another thing I wanted to do differently was that I wanted to have more perspectives on the action. Tell me what you think!

twilight belongs to SM

Peter's POV

Jasper called me at three in the morning, which was kind of unusual. Not that he could actually have been waking either of us, but with living in the Southwest, we tended to hunt nocturnally and do all the other stuff when we couldn't go outside for fear of exposure.

He was as excited as I've only seen him once before, that was when Char and I had come to get him away from that bitch Maria all those years ago. After that he had stayed with us for a while, but left when he couldn't stand our kind of happy as a couple situation, while he was on his own. He had roamed around since then, becoming more and more depressed and listless through the years. There was no sense in our existence, he claimed, unless one had a mate. He had become sure by now that there was no one out there for him, and with him projecting his own mood, it had become increasingly difficult having him around as a guest, much as we liked him.

Anyway, now he called and started talking rapidly before I had even said hello to him. "Whoa, slow down!" I hollered.

He didn't give any indication that he had heard me. "So, will you come here now to take a look at her? I really don't know what to do, it's … complicated."

"Just calm down, will ya? You think you've found your mate. Congratulations! Yes, I will take a look at her, there's nothing that would stop me from doing that, I'm so curious, but what's your beef? Take her!"

"She's human, I told you!" Disapproving.

"So? Change her!"

"I can't."

I snickered. "YOU can't change a human? That's new one. Hey, if she's your mate, you won't let anyone else touch her anyway. I'm not about to have my head ripped off by my oldest friend."

I heard a creaking sound, apparently he had just shattered something into microscopic fractures. Oh dear, the Major's temper was out. "All right, all right, where are you, I'm coming."

"I'm in Phoenix", he gave me the address and at least sounded a bit more rational now that he had some precise planning to do. I kissed Char good-bye and left at once.

"Show me the wondergirl!" I told Jasper some hours later. He had told me to meet him at an address in Phoenix. Being out in the daytime was not a good idea for us, but we were lucky once more, as it was one of the rare overcast days in that city.

My friend pointed to a gangly brunette reading outside a house with a pained look on his face.

Oh boy. How would I tell him about it? Well, better get it over with fast. "Sorry, Major, no doing here. She's too young."

He looked away, and I could see that he had known that himself and had just needed someone else to actually say it. "How much?" He pressed out between gritted teeth.

"How much what?"

"How long will I have to wait?"

I took another look. She was quite pretty, pale and dark-haired, a bit of a Snow-white look on her, dark eyes though, probably would grow up to become really good-looking, but there was no telling what she'd really look like once the coltish-ness of youth was gone, and her proportions would be right again. "Phew, she's all of what, 14?" I was sure he had already researched her in the time it took me to get here, perfectionist that he was. He kicked a stone with his boot and nodded.

"Three to four years. You want a woman, not a girl for your mate, man." I braced myself for the explosion that was bound to follow and looked up surprised when none came. "Jasper?"

His eyes were on her, but I could tell his gaze was focussed on something far away. Suddenly he turned to me. "I'll wait then and make sure nothing happens to her. Thanks for coming so promptly."

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, actually, it's… strange to have a purpose again after such a long time." He smiled sheepishly.

I grinned back. "Well, at least she'll be the best-protected teenager in Arizona for the next few years."

Jasper bought a house in Phoenix the next day, and I don't think he left her alone more than he needed to feed. We visited him several times – there was no way I could have kept Charlotte away once she had found out about the girl – and found him in much better shape than before.

Three and a half years later I had another late night phone call. "Yes?"

He was breathless at the other end. "It's perfect. She's moving north to live with her dad for the last two years at school. I can snatch her from there and…"

Charlotte was gesticulating wildly, and I feared she would combust if I didn't approach the topic of our many debates about the whole thing right now. I sighed and interrupted his word flow. "Ok, ok, but are you sure about the snatching? Why don't you just get to know her the good old-fashioned way, make her fall in love with you and change her then? Charlotte thinks that would be best, too." My mate made a face: It had been her who had come up with the idea.

"Yes, she told me in all so many words herself last time you were here."

"And?" She had? Why did no one ever tell me anything?

"I said I'd think about it."

"In other words, no. Care to explain why?"

"What if she… I mean, how can I know… she's nice, she's a really good person. What makes you think she'd fall in love with someone like me?"

Good heavens. "Jasper, if she's your mate, she will fall for you. Are you having doubts about the whole thing?"

"No, I'm just… it's… well, I'm me, and…"

Charlotte snatched the phone from me. "Jasper, what's not to love? From what I've seen, she will not be put off by a few scars, especially if she's your mate. Go for it. What do you say to moving up early, so you can get the lay of the land and we take over watching her?"

"That's an idea", I agreed. "You could get a place and work up a legend or something."

In the end we talked him round and thought that finally the whole thing would get started the way it was supposed to be.

Obviously we had not a clue how the story would unfold!