A/N Thank you for the patience. My RL is not going so well. I update when I can. Please, just continue to bear with me.
I don't own it and all that stuff.
Italicized is for phone conversation.
BPOV
The shifters didn't linger for much longer after the meeting was over. The sped off towards the reservation with only Jake and Leah heading off in the opposite directions to begin their patrol for the evening. Jake's arm had completely healed, so he would not have any issues while they were on watch.
Marcus, with me on his arm, walked over to his guard. He gave Demetri and Felix the order to continue to hunt for Victoria and the newborns. He then ordered his remaining guard members to patrol the area. They were to contact him if they came across any unfamiliar vampire scents.
It hadn't missed my notice the way the guard members were looking at me. I was fairly certain that their stares had nothing to do with me being human. It was a gut feeling but one that I was convinced was correct. I made a mental note to ask Marcus about it later.
A moment after the guard ran off to obey their orders, Marcus turned to me with a smile. "Isabella, would you allow me to carry you to headquarters? I would like to spend time with you, and headquarters will grant us a semblance of privacy."
"Of course you can," I replied a tad too eagerly. "I hope you're fast. I seem to have become quite a big fan of speeding whether by car or wolf," I challenged him with a smirk.
He grinned at me, "Well, I certainly hope I don't disappoint you."
"We shall see," I teased him in return. He then gently pulled me closer to him and picked me up bridal style. With a quiet chuckle, he took off at an unfathomable speed. I squealed with joy at how fast he ran. He was much faster than Eddie boy was. I didn't' even get sick from watching the forest as we darted past the foliage which looked like a blur. This is what I was talking about. This was exhilarating.
Unfortunately or not, depending on how you look at it, we reached our destination within five minutes. Marcus gently placed me back down on my feet. The cocksure smirk he graced me with with caused my heart to lurch. This vampire god already knew how he affected me.
"So, Isabella, was the fast enough for you?" he teased.
"It will suffice," I taunted him with a roguish grin.
"Oh, just suffice you say. It looks like I will have to make another go at it then," he replied gently while softly running his knuckles across my cheek.
Unable to halt the blush I could feel was creeping across my face, I looked him in the eye and challenged him. "You will have to do much better than that to impress me."
"Challenge accepted, dearest," he answered quietly. "I can't come in second to wolf travel. I would never live it down." He then offered me his arm which I eagerly latched on to. He led me into the giant mansion where he gently guided me to a room I hadn't seen yet. It was clearly designed for comfort with its lush carpet and overstuffed couch.
"Uh, I am a bit confused. Why would vampires need comfy couches? Are they here for the same reason the Cullens have comfy furniture?" I asked slightly perplexed.
Marcus led me over to the lavish couch where I eagerly sat down. "I am assuming it's the same reason. We need to blend in as much as possible. While comfort of that type is unnecessary for vampires, it helps to head off any questions any humans that unexpectedly show up might have."
"Whatever the reason is, I have no complaints," I joked as I wiggled around, getting myself situated on the luxurious couch.
He smiled at my antics. "I am glad you are enjoying yourself, dearest. I would not want to be a poor host by offering you substandard seating," he teased with a grin. "Now, please tell me if you are in any pain. Your upper arms are very bruised and make take few days to heal."
I absentmindedly reached over to rub my left arm. "They are sore. It's not too bad that some ibuprofen can't handle it. I'll be fine. I am more upset over what caused them than anything else," I replied honestly.I glanced up at him to see his eyes darken in anger. Without hesitation, I reached up with my right hand and gently brushed my fingertips across his cheek bones. "I'm fine, and Jake has learned his lesson, I'm sure," I said, trying to calm him down.
Marcus gently took my hand in his grap and pulled it towards his lips where he brushed a tender kiss across my knuckles. "I know, dearest. I just despise the fact that you were hurt. While I hope your friend has learned his lesson, I will be keeping a close eye on him and his behavior. It ever acts out like that again, I will not be as lenient."
"I wouldn't expect any less of you. Vampires are so possessive of their mates," I said with a smile.
"I certainly hope you don't find that off putting. I refuse to feel bad about my intense need and desire to protect you," he replied with another sweet kiss to my hand.
I smiled in understanding. "If I were to be honest, I like having you care enough to want to protect me. It makes me feel special."
"I will spend my existence protecting you for you are now my everything," he said earnestly.
We spent the next several hours cuddled up next to each other while sharing tidbits about ourselves. I listened intently to everything he told me, hanging on his every word. He, in turn, seemed to eagerly latch on to the information I gave him about myself. We were wrapped up in our own bubble, where the world around us seemed cease to exist.
My heart broke for him as he told me of his Didyme and how the pain from that loss seemed to swallow him whole. Tears silently slid down my cheeks as I listened closely to him. Seeing my tears, he gently reached up to brush them away. He cupped my cheeks, urging me to look into his eyes. "Dearest, I would not have you cry for me," he told me.
"I cannot help it. You have been hurt so much. You should never be hurt," I said while reaching up to place my hands over his.
He gazed at me for a few moments. Then he gently pulled me closer to him as he bent down to place a soft kiss across my lips. He pulled back a few seconds later with a look of shock in his eyes.
I reached up to touch my lips where they still tingled after his kiss. "Is that tingling feeling normal?" I asked him.
"I am not sure, dearest. I have never experienced anything like that before," he replied quizzically.
I decided to let it go for now and just enjoy my time with him. He leaned back on the coach, pulling me closer so that I could snuggle up to him even more. Went spent the remainder of our time in that position just sharing stories and enjoying one another before he had to take me home.
ALEC POV
Heidi and I canvassed the area in a twenty mile circumference. There was little to nothing happening, and we hadn't come across anything that could be considered unusual. This had been the case for several hours. That is until we came across an unfamiliar vampire's scent.
Since neither of recognized the scent, we quickly sent out a mass text to Master Marcus and the rest of the guard. A few minutes later, Jane, Chelsea, Santiago, and Afton arrived. All of them eager to see or smell what we found.
"Master Marcus wants me to report your findings to him after we've gone over them," my sister, Jane, announced.
"We came across an unfamiliar scent. It's not from any vampire we have ever encountered. Also, it seems to have just appeared. We just scouted this area forty-five minutes ago and the scent was not here then. It's safe to assume the vampire is still in the area," I replied.
My sister turned to Afton and Santiago. "Once you have familiarized yourself with the scent, head on out to find the unknown. They must still be in the area," she ordered.
"Do any of you recognize that scent?" I asked the remaining guard. They all replied in the negative.
"This may be another lead we…." Jane was cut off by her cell vibrating. She pulled it from her pocket and quickly read the text. Looking up, she informed us,"Master wants us to head to the reservation border. He received an emergency call from the Alpha shifter."
We wasted no time speeding off to the reservation border. Master Marcus had beaten us there along with the shifters. The Alpha and Master Marcus were in a serious discussion.
A moment later, our master looked up and waved us closer to him. "I have been informed by Sam that one of the Cullen's scent was found by Isabella's old home. He has a few of the shifters hunting for this Cullen now."
"Do the shifters know which Cullen it is," Jane asked solemnly.
Sam took the opportunity to speak up. "Yes, most of us had no idea who it was. Fortunately, Jacob, who has encountered some of the Cullens more than the rest of us, recognized the scent."
"This can't be a mere coincidence. A crazy vampire going around creating a newborn army all hell bent to kill Ms Swan, and suddenly, a Cullen shows up. There's no way that it's a coincidence," I chimed in.
"Agreed," Master Marcus replied tersely.
Another cell phone rang, which Sam quickly answered. "Did you find the vampire?" he asked brusquely.
The voice on the other end replied, "We have him. He is a fighter. We need back up. We're in Forks. At Bella's old place."
Sam said, "Backup is on the way." Sam hung up and turned to master. "We better head over now."
We all took off following the Alpha's lead. We soon came to the house, and in the backyard was two shifters along with Santiago and Afton. They were struggling to hold the vampire down.
"Alec, if you will?" Master Marcus said.
I used my gift, allowing the dark, fog-like, substance to cover him thereby removing all senses from the intruder. He slumped to the ground a mere moment later. I continued to hold him under my gift, waiting for Master Marcus's orders.
Master Marcus walked over to him and pulled his head up by his hair to get a look at his features. "Alec, you may release him."
The moment my gift left him, the vampire began to struggle. "I would not do that if I were you," Master Marcus said. "Which Cullen are you?"
The trespasser ceased his fighting and looked up to out master. "I am not now nor have I ever been a Cullen. My name is Whitlock, Jasper Whitlock."
MPOV
I glared at this intruder. The moment he me gave his name, I recalled what my mate had told me. This was one of the two members of the Cullen coven that she actually liked. "Why have you come here?"
"I came to check up on Bella," he replied.
I released him, gesturing for him to stand up. "After all these months, you have come to check on the human your coven abandoned," he sneered.
"Yes, I as well as my brother, Emmett, have returned to check on her. We have been concerned," this Jasper said.
"Lies!" Jacob shouted. "You lying piece of crap. If you had actually cared for Bella, you and your family would never have dumped her off in the woods where she could have been killed."
A questioning looked flitted across Jasper's features. "What do you mean by 'dumped off in the woods'?" he asked.
"What he means, young Jasper, if that Edward Cullen took her out into the woods far behind her home and proceeded to tell her he never loved her and that he was toying with her for the fun of it," I snarled.
"That son of a bitch!" Jasper shouted angrily while kicking a boulder and shattering it to pieces. "That stupid prude told the entire family that Bella dumped him and informed him that she was fed up with the family and was sick of our drama," he growled out through tightly clenched teeth.
"You act as if you knew nothing of what Edward did. According to Bella, you're an empath. How could you not have picked up that he was lying to all of you?" Sam questioned.
"I wasn't there. After I was pulled away from nearly attacking Bella, I ran off to try to collect myself. I went hunting for several hours. When I returned, they had already packed up."
I was genuinely becoming more disgusted with the Cullens the more Jasper spoke. "You're telling us that they had already planned to leave before Edward dumped her in the forest?"
Jasper nodded, "That's exactly what I'm telling you. No one ever mentioned anything to me about running out of town or of leaving Bella behind. Emmett and I both became very suspicious over their extreme haste in leaving."
"So they graciously waited until the next day so Edward could drag her out into the forest and
abandon her?" Jane asked.
"I'm confused. They already packed up the night of the party. You weren't there at the time. Then they wait for Edward to dump her, but Edward claims she dumped him. Is it me or does it seem that they were trying to pull a fast one and were hoping you wouldn't pick up on it? Jacob rejected in confusion.
"That though does have merit," I agreed. "What I want to know is what were they hoping to accomplish by claiming Isabella was Edward's mate?"
Jasper looked directly at me. "I think I know why. It's just a hypothesis, but it's the only thing that makes any sense."
This piqued my curiosity. "What do you have in mind?"
"Bella is a shield and a very powerful one since it is manifesting itself while she is still human," he answered.
The guard muttered in shock. They knew, as I did, that for a human to be able to exhibit a gift, that gift must be quite powerful. This opens up a world of many more questions.
"Isabella has mentioned to me that Edward was unable to read her thoughts. I just never put it all together," I admitted ruefully.
"While that is intriguing, how can you be certain that she is a 'shield' as you put it?" Sam asked Jasper.
"I have had a few clues. Her ability to block Eddie out of her mind was the first. No one has ever been able to completely keep him out. The other one was how she managed to get away from me and Alice while we were in Phoenix. I'm an empath, and I never felt anything off with her. Then when you add the fact that she circumvented Alice's gift as well then it is clear she has some sort of gift of her own," he elaborated.
"Alice is the seer, correct?" Sam asked.
Jasper nodded his head, "Yes, she is. While her gift has its limits, there was no way Bella could have pulled off her escape trick on the fly."
"She blocked you both. It's clear based on the evidence that she does have at least a mental shield. While that doesn't seem to be that big a deal, we all must keep in mind that she is human. She should not be able to do any of this. This leads me to believe that there is more to her gift that probably will not manifest until after she has be turned," I said, giving voice to my thoughts.
"OK, if that is the case, then what the hell did the Cullens think they were going to do with her?" Jacob questioned."
I glanced around at those who surrounded me. "It seems like that is the big question." I loathed not knowing. This was my mate we are speaking of. Something is not right with the Cullens, and I was determined to get to the bottom of it. "What are you up to, Carlisle?" I muttered to myself.
