AN: Hi y'all. You probably thought I had forgotten about this story. I assure you I haven't. Enjoy!

Chapter 18 - Reunited

JPOV

The words kept on ringing in my mind as I tried to figure out what to do.

You're too late…

They were stuck in a loop while that tracker's crazed expression was etched on my retina. Every nanosecond another horrible scenario unfolded before my eyes in which Bella was horribly maimed, raped and/or killed. A sick mind and a good sense of imagination really weren't helping me at all. But she couldn't be dead. I would have felt it. There's no way that Bella was gone without me feeling it in some way.

No, she was still alive. And Charlotte had located her and I had all the faith of the world in that woman.

I covered the two miles to the abandoned barn in the blink of an eye. Immediately, I was hit with a crippling amount of hatred and fury. It was so overwhelming it brought me to a halt. I didn't recognize the source of the emotions, but there was something vaguely familiar about them.

I crept closer to the entrance, casting my senses out wide, but there was only one person present in the farmhouse. And that person was a vampire. A vampire…

Suddenly it all fell into place, the cryptic remark of the tracker, Bella's plan, the emotions exuding from the barn… I rushed to the doors, which were still open and I saw her in her glorious magnificence.

My Bella. A vampire.

I had the pleasure of seeing her rip off Edward's dick and stomp it under her foot, until there was nothing left. She kept on ripping chunks off Bitchward until he was spread over the entire barn. And then she went around again shredding the remaining bits in even smaller pieces, leaving a gigantic puddle of venom. That was my warrior woman, my demon princess, and she was fuckhot.

I was still frozen in the doorway, undecided about how to approach, when Bella suddenly caught my scent. Her head jerked in my direction and I was locked in her gaze. Her scarlet eyes were gorgeous and all-consuming, but her look was also intense and feral. She righted herself and for a moment we did nothing but stare. If there had ever been any doubt in my mind that she was my mate, it was erased completely. The connection I felt ran deeper than just the love and lust from before. I wanted to run up to her and hold her, love her and claim her, and I would have done just that if she had given any indication she felt the same. Hell, if she gave any indication she even recognized me.

Then, my brain started functioning again and I recognized the danger of the situation. She was a newborn, coming off the high of her first kill and I was a warrior, intruding into her domain. In the old days, when I was subduing newborns by the dozens, I would wait for them to make the first move, sidestep and then rip off a limb. Dazed by the pain and the haziness that came with the change into the vampire world, it became very easy to overpower them. But now, with Bella, the thought of hurting her didn't even cross my mind.

Sniffing the air, she inched closer to me, obviously on edge and ready to pounce. I stayed as neutral as possible, neither crouching nor trying to assert my dominance. And still, there was no sign of recognition, not even in her emotions which were at the end of a hatred and rage tailspin. I tried calming her a little bit, to no apparent effect. As a second strategy, I tried pushing my feelings of love towards her and that's when she leaped.

All my instincts screamed to defend myself, yet I couldn't lay a finger on her. I braced for impact and was thrown in the dirt outside the barn, landing on my back with my beautiful Bella right on top of me. She put her face in my neck, her nose right where my jugular once pulsed, and breathed in deeply. Her teeth slightly scratched my skin, and despite the danger I was in, I wasn't afraid. If I died now, I'd die a happy man, knowing that Bella was safe.

As if she sensed my emotions, Bella raised her head to look into my eyes.

"Jasper?" she whispered hesitantly and at the sound of her voice I could only nod.

In a single moment, all her inner darkness, misery and horror, where replaced with a love bigger than I had ever felt from her. She was my true mate and I was hers.

Slowly, I raised my hand and gently caressed her cheek. She leaned into my palm and let me drag her down to me. She gripped onto me tightly as I hugged her and if not for two obvious projections of joy and love from a couple of yards away, we would have stayed on the ground for half of eternity. I lifted her head with both my hands and placed a loving kiss on her lips. Detaching myself became increasingly hard, but we'd have time for just the two of us soon enough.

"Darling, there's two more people right here that want to meet the new you," I told her quietly, not to unnerve her.

In a move that was unsettlingly fast, even for me, she was up and racing for Charlotte. They collided with a heavy thump and Bella whirled the older vampire around like she was a child. When she was put down, Charlotte started placing kisses all over Bella's face while saying how much she had missed her, how beautiful she was and that she loved her.

Bella's clear laugh tinkled all over the place and she told Charlotte she loved her too. That stung, I have to admit. She should have told me first, but then again, I should have told her that first. And now it was too late and those words were for Char first. I shook my jealousy off as Bella turned Peter's way. He had caught my level stare before and knew that I would not allow any lusting or inappropriate touching. Their embrace was brotherly and right after, he turned her in my direction again with the words: "Go to your mate, Bella, he misses you already." And the bastard winked at me like he did me a favor.

She started sashaying towards me, a human side of her that I all of a sudden was very glad she retained, when she stopped in mid stride.

"Who is the other vampire?" she hissed, turning around and scenting the air.

"That's Alice," Peter answered. "She's been helping us tracking you down."

Bella seemed ready to explode; I felt the emotional turmoil from earlier bubbling to the surface again. Then she surprised the hell out of me by closing her eyes for an instant and calming down. The fury wasn't gone, but she was in control again.

"Can you get her for me, Peter? I'd like to thank her too, if that was the case."

Peter ran off in the direction I had come from earlier and Charlotte and I walked right up to Bella. Neither of us was entirely convinced by her calming act and we both felt the urge to protect and if necessary restrain Bella. She was up to something.

While we waited for Peter to return with Alice, I snaked my hand around Bella's waist and she leaned into my side.

"I've missed you so much, darling," I whispered into her hair, as I kissed the top of her head.

"Me too," she sighed.

Then she reached for Charlotte's hand and added, "I missed all of you. Thank you for coming for me."

It seemed like she wanted to tell us more, but at that time Peter and Alice arrived. Bella's back became ramrod straight and she stepped about a yard in front of us. Alice stopped at the sight of Bella and was immediately terrified. I have to admit, she looked fearsome, and Alice was petite and not very skilled at fighting. Peter backed off to the side, apparently knowing more about the upcoming confrontation than I did.

"Well hello Alice," Bella spoke, her cheerful tone giving me the creeps.

"Oh, hi there Bella. I'm so happy that you are unharmed and… not quite alive, but yes, I'm really happy that you're here with Jasper and that we've finally found you. I'm so sorry that we couldn't be here earlier…"

"Stop! Just fucking stop talking."

Alice's high-pitched babbling was cut short by Bella.

"Now you listen to me, you fucking cunt." At Bella's enraged tone, Alice whimpered and cowered backwards.

"Don't act all innocent and naïve, like you didn't know exactly what was going to happen when you turned Edward. This was all an elaborate scheme to get Jasper all for yourself. Edward told me all about it."

At these words, Alice turned and ran, leaving us all stunned. And then Bella's words really sunk in with me. Alice had betrayed me, betrayed us all. She had caused all this. And I was just as naïve as she had pretended to be. Within seconds I was ready to give chase, but Bella stopped me.

"No Jasper, she's mine."

The conviction in her voice was such that I could not deny her, even though I could barely contain my rage. After a quick nod from me, she took off like a bat out of hell in Alice's wake. The rest of us ran after her, our speed no match for hers as a newborn.

I felt Alice's terror before they came into sight. Bella had her trapped against a tree, her neck in a death grip. The tiny vampire was trashing wildly, trying to gouge at Bella's eyes, kicking and screaming. It looked like Bella was whispering something in her ear, after which she stilled and started trembling. They looked each other in the eyes and then it was over. Bella's teeth tore through her throat and with one jerk of her arm, Alice's head flew off. The rest of the body plopped down on the earth with a dull thud.

At that moment, a great weight seemed to lift off Bella's shoulders. She straightened up, turned around to us and smiled.

"Does anybody have a lighter?" she asked, her smile turning in a wicked grin.

That was our cue. I hugged her close to me, while Peter and Charlotte built a small fire. Peter grabbed the head and presented it to Bella on one knee.

"Your spoils, my mistress."

How that fucker could lighten the mood with one simple sentence was beyond me. Bella laughed out loud, accepted the head with a courtesy and threw it in the fire. When it had picked up enough momentum, Charlotte added the body and in a couple of minutes, all of what had once been Alice was gone.

While we were watching the pyre, I clearly felt that Bella was tired of it all. I nodded my head at Peter and he took off with his wife to take care of the other remains in the barn. It would probably be best to burn the whole place to the ground.

Bella and I turned to each other at the same time. For the longest time we just stood staring. The tension was building between us and not just the good kind. There were so many questions that needed answering, both from me and her. Not to mention the guilt that was eating away at me for being late. And yet we realized that now was not the time for talking.

In one stride I covered the distance between us, fisted one hand in her hair and pulled her close with the other. I wish I could say that the kiss that followed was the best one I ever had, that it sealed our love, but it was hard and rough and a constant battle for dominance. I lifted her up and started backing her into a tree, but she was having none of it. Without breaking the kiss, she did a kind of flip and I was one my back for the second time that day. She started grinding her hips into my groin, while producing the softest purr.

The alpha male in me was making its presence known and the need to claim my mate became more and more urgent. I flipped us again, grabbed her leg and raised it over my hip, so I could rub my cock onto her core. She loved that and her purring became deeper. I ripped her t-shirt right through the middle, revealing a plain black bra which I tore off with my teeth. For my next move, I had been waiting the better part of a year. I took a nipple in my mouth sucked down and then bit. She arched her back, pushing her breast into my face, making my dick twitch. There was no way either of us could make it slow and romantic. We were both too wired and needy. I did have the sense to get our pants off without tearing them, though.

Bella was lying naked on the ground and I could spare one moment to drink in the sight. I crawled over her, nudging her legs apart with my knees, when I suddenly became aware that she was extremely uncomfortable. The lust was still there, as well as the love, but something was off. In that moment of hesitation, she crept from under me. A slight push against my side and I was on my back. So she wanted on top. I could work with that. It was even logical that she wanted to be in control. I just laid back and enjoyed the ride.

She slid over me in one quick move. The searing heat I was used from her was gone, but now she was tight and firm, unyielding. With one hand she held me down, while the other was pinching her nipples. Her pace was rapid to start with and before long she sped up to vampire speed. Earlier, I had compared her to a demon princess and she truly was. She was magnificent as she rode my cock, tits bouncing, throaty moans filling the air. We didn't last long. She clamped down on me with a force that made me come almost simultaneously.

I was so used to her being spent after sex, that her getting up and getting dressed, took me quite by surprise. As soon as she was dressed, she sat down next to me, a sad smile on her face.

"I think it's time to talk."

AN: Well, it has been an interesting time since we last met. I have spent 18 months on a 4 hour a day commute to work, finished my PhD, and broke up with my boyfriend of eight years. Needless to say, this has affected my fanfic life. It took me this long to be able to write the story as I wanted it to go, without getting too cynical. The story is almost wrapped up and I don't think the rest will take long to write up now. But don't trust me too much. Anyway, thank you for reading and your support. I love every single one of you.