Stray

*Jasper's POV*

I first caught a glimpse of the poor thing sitting on the front step three days ago. It was a small orange thing that, if not for my vampire eyes, may have not been distinguishable from the autumn leaves that littered the front walk. It was raining, which was not unusual for the Olympic Peninsula. But this was a true storm. The rain fell hard and thunder rolled in the distance. It was only going to get worse. Perhaps that was why I never heard it walk up. It was shivering and huddled next to the step for all good it did it. The kitten was soaked to the bone.

I didn't pause to watch it. I kept walking across the room, up the stairs to Alice's room. There was nothing I could do to help the poor thing. It was unusual in itself for any animal to get this close to the house. While humans tended to ignore their primal instinct that we were unnatural and to be feared, animals were never that stupid. They sensed that we were dangerous and kept their distance. Perhaps this small kitten had been disoriented by the storm. The rain must have masked our scent and by the time our scent was distinguishable it was already under the perceived safety of our front porch. Perhaps the kitten was not shivering with cold as I had originally though. Perhaps it was frozen in fear on the steps, unable to choose between putting itself in danger of the predators within the house or the dangerous storm outside.

I remembered facing a similar situation so many years ago, when I was changed. I was lost in a world so much bigger and more complex than I had ever imagined it and I was faced with choosing between the devil I knew and the world I didn't. I thought of the years that I spent in that place. Wasted years.

Yes, the storm would have been the safer bet for the cat. Yet I still couldn't bring myself to chase it away.

Alice was closing down an internet explorer window from when I walked into the room. My sour mood was immediately lifted as I walked closer to her. Waves of pleasant emotions radiated from her small smiling form. She rose to meet me and pressed herself against my body, my arms automatically wrapped around her petite frame and rested comfortably on the small of her back. We stood like that for a long time, basking in the glow of each other's presence.

"You seem pleased," I whispered. "Find something you liked?"

"You," she told me as she buried her sweet face into my shoulder. "I love you, Jasper," she whispered and my heart soared.

I pressed my cheek to hers and whispered back to her, "As I love you." She lifted her face then, brushing her cheek against mine until our lips met and then she kissed me softly. I let out an involuntary sigh from the back of my throat, and she pressed her small frame into me, deepening the kiss. A wave of desire caressed me and I leaned further into her. She pulled her soft lips away from mine and began trailing a stream of kisses on my face as neck as her fingers wrapped themselves into my hair. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes as she did this. I kept my hands on the small of her back, under her shirt. I traced circles with my fingertips along this soft part of her body.

I felt her desire rise as I traced my fingers lightly under the waistband of her skirt. A soft moan escaped her lips and she found my mouth again. She lowered her hands from my face to my hips. She hooked her thumbs into the belt loops of my jeans and slowly pulled me toward the bed.

Several hours later Alice and I tore ourselves away from each other. I sat on the bed naked listening to the storm as she took on the very serious task of finding what she was going to wear today. While in there she became distracted and began to organize the closet. I got dressed wandered downstairs, not really knowing why. I stopped at the front windows and looked out at the storm. I stole a glance at the front step where the kitten had been hiding amongst the leaves. It was gone. I hoped that it had found a safe place to rest in this storm. I turned away but stopped when I heard a tiny heartbeat on the other side of the door. I stepped back to the window but couldn't see the kitten from that angle. I looked behind me to see if anyone else was in the room. I was grateful that Edward had taken his family on a short vacation and wasn't here to hear me worrying about the stupid thing.

I was alone, so I opened the door to look for the kitten. It had been leaning its tiny body against the door, probably trying to catch the warmth that escaped out the tiny crack underneath it. Opening the door had woken the kitten from sleep. For the first time I really noticed the kitten. Its fur was still damp and it had caltrops sticking to it all throughout its fur. It began to purr out of surprise. It looked up at me with its orange eyes and meowed pitifully. I shut the door quickly and hoped nobody heard it.

I turned around and saw Esme at the top of the stairs. "There's a cat outside," I told her as I headed over to the couch to watch TV.

"Poor thing," she said as she walked towards the door.

"If you give it any attention, it will never leave," I warned her. She paused where she was and then reluctantly headed back up the stairs. I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that she hadn't gone to see the cat. Perhaps Esme would have found something for it to eat. No other creatures ever wandered this close to our house, it wouldn't be able to find much to eat.

I remembered that we had some dehydrated meals in the garage that we had bought from the sporting goods store. I was on my feet before I realized it. I stopped myself though and after looking around to make sure that nobody saw me rise, I settled myself back onto the couch and began flicking through the channels once more, trying not to think about the sad little creature on the front step. I could still hear its heartbeat so I raised the volume and put on an action movie. It didn't interest me at all, but it distracted me a little. There was a silent second in the film as someone dived to save the life of someone far out of their reach. I heard the kitten's heartbeat again, like the tell tale heart. I sighed heavily and pretended it was because of the cliché scene on the television.

Poor thing, I though, echoing the words that Esme had said. Perhaps it was hurt. That thought bothered me. What was a domestic cat doing way out here? I wondered. The highway wasn't too far away, perhaps someone abandoned it. Perhaps someone had thrown it into the river. The kitten was soaking wet, it was likely. That would explain why it had come so close to the house. Maybe it was used to people. No, we weren't people. Even domesticated animals shied away from us. Maybe the kitten had rabies or something. That would explain its erratic behavior and complete lack of self preservation instincts. What was it thinking purring up at me? I remembered reading once that sometimes cats purred out of fear or when in pain. Perhaps I scared the kitten and it caused it to start purring. That would make more sense.

I looked over my shoulder at the doorway and thought I saw a few tufts of the kitten's orange fur sticking out to this side of the door. It was still lying next to the door trying to get warm. A little food wouldn't hurt, I finally decided and I looked around me again to make sure nobody saw me head to the garage and forage through the camping gear for some food. I found one labeled chicken and gravy. It seemed fattening enough. I didn't want the others to know I had fed the cat so I walked out of the door and scooped up the kitten in my arms. To my surprise it didn't try to scratch or bite. It just purred as I took it to the river beside the house and opened up the dehydrated food. It put the kitten down by river and it walked right back over to me and began to rub itself up against my legs.

This has got to be the dumbest animal ever created. I opened the food packet and the kitten immediately smelled it and meowed loudly. It tried to climb the leg of my pants. I caught myself laughing at the pathetic creature so I stopped myself. I put the food down on the floor and the kitten dropped to the ground, landing on its rear and almost toppling backwards before catching itself. So much for cats always landing on their feet. This was the dumbest animal on earth. It scrambled over to the food and began to hurriedly eat the trail food. I reached down to gently pet the thing and it growled at me but did not turn its face away from the food I had placed in front of it.

When I was human I had a cat. I wasn't one to spend hours playing with them, but I liked them. They kept the mice under control and they were nice to warm your lap with. I remembered trading some tin soldiers with a friend for one of his kittens. I took it home at it kept the mice under control just like I promised my parents it would, but I was most happy with it because of the companionship it gave to me. It wasn't needy like my father's hounds. It came and went as it pleased and was the master of his own self and it chose to spend its time with me. When I joined the army, I left it at home. That cat was so long dead that it probably wasn't even bones anymore.

When Alice and I had first found each other I had found another cat. It was a devil of a thing, never did get used to my presence. It would bite and hiss at me, but it would always come back to eat at the house. I tried to calm it down with my talent, but it never worked as well as it did with people. The damned thing scratched the furniture and shed enough in a day to form another cat with its cast offs. It wouldn't allow either of us within ten feet of it if when it could help it.

It broke my heart when it died.

I would have to be a fool to attempt that again. Besides, if I let the cat into the house, I'd never hear the end of Rosalie's whining. I stood and turned back towards the house and hoped the cat would know what was good for it and stay away.

When I walked into the house Alice was standing on the stairs waiting for me. "Enjoy your walk?" she asked. I tasted her emotions, and felt relieved that she didn't seem the least bit suspicious. Just pleased with herself again. I assumed she had found a new way to arrange her clothes.

"Yes, I did," I told her and walked to her side, she put her arms out to hold me and I stood there with her on the staircase, just enjoying the warmth of her presence until I began to feel her desire for me again. I pulled my face back and raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled at me and then ran up the stairs and back into our room. I followed close behind.

Alice and I were still lying in bed, just staring into each other's eyes when there was a knock at the door at two o'clock the next day. Emmett and Rosalie had left during the night to go hunting, they didn't bother us to say goodbye. Esme was working on another project upstairs and Carlisle was at work so there was no one to answer the door but us. Alice's excitement rose. "Expecting a package?" I asked. She smiled at me. "I'll answer the door," I offered and quickly got dressed. The delivery man seemed uncomfortable standing there. He had two large boxes, one on the floor and another in his arm. He acted as if they were heavy, which made me curious as to what exactly Alice had ordered.

"Jasper Hale?" the man asked, which only heightened my curiosity. She had ordered something for me? I nodded my head and he handed me the electronic sign in sheet that they used now. As I did so I noticed the kitten back on the front porch. I had to gently push it aside with my foot to keep it from entering the house. What was with this cat? Did it think that just because it came to the door looking sad and malnourished that I would want to keep the thing?

Well, I did want to keep the thing, but that was beside the point.

I brought the boxes inside and opened them. The first was filled to the top with canned cat food, the second was a small outdoor dog house filled with cat toys and accessories. My eyes widened. I turned to see Alice standing behind me. She was almost glowing.

"We can't keep him," I told her.

"Yes, we will," she said happily digging into the dog house and pulling out a collar and a name tag. "His name is Skimbleshanks." It was hard to argue with Alice.

"Rosalie will have a conniption," I warned her.

"She will," Alice admitted, "until she sees how much Nessie will love him," she said heading outside to put the collar on the kitten. "It was really nice of you to find him for Nessie," she said over her shoulder as she tried to get the tiny, fearless thing to stop squirming.

"For Nessie," I repeated, allowing myself to smile as Alice set up the kitten's bed out on the front porch.