A/N: Sorry it took me this long to update but hopefully you'll forgive when I tell you it's a two chapter day:) This ends on a cliffhanger and I wanted to have the next chapter written before I posted this one. I only have final edits left, so Chapter Twenty-Eight will be up in a few hours.

Thanks for reading!

Back to Training...

When Jasper got back to the house after taking Leah home, he found Alice waiting for him on the front porch steps. "Hunt?" she asked with a smile.

Jasper wasn't particularly thirsty but he agreed, knowing it was really just an excuse to talk to him where no one else could overhear them. They ran east and up into the mountains to the place they went for a little peace and quiet. They ended up sneaking in a hunt along the way, but they were quick about it.

Once they were settled in their tree, Jasper just waited patiently for Alice to start. He wasn't the only one who sometimes needed a little extra time to organize his thoughts - Alice and Edward were the same. All three of them had gifts that gave them additional information to sort through, and Alice was often trying to juggle whatever was happening in the present with what she was seeing in possible futures.

"We have to come up with some kind of a plan and I think the first thing we need to do is get back to training the wolves," she said after a few minutes. "We keep starting but then get distracted and change course. Whether Victoria is creating an army or not, the pack should know how to fight."

Jasper just nodded his agreement. He'd already been planning to call Jared the following morning. "You still can't see her?" he asked.

"No," Alice shook her head. "There's so much keeping me blind lately," she added quietly after a moment. "Between Victoria, Maria, and the wolves, I have no idea what crucial information might be slipping through the cracks."

Jasper smiled a little sadly, knowing how difficult their current situation was for her. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Peter. I've never expected you to have all the answers before, and I don't expect it now. Neither does anyone else. I know you think using your gift to keep this family safe is the way you contribute, but we'd all love you even if you never had another vision again. You don't need that to have a place with the Cullens," he gently reminded her.

"I know," she said with a little shrug.

Jasper nudged her with his shoulder until she looked up at him. "Do you?" he asked. "I get that you thought we had to offer Carlisle a more practical reason to welcome us into his home and coven than just his compassion and kindness, and that the two of us combined could give them a measure of protection they'd been a little lacking in, but Ali, that was seventy years ago. We don't need to contribute to the family in order to be part of the family."

"I know," Alice nodded. "I do, really. I guess old habits are just a little hard to break. Keeping an eye out for threats headed our way has been a job I've taken seriously all this time. So being blind now?" she trailed off with another shrug. "It's uncomfortable."

"What would Carlisle tell you right now?" he asked with a grin.

Alice laughed because she didn't need their coven leader to be sitting in front of her in order to hear his voice. "My presence alone is all the contribution the family needs."

"Exactly," Jasper nodded. "So. Let's come up with the best plan we can for the information we currently have. If we learn anything new along the way, we'll just adjust as needed."

Alice took another few moments to put her thoughts in order. She didn't have many visions to guide her, not nearly as many as she'd like, but she did have a few. "Alright, so first and foremost is training the wolves. In my opinion, both straight fight training and training to fight newborns are going to be equally important. Victoria may be building an army, but she's been around long enough that she's probably a pretty skilled fighter, not to mention our suspicion that she has at least one older vamp with her. And of course we already know what Maria is capable of. The pack should know how to protect themselves regardless of who they might be going up against."

Jasper again nodded his agreement. "Have you seen when Peter and Charlotte are arriving? The wolves are designed to work as a pack, but there's always the chance that they could be caught off guard when they're on their own. With Peter and Charlotte's help, we can make sure every member of the pack gets some one on one time."

"Sunday night," she answered, but then sighed. "I think."

Jasper felt her frustration but wasn't sure if there was anything he could do to help. "I think our next best move is probably trying to pinpoint where Victoria might be keeping any newborns she has," he said after a minute. "Rose suggested she might be relatively close, since she's coming here so often."

"Are you thinking Canada?" Alice asked.

"It seems the most logical. There's plenty of wilderness to keep them hidden, but it still allows her to be close enough that she can get to and from this area pretty quickly."

"So some scouting missions are in order, huh?" she asked with a smile.

Jasper nodded. "Can't hurt. It's a lot of ground to cover, but having Charlotte with us might give us a slight advantage," he shrugged. Charlotte didn't have the gift of tracking in the same way James did, but she was a hell of a tracker just through training and learned experience. Jasper had always had a suspicion that Maria would have kept Charlotte alive past her newborn year because of it, but her jealousy got in her way. They may not have ever discussed it, but Maria was aware of how much Peter and Charlotte meant to him, and she didn't like divided loyalty. She expected to always come first.

Maria also had a strong suspicion that Peter and Charlotte were mates, and Jasper had always believed that by ordering Charlotte's death, she was indirectly ordering Peter's also. He was the first - and for quite some time the only - threat to Jasper's unfailing loyalty to Maria, and she wanted him gone.

Speaking of... "Have you seen anything else about Maria?" he asked.

Alice was quiet for a few moments, though from her emotions, Jasper knew she wasn't actively looking for a vision. "Do you know anyone named Matthew?" she asked curiously.

Jasper ran through everyone he could think of in the south, but came up blank. "Should I?"

"I'm not sure," Alice answered uncertainly. "I haven't seen anything specific to us since the first vision, but I did see a very brief glimpse of something. I don't know who she was talking to, and I didn't see the person so I can't even give you a description to work with, but she was asking if they knew where someone named Matthew was. If he was still alive."

Jasper hummed thoughtfully. "I don't, but Peter or Charlotte might."

Alice just sighed and nodded. Concrete answers seemed few and far between at the moment. But Jasper had recently reminded Emmett that he wasn't still alive just because Peter's gift allowed him to avoid every threat, and the same was true in regard to her own gift. Jasper didn't rely solely on a knowledge drop or a vision of the future that was ever-shifting. He'd survived alone for decade upon decade without either one.

"So we're left with just training and scouting?" she asked.

Jasper laughed as he hauled himself to his feet and held his hand out for her. "Sometimes good old-fashioned, practical legwork is what wins the war."

Alice smiled, because he wasn't wrong. "Come on, lazy bones. I'll race you," she laughed as she stepped off the branch and dropped to the ground, then took off running for home with Jasper right behind her.

Jared and Jasper made plans for the vamps and some of the pack to meet the following evening at the baseball clearing. Because Sam wouldn't be directly included in the training, Jared switched the patrolling schedule around so that he was on patrol with Jacob while the rest of the wolves met with the Cullens. That kept Sam and Jacob occupied so that they couldn't cause any trouble, and the choice of training in the Cullen's territory meant neither wolf could ignore their Alpha and decide to just drop in anyway.

Sam didn't bother arguing about it, not only because he knew it wouldn't change anything, but because he had no desire to be near any of the Cullens. Jacob, on the other hand, put up a bit of a fight, particularly after he found out Edward was planning on bringing Bella with him.

"Enough, Jake," Jared sighed. "We need two wolves on patrol. Jasper and Carlisle already know that at least two members of the pack will always be in wolf form so you can see everything that's happening. You'll be included in the next session."

"It's not fair that the rest of you are getting training and I'm not."

Jared sighed again. "Just be honest about it, Jake. You don't want to be around the Cullens, you don't care about learning to fight, you're only pissed because Bella's going to be there."

Jacob scowled but couldn't really deny it. The whole pack knew he thought any partnership with the Cullens was both stupid and pointless. Vampires weren't a group of beings you could trust, so they probably had some hidden motive. Besides, he wasn't interested in anything they thought they could teach him.

He hoped maybe he could get Jared to change his mind if he used the excuse of needing to protect a human, so Jacob tried that angle. "If Edward's bringing Bella, I need to be there to keep her safe."

"Okay," Jared scoffed. "Nice try, but that's bullshit and we both know it. You're on patrol. End of story."

"You–"

"Don't make me give you an Alpha command, Jacob," Jared snapped, just about at the end of his rope with Jake's constant whining and complaining. Leah wasn't wrong about him being the bitter and bitchy one in the pack.

Jacob scowled deeper and started to stomp away, but he stopped and turned around when Jared called his name.

"You're on patrol and the place we're meeting the Cullens is inside their territory," Jared said in a steely voice. "If you decide the rules don't apply to you and you try to cross the treaty line, I will give you an Alpha command and you'll be confined to our territory only."

Jacob's mouth dropped open in outrage. That would mean he couldn't go to Bella's house, even in his human form. "The rest of the pack and the elders would never let you give me a command like that," he growled.

Billy Black opened his front door and wheeled himself outside. "Don't be so sure of that, Jake. You seem to keep forgetting the 'peace' part of the peace treaty. The council will not allow you to put that in jeopardy," he said sternly. "Carlisle Cullen has made allowances for you, so be grateful for that, because I have no doubt that if you continue to act this way, if you decide you know better and step out of line, Jared won't need to command you. The Cullens will enforce the treaty to the letter with you, meaning you won't be allowed anywhere in their territory at any time," he warned him. "I think it's past time for you to grow up, son. We have much bigger issues to deal with than your attempts to convince Bella that you're the better choice. You are not the most important member of the pack, or this tribe."

Jacob growled in frustration and then turned and ran off into the trees behind the Black's house. Jared watched him go and then turned to Billy with a smile. "I think that went well."

Billy laughed and shrugged. "It could have gone worse, I suppose. How are things with Sam?" he asked more seriously.

Jared thought on it for a few moments before answering. "He's been pretty subdued, to be honest. Being removed as Alpha was a sharp blow he didn't see coming, but more than that, he didn't know how much he was upsetting Emily. His reaction to Leah imprinting made her question his feelings, and when you add in that he was being an asshole to pretty much everyone, she was starting to have some doubts about their future. He's spending almost all of his time when he's off patrol trying to fix some of the damage. He still hates the Cullens just as much as he always has, that hasn't changed, but his priority is trying to keep his imprint from walking away."

"And his attitude towards Leah?" Billy asked.

"As far as I can tell, he hasn't spoken to her at all," Jared shrugged. "I've arranged the schedule so they're never on patrol together."

Billy nodded. "Alright. Keep us informed of anything you think is relevant."

"Of course. The training will probably go late into the night so I'll come by tomorrow to let you know how it goes. And Carlisle and Jasper also told me that if you, Sue, and Old Quil would be more comfortable coming with us, they can find somewhere more accessible by road than the field they play baseball in."

Billy just nodded again. "Carlisle called me this morning. For now, we're fine with you going alone. Let's see how tonight goes, and we can revisit that if we feel it's necessary."

"Cool. Now that our official business is out of the way, get your ass in gear and let's get you in the truck. Sue's invited us for an early dinner and I have no intention of being late."

"You little punk," Billy laughed and rolled himself down the ramp from his front door and rammed into him. With wolf reflexes being what they were, Jared had plenty of time to scoot out of the way, but he just laughed and let Billy run into him.

It didn't stop him from dramatically limping to his truck, though. "Thanks a lot, old man. You've hobbled me and now I'm gonna need a wheelchair," he snarked, trying not to smile.

"Quit whining and get your ass in gear. I have no intention of letting you make us late," Billy laughed, doing an admirable job of mimicking Jared's voice.

Jared smiled as he drove to the Clearwater's. Being the Alpha to a pack of teenage shapeshifters wasn't always an easy job, so he just enjoyed the lighthearted banter for a while before he had to step back into his Alpha role and head to the baseball clearing.

"I said it before and I'll say it again. A human has no business coming to a training session for supernatural beings," Rosalie snarked as she walked out the front door that evening.

Jasper agreed with her, but kept his mouth shut because it wasn't his decision. Carlisle had already agreed that Edward could bring Bella along, and Esme had backed him up and given them a little mini-lecture on manners that morning when Rosalie protested after Edward left for school.

"Rose," Esme had said with a sharp look. "Bella is a member of this family. We may be displeased with some of her recent behavior, but that doesn't negate the fact that she's part of the family. She didn't come when we had the meeting with the pack and the elders because it was related to the treaty and we were trying to minimize the tension. Jacob will not be accompanying the other wolves tonight, which means we don't need to worry about those same tensions. I expect you to treat her just as respectfully as you expect to be treated," she said, then looked around at the rest of the family who was home. "That goes for all of you."

"Yes, ma'am," Jasper and Emmett answered at the same time Carlisle answered with "Yes, dear." All of them were grinning.

Esme smiled and shook her head, then looked at Rosalie expectantly, one eyebrow raised and a hand on her hip.

"Fine," Rosalie sighed. "But I'm not happy about it."

Esme just laughed and gave her a hug. "I know, sweetheart. But I also know you're perfectly capable of using your manners."

Rosalie let herself soak up a mom-hug and sighed as she pulled away, then gently pushed Esme towards the back door. "Alright, go on. We'll see you later."

Carlisle and Esme had gone off for a quick hunt and promised to meet them at the baseball clearing.

As Jasper, Alice, and Emmett followed Rosalie outside - Edward had already left in the Jeep to pick up Bella - Alice launched herself at her sister and landed on her back. "Let's go! Last one there has to do everyone's laundry for a week!"

Rosalie rolled her eyes a little and pretended to be annoyed, but she made sure Alice was holding on tight and then took off. She glanced behind her a few minutes later and saw her mate was currently at the back of the group. "Jas, maybe let Emmett pass you. I don't think anyone wants him to do our laundry again."

Jasper and Alice cringed a little at the reminder but Emmett just laughed. "I don't know what you're complaining about, Jasper looked like a stone-cold fox in pink!"

"I always look like a stone-cold fox, asshole," Jasper laughed, but he did slow down a little bit to run beside his brother. He hadn't known that a single red t-shirt could do so much damage until Emmett lost a bet and was in charge of laundry a decade or so ago. He also nearly started a fire after he got a little too curious about just how much lint he could cram into the little slot with the tray.

The answer was a lot, and in a house filled with beings who were destroyed by fire, it was right up there near the top of the list of Emmett's poor choices.

"So what's our plan of attack?" Emmett asked Jasper, who looked over and smiled.

"I'd say most importantly, don't."

Emmett's nose scrunched up a little in confusion. "I don't know what that sentence means," he said after trying to figure it out.

"Don't attack," Jasper laughed. "We have a peace treaty with the pack, and I think we'd all like to keep it that way."

Emmett rolled his eyes and then aimed a punch in his brother's direction, but Jasper just laughed and ducked out of the way.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that, Em," Alice laughed as she pushed herself off Rosalie's back and did a graceful flip, landing on her feet beside Jasper.

Only a minute or so passed before Jasper felt fast approaching emotions but he kept quiet about it. A few seconds later, they all heard the sound of heavy paws hitting the ground. Just as they ran out of the trees and into the huge clearing, a light silver blur came streaking towards them, immediately followed by a smaller one with sandy brown fur and a darker silver wolf who was moving much slower than the other two.

"Leah!" Alice laughed and just barely spun out of the way before Jasper's mate could barrel into her.

Unfortunately for Alice, Seth was almost as fast as his sister and he'd positioned himself perfectly. With a low growl, he ducked his head down and caught Alice right on her hip. She flew through the air, maybe a little more dramatically than she needed to, and came to a skidding stop.

She turned to the youngest Clearwater and put her hands on her hips with her best glare. "Not cool, Seth," she growled playfully, then pushed up on her toes and launched herself at him.

The smallest Cullen and the youngest wolf were nearly lost in a cloud of grass and dirt as they went tumbling across the ground, Alice's bright laughter mingling with Seth's wolfie huffs of amusement.

Jasper shoved aside that instinctive edginess that flared up for a moment, because he knew Seth would never hurt Alice, and smiled as he watched them. The Cullens lived an insular life, not quite fitting in the human world, but not quite fitting in the vampire world either due to their diet, which other vamps found more than a little strange. Edward finding his mate in Bella was the first time the family had any kind of relationship with a human, and the very first time Alice made a friend who wasn't a Cullen or a Whitlock. Thanks to Leah being Jasper's mate, Alice was now getting the chance to create new friendships with people she didn't need to hide from.

Because she had no memory of being human, Alice was the Cullen who had to make a more concerted effort to not give herself away to the humans. She reveled in everything that came along with being a vamp, so she was absolutely loving that she now had friends who she was free to be fully herself with.

Jasper smiled down at Leah when she leaned against his leg. "Hey," he greeted her and ran his fingers through the fur on top of her head. Paul trotted over and Jasper was pretty sure he was rolling his eyes as he watched Seth futilely try to get the upper hand with Alice. "I brought y'all some clothes if you want to go human," he said, pulling off the backpack he was carrying.

He'd thought Leah, Seth, and Paul would want to be in their human forms for at least part of the night, so he'd brought enough clothes for all of them. At the last minute, he'd added a few more things in case any of the other wolves wanted to switch form but didn't bring anything to change into. From what he knew about Jared so far, he thought the Alpha would want to be able to verbally communicate with them.

Leah carefully took the bag in her teeth and bounded into the trees at the edge of the clearing, where three other wolves had just come to a stop, two of them shifting nervously.

Emmett and Rosalie came to stand on either side of Jasper. Rosalie was calm but alert, and Emmett was more excited than anything, lightly bouncing on his toes.

Jasper zeroed in on the huge brown wolf who had dark gray fur around his eyes, and knew from his emotional signature that it was Jared. The two slightly smaller wolves were obviously Quil and Embry, but Jasper wasn't entirely sure which was which. He thought maybe the one with chocolate brown fur was Quil, as he was more ill at ease than the other one, who had gray fur with patches of black scattered through.

"Holy shit, he's huge," Rosalie whispered as she looked at Jared, a weird combination of awed and apprehensive. Not that anyone would see that apprehension on the outside. Of all the Cullens, Rose probably had the best poker face.

Jasper just nodded, because Jared was almost as big as Sam. "That's Jared. I think the brown one is Quil and the gray one is Embry," he explained. "I may have those two wrong, so don't quote me on that," he added. Paul looked up at Jasper and nodded that he had it right.

Emmett suddenly let out a booming laugh and cheered for Seth, and Jasper turned just in time to see that Alice had given the wolf an opening to pin her. The second he pounced and knocked Alice to the ground, the brown wolf at the edge of the clearing started to growl and took one step forward.

Jasper slightly adjusted his position so he was between where Seth had Alice pinned and where Quil was standing, but didn't otherwise react. If he was reading the wolf correctly, Quil didn't entirely trust that Alice and Seth were just having fun and he was prepared to defend his fellow pack member in case Alice retaliated with her full strength.

Leah ran out of the trees as a human and went to stand beside Quil. "It's fine," she reassured the nervous wolf and ruffled the fur on his head. "They're just playing. And Alice let him do that. Remember everything you've seen about her badass warrior skills," she laughed.

Quil still looked nervous, but he stopped growling.

Alice shot him a beaming smile. "Don't worry, Seth is safe with me," she assured him, but then immediately followed that by twisting sideways and lightly jamming an elbow in Seth's ribs. "Ha!" she laughed as she spun away from him and ran to where her siblings were standing. When Seth followed her, she ducked behind Jasper. "You've gotta get through him to get to me."

Jasper smiled and shook his head, stopping Seth before he could spring. "Maybe we should get started before we make anyone more uncomfortable than they already are," he suggested, gesturing to Quil and Embry. You didn't need to be an empath to see they were getting more uneasy the longer Seth and Alice tried to best each other.

Seth did some wolfie grumbling but nodded, and Jasper gave him a quick scratch behind the ears, tipping his head towards the trees. "Clothes are in there if you want them."

Seth let out a happy sounding bark and bounded out of the clearing, making Rosalie smile. "A supernatural being with the tools to kill our kind and yet he somehow manages to be just as adorable as a wolf as he is a human."

Leah may have agreed with her, but she still rolled her eyes a little. Her baby brother had the ability to charm anyone. She idly wondered if that would be considered a gift if Seth had been a vamp rather than a wolf - disarming the enemy with super-cuteness.

She shook her head at her thoughts and turned to her Alpha. "Jasper brought some clothes for you also if you want them."

The plan they'd decided on during the run over was to have Jared in his human form for the most part so he could communicate better, and Paul would spend more time as a wolf. With their Alpha standing on two legs rather than four, having their Beta stay in his wolf form put Embry and Quil a little more at ease. Paul was a lot of things, not all of them pleasant, but one thing no one could deny was that he would always put the safety of his pack above everything else.

Jared hesitated and glanced down at the ratty pair of sweatpants tied around his ankle.

Leah nodded her understanding and then dropped her voice to a low whisper. "There's a hoodie in with the sweatpants and if I know my imprint as well as I think I do, this is his attempt to give you the respect you deserve as our Alpha. He knows whatever we tie on our legs gets wet and dirty, so he wants you to be able to have clean, dry clothes to wear in a situation that's maybe not the most comfortable for you," she quietly explained. "If you don't want to wear them, no big deal. And if you change your mind and don't want to go human, you can communicate with Edward through your thoughts or with Jasper through your emotions."

Jared wasn't entirely surprised by Leah's explanation. Even though they were both older than him by a ridiculous number of years, Carlisle and Jasper - who appeared to be second to his coven leader, at least in matters related to their security - had treated him with respect right from the start. At the meeting with the elders, they'd both addressed him directly when ironing out the changes to the treaty, rather than ignoring him and focusing only on the older members of the council.

Jared may be young, but he was still the leader of the Quileute pack and Jasper and Carlisle treated him as their equal.

After Paul trotted over to stand with Quil and Embry, Jared headed back into the trees to phase.

Leah took the opportunity to run over and greet her imprint properly, and after she kissed him, Jasper tucked her close to his side with a smile that was probably a little too blissful if Rosalie's snort of laughter was anything to go by.

"Fuck off," Jasper laughed. "You're every bit as happy when Emmett's got you all bundled up in his arms. Not all of us have that ice queen poker face," he teased. He very briefly glanced at Embry when he felt a slight shift in the wolf's emotions. He was watching him and Leah with a kind of pleased satisfaction, as if confirming for himself that Jasper really did make Leah happy.

Jared and Seth walked out of the trees as humans, and Seth plopped himself on the ground next to Paul, Quil, and Embry, while Jared continued on to where the Cullens were standing. After saying a polite hello to the four vamps, he looked at Jasper. "Do we need to wait for the others before we get started?"

"No," Jasper shook his head. "They should be here in the next few minutes."

Jared just nodded. "You started Seth, Paul, and Leah on tracking before any fight training. Jacob too, I suppose. Is that how you want us to start also?"

After thinking on it a second, Jasper nodded. "With Victoria having the gift we think she does, catching her is going to be our first hurdle. I know it probably seems a little boring, but knowing how to fight won't do you any good if you can't catch her."

Jared nodded again. He'd seen all this in the memories of the wolves who'd already begun training. "And is Alice still the one you think is the best for them to try and follow?"

Leah felt Jasper's slight hesitation and silently sent him her reassurance. She knew it made him a little uneasy having wolves chasing Alice through the forest, regardless of how capable she was at defending herself. She also knew Embry and Quil felt no hostility towards the little pixie, so she wouldn't be in any danger.

Jasper quickly glanced at Alice, who nodded with a beaming smile, then turned back to Jared. "Yeah. She uses the forest to her advantage just like Victoria seems to."

Jared explained that Paul was going to go with Embry and Quil, but that he'd stay back a little and follow their lead. "It's just so they feel more comfortable," he said a little hesitantly, not wanting to offend the Cullens, but wanting his pack members to feel secure.

"I understand," Jasper assured him. He respected that the Alpha didn't just put the safety of his pack first, but their overall well-being.

Without having to exchange more than another quick look with Jasper, Alice took off running towards the opposite end of the field from where Embry and Quil were standing.

The two wolves shifted a little as they prepared to track the littlest Cullen, and they took a few steps forward. After a nod from Jared, Quil and Embry tore off after Alice, with Paul following at a more sedate pace.

Unfortunately for everyone, Edward ran into the clearing at that exact moment with Bella on his back. As she slid to the ground and lifted her head, she saw three giant wolves running after her tiny friend and immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion.

It only took a split second for all hell to break loose.