Forever Yours

03. Jasper Whitlock: A History

Authoress Note:. I have two fan fictions I haven't even gotten around to posting that I intend to work on today but those may not go up until Forever Yours & Safe and Sound are finished.

I am over on my internet usage so this will be the last chapter until April 7th. I should have a few chapters done by then if not five or six; hope this holds you over until then!

They had finally moved from where they had been standing for what seemed like forever but in reality had only been a few minutes when Bella curled up on the one sofa in the cabin, curling into herself like she was in physical pain.

If the myriad of emotions that where coming of the girl where genuine; then she more than likely was in physical pain. A vampire couldn't feel that many emotions at once without doubling over and he would the one to know, he had done it himself.

Jasper tentatively sent Bella a wave of calm, noticing when she tensed up as it started overtaking her before finally relaxing into it, fighting her instinct to run from him that came screaming off her body. This caused Jasper to chuckle; at least she had picked up some survival instincts while they had been away.

"My history isn't as nice as the others. I was the youngest major in the Confederate Army, even before the fact I lied about my age. I had been sent to evacuate Galveston, it was nowhere near as big of a town as it is now but there where men and women that where there and the Yankee Army was closing in on the town fast. It was night; I had been traveling for days with very little rest when I came among three women. Being the southern gentleman my mama raised me to be; I stopped and offered my assistance to them. That was the last thing I remember before the burning started. My change took over a week from what I was told. When I woke up I found myself in the company of a woman named Maria and her two sisters. Maria was forming a vampire army and she wanted someone that had the strategic ability that I possessed. Probably even to this day I'm the strongest vampire Maria ever changed. I soon proved myself within her ranks as she hoped I would. Most vampires where killed off after their year mark unless they could prove themselves to be useful to Maria." Jasper stopped to take an unnecessary breath, " I was one of the lucky ones. Peter, a friend of mine also made it past his year mark. One year we were culling the yearlings and as I got to the last one Peter starts rambling, which isn't too much like him. It was Charlotte, his mate. I decided to let them run and paid for it dearly. I wasn't able to feed for a month. I slaughtered a whole town before I came back to my senses. In ninety twenty I managed to make my run for it and never looked back. I stayed with Peter and Charlotte for a while before walking into a diner and meeting Alice Cullen; I had been with the Cullen's ever sense up until two months ago. I moved with them to Alaska before going my own way. Tell me something; what you do remember of the night I tried to "attack" you?" The way Jasper said attach told her that her eyes hadn't been deceiving her like her nightmares had tried to claim.

"I cut myself. Edward went to attack me," hear a wave a pain hit his chest as she took a shaky breath, she probably hadn't said his name in two months. "You lunged to defend me and Edward pushed me into the stack of plates. I tried to tell the others but no one would listen to me but the bloodlust was in Edward's eyes; not yours. The look in your eyes was predatory but it was in defense of me." Bella said, fully looking at him for the first time since they had entered the cabin.

"So you did notice what truly happened. I don't know if I should be proud of your observation skills or worried about the fact they don't tell you to run from vampires." Jasper said as a light hearted laugh Bella had never heard before came out of his mouth; this earned him a smile from the dark haired beauty before him.

"Why did you attempt to defend me? We weren't., aren't that close." Bella asked, watching his face intently, hoping he would betray whatever it was he had been thinking that day

"That gaping hole in your chest, does it have a tugging feeling to it?" Jasper asked, deflecting her question in a roundabout way.

"Yes. It always has." She answered, not sure why he knew about that other than the fact he was an empath.

"Has the ache let up since we've been in the cabin?" Jasper asked he already knew the answer to his question; he wanted her to draw her own conclusions.

"It has actually and I'm surprised I didn't notice. Some of the pain's still there but it's not like it was." Bella said, rubbing the area over her heart so absentmindedly that he could tell it had become a habit of hers.

As she turned her head back towards Jasper she noticed the smile on his lips as he looked at her; it was as if he were trying to memorize the contours of her face with one look.

"Isabella, while you were Edward's singer, which was all you where to him. He enjoyed the masochistic thrill of being around you and not killing you. If he had truly been your mate he wouldn't have craved your blood two months ago; if he had truly been your mate he could have made love to you without the fear of hurting you. It is ingrained in us; a primal instinct. We cannot hurt our mates; we can only defend them."

Jasper turned from the fire before walking over to the lone window in the front room and opening it before pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket, lighting one as he watched the wheels turn and start to click in his Isabella's head. When he was halfway done with his cigarette he felt her come up behind him and reach out tentatively to touch his arm before wrapping her arms around his stomach and burying her face into the back of his jacket and breathing in deeply.

"Is that why I always smelled gun powder and fresh air every time I tried to go to sleep the last year? Is that why I've been drawn to just leave Forks and head south to some unknown destination to ease the ache in my chest? To sit outside at night and stare at the stars and wanting to follow them until they lead me somewhere?" Bella asked barley above a whisper as she breathed in the scent of his jacket which smelled of gun powder and fresh air; she knew the smell was coming from Jasper but the jacket had picked it up the longer he wore it.

Jasper finally turned to look at her, allowing her to keep her hold on his waist as he pulled her into his arms.

"That is exactly why; I didn't know humans could feel the mating pull this strong, but if any could it would be you Isabella Marie Swan." And with that said Jasper leaned down and stole her lips for a long, slow kiss.