I do not own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.

CH. 25

(EPOV)

My mind was still working overdrive when I left the Cullen's house. Even though I was tired I didn't think I could go back to sleep. Instead I drove to the trailhead for the meadow. I got out and started a brisk jog. Bella and I had come this route a few times now so I felt fairly confident even though I didn't have my GPS.

When I reached my destination I gave a satisfied smile as I stepped into the meadow. The wildflowers were everywhere and I wished Bella had come with me, but she hadn't. She was preparing for a war. I never felt so useless than I did right now. I should be fighting too and protecting her from harm. Instead I had to sit on the sidelines. If I was changed it would just spawn a second war, but there still had to be something I could do.

I found a spot and sat down then laid back. I watched the clouds in the sky as I tried to think of any solutions that would work.

Maybe I could talk to Jacob and explain my reasons for wanting to be changed I tossed that idea out almost immediately. Judging from his parting comment yesterday it probably wouldn't work.

Maybe Emmett's idea would work. The wolves want to destroy the human blood drinking vampires. Why not let them? I understood the risk if they saw Alice, but Jasper wanted her out of the fight anyways. I felt no better of my sister being in this war than Bella. If Jasper, a seasoned fighter, thought she shouldn't fight then I trust his judgment. Plus four wolves compared to one or two vampires staying out had to be fair trade.

But would they? I had a feeling Bella would still fight because she would be worried about her family. Alice on the other hand seemed to respect Jasper's opinion. It's too bad that Alice couldn't see the wolves to know if they would be beneficial.

I'm not sure how long I had been staring at the clouds but at some point I fell asleep. I woke up with a start and looked around trying to figure out what woke me so abruptly. I spotted Bella at the edge of meadow, looking hesitant.

"Why are you just standing there?" I asked.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted to be alone. When you left earlier you seemed quite upset. I was debating whether or not to wake you or just leave this here for you." She answered gesturing to her bag of probably more food than I could ever eat. I felt guilty she thought I had tried to push her away.

"I would never say no to your company. I'm sorry about earlier, I just needed to get away to process everything." I admitted with a sad smile.

She walked lightly across the meadow. She set the bag down then kissed me softly on the lips.

"This situation isn't easy for anyone. I don't want to fight either but there is no way that I could let her take you from me." She brushed my hair back. "I'm sorry that I have to play the protective roll again."

"Don't apologize, love," I felt like a jerk again for making her feel bad. "I do get it. I just wish there was something I could do." I kissed her forehead. "Maybe I could be a liaison to the wolves."

"Edward, I don't know. We have to be careful around the wolves. From what you told me last night they still seem quite hostile." Bella looked unsure.

"But the more on our side the better, right?" I suggested.

"Why are you so suddenly on the wolves' side?" Bella gave me a skeptical look.

"I'm not on their side, per say. I just think we need to make sure that they are on our side in this fight." I reasoned. I got to my feet and paced in front of her. "They should at least get a heads up about a bunch of blood thirsty vampires are heading this way, so they can prepare if any head into their territory. What if they happen upon this war and join the fight not realizing who is on whose side and they just starting taking out family members. I'm sure they would rather have our family here than Maria's group."

"There's still the problem of Alice." Bella reminded me.

"That won't be a problem. She will just have to stay out of the fight and stay hidden. Jasper doesn't even want her fighting anyways. And he's the expert, isn't he?" I stopped and turned to face her.

"You have some valid points, but Carlisle and Tanya are the leaders of both covens, we shouldn't go behind their backs. We should bring these concerns to them and the others before you run off to La Push." She looked up at me through her eyelashes.

"Tanya is the leader of that coven, not Eleazar?" I asked in surprise as I took a seat back next to her.

"Yes, she's. Tanya may enjoy her encounters with human men, but under it all she does have a good heart and is a good leader." Bella started to unpack her bag and handed me large sandwich.

"Thank you, love." I took a big bite out of the sandwich.

"Perhaps if they agree to talk to the wolves and the wolves are willing to help they might not mind you changing me." I suggested after I swallowed my first bite.

"Edward, we shouldn't push the wolves…wait…you want me to change you?" She suddenly looked alarmed. Her hands froze over the lid of what looked like cut up fruit.

"Why not?" her reaction surprised me. After all, she did want me to become a vampire with her, didn't she?"

"Edward, I'm not sure if that is even possible. I have never tasted human blood and with how yours calls to me more than other it's a dangerous idea. I could kill you." Her eyes were wide looking scared. I took her hand away from the lid and rubbed small circles on the back of it with my thumb.

"I know you're scared, but I know that you won't kill me. What if we take precautions with Emmett and Carlisle in the room to stop you if necessary? I just rather it be you. Maybe I see it wrong, it just seems an intimate thing and I rather it be you that bites me than Carlisle. No offense to him, he's a great man and all, but it just feels a bit awkward."

"I can't make you any promises. I'll talk to Carlisle and see what he thinks. He managed it with Esme, perhaps he can share some insight." Bella chewed on her bottom lip.

"Alice can always look ahead to see if it works, right?" I lightly brushed her bottom lip with a finger being extra careful around her teeth.

"I suppose, but I still think we should wait, especially if we want the wolves on our side." She pleaded with her eyes.

"Alright, I won't even bring it up to Jacob." I took the fruit from her and popped a grape into my mouth.

"You probably should be talking to Sam though. He's the leader of the pack." Bella reached back into her cooler bag and gave me a water bottle.

"Are you sure? When I was at the bonfire, Jacob was acting more like a leader than the others. Especially when the one named Paul turned into a wolf almost attacked me." I questioned.

Bella froze and her eyes went black immediately. She let out a small growl that made me jump. "One of them tried to attack you? Why?" she hissed.

"We got into an argument when he insulted you. I know you said not to provoke them, but I couldn't sit by and let him disparage you in front of me." I defended my position.

Bella closed her eyes and breathed deeply for a moment. She reopened her eyes and they were gold again. "I understand why and it was very sweet of you. I'm not upset with you, but with that wolf. But when I think of what could've happened and I wasn't there." She touched my cheek and smiled sadly.

I turned my head slightly and kissed her hand. "I'm fine, love."

She smiled looking a bit more relaxed.

"Eat up," Bella gestured to the food in front of her. "Then I will bring you if you like to where we are training. I promised them I would be back. I can show you how my ability works."

"Not before I get a kiss." I leaned forward and started to kiss her. I felt her hands slip into my hair and tugged me closer her as her tongue slipped into my mouth. My hand slipped up her shirt and I cupped her breast. My pants tightened and I pulled her into my lap.

She pulled back suddenly and she smiled sheepishly.

"We don't have time for this right now." She apologized. I sighed but nodded in understanding.

F

A short while later Bella came to a stop in the woods and let me down on my feet. She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward sounds of growling and other loud noises. I glanced at her sideways. Instinct was telling me to go in the opposite direction, she gave me a reassuring smile before we stepped into a clearing.

In the middle of the clearing Jasper and Garrett were wrestling. After a few movements Jasper had him easily pinned. I smirked in satisfaction to see him go down. Alice waved wildly from the other side of the clearing. I gave her a wave back.

"Hey, Ed, want to have next gos?" Emmett called over. Rose elbowed him and shook her head in disapproval.

"I don't think so." Bella hissed at him. "How about you and me?" She took a few steps forward.
"I don't think so, baby sister. I don't fight girls, way too easy." He smirked. I hid my amusement as the females in the area glared at him. He failed to notice he was severely outnumbered. Rose elbowed him harder this time.

"Ow, Rosie, that actually hurt this time." He pouted rubbing his stomach.

"Good," she huffed as she went over to stand next to Esme.

"How about we practice with the abilities. I for one would like to see how Bella's works, if that is okay?" Alice spoke up, looking at Bella directly. I knew the look in my sister's eyes too. She was up to something. I raised an eyebrow and waited for Bella to respond.
"That is fine with me as long as Kate wants to help and we need someone brave enough to willingly volunteer as a test subject." Bella just shrugged. Her face stayed neutral.

"I will be glad to help. Who will be my victim…I mean volunteer," Kate grinned and looked around. At first no one moved to volunteer.

"You all are a bunch of chickens. I'll do it." Emmett announced stepping into the clearing. A noticed a bunch of smirks go around the group. It hit me that Emmett was about to be set up. I chuckled softly, Bella glanced over her shoulder at me curiously. I just shook my head and took a seat on a stump to watch the fireworks.

"So, Jasper, do you use your emotion mojo jojo to fuck with others' emotions when fighting them?" Emmett asked.

"Language, Emmett," Esme chastised in disapproval.

"Sorry, Mom," Emmett said placatingly. Esme rolled her eyes and sighed, a small smile tugged on her lips. "So do you make your opponents cry like girls when you fight them?" Emmett asked. I shook my own head at the glares he was getting. He was so going to be hurting if he angered Bella enough that she dropped her shield from him.

"I can't say I have ever done that. You also shouldn't write off women fighters so easily. Right now Alice here is stronger than you. She could easily hurt you if you underestimate her." Jasper warned. Alice rose on her toes glaring at Emmett. Jasper touched her shoulder and she relaxed immediately.

"Are we ready to do this?" Kate held her hands up in the air wiggling her fingers.

"Ready," Bella nodded focusing in on Emmett. Emmett was just standing with his arms across his chest looking unfazed.

"Bring it, Katerina." He smiled smugly.

Kate reached out and touched him. Nothing happened. Emmett smirked at her looking smug.

"Perhaps it's best to test Bella if she doesn't know who I'm going to touch." Kate grinned wickedly. Bella narrowed her eyes at her.

In a flash Kate was at my side, I jumped in alarm. Kate reached out to touch me and in another flash she was flying across the clearing and landed in a bush on the other side.

Bella was crouched in front of me hissing.

"Shame, Bella, I wouldn't have hurt him. You were suppose to use your shield, not be so physical." Kate stood up and brushed herself off. She didn't look upset though.

"Kate, Edward is off limits. Keep in mind Edward is Alice's brother and it wouldn't be wise to piss both her off, as well as his mate." Carlisle warned.

"I was only having a bit of fun." Kate tried to pout but her eyes shone with amusement.

She walked around the group and suddenly reached out and grabbed Irina. Irina tensed then relaxed when nothing happened. Kate flashed to Esme and Carlisle and touched them both at once. Again nothing happened.

"You will have to try harder than that Kate." Bella grinned.
Emmett in the meantime wasn't paying attention any more. Kate flashed to him and grabbed his arm. He started to convulse like he was being hit by high-voltage electricity. He fell to his knees then to ground where he started twitching as he pleaded for Kate to stop. I glanced up at Bella and she was smirking, not bothered at all that Emmett was being fried in front of her. I wanted to feel bad for the guy but he had been asking for it.

"Stop please, Kate." He begged before she finally let go. Emmett looked up at Bella with a pitiful expression. "How could you?" He sobbed looking at her. Bella looked slightly guilty, but brushed it off.

"Still think girls are weaker, Emmett," Kate asked reaching out for him again.

"No, don't touch me." Emmett freaked out. He got up and ran to hide behind Carlisle. Carlisle looked over his shoulder at Emmett with an amused expression.

"So I guess my mojo jojo does work to my advantage. Thanks for helping me test that out." Jasper snickered.

Emmett scowled. "You all set me up didn't you?"

"Well, Emmett, I think they all taught you a good lesson. Jasper is right, you shouldn't under estimate your opponent." Carlisle slapped him on the back. Emmett huffed but didn't say anything else.

"Carlisle and Tanya, before we start again Edward brought up a good point. I'm not sure we can leave the wolves out of this." Bella spoke up.

"Why is that?" Tanya looked at me. I was happy to see wasn't eyeing me as sexual prey anymore but in just interest of what I had to say.

"I just point out to Bella it may be hard not to notice a large group of newborn vampires in the area. They might cross La Push and it would only be fair to warn them that they were coming. Also the fact is that if they show up during the fight they may just join in without any concern as to which vampire is on which side. If we reach out to them they might be more willing to assist us. If they think we hid this from them they might get hostile too." I explained.

"Alice does say parts of the fight vanish. Perhaps there is no avoiding the wolves joining us." Eleazar spoke up calmly.

"What about Alice then? The wolves are not going to be pleased to see her." Esme looked worriedly over at my sister.

"Easy, she stays out of the fight." Alice tossed me an irritated look and stuck out her tongue. I continued on. "Jasper already said it would best that she should stay out. I'm sure the addition of four wolves would easily replace one vampire on the field. Besides, even if Maria is a seasoned fighter, has she actually fought wolves before? It could throw her off her game."

"True, the wolves would be something she would never expect." Jasper agreed looking hesitant.

"I thought you said we should leave them out of this?" Alice frowned looking up at him.

"I did, to insure your safety. But your brother has a good point. We may not have a choice in their involvement and it would be better if they were on our side." Jasper pointed out.

"So I will wear a wig or something." Alice insisted. "I need to be in this fight too."
I saw her exchange a look with Jasper. I knew her issue was like mine. I was having a hard time knowing Bella was fighting without me fighting with her.

"There is still your eyes, Alice. Those would be hard to hide." Rosalie was the one to point out. Alice looked disheartened and was amazingly quiet for her.

"Are we in agreement then that we need to contact the wolves." Tanya asked looking towards Carlisle.

"Yes, it sounds unavoidable." Carlisle agreed.

"Edward is on a friendly basis with Jacob, so perhaps it's would be wise to have him reach out to them first." Bella gave me an encouraging smile.

"You would send your mate to these wolves without protection?" Irina looked incredulously at Bella.

"I have met Jacob before. He's not dangerous, at least not to Edward. I believe he would listen to Edward calmly. If he's agreeable I hope to be there anyways." Bella answered. It was still amazed that after everything Bella had such a cool attitude towards the wolves.

"By the way, after what Edward witnessed at the bonfire it looks like Jacob Black is now the Alpha." Bella informed them.

"I had wondered about that. Uley was second to Black the first time. I had figured the true Alpha should've been Jacob the last time we talked with them." Carlisle nodded.

"Then as long as everyone is okay with it I will try to contact Jacob within the next few days. How long do we have anyways?" I looked at my sister.

"I think about a week. I see that it will be after graduation, but not too much more." Alice answered. Her eyes went blank for a moment. "You should get heading back. Charlie is going to be up soon. By the way, you should tell him about your travel plans instead of college. He will be okay with it as long as you plan to go to school the following year. You may need to get emancipated though." Alice's eyes refocused on me.

"I'll bring you back." Bella held my hand after I said a quick good-bye to everyone.

We started to walk off into the woods when Jasper called out from behind me. I paused and turned.

"I was hoping to have a word with you for a moment." He asked softly.

"Sure." I nodded. Bella looked between us slightly hesitant before letting go of my hand.

"Please stay, Miss Bella. What I have to say you can listen too. I know you don't fully trust me yet." He reached out to her.

"I…" he cut Bella off as she tried to argue.

"It's okay, I don't blame you. Alice is always my first concern, like Edward is yours." He gave her a small smile. "I wanted to apologize to you, Edward, for the danger I put Miss Bella, Miss Alice, and you in. If I had an inkling indication that Maria would come back I would never…well…that's not true. Once that connection is formed it's hard to ignore, as you must now yourselves. But I would've taken care of Maria myself before I pursued your sister." Jasper explained honestly.

"You don't have to apologize to me. I do believe you have been nothing but sincere when it has come to my sister. I know she loves you and I hope to get to know you better myself one day." I responded to him just as honestly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bella smiling proudly.

"I would like that especially with what I'm about propose to you." He looked slightly nervous. "In my time it was only proper that when a young man was interest in a young woman's hand in marriage that he would get permission from her father or family prior to asking. So I would like to ask you for Alice's hand."

"Oh," I was caught off guard. I thought about that for a moment before I responded.

"I'm not sure how much Alice told you about our father. He tried to plan out our lives for us. In fact, he even had a guy all picked out for Alice that he intended for her to marry. However, to call the guy an ass would be an understatement. My father didn't chose a guy who was best for Alice, but what was best for him and how he could benefit from by giving Alice away. He had very little concern of her feelings." Jasper's eyes grew dark and his lips pressed into a thin line. I held up my finger asking him to wait a moment longer.

"Now after explaining that to you I have to tell I can't give you my permission. Not because I don't think you're not good enough for her, because I know you would treat Alice with upmost respect and love her like she deserves.

I can't give you permission, because I believe only Alice has the right to decide for herself these matters. I can, however, give you my blessing to ask her." I smiled at him.

His eyes looked relieved and he smiled back at me. "Thank you, your blessing means a lot to me."
"You're welcome." I held out my hand and he shook it gently. He noticeably held his breath.

"Sorry I'm still not used to being around humans." He apologized.

"If you need to hunt, Emmett is always willing to go." Bella told him stepping slightly closer to me.

"I will. Alice should go too." He nodded in agreement.

"I will see you soon." I took Bella's hand again to leave. He vanished from sight.

"Let's get you home." Bella said softly as we walked away.

A/N: So Emmett learned not underestimate the girls. Lol.

Also the wolves will be contacted I know there is so mix reactions to that. But better that they know then have them think it was being kept from them.

Thank You For All Reviews!

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Preview:

I got out of the car and slung my bag over my shoulder. "Jacob?" I called out in greeting not smiling at him.

"Edward. Isn't she staying?" He looked towards Bella in the car. She paused from shifting the gears looking mildly surprised.

"I didn't think you would want her to stay. I will not tolerate her being talk to with disrespect." I narrowed my eyes.

"I understand that. But I was hoping to talk to the both of you." He responded sounding sincere. I heard the car shut off and the door open as she stepped out.