Bella's POV
I came upon Jasper. I was about to sneak up on him using my shield. He was pacing back and forth, clearly at war with himself. I didn't waste any time. I needed to make my presence known. I extended my shield and wrapped it around his body, keeping his head free. He was facing away from me, trying to break free, but it would never work. My shield was solid. I walked around and stood in front of him.
"Jasper," I said coolly, "we meet again."
He looked at me and his nostrils flared, he was beginning to panic. He was fighting. I knew he wouldn't just look at me and accept that I was his mate. It could never be that simple. I stared at him, he was still struggling to get free.
"Let me go, Bella," he snarled at me.
"Why?" I asked.
"Don't test me," he said. "Let me go or I will have no choice but to use my gift on you."
I cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Bring it on," I said.
I stood my ground and a second later I could feel his gift. I was able to block it at first, but he kept it up and he hit me with the most amount of pain I had ever felt. I dropped to my knees and my shield fell with me. Jasper stepped towards me, cracking his neck. He didn't let up the pain. I managed to stay silent, only whimpering every now and then. He stood above me and I looked up at him with my pain filled eyes. He looked back and he faltered. It seemed like he didn't like to see me in pain because the pain disappeared immediately and was replaced with lust. What was he up to now? I was still withering on the ground, but for a completely different reason this time. He was not playing fair.
I took the lust on board and started absorbing it so that I could think clearly and the moment my mind was clear I extended my shield and sent Jasper flying away from me. He crash landed a hundred yards away and I could feel his displeasure from here. He let out a loud growl and I smirked. I quickly stood up. He stalked back over to me and he did not look happy at all.
"Let's settle this once and for all," he said. "No gifts."
I looked him up and down. I knew this would be a fight I would lose. Jasper was a skilled fighter and he had centuries of practice. I had basically none, but it didn't matter, not in the end. He was still here, he wasn't running and that was important. And, maybe, just maybe, if I could hold my own for just a little bit it would convince him that I was strong, then maybe he would start to believe it. I knew he needed to see it firsthand to believe. I crouched down, placing my left hand behind my back.
"Okay," I told him, "no gifts."
I watched as his face turned savage, his eyes blacker than black. I attempted to do the same, but I don't think I was too good at it. I had learned a lot when researching Jasper and I knew a few things, whispers different people had told me. The first was that you never attacked first. I stood my ground and so did Jasper. He got frustrated after a while and began circling, I joined in. We both knew someone needed to make the first move, but neither of us wanted to be the one. When I was certain Jasper would never give in I decided to just go for it.
I leaned to the right and I watched as he watched me closely. I moved right before quickly darting left. I kept my left hand behind me, it was a tactic that had worked well for me in the past and I was certain that Jasper had never come across it before. Jasper didn't move so I spun and went right again. I was in arm's reach of him, but he never even moved. I stopped moving and stared at him.
"You know," I spat out, "this goes a lot better if you actually fight back."
He just stared at me.
"Why aren't you attacking me?" I asked him. "Are you scared that you might hurt me? Your mate?"
That got him.
"No," he roared and he crumbled. He charged first and I smiled as I swiftly jumped out of the way of his slashing arms. He stopped and looked at me, anger rolling off him in waves. I took it on board and allowed it to fuel me.
I knew that this time we would make contact and it wouldn't be pretty.
We started circling again and I placed my left arm behind my back. Jasper watched my actions and I could tell he was confused, but he brushed it off. That was his first mistake. I extended my nails on my hidden left hand and got ready for my attack. I jumped forward and when my feet hit the ground I darted left and spun. Jasper reached out for me and just narrowly missed me. I jumped again and let him reach for me again, this was important for my tactic to work. He needed to underestimate me. I needed his minds to fill in the blanks. His nails made contact with my arm, but only just. I darted left and then back right. I bared my back to him and he took the bait.
I could feel him as his fingers wrapped around my right arm, now was my chance. I spun again and pulled my left arm from behind my back. Jasper was surprised, they always were. I had learned that you could trick your enemy into believing what you wanted. It was so simple. Jasper was so used to fighting newborns, a lot of them with missing limbs, so seeing me only fighting with one arm, well his mind filled in the blanks and now it was too late for him to recover. My fingernails made contact with his neck and I dug them in deeply, quickly pulling downwards. Jasper didn't cry out in, but his face twisted in pain. He pushed me away from him and reached up to check how deep the wound was.
The moment he realized that his head wasn't about to fall off he charged me and I allowed it. I fought back the best I could. I met him scratch for scratch, bite for bite. I wanted him to know I was strong, but there came a time where I just submitted to him. My lust was rising again and this time it wasn't because Jasper was manipulating me. I allowed the lust to overtake me and I pushed it out to Jasper. It was time for us to accept our mateship and the only way we could do that is if we gave ourselves over fully to each other. Jasper stopped and he looked at me. He knew what I was up to and he faltered. He had to make a choice and I hoped he made the right one. I stood and I waited. This was it and I felt so vulnerable. I hoped I had shown him just how strong I was, but I knew I was nowhere near as strong as him…
