Chapter Text
This story has been a bane of my existence for the last week because I wrote it years ago, but didn't get a decent grammar program until recently. I have finally finished correcting it after over a week, so I hope you enjoy this new, improved version of Jasper's and Bella's Destiny. It is now in 42 chapters, instead of the three I originally had. Please review and review often!
Major Jasper Whitlock sighed and ran a hand through his shoulder-length, curly blond hair in a very humanlike gesture. He had left the Cullens after he’d found out that they had been deceiving him for decades. It hadn't been Carlisle or Esme, or even Emmett and Rosalie, so much, who had been deceiving him for decades. However, it had been Edward and Alice. Edward and Alice had been the real culprits, and when he’d confronted them, they’d, of course, tried to deny it, but that was hard to do when he had caught them in bed together.
No one else in the family had known or even suspected that Alice and Edward had been sleeping together off and on for decades, whenever the rest of the family was off doing their own things.
How they had gotten away with it for so long was no mystery since Alice had the talent of seeing the future, and they probably would've continued to get away with it if Jasper hadn't come home suddenly without even thinking about it because Alice could only see the future if somebody made a decision.
Thanks to him walking in on them, they couldn't deny it, and Alice hadn't had a chance to see that he was coming home since he hadn't really decided until he was already there.
Fortunately or unfortunately, that had been the end of Jasper's relationship with Alice, Edward, and the other Cullens as well.
Well, Alice and Edward, anyway, although Emmett and Rosalie had begged him to reconsider leaving and had only subsided when he had promised to keep in contact with them. He had also assured them that he didn't blame them for what had happened with Alice and Edward and that he still considered them his family. Esme had been upset as he prepared to leave, but even though she had tried to change his mind, she hadn't been able to. Carlisle had also tried but had not succeeded.
Finally seeing that Jasper would not change his mind, she begged him not to cut himself off from the family completely, to at least call once in a while to let them know how he was doing, even if he didn't want to come home because of what Alice and Edward had done. He could understand why Jasper hadn't wanted to stay but had been quick to show that the rest of them felt betrayed.
He had been so upset that he had killed and drunk the blood of a mugger before he had realized what he was doing, and he had enjoyed it so much that he had decided that he was going back to human blood but that he would only go after criminals. Carlisle would not be pleased if he found out. However, at this point, he really didn't care if he was pleased or not.
Of course, he knew that they weren't to blame, as none of them had seen the signs that had more than likely been there. On the other hand, Alice did have the gift of ‘seeing’ the future. It only worked, however, if someone made a sure decision, and Edward did have the ability to read anybody's thoughts, so it had been almost impossible to catch them except by chance, although the two should've known that eventually they would be caught, even if it was a hundred years down the road.
Alice, of course, had begged and pleaded with him to forgive her and not to leave, but it wasn't like her, and Edward had only done it once, as it had been going on for decades, practically since they had come to live with the Cullens, and that was something that he was not willing to forgive.
Alice had been brokenhearted, and she wouldn't admit, even to herself, that she had known that this would happen eventually if she and Edward kept up their relationship. And while Alice had been brokenhearted, Edward had been nothing but sullen, as if he saw nothing wrong with what they had been doing, even though Alice was married to another man.
Suddenly, Jasper was jerked out of his thoughts after hearing a woman's scream and the sounds of a scuffle. “Let me go, you fucker,” said a female voice in a panic, and the sound of a hand hitting flesh made Jasper speed towards the alley at vampire speed.
“Girl, if you do as you're told, you might just survive to fight another day,” a man's voice told her gruffly.
“You mean if I let you have your way with me,” the woman's voice said, scornfully. “I would rather fight and die than let you just rape me.”
“Oh, you'll die alright once I've had my way with you, that is, and once I've made you beg for mercy.”
Jasper slowed as he got to the alley and stood in the shadows for a moment, observing what was going on before taking action.
He felt a connection to the girl—no, woman, he corrected himself, as she looked at least 22 or 23—for some strange reason, something he couldn't explain. The woman looked up as if sensing he was there, which should have been impossible, as there was no way her human eyes should have been able to see him standing in the dark of the alley or have heard him approach, as vampires made no noise a human could detect if they chose to do so. Vampires also had much better eyesight and could see perfectly with the tiniest amount of light, while humans needed much more to see properly. Yet even though the woman could not have possibly seen or heard him, their eyes seemed to connect even though it should have been impossible. The second their eyes supposedly met, the connection he had felt the minute he had heard her scream intensified a thousand times, all in the space of two of the woman's heartbeats. In the microsecond that the woman's heart beat for the second time, Jasper was upon the man and had him drained in less than a minute, as this was no time for a leisurely meal. As Jasper drained the man, he kept his ear cocked for the sound of the woman, who he was surprised to discover was not making a sound and just standing there in stunned silence, or at least he assumed she was stunned, for if she wasn't, she would have assuredly been running for her life, screaming for help.
As Jasper was draining the man, the demon in him was exalted at his death and was also screaming ‘mine, mine, mine’ inside his head very loudly and savagely.
Who was he? The man part of Jasper asked his demon. The man he was draining? Surely not, for the man was almost dead and was nothing more than a meal.
‘No, the woman, you idiot,’ the ‘Major’ told him, and Jasper immediately noticed how protective the vampire part of him was feeling towards her.
‘The woman? What do you mean?’ asked Jasper.
‘Can't you guess? Or are you really that stupid?’ the ‘Major’ taunted.
‘Just tell me,’ Jasper demanded impatiently.
Instead of answering the question, the demon asked one, ‘Would you have really run to her rescue if you had not felt something pulling you to the alley the second you heard her scream?’
Jasper considered that, then admitted that no, he probably would not have, as he would not have wanted to get involved and risk revealing what he was. If there was one iron-tight law among vampire kind, it was never reveal what you are to a human and then let them live. If he did, whether accidentally or intentionally, reveal that vampires were real, he was required to either kill them or turn them into one of his kind. Those were the only two choices: to let any human live with the knowledge of what he was, which was too dangerous and also meant death for him and whoever had discovered that vampires were indeed real and not just myths.
Finally, what the demon had been saying and had figured out before he did snapped into his brain with instant clarity, and his conclusion left him more than a little stunned. You mean the woman is my mate? The person I am supposed to spend the rest of my existence with?
‘Glad to see you finally figured it out. Maybe you aren't as dumb as I thought,’ taunted the Major.
Finally Jasper dropped the man as soon as his heart stopped beating and immediately went over to the woman who was leaning against the opposite alley wall, not having moved an inch, her eyes wide and yet not seeming to be afraid, even though she should have been, as she had just seen him drain that man, so she should have assumed that she was going to be next.
“Miss? Are you okay?” Jasper asked as gently as he could, as his inner demon wanted him to immediately bite her, not to drain her but to turn her into one of his kind.
Jasper didn't want to bite her, or at least he didn't without her consent, and not until they got to know each other better, because at the moment, they didn't know a thing about each other, not even their names.
“I'm fine,” said the woman, who didn't look at all frightened of him, even though he had just killed her attacker right in front of her eyes.
“Let's get out of here; we need to talk,” Jasper said.
“I guess we do,” said the woman. “May I know your name, sir?”
“I'm Jasper Whitlock.”
“Bella Swan,” the woman answered, smiling shyly, not at all frightened of him, which astonished Jasper, as she should be so very scared her heart was pounding fearfully, and she should be unable to form a coherent sentence. Some humans had even been known to faint from being terrified.
“Bella, what a beautiful name for a beautiful lady,” Jasper breathed almost like a prayer, so quietly that the woman in front of him couldn’t possibly have heard him. “Come this way; I have a place that we can talk,” Jasper said, taking her arm gallantly like the Southern gentleman he had been raised to be and leading her out of the alley towards his hotel.
~~~Jasper and Bella~~~
Once they had reached Jasper's hotel room and Bella's injuries were taken care of, they just gazed at each other for a minute, Jasper from behind his sunglasses, as he had yet to take them off and didn't intend to just yet.
Bella looked around the suite and noticed that it was very nice, as the hotel was five stars, which she knew meant that Jasper must have money, as a five-star hotel was not cheap, especially since Jasper had apparently rented the penthouse, so Bella knew that would likely be hundreds of dollars a night, if not thousands. Of course, it was also very private and luxurious.
“Aren't you going to remove your sunglasses?” asked Bella curiously.
“Not quite yet,” Jasper replied as calmly as he could, trying not to fidget nervously like a teenager caught drinking and driving. “There are some things you need to know and understand before I do that.”
“Like what?” asked Bella curiously, tilting her head as she looked at Jasper’s sunglass-clad eyes.
Jasper checked her emotions, but all he found was that she was extremely curious about him. However, she was not the least bit frightened of him, even though she should have been.
“Well, from what you saw in the alley, you must have realized that I am not human,” said Jasper.
“Yes, I did realize that,” said Bella slowly, wondering exactly where this was going. “I know exactly what you are, and you don’t frighten me a bit.”
“Why don't I frighten you, if you know what I am?” asked Jasper, genuinely curious for the answer.
“Because you saved me,” said Bella as if the answer was obvious, “and to me anyway that means that your kind cannot all be evil like some of the myths suggest.”
“And what do you believe I am?” asked Jasper with a raised eyebrow, curious whether or not she really knew what he was or if she was bluffing. He checked her emotions again as he had every couple of minutes since this conversation began, and he discovered that she was almost certain she knew exactly what he was, although there was a little doubt as well, although not much.
“Vampire,” Bella said decisively, looking at Jasper’s sunglasses-clad eyes, again silently daring him to tell her she was wrong with her conclusion.
“And that doesn't frighten you?” asked Jasper, not really answering her question, nor confirming nor denying it.
“No, because as I said before, if you had not drained that man, he would've raped me and probably killed me afterwards. And besides, you have not attacked me or made any threatening moves towards me, and you could have drained me just like you did my attacker if you had been so inclined, yet you have not. In fact, you brought me to your hotel room, and I do not believe you would have done that if you intended to kill me. Besides, I have felt a slight pull towards you the minute I looked into your sunglass-clad eyes, although what it means or even if it's just my imagination, I haven't a clue. Also, my instincts are telling me that you would never hurt me intentionally.”
“In that you would be right,” Jasper admitted, beginning to relax a little, but only a little, as there were still several hills to cross.
“So, if I may be so bold as to ask, why did you save me?” asked Bella. “I would think that revealing that you are a bloodsucking vampire to a human like me would be against your laws, if you have such things.”
“Yes, you are right, it is against our laws,” admitted Jasper. “On the other hand, it is also within the law to save a human so long as they are...” Jasper hesitated, then finished the sentence, unsure how Bella would react after finishing what he was saying.
“So long as they are changed afterwards,” Bella finished for him, somehow sure she was right. It was, after all, what she would've done if she were in charge of making the laws, if she were the one who had wanted to keep the vampire race a secret.
“Well, yes, or killed,” Jasper added.
“That goes without saying,” Bella agreed calmly. “That still doesn't answer my question, though, as to why you didn't drain me as well and instead saved my life.”
“I've always had a thing for damsels in distress,” Jasper said, avoiding the question.
“Please stop avoiding the question,” Bella said, trying to conceal her anxious state. For just a moment, Jasper looked as if he were a deer caught in the headlights of a car, but then he sighed and sat down on the bed beside her, turning her to face him, his face serious. “One thing I'm sure you didn't know about vampires from what you have read is that they know when they have discovered their mate, the person they are supposed to spend the rest of their existence with. When I heard you scream and discovered that man attacking you in the alley, I was furious, although there was no reason for me to be so. The minute I looked into your eyes from where I stood in the shadows was the minute I felt the pull that signified that one of our kind had found their true soulmate. And no, it doesn't matter that you are human,” Jasper added, seeing that Bella was about to ask a question and assuming that would be it. “It doesn't happen very often, but occasionally a vampire will discover a human that is their mate, although usually it is another vampire.”
Bella closed her mouth with a snap, and it pleased Jasper that he’d been right and that would have been her next question.
“What does being the mate of a vampire mean for me exactly?” asked Bella, trying not to display how nervous she was feeling, even though she was sure that Jasper could hear her heart beating triple time, as vampires were supposed to have very advanced hearing and be able to hear things from much further away than a human possibly could, and considering they were sitting right next to each other at the moment, Bella was sure that Jasper would hear her frantic heartbeat.
“Well, for one thing, it means that I will do everything in my power to protect you, for if anything happens to you...” Jasper paused as a spasm of pain hit him at the thought of anything happening to his mate now that he had discovered her.
“If anything happens to me?” Bella repeated almost word-for-word, wondering exactly what Jasper had meant. “Would you please explain?”
“Now that I have found you, if anything should happen to you...If you should die, for example, then I would die too. Vampires can be killed, although it is very difficult. No vampire can live without their mate once that mate has been found. If you were to die, it would be like ripping out half my soul, or at least that is what I've heard from other mated vampires.”
“And if I decided that I didn't want anything to do with you or vampires?” asked Bella.
“Then I would either be forced to change you against your will and possibly have you resent me for the rest of our existences, or I would be forced to kill you, and I don't much care for either of those options.”
“So, you chose a third option, and that was to tell me what you were and what being mates means, hoping that I would go along with it so you wouldn't be forced to take either option one or two?” questioned Bella.
“That's it exactly,” said Jasper, realizing that his Bella was very intelligent to have figured that out so fast.
“Well, I'm assuming, since you didn't bite me to turn me into a vampire right away, that you wanted to get to know me first?” said Bella.
“Yes, and vice versa, of course,” Jasper replied. “I would have changed you immediately if you had been gravely injured, of course, but since you weren't, we can take the time to get to know each other.”
“How much time?” asked Bella, looking intent. “As I'm sure there are laws about humans knowing vampires are real governing your kind, as I mentioned before.”
“In that you would be right,” Jasper admitted. “There are laws about humans knowing about us, just like you thought, but we also have a little leeway, which is also built into the law about mates.”
“How much time?” asked Bella.
“At least a month,” said Jasper after thinking about it for a few seconds. “That gives you time to get your affairs in order and for us to think of a way for you to have some kind of fatal accident, as you will never be able to see any of your friends or family again once you are changed into a vampire.”
“You are very lucky in that respect,” Bella told him. “I don't really have any family except my mother, and I swore once I went off to college to essentially disown my mother and never have anything else to do with her. I do have a few casual friends and one very close friend whom I will be sad never to see again, but other than that, I don't have anybody that I will miss.”
“You sure are taking this very calmly,” said Jasper, wondering why Bella wasn't panicking and screaming, trying to get away from him as most normal humans would.
“I've always been unusual like that, and once I tell you about my life growing up, once we get to know each other a little better, maybe you will understand why I'm not running away from you or screaming for help as I'm sure you expected,” said Bella dryly with just a hint of humor in her eyes.
“That is exactly what I expected, as your blood, after all, is our natural food source,” Jasper said, relaxing almost completely, a smile lighting up his entire face, making whoever saw immediately want to smile back.
“But if you had wanted my blood, you would have already killed me and been done with it,” Bella pointed out reasonably, smiling back at this man she barely knew and yet felt as if she had known forever. “So where do we go from here?” Bella asked.
“Well, we can go on a few dates,” Jasper suggested, “although I will not eat any human food. I will be happy to take you out to eat even if I don't eat myself.”
“I'm sure we can come up with some activities that don't involve eating,” said Bella with a smile, kissing Jasper on the cheek shyly.
“Probably,” Jasper said agreeably, giving Bella's hand a gentle squeeze. “For now, though, why don't I order room service for you, as I'm sure you are hungry, and you can tell me a little bit about yourself, and I'll do the same.”
“What would you like to know?” asked Bella.
“Everything, but just the basics for now,” said Jasper. “We can get into details later.”
“Sounds good,” said Bella.
~~~Jasper and Bella~~~
Once room service had come and gone, half an hour later, Bella and Jasper sat at a little table on opposite sides, and while Bella ate, Jasper watched her. As Bella ate, they made light conversation about generalities until Bella indicated she was done by sitting back and patting her stomach.
“That was delicious, Jasper,” Bella told the man across the table sincerely. “That was the best meal I've had in months.”
“I'm glad you enjoyed it,” Jasper replied, giving Bella's hand a gentle squeeze, careful not to squeeze too hard and hurt her unintentionally with his vampire strength. Luckily, he'd had a lot of practice being around humans living with the Cullens.
“Not being able to eat human food must be torture for your kind,” Bella said insightfully. “I would think not being able to taste all the foods that this world has to offer would be a terrible price to pay for immortality.”
“In a way, you're right,” Jasper agreed. “But what you probably don't realize is that most vampires don't remember much about their human lives. They don't remember their families, whether they had parents that loved them, whether they had brothers or sisters, or whether they were rich, poor, or in between, much less what human food tasted like. On the other hand, most vampires were changed rather violently and didn't have any choice, and what they became, you, on the other hand, do have a choice.”
“What do you mean?” asked Bella, curiously.
“I mean that I am willing to leave you human if that is what you want, and hopefully the Volturi will never discover what I have done, or we'd both be dead.”
“You're willing to leave me human with knowledge of your world?” asked Bella in astonishment. “Why?”
“Because in the couple of hours we've known each other, I've grown to love you unreservedly. Partly that's the mating bond at work, but I've also grown to love you. I will not have you resent me for centuries because I changed you against your will, no matter what the laws are, and I really don't like to change perfectly healthy people unless they are gravely injured or at least, not anymore.”
Bella wondered what Jasper meant when he said, "at least not anymore," but she managed to contain her curiosity for the moment, since she was sure Jasper would tell her when they had gotten to know each other better.
“What will happen to you if I remain human once I die of old age?” asked Bella, suspecting she already knew the answer just from what Jasper had said earlier, but wanting it confirmed.
“I will soon join you in death,” said Jasper gravely, looking sad, “as it is almost impossible to live once your mate dies—you don't really want to live after the death of your mate if truth be told.”
The thought of Jasper putting an end to his own existence just because he could not live without her made Bella want to sob out loud, but as she didn't want to distress him, she managed to clamp down on her emotions and keep them to herself.
“Let's change the subject,” Bella suggested lightly, wanting to put such a sad subject behind them, at least for the time being.
Jasper gladly did as she suggested, and they started talking about their lives. Jasper had a lot of funny stories about things that had happened to him that, at the time, had not been funny at all but were hilarious years or centuries later.
Bella laughed delightedly at Jasper's stories, and when it was her time to tell about her life, she told him bits and pieces but left out most of the details until they got to know each other a little more.
What she did reveal was sad enough. There were some funny little anecdotes mixed in with the sad stuff, though, which made Jasper chuckle.
“You've talked about your life with your mother, but what about your father?” asked Jasper.
“My father and mother divorced when I was just a toddler, and my father lived in one of the rainiest places in the world, which was Forks, Washington. My father, Charlie Swan, was the chief of police of that little town, and I always went out to visit him during holidays and stuff until he died when I was fifteen from a heart attack. What I remember most about him was that he spent every free minute fishing—as it was his one true passion—with his two best friends, Billy Black and Harry Clearwater, from the La Push Reservation, which is right next door. Billy's son Jake was one of my best friends growing up, even though he was a year younger. Billy also has twin daughters, Rachel and Rebecca, who are older than Jake. They left La Push and, as far as I know, never returned. Jake and I just hit it off from the first moment we met, and we would do everything together when I went down to visit my father. I still think about Jake often, although I haven't seen him since I went to my father's funeral almost eight years ago now.”
Jasper listened as Bella recounted some of her favorite memories of Jake, and he chuckled in all the right places, which seemed to please her.
“You two sure did get in a lot of trouble together,” Jasper commented, still chuckling.
Bella laughed in agreement and said, “Yeah, we did, although it was mostly Jake that convinced me to do things even when I knew it was a bad idea. And before you ask, because I know you will eventually, Jake and I were never anything more than friends. He was like the mischievous little brother I never had.”
Jasper checked her emotions even though he had known she was speaking the truth from her tone of voice and body language. Reading her emotions helped him confirm the fact that Bella had never thought of Jacob as anything more than a little brother, which was good, as it meant he didn't have any competition, not that he couldn't rip this Jake into pieces or drain him dry if he so chose. However, it was just easier that way and also wouldn't hurt Bella like it would if he did kill her longtime friend.
Jasper checked the clock and noticed it was getting quite late and that he either needed to get Bella home or perhaps she would consent to stay here for the night.
“Would you like to spend the night here with me?” asked Jasper, trying not to appear anxious as to what her answer would be. If Bella told him she wanted to go home, he would take her and then spend all night outside her apartment building, as close as it was possible to get and still not be seen, watching over her, as not being close to her when the bond was this new would be extremely painful. Besides, the vampire species as a whole was extremely protective of their mates, and that was triply true when the bond was as new as this one. A mating bond always took a while to settle, and during the first few years, a mated couple tended to spend all their time together, since they didn't like the feeling of being separated for even a few minutes. After a couple of decades, though, they would be able to do things separately if they chose to, although they still spent a great deal of their time together.
“I would like to stay with you,” Bella admitted shyly, feeling closer to Jasper than she had to any of the men she had dated over the last few years. “If I do, though, I need to call my roommate and let her know I'm not going to be home so she won't worry about me.”
“You have a roommate?” asked Jasper, seeming interested.
“Yes, Melissa and I rent this apartment near where we're going to school together. Neither one of us wanted to live in one of those little dorm rooms, and when my father died, he left me his life savings. It was more than enough to rent an apartment by myself for all the years I would be in college, but Melissa and I hit it off immediately when we came into the registration office at the same time. I had already decided to live off campus so I would have my own little place where I could study in peace without interruptions, and when I suggested that we find a place to share, she immediately agreed. It turned out that she hadn't been looking forward to living in a dorm room either, and we liked each other well enough that sharing wouldn't be a hardship at all. Over the last five years or so, our friendship has only grown from that first meeting, and she will be the person I will miss the most. We've managed to have a lot of fun together, despite going to classes and studying. We are as close as sisters, even though we are not related.”
“Go ahead and call your friend and let her know that you are alright and that you will be spending the night with me,” Jasper urged.
“Okay,” Bella agreed, going to where her purse was lying on the dresser to get her cell phone, which luckily had not been damaged when her attacker had cornered her in that alley.
“Won't your friend be surprised that you are spending the night with a strange man, one whom you just met?” Jasper asked suddenly, curiously.
“A little, probably,” Bella admitted, “but not as much as you might think. Both Melissa and I have dated some over the years, her more than me, as I wanted to concentrate on my studies, but this isn't the first time I’ll have slept with a strange man, although it hasn't ever happened just hours after meeting him.”
Japer growled lowly, unable to prevent the sound from escaping his lips as he thought about the other guys his Bella had slept with, even though it had been before she had ever met him. It shouldn't have surprised him at all that Bella had slept with other guys, as his mate was very beautiful and most guys were attracted to that. Bella had a heart-shaped face and big brown eyes. She also had very curly brown hair that went just past her shoulders. Also, her body was very curvy, and she had very nice breasts that were neither so big as to appear overblown nor so small that they didn't appear to fit her small, petite figure. She wasn't too tall either, as some women were just 5'6', including Bella.
Bella heard the low growl; somehow, she instinctively understood what it meant, so she rushed to reassure him, coming over to his side of the table and sitting on his lap. “You don't have to worry about any of those past boyfriends. None of those past relationships lasted very long, as I was more concerned about studying and passing my classes. Also, a lot of those boys wanted to have sex on the first date, and I've never been one to be casual about that kind of thing. I definitely never slept with any of those college boys before at least the fourth or fifth date, if the relationship lasted that long. A lot of the boys I dated didn't seem to understand where I was coming from, telling me I was being ridiculous, and more than once, that ended any further relationship. You, on the other hand, are different. For one thing, I feel much closer to you after only knowing you for a couple of hours than I have to any of those college boys I dated after weeks.”
The demon within him calmed immediately at the loving, tender touch of his mate, and Jasper wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, never wanting to let Bella go, afraid she would disappear like an illusion or mirage if he did. They sat like that for a little while, but as it was getting later, Bella knew she needed to call her friend so that she wouldn’t worry, and so she very reluctantly began to get off Jasper’s lap. Jasper let go of her just as reluctantly, feeling the loss of contact immediately, but watched as his mate walked over to where her cell phone had been dropped on the bed a few minutes ago. Bella pushed a few buttons and then put the phone to her ear as Jasper heard it ring.
~~~Jasper and Bella~~~