A/N: Good news, I am back to my previous writing schedule and have finished my first novel. It is with a proofreader right now and when it's done, I'll be self-publishing my first book. I'm very excited! Enjoy the new chapter! I promise the next one will have more action and be longer. I needed this chapter to help with flow.
Chapter 48 – Twice the Gifts
"Alice, how much time before Edward and James get here?" Jasper asked as soon as things at settled down in the Cullen household.
Staring off into the distance, Alice finally said, "Tomorrow or the next day. Edward changed their plans."
"Let me know when you see anythin' else about 'em. Our timing is goin' to have to be perfect on this one."
"What's up, Major?" Peter questioned. The vibes his longtime friend was giving did not sit well with him.
"I think the wolves are up to somethin', but I'm not sure what. Those three attacked us without provocation and Sam didn't seem too terribly concerned about it. If he really does still have control over his pack, then he knew what was happenin' and allowed it to go down."
With a frown marring his face, Carlisle spoke up, "That's a serious accusation. They have always…"
Jasper interrupted, "I know most of y'all want to believe in the treaty and peace, but things changed when Bella and Charlie joined us. Tensions were already growin' before that too. Sorry, Carlisle, but I really think their up to somethin'. Now Alice can't see what their plannin' because of the holes in her visions, but that doesn't mean I trust 'em right now. They're like a snake in the grass, waitin' to strike."
"Jazz is right, Carlisle. We were finishing up our hunt when they attacked us," Alice confirmed.
Rubbing his head, the leader sighed. He had always been more of a pacifist, only fighting when absolutely necessary, and in his long life, it had not been necessary too many times, but it seemed times were changing and he didn't like it. And he knew he had no control over it. Was Jasper right? Were the wolves up to something? While he would admit that the tensions with the pack were getting more strained, he still wanted to believe in the power of the treaty; however, if the wolves were attacking without reason, he could no longer believe in the same values and beliefs the old Indians had. Their time in Forks had come to an end permanently, and he would protect his family. "What do we need to do?"
"Right now, we wait and practice. James and Edward are still coming with a small group of newborns. They're probably counting on the newborns either distracting us or taking us out. Edward may be able to read minds, but that doesn't mean he knows all my skills, which means neither does James. We'll have surprise on our side for that, but it still won't be easy. I still have a reputation, so they'll know I have some experience. As for the wolves, we'll decide if we can use them or not, and if we do, they are the enemy as well. Don't trust them. Once the newborns are taken care of, they're liable to turn on us and try to take us out as well. Carlisle, I need you to call Eleazar."
"Are you asking them to come help?"
"If they want, they can, but it'll be dangerous. I have questions for him though."
"About how Bella was able to feel you?" Emmet asked aloud.
Nodding, Jasper answered, "Yeah. It shouldn't have been able to happen, but Bella has a gift and that could be part of it. He knows more about this stuff than anyone else. Maybe he has some ideas to help us. We need to understand as much as we can before James and Edward because I don't want anything at our disposal to be used against us. We have newborns and other vamps with gifts gunnin' for us. We need to be prepared." He turned to his mate and asked, "Can you tell me what happened darlin'?"
Bella was at a loss as to what actually happened and explained, "One minute I was sitting here talking to Peter and Charlotte and the next…I felt everything you were feeling. All the emotions from you and the others. Everything. I couldn't focus on anything else, I only felt that. It's like it took over."
"I know mates have some sort of connection, but this goes beyond anything I've heard. Carlisle?"
"I don't know. I've never heard of it either, however, nothing about your relationship has been exactly normal. Eleazar may know more than me," the patriarch responded.
"Call him. The sooner we talk to him, the better," Jasper instructed. He was about to follow Carlisle out of the room when a hand stopped him. Bella still held him tightly as if afraid to let him out. He felt her fear, anxiousness, trepidation, and lying underneath all of that, he could feel her curiosity. "Bella darlin'?"
After experiencing the terror, feeling what he did, experiencing everything with him, Bella was afraid to let go, to allow him to leave her sight.
Pulling her to her feet, he wrapped her in his arms and whispered, "Come on. It'll be best if your there too."
She said nothing and just followed where he went. Her mind was still awhirl with not only what she had found out about before the sudden attack, but also the fact she could feel him and everything he was going through. According to the others, this was not something they had dealt with before, but then again, she was turning out to be less than normal since the moment she opened her eyes to her new world. Her level of control had never been seen before, and yet, it appeared as if her dad had the same anomaly. Feeling Jasper's emotions and the others through him when they were separated by as much distance as they were, had been odd and horrifying at the same time. Why only then though? Only when he was in danger and not the times before that? And how had he seen her in his dreams when vampires didn't sleep or dream. They were separated by over 100 years, but he had seen her. How? Sometimes it felt as if they had more questions than answers and each answer they did get, just opened up another can of questions. "Why didn't you use your cellphone to call this Eleazar?"
"The signal isn't always the most reliable up north, and this is a conversation we don't want to interrupt with a dropped call," Carlisle explained.
"Who is he?"
"He is a member of the Denali coven. He also used to work for the Volturi in identifying gifts. He has seen or heard of almost every gift that has ever manifested itself. He can probably give us some insight as to why you were able to feel Jasper, what your gift is, and a multitude of other information." Carlisle chose not to bring up the topic of the southern Vampire dreaming of Bella since he wasn't sure what Jasper was ready to disclose or not, but he could honestly say, he had never heard about a vampire dreaming of their mate.
Luck apparently was not on their side. When they made the call, Kate informed them that Eleazar was out hunting. Carlisle and Jasper almost yelled in frustration, but the younger vampire managed to say, "Kate, have him call us as soon as he gets back. It's urgent." They got her agreement and hung up. Now they had to wait again. It seemed as if they were constantly waiting on something, and it was about to drive the Texan bonkers. He was tired of waiting. He wanted answers now, he wanted to kill Edward now, and he wanted this whole ordeal to be pushed behind him.
Carlisle might have been polite enough to hold off on his questions about the "dreams", but Bella was not, "JW?"
"Hmm?" His eyes sought hers, "What is it darlin'?"
"Peter said you saw me in a dream, a vision. Is that true?"
His head bobbed up and down slowly, cautiously, "It is. What else did his loose lips blabber?"
"Not much."
"I don't know how to explain what happened, but one minute I would be sittin' there doin' whatever, and all the sudden, your face would appear. The first time it happened, I was whittlin' a piece of wood."
"Whittling?"
A lopsided smirk appeared on his face, "I told you, darlin', I have skills."
She started to snicker and then laugh, and when she settled down, she shook her head, "You've got something, but not sure I would agree with skills." He was on her a moment later, throwing her over his shoulder and walking out of Carlisle's office. She pounded his back, but he would not let go; and while she was sure if she really fought, she could have broken free of his grip, she didn't want to escape. Her body was already anticipating what they would do once they reached their bedroom, and her core started to prepare itself.
They made it to the door of their room, Jasper's hand was on the door handle when the phone rang, and he heard Carlisle answer it. The expected call came sooner than he anticipated. Placing his mate carefully on her feet, he groaned, "Raincheck." Racing back to the office, they were there in a matter of seconds.
"He's right here. I'll put you on speaker phone. We've run into some odd things here and thought you might be the best person to advise us," the leader stated before pressing a button on his phone.
"I'll do what I can, old friend," Eleazar returned.
Jasper sat down in a chair and pulled Bella into his lap before he began, "Eleazar, thanks for returnin' our call. Like Carlisle said, we've come across a few things that we have no fuckin' clue what the hell is goin' on."
"You have my curiosity piqued."
"I found my mate when she was a human and she recently joined our coven. I was able to change her without any problems, however, when she woke up, she had this control I've never seen before in a newborn. She still does. Her father was turned as well and he has the same amount of control."
"Everyone is different. Some are able to control it more. I don't know. Tell me more."
"Before she was turned, Alice and I were the only gifts that worked on her in our coven. Edward was unable to read her mind. I doubt he still can. In addition, normally I can only control the emotions of the people within a certain radius of where I am. No more than half a mile at most and that's only if I'm really focused. I can typically do everyone in the house though without too much trouble. Anythin' beyond that takes more concentration and doesn't always work, but Bella…Eleazar, we were several miles away, at least 20, and she knew exactly when we were in danger. She felt everythin'."
"What do you mean?"
"Darlin', tell him what happened," he encouraged his mate.
Bella cleared her throat and said, "I was fine and talking to Peter and Charlotte, and then I doubled over. I could feel everything he, my dad, and Alice were feeling. It was like He was in the room and projecting everything on me."
This was surprising to him, but it was not unheard of in Eleazor's lifetime, "Anything else?"
"Edward has left the coven and joined forces with a nomad named James. James has already killed several people in this area and together they want to try and take Alice and Bella with them. Bella was Edward's singer and he wanted her for himself. James does too, but he has some sort of history with Alice and wants her as well. She was the prey that got away. Accordin' to Alice, they're meetin' others with gifts here, creating newborns, and will converge on us here. I don't want to be surprised by anythin' and right now, I don't know enough about Bella's gift to be comfortable. If she can feel everythin' I feel when I'm in trouble, then we might have a problem durin' the battle," Jasper stated.
"I see. We were aware of a portion of the Edward and James situation, but not the rest. When?"
"Last Alice saw, this'll all happen tomorrow or the next day."
"I don't know to what extent your mate's gift operates, but she has attributes of a shield. There are different kinds, and hers may only protect her mind. I would need to have more information in order to tell you anything else. As for the link, her feeling your gift, that could either be part of her gift or it could be something else."
"What do you mean?"
"There are individual gifts, which can be rare and certain gifts are rarer than others, but even more rare is the gift that does not manifest itself until you find your mate. Typically it only happens when the mated pair both have gifts, and the new gift will then link the two gifts together."
"So it will only happen when I'm in danger?"
"Maybe, but maybe it needs to develop more. What was going on when Bella felt you?"
"We were bein' attacked and I was tryin' to hold Charlie back. He's a newborn and one of the wolves had his mate pinned down."
"And you were able to hold him without issue?"
"Well, I was sendin' calmin' vibes to him to try and subdue him. I was also tryin' to make him drowsy, but it just seemed to piss him off more."
"Interesting."
"What's interestin'?"
"I think Bella was helping you."
"How so?"
"When did Charlie wake up?"
"Right before we went huntin'."
"Jasper, you probably more so than most, understand newborns and how they work, their strength. Regardless of your gift, you have a newborn whose mate is being attacked…he is going to fight for her. You shouldn't have been able to hold him. He should have been able to break your bond."
"Tore off my hand if it's any consolation."
Eleazar chuckled, "My friend, if your Bella really is a shield, she might have been able to help you with Charlie. Again, I'm not completely certain of her gift, but it sounds like it might have either enhanced yours or helped prevent Charlie from breaking your grip. Your gift on the other hand, she was able to feel no matter the distance, but only her. I need to see more."
"I'll be happy to oblige once we get out of this mess."
"We'll be there tonight. As it stands, I don't know if Bella will help you or hinder you in your fight. As a newborn, she will be easily distracted and if she feels you, she may put both of you in more danger."
Sighing, Carlisle said, "Thank you. We appreciate all the help you can give."
"I cannot promise we will fight, but I can at least help you with Bella."
"Thank you," Jasper spoke quietly. He did not know if he would have additional fighters, but it was still a possibility, and if not, then at least he might gain some understand he currently sorely lacked.
Elsewhere in the house, a phone received an email: Charlie, they have a plan to get rid of the Cullen's and Paul. The wolves are coming. Be careful. –Billy.