Chapter 131

Bella

I had done my best to be enthusiastic when we viewed the small farm in Utah and if I hadn't already decided on our home I might have been happy to live there. The house was pretty if a little tired and the views across the meadows to the mountains was spectacular. I could see Jasper was taken with it, busy talking to the realtor about the planning permissions needed in Utah and his vision for a new stable block and paddocks for the mares he planned on breeding from. He was going to be devastated when I rejected it, but I knew in the end he would be thrilled with my choice, or at least I hoped so. Peter and Charlotte kept me up to date on progress and another couple of weeks should see it ready for its new owners. In the meantime though I had to play my part.

Jasper

I really thought this time we had a winner, it ticked all the boxes, plenty big enough and with enough to update to make it our own. Great potential for raising horses with an outdated stable block that would do for now, until I got the OK to replace it. I could see us now sitting on the porch watching the horses grazing in the nearest paddock and talking about when the new foal would be born. Bella seemed enthusiastic too and we promised to ring Debbie in the next few days as we had a couple more to visit first.

When we got back to our motel I was full of plans and as soon as we got inside I grabbed paper and pen and began to draw an outline of my vision. Bella watched me for a while in silence then stretched and yawned,

"I need a run, why don't we go hunt in the mountains?"

I was always ready to hunt, my thirst could become a living thing if I left it too long. My body still craved the satisfaction that only human blood supplied and that was a constant fight of head over heart.

We left as soon as it got dark and found ourselves ranging much further than usual. So far in fact that we spent the following day getting back, but it had been worth it, we found two black bears fighting over a female who we allowed to escape. The two males made a great meal and for once I felt my thirst was almost gone. Living in the mountains or close by was looking more appealing every day. Which was another plus the last place we viewed had going for it. When we got in and showered it occurred to me that we had missed a viewing so I rang to rearrange for the following day.

Bella came back in wearing just a towel around her head and a smile and it was just too much for a weak willed male like me, I couldn't help seeing it as an invitation and she never complained. Because of this we almost missed the rearranged appointment but when we saw the place we knew it wasn't for us. For starters it was just too close to a major highway and other dwellings, the land was all behind the house and we wanted some privacy, more than this place afforded, but we did look around just to be polite.

We were driving back when I brought up the subject of the farm we had both liked the day before last and I was surprised to find Bella was no more than lukewarm about it now.

"I thought you liked it?"

"I did but...it's too finished. I think we should go for something that needs totally gutting and rebuilding. We can leave our stamp on it then."

Now I was officially confused, we had looked at some places that were little more than ruins and Bella had said they needed too much work! It occurred to me that maybe she wasn't ready to settle down yet.

"How about we put house hunting on hold for a while and just travel, we could go abroad, see something of the world. Who knows we might decide we'd prefer to live outside the States. Somewhere like Germany or Poland, there are plenty of wild forests there, wolves and bears, all our favorite food. There's no reason we have to stay in America. We might even run into your dad, do you have any idea where he went when he left Volterra?"

"No, why would he bother telling me, I'm just his daughter and I don't want to live abroad I like it here."

I gave up at this point before I got on the wrong side of my mate and paid for it, painfully.

We went back to Peter and Charlotte's the following day having decided to think a little more about where we wanted to put down roots. As soon as this decision was made Bella seemed to lighten up which was a relief and seemed as eager as me to plan a trip across Europe although just for fun, not to look at any of the countries we passed through as a potential home, she was adamant about that.

As it turned out we did travel to Europe but not quite as planned. We were laying together naked in the huge bed that looked out over the back of the house onto rolling meadows when my cell phone rang. I had to smile because Bella had reprogrammed it to play Dixieland for me. A song I vaguely remembered hearing during my days as a Major in the Confederate Army. Picking it up I recognized Darius' number and answered knowing he wouldn't just be ringing for a chat.

"Darius? What's up?"

"We need you, Major." I sat up, his serious tone cutting through my mellow mood.

"Why? What's wrong?"

Bella joined me looking worried.

"The Romanians have joined forces with the Sisters of Death and they are headed our way. Now call me cynical but I'm thinking they aren't on their way here to congratulate us and if rumors are correct they have acquired some excellent fighters, names you might be familiar with, Samson, Wilhelm, and Gregor. Not forgetting Savannah of course."

"Look I'd like to help you but I promised Bella I was finished with all that."

Bella

Even I could hear the tension in Darius' voice and although the names meant nothing to me it was obvious by the tightening around his eyes the same wasn't true to Jasper. Yet he was prepared to refuse Darius for the promise he had made to me, I couldn't allow that to happen.

"You have to go, Jasper if Darius needs you. I know he wouldn't ask if it weren't important."

"Are you sure Bella? I'm happy to keep my promise to you. If I go then I will fight and people will get hurt, maybe die. You need to know that."

"I understand Jasper and I also understand that if you don't help. If you don't make a stand then there's a good chance something terrible might happen to our friends in Volterra."

"Friends?"

I sighed,

"I don't like what they did, but it wasn't really their fault. Charlie was my dad and if he said he didn't want me to know then it wasn't their place to argue. I don't like it, but I don't want to see them killed."

Jasper

Bella's attitude was very mature and I was grateful she was prepared to allow me to break my promise because if Darius was right and I had no reason to doubt him, then apart from Peter and myself Felix was the only one who stood a chance of stopping this attempted coup. The names Darius had spoken were, apart from my own, the most feared in our world. Not because they were gifted, at least not powerfully except Savannah but because they were violent, cruel and utterly ruthless. They didn't care who the target was or how they destroyed them, just that they did. Also Gregor was ex Volturi who had defected to the Romanians after Aro's death which meant the enemy knew as much about the citadel as the new Volturi did, so no ambushes or traps were going to work. It would be all out war.

"Why aren't they afraid of Alec or Jane? Surely their gifts would stop anyone getting into Volterra?"

"If not for one small detail, Savannah. She is gifted, her gift is to negate all other mind-altering gifts in a miles radius of her which means none of the Volturi gifts is going to be of any help at all. What I don't understand is that Savannah has always been neutral, she refused offers from every coven to join them so what changed? Any idea's Darius?"

"You could say that Savannah finally met her mate, Stefan's commander."

"Savannah and Ivan?

"No, I forgot you've been out of contact a while. Ivan made the mistake of taking on Windsor, an English vampire over here to make his mark. Well, he did and stayed on to replace Ivan. Savannah came, drawn by the mating pull and voila, Stefan has a real one hundred karat diamond gift at his disposal. I'll send the jet for you, be ready I have no idea how long we have before they attack. Two days, three at most I'd say."

"What about Charlie?"

"Can't reach him but I'm hoping he'll hear through the grapevine, of course he's got the only gift not affected by Savannah's, or at least I'm praying I got that right because his is a physical barrier, not a mental one. Anyway, see you soon."