CHAPTER 4

A few hours later, we were sitting in her room. I had driven home and snuck back in through her window after I was sure that Charlie had went to bed so he wouldn't be checking on her any more that night. We laid on her bed talking for a few minutes before my phone lit up. I groaned but picked it up to read the text anyway.

"Edward's mate is going to make an appearance in the morning. Have Bella here, but make sure to stay with her. His mate isn't going to be fond of her at all. But she needs to be there so she'll know she's with us and that she can't eat her.

-Alice"

"Is everything alright?" Bella asked, picking up on my sudden mood change.

"Perfectly fine, darlin'." I lied, not wanting her to worry. I knew she could tell I wasn't telling the truth, but she didn't push it any further. She snuggled into me more and tilted her head up. Sensing what she wanted, I kissed her gently. She smiled up at me when I pulled back.I tucked the blanket around us to try to give her a little warmth.

BELLA'S POV

The next morning, I woke and found that Jasper wasn't beside me. I knew he was probably just gone to get his truck so I showered and got ready for the morning. Not knowing what he had planned for the day, I pulled on a pair of jeans and a dark red long sleeve shirt. I ate a bowl of cereal and waited in the living room for Jasper to come back. I had only been waiting a couple of minutes before I heard his truck pull up. He walked in, and I could instantly tell he was worried.

"We're going over to my house, but whatever you do stay by me." Jasper said, rushing me out the door.

"Why? What's going on?" I asked.

"Edward's mate is making her appearance, and Alice said she isn't going to like you but wouldn't say why. She did say that you need to be there before her so that she will see you're part of the family and through that, that you're untouchable." Jasper replied. He sped towards the Cullen's house.

"We've only got a couple of minutes, Jasper. We're not going to have much time to make her smell more like a vampire." Alice said as soon as we walked in.

"There's gotta be something we can do, Alice. If she's going to be as hostile as you said, we have to do something to mask Bella's scent as much as we can. Or at least show that she can't hunt her." Jasper growled.

"Carlisle?" Alice asked. The blonde vampire appeared within seconds.

"The only thing that will promise her safety is turning her into a vampire, Jasper. And I'm aware you want to wait to do that. The only other thing that might work would be binding her to you." Carlisle said after thinking for a moment.

"Carlisle you said yourself that it would hurt her. I'm not doing that to her." Jasper said.

"What would hurt me?" I asked, very confused.

"Binding you to me. I'm not putting you through that unless we wind up absolutely having to." Jasper replied.

"Just keep her behind you." Alice said quietly. "She's coming now." The whole family went out into the yard, waiting for the new vampire's appearance. I felt Jasper stiffen by my side and he moved in front of me defensively. I peeked around his arm and saw a flash of bright red hair. I instantly knew why Alice had said she wouldn't like me, and why Jasper was being so defensive.

Victoria stopped in front of us. She locked eyes with Edward and moved into a submissive position. Jasper took advantage of her being distracted and lifted me up, running back into the house. He sat me down on the bed in his room and zipped towards Esme and Carlisle's room. Within seconds he was back with new clothes for me to put on.

"It'll mask your scent a little bit." He explained.

"Jasper, she already knows I'm a human." I said. "There's no point in me changing into Esme's clothes." He growled at me but didn't press it. We watched through the window. Victoria was wound around Edward and it appeared that she was talking to the others.

"Jasper, bring Bella down." Edward hollered, looking up at the window.

"I promise I won't let her touch you." Jasper whispered as we walked down to the yard. He put an arm around me and assumed a possessive stance as Victoria looked over at us.

"The pet is still here?" Victoria asked, her eyes narrowing in anger. She clearly wasn't over her coven being split over me.

"She's. Not. A. Pet." Jasper growled.

"Well she's a human. What else would she be to a coven of vampires?" Victoria asked. "A servant?"

"Bella is Jasper's mate. It was discovered on her birthday a couple of months ago. Through Jasper, she's part of the family." Carlisle said. Victoria didn't say anything, but continued glaring at me. I shrunk more against Jasper's side.

"I'm aware that you're most likely still upset with what happened because of Bella in the spring, but she's a part of this family and you will NOT touch her. You don't have to be buddy buddy with her, but you won't harm my daughter." Esme said calmly.

"I'm accostumed to hunting humans. So it might be wise to keep her away from me." Victoria said.

"I'm not banishing my mate from the house just for you. She was here first, and if you touch one hair on her head I don't care if you're Edward's mate or not, I'll burn you alive." Jasper snapped. Before I even had a chance to blink there was a sound of two bolders slamming into each other and Jasper was suddenly not beside me. I looked to see who had crashed into him, but they were a blurr. I was suddenly jerked back. I looked up and saw that Emmett had pulled me away from the blurr of fighting vampires. I noticed Edward was no longer beside of Victoria and knew that he had attacked Jasper for threatening his mate.

"You don't want to be anywhere near them, Bella. Body parts will be flying soon and it would hurt you if you got hit with one." Emmett explained.

"They won't kill each other, will they?" I asked.

"Normally they wouldn't, but Edward probably saw Jasper's comment as a threat to his mate so there's no telling how far they'll take it. Vampires get very protective if they think their mate is in harm." Carlisle replied.

"Come on, Bella. We're going inside. You really don't need to be around this." Esme said softly, tugging me towards the house. I followed her into the kitchen.

"I know you've probably ate already, but Jasper would kill me if I let you go into shock dear. You don't have to eat a lot, just drink a soda and have some crackers or something to get some sugar into your system." Esme said, making me sit at the table. I did as she said while she watched the fight through the window.

"Will he be ok, Esme?" I asked.

"Jasper fought in the vampiric wars in Texas for decades, Bella. He's more than capable of holding his own. Edward's ability to read minds should keep him from getting fatily injured. And any body parts that they lose can be put back on." she replied. The fight continued for the better part of an hour before Jasper finally slung Edward against a tree, making Edward snap out of his fury long enough to realize what was happening. I was horrified to see that Jasper was missing his left arm, but calmed slightly when I remembered what Esme had said about limbs being able to be reattached. Edward looked worse off.

Esme and I went outside as Carlisle rushed to repair their injuries. Victoria wrapped herself around Edward in a way that was most definitely not appropriate considering the rest of us were right there. After Jasper's arm was reattached he headed over to me. Once he was close up, I could see several bite marks oozing venom. I reached up and touched a particular bite on his cheek, causing him to hiss in pain. I jerked my hand back and apologized.

"It's ok, darlin'. It'll heal in a couple of hours." Jasper said. He reached down and took my hand gently.

"Edward, all of us are going hunting. We'll be back in the morning." Carlisle said. I looked up at Jasper.

"I'm not going, Bella." Jasper said quietly, understanding my unspoken question immediatly. "We're just going to avoid the house for a couple of days. I'll explain later." He led me to the truck and we left.

"Why is everyone leaving the house until tomorrow?" I asked.

"Because Edward and Victoria are going to be busy sealing the mating bond, and no one wants to be around for that." Jasper replied. I felt my face turn bright red, causing him to laugh.

"So...what are we doing the rest of the day?" I asked, desperate to change the subject.

"Well, I thought we could ride around for a while and then go get food, and head back to your house. There's not a lot I can do until the bites heal. Even humans will notice the venom oozing out of them." he replied.