Prologue

Alice let out a relieved sigh as she heard footsteps approaching the tree she was perched in. She knew it was Jasper and he was exactly who she needed at the moment.

He deftly leapt up and settled next to her on the wide branch. "You okay, sweetheart?" he asked softly.

She reached over and took his hand as she nodded. "Yeah, I will be. I just need these visions to firm up before I can figure out what comes next. Her future has gone a bit blurry because she still hasn't decided if she's going to say yes or not."

Jasper hummed in acknowledgment and sent her a wave of confidence, his way of letting her know he had faith in her.

She gave him a soft smile. That was something that had never changed in nearly sixty years. Jasper had always believed in her, always trusted her, and it meant the world to Alice. He was the most important person in her life, and all she wanted was for him to finally find his true happiness. To Alice, Jasper Whitlock deserved peace and happiness more than anyone else she knew. The man had been through hell and back, yet he had clawed his way out of the abyss of despair he'd been in when the two had met in 1948. His was a long, hard road, but he never gave up, never gave in. He knew that what he was waiting for was worth it.

Which is why Alice was sitting in that tree, sorting through Bella's future, trying to find the best way forward. Others might consider her manipulative, and in a way that might be true, but she would sift through every damn future she needed to until she found a way for her two favorite people to get the happily ever after they deserved.

Jasper sat quietly beside Alice as she searched the future. He felt her emotions swirl as she watched different visions play out in her mind - a bright flash of love, flickers of amusement, even a few moments of breathless fear. Through it all, he held her hand and offered her his silent support.

They were far enough from the Cullen's house that they were safe from Edward's telepathy, so Jasper let himself relax into the peace he felt when his mind was his own. He and Alice had both mastered the art of keeping Edward from reading thoughts they didn't want him to hear, but it took focus and concentration, so any reprieve he got was a welcome one. That was more true over the past year since they'd returned to the family than it had been in all the decades since he and Alice had joined the Cullens.

When the family decided to move to the Olympic Peninsula, Alice had approached Jasper about the two of them going to visit Peter and Charlotte, his family in Texas. He had sired both of them back in the bad old days of the Southern Wars, pretty much the only part of that life he was grateful for. Both claim that Jasper saved their lives, and paid for it harshly, but he knew that it was them who saved him.

Peter saved him first, letting him feel the warmth of friendship and love after only knowing the bitter cold fierceness of anger, hate, and rage for so long. Peter opened him up in a way that Jasper could never have predicted. Love, kindness, compassion, even humor, had no place in his second life. He didn't even realize it was possible to feel those things. Slowly but surely, the newborn Peter patiently wove his way into Jasper's heart. He persevered when Jasper growled and hissed at him, and he didn't give up when he was pressed hard against the wall with Jasper's hand around his throat. After years of this quiet determination, this good-humored companionship, Jasper finally caved. He dropped the walls he'd built around his heart and let Peter in. He fought Maria tooth and nail to keep Peter alive, and it was a decision he had never once regretted in the hundred or so years since.

After Jasper changed Charlotte, Peter's mate, their dynamic changed. He could feel the depth of Peter's love for her, and so Jasper created space in his heart for her, too. He would do just about anything if it meant Peter's happiness, so ensuring Charlotte's survival became Jasper's mission.

Maria, Jasper's sire and a woman with the blackest heart imaginable, wanted Charlotte put to death after her year mark. She was a decent fighter but not enough to stand out, and she didn't have a gift that Maria could exploit, so Char had no worth in Maria's eyes. When Jasper realized that nothing he had to say would change Maria's mind, he knew he had to put Plan B into action.

He had to find a way to get Peter and Charlotte out of the army safely.

He knew in his heart that if Maria ever caught on to his treachery he would be tortured mercilessly, maybe even killed. And he knew he would be breaking his own heart in the process, losing the only two people he held any love for, the only bright spots in the hellish dark that was his life. But if it meant Peter and Charlotte's survival, he would take that pain every day of his eternity. The two meant more to him then he could ever express.

So when Alice asked if they could go to Texas for a while to spend time with the other Whitlocks, rather than head straight to Forks with the rest of the family, Jasper didn't even have to think about it. The answer would always be yes.

It wasn't until they were on the road, well away from the Cullens, that Alice explained her real reason for their trip south.

She was trying to save the life of Isabella Swan. Jasper's true mate.

Thanks for reading!

Take care, M. x