Summary: One unsuspecting woman and her mate will fulfill a prophecy and completely change the face of the supernatural world forever. AU. Rated M for language and lemons. Jasper/Bella.

Disclaimer: All characters belonging to the Twilight Series are the property of Stephenie Meyer, I'm just playing with them; however, I do own this plot and three dogs that think they're human. This story contains mature content, and if you're not 18, you shouldn't be reading it.

Chapter One

Searching For The Future

Jasper's POV

"Any sign of her yet, Peter?" Jasper asked, running one hand through his hair as he impatiently paced back and forth across the living room. His other hand was clenched tightly around the cellphone at his ear as he waited for his brother's response. He vaguely noticed Esme's disapproving glance at the groove he was wearing into the hardwood floor beneath his feet, but he really couldn't give a shit. A ruined floor was the very least of their concerns at the moment.

"No," the one-word answer came back through the phone, setting his nerves even further on edge, though he wouldn't have believed that possible mere moments ago. Fuck! How hard could it fucking be to find one human girl? He wearily rubbed a hand down his face, trying like hell to hold onto his temper before he completely lost it. It wasn't Peter's fault they were in this mess, all they could do was play the cards they'd been dealt and hope the whole fucking house of them didn't collapse when the shit hit the fan.

"Aidan and Elizabeth are in California, and Garret and Kate are headed to New York now. We'll find her, Major. There's no other fuckin' choice in the matter." Peter continued his report softly, as if aware of the fine line Jasper's temper was precariously perched upon. "I'm sendin' Edward and Alice down to Texas and I'll be landin' in Phoenix to join Charlotte in the next ten minutes."

"We're running out of time, Peter. She'll be eighteen in less than six months, and they've got to be looking for her as hard as we are. If they get to her first, it's over," Jasper muttered, bracing one hand against the wall as the scenarios of what would happen if they failed refused to stop running through his mind. He sighed in frustration, "I've searched the whole damned state of Washington and she's not here, either. I'm leaving for Oregon now. Tell the others that I want daily updates on their progress and to move their asses like their existence depends on it."

"I'm all over that fuckin' shit, Major, they're gonna hate both of us before this is over and done with." Jasper could almost picture the smirk on Peter's face and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him.

"Better hating us than locked up in some Volturi hellhole. I'll be in touch." With those words, he hung up and turned to face the others in the room, taking a deep breath before updating them on the progress of the search. After bringing them up to speed, he paused a moment to plan out a new strategy, then began to give the necessary orders. "Carlisle, you and Esme head to Idaho. Emmet, you and Rosalie take New Mexico. I'm going to talk to the Alpha before I leave for Oregon and send the pack up to Canada to search there."

"Jasper," Carlisle began, "it's been two years now with no sign of her. We don't have much to go on, and the more time that passes, the less likely it becomes that she hasn't already been found by the other side."

"What do you fucking suggest we do, Carlisle? Give up?" Jasper snarled, his eyes darkening quickly as the temper he'd been trying so hard to control began to rapidly fray at the sound of defeat in the other man's voice. "Defeat isn't an option. If the prophecy is right, she's the key to everything."

"I know that, son. But how are we supposed to find her when all we know is that she smells like magnolias and jasmine and will have the marking on her right palm? It's like trying to find a needle in a mountain of hay while blindfolded and without the sense of touch. This is an impossible task." Carlisle was obviously trying to keep the frustration and defeat out of his voice, but it's impossible to fool an empath like that, and Jasper's patience finally snapped.

He whirled on Carlisle, the growl that had been building low in his chest finally releasing to echo through the room as his eyes darkened until there wasn't even the tiniest amount of white still visible within them. He slowly advanced on the older vampire, struggling to swallow the venom pooling in his mouth so he could speak, and each word was enunciated sharply.

"I am the fucking God of War, and giving up is something I. Never. Do. If you're not going to make yourself useful, then get the fuck out of the way and let the rest of us do what needs to be done. There's a fucking war coming, or hasn't that sunk into your head yet? We all have a choice. We can be pacifistic ostriches and bury our heads in the sand while we hope nothing bad happens and everything can be talked out over a cup of fucking tea, or we can actually get fucking proactive and try to save our asses. Now make up your fucking mind and get the fuck to Idaho!" The last words came out in an almost unintelligible snarl as he pounded his fist on the table in front of him to punctuate his words.

The looks of utter shock on his family's faces would have been amusing if he weren't so pissed off. However, when a sharp crack resounded through the room as the table split into two and fell apart, he couldn't hold back the smirk as he silently dared anyone to say a word about it. There was a moment of stunned silence before Emmet broke the tension as only he could.

"Um... Rose and I are going to... uh... get the fuck to New Mexico now. Bye!" As the last word was leaving his mouth, he grabbed Rosalie's hand and all but dragged her out the door, the sound of his snickers fading behind them.

Jasper's smirk grew as his gaze never left Carlisle's and he crossed his arms over his chest, casually leaning back against the wall as he awaited the other man's response to his words. Carlisle blinked a few times, then glanced at Esme before taking her hand and following the others out the door with a whispered, "Idaho it is."

Bella's POV

Bella stared out of the window, lost in thought as she watched the seemingly endless rain splatter against the glass. The sound of her teacher's voice quickly faded into the background, the day's lecture on mitosis having bored her almost to tears. Who the hell cared about mitosis anyway? It was something she never wanted to know, wouldn't use again for the rest of her life, and couldn't give two shits about. Who designed the learning program for high school students? Obviously, they didn't live in the real world, or they'd know that most of what was taught was crap and useless to the students forced to sit through eight hours of it per day. What a waste of time.

She hated the rain. Luckily, the weather was sunny and hot most of the time, just the way she liked it, and if she had to be stuck in school, at least she wasn't wasting a warm day where she could be outside soaking up the sun's rays. Her fingers tapped an idle tune on the lab table she was sitting behind as her thoughts wandered back over the last week. Something wasn't right. Her parents had been acting strangely, giving her odd looks when they thought she wouldn't notice, and it was starting to get on her nerves. Every time she asked if there was something wrong, they assured her that everything was fine, but she could tell they were lying. It might not have bothered her quite so badly if their strange behavior hadn't coincided with the other strange occurrences that had been happening.

She looked down at her right palm, the familiar birthmark right where it had always been. It was getting darker, though, she was sure of it. As a child, it had been barely visible, but over the last year it had begun to darken almost imperceptibly as the days went by. It was easily seen now, the seven small stars forming a neat circle in the center of her palm, their inward-facing points all connected by waving lines that somehow seemed subtly different from one day to the next. That was ridiculous, of course, birthmarks didn't just randomly begin to change. But she couldn't shake the feeling that it was changing, and by the looks on her parents' faces when she'd mentioned it to them in jest, she was more right about that than she wanted to be.

Then there was the feeling she'd had the last several days that she was being watched by an unseen presence. At first, she'd thought it was her imagination, but a few times when she'd tried to quickly look in the direction she'd sensed the presence in, she could swear she'd seen flashes of movement as if someone was quickly moving out of her line of sight. She'd never been prone to letting her imagination run away with her or seeing things, but either she was going crazy or someone was watching her. The oddest part of the entire situation, though, was that she felt no sense of threat from the presence. Rather, she felt strangely drawn to it, as if she should seek it out; not that she was going to, she wasn't stupid after all. It was just one more thing to add to the sense of impending change that she could feel was on its way. Something was going on, something was coming, and it drove her crazy that she had no idea if she should be elated or terrified about it.

The ringing of the bell pulled her from her thoughts and she hastily gathered her books, making her way out of the classroom and to her locker. Thankfully, that was the last class of the day, and she paused only long enough to get what she needed from the metal cabinet before heading out of the school and toward the red Chevy truck parked outside. Most people laughed at it, it was old and beat up, but she loved her truck. It had personality and it was hers, even if it wouldn't go faster than fifty-five miles per hour. Hell, in the city it was impossible to go faster than that anyway, considering the traffic that often snarled the streets. Climbing in, she shook the rain from her hair and started the engine, pulling out of the parking lot to begin the forty-five minute drive home.

Demetri's POV

He was rounding the corner when he caught the first whiff of the scent he'd been looking for. He froze for a moment, shocked that he'd actually scented it on the air, then began moving quickly, his eyes working with his nose to pinpoint the source of the mouthwatering fragrance that had eluded him for most of the past year. As he approached what he found to be a local high school, the scent became stronger and he made his way through the students rapidly exiting the building in search of the girl who had to be nearby.

He growled as the scent trail ended in a parking space that he could tell had been recently vacated by the lingering smell of exhaust fumes, and though he walked in ever-widening circles for the next few hours, he couldn't find the scent again. It didn't matter, though. She was seventeen and he'd found the scent at a school for children of her age. The logical conclusion was that she was a student there and would be returning to school tomorrow. He'd be waiting for her when she did.

He took out his cellphone, quickly hitting the speed-dial for Felix. After only a single ring, he picked up with his usual brusque greeting. "Speak."

"It's Demetri. I've found the target." A moment of shocked silence followed before Felix was able to respond.

"Where are you? We can have an extraction team there within the hour."

After explaining the situation to Felix, he gave him the location of the school and told him to have the team assembled there by sunrise, then ended the call. It looked like he now had time for a leisurely hunt, something he'd been unable to indulge in for quite awhile, and he was looking forward to it. A smile of satisfaction slowly crossed Demetri's face. The search was almost over and he was sure to be well-rewarded when he returned to Volterra with the prize that most of the supernatural world was currently seeking.

Victoria's POV

I hated Phoenix. Sun, sun, and more fucking sun. It was a vampire's nightmare and I wanted to be anywhere other than here. At least it was raining today, thank fuck for small miracles. I'd begun to even hate the idea of this damned girl that had us all running around like fools trying to find her. What could be so important about a pathetic human that we had to waste our time on this ridiculous hunt? There were so many more pleasurable ways to pass the time with my mate, though he seemed to be having more fun than I'd seen him have in a long time as we searched city by city for the scent we'd been told to find. I knew my whining annoyed him, but I couldn't help myself.

"James, why can't we just forget about the girl and go have some fun? It's been so long since we played our favorite game." We loved to pick up a human, take them somewhere remote, and then play with them for as long as they lasted. Oh, the tortures James could come up with in his twisted mind. Just the thought of watching him do his thing was enough to make my core heat up in anticipation. His growl drew me out of my musings.

"Vicky, I've told you a hundred fucking times already. This girl is power to whoever has her. Power. It's the ultimate hunt, knowing that so many others are searching for her, but we're going to find her first. Now get your head in the fucking game and shut your mouth!"

I sighed in aggravation and went back to sniffing the scent trails around me as we carefully walked a grid of the city. I knew better than to push him any further at the moment, so I shut up and settled for hoping we'd find the bitch soon. I perked up a bit at the thought that maybe James would let me play with her for awhile once she was in our grasp, and I let my thoughts wander to all the things I could do to the human if given the chance as I followed my mate toward the destiny I was sure would be ours.

Peter's POV

By the time my plane landed in Phoenix, I was fuckin' tired and missin' my mate, and I was hopin' beyond hope that someone would have some good news for me sometime soon. The Major was losin' patience and that was never a good fuckin' sign of things to come. A pissed off Major was a Bad Thing, and I liked my life to remain as uncomplicated as possible, preferably with a minimum of Bad Things. My belly full of some piece of scum's blood, my mate warmin' my bed, and a place to rest my boots was my idea of heaven, and the fact that heaven seemed out of my reach at the moment wasn't doin' my own temper much good. I quickened my stride in anticipation as I hurried to meet Charlotte at the designated rendezvous point, and I pitied anyone who got in my way. The end result wouldn't be pretty.

I was just steppin' outside the airport when my cellphone rang and I quickly answered it, hopin' it was good news and not the Major callin' to ream me a new one. Not that I needed the old one, but still. Before I could even answer the phone properly, my wife's voice came over the line soundin' more excited than a starvin' vampire at an all-you-can-eat bloodfest, and she began babblin' so fast I couldn't get a word in edgewise until she stopped for air.

"Peter, I've found her! She's here in Phoenix! Where are you? How soon can you get here? We need to move quickly, there are other vamps around. Their scent trails are all over the place! Are you alone or did you bring anyone else with you? We need to tell the Major right away, he'll want to know!"

"Whoa, sugar, take it down a notch, k? Was your last meal a caffeine junkie or somethin'?" Though my excitement flared at her words just as fast as my cock does every time I see my gorgeous mate, I couldn't help but poke at her a bit. It was rare that Charlotte was so discombobulated, and when she was, I couldn't resist the urge to needle her about it. What? A guy's got to take his chuckles where he can find 'em. It's the Law of the Jungle or some shit like that.

"Peter! Pay attention! Didn't you hear what I said? I found her!" Charlotte's voice came through again, and I could hear the tinge of aggravation in it. Fuck. Time to mend my fences or lovin' was goin' to be out of the question for the foreseeable future. Charlotte was mean like that.

"I heard you, Sugar. To answer your questions, I'm alone here in Phoenix and about ten minutes from the rendezvous point. Unless it's changed?" I made my voice low and soothin', and I could tell she was calmin' some as her reply came more slowly than her previous words had. It also came without the hint of aggravation that had been there, for which my cock was eternally grateful. The lovin' was on again.

"It's changed, yeah. I'm outside her house. 2250 Scarlatti Way on the eastern side of the city," she replied.

"Is she there alone?" I asked. It would be so much easier to take care of business if there were no witnesses to what was going to go down.

"No, she's with her parents having dinner. Something's off, though, she seems pretty upset."

"Stay where you are, out of sight," I told her. "I'll call the Major and be there shortly. I'll let you know what he wants us to do when I get there. Be careful, ya hear me? If there are others around, there's a chance they know where the girl lives and could be plannin' on payin' a visit of their own. I don't care how important the girl is, at the first sign of trouble you can't handle, you get your pretty ass outta there, understood?"

"I understand. Just hurry, ok? I love you."

"I love ya, too, babydoll. See ya soon." As I hung up with my wife and hit the speed-dial for the Major, my mind was torn between worryin' over my mate's safety, figurin' out how we were gonna get the girl out of the city if there was trouble brewin', and the conversation I was about to have. It's a good thing I'm a vampire and can fuckin' multitask like there's no tomorrow. As I waited for the Major to pick up on his end, I began to run toward the address Charlotte had given me, mentally pickin' the route that would get me to her in the least amount of time.

Jasper's POV

I picked my phone up on the second ring and my greeting was answered by the news I'd been waiting for two long years to finally hear.

"We've found her, Major. She's here in Phoenix." Peter's voice came over the line, and while the underlying excitement was to be expected, it was the worry accompanying it that set off my instincts.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"We may have a complication. Char's watchin' over her and I'm on my way to her location now. The problem is that she's found other vampire scent trails all over the city, so it's a good bet that others are here searchin' for her."

"Fuck," I swore, wondering why nothing can ever be easy. My mind began running over strategy as I pondered the best move. "I'm calling in reinforcements. Until we arrive, stay with the girl. Don't let her out of your sight. At the first sign of trouble, grab her and run, and we'll meet you. Don't try to engage the enemy. The girl's safety has to be our top priority, and if she's taken, it's going to be a clusterfuck to get her back."

"Understood, Major. I should be there in a few minutes and can survey the situation first-hand," he replied. I could hear the wind whipping past him as he ran, and I had to admit, I'd feel better when he was on the scene. If I trusted the girl's safety to anyone other than myself, it would be Peter. I'd trained him myself and he could handle whatever was thrown at him.

"Call me if anything changes. I'll let you know our E.T.A. as soon as I make the arrangements."

After hanging up with Peter, I started making the necessary calls. We were about to converge on Phoenix and would hopefully escape without a fight. However, if a fight came our way, I was going to make damned sure we were ready. We were too close to lose her now.

Bella's POV

I sat at the table with my parents, picking at the food I wasn't really in the mood to eat tonight. I had that feeling again. Someone was watching me and it was fucking unnerving. From the way my parents were acting, something was up with them, too, and I was tired of not knowing what was going on. It was about time they came clean with me, and I decided that now was that time. Laying my silverware across my plate, I deliberately looked at both of them, making sure to meet their eyes directly as I broke the silence that had overtaken us at the start of the meal.

"Spill," I simply said, never looking away from them. They quickly tried to arrange their expressions to reflect innocence, but I wasn't having any of that shit. "I mean it. I know something's going on, and I want to know what it is right now. You've both been acting weird for a long time, and I've had it with the secrets."

Charlie cleared his throat, and I could see him taking on his face of authority, the one that worked so well on the criminals he interrogated as the Chief of Police here in the city. I had to nip that right in the bud or I'd be learning nothing tonight.

"I'm not one of your suspects, Dad. That's not going to work on me." He looked nonplussed for a moment, then quickly looked to my mother for help. Fat lot of good that was going to do. Renee was hopeless in serious situations, more like a child than an adult most of the time. How the two of them got along with each other is a mystery to me, they were polar opposites in just about every way. The responsible, steadfast, hard-working police chief and the child-like, irresponsible, flighty house-wife. The only thing they had in common was me, and I was so different from both of them that sometimes I actually wondered if I was really their child.

My mother opened her mouth, closed it, then grabbed the roast in the center of the table and held it out to me. "More roast, dear?"

I blinked slowly at her, then returned my gaze to my dad, simply ignoring her question as if it hadn't been asked. From the corner of my eye, I saw her put the roast back into its place and shrug helplessly at my father. All I could do was shake my head and try to pierce him with my gaze as I waited for an answer to my question.

"Bella," he began, then paused as if to choose his words carefully. "There are certain things you aren't prepared to know yet, and you're just going to have to trust us on this. When the time is right, we'll tell you everything, but for now, I'm afraid you'll need to be patient and wait."

My eyes narrowed at him as I took in a slow breath to calm my temper before I exploded at the table. I normally had a fairly long fuse, but the events of the past week were seriously shortening it until there was maybe a millimeter left. I was seventeen, not seven, and there wasn't anything they could tell me that I wasn't equipped to handle. I hated being treated like a child when I knew for a fact I was a hell of a lot more mature than most teens my age, and a million times more mature than Renee even on my worst day. This was unacceptable.

"If it's something that concerns me, then you have no right to withhold the information from me, Dad. I'm no longer a child that you have to protect from all the bad things in the world. I live in it, I know how screwed up it can be, and I'm prepared to handle whatever comes my way. You've spent the past seventeen years preparing me to be ready to handle things. So show me a little respect and just be straight with me. What the hell is going on?"

Charlie ran both hands through his hair, looking from me to Renee and back again as if searching for answers that weren't about to be found. A look of resolve came over his face then, and I knew that meant he was finally ready to start talking. About damned time. I leaned my elbows on the table, clasping my hands before me as I leaned forward in anticipation of what he was about to say.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a loud crash came from outside, quickly followed by the sound of breaking glass as the picture window in the living room exploded inward. I stood up, vaguely aware of my chair beginning to slowly topple backwards as it unbalanced from my step away from the table, and I gaped at the two people that had come through the shattered window behind them. The woman had flaming red hair that fell in curls to her waist, while the man's was dirty blonde and pulled back into a ponytail. What caught my attention, though, was the characteristics they both had in common. Beauty, extremely pale skin, and brilliant crimson eyes. I felt a shudder work down my spine as a little voice in the back of my head started screaming that the beings I was looking at were most definitely not human. What the fuck?

Before I could even begin to gather my wits about me, my father stepped forward, his hand reaching instinctively toward his right hip where his revolver would normally be resting. Unfortunately, it was still hanging by the front door where he hung it up every day after work. Even as he realized its lack and began to ask them what the hell was going on, the male was moving toward my father faster than I'd ever thought possible. That's when everything seemed to switch into slow motion, as if my brain couldn't process everything at normal speed and was obligingly slowing it down for my viewing pleasure.

I vaguely heard my mother screaming, but my eyes were focused on the man as his hands wrapped around my dad's neck and twisted sharply to the right. As he began to fall, my brain finally registered that the snap I'd heard was his neck breaking, and that my father was now dead. It was his dead body falling to the floor. I couldn't seem to force the thought to make sense though, no matter how hard I tried. It was simply impossible to associate the words father and dead with each other in the same sentence. It refused to compute. I heard another scream joining my mother's and I idly wished the two screamers would shut up so I could make some sense out of what was happening. The noise was making it hard to think. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since the window had first shattered, but I knew it could have been no more than mere seconds because my chair still hadn't hit the ground yet.

In my peripheral vision, I noticed the woman move just a moment behind the male, but I was too focused on the falling body in front of me to pay much attention to her. Then one of the screaming voices stopped, and my gratitude quickly changed to horror as I turned my head to see the woman's lips at my mother's throat, a steady rain of crimson fluid leaking from their location to form a complex pattern along Renee's chest as it quickly darkened her shirt from light blue to almost black. A strangled sound escaped my mother's lips before her eyes fluttered closed at the same moment I heard the chair finally come to rest against the floor behind me. How much time had passed since the Twilight Zone had taken up permanent residence in my home? Three seconds? Four, maybe?

My lungs began to burn, and as I sucked in a large gulp of air, the remaining screaming voice was silenced and I realized it had been my own voice in a concert of horrified terror alongside my mother's. The sudden silence was almost deafening after the previous noise, and I found myself dragging in huge gulps of air in a quick rhythm, one part of my mind sending out a warning that I was hyperventilating and should really try to calm my breathing. The rest of my scattered brain was still trying to make sense of what was happening around me as I stared at the now lifeless bodies of my parents that had been enjoying a normal meal of beef roast and mashed potatoes mere seconds earlier.

I noticed a wicked grin curve the lips of the woman as she freed my mother's neck from her bite, casually tossing her toward the floor just as my father's body finally hit. I idly thought that the sound his body made as it hit the floor was remarkably similar to the sound the chair had made as it did the same, and for some reason, that thought seemed to snap me out of the trance-like state I'd occupied since the couple had first made their appearance in our living room. It hit me full-force then with all the finesse of a freight train slamming into me. My parents had just been murdered. They were dead.

Just as the realization was sinking into my now-functioning brain, the front door exploded inward and I flinched backwards at the sound. The couple who'd just killed my parents turned quickly toward the door, each dropping into a half-crouch as the room was suddenly filled with menacing growls that could have come out of my childhood nightmares of monsters that hid in closets and under beds. The sight of another man and woman with crimson eyes entering through the splintered remains of the door proved to be too much for my over-taxed brain to handle, and I let myself willingly fall into the welcoming embrace of the darkness that was quickly rising up to meet me.

Peter's POV

I'd just reached Charlotte and had pulled her into me for a passionate reunion kiss when all hell fuckin' broke loose around us. I caught the scent of two vampires and I raised my head, instinctively pulling my mate protectively behind me as I searched for their location. My eyes widened as I caught sight of them in a dead run toward the house. They weren't even tryin' to stay at human speed, obviously not carin' if anyone saw their mad dash, and I knew the shit was about to hit the fan. This explained the bad feelin' I'd had on my way over here, urgin' my legs to move faster in my rush to get to my mate.

I felt Char grab onto my shirt as she peeked around my side, tryin' to see what had made me so twitchy, and I could tell the moment she saw the duo headed toward us since I felt my shirt rip in half as her hands contracted into claws. I hesitated for a moment, torn between the need to save the girl and my instinctive need as a vampire to keep my mate safe. In that moment of hesitation, the couple surprised me, somethin' that's rarely happened in my long existence. Instead of comin' at us like I expected, they ran straight through a bunch of garbage cans, causin' them to crash together, then turned and jumped through the large picture window on the side of the house.

"Fuck!" I snarled, turnin' and headin' straight for the back door with Char right behind me, neither of us carin' about noise right now. We had only seconds to act or it was all over.

We were halfway to the door when the screamin' started from inside, and my dead heart clenched in fear as my pace impossibly quickened. The noise stopped just as I reached the doorway, and the fear turned to terrified anger as Char and I hit it together, the wood splinterin' around us as if it were tissue paper. The sight that greeted us caused a roar to erupt from my throat that I hadn't heard since my days with Maria, and I was reactin' before the thought of doin' so even had time to fully register.

I jumped into the air, my feet connectin' with the male's chest and sendin' him flyin' backwards through the wall into another room. Before I'd even landed, I was twistin' my body, my arms reachin' for his bitch, grabbin' onto one of hers and flingin' her after him with all my might. It was lucky timin' since he was just standin' up and the woman hit him head-on, sendin' them both tumblin' head over heels amidst loud curses.

I wasted no time lookin' at them and turned toward Char, noticin' she'd grabbed the girl and had her cradled in her arms. I didn't even have to say anythin' as she turned toward the window behind her, leapin' out with me right on her tail, and we both took off like bats outta hell through the neighborin' yards. I shook the glass fragments out of my hair as we ran, keepin' a close watch behind us for the unhappy duo whose asses had just been kicked even as I was reachin' for my cellphone to call for back-up. It was only moments later that I heard the sounds of pursuit, and we picked up our pace. Char and I could out-run them easily, we were both damned fast. The problem was that they could just as easily follow our scent trail and ambush us the moment we stopped runnin', and we also had no fuckin' idea if there were others with them that could be waitin' to jump us at any point up ahead. My phone was in my hand, already speed-dialin' the Major, and I waited like the impatient mother-fucker that I am for him to answer the damned phone.

"Whitlock," I finally heard in my ear, and I wasted no time fillin' the Major in on what was goin' down. I swear I could feel his anger pulsin' through the phone, and I took a moment to think about how fuckin' glad I was that he was on our side. He could be a scary fucker when he wanted to.

"What's your course?" he growled, and I filled him in on our direction while he processed all the information, keepin' a close ear on the sounds our pursuers were makin' so I could accurately gauge their distance to us. I could hear him textin' away like mad on another phone as I waited for his response, and could only hope that help wasn't too far away.

"Stay on course and we'll get to you as fast as we can. I've already got everyone heading your way from their locations, and I'm on my way from Forks. Do not stop and keep me posted every fifteen minutes on your situation. If you see the chance, grab a car and head toward me, but don't take any risks on them catching up to you. The cavalry's on the way, brother."

As I hung up with him, I couldn't deny the relief that flowed through me, helpin' me to relax a tiny bit as I relieved Char of her precious cargo and held the girl protectively against my chest. I'd never for a moment doubted that the Major would come through for us, but it was always reassurin' as fuck to hear that help was on the way.

A/N: In most of the upcoming chapters, the POVs won't be continually changing like this, but I'm afraid it's a necessary evil for the first few. Please feel free to review and let me know what you liked or disliked about the story so far. Thanks for reading! ~Sari~

Credit/Recommendation: Credit goes to IdreamofEddy for the moniker 'God of War' in her story Colliding Meteors. If you're a Jasper/Bella fan, this is a -must- read. It's the story that woke me up to the possibilities of Jasper.