EPOV

Aro rubbed his hairless chin in contemplation. "It seems we have a bit of a dilemma."

I stood to my feet with my arm tightly wrapped around Alice's waist. We had broken one of the laws and if I had a heart it would've stopped. Bella was alive and here in Italy and I should have been ecstatic but I knew the dangerous waters we were in.

Aro moved to speak with his brothers and from what I could decipher they were not too thrilled with Aro's newest decision.

"We can not allow our secret to be out in the open but Bella may have some value to us alive. You and Alice will retrieve her and bring her back to me."

My foolish mistake had put Bella in danger. The fact that Aro wanted her alive was relieving but I could tell from his thoughts that in time she would be changed. From the moment I knew that I loved her, I had dreaded that fact. My selfishness wanted Bella for eternity but not at the price of her soul.

There was nothing for me to argue, I knew that my hands were completely tied but if there was a way I would find Bella and save her from this fate.

Aro dismissed us and had us shown to our rooms. In the morning we were leaving with Demetrios to track Bella down and bring her back. Demetrios was the last person I would want with us, he couldn't be trusted at all. The only thing that kept him in place was Aro and his brothers and I was thankful for that.

We reached Alice's quarters first. She threw her arms around me. Everything's going to be okay.

I hugged my sister back, as I released her the smile on her face faded. Jasper you idiot!

"What's wrong Alice, what's happening is Bella okay?"

Alice's eyes narrowed, "Bella is fine but Jasper is in big trouble." With that she closed her door and I could here her muttering under her breath.

I was ushered down the hall to my room. If Bella was in danger I was 100% sure that Alice would tell me. She cared deeply for Bella, even considering her a sister. Alice would not let any harm come to Bella and I had to trust in that. Tomorrow we would leave to find Bella and within a day's time she could be back in my arms again.

JPOV

By midnight I was back in Volterra. It would take me awhile to find out where the Voluturi hideout was, but I would find it and get Alice out of there.

I approached the last place I saw her, by the square. If I was lucky I could find her scent, that Jasmine aroma that constantly tickled my senses. As my mind drifted I felt a vibration in my pocket. My cell phone was ringing, Alice!

I quickly flipped open the phone. "Alice, are you okay?"

"Jasper Whitlock are you out of your mind!"

"What do you mean?" Alice sounded pissed; I could only imagine what I had done now.

"How could you leave Bella on the side of the road!"

My eyes shut with the memory. Alice continued to rant and yell about how irresponsible I had been and I listened in silence.

"You go back and get Bella, and if anything happens to her…I'll never forgive you."

The truth in those words slammed into me. I left Bella to find Alice, and I knew taking her would put her in danger but I should have known how Alice would react.

"Alice I'm sorry. The thought of you in the hands of the Volturi terrified me and I had to come and make sure that you were okay. I know Bella is important and I do care about her, but I can't live without you."

She sighed. "I know Jasper and we're both okay. In fact we will be leaving here tomorrow to go find Bella, Aro wants to meet her."

Aro, this can't be good. "What does he want with Bella?"

"I can't explain now. Promise me you will go after Bella and protect her."

"I promise."

"Thank you, I love you and I'll call you tomorrow when I can."

"I love you too."

I shut the phone and put it back in my pocket. Facing Bella would be hard. I knew that she would be hurt by me leaving her. There was something about Bella that unnerved me. Her emotions were so intense that they would catch me off guard. On the plane it took a lot in me to no think a certain way, when I felt all that lust pouring out of her. I knew it was for Edward, but it was so intense that it had begun to draw me in. It was going to take a lot of self control to be alone with Bella, especially when she pissed me off again. I would have to have a lot of patience.

It didn't take me long to reach the spot I had left Bella and to my surprise the car was still by the side of the road.

Where could she have gone?

Now I was worried. It was stupid of me to abandon Bella, now she could be kidnapped or worse. I grabbed the keys that were still in the car and decided to track her on foot. Her scent was all over the place and easy to follow. No one smelled the way Bella did; it was very distinct and full of desire, kind of like a full bodied glass of wine that had age for a hundred years, perfect in every sense.

My nose led me to a large Villa that stood on a hill among the vineyards. Before I knew it I was standing by a white window that was at the back of the villa. The window was open and I could smell Bella inside. Quietly I creeped into the room and crouched on the trunk that stood at the foot of the bed.

Bella was curled up in a ball holding her cell phone. Her face looked flushed and a bit puffy. I could only assume the poor girl had cried herself to sleep. She seemed restless and continually tried to crawl up into an even smaller ball.

Afraid to wake her I sat and watched her for hours. I couldn't read her mind but I didn't need to. Whatever she was dreaming about, it wasn't good. I could sense a deep loss and anguish coming from her. Every few minutes she would whine and it pained me. The soothing waves worked only for awhile until she whimpered again and that same dreadful abandonment took over.

She seemed so fragile and vulnerable. A part of me wanted to grab her, wrap my arms around her and sooth her pain away. In all my years I had never experienced anyone feeling this way. It became very apparent that this anguish was all due to Edward and our family leaving her, and possibly even my recent departure. How could Edward ever leave anyone like Bella, especially after how it left her? It angered me to know that he caused her this pain. I wasn't sure why I cared so much but I did and I was going to do whatever I could to help her be happy again.

Now that I knew Bella was safe it was time for me to hunt. I didn't want to risk being around her and being thirsty. I had a few more hours till dawn. As I hopped onto the window ledge I glanced back at Bella, she seemed to finally be sleeping peacefully and then I jumped out into the night.

BPOV

Somehow I managed to make it threw the night. I had no idea how exhausted I really was. I rolled onto my back and gazed at the phone in my hand, I'm so sorry Jacob.

Today was a new day and I had to get going if I wanted to reach Volterra soon. Last night I had the usual nightmares, but then something strange happened. I was running around the woods crying, searching for the Cullen's and going deeper into the forest, where screams were echoing. I saw a light and ran to it and there was Jasper leaning against a tree staring at me. Everything became lighter, and beautiful. His topaz eyes glowed and his lip turned up into a smile. He held out his hand and I reached for it.

The moment our hands clasped around one another, I felt alive and we ran like the wind out of the forest. It was there that he stopped and began whispering into my ear. I couldn't make out the words but they made me giggle and want to shout with joy.

I can't remember what happened next, but I'm sure that's when I finally woke up. When I had dreamt of Jasper on the plane that was strange, this was in a whole new category. Here I was in a strange land fantasying about my best friend's boyfriend and my boyfriend's brother, something was seriously wrong with my head.

I scrimmaged through my bag and found a clean pair of clothes and my toothbrush. Once I was dressed I opened the bedroom door and began to search for the nearest bathroom.

The bathroom was two doors down from where I had slept. It was quaint and cozy just like the bedroom. After a few minutes, I was clean and refreshed. As I was walking out of the bathroom I heard a loud commotion and yelling. I followed the voices to the kitchen where I saw Stephan and Angelina arguing with two young boys. Not wanting to interrupt I stayed just outside the kitchen.

"So we just sit back and do nothing!"

Stephan sighed, as Angelina tried to calm down the dark haired boy. He shrugged her away. "We can not allow this to continue father and if you won't do something I will!"

"Anthony please calm down."

Anthony backed away from Angelina. "No mother, I will not calm down, not until our father does something."

Angelina had tears in her eyes and desperately looked to Stephan.

Stephan walked to his angry son and looked him straight in the eyes. "We will not sell, and we will not retaliate, it will only cause more trouble and I do not want any harm to come to my family."

The other son stepped in. "But father, we could lose everything."

Stephan turned to regard him. "I know Enrique, but our fields could eventually be replaced, you can not. I will call my brother and see what can be done about this matter, and what protection he can offer.

Angelina ran to Stephan and grabbed his arm. "No Stephan, Jonathan is a monster!"

Stephan put his arm around Angelina. "I know dear, but he is my brother and cares deeply for us, he can offer us protection, which we need."

Satisfied with his father's response Anthony walked out the back door, Enrique quickly followed.

This was clearly a private family matter, and the respectful thing to do would have been to walk away minutes ago but my curiosity had gotten the best of me and now I felt embarrassed and ashamed. Hoping that they wouldn't notice I quietly began to tip toe back down the hall.

"Oh Bella, good morning."

My heart raced as I turned to see Stephan motioning for me to enter the kitchen.

"I'm sorry for interrupting."

"Nonsense, you are a guest, please sit down."

I sat down at the island and Angelina brought over a basket of freshly baked pastries and poured me a glass of milk. I felt horrible for eavesdropping, especially since these people had been so nice to me. "Is everything okay?" I asked.

Angelina's eyes watered and she excused herself from the kitchen. Stephan sighed and stood across from me.

"Our land is very valuable and some people are trying to buy it from us. These vineyards have been in my family for generations and I can not sell, not for any price. Unfortunately, that has become an issue and the men who want my land are trying to force us out.

I swallowed the piece of Danish I was eating. "That's horrible, can't anything be done about it, what about the police?"

Stephan shook his head. "We are dealing with some very rich and powerful people, who have most of our police on their bank roll."

My heart sank. "There must be something we can do."

Stephan smiled faintly. "Do not worry Bella, things will work out."

Just then the loud doorbell rang. "Excuse me Bella."

Stephan left me and my danish. Sometimes the world just wasn't fair. Stephan and Angelina were so sweet and generous; I couldn't stand the fact that they were being forced off their land. Maybe the Cullen's would be able to help, as soon as I found one of them I would ask right away.

"Bella you have a visitor."

I turned around, and my heart fluttered, he had come back. "Jasper!"

"I'll leave you two alone." As soon as Stephan was gone I jumped out of my chair and ran to Jasper.

He grabbed me in a big bear hug. "I'm so sorry Bella, I was wrong for leaving you…I was just so upset about Alice and…"

I nuzzled my head into his sculpted chest. "Its okay Jasper, I understand, we're both really upset. I'm just so glad that you're here now."

Jasper put a hand on the back of my head and stroked my hair. The gesture sent an unexpected tingle down my spine. Before this trip Jasper had always kept his distance from me and now it seemed that being close to me didn't bother him at all. What could have changed?

We broke apart and there was an awkward silence, it seemed that both of us realized that our hug was a bit closer then anticipated.

Edward was drop dead gorgeous, like a perfect Greek statue but there was something about Jasper that was so much more. It went beyond looks; there was a fiery passion behind those topaz eyes. Maybe it was because he was an empath, and he was all about emotions, feeling them and giving them out, it was a pretty intense ability. What I had to remember was that Jasper was not my boyfriend, Edward was and for some unknown reason that simple fact bothered me.

"Bella?"

My cheeks flushed. Oh no he probably felt me gazing at him like a little schoolgirl, stupid Bella. "Uh sorry I was just thinking about a movie I watched last night." Great now I'm lying.

Jasper smirked, knowing full well that I was lying but he left it alone. "I have some news about Alice & Edward."

That brought me back to reality. "What is it, are they coming, is Edward okay?"

Jasper smiled. "Yes, and they are coming here tomorrow for us. " Jasper's smile faded, something else was wrong.

"What is it Jasper?" My chest tightened afraid at what he would say next."

He gazed at me and then nodded to himself. "You have a right to know…Aro wants to meet you."

I took a deep breath. If Aro just wanted to meet me it couldn't be that bad.

"Bella, we don't know what he wants but chances are he's going to want you changed."

Finally, I would get my wish, things were already looking up.

"Bella?"

I smiled. "This is good Jasper; Edward was going to change me eventually now I'll be one of you faster."

Jasper's face scrunched up. "You want to be one of us?"

I nodded. "Yes and don't try to change my mind either. You guys are my family and I want to be with you forever."

Jasper's eyes sparkled. "If you are 100% sure this is what you want, you can count on me to be there."

I danced closer to him. "Really, you won't try and change my mind like Edward?"

He leaned closer and looked straight at me. "I'm not Edward."

Everything in the room felt alive, this was the best news I had heard in a long time but Edward would not agree as quickly as Jasper. I wasn't sure if Edward even still cared for me or wanted me in the family. What if he made sure I was never changed?

Jasper's hand was on my shoulder. "Hey, whatever you're thinking about stop, don't worry about anything. I already told you, I'll be right by your side."

I nodded. "Okay Jasper."

"Now we have the whole day and night to have some fun. Why don't we go and check out the countryside eh?"

I wobbled back and forth on my tippy toes, smiling. "Sounds great!"

With that he grabbed my hand and led me out of the villa.