A/N-As Chuck Palahniuk said "Nothing of me is original, I'm the combined effort of everyone I have ever known." The same can be said for my writing. My writing is the combined effort of everything I have ever read. Nothing is intentionally borrowed, just influenced by everything I have read. Original characters belong to SM. Jasper's God of War persona and Peter's gifts of 'knowing shit' and not having a scent belong to IdreamofEddy.

As promised here is the next chapter. Thanks to you all for reading and the few who took the time to review. Some of you will be very excited by the first scene in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 12 – A Shift

Bella's POV

As soon as Jasper and Alice were through the trees, I look at Edward and I catch a brief look of disdain before it's quickly replaced with his crooked smile. "Come with me, love. I've missed you and don't wan to share you just yet." Without waiting for my response, he starts pulling me southeast. If I wanted to, I know I could stop him, believe me the part of me that is sick of his highhandedness wanted to, but he is my boyfriend and it has been over a week since I last saw him so I should want to spend time alone with him. Right? So I stamp down my instinct that is wanting to remove his hand from my person, and let myself be led to what looks like the cliff he took us to before he returned to Forks. I guess this place is going to be our 'meadow' of Denali.

I'm once again struck by the beauty before me. The vibrant greens and yellows of the Northern Lights before us are the most pronounced but I also see streaks of red, blue, and violet. I feel Edward tugging on my hand trying to pull me down to sit beside him. I fold my legs in and sit indian style next to him, my left leg touching his right. He puts his right arm around my shoulders and I instinctively lean into him. I'm instantly reminded of sitting with Jasper by the waterfall and how comfortable we were just sitting in silence. I remember thinking that I couldn't do that with Edward. We have been sitting here exactly 4.7 seconds, I wonder how long Edward will last before he asks me...

"What are you thinking?" Edward predictably asks.

I instantly start laughing; head thrown backward, side-splitting laughter that I can't seem to control. That couldn't have been more perfect if we had planned it. When had Edward become so predictable? If he is predictable can I still think of him as perfect? Sure some people may like their significant other to be predictable so there is less drama in their life I guess. But can there be passion in a relationship that has become predictable?

These thoughts were starting to sober me up but then I glanced up at Edward and saw this look of shock on his face which started me laughing even harder. I don't know why I found his shock so funny. Maybe because as a mind reader he doesn't get shocked, ever, so the look is so foreign on his perfect face. Well at least I'm not predictable. In fact I believe Edward once said that I never do or react the way he expects.

Looking at him again, I see the shocked look shift to disapproval. Crap, now he's going to scold me like a child. I instantly stop laughing and look apologetic.

"What is so funny, young lady?"

I snort in repressed laughter; predictable again. But then I become indignant. He is not my father, he has no right to talk to me like that. But as I look at things from his perspective, it does seem like I am laughing at him. So instead of blowing up at him like I initially wanted to do, I reach for his hand while saying "I'm sorry, Edward, I wasn't laughing at you. It's just that I had been thinking about how this place seems to have become our new spot and that the only thing missing was you asking me what I was thinking and then you did. It's just that the timing was so perfect." I put my hand on his cheek, "Do you forgive me?"

"Of course, love. I should have known that there was a reasonable explanation for your behavior. I just feared that you being here and spending time with the sisters and Jasper had a negative effect on the great girl that I know you to be. In fact, I think you should limit your interactions with them and Rosalie. They can be a bad influence and I don't want you to pick up any of their bad habits." He finishes this horrible speech by running his fingers across my cheekbones like he used to and a quick peck to the lips.

I'm too stunned by what he just said about his own family that I didn't respond. I guess he isn't as predictable as I initially thought. Although there is some predictability to him trying to control me and tell me who I can or cannot hang out with. I just figured that since I was more durable that I would be free to get to know each member of my new family better since my blood is no longer as issue. But I guess Controlward has found another reason to keep me to himself. My ire is steadily increasing but Edward doesn't seem to realize it. He has pulled me into his side again and has continued speaking. I don't want to hear him bad mouthing any more of my family but luckily he is talking about the people he does approve of.

"Esme is the perfect woman to emulate. She is all that is demure and proper, the perfect housewife. She never raises her voice, always defers to Carlisle, and spends her time improving our home by gardening and decorating."

Before Edward could continue with wherever this train of thought was taking him, I interrupted, sarcasm dripping heavily from my voice, "Is Carlisle aware that you are secretly in love with his mate?" I shove his arm off of me and stand up, crossing my arms in front of my chest, and glaring down at his dumbfounded face.

He jumps to his feet, hands out in front of him. I can't tell if he reaching out to me or if he is scared of the newborn and has hands out to prevent me from getting to close. "No, that's not what I meant. I'm not in love with Esme, she is, very much, my mother figure."

"So in trying to make me like your mother, doesn't that mean you have an Oedipus complex? And what is wrong with the rest of my family? And yes I mean my family. You lost the right to call them that when you implied that they are not good enough. I don't know what is going on in your head right now Edward but I think you need to sit back down and do some serious introspection. You seem to be confused about what makes a person good or bad. Yes, they have flaws, but newsflash Edward, everyone has flaws, even you. I know you think you are perfect, or at least I used to think that you were perfect; but you need to realize, just as I did, that you are not." I watched the emotions flash across his face; shock, indignation, shame, back to indignation, and anger before a hard mask settled on his face.

I soften my tone knowing that he will not be able to see the truth of my words if I continue to attack him, "I'm going to go for a quick hunt to calm down. I think you should stay here for a while and think about what I said. I hope when I see you later that you will have seen beyond your self-righteousness to see the truth in my words." With a parting smile of encouragement, I turn around and head west at a full sprint.

Edwards words kept playing on repeat inside my head and before I knew it, my anger and indignation were flaring up and I wanted to go back and try to beat the self-righteousness out of that Victorian era child. But I knew I was just overreacting due to my crazed newborn emotions, so I took a deep breath and continued running until I saw a flash of blonde curls ahead of me; Jasper.

I altered my course to intercept him and when he locked eyes with me he smiled; I instantly felt better. I don't know if it's an empath thing, but just being in Jasper's presence makes me feel better. It obviously doesn't work on Edward; and just like that I'm pissed again on Jasper's behalf. I notice the frown on Jasper's face as he feels my shift in emotions. I smile back at him to let him know I am okay.

At this point we are within arm's reach of each other and I have the sudden urge to be in his arms. Without waiting for my permission, my body launches into his, my arms going around him and my face buried in his chest; Jasper stumbles a bit but regains his balance and puts his arms around me in a comforting embrace. "Are you alright, darlin'?"

I smile into his chest at the sound of his voice before pulling away to look into his eyes, "Yeah, just had a bit of a confrontation with Edward. I don't understand what I saw in him as a human. Was he always so pompous? Does my vampire brain see more than my human brain did or has he changed so drastically in just a few short weeks?" At this point I'm starting to get worked up again until Jasper puts his hands on either one of my shoulders and rubs soothing circles there.

"I don't know what happened between you two but yes Edward has always been a pompous ass. He has made no secret of his superiority over everyone he thinks is beneath him. Why do you think I spend so little time with him? I don't know why you were oblivious to it when you were human; but people tend to have rose-colored glasses towards those they love." Jasper says tenderly while looking me in the eye. His eyes are so magnetic; I could get lost in all the colors I see there. They are more then just the honey color I originally thought, there are specks of red and black, and is that green? I wonder what color his eyes were as a human. I'm willing to bet they were green.

Shaking myself out of my stupor, I begin to explain what Edward said to me at the cliffs. "I can't believe that as a human I wouldn't notice his dislike for half his family. I mean I know he made me keep my distance from you but I was under the impression that it was because of his lack of faith in your control not because he believed you were a bad person. He actually had the gall to tell me that I shouldn't hang out with you, Rosalie or the Denali sisters because you would be a bad influence on me. Can you believe that? How could you possibly be a bad influence? In the past week that I can say I've actually known you, you have proven to be intelligent, kind, funny, and have an inner strength so strong that it shines like a bright light within you drawing people to you like a moth to a flame. You have very quickly become my best friend. How could you not be the best influence on everybody?"

Jasper's POV

I don't know whether to be elated that Bella thinks so highly of me or depressed that I've been relegated to the friend zone. I felt Bella's emotions throughout her entire speech; I felt her shame at not noticing Edwards flaws as a human; her indignation on Rosalie's, the sisters', and my behalf as she relived Edwards demand that she stay away from us; and then her sincerity, and was that love, when she described who I am to her. Bella loves me? But I know better than most that there are many forms of love. I can only hope that one day she will love me as I love her. If Edward keeps driving her away with his pompous attitude, that day may come sooner then I initially thought.

I send Bella my gratitude as I pull her into another embrace; now that I know Bella is my mate, I want her in my arms as much as possible. "Oh, darlin', not everybody sees me as you do. You have to remember that I am one of the most feared vampires in history. Even the Cullen's struggled with their fear of me when I first joined the family. After a while, I earned their respect and, in some cases, love; but Edward has always looked on me in disgust. He thinks he knows me because he can see my thoughts. He has yet to figure out that when I am thinking of my past life, it is to keep him out of my head. Instead, he thinks I keep it in the forefront of my mind because I relished my time in the war. Edward thinks he is infallible because his gift grants him knowledge. But what is knowledge without understanding. Because of his upbringing and when he was changed, Edward will always struggle with seeing beyond his own understanding. Don't take what he says personally, I don't."

I kissed the top of her head before putting her back at arms length. "Now what do you say we go find Carlisle and Eleazar so we can start informing everybody about the Victoria/Laurent issue?"

"Right, of course. Should we have them meet us somewhere so we aren't showing up at the house just to leave again?" she asks, perceptive as always.

"Eleazar has a sound proof office for when he receives calls from the Volturi; so we don't technically have to leave the house, but it would be beneficial to have this conversation away from curious eyes and ears. With my gift, I can sense if someone is near before they are close enough to overhear our conversation. Where would you like to have this conversation? The Command Center? Alice confirmed that everyone will do well to be told so we can invite Esme and Carmen as well under the guise of showing them a good spot for the Cullen family to reside while we are in the area."

"That's a great idea. Peter should be out shadowing Laurent, right? Should we suggest Charlotte goes for a hunt or something so we can have this first conversation without having to explain their presence right away?"

"Their scent will still be around the property, but your idea has merit. Lets head out that way and find a spot where their scent won't be noticed at first until we can break the news." I suggest as I feel my phone vibrate notifying me of a text message. Its probably Yoda telling me the exact location we should meet; know-it-all bastard. Pulling my phone out, I see

Head in from the direction of the Denali residence so they will follow your scent trail. Stop about a mile from the house. They will still be able to see the house in the distance but they will not be able to smell Char or I. Char is already out hunting.

I chuckle before showing Bella the text and responding with Thanks fucker.

I quickly send a text to Carlisle, Esme, Eleazar, and Carmen before grabbing Bella's hand and sprinting in the direction we would need to intercept their path. I don't need to hold Bella's hand because she could very easily follow me but I am reluctant to let it go and she has yet to pull it out of my grasp. In fact, I feel Bella's contentment wash over me, her emotions like a soft caress and it soothes me; I guess she is happy holding my hand as well.

Before long we are near the spot that Peter suggested, so I slow us to a human walk to prolong the time I get to hold her hand. Just as we reach the spot I feel the emotional signatures of Carlisle, Esme, Eleazar, and Carmen.

"They are nearly hear Darlin'." I say as I drop her hand and turn. I feel Bella turn as well and she stands right beside me with her arm brushing against mine. I smile at the thought that she wanted to maintain contact by putting herself so close.

Soon enough, they are before us and Bella leaves my side and goes straight up to Carlisle pulling him into a hug. "I didn't get a chance to greet you properly before." Carlisle is shocked at her forwardness at first but then hugs her tightly, familial love radiating off him. He truly does love her like a daughter.

Esme comes up to me with her arms open and I realize that I didn't get a chance to greet her properly earlier either. I give her a hug letting my love and respect wash over her. She gasps at first but then I feel her gratitude. When she pulls away I see venom in her eyes.

"I was so worried about you. You could have called me and let me know you were alright," she says softly looking at me with motherly love.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't in a place to talk to anyone for the first week and then I only wanted to apologize to Bella. Once I got here there have been a lot of things going on. Some of which we need to discuss." At this point Carlisle has stepped up to join us offering his hand in greeting to me which I shake before continuing. "When I arrived here I came upon a scene that proves our family is facing a very real threat."

At the mention of a threat, Carlisle and Esme look to each other, a silent communication passing between them, and resolve settling into their posture. Carmen and Eleazar stepped up to join the conversation, concern radiating off of them. And Bella took up her position at my side, arm brushing up against mine, sending me her trust and encouragement.

"Laurent has not only been feeding from humans on planned hunts,"Carmen and Eleazar gasp, "but has been meeting with Victoria." I feel the fear pumping out of Esme at the mention of Victoria but I don't think it's fear for herself; her eyes are trained on Bella. She fears for her newest daughter. Carlisle is radiating disappointment and sadness.

"I take it, you overheard what was discussed at one of these meetings." Carlisle asked clearly understanding that I haven't given them all the information just yet.

"Yes, Laurent was feeding her information about each of the members of our family; what our gifts are and how they work. As I suspected, James was her mate and she intends to take her revenge out on Bella. She doesn't have a solid plan on how she is going to do that yet because we are such a large coven. Peter and Charlotte have come up to offer their assistance as well but their presence needs to stay hidden from Laurent. The more strategic advantage we have the better. Right now, they are working under the assumption that we don't know that there is a threat on the horizon and we need to keep it that way." Turning to Esme I continue "You were planning on renovating this resort so the Cullen's can have a bit of space, correct?"

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"Alice."

"Ah, yes of course," she said with a slight smile thinking about her eccentric daughter.

I turn and start walking towards the resort, at a steady pace for a vampire but faster then a human, as I continue to fill them on the plans Bella and I have already come up with. "This will be our command center but we will come up here under the guise of helping Esme renovate. For those who are interested, and I recommend it for everyone, we will have training sessions here. Bella will need to learn how to fight as well as work on her gift. She can still work with Kate at the Denali's but she will not be showing much progress their because it will all be a show for Laurent. She has already managed to shield me from Kate but Kate is unaware of this because we made it look like she was still hurting me.

"Peter will be Laurent's permanent shadow. Peter doesn't have a scent, so he is the perfect person to follow Laurent without him knowing it. When Laurent meets with Victoria again we will know what they are planning."

At this point, we are standing in front of the resort so I turn towards Carmen and Eleazar and ask "We will need your help with Irina when she is told. It is my understanding that her and Laurent are not mares, but she thinks they are. We need her help, but we do not want her going off the deep end when she finds out about Victoria. Are you aware that he is also sleeping with Tanya?"

They look at each other before Eleazar responds "We have suspected. They like to 'hunt together.' We didn't want to cause any strife in our family by bringing it up to them."

"I honestly think that will help Irina see the truth when we tell her. Plus, my friend Charlotte has a gift; she can see the bonds between mates. When we break the news to Irina, we should have her sisters and Char with her to help her through it. She should be told last.

"Over the next few days, I would like you all to spread the news to everyone. It will be best when done while hunting. You can separate into pairs and it wouldn't be suspicious. Alice, Bella, and I will tell Edward. Carlisle, Esme, could you tell Rosalie and Emmett? Carmen, Eleazar, you can go ahead and tell Tanya and Kate. Does anyone have any questions or concerns?"

"Are you sure this is going to end in a fight, Jasper?" Of course Carlisle, the pacifist, will wish to avoid a fight.

"Yes, Carlisle, I am sure. Victoria wants Bella dead," I say bluntly. "I know you abhor violence, but I also know you love Bella very deeply. I need you to let your protective instincts to come forward for this. Victoria will destroy your entire family to achieve her goal. I know Edward told you that he didn't hear anything in James and Victoria's thoughts that implied their connection but you know he only hears surface thoughts. Trust me when I say that Victoria will do all she can to avenge her mate." I finally felt Carlisle's emotions shift, his acceptance and rage rising.

"I will definitely want to have some training, Jasper, but I will have to divide my time between that and my work on the house. Just in case Laurent ever comes to investigate what we are doing, we should show daily progress on the house," Esme explains.

"That is a very apt observation. I think that will be easily accomplished. Rosalie and Alice always loved renovating with you and Carmen and the sisters may even be willing to help as well. We will work it in shifts so that there is always someone working on the house." I send Esme my pride and gratitude at her suggestion.

"Of course, Esme dear, I love working with you on your projects." Carmen assured her.

"Well if that is all, we should all head back to the house so we can all get situated. I'm sure Emmett is looking forward to some time with Bella." I felt Bella's excitement at the mention of her brother. I smile in her direction and she takes off back to house at full speed.

Esme and Carlisle chuckle before following with Carmen and Eleazar on their tail. I take up the position at the rear so I can keep them all in my sights. Until this situation is cleared up, I will be hyper-vigilant when it comes to the safety of my family and mate.