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"He moved like a lightning strike - power and speed and death rolled into one."

Jacob Black, Eclipse

"NO!" Edward roared. "You are meant to be a Cullen, not a Whitlock. Their monsters, Bella, you don't know what you're saying. He's manipulating you to think that's what you want. He's been doing it for over a century; he knew exactly what to say to you to get you to decide this," he said, while glaring at me. "You are a Cullen, not some filthy, Southern bred, human drinker." Edward was desperate for Bella to see his point of view.

I stood there stoically, just staring at Bella. Something had changed the dynamic of mine and Bella's relationship with her confession. I could hear Edward making a fuss about something in the background but I just couldn't put it together. I'm not going to say that time had come to a standstill, but it was pretty fuckin' close. As a vampire, I shouldn't be susceptible to shock, but my verbal skills became non-existent all of a sudden. I'm sure I looked like a gaping fish out of water. This is what our whole conversation boiled down to tonight? She wanted me to sire her into eternity. Was she fuckin' crazy?

"Bella, are you sure this is what you want? Jasper's control…" Carlisle began. She cut him off literally before he even finished his sentence.

"Just stop," she said, waving her hand dismissively.

I watched as Bella stood from the couch, making her way over to me. She was saying something to me, and I could see her mouth moving, but I couldn't seem to make out any of the words. She began to snap her fingers in front of my face, which brought me out of my daze.

"Jasper, are you okay?" She asked, looking concerned.

"Darlin', I was just a little taken back by your decision. May I ask why you want me to do it?"

"I don't think you're going to be satisfied with the only answer you're going to get for now .Is me saying that I trust you enough?" she said, looking down towards the floor.

I crouched down to eye level with her. I wanted her to see that I was right there with her; I wasn't going to push her away like Edward had. Regardless of my concerns, this was her choice and I wanted her to know that I believed her when she said she trusted me.

"Darlin', look at me…"

She raised her head to meet my gaze.

"I know you trust me; I can feel it and if you think that's good enough reason, then so do I," I stated firmly. "I will not take your choices away from you; you are your own individual. Make no mistake though, until you know exactly what happens during the change, I will not pierce that pretty little neck of yours." I smiled widely at her and tapped her on the nose.

As if she were a vampire already, she threw her arms around my neck. For the first time in almost a year, I took in a deep breath. Bella's scent was exquisite- morning glories and honey. While I held her, I looked around the room. Everyone was smiling except for Edward, who glowered at us, rage clearly at the forefront of his emotions. In a movement quicker than lightning, I pushed Bella behind me and crouched defensively. She squeaked at the sudden movement.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Edward…" I ground out.

The cage that I had constructed so carefully around my demon, rattled one last time before the lock sprung free.

He lunged and I countered. The resounding crack as our bodies met shattered the windows in the living room. We zigzagged throughout the living room, deflecting each other's blows as each of us tried to get the upper hand.

"You're really gettin' on my fuckin' nerves, little boy. I gave ya fair warnin' that it wasn't a good idea. Which limb would ya like to lose first?" I taunted.

"You lay one hand on Bella and I will kill you," Edward retorted.

"Tut, tut, tut…" I taunted again.

While Edward was too busy thinking about ways to kill me, I was busy gaining the advantage. In one swift move, I had Edward pinned on the floor face down with my knee in between his shoulder blades.

"I warned ya this was goin' to happen. I will make myself very clear this time. I don't take threats to my family lightly," I growled into his ear. I grabbed his left hand and yanked as hard as I could, the sound of metal breaking permeated the air. "This is for that little speech about filthy, Southern bred, human drinkers." I moved again and grabbed his right hand and pulled it off. "That is for ya stupidity and putting my family in danger. Ya wanna act like an asinine little boy, well then, ya will be treated like one. For all I care, Carlisle can take the next century fusing ya arms back on. And one last thing…, I suggest you keep ya distance from the little lady over there," I drawled out.

"Major, that's enough!" I heard someone scream.

I snapped my head, looking for the person who gave me an order. There she stood, hands on her hips glaring at me.

"Major, that is enough. I think he has learned his lesson for now." She reiterated, her brown eyes flashing with anger.

I grabbed Edward by the scruff of his neck and lifted him to his knees, holding him in place. For once, he needed to face the family he put in danger as a man and not some petulant little child. Bella stalked over and mere inches from his face.

"I told you that you didn't want The Major to come out to play," she ground out. "Next time, I won't protect you and it will be your head that gets removed. Then, I will light the pyre that sends your ass straight to hell," she finished, radiating anger. Edward stiffened at her last comment.

"Bella…" Edward pleaded. "You don't mean that, love. I only thought it would be better if we left. You could live a normal human life. I love you," he finished.

"Love?" she screeched. "You call what you did to me love? You left me in the woods to die, Edward," she whimpered. "You left me to fucking die," she repeated, leaning into him as she spoke in his ear, her voice barely above a whisper. Looking straight into my eyes, she threatened him one more time. "I keep the promises I make, and next time I will let you die." The lethal quality her voice, literally sent shivers down my spine.

"Badass, Bells," Emmett said with a smirk, his dimples making an appearance.

She straightened her little 5'4" frame, as if she never made that threat, turned, and stalked off out the front door. With the sound of her revving engine becoming more distant, I didn't know when I would see Bella again.

It was three days before we had saw Bella again. While she was gone, I took the opportunity to sit down and talk to Carlisle about her change. He agreed with me that it would be in her best interest to resolve some of these issues with Edward before she changed. He had explained to me that with the four vampires he changed, Rosalie was the most unstable. She had retained most of her human memories and with that came the animosity she brought into this life. She became vengeful towards her attackers and sought them out one by one, ending their lives with no mercy, just as they attempted to do with her.

Carlisle and I also discussed my bloodlust. I explained that through the century I slayed with Maria, that my bloodlust was brought on by the emotional component of our thirst from the kill, and that I was drowning in my own misery, consumed by guilt with every life I had ever taken. I hadn't discussed this very often with anyone other than Peter. I had tried over the decades to talk to Alice about it, but she always told me she already knew what I was like. None of the other Cullens wanted to talk about it either. However, Carlisle was compassionate towards me, just like a father would be, and for that I was thankful.

A timid knock on Carlisle's study broke us out of our conversation.

"Jasper, you may want to come down to the living room. Bella will be here in three minutes," Alice stated.

"I'll be just one more moment, Alice," I replied.

I politely thanked Carlisle for the time he had given me to discuss my concerns about Bella's change and also how my emotions were affected by the bloodlust. Now, it all seemed clear as to why I had struggled so much in my past compared to the Cullens.

Bella didn't even bother to knock as she made her way into the house. I felt the hurt and despair flowing off of her. She immediately ran into Esme's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Bella, shhh. Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Esme asked, embracing Bella tightly.

"He's dead. Charlie…" she whispered, clinging to the only mother she had really known. "Charlie, Charlie, Charlie…" she chanted. "It was Victoria…" she spoke just barely above a whisper.

"Bella," Edward rushed over to her. "This is why the family and I had to leave. We brought danger to you and Charlie and I couldn't bear the thought of losing you to Victoria or The Volturi," he admonished.

He was scolding her like she had made a grave mistake that cost her father his life.

"Edward, that's enough. She just lost her dad for Christ's sake and you're scolding her like she's a fucking child," Rosalie said, bringing the obvious to the table.

"No, she needs to know that because of the choices she has made, someone ended up dead," he sneered back at her.

"You low-life, stupid mother fucker!" she screamed, struggling against Emmett's hold. "One minute you claim to love her and to want to protect her. Are you that fucking blind?" she ranted. "You disregarded mine and Jasper's opinion in the beginning, invited a human into our world regardless of the consequences that it would bring to our family, then, you go and blame her for her own father's death," she continued, her rage building rapidly. "I would watch your back from now on. I make good on my promises, too," she threatened him.

It quickly became a shouting match between Edward and Rosalie, neither one letting up on the insults.

"I got ten grand on Rosie; she is one fierce bitch," Emmett commented, chuckling to himself.

"ENOUGH!" I roared. Everyone stopped and stood still, just staring at me. "We need to focus on Bella's needs, not some bickering argument about whose fault this is," I chided.

I immediately went to Bella's side trying to push calm towards her. She pulled out of Esme's embrace, turned and clung to me like I was her air.

"Shhh, Darlin'." I cooed her. "You're okay now. You're safe with me," I said gently.

I felt Edward's rage building again.

"Edward, don't. Just don't," I scolded him, turning back to Bella. "Bella, do you wanna talk about it darlin'?" I asked quietly, knowing everyone in the house heard me.

"I…I just can't," she stated softly, clawing at my chest.

My battle instincts were beginning to take over and I knew that Victoria needed to be taken care of.

"Darlin'," I whispered. "I need to make a couple of phone calls…"

"Jasper, please don't leave me here," she whispered.

"Okay then Darlin'," I replied, cradling her to my chest. Her grip on my shirt was so tight that if I had been human she would have choked me. I stood and nodded to the rest of the family.

"We will be back as soon as I get these phone calls taken care of," I stated firmly, making my way towards my study.

As I walked, I was doing everything I could to calm Bella down. I didn't want to manipulate her emotions, but I didn't have a choice. She was extremely distraught and her emotions were going haywire. I couldn't keep up with how rapidly her emotions were shifting.

"Darlin', I'm goin' to set you down here on the couch, but I'll be right here. I'm not goin' anywhere," I stated firmly, sending her a wave of comfort.

I pulled my phone out my pocket and pressed "1" on speed dial. I heard the person on the other end pick up without a word.

"We will be there by sundown," he finally answered, hanging up the phone abruptly in my face.

"Well, that went as well as expected," I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes.

I sighed in resignation and pressed "2" on my phone. This last call was going to bring the heavens down on Victoria.

"Aro speaking," the vampire at the other end stated.

"It's Major Whitlock…" I replied scathingly.

"Major, to what do we owe the pleasure?" the vampire asked gleefully.

"Forget the pleasantries, Aro; I'm callin' to collect my last debt…" I ground out.

It didn't matter now if the family heard what I had to say, I could care less. I was in full strategy mode, contemplating exactly how we were going to take Victoria down. I paced back and forth from one side of my study to the other. I was getting impatient with Aro's silence; he was really getting on my last fucking nerve.

"I want Jane, Alex, Felix and Demetri here by sundown tomorrow," I commanded.

"That can be arranged Major, but it would be good of you to remember that we don't do favors anymore," he replied, his voice becoming deadly.

"That wasn't a request for a favor, Aro; this is your repayment for my year of service," I said condescendingly. "You will do well to remember, that I don't show mercy…" I didn't give him the chance to respond as I hung up the phone quickly.

I had spent a year in The Volturi Guard, training those who were turned for their abilities as humans. In return, The Volturi granted me asylum from persecution of the Southern Wars. They had also said if I needed anything, they would do so without hesitation. Well, Aro had made it blatantly clear that this was no favor, he expected something in return. Under no circumstances would I return to the guard and he knew that.

"Jasper…" Bella said through the sniffles. "Why… do the… Volturi owe… you a favor?" she was requesting an explanation.

I sighed in resignation. I knew the time had come for my secrets to be revealed to my family, whether they wanted to hear them or not. If I finally shared my secrets, maybe I would be free of the burdens of my past.

"Darlin', why don't we take this down stairs? I'm sure you're not the only one asking that question," I explained.

I picked her up gently, cradling her to my chest, and made my way down stairs to rejoin the family again. As much as I wanted one more moment with Bella alone, I owed my family one hell of an explanation.

"What do you have to do with the Volturi?" Edward growled at me.

I gently set Bella down close to Esme, where she cradled her softly.

"I would like to start by saying that I'm truly sorry to those who think I deceived them," I said thoughtfully, pushing regret out at them. "I wish that we could have talked about this sooner, but we didn't have a reason to approach the subject," I said, glancing over at Carlisle. "Given the actions of Victoria against Charlie, everything has to come to light now before it's too late," I finished.

"Jasper is right. The secret that has been withheld is the only thing that will possibly get us through this as a family," Carlisle stated, sincerity lacing his voice. "As you all know, when I was studying in Italy, I came across the Volturi. I lived with them for longer than a couple decades. I actually lived with them for over a century…" he trailed off.

"Carlisle, Jasper, are you sure this is the best idea?" Alice asked, glancing between the both of us.

"I learned a great many things about them during my stay," he continued on, ignoring Alice's question. "And I even watched the gifted newborns train. As I watched them train, I noticed a vampire that was more lethal than anyone I had ever seen before. His precision and technique was that of an experienced fighter…" Carlisle stopped suddenly.

"You knew Jasper…" Bella whispered as shock radiated through my family, with the exception of Alice.

"Alice, you knew?" Edward asked her, his eyes narrowing as he filtered through her thoughts.

"I only knew because Jasper made the decision to tell the family while he was on the phone," she replied.

"What a shit storm this is…" Emmett commented. "Look, I don't care about what happened over a century ago. Hell, I wasn't even born yet," he chuckled. "All I know is that Bells needs to be protected until her change. What are our options, Jasper?" he asked, trying to move the conversation on.

A loud knock on the door resounded through the living room. I walked casually over to it and pulled it open. Two sets of crimson eyes stared back at me.

"Peter, Char…it's good to see ya again," I said, my Southern accent suddenly reappearing.

"Howdy, Major," Peter replied, shaking my hand.

"Jasper, how are ya doin', sweets? I've missed ya," Char greeted me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"I missed ya too, and I'm as good as can be expected at the moment, darlin'," I replied, gently kissing her on the cheek.

As we made our way down the entryway, Peter's emotions were teetering between curiosity and excitement. Char's were almost the same as his. In the blink of an eye, Bella was wrapped up in Char's arms.

"Char, I can't believe you're here," Bella whispered. Her eyes looking sad, but her emotions were radiating happiness.

I held back the smirk that would be gracing my features as I watched my family take in the scene. What they didn't know, and I'm quite sure Alice hadn't said anything was that the day that Bella showed up at Peter and Char's house, I was there on vacation. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Bella was more than pissed off at me. After that rant she had, I'm surprised that she even so much as said a word to me.

"Sweets, I told ya we would come. We were just waitin' on Jasper's call," Char whispered back.

"Come here sugar, how 'bout a hug for ya big brother?" Peter teased, pulling Bella out of Char's embrace.

Emmett's jealousy spiked at Peter's comment.

"Emmett, I'm not tryin' to take ya place. She is gonna be a Whitlock, after all," Peter stated, trying to sooth Emmett's emotions.

"What are these filthy, Southern bred, human drinkers here for?" Edward roared, his eyes locked on Peter and Char.

Again, it was no surprise that Edward couldn't keep his mouth shut. I growled at him, giving him fair warning that I was done with his comments.

"I suggest you shut that trap of yours, pretty boy. Wouldn't want to lose another appendage now would we?" Peter said, baring his teeth.

"Light the pyre, Jasper," Bella said sarcastically.

"Darlin', I have other plans for Edward. The pyre remains unlit for the time being," I said, grabbing her away from Peter.

"Boys, play nice. We are all under pressure here and we need everyone who is available," Esme scolded us.

"Bella, we need to talk about Charlie," I stated, my voice full of sorrow.

"I know," she replied, her tears threatening to spill over.

"Sugar, you don't have to tell us everything; we just need a general idea of what you saw," Peter said, taking over the conversation.

I ushered Bella to the couch again, giving her room to breathe as she began her story.

"I was coming home from Newton's, when I noticed Charlie's police cruiser in the driveway. I thought it was odd for him to be home so early in the day," she said, her eyes pleading with me to make her stop. "Oh, God, he was just sitting there…" she trailed off, sobs robbing her of the ability to speak. "There was a note…" she whispered.

Wiping her nose on her sleeve, she dug through her pockets. She quickly thrust the folded up paper into my hand. I opened it and scanned over it, handing it to Peter.

Bella,

For the one crime you have committed, you will bring death upon your beloveds. Each has sinned, yet all in a very different manner, and all their souls shall be punished for eternity.

Carlisle-your coven's ability to overcome our natural food source has caused you to think your coven is on a pedestal-this is Pride.

Esme-you long for things that others have-this is Envy.

Edward-you desire to consume more than what you are destined for-this is Gluttony.

Emmett-you desire the flesh of your mate-this is Lust.

Jasper-your fury hath no end-this is Anger.

Alice-you see the future and change possible outcome for your own ends-this is Greed.

Rosalie-your desire for beauty consumes your thoughts making you idle -this is Sloth.

As for Chief Swan, he paid the ultimate price just for being your blood, my dear sweet Bella. Now, I have taken one of your beloveds…the rest will soon follow.

See you in Hell…

As Peter finished reading the note, I realized that Victoria was referring to The Seven Deadly Sins of the Bible. She was targeting us one by one, expecting our souls to be dammed for eternity.

"Major, looks like y'all are on her shit list," Peter said, pointing out the obvious.

Char brushed past me and picked up Bella.

"Come on sweets, let's draw ya a bath and get ya relaxed a bit," she drawled.

I stood, quietly following behind Char and Bella, pondering how we were going to get ourselves out of this mess alive.

A/N: Thanks to Heavyinfinity, my lovely beta who manages to make some sense of the fuckery that goes through my brain. She is wonderful…and so is her brain! This chapter is my favorite because we see a lot of things happening and we find not everyone is exactly who they seem. Push that little button down there and leave a lovely review.