, shortly before you tried to kill me." She took a deep breath to gain enough self-confidence to continue. "Edward, from the way you were… I don't think we are meant to be together… you could not have tried to murder me if you really loved me. And… I think I have feelings for Jasper…"

Edward's mask slipped for a split second, so fast that humans could not have seen it, but I could tell that now his gloves really would come off. "So you decide to take up with … this creature?" Pointing at me.

Bella squared her small shoulders and nodded, quite brave in the face of his aggressive tone which in itself made want me lash out at the bastard, but again I reigned in my instincts.

"Bella, the Volturi are after him, they'll want him back. Are you ready to just give yourself up to them when they come here?"

"They're also after all of you, and it seems they want me as well; I'm not sure that it makes a whole lot of difference where I stay in that regard, so I'd rather be here." I could tell, the whole situation was not light on my angel and hated the man who put her through that, but it turned out that we had not yet reached the end of his plan.

"Love, do you have any idea at all who this is?" he asked her in mock indignation.

Bella frowned. "You told me, Felix talked about Jasper when you and Alice arrived."

Edward snorted. "I know, but all that is not half the truth. When I told Carlisle you had been taken by… him, he knew at once who we were talking about. He was horrified. I could read his mind about this monster."

"Stop calling Jasper a monster!"

"He ripped off my arms. He stole you from home and destroyed your human future. He was a terror even to our kind these last decades…"

She waved him off. "He was their slave. You saw how they treated him; they starved him and tortured him…" She shook herself and I could feel her pain at the memory of the scene with Jane and me. "You even let them be that cruel to him. You don't know him at all."

A felt a burst of smug satisfaction from Edward for a millisecond, which I could not explain at first, then: "Bella, he did not earn his reputation from his time with the Volturi. He knew how to deal with being tortured, he knows both sides of that story. He was known for his callous cruelty way before that. Has he told you anything about his past?"

It hit me with a vengeance what Edward was planning on doing, and like the proverbial rabbit in front of the snake, there was nothing I could do about it.

When he launched into his tale of my past with Maria's army, I could not stop myself from remembering that time, which in turn gave him all the material he needed for his venomous plan. He told Bella what a newborn army was, what my role had been and how I had filled it. He recounted the cities and villages we had wiped out in the wars, how I had behaved during our raids, when I had completely given in to the bloodthirsty monster inside me in order not to feel. All my sins came out, he left nothing to the imagination, not my culling of the newborns, not the slaughter, the torture, the way Maria rewarded my services with a free choice of females…

That ingenious boy had devised a torture much more exquisite than anything Jane could have done to me. As I watched Bella grow paler and paler in disbelief and horror with the tales of blood and gore unfolded for her, unable to disclaim any of it as untrue, I closed my eyes in shame and only heard her stubborn little voice once he stopped talking from afar: "But… all that is in the past… he has changed."

"Changed?"

"He left that place. He started feeding from animals, like you do. We're staying here, with friends…" More confident now, but choked with tears she was probably too proud to shed in front of him.

"Wake up, Bella", Edward's voice had become sarcastic. "Those 'friends' are some of his old comrades in arms." He was triumphant now, about to play his ace.

Bella's eyes had widened even more and she gave a small hiccup-y yelp at that, which almost broke my undead heart.

Edward continued undeterred: "He's already gathering his own little army to fight the Volturi. He's figured out you are a shield and wants to use you. Come back with me, this is your last chance!" He took a step closer toward her holding out his hand…

…and that's when I snapped.

I pounced, to stop him from dragging away my mate at the same time he took another step. I don't know who made contact, but Bella was pushed with vampire strength and before we even collided, we both stopped short when the sweet scent of her blood permeated the air around us.

I felt Edward's bloodlust spike to a level I had not even encountered in newborns and reacted purely from instinct, throwing him off as hard as I could. Then I turned to Bella and froze: she was lying on the ground absolutely still. Blood was trickling out of a small wound on her temple, and while I could see no other injuries, it was clear that she was unconscious after being in the middle of two fighting vampires.

My pain at seeing her like this, my regret at having been the cause of it almost drove me out of my mind. I must have collapsed near her, for my next conscious memory is of Charlotte and Peter near me briefly before choking and running to get away from the scent of blood. I could not see Edward anywhere either, but what good was that when Bella was injured?

Phew – the longest on so far! Have fun!