AN: I got a lot of requests for Charlie's point of view for the last chapter, so I decided to go ahead and write it. Normally, I try hard not to backtrack much when presenting a new viewpoint, but this chapter does not progress any farther than the last chapter, as I really want to move forward in Jasper's POV. So, consider this more of an extra, like an outtake.

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Chapter 41 - Charlie's POV of Chapter 40

Charlie's POV

"Charlie, really, there's no need to worry. Jasper's is a good man and will take good care of her," Rose assured me as I raced back to the house to check on Bella. I knew he wouldn't harm her, if she was truly his mate, but Bella wasn't ready for a mate. I had seen the way she was behaving. Mentally, she was still just a child. How dare Jasper think of my daughter as a mate when she's clearly not ready for that yet?

"Yeah, he's been a complete gentleman so far," Emmett concurred as they ran into the yard and toward the house.

He'd better have been. I thought to myself with a shudder. If he is pressuring her into sexual intimacy, I'm going to kill him.

The wind gusted and I froze in place for a second as the scent hit my nostrils and crawled up into my brain. My new brain knew exactly what that smell was. It was the odor of sex, pouring out from both Bella and Jasper, mingling together into a combined aroma that demonstrated their close physical proximity.

"What the hell?" Emmett muttered.

"Oh, fuck!" Rose exclaimed.

I roared in rage, ignoring my two companions, feeling betrayed by their assurances that this very thing was not happening. My worst nightmare come true, my young daughter was being taken advantage of by an older male. I burst right through the front door, one small part of my brain feeling bad for how upset Esme would be at the destruction of her property.

I raced over to Jasper, yelling out my accusations, as I witnessed her curled up into a ball in his lap, being held tightly against him. I knew from experience she was virtually helpless against him in that kind of restraining hold. I grabbed for her arms, demanding he let her go, and intending to force him to set her free. Her bright crimson eyes, rapidly fading to black, stared up at me in fear, no recognition in their depths.

What has he done to MY daughter? I will not let him get away with it. I will destroy him for stealing away her innocence and causing her to feel the terror and confusion I see in her eyes now, I vowed to myself. Jasper moved so quickly and with such grace, even my vampire eyes had a hard time following him. My hands grasped only air as the two of them were suddenly across the room, with Bella huddled in the corner behind him.

"You DARE try to take what is MINE?" Jasper roared, causing the whole house to shake and the other vampires to cringe and cover their ears. He looked around wearing a smug look of satisfaction, and I risked a quick glance to see all the other vampires lying on the ground, assuming the position of submission the Cullens had just described to me. They may all be scared, but I will not back down. I owe it to my daughter to protect her, and I was going to let this smug bastard know that. He needs to know she has somebody willing to defend her and speak up or fight on her behalf.

"She is MY . . .," daughter, is what I intended to say, but before I could even finish my sentence the monstrous warrior had ripped off both of my arms, and my declaration was abruptly cut off by my agonized scream as the pain hit full force. It was worse than the pain of the transformation, and I worked hard to try to breath through it, to survive it, and somehow to try to think around it.

I was a sitting duck now with no arms, my brain clouded with pain, making it difficult to think rationally. I watched helplessly as Jasper threw my arms to opposite sides of the room. How am I supposed to protect her without my arms? I worried. I watched in confused fascination as my arms continued twitching and convulsing on the floor where they'd landed.

Pain clouded my thought process as I wished desperately for my arms to be reattached. I could feel the pain in my shoulders as the venom leaked out of the gaping holes where my arms belonged, but even more disconcerting was the realization I could feel the pain within my arms as well. I could feel more than just pain from my detached arms. I felt the pull, the call of my body begging them to return. I could feel the answer of my arms as they desperately tried to drag themselves over to my body, trailing venom behind them. I could feel the smoothness of the heavily shellacked hardwood beneath my fingers. Part of my mind was constantly aware of where my arms were and what they were doing at all times.

Suddenly, to make matters worse, I was hit with a tsunami of negative emotions, sending me to my knees in utter defeat and despair. At the same time, Jasper disappeared from sight, and my senses warned me he was behind me. He forced me to curl up in the fetal position, similar to the way I'd seen Bella, except I was pressed firmly against the ground instead of in his lap.

All rational thought left me the moment his teeth dug into the back of my neck, as my instincts took over. For the first time since I was changed, I truly felt like a vampire. My inner beast had shaken himself awake and was now fully in charge. I felt like I had been taken over by another being entirely, as if I were possessed, leaving me a helpless bystander within my own mind, condemned to simply watch while my inner monster spoke with my voice and acted with my body.

If I move a single millimeter, he will decapitate us, my inner voice warned. Oh, shit, that's gonna scar. What the hell were you thinking, challenging the Major? Didn't you listen to what Rose and Emmett told you? Did you happen to notice that everybody else hit the dirt? Everyone but you, the dickhead who tried to take away the mate of the most dangerous vampire in the world. Yeah, real smart, asshole.

Why am I calling myself an asshole? I thought.

Because you are one, the inner voice snarled. You still think like a human, but you're not in the human world anymore. You're a vampire now, and they play by a whole different set of rules. You'd better learn them before you're kicked out of the sandbox forever. I'm not gonna let you get us burnt to a crisp, so I'll be in charge until you get some sense.

Even this weird mental conversation with myself wasn't enough to distract me from the pain of the Major's venom. Ahhh, stop the burning, I cried in my head. I already went through three days of this shit! I thought I was done with it!

No, asshole, this is what it feels like when you get the venom from another vampire into your skin. It hurts like hell, and he's not gonna give up until you surrender.

Fine, I give up, I give up, I whimpered, unsure if I was thinking it or saying it out loud. As soon as I gave in and stopped fighting, the Major withdrew his teeth from my flesh. He then licked my wound sealing it.

Oh, shit, now this damn wound is going to burn for days, my inner voice whined. At least he decided not to tear off our head, though I would've if some idiot tried to steal MY mate.

I don't have a mate, I shot back, disconcerted by my inner beast's revelation.

For now, the voice conceded, But when we do, nobody will take her from us. I got a mental picture of myself in a feral rage, tearing apart faceless vampires and tossing their body parts into the fire.

"If you ever even attempt to touch MY mate again, I will rip you up into bite size pieces and feed you to the fire slowly, one little piece at a time, leaving your head for last, so you can watch and feel the entire time. Do you understand, child?" The Major growled at me.

Fuck, that would hurt like hell! My inner voice winced at the thought. I felt my beast nodding my head, while I was busy imagining the scene he just suggested.

"Do not disrespect me, infant!" he growled, shooting bolts of pain through me. "You will answer me with your words! You will not approach my mate ever again without express permission. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," my inner monster sobbed as the pain paralyzed my muscles all over my body. See what you have done to us, asshole? Did you really have to go and piss off the God of War?

But she's my daughter! I protested to my vampire side. I have to protect her. And why is he calling me an infant, when I'm old enough to be his father?

"Yes, sir, what?" Major insisted.

"Yes, sir, Major," my beast whimpered. Did you take stupid pills, or did somebody drop you on your head a few times while you were changing? Do you not remember being told he was a Major in the CIVIL WAR? To him, you ARE just an infant!

I mentally scowled. Well, if I'm an infant, then what does that make Bella?

Mates are different, you clueless vamp, my beast snarled in my head, making me want to cower away from myself, which I obviously couldn't do. Even I know that. Weren't you paying attention when Eleazar explained all that shit to you and Billy in his vampire 101 session?

I mentally hung my head, even more disturbed by the way I now saw myself as two different people occupying the same space. I was still getting used to my new eyesight, and there were so many interesting things to investigate in his study, I confessed. I wasn't really paying attention.

Yeah, well, you better go back and review that lecture if you want to be able to keep breathing, he warned.

I wondered if I should give this other side of me a name, like Jasper had the Major.

It would be better if you just accepted me as part of you. Otherwise you'll start thinking of yourself as superior to me and probably end up getting us both killed, he warned.

"Captain!" Major snarled.

Peter carefully lifted his head. "Yes, sir, Major?"

"Take care of the prisoner."

Peter winced and slowly got to his feet. "Major, my gift tells me it would be a mistake to kill him, sir."

I felt my body start to tremble in fear.

See! I knew you'd get us killed! My inner beast roared in my brain, so loudly I barely even registered the gasps of the others in the room.

"Fine," Major growled grumpily. He let go of me and moved a few steps away. "Don't make me regret letting you live, asshole!" He nudged my cowering body with his foot.

"Y-yes sir, Major," I whimpered, while my inner beast celebrated having another chance to avoid becoming ash.

Major began pacing in front of me, his hands behind his back. He paused and then turned to face me, his countenance fearsome.

"You may not have your arms back until you are ready to admit Bella is mine, ONLY MINE, and you have no claim to her," Major sneered. "Bella is ALL mine - heart, mind, body, and soul. If you cannot say that to my face with sincerity, then you will remain in pieces until you can. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir, Major," I sobbed, realizing there was nothing else I could do. I was helpless to protect my baby girl from the vampire who was pushing her into an intimacy her mind was not properly prepared to handle.

"Captain, guard the prisoner and make sure he does not reattach his arms until he is ready to admit he has no claim to my mate," Major commanded.

"Yes, sir, Major," Peter accepted, moving into position to guard me, preventing me from following.

I watched Bella, who was crouched in the corner her eyes wide and feral, heartbroken to know I couldn't do anything to prevent him from taking her and finishing what he'd started before I came in to save her. There was nothing I could do to take that fear from her eyes, to stop this brutal vampire from sinking his teeth into her. Unfortunately, my vampire mind was quickly able to come up with several horrible scenarios between them in milliseconds.

To my shock and surprise, as soon as the Major turned to face her and took a step in her direction, she raced forward to meet him, jumping into his arms.

"Major, Major," she crooned, kissing his face, her hands roaming all over him. Pure love and adoration shone in her eyes and her body language. She gave me a quick glare before she went back to checking him for damage. "MY Major!"

"Nobody will ever take you from me," Major promised her, kissing her and inhaling her scent. I could smell her arousal as she rubbed herself against him and see her hands trying to sneak under his shirt.

Holding her tightly to his body, the Major raced out the hole I'd made by charging through the door like an idiot, and then into the woods, while my mind was still reeling. I never wanted to see or smell my daughter like that. It was disturbing.

"Way to go, asshole!" Rosalie muttered, staring at me with disgust. "Now he's feeling territorial, since you tried to take her from him, and all his instincts are screaming for him to protect her by claiming and marking her as soon as possible. He was calm and under control before you came barging in here, forcing him to defend his mate. Right after we warned you too! All we needed was a few more days, and she would have been ready, but now, who knows what this will do to her?"

Esme sobbed, turning to Carlisle. "Please, Carlisle! Can't we stop him?"

Carlisle appeared torn. "If I get too close, at the wrong time, he'll behead me for interrupting the mating and for what he would perceive as trying to get an eyeful of his naked mate."

"So there's nothing we can do?" Emmett asked, his face full of worry and sorrow.

This is all your fault asshole, my inner voice griped.

Thanks, I responded sarcastically. That makes me feel much better.

I somehow felt my beast sneer at me, You scared her and pushed her away. You tried to take her from her mate, her soul mate, her other half, whom she clearly loves dearly. You are the bad guy here in her eyes, not her precious Major. Now she'll probably blame you when this whole claiming thing goes wrong.

I thought back to my crazed entrance and the way I grabbed for her. I had thought I was saving her from him, that she was afraid and wanted to get away. Having seen her response to him after what he did to me, I now knew I had it all wrong. That fear, that terror in her eyes was for me. She was afraid of me and what I might do to her and her mate. Now she was going to be claimed before her time, all because of what my actions triggered.

Realizing what I'd done and the responsibility I bore for whatever happened to her today, I howled, "NOOO!" in anguish. The only consolation I had was that her body was clearly ready, even if her mind wasn't, judging by the scent she produced when rubbing against him, so at least it wouldn't be as traumatic as it would have been otherwise. I really screwed up this time, I lamented.

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AN: Okay, so next chapter continues with the Major and his Bella . . .

Here's a preview, just because I love ya . . .

When I finally came to a stop in a small clearing, Bella ripped my clothes right off my body, leaving me standing there in front of her, naked as a jaybird. She began frantically, but lovingly running her hands and lips all over me, instinctively checking me for injury, while purring to offer me her comfort.

"Now, Bella, I need to check you over too, ya know," I drawled. Without even thinking about it, she ripped her own clothes off, baring herself for me as she continued her ministrations on my body. Unconsciously, I started drooling as I took in her completely nude body for the first time.

MINE! ALL MINE! Claim her, mark her, fuck her, do it, do it, do it, Major chanted in our head. No one will ever see her like this but me! Nobody will ever touch her body again but me!

Mmmmm, I agreed, as my eyes continued caressing her curves. I don't see any injuries, but I think I'd better check up close. Who knows? She might have some microscopic injury that requires my attention. I need to be very close to her skin, close enough to smell, touch, taste. If she has any little wounds, I'd be happy to kiss them and make them all better . . .