Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun. –B

Chapter 7
(Lilly's POV)

After our make-out session in the woods, I watched Jasper hunt some more until he got his fill. I felt horrible if the reason he hadn't been hunting enough was because of me. We are very reluctant to leave each other's sides and the mating bond doesn't help to situation any.

He finished up his last doe for the day and after he buried it, he came up to me and wrapped me in his arms.

"Thank you." He murmured into my neck.

"Any time, mon cher (My Dear). Anytime." I answered, placing a gentle kiss on his pulse point.

He pulled back and looked at me surprised. "You speak French?"

"Fluently." I nodded. "What about you?"

"I am fluent in many languages. Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, and Egyptian." He listed off.

"Wow." I was impressed. Then again, he has had over a century and a half to learn all that. "I am can only speak French because I grew up in Canada, Italian because I've been there multiple times for various reasons and figured that it would be useful to be able to speak to the locals, and I am pretty good at Spanish, but not perfect."

"Well, you have forever to learn." He smirked.

I looked at my watch, noticing that it is half way through last period. I sighed in exasperation, knowing that we should begin to make our way back to the school's parking lot.

"We should start heading back. School will be out in a half hour." I informed him.

He groaned but took my hand and began to walk at a human pace towards the school.

As we walked, I began to wonder how Edward faired with Bella in Biology. I was sure if something happened that we would have gotten a phone call or something. So I was fairly hopeful.

I also went back to thinking about possibly incorporating the Cullen's diet into my own. Perhaps begin to hunt animals, then once a month, hunt a criminal to keep up my strength and my gift. This way I could hunt with Jasper and he wouldn't miss any more hunts because of me.

"What's wrong?" He asked out of the blue.

"Nothing." I shook my head and gave him a small smile.

"Can't fool an empath, darlin'." He reminded me, sending that sexy smirk of his in my direction before becoming serious again. "Please, tell me?" He begged.

I sighed, then stopped and grabbed his other hand in mine as we faced each other.

"I don't want to be the cause for you missing your hunts." He went to interrupt, but I placed a hand over his mouth stopping any words from coming out. He rose an eyebrow at me in question, but I just shook my head warning him not to interrupt. I slowly removed my hand from his mouth and when I knew he wasn't going to speak, I continued. "I know that instead of hunting when you are supposed to, you have been spending time with me."

"No, I-"

"You know it's true." I challenged him.

He gave a long sigh, then looked down to our connected hands, bringing them together and idly running his thumbs across my knuckles.

"It took me so long to finally find you, Lil. Now that I have…I don't want to be away from you." He looked up at me with venom filled eyes. "I couldn't bear it. It hurts to even think about."

"Shhh…" I dropped one of his hands and cupped his jaw and ran my thumb across his cheek bone. "I feel the same, but you can't neglect your needs because of it."

He closed his eyes and slowly nodded.

"Now that being said, I have a solution so that we don't have to have a repeat of today." He looked down at our feet, radiating waves of shame and self-loathing. "No, mon amour (My love)…it's not your fault."

"How is it not my fault? I almost killed your best friend! An innocent girl! Not only that, but I almost exposed us all! If it wasn't for you getting me out of there when you did, she would be dead and the Volturi would have been brought down on us!" He took a deep unneeded breath and brought his rant down from yelling to speaking in his regular tone. "I'm the weakest out of the family. I've slipped more times than everyone combined. No matter how hard I try, I'm just no good at this diet." He closed his eyes in concentration. "I can't tell you how many times a day I think about killing somebody and drinking human blood." He opened his eyes and looked straight at me with a tortured expression. "I'm a monster."

"No, you're not!" My anger boiled over. "None of this was your fault, Jay! Don't you get it?"

He shook his head. "Get what?"

"You're an empath, Jay. And going by what happened today, an empath who hadn't hunted recently on a diet that doesn't keep your thirst sated as long as human blood does." I gripped the top of his arms as I went on to explain when I saw his puzzled expression. "Your gift is both a blessing and a curse. Blood lust is an emotion. One that only vampires feel, but an emotion no less."

A light bulb seemed to have gone off in his head, so I continued.

"I will admit, Bella has one hell of a sweet scent. When those doors opened and that gust of wind blew her scent straight for the six of us, each of our throats began to flare up. You felt not only your own blood lust, but mine, Rose's, Emmett's, Alice's and Edward's. I'm surprised you didn't turn into a feral mess until your thirst was sated. Bella is Edward's singer."

He remained stock still with his eyes wide and in shock.

"I'm proud of you. I guarantee that if anyone else was in your place, they wouldn't have had the control you did." I paused, smiling a small proud smile at him, making sure to send him all of my emotions so he knew I meant what I said. "You deal with the thirsts of all of us every single day at school, surrounded by hundreds of humans. You are most certainly not the weakest link." I reached up to touch his cheek with the back of my hand. "You're the strongest."

In a fraction of a second, his lips were on mine, moving against them in a passionate, grateful, and loving kiss. I could feel him shaking in silent sobs as he pulled back and tucked his head into the crook of my neck. I cooed and shushed him as I attempted to sooth him. I could tell that these were tears of relief and happiness of finally realizing that he is so much more than he believed himself to be and I was glad to be the one to help him figure this out.

After several minutes, he pulled back and gave me a soft kiss on my lips and a grateful smile.

"Thank you so much, darlin'." He said. "I can't believe it took this long for someone to figure this out. I didn't even think of the possibility."

I returned his smile. "You would have figured it out eventually."

"Who knows?" He shrugged. "But it still doesn't help with my predicament."

"Well, that was something I wanted to also talk to you about." I said as we began to walk towards the school again. He looked at me expectantly. "Is there a way for you to be able to block out other's emotions?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "I used to be able to when I fed on humans since my gift was stronger. It wouldn't fully mute their emotions, but it would dull them significantly. Not to mention, I didn't crave blood as often when I was on the human blood diet." He sighed. "But I can't feed on innocents again. It drove me into a depression that took me forever to get out of."

"I understand. I would never want you to be depressed." I said. "What if I start feeding off of animals with you? Then you wouldn't have to be worried about being away from me and you could make sure you are well fed."

He pulled us to a stop and looked at me with a stunned expression on his face. "You would do that for me?"

I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I would do anything for you." I kissed him chastely on his lips and gave him a small smile before tugging him along again.

"But what about your gift? A gift like that needs somethin' stronger than animal blood?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's why I decided that once a month, I would hunt a criminal like normal. That way I can keep up my strength and gift." I explained

He smiled and nodded. "That's a great idea, Lil." He praised. "As a matter of fact, I think I might do the same thing."

"Really?" I asked with my eyebrows up to my hairline. "But what about the depression of killing a human?"

"As long as they aren't innocents, there's no guilt to be had. This way, I can keep my strength and gift strong and I can dull the blood lust around me." He theorized.

"That's a great idea, baby." I squeezed his hand as we broke through the tree line.

"When are you huntin' next?" He asked.

"Well, I was going to go to Seattle this weekend on Saturday night after I get back from La Push. Your invited, of course." I winked.

He frowned.

"What is it?" I asked as we made it to the Viper and leaned against the back bumper.

"I can't go to La Push. None of us can." He sighed, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Now that I think of it, you shouldn't either."

"Why?" I asked, searching his eyes for the answer. He was obviously worried about me going.

"Wolves."

"Wolves?" I raised an eyebrow. He nodded. "You do know that you eat animals, right?"

He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Not those kind of wolves." He clarified. "Horse sized wolves known as shape shifters."

I felt my jaw drop and my eyes widen. "I-I don't understand."

"About 70 years ago, before Alice and I joined the family, the Cullen's were living here and hunting in the forest. A pack of shape shifters appeared and had every intent to try to kill Carlisle and his family. You see, the wolves are called 'spirit wolves' or 'the protectors.' They hunt and kill any human drinking vampires that cross onto their territory which is the Reservation, or La Push area. Carlisle managed to convince them that they were something different. That they didn't feed on humans, but animals. Seeing their golden eyes, they believed them and struck up a treaty. It states that they will not bite a human or cross on to their lands.

"The wolves eventually stopped phasing and we thought that the gene had died with Epirham Black and his pack. We came back, and had a meeting with the Elder's to introduce Alice and I to their family and to sign the treaty. There was a man named Sam Uley there and as soon as we came into his line of sight, he phased into a big black wolf. We asked if there was a new pack and if there was, we deserved to know. They said that Sam was the only one as of right then, but they believed that more would follow and that two were already beginning to catch the fever." Jasper explained.

"Wow." I paused, thinking about everything he told me. I looked up at him. "Do I need to sign this treaty? Would they even know I am part vampire?"

"Yes, they would know. We have a very sweet scent to them and their scent is like a woodsy, wet dog smell to us." He made a face, remembering their scent. "And we probably should add you to the treaty and show you the boundary lines. I will have Carlisle call a meeting with the Elder's before your first animal hunt, but until then, don't go anywhere near the Reservation or the La Push border." He stressed.

"Okay, I won't." I smiled reassuringly and just then, the school bell rang, dismissing the students from their last period classes.

I watched eagerly, waiting to see Bella or Edward. I had every bit of faith in him that he could do this and that Bella would be just fine.

It was then that Bella appeared at the front of the school with Jessica Stanley and Angela Webber. I could hear from here that Jessica was questioning her on her conversation with Edward during Biology, while Angela stayed quiet and listened. I shook my head in exasperation at the gossip queen and her badgering. Bella gave vague and cryptic answers, making Jessica frustrated and attempt to pry more. I decided to save her and began to make my way towards the trio.

"Hey Bella." I greeted, looping my arm through hers. "Angela, Jess." I nodded in their direction, giving only Angela a warm smile. She really did have a kind heart from what I've seen so far.

"Hi Lilly." She gave me a grateful smile. "I'll talk to you guys later." She waved them off and we began walking towards her truck.

"Ugh, thank you so much. She was driving me insane!" She sighed.

"I could tell." I giggled, shaking my head.

"So," She got serious. "What was that at lunch today?"

I thought of a quick but feasible excuse. "Jasper wasn't feeling too good, so I took him to the nurse and we spent the rest of the day in his car."

She looked at me skeptically before nodding. I didn't know whether she bought it or not, but it was enough to keep her from asking any more questions.

I felt arms wrap around me from behind, then lips I immediately identified as Jasper's kiss my neck.

"Hey Darlin'. Where do you think your goin?" He asked teasingly.

I giggled as he continued to give me quick butterfly kisses up and down my neck, tickling me into hysterics. Bella watched us with a small smile, but there was something in her eyes almost studying us. She shook her head and smiled to herself as if to shake any obtuse thoughts from her mind.

Jasper must have felt her emotions fluctuate because he looked up and nodded to her a greeting.

"Bella."

"Hi Jasper." She blushed. "Are you feeling better?"

Jasper looked down at me briefly and I sent him a burst of reassurance. He smiled and looked back up to Bella.

"Much. Lilly has a way about her that can cure anything about me." He bent down and gave me a chaste kiss.

"I'm glad to hear it." She smiled and then turned to me. "Are you driving home with me today or are you going with Jasper?" She asked as she put her books inside the cab of her truck.

"Yes, I'm coming with you." I answered. Jasper gave me a panicked look, searching my eyes uncertainly. "You mentioned having to go home to shower before meeting my parents. Did you forget?"

"No," He shook his head and sighed. "I just figured that you would be coming with me is all."

He looked so upset at the prospect of leaving me and I couldn't blame him. It hurt to think about being apart from him for even this short amount of time. I cupped his face with my hands and kissed his lips and looked him in the eyes.

"How about you run to your house, grab clothes, then come to my house to shower and you can just hang out until my parents get home so you can meet them?" I proposed.

He gave me a crooked grin and nodded.

"Yeah, that's better."

"Ok, so I'll see you soon?" I dropped one of my hands from his face and took his hand, rubbing his knuckles in a calming way. I know I was getting a feeling in the pit of my stomach, being separated from him for the first time since we got together.

"Yeah," He sighed. "I love you."

"I love you too, mon amour (My love)." I kissed his lips, then pulled back to look at him. "Bye baby."

"See ya soon, darlin'." He gave me a small smile before heading in the direction of his car.

A/N: So, what did you think? Review and let me know! If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will respond in my next Author's Note!

I am currently accepting Twilight stories to Beta. I will take any stories involving Jasper/any female leads or Bella/selective male leads. I may make exceptions. PM me for details!

If you like this story, you'll love some of the other's I have on my page!

'The Major'
'Pretexting'
'Mirror Image' NEW!
'Perplexing Revelations'
'Attempting to Covet'
'Other Worldly Beauty'
'Far Fetched Realities'

Thank you for reading! I hope you have been enjoying everything I've written!

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