Hello, there! It's been a while since I updated here.

I hope you like this chapter and this fic, because I think it's coming to an end.

Give it some love!


FULL MOON


CHAPTER 11.

The battle was finally here. After long planning, anxious waiting, and strategizing, Victoria was finally here with her army of newborns. There were more than they had initially expected, but Bella thought, with relief, that there weren't as many as she had feared. Alice had been blindly giving numbers, but they rapidly changed. So, they never knew for sure how many were there.

She asked Jasper one time about that. His answer made her shiver.

"Newborns are unstable. They tend to be more territorial and sensitive about everything. It's normal when fights break out, and some die." She had been quiet after that. He no longer was that guy that had to lead a newborn army, and neither was Peter, but their past hung heavy on them.

Bella couldn't say how she expected the fight to break out. Would it be organized, as in Victoria speaking her evil plans, while her minions waited for her to be over, or would they simply charge? What was she going to do? Kill Victoria herself? Use the element of surprise she had on her side?

She also wondered how long it would take for her family and the Cullens to eliminate the threat once and for all. Minutes? Hours? How long were they going to fight? What was this fight going to do to Jasper? He who swore on peace when he left Maria's clutches.

What about Peter and Charlotte? They had barely escaped alive. Will this be triggering for them? Did vampires have PTSD?

What about sweet Esme, who never killed a fly? Or Carlisle and his pacifist nature? How will they change irrevocably after this? The newborns under Victoria's command were innocent. They had been fed a lie, but they still thought they were fighting for a just cause. Didn't all warriors think that?

"Tune it down, darlin'." Jasper commanded softly next to her.

"Sorry." She whispered back, lowering her gaze. She was weak, and she had no shame in admitting it. But here, about to fight for her life, she hated her weakness.

Jasper lifted her chin and placed a soft kiss on her lips. He didn't have any words of reassurance to offer her. He didn't know if everything was going to be ok and if everyone would leave unscathed. Likely, it would be over fast. Victoria was no great fighter. That much had been clear a year ago when they first met. But she was ruthless and prepared to do anything to get to Bella. She was dangerous.

Jasper had promised her that he wouldn't do anything reckless. But he had had a private chat with Peter and Charlotte. They all agreed that being the ones with the most experience, they would take advantage of that and use it to kill as many newborns as possible. Quick execution; no fighting. He wanted this to be over as fast and bloodless as possible.

He stood next to Bella, who was still exuding anxiety. The Cullens were to his left, while the rest of his family was to his right. He stood slightly forward than the rest, side by side with Peter, clearly indicating who was in charge.

While Bella wasn't necessarily hiding behind Jasper, the distance between herself and Edward was abysmal, which made it clear who she was with now.

Jasper noticed a slight look of surprise on Victoria's face when she saw Bella. She wasn't expecting her to be a vampire. And just as he had correctly read a year ago, Victoria was smart. One quick look at their stance, and she knew.

"Oh, you have a new master, Bella." Victoria taunted from afar.

Bella ignored her because, honestly, from all the things she could have said, she picked the lamest one.

She wished she had a kick-ass gift, so she could either burn Victoria and be over with it or at least incapacitate her long enough.

Alas, she did not have a gift at all so far. And wishful thinking only got you so far.

Peter and Jasper exchanged a look and a nod. She knew what this meant. They all knew what this meant. But she wasn't ready for it. She would never be ready to watch Jasper fight.

He was about to charge, but she grabbed his hand. He turned around, surprise showing on his handsome face. "No heroes." She ordered.

Jasper kissed her strong and fast. "Unless it's you." He repeated. She nodded and let go of his hand.

After taking a few quick breaths, she charged after the threat. She quickly eliminated two distracted newborns. They were discussing among themselves and didn't notice her until she had twisted the neck off one of them. The other had been too shocked to do anything.

She felt sick and understood why decades of this had made Jasper the man he was. Ready to be at command on short notice, strategize, detach and calculate.

After taking those two down, she noticed that everyone was doing alright so far. There were not many newborns left, but Victoria was still alive. Bella wanted to avoid her, not sure she was up to the task of destroying her.

She was so focused on ensuring everyone was okay that she barely missed the attack of one hell of a strong newborn. Jasper had told her that the younger you were, the stronger you were. And judging by the hell of a tackle she avoided, the guy must be younger than her in vampire time.

The minutes dragged by, and she was still stuck with the same guy. He was taunting her, smiling predatorily, but otherwise, he remained silent. That was what unnerved her the most. She paid close attention to him without forgetting about her environment. She didn't want to get too caught up in one person and end up injured or dead.

It took one second for the guy to barrel against her. She had been lucky the first time, but not so much this time. She hit the ground hard but got up quickly. Peter was a master at getting her ass kicked into the ground and then teaching her how to recover quickly.

"If you're down too long, they'll take advantage of that." He'd said, extending a hand in an offer to help her get up.

She shook her head, successfully shaking Peter out of her head. The guy was about to charge again, and this time she was ready for it. But someone tackled him first. It had been Edward. Quickly making work of decapitating him and burning him.

"Thanks." She said.

Edward nodded.

Just then, Bella saw three newborns getting a jump on Jasper. One was on his back, trying to twist his neck, the other two were doing a weird dance at his sides, trying to make him lose his balance. Bella gasped in horror as one of the newborns sank his teeth into his arm. She saw the pain in Jasper's face, as well as his determination. He shook the girl that was on his back, quickly dispatching her. But in that time, the other two stuck to him like leeches.

He struggled longer with these ones. These were stronger. Just like the dude Edward killed. Despite Jass' experience, she saw him struggling to get rid of those two. One of them bit him. This weakened him. Having the venom of the first bite, plus the freshest one mixing up, was an uncomfortable combination. The pain, while not as bad as it would be for a human, was still strong enough to be distracting. And although she could trust Jasper never to lose his focus, he wasn't perfect. Otherwise, he wouldn't have the scars to tell his story. Yes, he'd survived, but at a heavy cost to himself.

Bella started running towards Jasper, desperate to take the leeches away. To calm his pain. But Edward got in the way. He imprisoned her in his arms, preventing her advance.

"Let go of me!" She cried, fighting in his arms. Bella might be young and strong, but Edward was stronger than her and was determined to keep her in place. "Let me go, you damn bastard!" She cried again. Jasper was on his knees, losing his battle with the two newborns.

Jasper was surrounded, fighting tooth and nail -literally- to escape the clutches of the dammed newborns. He had been distracted by the newborn that had tackled Bella. He had been about to go after him when he saw her getting up fast. He had watched her fight. She was a gorgeous creature that never lost her focus. But that distraction cost him two bites and a temporary loss of control.

Bella didn't know he had regained control. She forgot her mate had a powerful gift to be his ally. She only saw her nightmare materializing. She could taste her fear on the tip of her tongue. Her chest was contracting, and a new hole was threatening to open.

Bella didn't understand that Edward was protecting her, that he was protecting Jasper as well. He had it under control. He had seen Jasper's decision the moment it crossed his mind. It wouldn't do them any good if she went running against them.

While Edward was struggling with Bella and feeling the venom of her bite on his shoulder, the rest of them dispatched the rest of the army.

Surprisingly, it had been Esme who put an end to Victoria. She had made the mistake of leaving one of her daughters behind and was now paying the price of betraying her trust. But she would always be prepared to defend her.

Suddenly, everything was over. Jasper was still on his knees, breathing heavily through his pain. Emmett and Rose were quietly holding each other, and Alice, Carlisle, and Esme cleaned the area and put the unborn pieces in one pile. It was a gruesome image.

Peter and Charlotte were standing far away from the rest, also holding each other.

Edward let Bella go the second he saw everything was over. He saw her running to Jasper, his once brother. Once again, realizing how stupidly blind he had been. Not only had he lost an amazing woman, which would have happened either way, as she was Jasper's mate and not his own, but he had also lost her friendship and trust. Those hurt more than losing her love.

"Oh, God!" She hugged Jasper gently, crying into his shoulder; relief flowing through her body.

Jasper wasn't so gentle; he pulled her into his embrace and tightened his grip. He feared she would slip away if he wasn't holding her.

"Are you badly hurt?" She asked against his chest.

She felt him shake his head. "The initial pain is gone. It's now very uncomfortable. It will be over after I next feed."

She lifted her head, looking for any sign of him downplaying it; she saw none. "I thought I was going to lose you." Her fear was crippling.

Jasper crashed his lips with hers, demanding, passionate, and promising.

An hour later, everyone had calmed down enough to regroup.

Jasper confirmed that he had been the only one to suffer the wrath of the newborns and that everybody else was mostly intact. Charlotte had scraps in her back but nothing bad. And as Jasper burning, those would be gone with the next feed.

Rosalie was a bit shaken up. She'd killed her assailants when she turned, but this was another thing. Vengeance and fighting for your life were two different emotions. In one, you were in control; in the other, your life depended on you and those you were fighting with.

Alice looked sad. She was worried about Jasper, but as he was still mad with her, she didn't comment on it.

Bella surprised Esme with a heartfelt hug. "Thanks for getting rid of her."

Esme laughed softly and palmed her cheek lovingly. "Anything for my children." Bella smiled at her before returning to Jasper's side.

Jasper, in turn, shook hands with Edward in thanks for helping Bella with the newborn who had been set on fighting her.

Edward nodded without further commenting on what drove him to kill him when Bella was in control. Jasper was grateful nonetheless.

Bella then apologized to Edward for biting him. Edward chuckled. "On one hand, I think I had that coming." Then his smile disappeared, and he became serious. "On the other, I might not like your relationship, but I knew he had it under control. I'm not a monster who would have let him die if I thought he needed help."

Bella felt ashamed. She never thought he was a monster or that he was putting Jasper at risk on purpose just to be spiteful. But she had been angry at seeing her mate in danger and being detained, unable to help him.

"I know you hate me, Bella. But I'm not vengeful."

Bella looked up in surprise. "I don't hate you, Edward." That was as close as an atonement Edward could get for his actions a few months ago.

Edward turned to his family. "Are you ready to leave?"

This ensued a new wave of goodbyes, hugs, and promises of keeping in touch.

As Bella watched the Cullens leave, she felt relief. She could breathe easily once more. She had Rose, Emmett, Charlotte, and Peter by her side. She had eternity with Jasper, no more threats for the present moment.

"Is it too cheesy if I say I love you all?" Emmett broke the silence. Peter chuckled, palming his shoulder.

"You stole my words."