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"I intend to."
Bella ate the food Esme had made in thoughtful silence. She knew she was being watched closely by all of them but they seemed content to be quiet for now. Luckily for Bella the men currently watching her every move appeared to have missed her inference that she would be free of them. But it did make her wonder. She knew she had a shield of sorts. She had just managed to protect Esme from Jaspers influence. But perhaps it was more than that. She needed these men to be drawn to her so that they would protect her, even against each other. Perhaps it worked in that way. In that it did what it had to do to keep her safe. She couldn't wait to discuss this with Alistair but for now she was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. At the moment her plan seemed to be working, she definitely had Jasper's attention, and that had obviously wound Edward up, hopefully Alice too. With him projecting the way he was it might cause some friction between Emmett and Rosalie as well. Now wouldn't that be a shame.
It all got even better about an hour later when she was sitting in the main room reading a book while Emmett and Jasper played a game. Carlisle was also reading a book while sitting in a chair across the room. Emmett and Jasper were on the floor near her. They had tried to talk to her but she wasn't interested in making conversation. Emmett especially looked hurt but Jasper looked speculative. Like he was trying to figure her game out. It wasn't really a hard one to get. She wanted to get away from them.
Jasper had been surprised by his reactions to her. He couldn't understand why he wanted her so badly. He was used to women finding him attractive and wanting him. It was part and parcel of being a vampire. But Bella's reaction to him when she got out of the car was completely unexpected. She was supposed to be scared of him, after all last time he saw her he tried to attack her. He had felt a wide variety of emotions from Bella since her arrival. Most of them lustful and aroused which were odd but not unusual from humans around vampires. There had been longing, annoyance and sadness. These were all to be expected in her situation but never once did he pick up fear, worry or hopelessness. It was almost like she knew what was going to happen and knew she was going to be ok. To Jasper this was incredibly puzzling he didn't understand her at all. What he did know for sure was that he was drawn to her and couldn't wait to get her alone when she was turned.
A few minutes later the others returned from hunting Rosalie and Alice shot into the room and began berating their mates. Edward was standing in the doorway with a smug smile on his face while Jasper and Emmett were screamed at for lusting over the human. The girls glared and yelled at Bella too as she sat reading her book. She didn't care in the slightest it was very amusing to watch the scene before her. Jasper and Emmett were looking embarrassed and chastened as their mates lectured them on the deviousness of Bella's intentions. Bella herself laughed out loud when Rose called her a slut.
Bella glanced at Edward who was looking very pleased with himself and decided to get him back somehow. Jasper however was getting angry at Alice and she could see he was close to losing control. It gave Bella an idea, she had always found Alistair hot when angry, hell she found him hot at any time but could work with this. She focused her emotions at Jasper and sent him attraction and longing. His expression changed from angry to curious. Edward started to growl and look less than happy. He was clearly reading Jaspers thoughts. It was then Edward launched at Jasper and the two of them flew through the window in a shower of glass and out into the garden where they fought in a blur of movement.
Bella watched from her perch on the sofa with a smile on her face and a quiet chuckle. That had been easier than she had thought it would be, but then again Edward was always easy to wind up. Carlisle came and sat next to her. He bumped her shoulder in an almost playful fashion.
"Happy are you?" He asked conspiratorially. "You are just making it worse for yourself when you are turned and Jasper is in charge you know. He will take great delight in making you suffer. And Alice will ensure he does."
Watching the Jasper pin Edward face first in the mud and then smile at her she laughed out loud.
"Worse really, I'll be here won't I? It can't get worse. Are you really proud of the fact she is such a nasty piece of work?" Then she added "I see Eddie is still being a poisonous little tell-tale. Why do you put up with him? He is really just a stupid child."
"He's jealous." Carlisle said smirking at Edward. "There was a time when you liked that 'child'".
"It's his own fault. Doesn't he realise nobody likes a snitch, Least of all me. And I was just a child myself, I have grown up since then. Thank god." She laughed out loud again. "Christ Carlisle can you imagine how sad I would have to be to still find him attractive now? It makes my skin crawl just thinking about it."
Carlisle laughed along with her.
"You have certainly changed. I agree he is certainly not for you as you are now. Shame really, he has been alone for such a long time. We really did have high hopes with you. You may change your mind of course, forever is a long time to be alone."
'When hell freezes over.' Bella thought.
"You said you had fucked a vampire earlier." Carlisle asked in an abrupt change of direction. All the conversations and movement in the room stopped as they turned to look at Bella. "Who?"
"Jealous are you Carlisle?" She asked with a smirk. She could see the looks on Emmett's and Jasper's faces. They were jealous. Edward looked apoplectic as did Rose who slapped Emmett to get his attention. Alice looked scared. Esme was nowhere to be seen, she had just vanished. She was never with the others, always in the background or on her own. Bella had to wonder how she had never noticed this before.
"As it happens yes I am. I assume it was recently given the bruises on your hips. Do you have bruises anywhere else?" He asked in a sultry voice in an obvious attempt at seduction.
"Oh yes I am covered in them, I have some others on my thighs and breasts. He can be a little heavy handed at times." She gazed at the ceiling with a happy smile on her face. "Getting bruises though, it goes with the territory and is in my opinion well worth it. Just as well I like it rough though."
She smirked at Edward. His face was picture, he looked furious. The others didn't look too happy either. Although Jasper and Carlisle looked speculative. Obviously fancied their chances. Looking Edward straight in the eye she continued.
"I was with him the morning before you turned up. He left to hunt and give me time to say goodbye to my friends. I got the tattoo for him, he loves them. He is my husband and mate and I adore him." And with that she pulled down the collar of her t-shirt to show his bite mark.
Three things happened at once then. There was a collective shocked, intake of breath from the assembled vampires looking at her. Edward roared in fury and launched across the room and Jasper, Carlisle and Emmett jumped to intercept him. Bella had known she would piss him off with that little statement but this was more than she had hoped for. Chuckling from her perch on the sofa Bella watched the scene unfold as the four vampire males rolled out of the house and into the garden in a tangle of legs and arms. A movement off to her right caught her eye. Esme was now standing in the hallway watching the proceedings with a laugh on her face. In that moment she looked free and happy. Esme glanced toward Bella and winked, then turned and disappeared.
Before Bella could wonder what had driven her off the men of the family untangled themselves and stalked into the house to stand before her. They looked somewhat less than happy.
Jasper grabbed her, pinning her, with surprising gentleness to the wall and ran his nose over her bite mark.
"There is no scent. None at all. What the hell is this?" He yelled shaking Bella as though that would give him the answers.
Carlisle gently took her from Jaspers hands and ran his own nose up her neck. He lingered over the bite breathing deeply.
"You are right there is no scent at all." He looked into Bella's eyes. "How is this possible? Who did this?"
Bella smiled to herself and looked to the doorway where Esme had been standing. For some reason she knew Esme was close by and listening intently. When she spoke it was to Esme.
"He removed all of the venom, Edwards as well as his own." She spat defiantly. "He said he wanted me to be free to choose, to walk proudly beside him as an equal and not be dragged along behind. He wants our union to be my choice. And it is whole heartedly." She held her head high and stared defiantly into Carlisle's eyes. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, her teeth rattled in her head. Steeling herself for what was coming she gritted her teeth. Bella would never let them know they had hurt her. She knew they still needed her shield. They would want to persuade Alistair to join them. Bella knew what his answer would be and it made her smile.
Seeing Bella smile smugly at him made Carlisle roar with frustration and throw her across the room, before she could make contact with the wall Esme caught her in a shockingly gentle embrace. Bella looked up into her face and smiled. The countenance that looked back was blank but for a split second Bella would swear she saw a spark of joy.
"Carlisle my love you said she was not to be harmed." She whispered in almost an apology.
"Of course Esme darling. You are quite right Bella is not to be harmed. Please accept my apologies Bella. I allowed my jealousy and anger to get the better of me." He picked Bella gently out of Esmes's arms and carried her to the sofa. With surprisingly tender hands he checked that her head had not been further damaged and then checked that the tattoo had not started to bleed again. He gently rubbed some cream in to it to keep it supple. The time he took allowed all the vampires in attendance to calm down. Well all except Jasper and Edward. Bella supposed they would feel the most put out by her revelations. After all she had been trying to play them off against each other. Bella knew she really should have waited before telling them about Alistair but she couldn't bring herself to lie about him. Live or die she would do it honestly, but she really hoped she was going to live.
"Who is he Bella?" It was a question but Bella knew Carlisle would not accept silence as a response. Something told her that if they knew it was Alistair they would run away and take her with them. It would take him longer to find her. So she did the only thing she could do.
"His name is Al we met in Durham as he was passing through, he's a nomad." It was the truth after all. Jasper looked at her accusingly.
"She is holding something back. That is truthful but not the whole truth." He announced to the room.
"Who is he?" Edward yelled. "Where is he?"
"He feeds on humans so he was away hunting when you came. He will be looking for me. He is my husband, and he won't be happy you snatched me and took my ring from my hand." Bella said as she smirked at Edward. "You made a big mistake Eddie. He will want you dead when he catches up with me. Which he will."
Emmett and Jasper looked at each other thoughtfully and hissed something between them. Carlisle looked at them then nodded. Edward gasped and looked terrified. He was grabbed by Emmett before he could run.
"We would be prepared to hand Edward to him, if he would agree to stay with us. We want you in our family Bella, we have missed you. We were wrong to allow Edward to persuade us to leave you. We should have held out and insisted that we stay." Carlisle had such a pleasant happy smile on his face Bella could hardly believe he was calmly discussing handing his 'son' over to be killed. Let alone the crap that was coming out of his mouth. Did they really think her that stupid?
"What!" She screamed. "Just like that you are wrong. Are you fucking insane Carlisle? You would calmly hand Edward over to my mate knowing he will kill him. What exactly do you want from me?" Her voice was steady. Her eyes ice cold.
"We need your shield. We need you to fulfil our dreams." He answered cagily.
"Dreams of what?" Bella asked, she already guessed but wanted to play for time. "What makes you think I have a gift at all?"
"We want other vampires to be like us. Have you mentioned hunting animals to your mate?" he asked slowly. Bella noticed they were wary of her now. Talking to her as if she were a wounded animal. Clearly they needed to know more about their opponent. Bella wasn't going to give them anything but she had to be clever. Jasper would spot a lie. "We have discussed it. I wanted to try. But he wants to stick to humans. He said he would support me though; he would even bring me here if it helped. He just wants me to be happy."
Bella wanted to jump for joy at the sudden memory of that particular conversation. Alistair had indeed said he would bring her to the Cullen's if she wanted. Jasper would not be able to spot a lie as it was all true.
The Cullen's looked at each other. Carlisle walked toward her slowly and crouched down in front of her.
"We would be prepared to hand Edward over to your mate, if he would agree to stay here and allow us to help you with your diet. We would prefer it if he didn't kill Edward but as your mate it is up to him. Edward must face the consequences of his mistakes" That was it, Carlisle would sacrifice his 'son' to get what he wanted. Edward had fucked up and would have to pay the price. Bella was appalled.
"What if he wants to leave and never come back?" Bella asked carefully.
"Then you tell him you want to stay." Jasper yelled. "Because if you don't we will kill him. The game has not changed Bella, just the players. If we kill your mate before you are turned you will cope reasonably well. But will live with the knowledge you will spend eternity alone because you were stupid. So it's up to you but I would suggest that when he gets here you persuade him."
"You really think you will be able to kill him. Are you so invincible that you can kill anybody?" Bella screamed at Jasper with barely disguised scorn.
"Do not mistake me for a peace loving Cullen." Jasper said with a vicious sneer. "I am one of the most feared vampires in our world. I have killed more than I care to count. Trust me your mate will be no problem for me."
"And as for you." He continued savagely. "Your little games will stop. I have been given control of your training and it starts now. Any further attempts to disrupt us or divide us will result in severe punishment. And no, you won't be harmed but your mate will be. I will hurt him for every time you piss me off. Do I make myself clear?"
Bella studied him carefully. She noticed scars littering his skin. He was trying to affect her emotions she could tell. Staring into his eyes she met his challenging glare with one of her own.
"Bring it on arse hole. I don't think you are man enough to take him, you are certainly not man enough to affect me." She folded her arms and leant back in her chair. "I don't doubt that you were once a very big fish in your tiny little pond, but you don't scare me and I don't give a shit what you threaten."
Jasper roared and launched at her. Carlisle and Emmett leapt to intercept him as Bella was whisked out of the way by none other than Esme again.
"Are you my guardian angel now?" Bella whispered and Esme giggled.
"Bella you would do well to show Jasper some respect. He has fought and killed more vampires than any other." Carlisle said in an attempt to calm the situation.
"If he is so vicious, what's he doing with you? Your dirty work?" It was a question but came out as an accusation. "Don't want to get your own hands dirty is that it Carlisle? Am I supposed to be scared because he has a few scars. I was always told, 'it's not the one with scars you should fear but the one that put them there'."
"Each of these scars represents a vampire dead." Jasper said with barely hidden pride.
"Bullshit. They just represent another time you got sloppy. Another occasion when someone got close enough to get their teeth in you. I can see that you have loads on your neck. How many times did someone get close enough to take your head? How often did you forget to protect your neck? You are not a champion, you are a joke and one day very soon you will slip up again and this time you will die."
The silence that followed her outburst was deafening. Jaspers eyes were flat black. He was furious beyond reason. Carlisle and Emmett had wrestled him to the floor and were struggling to hold him down. Rosalie was backing toward the door about to make a run for it and Alice was searching her visions trying to figure out what to do. Only Esme held firm, she pushed Bella behind her and stood her ground.
Alice eventually snapped out of her trance and cautiously approached her mate. She put her hand on his cheek and spoke softly.
"Come on Jazz, don't let her wind you up. She is just trying to get to you and you are letting her. Let's go and hunt, take some time alone. You can get your own back on her later. Remember you are completely in control of her training. You can kill her mate and make her life hell for eternity. But if you kill her now it's over. Come on let's get out of here."
After a moment they let him up off the floor and holding Alice's hand he left. But not before sending Bella a look that six months ago would have made her blood run cold. Today however she wanted to laugh, wisely though she kept that to herself or at least tried to but the growls coming from outside indicated she wasn't completely successful.
"Oh Bella, what are we going to do with you?" Carlisle asked her while gently stroking her cheek. "I cannot protect you from him if you continue to deliberately rile him up."
"Has it occurred to you Carlisle that I don't want your protection? I don't want to be here. I won't stay and I won't help you do whatever the hell it is you want me to help with. You can threaten all you want. I don't give a flying fuck about my mother. I haven't spoken to her in years. She could be dead already for all I know. And as for Al, I'd like to see you try." She turned her back on him and looked out of the window. "You can all go to hell as far as I am concerned."
In the reflection of the window she saw Carlisle lift his had as though to hit her but stop with it mid-air, he was staring into the trees. Then Bella saw what he was looking at. Coming out of the tree line was a vampire. He had a lazy, relaxed air about him that reminded her of Alistair. He raised his hand in greeting then in the next moment was wandering into the room.
"Carlisle, good to see you again. I was just passing when I caught your scent and decided to visit." He said shaking his hand while eyeing Bella speculatively.
"Garrett, how wonderful. I see you have spotted our guest. This is Isabella she is to be turned soon and is joining our family."
Garrett approached Bella slowly and taking her hand kissed it gently.
"Clar Innes, Iseabail. How lovely to meet you."