Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.

Attempting to Covet

A/N: If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note at the bottom of the chapter. – Bella'Xo

Chapter 11
(Jasper's POV)

I could feel the difference in Bella's emotional climate since she had finished speaking to Rosalie through video chat this morning. There was a lighter, warmer feeling that would resemble the way one feels after a tender moment with a family member.

When I had asked her about it, she had only smiled and said that she had gained a better understanding, as well as a new sister. I didn't press for more after that, knowing that it was all I was going to get and that everything was now okay between her and Rosalie.

I sat with Bella on the floor of the living room, helping her practice using her strength. She had exceptional control for a newborn, sure, but there were still problems when it came to using her newborn strength.

"Ugh! Not again!" Bella complained, frustration beginning to etch through her light heartedness as she tore another magazine page.

"It's okay, Darlin'. You'll get it." I tried to soothe her, only for her to try the next one.

We decided to start with the more delicate things, since those would be the hardest to learn how to handle. Since Bella was an avid reader, like myself, she wanted to learn how to handle a book so that she could read one without tearing the pages every time she went to flip the page. We had discovered this problem the other night when we were reading together after returning from the city when she tried to handle the book. After tearing three pages, she handed the book to me and decided that I would hold it until she learned how to control her strength with the more delicate objects. I had suggested using magazines and newspapers since they were in abundance and it wouldn't matter if she ripped every page until she got it right.

The sound of another page ripping, along with Bella's anger broke me out of my thoughts.

"I'm never going to get this!" She huffed, dropping the magazine onto the carpet and putting her head in her hands. "I'm hopeless."

I shook my head and placed a hand on her back as I scooted more towards her, pulling her slightly into my side. "Darlin', you're anything but hopeless. You're the most amazing creature that I've ever seen, and not because of your abilities."

She peaked up at me with hope filled eyes, "What makes you say that?"

I could tell that she was genuinely curious and not just fishing for compliments.

"You're clear headed, you use common sense, you have control over a great deal of your new strength and speed, your emotions are stabilized to a level that a new vampire doesn't reach until almost their first year." I expressed to her in a calm, coaxing voice.

Her brows furrowed as she looked down at the torn magazines, "Great control, my ass." She mumbled.

I shook my head in slight exasperation, though I could understand her frustrations. "Darlin', I don't think you understand what I'm saying."

"So, let's show her," Peter appeared in the archway of the living room with his arms crossed over his chest and a cocky smirk on his face.

Bella and I both turned and looked at him in befuddlement.

"What do you mean?" She asked him, intrigue shining through her emotions among the confusion.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Yeah, Peter, what do you mean 'show her'?"

His grin widened, "I happen to have a friend near here who has just changed his sister about a month ago."

"But only about a week old," Bella pointed out, tilting her head slightly to the side as she looked up at him.

"Exactly," he nodded, "I think in order for you to have the confidence you need in yourself to overcome your first year, you need to see what a normal, everyday newborn vampire is like."

I gritted my teeth as my mating instincts warred within me to protect my young mate and keep her out of any potential danger. "I don't think that's going to be a good idea, Captain." I hissed, pulling Bella tighter into my side.

Bella immediately rounded on me so that she could look up into my eyes with a pleading expression. "Please?" She begged. "I think I need to see this, and if Peter thinks that it will help…" she trailed off, not needing to finish.

My eyes softened as they rested on her large blue eyes as the silently pleaded with me. I've never felt more powerless in that moment, so I nodded.

"Fine, but stay behind me unless I tell you otherwise. An average newborn is vicious, blood thirsty, and ruled completely by their instincts. I will need to change into long sleeves and jeans in order to conceal the majority of my scars, as to not rile her up. Peter, I suggest you, Charlotte and Garrett do the same with the ones you have that are visible." I instructed.

Peter smirked and jokingly saluted me. "Sir, yes, sir!"

I rolled my eyes, "Just do it, and call your friend to alert him to our arrival. I don't want to surprise him when he is caring for a newborn."

Once Peter had disappeared from the room, I let out a sigh, running my fingers through my curly mop of hair.

"Are you sure you wanna do this, Darlin'?" I asked without meeting her eyes.

"Yes," she nodded, "If Peter thinks that it will help, then I want to do it. I really think that it will help with my confidence if I could see how much I already have over a normal newborn. Right now, I just feel defeated and incompetent."

"Well, it is only your first time training your muscles. Give it some time, and -"

She cut me off by shaking her head, "That won't help me. I've always had the same problems when it came to learning new things. If something comes hard for me, I tend to continue to get frustrated with it until I just give up, and during that time, I only continue to get worse. Please, Jasper, I need this. I need to have this confidence in myself so that I won't feel so hopeless and so I can function like a normal person. I don't want to have to hide myself from the humans because I might accidently crush a door knob or pull a car door right off its hinges because I can't control my strength where it matters."

I searched her face, as well as her emotions before I finally relented. "Alright, I'll support this. I guess it would be helpful to have this knowledge to help you during your training." I shifted and stood in a crouch on the balls of my feet, holding a hand out for Bella to take. "Let's go upstairs and I'll help ya get changed."

She looked down at her attire, "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

I smirked, "Nothing, except it gets a little chilly durin' this time of year at night. You don't wanna stand out 'cause you are wearin' a t-shirt and shorts, do ya?"

She looked up at me sheepishly, "I guess you have a point." She said as she reached forward to take my hand, allowing me to pull her up.

I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Everything will be fine, Darlin'. I promise."

She searched my eyes and gave me a small smile with a single nod. "I trust you."

I couldn't help the feeling of pure elation as I heard her say those three words that I didn't realize would mean so much to me. Sure, I was trusted by many when it came to a lot of different things, mostly involved with fighting, among other things. But hearing my mate say that she trusted me, even over something so trivial, along with the cocktail of love, admiration and happiness that she pushed at me still made my heart soar.

I reached down with my right hand and interlaced our fingers together and began to pull her toward the stair case. I felt her give my hand a gentle squeeze, causing me to look back at her and smile.

I could only hope that things will run as smoothly with Peter's friend's newborn as they are at this very moment.

"Are you sure this is it, Peter?" I asked, looking ahead of me at an old run down mill just outside the city limits.

He nodded, "Yup, this is it. Cole is a nomad and doesn't usually stay in one place for very long, so he doesn't have a home base like we do. He's only even here because he wants to stay in one place to train his sister through her newborn year."

"And how old is Cole, exactly?" Garrett asked from behind me.

Peter reached up to scratch his head, an old habit that he retained from his human life. "He was turned when he was twenty six, ten years ago. His sister, Naomi, was only seven at the time."

"And he kept in touch with his human family?" Bella wondered from beside me.

"I kept an eye on them, checking in on them from time to time, but never made contact." A figure spoke from the shadows, making his way towards us. "It wasn't until I learned of my sister's illness that I inserted myself into her life. She was alone, as our parents had died the year before, so I felt that it was safe to change her." He paused, looking over each of us. I felt the awe and recognition when his eyes landed on me, but he quickly composed himself. "You must be the famous Major Whitlock I've heard so much about. It's a pleasure to meet you. As you must have guessed by now, I'm Cole." He held his hand out for me to shake.

I studied it for a moment, as well as his emotions, before deeming it safe and I reached forward to clasp my hand in his. "A pleasure to meet you, as well." I shook his hand before extracting my own, placing it on Bella's lower back.

He immediately noticed this and looked over at Bella, his eyes widening slightly at her appearance, but again, composed himself. "You must be the Major's mate. Isabella, I presume?"

"Bella," she nodded and corrected him. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," he spoke, his eyes never leaving her as intrigue and amazement swirled through his emotional climate.

Feeling Bella's discomfort at his scrutinizing gaze, I shot Peter a glance. He understood immediately and stepped forward, bringing his attention briefly onto him.

"How's it goin', Cole?" He asked with a grin.

Cole smiled back at him. "As good as can be expected while training a new vampire for this life, who had no prior knowledge of it."

"Most of us here know what that's like," Garrett grinned and introduced himself. "My name is Garrett."

Cole looked him up and down, and nodded, "Great to meet you, as well." He spoke before spotting Charlotte's bright blonde hair next to Peter, "And you, of course, must be Peter's mate, Charlotte. I've heard a lot about you and it's nice to finally have a face to go with the name."

Charlotte smiled up at him, "Well, if it's anything that came from this lug's mouth, then I wouldn't take it at face value." She joked, smirking up at her mate.

Cole chuckled, "It was all good, I assure you."

I took this moment to examine Cole as he stood there talking with Peter. He was tall, around six foot four and more on the lanky side. His dark brown hair was cut short on top of his head and his crimson eyes were slightly squinted. He wore a dark brown t-shirt with a pair of black jeans with brown boots, as well as a navy colored jacket.

I was brought out of my observations by my mate's voice as she spoke, "If you don't mind me asking, what was wrong with your sister that you decided to change her?"

He smiled kindly at my mate, "I don't mind at all. Naomi had Lou Gehrig's disease, better known as ALS or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It's a rare disease that attacks your muscles, slowly rendering them useless. It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed. It's a rather atrocious illness that kills you slowly."

"Is there no cure?" Char asked sympathetically.

He shook his head sadly, "I'm afraid not. It's still a rather new illness, so they don't have as many treatments for it."

"I'm sorry," Bella murmured compassionately.

"Thank you," he smiled. "But my sister is now healthy and alive, and that is more than either of us could have ever asked for."

"How did she learn of our kind? Was it before or after her change?" Garrett asked.

"After," Cole responded, "I gave her the choice, of course, but in case she chose to stay human in her condition, I did not give her the specifics. I simple told her that I could heal her, but she wouldn't be herself anymore, but like me. She had noticed the differences between the two of us when I appeared in her life. She was shocked to find me alive and just as she remembered me as a child. She noticed that I never ate or drank in her presence and never slept or went into the sunlight. So she had no trouble believing that I was different from her."

"It's sweet that you cared for you sister so much that you would continue to watch over her and give her the chance to live." Bella smiled.

He nodded, his smile fading. "Well, as much as she can being a newborn vampire." He gaze flickered back over to her. "Speaking of, I have to say that you are not at all what I expected. Peter had said that you were controlled, but even this has surpassed my imagination when he told me about you. How old exactly are you, again?"

"I'm eighteen, but I've only been a vampire for six days." Bella answered, wrapping her arms around my waist.

He shook his head in wonder, "Amazing. I would never have believed it had I not seen you for myself."

Bella blushed, looking down at her feet with a small smile.

"And the fact that you still have human traits within you…" he trailed off before starting a new thought. "Were your eyes this color as a human?"

"No," I answered for her, "She had chocolate brown eyes."

His brows shot up towards his hair line. "Wow, I've never heard of such a thing before. I wonder what caused it?"

Peter shrugged, "Don't we all. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of havin' to hide my eyes whenever I go out in public, an' contacts are just plain annoyin'."

"Well, you could try the veggie diet," Garrett grinned.

Cole quirked a brow. "Veggie diet? What on earth is that?"

Peter rolled his eyes, "The Major, here, used to live with a coven an' partake in their diet of drinking from animals. I may not care for havin' to use sun glasses or contacts, but I'd rather the inconvenience than have to taste that shit for all eternity." He shivered in disgust.

"Is it that bad?" Cole inquired.

"It's not exactly the best tasting sustenance, but it will clench your thirst for the most part so that you don't have to hunt humans. It's also good for when you need to hunt an' cannot partake in our natural food source." I answered impartially.

Cole nodded thoughtfully, "Interesting." He let out a sigh before looking towards Bella, "Shall we head inside and meet my sister?"

She nodded, reaching down to take my hand. "Alright, let's go."

A/N: So, what do you think?! Any opinions about Cole or thoughts on what will happen in the next chapter?! How will meeting Naomi go? Will there be any trouble? I'd love to hear what you think! Review!

If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note!

To see more, go to my page: Xo Bella Italiana oX

If you enjoyed this story so far, check out some of my other stories on my FanFiction page! Also, I am still accepting Stories that need beta'ing. I will accept OC characters as well as other Fan Fiction stories aside from Twilight depending on the other lead character. PM me for details!
- Bellx'Xo -
Xo Bella Italiana oX