DISCLAIMER: SM owns everything…I like to play with them!

AN: Thank you to all the reviews, added favorites…and those who added me to their author alert! Sorry for the wait…

WHO AR E YOU…?

JPOV

When I made it to the guest house the Cullen's were in their rooms settling in and everyone else was in the living room. Emmett was the first to speak out, "where did Sissy go?"

"She said she needed some time alone and that she wouldn't be long. She'll meet us back by the fire when she's ready."

I joined the others on the couch waiting for the Cullen's to come down and relocate by the fire. To say I was confused would be an understatement; I didn't know how to react to Bella's reaction to seeing Edward. That didn't go the way I expected it to; although, thinking about it I don't really know what I expected from the situation.

All those years ago when I ran into Bella she had said she was over Edward and there was no reason not to believe her. She had tried making a life with others before she ran into me; she said that it still hurt to think about what happened and how he left. After I told her that Edward still loved her she said it hurt all over again.

Like she said tonight when she was 18 that was all she wanted to hear and she would have accepted him back with open arms, but it's different now; she's a whole different person than that 17 year old girl we meet back in Forks.

Rage, jealously, and disbelief pulled me from my musings about Bella and Edward. Turning to my left stood Alice and Edward glaring at me with a fiery glare. I honestly didn't know what to say to them; I didn't think anything I could say could help the situation so I just let them sit there and simmer in their emotions.

Carlisle and Esme finally came down the stairs and we all left to the fire pit and everyone settled down there. Apparently Alice couldn't hold herself back anymore and her refined attitude flew out the fucking window. "Bella, Jasper? How could you? Is this the mate you spoke of the last time you visited us?" She was talking a mile a minute and I figured I'd keep quiet until she got it out of her system. "How could you do this to me and dear God…to Edward? Did the love of his existence seem that appealing to you that you had to swoop in and steal it?" Alright, I was trying to be polite and let her get it out of her system, but I don't think she realizes what she's saying anymore. Has she forgotten that Edward left her?

As I went to voice this opinion Edward finally spoke up, "I left to protect her; to prevent this very thing from happening. She should have had a normal life and not this soulless existence." Edward was fuming and basically repeating all the bullshit he spewed when he left and everything he just said to her under a hour ago.

"Edward, I understand why you left her; it was a noble intention, but it destroyed her. It has given her issues that she still deals with to t his day! Don't pretend to understand what she went through because you expect her to have a happy, "normal life". I didn't do this intentionally!" I paused and started taking deep unnecessary breaths to calm myself down.

"You're my brother…" I cut him off before he could finish. I knew what he was planning on saying.

"Edward, it was a gradual relationship. We became friends and we both fell in love; I don't know what else I can say to you. You left her. You had to know she would move on eventually. You lost your claim on her the moment you left her in that forest."

"Not with another vampire!" He shouted in his fury.

"That's was never your choice Edward. She chose this life with me; we dated for several years before we took this step and she has shown me in every way that this was what she truly wanted." I sighed not wanting to have this conversation in front of everyone. I understand now why Bella didn't want to voluntary visit the Cullen's. This was a lot of drama that we were not used too. Our life here was very casual and relaxing. "She is strong…she's never slipped," I paused to look at Carlisle and Esme and said, "you'd be proud of her." They gave me sad smiles wishing they were there for her all these years.

"You are a selfish bastard! I would have died for her to be with me forever; I would have done anything, but I did this for her."

"I know Edward, but repeating yourself is not going to change anything. Bella and I have been together for over ten years," Alice gasped at this knowledge as if it was finally settling in that I was no longer hers. "She was over you before I ran into her; she wasn't still in love with you. Don't make this harder on her, she feels extremely guilty for not telling you sooner, but you guys never checked on her so why should she go to you."

"Is that why she took a step away from me?" Esme finally chipped in with hurt clear in her tone.

"Yes, Esme, that's part of it. She was extremely hurt by all of us, especially by Edward and Alice and while she may have moved on she never forgot. It took Emmett years to get in her good graces." I said feeling tired of this conversation.

"Years?" She whispered looking over to Emmett for confirmation. He nodded and looked a little sheepish. "Emmett how could you keep this from us? How long have you been talking to her?"

Emmett kept his head down and started speaking softly, "Some months after they met in Seattle at school. I went to surprise him and found her at his house." Edward growled involuntarily low in his chest, Esme nodded and Carlisle finally decided to speak up.

"She looks like she's doing well. How was her newborn stage?" He questioned, thankfully pulling the conversation away from my relationship with her.

I smiled thinking of her first encounter with some hikers we ran into. "Carlisle, you would have been so proud. For such a serious situation she was quite comical." Peter, Char and I all laughed lightly thinking back to the day 'that everything was right in the world'.

"She immediately stopped and held her breath. She looked like a deer in headlights." Peter took over the story without being asked and I sent him a wave of frustration for his intrusion and he just waved me off and continued with his story. "She was running around like a chicken with her head cut off." He slapped his knee and Char joined in our laughter. "Obviously, her instincts are telling her to take what she wants and the other side of her is saying she doesn't want to do this…she physically warred with herself. She kept running back and forth and making a decision to take them then not to take them. I thought it was fucking hysterical."

"You said she's never had an accident?" I sat up a little taller, knowing pride was probably radiating off of me.

"Not once." I smiled at Esme as she looked me with pride.

"Speaking of Ms. Perfect; where is she now?" Alice cut in very rudely, jealously was dripping from her every pore and she was bitter because of it. Maybe I need to remind her that she left me also. How weird the two people that left their significant other being jealous and hurt that they moved on.

Edward started growling at me under his breath and I changed the direction of my thoughts. "After your reunion with her she needed some time to herself. Alice huffed and Edward was shedding concern looking into the forest.

"Is it a good idea for her to be by herself?" I snorted at this thought.

"She's not a newborn or a child; she has every right to be alone when she desires it." I stated with anger. She's not the little human he knew and he needs to get used to this, plus he doesn't need to worry about where my wife is. Edward once again hissed at me for my thoughts. "Besides, she quite capable of holding her own."

"Hell yeah, brother. With the training from me and the major; nobody can fuck with her!" Peter shouted sounding like a proud father.

"You trained her to fight?!" Edward yelled appalled.

"Of course, she wanted to learn and it's a good idea." Char started laughing again thinking back to Bella's reasoning and Peter just smiled. Again, I was cut off from telling my story, but this time Char took over.

"Bella said it would be the equivalent to a human learning self defense and that she had every right to learn; therefore the major and Peter showed her showed her moves and defense tactics. It was a fun couple of months." Char started giggling this time, "with this one she needs the lessons."

"Hey…I like to keep her on her toes…you know, keep her alert." Peter said shrugging his shoulders knowing that his surprise attacks always pissed off Bella.

"Jasper, tell me more about Bella, what's she like now?" Esme said dreamily thinking about her long lost daughter.

"She's had her hardships after we left, but those are her stories to tell you if she pleases." Esme nodding her head in understanding. "When I ran into her she was so different; you all would have been shell shocked; she was always independent, but after losing her parents she became more independent." Esme and Alice gasped at this information and I felt Rosalie's heartbreak. Apparently, Bella nor Emmett has told Rosalie everything.

"What happened to Charlie?" Alice finally broke away from her jealously long enough to ask about Charlie and I could also feel her heartbreak for poor Charlie.

"Like I said, I'd rather her tell you but the short version is that Charlie had a heart attack some time after we left Forks. During Bella sophomore year Rene was involved in a car accident and died on impact." A chorus of 'oh my's' and my God's' went around the fire. "She's had it rough, but she survived and when I met her, she owned her own house and was preparing to graduate. We reunited during her senior year at Seattle and she was not worried about hurting my feelings." I chuckled thinking back to the day we met.

"She is still loving and compassionate; except for when it comes to a Cullen. I had to earn my way back in too." We continued in this manner for a while; Carlisle and Esme were reveling in stories of Bella while Peter, Char, and Emmett all contributed to the story or told one of their own. Alice was starting to soften the more we spoke of Bella, she was starting to understand and with that she was starting to accept what happened. She was missing her best friend that she left so abruptly and wanted her back. Edward was drowning in self pity and hatred, but underneath that he was enjoying listening to the stories of Bella's lost years to them.

"She didn't blush as easily anymore, I was pretty bummed about that." Emmett started on another tangent about Bella. "Aw man, the best one was when I went to visit them on their road trip…" I cut Emmett off.

"Emmett, that story is personal and maybe a little inappropriate; don't you think?" Emmett started pouting and Edward started his little hissing tantrum. Emmett must have finished the story in his head.

Peter and Char were discussing their favorite memories of Bella, which was in the rodeo bar. I drifted off and started looking into the forest wondering when Bella was going to return. I know she said she needed some time, but honestly, she's been over Edward for years; what could she possibly be doing. Edward silently sneered at me and I just continued to ignore him; I couldn't help my thoughts. I've been trying to not think about certain things, but what can I do?

I tried expanding my gift to see if I could feel her nearby, but I came up empty. I took a look at my cell phone wondering the time and it was still early. I looked back to the forest and started looking the skyline enjoying the view when a purple cloud of smoke started rising above the trees.

I didn't even think or say anything to the family. I started running before my butt was off the floor and took off in the direction of the smoke. I heard the light steps of my family and the Cullen's behind me; Peter and Emmett were feeling extremely protective and worried. Edward was throwing blame at me for leaving Bella unprotected and with all the worry in my heart I couldn't find room to disagree with him. All the women emanated worry and Alice was genuinely worried about Bella and in the back of my mind I acknowledge that was the first step in the right direction, but now wasn't the time for that.

I could finally feel someone…I could still smell Bella over the burning and I could smell an unfamiliar scent. After what felt like hours I broke through into a very small clearing and froze at what I saw…

BPOV

The unknown vampire didn't say anything, but I read it all in his emotions: anger, hurt, frustration, love, triumph and the most important emotion was revenge. This emotion sent a shiver down my spine and I knew I needed to open my mind to him, but I really didn't want too.

She's a fucking vampire! When the hell did that happen?! No matter, I am still going to destroy her!

At these thoughts I knew there was nothing I could do. I would have to fight and it would obviously be to the death. I started to crouch to prepare for his attack, which made him crouch. I could read everything in his mind; he didn't even need to speak to me.

He was avenging his mate, Victoria. His name was Riley and he has been searching for me since I lived in Forks. This little information told me he wasn't too bright if it took him this long to find me. He had the same sick twisted notion that she had; she I was the object of her fixation that caused her death he blamed me instead of the creature that actually did kill her. I was okay with this though; as upset I was with the wolves about my relationship with Jacob, I wouldn't want them to have to deal with this creature.

A small part of me still hoped I could talk him out of this; I didn't want to kill another creature, but if it came to me or him… "What's your name?" I asked innocently trying to send him some calm. He roared a deep throaty growl at me…okay that didn't work. I also opened my other gift so I could predict his movements and kill him easily but keeping him still and setting him on fire. I asked again and the name filtered through his mind…Riley.

"Riley it doesn't have to be this way…I know you are upset about Victoria, but it wasn't my fault she was obsessed with me." He froze and looked at me in disbelief and finally spoke for the first time.

"You're talented, I see." He came out of his stance and an air of smugness started emanating from him, "so am I." He said with an evil glint in his eye that sent another shiver through my body.

Everything in that instant stopped. I could no longer feel anything, hear anything or see anything. I tried moving her and nothing happened. Obviously, he just said that he was talented but what they fuck was his talent that he could shut down all my gifts? None of my abilities were working and in this moment I was so grateful for forcing Jasper to train me and show me how to defend myself. I had to be confident; I could win. I was trained by two of the best motherfuckers and another that was trained by both of them and had experience.

Remaining in my crouch ready for his attack I tried again. "You don't want to do this Riley even if you succeed in killing me; there are several others waiting for me, they'll find you and kill you." I paused hoping this was settling in the way I want it to. "Is this worth dying for?"

That was the wrong thing to ask, with those words he attacked. I could tell he was untrained from his attack alone. He rammed into me venom dripping, mouth open; he slammed me into the ground still attempting to reach my neck. I put my hand on his to keep him at bay and he bit into my wrist.

Jasper has bit me since I've changed and it never really hurt or bothered me, but this hurt like a motherfucker. Maybe because Jasper and I were always in the throes of passion that I never realized how painful this really is.

Coming back to the fight; I jabbed him in the eye and he quickly released my wrist. I pushed him away from trying to make one more attempt to stop this fight. My successes with not killing humans is prideful, I never realized that one day I may have to kill my own kind.

"Riley please don't do this. I don't want to fight." What I really wanted to say to him was I didn't want to kill him; I don't want to be responsible for taking a life whether it's dead or alive. He probably wouldn't take that to well. "Please." I begged.

He paused for a moment…shook his head as if to clear his mind and returned to his crouch position. Fuck it! I also returned to my crouch and my insecurities returned with a vengeance; what if I couldn't beat him? What if he was stronger than me?

Well, I'm about to find out…

Riley may have been older than me, but he clearly was not as experienced. Again, he attacked mouth open and using as his first and only weapon. I ducked when he approached me and threw him into a tree on the other side of the little clearing we were in. Our surrounding area was eerily calm; most of the wildlife had scattered. The top of the trees were still with the lack of wind; it was like the forest didn't recognize our presence in its beauty.

The thud Riley had when he made contact with the tree was sickening; he flitted to me again snarling the whole time. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was contemplating how bad Riley sounded. His growls and snarls sounded like a human gargling mouth wash or something.

As a small smile started creeping on my face Riley smashed his body into mine again and brought my attention to more pressing matters than his sound. He got an advantage over me and had me pinned going for my neck. I started to panic and used a move Char had taught me privately away from the guys.

Char had worse stories to tell than both Jasper and Peter combined and she took all of that hard shit and taught me how to survive in a male dominated world. With any male attacker you always go for the jewels that's just a given. However, it's different with vampires; they don't feel the pain as severly as a human male does. Although, it may help to break their focus; which is what I needed to stop his descend on my neck.

I knee'd him so hard that his body lifted from mine, but not enough for me to worm my way out. I brought my arm across my body and hooked it around his neck. It felt like a backwards choke hold, but it was working. I tighten my grip and brought his head down pushing it into the soft ground. His hands were failing around looking for my throat but coming up empty.

Before I took my next move, I looked up and saw the beautiful night sky. The stars were shinning brightly and I thought of Jasper. Even in the darkest of moments he is my shinning star, showing me the way home. I knew I had to make it back to Jasper; that's all that matters. I have to hold him and see him; I have to feel his love for me. Using his gift I thought was cheating sometimes, but in a time like this I would love to feel his love for me more than anything.

I turned to my attacker and saw a sliver of his neck showing. Char had taught me this whole move where I pin his body with unconventional methods, but I saw my moment to strike and I didn't hesitate. The more I pushed his head into the ground the more exposed his neck became.

With swift and precise movements I moved to his neck and took the biggest bite known to man. Riley howled in pain as I started to inject my venom into his stone like body. His growling increased and I could see in his eyes the rage completely take over. I'm sure if I could see into his mind all I would see is red.

With his rage taking over he pulled me off him and then threw me to the other side of the clearing and my head hit the tree hard. Obviously not enough to hurt me, but enough to stunned me to stillness and maybe disorient me a little.

I'm not sure how long he was punching me in the face yelling at me, but when I finally came around he was speaking of Victoria again. He then grabbed me by my hair and flipped me to the ground by it; the hair pulling hurt more than throwing me and my hissing become constant.

Before I knew it he had me pinned; I couldn't move. I was going to lose Jasper; I could see it in Riley's face. I kept trying to free myself, but underneath it I accepted my fate. I closed my eyes remembering Jasper's smile, his beautiful eyes, gorgeous body; the way water drips down his back, the way his shoulders look when he is hovering over me in passion; his voice and the way he says my name. My wonderful husband, Jasper…I didn't want to leave him…I didn't have to leave him.

Riley was an inch from my throat and suddenly Jasper disappeared from behind my eyes and all I could see was red…

JPOV

Bella's was curled into a ball; rocking herself by a fire, dry sobbing. The fire was too big for normalcy and I knew she used her ability to create the fire; common sense also told me that since I knew she didn't carry a lighter on her.

Her clothes were nearly shredded from her body, there was venom coated on her body; I could smell hers and the unknown vampire. It must have been a very physical fight because her sweet smell was fully covered by the unknown vampire.

The clearing she was in must have been small before they got to it. I could see trees everywhere; broken in various places; there were indents everywhere in the ground, grass was shredded; it reminded me of the days I fought in the wars and wished Bella never had to experience anything like this.

As I brought my attention back to Bella, she was still rocking herself dry sobbing. It would seem that she didn't even know I was there or that several vampires were approaching her right now. As I went to speak I was cut off yet again, by someone.

Edward stepped through the tree line and immediately started toward her at a human speed so he didn't startle her. "Bella? Are you alright?" Edward said as if he was talking to a child. I rolled my eyes at him and sent my frustration.

Back off Edward…she's my wife! I nearly shouted in my head. He looked guilty, but didn't slow his stride towards my fucking wife. "Edward." I stated flatly in a warning.

Bella's head snapped up at that moment and found my eyes instantly. She looked so heartbroken; I couldn't understand why she was so sad. Did she know the vampire? That was the least important of my questions; I had so many running through my mind right now, but now wasn't the time.

"Jasper?" Bella whispered not breaking eye contact.

"It's alright Bella. You're safe." I whispered softly sending her my love. I could always tell when she received my influences because it came right back to me from her; not my sent emotion coming back to me, but her true emotion. The minute it hit her, she came rushing to my embrace and continued her sobbing, but now she was trying to talk over the dry sobbing.

"I…I didn't want…to do it, Jasper. I tried talking to him…but he just kept coming." By this time the rest of the family had entered the clearing and Peter and Char immediately flanked my sides searching for any other danger that may be lingering while I tended to my mate.

"Clear."

"Clear."

Peter and Char were still alert, but now that they secured 'their areas' they started paying Bella attention. Bella started apologizing when Peter and Char secured their areas.

"Darlin', what are you sorry for? What happened, baby?" Edward was smart enough to keep his noises to himself right now, but I still felt everything as I tended to my mate, Edward. He turned his head with that last thought and started taking in the fire.

"He wanted to…to…kill me." This time I couldn't stop my noises and a hiss escaped before I could even attempt to cover it.

"Who, baby? Who did you kill?" She looked at me and it broke my heart. There were unshed tears in her eyes and her bottom lip trembled with her emotion.

"R…Riley." This confused me seeing that we've never meet a Riley. "He was Victoria's mate after James. The wolves killed Victoria, but they apparently didn't know about her mate." Bella's voice started to even out as she spoke.

Various hisses sounded from all the Cullen's as Victoria's name was spoken. "What do you mean Victoria?" Bella turned her head away from the Cullen's and buried herself further into my chest. Bella sent me reassurance encouraging me to tell her story. She obviously didn't have the mental energy to tell them now.

"After we left Forks Victoria hunted Bella to avenge her mate, James." The Cullen women gasped at the shocking news. Edward never thought Victoria was a threat, but he was very wrong. I started thinking about her story considering what to tell next when Edward hissed loud enough to cut everyone off to stare at him, but he was only staring at Bella once again. My grip tighten on her as he spoke.

"Werewolves. How could you involve yourself with werewolves? Do you know how dangerous they are?" Bella didn't move from her spot on my body but she spoke up at his questions.

"About as dangerous as hanging out with vampires?" She asked feeling defiant and smug when he didn't answer her right away.

"We were safer than them." He damn near yelled back.

"Well you fucking left, didn't you? You left and made everyone go with you!" She lifted her head and stared him straight in the eye, "You abandoned me! You made me feel worthless; like everything we had together was a fucking lie! I wasn't even good enough to you to have my own fucking possessions!" With the last statement Edward's guilt escalated and he looked down in shame. "This isn't the time." She whispered feeling defeated as she took in Edward's stance, "Jasper?" She looked up at me with those big amber eyes. "Take me to our spot; I need to hunt and I want to be alone with only you." She emphasized for anyone that needed to know to back off.

I nodded my head, told Peter and Char we'd be back sometime tomorrow.

"Yeah, right. You guys will be gone for days, who are you kidding?" He joked trying to lighten the mood. Usually, I thought this was distasteful, but right now I think Bella needed it. He reached over and in a very brotherly manner moved her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead sending her all the love he had for her. Char did the same, but cupped her cheek and stared at her a moment letting her feel her love and concern. Bella nodded and Char went after Peter.

"They are going to hunt too." Bella stated softly still snuggled into my arms holding on for dear life. I addressed all the Cullen's, telling them they were welcomed to anything they needed and we'd be back in a day or two.

"Before you leave Bella, may I look at you to check for any injuries?" Carlisle asked respectively acknowledging her new set boundaries.

"Thank you Carlisle, but I'm fine. I don't have any injuries." She stated flatly and with that I took off to our little spot in the mountains we love so much.

As we ran Carlisle said they were wait out the fire and tidy up the fight area; I said a quick thanks and we were out of hearing distance. I felt a hundred times better having Bella in my arms, but I still like I needed answers. Honestly, I was dying for answers; I needed to hear everything from Bella.

"Patience Jasper." She whispered into my shirt with her eyes closed. She warm breath on my chest sent a shiver through my body and Bella chuckled, "I love you Jasper."

AN: My first fight scene…how was it? Too repetitive? Boring? Exciting, perhaps? Let me k now. I think there are only two more chapters left and then I will start my Peter/Bella story. I wanted a longer chapter, but I wanted to get something to you guys before I went to bed. I have a busy weekend and wasn't sure if I would be able to get to it. So here's a shortie…

Reviewers told me that the website didn't come through last chapter so let me try again…

www( dot )twcslibrary( dot )com

Hopefully, that worked!