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 39-
Jasper's POV-
My brother was here.
My family was finally here, and I couldn't have been any happier at the moment.
Now, it felt as if I could easily deal with whatever life threw at me, no matter how difficult or impossible the problem may seem to be.
Don't get me wrong. I love Bella. She is my mate; I care about her and trust her with my very life, but Peter and Charlotte are family. I have known them for decades now. They know and recognize every mood of mine, knowing of when exactly I needed to be left alone, and of when I needed the support, even if I grumbled for days over it, making promises of dismembering them if they didn't leave me alone.
Of course, the both parties were well aware that my threats were in vain- I wasn't really going to even lay a finger on them, but yet, they just never gave up, paying a deaf ear to every insult that I lay upon them, being there for me, even despite of me claiming to not need their help.
So, you understand where I was coming from.
They were family, and would always remain family to me, that post unable to be filled by anyone else.
They knew me, possibly even better than I knew myself, only having my best interests at heart.
And so, now, I could only hope that Bella liked them as much as I did, accepting them as a part of her life and future family.
I don't know what I would do if she didn't like them, not trusting them enough to have them around. Knowing Bella, it wouldn't come down to that- even if she didn't like them, she would be considerate enough to be cordial towards them, but still, I could not help but dread the possibility of me having to choose between them and her.
I could not choose.
I did not wish to choose.
I could not even think of who I would choose, if it came down to that. Bella was my mate- my life- my forever, but Peter and Charlotte were family, and it is simply impossible to choose one over the other, whoever not be chosen, the guilt and pain to be bore by me.
"Jasper, brother," Peter laughed, him and Charlotte walking ahead towards me, Charlotte giving me a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.
"We missed you." She stated, her arms still around my torso, her emotions quite similar to that little- scared- girl I had witnessed soon after her change, before Peter had been changed, joining her in their eternity. Back in the day, Charlotte had been a miserable newborn. She would keep wallowing and begging for her then human husband, Peter, pleading with me to either change him, or to let her die, ending her suffering. I had refused either of the two options at first, our argument stretching for months altogether, before I had finally given in, telling Charlotte that the final choice would still remain Peter's. It would be his decision of whether he wanted to become a vampire or not, and Charlotte would accept it, no matter what the decision be. Of course, it never came down to that, Peter was simply too happy to get his wife back, that the price of this decision never seemed too much to pay.
I had always admired their love for one another, never believing the possibility of finding someone who would love me as much as they loved one another, but maybe that is the way fate works; when you have no hope left, it kicks in, changing your life as you knew it, forever.
"I missed you, too." I hugged her tight, sharing a grin with Peter, his nod of the head giving me his agreement.
It had been a while since I had seen either of them. Of course, we had gone months and even years before without seeing one another, either of us traveling the world causing that scenario, but it was different this time around.
I had sent them to collect information about Stefan, finding out of whether anybody in the South knew of his whereabouts or not. Of course, they had gotten back to me and we were here today, but they had stayed this far away from home for me, because of me, and so I could not help but be a little more thankful to have such loyal family around.
It was a blessing, indeed.
"Charlotte…Peter," Bella mumbled as soon as Charlotte was out of my arms, a tentative smile on her face as she hugged the former, even more nervously. "I know that we don't really know one another, but I have heard so much about you…"
"Oh, Suga'," Charlotte hugged her back. "We have been waiting to meet you. Any woman who can tame Jasper Whitlock is definitely someone I would like to meet." She finished with a wink, causing Bella to laugh.
"Welcome to the family, Bella." Peter nodded his head at her, all my worries of them not accepting one another quick to die a painless death. Bella smiled back at him, nodding her head in agreement.
"Thank you for all what you did…for us…" Bella stated, nervously.
"Now," Peter interrupted her, a serious expression on his face. "Either, you believe us to be family, or you say thank you. Which one of it is it? Do you not see us as family?" He looked completely, scarily serious at the moment.
Obviously, I could feel his emotions and knew that he was just joking around, but for someone who was not an empath, his performance was almost praiseworthy and easily enough to let the other fall in his trap.
Bella nearly blushed- I know it is not a possibility for our kind, but believe me, she almost did. "No, I mean, yeah. I am sorry. I did not mean to offend…"
Peter's thunderous laugh cut her off, Charlotte shaking her head, hitting him square in the chest for causing Bella to be this mortified.
It was true, though.
Bella looked so embarrassed by her this current predicament, that I could not help but wrap my arms around her, kissing her on the forehead lightly as she chose to hide her face in my chest, almost as if that would render her invisible.
It wouldn't, but it was worth a try.
But that was Peter for you. Cracking jokes and making you uncomfortable being his thing, but he was also extremely loyal towards those he considered family. He would easily lay his life down for his near ones, not even a hint of doubt in his eyes.
I wanted Bella to be able to trust him. I wanted to Bella to share her own bond with the both of them, and so unless she pointed out otherwise, my equation with Peter and Charlotte would remain separate from her equation with the two of them.
"So, now that this mushiness is done with, can we get back to the topic at hand? It is overly nauseating, to be extremely honest with you."
Of course, Kate would be the one to state something of this sort. Garrett had his hands full with this one, I tell you.
"If I wanted an overdose of sappiness, I would go and live with the Cullen's'. They are another coven settled in the Olympic Peninsula. You should consider yourself blessed if you don't know them. Anyhow, I am pretty sure they follow some ridiculous fashion magazine word to word that tells them of how rich humans are supposed to act. The last time I visited their house, Esme Cullen- the matriarch of that disaster- was cooking up a storm. When asked for the reason of this idiocy, considering we don't eat human food, she laughed and informed me of how she was keeping herself updated with the latest cuisines, never knowing of when the need would arise to utilize this knowledge of hers. I swear, at times I think, her husband, Carlisle, is finding out some way to turn them all back to human. Of course, there is obviously no way such, but the way they behave, one would believe that anytime now Carlisle Cullen will scream 'Eureka' and the world will be changed as we know it."
"You know the Cullen's?"
Our mouths were wide open, our jaw dropped as it touched the floor, shock that evident in the air around.
Kate shrugged in confusion. "Yea, but how do you know them? You don't seem the kind to mingle with the Cullen's?"
Maggie laughed humorlessly at that, waving a hand in air. "We weren't the kind to mingle with the Cullen's, before we were forced to mingle with them, or at least with one of theirs."
"What do you mean?" Kate frowned in suspicion.
I sighed, nodding my head, deciding to be the one to speak, considering I was the common link between all of these people here. Of course, not when it came to Kate, but she was Garrett's mate and I knew Garrett, so I guess it counted.
"Maggie is mated to Edward Cullen."
"Oh." Kate's eyes went wide at my statement. "I am so sorry."
Yeah, that seemed rather apt a reaction.
"Kate," Garrett mumbled at her, staring at her, probably due to the lack of apathy in her tone, but she simply shrugged in response, almost as if saying, meet the man in question before you judge me.
Maggie waved a hand at her, laughing it off. "I am stuck with him- my bad luck. How do you know them, but?"
Kate sighed, rolling her eyes. "Centuries ago, my oldest sister and our coven leader was out hunting when she came across these two nomads. They fed solely on animals, like we did, or like rather I did back in the day. Tanya was intrigued by them and brought them back with her to our house, the two of them soon joining our coven. Now, Eleazar and Carmen are rather nice people, but they were just too damn influenced by the Cullen's. Eleazar and Carlisle Cullen are old friends. Anyhow, the first time Carmen called me daughter, I almost lost my shit. She was not my mother, and I did not even see her as a mother, but I guess, she believed that like Esme Cullen had found a bunch of dumb teenagers to 'mother', she could do the same to us. Tanya tolerates it, but Irina and I could not have been anymore bothered by her smothering. So, yeah, through them I know about the Cullen's. Have met them a few times over the years but…. hey, why are you sitting down?" she glared at Peter, the latter having sat down on the ground, curiously listening to her speak.
"You were telling us a rather long story. I wanted to be comfortable for the story telling session. That is no crime now, is it, Char?" he innocently turned to look at Charlotte, the latter shaking her head with a sigh on her lips.
Of course, Peter would find something humorous in the situation, using it to create his personal havoc.
"Asshole," Kate muttered under her breath, her expression giving away the fact that she was almost tempted to use her power on him, Garrett's hand on her stopping her from having her fun.
"Did you say something? I felt a weird buzzing in my ears." Peter questioned, smirking.
"Yeah, I said that…"
"Can we please get back to the topic at hand?" Bella pleaded to the two of them. "I believe that is more important at the moment."
Kate frowned at her, pouting like a four-year old. "He distracted me." She pointed towards Peter, Peter's response being to laugh his ass off. He was seriously a devil reincarnation.
"Where is Stefan at the moment, Kate?" I asked her, putting an immediate end to this childishness.
She crossed her arms across her chest, answering, "He is hiding in some cave, up ahead. I was going to go after him, but met Garrett before I could do so."
I nodded my head in agreement. "We should go there then. Why delay when we have all the details necessary?"
It was obvious, wasn't it? We had all the information required, knew where he was, with his coven already being dead, courtesy Kate, making it so that he was now alone and vulnerable.
Why the wait then?
What purpose would that solve, well, apart from wasting our precious time?
Right?
I had almost expected the others to enthusiastically bob their heads up and down, agreeing with me as we left for our destination without wasting even a second longer, but so was hardly the case as no one reacted for ten excruciatingly long seconds, just staring at me with no particular emotion crossing their faces or mind, almost making me believe that I had stumbled over my words, muttering something completely embarrassing and cringeworthy, the kind that you wish you had never been born to be able to mutter.
I did not remember speaking anything such, but who knows?
It is impossible for so many people to go into shock at the same time…. Right?
"What?" I finally demanded, annoyed of this awkward silence, waiting to hear their answer.
What was the matter with these people?
Why had they suddenly turned into statues, treating these woods to be their personal Madame Tussauds?
Did they even have any sane reason to provide for their sudden behavior?
I somehow doubted it.
"I can't believe this." Bella whispered, finally, her eyes shutting briefly. "This day is finally here. I have waited for so long, almost giving up hope a few times now. And yet, somehow, this day has finally arrived."
I sighed, taking my mate in my arms, sending to her all the love that I had for her, kissing her hair as I breathe into her soothing scent.
This was a difficult day for her, I was aware of this.
She needed this comfort; I was even aware of this.
Our mate's arms were the most relaxing and calming place for any vampire, and so, needless to mention, this was the least I could do for her.
She was finally going to come face to face with the vampire who killed her parents, seeing for herself the man who was responsible for her becoming an orphan, losing her family in the matter of a few unfortunate minutes. She would finally get to demand answers from him. She would finally get to know for herself of why he did what he did, or whether he held any remorse over his actions or not.
Sure, he was one sadistic fellow who did this for personal pleasure- this was hardly a secret to anybody, but yet hearing him confess all of this would be a completely different deal for Bella. It would be cathartic, of sorts, finally lending her the relief she has never acquired in this short a life of hers, a part of hers always wondering over the 'what if's'.
Heck, I wouldn't even be surprised if she decided to use Stefan as a newly acquired punching bag, or decided to practice some sudden knowledge of torture on him that she had come across recently.
In fact, I was almost expecting rage and hatred. I was expecting her to shout and scream, threatening to tear of his limbs.
That would indeed be a normal reaction to be expected from anybody pushed in this situation that she had passed through.
She was a newborn, a newborn that was now about to face her parents' killer. It was bound to be expected that she would be angry and filled with the need for revenge.
But whatever her reaction be, I could only hope that it would provide her with enough relief to survive her eternity without any guilt.
Eternity was way too long a time to hold any guilt over anything that occurred in your human life. It would slowly kill you from the inside out, leaving you a mere shell of yourself, or in a worse case scenario, you would become a second Edward Cullen.
Isn't that what had happened to him?
He blamed himself for everything under the sun, from his change to his parents dying to him losing his soul and becoming a monster.
Seriously, if someone wants baseless and completely unnecessary self-loathing and angst, talk to the man.
He has enough fodder to get you going for a few years at least.
Sure, by the time that tirade of his ends, he would have found another reason to hate himself.
It was pitiable, that is what it was!
"Jasper," Peter's voice pulled me out of my thoughts, a sigh on his lips. "We are not joining you on this journey. You and Bella are to go alone. Don't worry; he is just a single defenseless vampire; it should be a matter of a few minutes to kill him and walk away."
"Why aren't the rest of you joining us?" I narrowed my eyes at him in question.
He shrugged. "We are needed elsewhere. You need not worry of that now." He shared a look with the others, his eyes doing the talking, whatever he said to them leaving his impact as the others soon nodded their heads in agreement.
It seemed as if our paths were diverting from here onwards.
I nodded my head one final time, taking Bella's hand in mine as we began to follow the route on which Stefan would be found, the others still waiting in the woods behind us.
What was Peter up to now?
And what did he mean by, they were needed elsewhere?"