A/N: Thank you for reading, and for the follows and favorites. An extra little thank you to those of you taking a few moments to leave feedback. Because this is a departure from my usual J/B, I really appreciate knowing what you think:)

Friend-Adjacent

By the time the trio of vamps headed home later that afternoon, they were pretty sure they were firm friends with one wolf, and about forty-six percent sure they were sorta friends with another. Or at least friend-adjacent. No longer enemies was honestly probably the best they could say for Paul, but considering his attitude when he'd arrived in the clearing, that alone was huge progress.

"So we're all in agreement?" Jasper asked one last time while they were still far enough from the house to be out of hearing range and out of range of Edward's gift. "We keep our motivation to ourselves but stay honest about the rest?"

"Yes, Jasper," Alice huffed with a little laugh. "I think Rose and I managed to grasp it the first four times you asked. We don't say why we were training in that particular clearing but everything else sticks to the truth."

"Sorry," he laughed. "I just don't want Edward to pull his usual tricks, which means keeping my connection to Leah hidden for now. I don't think it would go over too well if Edward heard a thought about us, then relayed it to Bella, who'd probably just run right to Jacob to tell him. Knowing my luck, Leah would run away in horror before even meeting me."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Run away in horror? Really? You're not too hideous to look at so I highly doubt she'd hightail it out of Washington just to avoid your ugly face."

"Horror at my species, Rose, not my charming good looks," Jasper laughed. "Who could resist this face?"

"You're both ridiculous," Alice said with a smile as she vaulted over a half-fallen tree and put on a burst of speed to beat the Hale twins home. "I win!" she shouted as she came flying in the back door, only to come to a skidding stop when Emmett shot to his feet and started growling. "What the hell, Em?" she asked in surprise.

Jasper, feeling Emmett's worry, was through the door half a second later, with Rosalie right on his heels. "She's fine, we're all fine," he quickly assured him.

"Why do you smell like the wolves?" Emmett asked as he pulled a slightly stinky Rose into his arms, worried there'd been some kind of confrontation.

"Two of them stumbled on us while we were sparring," Jasper explained. By the time he'd finished the sentence, Carlisle and Esme had joined them in the living room. Edward appeared to be gone, much to Jasper's relief. This would go much more smoothly without him adding his particular brand of drama.

"Did you have any trouble?" Carlisle asked worriedly.

"Of course not," Alice huffed indignantly. "We actually… well, we may have offered to train them to fight."

"What?" Emmett exclaimed. "Why would you do that?"

"Victoria," was Alice's simple answer to Emmett before she turned to Carlisle. "Which reminds me. Perhaps next time you have a strategic or security issue to deal with you should pay more mind to the man who survived nearly eight decades in a war zone instead of the seventeen-year old boy who's never held a position of authority."

"I believe we've covered this ground before, Alice," Carlisle said with a smile. "I have already apologized to Jasper and the family for my error in judgment, though I'm happy to do so again. Surely you remember? You were sitting right beside him."

Alice gave him a cheeky smile and a casual shrug. "Doesn't hurt to remind you every now and again that Edward's not always right."

Esme laughed and took Alice's hand, then led her to the couch and pulled her down to sit beside her. "I believe we've covered that ground already also, so how about you tell us about your afternoon instead?"

Everyone else joined them and Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper told the others about meeting Seth and Paul, and about the tracking exercises they'd done.

"And Seth really came back to protect you when Paul arrived?" Esme asked with a surprised smile. She was obviously biased, but she thought her family was pretty wonderful and was delighted that one of their 'enemies' saw them as worthy of protection.

"He did," Rosalie nodded. "He's a really sweet kid. He's the youngest in the pack and some of the others make him feel like he doesn't have much to contribute because of it. Hopefully we can give him the skills to prove those assholes wrong."

Jasper smiled at Rose's protectiveness of the boy. "He's already a naturally-skilled tracker. With no guidance at all, he followed Alice's trail for five miles through the forest."

"Including all the times I took to the trees," Alice said proudly, like she'd had a hand in the kid's ability.

"No fair, I wanna play," Emmett whined.

"Good, because we're meeting them again tomorrow," Jasper laughed. "Neither has any fight training whatsoever. Tracking is crucial if they have a hope of catching Victoria, but catching her is only the first hurdle."

"Is it only Seth and Paul you're meeting with?" Carlisle asked.

"Those two will be there for sure, but we told them they were free to invite any of the wolves who wanted to learn some relevant skills," Alice answered. "It's in all of our best interests to stop Victoria before someone in the area is hurt. Whether we catch her or the wolves do doesn't really matter."

"I'm in," Emmett said immediately and enthusiastically.

Jasper's phone buzzed with a text then.

I asked Jacob to ask Bella to ask Edward for your number, I hope you don't mind. My sister wants to come with us tomorrow, is that okay?

Jasper had to suppress the elated grin that was fighting to come out at that news, but Rosalie, who was sitting next to him, felt a quick blast of his joy and leaned over to read the text like the nosy snoop she occasionally was. Her smile was a little harder to suppress, but she gave it her best effort. Before he could reply, his phone buzzed again.

This is Seth by the way.

Both Jasper and Rosalie laughed at that. "He's seriously adorable," Rose said.

"Who?" Esme asked curiously.

Jasper forced himself to tear his eyes away from the screen. "Seth. He just—" Jasper was interrupted by another text.

Jacob may come too.

And another.

This is also Seth.

Jasper shook his head with a laugh as he replied.

The more the merrier. Some of my family will probably be joining us also.

"Sorry. Seth Clearwater says his sister wants to come tomorrow, and possibly Jacob Black, too," Jasper explained.

"Sister?" Carlisle asked in surprise at the same moment Alice whined "Jacob? Really?"

Esme laughed a little at Alice's pout. "What's wrong with Jacob?"

"He's pushy and has no concept of personal boundaries," Alice answered with a scowl that somehow managed to be cute. "He's also a little bit racist and loves calling us 'leech' and 'bloodsucker' when he's talking to Bella, which is rude," she huffed.

Esme frowned a little at that news. She could understand the wolves not thinking very highly of her family - and Jacob in particular had a lot of additional hostility because he was carrying a torch for Bella - but wasn't he one of Bella's best friends? It must be hurtful to her when he used such derogatory slurs about her boyfriend and her future family.

She looked at everyone in the room. "I expect to never hear any such name-calling from any of you, am I understood?" she said sternly.

"Yes, Esme," Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett replied in unison.

Esme looked at Carlisle expectantly, making the four siblings laugh.

"Yes, dear," Carlisle said with an amused smile. Esme nodded sharply and then giggled a little, making Carlisle laugh before he turned to Jasper. "You said Seth's sister. So she's obviously aware of the supernatural world?"

"Very aware," Alice laughed. "You could say intimately aware."

Jasper rolled his eyes with a smile. "Leah is a wolf, Carlisle," he said, smiling at their shock.

"There's a female wolf?" Carlisle asked in astonishment.

"No fucking way!" Emmett exclaimed with a grin.

"Emmett," Esme sighed tiredly. It was honestly a losing battle trying to curb the terrible language in the house, but occasionally she made a half-hearted effort. She wasn't personally all that bothered by it, but being called by the school principal because Emmett told a teacher the C- he got on his essay was 'fucking bullshit' wasn't exactly her idea of a good time.

"Sorry," Emmett replied with a sheepish grin.

"Fascinating. I had no idea the females of the ancestral lines had the ability to shift," Carlisle said with a little more awe and curiosity than Jasper was strictly comfortable with.

"She's not a science project to be studied and researched, Carlisle," Jasper said firmly.

Carlisle smiled and rolled his eyes a little like the young man he really was, rather than the erudite doctor he played in public. "Yes, Jasper, I am aware of that but thank you for the reminder."

Jasper groaned internally when he felt Edward's emotional signature coming in fast. Before he could even warn them he was approaching, the telepath came flying in the front door with his human clinging to his back. Going by the green shade of her face when she slowly lifted her head, she hadn't enjoyed their run.

"Why are you meeting the dogs?" Edward snapped at Jasper as he set Bella on her wobbly feet.

"Edward," Esme said in warning.

"Okay, first of all, and I'm not sure why this even needs to be said, watch your damn speed with your mate while she's still human," Jasper snapped right back as he flashed into the kitchen to get a glass of cold water. "If I'm not mistaken, she's about two seconds from puking, which smells terrible so I'd really rather she not do it in the middle of our living room," he said as he handed Bella the water.

She smiled and sent him her gratitude as Edward led her to the loveseat. "Thanks."

Jasper nodded at her as he sat back down. "Second of all, watch your mouth. Those 'dogs' are Bella's friends, you really think it's appropriate to insult them like that?"

"No one likes a racist asshole, Edward," Alice helpfully pointed out.

"And yet you're happy to be best friends with a Confederate soldier," Edward muttered petulantly, annoyed his siblings were making him look bad. Carlisle gave him a very disappointed look, which he pretended he didn't see.

Jasper barked a laugh at that. "Edward, have you ever asked me about my human military career?" he asked. When Edward remained stubbornly silent, Jasper rolled his eyes. "How do you know I wasn't a Union spy?"

"Were you?" Edward asked in surprise.

"No, but I could've been and you'd have never known because you never bothered to ask me about it. Have you spent seventy years just assuming I'm some pro-slavery redneck?"

Edward's silence was his answer.

"Have you ever seen him act in any way that made you think he was racist?" Rosalie asked pointedly. "Unlike you, who spouts off about the dangerous 'dogs' anytime someone mentions the Quileutes, which is a blatantly racist sentiment."

"He was a Confederate soldier!" Edward defended himself. "That automatically makes him racist."

Literally every person in that room gave him a weird look. "Okay, even if that was true at one time - which it wasn't - Jasper's human military career was over a century and a half ago. Vamps do have the capacity to change, even if you personally don't," Emmett said with a heavy eye-roll.

"With that logic, your assumption is that all Union soldiers were non-racists? Try reading a damn history book," Rosalie snapped.

"The war wasn't being sold to boys like Jasper as the tool to preserve slavery, Edward, it was being sold as the tool to keep the government from dictating how they lived in Texas. Jasper was a sixteen-year old farm boy who knew nothing about the world outside their rural corner of Texas. Did he fight on the wrong side? Of course he did, and if you ever bothered to talk to him about it you'd know he'll be the first to admit he was wrong," Alice said disapprovingly. "His family was on the poorer side, he never knew even a single family who had slaves, and the war turned up literally on his doorstep. What would you have done to keep your family and neighbors safe?"

"Probably nothing," Rosalie muttered.

"The only non-white people Jasper knew before he was changed were paid employees of the family that owned the farm to the east of theirs," Emmett added. "A man and his wife who had a toddler Jasper used to steal peaches for. The kid loved peaches but their farm didn't have any peach trees. Jasper would sneak his father's ladder out of the barn to pick some from high enough in his own tree that his momma wouldn't notice. He was the closest Jasper had to a best friend when he was little, but they moved up to Ohio to live with a cousin three years before Jasper enlisted."

"How do you know that?" Edward asked.

Again, everyone gave him a weird look. "Uh, you know, the usual way. By actually speaking to him about his life," Emmett answered slowly like he thought Edward was an idiot. Which, to be fair, he most certainly did in that moment.

"Besides, after he was changed he ate a bunch a racist white folks to make amends," Alice added.

"So you were really in the Civil War?" Bella asked Jasper curiously. "How old are you?"

"I was born in 1844," Jasper answered. "Changed in 1863."

"Wow," Bella breathed. "Are you the oldest after Carlisle?"

"I am," Jasper nodded, looking at Edward in confusion. Had he not told Bella anything about the rest of them? She would likely be joining the family in a matter of months but he never bothered to tell her about her future siblings? Although that could've just been him. Edward had always found Jasper's past particularly distasteful.

Not wanting Jasper to have the opportunity to go into his vampire history in the south, Edward went back to the original point. "Why are you teaching the dogs to fight?" he asked, then corrected himself when Esme cleared her throat with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry, wolves."

"So they know how to defend themselves and their tribe," Alice answered, adding a mental 'duh'.

"You're teaching the wolves to fight?" Bella asked in surprise. "What about the whole 'mortal enemy' thing?"

"Is that the tale Edward spun you to justify his hatred of Jacob Black?" Rosalie asked with an innocent smile, which turned far more conniving when Edward hissed at her.

"Paul and Seth didn't feel like mortal enemies this afternoon," Alice said cheerfully, mentally replaying Seth laughing and joking with them for Edward to see.

Jasper looked at Bella curiously when he felt a little bit of fear in her, along with some shame. Clearly there was a story there, though he didn't know if it was connected to Seth or Paul. Although given how recent Seth's initial change was and the fact that the boy seemed to be nothing but kind and friendly, he thought it was probably related to Paul.

"But doesn't the vamp versus wolf thing mean you're more likely to hurt each other?" Bella asked worriedly. "It can't be safe for enemies to work together like that, can it? I mean, doesn't your natural hatred of each other make it too risky?"

This time Bella was the one getting weird looks. "I think perhaps you need to branch out a little, Bella," Alice said gently, not wanting to offend her friend. "Edward and Jacob aren't exactly the best guideposts for supernatural friendships."

Edward clenched his jaw to keep from snapping at his sister. Carlisle and Esme had already repeatedly expressed how displeased they were with his recent behavior. "You really think teaching the wolves to fight is a smart move?" he asked Jasper, stressing 'wolves' so it would appear he was trying to be open-minded.

"How could it not be a smart move?" Jasper replied. "We all want Victoria—"

"Shut. Up," Edward growled, cutting Jasper off.

"Holy shit, you cannot be this stupid," Emmett laughed, rolling his eyes. "Bella is the one who told us Victoria has been hanging around. Why are you trying to… I don't even know what, honestly. Are you seriously trying to keep the knowledge she gave you a secret from her?"

"Controlling information is just another way to control her," Rosalie muttered under her breath, making Edward growl at her. "Oh shut up, you know it's true."

"Alright, let's all just take a deep breath," Esme cut in before the conversation could take an even sharper downturn. "Edward, we've already repeatedly spoken to you about your recent attitude and behavior, and I expect you to make an effort to treat your family and your mate with civility and respect. Rosalie, I expect respect and civility from you as well."

Rosalie nodded. "Sorry, Esme."

"What do you mean about Edward's recent behavior?" Bella asked. "Am I missing something?"

Jasper couldn't take it, he had to get out of that room. Between Edward's arrogant condescension and Bella's blatant hero worship of him, he was afraid he might be the one puking in the middle of the living room. Alice hopped off the couch just as Jasper stood up. "I'll come with you."

Jasper just nodded. "I'm going for a hunt. We can talk some more about tomorrow once I don't want to choke anyone."

"Jasper!" Esme laughed before schooling her expression into something appropriately stern. "I expect respect and civility from you, too. From all of you."

"Yes, Esme," Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, and Emmett said in unison.

"Yes, dear," Carlisle laughed before Esme could turn her sharp gaze on him.

"Fine," Edward snapped.

"Uh, okay?" Bella said uncertainly, not sure if she was included in the 'all of you' group but not wanting to risk Esme being upset with her.

"Still glad you took a chance on me in 1948?" Alice laughed as she and Jasper walked out of the room.

Jasper smiled at her. "Mostly."

Jasper didn't really need to hunt, so after a few hours of playing the vamp version of tag on Mount Olympus, he and Alice headed home. Thankfully, Edward and Bella were gone by the time they got back to the house. Not so thankfully, both were planning to crash the training session tomorrow.

The training session where Jasper was going to be meeting his soulmate. After waiting over a century and a half.

"Holy shit," he breathed, panicking a little. So much could go wrong. They were different species, and technically kinda enemies because of it, he had a violent and blood-soaked history from spending seventy-five years amid the violence and destruction otherwise known as the Southern Wars, not to mention his eighty-five years of feeding solely on humans. He was also an empath, which meant she'd have virtually no privacy when it came to her emotions, and on and on it went. "Holy fucking shit."

"Quit it," Alice laughed as she came skipping into his study and closed the door behind her. "It's gonna be fine! You're a wonderful man with a huge heart and she'd be an idiot not to see it. And I highly doubt your other half is an idiot. Not to mention you're hot and have that whole sexy southern gentleman thing working in your favor."

Jasper smiled at her. "I don't think you're the most impartial judge of my character, Ali."

"True," she nodded, then opened the door again. "Hey everyone! What's the first word that comes to mind when you think about Jasper?" she called out.

"Considerate," Esme called back.

"Thoughtful and intelligent," Carlisle said.

"That's two words, Carlisle," Emmett shouted disapprovingly.

"Respectful," Rosalie added.

"Since Carlisle used two words, can I use three?" Emmett yelled. On Alice's agreement, he very seriously shouted "A stone-cold fox."

"Isn't that four words, Em?" Alice called.

"Duh, there's a hyphen so it's obviously a single word."

"Jesus, you're all completely crazy," Jasper laughed. He did, however, loosen the reins on his gift and let everyone feel his gratitude, because that shit was flattering as hell. It was nice to know the people he loved thought so highly of him.

"What's all this about?" Esme asked from the doorway. "Does something have you doubting yourself? I hope it's not Edward's earlier behavior."

Jasper hesitated a moment. He didn't want to lie to Esme, but he thought Leah should probably be the next person who learned they were soulmates. "Just thinking about what it will be like when I meet my mate," he answered honestly.

"Whoever that lucky person turns out to be, I have no doubt they'll accept you wholeheartedly. You're a wonderful man, Jasper," Esme said softly as she walked into his study to give him a hug.

"You're all biased," Jasper laughed. "But thank you."

Alice rolled her eyes, sighed, and pulled out her phone to make a call.

"Hi, Alice."

"Bella, what's the first word that comes to mind when you think of Jasper?" Alice asked, making Jasper close his eyes with a sigh of his own. "What? She doesn't know you that well so she's not biased," she said, too quietly for the human to hear.

"Um…" Bella hesitated. Jasper thought she was probably trying not to say she found him terrifying. "Protective and… wait, can I have two words?"

"Carlisle did, so I guess it's only fair," Alice laughed.

"Respectful. I've seen how he treats you, Esme, and Rosalie, and he always seems very respectful."

"Thanks, Bella! See you tomorrow," she said before hanging up. "See?" she asked, giving Jasper a pointed look.

Jasper was honestly a little surprised Bella had anything positive to say about him. The two spent virtually no time together. He certainly couldn't say they were friends, but perhaps they were friend-adjacent. "Given that her first word was protective, you'd think she would've taken advantage of that last year in Phoenix instead of running straight into the most obvious trap known to man," he muttered.

Alice nodded her agreement, still a little put out that they managed to lose the human. All's well that ends well, she supposed, mentally shrugging. Or mostly well. Eventually Bella was fine. "There. Satisfied now?" she asked Jasper, keen to change the subject.

"I guess," Jasper shrugged. "I'll probably keep on doubting until proven wrong, though," he admitted.

"I know," Alice smiled. "You're too stubborn for your own good."

Esme looked at her with an amused smile. "He's stubborn, Alice? Have you every heard that little story about the pot and the kettle?"

Alice just laughed, not bothered in the slightest at being called stubborn. "Come on, Jas, let's go downstairs. Emmett wants you to help him build a house of cards and I promised Rosalie I'd let her tell me all about the upgrades she wants to make to the Jeep without making any faces that indicate I'm bored and don't understand what she's talking about."

Jasper shook his head and laughed as he followed Alice and Esme downstairs, happy to have his family to distract him from tomorrow's events.

By the time Jasper was running back to the clearing in no man's land the following afternoon, he'd managed to shed most of his doubts. He was pretty sure fate wouldn't tie him to someone who'd find him completely repellent, so he was back to being excited and hopeful.

Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Esme were running with him, and Alice was using the forest as her very own obstacle course as usual - vaulting over fallen logs, leaping into the trees and swinging from branch to branch, and occasionally jumping onto Jasper's back to catch a ride. Carlisle had a shift at the hospital he couldn't cancel at such short notice but was planning to join them in a few hours, and Edward would be bringing Bella along so he'd taken the Jeep.

Seth had sent a text a few hours earlier letting him know Leah, Sam, and Jacob would be accompanying him and Paul. Leah because she had a genuine interest in learning to fight, Sam because he didn't trust the vamps, and Jacob because Bella would be there.

Jasper was really hoping Edward and Jacob didn't make the afternoon awkward for everyone involved. There was going to be enough going on without adding their hostile jealousy to the mix.

They'd only just arrived in the clearing when Jasper felt multiple new emotional signatures enter his range. He picked Seth's out easily, grateful the boy had such pleasant emotions, and then immediately recognized Paul. He was irritated, but not hostile, along with amused, so that was great fucking news. One of the wolves was almost entirely made up of mistrust, so he assumed that was Sam, and another was full of jealousy and resentment, which was obviously Jacob.

The last was a mixed bag of emotions. There was annoyance and amusement, some indignation, but also a good amount of gratitude. As the wolves got closer, confusion was added to the mix, along with some curiosity. Jasper couldn't even begin to make heads or tails of his mate's emotional palette.

As the wolves stepped out of the trees, Jasper couldn't quite contain his smile that the moment he'd been waiting over a century and a half for was finally here.