A/N: More character death in this one, and some fairly graphic violence.
This chapter is dedicated to my faithful theory-writing reviewers. I hope it shocks the hell out of you ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story line, SM owns the characters I'm just having fun with them.

Jasper POV
With the pixie bitch finally dead, I took the first full breath I'd had since my mates found me. There was no longer a threat to Bella and we could move on with our lives. I pulled my mates close to me and we just held each other for a few minutes. Bella finally spoke up and said, "Can we go home now? I'm ready to be changed!"

Before I could answer her I heard Rose clearing her throat. "Umm, Jasper, can we talk to you for a minute? I know you probably want to be alone with your mates for a little while, but I was wondering if Emmett and I could come stay with you once you get settled again? I would like the chance to get to know your family."

I glanced between them and then at Peter and Bella who just shrugged and sent me their acceptance. "Sure. I guess that's ok. I'm not sure where we're headed, maybe back to Canada? We need some isolation for Bella's change."

I felt Emmett's determination before he spoke up. "I just want you to know I'm switching diets when we leave here. I'm sick of trying to be something I'm not. Even when I tried my hardest to stick to animals I had that stupid seer working to sabotage me at every turn. I won't live that way anymore. Rose, you know I won't pressure you, I know how you feel about it, and I love you no matter what." She just nodded and kissed him with a smile.

Esme choked on a sob before she steeled herself and turned to look at Carlisle. "That's it. I'm leaving too. I have seen enough here today to know what a true mate is and I know for certain that you are not my mate. Peter and Jasper aren't looking at each other with disgust because their eyes are different colors. Rose and Emmett aren't giving each other an ultimatum of choose my way or leave. Hell, Bella is still practically a child but she looks at her mates with more love than your 300-year-old heart holds for me. I have tried to live up to your precious ideals but I'll be damned if I'm going to let my children walk out of my life and leave me alone with you."

We all watched in shock as she walked over to Edward and fell on her knees in front of him. "Edward, my son, can you ever forgive me? I have missed you so much and I'm so sorry I haven't been there for you. Will you give me a chance to make it up to you? Will you help me hunt humans and learn how to be a real vampire?"

He pulled her straight up and into his arms saying, "Of course, Mom. There is nothing to forgive. I love you and I would be happy to have you with me. It would be nice to have another unmated vampire around. And I have really missed you too."

Carlisle's roar of fury pulled our attention back to him. Pete and I pulled Bella behind us and growled at him in warning. "You Whitlocks are nothing but a poison. You infect everyone you come in contact with, tearing my family apart piece by piece! Why did you destroy us? What did I ever do other than offer you a better way to live? Jasper, I thought you were my son! Why would you disappoint me this way?"

I drew myself up to my full height and looked him straight in the eye. "Carlisle, I have done nothin' but obey you from the minute I joined your family. I have not touched a single drop of human blood since the day we met. I left my mate and ignored my urges to find him again, because you told me not to. I have done every single thing you told me to do and it still isn't enough for you! Honestly, I should kill you right now, but I won't do it. On some level I still see you as my father. I thank you for that, and for the time we spent together, but this is where we part ways. If you want your head to stay attached to your body, you better stay away from me and mine. That includes anyone who chooses to live under my protection. I lead this coven and I will not tolerate threats. Make your decision now."

As I finished speaking I felt pride radiating to me from everyone there. My mates stood behind my shoulders in full support and my coven members, both old and new, gathered around me in solidarity. Carlisle looked us over, full of rage and disappointment. He glanced at the pile of Alice's ashes before turning and running off toward their house.

Everyone split up and introduced themselves to the ones they didn't know. Bella was surrounded by Vickie, Rose, and Esme, with Peter keeping a close watch nearby. Emmett and Edward were talking to Laurent and I felt James come up to stand beside me. "Well, Major, looks like you've got yourself a pretty large coven now. Everyone wants to be a Whitlock."

"That include you, Lieutenant?"

"Of course. Can't think of anyone else I would follow. I've always respected you, Major." It meant a lot to me that the one vampire who had known me longer than even Peter could still respect me. James had seen me at my absolute worst, participated in the same vile acts Maria ordered me to do. He had been my second-in-command until Peter moved up, but he seemed to pick up on our relationship before anyone else and he never gave me trouble over his demotion. "You were born to lead, sir. I was forced to lead, and, frankly, I'm tired of it. Even my mates won't challenge me. I think it would be good for them to see me hand over control to someone else."

I completely understood where he was coming from. I had done the same thing when I joined Carlisle. However, I wouldn't let James make the same mistakes I did. I would include him in my decisions, and allow him to choose what would be best for him and his mates.

"Ok, so that's your three, the former Cullens, and Peter tells me Garrett is waiting for us in Canada. That makes, what, eleven now? Think I even have a chance of keeping this from the Volturi?" It was easy to slip back into talking tactics with James.

"Well, if I was you, I'd get Bella changed as soon as you can. She is your best chance at defense." I looked at him questioningly and he continued, "If she can expand her shield like Peter does, the Volturi wouldn't be able to touch you. You know she can block Eddie's gift, she has her whole life. Well, I can't track her either. I'd bet my next meal that none of their offensive gifts will work against her- Jane, Alec; and if I can't find her, then Demetri can't either. Chelsea's bonds probably won't work on her and anyone she covers as well."

I thought over what he said and it made a lot of sense. I knew I had a special mate and I couldn't wait for her to be an immortal like us. "I bet is has to drive Peter nuts that you can't track her. That was one of his pet peeves back in camp. He could shield us from a lot of things but never from you!"

"Yeah, in a way I'm glad he couldn't. If y'all had just run away I would have never been able to leave. You gave me my freedom when you took out Maria, and I was able to find my mates. I will never be able to thank you enough for that, Major. I'm in your debt, whatever you need, I'll be there."

"Thanks James, that means a lot."

"Sure, sir. Can I ask you something?" I nodded when he paused. "I'm a little surprised you killed the seer so quickly. I thought you would have tortured her first. No offense, but you were never big on showing mercy."

I sighed. I knew everyone was curious about that, except maybe Bella. I felt Peter's irritation when I pulled her head off and knew he'd have words for me later. I glanced to see him watching me and decided to answer honestly. "It was Bella. I had every intention of tearing her apart piece by piece, but then I looked back and saw Bella's wide brown eyes watching my every move. I couldn't do it. I couldn't let her see me like that. She deserves a better mate than the man I used to be." Peter frowned at me and shook his head.

"Look, Major, it may not be my place to say anything, but I think she knows pretty well who her mate is, and she doesn't have a problem with it. Peter and I didn't hold back when we told her about you- she wouldn't let us. But everything we told her just made her more in awe of you and more in love with you. The only time she showed disgust or disdain was when you left with the Cullens. She doesn't want a weak mate, she wants the Major." I saw Peter nod and he sent me his agreement.

"Well, that may be true, but hearin' and seein' are two different things, and I didn't want to press my luck. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some time alone with my mates."

Peter heard me and pulled Bella away from her group and started toward me. I turned to the rest of my coven and said, "Give us an hour, then you can start for the house. Once we get everything gathered up we'll head for home." I heard a few "yes, sirs" and then I pulled Bella into my arms to start the run for home.

We ran at a leisurely pace, joking back and forth between us. Peter said I was hogging our mate and wanted me to toss her to him. I told him she was perfectly comfortable where she was and she agreed by pulling the collar of my shirt down and tracing my scars with her tongue. I was so distracted that we were almost to the house when I caught the smell of a wolf, and I could tell it wasn't Sam.

Before I could say anything to warn Peter, an enormous russet wolf jumped straight for him, taking him to the ground. Bella screamed and I dropped her down, pulling her tight my back. My mind was racing, trying to find a way to defend both my mates, and I was coming up short. I growled at Bella to call Edward and get some backup here, but I knew we didn't have that much time. Peter had large open gashes from the wolf's claws all the way across his abdomen from his right shoulder to his left hip, and he was struggling to hold off the big jaws that were aiming for his neck.

I finally saw an opening to pull the unknown wolf away from both my mates, and I lunged, grabbing him across his belly, and squeezing hard. I glanced back at Peter and saw that Bella had crawled over to him and was trying to hold his wounds closed where he was still leaking venom at an alarming rate. Her cell phone was open beside her and I desperately hoped the others were on their way.

The wolf used my distraction and tried to swipe at me, but I ducked and grabbed his tail as he went past. Time froze when I heard Bella's scream and Peter's roar as I realized my mistake. The wolf's huge front paws brutally raked across the delicate skin of Bella's back, opening deep wounds that were pouring her life's blood out onto the ground. Peter was caught again, this time on his legs, with the same swipe of his paw.

I was immediately crushed by their pain and my demon rattled its cage trying to get out, seeing our mates laid out like that. I knew I had to stay rational in order to help them so I fought back with everything I had and threw myself at the wolf. He seemed to be stunned that he had hurt a human and that gave me my opening. I lunged straight for his neck and ripped his head completely off. His foul-smelling blood poured out all over me as his body constricted back into human form. I tossed the now-useless head away and darted over to my mates.

Peter; my first love, my mate, my Captain. And dear Bella; our soft place to land, our safe haven in a lifetime of violence. What have I done? How could I let this happen? I have completely failed as a mate.

Bella was almost unrecognizable with the cuts and blood pouring off her back. Her breathing was shallow and sounded pained; I think her lung was punctured. Pete was sobbing underneath her; he barely had the strength to lift his head and his hand was loosely tangled in her hair that was spread across his mutilated chest. His black eyes locked on me and he growled, "Bite her. Bite her NOW."

Kneeling down I brushed her hair back from her neck and pressed a kiss to the artery there. I started to bring my mouth down when I thought of something. I pulled Bella's wrist up to Peter and laid it across his mouth. "You bite her too, you know she would want us both to do it." I waited until he bit down and pushed his venom in before I moved back to her neck. "I'm so sorry, Bella. This is not how it was supposed to happen. I love you so much darlin'." I took a deep breath and bit through her delicate skin, tasting human blood for the first time in more than sixty years. I resisted swallowing the blood she needed and, instead, pumped as much venom into her as fast as I could. I sealed her wound and moved on to her other wrist and ankles, before rolling her to her side and biting down over her heart.

I heard her pulse pick up, and began to feel her pain increase, but she was still unconscious and hadn't made a sound. Were we too late? I can't lose her now! I heard Peter growling and turned to look at him. His eyes were pitch black and locked on the shredded skin of her back. "Jasper, you have to get her wounds sealed. She's losing too much blood. I don't think I can do it, it's gonna have to be you."

In my heart, I knew he was right. But I knew if I used my venom she would probably keep the scars through her change. "She won't care about the scars, Jasper, she's our mate. You know that. Get her fixed up so you can help me, please." His voice broke at the end, betraying his pain and weakness.

God, he was right. This was so hard; I never dreamed I would have both my mates hurt this badly and needing my attention at the same time. It was killing me inside to ignore Peter's wounds right now. Bracing myself against her increase in pain, I laid Bella carefully on her stomach and took her shirt off so I could see the damage better. I lowered my head and began carefully sealing the cuts with my venom and Bella finally began to move around. She had her jaw locked to keep from screaming but I needed her to keep still as well. "Bella, darlin', I'm sorry. I know this hurts, but I have to get the bleedin' stopped so you have enough blood to finish the change. I love you so much, sweetheart. Just try to keep still for me and I'll get ya fixed up as quick as I can, ok?" Even in the midst of her pain she sent me her love and acceptance and slowed her movements.

It took me several minutes to get the wounds all sealed and just as I finished I heard Edward yell to me. "Jasper, we're all here but we're staying back. I can see what happened and how much blood there is. Is Bella changing?" Yes, I thought to him, she's patched up for now and we bit her already. She's refusing to scream though. I need to get her cleaned up and inside but I need to tend to Pete as well. "Would you like for me to send one of the girls to help clean her up and make her comfortable? You can deal with Peter and we can lay them out together so you can watch over them both."

I thought about this for a minute. I knew my instincts wouldn't want me to have anyone near my injured mates, but I thought I could keep myself in check long enough to get them in the house. These are my coven mates, my family, I can trust them. Yeah, send Victoria if she thinks she can handle it. Ask Rose too. I trust her and Bella trusts Vickie. They can work together and I'll try my best to let them.

Less than a minute later I heard Rose and Victoria approaching. I told Bella, "Rose and Vickie are gonna come get you and clean you up so you can rest inside, ok? I'll bring Pete in just as soon as I can. We won't be far." She broke my heart when she whimpered and shook her head at me, sending me fear and abandonment. This wasn't gonna work. I turned to Rose and said, "Go find me somethin' to put water in and bring me some clean washcloths and blankets." They shot in the house and were back out almost immediately. Rose spread a blanket out and I lifted Bella and put her on one side and then moved Pete to the other. I put her hand in his and they both relaxed immediately. I nodded to the girls to begin cleaning Bella and I started to work on Peter.

When I got the rest of his clothes off, I realized just how bad he was hurt. The entire front of his body was in ribbons. His wounds weren't healing on their own and he had lost a lot of venom. He was going to need blood, and soon. I sighed and looked at him. "Pete, this is gonna hurt. It's gonna take a lot of venom to get ya put back together." My venom as his mate and sire wouldn't sting as badly as foreign venom, but it would still ache as his skin knitted back together. He gritted his teeth and nodded for me to start. I grabbed a clean cloth and washed the blood and dried venom off his body before I dipped my head to lick his wounds closed. It took much longer and much more venom to get him sealed up than it did for Bella. His face was twisted in pain and his free hand gripped my forearm as tightly as he could.

Once both my mates were cleaned up I knew I needed to get them in the house. It was making me nervous to have them out here so exposed and my instincts were screaming at me to hide them away. I sat for a minute trying to decide which one I could let someone else carry before I gave up and carefully laid Bella down on top of Peter and lifted them both in my arms. Rose opened the door for me and straightened the comforter on the bed before I laid them down. It took everything I had to not attack her when she was this close to my vulnerable mates. I started to climb in after them and she cleared her throat. "Um, Jasper, you might want to rinse off first." I looked down and realized I was still covered in blood and venom, both from my mates and the dead wolf. I nodded my head and laid my mates right next to each other before ordering Rose out of the room and running into the adjoining bathroom to rinse off in the shower at vampire speed.

Just a few seconds later, I was in front of my bed pulling on a pair of soft pajama pants that Rose had laid out for me. I climbed up between my mates and pulled them both close to me, purring softly to them. I ran my hands through their hair, Bella's soft brown curls and Peter's loose blonde waves. Taking a deep breath of their scents I started to cry. "I can't believe I almost lost you both. Peter, I haven't been that scared for you since that newborn battle that tore you up so bad. Bella, baby, this is not how your change was supposed to happen. I wanted us to make love to you and then bite you and make you ours forever. This extra pain is not what you signed up for. You deserve so much better, darlin'. I'm so sorry I didn't protect you both." I saw a tear roll slowly from Bella's closed eyes and I caught it on my finger; it was possibly the last tear she would ever be able to cry. I started to bring it to my mouth, but changed my mind and brought my finger to Peter's lips instead. He opened his eyes and smiled at me when he tasted her.

Our moment was interrupted when Edward walked in the house and called up to me, 'Everything ok so far? Do you need anything?" I thought to him, Peter needs blood, a lot of it. He lost more venom than I've ever seen a vampire survive. He's too weak to hunt, you'll have to bring some in for him.

"Ok, there's something else I need to tell you. Sam showed up here just after you went in the house. He said the wolf you killed was Jacob Black. He was the true alpha and he just phased this morning. He saw thoughts of you and the rest of us in Sam's mind and decided to wipe us all out. He was able to disregard Sam's order and he turned around and ordered the other wolves to stay on the reservation when they didn't want to help him. Sam was only able to leave when you killed Jacob. He saw the whole fight through Jacob's eyes and was devastated for you. He came to check on Peter and Bella and said the wolves won't retaliate because he broke their highest law, he attacked a human. We still set up a perimeter around the house and we'll need to travel as soon as Bella is able."

Ok, tell Sam I'll deal with him later. I understand why he couldn't help us. Tell him I don't blame him for this. Now go find Peter something to drink. I'm really nervous about how weak he is. Edward yelled back that he would hurry.

I ran my hand over Pete's head again, worried when I saw his eyes were still closed. Vampires don't sleep. "I'm ok," he whispered hoarsely, "Just real tired. And thirsty. How's Bella? Why ain't she screamin'?"

I chuckled softly and glanced at her. Her faced was clenched with pain and I could still feel it, though it seemed muted somehow. "I think she's bein' a stubborn ass and refusin' to scream."

He smiled, though his eyes remained closed. "Stubborn, huh? Sounds like she takes after you, Major."

I had to laugh again. "Hey, I'm not the one who raised her! And I didn't hear much sound outta you when I was gluin' ya back together out there!"

"Well, I couldn't have my baby girl makin' me look weak. We are the Major's mates, ya know." his breathing sounded strained and his voice was so quiet I doubt Bella could hear him. I smoothed his hair back some more and started purring to soothe him.

"Shh, don't try to talk anymore, Peter. Edward is getting you some blood; just rest until he gets back. I've got you and Bella and I'm not leaving you for a second. Just let me take care of you, ok?" I sent them both some calming waves, but I don't think it did much to help Bella. Peter seemed to relax a bit more and I settled back and pulled them closer to me.

It was close to an hour later when Edward came back and called up asking me if he could come in the room. I pushed back my instincts and called him in, knowing just how badly Peter needed this blood. He sounded strange coming up the stairs and my curiosity was piqued when he finally opened the door.

"Hey Jasper, I brought some bags from the blood bank, but they were really low so I thought I should bring some straight from the source." He brought humans here? "Anyway, I went down to the docks because I thought a boating accident would be easy to stage, as long as there were no bite marks to raise the wolves' suspicions. I hope you're not mad but I found the perfect meals for Peter just putting their boat up."

He walked back to the door after tossing me the bags and pulled two men into the room, dragging them by the back of their necks. They were unconscious but one looked vaguely familiar to me, although I was sure I had never seen him before. The other I knew right away was Billy Black. We had met with him and the other elders shortly after we met Sam. He was very vocal in his protest of the treaty and our staying here. Then I realized that he must be the father of Jacob Black. Very fitting. If he wasn't here to raise a fuss over his son's death, it would ease the pressure on us. Kind of a reverse of the saying, "The sins of the father." This time it was the sins of the son that would seal his father's fate.

"I know that one is Billy Black but who's the other one?" Edward got an evil grin on his face and looked me straight in the eye.

"It's Charlie Swan."