A/N: wow guys! I totally forgot today was Saturday. I was working on outlining the next Jasper/Bella story so I have it ready sooner for you guys and literally spaced updating! I am soooooooo sorry. I swear it won't happen again. Swear! Thankfully I had been editing my chapters for this story earlier in the week and just so happened to have this one ready. There may be some booboos, but there shouldn't be many. *I have gone back and reedited to fix said booboos, but I'm sure I still missed a few. Lol
I mention Jake's age in this chapter. I realized that I made a timeline booboo because I was forgetting in canon Jake didn't phase until after his sixteenth birthday in 2006. It is still only 2005. I went back and fixed it in previous chapters.
chanur: I wish you would sign in like you used to so I can answer you privately. Don't worry, the warrior is coming- he wasn't ever a warlord, that title goes to Maria, he was merely her best warrior. Right now he's just getting used to being a mate to someone. As for why they care what people think... They're vampires. It's their duty to keep things from the humans and they have to play things right to not become suspicious to the humans of Forks. For me, usually when a couple get engaged they tend not to live with their family. I know I moved in with my fiancé. It would be more normal for them to live in Bella's house than in Jasper's with the Cullens. And Alice makes the decisions because she's the one with the visions. She's the one seeing what's coming and what will keep them alive, believe me she doesn't make them all. But if they're to have even a chance to survive what's coming, they need to rely on her and that she's right about Edward. What if Jasper gives in to his baser instincts and kills Edward and they never learn who the enemy is in time? Don't worry, I have things well in hand. Thanks for the review.
Chapter Ninteen
Bella
I wake alone. The sun filtering through the curtains of the room blinding me for a moment as I blink away the dream. It was so vivid, so real. A beautiful little boy with blond hair and brown eyes laughing as we played in the meadow; and then suddenly Edward was there, but he wasn't alone. Someone, whose face was blurry, was standing beside him and then the dream turned into a nightmare. They tried to rip the boy from me and no matter how hard I fought to stop them, they succeeded. My heart is racing as I try to calm myself from the immense fear I felt, not for myself- but for the boy.
It's been nearly a week now since Edward's attack. He's been in Seattle since then. Carlisle and Esme had to give the school an excuse as to why he wouldn't be there this year. They simply told everyone that he decided he wanted to complete his senior year elsewhere. They couldn't say anything with the faked paperwork Jasper got from their tame lawyer with the transferral of Edward's transcripts to a private school in Seattle. Apparently the man named Jenks, who is also in Seattle, makes them illegal documents without asking questions- because Jasper intimidates him. Which amused me a lot when I heard that. Jasper intimidating? Well at least he isn't to me.
After the attack, Alice and Felix sat us all down and told us all about the new Volturi. Everyone was shocked to learn about them and to know that Alice has been so involved in my life, and Jasper's. They were also shocked about Felix. We found out he's Alice's mate. She didn't want anyone to know that yet, didn't want those of us who knew who she really was to worry about them being separated when Edward was more of a concern than her missing Felix. Or Felix missing her. Now we've come closer as a family because there are no longer any secrets between us.
It's nice. To not have to keep things from them. I felt so guilty about that. Jasper and I moved into his old room, the one he used before he moved in with me, and they've all been trying to distract me with things to do. No one wants to go anywhere right now and if I'm honest I'm bored. I've been doing more sleeping and eating in the past three days than I've ever done in my life. That's how bored I am. I know they mean well and that they're just worried, but I have to get out of this house. I don't want to make it a fourth day of sleeping, eating, being bored and sleeping and eating some more.
I get up and shower before heading downstairs to find my wayward fiancé. I'm determined he and I are going to do something today that's not sex or movies, though sex is nice. I find him in the kitchen frying me up some eggs and bacon. When he hears me he turns to face me, smiling. What he says next gets me all sorts of excited. "I have some good news for you darlin'. The guys called. From what I could understand over the cacophony of voices all vying for attention at once, Paul has a surprise for you; and Sam is wanting us to visit too. They miss us apparently."
He barks out a short laugh at that, but I'm all smiles. Finally! I get to get out of the house. "That's great cowboy. Now give me my breakfast! I'm starving. Then we can go." He laughs and passes me the plate filled with light, fluffy scrambled eggs and crisp bacon and perfectly browned toast covered in butter and jam. It looks delicious and before I know it it's in my mouth, down my throat and in my stomach and the plate is empty.
I blush and look at him sheepishly, I've never eaten that fast in my life. "I guess you're excited to be getting out. Let me put these dishes in the dishwasher and we can go."
"So no one is going to suggest us leaving alone is a bad idea? That going out without someone knowing where we're going is irresponsible?"
He turns and gives me this annoyed look and I know it's because he's irritated that anyone could think he can't handle himself and protect me. I know that he's this big bad warrior, but Carlisle is right. Even a badass can be caught by surprise and taken down. And Alice can't see everything. There are ways to get around her. Not that Edward knows that, he would just come across those ways by a happy chance.
"We're going to the Res darlin', I don't think even Edward at his most thirsty would be stupid enough to start a war with the pack and I'm not in need of a babysitter, are you?"
I step forward and brush his lips with mine. Pulling back I smile. "Only babysitter I need is standing in front of me. I know you'll keep me safe cowboy." Then I saunter away while he goes back to what he was doing.
He moves at vampire speed and before I know it we're out the door and on our way to La Push and the Res. The others weren't home when we left so I can only assume they had left for their various pursuits before I woke. I trust my mate, so we should be safe on the Res. Before long we're pulling up outside of Sam and Emily's cabin and I'm jumping excitedly from my car before Jasper even has the keys out of the ignition.
Jasper
As I get out of Bella's car, I have to shake my head at her excitement. She's hated being cooped up these past few days, but we haven't had too much of a choice. We had to be sure Edward would stay in Seattle for a while. I can protect myself and Bella just fine but if I've learned one thing in the seventy five years that I was Maria's soldier, it's that being too cautious is never a bad thing. I know my limits. I will admit that I have my own weaknesses. It's nothing to be ashamed about. I also learned to trust my gut instincts and if Alice days that Edward is needed for something more, then he is and I need to trust that. No matter how badly I want to kill him and end the threat against Bella.
I'm just glad whatever major thing happened this week happened and the guys wanted to tell Bella about it. It gave me a perfect reason to get her out of the house. I could tell she was bored. If the others give me or her any grief about leaving without telling them, I'll have my say and I don't think they'll like it. The guys called this morning and only my vampire senses could understand a thing coming from the multiple voices all trying to speak at once. It's awe inspiring how quickly Bella has made friends with them all. Even Paul and Leah. We haven't been by in about three weeks though, so I have no clue what Paul could have wanted to tell her.
But the answer becomes clear as we walk into Sam and Emily's and I notice a new person sitting at Emily's table. She looks a little like Billy and Jake. I know he has two sisters, one that graduated from college last year and one who is married and living in Hawaii. The way Paul is hanging off of her I'd say he's found his imprint, so this must be the grad. She's pretty in that classic Native American way. Light russet skin, black hair and dark brown eyes. Eyes that hold a look of immense love for the boy beside her. They're the only two here.
"Hey Jazz, Bells. This is Rachel, Jake's sister. Guess what! You were right Bells. Finding my imprint has definitely helped my temper." He gives us a grin and Rachel blushes a bit, but shakes our hands and greets us sweetly. She doesn't seem at all perturbed by my cold skin.
"Well I'm happy for you Paul. Rachel, I'm sure he's told you about us but how about you? What do you do? I didn't know you were coming home. I knew Jake had older sisters though." Bella sits down at the table and she and Rachel start talking and just like that, Paul and I are dismissed. So we decide to leave them to it.
"Let's go down to the beach. The others are out there working on their fighting."
"Oh? This I gotta see." With what I told her before we left, I figure Bella is safe enough to leave here alone for a small amount of time. The house is on the Res after all and we won't be so far away I won't be able to hear her if she needs me. So I walk with Paul to the beach. I see Quil, Embry and Jake all in wolf form once we get there. They're rolling around in the sand, each trying to get ahold of the other with teeth and claws. Jake clearly has the upper hand on both boys, but then he's also the true alpha and bigger than all of them- even Sam- despite the fact he's only fifteen. Seeing Paul and I, Sam calls for a halt and we join the group.
"Hey Jasper, nice of you to come see us," he says with a laugh. "We've missed you these past few weeks. Where have you been?"
"Spending time with Bella of course. Besides, you saw us just three weeks ago. It hasn't been that long. I've moved in with her you know, asked her to marry me too."
"Yeah I heard. And congrats man! When's the wedding? When did you propose? Hey! Since you're here could you maybe show us some more moves?"
I have to laugh at the way he fires questions off at me without giving me time to answer. "Damn Sam, you could at least let me answer. Thanks for the congrats, I did it on the twenty ninth of last month, Bella wants to have it on the day we ran into each other at the hospital so the beginning of June, and sure. I've got some time, it seems Bella and Rachel hit it off so I'm sure they'll be talking for a while."
They all laugh at Sam's reddened face and I think through what I can show them. Looking around I notice Leah sitting by herself off to the side. She looks irritated, her emotions say she's angry and upset and lonely feeling. It's clear they've been leaving her out, probably not wanting to hurt her- which is stupid in my opinion. She may be the third smallest, Colin and Brady- being the youngest two at thirteen- are the smallest of the pack, but she's the swiftest and I'm sure she can hold her own and I think I'm going to show them just that.
"Leah, lets go!" She smiles at me and immediately jumps up. Her excitement hitting me and letting me know I made the right choice. I take my phone from my pocket and switch it off so we don't get distracted, as far as I know Carlisle has the number to Billy's- so if they need us they can call. I didn't leave a note because I didn't see the point, surely Alice has seen where we've gone. I put my phone back in my jacket and take it off and lay it over a log as she shifts; and then I take my stance, legs bent at the knee, arms loose at my sides. Ready.
She doesn't come at me immediately and it's clear to see she's been paying attention. She circles me slowly, my body turning to follow her movements as she looks for an opening. We do this for at least a minute before she finally makes a move. She feints right, trying to get me to go that way but I'm too seasoned to fall for that, but she catches it quickly and stops just before she gets to me. Good. We do this little dance for a good twenty minutes. This helps them understand why they have a pack. A lone wolf up against an older vampire like me wouldn't stand a chance, but working as a unit? Absolutely.
I've just made the decision to end things and head back to get Bella and head home when I hear it. Two screams, both female. Feeling around with my gift it hits me, thirst, desire, danger. Edward. Shit! Why the fuck is he risking his neck to declare war on the pack? And they'll see it that way too. He's attacked or is attacking someone on the Res. I take off up the beach, praying I'm not too late, and Leah is behind me and past me in seconds. She must have seen something on my face that let her know something is wrong. I hit the door of the cabin at full speed which unfortunately means that the door is a total loss and I'll have to replace it later, but that doesn't matter right now.
What I see in front of me is all that does. Rachel is on the floor against one wall as if thrown against it, she seems to have been knocked out- but Bella has all my focus. She's cowered in the corner her eyes shut, rocking back and forth and crying. I move towards her as Leah phases and goes to Rachel. She's so damn freaked out she didn't even seem to hear us come in.
"She's breathing. What the fuck happened here Jasper?"
"I don't know yet."
I move towards Bella and hear her say something along the lines of "not again" and assume the splintering of the door has her thinking its Edward come back so I move to her side and quietly pull her to her feet and wrap her in my arms. "Bella, darlin', I'm here. I'm here. Are you ok?"
Her eyes fly open and she focuses on me for a mere second before she buries her head in my chest and starts to cry. Thanks to vampire hearing I can make out her muffled words.
"Oh god Jasper! It was Edward! He came through the door and we could immediately see he wasn't himself. He hit Rachel, knocking her into the wall when she tried to stop him and came at me, but he stopped. It was like he was warring with himself. He kept muttering and started pacing and then suddenly he was gone. He just shut the door calmly behind himself as he walked out. It was so strange." Just then the rest of the pack come through the door, Alice and Peter on their heels. They're both in front of us in seconds
"Damn it Jasper! Why didn't you answer your phone?! Or let someone know where you were going? I wasn't watching for you because I was too busy looking for Edward. To see when he might leave Seattle. Which he didn't decide! He just left! By the time I saw anything to indicate he was heading this way he had already caught Bella's scent and that's when he finally made a decision, to follow it and find her. And why the fuck doesn't anyone in the family have a phone number for someone on the Res?! I mean seriously? We had to book it over here! We obviously didn't make it in time. Damn he's fast! Why can't people just cooperate? Why is it that I never see anything until decisions are made?"
While Alice continues on with her rant, hands waving about in the air- she almost wacks Jared in the face twice-, about holes in her visions and ways around her gift and wondering if that's why she hasn't seen the enemy I take my phone out and see several missed calls from both her and Peter. Cursing silently to myself for being so careless, I thought he was still in Seattle and there wouldn't be any possible way he'd come on the Res after Bella and risk adding the pack to his list of enemies, I stop her mid rant.
"Enough Alice!" The tone of my voice stops her mid sentence and she looks at me shocked.
"Now that you're quite finished yelling at me you can listen. I thought Carlisle had the number to Billy's and I turned my phone off to spar with Leah, I didn't think about telling anyone because frankly I am not a child and am perfectly capable of having coherent thoughts without being told how to act and what to do. Bella was bored as hell and since the guys called just this morning and no one else was at the house, I took advantage of a situation I judged to be perfectly safe to make my mate happy. I never thought Edward would be stupid enough to involve the pack by attacking on the Res, but now he has. We can't keep this from them. Why it happened. Peter, you track where he went and Alice fill them in while I try to calm Bella down and call Carlisle. He needs to come check Rachel."
As I speak her eyes soften and fill with remorse. She nods and defers to the authority in my voice. "Ok Jazz, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm so used to making decisions based on what I see that I forgot that you are better at making them than I am when it comes to danger. But just promise me you won't turn off your phone anymore, please."
I just nod as she heads over to the others and quickly begins to tell them everything. I can feel their anger overlapping their concern for Rachel. As I dial Carlisle's number they break away from Alice and come over to check on Bella as well. She ensures them she's ok through her tears and voices her concern for Rachel as I wait for the phone to start ringing. He picks up on the first ring.
"Jazz, what is it? Who's that crying? Is it Bella? Has something happened?"
"Carlisle, we need you at the Res. There's been an incident. I'll explain when you get here."
Whatever he heard in my voice brooks no argument and I can hear him packing up his medical bag. "I'll be there soon." Then he hangs up and we wait. As we do Sam comes over to me as Paul holds a now awake, but in pain, Rachel.
I can feel his anger, but most prominent is determination. "Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped. Plus this might not have happened if we had been on alert."
"You heard Alice. There's something bigger afoot and Edward could put everyone in danger. Whoever this enemy is, if they learn about a seer? Can you imagine what might happen? This enemy means to wipe out our leaders, can you imagine what might happen if a new regime takes control? One that may not be as tolerant or understanding of the Guardians? As understanding of the fact that you are here to balance out nature? It's not just to protect the vampire race, but everyone. I really am sorry Sam. I just never thought he'd be so bold. I'll fix your door before we leave." He nods in agreement.
"Don't worry about the door. What reason do we give for what happened? She has a good sized knot on her head. She's damn lucky that's it, her face will bruise badly where he hit her too."
"She fell? Maybe down the stairs from coming from the bathroom?" The cabin is two stories and the only bathroom is up the steps. I only know because of the tour Sam gave me once.
"That could work. I'll let her and Paul know. But from now on, no more secrets."
"Out of respect for you, one warrior to another, I promise."
Smiling, he turns to Bella then, who has come back to my side- Quil, Jake and Embry hovering around to make sure she's ok while the others are with Paul and Rachel. I realize then that Emily and Kim aren't around, but before I get to ask where they are Sam is speaking to Bella. "You ok Bells? Alice told us he's after you. You didn't get hurt too did you?"
"No Sam, I didn't. Rachel saved me. When he came in, his eyes were black and I guess you all told her about vampires and what that means. She grabbed your fireplace poker, tried to hit him with it. It just made him angrier and that's when he backhanded her and made her fly across the room and hit the wall." When she says this there's a feeling of pride coming from everyone in the room. It takes a strong human to face down a vampire that way. She certainly has my respect for it.
Bella continues and what she says has me shocked for a moment, but then I begin thinking about what it could mean. I think I have a fairly good idea. I'll have to talk to the others about it when we get home. "But for whatever reason it stopped him. He started to fight himself. I don't know why, because he had nothing to stop him from taking me with her hurt and no one around. But then he heard Leah and went running before you all got to us. I'm so sorry I've brought this to your door. We shouldn't have come here."
Sam lays a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, none of that now. This isn't your fault. We've heard about what happens when a vampire finds their singer. Frankly it's amazing you're still alive. We will help protect you whenever you need us. You're family now Bells. You became so when you helped Leah and Paul. When you helped us understand those things about Leah. We protect our family."
She smiles a watery smile at him and I am thankful he is able to reassure her and get her to calm a little more. She's not aware of it but I've been projecting a little calm her way so she's not as hysterical. I was afraid she would have a panic attack, she was shaking so hard. I feel the shift in her emotions then, curiosity coming to the fore.
"Where's Emily? And Kim? I would assume with this being a Saturday that she would spend as much time as she could with Jared."
"Emily went to Port Angeles to get some things for the house. I'm actually glad she isn't here. She would have tried to stop him too and then all three of you might have been hurt. Whatever it was that made him stop, clearly hurting Rachel was a part of it. But if he had really had to possibly defend himself he might not have stopped. Being confronted by more than one woman could have been problematic, even for a vampire. As for Kim, she works at the clinic on Saturdays during the school year." Seems Sam is thinking the same thing I am. Hurting Rachel was what stopped him.
"Oh. I'm glad they weren't here either, and that they're safe." I can now feel the guilt making a rise in her emotions again and swiftly pull her into my arms as her tears begin to fall again.
Carlisle shows up moments later- Peter texted me while we were waiting and told me Edward's trail led back towards Seattle and that he unfortunately lost it at the Hoh River- and checks Rachel over. He diagnoses a mild concussion and that she will have a nasty bruise from Edward backhanding her, but she is fine otherwise and he tells Paul what to do to care for her and then comes over to me and Bella.
"Bella, how about you come back to the house with me and let me make sure you're ok. You seem to still be in a state of shock and I need to make sure you don't have a panic attack." He looks to me and I give him a small nod, letting him know that I'm keeping her calm. We have no idea how she'll react when I stop though, so we'll need to watch her the rest of the night. I'll remove my gift a little at a time over the next few hours though. She needs to be able to process what happened and deal with it, not feel numb from the calm I'm pushing on her.
Completely oblivious to our exchange Bella answers Carlisle's request. "I'm fine Carlisle but thanks for making sure. I'm just glad Rachel is ok. I'm sure all I need is to get some rest and spend time with Jasper."
"Alright, but if anything changes come get me immediately, understand?"
"Yes sir," she says dutifully, like one would to a beloved father or grandfather, and he chuckles and heads out the door. Probably to go let the others know what happened.
Tanya went home the day after the attack when Edward didn't return. She went off to be alone after the attack so didn't overhear what Alice told the others, so she doesn't know why Edward attacked Bella, that is she didn't. She probably does now. Carlisle called Eleazar and let him know what happened, that Bella is Edward's singer and that he tried to kill her and is no longer welcome by us. That it was because he hid it from us, but they were told nothing else.
It's not that we don't trust them, we just dont need too many people knowing the truth just yet. The more people who know, the more thoughts Edward has to read and the more likely it becomes that he learns the full truth. Which in turn creates issues for us. We're counting on him not coming back to the Res anytime soon, so he hopefully won't ever hear the truth in their thoughts. I'm just glad it seems hurting Rachel pulled him from his blood lust and he didn't take advantage of the situation. He could have taken Bella with him this time. Good thing self preservation seems to be as important to him as getting Bella's blood. Otherwise he might not have left her. But me and an entire pack of wolves chasing him wouldn't have kept him alive very long, not while having to tangle with a struggling woman on top of it.
Edward
What the fuck is wrong with me? I may enjoy feeding from humans, but I don't kill people I don't plan to feed from and to kill a Quileute? I would have called the whole pack down upon me. Especially the sister of the true alpha. They wouldn't have stopped until I was dead. That's why I had to get out of there, why I fought my instinct to just grab Bella and run. They would never have stopped chasing me and her probable struggle would have slowed me down. I may be fast, but I don't think even I could outrun the pack and Jasper. I have no wish to die anytime soon.
At least when I left the woman was breathing. Now I'm swimming down the Hoh River to hide my scent and lose Peter so they don't know where I'm going. Then I'm going to circle back and head to Port Angeles for a few days and plan my next move. This is what I get for being stupid enough to make a split decision and not plan ahead. I need to get her alone, totally alone. I figured I could get her today because I never thought the other woman would be bold enough, or dumb enough I should say, to attack me. She's lucky I didn't break her neck.
The need for Bella's blood has become an obsession. I have to have it and I have to figure out how to get it. Tanya is gone so I can't get her help, she'd help me just because she fancies herself in love with me and would want to give me my heart's desire. Oh well. I'll just have to wait it out. I'm sure they'll get complacent and then I'll have her. I just have to wait. But can I even do that?
Alice
"He's heading to Port Angeles to plan his next move. He's going to wait for us to get complacent," I say as I come out of the vision. Felix holds my hand as he usually does and the others watch fascinated, having never seen me have a vision before.
After telling Felix what happened between Jasper and I on the Res, he agreed we should start deferring to him on planning things. No matter how old Felix is and no matter how good a fighter, he's still not on a league in planning battle like Jasper is. Thankfully he's not too prideful to admit that. So we sit quietly waiting to see what happens next.
Peter looks to Jasper and asks, "what do you think we should do Major? Act like we've become complacent and let him try to get to her on our terms? That's what you would usually do, but I get this is your mate- not some newborn."
Jasper thinks for a minute before sighing and shaking his head. "Not this time, Peter. I don't think it would work because I wouldn't let her go anywhere alone and we would have to be in close proximity because he's so fast and that would let him hear our thoughts. Remember, he can hear people he knows within ten miles from himself. That's too far away to keep her safe. And we can't rely on the possibility that he would be so focused on her he wouldn't be listening for us."
Peter nods. "Alright, so what?"
"We let him be. Eventually the compulsion to get to her is going to be too strong and he'll try again and then hopefully when he realizes he still can't grab her, he'll lead us to the bigger threat. I don't like it much because I'm a man of action, but we don't have a choice. We have to know who the bigger enemy is. For the safety of everyone."
"Ok then. We wait." With that last deferral to Jasper from Carlisle, the meeting is over and Jasper takes Bella upstairs to rest after her ordeal. We got lucky today. I don't think we will next time.