"You're sure?"
"Positive."
Jasper wants to take me back into the woods to give me something in private. The last time I did that, I was tackled by a vampire that beheaded my girlfriend.
"You've double checked?"
"They won't be more than a hundred feet away."
He is promising me that the Volturi won't be more than a yell away unlike last time.
I don't want to go back into that forest but I trust Jasper to know what he is doing. And if Rosalie isn't stopping him, then she trusts him too.
"Okay."
Jasper grins at me, hooking an arm around my shoulder. "Great. C'mon,"
I follow Jasper out the backdoor, trying to ignore the knot that is forming in the pit of my stomach.
Jasper must sense my turmoil because the feeling starts to ebb away and all I'm left with is my eagerness to spend some time with Jasper and see what he wants to give me.
Jasper leads us just a little past the backyard, far enough to be away from prying ears but close enough to hear us talk louder than a whisper.
Jasper finds a log that had fallen over in a storm and leads me over to it, sitting me down while he pulls something out of his pocket.
"I was born Jasper Whitlock in Texas. When we joined the Cullen's, I took up Rosalie's surname, Hale, to fit in with being her twin." Jasper tells me. "But before I met them, before I even met Alice, I ran with two other vampires. We formed a coven, The Whitlock Coven."
Jasper gently grasps my wrist and fingers my charm chain before holding something up. "This is the Whitlock Crest. It was originally my families before I shared it with my coven. Now I share it with you in hopes that if my coven finds you in need of help that they will protect you."
Jasper hooks the charm onto my bracelet. That was crest number four.
"Thanks, Jay," I mumble. "Who was in your coven?"
"It was me, Peter and his mate Charlotte." Jasper explains.
" Do they have gifts?" I question.
"Charlotte doesn't. Peter had the gift of knowing things. He didn't see the future like Alice, he just gets a feeling. We call it his 'knower'." Jasper explains. "They... they have scars like I do and are classified as dangerous because of that. They can be, but to be safe," Jasper pats the charm.
"What color are their eyes?" I inquire.
"As far as we know, the Cullen's and Denali's are the only animal drinkers. Peter and Charlotte would be red eyes." Jasper nods.
"So from now on, every vampire that you introduce me to will be a red eye?" I repeat.
"Yup." Jasper nods his head.
"And how many more covens do you plan on introducing me to?" I frown.
"The Irish Coven, for sure." Jasper starts to count. "The Amazon Coven, they'll be fascinated with you. The Egyptian Coven, but Amun might not like you. A few nomads like Garrett, Mary, Charles and Makenna, Alistair, Randall-"
"And these are all red eyes?" I interrupt. "And will protect me. You're sure of this?"
"Well, Alistair may be hard to convince, Amun might take half his coven and leave but I know for sure that Benjamin and his mate Tia will love you." Jasper nods.
I lean forward to rest my head against my brothers chest. "I'm sorry."
Jasper seems to know what I'm apologizing for. "Don't be," He tells me. "It isn't your fault."
"Do you think I would still smell comforting covered in mud and gasoline?" I inquire, knowing how much the scent of gasoline bothers their sensitive noses.
"I dunno," Jasper shrugs. "Let's not find out, yeah?"
I touch the charm upon my wrist and sigh. "I just don't understand."
"Understand, what?" Jasper questioned.
"Why? Why everybody is hell bent on protecting me." I mumble.
"I told you. We love you and care about you." Jasper shoves a wave of affection at me.
"No, I mean why protect me. If Nico was hunting me in an alternate universe where I never met you guys, and I somehow found out about the Volturi and showed up, I can almost guarantee that they would of killed me. Is the only reason I'm alive is because I know Carlisle?"
"Don't be silly," Jasper waves. "You're interesting. In this alternate universe, Aro would of noted your unique scent and become intrigued. He might of possibly offered to turn you."
"So if I didn't know you, I would of been a vampire anyway." I reiterate.
"Yeah." Jasper nods. "But we're not that alternate reality, we're in this one. And in this one, you have people who love and care about you." He gently grips my wrist below my bracelet. "Protect you."
-elastic heart-
"You should talk to Jolene," Jasper comments as he passes by Rosalie one Saturday morning. "She's feeling conflicted and guilty."
Rosalie frowns at the prospect that her mate was feeling these emotions and she didn't know.
Rosalie heads up to their shared room, taking a seat on the bed next to where Jolene was curled up with her phone pressed to her chest. Her eyes were closed, deep in thought.
"Jo?" Rosalie mumbles.
Jolene lets out a shaky breath and Rosalie realizes that she's crying. Her mate was crying and she didn't even realize it.
She instantly scoops her mate up and cuddles her close to her, desperate to help her mate feel better.
"What happened?" Rosalie quietly questioned.
"It's Colton," Jolene mumbles and Rosalie's unbeating heart takes a lurch at the mention of Jolene's only non-supernatural male friend.
Jolene's first friend.
"Is he okay?" Rosalie frets.
"Cole plays the piano," Jolene starts. "He does concerts and recitals. He's pretty good, like Teddy."
Rosalie listens, unsure of where the conversation was going.
"His parents, they're neglectful of his talent and don't support him. So I've been going to his concerts, cheering him on. He hasn't had a concert in a while and he's just asked me to come." Jolene takes a deep breath.
Rosalie wasn't quite sure of the problem. Jolene picks up on that.
"Nico is watching me. Anyone I associate with is in danger. If Cole gets hurt because I went to some silly piano concert instead of protecting him-" Jolene was getting herself worked up and Rosalie just caresses her back.
"And how do you think he would feel if you stood him up or pushes him away. From what I understand, you're Colton's only friend." Rosalie points out. "Some piano concert isn't going to get him killed."
"You can't promise that," Jolene quietly mumbles. "But promise that you'll do everything you can to try and make it true."
"We swear," Rosalie promises, pressing a kiss to the top of Jolene's head as she curled up in her lap.
It was quiet for a few moments before Jolene spoke up.
"Sometimes, I feel like this is a dream. I'll wake up back in Arizona and feel terrible that I want to leave instead of being forced too. She's knows it's not safe for me there but she doesn't want me to leave." Jolene explains. "But, if this is really all one big dream, maybe I'm in a coma, I don't want to wake up."
"I love you," Rosalie mumbles. "I love you more than anything else."
"I love you more than you'll ever know." Jolene reaches up to loop her arms around Rosalie's neck to pull her down into a kiss. "Nothing will ever make me stop."
Rosalie sure knew how to cheer her mate up.