Author's Note: First of all, thank you to all the readers who've reviewed and/or favorited this story. It feels good to know that people are enjoying my work and I look forward to continuing in what is becoming my favorite pastime. This chapter will be from Jasper's point of view; he'll find out about Paul's imprinting on him and its ramifications. How will he react? Read on to find out. ^_^

Rated M for strong language, adult themes, and M/M love scenes

Disclaimer: The Twilight books and characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer. I own nothing except the perversions of my own making.

On The Rocks

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Turn Of Events

Jasper's POV

The training session had gone better than I'd had any right to expect. My family and the wolf pack had taken my instruction very well. If the remaining preparations went half as smoothly, I would consider it a gift from the gods. We had only three more days before Victoria's newborn army arrived in Forks and we had to be ready for them. I certainly had my work cut out for me.

One thing that worried me was what could happen after the fight was over. The wolves were learning how to take down newborns, but that wasn't all they were learning. They were watching our moves and techniques, seeing which of us were natural fighters and which were not. And they outnumbered us now; ten wolves against seven vampires did not make for good odds. If there ever came a time when the pack felt that my family was a threat, they would use this knowledge to take us down.

My inner strategist began compiling a list of potential targets in order of increasing threat level. Esme and Alice weren't natural fighters; they would be the first to fall. Especially Alice, since the wolves were hidden from her second sight. Rosalie and Edward would be able to hold their own for a while. But Rosalie would go down fairly quickly and even with his telepathic gift, Edward would last for only so long. Emmett and I were the strongest fighters, so we would be primary targets. And Carlisle . . . He could fight if he had to. But being the compassionate man that he was, he would let the wolves kill him before he lifted a finger to defend himself.

My analysis led to one inescapable conclusion: if the pack did launch an attack, my family would be destroyed.

But the wolves needed the knowledge I possessed. If they tried to fight the newborns on their own, they would be killed and there would be no one left to defend their home. That was enough to justify the risk to my family. I thought about asking Alice to see if I was right, but I decided against it. She wouldn't be able to see the outcome with the wolves involved; something about them blocked her sight and it frustrated her very much.

And speaking of Alice. . . Things between us had been changing for some time now. When I first met her, she'd behaved as if we were going to be together forever. We'd been husband and wife for over fifty years; I hadn't imagined that I could love anyone more than I did her.

But then something changed. I couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when I realized it, but our bond had shifted from that of a married couple to that of siblings with a deep affection for each other. It troubled me somewhat, but not as badly as it would have a half-century ago.

As for Alice, she seemed perfectly fine with the new arrangement. Aside from a sense of melancholy nostalgia, she wasn't showing any of the usual emotions that accompanied the end of a long relationship. It was strange and yet gratifying for our parting to be so amicable. And though it would be a daunting task to find our true mates, I knew that we would find them. It was just a matter of time.

My musings were interrupted when I felt a powerful surge of emotions coming from behind me. It was a combination of fear, confusion, mild anger, annoyance, and lust, and it all seemed to be directed at me. I turned to look for the source of the surge and found one of the wolves staring at me. I was curious as to why he was fixated on me. Perhaps he was trying to determine the most efficient way to kill me.

He was a handsome specimen. His fur was the color of tarnished silver; his eyes were large and brown, almost glowing in the moonlight and focused on me with an unnerving intensity. He couldn't control his emotions; they were swirling around inside him like a tornado and picking up speed with each passing moment. He was shivering as if he could barely contain them.

I considered reaching out with my gift and granting him a few minutes of peace, but I held back. He'd most likely interpret it as invasive and would waste no time dispatching me in the most painful way he could conceive. That was something to be avoided at all costs; the current detente between our two factions was very fragile and I had no wish to break it. So I restrained myself and did my best to ignore him, but it wasn't easy.

I observed Emmett and Edward's sparring, smiling a little as Emmett wound up face-down in the dirt again. My bear of a brother was strong, but he clearly hadn't grasped just how predictable he was. If he could learn to devise new tactics or at least change up the ones he already knew, he'd be even more dangerous. I'd offered to help him develop that capacity, but he'd let loose with his sonic boom of a laugh and challenged me to a wrestling match. The forest lost quite a few trees that night.

Over the next hour, I noticed that part of my mind was focused on the training while the rest of it was fixated on the silver wolf. I found myself wondering if his fur was as soft as it looked and what it might feel like if I ran my fingers through it. From there, it was just a small jump to wondering what he looked like as a human and then trying to picture him naked. I shook my head to clear it of the distracting images; I needed my full concentration on the task at hand.

I called an end to the sparring after another half-hour. It had been a good night, but Bella and the wolves needed to rest after such a strenuous session. The Alpha wolf, Sam, gave a low bark and most of the wolves headed back to the reservation. The silver-furred wolf took off in a different direction at a fast clip, his speed rendering him nearly invisible. I couldn't help looking off after him and wondering what had him so riled up.

Sam trotted off into the forest and came back in his human form, wearing a pair of faded shorts and nothing else. He jogged over to Carlisle and they spoke in low tones for a few moments. Carlisle beckoned me over while the rest of our family headed off toward home. In a split second, Sam, Carlisle, and I were the only ones left on the training field.

Sam waited til we were alone before speaking, as if to make sure that we wouldn't be overheard. "We have a situation," he said.

"So you said," Carlisle said. "Is it anything that could cause any problems with our alliance?"

"I don't know," Sam replied. "Paul has been behaving strangely since our encounter at the boundary line and I didn't understand the reason for it until now." He shot a short but pointed glance at me.

I was confused now. "Is Paul the silver wolf?" I asked.

Sam nodded. He was having trouble maintaining eye contact with me, as if he was unnerved by my presence.

"I felt such a strong wave of emotions from him earlier," I said. "So many at once. . . . It was difficult to pinpoint which one was dominant at the time. I got the impression that he was sizing me up as a potential opponent."

Sam laughed at that, a short sharp sound that didn't have much actual amusement in it. "Fighting you is the last thing on his mind right now," he said. "In fact, I'd be very surprised if he was able to even consider the possibility."

I frowned, even more confused than before. "And why wouldn't he? He made his dislike of our kind quite obvious at our last encounter," I said.

"I know," Sam said. "But something happened then to change that." He took a deep breath and forged ahead. "He won't like my telling you this, but he imprinted on you."

My eyebrows rose nearly to my hairline as that information sank in. "He. . . What?" My brain seized up as it attempted to make sense of what I'd just been told.

"Imprinted," Sam said. "It's how we find our mates. When one of us imprints, the imprintee becomes the focus of our existence. We dedicate every waking moment to our imprints' happiness and well-being. We become whatever our imprints need, be that a friend, brother. . ." He coughed once and went on. "Lover. As far as I know, no wolf has ever imprinted on another male before. It's highly unusual. Be that as it may, if he tries to resist the imprint or you reject him, it could cause him great physical and emotional harm."

My mind was whirling with what Sam had just told me. The silver wolf – Paul – was my true mate, the one to whom Alice had graciously relinquished her position. It didn't matter to me how unusual it was; my body was humming with the desire to follow him, to find and claim him. If he'd have me. Given his attitude toward vampires in general, he might try his damnedest to resist the imprint at great physical detriment to himself. I couldn't let that happen.

"What should I do?" I asked. I looked from Sam to Carlisle and back again. They shared a glance and turned back to me.

Carlisle spoke first. "Go to him, son," he said. "I can already see that you want to follow him. Find him and reassure him that he is your true mate. The rest of us will see you at home."

I nodded and took off after my wolf without a second thought.

/ \

It didn't take long to find Paul. He'd phased to his human form and was walking naked through the forest. I was up in the trees, using my natural stealth to jump from one bough to the next. I was high enough that he wouldn't be able to see or hear me, and I stayed downwind so he couldn't catch my scent. I took advantage of the opportunity to observe him, letting my eyes wander wherever they wanted to go.

He was close to my height and chiseled like a Greek statue, his russet skin stretched taut over powerful muscles. He exuded raw strength with every movement and the trees themselves seemed to bow to his blatant masculinity. The scowl on his face and the tense set of his jaw only served to enhance his natural beauty and I found myself wanting to kiss him til he was breathless. He was absolutely perfect.

I wanted to go to him right now, but it wasn't the right time. His emotions were like his body, strong and undeniable; they were still flying all over the place, never settling down long enough for me to determine which one was dominant. They kept switching from disbelief to love to annoyance back to disbelief again and I felt a certain pride in knowing that I'd inspired such a whirlwind of disparate emotional states. But if I were to show myself now, it would scare him away. And that was the last thing I wanted to do.

His mood lifted somewhat as we approached a clearing with a pond and a series of small waterfalls. He sat on a flat rock that bordered the pond and hugged his knees, watching the water as it cascaded down into the pond. Disbelief, frustration, and longing filled his soul and he punched the rock with one fist; I could hear the small crack even though I was fifty feet up a pine tree and fifty back from the clearing. He let loose a small curse and shook his hand as if trying to soothe the dull ache.

I jumped to another pine, careful not to dislodge any of the needles. The wind was working in my favor, blowing my scent away from the clearing; Paul wouldn't detect me if I stayed quiet and the wind kept cooperating. I licked my lips as he lay down on the rock and stared up at the stars. He folded his arms behind his head and looked up at the stars, the moonlight making his dark amber irises glow. He presented such a picture of primal virility; it took all of my self-control to keep to my hiding place.

He rested his head on the rock as his hands moved down his torso, seemingly of their own accord. I watched without breathing as he took hold of his cock and started to stroke it. The waves of lust emanating from him nearly overwhelmed my higher reason and stoked my own internal fire; my cock stiffened in a flat second, straining the stitching of my pants to the breaking point. I licked my lips, feeling the venom pooling in my mouth as I watched him pleasure himself.

Heaven help me, I thought. He is so beautiful. I started rubbing myself through my pants as he fingered his ass. He gasped as he pushed two fingers inside; I nearly came as he worked them in and out, scissoring them to stretch himself wider. I imagined my cock in place of his fingers and the organ in question throbbed, demanding to be released. So I obliged it, opening my zipper with a soft rrrrrrrr sound. I pulled my cock out and started stroking it, matching my pace to Paul's. I let loose a low moan before I could stifle it. I clamped my free hand over my mouth, fearful that he might have heard me.

Thankfully, Paul was lost in the throes of his fantasy, his back arched and his legs falling to the sides as if to further expose himself to whomever might be watching. His moans and whimpers filled the clearing and I was treated to the sight of him milking his shaft as he poured his seed out across his heaving belly. The fluid shot out with such force that several drops actually landed on his cheek. The scent of it was thick in the air; it hit my nose and I threw my head back, covering my mouth as my cock spurted its own liquid onto the pine branch. The pleasure, his and mine, was stronger than anything I'd ever felt.

I turned my eyes to him, watching him as his hands slowed their frantic pace. He continued to stroke and finger himself at a steadily slower pace til his orgasm subsided. And then he said a single word, one that I never believed would ever have passed his lips. "Jasper," he whispered.

He had been imagining me while he was touching himself. My eyes widened in disbelief and excitement; I lost all sense of propriety and leapt from the tree, landing soundlessly in the grass not ten feet from where he lay. He was so beautiful with his dark skin gleaming in the moonlight, streaked with sweat and cum. I stripped off my clothes and threw them aside, crouching down so as to hide my arousal, and waited for him to notice my arrival.

I knew the exact moment he detected me. His muscles tensed, his nostrils twitching as my scent reached them. He lifted himself up on his forearms, turning his head to try and find me. When he finally found me, his eyes widened and he tensed up as if he were about to bolt. I couldn't let him go, not after I had finally found my true mate. I crawled to him on all fours, careful to move slowly so that I didn't startle him; I also projected a wave of calm that took the edge off his apprehension. I kept it small; I didn't want him to think I was trying to control him. I wanted him and I knew that he would want the freedom to decide for himself if he wanted me, imprint or no imprint.

I climbed up onto the rock and moved close, planting my hands on the rock on either side of his body. The scent of his seed was especially strong now, mixed with his growing arousal and fear. He was watching me with wide brown eyes, trying to divine what I was going to do.

I decided to assuage his fears, moving my face close enough to his that our noses almost touched. "I'm not here to hurt you, Paul," I said. "I'm here because I know about the imprint. And I accept it." Then I leaned in and kissed him, hoping beyond hope that it wouldn't be the only time.

Author's Note: And that's the end of Chapter 2. I'm sorry that it took so long. I've been having something of a crisis about my stories, but I think that I finally have it under control. Thank you all for your patience and I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Please read and review. Thank you! :)