Her grin as she stood before me chilled me to the bone. Maria, my maker, was the one person i could do without seeing.

"Miss me, Major?" She questioned with a slight sneer.

"Like a fly on a hot summer day, Maria."

Her very presence urged me to pull Bella behind me. My nerves becoming on edge as I watched her eyes move back and forth between Bella and I.

"I see you found a new pet." she replied with a smirk.

Bella's growl rang in my ears before she yelled "I'm no one's pet, you stupid cunt."

"How dare you talk to me that way? I'll rip you to shreds, you little puta."

My growl louder then ever before as I dropped in to a crouch in front of Bella "No one and I mean no one speaks to my mate that way, Maria."

Her laugh was like nails on a chalkboard. My nerves grew more on edge as she walked closer. The feel of Bella's hand on my shoulder drew my attention to Peter and Charlotte as they had entered the room behind Maria. With reinforcements now in place I began to move Bella and I closer to the door slowly while keeping my eyes on that of my sire.

"What are you doing here, Maria?" I inquired.

"I received word that you and the other female had separated. I came to see if that was true."

As I drew nearer to the door, Charlotte's hands reach out to grab Maria's wrists from behind and deliver a sharp kick to her lower back, ripping Maria's arms from their sockets.

"Nadie folla con mi familia, coño." Charlotte yelled as she threw Maria's arms in another room.

My smirk grew as Maria howled in pain, "I told you, Maria, I was never yours and I never will be yours."

Peter's voice rang loudly as he interrupted "Time to go. Something's coming."

"Hang on tight, darlin." I said as I pulled Bella onto my back and took off out the door following my brother and sister-in-law. Our run took us in the direction of the small airport I kept a private plane at. Both Peter and I had a pilot's license so an official pilot was unnecessary. As we boarded the plane I joined Peter in the cock pit

"Report, Captain."

**Authors Note At Bottom**

The plane left quickly with no complications. Bella took a seat away from the window, her nerves were so bad that she was shaking. Her emotions haywire as she spoke "what are we going to do?"

Charlotte had taken a seat near her, her smile always a comfort to those around, "We have some friends in Volterra, lil sister. We are gonna go speak to them."

After speaking privately with Peter I returned to my mate, took a seat next to her pulling her into my lap as I did. My fingers running threw her hair in an attempt to comfort to her as I whispered in her ear "Don't worry, sweetness. The kings owe us a huge favor and they are the only ones that Maria actually fears."

She curled into my lap and closed her eyes, speaking soft "I trust you, Jazz"

Charlotte rose from her seat, motioning where Peter was in the cock pit before taking her leave. I continued to run my fingers threw Bella's hair, keeping her as calm as possible until she fell asleep. I turn slightly and laid her out on the small couch before taking my leave to join Peter and Charlotte up front.

Volterra

The plane landed smoothly in the middle of the night. I slowly lifted a sleeping Bella and carried her from the plane to the waiting car. I slid in beside her, holding her as Peter and Char took the front. We drove to Volterra in silence, arriving in less than an hour due to no traffic.

Bella awoke as the car pulled into the garage. "Are we there yet?"

"Yeah lil bit," Peter spoke "we just arrived." She nodded as she exited the car and came around to me. "I'm nervous."

I pushed a bit of calm and confidence to her as I took her hand in mine "No need to be, darlin. No one will hurt you due to fear of me." With Peter and Charlotte in front of us we headed inside, stopping as we reached the front desk.

"We need to see the brothers." I informed the very human receptionist.

"May I say whom is here?" She questioned.

"Major Jasper Whitlock" I stated with a smirk.

Her eyes widened as she quickly picked up the phone, speaking in rapid Italian to the person on the other end before hanging up.

"Someone's on the way, please have a seat." She intoned.

We took a seat to wait as Bella questioned quietly "What's going to happen?"

I leaned closer to her and responded "We are going to tell the brothers of Maria and her ordeal then we wait."

My head instantly turned towards the approaching footsteps.

"Sup Felix" Peter and I exclaimed together.

Felix stepped forward, high fived Peter and bellowed "Sup Major, Captain. Come with me. The brothers are waiting."

We headed down the hall to the throne room. Peter and I walking with Felix, Bella with Charlotte. Char wrapped an arm in with Bella's as she spoke "No need to be afraid. The brothers trust us."

"What about the big guy?" Bella wondered.

"Felix served with us in the southern wars. The three of them are old friends."

We stopped just outside the throne room and waited outside for Felix to announce us before the door opened again.

As we entered the throne room Bella slid closer to me. I could feel her emotions bouncing all over the place.

"Jasper, how delightful you came to visit. To what do we owe this pleasure to." Aro exclaimed with a smile.

"Hello Aro and I believe you know why we are here." I spoke as I pulled Bella to me to offer her a bit of comfort.

Marcus' soft voice rose as he replied" I see you found your mate Major. Congratulations."

Aro rose from his seat and took a step closer to us, his hand extended towards Bella "May I, Isabella"

Bella slowly extended her hand and placed it into Aro's. My protective instincts over my mate roared instantly as the Major rattled his cage.

Aro's eyes lit up as he lifted his head and exclaimed "Magnificent, your mate is obviously a shield, Jasper." Peter's smug grin grew as he almost bounced on his feet.

"So, Jasper, I'm assuming you are here due to Maria." Caius inquired.

My head nodding quickly and Peter spoke before I could answer "I have it on good authority that the she-bitch is rebuilding her army and she is dead set on coming after you three."

"Really now." Caius pondered, " Are you three willing to go against your creator?"

"Yes!" The three of us exclaimed simultaneously.

"Very well," Aro announced, "come back tomorrow and we will tell you what we think we should do."

"Thanks" Char said as we turned to leave.

Bella kept herself tight against me as we left the castle and went in search of a hotel. "What do we do now?" she asked.

"Well all we do now is wait, darlin." I told as I carried her into the hotel we had found.

She nodded sleeply as she lay her head on my shoulder and whispered " love you, cowboy."

I smiled and kissed her forehead as I laid her down on the bed pushing a ton of lethargy into her "love you too, Sug."

**Authors Note: I plan to revisit Peter and Jasper's conversation in the cock-pit of the plan in a later chapter. After all I can't reveal all my secrets at once, now can I?**