While Garrett was in the city gathering some prime pickins for the baby, Jasper decided to join the party and he was not happy. I had Iz in the branches with me and when he got close I told her to stay put and dropped to the ground in front of him, arms crossed and face blank. I knew that if he really wanted to, he would win the fight if it came to that because of his empathy, but I really didn't care. I wasn't about to allow him or the midget to force her to do a damn thing she didn't want to. If she didn't want to go overseas she wasn't going to.

Jasper slowed to a purposeful stride to close the distance but didn't get close enough to be taken as an immediate threat. It was close enough for her to growl at him but not enough for her to attack again. When he stopped he mirrored my position and just stared at me, waiting for me to back down. The fact that he thought I was going to was a little insulting to tell you the truth.

After a few minutes of a stare down, he glanced up at her before looking back at me. He blinked slowly and took a deep breath and let it out slowly through his nose, "You should know better than to challenge me, Peter."

I smirked, "You should know better than thinking I give a damn, Jasper. What are you more pissed off about? The fact that I found her and didn't tell you or the fact that I refuse to back down from a pussy-ass has-been?"

He cocked his head to the side a little for a moment, "Pussy-ass has-been, hmm? That's an interesting phrase coming from a soldier that let a girl fight his battle or him."

I winked at him, "She hits harder. Come on Jasper, this is stupid. You're pissed off at the wrong guy for the wrong reason. You want to be pissed off at someone, be pissed off at your coven brother. I didn't do a damn thing but take on the responsibility of a baby that was in my territory. I didn't know who the fuck she was at the time and once I figured it out there was no reason to tell you anything. She was already changed and therefore not a threat anymore. You told me yourself not an hour ago that you left her high and fucking dry without even making sure she was safe. Where in that explanation was I supposed to figure out that she even fucking mattered to you anymore? The point here is, she's mine now and you need to leave her alone. You're my brother and I love you like one, but all that aside, it will only be over my dead fucking body that you take her from me."

He looked up at my Sugar for a long moment and took in her expression as she looked back. After a moment he spoke without looking away for her eyes, "I'm not here to take her from you. I came only for confirmation that she was no longer among the living. Now that I have it, I see no reason to hang around." His head tilted a little to the side as a small smirk came to his lips, "Remember to teach her to guard her right flank. While she might have a decent right hook, she left herself open for a counterattack that would have cost her dearly in a real fight."

I looked back up at Iz and she had a look of contemplation on her face as she looked back and forth between us a few times before her eyes came to rest on me. "This is him? This is your sire you told me about?"

I nodded, "Yup. Iz, meet Jasper."

He snorted and shook his head before looking back up at her, "Pleasure Darlin'." He then looked back at me for a time, not saying anything. Had I not known that he wasn't going to do anything I would have probably started to fidget, but since I knew that the battle was over, I just looked back at him.

We were still staring at each other when Garrett showed up with Iz's meal. Trading places with her with no thought beforehand when she dropped to the ground, completely ignoring Jasper in lieu of eating, I stretched out on a branch as Jasper took up residence in one a few feet higher. I was paying more attention to the area while she ate so I was a little startled when Jasper spoke.

"So, she has absolutely no memories of her human life?"

I glanced up at him a moment before going back to what I was doing, "Not really. The ones she does have are so fragmented and blurred that she can't make heads or tails of 'em, never could. She only really has two and even they're not all there. She cannot remember you or any of the others. She doesn't even fully remember her change. Not that that is any real surprise considering she was in a plane crash right before it happened. She doesn't even remember her real name. Took me and Garrett over an hour to talk her through enough of a memory to pick out a passport photo that looked like a reflection in a mirror. If she really is your Isabella Swan, she got fucked up in that crash for her to look that much different than she used too."

"It's her, trust me on that. Though her features are different, it's her scent, or close enough to it to make the positive identification." He went quiet and I glanced up at him to see him playing close attention to her as she ate. After a moment he looked back at me, "How she doing so far?"

I shrugged, "She's a newborn, no doubt about that. Stubborn as fuck and a temper the likes I ain't ever seen before. Dear lord does that girl get pissy. All things considered, she's doing well I suppose. Haven't had any massive problems with her yet that are worth mentioning, well until you and the mutant midget popped up today. For the most part, she's a little doll baby when she's not throwing a fit for one reason or another. However, she is only a month old so that's subject to change."

Jasper snorted, "Ain't that the fucking truth. Youngins her age will turn on a dime and for no reason other than to keep you on your toes." Then he locked eyes with me, "Please tell me you haven't tried to get her to eat animals."

I gagged at the mere thought of that, "Fuck no. She ain't had anything but human and as long as I have a say in it, she never will. I don't know how you do it and I really don't want to."

He smirked, "You don't honestly think that I actually have 'slip ups' do you? Hell no, that shit is planned out the very last fucking detail." That I did not doubt for a second. Jasper's control over his thirst far surpasses that of any other vampire alive. In the army we were starved to the point of insanity and then had a human put in front of us with the threat of death if we fed. Anyone that survived the southern wars was able to go months without feeding and STILL be able to be around humans without incident. The fact that the little coven he hangs out with thinks otherwise is astonishing to me.

Jasper and I fell into silence after that, both of us watching as Iz ate her fill lost in our own thoughts. When she moved away from her kills, I cocked a brow at her and when she nodded, I dropped to the ground to deal with the mess, Jasper following suit prompting Iz to snarl at him before darting behind me with a hiss.

I glanced over my shoulder at her with a raised brow, "Something the matter, Sugar?"

She just growled a little but didn't comment, just stuck close to me as I buried her dinner while not taking her eyes off Jasper. Jasper rolled his eyes a little but took a step back and crossed his arms, making sure she could still see his hands. She was the same way with Garrett at first and with the massive amount of experience with newborns that Jasper had, he indulged her clear show of skittish mistrust.

Once I was done with the cleanup, I turned to Iz, "You just settle the hell down there Little Missy. He ain't done nothing to you yet so knock it off. Your little ass was the one that hit him not the other way around."

Her lips thinned as she glared at me before crossing her arms and turning her head away with a snap and a huff. Oh no, I don't fucking think so.

Grabbing her chin and turning her right the back to look at me, "What did I tell you about doing that shit? You got something to say Youngin, say it but don't be pullin' this stunt with me. You know I don't play that game." She continued to glare at me as she shook her head making my brow rise a little, "you sure about that?" She nodded and averted her eyes from mine, calling the challenge off just like that. I looked at Jasper out of the corner of my eye, "Ya mind?"

He shrugged a little before he vanished into the city for whatever reason; hopefully though to get a decent meal. Once he was gone I let go of her chin and crossed my arms, "What's that deal, Sugar?"

She just shrugged as she kicked at the snow, "I don't know, I just… I don't trust him."

I smiled at her, "you went through this with Garrett too. Don't worry about it. You know I ain't about to let anything happen to you so just settle down and relax alright?"

She kinda curled into herself a little as she shook her head, "it's different though and I don't know how to explain it. I just… there is something not right about this and you told me not to ignore my gut and now you're mad at me for following it." She hugged herself a little tighter as she shrugged again, "I don't… I just…" She trailed off at that point and looked up at me through her lashes, her confusion shining as bright as the sun.

I sighed a little as I reached out and grabbed her by her crossed forearms and used them to pull her to me. Wrapping one arm around her waist I used the other to lift her chin with the side of my finger. Once I could see her eyes I smiled at her, "I'm not mad Sugar. Irritated yea, but not for you following that gut of yours. I don't play the silent game bullshit and I know you know that. Had you just stopped the growling like I said I wouldn't have snapped at you. And I don't blame you for not trusting the Major; hardly anyone does but I know him well enough to know if he says something he damn well means it." I dipped my head a little and butted my nose to hers and I dropped my voice to a whisper, "You trust me dontcha?" I watched her eyes slide closed too little more than half mast as she nodded to that making me smile a little more. "Good. You just settle down and let me be the one to worry about the Major. He ain't gonna do nothing to you so long as I'm around, Little Lady. I won't allow it. You're mine Sugar and there ain't no one gonna touch you as long as I can move."

She licked her bottom lip a little before drawing it between her teeth, her eyes looking deep into mine as her confusion grew again. She tisked a little before taking a deep breath and speaking again, "until I'm older right, when I want something out of this life that you…"

Using the hand that was under her chin, I clamped it over her mouth, "Shut it, Sugar. Things change and so do circumstances and personal stances. This however has not and will not. You are mine; period. You ain't goin' nowhere and no one is going to take you from me; ever. Everything I said before about this or that when it came to you one day striking out on your own, strike it from your mind cause it ain't happenin'; not in this century or the next or the one after it. This world will end before that that shit goes down."

I tightened the grip I had on her waist and pulled her closer to me, sliding my hand from her mouth to her hair. My eyes bore into hers as she searched mine for the answer as to what was going on. I didn't leave her in suspense long and with a possessive growl and slightly snarled 'MINE', my lips crashed against hers. She tasted like apples, caramel and a hint of mint; she was fucking delicious; that was the only way to describe her flavor. Fuck everything I ever said about this Little Lady never being my mate. That shit was blown out of the water the moment she melted against me and set her hands against my chest, a soft moan floating up and caressing my ears. Yeah, she wasn't ever going anywhere that I couldn't physically see her with my own eyes again.

I nipped at her lip and took full advantage of her reaction and full possession of her mouth, a soft growl sounding in my throat as her flavor coated my tongue. She pushed herself to stand on her tiptoes as she very tentatively tried to actively participate, her hand sliding up my chest and around my neck. I tightened my hold on her even more before I stood up to my full height, her legs going around my hips as I turned and pressed her against the tree that was behind her now. Pressing my hips harder against hers, I mapped her mouth out, converting it to memory.

"Well, it's about fucking time."

My head whipped around with a growl as Iz covered her face with her hands and tried to actually disappear inside my chest. Seems I forgot about Garrett being around here somewhere. As I was about snap some stupid fucked up threat that I didn't mean, Iz started shaking a little before she snorted hard into her hands which turned into her head falling back against the tree as she just laughed her ass off, the sound of bells bouncing off the trees.

It took her a few minutes to calm back down but when she did, she bestowed the brightest smile I have ever seen on me before she giggled a little, "What were you saying again?"

I chuckled a little before pressing my lips to hers again. Setting her on her feet, I turned to Garrett, "Shut up, Fucker."

He smirked at me and crossed his arms, "Am I wrong in saying that? You have been a dick for over a week when it came to her. I simply put two and two together. You know, Peter; for a guy that supposedly just knows shit, you're fucking retarded."

I smirked at him, "And you're about to lose some more teeth."

After a little wrestling match with Garrett the three of us headed home. I didn't see a need to wait on Jasper since I didn't know what his plans were as far as how long he was going to be in the area. He said he didn't have a reason to hang around but that didn't mean he wouldn't and if he did, he found us at the city limits so he could find his way back.

We were about ten miles from the house when Iz stopped dead in her tracks, a looked of absolute horror on her face before she started to backtrack.

I skidded to stop and looked at her, "Hey Sugar, everything alright?"

Her head started whipping back and forth, her eyes wide and lips parted slightly. "No, I don't wanna go there. Please Peter, don't make me go."

I walked up to her and set my hands on her shoulders, ducking down a little so I could look in her eyes, "What's the matter, Sugar?"

She was shaking again and her eyes were wild with fear as her lips trembled. "I don't know. I just know that I don't want to go. You told me not to question my gut feelings and it's telling me it's not safe."

I looked back over my shoulder, eyes narrowed and teeth bared. Alice and Jasper weren't the reason that the flags went off in my head. That was too easy to need the warning. It was because of them that the threat knew just where to fucking go. I swear to god I'm going to kick Jasper's ass for this.

Not looking at Iz, I tried to figure out what to do about this. I knew that there was no way in hell that I was going to force Iz to go against her instincts and make her go home but Garrett couldn't handle this on his own. I had to go with him which meant that she was going to end up being out here on her own.

Or maybe not.

Still not looking at her, "Garrett, give me your phone." He didn't question me, just tossed it over. I turned back to her and slid it into her pocket, "Find cover like I showed you and stay there. DO NOT MOVE until this rings, ya hear me? Garrett and I are gonna go check this out and see what's going on. We won't be long, I promise."

She glanced over my shoulder to where the house was and nodded while moving her eyes back to mine, "Be careful. Something is really wrong."

I grinned at her, "Come on, Sugar; you know that wrong is my specialty."