Mating Instincts
"Something's changed," Jasper growls, looking at his phone.
"What is it?" Rose questions.
"I don't know, but Peter says it's something major that affects us all. Alice will be calling shortly, and her time frame with James has altered by several days. Peter says he and Char may not get here in time for the initial confrontation."
"I don't like this," Emmet growls. "What if something happens to Bella?"
Your frown, wondering, "Do you think Alice saw something of our plans? We've been so careful. Maybe she's figured out a way around the conversations Peter and Char are having? Has she seen something from one of the compounds?"
Leah snarls, "Dammit! They better not screw up! We don't need a real vampire war in our backyard."
"Have you gotten anything from her thoughts, Ed?" Jake asks, trying to calm Leah down with his touch.
Edward frowns and shakes his head. "Nothing that indicated the need for a change to our plans or that she'd finally started seeing around us."
"Try harder," Rose demands, hands on her hips, eyes flashing.
"I am trying harder," Edward insists defensively. "I've gotten better at delving deeper, past the primary superficial level of thought when I concentrate hard enough. I've also been following her without detection when she goes off on her own to check the future or communicate with James. She hasn't caught me yet, either through visions or by noticing my presence nearby. I stick to the trees, and my gift works further out than our senses of sight, smell, or hearing, so she doesn't know I'm listening."
"Yes, you've been very helpful, Edward, thank you," Jasper soothes, patting Edward on the back.
Edward smiles and continues, "I did tell you which compounds she'd be calling and which ones James would be stopping at in person on the way here."
Jasper nods, but before he can say anything else, his phone rings. He scowls at the caller ID and snaps, "Yes?"
"I've seen something important! There's a couple of nomads headed our way to give us a warning about something they heard regarding our family. I can't see what they're going to tell us exactly. I guess they haven't decided what to say yet. However, I do know we all need to be there, including Bella," Alice chirps.
"Bella? Why do you want her there?" Jasper asks. "What possible good would that do?"
"I'm not sure, I just know it's important she be there with us," Alice replies.
"Important how? It would be the height of stupidity to involve a human in our dealings with other vampires," Jasper drawls.
"Look, she needs to be there, okay? She'll be fine, they won't hurt her," Alice assures him, starting to sound annoyed.
"How can you be sure when you don't even know what they want or what they're going to say? I've just spent the past 5 weeks watching over a human to keep her safe from both Edward's bloodlust and the wrath of her werewolf roommate, all because Esme is already attached to the girl," Jasper complains, sending you his love to let you know he doesn't really mean it. "I don't want all that effort wasted because some nomad gets a hankering for a little snack, nor do I want to deal with Esme's emotions after she watches her new little daughter get drained right in front of her."
"They won't drain her, okay? I promise," Alice wheedles. "I don't' know why she has to be there, but it'll go badly for the rest of us if she isn't there."
"I don't like it, Alley Cat," Jasper protests, using his fake term of endearment and glaring pointedly at Edward.
"No, Alice, I won't allow my mate anywhere near human drinkers!" Edward quickly responds on Jasper's behalf. "Are you crazy? Who would bring a human to a vampire meeting?"
Alice growls angrily, "One who wants the whole family to survive. We need her there."
"No! Find another way," Edward insists, watching Jasper carefully, listening to his thoughts to know what to say.
"You're not going to risk the whole family with your stubbornness," she seethes and hangs up abruptly. Jasper slams his hand down on the table.
"What now?" Emmett wonders aloud what you and the others are all thinking.
"Go after her," Jasper orders Edward. "Decide you're going to Port Angeles with Bella, just the two of you for the rest of the day, and then go find out what the hell that little bitch is planning."
Edward nods and dashes out the door without another word. Jasper jumps up and starts pacing. Watching him, you ask, "What if you just go ahead and change me? I know I'm not gonna be a normal newborn, and I can't see how I could possibly be more vulnerable as a newborn than as a human."
"What about Charlie?" Rose protests before Jasper can say anything.
You frown, having gotten somewhat attached to Charlie over the past few weeks, despite not being his real daughter. He'd been a great father figure so far, not only for you, but for the vampires and wolves too. Though he's a man of few words, he never hesitated to step in if tensions rose or if the boys got carried away with their trash talk to the point of causing hurt feelings. He was supportive of everyone, always willing to share a few words of wisdom if anyone requested his advice. Yet he stayed out of everyone's business until someone asked for his opinion, making his advice all the more valuable, particularly to the teenagers.
"The wolves will take care of him if need be, but better I become a vampire than end up six feet under, for the sake of everyone, Charlie included," you declare. "I happen to know Charlie is good with weird and will be able to handle knowing the truth about the shifters and will be content with knowing I'm different without needing to know details about why or how. As long as I'm happy, he'll be content to be part of my life without asking too many questions, satisfied with being on a need to know basis with the whole thing."
The others all exchange glances then look to Jasper for the answer.
Jasper comes over and kneels in front of you, taking your hands in his. Sighing, he admits, "I'm sorry, darlin', I do want to change you. I've been fightin' the urge to change you from the moment we met. My protective instincts are screaming at me not to leave you in such a vulnerable state. Unfortunately, I also know that while you're changing I won't be able to leave your side for a minute. It's impossible to leave one's mate while they're in that state between human and vampire, unable to even move, much less attempt to protect themselves against any potential threat. It's the time when you're most vulnerable to death - the permanent kind.
Additionally, once you're a newborn, your own instincts will be very strong, if not all consuming, and you won't be able to be away from me. We will claim each other quite publicly and be incapable of even the level of subterfuge we currently manage, which admittedly isn't much. If Alice, Carlisle, or Esme were to come within 100 yards of this house on any given day, it would be immediately obvious to them that we're together. Plus, no matter how much I like and trust the people here, I won't be able to allow any other males remotely close to you while you're changing or shortly thereafter.
I'm sorry, darlin'. I simply can't afford to put us in that position until we can be open about our mated status. I was willin' to throw away decades of undercover work pretendin' to be with the traitor and run away with you to protect you, but you swore you wanted to do this, to continue the plan and see it through. I just need a little more time, but I promise you that you still come first with me. If it looks like you're in danger, the rest of the world can go fuck themselves. I promise I will race off somewhere with you, change you and keep you safe, until you're able to defend yourself and fight by my side."
"Okay, Jasper, I understand," you agree, squeezing his hands, a few silent tears spilling over and trickling down your cheeks, touched by his words and the resolved in his eyes. "I love you and will be with you every step of the way, forever."
He smiles lovingly at you and kisses you deeply, pouring his emotions into your body and surrounding you with his affection.
"Yo, lovebirds, get a room will ya?" Paul calls, having been let into the house by Leah while you were distracted with Jasper. Jasper knocks him to the ground with an emotional cocktail without even breaking your kiss.
"Idiot," Rachel mutters, dragging Paul out of the room by his foot to help him recover.
"Yep, that's Paul, alright," Leah replies flippantly, causing the others to laugh.
"I can't wait til we're alone," you groan against Jasper's lips.
He chuckles and backs away. "I feel the need to train," he declares, causing the other guys to wince.
"Hey, Emmett, you're up first," Jake quickly volunteers. The wolves have the utmost respect for Jasper, having been training with him for weeks, and none of them want to be up against him while he's worrying over his mate's safety.
"Damn," Emmet curses, knowing Jasper will be particularly fierce at the moment.
"Maybe we should do some group training," Rose carefully suggests, sizing up her brother's mood. "I think it would be a good time to show everyone how to handle multiple targets at one time." She wants her husband to come out of this in one piece and hopes if they all attack Jasper at the same time it will help him burn off the energy he needs while keeping the rest of them from getting overly injured in the process. She doesn't delude herself into thinking they might win against him, even as a group, but hopes they'll be able to spread out the damage so it isn't too much for any one individual.
Jasper eagerly agrees, knowing he needs something of a challenge to burn off some of his worries and fears regarding his mate until he can get more information and know what he's up against.
Luckily for everyone, Edward returns an hour later, when they're all ready to surrender. Jasper is feeling better and is the only one not only unscathed, but still standing. Even Emmett and Rose are sitting down, unwilling to put forth another charge against the Major.
The Major is instantly in front of Edward the moment he enters the yard. "Report," he barks, causing Edward to unconsciously stand at attention.
Edward is practically vibrating with excitement as he gushes, "My mate! It's because I find my mate! I saw the vision - she keeps going over it and over it wondering how she missed it before, why she never saw it in all the times she's had visions of the upcoming meeting over the years. There's a red headed female named Vicki traveling with James that James has been referring to as his mate for decades now, the same way Alice has been claiming Jasper. Alice had a vision of Vicki and I meeting each other's eyes across the field, feeling the mating bond, and immediately staking claim on one another!"
"Victoria is your mate?!" you blurt out in shocked disbelief.
Edward eyes you curiously, but nods happily, blissfully continuing, "Of course, that then throws everything into chaos and has Carlisle and Esme questioning Alice how she could have been wrong about Bella being my mate and quickly becoming suspicious as to why she lied. As soon as they start questioning her about Bella, Vicki gets upset about hearing my name linked with another female, pulling her out of the mating haze, at which point she then attacks James for lying to her about being her mate. Alice reacts to the attack on her real mate by jumping in to defend him, thus exposing herself as having lied about her relationship to Jasper. All the lies she's worked at building over the years quickly unravel, with her and James becoming prisoners and our family escorting them to the Volturi to be 'questioned' by Aro."
"Nice!" Emmett cheers, enjoying the mental picture.
Edward grins at him and adds, "Yeah, it totally freaks her out every time she sees it. So she figured out that if she quickly claims James as her mate and pushes Jasper to claim Bella as his all at the same time I claim Victoria, then all of us will be in the mating haze at the same time and it will prevent any fights from breaking out or blame falling upon her.
When Emmett asks what the hell is going on, James will say he came across Chelsea's scent on the way there. Then Alice will create a false vision of Chelsea reporting to Aro that she had broken our mating bonds and reattached them to different people. Aro will praise her for causing so much confusion among our gifted ones and say it should be easy to get us all to come and join his Guard now. Alice expects me to corroborate her vision, so Carlisle will not question its validity, causing the first major break in Carlisle's trust of Aro.
Alice is planning to use this 'betrayal' to bond our covens together against the Volturi and thinks it's even better than her original plan. She's glad now that Bella came along when she did, and that's why Bella has to be there. She thinks this will cause us all to be even more loyal and open to one another than we would have been and thinks this must have all been part of her original plan, even though she didn't see any of it."
He pauses for a minute, giving everyone time to absorb and process his words, then laughs and exclaims, "I can't believe I'm finally going to meet my mate! She's absolutely gorgeous and really powerful too, with a gift of escape." He stares off to the side, obviously lost in thoughts of her.
"That's awesome, bro!" Emmett declares, clapping him on the back enthusiastically. "I can't wait to meet her."
You're surprised and confused by this turn of events. Edward and Victoria? Thinking about it, you tell him, "You know, you've changed a lot over the past month, since you learned the truth, Edward. I don't think Vicki would've been a good mate for the person you were before. You were rather judgmental and self-loathing in the past. Now you're a lot more open-minded toward others, more forgiving of yourself and others too. You know how to relax and have fun with others, how to take a joke without getting all worked up about it. You're also not as conceited as you used to be, recognizing your own fallacies and aren't blind to Alice's manipulations. Honestly, I didn't really like the guy you used to be, but I enjoy handing out with the person you are now."
"Uh, thanks, I think," Edward murmurs, not sure what to make of your little speech.
"No, she's right," Rose agrees. "You've come a long way in a short time. You know I've never been a fan of yours, but now you're a fairly decent guy. I don't really mind having you around, and I'm no longer ashamed to call you my brother."
Edward raises an eyebrow and snorts. "Thanks so much for that ringing endorsement, sis. I love you too."
"See! That right there is what we're talking about!" Emmett cheers. "Way to go, bro! The old Eddie would've probably pouted and gone whining to Esme that everybody's being mean. But you've actually developed a sense of humor and even learned how to talk smack. It makes me so proud." He pretends to wipe away a fake tear.
Jasper looks at us thoughtfully. "It's an interesting idea. Maybe Alice didn't see you and Vicki becoming mates before because you weren't properly matched before. Maybe neither of you would've been happy with the other before. In fact, from what I've heard about her personality, I don't think she would've respected the guy you used to be at all, nor would you have even given her a second glance, much less a chance. I seriously doubt you would've accepted her, knowing all the shit she's done and been through with James.
You never really accepted me before, because of my past with Maria, even though I was feeding exclusively from animals by the time we met. You never let me forget my past - it always came between us, and it would've been the same way with Vicki. Now you've learned to look past it and see who I really am, liking and respecting me for the choices I've made whenever I knew there was an option. Now you can do the same for Vicki, making the mate bond possible."
Edward looks at everyone curiously and a bit apprehensively. "Could it really be possible? Would I have never found my mate if I hadn't overheard you guys talking that day? What does it mean for our kind if mates aren't a fixed entity? What if we change after we have our mate? Is it possible mates aren't forever like we thought?"
"You know how hard it is for us to change in any significant way. I think after we have our mates, we learn to grow and change together," Rose muses. "I can't imagine anything Emmett could do that would make me stop loving him and needing him. We've both changed as a result of recent events, but the changes have only brought us closer than ever. Trust me - the changes you've made are definitely for the better. Everyone likes you much better now."
"If I keep changing before I meet her, will she no longer be my mate? What if I lose her?" Edward worries. He opens his mouth to continue, but stops when his phone rings. Frowning down at the caller ID, he answers it respectfully. "Hello, Carlisle."
He listens for a few moments, his eyes fixed on Jasper. Jasper nods once, his face serious, and Edward sighs. "Yes, sir, we'll meet you in the clearing at 10am."
He pauses for a few more moments, then replies, "I promise we'll both be there."
He ends the call, eyes wide, caught between fear and excitement.
"Well, I guess that answers that question," Emmett announces, shrugging his shoulders. "I doubt you're going to do all that much changing before 10am tomorrow morning. I think you've pretty much got this one in the bag."