So the penultimate chapter and James has turned up... has the bond worked? You'll have to read it to see... Enjoy!
Chapter 43.
James growled in frustration, "I've come to take back what is mine…" he snarled.
"And what would that be?" Aro said; pleading ignorance.
"Bella Swan."
"Oh dear, well that could be a problem, as I mentioned earlier she isn't Bella Swan anymore; she's now Bella Whitlock and I think her mate may have an issue with your request; and of course her family too; you're familiar with them I hear. They're all very close and would hate to suffer another loss." He stopped; turning to look at the gathered family as they stood behind the thrones. A moment later he turned back to face James; his face much harder in appearance than before; gone are the pleasantries of their earlier conversation. "I understand you were responsible for the loss of Edward and Alice."
"Yes." James said; not at all bothered to admit to it.
"That was such a shame; they were very special people and pivotal members of their family."
James looked confused for a second, "I was under the impression the Volturi had approved it."
"Really? Where did you get that silly idea?" Aro asked; his piercing gaze now focused on James as he sat back in his seat.
"Uh, Jane told me." James said; confused by what he was being told.
"I'm afraid to say you were sorely mistaken; Jane did not have the authority to tell you that and we would never sanction an action like that against Carlisle and his family; Carlisle has been a friend of our family for many years." Caius and Marcus leant forward and the three of them began to discuss something quietly. Finally Aro spoke again, "James, I must apologize for the confusion; seeing as how the perpetrator of this misdemeanor has been… dealt with. It's our decision that you and your companions should not be treated in the same fashion; however I'd recommend you depart as soon as you can… as there are elements of our household who are understandably upset by this whole occurrence and they may not feel so benevolent towards you all."
There was silence while James seemed to be weighing up his options, "We'll leave when I have what is rightfully mine." He stated; Victoria and Laurent stared at him in outrage and then both began to back towards the door.
"James, it appears your friends don't share the same opinion." Caius said. "Maybe you should pay heed to their instincts and follow their lead."
"No." James said; he was adamant to take what he saw as his, "I've come to claim Bella and I won't leave unless she comes with me."
"What a pity…" Aro murmured.
James scowled further, "As Bella's sire, I have the right to lay claim to her. She's mine."
Jasper growled lowly as he stood next to Bella and she squeezed his hand tighter. Esme, who was standing the other side of her son, put her arm around his waist and whispering to him softly; reassuring him that everything would be okay. "Mine." Jasper murmured softly so only his family could hear him and Bella smiled at him tenderly. Peter and Charlotte were standing behind him and Peter's hand was clasping his shoulder; almost as if he was restraining him and comforting him at the same time.
"I should inform you that upon his death Edward invoked Obligatio de Germanitas; is that something you've heard of?" James shook his head and Aro smiled, "Jasper has claimed Bella as his mate; that was part of the ceremony you missed; so Bella is now bonded to him and you have no claim over her." James' face showed shock and it was clear Jane hadn't informed him of this aspect. "Of course, if you feel you must, you're entitled to test the bond and see if Bella would like to leave with you." Aro offered. There was a murmur from the Cullen's and Whitlock's; all angry Aro had given James this option. Aro turned to face them; a small smirk on his face as he saw the angry looks on their faces, "Jasper, could you please being your lovely wife forward?"
Jasper's heart sank but he stepped forward and they walked into the center of the room; standing slightly away from James, hand in hand with each other. James stared at Bella in unhidden appreciation of how she looked and Jasper could sense the lust coming from him; it was worse than what he'd sensed when the trio had first encountered them as they were playing baseball and Jasper growled, loudly this time, at the tracker; his eyes narrowing as he glowered at the man; infuriated at the audacity of him.
"Bella, you are certainly even more appealing as a vampire than you were when you were human. I'm sure if Edward had seen you like this he would've been more determined to stick around; I know you saw it all Bella; do you remember? Did you see how easy he was to dispose of; he hardly put any fight up against me."
Each word stung and the Cullen family all growled at his words; which only caused James to smile widely. Aro stepped closer, "James, if you'd allow me…" he held his hand forward and waited for James to place his hand on it. There was never any doubt in Aro's mind that James wouldn't do as he asked. With a certain amount of reluctance James stepped in front of him and his hand met Aro's. Seconds passed and then Aro opened his eyes and stared at him, "How interesting…" he turned his attention to James' companions, "Would you both be willing for me to read you too?" he asked; again no option was really offered to them other than to do as he said. Laurent moved first and again Aro paused to sift through his thoughts. Laurent returned to stand next to Victoria and she moved next to James; the same process being repeated. Finally Aro broke the silence again and he stared once more at James; his face much more closed than it had been before he'd read their thoughts, "I see your initial attack on Bella was clumsy; amateur at best and it would've left Bella in a lot of pain; you never intended to kill her and wanted to turn her for your own gain. You didn't do a very good job though; not enough venom was injected into her system; you never went back after you'd finished with Edward and Alice; you just left her to suffer from that one bite; too little venom in her system to make the process not excruciatingly painful but too much for her to not to start the transformation process. That doesn't sound like the way a good sire would treat their child, does it?" He paused but didn't give James the opportunity to speak before starting again, "This was always more about causing pain and suffering to the Cullen's, including Bella; something you readily achieved and you now want to lay claim to her as well; after they've done the hard part of getting her through her newborn stage; a process she fortunately got through much quicker and easier than most of our kind." Another pause but no respite for James and his coven, "And now onto the matter of Alice and Edward; the attacks on them were brutal. The fact Edward was Bella's singer made it easy for you to pick him off; he never stood a chance because he was fighting his own internal battle; torn between going to Bella and fighting you." Aro paused and took a deep breath, "Alice was outnumbered and while she had the usual vampire strength we all share, she had the misfortune of getting a vision in the middle of the attack that left her incapacitated and again the outcome was obvious. This was a despicable act against people who'd done nothing to warrant this kind of torment, other than trying to protect a human in their midst; a human who they accepted as the mate of a member of their coven and therefore deserved their protection."
"I thought it was against our laws to tell humans about our existence."
"It is but Bella wasn't told; she learned of our existence on her own. No laws were broken and it was always their plan to turn her and make her one of us. You took that away from them and instead made them all have to suffer the losses you bestowed upon them."
"As I said earlier, we were under the impression that we had your blessing to do this."
Jasper could tell from the emotions flowing from Aro that he was reaching his limit. "Enough! You were given the opportunity to leave earlier and you didn't take it. Maybe you should now take what you came for and leave; before I change my mind and decide you're more culpable in this than we first thought."
James smiled at Aro and turned to look at Bella and Jasper; a look of triumph on his face. It never occurred to him that he wouldn't get Bella back. "Isabella, come here." He said to her; his hand reaching out towards her. Jasper's eyes flickered to Bella's face and widened as he saw her bite her lip in thought. "You know you want to join us, Bella. Think how much better life would be if you were to be with me. I would treat you so much better than these Cullen's could." He stepped forward; his attention completely focused on Bella, "Come with me and I'll look after you like a proper man; none of this stupid eating animal nonsense. You must be able to see how feeding from humans will make you stronger and faster…" he smirked at this point, "I'd always show you a good time too; I'll always be able to satisfy your every need."
Jasper began to growl as he spoke but stopped when Bella turned her head and looked at him, "I'm sorry…" she whispered, pulling her hand free from his.
"Bella?" Jasper said; his voice breaking slightly as he realized what was happening.
"I've got to do this." Her voice sounded pained and venom was pooling in her eyes.
Jasper's heart broke as he saw her step to James; he closed his eyes, not wanting to witness her leaving him; not wanting the picture of that moment etched in his memory for eternity. He couldn't sense anything because his own emotions overrode anything he was feeling; this was much worse than when he'd lost Alice and he didn't think it could get any worse than that. His body was tense and he longed for this to be over quickly; hoping he could ask Aro to assist him in death; anything rather than face life without Bella.
Esme was watching her son and she saw the pain on his face; her own heart sharing the same feeling he felt and she knew she was on the verge of losing another two children at the hands of this nomadic vampire. She could see Jasper falling apart before her; she couldn't believe the bond hadn't worked; he already seemed to be in so much pain; like he'd been when Bella was taken from them during the second task and she'd never doubted the bond wouldn't work; it was the one thing she'd been almost certain of.
Charlotte and Peter stood in stunned silence as they saw Jasper almost visibly crumble before them; even Peter with his gift of sorts hadn't been expecting this to happen. He wasn't sure how his brother would survive this; especially not so soon after losing Alice as well. His gut was telling him his brother; his Major, would never be that same again.
Rose looked at Bella and could see no emotion on her face at all; she was almost at James now and she watched as Bella rose onto her tiptoes and cupped his head in her hands. It looked as if she was going to kiss him and Rosalie Hale actually felt physically sick at seeing it. Emmett and Carlisle were both clutching her arms and she could tell they were as disbelieving as she was. Her attention was drawn back to Bella and James as Bella began to talk.
"James, I'm not sure where to begin when it comes to expressing how I feel about you. The offer you've given me has shown me how important I am to you and I want you to know it's a very attractive option, but there's one thing you haven't considered. You see, the man behind me is my mate and nothing could ever persuade me to leave him; most certainly not you and your half-ass offer." Her hands tightened on his head and she saw him wince slightly. "Now, are you going to leave and let me get back to my family or am I going to be forced to hurt you?" Her words were spoken softly but each hit him like a punch.
"You're mine, Isabella." He protested.
"Silly boy," she murmured before twisting his head sharply; the screech of metal ringing through the room as his body fell to the floor. "That is for the pain you caused me. And my name is Bella; only one man get's to call me Isabella and it's certainly not you." She whispered. She pulled his body apart viciously as she continued to talk to him, "That is for what you did to Edward… and this is for Alice. And this… is for what you did to Jasper and the rest of my family." His body was a small pile of broken limbs, torso and head by this stage and still she wasn't finished. She turned to face Laurent and Victoria, "Are you going to go or do I need to show you the error of your ways too?" she asked; stepping towards them both. They both shook their heads and took a step back towards the exit of the room. The situation changed rapidly as both Demetri and Felix stepped forward and grabbed Laurent and Victoria; Bella stood still for a second and then turned her head to look at Aro and his brothers. Aro smiled and Caius nodded to her. With a small smirk on her face she returned to looking at the two captives and sashayed across the room to them. Laurent was the closest to her so she went to him first; Felix holding him tightly in his arms. "I'm sorry, it seems you were too slow." She whispered to him; she looked Felix in the eyes and he clutched Laurent at the top of his arms; yanking them from his body. The look of shock on Laurent's face was only surpassed by the fleeting look of horror as Bella reached for his hair and pulled his head swiftly off his shoulders; throwing it to the floor without hesitation. Victoria was sobbing as she stood in Demetri's arms, "Why are you crying, Vicky? Did you not think we would be upset by what you did? Did you think there would be no repercussion for killing our family? Alice was my best friend and my sister and you killed her. She was Jasper's wife and you killed her. Don't you think you should be punished for that? She didn't do anything to you; she was just trying to protect me." Victoria was physically shaking as Demetri held her. "So now I'm going to do the right thing and kill you, Vicky," she sneered her name; the venom almost dripping from her mouth. She pulled back her fist and punched Victoria in the throat; hard enough to throw both her and Demetri off their feet; Victoria's head scuttled across the floor and lay at Felix's feet. Bella rushed over to where Demetri lay, "I'm so sorry, Demetri," she offered a hand to him and helped him to his feet; smiling at him when she saw the huge smile on his face.
"Don't worry about it; that was actually quite fun." He stepped forward and hugged her, "I'm going to stick with my earlier comment and say again, you're an amazing vampire."
"Thanks." They hugged once more and then Bella turned and walked back to Jasper. His face was unreadable and she worried that she'd hurt him with how she'd acted. He was watching her as she got closer and she wished there was some way she could work out how he was feeling. She looked at the rest of her family quickly and they all smiled at her; she saw Peter and Charlotte standing just behind and smiled when Peter gave her the thumbs up sign. All of them gave her the encouragement she needed to take those last few steps to her husband. He didn't move as she wrapped her arms around his neck; her head nestling into the crook of his neck and she tensed slightly when she felt no reaction from him. "Jasper?" she whispered.
There was some noise in the background but Bella wasn't paying attention to it; all her concentration on the person she was holding; the man she loved who wasn't reacting in the way she would've hoped. There was silence again and still they stood there; she didn't know what to do. She'd obviously hurt him with the way she'd behaved and maybe he hadn't like seeing her being so ruthless. Venom was pooling in her eyes and she knew it would only be minutes before she was sobbing on his shoulder; instead she bit her lip and brushed her lips against his neck; instinctively settling on the bite she'd left there a few hours earlier. Her tongue brushing across the surface and she felt and then heard a raspy breath rattle from his mouth. His arms moved; brushing up her back and wrapping tightly around her shoulders. "Don't ever do that to me again." He whispered.
"I'm sorry," she murmured into his neck.
"Why didn't you tell me what you were going to do?"
"I didn't know I was going to until I did it. I needed to do that; I needed the closure I guess. And when Aro started saying what had happened in Phoenix it brought back the memories; I remembered seeing what he was describing and it made me so angry at James and the others." She paused and pulled away from him slightly. "Didn't you feel my anger?"
"No… I didn't feel anything other than my own feelings; they overrode everything else I may have been getting."
"I thought you'd realize. I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"No it's not. I can imagine how you felt when I walked away from you; I remember the rejection I felt each time Edward pushed me away. I don't want you to feel that way; ever." Jasper smiled at her; lifting her in his arms and spinning them around the room. Bella wrapped her legs around his waist and then kissed him heatedly; before suddenly realizing where they were and who was watching them. She quickly looked around the room, "Where did they all go?"
Jasper also looked around, "I think they must've given us some time together." She turned her gaze to his face again, "Maybe we should take advantage of being alone."
"What are you suggesting, Mr Whitlock?" she said, smirking at him.
"I think you have a pretty good idea, Mrs Whitlock." He said before kissing her ardently. He strode across the floor, before lowering her so she was sitting down, "Aro will die, again, if he knew what we were about to do." She giggled.
"I've been thinking about this for days," he whispered to her conspiratorially.
"You have? Me too." He was removing her clothes now and she shifted as she sat on Aro's throne. "You do realize he'll be able to smell this the next time he's here. He'll know it was us."
"Do you really care?" he asked her as he kissed her neck.
"No." she sighed as his mouth moved lower. "This is the first time we've done this since we got married; since the bond was in place. It feels different…"
"Good different or bad different?" he asked as he pulled away from her neck.
"I don't know; just different."
He paused and thought about what she'd said; did he notice a difference? "You're right; I feel a connection with you; deeper than what we had before. Is it the same for you?"
"It's almost like I can feel how you're feeling; when I'm physically touching you; it's easier to sense what you feel. And I don't think you're projecting to me because if we aren't touching it isn't there." He was staring at her wide-eyed as he absorbed what she'd said. "I'm glad the bond worked out; that we're together Jasper; I don't think it would've been like this with Edward and I'm not sure I would want it to be." He blinked but didn't say anything. "You do realize the way I feel about you is stronger than I ever did with him, don't you?"
"I thought your feelings were stronger than I used to feel from you when you were with him; but I did wonder if it was just wishful thinking or maybe just because I was around you more now."
"That's not the reason, Jasper. I can promise you that." She smiled at him tenderly; caressing his face with her hand and kissing him gently on the mouth.
The room was quiet for several minutes; broken only by the softest of moans from one or both of them as they continued to kiss; touching each other as their hands roamed over the other's body. "My beautiful Isabella," Jasper murmured as he peppered kisses onto her face.
"All yours, baby," she confirmed. Her breath caught as he entered her quickly; both of them pausing to breathe as the way they felt intensified even more. "My god." She whispered. "This feels wonderful; absolutely amazing."
He silently moved his mouth back to her neck; his hips slamming into hers as he thrust into her repeatedly; the thought of their location spurring him on in combination with what he was experiencing with his wife. "Darlin, I'm going to want to do this more than could be considered healthy." He breathed into her neck; his lips brushing across the bite mark he'd made on her neck; the only imperfection he was ever going to make her wear. "Even for our kind." She chuckled as he spoke and it made him laugh with her.
"Jasper, please, I need more."
He looked into her eyes and she smiled at him as she saw his confusion. "What do you need?"
"I need to feel you; let me feel everything. Please." Jasper closed his eyes and he rested his forehead on her shoulder; he felt her body tighten around his length as he still moved inside her and knew it wouldn't be long until the moment struck. "Please baby," she whispered into his ear. Her voice was barely a sound and it sent a shiver down his back that was distinctly human. "Don't you want me to know?" she asked; the hurt obvious in her voice even without his empathic abilities.
He took a deep breath; needing to center his thoughts and prepare himself for what he was about to unleash on her. He doubted she realized what she was asking of him; she had no idea just how vast his feelings for her were; how she was the very essence of his being; how there was nothing else in the world that could possibly come close to how he felt about her. The last time he'd really tried to show her his feelings had been just after Alice and Edward had died; when Bella had brought him the second letter; that had only been a tiny morsel of what he'd been feeling at that time. This time he was going to be letting her in a lot deeper; he wanted to show her but he'd never done this before; neither Alice nor Maria had ever been that bothered about how he felt so this was as new for him as it was for her. Bella was interested though; the person who'd known him the shortest amount of time seemed to understand him more than anyone else he'd ever been acquainted with. The closest in his past had been Peter and Charlotte but even they didn't always understand him; they could never grasp how his gift affected him but Bella did; she knew what it did to him and if it wasn't for her; he would always suffer them alone. He hadn't realized she knew he was holding his feelings back but as always Bella surprised him; making him admit there was still a lot he had to learn about her.
He released his breath and as he exhaled he sent a small taster of his feelings to her. Her hand stilled on his shoulder and he knew she was getting it. She gasped as he sent a stronger wave to her and he could tell she was realizing what she'd asked of him; seeing for the first time how much he'd hid from her. Part of him considered stopping but the more realistic part of him knew that would do more harm than good; she needed to know; now was the right time to show her. They were together now and their bond would only strengthen his feelings even more.
Jasper's hands gripped her waist and he pulled her lower in the chair so her ass was hanging off the edge of the seat; her legs wrapped around his waist and he moved a little faster. His eyes met hers and their heated gaze said more than any words could; he lowered the barrier a little further; sending his devotion for her in a short burst; he watched as her eyes closed and he heard the purr from her mouth.
Her body clenched around him and the carefully held wall crumbled to dust; his full emotions hitting her hard and fast; his name was wrenched from her mouth in an ear splitting scream and it was enough to send Jasper over the edge; his own high hitting him as hard as hers had; his emotions reflecting back on him as she climbed the precipice again. Their highs faded but the feelings between the two of them were still there; cradling their bodies as they clung to each other. "We should be going." He breathed against her neck once they'd both regained some composure.
Neither of them moved from where they lay but finally Bella brushed her fingers through his hair; turning her head to kiss his temple. "Can we go home now?" she asked softly.
"I don't think that will be a problem, darlin'," He replied; lifting her in his arms and getting to his feet. He didn't even relinquish his hold on her as he grabbed their clothes and redressed her; only putting her down long enough so he could throw his own clothes back on. He picked her up again and then walked them out of the room; back down the corridors until they got to their quarters.
The door to their parent's room opened and Esme was standing beside them. "My beautiful children," she said; her arms encasing them in a hug that only a mother could give. "I thought we were going to lose you both," she whispered.
"We're fine, mum." Bella whispered.
"You're stuck with us now, mum." Jasper confirmed. The feelings of love emanating from the woman who treated him as her son were intoxicating and for the first time in a long time he knew he was where he belonged. "We thought maybe it was time to go home."
"I think that is a really great idea, son." Carlisle said as he stood beside his wife.
TBC
A/N: What did you think - send me a review and let me know. Bella kicked ass and Jasper went a bit emo (again) - and they degraded Aro's throne... I can just imagine the look on his face when he realizes! Talking of Aro, I think he was pretty cool in this chapter too - hell, I like my Volturi characters. Just the epilogue to go and it will be posted tomorrow. I'm gonna go and pack now because I go on holiday on Saturday. I've printed a story I've started writing (yes another one) and I'm going to edit it while I'm away to get myself back into the flow of writing it and will then write in my notebook to continue it. Back tomorrow.