A/N: So here's Chapter One of the story that has been hounding me relentlessly until I finally gave in and started writing. It's kinda canon-ish because the main plot points of SM's Twilight and her Edward and Bella are pretty much the same, but the rest of the story veers off into AU territory. Not only because this is a Jasper/Leah story, but because I wanted the Cullens to react a little more realistically to some of the events in canon. Some things will look familiar from both Fate Unfolding and Now Unbound, because I'm all about healthy relationships for my main couple and I love creating cobbled-together families. The friendship between Alice and Jasper will also be similar to Fate Unfolding.

I'm not at all sure if there's any interest out there for a Jasper/Leah story, but I'm pretty excited about it so hopefully there are at least a few of you that will give it a chance:)

Feeling the Pull

Jasper Whitlock had been pacing in his study in Ithaca, New York when he suddenly felt a gentle tugging on his heart that stopped him in his tracks. He'd spent enough time around mated pairs in his long life to know that he was finally feeling the presence of his soulmate somewhere in the world. The pull felt far stronger than what he'd expect if his other half was human, so after thinking it over he figured that the most likely scenario was that his mate had just joined the supernatural world as a newborn vampire.

His first instinct was to immediately follow the pull, but Alice had only just taken off to go back to Forks after catching a vision of Bella Swan throwing herself off a cliff into the frigid waters of the North Pacific, which looked far too choppy to be safe for a human. Especially one who wasn't a great swimmer and who was wearing heavy jeans that would only get heavier once they were wet.

Alice hadn't been sure if the move was suicidal or merely stupid, but she did know she really liked Chief Swan, so when Bella's future disappeared she headed to Washington to see if she could be of any help to the grieving father of her very first human friend.

As it turned out, it had been a stupid move, not an attempted suicide. Bella had gone cliff-diving alone during a storm for 'fun' and it was only a glitch the wolves created in Alice's visions that caused Bella's future to disappear.

From there, the poor choices just followed one after another until the Cullen family was in a complete state of upheaval.

Following right on the heels of Bella's bad decision, Alice made the error of not contacting any of the family to reassure them that Edward's former human was still among the living. This led Rosalie to make the mistake of passing the sad news on to Edward, which led the telepath to attempt to commit suicide in the most dramatic way imaginable, putting the Olympic Coven squarely in the Volturi's sights.

It was a stressful time, to say the least.

Esme was overwhelmed by grief because it was a painful reminder that she'd thrown herself off a cliff as a human after her son died, which led to her being turned into a vampire. Carlisle was consumed with worry over what consequences would befall their family due to Edward bringing them to the notice of the Volturi. Rosalie was swamped with guilt that she was the one who'd told Edward that Bella was dead, only to find out the girl was alive. Emmett was frustrated that his mate was hurting and that there was nothing he could do to fix any of the problems they were facing.

And Jasper was the unfortunate empath smack in the middle of that toxic stew of emotions.

He was worried about Alice, but not to the point of being paralyzed by it. She was one of the three people Jasper felt the most love for in his long second life - the other two being Peter and Charlotte, who he'd sired during his time in the south long before he'd ever met Alice - and they'd been the very best of friends for over seventy years. If it was possible to have a platonic soulmate, Alice was his.

He had faith that she could keep herself safe, because he'd spent a ridiculous amount of time teaching her to fight so that she could defend herself almost as well as he could defend her. Peter and Charlotte had helped with training her, and the four of them had experimented over and over again until Alice mastered the art of using her visions to ensure she could beat nearly anyone in a fight. She didn't always win against Jasper or Peter, but she was just about even with Charlotte.

When Jasper finally heard from Alice that all was mostly well - meaning she, Bella, and Edward were leaving Italy alive, or kinda alive in Alice and Edward's case - and that they were headed back to Washington, he helped pack up their essentials for yet another move across the country and then took off on his own. He kept the information about feeling the pull to his mate to himself for the time being, simply explaining to the family that he needed a brief respite from the oppressive emotions, but assured everyone he would meet them in Forks.

He hadn't, however, anticipated that he'd be meeting them quite so soon.

Jasper followed the tugging on his heart for almost three-thousand miles and it led him right to the Quileute treaty line.

"Well. That can't be good," he said as he came to a stop.

Feeling a ball of pure excitement headed his way fast, Jasper spun around just in time to catch Alice as she vaulted through the air.

"Is it finally happening?" she shouted.

Jasper held onto her for a minute before answering, relieved to see her in one piece. Alice held onto him just as tightly. She'd been almost completely certain she and Bella would walk out of Volterra, but there had still been a small sliver of doubt in the back of her mind. Jasper had been by her side just about every day since 1950, so walking into such a nerve-racking environment without him had made her uncomfortable.

Jasper eventually pulled back enough to look at her. "I'm not real sure, to be honest. Have you noticed where we're standing?" he asked with an amused smile.

Alice looked around in surprise. "Huh. This is unexpected. I suppose I should've paid more attention to the specifics of that last vision."

"You saw this?" he asked.

"I saw you rubbing your chest while you looked around," she explained with a little shrug. "I recognized that weird sideways tree you walked past a couple miles ago so I ran there and then just followed your scent. I was a little too excited to pay attention to where I was going."

Jasper nodded and shifted Alice onto his back so he could run a little easier. "If my mate is on the other side of that line, we're going to need to come up with some kind of plan," he said as he headed back the way he came. Feeling the shift in Alice's emotions that signified she was searching the future, Jasper ran into the mountains to the place the two of them went when they wanted a little bit of peace and quiet.

As he reached their favorite tree, Alice's emotions were a strange combination of worry, uncertainty, and amusement.

"Maybe we should call Peter," she said as Jasper leaped up onto a wide branch and Alice nimbly dropped to her feet.

He sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. "That bad, huh?"

Alice laughed and yanked on his hand so he'd sit down beside her. "Not bad, necessarily, but there is a teeny tiny complication."

Jasper looked at her for a moment before a sharp laugh escaped him. "It's a wolf?"

"Given the way your future keeps disappearing, I'd say it's highly likely," she nodded. "You don't seem surprised."

"The pull was a little too strong for there to be a human on the other end so I figured it was someone who'd just become part of the supernatural world. I assumed it was a baby vamp."

"When did it start?" Alice asked, her smile a mile wide. Jasper was the person she loved most in her life, so she was thrilled beyond belief that he was so close to finally meeting his mate. The whole mortal enemy thing was a slight snag, but Jasper could be charming as hell when he wanted to be so she wasn't too worried.

"Not too long after you left for Washington," he told her, then reached for her hand. "You're really okay? No one hurt you?"

He'd talked to Alice on the phone after she left Volterra, but it hadn't been a long conversation so he still didn't know everything that had transpired.

"I'm fine," she shrugged. "There are things we'll all need to talk about in the next day or two, but that can wait. Right now my priority is scheming with Peter so we can get this show on the road. You're not getting any younger."

Jasper laughed as he pulled out his phone. "It's gonna be one hell of an age gap," he said as he called his oldest friend.

"Finally!" Peter exclaimed as he answered before the first ring even finished.

Alice and Jasper exchanged a glance. "Finally what?" Jasper asked.

"It's been forever since you started feeling the pull, I've been on pins and needles waiting for you to call."

"Sorry, there's been a lot going on and I had to stay put for a few days," Jasper explained.

Peter hummed in acknowledgment. "I'm glad you're okay, Ali. Not that I was worried, but I'm still relieved you're outta that castle."

Alice smiled. "Me too. So, what do you know?"

"I know Jasper's gonna have to tap into that patience he seems to have bottomless wells of. It's going to be a little while before he can meet her."

Jasper's eyes went wide and he felt the shock in Alice also. "Her? I thought the gene was only active in the males of the line."

"Obviously not, because she's definitely a gal. Her name's Leah Clearwater."

"Leah Clearwater. That's a pretty name," Jasper said with a dreamy little sigh that made Alice giggle. Fortunately she had quick reflexes so she didn't fall out of the tree when Jasper jabbed his elbow in her side.

"Harry Clearwater's daughter?" Alice asked. "I think Carlisle said he's one of the tribal elders."

"Yeah, that's the one. And the girl has had a rough go of it lately. She was—"

Jasper quickly interrupted him. "Don't tell me. It's not fair for me to know details about her life without her knowledge. Just the basics for now, please."

"That would be really annoying if I admired you less," Peter grumbled, then heaved a dramatic sigh. "Fine. She's nineteen, she has a little brother named Seth who's fifteen, and… her dad died of a heart attack about a week ago."

Jasper drew in a sharp breath. "A week ago? That's when I started feeling the pull."

"I know," Peter said quietly.

Alice leaned her head on Jasper's shoulder and gently squeezed his hand. "Why can't Jasper find her now?" she asked sadly. "Surely the girl could use some hugs, and you know he gives the very best hugs."

"He does," Peter replied, and they could hear the smile in his voice. "But she's a brand-new wolf and needs a little time to wrap her head around all the changes in her life. She has her mom and her brother, and she's got a best friend who's also a wolf, so he'll be a big help to her."

"Good," Jasper nodded, glad she had people to lean on.

"Please tell me her best friend's not Jacob Black," Alice said with a frown, her nose scrunched up in distaste.

"No, his name's Paul. Paul Lahote. Not a big fan of vamps, that one," Peter laughed. "But he's a great friend to Leah, which is all that matters."

"So how long does he have to wait?" Alice asked.

When Peter didn't answer right away, Jasper sighed long and hard. "That long, huh?"

"No," Peter laughed. "Sorry, there's been a lot of information dumped on me in a relatively short period of time and I still don't understand some of it. You'll see her in about two months, but only in her wolf form and something is happening that keeps you both distracted. Something with Emmett and one of the wolves. You officially meet her a month after that."

"So June?" Jasper asked. "That's not so far away. Where do I meet her?"

"No idea. All I can tell you is it's either June 11th or 12th, and you've got quite a crowd around you. All the Cullens, all the wolves, and Edward's human."

"Seriously?" Jasper huffed in annoyance, making Alice giggle again. "I have to wait three months to meet her and then I have to do it in front of like fifteen witnesses?"

"Seventeen."

"Seventeen what?" Jasper asked in confusion.

"Seventeen witnesses," Peter clarified. "Well, sixteen, I guess, because Leah's not really a witness, more a direct participant."

"There are ten wolves?" Alice asked him incredulously.

"I don't know how many there are now, but there will be on June 11th."

Jasper thought about that for a minute before nudging Alice gently. "With how the wolves block your visions, maybe it's worth doing some straight training where you don't use your gift."

Alice immediately nodded her agreement. Knowing she was blind around the wolves made her feel a little too vulnerable. Just like Jasper's empathy, Alice's gift was an extra sense she used to navigate the world, and because she remembered nothing of her human life, she'd never known a time where she didn't have her visions to help guide her. If she was ever in a position to have to fight one of the wolves, she didn't want her inability to see the future to put her at a disadvantage.

"Y'all should probably head back to the house soon," Peter said. "You need to nip Edward's latest stupid idea in the bud."

"What now?" Jasper groaned, making Alice and Peter laugh. It seemed like Edward had come up with one bad idea after another since the moment he met Bella. Jasper was genuinely confused by what the girl saw in him.

"I refuse to spoil the surprise," Peter laughed. "But it just might be his stupidest idea yet."

Jasper scoffed at that. "It can't possibly be worse that running off to ask the Volturi to kill him without actually confirming that his true love was dead. Besides, there was no need for him to make a lengthy overseas journey. All he had to do was ask me, I would've lit him up in a heartbeat."

"With his recent behavior, I'd have been tempted to help you," Alice laughed.

"Well, prepare yourselves, because his newest plan is a real fuckin' doozy," Peter cautioned.

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Just how soon is my relief over his life being spared going to give out?"

"Pretty fuckin' soon," Peter laughed.

"Damn," Jasper muttered. "These last six months without his toxic emotions have been such a nice reprieve."

"Yeah, but Esme and Carlisle missed him," Alice reminded her best friend.

"True," Jasper sighed. "I guess that's reason enough to tolerate him. Esme in a sad mood hurts my heart."

Peter and Alice both hummed their agreement. Esme Cullen was a sweetheart of a woman. One of the times Alice and Jasper had visited Peter and Charlotte in Texas, the four of them had a completely serious discussion about whether the strength of her love could power a small country.

"Char arranged to have some cuttings from the garden delivered later this afternoon, so if y'all get a move on you can be there to see that brilliant smile break across her face."

"The roses?" Alice asked with a smile of her own. Charlotte had an even greener thumb than Esme did and she'd created a hybrid tea rose in a shade of pink that Esme had never seen anywhere else. She and Carlisle had only been to the Whitlock ranch in Texas once, but Esme had hardly stepped a foot inside the house after catching sight of Charlotte's extensive garden.

"Yeah, she figured Esme could use a little boost."

"That was kind of her," Jasper said with a soft smile. While the first half of his second life had been nothing short of a nightmare, he could never entirely regret his time in the south because it's how he came to have Peter and Charlotte as his family.

Alice sighed as she stood up. "Now that I know we're in a holding pattern about Leah, we might as well go see what idiocy Edward is spouting this time."

"I know you haven't actually met her yet, but congratulations, Jas," Peter said quietly. "I'm so fuckin' happy for you."

Jasper smiled. "Thanks, Peter. I'll talk to you soon. Give Charlotte my love."

"Yep, will do. Love you both," Peter said before hanging up.

"Ready?" Jasper asked as he stood up and shoved his phone in his pocket.

"For more of Edward's drama? Not even a little. To see Esme's face when she realizes what Charlotte sent? Absolutely," Alice laughed as she stepped off the branch and dropped to the ground.

Jasper landed silently right beside her and they started to run. "I'd like to keep this between us for now. And please use whatever blocking tactics you need to, I don't want Edward knowing a single thing about Leah," he said quietly as they got closer to the house.

Alice nodded her agreement and sent him a little burst of reassurance.

By the time they reached the Cullen's home outside of town, Esme was waiting for them on the porch. "Jasper!" she exclaimed happily. "I didn't think we'd be seeing you so soon."

Jasper bounded up the porch steps and pulled her into a hug. "I just needed a little break, and running here was exactly what I needed to clear my mind."

Esme smiled. "Good. You know I always want you to do whatever you need to be comfortable and happy, but selfishly, I'm glad you're home."

Rosalie walked out on the porch and looked at her 'twin' curiously before giving him a quick hug. He seemed lighter somehow, and she worried that the heavy emotional environment had taken more of a toll than she'd realized. After Emmett, Jasper was the one she was closest to in the family and she felt a little guilty that she'd contributed to making him so uncomfortable.

Jasper, feeling Rosalie's remorse, surrounded her in his love and reassurance as he hugged her. It had been a difficult time for the family and he didn't at all blame her for how she'd been feeling.

Before any more could be said, all four of them turned towards the driveway as they heard a car approaching. Jasper smiled when Alice's anticipation and excitement shot up, and he moved to stand beside her so he had the best view of Esme's face.

After signing for the package, Esme looked at Jasper in confusion when she saw the return address was the Whitlock ranch. "What's this?"

Jasper just grinned and shrugged. "Open it and find out."

Esme's excited shout and brilliant smile was wonderful to see. It was the happiest she'd looked in months and Jasper sent up his gratitude that Charlotte had done such a thoughtful thing for the woman who'd loved them all unconditionally for so many decades.

Esme pulled out her phone and only a moment later, Charlotte's bright and cheerful voice greeted her. "Hey Esme!"

Jasper took a moment to thank Charlotte, then headed inside to start putting his study in order. Even with whatever new drama Edward was about to throw at them, Jasper unpacked with a little smile on his face knowing his soulmate was only a handful of miles away.

Jasper looked at Edward a little incredulously. "You want Bella to stay human, against the Volturi's orders, and then you plan to hide her when they send Demetri to find you?"

Edward nodded while Bella rolled her eyes. "Yes, Demetri won't be able to get a lock on her because his ability to track people is a mental gift."

"He can track you, Edward," Bella sighed.

Edward immediately dismissed her. "Alice can keep an eye out so we'll always be able to stay one step ahead of him."

"Not likely," Alice scoffed. "Demetri knows both my mental signature and Carlisle's. You seriously think he won't come after one of us? I have no desire to live the next eighty years on the run, thank you very much."

"And I have no intention of giving the Volturi a reason to end me or anyone else in this family," Jasper added.

Carlisle let out a heavy sigh. "That's not a reasonable plan, Edward. We have already broken the law and we are incredibly lucky that the kings didn't immediately sentence us all to death. I won't put the rest of this family at risk so that you can continue breaking the law," he said tiredly. "And I understand you came here for a vote, Bella, but I'm not sure a vote is necessary. Edward going to the Volturi has forced our hand. Do you still want to be changed?"

"Yes," Bella answered immediately.

Carlisle nodded. "Then you will be."

"Carlisle! You can't possibly be okay with this!" Edward protested.

"You've given me no choice, Edward," Carlisle responded, his eyes hard as he looked at the telepath.

"If you all don't want me to join your family, I can go back to Italy and ask the Volturi to change me instead," Bella offered quietly.

Jasper rolled his eyes a little. "All that will accomplish is telling the Volturi we're still refusing to follow the law. I like you, Bella, but I'm not real eager to die for you."

Bella snorted a laugh. "That's cool, I'm happy to die for all of you. Or die a little bit, I guess."

"Why are you all joking about this?" Edward snapped when his siblings laughed. "Taking away Bella's soul is no laughing matter."

"That's your interpretation, Edward," Emmett pointed out. "Not everyone at this table agrees with you. Look me in the eye and tell me Esme is a soulless monster."

Edward snapped his mouth shut and stalked out of the room, and a moment later there was a loud crash from the living room.

"I just bought that TV," Emmett growled in Edward's direction. "Learn to control your damn temper."

Carlisle sighed again. "I'll have a talk with him, Emmett, and he'll be replacing it. So. We're all on the same page? Bella becomes a permanent member of this family?"

Everyone nodded their agreement, though Rosalie was a little frustrated by the whole thing. She wasn't a huge Bella Swan fan, but her family meant everything to her and she would do whatever was necessary to keep them safe. In this instance, that meant accepting that she was stuck with Edward's human for the long haul.

"Great," Bella smiled. "You ready, Alice?"

Feeling Alice's panic, Jasper immediately held his hand up. "Absolutely not. There's no—"

"But she promised!" Bella interrupted with a scowl.

"Not right now!" Alice protested. "I'm not ready!"

In the back of his mind, Jasper thought about the fact that Leah Clearwater had just lost her father, and would likely do anything at all to have him back. And here Bella was, ready to toss her dad aside without a second thought. "Bella, have you forgotten that you have a father waiting for you at home? A father who's Police Chief of this town?" he asked.

"If you disappear right now, all the suspicion would land squarely on our shoulders," Esme gently pointed out. "And wouldn't you like to spend as much time with him as possible before you have to say goodbye?"

"Then when?" Bella asked, not answering Esme's question, and Jasper felt both frustration and shame in the girl.

"Perhaps over the summer," Carlisle suggested. "There's no reason for you to drop out of high school in your senior year, and going away to college is a natural time to distance yourself from Forks," he said sadly, not enjoying the thought of ripping Charlie Swan's daughter away from him.

"So after graduation, Alice?" Bella asked pointedly.

Seeing the worry on Alice's face and the frustration on Jasper's, Carlisle jumped in. "I will be the one to change you, Bella."

"After graduation?" she pushed.

Carlisle nodded. "After graduation."

Meeting over, Jasper wasted no time getting the hell out of that house. If the last thirty infuriating minutes of his life were any indication of how the coming months were going to go, he needed to do some quick thinking.

He'd always had absolute faith in Peter's gift, but in this particular instance he was determined to prove it wrong, because there wasn't a chance in hell he was going to survive waiting three months to meet Leah Clearwater.