My Major Whitlock

Chapter 7

It's been two years since Peter and his mate escaped the coven, and just as I predicted, life was harsher for us.

During those two years Nettie and Lucy decided to try and overtake Maria to no avail; Jasper and I felt their unwelcoming emotions and warned Maria of it. And so, the three of us defeated the two women easily though only caused Maria's sanity to go overboarda bit. She thanked us, though, but after that incident, she's become more paranoid and reckless.

Her reckless changing continued, people of all ages and sizes though luckily not little children – otherwise, the Volturi would be here already. I've only come across them once, though by accident. It was before Jasper came, and when Maria was saner and herself. She was talking with two members from the Volturi, discussing other covens or whatnot. I didn't bother to hear the rest and kept my distance in fear of my life. From what I heard from Maria, they did not like the unknown and would get rid of them in fear for their power and ruling. Originally, I was the secret weapon if they ever tried to attack her coven due to my gifts.

Jasper and I barely had time to each other; the newborns were getting harder to contain to the point we couldn't trick them to the myths and allowed them to roam around the land but not near the towns. Jasper's emotions continued to fall, to the point Jasper held no will to live. His emotions and state affected me, and so the two of us began to suffer more than anything.

One day, for once the newborns were stable and sensible and weren't causing chaos as they usually did. But Jasper and I kept a wary eye on them, wondering what caused them to be sane for a moment. Our answers were given when Maria came to us looking calm and collected. In the distance were three people cloaked in black, watching from afar. Volturi appeared in my head. The newborns knew those in cloaks were dangerous and knew to behave.

"I need to discuss matters with some people. I will be gone for roughly two weeks so the both of you are in charge," she told us lowly. We nodded in understanding. "Do not disappoint me or else I will show no mercy to your death." She sent us a wave of hatred and suspicion in our direction, and Jasper and I winced from them. "Understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am." we responded. And with that, she and the cloaked figures were gone. For the first time in years, we felt something different from the usual negative emotions; we felt relief. Relief that we no longer feared for our lives from her, relief that she no longer had her eyes on us, relief that we were able to be ourselves for the first time in years. Jasper and I turned to each other in sync as if thinking the same thing.

Jasper cupped my face in his hands, pulling me into a long-awaited kiss. When was the last time we kissed? When was the last time we touched each other like this? When was the last tine did we allow ourselves to feel happy around each other?

"I missed you so much," I whispered, feeling his emotions were emotions I felt when he was turned for the first time and was happy. He returned the sad smile I gave him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, caressing my face lovingly, "I promise to show you all the love you deserve." I sent him a questioning look.

"As in..."

"I love you, Melanie Ann Taylor," he declared, bringing me into another mind-blowing kiss. "Let me love you in a way you deserve to be loved."

"Show me," I whispered into his ear. He wrapped his arms around my waist and took us to my tent where we stayed in there for two days straight, knowing the newborns wouldn't be needing us for a while.

***

A week passed, and it was a week that we needed. It was pure bliss! It's strange how we've never moved to the next step in our relationship until now in the years we've been together, but at the same time, it's understandable. There was never enough privacy for us to do so. None of the newborns suspected anything, and never even had the timespan to bother bug us so it was nice for us. We were back to feeling like ourselves, and away from our miserable lifestyle. We really needed to leave this environment soon.

I sat on the highest branch of the largest tree, as usual, eyes closed. The sunset kissed at my face, my skin sparkling as usual. I detected a presence beside me, knowing already it was Jasper. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pressing kisses to the side of my face and down to my neck. "are you okay?" he asked in between kisses. "You ran off during training. You felt uneasy and worried."

"I'm not sure..." I murmured, opening my eyes to be met with his concerned red eyes. "Jasper, something strange happened."

"What happened?" He tightened his hold on my waist.

"The reason why I ran away was that I...felt sick," I admitted to him. His eyes widened in surprise.

"You felt sick?" he repeated. I nodded.

"I left and vomited in some bushes. It was horrible. And..." I trailed off, laying my hands on my stomach absently. He followed my gaze and frowned.

"Melanie..."

"Jasper, we never used protection during our...we didn't, did we?" I asked him worriedly. Of course we didn't; it was our first time being together and only focussed on each other. God, I'm such an idiot. "Jasper, I think I'm pregnant."

We didn't speak for a while, stuck in our thoughts. What were we going to do? I was pregnant, and I couldn't hide it from Maria - and would my pregnancy even be a normal one? I barely know anything about what I am, what if my pregnancy wasn't safe? What if something bad happened? What will Maria think?

"Maria is going to kill me." I realised, cutting off the silence of nature around us. "Oh my stars, she's going to kill me - or worse, use the baby or something! Our child won't be safe!"

"Hey," he said sternly, cutting off my ramblings and grabbing my face to force me to look at him. "No one is going to hurt you or the baby." I opened my mouth to protest only for him to bring me fully into his arms, my face pressed against his chest. I inhaled his smell automatically, feeling calm wash over me. "We'll see how things go. And soon enough, we'll be out of here away from Maria. This has gone on long enough; we need to get out of here."

"Promise?" I looked up from his chest. He looked down at me lovingly, pressing a chaste kiss to my forehead.

"I promise, Darlin'," he whispered, kissing me again.

Soon enough another week passed, and Maria was back. "I presume everything went well?" she stated, looking around at her camp with narrowed eyes, seeming to approve of our successful duties.

"Yes, Ma'am," we replied. She turned to us for the first time since her return, her eyes immediately falling onto my form. I tensed, Jasper standing up straighter in the corner of my eye.

"You look different," she mused, eyeing me warily, tilting her head slightly. "It's like you're glowing."

"Nothing is different, Ma'am," I replied carefully. "It might seem like that since it's been two weeks since the last time you saw us."

"Must be." She didn't look convinced but waved it off...for now. "You are dismissed." She sent me one last suspicious glance before she left for her tent. We sighed in relief when she was no longer near us, but looked to each other worriedly.

What are we going to do?