A/N: If you have read this fanfiction before May 2024, then you should re-read the first two chapters. It has been rewritten!
Oh-oh-oh-oh-ah-ah-ah-ah
I don't want to wake up from this tonight
There's no relief, I see you in my sleep
And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me
There's no release, I feel you in my dreams
Telling me I'm fine
Carlisle must have called ahead because Volturi guards were waiting for them when they left customs, ready to escort them to Volterra, lest they have any mishaps along the way. When the Volturi were asked to preside over such matters, they took it seriously. It was a hard thing for a coven leader to admit they couldn't control interpersonal coven conflicts. And almost unheard of. Instead of separating the two, Edward and Jasper were escorted away from the rest of the Cullens and into a waiting black S.U.V.
"I trust you will both behave?" Demetri asked Edward and Jasper as they climbed into the vehicle one after another. Demetri and Felix are the only two present that Jasper had met before.
"Until I have reason not to." Jasper grinned. He may not have vampire law on his side, having made the moves on his coven member's proclaimed mate. He had the truth though, and after Denali, confidence. He knew what he was capable of, even if most others present didn't. He just wished Peter could have been here, it would have been nice to have his second command in situations like this. There was safety in numbers, and though he valued the support he had from his coven members, they were all untrained pacifists. Which was a fine thing to be if you were in the human world, but completely useless in the vampire world. No longer could the Cullens avoid the harsh reality of being an undead blood drinker, irregardless of where they got that blood.
.o.O.o.
"Major Whitlock." Aro greeted Jasper jovially, his voice booming across the marbled floor of the throne room. He had patiently waited until everyone had gathered and taken their places, Edward and Jasper standing at the forefront ready to make their cases against one another. "It's a pleasure to see you again." Aro was truly excited to have such esteemed guests at Volterra. The Cullen coven was quite popular in the vampire world, though they abstained from being included in it. Major Whitlock, was more of a vampire myth. Aro was basically vibrating with the prospect of being able to have him in the guard. If the rumors were to be believed...
"I don't reckon we've ever met." Jasper drawled, laying his southern accent on thick, already fed up with all the vampire hierarchy hoops. Aro knew damn well the two of them never met, he meant what he had seen in others memories of Jasper. He had sent Caius and some of the guard to track him down after he left the Mexico Coven. Aro's smile faltered for a moment before he plastered it on again. Most vampires were more than happy to indulge the Kings in their whims and fancies. Because they were afraid of them and Jasper wasn't. Aro could tell then that some of the rumors passed along over the years about Major Whitlock had been true. At least the ones about his physical presence and attitude. Just by watching them walk in together, you could tell which one was the threat. Even without his scars to identify him as one. It was almost like an aura around him screaming 'Danger!'
Carlisle was shocked at Jasper's behavior. He had never seen him act so belligerently. He had always been a quiet, more stoic member of the coven. He knew he had a problem with authority, and the Volturi in general... But to be this brazenly rude to a King was unheard of. He had never fathomed such a side to Jasper before. He had always been so courteous. Alice gave Carlisle a long look, as if he could hear her thoughts like Edward.
'What did you expect, forcing him to come here?'
Never mind, he didn't need Edward's gift to know what Alice was thinking. What else could he have done? All of the other suggestions were either too abhorrent to think of, or violated the treaty. He couldn't trust Alice's visions with how misleading they had been in this situation.
"Well, perhaps not. But I've seen you in the memories of others." Aro recovered somewhat clumsily.
"Respectfully, Aro, can we get on with it? I have a newborn to make." Jasper shifted impatiently from one leg to another. His anxiety rising the longer he was in the castle's confines. Jasper wasn't exactly claustrophobic, but he didn't care for being inside a labyrinthine like castle. It would be hard to fight his way out alone, and Jasper found himself wishing Peter were here, though he was far more useful where Jasper had sent him.
"Yes, I hear there is quite an interest in this human girl." Aro held his hand out expectantly, waiting for one of the two vampires in front of him to take it. Neither vampire stepped forward. Carlisle couldn't help feeling embarrassed by his coven members. More so Edward, than Jasper. He couldn't be held responsible for a vampire he didn't raise from the dead himself. Aro realized after a long moment neither were going to offer their hand and shared a look with his brother kings. He gave up finally, and dropped his hand. This was not going well for either of the Cullen members.
"If you had brought the human with you..." Marcus said lazily, not really caring about this conflict one way or another. "Then I could have set this matter straight in an instant." But bringing Bella to Volterra had never been an option. At least not one presented to Jasper, not that he would have taken it if offered. It was bad enough he was forced to be here. He would have done anything to keep Bella from Volterra, and Carlisle wasn't going to be the one to start that chain of events.
"How do you propose we solve this?" Aro asks, " Even seeing only one of your memories would show me what I needed to know to find the truth in this matter. Yet neither of you are willing to offer your hand?"
"I'm not going to lie and say I have nothing to hide, I have plenty. I have no desire for you to see my mate, human or not, in such a compromising position." Jasper thought he was doing a great job of being respectful and keeping his foul language under control. He was only half right. Denying Aro's touch was simply not done. It wasn't even an consideration for most vampires posed with the option. Edward scoffed loudly at Jasper's statement, which was the wrong move for the young vegetarian mind reader. Because it brought Aro's attention to him.
"You've been suspiciously quiet, Edward Cullen, for one accusing their coven member of trying to seduce and steal away his mate while she is human." There were a few involuntarily chuckles among the assembled guard. Carlisle momentarily wondered if they upped the usual amount of guard in the throne room over the decades since he last visited, or if this was all for Jasper.
"I'm allowing Jasper to dig his hole deeper." Edward said confidently. Jasper could feel him exuding smugness over his anxiety and nervousness over the situation. Jasper could understand being nervous and having anxiety in a place such as this, in a situation like the one they were in. The smugness however, Jasper felt was misplaced. He couldn't think of much of anything that Edward could have cause to be smug about. This was unusual and unnerved Jasper slightly. Edward felt like he was in the right, and with such confidence, came ignorance.
"Tell me, Edward Cullen, what are the vampire laws?" Aro asked, "And no mind reading." Aro chided, wagging his finger at Edward. Jasper was amused, they only knew a fraction of the rules of the road to vampire life. Edward chanced a glance at Carlisle, but Carlsile's thoughts were elsewhere.
"You better not help him." Aro warned Carlisle, and he shook his head. He knew it was too late to try to educate Edward now. His mind was preoccupied with the mess he allowed his coven to fall into. He wished he had Alice's ability to find the best way to navigate them all safely through this. To make the right decision. Not that it had done Alice any good.
"Hunts must be inconspicuous. Change your territory often. The creation of immortal children is forbidden. Interacting with the children of the moon is prohibited, unless it is to exterminate them. Do not draw attention to ourselves. Do not go out in direct sunlight. Vampires can interact with humans, but they must not know our true nature. If they are made aware, the vampire at fault is responsible for silencing the human, by killing them or making them an immortal. A newborn's creator is responsible for their actions and teaching them the vampire laws before letting them go out on their own." Edward recited it with the same energy he gave his high school teachers. Smug superiority, which wasn't unusual for a vampire to feel for a human... But to give off that feeling now? It made Jasper wary. He had a feeling like there was something he was missing. Aro simply nodded along with him, encouraging him to continue.
"Good, good. And what else?" Aro asked expectantly. Edward frowned, those were the vampire laws Carlisle had told them. He looked towards Carlisle again, a questioning look on his face. "Did Carlisle only teach you the basics?" Aro asked condescendingly, looking around the room with a tiny smirk gracing his lips, and the twinkle of a chuckle in his eyes.
"I didn't think it was necessary to educate my offspring on the finger points of vampire culture." Aro stopped him before he could try to make excuses for keeping his coven in the dark on the finer points of vampirism.
"Because you abstain from human blood?" Aro asked, and Carlisle had the sudden realization that it wasn't just Edward and Jasper who were under scrutiny today.
"No, not because we abstain. We don't often interact with our kind, due to the lives we choose to live." Carlisle struggled to explain why, before realizing he didn't have a reason. He just never thought it was important, simple as that.
"And do you think if you drank human blood, you would participate in the finer points of vampire society and customs?" Aro asked him outright, and the young vampire doctor had no response to that. He couldn't imagine living life any other way, than drinking from animals.
"If the time came where they needed to know, I would tell them..." But Aro cut off another one of Carlisle's weak excuses.
"Is this not one of those times, do you think?" Carlisle was abashed. He knew he had failed Edward by being too lenient, but to have his ability as a coven leader questioned like this, so openly in the throne room of Volterra... This was going far worse than Carlisle could have ever dreamed. When Aro realized he wasn't going to get a satisfactory answer, he continued. "Would you care to educate him now?" He challenged him, but Carlisle just shook his head. Too lost in the thoughts of his own failings as a leader, something he had once prided himself on. Would there even be a Cullen coven after this?
"The laws he told you were simply the main tenets of vampire life. There are more specific ones, like there's no feeding within Volterra city limits. Though, I can see why he would neglect to tell you about that one." Aro paused to let the guard chuckle at his joke, as was expected of them. Jasper was delighted that Edward's smug satisfaction had almost faded entirely.
"There are of course, subsections to vampire law. About covens and social etiquette. There are others, not so much laws of vampires, but laws of nature. Mating, for example, is unequivocal. When one finds their mate, the two halves of one whole, no one questions it." Those mated who were in attendance nodded or hummed their agreement.
"So, when someone like Major Whitlock comes out of seclusion, out of myth and legend, because lets face it, none of you really believed he existed, and is willing to come to Volterra to and dispute your mating claim, I must insist on proof. Proof neither one of you has been willing to provide me, thus far." He gave them both a withering annoyed glance before continuing.
"The penalty for bearing false witness is death. Yet here he stands, proclaiming the human as his own, and that your own mating claim on her is false." Aro noticed Edward looking nervously at Carlisle. He wondered if perhaps the younger vampire would confess to lying, if he was given leniency. He would make an invaluable member of the guard.
"How long have you known this human was your mate?" Aro continued his line of questioning with Edward, leaving Jasper alone to his thoughts and over analyzing Edward's emotional signature.
"Two, almost three months." It was hardly any time at all, and yet to all mated vampires in the room, an eternity.
"And yet she remains a human." Aro tutted. "Major Whitlock, tell me. Why haven't you given the girl the gift of immortal life?"
"Edward was first to meet Bella. He had a problem controlling himself around her, because she is his singer."
"She is his singer? Remarkable." Aro interrupted, all but rolling his eyes while he gestured for him to continue.
"He went to visit the Denali coven in Alaska for a week. I had suggested killing her to remove the temptation, but Carlisle forbid it. We weren't to interact with her at all in Edward's absence." Jasper continued as if there was no interruption.
"And if you had been allowed to kill her?" Aro asked.
"I would have known she was my mate sooner than last Friday." Jasper said, knowing full well his suggestion to kill Bella to keep their coven member from losing control and risk exposing them all, was a completely normal suggestion to make. With the way Carlisle had gone on about it, you'd think he'd suggested killing Edward instead.
"Tell me, Major Whitlock..." Aro was thoroughly enjoying himself, he had become enamored with Judge Judy in the 1990's but hadn't had much opportunity to play court since. "What happened when Edward returned and declared the human as his mate? Did you question it, being able to feel his emotions?"
"Not out loud." It wouldn't have been his place to voice that he was playing with the human, not when Edward had already said she was mated to him.
"You never questioned his mating claim?" Aro asked.
"Not until last Friday." Jasper was growing tired of the constant questioning, and he knew giving his hand for Aro to read would solve this immediately. The worry that he would try to keep him in Volterra for crimes he was previously unaware of, kept his hands down. "When I realized what she was to me, I went directly to Carlisle to make my case. I was too late, however. Edward got to him first, and told him that I wanted to fuck and drain her, and we needed to leave immediately for her safety." This caused a slight clamor among those assembled. You never left your mate, not willingly. Not when they were a vampire, and especially not when they were a vulnerable, easily killed human. Aro was more than inclined to side with Major Whitlock, but his personal opinion wasn't based on facts, but feelings. Aro couldn't rule on feelings. He needed more information.
As if on cue...
"Aro?" Alice called out, before stepping forward and walking between the two towards Aro. "If I may?" She held out her hand daintily for him to touch. This more than pleased him, and he eagerly reached down to touch the seer's hand. Jasper was having the opposite opinion on the matter, he saw the act as the lock snapping closed on Alice's ball and chain. He didn't think she would be leaving Volterra after this.
"I would be delighted, Miss Cullen." Aro could barely keep the excitement out of his voice. There was a long pause, while Aro took a full glimpse into Alice's memories.
"Oh. I see." He said, letting Alice's hand fall from his own. She stepped back behind Edward and Jasper, staying close to Emmett and Rosalie and away from Carlisle and Esme. Something that Rosalie noticed, even if Emmett hadn't. He was too on edge, like Jasper. Neither liked being confined in dark castles. "I see. This is a far more complicated manner than we had all been led to presume." Aro was mainly talking to the other kings, but spoke loud enough so that all gathered could hear him. He loved a spectacle, and this was proving to be quite the spectacle. This time, he spoke directly to Caius, but still not bothering to lower his voice whatsoever.
"It seems there are still children of the moon that roam this earth, brother. Carlisle Cullen made a treaty with them, so his family could live among the humans nearby." He didn't bother looking at Caius, or waiting for a response. "Carlisle agreed not to change or feed off of humans while in the area. Perhaps if he hadn't made such an ill advised treaty with shape shifters, Major Whitlock would have taken out the threat of exposure to his coven, and discovered she was his mate."
"You believe him?" Edward asked incredulously, "He only wanted her because she was mine!" His use of past tense didn't go unnoticed by Aro, and it immediately put the vampire King on edge. When there was jealousy in a coven, it wasn't unusual for one of the vampires to kill the object of the triangle. If they couldn't have them, no one would, and he had the fleeting thought that perhaps this sheltered vegetarian vampire, was capable of such a thing.
"Major Whitlock's former companion Alice Cullen, has provided more than enough evidence. Major Whitlock could barely deny the human anything she needed. There was a threat to her life, and he killed the vampire responsible. She was offered uncomfortable clothing, so he provided her with something she would be comfortable in. When she needed her mate's touch, he could barely keep himself from pleasing her. All things a mate does without thinking for their mate." He paused, and saw that Edward was revolted by the idea of Major Whitlock and the human being intimate. "You never even touched her. I was inclined to believe Major Whitlock before, but now I have no doubt whatsoever that the human is his mate." Edward opened his mouth to protest, but Aro left him no room.
"You didn't know she was his mate, so there will be no punishment for your misguided actions. You could only do so much with your limited knowledge of the world you live in." Aro said disdainfully. "Carlisle has been remiss in teaching his coven our laws, So I would like to extend the offer for them to stay in Volterra, and live as vampires should live. Then, if such a situation were ever to arise again, they would be able to govern themselves on their personal issues." There was a loud clamor in the throne room then, detaining one or two members wasn't unheard of, but an entire coven? An invitation to stay in Volterra was never denied, because it wasn't an invitation at all.
"Major Whitlock." Aro spoke just to Jasper then, making it clear he didn't consider him part of the Cullen Coven. "I look forward to meeting your mate in the future." Jasper cringed inwardly, there was nothing he'd like less and Aro knew that. He couldn't help but want to meet the human that enthralled two vampires at the same time. Perhaps she had a gift...
It was then, however, that Edward chose to finally make a noise. He started laughing. A hollow laugh, devoid of any emotion, echoed through the marbled throne room. His laugh bordering on a hysterical fit. Jasper and Alice shared a look, both hoping the other might have insight that could help the other understand what was going on. Alice had no visions, and Jasper couldn't tell anything by Edward's rising hysteria. Aro on the other hand, knew his earlier fear had been true, and he signaled the guards to get between Major Whitlock and Edward, before he lost the telepath to the empath's rage. 'Though,' Aro thought to himself, 'The little bastard deserved it.' Aro would later realize, just how correct he was.
.o.O.o.
When tribal elder Billy Black asked Sam Uley for his assistance in finding Charlie Swan's teenage daughter, Sam didn't hesitate. Not only because she had been seen fraternizing with the Cullens, but because being able to help people using the unfortunate form his tribal ancestors bestowed upon him, was worth the pain of the transformation. If not the isolation from his tribe. He was often called in by law enforcement around the Pacific Northwest as a tracker, with Charlie Swan vouching for him.
At first, when the Cullens moved to town, Sam didn't understand the instant hate the tribal elders had against them. Word among the townies was nothing but praise towards the young doctor and his wife. Yet the tribe would scoff at all of their community contributions. They wouldn't accept anything if it was donated by the Cullens. Not the hand knit newborn kits, with matching hats, mittens and blankets. Not the canned food, or the Thanksgiving Potluck that the Fork's Elk Lodge hosted every year. Not when the Cullens lived here.
But when the fever set in, and the Tribal Elders carried him off into the woods despite his mother and Leah's protests, he understood. Amidst smoke and fire, the Elders enlightened Sam about his curse, the trait passed down to all Quileute. A necessary human evolution bestowed only upon his tribe for protection from the supernatural elements that threatened their existence. An oral history to warn the future generations. How the tribal Shaman had made a deal, bestowing the curse for protection against the Cold Ones. How every story of their losses and victories against the Cold Ones were true, even the one where they made a treaty with The Cullens. The golden eyed 'vegetarians'. Who instead of killing the tribe, leveraged their numbers and the unspoken threat of genocide, and settled in nearby.
And finally, Sam understood the hate.
It had taken Sam barely any time to pick up Bella's scent trail outside her house, even with the rain starting to come down heavier. He wasn't surprised the familiar scent of Edward Cullen was around her, they were publicly dating, after all. There were a few places where the Swan girl's scent was harder to follow, but Edward's sickly sweet stench was easier to track. Sam hadn't been too concerned, until two other vampire scents followed after the first. Their scents stronger and more over powering than Edward's. It wasn't often any vampires were in the area aside from the Cullens, so Sam was immediately on edge. Sam could have taken on Edward Cullen if he was the one responsible for Bella Swan's disappearance, but three vampires? He was the lone wolf of his tribe, he couldn't risk such a fight. Not for an outsider. Especially not an outsider who ran with vampires, even knowing what they are and the risk associated with it.
He started to follow the scent trail through the woods a bit more cautiously. Before he took no care in making noise or stampeding through the brush. Now he took care to avoid splashing through newly formed puddles and stepping on twigs. He smelled blood long before he started to hear voices. Sam slowed down and crept underneath the brush to hear better. He was close enough to see the vampires now, but barely. They seemed to be having a conversation about saving her life. The blood he smelled was Bella Swan's then, he assumed. He didn't see any sign of Edward around, and he couldn't scent him out from this distance.
Sam Uley wondered what exactly it was that the Chief of Police's daughter got herself caught up in.
When they discussed biting her, Sam's body went rigid. He wanted with everything in him, with every fiber of his existence to stop them. He couldn't take on two vampires, and they said she was dying. From her faint heartbeat, he surmised they were right. If they were going to change her and take her away, he was powerless to stop them. It made him wonder why they even bothered making a treaty with the Cullens to begin with, it didn't protect anyone. Only when they carried away Bella Swan, screaming and writhing in the pain of the change, did Sam move from his spot and went towards where they had departed. As he examined the area with his wolf eyes and wolf senses, he tried to piece together what had happened to her to lead to her being changed and carried off by two unfamiliar vampires. He wondered what he was going to tell the Chief of Police, Charlie. Perhaps going to the tribal elders first, Charlie was a friend of the tribe, they would know how to spin it to a human.
.o.O.o.
"Peter. I need you to do something for me." Jasper asked, his tone leaving no room for argument. He was uneasy about Edward being in Forks unsupervised, even though Esme promised she would be with Edward the whole time. When she arrived in Denali alone, swearing Edward should be arriving with Carlisle later than afternoon, he wanted to call Carlisle immediately and have him check on Bella. When Carlisle's phone went straight to voicemail, he called the only person he could trust.
"Major." Peter replied appropriately, knowing this was not a request, but a demand from both his sire, and The Major.
"Go to Forks and watch over Isabella Swan. She's the Chief of Police's daughter, she shouldn't be hard to find."
"Uh, Major..." Peter was eyeing the human girl laying in the mud at his feet.
"Pete, this is not up for discussion." Jasper said firmly, wishing he was able to manipulate emotions over the phone. "Just do it." There was a strained sigh from Jasper as he ran his free hand through his hair. "Pete. They're taking me to Volterra." There was no further explanation, as Jasper's side of the line went dead.
"Oh yeah, sure thing Major." Peter replied sarcastically as he folded his phone and put it in his pocket. "I assume by watch over her, he means watch her while she dies."
"Peter!" Charlotte admonished him, he couldn't be seriously making jokes at a time like this.
"Yeah, yeah. I know what he meant. Thought my days of newborn rearin' was over." He grumbled mostly to himself as he bent over the human girl, who he now assumed to be Isabella Swan, and bit her on either side of her neck, taking time to gather venom in his mouth to push into her open bites. He would have taken more time with it, but he had a feeling they should have left already, making him uneasy as he hoisted the teenage girl in his arms and took off away from Forks, Washington. His feet leaving muddy footprints that were quickly washed away by the north western rainstorm that was now in full effect.
.o.O.o.
Multiple Volturi guards now surrounded Jasper and Edward, putting everyone in the room, except the Kings, on edge. The Volturi rarely made a show of force anymore, and from the beginning of this trial there had been an exorbitant amount of guards. There had been a reason Aro had them forgo cloaks today. It took the room at large a bit longer to realize they were protecting Jasper, rather than detaining him. It was Edward who had the guard's attention. Two guards grabbing him roughly, while a third kicked his legs out from underneath him, forcing him to the ground.
"Aro!" Carlisle moved forward a single step before he was restrained himself.
"Patience, Carlisle. I have cause to worry about what your progeny has been up to, that you are unaware of." Aro said as he quickly strolled down the dais and grasped the telepath's head in his hands.
Within seconds, everything that Edward had managed to keep secret from his coven came to the forefront of his mind. As if trying to avoid them had accelerated the process of Aro finding them. They weren't in order, coming in bits and pieces, but it wasn't hard for Aro to put the last few months into proper order and perspective.
He saw the instant fascination and obsession with knowing what she was thinking, which enraged Edward, he considered humans beneath them. As did most vampires. He saw Edward's plans to accidently touch her when he saw they had biology together, while he stalked her through the minds of the other students. Thinking that touch, would help amplify his ability to read her mind. Edward's frustration was apparent through all of this, a mere human being able to keep secrets, from him? He did not like not being able to delve through someone else's thoughts at his fancy. Edward did not like not getting what he wanted, nor was he accustomed to it.
So when it took absolutely all of his willpower not to kill her in biology, he wanted to find a way to hear her thoughts before draining the sweet ambrosia he now referred her blood as, dry. Alice's continued hopeful insistence that she saw Bella as one of them, a vampire, repulsed Edward. He couldn't suffer a silent mind full of secrets for an eternity...
In Phoenix, Edward thought he finally had his chance. Seeing how fragile she was, on the brink of death. With how entangled she had become with his family, when they still held him at an arm's length... He had plans to end her then, under the guise of losing control. Major Whitlock thwarted those plans, by flinging him several feet away from his intended victim. Even though the telepath's eyes, Aro could see the protective way he hunched over the dying human, daring anyone else to come forth and challenge his claim. How Carlisle hadn't noticed, Aro didn't understand.
The empath's thoughts were on a constant stream of 'MINE.' Reverberating several times over through Edward's mind, his skull pounding painfully as a result. Aro's skull pounding as a result. He pulled his hands away from Edward's face without thinking, wanting it to stop. He had never felt pain from someone else's memories before, and he had seen memories that would have warranted it more than this.
It took everything Aro had not to look away from Edward's angry face towards Major Whitlock. Afraid that anything might be written on his face to cause him to act. He put his hands back on Edward's head immediately, wanting to get to the bottom of what was becoming a very uncomfortable situation. Trying to focus on any memory with the brunette human, Aro rifled through Edward's memories. He instead found one of Edward feeding off of another brunette girl, and taking no care to cover up his kill. Discarding her body as casually as one tosses a wad of paper into the trash.
The next time he saw Major Whitlock's human mate in Edward's memories, was when she pulled up to a house in an older faded red truck and climbed out of it.
Aro had lived a long time on this earth, he had seen civilizations rise, prosper, fall and be forgotten to memory and time. He had watched the rise of religions, created by man and myth, and some of those as well, forgotten. Aro had witnessed destruction and depravity that most wouldn't be able to fathom in their wildest, most terrifying nightmares. He had seen humanity brought to it's knees by disease, virus and one calamity after another. Aro had rarely seen the calculated coldness and depravity in which Edward Cullen set about destroying the mate of his coven member. The possessive greed over her blood. His entire motive since he met the human girl had been to drain ever last precious drop of her blood. Aro could understand that, he had singers before. When he couldn't read her mind however, he wanted the relationship to end and for his coven to move away... So he could come back alone and finish the job.
Then James happened, and Edward had thought he couldn't had planned this better himself. He didn't account for the Major interfering, when he knew for a fact no one else would have. They wouldn't have been able to stop themselves near so much blood. The all encompassing rage at his plans being derailed, again... Overwhelmed Aro and he unknowingly clutched Edward's head between his hands, causing small fractures to splinter out across Edward's perfect features.
When Edward had realized Major Whitlock had assumed his protectiveness over the human girl was because she was his coven member's mate, he tried to revert to his earlier plan and tried to break up with her before they went back home to Forks. Hoping she would stay in a sunnier climate with her mother, far away from anywhere they would reside. To keep her from being discovered by Major Whitlock and other vampires. His plan was to come back for her.
After prom, Edward had become desperate. He ditched Esme in Port Angeles as soon as he was able. Citing forgetting some useless trinket. His plan had been to get his fill of her, and dump her body for the carrion animals. Again, his plans had been thwarted. He's interrupted by two unknown vampires. Edward hadn't managed to get a glimpse of them when he fled, worried he wouldn't be able to win in a fight against two opponents.
Aro pulled away then, conflicted. If Edward hadn't had a gift, a valuable one at that, he would have beheaded him right then and there. Progeny of his dear friend Carlisle or not. If he had succeeded in killing the girl, and Aro was as unclear on this as Edward was, he would be obliged by vampire customs to let Major Whitlock have the honors. The cogs in Aro's mind started turning as he tried to figure out how best to approach such a situation.
"Caius, who do we have in Seattle?" Aro never paid attention to such things, they didn't interest him. He kept his eyes on Edward, still worried something in his expression would tip off Major Whitlock, more than his frazzled emotions probably already have. The telepath was gazing dispassionately at the floor, awaiting the judgment he knew was coming.
If vampires blood ran hot, this is when Jasper's would have turned to ice in his veins, as the fear of the unknown happening to Bella cascaded over him, gripping him tightly with inaction. Before Caius could answer Aro, Jasper found himself speaking while pulling his phone from his pocket, daring the guards to take that as a threat.
"I've got someone on her." Aro was surprised, but then surprised at himself for being surprised. Of course Major Whitlock wouldn't leave his vulnerable human mate unattended to come to Volterra. The vampires who interrupted Edward, had to be who he meant. It would be too coincidental otherwise. A few seconds later, a voice on the other line answered with a 'hello'.
"Peter, report." Jasper said succinctly.
"Yeah, so about that... Last we spoke I had already had my eyes on the girl." There was a slight pause before the voice continued. "She had been attacked, and after we spoke I changed her. So I've been watching her, but I didn't protect her. I was too late."
"She's in your protection now?" Jasper asked for clarification, his steely black eyes mere slits as he glared in Edward's direction.
"Safe and sound." Jasper hung up promptly by crushing his phone and letting the pieces fall from his hands and scatter loudly on the marble floor.
Jasper was known for patience and understanding. His emphatic ability allowing him to see both sides easier, and helping him navigate resolutions to make both parties happy. He was invaluable when the Cullen coven, who were not fighters, came across other covens, who were. He solved numerous interpersonal coven issues, and kept numerous humans from discovering their vampire secret.
Major Whitlock had no patience. He wanted instant gratification in all things. He was impetuous, with no time for excuses or delay. He would sooner remove your head, than listen to you argue with him.
This was who was driving Jasper's actions. His rage was untethered and it knew no bounds. It had been a long time since he loosened the reigns on his self control. Aro was right to have placed so many guards around him to protect Edward. It would do no good, Aro soon realized a second later, regretting that Alec and Jane had been sent to check in on the Romanians as he watched the guard gathered around Major Whitlock, fall asleep in unison. Their bodies making a loud, simultaneous thump. Jasper stood there, his eyes dark and devoid of color, as a slow smile crept across his features. The guard around Edward stepped away from Edward, not needing any form of emotional manipulation to realize this was not a fight they wanted any part of.