Disclaimer: Nope! Not mine! I'm just borrowing them for this story, and they will hopefully returned in one piece to their rightful owner.

A/N: Hey! Sorry for the long wait, guys. I've had so much homework lately, it's insane. Plus an English paper, but I'm way ahead in that now, so it's no big deal. Thank you for all of your reviews! I'm gonna' keep this short and sweet since I'm sure you want to read the next chapter, lol. Oh, the song I used in this chapter is "On My Own" from the musical, Les Miserables, which is my favorite. So, enjoy!

Chapter 13- Wild Animals

I changed relatively quickly while Jasper waited out in the other room for me. But as I pulled my black and red t-shirt over my head after putting my shorts on, I couldn't help but wonder why my question to him about not being human bothered him so much. I knew that it wasn't possible, but what Sam had told in his story wouldn't leave my mind. I just couldn't forget how well Jasper fit the vampires that he had described…

When I was finished, I grabbed the plastic bag with my swimsuit in it and left the room, seeing that Jasper was still waiting for me, and I could tell that there was definitely something on his mind. He was standing in the shadows that the doorway provided, staying out of the sunlight as he gazed out the window. I couldn't help but wonder why he always seemed to be staying in the dark, but before I could ponder this any longer, he turned and smiled at me when I approached.

"Ready?" he asked.

I nodded, and he opened the door of the camp's "hospital" and walked outside, immediately stepping into the shadows again. I followed after him curiously after I closed the door behind me, walking a couple of steps behind him. I personally didn't see any problem with the sun, but to each their own, I guess.

"We'll drop your bag off at your cabin before heading to the mess hall, Jasper suddenly said, glancing back at me as he paused and waited for me to catch up. "That way, you won't have to carry it around with you."

"Okay. Thank you again, Jasper. For everything." I watched as Jasper gave me a small smile but quickly looked away, not saying anything else as we walked. I sighed as I fell into place beside him, wanting to talk to him but not knowing what to say. After my joking question of him not being human and seeing his response, I couldn't help but feel that yes, something was very different about Jasper, more so than I originally thought. I wanted to know more.

However, neither one of us said another word until we reached the fork in the path that separated the boy and the girl cabins. "You go on ahead and drop your bag off. I'll wait here for you," Jasper muttered, still not meeting my gaze.

"All right. I'll be back shortly." I walked away from him down that path that led to the girl cabins, glancing back at him one last time before he disappeared from sight. I tried to walk quickly so I wouldn't keep him waiting for too long. It was nice of him to be waiting for me at all. I barely noticed the trees pass by me as I hurried along the path, anxious for the cabins to come into sight. I had the strange feeling that someone was there besides Jasper, watching my every step from the shadows of the trees…

I counted the cabins as they came into sight, running up to the door of mine. I checked under the mat since Rosalie said that she would leave an extra copy of the key there, and I unlocked the door and entered. Once inside, I immediately climbed up onto the top bunk that I had claimed and put my swimsuit back into one of my bags with some other things. I then sighed as I looked down at my pillow. Maybe I could actually spend the night here tonight with Bella and Rosalie instead of being in the hospital. Maybe then I could actually enjoy the camp instead of being in some sort of trouble…

But then, my eyes landed on my two stuffed animals that I had brought along, the bat and the wolf, that were still right where I had left them on either side of my pillow. I reached forward and grabbed the black bat, looking at its yellow eyes quickly before I hugged it tightly to me and closed my eyes. And for one moment, I had to wonder…

What kind of mess had I gotten myself into now?

Jasper POV

"I can't believe that I let my guard down…"

I stood at the fork in the path, watching as Alice glanced back at me before she disappeared from sight. The need to watch out for her, to protect her, was so strong that I didn't understand it. I had never felt this way before. I had never wanted to be this close to someone before. I didn't understand what was happening to me. Why should a human girl, one that I had known before, ever matter to me, one of the most feared hunters, one of the most feared predators that exist in our world?

I thought about how I had saved Alice from drowning without even a second thought, how angry I was when Jacob got too close to her, how I had almost let my guard drop around her this morning, how I had felt when I was so close to her that I could have easily kissed her… It all made sense to me now, I just couldn't accept what was happening to me.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was in love with Alice.

Damn it! No, I couldn't allow myself to feel that way toward her. I couldn't allow her to get too close to me. It didn't matter what Carlisle had told Billy this morning, we both knew the frightening truth. I could easily kill Alice if she was too close to me… if I was weak enough. I couldn't bring myself to love her, to act on those impulses. I was too dangerous, there were too many risks. I couldn't do that to her, or to myself. I wouldn't be able to live with the fact that I had been the one to end her life if anything should happen. I couldn't…

I sighed, running my hand through my hair. I realized that I had let the feeling grow far too long… for both of us. I knew that all I would have to do is ask, and she would be mine. It would be that simple… Maybe… just maybe things could work out fine. Whenever I was around Alice, I felt as though I had more control over my bloodlust. The monster I was seemed to be tamed. Maybe things could work…

She was much more beautiful now than last time I had seen her…

No. I was too much of a danger to her. I was a predator, and she was the prey. It would be too risky if I allowed these feelings to take over me. If my emotions were to run too high, I could hurt, maybe kill, her. If I was so close to her that I could bite her…

I had to stop this now, to end it before something happened that I would regret. I needed to stop these feelings from growing any more… to protect Alice.

I would have to speak with Carlisle.

Alice POV

"On my own

Pretending he's beside me

All alone

I walk with him till morning

Without him

I feel his arms around me

And when I lose my way, I close my eyes

And he has found me…"

I listened to my iPod as I straightened up my bags a little, singing quietly along to a song from one of my favorite musicals. I figured this wouldn't take to long to do since it was something that needed to be done. Pretty soon, I would be able to meet back up with Jasper and head to the mess hall for breakfast with Edward, Emmett, Bella, and Rosalie. I was actually pretty hungry.

"… But still I say, there's a way for us.

I love him…"

Suddenly, I gasped, pausing the song and ripping the earphones off before dropping my iPod on the bed. As I stared at the small, light blue device with wide eyes, I wondered why this particular song was affecting me so greatly so suddenly. I had heard it many times before, either on a CD or during a live performance, and it had never had this kind of impact on me before. How come now, so suddenly…?

That was the moment when the unquestionable truth crashed down around me.

I was in love with Jasper.

Ever since I had seen my first visions of him, there had always been that special connection I felt toward him, no matter how strange it was. And ever since the first time we had talked, the friendship between us had only grown, the feeling I had toward him growing stronger. But I had never expected to ever use that short, powerful, four-letter word to describe how I felt toward Jasper…

But could I really use any other word to describe the feeling? I couldn't think of any. At that moment, I had to just accept the undeniable truth that I loved Jasper Hale. There was no possible way around it…

I slowly wrapped the earphone cord around my iPod, gently tucking it away in one of my bags and zipped it closed. I sighed, groaning as I put my head in my hands. Wasn't I supposed to feel elated when I was in love? That's what my mother had always told me anyway… So… why wasn't I?

Then, it came to me. I was afraid to get into a relationship because I didn't want to lose anyone else close to me, just as Jasper had said. But hadn't he also said that he would never leave me? Then again, he had said that he would never leave me as a friend. There was a difference… And what if he didn't love me too? I had always had a slight fear of rejection…

Ugh, I give up. I knew that I loved Jasper probably more than he loved me, and there was no way that I could convince myself otherwise.

I would just have to suffer in silence.

The mess hall was crowded by the time Jasper and I reached it, and the majority of students had already grabbed their breakfasts and were sitting at the preferred tables. I moved through the line with Jasper beside me, getting a ham and cheese omelette, bacon, a piece of toast with strawberry jelly, and orange juice. My friend looked at the drink with disgust, but I just laughed and promised to keep it away from him this time.

"Don't worry, I won't make you drink it again," I muttered with a smile as we headed for the table that I saw my brothers, Rosalie, and Bella sitting at.

Jasper slowly leaned down close to my ear while we walked. "Thank you," he whispered, and we exchanged broad smiles as we approached the table.

"Hey, the walking dead had graced us with her presence," Emmett said teasingly as Jasper and I sat across from him and Rosalie. Edward was on my other side, and he gave our oldest brother a dark look at his joke.

"Emmett," he scolded before turning to me, placing his arm around my and pulling me close to him in a one-armed hug. "Seriously, kid, we were very worried about you. We thought, for a short time, that we were going to lose another member of our family. That is, until Jasper gave you CPR…"

I smiled as I turned to Edward and gave him a tight hug, relieved that his tone wasn't as condescending as usual when he spoke about Jasper. It was such a relief… "Thanks, Ed, but you won't be losing me that easily." I noticed Jasper smile out of the corner of my eye.

But then, I frowned as I let go of Edward and looked at him with concern. "Are you okay, Ed?" I couldn't help but feel that something was off about him…

Edward looked back at me and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, Alice," he answered with some confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know…" I shrugged, turning back to my breakfast. I picked up my plastic fork and began to eat my omelette, and I glanced down at my free hand when I felt another cold one wrap around mine. I looked at Jasper's pale hand and then up into his face. I could tell that he had felt my worry about Edward.

But before he could ask me what was wrong, the door to the mess hall crashed open, and I quickly turned to watch as Jessica and Angela ran in, tears shining in their eyes. Jasper's hand tightened around mine, and I could tell that he was as anxious as I was.

Then, I watched as Eric, who was Angela's boyfriend, and Mike Newton jumped up and rushed over to them, Eric hugging Angela while Mike did the same to Jessica. It seemed as though they had finally gotten together… "What happened, Jess?" Mike asked anxiously, holding her close to him.

Once she calmed down enough to speak, Jessica looked up at Mike fearfully. "There are a bunch of wild animals in the woods," she muttered, clinging to him tightly. "Angela and I were walking down a nature trail when we saw them. I swear that one looked almost… human, but the rest were wolves… huge wolves… I'm surprised we outran them…"

At her panicked words, Rosalie and Bella immediately jumped to their feet and began running toward the mess hall door. Edward and Emmett looked dumfounded while the younger of them called after Bella, and I gasped when Jasper also stood up beside me.

"I'll be right back," he whispered to me, releasing my hand as he began to follow his sisters to the door. "Stay here. I won't be long."

But unlike my brothers, I would not let him get away so easily since I had an idea of what this was about. I jumped up and rushed after him, ignoring my brothers confused shouts, grabbing Jasper's arm just as he reached the door. He looked back down at me with surprise. "Alice…"

"No, Jasper. Let me go with," I said. Then, I dropped my voice so that it was only a whisper. "If this has something to do with that guy that's after me, I think I have the right to know about this."

Jasper seemed to be having some sort of internal struggle as he glanced outside, but then he sighed with defeat when his gaze traveled back to me. "All right, fine," he muttered, though I could tell that it was obviously against his better judgment, as he pulled me out of the mess hall with him. "You just have to promise me one thing."

I looked up at hi, confused, when we stopped in the shade of the building. "What?"

A small smirk appeared on Jasper's perfect face at my question. "You have to promise me that you'll keep your eyes closed."

Before I could ask what he meant by that, Jasper suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me onto his back. I shrieked with surprised and wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck to keep myself from falling, burying my face into his back. "Ready?" he asked me, and I could hear the smile in his voice. I'm so glad I amused him…

"As ready as I'll ever be…" I muttered, not raising my eyes to look at him as I kept my eyes tightly shut. "And don't worry. If you do something like that again that will catch me off guard, my eyes will automatically stay shut."

Jasper laughed a little, wrapping one of his arms around my back to hold me steady, I assumed. "All right, then. Just hold on," he cautioned.

"You don't have to-!" My sentence ended in another scream when he suddenly took off running. Judging by the wind on my exposed arms, it felt as though we were going at least sixty miles an hour. But I knew that was impossible. No one could run that fast. I wanted to open my eyes to see where we were and how fast we were actually going, but I didn't because I had promised Jasper that I wouldn't. Plus, I was afraid to know what I would see if I opened them…

Suddenly, after a short time, we came to a complete stop, but my arms tightened around Jasper's neck when I felt dizzy. I wasn't sure if I trusted my legs quite yet… But why was I the one out of breath when Jasper was the one who had been running? It didn't make any sense to me…

"Oh, good. I'm glad you got Carlisle and Esme." That was Jasper's quiet, gentle voice.

"We thought it would be the best idea." That was Rosalie. But why did she sound so angry, so accusing? "I just don't see why you had to bring her with you." I knew that she was talking about me. But why did Rosalie seem so angry with me so suddenly? We had always been good friends…

"She has all the right to be here." It felt good to hear Jasper defend me. "This involves her. She should know what's happening."

"Jasper has a point, Rosalie." That was Esme, always so sweet. I'm glad she was on my side also, but she did have a sense of unease in her tone, which made me nervous.

"Well, if you're sure…" Why did Bella also sound so unsure, so hesitant? What was going on?

Then, I jumped slightly when I heard Jasper's quiet laugh in my ear, and I shivered slightly when I felt his cold breath on my cheek. "You can open your eyes now."

I slowly raised my head and opened my eyes since he said I could, and I gasped as I looked around me. Jasper and I were standing in a circular clearing facing Rosalie, Bella, Carlisle, and Esme, surrounded by dense trees that blocked out the sunlight. We must have been deep in the forest, but how had we gotten here so fast?

I then slowly unwound my legs from around Jasper's waist and my arms from his neck as I attempted to climb down from his back. But as soon as my feet hit the soft ground, I began to stumble a little from the vertigo of moving faster than I was used to, and I could see the grass coming up on me quickly.

But a pair of strong arms caught me before I could fall too far, and I looked up into Jasper's face as he slowly helped me up so I was standing straight again. "You okay?" he asked with a slightly laugh, seeming to be amused.

"Yeah," I answered after a moment, making sure that I wasn't dizzy anymore. "I'm good. Thanks."

Jasper smiled, and his icy hands left my arms once he was sure that I was steady. Then, his golden eyes traveled to his adoptive father. "How long do we have?"

"Not long, I'm afraid," Carlisle told him heavily, checking his watch as he wound his arm around Esme's waist and pulled her close to him. "They'll be meeting us here in a few minutes."

"All right. I can hear them coming now…" Jasper did not look happy.

I watched as Bella took a couple of steps closer to Rosalie, and then together, they moved closer to Carlisle and Esme. "What's going on?" I whispered as I looked up at Jasper, feeling very uneasy now.

He looked back down at me, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me to his side. "You're going to have to stay very close to me and try not to say anything," he told me sternly. "All right?"

Color rushed to my cheeks at his suddenly closeness. I was okay with that. "Uh… yeah, okay," I mumbled. "I-!" But my statement ended in a scream as I watched a tall, dark, animal-like figure step out of the trees behind where the rest of Jasper's family was standing. It was the largest wolf that I had ever seen in my life, its chest about as tall as Carlisle, with razor-sharp teeth and dark, piercing eyes. I whimpered with fear and wrapped my arms around Jasper's waist tightly since I could feel the animal's eyes on me…

"Come with me," Jasper whispered, pulling me along with him as we walked toward the center of the clearing along with the rest of the Cullens, though I didn't understand why Jasper and I were moving closer to the creature. "This is why you shouldn't have come…"

Once we stopped when we were standing with Carlisle, I watched with mounting fear as another wolf stepped out of the trees not too far from the first, and then another, then another. Two more came from the other side of the clearing, and then one more from behind Jasper and I. My face completely drained of color as I looked around at all of the huge wolves.

We were surrounded.

A/N: All right, that's it for this one! I'm sorry it's a bit shorter, but the next one will be longer, I promise. It's a bit of a cliffie too… And there is a reason that Jasper feels so strongly toward Alice. Anyone figure it out yet? And they both know how they feel, but how will it go when those feelings are revealed? I don't know... Well, I do, but you'll have to find out in the next two chapters! Thanks for reading! Your reviews are much appreciated! Oh, and is anyone else annoyed by the fact that the word "omelette" is considered wrong in Microsoft Word? Lol, anyway, enjoy the preview!

Next Chapter: "She's Not One of Us"

"Surprising?!" I cut him off as my voice rose, trying to break out of Jasper's hold to move away from Sam. "That doesn't nearly come close! What the hell are you?!"

"Shh…" Jasper wound his other arm around me as well, holding me closer to him. "Alice, please calm down. They are not going to harm you."

Xxx

"He seems to be circling the campsite, scouting the area to see the easiest way to get to her." His dark eyes landed on me.

Xxx

But instead of saying anything, Jacob walked forward so that he was standing directly in front of me and there was hardly any space between us. I tried to back away, but before I could, one of his strong arms wrapped around my back and kept me in place. I looked up at him anxiously as he placed his other hand beneath my chin and tilted my head upward, watching as he slowly leaned down toward me.

Xxx

A sly smile spread across my face when I interpreted his answer. "You're not happy about that, are you?"

Jasper looked back at me, a small smirk on his face. "Am I that obvious?"

Xxx

"Carlisle, this is insane! Do you realize how much he's endangering her, how much he's endangering us? What if he kills her? He'll bring the wolves down on us!"

Xxx

"Face it, Carlisle, we're the most dangerous creatures on this earth. We're demons, the damned- whichever you prefer. I may love Alice, but I won't succumb and allow her to suffer with me."

Xxx

"Alice…" Jasper muttered, taking a cautious step toward me.

But I shook my head as tears formed in my eyes, and I scooted away from him. "No… no! Stay away from me!" I cried. "Just leave me alone! All of you!"