A/N: A quick thank you to everyone who added this story in their alerts and/or added it to their favorite list. It truly means a lot to me.

Chapter 33-

Jasper's POV-

She had been smiling. She had been laughing, all other currently hounding us from every direction- problems seemingly unimportant….just the way I wished for it to be.

I don't know what it was with us and complications. God only knew of how many there were in total!

But for a few brief minutes, it felt good to pretend as if there were none…as if there were no hidden secrets jumping relentlessly to get out….as if we were just two normal people completely free to make a new start.

I was aware though, that it couldn't be this very easy.

We were not two normal people. We had secrets between us, secrets that could very well destroy me, all from my side, unfortunately.

I wish it wasn't so, some days much more than others, but how does one break down the mountain they themselves have created?

I was the creator of this mountain of lies, and now there was nobody but I to blame for whatever mess occurred.

I could have been honest.

I could have told Bella the truth.

It wasn't like I hadn't got the opportunity to- there had been several, for the matter. Heck, I could have told her the entire truth the minute she woke up- chances would have been that she would have forgiven me, but no, I had chickened out, and now I was paying the price for that mistake.

It was my fault and completely my irresponsibility that had led us to this point.

And so, I shut my eyes in disappointment- on myself- hearing the shocked voice slightly behind us, the cat finally out of the bag.

It wasn't completely unexpected, though. Sooner or later I had known that someone would recognize Bella. It wasn't that strange a possibility, to be honest.

Rumors flew in the vampire world, news spreading from one vampire to another like wildfire- and so I had known- even expected- of this day one fine day arriving.

"You are her." I shut my eyes, turning slightly, Bella's laugh stopping in her throat at the sight of our intruder.

"You were the human that could produce fire from her hands. I have heard about you." Maggie added, gulping. "It makes sense. You are her. You killed vampires as a human." she shuddered to herself, terrified of merely being in Bella's presence.

I wrapped my arms around my mate, her shock and confusion palpable. She was terribly confused by Maggie's reaction. She didn't know of how to react to her words, her mouth opening and closing on its own accord.

"Maggie," I sighed, frowning, desperate to talk to her in private.

I had to clear everything out with her…before she told Bella anything.

I had to be the one to Bella the truth. She wasn't supposed to find out like this….in this rude a manner.

That would be worse….much, much worse.

I could bear the blow of her words- I deserved it, I know, but I wanted to have some sort of control over the way in which the matter was presented to her. If it were presented in a wrong way, the matter could blow out of proportion- and that is what scared me, honestly.

Maggie though waved me off, her eyes unmoving as she stared at Bella. "But, what are you doing here? Why are you here? You need to leave." She took a step back in fear, sadness coating Bella's features at said action. She could not understand Maggie's reaction to her, which in turn was causing her to feel hurt. I wrapped my arms around my mate tighter. It did not matter who thought what- Bella was no threat and I knew this. I was not afraid of my mate; there was simply no reason to be. She was good. She did not wish to harm anybody, the fact that her power could destroy anyone and everyone in mere seconds not really her fault. She had not caused this, and so she did not deserve to face the stigma that came attached with it.

Maggie though, continued unaware. "I had been under the impression that the Volturi had sent someone to…..oh…" she paused, sudden knowledge visible in her eyes. She now knew of what my part in this entire story was. "Jasper," she frowned, her eyes wide in disbelief. "Can I talk you in private?"

I sighed in frustration, nodding my head instantly. I needed to talk to Maggie before any further mess occurred.

Bella's hand came to rest on my arm, her eyes questioning as she glanced up at me. I managed a forceful smile, begging her through the medium of my eyes to just let it go…for now.

She sighed, giving into my plea. I kissed her softly on the forehead, not even able to imagine of how my conversation with Maggie would go, it could go either way. She could convince me to tell Bella the truth- Maggie was big on being honest, her power a clear indication to that, or else she could decide to take matters in her own hand, doing the deed for me, the latter much more worrying a thought.

It wasn't that I didn't want Bella to know the truth.

Of course she deserved to know the truth.

But I was scared. I was terrified of what her reaction would be.

What if she chose to never look at my face again, ignoring the dramatics of that thought?

I could not lose Bella.

She was my mate.

She was my reason to live.

I would not be able to survive without her.

No.

I had to make her understand.

I hadn't meant to hurt her.

I hadn't even known of what she would come to mean to me when I had accepted this assignment.

Had I known, I would have made sure to do things differently.

I would never have accepted this assignment, giving the both of us a chance to have a good beginning.

But, now, what was done was done.

Unfortunately, we couldn't go back to the past and change our mistakes, but I would make sure to never hurt her again.

I know- I know that I was being a hypocrite here. I had hurt Bella- and I was still hurting her by not telling her the entire truth.

She deserved to know the truth.

I would have to tell her the truth, no matter what the result be of said action.

But how could I, when one after another only distraction was coming our way.

I hadn't expected our tower to fall this quick.

I had believed that we would have more time.

I had believed that I would have more time.

But it didn't seem to be so any longer.

"Jasper," Maggie's voice was harsh as she pulled me to the side, far away that Bella would not be able to hear our conversation.

I sighed, giving her a nod of the head, my silent indication to lay it all on. I knew what was coming, so why keep the suspense?

She frowned, her eyes telling me of how truly disgusted she felt simply being with me.

It wasn't a crime, you know?

Surely, I had lied. But it wasn't like I had planned any of this.

I had not planned to mate with the human I was supposed to kill.

Had she been just a simple human, I doubt I would have received any flak for my action.

We killed humans for food. It was pretty much the same thing, if you removed the moral value out of it.

I deserved that benefit of doubt, too.

"Just tell me straight," Maggie glared at me. "Is Bella really your mate?"

What?

Out of all of the questions she could ask, this was the least one expected.

"What?" I said through heavy shock and disbelief.

The question was just so unexpected that I could not help but react in such a manner.

She rolled her eyes at my dramatics, frowning.

"Are you pretending to be her mate? Are you even really her mate?"

I sighed audibly, running a hand through my messed up hair. "Is something like that even possible? Can we pretend to be someone's mate, huh?"

That being a rhetorical question, obviously!

Last I checked, we could not pretend to be mates, something like that was simply not possible, contrary to what Alice Cullen believed. Our instincts would tell us without a doubt if said person was our mate or not. And assuming that I was pretending, why would Bella even go through with my plan?

It just didn't make any sense to me.

Maggie scowled in response. "You are her sire. Maybe you have lied to her. Oh wait! You have lied to her." she finished with an evil grin of triumph.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Look, Maggie, I love her. She is my reason to live."

"But you were sent to kill her." she protested, folding her arms over her chest in mastered defiance. "Wasn't she your latest assignment?"

I sighed, letting out a breath. There was no purpose in lying- she would know- and also the cat was already out of the bag. It was too late to push it back in now.

"Yes," I said through gritted teeth. "Aro had chosen me to end Bella. He saw her as a threat, his resolution only strengthening once she killed Jane."

"Why didn't you then?" her tone was partly curious and partly careful. "Or are you waiting for the right time to arrive?"

"Oh, come on," I growled at her, this lack of faith in me almost borderline annoying. "She is my mate. I will die without her. Why will I kill her then? And why would I change her if my ultimate intention was to kill her?"

Maggie frowned at me, refusing to give up. "Okay, accepting all of your reasoning, why didn't you kill her back when she was human and vulnerable?"

I narrowed my eyes at her, almost comically at that. "Whose side are you on?"

She shrugged me off. "Just trying to understand,"

I sighed, nodding my head. "Look, I felt something for her, maybe a diluted spark of the mating bond. Whatever it is, I could not kill her. I did not want to kill her. When that nomad had attacked her, I felt as if my dead heart had started beating again, threatening to jump out of my chest and run away. I was terrified. I could not let her die. I could not lose her."

Maggie smiled at me, almost as if she could not or did not wish to understand the seriousness that my words held. I scowled at her. It had been a big mistake to come and visit 'friends'. Had we not done so, my secret probably would have been safe, Bella's identity still a mystery kept safely under wraps.

This had been a big mistake, agreed, but what use is it to cry over spilt milk?

"You love her." she commented in a whisper.

I rolled my eyes at her. No, no, I had been talking in Hebrew until now, that she just realized this fact.

"Does Aro know that Bella is now a vampire?" she hesitantly questioned.

I gave her an 'isn't it obvious look'.

I wasn't six feet under- and so that was your answer.

She sighed. "This complicates things."

"I would say." I sarcastically quipped.

She huffed in response. "She does not seem to be evil or…."

"Look," I cut her off, making my voice as unmistakably serious as I could. "You don't like my mate- okay, not everyone likes everyone on this planet. But I will not have you treat her like some pariah. She does not deserve that. She has been through a lot in her human life, and I will not let her face anymore pain or sadness. Your actions hurt her- back then. You may not have meant it, but the fact that you jumped two steps away in fear did not go unnoticed by her. I could see the sadness in her eyes on realizing that you were afraid of her…."

"Shouldn't I be?" she glared at me. "She can very easily kill me. I wouldn't even get the chance to defend myself."

"You wouldn't need to." I shouted at her, unapologetically at that. "Had you taken two full minutes to get to know her, you would have realized that Bella is not at all evil or cunning. She does not wish bad over anybody, especially not someone who I had declared a friend."

"But she killed vampires as a past time." Maggie protested; her expression one of confusion. "Was that all a lie?"

I sighed, taking my head in my hands in sheer frustration. "No, human Bella was slightly different from this newborn Bella. She doesn't remember her human life, nothing at all. But I can guarantee you- this Bella is completely innocent. Heck, she is not even comfortable feeding on humans, forget killing vampires. Don't you see the slight golden threatening to overcome the red in my eyes?"

Bella and I had started feeding on animals- on her insistence, but while her red eyes would only disappear towards the end of the newborn year, my eyes had already begun to change color.

It wasn't a pleasant sight, to put it in easy words.

Maggie's eyes were wide as she took this in. "She doesn't remember anything of her human life?"

I shook my head, wincing. "No, nothing at all; she believes it to be a blessing in disguise. She knows about her past- in parts. It is not that bad, though. I guess…you need to know her story to know of why she reacted the way she did, and it is better if you hear it from her mouth instead of mine. It is her story and so her right to decide of which parts should be added and which should be omitted."

"Will she tell me?" she asked, curious to know my answer.

I shrugged in response. "Depends; can you treat her like an equal instead of an out of the cage lion?"

Maggie smiled at me, shaking her head in amusement. "Never thought I'd see the day when Jasper Whitlock would be this protective over a lady!"

I waved a hand at her, shrugging. "You will understand once you find your mate."

She nodded her head in agreement. "I will trust your word. I would like to talk to Bella."

"Okay," I raised an eyebrow. "But one move that makes her uncomfortable and we are out of here."

Maggie nodded her head in agreement, sobering slightly. "We will have to tell Siobhan and Liam the truth about Bella. I will not keep things from them- and if you care about Bella, you should not hide this from her. She deserves to know the truth."

"I know," I frowned. "I am not purposefully keeping anything from her- the opportunity is just never presenting itself."

"It never will." She stated. "Talk it from the walking- talking truth serum. You need to make the opportunity, instead of waiting for it to arrive."

I sighed, letting out a breath.

I knew that what she was saying was the truth, but knowing something and being brave enough of doing it are two extremely different things, almost like North Pole and South Pole- that very different from one another.

"Bella," I mustered a small smile, walking up to where my mate stood waiting for us. "Maggie would like to talk to you."

She raised an eyebrow in question, giving said person an almost smile. "What about,"

Maggie was about to answer and ask her question, but before that could happen, something was yet to occur.

"Maggie would like to apologize to you. She was rude earlier." I supplied, meeting Bella's eyes.

Maggie turned to stare at me, amusement coating her features. She had probably not expected that, but accepting your somewhat mistake was hardly enough. She needed to verbally apologize for it. Bella deserved that much in the least.

"Jasper," Bella murmured, embarrassed by my insistence.

"No, Bella," Maggie shook her head, smiling. "I am sorry. I should have known better than to judge a book by its cover. Your power does not make you any different from another vampire I would have met."

Bella smiled, accepting the apology. "What did you want to ask me about?"

"Jasper told me a bit about your human life…."

Bella nodded her head. "I don't remember anything much at all, but I can tell you from what Jasper has told me. I am guessing you want to know of why I killed vampires, or rather why I enjoyed it all that much."

"Yes," Maggie sighed. "If you don't mind,"

Bella gave her a sad smile, sighing as she replied. "My parents were killed by a vampire. He drained them before me, leaving me alive as a reason for him to laugh at my tears. I was no older than a child then. My dad's best friend took me in; raising me like one would a daughter. I guess….when I discovered my power…it was like I had found a way to gain revenge from the person who did this to me. I know that not all vampires were at fault…."

"But you were angry," Maggie cut her off. "I understand."

"Yeah," Bella sighed. "I was mighty pissed off at the world."

Maggie nodded her head in agreement. "Where is your parents' killer now, do you know?"

"He lives in Romania." I stated. "We are on our way to end him."

It had been a long time coming now.

"Oh," Maggie whispered, almost deep in thought, turning to look at Bella. "I would like to help. I know that you hardly know me and most probably do not trust me, but I am a firm believer in truth should win- justice should prevail. I would like to come with you, help you out in whichever way I can."

Bella turned to look at me, a question in her eyes, but I shrugged at her.

This was her call to make.

It was her decision, entirely.

"Okay," Bella said with a small smile, having taken her decision.

Maggie gave her a warm smile in response, her eyes meeting mine- wordlessly telling me all I needed to know.

I needed to tell Bella the truth.

And I would- in due time.