AN: First things first, I apologize for the wait. New Year's hit me harder than I expected, and left me without the energy or the muse to write. I know things are hard in the world right now for everyone, so please, take a moment for yourself and your self-care if you can.
Even if that means reading this silly story of mine.
As usual, I do not own Twilight or it's characters.
It was strange, waking up to the type of sore that Bella knew only came with pleasure. For once Jasper was still in bed when she awoke, his eyes darkening as he watched her stretch out her muscles.
"Mornin'." The sound of his voice made her smile, and she leaned over to plant a kiss on his lips.
"Good morning. I'm guessing we can't just lay in bed for hours?" She eyed his dressed form with slight disdain. There goes her hope for some lazy wake-up fun.
Jasper smirked at her, deliberately running his eyes up and down her form.
"Unfortunately not, kitt'n," He grinned salaciously, "Even though I ain't complainin' 'bout the view."
Bella laughed, feeling giddy and playful, and got out of bed. She gave a little shimmy as she did so, gratified by hearing Jasper growl behind her.
"Careful kitt'n." She ignored his murmured warning and instead continued on the way to the attached bathroom.
"Are we handling the newborns today?" She questioned over her shoulder. "What should I wear for that?"
"Jeans, long-sleeves. Peter, Char, and I will be wearing short sleeves, but ya don't have any scars to display so I'd like ya to be covered."
He knew she heard him through the open door, even with the shower starting up. She poked her head out, her body now wrapped in a towel as if seeing herself naked in the mirror gave her modesty.
"Oh, so I shouldn't walk out there showing off all these lovely new bruises you gave me last night?" She teased, pulling her hair over her shoulder so the trail of dark purple bruises that started high on her neck and trailed down to dip underneath the towel were on display.
Jasper didn't bother hiding the pleasure he got from seeing his marks on his mate, and was by her side in a second, cold fingertips tracing the bruises.
Bella shivered but leaned into his touch, a smile on her face.
"I'd rather not kill a newborn just 'cause they don't know a claim when they see one, kitt'n," He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Get dressed. Leave the bruises on ya neck uncovered, but cover everything else for me."
Bella nodded with a sly smile before disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.
Standing in an abandoned warehouse next to her mate with nearly a hundred scared vampires in front of her really put Bella's life in perspective.
She could have easily ended up as one of them, tricked into this life by Cullen's words. Or as she was now noticing, her eyes meeting varying shades of red as she swept her gaze across them all, stolen into this life like so many others seemed to be.
Already she could point out a few that could end up causing trouble, if only by the way they looked at her with a crude mixture of revulsion and hunger on their faces.
Surprisingly, they were in the minority. Many of them looked at her with something like fear and uncertainty in their eyes, their gaze constantly flickering to her hand casually resting on Jasper's arm.
So far Jasper hadn't had to use his gift at all, which was promising. But Bella kept her eyes on the group before them, hesitant to trust.
"Alright," Jasper's voice echoed through the warehouse, making it sound louder than it really was. "Y'all got lucky, and we put ya fates up to a vote."
He was stone-faced even as the muttering whispers caused by his words grew in volume around them.
"It's clear that y'all weren't informed of the rules of our kind, and that ain't nobody's fault but ya makers." The muttering turned to growls and snarls at the mention of Cullen, but they quieted quickly when Bella felt Jasper put the smallest wave of calm through the air. "We'll be dealin' with 'im now, don't y'all worry. But first things first, rules."
Peter stepped up then, a serious expression on his face that Bella felt should look out of place but instead just made Peter seem deadly.
"Listen up because I ain't gonna repeat myself." Peter's voice rang clear across the crowd before him. "You're vampires now, in case any of ya hadn't figured it out, and with that comes a set a rules you have to follow if you want to keep your existence."
In true Peter fashion, one of his hands came up to count off the rules.
"First rule, cover ya tracks. The reason we were able to find y'all is that you were careless with your kills. We all need to eat to survive, I get it, but if law enforcement starts getting wind of what's happening move the fuck on. That leads into the next rule, don't get greedy. Ya start acting like a greedy motherfucker, start draining families or trying to collect whole towns for yourself, well, let's just say you'll see us again and your fate won't be put up for a vote. Thirdly, no children allowed. This here is a rated R club we got going, and if they are younger than sixteen, don't bother. Creating an immortal child leads to nothing but death, that I promise you."
He paused then, his eyes cutting sharply across the crowd.
"This is the final rule, but I guarantee you it's the most important one."
The silence in the warehouse was so strong that Bella could hear her heartbeat in her ears.
"Do not, under any circumstances, reveal the existence of vampires to humans."
A voice from the crowd then, and when Bella looked she was unsurprised to see it coming from the small group she was worried about.
"Hypocrites! How can you tell us that when there is a human right in front of our eyes!" A woman, perhaps late twenties with pin straight blonde dyed hair chopped at her chin, gestured wildly towards Bella. Her companion, a gaunt looking man with dishwater brown hair and deep set eyes sneered along before adding his two cents.
"So you're allowed to keep pet's to fuck but we're expected to keep ourselves secret? Bullshit."
A grin spread across Peter's face, nearly sadistic in glee. "Oh, I'm so glad you said that."
"What-"
Neither vampire was able to get a word in because suddenly, there was Emmett and Rosalie, their hands wrapped around stone throats. Windpipes crushed easily beneath their stone fingers, and Emmett smiled like he didn't have a care in the world.
"Now, I'd ask you to apologize to the Major's mate there, but we all know neither one of you would mean it."
Again the murmurs broke out across the crowd, and Bella could feel the eyes on her. Emmett's voice easily boomed over it all.
"So instead, your fate is left up to her." He looked directly at Bella then, a mischievous glint in his eyes that made Bella want to sigh. "What do you say, Princess? Off with their heads?"
Bella resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Emmett's attempt at humor, and instead took a step forward, her hand falling away from Jasper's arm.
"It's a shame I can't blame ignorance for your actions, as clearly it was your own impulsiveness that put you here." Her eyes never left the panicked gaze of the two vampires in Rosalie and Emmett's clutches, but she knew she had everyone's attention. "If you can't respect us now, when your lives are literally in our hands, then how are we to expect you will respect the rules?"
The man began to thrash in Emmett's grip, caught on now to his fate, and Emmett snarled before increasing his pressure to the point that cracks began to form beneath his hand. The woman continued to stare dumbly in Bella's direction, her disgust evident even though she could not speak.
Bella broke her gaze, turning to Rosalie and Emmett with a new found certainty in her role of judgement.
"Off with their heads."
Rosalie's smile was radiant, and the laugh that Emmett let out seemed like it boomed from deep in his chest. It was so loud in fact, that Bella almost didn't hear the tell-tale screech of tearing vampire flesh.
But she did.
Jasper's arm snaked around her waist as she watched Emmett chuck the heads to Garrett while Rosalie methodically dismantled the bodies.
"Well damn kitt'n," His voice was a smooth purr of words against her. "I didn't realize I would have such a hard time tellin' myself not to drag ya back to the room."
Bella laughed before she could help it, and she felt the satisfaction Jasper got from causing it.
"Watch yourself, cowboy," She spoke under her breath, careful not to be overheard. "We have a lot more to do today before you start trying to tie me to the bed."
Jasper spun her around to face him, a dangerous glint in his eye.
"You're gonna make a terrifying vampire, kitt'n, but always rem'mber," He leaned in close, so that they were nose to nose and just a breath apart, "I can tame anythin' ya throw at me, and I'll enjoy every damned second of it."
Bella was left there breathless, her chest heaving, and Jasper was just casually standing back with Peter and Char, a cocky grin on his lips.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road!" Peter's voice was downright cheerful, which made the fear in everyone else's faces even more stark. "We're gonna call y'all up by groups, ask ya if you comply with the rules, and if you tell us the truth, well, we'll send ya on your merry little way."
Jasper clapped a hand on Peter's shoulder, causing everyone's attention to instantly be drawn to him. He met their gazes evenly, holding some until they looked away.
"That's after we talk about Cullen, ofcourse." He added, his stern tone broking no argument.
Peter nodded in easy agreement.
"Yeah yeah, after we discuss if y'all want a piece of 'im," He continued on, not letting anyone get a word past their lips. "But first, line up! Let's get this process a'going!"
He clapped his hands loudly as if to put the vampire's into motion, and Bella wasn't surprised to see that it worked.
Suddenly Rosalie was at her side, and Bella eyed her curiously. Rosalie brushed some ash from her hands in a casual manner, before she turned her the full intensity of her carmine eyes towards her.
"Everyday I get to see you like this, like yourself, I start to think a little more that I would be lucky to call you a friend, Bella." Rosalie was characteristically serious in her statement, but Bella grinned up at her.
"You know, I think I feel the same way."
AN: I know I said I hoped to finish this story before the new year, but well, life happens. However, if the story continues to flow how I predict, we got about another 5-6 chapters to go. I hope everyone enjoyed this update, I'll be back with more soon!
