A/N: Looks like Peter and Charlotte are on board and will help out… even if Peter is a bit unsettled about sticking around Forks for too long. What will they think about Bella though? Will they actually like her? Either way it looks like they will do what they can. Enjoy the new chapter!
Happy Memorial Day weekend. I hope everyone that is celebrating has a safe and fun filled holiday. For those who served or had family that served in the military… thank you.
Chapter 17 – Danger in the Woods
Standing in the woods near the school, Jasper watched Bella move from class to class. After he had finished his business with Peter and Charlotte, he had decided to check on his mate, staying in the background and observing everything. It was something instinctual, something deep inside him that told him to watch, wait, and prepare. He wasn't sure of the whys or hows, but he knew his gut had never steered him wrong before and he would listen to it today as well. Wait he did, studying the people and surroundings.
Peter and Charlotte had decided it was probably best to feed once again before meeting the human who was one vampire's mate and another's singer. They didn't know what to expect, so after they stepped out of the house with Jasper, they had run in the opposite direction, far away from Forks and its inhabitants… and now Jasper wondered if he should have brought them with him instead. Something was off, something wrong. It was crackling in the air around him. Scanning the landscape and the forest, he finally caught it. A brief movement drew his eyes and there it was… someone else had the school under surveillance. Too far away to get a read on the feelings since the other person was on the complete opposite side of the school hidden in the woods there, Jasper had to move closer to him or her and quickly. Taking off through the trees, he made sure to keep the stranger in his sights, and at that moment he was more grateful to his vampire vision than he had ever been before. Slowly he made his way within range of the stranger and could start to feel the emotions the other person… no, not a person, a vampire, was feeling. The emotions rolling off of him, yes a male, were almost too much to bear: desire, hunger, thirst, maliciousness, and murderous intent. Jasper felt them all and they almost sent him into his own frenzy, but he was able to quell it before it overtook him.
Closer and closer he moved to the stranger, never letting him out of his sights, or range of his empath abilities. Jasper needed to get to this new vampire before he did something or before he disappeared. This had to be one of the nomads… and that meant this other man was dangerous, well at least to humans. Jasper was more than confident in his own abilities that he could take down this enemy; however, he also knew never to underestimate his opponent. He had to keep in mind that this was one of three… where were the other two? Did these three nomads have gifts or abilities? There was no way to know for sure, and the unknown made this confrontation and entire situation that much more precarious.
Slowing his approach, Jasper stretched out all of his senses to see if he could find anyone else in the area. There was no one besides the humans in the school and this one vampire, who up to this point had not seemed to notice Jasper, but could that be right? Could this stranger actually not realize that he had been spotted? It seemed unlikely, however, the Texas man had run into a lot of unusual things throughout his life as a vampire; and yet in this situation, he believed although possible, not likely probable. This nomad and his friends had been able to dodge being found by humans, wolves, and the local coven. No, something was unsettling… something was wrong… something was out to happen. Pausing momentarily, Jasper narrowed his eyes and studied the man a little more closely for a second and noticed the small smile on the strangers face. A smile? Why was this vampire smiling? And then in an instant, the nomad whipped his head around and stared right at Jasper, laughing at him before ducking further into the trees and running off. Without hesitation, Jasper took off after him, determined to catch this stranger and get his answers… right before he killed the son of a bitch.
Jasper planned on catching the stranger, gleaning all the information he could, and then he would rip the bastard apart and burn him, ensuring the nomad could never terrorize the people around Forks again, could never put Charlie in danger, and could never worry Bella again. Yes, his intentions came back to his mate… they always would and he would always make sure that she was happy without the use of his own unique gift. That was the plan, but even his best intentions could be waylaid at times. Chasing further into the trees, the stranger jumped a ravine and disappeared. Disappeared because Jasper could not follow. Disappeared because if Jasper crossed the invisible line his whole coven would be in danger. Disappeared because of a damn treaty that he wanted to break for more than one reason. The southern vampire wanted to follow the nomad and he wanted to make sure Bella was his for centuries to come, and doing either one would bring the fury of the wolves raining down on the Cullen's; however, he was not worried. One day Bella would be like him… he was sure of it, but for now, he had to stand down and leave it to his natural enemy… the fucking wolves.
He could see one pacing the other side of the ravine waiting for him to break the treaty, and Jasper grinned. He would do no such thing right now. The major was an expert at biding his time, and he would continue to do so, but it also pissed him off that this damn wolf was more worried about him than the nomad that had already crossed into Quileute territory. What the hell was that about? Oh Jasper was sure someone had followed the stranger, and yet, there was no guaranty such a thing really happen. Shaking his head, he left the pacing wolf and ran back to the school as fast as he could, needing to verify with his own eyes that Bella was safe.
Jasper needn't have worried. Shortly after lunch, Alice got another vision of a stranger watching the school, or to be more exact watching Bella. The seer saw Jasper watching from the woods as well, but this other man was a stranger and that meant danger. Sending a text to Emmett, Alice made an excuse to leave class and she took no more than three steps out the door when the big man met up with her. Together, they went to Bella's class and stood guard. Emmett went to the roof of the modular building and Alice patrolled the grounds. If something or someone were to attack, it was probably best the stronger of the two were in the immediate vicinity… not that Alice was more than 50 feet away at any given point in time. No, they needed to protect Bella without making a big scene. If they had taken her out of class, her father may have said or done something, possibly believing that she had turned into a bad student, gotten involved in the wrong crowd, etc. Scanning her visions, Alice knew that the best way to handle the situation was to guard and protect… not act, at least not yet.
Before the bell rang to move to their next class, Emmett jumped off the roof, landing in front of his sister, "Jasper's chasing something."
"He spotted the nomad and is going after him, but he won't catch him. We need to keep watch over Bella though. This isn't over," Alice responded.
Emmett nodded, "Should we get Rose?" He knew his own mate didn't exactly like Bella or the fact that the humans was with Jasper, however, in this type of situation, it could prove useful to have one more person with them.
Shaking her head, the petite vampire declined the offer, "Not yet." Alice honestly felt that getting Rosalie involved right now would cause more problems than it would help, and they did not need any more issues to deal with at the moment, "Besides, Jasper will be here shortly. We'll have to escort Bella to her next class, but he will be here a few minutes after the bell rings. Rose is going to be a little mad you are helping, but you can tell her I forced you into it."
The bigger man snorted with laughter, "You forced me? I don't think you could coerce a fly, and I think Rose would know that."
"Oh really? So if I said I had a vision of… let's say, Rose leaving you, you wouldn't go to her and beg her to stay?"
If possible, Emmett got a little paler, "Excuse me?"
"Well, what if?"
"Is that really…?"
Snickering, Alice shook her head, "No, but it's nice to know I can't coerce you at all."
"So wrong!" Emmett groaned and returned to the roof. She had played him like a fiddle and had won.
True to Alice's vision, the two vampires greeted Bella when she left class and escorted her to her next class. The brunette didn't question why they were there and just assumed that it was because they were looking out for her since Jasper couldn't be there, besides, Alice had been walking with her from class to class all day, so what was one more Cullen? About ten minutes after the bell rang to start class, Jasper arrived. He had not been able to capture the nomad and had come to check on his mate, and Emmett could only shake his head and think to himself, "It's almost scary sometimes how accurate she is."
Seeing Emmett and Alice standing guard near Bella's class, Jasper questioned them, "Is she alright? What happened?"
"Calm down. I got a vision and forced Emmett to come and help me keep watching over Bella. She is perfectly safe and nothing is wrong. She actually has no idea that there was any immediate danger. Well, she won't know until you talk about it with Peter and Charlotte later. Since she is going to be there, she will find out then," Alice answered, sparing a brief glance at Emmett when she said she forced him.
"I saw you take after something, was it one of the nomads or was it Edward?" Emmett inquired.
Jasper shook his head, "It wasn't Edward, but it was a stranger and it was a vampire. Based on the scents in the area he occupied, I would say it's one of our nomads."
"So were you too slow?" Emmett queried in a teasing voice.
Smiling, Jasper grabbed the other man's arm, swept his legs out from under him, and threw him to the ground in the blink of an eye, "Would ya'll say I'm slow?" He let his brother get up and said, "He jumped over the ravine. The wolves will either get him or he'll escape again. Either way, we've gotta be prepared for anythin'."
"He was watching Bella," Alice announced.
Eyes meeting those of his friend, the major asked, "Same guy as before?"
Alice confirmed her friend's fear, "Yes."
Emmett scowled, "Why Bella? Could she be someone else's singer as well?"
Shaking her head, the seer answered, "I don't think that's it. If she was a nomad's singer, they would have no qualms about taking her and killing those in the way. This is different."
Jasper ran a hand over his face and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand, "She's right. If Bella was this vampire's singer, my mate would be dead right now. Something else is goin' on."
"So what do we do?" Emmett asked.
Sighing, Jasper told him, "We can't do anythin' right now. Bella can't be taken out of school or taken away. All hell would break loose if that happened, and I really don't wanna deal with a pissed off police chief. For now, we protect her and hunt down these trespassers. Once we find 'em, we deal with 'em." The smile on his face gave both his companions chills. It was deadly and murderous, and the glint in his eye reflected the same thing.
After school, Bella rode home with Alice and to her surprise Jasper. He had stuck to the woods to keep surveillance over the area while he allowed Alice and Emmett to continue guarding Bella. When the brunette got in the car, she wasn't expecting to find her boyfriend sitting in the back seat. Foregoing the front in order to sit with him, she opened the back door and got in, giving her mate a kiss before the door was shut.
"Miss me darlin'?" Jasper grinned as Bella ended the kiss so that she could close the door.
"I could say no, but you would probably know I was lying," she quipped. Lacing her fingers with his, Bella asked, "Did your friends get here? Is everything okay?"
"Everythin' is fine. They should be at the house by the time we get back."
"They weren't there when you left?"
Sighing again, Jasper explained, "I've been watching the school most of the day, so I left after I greeted them and told them about you."
"You have? Why didn't you…?"
"I wasn't at school today, so I wasn't like I could be seen around campus."
Bella leaned her head against his arm, "I guess you're right."
"I always am darlin'," he joked and kissed the top of her head. He could feel her nervousness and whispered, "Don't worry honey. I'll be at your side and they are gonna love you… and trust me, they will love you more than Rose does."
"Not much of a stretch there," Bella scoffed, but it brought a smile to her face.
Alice looked at her friend in the rearview mirror and stated, "They will be hesitant, but they will accept you. You don't have to fear them."
Grateful for Alice's words, Jasper told his mate, "See, ya'll even got Alice's word on it."
Bella snickered, "Alright then, I won't worry." Still she couldn't help the apprehension and knew it would not go away until after she met these infamous friends of her mate.
Pulling up to the house, two people were waiting on the front porch. Once the car came to a stop, the two strangers stood up and anxiously awaited the occupants to emerge.
Jasper saw Peter and Charlotte sitting on the porch and told Bella to get out on his side. He had an overwhelming need to make sure his mate was safe and the furthest from danger, and that included from his two oldest friends. They were still nomads, drank human blood, unsure of him taking a human mate, and Bella was human. Wrapping an arm around Bella's waist, he approached the porch, but did not make a move to step onto it, remaining about 20 feet from his friends, "Bella this is Peter and Charlotte. Pete and Char, this is my Bella."
Charlotte smiled. She could see how much Jasper cared about this girl, and that was all she needed to give this human her seal of approval. The major had been alone for too long. Oh she was still a little wary of the situation, but she would fully support her friend, "Nice to meet you."
"You too," Bella forced a grin. Her anxiety increased when she had seen them sitting on the porch and it had not settled down one iota.
Peter stood there and studied the girl for a few minutes before he finally spoke, "I don't know what the hell your thinking, but I guess I don't have a choice but to support this lunacy. It's not like you had a choice in the matter, and since it's you major, I'll always have your back. She just wasn't what I was expecting."
Feeling slightly insulted, Bella frowned and retorted, "Well you're not what I was expecting either, so I guess that makes us even."
A moment later a soft chuckle could be heard and Peter's gaze shifted from Bella to Jasper, "I was wrong major. This girl might actually be perfect for you."