My phone buzzed again. Elise eyed my pocket. "So, which side will you be picking?"

I drew out the phone. "Mine."

Jasper

Peter wore a smug smile when I took the chair next to him. The delegates convened in an even more post-apocalyptic style, crumbling building in middle-of-nowhere Arizona. The air felt hot and sticky, and I wanted nothing more than to run back up North to the refreshing breeze. But that would have to wait because I couldn't miss the developments that would be presented today.

They had found a shield. It was an impressive turnaround on their end. This was more than enough of a reason to move the meeting forward.

Peter enjoyed this tremendously. I could tell. I felt it. His gloating was understandable. Not days after our conversation, talks of a shield had swarmed the alliance. He took full credit for the idea, which I wasn't too upset about. Recognition was the least of my concerns.

A male delegate walked in with an unconscious human girl draped over his arms. She looked no more than eighteen. She was lowered onto the table that centered the room, and her brown locks spilled over the edge of the table. She looked sadly peaceful on the unforgiving slab of wood, watched intently by malevolent beings. The most malevolent of them all stood from her seat. Maria circled the girl like a lioness targeting her prey.

"How have you confirmed her ability?" she enunciated each word.

The male delegate who still remained by the human spoke. "I am unable to influence her if I maintain physical contact. Her shield works only through touch."

Maria paused, looked around the room, then made the important clarification. "This is William. His gift allows him to instill undeniable attraction in his victims."

William took it from there. "Great for feeding, as you might expect. My influence on her vanished the moment I touched her."

Useless, I thought. The girl lay limp, vulnerable to our poking and prodding. She certainly had a gift. She showed it as a human. But it wasn't good enough. I looked at Peter, and I knew he could read my doubts. A slight frown ghosted his lips. He was disappointed, as well.

"We can never know the shield's true extent until she is turned," William went on. "Which is why we shouldn't judge too early. Peter, we're leaving the transformation to you. She should be changed within the week. Meanwhile, we will set up camp here to commence initial training for the most recent recruits."

A woman gestured to me. "Mr. Jasper Whitlock, we expect you at camp for your expert direction. But first, perhaps you could support the developments with Peter."

I tore my gaze away from my partner and examined the girl on the table. This time, all I saw was Elise. Brown hair, young complexion. Limp, lethargic, faint. This was her with the Jovu. This was her with Damon.

A burning erupted in my body. My grip on the table tightened. I felt Maria's piercing gaze on my face which forced me out of my panic. Focus.

I nodded curtly at the woman. "I have a place in Nevada. I think it's best to take her to a secluded location. It's optimal to wake newborns with minimal distractions." Peter ducked his head in approval.

The meeting proceeded with regulatory updates. Maria's troops had reached Dallas and they were on track to capture Fort Worth. All good news.

Once the meeting concluded, Peter picked up the girl and we made our trek up to the Nevada cabin.

"These safe houses have always been such a great idea," he remarked as we brushed through tall grass. "Why don't more people think of this? I'm glad you suggested to keep the girl there. Better than waking up on a table as the most profitable science experiment."

His words meant something else entirely, but my mind trailed to the Jovu. Elise.

Damon, the faceless vampire, chaining her to an oval table. His cold hands on her skin, feeling her uneven heartbeat. Relishing in his destruction. Tubes tangled up in her arms, connecting them. His venom oozing his way into her body. Madness.

I shivered involuntarily. Peter noticed.

"Cold?" he joked.

No. Disgusted. Vengeful.

I quickly pointed at the horizon. "This way," I said, and led us through the last patch of trees. The trip had taken hours, and I had monitored the girl all throughout. For a moment, I thought William had been lying about the extent of her shield. I wasn't touching her and couldn't feel a thing coming from her. But I soon realized that whilst unconscious, the source was completely cut off. I couldn't feel because there was nothing to feel. She was knocked out hard enough that she might as well have been dead. If it weren't for her heartbeat, I would've called her time of death already.

The front door fell to our feet when we headed inside. I really needed to properly fix that damn door. I led Peter into the room that had belonged to Melissa.

"I hope she's strong enough," Peter said as he placed her onto the bed.

I absently adjusted the pillow to accommodate her neck. "You do?"

"They'll kill her if she doesn't prove her worth."

I pushed the girl's hair away from her face and examined a few bruises on her forehead. Did they really have to induce this much force? "When will they realize that knocking out a human this way only causes more harm to their brain?"

Peter chuckled. "Not all of us have your sleepy dose we can wield whenever we please. Plus, they didn't intend on her waking up alive."

Right. She needed to be pumped full of venom. Right now.

I still don't understand why you haven't knocked me unconscious and pumped me with your sweet cream venom.

Fuck. I couldn't do this. I looked at Peter and spoke half the truth. "If I start, I don't know if I can stop."

My buddy patted me on the shoulder. "I know."

Within a second's notice, he pushed me to the side and sank his teeth deep into her neck.

I found Elise a few miles North of the Cullen residence. She was curled up against a tree, writing passionately in her journal. She tensed for a moment, looked up, and found me staring right back at her. I moved closer, slowly, at the best human speed I could muster. The way she looked at me when she was saw me was addicting. I wanted to leave more often just so I could experience it again, and again.

"I'm glad you're here," I murmured. I was extremely glad that she was here and not replacing Melissa. It was as if I needed proof that she wasn't the one that Peter was condemning.

"Me too. Far, far, away so that your family can't hear every breath I take. Refreshing."

I sat next to her, feeling her warmth surround me. She shut her journal and took my hand. I watched our fingers do their dance before finding their equilibrium.

"I missed you. I wish you wouldn't leave."

I exhaled slowly, then had the stupidest idea. "How about I take you with me next time?"

Her eyes lit up. "You would do that?"

Pleasing her was too easy, and it pleased me in return. "Yes. How about tomorrow?"

She didn't contain her excitement. She swam in it and pulled me in with her. She liked being included. Her glee was contagious. "Where are we going?"

"I have someone I'd like you to meet."

She giggled. "You have friends?"

"I wouldn't say a friend, per se, but I'm confident that you will find this experience rewarding."

She scooted closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder. "Am I meeting someone or buying a timeshare? You make it sound so systematic."

My chest swelled with the intake of breath that filled my senses with her scent. This was peace. The world could have stopped turning at that moment, and I would be content. I looked down at her journal. "What were you writing?"

"Things I'd like to remember."

"It's illegal to hunt unicorns in Michigan. I hope you'd want to remember that."

She turned and looked at me oddly for a few seconds. I threw her a smile.

She gently reached to grab her journal. Shaking her head, she angled herself away from me so that I couldn't see the pages.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said as she jotted something down, then smiled up at me. "It's like you're a different person every time I look at you."

"You do look at me a lot. I must be suffering from an incredible case of multiple personalities."

She placed the journal down in between us and drew her knees to her chest. I didn't like the space the journal occupied. It kept us apart.

"I like you a lot, Jasper."

She did. I would be stupid to think otherwise. "I can't feel you, but I'm aware of basic human tells."

She sighed happily. "You'd be drowning if you could feel me. Fate is kind."

"Fate is what you make it."

"Oh, stop."

I chuckled. "I speak the truth."

She made a face. "You never speak the truth. And fate is what you make it if you're a vampire. Humans are susceptible to death and it's often out of their control. Illness being the worst of them."

I picked at a branch that hung low from the tree behind us. "With your pains and the cell abnormalities, I can't say cancer wasn't on my mind. That's an unfortunate fate."

"It was definitely a possibility. Just wasn't reality."

My jaw stiffened. "And it will never be. Something as dull and finite as humanity won't take you away from me."

She got that look in her eye again. "Who are you?"

"Jasper Whitlock. At your service," I extended my hand. She took it and used it to pull herself closer.

"No. You're someone else. The Jasper I know is bitter, cruel, and mean."

Her openness made me smile. "I'm all of that and more, sweet pea."

She scrunched her nose. "I hate sweet peas."

Noted. "No sweet pea soup for you, got it. I'll inform the chef."

Elise looked up at the sky. "You hit your head on something, didn't you? Does Carlisle practice vampire medicine? Let's get you checked out."

"I'm perfectly fine," I put my arm around her. "The Earth is warm, the trees are beautiful, the girl smells like the sun."

"The boy suffers from acute dementia."

I suffered from something way worse than that. "The world isn't fair, Elise. I intend to take all it gives me and enjoy it until I can't."

She rolled her eyes. "Congratulations on being the cause of climate change."

I pulled her closer and dug my nose into her neck, just below her earlobe. "You talk way too much. Have I told you that?"

"Yes. And I've told you that you wouldn't like me otherwise." Her breathing turned shallow. It was joyous to watch her try to contain herself, but she wasn't the only one suffering. We were in this together.

"Keep talking," I breathed. "It helps."

"Helps you like me?"

"Distracts me. Keeps me from doing things I can't."

She traced my jawline with her finger. "Since when do you let someone tell you what you can't and cannot do?"

Alice. I bit my inner cheek. "Since they told me how important you are to me."

She drew back slightly. "Someone had to tell you that?"

"I didn't believe them."

"You didn't believe them because it wasn't true, or because you didn't want it to be true?"

It was true, damn it. All of it. The girl, the pull, the damnation that came with it. And I needed all of it. It was all of it, or none of it. Her proximity. Tantalizing, as always. I grabbed her chin and my eyes asked for the permission I told myself I needed. I pulled her face into mine. My lips met warmth, but it wasn't the kind I was expecting. It wasn't her lips that I met. She had turned her cheek.

What? I pulled away and looked at her incredulously. Her eyes were hard, judgmental.

"Doesn't feel great, does it? Now answer my question."

I stood up. "Are you messing with me?"

"You're asking me if I'm messing with you?"

My temper boiled the atmosphere around us. "I'm giving you what you want."

Her temper was worse. "And what is that? Kissing you? Being with you? You're really doing me a favor, aren't you?"

It wasn't like that. She knew that. She wanted this as much as I did. Didn't she?

"Stop trying to use my emotions against me," she bit out. "You touch me, and it's hard to breathe. I'm human, and you use it. You use it all against me."

"Elise," I stopped her firmly. She didn't listen.

"You're done doing this. You will not force me to wear these stupid rose colored glasses. You claim you hate the Cullens for pulling them off as the latest fashion, but you sure know how to match it to every one of my outfits every day. There is no truth to you, is there?"

The anger inside of me bubbled down, and in its place I felt an odd feeling of pride. She was containing her emotions. She was reasoning through them. She wasn't letting them rule her. More importantly, she wasn't letting me rule her.

She narrowed her eyes. Her voice was fierce. "I already gave up my humanity for you. You've succeeded in taking that away from me. But you're getting nothing else. Whatever bullshit magic you're working to get me to obey your every command - stop it. God knows I want you. I'd be blind if I didn't. But I know there's nothing in there," she pointed at my chest. "That I can trust with mine." She placed her hands right above her heart.

Small droplets of rain fell from above. If nature was trying to cool our anger, it was admirable. As I stood there in front of her, I beamed internally. At that moment, I knew without a doubt that she was more than capable. She saw through the haze that her emotions brought upon her. The world would throw anything at her and she would stand up tall. She survived the Jovu. She was surviving me. And she would survive the alliance.

Edward was wrong. My motives were clear as day. I was created to provide the wobbly stepping stones that would lead her to her full potential. The stones might occasionally sink into the water below, but it would teach her to stay afloat. They might be slippery, but they would teach her to stand her ground. Other times, they might be hot beneath her feet under the sun, but it would teach her resilience. Everything would prepare her for the worst.

And she needed to be prepared for the worst.

Throughout it all, I was ready for her to hate me. Learning was hard. Accepting difficult truths were harder.

But I knew she would understand. She had to.

A mate was a mate.

And a mate would always understand.

A/N: Happy New Years, my fellow readers! It's going to be a great year. I can feel it.

Speaking of feelings, we got a glimpse into Elise's tolerance to Jasper's bullshit. She likes him, too. A lot. But she knows he's the most untrustworthy being on the planet. How could she let herself fall for such a man? We'll get her point of view at some point.

Jasper's always delusional. As always. Even the New Year couldn't change that. Doesn't he know that this is not how to lead a relationship? Clearly not. Also, would a mate really always understand? Hmm.

Where is he taking her tomorrow? Who does he plan on having her meet?

Also is Damon still around? What about Aro? Has he figured it all out yet?