Hello! For those following Pack Souls, you know my reasons for staying away the past few weeks. For those who don't: I was't feeling very inspired, and I didn't want to write something just to get it over with. I woke up today feeling better emotionally and thought it was a good day to give it a try.

I update as soon as I write and polish everything. I don't have the entire thing written because I love to change things as they come :)

You and I deserve a chapter that I am 100% in love with, so here goes one. Besides, I love this story too much to give it a half-heart try :)

Without further ado...ENJOY!

And thanks, of course, for all your reviews!

FULL MOON.

CHAPTER 12.

Each couple retired alone to different parts of the property. They all needed their alone time. While the fight hadn't taken that long, barely a few minutes, it had been somewhat emotionally draining. Bella wanted Jasper to hunt as soon as possible so that the pain would be over. Still, she knew that psychological scars took longer to heal.

She saw the retreating figures of Edward and the rest, and she felt a little bittersweet. This time she had the closure she needed from all of them, but she would miss them nonetheless.

She felt Jasper coming next to her. He stood there in silence, watching his once family walk away. It must be bittersweet for him, too, seeing as one of them was his ex-wife.

"Are you ok?" He asked softly.

Bella turned to face him and smiled. "I'm ok." For the first time in a long time, she really meant it.

She took his hand and guided him to the forest, to their spot.

They both hunted and took a few minutes to compose themselves.

After a few hours of hunting, making love, and just being, she felt like she was in her body again, in control of her emotions and thoughts, and no longer relying on minute-to-minute thinking.

She had taken these hours to think about the battle and Jasper getting hurt by those newborns. She could see that he was ok. He was in her arms, eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of lying quietly. But she couldn't shake the feeling of her panic run, the panic she felt at seeing him kneeling and surrounded. How powerless she felt when Edward stopped her from running to him.

She had thought that was going to be their end. Some fairy tale they had lived. She knew she should feel grateful for every little moment she lived with him, but she couldn't help but feel angry at the world. How dare they attempt to take him away from her, period. There would never be a good time for her to say goodbye to him permanently. He was her soul. He was a part of her.

She sat, straddling his hips. She was wearing only her lace underwear and his button-up shirt. He had put his jeans back, citing the need not to get pine needles up his ass. She caressed his marked chest, not really paying attention to the scars, just making nonsensical figures with her nails. He hummed comfortably at the familiar feeling of having her do that. He didn't open his eyes but moved his hands to rest them lazily on her hips. She kept her ministrations until she reached the area where two new scars shone like neon. Though they didn't really shine, they looked like the rest of his scars, perhaps a bit redder, but she only spotted the difference because she knew they were there.

When Jasper first met Alice, he had been caught up in how new everything felt to feel really worried about the scars decorating his body. When he fell in love with Alice, and the time came to show her his body, he'd been nervous. He didn't want to feel like he was vain, but he couldn't help it. Alice hadn't been afraid of a couple of scars. And they made love without a care in the world until things started falling apart.

Bella wasn't scared of the scars either; it was as though she didn't see them. But having her in his lap, tracing the patterns of the two new bites, made him feel self-conscious. She had never commented on what she thought about his scarred body. Mainly, the scars were limited to his chest and arms, but he had a few others scattered on his legs. Newborns are not logical creatures, so they bit wherever they could reach at the moment.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. She was a cocktail of emotions. Sadness, anger, lust, love, loss, regret, he could taste each one as if she were speaking the words.

He cupped her right cheek in his big hand, passing his thumb up and down in a sweet caress. She leaned down against his palm, twisting her face to kiss it.

"Is it stupid to ask if you're ok?"

Jasper thought about it for a few seconds. He was relaxed, drained more like it.

"I'm tired, honestly. I never thought I'd had to go back into that kind of situation. It's not nice to feel their fear as I'm ripping their heads off." This is what was mostly bothering him. This is why he'd never go back to eating humans, no matter how twisted their intentions. Fear was a nasty emotion, and he'd had enough of that during his time with Maria.

If Bella could shed tears, she would be right now. She knew it wasn't her fault, and neither was it the Cullens. It was Victoria and her crazy ass. But it still made her feel guilty that Jasper, and by extension, Peter and Charlotte had to revive those days.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that again." She whispered, pressing her thumb on his cheek.

Jasper simply shrugged. He understood the emotions behind her words. "I would do it every day to keep you safe."

Bella smiled sweetly and pecked his lips.

"What's bothering you, darlin'?"

Bella sighed and dropped her hand from his cheek to his chest. "I was beyond scared when I saw you struggling to get rid of the newborns that got to you. Edward stopped me, and all I could see was my worst nightmare coming to life. I thought I was going to lose you forever." Her voice cracked, and she sniffed. Just because she couldn't shed tears didn't mean the emotion was less intense. "I was furious at Edward because I wanted to help you however I could. It was awful, Jasper. I really thought that was the end."

Jasper was stunned at her admission. He gathered her in his arms and pushed her down closer to his body, and wrapped her in a tight embrace. He had been fucking scared too, when he saw that dude fixated on her. It didn't mean they didn't have faith in each other's skills, but there is something so raw at seeing your mate, the love of your existence, fight for their life.

"I know, Bella. It was fucking scary for me too." He admitted in a whisper.

He could admit to her that although he had the most experience in battle, and although he had faith that everything was going to go according to plan -he'd made sure to ask Alice about it without anyone knowing- he still felt out of control. One minuscule thing could change, and all could go to hell.

He needed to know that his plan was going to work. That Bella, Peter, Esme, everyone was going to come out unscathed. He had faith in Peter, Bella, Char, and everyone who gave their two cents to plan and strategize.

But some habits die hard, and he needed reassurance. And the only person capable of doing that was his ex-wife.

He texted her. "I need to know."

She would know what he was asking.

"We win." She replied shortly after. "Esme is the one that kills Victoria. That is for sure. There are still some things undecided, but we win, and they lose."

That was all the reassurance he needed.

"If Bella plays hero, neither of you would make it."

"What do you see?" Why would Bella play hero? They had promised each other that they wouldn't try to interfere.

"You get surrounded by a few newborns and lose control for a few seconds, but that is enough to make Bella panic. She runs to you, and though you both live, she will be scarred badly."

He sighed, frustrated.

"If it comes to that, promise me you will stop her."

"Edward will."

So, the plan was solid; Edward would stop Bella from reaching him and hurting herself.

"Thank you. This still doesn't change anything."

"I know."

"Did you really ask her that?" Bella was impressed.

Jasper squeezed her playfully. "You seem to forget that I also had a lot to lose if you had gotten hurt."

They lied there in silence, holding each other for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not being a hero."

Jasper snorted amusedly. Only she would thank anyone for not being a hero. "I'm glad it didn't come to it."

Suddenly, Bella sat up abruptly. Jasper eyed her, confused. "Happy new year." He chuckled. With everything going on, he had lost track of time. "It's also near your birthday. Do you have any plans?"

He shook his head. "I plan to have you naked as often as possible now that the threat is over." He demonstrated his point by burying his head in her chest, kissing between her breasts, and grabbing her ass to align her clad center with his covered erection.

"Happy new year, baby." He whispered reverently before removing her clothes.

…

…

….

Alice decided to stay behind, needing to speak with Bella before leaving her life forever.

She waited patiently for Jasper to finish his romantic exploration of her former best friend's body. While waiting, she felt a wave of melancholy hit her. She missed having that. Unconditional love. She had had that once with Jasper, but it wasn't meant to last forever, and she had screwed badly when she didn't tell him that Bella was his mate.

As it was, Alice had to leave the premises of the land and wait almost a week before showing up again. She picked the perfect opportunity to catch Bella alone. This was her only shot.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Alice. A little warning next time!" Bella growled, putting her hand on her unbeating heart.

"Sorry. I wasn't sure you would answer any of my calls." She was right; she wouldn't have answered anything.

"I just dealt with an army of newborns and their crazy maker. I don't have the energy to deal with your shit right now." She sidestepped, but Alice stopped her.

"Please."

Bella sighed. Why was it so hard for her to say no?

"You have five minutes."

"Jasper hates me. I won't be able to come back here, ever. I need more than five minutes." Alice begged. She wanted to explain everything, but five minutes wouldn't suffice.

Bella didn't budge. "Whatever happened between the two of you, it's between the two of you. If you want to speak with me, you have five minutes. Whatever you want Jasper to know, you'll have to risk it."

Alice frowned but nodded. Five minutes it was.

And so, for five minutes, she explained her actions. She told Bella what she had told Jasper, what she had told Edward at her 18th birthday party, and what she saw after they left. Not only regarding Bella and Jasper's relationship but about the Cullens, Victoria, Emmett, Rose, and all the rest.

"To the point, Alice. What do you want?" Jasper had already told her everything Alice had said; she didn't have the patience to listen to it again. "I don't care what you saw. If you have nothing different to say, this is it."

Bella waited a few seconds, seeing the moment Alice saw what would happen.

"You want an explanation." Alice said, realizing what Bella was actually thinking. Bella nodded. "About us leaving?"

"No, Alice. Edward already explained that. I want to know why you never said anything to me. I was also involved. You told Edward, but you ignored me completely. It was my life as well."

Alice didn't know what to say. Bella was right, of course. She had told Edward, she had told Esme even, she hid the truth from Jasper, but she never thought to include Bella in anything. Was it because she had been human, and therefore, she had underestimated what she felt towards Edward? Or was it for a more selfish reason? Like if she told Bella, that would make it all too real, and she would lose Jasper.

She wanted to think she wasn't a bad person, that she hadn't had bad intentions when she kept it a secret from the two most important people. But she wasn't sure anymore that was true.

"I don't know. That's the truth." Bella nodded. She accepted that.

"No one Is asking you to know everything every time, Alice. You only must be honest with what you learn when you learn it. I appreciate the effort of trying to make that right, but you still made a series of bad decisions that I'm not sure I can forgive right now."

"I know. I don't expect you to forgive me for leaving you without saying goodbye or hiding the truth about you and Jasper."

Bella shook her head. "You changed me, Alice. Without my permission. You put Charlie at risk. You left me alone, thinking it was Victoria claiming her revenge and doing a lousy job at it. I was unprotected, scared, alone, with no fucking idea about what had happened. I couldn't stay in Forks, but I had nowhere else to go either. Do you have any idea how lonely that feels? How scary that felt? Jasper told me something about what you found when you still were together. James was very illustrative with his tale of how he found you. You woke up alone as well. You should have known better, Alice. You should have told me that Jasper was my mate, that I had a threat hanging over my head. Once more, you took the choice away from my hands. That is something I can't forgive or forget."

Alice looked at the woman in front of her from head to toe. She was wearing black jeans and a button-up shirt that looked too big to be hers, so it was probably Jasper's shirt. She took in her boots. She looked at Bella's orange eyes, her perfect features, and didn't recognize her. She wasn't the shy Bella she had met, the shy yet feisty girl that demanded Edward to change her, the brave girl that escaped her watch at the airport. This Bella was different, and she didn't know her.

"Have a nice life, Alice." Bella sidestepped Alice and walked away, leaving the petite girl alone in the woods, with the consequence of her choices hanging over in the air.