A/N: I know Jasper/Leah already makes this AU, but this chapter starts the shift to even more AU territory. I'm also going to be messing with the timeline a little.

Thanks for reading:)

Gathering Intel

"Jas!"

Hearing Alice's frantic voice, Jasper knew she was already aware he'd been bitten. He didn't even have time to stand up before she came flying at him faster than he'd ever seen her move, which was really saying something. She launched herself into his arms and he caught her with an 'oomph' as the force of the impact knocked him flat on his back.

"Shh, I'm fine, it's all healed already," he assured her softly, letting her hang onto him as he hauled himself to his feet. He looked up when Leah ran into view, and he smiled at feeling her amusement that he had a tiny, worried pixie attached to him, her feet dangling almost two feet off the ground. "You good?" he asked as he looked her over, letting out a sigh of relief that there wasn't a single scratch on her. Alice was equally unharmed, as were Peter, Edward, and Quil as they ran into view right behind Leah.

Jacob looked like he was limping a little, and there was a small gash on his right foreleg, but considering the kid wanted to wipe his family from the face of the earth, Jasper honestly couldn't muster up too much sympathy.

He looked at Peter while he rubbed Alice's back to get her to settle and walked over to greet his mate, even if she wasn't capable of speech.

"Ash," Peter nodded in confirmation as he pulled his own mate into his arms.

"And you read him before you burned him?" Jasper asked Edward, knowing he would have but feeling compelled to make sure. Fortunately his edginess started dissipating as soon as he felt Leah's fur beneath his hand and she leaned against his side.

"I did," Edward nodded. When Leah gently tugged Jasper's shirt with her teeth, Edward smiled at him. "She wants to go human and needs your shirt."

Jasper looked down at the vamp hanging off his neck and Alice huffed a little. "Fine," she grumbled and dropped to the ground.

Jasper wasted no time pulling his shirt over his head and held it out for Leah to take. She dashed into the trees and came running out on two legs less than a minute later, and ran straight into Jasper's arms. They all heard wolves coming in fast, so Jasper figured they could afford to wait a minute and looked at Edward over Leah's head. "Did you call anyone at the house to let them know everyone's okay?"

Edward nodded. "Carlisle. He offered to come meet us here but I asked him to stay with Bella until I get back," he answered, his voice a little hesitant as if waiting for someone to protest.

No one did. In any other situation, Carlisle would've been present as their coven leader, but even though things appeared to be under control at that point, no one could blame Edward for wanting someone capable of protecting her to stick close to his mate's side until they knew from the second newborn that there weren't any other threats in the area.

"Rose and Emmett are still at Charlie's? Or nearby?" Leah asked as she unwrapped herself from around her imprint.

Edward nodded again. "They're out of sight in the trees behind the house. They'll stay until we give them the all clear."

"Thank you," Leah said, grateful that they'd all made sure he was protected.

Seth and Jared came into view then and Seth went straight to Leah's side while Jared went to Sam's.

"I'm fine," Leah assured her brother as she smoothed the fur on his back, a low growl rumbling out of him as he looked at the newborn in pieces on the ground.

"Is he alright?" Jasper asked Jared, who was looking Sam over. "I'm pretty sure his leg was broken and there might be a couple broken ribs."

Edward was the one who answered since Jared couldn't. "They heal remarkably fast. He says he'll be fine, he just needs to keep still a little while longer."

Jasper nodded, relieved there wasn't any worse damage he couldn't see from the outside. "And Jacob?" he asked, figuring it would be rude to completely ignore the fact that the kid had been hurt.

"Just a scratch," Leah answered, her face free of emotions, but feeling exasperation. "He tried to play hero."

Jacob growled at her in irritation, which made Seth turn and growl back at him, and Jasper figured it was time to get this show on the road.

He looked at Peter, who just nodded. They didn't need words to communicate in situations like this, it was pretty much ingrained in them after so many years together in the south. Peter walked over and put his foot on the newborn's throat while Jasper pulled back some of the fear he'd been flooding him with, and Charlotte used her foot to pin his only remaining arm to the ground.

As soon as his fear and panic began to dissipate, the newborn started to growl and thrash around to try and free himself, so Alice went and stomped on his only remaining ankle. "Quit it," she growled, pissed that he'd bitten Jasper.

Jasper used his gift to calm the newborn just enough that they could get some coherent answers from him. Before he asked any questions, he looked at Edward.

I want to hear what he has to say before you tell me what you learned from the other one.

Edward just nodded his agreement. He didn't want to give anything away either.

Jasper started with the basics - who are you and why are you here - but the newborn just clenched his jaw and refused to answer any questions, which surprised Jasper precisely zero percent. He hadn't expected to get any answers from the newborn's mouth.

"Who's your creator?" Jasper asked, then waited for Edward to listen to his thoughts.

"Riley," Edward said after a few moments. "That's the first person he saw when he opened his eyes."

"And Riley was the one who actually bit you?" Jasper asked, ignoring the newborn's shock that Edward was reading his mind.

Edward shook his head. "He didn't see anyone. Someone grabbed him from behind and bit him before he could turn around. He assumes it was Riley because that's who he woke up to."

Jasper and Edward worked together to get every bit of information from him, with the other vamps and Leah throwing in a few questions here and there. Once they were satisfied that they'd learned everything they could, Jasper looked at all the vamps as he tipped his head towards Sam. Alice did a little grumbling, but they all nodded their agreement and Peter and Charlotte backed away from the newborn, who immediately started trying to push himself up on his one leg with his only arm.

Jasper looked at Sam and gestured to the newborn. He figured Sam had the most right of anyone to end him, as the one who'd fought him and been injured by him. "He's yours if you want him," he said, which made all the vamps and Leah move far enough away to give the huge black wolf plenty of room. When Sam growled and took a step forward, Jasper nodded and kissed the top of Leah's head. "I'll be right back."

Jasper and Peter walked in the direction he and Charlotte had thrown the newborn's limbs, their heads close together as they talked quietly and ignored the sound of Sam tearing into the newborn. "Those are pretty minimal injuries," Peter said, referring to Sam.

Jasper nodded his agreement. "He did well for being on his own."

Peter took Jasper's arm and looked at the new bite mark. "You're slipping," he said with a small smile, shaking his head.

"So I've been told," Jasper laughed. "I didn't really have time for finesse," he shrugged. "Sam was already hurt and the newborn was about to spring. I knew he probably couldn't hold him off any longer."

Peter just smiled. His brother was definitely a better man than he was. If it had been him, after all the shit Sam had pulled, he probably wouldn't have been so quick to come to his defense. He loved a good fight more than Jasper did these days, but in his opinion, Sam hadn't earned the right to have any vamp, any Cullen, literally jump in harm's way just to protect him.

Jasper picked up the newborn's arm and Peter grabbed his leg, and they walked over to where Charlotte and Edward were building a small fire. "You want to head back?" Jasper asked Edward. "We can finish up here."

"Thanks," Edward nodded and gave him a grateful smile. He'd spoken to Bella to reassure her everyone was fine, but she was still upset and his anxiety wouldn't disappear until he was with her. "You'll meet us there when you're done?" he asked. When Jasper said they'd be back at the house shortly, Edward took off for home.

Charlotte watched him go and shook her head with a laugh. "Sometimes I forget how fast he is."

"Think he'd race me some time?" Leah asked curiously as she walked over and tucked herself under the arm Jasper held out for her. "It would be fun to see how the fastest in your family does against the fastest in the pack."

"You've grown on him a little, so he just might," Jasper answered, then tickled her side. "He'd be more likely to say yes if you cut his mate a little slack."

Leah sighed long and hard. "Why should I? I get that she's 'making an effort to do better' when it comes to your family, but Charlie's been part of my family for literally my entire life. I have loved the man my entire life, and she started hurting him years ago. We all had to see that hurt on his face that he tried to hide for years. Charlie was so excited when she said she wanted to come live with him, and we were all ready and willing to give her a chance for his sake, but nothing's changed. She hasn't changed at all."

"She's the one who asked Edward to make sure Charlie was protected today," Jasper pointed out.

"That's great, and I'm glad she did," Leah nodded. "If she continues giving him more than a passing thought, fine, maybe my opinion will change. Until then, it probably won't."

Peter looked at her for a long moment with sad eyes. "What else?" he asked gently.

Leah immediately looked away from him when her eyes started filling with tears. It took her a minute to swallow past the lump in her throat, but Jasper holding her a little bit closer helped. "My dad was one of Charlie's best friend," she eventually whispered. "They'd been best friends since they were kids, nearly their entire lives. She didn't care enough to bother coming to the funeral. Not for my dad's sake and not for Charlie's," she said quietly, wiping away the few tears that fell.

Alice stepped closer and wrapped Leah up in a hug as best she could with Jasper's arm still around her. "That was my fault. I whisked her away, desperate to save my brother, and I didn't think about the funeral."

Leah let herself soak up the hug for a moment before shaking her head. "The funeral was that morning, before you left for Italy," she whispered, sniffling back her tears.

Alice just held her a little bit tighter, her heart going out to the girl who was still mourning her father's death. And yes, maybe Bella should've gone to the funeral - if not for Harry, then at least to support Charlie - but Bella had been more focused on Alice's sudden arrival than on her dad's loss. "If I hadn't turned up in Forks out of the blue, maybe she would've gone with her dad instead of catching up with me. So see? Still my fault."

Leah just shrugged and then sniffled a laugh when her brother came and tried to nose his way into the hug. "Maybe. But grief doesn't always make sense."

The vamps all nodded in understanding, each of them having done some grieving of their own over their long lives. They knew grief wasn't always the most logical of things.

Leah untangled herself from everyone when she started to feel like she was suffocating and wiped her eyes one last time. "Let's get this asshole on the fire so we can be done with this."

The vamps all moved back as Sam and the rest of the wolves walked over, each of them carrying a piece of the newborn in their mouths. While Charlotte helped make sure the pieces all caught fire without catching any of the wolves on fire with them, Jasper, Alice, and Peter methodically searched the whole area to make sure no parts had been overlooked.

"That smells seriously disgusting," Leah said with her nose scrunched up as she looked at the lavender smoke.

Jasper just nodded his agreement as he tossed the last chunk of flesh into the flames. That smell had been his constant companion for the better part of a century and he was purposely not breathing so it wouldn't transport him back in time. He didn't fail to notice that Peter and Charlotte were doing the same. Too many terrible memories were associated with that scent for all three of them.

"We're going to head back to the house to fill the others in. Do any of you want to come?" Jasper asked the wolves as the fire began to die down.

Jared immediately nodded, as did Paul and Seth. Sam, Jacob, and Quil opted to head back to La Push, but before they left, Sam looked at Jasper for a long moment. Then he gave him a single nod and turned to run towards home. Jasper smiled a little that Sam had purposely sent him his gratitude. It wasn't much, and there was still a huge well of dislike in the wolf towards him, but it was there.

While most of the vamps headed inside, Jasper made a pit stop at the small building on the far side of the house so Leah, who'd run with him as a human, could grab a change of clothes. Much to his amusement, she only reluctantly handed over his shirt after he asked for it back. Twice. The two of them waited around the corner for Jared, Paul, and Seth to phase back and get dressed.

"That's handy," Jared said as he walked out, pulling a sweatshirt from Paul's locker over his head.

Jasper just shrugged. The wolves deserved privacy and respect just as much as his family did. When he felt a little hesitation from the Alpha as they got to the porch steps, Jasper realized the prospect of walking into a house filled with so many vampires was making him uncomfortable. Being outdoors in the open air was different than being hemmed in on all sides by solid walls. So he changed course and walked over to the grass out front and asked everyone else to come outside instead.

Esme came flying out the front door first and immediately pulled Jasper in for a hug. "Are you alright?" she asked, letting go of him so she could look at his arm.

"I'm fine," Jasper reassured her with a smile. "Y'all worry too much."

"Bullshit," Rosalie said as she walked over. "If one of us was bitten by some rabid asshole, you'd be clucking over us like a mother hen and you know it."

Jasper just laughed because it was absolutely true.

"You were bitten?" Bella asked with a stricken expression when she heard Rosalie.

"It's already healed," Jasper assured her, showing her his arm so she could see for herself that the skin had already knitted back together. When he felt her answering emotions, he shook his head with a smile. "It's not your fault. Those newborns didn't know anything about you, they didn't come here for you."

"It wouldn't have been your fault even if they had come here for you," Alice added as she sat down in the grass beside Leah. "All of this mess falls at Victoria's feet."

"And mine, apparently," Edward said, rolling his eyes a little.

"Yep. And yours," Alice laughed.

"Why yours?" Bella asked Edward in confusion.

Edward's eyes dropped to the ground for a moment before he looked at his mate. "Jasper said we should take care of Victoria as soon as we got back from Phoenix," he answered. "I thought I knew better."

Bella looked at him in surprise, not sure how she felt about that news. If they'd listened to Jasper a year ago, the people she loved wouldn't be in danger now.

"There's no use rehashing the past, so let's just move on from here," Jasper said when he felt the irritation of all the wolves, taking a seat on Leah's other side.

Carlisle waited for everyone to get settled before starting. "Edward only shared the basics, wanting to wait until everyone was back to explain things in more detail. So where should we start?" he asked, looking at everyone gathered on the lawn.

Jasper looked at Edward to go first, and he nodded. "We got very little from our newborn in terms of useful information. He was the younger of the two and hadn't picked up on any of the things the other newborn had," Edward explained. "The only solid pieces of information were that Riley is the vampire tasked with guarding them, and that they were hiding out in an abandoned building. It's near the water, but considering Seattle's layout, that doesn't narrow it down much. For the most part, Riley brought meals to them, but they caught the occasional human on their own if one strayed too close to where they were hiding. He believes Riley is the one who changed him but doesn't remember being bitten. He only knows about two others besides himself and the one he came here with."

"Two?" Emmett asked in surprise. "That can't be right, there have been way too many killings for there to only be a total of five vamps, including Riley. There has to be more than that."

Jasper nodded. "There are, but Riley's got them in more than one location."

"What makes you think that?" Rose asked.

"Wait, before we move on, did you see anything in the first newborn's mind that you recognized?" Jared asked Edward. "Any part of the city?"

Edward shook his head. "I've spent virtually no time in Seattle and I didn't see any street signs or stores that would give me a more exact location. All I can say is that it appeared to be a very barren area of the city. But if I saw it now, I'd recognize it."

"Think you could draw everything you saw in their minds?" Charlotte asked. "That way the rest of us know what to look for."

"Alice, Esme, and I have gone up a handful of times for shopping, so we might be able to narrow it down some if you put it all on paper," Rosalie suggested.

Edward nodded. "Of course."

Satisfied with that, Jared turned back to Jasper. "Okay. So what did you hear that makes you think Victoria - or Riley, I guess - is keeping the newborns separated in more than one place?"

"First, logistics. Newborns have volatile moods and are difficult to control. Keeping fewer in one place keeps fighting down to a minimum, meaning less newborns injured or killed. But that's just my experience talking, not from anything specific I heard," Jasper explained. "Our newborn was older, and even though he didn't know how much he was giving away, he told us plenty. Riley spent very little time with them at that particular building. He seemed to be gone about eighty percent of the time, and when he did show up he always smelled different. It was only because they'd been threatened with all manner of consequences, including a final death, that they stayed hidden for as long as they did."

"Riley referred to 'her' or 'she' a couple times, so Jasper's newborn assumed he had a fuck buddy stashed somewhere," Peter added. "The newborn we took care of had either never picked up on the fact that there was a woman around or just never heard Riley mention her."

"But neither mentioned Victoria specifically?" Esme asked.

Jasper shook his head, as did Edward. "No, Riley was careful. He rarely even referred to her at all and never mentioned a name."

Carlisle nodded as he thought through everything he'd learned so far. "Riley used threats to keep them in line, so what made them disobey him and come all the way here?"

"We did," Seth laughed. "Riley used the wolves as a reason not to stray, but the two newborns got a little too bored and went rogue. Thought we'd be a fun challenge."

Leah rolled her eyes a little. "Riley never said where exactly we were, only the general direction, so it was purely a fluke that they actually stumbled on us."

"Did they know our coven was here?" Carlisle asked.

Jasper shook his head. "No. They didn't know anything about our coven or about Bella. Assuming Riley even knows anything, because who knows what Victoria is actually telling him, he kept his cards close to his chest and only gave them generic speeches about how they were going to be fighting for the rights of all 'red-eyed vampires' in the near future," he said, using air quotes and rolling his eyes at how ridiculous it sounded. "Neither picked up on the emphasis on red-eyed. They hadn't known vamps could have anything but red eyes, so they were confused when they saw ours," he added, gesturing to Edward, Alice, and himself.

"Was there a time frame?" Bella asked worriedly. "Anything more than just the near future?"

"No," Jasper answered. "They got the impression it was soon, but nothing more specific."

"So we go to Seattle," Emmett said with a decisive nod.

"What?" Bella exclaimed, eyes wide with alarm. "With how many newborns you think there are and not knowing where Victoria is, that's too dangerous!"

Jasper's initial reaction was to be exasperated that Bella constantly worried about everything being too dangerous for them, but he shoved that instinct aside. She was still a human, and a young one at that, and she looked at life through a human lens. It probably didn't help that she'd had to watch Felix thoroughly kick Edward's ass in Volterra.

"I know you've only been there for one training session, and it wasn't all that extensive, but do you remember watching Jasper and I fight?" Alice asked her friend.

Bella nodded. "I do, but that wasn't a real fight and it was just the two of you. Carlisle said there could be ten newborns. Jasper was already hurt today and he was only up against one newborn. And he's the one with the most experience."

Peter wasn't sure if he should be offended on behalf of his brother or amused that anyone doubted Jasper's skill. Eventually he settled on both.

Jasper, on the other hand, was unbothered. He just shrugged with a smile. "A single bite is hardly a serious injury for us."

Bella glared at him, less out of anger and more out of frustration that he was downplaying it. "Any injury is a serious injury."

Jasper felt Peter's mischievousness and determination a millisecond before he sprung. They were all sitting on the ground, so Jasper ducked down and rolled to the side before Peter could get a hand on him. "Careful," he growled as he leaped to his feet, making sure none of the wolves or the human were in harm's way. Bella yelped a little when Edward pulled her into his lap, but he gently shushed her and told her to just watch.

Peter was on his feet less than a second after Jasper and launched himself at him again. Jasper dodged that grab also, moving further away from the group so no one got trampled on by accident.

Bella watched the two men fighting and tried to slow her racing heart. It looked absolutely brutal to her human eyes. She looked around at everyone still sitting and saw they were all smiling or laughing, even Leah. The only exception was Jared, who was watching them closely, studying their every move.

"Behind you!" Esme shouted just as Charlotte shot to her feet and lunged for her brother, but Jasper immediately spun out of the way and laughingly thanked Esme for the heads up.

"See? No need to worry," Alice said with a bright smile aimed Bella's way before looking at the wolves. "Now, if you could all just stay very still and don't move, I'd appreciate it. And maybe make a firm decision to keep your distance," she added quietly, making Leah laugh. All three wolves nodded.

Emmett moved to sit beside Edward so he could talk to the worried human in his lap. "Watch this," he whispered with a huge grin and tipped his head towards Alice.

Bella's eyes went a little wider as she saw Alice silently stand up, her eyes slightly unfocused.

"Just watch. She's perfectly fine," Edward assured her with a low chuckle.

Alice stayed silent and still for a few moments, crouched down close to the ground. She counted down from ten under her breath and then darted forward and dove for Jasper's ankles. He tried to leap over her, but Peter landed a kick that pushed him right into her path and he hit the ground with a heavy thud when she yanked his feet out from under him. Bella inhaled sharply and held her breath until she realized Jasper was laughing.

After that, the fight didn't last long. Jasper may have been a bad ass warrior, but even he couldn't always win when facing the combined might of Peter, Charlotte, and Alice, especially when Alice was using her visions as a guide. Alice was the one to get him on the ground, and then Peter and Charlotte both dove on top of them.

Once Jasper shoved all three of them off him and hopped to his feet, he started dusting off his clothes. When he heard his mate laughing and cheering for Alice, he looked at her with his best pout. "No fair. You're supposed to be rooting for– oomph."

Peter cackled as he pinned his brother again but he didn't get his teeth to his neck before Jasper deftly flipped them so he was the one pinned.

"Would you please quit ripping all my shirts?" Jasper growled.

"Uh, no," Peter scoffed. "You want your shirts to stay in one piece, you gotta work harder."

Jasper just laughed and hauled himself to his feet, then held out his hand to pull Peter up and brushed all the dirt off his back.

"Does that help ease your concern, Bella?" Esme asked with her warm smile, her eyes bright with amusement.

"Um," Bella frowned a little and her eyes darted to Jasper. "I'm not sure Jasper losing a fight is the best way to reassure me that he's not in danger going to Seattle."

Rosalie actually laughed, completely shocking the human. "Fair point," she nodded. "But newborns aren't skilled at all. They pretty much just rely on brute strength."

Bella rolled her eyes but couldn't entirely fight her smile. "I'm not sure that's the reassurance you think it is either."

Alice plopped herself on the grass and ruffled her friend's hair. "You know we're already planning to train the wolves specifically on newborns, so you'll just have to come along and see for yourself that you don't need to worry."

"Sure," Bella nodded, biting her lip a little in worry. "How is Jake going to get any training if he isn't allowed in your territory?" she asked a little hesitantly as her eyes darted to her boyfriend.

Carlisle smiled at her, understanding her worry for her friend. "I know you met us at the baseball clearing, but training doesn't need to happen only on our land. That was just for the initial meeting in an effort to keep hostilities to a minimum."

"We also never said he wasn't allowed in our territory," Jasper pointed out as he took a seat beside his mate. "He's allowed on our land as a human whenever and wherever he wants, and he's allowed to patrol near your house and the police station as a wolf. Our only condition is that he's accompanied by Carlisle or myself."

"Why don't the other wolves have that same condition?" she asked with a frown.

Everyone gave her some seriously weird looks at that. "Bella, he wants to kill our whole family," Rosalie said slowly, as if she thought Bella was entirely stupid for not understanding. Which, to be honest, she absolutely did.

Bella just nodded. She couldn't really argue with that, even if she wanted to. Jake did hate the Cullens.

Jared cut in before they could get sidetracked again. "If we want to deal with the fledgling army in Seattle, we need to make plans."

"We do," Carlisle agreed. He hesitated for a moment and looked at Jasper, who nodded once. "Right now our focus needs to be on collecting information, not on eliminating the newborns. That's–"

Jared sighed in frustration and interrupted him. "I can't just ignore that there are ten new vampires two hundred miles from my tribe's land. Especially considering two have already come here."

"I believe we will only have a chance to eliminate Victoria if she doesn't know we're coming," Carlisle explained. "If her newborns start dying one by one and at multiple locations, especially if she catches any of our scents, she's going to run and we lose our chance."

Alice nodded her agreement. "And I hate to point this out, but if she catches any wolf scents, she'll disappear faster than you can blink."

"So… what?" Leah asked. "We just sit around and do nothing? We wait until she mobilizes her army and marches her way into Forks? We already talked about this and you said we could look at places outside the city," she added, looking at Jasper.

He hesitated a moment before answering. "I think we need to do a little stealth recon before we do anything else. Alice isn't wrong about your scents. Victoria will recognize it immediately," he said eventually, flinching a little at the flare of disappointment and frustration in his mate.

Carlisle looked at Leah with a sympathetic smile. "I understand that's hard for you, for all of you," he added, looking at all the wolves. "But I truly believe we need to be exceedingly careful right now. We've already killed two of Victoria's newborns. We can't risk her becoming suspicious."

Leah knew Carlisle and Jasper were right, but that didn't mean she liked it. She definitely didn't like the idea of Jasper going to Seattle without her.

Jasper reached for her hand. "We didn't have all the information we have now when we made that plan," he said softly, knowing she was upset and not wanting to make it worse. "If Riley is disappearing all the time and mentioning a woman, that means Victoria is probably in the city often enough to be meeting with him. With her gift, if she gets some kind of warning that there's danger coming, she'll bolt."

Rosalie nodded. "I understand the desire to storm in and start destroying her army. I want to do it, too," she assured the frustrated wolves, then looked at Carlisle. "May I make a suggestion?" she asked, and Carlisle nodded. "We need to be smart about this, and most importantly, we need to be careful. Peter and Charlotte have enough experience to get in and out of the city undetected. Jasper and Peter essentially acted as military scouts in the south and they've taught Charlotte everything they know. I think everyone in our family needs to stay here and start really focusing on getting your pack trained. Let's let Peter and Charlotte do their thing and then go from there."

Leah looked up at her imprint. "Would you be going with them?" she asked quietly.

"No," he answered immediately, gently squeezing her hand. "I'll stay here and we'll start training. The pack will be involved at some point and you need to be as prepared as possible."

"Even Jake?" Bella asked, not wanting to be pushy about it but not wanting her best friend to be at a disadvantage just because he hated Edward and the Cullens.

Carlisle and Jasper both nodded. "Even Jacob," Carlisle assured her. "We'll train on neutral ground."

Jared looked at his watch and did some mental math. "I can probably get the rest of the pack together in the next couple hours, but I need a little bit of time to speak to the council first."

Peter hopped to his feet and held his hand out to Charlotte with a grin. "Up for a date?"

"Aw, what a romantic," she laughed. "And you know me, I can never resist a good swim."

"Keep your phone on you," Peter told his brother, then gave him a salute and he and his mate took off running.

"A swim?" Bella asked in confusion.

Jasper nodded a little distractedly. "Seattle's surrounded by water. We know at least one of the hideouts is near the water and they can use that as a way to hide their scents," he explained, his eyes locked on the retreating backs of two of the people he loved most in the world. His rational mind knew they weren't in any danger, but love and worry weren't always swayed by rationality. He shook his head and reminded himself he'd always had complete confidence in them as he got to his feet. "Rally your troops and we'll meet you in the first clearing we trained at whenever you guys can get there," he said to Jared, who nodded. "Everyone else, it sounds like we might be running out of time, so let's get to work."