Chapter 3 - Bella

It was about an hour later, that Char and I pulled into a long driveway. As we pulled up to the house, I couldn't help but be amazed at the house. "It's beautiful." I said, barely above a whisper but I knew that Char had heard me.

"Thanks. The grounds are massive. I'll show you around tomorrow." Char said parking the car. "Come on, I'll introduce you to Peter, then we'll get you to Jasper." She said and I nodded.

We climbed out of the car and made our way towards the front porch and up the steps. I looked up when I heard the front door open. "Hey Char. Expected you a while ago. Who's this?" A guy asked.

Char wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "Be nice, Pete. This here is Bella Swan." Char told him. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Bella, this is my mate Peter."

"Nice to meet you Darlin'." Peter said.

"You too. Where's Jasper?" I asked.

Peter stared at me for a minute before he looked at Char. "Been talking have you?" He asked her.

She rolled her eyes. "Did what I had to do." She said. She turned to look at me. "The bedrooms are all sound proof. Obvious reasons. Go inside and up the stairs. Second door on the right." She told me, taking my bag from me.

I nodded. I went to head inside but Peter stopped me. "Approach him with caution. He's been a little depressed since he got here. Barely eats. Constantly mutters your name and the fact that he lost you. Not sure how he'll take seeing you." Peter told me and I nodded.

I made my way inside and up the stairs to the room that Char had indicated. I knocked on the door. When I didn't receive an answer, I slowly opened the door and stepped inside closing it behind me. I leaned against the door. It was dark. In the corner, I could see Jasper sitting in a big comfy-looking chair. I heard a loud growl. I sighed.

"Jasper." I whispered.

As soon as I said his name, the growling stopped. "Bella?" He questioned.

"Yes." I whispered.

"You're not real. You're not here. It's my mind playing tricks on me again." He said.

One step at a time, I made my way over to Jasper. I crouched down in front of him so that he could see me. I placed my hand on his knee. "Jasper, I promise you. I'm here and I'm real." I told him quietly.

Through the moonlight shining in through the window, I could see Jasper blink a couple of times. "Bella? You're really here?" He asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm really here." I said, a slow smile forming on my face.

In a quick movement, Jasper pulled me from the floor and placed me in his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist. "What are you doing here?" He asked me. There wasn't anger in his voice, just surprise.

"I've been living in Texas since I graduated high school. Charlie suggested a fresh start. Char is in my Shakespeare class. We talked after class tonight before she told me that you were here." I told him.

"You talked to Char?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. We had a long talk. She told me that you came looking for me." I looked down so that I wasn't meeting his eyes in case what Char had told me had been a lie. "She told me about Alice and Edward's lies." I said.

Jasper put a finger under my chin and lifted my face up to look at him. "It's true. What else did you and Char talk about?" He asked me.

"We talked about everything. Please don't be mad at her. She told me about what really happened back in Forks. She told me the truth behind my birthday party. But Jasper, even before she told me…I never blamed you for that night. You're an Empath. So, not only did you feel your own bloodlust but you also felt the bloodlust of six other vampires." I said.

Jasper let go of my chin and reached up to stroke my cheek with his thumb. "Your amazing, you know that?" He said.

I could feel myself blush. "Jasper?" I said and he hummed. "Is what Char said true? Alice isn't your mate?" I asked. I felt nervous.

"It's true. I can feel your emotions. Why are you nervous?" He asked, cocking his head to side a little.

"Because, Char said…" I started, hesitating a little.

"What? What did Char say?" He questioned.

I looked at Jasper through my lashes. "She said that I'm your mate." I said.

"Hmm. Yes. She is correct. I'd felt little things being near you but it wasn't until your birthday party that everything clicked. And then I got angry. I was angry because Alice was keeping me away from you for her purely selfish reasons. And Edward? Well, he kept me away from you because he was addicted to the smell of your blood." Jasper said.

I couldn't help but feel the love and lust that radiated off of Jasper. He trusted me enough to let me feel his emotions. "He once said that my blood was like his own personal brand of Heroin." I told Jasper. This caused him to growl. I quickly placed my hand against his cheek. "Hey, it's okay. I'm okay." I told him. He immediately stopped growling and leaned into my touch.

"I wanted to shred him and Alice to pieces." Jasper said.

"You're not as unstable as they claimed, are you?" I asked.

Jasper shook his head. "No. But that's a story for another time." He said. He looked up and met my eyes, finally. "How do you feel? Knowing that your my mate?" He asked me.

"I'm not gonna lie Jasper. I'm happy about it." I said, shocking Jasper. "I never wanted Edward. I settled." I looked down again. "I wanted you but Edward explained that Alice was your mate and that Vampires mate for life." I said, before I looked back up at him.

Jasper grabbed the back of my head. He lightly growled and said, "You're mine. You will always be mine." And then he crashed his lips to mine.