I head to our room. I walk into the closet and see my clothes already put away. One of them must have put them away while I was sleeping. I put on a white strapless sundress with colourful flowers on it. I then put on a nice pair of heels to go with it and I'm ready for our date. I head back to his office and knock timidly on the door.
"Come on in, Athena" he says through the door. I go in and he stands. "You look gorgeous, my mate. You definitely grew into your name." He compliments.
"Thank you," I say looking down at my feet and blushing.
"Why don't we head out. I will give you a little bit of a tour of outside." He says walking around his desk to my side.
He takes my hand and leads me down the stairs and out the front door. There is a garden. Right in front of the house, it is massive. I would believe that is to feed everyone on the property. There are people wearing collars and carrying buckets harvesting the garden. Some are picking weeds. There is a big house in the distance and a barn a ways away in a different direction.
"Over there is the mates schoolhouse," Jasper says pointing to the large house. "You will be able to see the slave quarters when we reach the barn."
We walk down a path to the barn. Reaching the barn, a vampire walks out carrying a bucket.
"Hello Tucker," Jasper greets the vampire.
"Hello Major, what brings you here?" Tucker asks walking inside as we follow. He pulls out a brush and starts brushing a chestnut brown horse.
"I thought I would bring my mate for a ride. This is Athena." Jasper introduces. "Athena, this is Tucker he oversees all the animals on the property."
I shyly wave. He tips his cowboy hat.
"I'll go get Thunder saddled up for you two, then." Tucker replies. He walks away.
"Tucker can speak to animals and hear them. He is the only one allowed to look after the horses and looks after the welfare of all the rest of the animals on the property." Jasper explains, I nod understanding.
Tucker comes back a few minutes later grabs his bucket and brush and walks over to another stall with an all-white horse. Jasper leads me to the stall next to the brown horse. It has an all-black horse.
"This is Thunder. He will look after us." Jasper introduces me.
He leads Thunder out of the stall and out of the barn. He lifts me up onto Thunder and gets on behind me. He takes the reins in front of me, so I'm caged in his arms. Thunder starts to walk forward suddenly, surprising me. Jasper put one of his hands on my hip, almost like he is reassuring me. He seems so comfortable. I guess it's because he grew up in a time where this was the only way to really get around. We follow a pathway leading to forests.
"These are all of our fruit orchards. I pay people from the town to look after them. It's far enough away from the newborns that the towns people won't get accidentally eaten. They do a really good job looking after it, as you can see. All the food either the humans on the property eat or gets given to the towns folk." Jasper explains to me.
"That's really sweet of you, that you would look after the towns people." I say.
"They do provide blood for us, and other food for our humans, so it's the least I can do." He says with a shrug.
We keep riding till the trees break away and we reach a clearing. There is a pond and beside the pond there is a blanket with a picnic basket on top. There is some sunlight streaming in making the pond look like it has glitter in it. He gets off the horse and helps me down. He ties Thunder to a tree near by. I notice a pail of water and hay for Thunder there.
"I had Tucker place that there earlier. He really does take great care of the animals." Jasper says probably feeling my confusion.
He takes my hand leading me to the blanket, offering me to sit. He starts pulling some food out of the basket as I sit. He pulls out a sandwich, strawberries, and a bottle of wine with a wine glass. It was perfect. He unwraps the sandwich and hands it to me. While I take a bit, he pours me a small glass of wine.
"My family owned this land originally. I bought it before vampires came out and have owned it ever since. The Volturi wanted me closer to Italy, but this is my home. With the invention of airplanes, it makes traveling much easier making no excuses on why I can't stay here. So, I fixed it up and had the ranch fully built to house vampires." He explains. I nod my head while eating and taking sips of my wine. "I got asked to train newborns for the Volturi first before vampires came out into the open. I agreed. It was a job and prevented boredom.
Then, we came out and I got a position of power. Almost immediately the Cullen's started their school for mates. The Volturi started one maybe a year later, after vampires came to me saying their mates weren't trained properly. The Volturi also asked me to open a re-education center for mates. That way any mate who was displeased with the training their mate received they would be able to have them retrained to their specifications.
One day out of the blue Peter told me to go visit a small town. He said there was a population there that would have needlessly been slaughtered. When I arrived, I found out a few of the teenagers were different. They were shapeshifters, protectors as they called themselves. I had the whole tribe relocated to near by so the shapeshifters can look after security here.
They also help train the newborns, but all around I like to say they live pretty good lives.
The second time I got asked to go to a town, I met you and Ares. You two were only a couple of days old.
So, I took you two to the Volturi Academy, knowing they were the better of the two Academies. I knew they had the best programs and only the best is good enough for my mate.
Peter told me I would want to take Ares when he was old enough, because he would have been killed. I didn't care much for Ares, but he was your twin brother so I had Peter go get him and teach him how to work for me. He was just a person around the house for a while, so I didn't realize he was your brother till later on."
"Wow, that's a lot to take in," I tell him feeling a little overwhelmed with all the information.
He now has me lying on his side while we look up and watch the sky.
"It is, but it was all worth it to get to you." He says smiling down at me.
"So, do you protect the human villages?" I ask.
"Yes, from all threats humans, vampires, you name it." He says. "The shapeshifters have their own village as well. Their people look out for the other villages as well, so I can be very hands off. I step in and help if needed, but most of the time I am not."
"Are the shapeshifters dangerous?" I ask concerned.
"They can be, but so can I," he says. He flips me over, so he is hovering over top of me, his weight supported on his hands that were placed on either side if my head. He playfully bears his teeth and growls. I laugh. "I love that sound."
"What sound?" I ask cocking my head to the side.
"The sound of your laugh. I could listen to it everyday for the rest of my existence," Jasper says with a small smile.
All of a sudden, he quickly stands. I sit up scared. He helps me stand and pushes me lightly behind him. Holding my chest to his back. He us watching the forest. A vampire steps out.
"Demetri, what are you doing here?" Jasper asks the vampire.
"I came to find you. There is an uprising beginning. Aro is hoping you will help us keep an eye on it." This Demetri tells him.
"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Jasper says.
"Not really no, but I will be staying for a little while to help," Demetri says.
"Guard doesn't need their leader?" Jasper asks jokingly.
"Not with the way you train them no. You are a big help to my guard. There is still a place on it for you if you want." Demetri offers.
"Thanks for the offer but it is still a no," Jasper replies.
"All right, I was hoping to watch your training. See if there are somethings, I can bring back to Volterra to keep up their training," Demetri says.
"Yeah, you can watch." Jasper says with a chuckle. I shift my position and Demetri's red eye meet mine.
"Is this the lovely lady that my mate misses so much at the Academy?" Demetri asks smiling at me. I give him a confused look. I have no idea who his mate is.
"Heidi is his mate." Jasper says to me. He looks back at Demetri "Yes, this is my mate, Athena." He moves out of the way just a little bit.
"Mates. So overprotective." Demetri says laughing. Jasper joins in but doesn't relax his posture.
"I'd like to get back to my date, so go away. I will meet up with you tonight to discuss details. Peter and Charlotte are at the house. They should be able to help you get settled." Jasper tells him.
"Alright." Demetri says putting his hands up in an I surrender motion. "I know when I'm not wanted." He breezes away leaving his chuckle in the wind.
"Sorry about him. He is an amazing head of guard and a great friend. But he doesn't take social cues that well unless they are signs of hostility." Jasper explains. "I was planning for us to head back drop off Thunder, then go see one of the villages. Would you still like to do that?"
"Yes, I would love to see one of the villages " I tell him excitedly.
"Then lets head out." He says leading me over to Thunder.
"What about...?" I say pointing to the picnic stuff.
"Don't worry about it. Someone will come get it later." He says untying Thunder.
He lifts me up onto Thunders back and mounts behind me like before. We head back to the barn. Tucker meets us outside to take Thunder from us. Thunder calmly goes with Tucker after Jasper, and I get off of him. He seems calm and happy with Tucker. It must have something to do with his power. Jasper walks me back to the house and over to his truck. He helps me gets in, then speed quickly getting into the other side. He starts to drive to the village.
"You will be treated differently then if you lived there. Being a vampire's mate is a little bit special to the local people. Many of them dream of becoming a vampire or the mate of one." Jasper tells me.
"Okay I understand." I say nodding my head.
We arrive at the village and park in the parking lot of a park the seems to be in the middle of the village. I think a more appropriate name would be town. It seems more like a town, then a village. Jasper helps me out of the truck. He takes my hand, and we walk down the path in the park. We get lots of looks. It could be because of Jaspers glittering or just the shock of seeing a vampire. I can't imagine that they see many.
"I'm sorry about all the staring. I forgot that they stare a lot when vampires come to visit." Jasper says.
"It's a little strange, but I can ignore it." I say.
"Good girl." He praises smiling at me.
We turn onto the main street to walk down it.
"We give our spices, fruits and vegetables to the grocery store to your left. We bake for the bakery next door as well. You will be doing a lot of that, for your first few weeks. You will do pies and breads, after that you can do whatever, you like." Jasper says showing me the buildings.
The grocery store looks bigger then most stores I've seen in the village by the Academy. The bakery looks homie inside. I can't wait to start baking for it. I know it's weird for a vampire's mate to love baking, as vampires don't eat, but I love baking. I'm glad I will get to bake, and it won't just get thrown out. I like the idea of not just having to look after the ranch, but also the small town as well. We make our way back to the track. It's getting close to dinner time.
"Would you like something from the bakery today for dinner?" Jasper asks stopping at the door.
"Yes! Can I?" I ask excitedly almost ready to bounce up and down with excitement. He smiles.
"I wouldn't have asked if I wouldn't let you." He says leading my inside.
It's just as beautiful as I thought. I got a ham and cheese melt on a croissant. I moan as soon as I take a bite. Jasper' eyes go black.
"Taste good?" He asks in a growly voice. We start making our way to the truck.
"Yes, this is amazing." I say taking another bite. I finish eating before we reach the truck.
"You were hungry." He comments.
"Not really. I was a little bit, but it tasted so good." I tell him.
"I'm glad." He says while driving back to the ranch.
"Can we go back?" I ask.
"Whenever you desire, my mate." He purrs.
We arrive back at the ranch faster then I would have liked, but he drives past the house. He keeps driving till we are in the middle of an empty field.
"I have one more surprise for you." He says. He leads me around the truck to the bed. I notice he put pillows and blankets in it. "We are here to watch the sunset."
"Really?" I ask surprised.
"Yes," he replies lifting my up onto the bed.
He hops up beside me and we both lie down getting comfortable. I cuddle up into his side and he lets one of his hands rub the side that isn't touching him. We continue to watch the sky long after the purples, oranges and pinks have disappeared under the horizon. We just continue to watch the stars till I fall asleep in his arms. Perfect end to the perfect day. I really do hope there are lots more days like this instore.