Where I Belong
Chapter 8
Song I listened to for this chapter: White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
April 13, 1993
Saskatchewan, Canada
12:04 pm
Jasper Whitlock POV
Bella has been with us for seventeen months.
745,094 minutes spent with my Bella and I cherish every single one of them. She's now five and a half years old. I can't say how amazing it is to watch my Bella grow before my very eyes and it seems like time is going by very fast.
"Bella, lunch is ready!" Charlotte calls up to Bella in her room.
"Alright, Mama!" We hear from her room as I enter the kitchen, taking a seat at the counter as Charlotte finishes Bella's lunch. Bella started calling Charlotte "Mama" and Peter "Daddy" around her birthday. She said that she wanted to call them that sooner, but she felt like she was betraying her real mom and dad. She then explained that she thought her real mommy was taken from her so she wouldn't be sad anymore, but Peter and Charlotte were sent to her to be her new mom and dad.
Charlotte almost broke down when Bella first called her "Mama." It was nothing compared to Peter, though. He actually went into the woods and sobbed in happiness from it. He told me that at first, he didn't want to keep Bella because he didn't think it would be good for a little kid to be around vampires, now he says he's glad he's "pussy whipped" and listened to Char.
Not that much has changed as we're still living in the Saskatchewan house. Bella has grown taller, her hair is longer, and Charlotte started homeschooling her, but that's about it.
Well, my diet has certainly changed.
I've conformed to Charlotte and Peter's diet, to be extra careful around Bella. I just don't want to take any chances, and if that means feeling my prey's emotions before I kill them, so be it. I would do anything for her.
My darling little girl comes running into the kitchen, beaming smile plastered on her face as she looks at me. I smile back and scoop her up, placing her on my lap as Charlotte slides the plate over to her. "Thanks, Mama."
"No problem, Baby." Char replies, washing the dishes from Bella's breakfast in the sink. When she's done, she grabs her purse off the table and Peter walks in the room.
"We're heading out to do some grocery shopping. We'll be back." Charlotte says, Peter suddenly getting a confused look on his face as he scratches his head. He follows Charlotte out of the house and I watch him, curiously. What the hell is he so confused about?
A couple of hours later, I'm sitting in the living room when I hear Bella's footsteps running up to the stairs. I then hear a thud accompanied with a small "ow" before Bella starts crying. I'm up in second and flitting up stairs, seeing Bella at the top of the steps, clutching her knees. I smell the blood already, but I'm just concerned about my mate. I kneel next to her as she cries in pain, examining her knees. I scoop her up and carry her over to my bathroom, setting her on the counter.
She still has tears rolling down her cheeks and I cup her face, trying to take away some of her pain. I wipe her cheeks and she sniffles a couple of times. I then kneel in front of her to assess the wound, seeing that it's just scrapes on her knees and there doesn't seem to be any interior damage.
I grab the first aid kit out of the cabinet and quickly clean off her wound before placing band-aids over them. I kiss each of her knees, over the band-aids and Bella smiles at me, opening her arms. I know this signal and scoop her up, placing her on my hip.
"Thank you, Jasper." she tells me and I smile at her, kissing her forehead.
"No problem, Angel." I reply, carrying her out of the room and down the stairs, just in time to see Peter and Charlotte walk in the door, holding grocery bags. Charlotte smiles when she sees us, but Peter has his face scrunched up in confusion, not really looking at anyone. I frown at him, sending him my curiosity which makes him snap his head up to me.
Peter is pacing back and forth like a caged animal while Bella sits on my lap, playing with one of my hands. Charlotte is looking at her mate confused while I've had enough and I need to know what the hell is wrong with him. "Bella, Sweetheart, why don't you go out to the backyard and I'll be out in a minute." I tell her and she nods her head, hopping down off my lap and walking to the back door.
Once I hear the door close, I turn to Peter who's still pacing. "Captain, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"I don't know." he says, running a hand through his hair as he plops down on the seat next to Char.
"Baby, what do you mean?" Char gently asks, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"I mean just that. I don't know. My shit's been going off all fucking day, but I don't know. It's just telling me to be cautious. Something is going to happen...soon." Peter says and I immediately get off the couch, walking out the back door.
My heart stops and I realize I can't see Bella anywhere. "Bella?" I call out, hoping she'll appear. I then walk towards the forest, following her scent. I try to extend my senses to find my mate, but then smell something that gets my hackles up.
Multiple vampires. But that's not what adds fuel to my fire, no...I recognize these scents.
It's the Cullens.
I feel the Major taking over, our mate is in the woods with the Cullens. I still smell Bella's scent and I continue to follow it, until I hear a scream from my Bella, and I completely lose myself.
Our mate is in trouble.
April 13, 1993
Duluth, Minnesota
Seven hours earlier...
Rosalie Hale POV
It's been over a year since we've seen Jasper, and this family is falling apart. Emmett slipped and killed someone. He felt incredibly guilty and wouldn't even let me comfort him for a while. Even Esme slipped and killed her singer. I thought she was going to completely break after that.
I just hope that Jasper is happy wherever he is, I hope he's taking care of himself.
I hear Alice tell everyone her vision while I frown in disbelief. No way Jasper would ever hurt a little girl. There's got to be some mistake. Emmett and I throw our clothes back on and run downstairs, seeing everyone gathered around Alice.
"Edward?" Carlisle asks, wanting to confirm her vision.
"It was really blurry, but yes. Jasper was chasing after a little girl." Edward tells his father.
"It's at the Canadian house he bought! We have to go, now! He'll regret this forever if he kills her."
"Where is he, Alice?" Carlisle asks and I can see Alice becoming frantic, but something is wrong.
"Saskatchewan. It's a house he bought years ago. We have to leave, now!" Alice says, standing up.
Something is definitely off about this. Jasper would never try to kill a little girl. People think that I'm just the vain, bitchy vampire and that I don't care about anything other than my appearance. Well, they're wrong.
I watch and I listen.
I knew that Jasper and Alice weren't mates, especially by the way they acted with each other. Jasper barely initiated any intimacy, only if he needed a release.
I also know that Alice is a manipulative twat who uses her visions for her own gain.
Edward is an arrogant prick who can't mind his own business.
Jasper absorbs the blood lust of everyone in the house. He takes it in himself, so that others will be able to be around humans. He's the most selfless person on this Earth. That's why Emmett and Esme slipped. I haven't told Emmett that, though.
I observe, and I'm damn good at it.
Something is up with Alice.
We all head towards Saskatchewan, running through the forests to hop the border. Alice is leading us since she knows where this house is. We arrive on their land where we all smell a human. Is it true? Is he really going to kill a little girl? We finally see an adorable little girl with long brown hair running towards us with a smile on her face. A smile? The wind carries Jasper's scent this way and I know he's close.
Edward suddenly runs up and grabs the little girl. She lets out a terror filled scream that echoes throughout the forest. "He's coming." Alice says and we all stand around, waiting for Jasper to appear. The little girl is trying to wiggle free from Edward's grip and I see she's sobbing.
"Let me go!" she cries out and I'm tempted to go over there and knock Edward away from her. I then see Jasper appear, and his face frightens me. Emmett even steps protectively in front of me, not knowing what Jasper could do.
He looks completely lethal - eyes black, teeth bared, venom dripping down his chin as he snarls at us, eyes landing on the girl. They then land on Edward, and if looks could kill, Edward would be dead. The little girl is pleading with her eyes towards Jasper and I realize...
We have it all wrong.
Jasper Whitlock POV
I see out of the corner of my eye that all the Cullens are here, but I'm watching Edward restraining my mate as she cries and whimpers. My fists are clenched at my side as I'm trying to strategize on how I'm going to get Bella away from him and then rip his fucking head off for touching and scaring her. I extend my senses, snarling when I feel a shit ton of blood lust coming from Edward as he looks down at my Bella.
"Jasper..." Bella whimpers out, brown eyes pleading as my anger spikes.
"Edward...I'll only say this once. Let. Her. Go. NOW!" I grit through my teeth as Edward frowns at me, radiating confusion before he looks at my mate, the same facial expression. "Don't you look at her!"
"Son, calm down-" Carlisle starts, but is cut off by Peter.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Peter snarls as he and Charlotte run over, their faces lethal and trained on Edward.
"Daddy!" Bella whimpers, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Mama!"
When Bella says this, all of the Cullens turn towards her in shock while I growl loudly, not liking all of them looking at my mate.
"What does she mean 'Daddy' 'Mama?'" Rosalie questions, looking at the little girl in Edward's arms.
"It's okay, Baby Girl." Charlotte tries to assure Bella who sobs harder as she tries to wiggle free of Edward's grip. I'm growling loudly at all of them, completely livid that they are keeping my mate away from me.
Bella turns in Edward's arms as he tightens his grip on her, the small girl uttering a quiet "ow" which almost sends me over the edge as I snarl loudly. I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna light his ass on fire and fucking kill him.
"You're hurting her." Rosalie snaps at Edward, who doesn't acknowledge that he head her. He keeps looking at my mate.
"Let my daughter go, before I shove my boot up your prepubescent sparkly ass, Cullen." Peter snarls in a dangerously calm voice, his anger spiking through the roof and I don't even bother trying calm him. I can't even calm myself. If he doesn't let go of Bella soon, and reign in his blood lust, I am going to kill him.
Edward looks over to Carlisle who gives a nod to him. Edward sighs and lets go of Bella, my little angel running over as I crouch down and scoop her up, holding her to me as I continue to growl at the Cullens. She buries her face in my neck as she shakes in fear, tightening her hold on me and sobbing. All of the Cullens look at us in shock as I just glare at them, trying to calm down my scared mate.
"Shh...it's okay, Sweetheart. You're safe now. I won't let anyone hurt you..." I murmur into her ear, feeling her calm down in my arms as her sobbing is starting to subside.
"Would you like to explain to me what gave you the right to come on our land and take Bella?" Peter asks, clenching his fists at his side.
"We were trying to protect her." Alice explains, looking right at me with Bella, confusion and envy pouring off her. Peter stares at her like she's got three heads and shares a look with Char.
"From what, exactly?" he asks and Carlisle steps forward.
"Alice had a vision of Jasper attacking the girl. We just wanted to come down here and stop him before he hurt her." he explains and I growl at this "vision" of me attacking Bella.
"I would do no such thing to my mate." I snarl, pulling Bella closer while breathing in her calming scent.
"Mate?" Alice squeaks out with wide eyes. The Major inwardly smirks at her, thinking she could try and fool us with her lies when I'm holding the real reason to my existence in my arms.
"What do you mean 'mate,' son?" Carlisle asks me, stepping forward while I growl, shielding Bella with my body.
"Bella there is Jasper's mate." Peter explains, pointing to the frightened little girl in my arms.
"No, that's some kind of mistake. She can't be his mate, I am. He's mine." Alice defiantly says and I growl. I'm about to snap at her, until Bella lifts her head up to glare at Alice.
"Jasper is mine." Bella states firmly looking at all of the Cullens while pride wells up inside of me that my five-year old mate just stood up to a coven of vampires. I can feel the family's shock at this declaration.
"Isabella is my mate; not you, Alice. It was never you." I snap at her as she still radiates determination, confusion, and her envy has spiked.
"Why don't we go to the house and tell them about Bella." Char suggests, glaring at the Cullens. I really don't want to talk to the Cullens, but we need their silence now that they've found out about Bella.
The girl in my arms shivers from the night air and I look down at her, seeing her teeth chattering. I immediately take off running to the house, wanting to get her into the warmth so she doesn't get sick. I walk inside the house and up to Bella's room, wanting to get her into warmer clothes. I set her down on her bed and sniff around her to see if she is bleeding by a cut that I somehow missed. If she is, then I will go downstairs and kill Edward. I growl when I find that I smell him on her.
I put her into a pair of warm pajamas, throwing the clothes she was wearing in the trash. I then kneel in front of her, wiping her tear-stained cheeks as her lip quivers. "Are you okay, Angel?"
Bella nods her head in response, using her tiny hand to wipe away some tears. I hear the door open as the Cullens walk in the house. "Who are those people, Jasper? Why did they try to take me from you? Why did she say that you're hers? You're mine, Jasper, not hers."
It still surprises me the level of possessiveness Bella shows for me. We explained the basics of a mate to her and she understood everything, mainly because Lydia told her.
"Yes, I am yours, Bella. I used to live with those people before I met you. Alice and I were married..." Bella frowns at this and I cup her face, her jealousy rising. I bite back a chuckle at this, seeing her jealous is pretty adorable. "We only married each other because we didn't want to be lonely. She's wrong. I'm not hers, Angel. Remember how I told you that I can feel and control emotions?" at her nod, I continue. "Well, the black-haired girl can see the future and the red-head can read minds. They tried to take you away from me because they thought I was going to hurt you."
"You'd never hurt me, Jasper." Bella says with complete conviction and I smile, cupping her cheek.
"Come on, I want to talk to the Cullens." I tell her and she nods her head, lifting her hands up. I place her on my hip, kissing her forehead and walking out of the room and down the stairs. As we enter the living room, I see the Cullens all taking their different places around the room. Carlisle and Esme are sitting together on the couch across from Peter and Charlotte. Rosalie and Emmett are standing, the brawny Cullen's arm around his mate. Alice is standing with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at me and Edward is standing by the door, looking uncomfortable. I take a seat on the sofa chair, Bella sitting on my lap.
"You sure we should talk about this with her around." Carlisle asks me, using vampire speed so Bella doesn't hear.
"She can handle it. She's seen and heard worse." I tell the Cullens, who frown, not understanding what I mean.
"Why don't you start with your side of your fucked up story, hm?" Peter asks, gritting his teeth.
"Well, Alice had a vision of you chasing a little girl in the forest. She saw that you have red eyes and thought you were going to attack the girl. We all came here to stop you." Carlisle explains and I sit there, appalled.
"You really think that I would feed on a child. Yes, I am back to feeding from humans to keep Bella safe. I'm taking extra precautions with her, because her safety is paramount." I tell them, my anger rising at the thought I would hurt a small child. Bella senses my anger and places a hand on my cheek, and it's almost like she absorbs my anger from me. I smile and turn my head, kissing her palm.
"I guess I'll begin by telling you how our Bella came into our lives." Charlotte says and Carlisle gives a gentle nod. "Peter and I were passing through Phoenix when we heard a nomad feeding. We were going to leave, when I heard a sob from a child and followed it. We found a vampire feeding on Bella's mom as she watched." Charlotte tells them bluntly, loud enough for Bella to hear, though it doesn't seem to affect her. She's come to peace with her mother and father's death, always saying that she's happy they're together again in heaven.
Esme and Rosalie gasp at this, shooting sympathetic glances towards Bella who absent-mindedly plays with the fingers of my right hand, not even batting an eye.
"She didn't have any other family that we could take her to, so we brought her home. About a month later, I called Jasper, wanting him to meet Little Bit. When they saw each other, it was like when any of us first see our mates...you just knew. Even Bella knew that they were mates." Peter explains, tightening his arm around Charlotte. Carlisle is extremely curious while Esme is looking at the little girl on my lap with a smile on her face. Rosalie has a mix of emotions running through her, I don't even have time to identify them. Emmett is smiling at me with a big grin on his face. Alice is outraged while Edward is confused, but he keeps glancing at Bella.
"Congrats, Jazz-man! It's a great feeling to find your mate, huh?" Emmett asks, Bella cracking a smile while looking at him. I can't help but smile at him, nodding my head before turning back to my Bella, breathing in her scent.
"This is absurd!" Alice erupts, Bella jumping and cringing away as Peter, Charlotte, and surprisingly, Rose all growl at her. I snarl loudly at her, tucking Bella's head under my chin to calm her while whispering sweet nothings to calm her down. "She's a child! She can't be your mate!"
"Well, she is. Get over it." Peter growls at her, seeing Bella fisting my shirt as she shakes in fear of Alice.
"This isn't right. Jasper, you're not mated to a child. You're just confused-" Alice snaps, while I continue to growl at her, feeling the fear rolling off my mate as Alice eyes her with disdain. Charlotte sees that I'm about to snap, so she takes over.
"Listen, pixiepire, you're scaring my daughter. Now how about you act mature, or I will personally throw you out of my house, got it?" Charlotte growls, turning into a full out Mama bear as her cub is threatened.
"Why didn't I see this?" Alice asks, rubbing her temples.
"I can't hear her." Edward mutters, staring at Bella. I growl at him as everyone looks over, the attention focusing on my Bella.
"What do you mean, son?" Carlisle asks Edward.
"I can't read her mind. In fact, I can't even read Jasper's anymore." Edward explains, everyone snapping their heads to look at Bella who looks down, uncomfortable under their stares. I let out a warning growl, which makes everyone glance away.
I have to say that I am ecstatic Edward can't read my Bella's mind. It gives me some reassurance that he won't invade her privacy, which I care about more than my own. I've gotten quite fond of disgusting Edward with the memories from war which don't bother me anymore.
"Has this ever happened before, Edward?" Carlisle asks and Edward shakes his head.
"Maybe she's blocking you guys." Emmett suggests as Alice and Edward look over to him in horror. Yeah, it's not so nice when you don't have your power that you used for control anymore.
"Bella, I think it's time for your bath and then bedtime." Charlotte says and Bella nods her head while I lean forward, kissing her temple.
"I'll be up to read you a bedtime story in a bit." I assure her and she nods, smiling at me. She gets down and walks over to Charlotte, taking her outstretched hand.
"Uh...do you need any help?" Rosalie asks her, Charlotte looking down to Bella.
"Would it be okay if Rose helped me get you ready for bed?" Charlotte asks and Bella looks over to Rose and nods her head, extending her hand towards Rosalie. The blonde ice queen looks like she could cry as she takes Bella's hand in hers.
"You're really pretty." Bella comments, Rosalie smiling down at her.
"Thanks, Honey, but you're much prettier." Rosalie says and Bella blushes, looking down as the two women lead her up the stairs. I watch with a smile as Rose is already captured by Bella.
"I can hear you again." Edward comments, confirming that Bella is indeed blocking them. It seems she can block Edward and Alice from me as well, but we'll get more into that in a couple of years.
"Jasper...I'm sorry, but I have to ask. It's difficult to think that you're mates when she's a child. Mates are very..." Carlisle trails off while I let out a loud growl, appalled at what he's suggesting.
Mates are very sexual in nature, especially newly mated pairs.
"Doc, you got it all wrong. Jasper doesn't lust after Bella. It's protective and he does love her, as she does him. There's no sexual feelings at all." Peter tells him as I growl.
"She's a fucking baby. Of course I'm not sexually inclined to her." I shake my head in disgust.
"I only wanted to make sure, Jasper. I've never heard of a vampire/human mated pair before, much less a vampire/child mated pair." Carlisle explains and I roll my eyes.
"Listen, I'll admit that I love her. More than anything in the entire world." I feel Alice's jealousy rise at this and I ignore it. "More than my own life, but it's not passionate or lustful."
"It looks like we were wrong." Esme admits, looking over to a sheepish Alice. "I'm happy and very proud of you, Jasper." It's then I get a good look at Esme, seeing that her eyes are now a burnt orange color. Did she feed off a human?!
"Yes." Edward answers my question and my eyes land on Emmett, seeing his eyes are more of an amber. What the hell went on?
"I think that it's time that we go." Carlisle says, looking over to Esme who nods. "We apologize for the misunderstanding. We'll take out leave, now."
I nod my head as Carlisle and Esme stand up, Alice shaking her head while glaring at me. I growl at her before standing up, radiating authority and some fear, needing to get my point across.
"Listen up and listen good, because this is your first and final warning - my first priority is keeping my human mate safe from everyone, so if any of you tell anyone about Bella, or if the Volturi finds out about her...I do not care who you are, I will hunt you down and kill you myself."
Would you want some of Bella's POV from this chapter in the next one? Let me know with a review. What did you think of Bella telling Alice that Jasper is hers? What do you think of Rosalie with Bella?
I hit 300 followers. That's the most I've ever had on a story. Thank you so much!
Posted this chapter on Word Press. Pictures of the house are on there.
-Jalen-
