Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.
A/N: This is an edited form of the Chapter 10 I posted this past Friday. Not that there was inherently anything wrong with that chapter, just that when I got home and re-read what I had written on my FFN app, I was appalled by some of my grammatical/word usage errors. I couldn't let them stand, it would have cost me hours of sleep and some twitching over the problems. And, I did add a little more here and there. It isn't going to change the story line if you've already read Chapter 10, so feel free to ignore this redo if you'd like! Hope you guys had an amazing Memorial Day weekend. Thanks for the love and the follows! Xoxo- Ginja
*** Chapter 10 – Wild Card ***
The Cullens gathered around the living room of their Forks residence, as the morning light slipped into afternoon sun. The air was stale from the house being closed up for ten years. Ten long years where it seems more than the seasons had changed.
"Well that was unexpected…" Carlisle began.
He was standing next to the fireplace with the rest of the family spread across the white leather couch and love seat that were positioned in the middle of the open room. Only Edward remained distanced from the others, sitting at his baby grand piano in the corner, idly rubbing his hand over the ebony wood that covered and protected the keys, lost in thought and yet listening to the others.
"You couldn't hear anything any of them were thinking, Edward?"
He didn't look up to meet Carlisle's questioning glance, but merely replied, "Not a one."
"And, it seems her shield is not only capable of blocking out a mental intrusion, but she can manipulate it, like an invisible force capable of physical contact. She is, in essence, almost virtually unstoppable," Jasper added in, "I can't imagine she was easy to control when she was first turned. I'm honestly astonished Jacob and the wolves were able to manage it, and yet, they are fiercely protective of her, as if she's a member of the wolf pack and not a vampire. I wouldn't doubt that they would try to cut us down should we cross the treaty line, but Bella coexists with them, side by side."
"I just don't understand," Alice whined, "I thought we were supposed to be best friends."
Rosalie snorted gracelessly, "Friends? She was desperate for Edward's attention and you'd barely give the girl five inches worth of freedom without one of the two of you in her space. I don't think you exactly gave her a choice as to whether she wanted your company. I like her better the way she is now, and not that besotted child that followed Edward around like a puppy dog. The whole thing just made me sick."
"What about now, Alice?" Carlisle ignored Rosalie's criticism, his scientific brain wanting to pick apart this new mystery he'd been introduced to, "Can you see Bella's future if you focus on her?"
Alice allowed the features of her face to smooth out peacefully, and closed her eyes to concentrate on Carlisle's request. After a few moments she sighed in defeat, "Nothing, just white, like someone has dropped a screen."
"And us, what about when we meet with the wolves again?" Jasper inquired, not liking the idea of facing an unknown situation. The wolves had caught them off guard before, and he wanted to be prepared for the possibility of walking in blind again.
"No, I see nothing about the meeting. I know we leave for the meeting, and I can see us approaching the reservation boundary again, but then it's just white."
"She's essentially a wild card, an unknown variable that we can't seem to navigate around," Jasper thought out loud to the rest of the group.
Edward had listened to Carlisle's mind speculate how far reaching Bella's powers could reach, while Jasper had reverted to his military training, not that he considered Bella an enemy, he just didn't know what to make of her. There was always the chance that, given her relationship with Jacob and the rest, she would aid their side if a fight broke out between the two sides.
Edward thought everyone was giving Bella too much credit. Sure she was a good student when they had attended Forks High School together, and she was well read and observant, but honestly, the girl lacked very little drive or initiative. When she awoke as a vampire, she was in the midst of Jacob and his friends, so of course, she naturally let them sweep her along. Now that Edward and his family had returned, he thought it would take very little effort to get her to change direction again.
"She's Bella Swan, daughter to Charlie and Renee, the girl who could barely make it across a flat surface and loved classic romance novels," Edward interrupted, "If any of us knew Bella, it's me. Maybe I should try and talk with her one-on-one, see if I can't get her to open up."
Laughter erupted from across the room, and Edward turned a disapproving frown in the direction of Emmett's outburst, "Seriously, Edward, did Bella kill some of your brain cells when she attacked you at the river? You couldn't honestly think she wishes to speak with you? Seriously, dude, she can't stand you."
"Not that I'd expect you to understand, Emmett, but I think Bella allowed her emotions to get the better of her after not seeing us for so many years, " he explained the woman's outburst as if he were an expert as to what had happened that afternoon, "It's understandable, after being forced to live with those Neanderthals she calls friends. But, I wouldn't say that Bella and I are a lost cause."
"You're delusional, you know that, right?" Rosalie snidely remarked as she stood up from the loveseat she was perched on, cueing to the rest of the group that she had experienced enough of this little family discussion, "Move on, Edward. I'm fairly certain Bella has, and good for her. Emmett, I think I'd like to go freshen up before we have to go for another pow-wow. Coming?"
Emmett shook his head at his foolish older brother in disbelief before following his mate out of the room. Edward dismissed their objections to his line of thinking without much effort. Rosalie was vapid and Emmett a simpleton, their opinions held little worth in his eyes.
Alice came over to sit by her brother and laid her head on his shoulder, "It'll work out, Edward. I know what I saw before she was changed, and I'm certain it will be fine, even if we can't see the outcome any longer.
"I wouldn't count on that, Alice," Jasper stopped her from feeding into Edward's thoughts any further, "I think Rosalie may have something there."
His mind replayed the scene at the water's edge – the lone wolf who had seemed excessively aggressive toward Edward when he had mentioned Bella, the way Bella had placed her hand on that very same creature when she had first presented herself to the rest of the group, the way he followed closely behind her when she left. Intuition told him there was more to Bella's relationship with the wolves, or at least one male pack member in particular, than mere companionship. It would be interesting to see what new information he could obtain when they met again.
Bella wanted nothing more than to make a run for the cliff. To reach the edge and dive off into the ocean below, allowing the push and pull of the tide to overwhelm her senses and drown out the emotions of the morning.
But instead, she went with the others, making their way back to the ring of fallen trees that made up the unofficial meeting place of the wolf pack when they needed to discuss things. Mat followed behind her.
She moved on auto-pilot, allowing her mind to focus on that morning's meeting. One thing was for certain, there was very little she found desirable when it came to what the Cullen coven had to offer. Carlisle was annoying with his peace keeping, politician-like ways and Esme followed him around like a shadow except when she needed to mother one of her "children." Alice had angered Bella when she assumed they were long lost besties, ready to share a girl's night and catch up.
And Edward…Edward was nauseating in his inability to see any wrong in how the past had played out, refusing any responsibility and acting as if they could just pick up where he'd left her in the thicket of trees behind her father's home. Fat fucking chance there.
No, it was Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper that she had any interest in.
Jasper's myriad bite marks that covered his arms and neck, visible to her eyes now, brought with it a certain amount of respect for the man's ability to survive and thrive. He could probably answer her questions about this new life she that had started 10 years ago, and she felt his tutelage wouldn't be full of fluff, but that his knowledge would be invaluable.
Emmett and Rose were real – there were no false facades to be found in either, what you see was what you got. Bella could see why they were a good match, both accepting the other just as they were, kind of like her and Mat.
It might be nice to spend some time with other vampires, now that she was one, and if she had to pick, she had her line-up list formed.
Stopping at Quil's house so Mat could change, Bella found herself pinned up against the siding by a very hot, sweaty male whose lips had caught her mouth in a searing kiss. Teeth biting into her lip, hair fisted in his grip as he attacked the line of her neck.
Bella smirked in response to his attention, "Possessive much?"
Mat pulled back to look in her eyes and was warmed to see her still look at him that same way, a mix of desire and appreciation, "You are fierce and beautiful and strong and I…"
She cut off his sentence with a kiss, not really wanting to know where he was going with his outpouring of words. Mat had been struggling with the urge to tear Edward Cullen piece by piece and the shared pack mind had assured him that they would back up his actions, unknown threat be damned. But Mat held back and his girl had come out, fangs bared and sent that pansy-ass fucker flying. Back arrow straight, she hadn't cowered under reliving the past, but stood strong with his brothers, protecting them from the mind reader.
Mat knew he was already slipping to the point that splitting from Bella would be painful, but now he simply dismissed the idea. If she'd have him, he'd blind himself to every other female that walked the planet. He'd fight every inch of any imprint pressed on him to remain by her side.
He had claimed Bella as his, but he'd give himself to her as well, if she'd accept him.
Legs wrapped around his waist, Mat pushed her up against the building, tugging at the bottom hem of her shirt.
"Down, boy, "Bella chided, "We don't have the time right now, babe. The others will be waiting for us. You know that."
Laying his forehead on her shoulder, Mat tried to clear the lust that was roaring through his veins and calm his rapid breathing.
"Cabin?" He suggested half-heartedly.
She giggled in response, a very girlish sound to his ears, "As much as I'd love to give in and say yes, I think that will have to wait. But, I promise to make it up to you."
"Promise?"
"Absolutely, I'm all yours," Bella assured.
The Cullens had to wait till late in the afternoon before Jake made the call to try for meeting number two.
Once everyone had gathered at the beach, the boys had cheered Bella on for the beat down she had delivered to their least favorite blood-sucker and celebrated in the fact that they had cover from outside prying thanks to Bella's shield.
Jacob had known what the answer would be before he asked, but he still questioned Bella to see if she wanted to hang back and avoid further interaction with their guests. As expected, she insisted that she could handle the meeting, and the Alpha had zero doubt that she could.
Choosing to only take Bella and four of the wolves in their human forms for this outing, Jacob and the other five stood in a small line at the edge of the river.
Jasper had joined Carlisle in the front for this meeting, nodding to Bella in respect and looking down to where her and Mat's hands were intertwined. Bella followed his gaze and realized that she hadn't even noticed what they'd done, Mat was like a magnet, and they just pulled together in some form of connection when they had the chance. She arched an eyebrow in challenge to the sandy haired blonde across from her, but he merely shrugged and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
"So, " Jake began, "the two vampires we took out the day I called you were red-eyed, but before killing the one who attacked Quil, we were able to restrain and question him. He was the one that mentioned your family."
"Carlisle said you mentioned on the phone that he had warned you that there would be more attacks?" Jasper questioned.
Bella spoke up, "He said, 'I only come bearing the warning that she is coming to take revenge for that which was taken from her. She has forgotten nothing. She has only bided her time till the moment was right for the Cullens' destruction. If they are not here, she will simply wait for their return.' Those were his exact words."
"She? You were unable to get him to answer who 'she' is?"
Sighing, Bella tried to hold back a snarl, "Jasper, I'm not exactly trained in vampire interrogation techniques, so no, I didn't get anything else from him. I had him bound from moving, but he had shut down, completely zoned out, no longer with us. He had stopped trying to fight because he knew we had the upper hand and we weren't going to let him go, so what was the point in helping us out any? I saw him to be a lost cause, and I let Jake take him down."
"I'm sorry if you don't like the way we handled things. We didn't lose anyone in the attack, and the wolves were able to take out another, but one did escape. I didn't think vampires usually traveled in groups, and I don't think 'she' was one of the ones hiding in the trees because dead guy seemed to think that our mystery woman would find it entertaining to destroy us while waiting for your return."
Racking his brain for answers, Jasper asked, "What direction did the one that got away head?"
Bella looked to Jake who answered "North-east away from the coast."
"Not south?"
"No, and we haven't had any scent trails coming from the south, why? Do you know something?"
"Well the grandeur of impending doom, the theatrics of it all remind me of Maria. But, she's been happy running her coven in the South for decades, why change now? Why come North now?"
"Excuse me, but, who is Maria?" Mat asked.
Jasper took the man's interruption as a chance to take a closer look. Dark hair that curled down into his eyes that were an intriguing reddish-brown shade, and a body that was built like Emmett's – not necessarily huge, but thick. He seemed comfortable by Bella's side, as if there wasn't anything about her that screamed danger to him. And at the same time, Jasper noticed that he didn't try to stand in front of her, blocking her from the rest of the group, but was simply by her side. He wondered what the pack thought of this relationship that was obviously not the result of one of their star-crossed imprinting escapades. Hell, for that much, what would the Volturri say about a vampire and a wolf together.
He shook off the side trail his thoughts had taken before answering, "She's my sire, the one who turned me. She's a power hungry vampire that resides in the South, and she takes great pride in knowing that she and her coven are pretty much unbeatable. They're a well-oiled machine that control a very large portion of that part of the US and Mexico. I can see how she'd find Bella a threat, but I don't know what she has against us. I left her and joined with Carlisle years ago, and I figured she had just accepted that one lone vampire wasn't worth the trouble of coming after. She's never moved to try and get me back into her army before now."
"What do you mean, she'd see Bella as a threat? Bella isn't trying to take over anyone's territory," Mat reasoned in response.
"No, she isn't staging an attack, but she's extremely powerful. I don't know how far reaching your shield is, but Bella, if you were strong enough to hold back an army…" Jasper drifted off in thought, "Bella, do you mind if we try something?"
Jake started to object, but Bella's curiosity won out, "Sure, Jasper, what do you want to do?"
"I want you to stand alone and shield yourself completely. Then we're going to try and break through, we won't hurt you, I just want to see if we can get to you, okay?"
Bella crossed the ground towards the line of vampires, breaking away from Jake and the others, giving a clear area of space around all sides. The men she left behind grumbled, but Jake held his hand up to signal that the matter was Bella's decision and they were to drop the matter.
"Emmett come in from her left, Rose from behind, Edward you take her right, and I'm going to come in the front. Alice, you try and break through if you see an opportunity. On my count," Jasper directed.
Bella had thought maybe they would try one at a time, but when Jasper gave the signal, it was all at once.
In the beginning, the physical aspect of Bella's shield was unpredictable, it seemed to respond primarily to her emotions. If she felt threatened, it would form a barrier around her and no one could get any closer. She didn't intentionally use it against anyone, it just occurred sporadically. But over the years, she started to connect with the very fiber of her power, realizing that it was malleable, like a sheet of metal and she could shape it as she needed. If there was something heading in from one side, she made a wall. Coming at her from all directions? No problem. And as she pushed outwards towards their incoming forms, she heard something above and realized Alice had tried coming in from a high vantage point, as if she expected Bella to form four walls, but no ceiling. In response, Bella gave one simple mental shove, forming an expanding sphere over her body and all five were sent backwards.
"Okay, now try and contain us, gather us up," Jasper and the rest tried once again approaching Bella's lone form, but this time she used the shape of her force to push them away and corral them together until they were amassed in a small group that couldn't make any progress of escaping from her hold.
"And one more time, but you can decide how best to deal with the situation."
Bella could hear Jasper ask Carlisle to join in as well, and she was ready for the additional member, thinking Jasper was planning to add others in one at a time, to see how many she could hold back, but what she hadn't planned on was Jasper breaking form and zeroing in on Mat.
Anger gripped her focus, till she felt electric and red as she shot off a wave that sent Jasper flying into a rocky wall, his body pushed into the granite side. Alice immediately screamed in shock and raced to where her husband was, the rest of the group, both wolves and vamps stood still.
Emmett had joined his sister and gave Jasper a hand as the vampire removed himself from his position, bones snapping back into place and healing as he walked. Bella refused to apologize, as her anger still boiled that he would even try and move towards one of her own. Jasper stopped three feet from her, taking in Bella's lethal glare and set jaw line before he grinned.
"Yeah, I wouldn't fuck with you in a battle, that's for damn sure. Well done."
"I could have killed you, you know that?"
He simply shrugged in response as if it was no big deal, "I took a chance."
"Jasper Whitlock, you took a chance? What the hell do you mean, you took a chance?," the tiny harpy shrieked alongside him.
"Most fun I've had in a long time," Jasper continued to smile and ignored the complaints coming from the woman to his left.
"Baby girl's got mad skills! Damn, Bella!" Emmett rambled on, lifting a hand up in high five formation, waiting for Bella to react.
She looked from Jasper to Emmett, both grinning like fools, "You two are idiots."
And then she met Emmett's waiting hand with her own before a small smile made it onto her own face.
"I think we need to discuss possible battle tactics. I still don't know what we're facing," Jasper suggested, "If it's okay with you, Jacob, I'd like to stick around and see if we can't ferret out who the threat is. And, if you're up for it, I'd be willing to help your guys learn how to face off one of our kind."
Jacob still felt as though they hadn't gotten any closer to uncovering anything, but he also knew having the opportunity to get to know the enemy by training with one of their kind was worth looking into.
"Yeah, we could do that," Jacob agreed, "Let me figure out a patrol schedule and then we can take turns training with you. I know you guys don't need rest, so maybe we can take advantage of both day and night maneuvers."
Jasper nodded, "Sounds good to me. We'll also run the perimeter from this side, see if we pick up on anything you've missed. I still want to do some searching southward."
"Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow it is."
They may have a common purpose in discovering who the mystery female was, but the two sides weren't going to shake hands just yet. The other wolves waited for Jacob to turn his back and run back towards the reservation before they turned to follow, casting a wary eye on the group of vampires. Bella turned with her side of the group and had started to make her way back towards the woods when Edward made his move.
"Bella… Bella, wait, I wanted to talk to…"
Bella rolled her eyes and sent him flying towards the trees on the Cullens' side of the treaty line, stating over her shoulder, "Not interested."
She could hear Emmett's bear of a laugh echo through the air once more.
