Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Jasper's POV

"At least take off your shoes. Don't want to get dirt on Esme's couch." As I unzipped her heeled boots, I relished in the contentment coming from Bella. To be honest, I don't really remember deciding to rub her feet, but as soon as I started I knew it was a good decision. Distantly, I recognized Bella and Carlisle's conversation; still basking in Bella's peaceful emotions, I noticed when fatigue started to color them.

"We should probably tell her before she falls asleep." I said to Carlisle, grinning.

"Fuck you, it's your fault anyways." She said. Alright then, I'll stop. As soon as I did I could feel her disappointment and internally smirked. "Fine, what's so important that my feet have to suffer for it?" She asked, sounding very sad. I could feel amusement in Emmett, but he pushed it down, remembering how serious this situation could be.

"Well," I said nervously, not wanting to be the one who told her, but knowing someone had to.

"We're vampires." Seriously? I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Way to be eloquent about it, Edward." Rosalie was not happy, apparently. She probably wouldn't have done much better though. I don't think any of us would have.

"Vampire's you say?" Bella's voice brought be back to the conversation.

"Yes Bella." Why on earth am I so nervous? Again, without my permission, I started massaging Bella's feet. Her calm emotions startled me. How was she so calm? Modern society hasn't painted us in a very good light, making us the monster in many movies. Although, we are monsters, aren't we? Well, I am. Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rose or even Alice and Edward could never be looked at as monsters. Me, on the other hand… I'm a monster to my own kind. Someone to be weary of. I remember when I first met Eleazar and Carmen. Eleazar had been with the Volturi during my time in the Southern wars. He even visited my troops to weed them down and look for new… recruits, more than once, so he knew every detail of every horrid thing I had done. When we first re-met he wouldn't let his mate or his coven members within ten feet of me. Not that I really blame him. I would have done the same in his place. If I am feared by my own kind, feared by myself, then what will Bella's reaction be? Bella, who I've grown so attached to already? I honestly don't think I could bare the look of disgust that will no doubt be on her face as I tell her how many lives I've ruined, ended. Alice already knew when we had met, though I doubt she knew the full extent of it and I wasn't going to be the one to fill her in. She was the first one besides Peter, Charlotte and Maria to treat me with anything other than fear and trepidation. While on the topic of Peter and Charlotte, why had they called Emmett and Rose and not me? Okay, so maybe I knew the answer to that question, but why did Peter intervene? He pretty much knows everything that goes on in the Cullen household, even with him being hundreds of miles away, but he has never intervened like this. And he had obviously gotten a lot of information about it, because the instructions he gave Em and Rose must have been specific if they had been able to find the hidden divorce papers. Truth be told, it would have to be something that could affect him in the long run for it to earn his involvement.

"…Do you guys actually have soulmates?" Bella's voice broke through my thoughts and I was only vaguely aware that my hands had not stopped. I centered in on Bella's emotions, getting a taste of contentment and hope. Interesting things to be feeling as you're told about the existence of blood-sucking monsters, but I didn't really expect anything different of the beautifully complex being in front of me. Suddenly, all those "I'll think about it later…. Food for thought…. Not now…." came rushing back to my consciousness. And there were a lot of them. The entire car ride home, our seemingly too-fast growing relationship, the way I can lose myself almost entirely, just thinking about her... I think Emmett's right. I am in trouble.

"How do you know you found your mate?" Bella's voice brought me back to the world of the living… kinda… and I felt inclined to answer that one for her.

"You only know for sure after they are changed." I said, pieces falling together I wasn't sure I wanted to just yet. "But if your mate is in danger, or" Oh, shit. "You're close to them for a while then you have a pretty good idea." Oh, fuck me. Literally. It would make sense; and answer a lot of questions too. Why Peter interfered being the main one. If Bella's in danger, and Peter know she was my mate, that would be worthy of his involvement. But you've only know her for a day! My rational brain tried to reason, but even that didn't sound convincing.

"No." It was Carlisle's voice that broke through the cloudy haze of my thoughts, quickly followed by whiny brats.

"Yes you are! I saw it!"

"You are my mate! We are perfect for each other!" Ah. So that's what this is about. Cool your jets, Jasper. You don't even know if you're right yet.

"Alice! Edward!" Daddy Cullen's pissed.

"Go Doc." I heard Bella mutter absently; her attention focused more on my hands moving up to her legs. I fought a grin. Damn. I am a possessive bastard, huh? I really need to stop… You're not going to, though. Nope.

"Some vampires get special power during the change. All vampires have enhanced vision, hearing, strength and even beauty, but like I said some people get extra. Alice, for instance, can see the future, Edward can read minds, and Jasper's an Empath." Esme answered a question I had not heard, and I suddenly got very nervous, but this wasn't your usual nervous. This was a war veteran's instinctual battle warning. Quickly, I searched for any unknown emotional signatures. When I found none, I was instantly on edge. Inside threat then.

"Edward can read minds?" Bella's disbelief distracted me for a second, drawing me away from my thoughts, which is probably the only reason I heard what transpired next.

"Everyone's but yours. And that's why we're meant to be together!" Edward's "passionate plea" was cut off by our resident garden gnome.

"What?! No. That's… that's not possible!" What the hell did I miss? Then I was assaulted with rage and hurt.

"No! That can't be right! She can't be with him!" Inside threat, threat to your mate. "I'll show you! When she wakes up, you'll see!" NO!

Peter's POV

"Fuck! No, no, no, no, no!"

"What? Peter! Calm down, what?" Charlotte asked.

"It's too soon. Dammit! We should have told Barbie and Ken more." I slammed my hand on the small coffee table in our living room, shattering it and then continued pacing. I could practically feel my wife's eye roll.

"You break one more thing Peter Whitlock…" I winced.

"Sorry babe." I sat next to her on the overstuffed couch, my head in my hands. "It's going to be bad. He'll blame himself." Fight… pity party… good friends… loose ends… "Or maybe not. Our favorite spitfire won't let him, it seems." Dammit… Charlotte and Barbie… ouch… "Oh, yeah, thanks that helped a lot." I rolled my eyes.

"Ya know your brain can't hear you, right dear?" Charlotte let out an adorable giggle and I smiled. Aro… four months… well trained… natural… shield…

"That's a bit more like it. It seems we're going to Forks. Pack your bags."

Emmett's POV

You know how in movies and books and shit they all say "It just happened so fast"? Well it does. Rose and I want from rolling our eyes at Edward's delusion to wrestling him off Bella in seconds that passed so swiftly, even a vampire couldn't keep track.

"Carlisle!" Esme was over by the door, having been pushed by Carlisle when this started.

"Jasper. It's Carlisle. The change has started. You have to bite her wrists and ankles." All he got in response was a growl. "Do you want her to suffer longer?" Carlisle snapped. Not the best move in my opinion. You've got the most legendary fighter with a changing mate, and decide it's best to antagonize him? Not smart.

"Let's get him out of here." Rose yelled over Edward's screaming. He was thrashing, and it seemed Rose was about rip his arm off. I nodded and we started to drag Edward out the back door.

"Yeah, okay, you know what? I just going to take this." Edwards head now sat on the porch banister. "And these." Now his arms lay on the ground. I stared at the appendages for a minute before shrugging.

"Alright then." Rose smirked at me.

"Hmm. He should just be glad it was me and not Jasper. I surprised Jasper hasn't doused him in gasoline to be honest." She inspected her nails whipping a bit of venom off on her pants which burned a hole in the already hole-ridden material.

"His mate was the most important thing in the room. Trust me, I doubt Edward will be alive much longer." We stood in silence for a while, besides Dickward's annoying spitting, waiting to be told what to do next. Rosie had just opened her mouth when the phone rang. She scowled and fished it out of her pocket, raising an eyebrow at the screen.

"It's Peter." She said.

"Put it on speakerphone then." She rolled her eyes and answered, putting it on speakerphone with unneeded extravagance.

"Peter." She answered curtly.

"Ah Barbie. It's nice to hear your condescending voice once again." Peter answered flamboyantly, and a smack could be heard. I chuckled.

"Ow, Char! Why do you hate me so!?" He whined. I could tell that Rose wasn't amused, but I was. Peter was a funny guy, and a good friend. His humor was just what I need to keep my mind off Belly Boo going through the worst pain imaginable inside right now. I scowled at Edward, kicking one of his arms in the open wound and causing him to spit more ferociously. I rolled my eyes, Edward was the least scary vamp on this earth.

"Fuck you, Peter." Char's voice held amusement at her husband too.

"Yes, please." Another slap was heard and this time even Rose laughed. "Now, back to the real point of this call. I'm assuming Bella is a bit… indisposed?" Peter said, making everyone sober up.

"You'd be right." Rose spat, looking like she wanted to burn Edward's fingers one by one.

"We're coming down. Aro had moved up his visit time. Four months." I cursed.

"What does he want?" I asked, frustrated and confused.

"Bella. He wants Bella. I've been doing a little digging and it seems Aro has found himself a seer." Peter said. "He thinks Bella's going to be a really powerful shield. And apparently everyone's under the same illusion that she's Edweird's mate, because he thinks if he convinces Bella, and Edweird will come along." At this, the annoying spitting stopped and Edward's eyes got wide. 'Aro?' He mouthed.

"Who is this seer he has?" I asked, ignoring Edward.

"Well, that's another thing. No one seems to know. Not even Garrett could figure it out." Peter was obviously frustrated, seeming to already care a lot for the newest member of our not-so-little family.

"Emmett! Rosalie!" Esme called from in the house, rushing out to grab Edward's now smirking head. "Did you take your brother apart?" She sounded appalled.

"Yeah we did Esme. He's dangerous. He hurt Isabella." Rose growled, fed up, it seemed, with Esme's apparent favoritism.

"Only to prove she's his mate!" Esme's comment was met with five growls. Two from the phone, two from my mate and I, and the most vicious from inside. All of this was followed by one long, exasperated sigh and a lot of shuffling. A few seconds later, Carlisle and a very reluctant Alice stood in front of us.

"Tell them." He said, sounding like the coven leader he was for once in the eight decades I had known him.

"No." Alice said, trying to sound firm, but not quite hitting the mark.

"You tell them, or I will. And trust me; I will not paint it in a good light. Not that something like this ever could be."

"I… I can't! They'll hate me!" Alice whimper, trying to appeal to Carlisle's "dad instincts".

"Well, you should have thought of that when you decided to ruin Jasper's life." Carlisle growled. "I'm sick of keeping this from my family. You and Edward will make this right."

"Fine!" Alice said, indignantly. Edward started spitting again. "Oh, shut up Edward! It's useless! You knew this was never going to work! You can't just make someone your mate! That's not how it works! Carlisle's right!"

"What?" We heard Charlotte snarl, and an engine rev. They were not happy, that's for sure.

"In August, I started having these visions; it was strange, not like my usual ones. They came at the most random times. Usually, something triggers them, but these were totally unrelated. The Volturi slaughtering a new group of tourists, Maria's armies in the south, a strange girl and her two friends from Arizona… there was never an obvious connection, but I couldn't shake the feeling that there was one. These random visions continued for a week or so, then they centered on the girl and her friends. Edward was with me when I had one. He became enraptured with her, convinced she was his soulmate. After he told me about these feelings, I started getting visions of what their life together would be like. That girl, in those fairy tale visions was nothing like the real Bella. She was quiet, resigned. Compliant. That Bella would have been my friend. But this Bella… I think it has something to do with her best friends back in Phoenix. Grace and… Grayson, I think it was. Something about the had always bugged me but… never mind. They changed her, made her happier, more rambunctious, adventurous. The exact opposite of Edward, all wrong for him. It was obvious to me that they were not soulmates, trust me I know what that looks like. Not to mention the fact that she was his singer… it would have never worked out. But Edward was convinced and he's my brother. My best friend… how could I not help him? The week before she was supposed to be here, I got my first vision of her and Jasper together. And man, that hurt. It hurt to look at them, at those visions, and instantly recognize one of the strongest mating bonds that will ever be formed. So I denied it. I convinced myself that it was just another glitch in my visions. I convinced myself that Jasper was still mine. Until Carlisle… Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" We all watched in silence as Alice broke down in sobs. I was torn. There was no doubt that Alice's story was true, and she's my sister, but this was not something I could just… condone. I couldn't just brush this off. She had lied to us all. Lied about something so major, so life changing.

"Doc." Peter said from the phone, the rage in his tone sounded just barely contained. "How did you get into this?" Suddenly, Carlisle looked every one of his years.

"Alice came to me for advice. She said, it was imperative to the family's happiness that I keep it a secret. She said she had seen Edward's mate, but that Jasper slipped and drained her. I knew she was lying from the very beginning. That's what comes with being a parent I guess." He laughed bitterly. "She needed help to keep them apart. I complied, figuring this would be the easiest way to get the truth, and we worked together on ways we could keep them apart. One day though, Alice just lost it. Everyone else had gone hunting and it was just us. She explained everything all her visions, the real reason she needed to keep Jasper and Bella apart. I was livid, piqued… I tried to convince her to help me get them together, but she refused, saying that she would not keep them apart but she wouldn't willingly give up the first friend she ever had. Her and Edward had created this fantasy that they could curve Edward's thirst for her blood. A hybrid child was even brought into it. I knew Alice didn't want to do this, but she felt obligated to help him... I should have done something, I should have stopped this sooner. And now…" Carlisle trailed off, sitting in one of the outdoor chairs. Alice was still on the ground, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"What do you know?" Peter asked, focused on the "and now" part of Carlisle's speech.

"I have many… friends in the Volturi, Peter. One very high up on the proverbial food chain. Caius called two weeks ago to warn me about Aro's plans, and about his new seer."

"Caius?" There was blunt disbelief when I spoke up.

"Yes. We were very good friends during my stay there... And we still are I suppose. Between him and Alec and Jane, I'm pretty well versed in our most current politics." He sighed, and Esme, who had long ago set down Edward's head in a sort of disgust, walked over to him and sat on his lap, curling into him.

"What are we going to do?" She whispered, but everyone heard it.

"Char and I are on our way, an hour or two tops, and you need to call the Denali's. In two months we'll need all the people we can get, but now… just the ones we trust the most." Peter sounded exhausted, which was impossible for us, but I suppose the situation would call for it. "It's going to worse. Aro's always wanted Jasper more than anything… and now him and Bella… they'll be so brilliant together, but they already have so many enemies…"

"They don't deserve this." Charlotte said. "No one deserves this."

"Rose, Esme he's going to need you two. Emmett, you as well. We're the only five he'll trust."

"Okay Peter. We'll talk to you soon." Rosalie hung up the phone then handed it to Carlisle. "Call the Denali's. Emmett and I are going to check up in Jazz and Bella." She then dragged me into the front room. It was quite a sight. There Bella was, lying on the used-to-be pristine white couch. Now around her neck, ankle and wrist was a halo of red, her sugar and honeysuckle blood scenting the room, making my throat burn, but I knew there was no way I could eat now. Jasper sat with her head in his lap, smoothing her hair.

"Jazz…" Rose spoke, and was instantly rewarded with pitch black eyes. "Oh, Jazz." She gasped looking like she was going to cry. "I'm so sor-," she choked, and I knew had she been human she would have burst into tears. I wrapped her in my arms from behind, burying my face in her neck. These two didn't deserve this. Charlotte was right. What those two almost did to them… I couldn't imagine being kept from Rosie, for any amount of time.

"Help me." His voice was… painful. And it was then that I remembered Jasper's gift- curse more like. He can feel her. Feel her pain, confusion. If I had to watch Rose suffer like that, let alone feel it… no, I don't think I would be able to.

"Of course. What do you need our help with?" I asked looking up from Rose's neck.

"Help me clean her up. I don't want her to… to be dirty when she wakes up." He said, looking down at her face and running his knuckle down her face.

"Let me get some things set up then Esme and I will give her a bath and put her in some clean cloths." Rose said, stepping away from me and running to our bedroom. Esme followed her seconds later and we could hear water running. Then they came back into the room.

"Jasper, will you carry her into Rosalie and Emmett's bedroom for us?" Esme said. Jasper seemed to work out that he would have to leave Bella with them for a little while, and his face showed his devastation, but he nodded, standing swiftly, and cradling her to his chest. Then, then four of them were gone, but Jasper came back thirty seconds later. He stood there, observing me, almost sizing me up.

"Just say it." He said, his voice hollow.

"Say what?" I asked cautiously.

"Say I should have protected her. Say I should have his head from his shoulders the second he hurt my Bella. Say what I know you're all thinking!" He shouted the last sentence at me, and then advanced on me, seeming ready to attack me.

"No." I said, halting him. "No, I won't say any of those things. Because they aren't true! Yes, you should have protected her, and you did! He was going to suck her dry! His control is not as good as he thinks and she's his Singer! You saved her, whether you believe it or not!" I looked at him, at the way his shoulders were tensed, back board straight. "But that's not the real problem here is it. You're blaming yourself."

"Of course I am! How could I not?! I knew he was going to attack, and I hesitated! I hesitated because I didn't want to hurt him! That bastard was trying to steal my mate from me, trying to kill her, and I didn't want to hurt him!" He collapsed. "God, it's my entire fault, all of this. She's lost everything, because of me. Her parents, her friends… she'll never be able to see any of them again." I watched him for a moment, getting angrier and angrier. Finally, I held out a hand to him. He looked at it for a second, then gripped it and I hoisted him up. He had barely gotten his balance when I punched him in the nose.

Hello all! At this point, my updates are so sporadic I won't even try to apologize.

Thanks for the continuous support!xx

Bailey Lynn