SM owns all.

EPOV

Jasper had stayed the night on the reservation after the wolf pack left the bar last night. I didn't like the fact that he was going where I could not keep an eye on him. I made myself useful by doing some scouting.

I sent Alice home. This upset her, but Vee would never forgive me if something happened to Alice. I more than understood. I didn't blame him. She was his mate. His everything.

She was fervent about keeping an eye on me. That was fine. It was probably for the better that she did. Emmett always said I had lucky bad luck. I had a habit of finding trouble then managing to sidestep it at the last second.

So now, I am doing what I do best. I am looking for trouble. Not in the normal sense. I found a quiet place out near the shipping wharf. I needed a dark place that I could sit quietly for hours. I have a fairly long range. Having touched her mind already, I knew her mental signature now. A vampire's mind felt different than a human's. I am pretty sure I won't have any trouble finding them.

I made sure to stay far away once I figured out where she went. Sure enough, they were held up in an old neglected warehouse near the edge of the shipping wharf.

I found an old rundown house with an elderly man living in it. It was on the same street block as the warehouse. I figured at one time this house must have belonged to a dock-master for one of the shipping yards.

It wasn't hard to sneak into the attic. I needed a place to be out of the elements. It had to be Someplace I wouldn't be discovered. I wanted to listen in on their thoughts during the daylight hours. If I got too close it would set off Vicky's talent. I also didn't want to get too close to the one that was a tracker. If he caught wind of me, I would never be able to sneak up on them again.

I stretched out on the dusty floor and closed my eye. I had to force myself to relax. Alice called this mediating. I disagreed. That was if I was trying to be still and clear my mind. No this was a different type of mental exercise. This time I was reaching out and listening. I have a range of several miles. To reach out far enough and touch Vicky while not listen to everyone else takes a lot of effort. I can do it if I allow myself get out of my own way. I have to take the time and concentrate on the mental signature I want to hear and nothing else.

I did find her. It took some effort. Even her mind is like quicksilver. Once she came in contact with her mate, I had an easier time following their conversation.

He wasn't a newborn anymore. But his control was nervy at best and she knew it. He was new enough that he still had to hunt almost nightly. To me, that said he didn't have a lot of willpower. He wasn't even trying to build up his control and his tolerance. That was a blessing in disguise for. That meant Vicky didn't trust him on his own. As for his sire, she didn't trust her offspring. In my world that was a slight against her. Then I was surprised to feel a third mind entering the warehouse.

He was Vicky's sire. I was able to glean a lot of information from him. He was from the time period before the Louisianan Purchase. He was born a slave to a grand aristocratic family and he carried himself with a great amount of dignity. He had found Vicky back in the 20's. He was able to tell she had a unique talent because of her scent.

I had never thought about the correlation between extra abilities and a human's scent before. It made sense. Jasper has a unique smell too. I was going to ask Carlisle about that later. I had never thought about it before. I did wonder if this was true with every talented vampire.

When she found James, he encouraged her to bring James into the fold. Now he was regretting it. He liked to be in control of everything. That I can understand. James was too reckless for the older vampire's taste. He also didn't approve of James playing with his food. He considered James to be a bad influence on Vicky.

It took a while before I caught the older vampire's name, Laurent. I was elated when she finally thought his name. He was thinking about striking out on his own. He even played with the idea of burning James and Vicky and starting over again with Jasper. He preferred males anyways. Apparently, James only liked boys if they were younger. The coven leader put his foot down about changing Jasper when he was younger. He wouldn't change a child. I was counting my small favors. I was thankful for the small things. Vicky just wanted Jasper and James. She liked multiple male partners together and Laurent wasn't attracted to her even when they all were together.

I didn't really pick up any more plans, other than just hunting. Laurent made them hunt in other towns and cities every time. James hated this but did as he was ordered. Most of the time. He had done some hunting here, no one had found the bodies yet.

Vicky was quick to key Laurent in on the Jacob Black development. This peaked his interest. His mother had carried a lot of old world beliefs with her. After she was sold into slavery and then shipped to America by the Dutch, she had a son. She made sure to teach them all to her son.

Now I was worried about Jake. I should be because he was someone my mate called his friend. I felt my pocket vibrate from a text message. I broke my connection and sat up. I checked my phone and I wasn't surprised to see it was Alice.

She was just checking up on me. She was able to see Jasper at home now. In her visions, anyway. He wasn't there yet. This gave her a time frame of when Jacob Black was dropping him off at his house.

I wasn't finding anything new right now. James and Vicky had gone off on their own for their private time. Laurent was digging through a pile of books he had taken from somewhere.

It was time to find Jacob and start making plans. Now I have more than just my Jasper to worry about. I now had to worry about his pet werewolf.

Jake POV.

I gave up. Jasper was always going to walk right into the fire no matter where I take him. Last night he walked right up to a lady vampire and started making small talk with her. He had always been right on the edge of suicidal. Now I was chalking up crazy too.

I was intending to give him a night out. This was a chance to be one of the guys. I wanted him to have a night out so he could mingle with some chicks. You know, to be a dude.

But no.

The first female he wants to talk to was a leech. I couldn't call him on it with the rest of the pack there with me. I didn't want them to know I broke the treaty. I didn't want them to know that he knew what we were. I wanted him to be able to hide in plain sight. At least as long as possible. My brothers would out eventually that I had slipped up. I just wasn't in a big hurry to let them know about my grand fuck up.

I was still trying to figure out what the other leech's game was. I wanted to know why the redheaded leech was taking a vested interest in Jasper. I wanted to know what Jasper was to him. I didn't know if the one Jasper called Ed was there to just to make sure my friend kept his mouth shut or if he more like some self-appointed bodyguard.

Nothing was making sense to me. Maybe it was the coven leader that had ordered the other one to keep an eye on Jasper.

"Hey, can I have a word with you?" The voice came out of nowhere. I nearly jumped out my car window. Jasper had just got done waving to me and then walking into his house. I had just dropped him off after he had gone camping on my couch again.

"Don't fucking do that," I said while gritting my teeth.

"Sorry," the blood-sucker said. He didn't look the least bit abashed. I had to force myself to relax my jaw and unclenched my teeth and hands. "I thought you would like to know what my sister and I found last night." He was right, I did want to know.

"Yeah, let me park this thing. I don't want anyone to see us." He nodded in response, then he was gone. Damn, he was fast. There was a small walking park around the corner from Jasper's house. I followed the leeches scent there.

Pulling up, I saw the leech standing by a sign for a walking trail. Obviously waiting for me. He waited patiently for me to head his way. I only wanted to go far enough down the trail that no human would see or hear us.

"Spill it," I growled at him.

"My coven isn't the only one nearby," he said. He was very calm when he said this. He said it very softly. The thought chilled my blood.

"Explain," I tried to say just as calmly. Inside, I am panicking. I needed to talk to Sam. I was starting to think that maybe I was in over my head. The bloodsucker was eyeing me. Those strange yellow eyes set me on edge almost as much as a vampire with red eyes did. Only this one made me feel like he was looking right into my soul. I didn't like that.

"Last night, Alice and I followed you and Jasper into town." My eyes narrowed, but I didn't say anything. "I know he has told you some about his upbringing." I snorted. Like that was what it was. More like a fucking nightmare. The one Jasper called Ed was watching me again. With a strange expression on his face. "She is back, but she is not alone. Your tribe is in danger."

"She?" I was trying to play dumb. I didn't know how much he knew or how forthcoming he was going to be. He rolled his eyes at me. There was something else not adding up. I let it go for now.

"Last night when Jasper stepped outside, a female vampire was in the ally with him. She was watching him. She recognized his scent. She knows he lives somewhere around here. She is just not sure where. Yet. She also has a special talent."

Vampires have talents? I thought that went for anyone that was human at one time. Again, I am missing something.

"I am still having trouble here. You need to draw me a picture." I am getting upset. My hands are starting to shake a little.

"Some of my kind have special gifts. It makes us different from the rest of our kind," the vamp said to me. That meant he was including himself. He realized his slip. What was his gift, I wondered.

"Vicky has a unique way of getting out of trouble. I'm still trying to figure it out for myself. When you pulled Jasper back inside the bar last night, she got a whiff of your scent. It set off a fight or flight response. Flight won out." The vampire was standing very still after he said this. It was freaky the way those things can go for hours without moving.

"And what are we suppose to do about it," I didn't know what to. When I said we, I meant the wolf pack. This had me beyond the realm of normal worries. The vampire was staring at me, that wasn't helping. He quickly turned his head and found something else to watch.

"I don't know yet, Carlisle is still debating that, personally. Right now my sister and her mate are keeping an eye on his house." He did seem stressed. I still wanted to know what Jasper's importance was to his coven. The vampire glanced at me again. Maybe Jasper was more important to Ed than the coven. I watched the vamp's eyes narrow at me.

Maybe Ed was gifted too. Then he nodded. A bloody mind-reader. He was bloody fucking reading my mind. You asshole!

"I enjoy Jasper's company," he said softly. "True friendship is hard to come by." I could tell there was something else he wasn't telling me. I decided to leave it alone for a while. I needed to think about the here and now first. I saw the vamp visibly relax when I thought about this. Maybe friendship was a rare thing in his world. "It can be. The human world is something I must deal with on a daily bases. I am always outside looking in. I am never allowed to truly interact. I am destined to always be a stranger. In the rare instance when we find a human that knows what we are, for a short time, we are free to show our true colors."

"At least until you change him," I spit out. "Or you kill him." I saw him close his eyes in pain.

"I promised him, it would be his choice." I head him whisper. "He could very well choose either one. His mind is not made up. I value his decision even if I don't like it." He sank to his knees in the middle of the walking trail. His voice was filled with pain. "No matter what he chooses, he asked that I be the one to do it."

"What do you mean by that?" I was furious. Part of me was mad at Jasper for making this request. But mostly I was mad at the blood-sucking monster at my feet. The dead thing could have just said no. "If I left the act to someone else, I can't be confident that they will show mercy, be gentle, or do as he asks. His last wish is to be in complete control." His words were choked as he said them and his eyes are downcast.

For someone like Jasper, I think I do understand.

"Get up," then I reached down and grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him to his feet. He didn't resist me. I was surprised. He kept his eyes on me the whole time. "Until we know what we are dealing with, this is what we are going to do." I was careful not to give all my plans away. I was going to have to come clean to the rest of the pack tonight. "You will stay with him. You will be his shadow. " He nodded and I let the vampire go. "My pack will enlarge our patrols to include Forks. In a day or two, we will all regroup together. Jasper too. I will not lie to my best friend."

I turned to leave. It was almost time for patrols. I had to go. I had a lot on my mind. I turned around to say something to the leech, but he was gone.

Jasper POV

Dealing with Jake and the boys takes a lot out of me. My stress has yet to hit its peak and all I wanted to was lay down on my aunt's couch and take a nap. I was blessedly alone.

I was out the second my head hit throw pillow.

I feel stronger. More solid. My vision is sharp and perfect. The beautiful creature in front of me was standing still. Watching me.

He is mine. I can feel it. My body is vibrating with need. My muscles coil. I spring at him. He did not resist me. I push him down to the ground and bite into his neck. Marking him as mine. His moan spurs me on. I need to claim him as mine...Now...

"Dude, wake up!" Something cold and icy hits my face. I sat up with a start. Mike was standing over me with a glass of ice water. He was dripping little drops of cold water on my face to wake me up. Then I noticed that my dick was painfully hard. "Wow, she must be hot!" Mike's face was inches from mine and he was grinning. "Sorry. Normally you're having a nightmare."

I was surprised he was home. It was just as well he woke me up. That was me in the dream and that was Edward too. I could still feel the wild untamed energy dancing along my skin. I glanced at Mike and then left to go upstairs. I didn't say a word to him. I didn't trust my voice yet. He wasn't bothered. He knew me. He knew very well that I was a moody son of a bitch when I woke up.

I needed to take a shower. A long cold one. Stepping into the bathroom, I turned and locked the door behind me. I didn't feel like being interrupted again.

I stripped and left everything in a heap on the floor. I stepped into the shower stall and pulled the curtain to.

My erection was still hard. I do mean painfully hard. I didn't even wait for the water to warm. I didn't even bother turning it to hot. I wanted this to go away.

I bit my tongue hard to keep from groaning out loud. The coldness only reminded me of Ed. A cold shower was making it worst. I grasped myself hard and let the coldness run over my head. Slowly I moved my hand up and down imaging how he would feel. I can feel the pressure building and my balls start to tighten. I used my other hand to balance myself on the shower wall. I tighten my hold as I stroke. Then my release hits me as hard. I sink to the floor of the shower. The coldness finely sinking in.

Reaching up, I turned it to hot. I needed to get cleaned up. I hurry along and then I step out and wrap a towel around my waist.

Once I am dressed, I hear a knock on the bedroom door. It's Mike. He was bubbling over with curiosity. Will wonders never cease. He was as bad as a dog looking for a bone.

"I hope you're decent!" That was officially the only warning I was getting. He busted in all excited. What the hell was with him? "Okay, who is she?"

Oh, that's what he wanted to know. He thought I was dreaming about a girl. This was a conversation I wasn't having with him. He was totally ignoring the glare I was giving him.

We shared a medium size bedroom on the second floor of his parents' house. The room was crowded with a single nightstand and two twin beds. One on each side of the nightstand. There was only a single lamp. Mike had a small dresser on his side of the room. I had an army style footlocker chest at the foot of my bed. It had belonged to my Pa when he was in the army. There was a small closet on the other side of the room and we shared a bathroom in the hallway.

"It's not what you think Mike." Yeah, it was. Almost. He had it almost right. It was a guy, not a girl that I was dreaming about. One that wasn't human on top of that.

"On a lighter note," Mike grinned and sat down on his bed across from me. He looked like the cat that ate the canary. "Coach is expecting us bright eyed and bushy tailed Monday."

"Cool, I 'm still on the team!" I suddenly felt a hundred times better. I fell back on the bed feeling giddy.

"On one condition," I go still. My insides going cold. "You have to get a tutor. One that's not me." I prop myself up on my elbows. I did not like where this going.