Seattle Nights

Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight series, all I own is the plot and a few original characters.

Chapter Nine (written by PuzzlingApprentice – original author.)

(Jasper's Point of View)

With Bella leaning back against me and emanating the most amazing cocktail of contentment, relaxation, and just a bit of lust, I couldn't help but to feel truly happy for the first time in what had to be years. Despite the fact that I had just needed to end a fight with three wolves and that easily should have scared the hell out of her, she seemed unfazed— other than being pissed about being interrupted and tearing the wolf a new one.

I didn't like the wolves, though I didn't harbor the same hatred for them that Edward had. Bella trusted them unconditionally; I could feel it in her emotions. Not once during the little skirmish had she had any worry for her own safety, only when she was looking at the wolves or at Pete and Char did she feel that specific emotion. She had been worried that they would hurt each other.

I couldn't help but to be curious as to just what they had done to earn her trust or why they felt so protective of her, but I planned on finding out. I needed to know everything that had happened since we had left; what had caused her to grow a backbone and what had happened to make her who she was.

I needed to know what had made her choose to move to Seattle as opposed to back to Arizona or wherever it was that her mother resided. As far as I knew, she hated the rain and the cold.

I was thankful that the god awful pulling had subsided now that she was in my arms. I could almost feel myself being pulled in half as I had been catching up and as soon as there had been even a hint of danger to her, I had sprinted. I knew what it all meant, I wasn't clueless. I had felt this between Pete and Char and even between Emmett and Rosalie.

I shook my head slowly; I wouldn't force the idea on Bella. She had finally gotten away from all the vampires and I didn't really think she wanted to deal with more.

I was brought out of my musings when the now human man broke the tree line. He was glaring at me hard, his eyes lingering on my arm which was still holding Bella at my side. He was angry that we were here, but if Bella wanted to visit her dad then she was going to. He couldn't get me to leave, not with the threat hanging over her head.

"What are you doing here, bloodsucker?" He hissed just as the other two stepped out from behind the tree trunks. Before I could utter a response six other wolves broke their heads out of the tree line, showing that we were out numbered. I smirked at him; if he wanted a fight I was willing to offer one, just not in front of Bella. It had been a while since I had been able to battle it out with anyone other than Peter, and if any serious damage had been done Charlotte would have my ass. I could feel my monster vibrating with excitement at the possibility of violence, nothing thrilled him more. My only hope would be that Bella left before anything happened, I wasn't sure that she could deal with that kind of gore while human.

"Just escortin' a lady home," I drawled, bringing a nasty snort out of the wolf who Bella had informed us was named Paul and a chuckle out of Bella herself.

"What do you want from her?" The younger man, a boy really, asked. I could tell by the taste of his emotions that he had been the wolf with fur the color of sand.

What did I want from Bella? A whole fucking lot. She did things that surprised me, made me question myself about things I wouldn't otherwise, made me feel; though I didn't really have an answer to that question that I was willing to share with a dog. More importantly was what I wanted for Bella. I needed her safe, happy, near me.

"What makes you think I want something from her?" I decided to answer his question with one of my own.

"We can see your eyes, you're a murderer." Paul just continued to glare.

"Well I have to agree with you there," I conceded, shocking them and Bella. They didn't need to know the specifics of how Peter, Charlotte, and I hunted though I knew that I would need to tell Bella soon enough. I only gave her a slight idea of what kind of people we hunted, she seemed to accept that well enough but she had been half asleep at the time of our conversation. I wasn't even sure she remembered it all.

"But that doesn't mean that I view every human as a meal."

Before the conversation could go any further, Bella finally spoke up.

"Who were the vampires that were in the area?" Bella spoke directly to Paul, straightening as she did so. She was no longer leaning against me, but she stayed by my side and my arm remained around her. I could feel her reluctance to move and it was something that we shared. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Peter and Char eying us with knowing grins. The fucker did indeed bring me here for Bella, and not just to save her.

I thought back to my run over, I had noticed a few stray scents but they had been at least a week old. They were none I recognized so they were either nomads I had yet to come across or more newborns. I didn't like it no matter their age, their scent screamed human drinker and therefore they were a threat to Bella.

"We don't know who they were," Paul grumbled, obviously not liking to have to give the facts to more than just Bella. I didn't care, this could be important information.

"The first time there were four of them, we got the three but one seemed more experienced and ran off. We were tracking him but lost him at the ocean. He has been back a few times since, always bringing with other newborns and we always get those, but he never sticks around long enough for us to get close to him."

I could feel his annoyance at not being able to catch the fucker, but my mind was already elsewhere. It was a scouting party, a commonly used strategy down south. Send some newborns with a more experienced fighter to survey your enemy, always allowing the newborns to be used as a shield so that when the slightly older vampire returned, he could share the news. Fuck, this all had to do with Bella.

"A scouting party," I muttered and both Peter and Char nodded in agreement, scowls on their faces. Neither of them had been lying when they had claimed that Bella was a part of the family, they loved her like a sister. I could feel through Bella's constantly swirling vortex of emotions that the feeling was mutual. I knew that she would truly be a part of our small coven eventually.

"A what?" Bella asked right away, and I quickly explained that they were checking out the area for weaknesses.

"Did they come near Charlie?" She bristled next to me, turning to stare at the wolf pack.

"We didn't let them," Paul said, trying to comfort her. He didn't though, and I knew what she had heard out of that sentence. They had tried.

"Why didn't you fucking call and tell me?" She yelled at him, while we had been talking the wolves had slowly closed the distance between us and were now only a few yards away though we were still by her truck. She took a step forward, looking as though she were going to hit him in the nose again.

"Then what, huh, Bells? You would have come speeding over here from Seattle, trying to figure out a way to fix this when in reality there was nothing you could do. You are only human! You would have gotten yourself killed!" He yelled back just as angrily, and I growled darkly at him in warning. I didn't like him raising his voice at her.

Paul shrunk back slightly at the sound of my growl, having been caught off guard. I didn't fucking care. He probably wasn't used to the sound of a real vampire's growl, having only had to fight newborns and having the occasional run in with the veggies. The other wolves took cautious steps forward, prepared to defend the man if something were to happen. They wouldn't have a chance. He just continued to stare at me, wide eyed, as Bella turned away from him and returned to my side. That surprised me most; she was a mere human, she should have been terrified. Instead, she placed her small, warm palm on the side of my face and slowly my growls faded away.

I turned my head to face her and I noticed her soft smile. I could only imagine what could be running through her mind as she was feeling no fear at all.

"I am going to see my father now." She said as she turned her head back to the wolves. "I haven't seen him in months and I miss him. Not to mention he knew I was coming today and he'll probably put out a 'Missing Persons' add if I don't show up soon."

"What about the bloodsuckers?" Paul hissed, hatred making the atmosphere feel heavy.

Bella glanced at me before turning in Peter and Charlotte's direction. "They'll stay here for now." She waited a moment to hear an objection from one of us but didn't get one. Apparently we were all in agreement. "They will stay near my house and go nowhere near Quileute territory."

"We can't let them hunt here, Bella." He replied stiffly.

"Now don't ya worry your big, furry brains about that." Peter said, a huge smirk littering his features. "We got plenty on the way over, we should be good 'til we leave town."

I chuckled softly at him. I knew what he was doing; rubbing it in the mutts' faces the loss of human life because there was nothing they could do about it. I watched as Paul started shaking slightly and knew he was close to phasing. Thankfully Peter was done and hopefully we could avoid this particular battle altogether.

"Paul," Bella said his name sharply, snapping him out of it. Then, he turned towards us. "If you step out of line for even a second while you're in Forks, we will kill you. We don't make many exceptions so be thankful that we are letting you walk away now. Do not overstay your welcome." His voice was icier than our skin.

"Yes, ma'am!" Charlotte crowed from beside Peter and I snorted softly. It was hard for them to stay quiet for as long as they had and now they were letting it out. She ran to the side of Bella's truck and pulled open the passenger door. "File in!" She shouted playfully and Bella knew that she was the one whom the commands were directed at. She let out a small chuckle as she trotted over to Char's side. Just before she climbed in, she turned towards Paul one last time.

"I'm going to stop by the Rez tomorrow so we can talk." She paused and watched as Paul's eyes hardened. He was radiating betrayal to the point that I nearly shivered. She could see that he was about to refuse, so instead she cut his off with an apology. "I'm sorry."

She looked away and crawled in the passenger seat. I was positioned in the driver's side moments later and was pulling out and heading in the direction of Charlie's. I looked back and just barely saw the blurs behind the tree line where Pete and Char were tailing us. She was silent the rest of the drive and I couldn't help but to feel guilty that we may have just ended her friendship with the wolves, whether I liked them or not.

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A/N: I thought I would give you another small look in to Jasper's mind. Review if you liked it, or didn't. Again just changed words.