Welcome to the Family

As Jasper and Bella walked out of the cafe, he caught both Peter and Charlotte's scents. He took Bella's hand and led her down the street and around a corner, where he saw his oldest friends, his brother and sister, walking towards them.

They were both smiling and there was definitely a lot of happiness in them, he assumed because they were finally meeting Bella, but there was also a whole fuckin' ton of anger living in them that they were trying to hide. He sent them his curiosity, but both gave him small, barely perceptible shakes of their heads. Peter sent back caution and patience, which was their shorthand for 'I'll tell you later'.

Which reminded him, he wanted to ask Bella how she knew that.

Bella looked away from a store window to see the two vamps approaching and broke into a smile. She recognized them from photos Jasper had shown her and gave them both a wave. She had been wanting to meet them for a long time, so she pushed her sadness away for the time being.

After introductions and hugs all around - but only after Bella politely asked if it would be okay to hug them - the group of four made their way back to the castle to do some brainstorming and planning.

One of the downsides of staying in a building where so many other vampires lived was that numerous scents were heavy literally everywhere. It could make it harder to detect who was nearby. Which is, of course, what happened as the four of them turned a corner and came face to face with Edward Cullen.

"Bella!"

As he took a step towards Bella, Jasper moved in front of her, and Peter and Charlotte moved to either side of her. "Not another step, Edward," Jasper warned.

Edward sneered at him and took another step. "You don't—" he was cut off when he suddenly dropped to the ground.

"I said not another step, asshole," Jasper growled.

Bella leaned around Jasper to see her ex-boyfriend writhing on the ground. "What are you doing to him?" she asked curiously.

Jasper looked at her with a smile. "Emotional pain. I can't really cause physical pain but I can take the boy's natural tendency to angst and turn it up about a thousand notches. Hopelessness, despair, depression, anxiety, helplessness, self-loathing… it's a fun little cocktail I cooked up in the south."

Bella snorted a laugh. "So he's not in physical pain?" she asked. When Jasper shook his head, she hummed to herself. "And if I stomped on his hand?"

Charlotte quickly darted forward and did it herself. "There," she nodded at the satisfying crunching sound. "We don't need to add a broken foot to the list of worries on our plates, thank you very much. Any physical attacks on a vampire will be done by other vampires for the time being," she said, then gave Bella a brilliant smile. "All you have to do is ask. My mate and I are way more bloodthirsty than Jasper here, and infinitely more than any of the Cullens. Except maybe Rosalie," she added after a second.

Bella laughed and thanked her. She had a feeling she was going to have to remind herself often that not only was she human, but that she currently had a second little life form who needed to her stay in one healthy, whole piece.

The three vamps and Bella simply stepped around Edward's prone body and kept on their way. It wasn't until they were about four turns away from the boy that Jasper let up on the emotions. He knew it would take Edward a minute or two to pull himself together.

Peter suddenly laughed and Jasper turned to look at him. "What?" he asked.

"The smile on your face right now," Peter explained. "How long have you been wanting to unleash that particular emotional whammy on him?"

"Since 1950," Jasper laughed. "Just about every single day since 1950."

Once the four of them were back in Bella and Jasper's suite, the three vamps made themselves comfortable in the living room while Bella excused herself to make a cup of tea and have a human moment.

"Why are y'all so pissed?" Jasper asked.

"We got there just before Bella started tellin' you about her dad," Charlotte explained. "We heard everything she said."

Jasper nodded and clenched his fists against his rage. "Those motherfuckers think we're the monsters. Bella told me she thinks the Alpha, Sam Uley, permanently disfigured his imprint when he phased in anger too close to her. She's got scars down the side of her face. But we're the monsters," Jasper said through gritted teeth.

Bella came back into the room and stopped short. She looked at each vamp as they tried to smooth out the anger on their faces and huffed a laughed. "How old are you all?" she rolled her eyes. "You'd think you'd be better at pretending to look innocent after all this time."

Jasper smiled and tugged her down on the couch beside him. "Sorry, Peter and Charlotte got to the cafe when you were tellin' me about your dad. We're all pretty angry about what happened," he explained.

Bella nodded and tucked herself closer to Jasper's side. "Jacob Black and Sam Uley can both rot in hell for all I care."

"I'm so sorry that happened, Bella," Charlotte said as she leaned over to squeeze her hand. "You said you didn't know it was Jacob at the time, and that another wolf came. Paul. How'd you figure that out?" she asked.

Bella set her mug on the coffee table with a sigh. "After Victoria was in pieces and Jacob finally realized what had happened to my dad, he ran off, and Paul phased back to human. I guess him and another wolf, Leah Clearwater, had tried to get around the Alpha command. They both knew it was wrong that no one was telling me and they didn't think asking Jasper for help was so unreasonable. When they couldn't talk to me, they started doing patrols closer to my house. They figured they could at least do their best to keep me safe, even if I didn't know they were there," Bella explained quietly. "Paul saw through Jacob's eyes what was happening but he couldn't get there in time. He tried, though. Leah showed up a few minutes later. They're the ones who burned Victoria and helped me with calling the police and… well, everything that came after that."

"How was he able to tell you anything?" Jasper asked. "With the Alpha command, I mean."

Bella gave him a small smile. "Paul saw everything through Jacob's eyes. He could see my dad's arm in Victoria's grip. He was screaming in his head for Jacob to stop. When he didn't… I don't know, he explained it like something inside him snapped. He suddenly wasn't connected to anyone else in the pack. Leah saw the same thing Paul did… that Victoria was holding my dad. The same thing happened to her," Bella explained with a shrug. "They could still hear each other, I guess. We talked a little bit between that day and when I left town. They were the only two I'd let come to the funeral. They're kind of their own pack now, I suppose."

The four sat in silence for a few minutes, Jasper's arm around Bella's shoulder to hold her close to his side, before Charlotte asked if she'd spoken to Jacob after that day.

"No," Bella shook her head. "He tried but I wasn't interested in his apologies. They meant nothing to me. I hung up on him when he called the house and when he showed up the morning after the funeral before I left town I opened the door and aimed a rifle at his chest," she laughed. "Told him he had ten seconds to get off my property. My dad was a hunter," she shrugged.

"Atta girl," Jasper laughed.

Peter shook his head with a wide smile. "Well done, Bella. Barely a day of being this one's mate and you're already a Whitlock."

Bella rolled her eyes with a laugh. "I didn't actually shoot him. I'm not sure that really qualifies as bloodthirsty."

"And if he was still standing on your porch after ten seconds?" Charlotte asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I would've pulled the trigger at eleven and not batted an eye," she said with a tiny human growl that made her sound a little bit like an angry kitten.

Charlotte nodded and grinned. "That's what I thought. Welcome to the family, kid."

"Alright, so what do we know right now?" Peter asked a few minutes later.

"Like from the beginning?" Jasper asked, and Peter nodded. "I have to assume me and Bella being mates is the starting point of everything."

"Which means it had to start with Alice," Bella said. "But I don't understand why any of this happened the way it did. It's not like she thought you were her mate. She knew you weren't. She knew that from day one. So why this whole weird plot to keep us apart?" she asked.

"If you had a husband you loved, would you want to let him go?" Charlotte asked, not unkindly.

Jasper rolled his eyes. "I don't know how much she loved me, Char. When you love someone you want them to be happy. Even if that means they'd be happier with someone else. And don't forget, we only got married because Carlisle pushed us into it. If Alice had come across her mate, I would have stepped aside in a heartbeat so she could be with them."

Bella smiled at him. They might not be a couple yet, but this was the man she was going to be tied to for a very long time. She felt pretty lucky, honestly. Jasper was the one who caught her eye initially, but then she heard Jessica say he was with Alice, so she'd pushed that spark of attraction away. She'd never go after someone else's partner. And then Edward had been so laser-focused on her that she ended up falling for him.

"Wait, so was Edward just the tool Alice used to keep me away from you, Jasper?" Bella asked. "Was any of it real?"

Jasper thought on it a minute, on all the weird emotions he'd read at the time. "It definitely could've started that way," he acknowledged. "But I think it changed over time, because Edward did love you, if that's what you're asking. He didn't love you particularly well, but he did love you."

"Did Victoria kill your mom also, Bella?" Charlotte asked.

Bella snapped her eyes to her, startled by the subject change. "Uh, I don't think so. I think it might've been Laurent. He was the other one in their coven."

"What makes you think it was him?" Jasper asked curiously, trying to remember everything he'd heard about the vamp from Kate.

"I asked Victoria and she gave me a weird smile and said she didn't kill my mom and Phil but she knew who did," Bella explained, then looked at Jasper in surprise when he let out a low, rolling growl. "What's wrong?"

"Motherfucker!" Jasper snarled as he shot up off the couch and snatched his phone off the coffee table. He completely ignored the three pairs of shocked eyes as he dialed Kate's number.

"Hey Jasper!" she answered cheerfully.

"When did Laurent run off?" he snapped, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Sorry. I promise I'll explain and I'm sorry that was rude, but when did he disappear?"

There was silence on the line for a few beats. "February," she said quietly. "Why, what's wrong, Jasper?"

Jasper shut his eyes tightly and tried to speak past the rage choking him. He couldn't. If he opened his mouth, he was gonna lose his shit. If he moved a millimeter, he was gonna lose his shit. And he couldn't lose his shit because he had a human and pregnant mate very nearby, so instead he locked every single muscle and completely froze.

"Jasper?" Kate asked again.

"Hey. Lemme take the phone," Peter said softly and very gently loosened Jasper's fingers so he could take it from him. He apologized to Kate and said they'd call her back but that everything was fine, then he picked up the phone in their room that connected them to the front desk. "Can you please let Aro know that we need to speak with him?" he said into the phone. "Great, thank you."

Peter hung up and turned his attention back to his brother. "Jas. You don't know yet. You could be wrong," he said gently. "You've got your mate all worried so just do some of that deep breathin' you were showin' her in the cafe and try to calm down."

Peter took one of Jasper's hands and put it on his chest and took big, dramatic deep breaths, making Bella snort a laugh.

"That's not how you do it," Bella said with a smile as she got up to stand in front of her stricken mate. "Like this," she said to Peter, as she took Jasper's hand and held it over her heart, then did the same breathing he'd used to help her through the panic at breakfast.

Just like he'd made a path for her to follow then, she made a path for him now.

"Whatever it is, Jasper, we'll get through it together," Bella said softly. "Isn't that how this works?"

Jasper let out a shuddering breath and opened his eyes just as there was a knock of the door. Charlotte got up to answer it and came back in the room with Aro and Chelsea, who both stopped in the doorway and took in the scene before them. Before either could say a word, Jasper's eyes snapped to Aro's.

"Do you have her shielded right now?" he asked as calmly as he could.

Aro nodded slowly. "Yes. And Edward, as well. It was easier for Jeremiah to shield only them so that the rest of us could use our gifts unrestrained. It also allows us to make plans while keeping them blind."

"Unshield her," Jasper said through gritted teeth.

Aro looked at him for a long moment. "I'm afraid I can't do that. The best thing working in our favor right now is that she's not yet aware of what's coming," he said calmly.

Jasper's eyes blazed. "Un. Shield. Her. Ten seconds. That's all I need."

The two stared at each other for another few seconds before Aro gave Chelsea a small nod. She took out her phone and made a call, then looked at Jasper. "You have exactly ten seconds," she said softly. "Starting now."

Jasper closed his eyes and made a detailed decision of exactly how he was going to kill Alice fuckin' Cullen. Painfully and slowly, so she suffered in agony for days. At exactly nine and a half seconds, he opened his eyes and nodded at Chelsea, who quickly spoke into the phone and then hung up.

Jasper turned back to Aro. "Thank you."

Aro nodded. "You're welcome. I was planning to come see you both anyway. Could we all meet in my study in an hour? Marcus and Caius will be joining us. Your coven is welcome also," he said, indicating Peter and Charlotte.

Jasper looked at the two of them and Bella, who all nodded their agreement. "We'll be there."

"Good. Thank you," Aro said, then turned to Bella with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"A little confused, honestly," Bella answered. She didn't have any idea what had just happened.

"I'll explain, I promise," Jasper said as he wrapped an arm around her to pull her closer.

"We'll leave you in privacy then," Aro said. "See you all in an hour."

After a small wave from Chelsea, the two let themselves out of the suite, and Bella tugged Jasper over to the couch and pulled him down beside her.

"Alright, start from the top," Bella said once she was snuggled close to his side, hoping it would keep him calm. "You lost me around 'motherfucker' so maybe start there."

Jasper leaned down and kissed the top of her head, his heart already aching at the pain he was about to cause her.

"When you said Laurent, I remembered that Kate had told me he disappeared. He never came back to Denali. The assumption was that he'd been killed. That was in February," he said quietly. "Your mom and Phil weren't killed until March."

"So it wasn't Laurent who killed my mom?" Bella asked. "It really was just a car accident?"

Jasper looked up at Peter and Charlotte who were watching them in a combination of sadness and rage. "No, sweetheart. I don't think it was an accident. I think it was Alice," he said gently. "I think she's been involved in way more than we thought. I think she's been at the helm of everything. I think she killed your mom because…" Jasper trailed off, too afraid to say it. Was it possible for your mate to hate you? To deny the bond? As Jasper started to panic at the thought of a life without his mate, she scooted her way into his lap.

"Whoa, settle, Jas," she whispered as she put her hands on his cheeks.

It was enough to break through the screaming noise in his head, and he snorted a laugh, hearing Peter and Charlotte do the same. "Did you just 'whoa, settle' me like a horse?" he laughed.

Bella laughed. "I didn't mean to! That's just what came out! I could feel the panic coming off you and wanted to stop it in its tracks, so… you know, whoa," she explained with a shrug.

Jasper wrapped her in a hug. "Thank you. Still think I'm on the losing end of this little partnership?" he asked with a wry smile. "That's two times in about that many minutes that you had to step in to keep me from losing my shit."

"It's nice to be able to help a vamp when I'm still human," she smiled, then shook her head. "So you really think Alice killed my mom as revenge for you divorcing her?"

"I do," Jasper nodded. "Aro's reaction would've convinced me if I wasn't already certain. He knew exactly why I was asking if Alice was shielded."

"Yeah, explain that piece to me," Bella asked. "I got lost. I mean I know there's a shield, and that they were shielding Aro yesterday. So what, that person is shielding Alice and Edward instead? Meaning their gifts don't work?"

"I guess so," Jasper shrugged. "It sounds more like a dampener to me, but gifts all work differently, so what do I know? As to Alice, I was asking to have her unshielded for ten seconds so she could see her future."

"And what future did she see?" Peter asked with a smile.

"A very, very, very uncomfortable one."

"Good," Bella nodded. "The bitch deserves it. Not just for killing my mom, either. Because if she's the one who did, then Victoria knew her. Which means so did James. And not only from when she was still human. Which probably means that 'chance' meeting at the baseball game wasn't quite the 'oops, I had the perspective wrong, they were traveling faster than I thought' or whatever bullshit she spouted that night. And if all those things are true, she's ultimately responsible for both my mom and dad dying. I know I'm still human, and I'm pregnant so I'm not going to be a vamp any time soon. But I refuse to let that bitch live until I can be changed, so I'm going to have to rely on the rest of you Whitlocks to kick her ass and make her suffer."

"There's my bloodthirsty sister," Charlotte smiled. "Us Whitlocks stick together. We'll always fight in your corner, Bella. And while you're human, we'll fight any damn battle you need us to."

When Bella looked at Jasper and Peter, they were both nodding their agreement. Bella had to blink grateful tears away. The day before she was entirely untethered and felt like there was no hope for the future. But here she was, twenty-four hours later, with three people willing to help hold her to the earth so she didn't float away into the ether.

So, really, it was Bella: about a million. And fuck the world.

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! The feedback is always both appreciated and helpful:)

~ M. x