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Special thanks to Gredelina1, Augustmoon and Mary-Alice-Brandon-Cullen for pre-reading this.

This was pre-read by jtmd24 and beta'd by Maxipoo1024 from Sparkly Red Pen. Thank you ladies.

Chapter Thirteen — They Knew

Jasper POV

"Hello, Jasper."

I took a deep steadying breath, inhaling her sweet scent, before answering.

"Hello, Isabella."

Merely being in her presence again brought me indescribable comfort; it felt like coming home. I would have liked to reach out and touch her but dared not for fear of making her flee again.

She stood back and gestured me into the room. I stepped inside and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. She sat on an overstuffed armchair by the window and gestured for me to sit opposite her.

"How have you been?" she asked solicitously.

This was not like the Isabella I first met, nor was she the distant person Eleazar had mentioned. There was something different about her; she was more approachable now that ever.

"I've been we–" I couldn't lie to her. "I've been terrible. I missed you, and I was worried."

She sighed heavily. "Yes, I can imagine. I didn't fare too well without you either. Close your mouth, dear."

I snapped my jaw shut.

"I never wanted a mate," she said abruptly. "They all knew it, but they didn't respect it. Now I have one, and I don't know what to do with you."

"What to do with me?" I asked. "You don't have to do anything with me."

"Except that I do. You said you were terrible without me. How can I ignore that?"

I heard the soft footfalls and the door clicking closed as Eleazar and the others gave us privacy for our discussion. With them out of earshot I felt more at ease.

"I have no expectations of you, Isabella. I have hopes and desires, but no expectations."

She smiled at me. "That's because you are a gentleman. I am truly sorry this happened to you, Jasper. You are a good person and deserve someone that can be yours completely. I can never be that."

"Perhaps I do deserve someone that can be completely mine, but I don't want anyone else," I said sincerely. "I want you."

I risked having my heart broken by admitting that much to her, but I couldn't restrain myself. I didn't know how long I would have before she disappeared again, and I wanted to be completely open with her before then. We were past avoidance now, anyway. This could be my only chance to make her understand.

"Which makes this so much harder." She sighed. "I know I must seem a selfish creature, running and leaving you the way I did after it happened, and in a way I am, but I was trying to protect myself."

Was she afraid of me? I couldn't imagine it; she was too powerful to have fear of anything. But if not me, then what?

"I would never hurt you," I vowed.

"I know that you wouldn't intentionally," she assured me. "But I have seen the damage wrought by mating, and I never wanted that for myself. Now it has happened and I fear for you. I have been given the best chance of happiness in you. You belong to a peaceful coven, and your history means you are more than capable of protecting yourself. You were not so lucky in me."

"You are more capable than any vampire I have known," I said.

"Forgive me for saying it, but your knowledge is limited. You fought in the Southern Wars, newborns against newborns. You have never seen the true power our kind can possess and the damage they can do. I have."

There was something about the look in her eyes that told me she really had seen too much. I wished I knew what would make that look disappear.

Unaware of my concern, she continued. "You know the life I lead and the risks I face. If I am lost what will happen to you?"

I already knew the answer to that. I had known it since the moment Demetri said she was 'long gone'. I thought she was dead, and my first thought was how I could join her. I planned to seek out Maria again. She would have done me that service. She knew how it felt to live without your mate.

I looked her in the eye. I wanted to see her reaction to my next words. "I would die without you."

She flinched. "You see the problem? My life is dangerous. By having me as your mate you are doomed to the same fate as Marcus."

"It doesn't have to be this way," I said. "You don't have to fight."

She sighed heavily. "I do have to fight. It is who I am, my role in the world."

"I think you're wrong," I said boldly. "I think you are using this as an excuse to avoid the real issue here. You don't want to share your life."

"And if I don't? It was my choice to make, and they stole it from me. Now I have you and have lost my friends. Eleazar betrayed me. I can never forgive him for this."

"If you are so angry at him why did you come back?" I asked.

"Because I needed somewhere that felt like home, and seeing as I couldn't go home, I came here. I am less angry with Eleazar compared to the brothers, so this was the better option."

"What happened to you?" I asked. "Why did you need to feel at home?"

She considered carefully before answering, seeming to decide how much she wanted to divulge. "I was on a mission recently," she said. "And I was injured. It had not happened on this scale before, and I needed somewhere I could recover."

She shrugged off her cardigan and turned to show me a thin scar circling her shoulder. I hissed angrily as I saw the evidence of her injury. Someone had removed her arm.

"It was pure luck that I was able to destroy the vampire that did this," she said somberly. "Had things worked out a little differently, you would already be feeling the pain of losing your mate."

I was growing frustrated with her dour attitude. Mating was not about hurt, it was about love. Why couldn't she see it for the blessing it was rather than a curse?

"You keep talking about the mating," I said, drawing the topic to my side. "But you aren't talking about the feelings surrounding it. It is not merely our nature that has drawn us together, but our hearts too. We wouldn't have suffered apart otherwise." I had to do it. I had to say it to her now while I had the chance. "I love you, Isabella."

Her answer came muffled as she hid her face in her hands. "I know you do."

"And do you me?" I asked.

She lowered her hands and looked me in the eye. "I don't know. I'm sorry that's not the answer you want to hear, but I cannot lie. I don't know you well enough to say that."

"Well that is easily rectified. What would you like to know?"

"This is not something that can be solved by exchanging life histories, Jasper," she said irritably. "Love is about trusting someone explicitly, handing over a piece of yourself. I'm not sure I can do that."

"Fine, you cannot say you love me, I understand that, but I need to know, for my own sanity if nothing else, do you accept the rest of what is happened. Do you accept who I am?"

"You are my mate," she said grudgingly. "I am not such a fool as to deny that. Lord knows I wish it was different, but it is not. I am yours and you are mine. I just don't know what this means for you. We cannot stay together."

"Why not?"

"Because we belong in different worlds. You have your coven and I have mine. I will have to return to them now, little though I want to, I have responsibilities. This is not like last time; I cannot just take off and leave them."

I wondered what happened 'last time' that made her leave but knew better than to ask. I had a more pressing issue to discuss.

"I can't be away from you again," I said plaintively.

"You shall have to," she said, simply. "You cannot come home with me."

"I can't?" There was unmistakable pain in my voice. I didn't understand why she was so adamant about this. I was a good man. I would make her happy. Why could I not join her?

"I was gone at least a month before your absence began to take its toll on me," she said thoughtfully. "I think if we maintain some sort of contact and meet on a regular basis we should be able to manage the separation between times."

It sounded ridiculous to my ears. She was planning to manage our mating like a custody agreement. I refused to accept it but knew arguing with her would get me nowhere.

She got to her feet and packed the few belongings that were spread about the room into a small bag.

"I shall attend to what needs to be done at home and then I shall come to you in Washington," she said, not looking at me. "I will see how long I can be spared in Volterra, and we can work out an arrangement from that."

I nodded along, pretending I was accepting of this plan; I wasn't, but I would not allow her to see that.

She shouldered her bag and held the door open for me. "Would you take me to the airport?" she asked. "I don't want to leave my bike in long term storage."

"Of course."

She left no note or other missive for Eleazar when we left. He had said she would never forgive him, and I suspected he was right.

At the airport I was surprised that Isabella did not purchase tickets to Italy but Romania.

"I am taking advantage of the opportunity to check in with our Romanian interests," she said in response to my questioning look.

Her plan worked in my favor. If she was in Romania I would have the opportunity to reach Volterra, and Aro, before her.

"Take care of yourself, Jasper," she said as I walked her to the departure gate. "I will see you very soon."

"I look forward to it," I replied.

Our goodbye was oddly formal considering what we were to each other. If not for my immediate plans, I would have struggled with it, but I knew I would be seeing her much sooner than she expected.

If she insisted on dictating what I could and couldn't do, I would have to seek assistance elsewhere. Aro had risked their relationship to aid our mating. I didn't think it was much of a stretch for him to allow me a place in the guard to be with her.

It would be hard to leave my family behind. I knew it would hurt them, but I had no choice. Isabella was my life now.

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Simaril x