Chapter 4

It had been two days since the conversation in the kitchen and over that time, Jasper had learned that his little Betty had one hell of a temper and more issues to work through than fucking Playboy. Trying to help her control her anger was proving to be almost impossible. Course, that did have to do with the fact that shifters and vampires really were natural born enemies and not people that could get along. However, he was convinced the stigma could be redone if she would chill the hell out and relax.

For her, Leah was trying to listen, but it was so hard to deal with the main issue she had to. She was still so fucked up over Sam and Emily that she couldn't stay calm for more than a few moments when it was brought up... and Jasper never missed a chance to do so. She knew it was something she had to deal with if she didn't want to gain control over her shifting, but even with the reason so clear, she wasn't ready to face it.

They had plans. They had a future. They talked about it all from marriage to kids to the plot of land they wanted to buy and raise their family. They missed nothing and it was so perfect, the dream of what their future together would be and it was taken from her without warning, without so much as a 'fuck you' to her face before she was violently thrust into the dismal present. She was hurt and pissed off and she wasn't sure she would ever be able to face that with any sort of grace.

To her, it didn't even seem like Jasper cared as he continued to throw her past in her face, making her live the pain every chance he got. No, it wasn't meant to be so malicious, but it felt like it. It was her fault for telling him the truth of why she was running and in such a hurry. If she would have left out the real reason, maybe it wouldn't be so hard, but then again, he told her he would know if she was lying and it was better in the long run not to do that. He did look like it hurt him to some degree to throw things at her in such a manner, but it didn't stop him. If anything, it made him do it more and in more hurtful ways.

Jasper just thought she was being a baby. So her relationship didn't work out the way she wanted. It wasn't the end of the world and she was kinda acting like it was. Currently, she reminded him of this human he once knew that Peter was fucking and went all suicidal when he stopped. The female sex were nothing if not a dedicated bunch when it came to what they wanted, but this was starting to border on pathetic. Were she a man, or at least had a scrap of self respect, she would have just beat the living tar out of the one that stole her man and been done with it, but noooo. She had to go all emo and let it all but consume her.

Jasper himself was just coming off a relationship and he wasn't all bent out of shape over it. Sure, he had future plans to make the irritation regret her parting words, but he wasn't going wallow in grief until then. He was gonna make her eat her words; something that this female didn't seem to understand the concept of. All it seemed she wanted to do was throw a hissy fit over it instead of stepping up and getting even for what he did. The best revenge you can get is being happy, showing them you're better than they gave you credit for. If she would stop shrieking, maybe he could tell her that, but at the moment, she was too raw, too close and until that changed, he was left with nothing but to finish tearing her down so she could start to rebuild.

From his tree purch, Jasper looked down at Leah's heavily breathing human form, his lips pursed. There had to be a way to get her to focus on something other than the negative without him doing it for her. Well, really, he wasn't doing anything for her. All he was doing was capping the emotions so they didn't get strong enough to cause the shift, only enough to make her feel the pain that came with it so she had to deal with it in one way or another. He just wasn't in the mood to face off with a wolf as tall as he was.

Once she got her breathing under control, she looked up at the tree to the vampire that sat there with seemingly no care in the world. He had his eyes closed and head leaned back against the truck, one leg hanging down with other propped up on the branch he was sitting on with his arm draped over his knee. He looked the picture of content if she had to name it. Scratching her forehead, she sighed. "I can't do this."

Jasper didn't even argue, nor did he move. "I noticed."

Jerking back at the offhand tone, she then glared up at him. "Not like you're making this any easier, Jasper."

He shrugged. "Not my job to make your life easier, Sugar." Finally opening his eyes, he looked down at her. "It's my job to help you control your fucked up temper. Thing is, I can't do it for you. You have to do the work. All I can do is keep you in this form while you do it."

Leah seemed to retreat into herself, her shoulders slouching as she crossed her arms. "It's so hard, though."

Jasper nodded before he dropped from his branch, crossing his own arms upon landing. Slowly he made his way to her, his head tilted slightly to the side and he regarded her somewhat defeated stance. "It's only as hard as you make it, Darlin'. They hold this power over you cause you're giving it to 'em. Do you think they're thinkin' of you with the same focus you're thinkin' about them? Do you think they're thinkin' about you at all? I'm not sayin' you don't have a reason to be angry. All I'm trying to get you to see is they ain't shit. You're making this into more than it is."

Leah's glare darkened. "How am I doing that? Sam and I were together for years and he dismissed me without so much as a fuck you."

Jasper snorted. "I was with my girl for decades and I got that fuck you you seem to think is so important and let me tell ya, it doesn't make it any better. If anything, it makes it suck more. You have two choices and you're the only one that can make it. You can either buck up and move on, or you can continue to let this consume you to the point you never get over it. I don't rightly care which one you pick, but this is a waste of time if you don't look at this from a different perspective."

Leah jetting out a hip, her glare still in place. "And what perspective is that?"

A smirk made it's way to Jasper's lips as his eyes sparked with something Leah couldn't name. "You could have not found out and been a side piece of ass for a guy that ain't shit. Listen, Sugar; you have to let this go. No guy is worth the kind of shit you're dealin' with. Personally, you should see this as a favor and not the end of the world. You could have been married and had them kids you talked about and then this happen. Situations can alway be worse if you can take a step back and see that. This ain't the end of the world, Darlin'. The sun is gonna set tonight and rise again tomorrow. The thing you have to ask yourself is, how how much power you want to give a man that don't care about you?"

Leah raised a challenging brow at him. "You mean kinda like with you?"

Jasper shrugged. "Two things. One, I don't have any power over you you didn't give me and two, I never said I didn't care. I mean I don't, but I didn't say I did either. Thing is, I don't know anything you didn't tell me and really, it sounds like nothin' more than an excuse. It's nothin' in the big picture. Besides, I know where you're comin' from remember? I just lost my girl too. Well, it was technically a couple months ago, but since I'm immortal, I process time differently than you. Three months to me is three days for you. Either way, exes only have the power you give them. You can wallow if you want, but revenge is so much more fun and the best revenge you can get is to show him you're better without him."

Leah sighed. "You make it sound so easy."

"That's because it is. You just have to decide how long you want this to affect you. You're the only one that can decide that. I can't do it for you. I can only do what I've been doing."

Leah looked at him, her eyes shining with tears she was too stubborn to let fall. He made it sound so easy, but was it really? Could she really just let it go so soon, when it just happened? She knew if she didn't it would continue to affect her like it was, keep her from being able to control this new found horror. If she couldn't get her anger over this in check, she stood the chance of shifting happening in times and places it would be bound to cause problems.

Then she stopped and changed the course of her thoughts. Why should she be the one suffering when she didn't do anything wrong? Why should she be the only one affected like this when it was him that did something wrong? All she did was love him, want to be with him, and behind her back, he decided to hook up with her cousin; her best friend. Of the two of them, he should be the one that suffers... and so should Emily.

For nearly their whole lives Leah and Emily were more like sisters than they were cousins and for her to do this, to take the one thing that meant everything, was beyond the realm of unforgivable. She should be the one tied in knots over her actions. Emily should be the one that wonders why. She should be the one that hurts and can't breathe because of this.

Looking into Jasper's eyes, Leah decided to listen to him, to take his words and apply them. He didn't know her, knew nothing about her, yet he was here, willing to help in any way he could so she could move on and he didn't have to. Her and Sam were only together for a couple of years, nothing compared to the decades he said he was with his ex. Nearly sixty years, over forty more than Leah had even been alive, and he wasn't wallowing in pain and anger over their break-up. Granted, she didn't know why they broke up, but to end a relationship after so long couldn't be easy for him and he was still standing there, trying to figure out how to help her deal instead of taking care of himself.

She could do this. She could focus enough to look past her anger and get this shifting thing under control. Not only would she do that, but she would learn to control the wolf itself. She could do better; she would do better. She would face this head on and she would win.

Jasper watched as her eyes hardened and sparked with resolve. She figured it out, and none too soon. He knew that women had a harder time with break-ups than men did, that it took them longer to get over them. It had only been a couple of days, but with the added issue of her being a shapeshifter where sifting was tied to her emotions, it was necessary for her. She had every reason to be pissed off. He was pissed off for her. However, if she ever wanted to not hide away in the woods since she's made it clear she not going back to where she came from, she needed to start the process of learning to control this.

They stood there for a long moment, either of them saying a word as they stared at the other. Something happened to them in that moment neither of them could describe. For Leah, it was the world seemed to shift, everything that used to matter no longer did because he was there. For Jasper, he was overcome with a deadly protectiveness, the tear tracks he could still see on her cheeks making a boiling rage bubble up in his gut. Though the effects were unexpected by both of them, they were both on the same page...

Revenge would have to wait. All that mattered to them was they were there, together, and nothing in the world would tear them apart. Jasper knew for nearly two centuries to always expect the unexpected, and now, he felt it was his job to not only teach this truth to Leah, but to teach her how to deal with it.

He would give her a break, time to process her newfound decision to move on, and then he would hit her with everything he had without warning. She would learn about their world and the best way to teach it was through experience. If she could learn to combat the negative, later, she would truly be able to appreciate the positive and always expect the unexpected.