AN – Sorry it has taken longer than planned to get this chapter up. So as a start to the mollification, short AN…on to the chapter…Enjoy!

Chapter 5

JPOV

Bella didn't react at first and as I watched her it was like she almost had to remind herself to act scared. She was still blocking me from her emotions but even to my ears her gasp and look of fear looked fake. Why wasn't she afraid of James? I added that to the long list of questions I had about my family's human member. She was too odd to be a normal human. Putting those thoughts far from my mind, I focused on the problem at hand. I was about to speak when Alice beat me to it.

"We need to protect Bella from James." She looked around at the family. "Edward, take her home so she can pack a bag and leave a note for her father. I will keep an eye on James and will let you know if he makes up his mind about when he is coming after her, but I can promise it will be before the weekend is over. If needed, I can always call Charlie and ask if Bella can spend the weekend with me."

We all stood there, staring at her in shock. She wasn't normally the one to give orders and it took us a few seconds to catch up to what she had said. Edward nodded and threw Bella on his back before running off for the jeep. The rest of us took off running back to the house. I was lost in my thoughts as we came upon the house and saw that Bella's truck was gone. Edward must have recklessly drove the jeep home to beat us here and leave in that beat up old piece of scrap metal.

I was just about to walk into the house when I heard a loud metallic crunch coming from the highway and it was quickly followed by an anguished cry. Without thinking, I took off towards the sounds, closely followed by the family. I stopped when I smelled the blood; thankfully there wasn't a lot of it which was shocking when I looked at what was left of the truck. It was on its side with the driver's side door completely pushed inwards. I ran over to the truck and jumped up to look down through the driver's side doorway.

There was blood on the passenger door but no one was in the truck. I noticed that the windshield had been busted outwards and a faint trail of blood led away from the crash site. I fell back on my military training as I began to follow the trail, knowing that I would have to fight off the bloodlust as well as any attackers. There was no doubt in my mind that James was behind this and I needed to assess the situation before I grilled Alice about how she could have missed this happening.

The trail led about two hundred yards into the woods on the other side of the highway. Suddenly it stopped and I couldn't tell why as I found no one. Reaching out with my senses, I could faintly pick up a sense of anguish coming from my left so I took off in that direction, knowing that it had to be Edward that the feelings were coming from. I knew that the family would follow me once they were done with the shock of the scene I left behind.

Edward jumped when I burst from the trees behind him and I immediately put my hands up as I surveyed the area. Edward was alone. I could not hear a heartbeat anywhere near us nor could I sense another vampire.

"What happened?" I growled out, I tried to reign in my anger, but my instincts were screaming at me to teach this impudent vampire a valuable lesson, one where he learned not to let anyone take what was his.

"It was James and Victoria. They came at us just as we were turning onto the highway. Thankfully I was driving so I took the brunt of the impact from Victoria running into the side of the truck. The force threw us across the highway and tilted the truck so it landed on its side. Bella…I landed on her and she cut herself on some of the broken glass from her window. I was so worried about her that I didn't register the smell of her blood. I think I broke her arm and cracked a rib or two when I landed on her. I didn't mean…it wasn't supposed to happen like that."

I stood there staring at him, trying to keep calm as he rambled on about what happened. With a sigh I cut him off. "You can play the martyr later. Right now I need to know what happened so I can get Isabella back."

He jerked at the tone of my voice and grimaced at my use of her full name. Nodding, he ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "You're right, Jasper. I pulled her out of the truck and was getting ready to run back to the house when Victoria hit me from behind, sending Bella flying from my arms. James caught her and grinned at me. In my distraction, Victoria got me pinned to a tree and I watched as James ran off with Bella."

Before I could yell at him for his stupidity, Carlisle and the rest of the family showed up. Esme went to Edward and wrapped him in her arms in a motherly hug. Emmett was by my side glaring at Edward which wasn't shocking as Emmett had taken to Bella like a big brother to a little sister. I knew if push came to shove, Emmett would back me up in a fight to get her back. Alice and Rose stayed back, neither one enjoying the anger I was sure I was projecting. I couldn't understand the level of my anger, but I knew to use it to my advantage.

Carlisle turned to me. "Now, Jasper, I understand your anger, but let's put Bella's safety first. I know that you are upset over what happened and you can deal with that once we get her back safely. You are the one with the experience here, tell us what to do."

I glanced at Carlisle in shock for only a second before I took control. "Edward, which way did they go with Bella?"

He lifted his head from Esme's shoulder. "They went towards town."

"Fuck." I growled and began to pace as I thought. "That is going to make it harder on us when we find them, but will also make it harder on them to move without being seen by the humans. Ok, we are going to split up and hopefully we can cut them off before they hurt anyone or make it to La Push."

Everyone stood still, waiting for my directions. I forgot how much I enjoyed the thrill of leading and the tactical thinking. "We are going to split into three groups. Rose and Alice, I want you to go East and swing back to close in with us at the boundary line. Carlisle, you take Esme and do the same except go to the West. Emmett, you will be with me and Edward and we will follow the trail that has been left for us. I don't know how this is going to play out so I need everyone to be prepared for any outcome. Edward this applies to you the most as James may decide to end her life quickly or prolong her agony just to torture you. Can you handle this?"

We all watched as he gathered his thoughts with a few grimaces most likely caused by thoughts he overheard. Meeting my eyes I saw his resolve. "It is my fault that she is in this mess so I will do everything possible to rectify the situation."

"Alright, everyone make sure your phones are on vibrate and contact the other groups if you come across anything and I do mean anything that looks out of place. I am hoping that even though James is the hunter, he will be too preoccupied with Bella to make sure that Victoria isn't leaving a trail for us." I surveyed their emotions and everyone was worried, but more importantly they were all resolved and determined to get her back. "Move out."

Emmett fell in line just behind me on my right and Edward mirrored him on my left. I felt pride in my brothers that they naturally knew how to line up. I scanned the area as we moved, searching for any signs of emotions or blood. From the amount at the crash I would estimate that Bella had more internal injuries and less cuts so following a blood trail was not one that I was actively hoping for. At least not until we had moved about a mile closer to town.

I stopped as I was hit in the face with the scent of fresh blood and it took me less than a second to know that it was Bella's. Running to the source of the scent, I saw that her blood had been smeared on the trunk of a tree. That confused me as I knew that James wouldn't be sloppy enough to bump her into a tree. I was trying to figure it out when Emmett brought me from my thoughts.

"My lil sis is one smart cookie." His voice was hushed but radiated pride.

Edward looked at him, annoyance coming off him in waves. "What are you talking about, Em?"

He looked over at me like I should have figured it out. "Well, if she was barely bleeding at the crash site and we all know that James wouldn't hurt her like that until he had her stashed somewhere, Bella must have known that the best way for us to follow her is by a blood trail."

I groaned. Emmett was correct; I should have caught on much quicker. "She's playing a dangerous game, but you're right, Emmett. She must have cut her hand and is smearing it on the trees as they go. I don't get why he didn't just finish her at the truck. Why is he going to this amount of trouble just to hole up somewhere and drain her?"

Edward flinched at my bluntness. "He thinks she is special."

I jerked my gaze up to meet his. "What are you talking about?"

"Back at the truck, when he caught her he was about to bite her when he seemed to notice something. He looked her over and growled. His exact words were…'Well, I knew you smelled divine, but you are altogether something special and should not be dealt with so quickly. Oh, this is going to be fun.' He turned to me after that and told me he was going to have fun with my human and he said that like I should have already been doing something with her." He shook his head and his sorrow filled the air around us.

"Edward, pull yourself together. If he thinks she is special that works to our advantage. He won't rush into draining her and will give us time to rescue her." I reached out with my senses and caught something ahead of us. "Let's get moving again."

I darted off in the direction the blood took us. I kept my senses alert so that I wouldn't walk into anything that we weren't prepared for. The closer we got to town the more concentrated the smell of Bella's blood became. If I hadn't been so focused on saving her, I would have been fighting my bloodlust as even I could admit that the smell was mouthwatering. Suddenly I heard something ahead of us and I held up my hand, stopping us.

Emmett cocked his head to the side, listening. "I can hear a faint heartbeat."

I nodded; I had picked up on that too. Trying to discern if anyone was closer to us, I sent out my senses and was suddenly hit with a wave of pain and I just barely kept myself from falling to my knees. Grasping my head, I focused on blocking the pain so that I could think.

Edward turned to me in fear and grabbed my shoulder. "What's wrong, brother?"

"I don't know what he has done to her, but I can feel her pain. She is sending it out in waves like…" I drew in my breath as I realized what she was doing. "She's sending it out to me so that I can find her. Damn, this is the most painful way to track, but follow me."

Edward and Emmett both fell in line behind me as I followed the path laid out before me, the path of pain. The closer I got the more intense it became. I focused on not stumbling as the pain became intense. There was no way that she could actually be feeling that much pain; somehow she must be able to amplify it. I stopped as the pain was suddenly cut off and I was suddenly dizzy from the loss of all feeling from her. Before I could start to panic I felt a wave of acceptance come from her.

"Why did you stop?"

I turned to look at Edward. "She cut off her emotions again. I can't feel her anymore."

He growled and began to pace. Waves of worry and anger were flowing off of him and hitting me with the force of a train. I needed to think so I sent him some calm, hoping to get him to be still. She knew we would find her, we wouldn't be able to miss the trail she left for us, but maybe she thought we wouldn't get to her in time? Is that why she felt that acceptance and no other emotions? I shook my head, that was not what I needed to focus on. Closing my eyes, I listened and scented the air, taking in my surroundings.

"Ok, it looks like they are directly ahead of us and not too far." I looked at my brothers before continuing. "I don't know what we will be walking in on, so it might be best to hold your breath the closer we get. We don't need to save her from James just to finish the job ourselves."

Edward growled while Emmett grimaced at the thought.

Without waiting for their input, I started moving forward again, making sure to be a quiet as possible. If James was as focused on Bella as I thought, he would be distracted enough for us to sneak up on him. Victoria could be a problem though. I had felt her jealousy of James' interest in Bella at the field which means that she could go either way, protecting what her mate wants or trying to take back her mate's attention. Either way, I had to plan on taking them both out in order to make sure that Bella was kept alive and safe.

A spike of fear hit me, but it didn't come from Bella. The fear came from James and that had me confused. What could have happened or been said that would have scared James? I moved forward and caught site of movement in front of me. I stopped and my brothers paused behind me. Within a second I had a plan. I sent my thoughts to Edward, knowing he would fill Emmett in on the plan and I began to move forward.

Reaching out with my senses, I could only sense James and Bella ahead of us. There was no sign of Victoria anywhere around so I thought that she might have left so she wouldn't have to witness what James had planned to do to Bella. A spike of pain from Bella had me charging forward before I could think and I stopped long enough to assess the situation. James was standing with one foot pushing down on Bella's leg and she was lying on the ground, holding her right arm against her side. I smelled blood, fresh blood. He must have hurt her again. I growled low in my chest.

James' head snapped up and a mixture of relief and fear washed over me from him. Confusion encompassed me as I could not fathom why he would feel relief at seeing me, the fear I understood as I had rolled my sleeves up as I closed in on them so he could see my scars. He was too close to her still and I wanted him as far away from her as possible. I snarled at him in warning.

He started laughing and put all of his weight on his foot that was pushing on Bella's leg. What happened next was a blur, even for me. I heard the snap of bone as James broke her leg; I felt her pain and heard her scream at the same time as James went flying backwards as he was hit by two hundred plus pounds of flying Emmett and Edward. Seeing that James was being taken care of by my brothers, I dashed forward to Bella's side.

AN –So what did you guys think? As I said previously, there were some story lines that I liked in the original and I just wanted to tweak them a bit. What did you think of how Bella led them to where she was taken? Tricksie little human ain't she? LOL. I have to say I like this Bella and she is definitely fun to write. So far this story has been planned as just being in Jasper's pov, but it might work to put a bit from someone else. What do you guys think? Also, as always, please review. I can never get enough feedback. Thanks!

Don't forget there is the FB page for updates and discussions. Just search for Bella & Jasper – Love Under a Blood Moon and you should be able to find it easily. It will be the hub for all Twilight fanfic discussions as I have Darkness as well as one shots that are in the works. If you aren't reading Darkness…I highly recommend it, lol, but I may be a bit biased.