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 31
(Jasper's POV)

It's been five days since the fight with James and Gillian and I have barely let Lilly out of my arms and definitely out of my sight since that god awful night. That was too close for comfort and if I didn't get there when I did, than Lilly would have been gone and under Gillian's control. God only knows what that sadistic prick would have inflicted on her, especially with the master's bite. I, myself, am quite familiar with that technique and have branded many newborns during the Southern Wars. Not to mention, I have had the master's bite used as punishment on myself once or twice by Maria.

No matter how hard I try, I can't get the images of that video out of my head ever since Alice had us sit down and watch it. I nearly destroyed our hotel room afterwards until Lilly managed to get me in to the bedroom for some rough dominating sex initiated by the Major. There was nothing but desert land around Phoenix, so it was the only way that I could work out my aggressions since there were no trees for me to up root and destroy. I marked her again and again that day and didn't stop claiming her for two days straight.

I can still remember our conversation while we were lying in bed together after fucking her on every surface and wall of the bedroom. By the time we were done, the pillows were nothing but a pile of feathers and the sheets were torn to shreds. The headboard was missing chunks and the box spring was missing all of its legs. There were multiple holes in the wall and some in the shape of Lilly's body. The entertainment center was on its side and the dressers were shifted in to the wall. She had her head on my chest over my silent heart as she lye on top of me. I could feel every thump of her heart, making me feel like mine was beating all over again. It was my favorite sound in the world.

Flashback…

"Why is Gillian so intent of revenge against you?" Lilly murmured as she drew patterns on my chest with her small, delicate fingers, causing me to shiver every time she ran over a certain spot.

I sighed, knowing that this question was bound to come up sooner or later. "It's a long story." I breathed out as I prepared myself to go back to the time when I was Maria's puppet.

"Tell me?" She pressed as she looked up at me with innocent, curious eyes. I knew that I could never deny her anything.

"Gillian Sánchez used to be a warlord, like Maria, back in the 1920's. He was in charge of the largest territory in the south with the largest army in the south. He was known to be the most sadistic and merciless of the warlords, but he trained his army well. His mate was named Aldondra, and she always fought by his side. They were a great team, can her gift complimented his perfectly. She had the power to double another's gift, meaning that when Gillian threw his shield over someone, she could double it so that he could cover two people, or double it in size. It also gave his shield a physical nature instead of just mental, so whoever was stuck inside of his shield could not escape. Most of the time, they would shield the warlord and his or her most gifted soldier. That way the soldier could not use their gift and the warlord could not escape."

"What did they do with them after the battle was over?" Lilly asked absentmindedly as she continued to doodle on my chest.

"They would kill the warlord and keep their heads to plant on steaks around their camp as a symbol of power and a warning to all those who would try to go against him. It was the worst kind of torture, because the head will still live on without its body. Can you imagine living as only a head to be displayed by your enemy for the rest of forever? That's one of the reasons why they always say to burn every piece of the vampire you kill, because the pieces will live on even if they are not together." I explained.

"Is it possible to put the head on another body?"

"If that body is a vampire of the same gender, age, and race then yes. But it's not a common practice, as it is very difficult and takes weeks for the cells to become attached to a foreign body. Not to mention, if you wait too long to do it, the vampire will go insane and would have to be put down anyway." I answered as I remembered Maria experimenting with this method on some of her more gifted newborns that were destroyed in battle and wanted to resurrect.

"Oh," She nodded. "What about the gifted vampire? What did they do with them?"

"They would give the gifted vampire a master's bite and keep them to fight on his behalf. The vampire would have no choice but to obey the wishes of their master. Even though in their mind they don't want to, their body will react because of the bite."

"So, what happened with you and Gillian?"

"It was 1927 and Maria had her eye on Gillian's territory. She was a very patient woman, so she prepared long and hard before attacking. We would send spy's to Gillian's camp as to learn their battle plans and techniques so that we could learn how to defeat them. We would then make our own plans to counter-act their attacks and to find out which vampires needed to be taken out first. They were usually the gifted ones with a master's bite, but some Gillian had made on his own. We would know exactly how their gift worked and how to get around it.

"By then, Gillian had heard about Maria and myself and he made it his mission to make me the crown jewel of his collection of gifted vampires. It's almost like what Aro does, but to a different extent. Aro will use Chelsea to manipulate the bonds of the vampire he desired and Gillian would use a master's bite.

"When we discovered this news, we knew that we had to come up with a plan. Without me commanding the troops, there was no way that we would win against Gillian's army; even after all of the new vampires we created. My gift was essential to controlling the newborns during training and battle.

"There was a gifted newborn amongst the army named Catalina. She had a gift to clone, but it wasn't fully developed yet. She could only clone one, maybe two vampires at a time if she was well fed. She was only 4 months old at the time at 14 in human years. She was not a very good fighter in the field either and the only reason that she had made it as far as she did was because my captain at the time, Sven, had a fancy for her after discovering that they were mated. He would always watch out for her and protect her during battle. I didn't learn of this until much later, because Maria didn't allow mated pairs among her ranks and he knew how to keep it a secret. Catalina would clone him and while his clone would watch the newborns, he would be off somewhere with her.

"Anyway, we decided that Catalina would clone me before the battle and hide with Maria and me in the woods. That way I could still control the newborns while they think that they have me trapped in Gillian's shield, at which point I would sneak around them and kill him and his mate while the army took down the rest of the army. We figured that without Gillian or Aldondra alive, those with their master bites would be freed and would become new ranks in our army."

I paused at took a long unneeded breath in.

"The plan went off without a hitch and before I knew it I was coming up on Gillian and Aldondra. She must have smelled me before she saw me because she suddenly turned around and sprang at me. Once Gillian saw this, he became momentarily stunned and confused because as he looked back and forth from my clone to I, he hesitated. That was something that I always drilled in to my soldiers not to do, because during that moment of hesitation, I had his mate in pieces on the ground with my lighter in my hand. He became enraged and before I could burn her, we started to fight.

"I kept getting the upper hand and he kept finding new ways to slither out of my holds. Before we knew it, the battle was over and the gifted ones that we wanted to keep were in pieces ready for transport. Gillian knew that if he stayed, his chances of surviving were slim to none, so like the coward he is, he fled, leaving Aldondra in pieces at my feet.

"Maria congratulated me on my victory and rewarded me with lots of blood and sex."

Lilly growled under her breath at hearing this, so I sent her my love and devotion as I pulled her tighter against me. I ran my fingers through her hair as I continued with my story.

"I decided that it was in our best interest in bringing Aldondra's pieces with us with the rest of the gifted ones and Maria agreed that it would be a wonderful prize for me to defile the mate of our fallen enemy."

Lilly looked up at me but I kept my eyes on the ceiling, not bearing to look at her expression as I hurried to finish the story.

"I know that I was a horrible monster back then. I was at one of the worst points of my life during that time, not that it is any excuse for my actions. This happened about a year after I let Peter and Char escape and I wasn't me during those years that it took Peter to come back for me."

I let out a long breath of air and shut my eyes for a few moments before I continued.

"After putting her together, I ravaged her many times. She was a bitch of a woman that had done terrible things to many others, so I felt no remorse for my actions at the time. She was what we called 'the spoils of war' along with Gillian's territory and gifted members. Once I was finished with her, she was passed around to the other newborns as a sex slave. She was a reward that Maria would give out to those newborns that deserved it. A few months later, she was killed by a jealous newborn woman because the male that she claimed as her temporary companion was rewarded with her. Maria punished her with dismemberment.

"After I escaped Maria, I ran into Gillian in the North. It was a few weeks after I left Peter and Char and I was weak from not feeding. The emotions of my victims were really getting to me at that point in my life. He warned me that he would get me back for what happened to Aldondra, but death was too good for me. He warned me that he would get me back for what happened to Aldondra, but death was too good for me. He wanted me to suffer first. After that, he disappeared without a trace and I haven't seen or heard from him since. Until the other night, that is."

It was quiet for some time as Lilly took in everything that I had told her. I only prayed that she wouldn't hold my past sins against me.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all that." She murmured. "I understand how everything happened and why you did it, and I'm sorry for it." She looked up at me with glassy eyes. "But no matter what you tell me about your past, it will never cause me to stop loving you. Nothing could."

Without another word, I pulled her up higher so that she was level with my face and slammed my lips against hers as I sent her all of my love, pride, acceptance, and awe that I felt in that moment. It was in that kiss that we began another round of mind blowing love making for the next 16 hours.

…End Flashback

We were now at the hotel room as we finished getting dressed before we went back to the hospital. Edward had called Lilly's phone not long ago, saying that Bella had woken up and would want to see her after she wakes up from her nap. He sounded agitated and when she asked why, he only said that Alice was going to get it before hanging up. We had looked at each other, knowing exactly what it was about before directing our attention to a sheepish looking Alice who was flipping through a fashion magazine.

I shook my head in humor before I pulled Lilly in to my arms and running my face in her hair as I chuckled quietly.

(Lilly's POV)

We arrived back at the hospital a little after 3 o'clock and took our seats in the waiting lounge. The news was playing quietly on the television as they spoke about a recent string of robberies throughout the west side of the city.

Jasper had his arms around me, as per usual these following days and Alice sat a few seats over as she continued flipping through the same magazine that she was looking at earlier at the hotel.

Bella's mom, Renée, gave me a smile before returning to her cell phone as she texted her husband, Phil, while standing near the entryway to the waiting area and leaning against the wall.

Minutes passed before I smelled and heard Carlisle and Edward walking down the hall towards us.

As they entered, Edward's eyes immediately sought out Alice and seeing this, Carlisle cleared his throat, getting Renée's attention. She flipped her cell phone shut before looking up expectantly at Carlisle in almost a dream-like daze. It was clear from the looks that she kept giving him that she desired him, but being a married woman, she would not do anything about it.

"Renée, why don't you go and sit with Bella. I'm sure that she would appreciate someone there just in case she wakes up from her nap." He suggested kindly.

"Oh, of course!" She nodded erratically and she picked up her purse and small overnight bag and made her way quickly to Bella's room.

Edward continued to look heatedly at Alice, who completely ignored him as she continued to read. Finally, after about 45 seconds of silence and glaring, Alice slammed the magazine closed at looked up at Edward in annoyance.

"Look, I already know what you're going to say, but I won't apologize for telling her!" Alice snapped in her high soprano voice.

"That wasn't for you to decide, Alice." Edward retorted through clenched teeth.

"She has the right to know! She is going to be one of us one day and it is only fair that she knows what she will be getting in to and the mechanics of the transformation!" She pressed on at a speed at volume that other humans wouldn't have been able to hear.

"No, she is not! I won't damn her to this existence, Alice. I won't destroy her soul!" He growled at the same frequency as her as he balled his fists at his side.

"Ok, let's calm down and remember where we are." Carlisle interrupted as he put a hand on Edward's shoulder in an attempt at calming him down. He shot Jasper a look that I didn't miss and I could feel the calm that my mate began radiating out through the room.

I watched as Alice and Edward's stiff postures relaxed, but the anger was still evident in their expressions.

"She's not even out of the hospital yet and we already had a fight about this, Alice. She is mad that I didn't let the venom spread so that she could be like me! This has done nothing but cause problems for us and will continue to be a constant battle with us until one of us gives in or does something drastic and I'm telling you right now, it won't be me who gives in!"

"She had a right to know!" Alice continued.

They continued to argue and it didn't look like either of them was going to give in. Carlisle had his head in his hands in exasperation as Jasper and I kept to ourselves and watched the fighting rage on. If things got out of hand, we would step in, but for now it looked like a battle of opinions and they at least had the smarts to argue so that the humans couldn't hear.

Finally, Carlisle intervened.

"Enough!" He snapped, effectively stopping Alice and Edward in their tracks. "Look, this is not the time and place for this conversation. Edward, I understand where you are coming from and agree that yes, she is your mate and it should be you who decides when and how Bella learns about the transformation, among other things, but you can't continue to keep her in the dark. You should have been the one to tell her about this stuff before now." He finished before turning his attention to Alice.

"Alice, I understand where you are going from as well. Bella has a right to know about all of this, but it is not up to you to be the one to tell her. She is Edward's mate and he is the one who gets to decide when and how Bella finds out and if she is going to be changed. I understand you saw it happen, but that doesn't mean that you get to put pressure on the situation to make it happen when you think it should. If it is meant to happen, then it will. Leave it at that. It's not your job to interfere." He finished.

The silence continued on for a few moments before Alice decided to speak up.

"I'm sorry, Edward. Carlisle was right." She said. "I know it isn't my responsibility to tell her any of this and I'm sorry for causing problems between the two of you."

Edward nodded. "It's alright. I understand that you care about her and just wanted to help. I know how much pressure your gift puts on you at times and I should have taken that in to consideration before blowing up on you. But you're right. Bella shouldn't have been kept in the dark about all of that and I should have already told her myself. As for her becoming a vampire, I'm sorry, but I just can't let that happen." He finished shaking his head as he turned around and left the waiting area, most likely heading towards Bella's room. Carlisle then announced that he was going to run back to his hotel room and shower up and get in to a change of clothes and waved good-bye.

About twenty minutes later, Renée emerged, leaving her bags in Bella's room next to the cot that the hospital gave her to sleep on the last five nights. She looked up at Jasper and I with a smile and told us that Bella was awake and wanted to see us.

I looked at Jasper and asked him at vampire speed, "Are you going to be okay if we go in?"

He pursed his lips before slowly nodded and helping me to my feet like a true southern gentleman. He kept his hand in mine as we made our way down the long hallway to Bella's room and knocked before entering.

Edward was sitting in a chair next to her bed as he held her hand in both of his. His attention snapped to Jasper worriedly as he noticed him enter the room with me. Bella smiled happily as she saw the two of us before reaching for me.

Having learned my lesson from the last time I left Jasper's arms without his allowance, I took hooked his arms lower around my waist before bending over and giving Bella a gentle hug as to not irritate her injuries. I pulled back and kissed her cheek and gave her a warm smile.

"Hi Jasper," Bella greeted him shyly and unsure of his reaction to her. I knew that she was worried that he would hate her after what happened at the airport, but I knew that though Jasper was upset, he didn't hold it against Bella as she thought that her Mom was in danger and that it was just James that we were going to meet. She didn't intentionally put us in that position, but he did warn me that I better not do anything like it ever again and he will be upset with her if she does it a second time.

I could feel him hold his breath before pulled his face out of my neck and hair and look toward the hospital bed.

"Good afternoon, Bella." Jasper nodded. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore, but I'll manage." She shrugged. "Ouch!"

Edward's attention snapped from Jasper back to Bella with concern etched on his face.

"Are you okay? What hurts?" He asked.

"It's nothing, I just need to keep reminding myself not to move so much." She grumbled before returning her attention to Jasper and myself.

"Jasper, Lilly, I just wanted to apologize for what happened at the airport. I know we already spoke about this, Lilly, but I still feel like I should apologize to you again and to Jasper for the first time. I really thought that he had my mom and that Lilly could use her gift to get us out." She said sincerely. "I understand if you hate me, but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the trouble I put the both of you through."

"I understand, Bella." Jasper replied. "I don't hate you and I understand the position that he put you in. But please, for my sake and Edward's, don't do it again?"

"I won't," she smiled. "Besides, I doubt that this situation will happen again anyway. I don't have that bad of luck!"

We all chuckled and he shook his head before tucking it back into my neck and breathing in my scent. It was then that I knew that everything was going to be okay.

A/N: This was the last real chapter! The Epilogue is the only thing left before this story is completed and I move on to the sequel! I will post an author's note as soon as the first chapter is up so that everyone will know what it's called and when you can start reading it!

Also, if you have anyone has questions about the story or the sequel, feel free to post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note!

Check out my other stories!

'Attempting to Covet'
'Dhampir'
'Far Fetched Realities'
'Mirror Image'
'Other Worldly Beauty'
'Perplexing Revelations'
'Pretexting'
'The Heart's Desire' NEW!
'The Major'
'Twilight ReVAMPed'

If you enjoyed this story so far, check out some of my other stories on my FanFiction page! Also, I am still accepting Twilight stories that involve Jasper/any female leads or Bella/selected male leads if anyone is looking for a Beta Reader. I will make exceptions on the characters depending on the plot. I am also now accepting Phantom of the Opera FanFictions that include Erik! I will also be accepting Titanic FanFictions featuring Jack, and Law and Order SVU that feature Elliot. PM me for details!
- Bella'Xo
Xo BellaItalia oX