Breaking Free
by Laura Spudzmom
Chapter 08
He watched her face closely as what he'd just asked her sank in, taking in how her eyes slowly widened and her mouth dropped open as she spluttered, "A—a Queen?!" She looked away and then back at him. "Major... just days ago I was a high school senior in the most boring town in America—a virgin who'd never even had a real boyfriend—and now I find myself mated to you, pregnant, changing into an immortal, never to see my parents again…" Her eyes filled with tears and she climbed off his lap, tugging down the short dress she wore as she turned and paced away to stand with her back to him.
Jasper sat there cursing himself for being such an insensitive ass. Damn, he should have known better than to hit her with yet another huge potential change without first giving her time to adjust to all that she'd already gone through! With all the non-stop sleeping she'd been doing since their initial mating, she really hadn't had any time at all to reconcile all that had happened to her, and as he watched her shoulders shake with her quiet sobs, he felt like the biggest dick on the planet for not anticipating her needs.
So now he sat quietly and watched her, determined to give her some space to come to terms with it all before trying to comfort and reassure her. He knew she needed it; needed to get things right within her own mind without having to worry with being crowded or stifled.
She was ultimately strong; he sensed that about her and was proud of that fact, but he also knew that she had a need to please coupled with an unhealthy compulsion toward self-sacrifice and so he would not try to influence her at this vulnerable time, but rather let her reach her own conclusions first. Then, and only then, would they discuss things.
Reaching up, she dried the tears from her cheeks and turned back to him, her whole demeanor radiating resolve as she met his gaze steadfastly. "Okay, I've had my little pity party. Sorry about that, but I guess I just got overwhelmed there for a moment. I just haven't really taken time to think about my situation until just now—it all kinda hit me at once, ya know?"
He nodded but remained silent, knowing she hadn't said all she needed to yet.
She walked to the nightstand and plucked a tissue from the box there, twisting it in her fingers as she spoke again. "I love you Major. I feel that so deep within myself and that in itself is shocking, because it's so soon and like nothing I've ever felt before." She looked back at him and he nodded his understanding. "It must be a vampire thing because, up until a few days ago, you were very... intriguing to me, but that's all it was." She looked at him with a pinched brow. "Does that make any sense? I mean, I was told by everyone that Edward was my mate…"
He snarled and clenched his fists, and she moved quickly to his side, rubbing her cheek against his as her fingers sank into his wavy hair. "Shh Major, I know that's not true… I'm yours—only yours…"
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close as he purred and she melted into his comforting embrace, placing light kisses on his neck to calm him. Eventually, she pulled back to look at him as she said, "You see? Things like that—how in the world did I know how to comfort and calm you? I feel so confused…"
He smoothed her hair away from her face and continued to purr deep in his chest even as he answered quietly.
"It's instinctual to us as mated vampires. Newly mated vampires especially, will be at their most instinctual for a few years, until the bond settles. Even after that happens, we'll still be like this with each other to a certain extent. It's just how mates are darlin'. You're confused by your reactions right now because you aren't fully transitioned yet so your human mind is still battling your vampire instincts but it'll get better with time sugar, I promise."
She nodded and perched herself in his lap and he quietly chuckled against her neck as she yawned. "I'm so tired Major. Can we finish talking about all this later?"
He gazed down at her with a fond smile as her eyes drooped. "Of course we can darlin'. Go to sleep now. I'll be back later."
She snuggled into his chest and mumbled, "Will you stay with me for a while?"
He purred and nuzzled her neck. "Sure babydoll, I can stay for a while."
A small smile curved her lips and she murmured, "Night Major, love you."
He stood and crawled into the bed while still holding her close, and placed a gentle kiss to her lips and drew the covers over both of them as he relaxed back with a contented sigh. This… this right here was home… She was Home.
~o0o~
Marcus sat, staring at his brother Aro whom he knew to be speaking—'When wasn't Aro speaking?' he thought ruefully—by the constant movement of his lips. However, he couldn't, for the life of him, tell you anything his brother had said in the past half hour simply because his thoughts had been consumed by a certain lovely caramel-haired female who was, at this very moment, ensconced in his quarters, awaiting his return.
"Marcus?!"
The sharp tone of Aro's voice penetrated his musings and he shook himself mentally as he focused on his exasperated brother. "My apologies Aro, did you say something?"
Stifled laughter from his ever irascible blond brother drew his attention next and he cocked a brow as his gaze moved between the two.
Aro spluttered indignantly, "You haven't heard a thing we've discussed have you? What is wrong with youMarcus?"
Caius scoffed. "Come, come Aro, it isn't difficult to figure out! After centuries of being alone, he now has a very lovely and very, as yet, unclaimed mate waiting in his rooms! I posit he will be absolutely useless to us until his—situation—is remedied." He sat back, looking smug as he tapped a rhythm on the arm of his chair, just waiting for Aro's response.
Aro's brows drew together. "Situation? We are on the brink of war here and… and…"
Caius rolled one hand in the air with a look of supreme boredom on his handsome face. "Yes, Aro, but put simply, no progress will be made until Marcus gets laid." He grinned. "Do you like my rhyme?"
Marcus nodded with a chuckle and Aro sagged back into his seat, one hand waving in defeat. "Fine, fine, for the sake of all that's holy… go brother. I should have anticipated such a thing. War…pfft." His tone grew sarcastic as he grumbled, "What's potential war when there's a mate to be claimed?"
The door closed softly upon Marcus' hasty exit and Aro cut his gaze at the grinning Caius who elegantly rose from his chair. "On that note, I believe I'll go pay a visit to my lovely Athenadora." He eyed his disgruntled looking brother with a smirk. "Perhaps a visit to Sulpicia is in order for you Aro? Who knows? It may serve to loosen you up a bit!"
Aro curled his lip as laughter from the retreating blond drifted back to him and he sighed as he too rose from his seat with a shrug as he mumbled to himself, "Well it has been a while…"
~o0o~
Edward Cullen just barely suppressed a snarl as the clingy strawberry-blonde female coo'ed and fussed over his slowly recovering form. It pissed him off that he had to lay here and put up with it, but the truth was, he was in no shape to do otherwise. That crazy, feral bastard Jasper Whitlock had torn the absolute shit out of him and the animal blood diet wasn't the best to foster rapid healing, so he was stuck being nursed by Tanya for the time being.
He supposed he should be grateful. She had literally saved his ass from burning after all, but still… this was Tanya and she had always had the uncanny ability to grate on his very last nerve like no one else could.
It had been especially humiliating when she'd giggled—fucking giggled—as she'd pieced his lower body parts back together. His teeth ground together just thinking about the thoughts he'd gleaned from her sex-obsessed mind as she'd done it. It seemed his...endowments were a bit of a disappointment after her years of unfulfilled anticipation—the bitch.
His attention was drawn back to her as she placed a straw at his lips. "Drink up sweetheart," she coo'ed. "You need all you can get for strength and healing."
With supreme effort, he unclenched his jaw and sucked on the straw, staring at her while she smoothed his unruly hair back from his forehead.
When the tell-tale slurping noises of an empty cup sounded, she sweetly simpered with puckered lips, "There now, that's my sweet boy. Tanya will have you fixed up in no time."
She rose from the bed and walked to the door and he rolled his eyes while wheezing under his breath, "Oh what I would give for a blow torch right now…"
She turned back to him, her hand on the door knob as she asked, "What was that Eddie darling? Did you need something else love?"
He cleared his damaged throat and rasped out, "Eleazar—I need to speak to Eleazar."
She smiled brightly and answered, "Of course darling. I'll send him right in."
The door closed behind her and he growled or tried to, wishing he could clench his fists at the very least, to relieve some of his pent-up anger, but his arms—hands—oh fuck, just everything was still too damaged to function properly yet and so he growled again.
The sound of approaching steps had him cutting his gaze toward the door and he watched a very guarded looking Eleazar walk in and take a seat in the chair next to his bed. "Edward, Tanya said you requested my presence?"
"I did," he whispered. "Please forgive…"
Eleazar held up a hand. "Please dispense with unnecessary speech Edward. I know it's difficult for you at the moment. Now, what can I do for you?"
Edward smiled gratefully. "Carlisle? Alice?"
Eleazar nodded in understanding. "So Tanya hasn't told you the outcome of Major Whitlock's psychotic break."
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "As well as I can tell, the rest of your coven has been destroyed young one. I went back a day ago, and the entire house was burned to the ground. I'm sorry."
Edward closed his eyes for a moment. All their effort… All their planning and hard work… Gone because of one crazed vampire…
His eyes snapped open and locked with Eleazar's. "The plan?"
He watched as Eleazar's eyes filled with wary shadows and his whole body tensed. "Major Whitlock is a very seasoned and shrewd being Edward. One can only assume that he took the time to question why he'd been held against his will in such a manner for these many years. If he managed to get Carlisle or Alice to crack, then we must assume he knows everything."
Edwards eyes widened as his breathing accelerated in alarm. "This is very bad," he croaked. "We must contact Stefan and…"
Eleazar shot from his seat, effectively cutting off his words as he hissed lowly, "I will not have anything more to do with this mess Edward! There's entirely too much at risk! I am in enough trouble as it is for simply helping to identify talent all these years, even if I remained ignorant of the ultimate goals of your group! I warned Carlisle! I begged him not to involve himself, but he wouldn't listen! And look what that led to… No," he shook his head and paced. "…you'll just have to wait until you're well enough to venture out on your own before proceeding any further with this madness if that is your intention because I won't have it here, is that clear?" He stopped and glared at the broken vampire on the bed, hoping he wouldn't have to take further action.
Edward's jaw clenched in resentment before he gave the barest pained nod and rasped out, "Perfectly clear."
He watched her face closely as what he'd just asked her sank in, taking in how her eyes slowly widened and her mouth dropped open as she spluttered, "A—a Queen?!" She looked away and then back at him. "Major... just days ago I was a high school senior in the most boring town in America—a virgin who'd never even had a real boyfriend—and now I find myself mated to you, pregnant, changing into an immortal, never to see my parents again…" Her eyes filled with tears and she climbed off his lap, tugging down the short dress she wore as she turned and paced away to stand with her back to him.
Jasper sat there cursing himself for being such an insensitive ass. Damn, he should have known better than to hit her with yet another huge potential change without first giving her time to adjust to all that she'd already gone through! With all the non-stop sleeping she'd been doing since their initial mating, she really hadn't had any time at all to reconcile all that had happened to her, and as he watched her shoulders shake with her quiet sobs, he felt like the biggest dick on the planet for not anticipating her needs.
So now he sat quietly and watched her, determined to give her some space to come to terms with it all before trying to comfort and reassure her. He knew she needed it; needed to get things right within her own mind without having to worry with being crowded or stifled.
She was ultimately strong; he sensed that about her and was proud of that fact, but he also knew that she had a need to please coupled with an unhealthy compulsion toward self-sacrifice and so he would not try to influence her at this vulnerable time, but rather let her reach her own conclusions first. Then, and only then, would they discuss things.
Reaching up, she dried the tears from her cheeks and turned back to him, her whole demeanor radiating resolve as she met his gaze steadfastly. "Okay, I've had my little pity party. Sorry about that, but I guess I just got overwhelmed there for a moment. I just haven't really taken time to think about my situation until just now—it all kinda hit me at once, ya know?"
He nodded but remained silent, knowing she hadn't said all she needed to yet.
She walked to the nightstand and plucked a tissue from the box there, twisting it in her fingers as she spoke again. "I love you Major. I feel that so deep within myself and that in itself is shocking, because it's so soon and like nothing I've ever felt before." She looked back at him and he nodded his understanding. "It must be a vampire thing because, up until a few days ago, you were very... intriguing to me, but that's all it was." She looked at him with a pinched brow. "Does that make any sense? I mean, I was told by everyone that Edward was my mate…"
He snarled and clenched his fists, and she moved quickly to his side, rubbing her cheek against his as her fingers sank into his wavy hair. "Shh Major, I know that's not true… I'm yours—only yours…"
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close as he purred and she melted into his comforting embrace, placing light kisses on his neck to calm him. Eventually, she pulled back to look at him as she said, "You see? Things like that—how in the world did I know how to comfort and calm you? I feel so confused…"
He smoothed her hair away from her face and continued to purr deep in his chest even as he answered quietly.
"It's instinctual to us as mated vampires. Newly mated vampires especially, will be at their most instinctual for a few years, until the bond settles. Even after that happens, we'll still be like this with each other to a certain extent. It's just how mates are darlin'. You're confused by your reactions right now because you aren't fully transitioned yet so your human mind is still battling your vampire instincts but it'll get better with time sugar, I promise."
She nodded and perched herself in his lap and he quietly chuckled against her neck as she yawned. "I'm so tired Major. Can we finish talking about all this later?"
He gazed down at her with a fond smile as her eyes drooped. "Of course we can darlin'. Go to sleep now. I'll be back later."
She snuggled into his chest and mumbled, "Will you stay with me for a while?"
He purred and nuzzled her neck. "Sure babydoll, I can stay for a while."
A small smile curved her lips and she murmured, "Night Major, love you."
He stood and crawled into the bed while still holding her close, and placed a gentle kiss to her lips and drew the covers over both of them as he relaxed back with a contented sigh. This… this right here was home… She was Home.
~o0o~
Marcus sat, staring at his brother Aro whom he knew to be speaking—'When wasn't Aro speaking?' he thought ruefully—by the constant movement of his lips. However, he couldn't, for the life of him, tell you anything his brother had said in the past half hour simply because his thoughts had been consumed by a certain lovely caramel-haired female who was, at this very moment, ensconced in his quarters, awaiting his return.
"Marcus?!"
The sharp tone of Aro's voice penetrated his musings and he shook himself mentally as he focused on his exasperated brother. "My apologies Aro, did you say something?"
Stifled laughter from his ever irascible blond brother drew his attention next and he cocked a brow as his gaze moved between the two.
Aro spluttered indignantly, "You haven't heard a thing we've discussed have you? What is wrong with youMarcus?"
Caius scoffed. "Come, come Aro, it isn't difficult to figure out! After centuries of being alone, he now has a very lovely and very, as yet, unclaimed mate waiting in his rooms! I posit he will be absolutely useless to us until his—situation—is remedied." He sat back, looking smug as he tapped a rhythm on the arm of his chair, just waiting for Aro's response.
Aro's brows drew together. "Situation? We are on the brink of war here and… and…"
Caius rolled one hand in the air with a look of supreme boredom on his handsome face. "Yes, Aro, but put simply, no progress will be made until Marcus gets laid." He grinned. "Do you like my rhyme?"
Marcus nodded with a chuckle and Aro sagged back into his seat, one hand waving in defeat. "Fine, fine, for the sake of all that's holy… go brother. I should have anticipated such a thing. War…pfft." His tone grew sarcastic as he grumbled, "What's potential war when there's a mate to be claimed?"
The door closed softly upon Marcus' hasty exit and Aro cut his gaze at the grinning Caius who elegantly rose from his chair. "On that note, I believe I'll go pay a visit to my lovely Athenadora." He eyed his disgruntled looking brother with a smirk. "Perhaps a visit to Sulpicia is in order for you Aro? Who knows? It may serve to loosen you up a bit!"
Aro curled his lip as laughter from the retreating blond drifted back to him and he sighed as he too rose from his seat with a shrug as he mumbled to himself, "Well it has been a while…"
~o0o~
Edward Cullen just barely suppressed a snarl as the clingy strawberry-blonde female coo'ed and fussed over his slowly recovering form. It pissed him off that he had to lay here and put up with it, but the truth was, he was in no shape to do otherwise. That crazy, feral bastard Jasper Whitlock had torn the absolute shit out of him and the animal blood diet wasn't the best to foster rapid healing, so he was stuck being nursed by Tanya for the time being.
He supposed he should be grateful. She had literally saved his ass from burning after all, but still… this was Tanya and she had always had the uncanny ability to grate on his very last nerve like no one else could.
It had been especially humiliating when she'd giggled—fucking giggled—as she'd pieced his lower body parts back together. His teeth ground together just thinking about the thoughts he'd gleaned from her sex-obsessed mind as she'd done it. It seemed his...endowments were a bit of a disappointment after her years of unfulfilled anticipation—the bitch.
His attention was drawn back to her as she placed a straw at his lips. "Drink up sweetheart," she coo'ed. "You need all you can get for strength and healing."
With supreme effort, he unclenched his jaw and sucked on the straw, staring at her while she smoothed his unruly hair back from his forehead.
When the tell-tale slurping noises of an empty cup sounded, she sweetly simpered with puckered lips, "There now, that's my sweet boy. Tanya will have you fixed up in no time."
She rose from the bed and walked to the door and he rolled his eyes while wheezing under his breath, "Oh what I would give for a blow torch right now…"
She turned back to him, her hand on the door knob as she asked, "What was that Eddie darling? Did you need something else love?"
He cleared his damaged throat and rasped out, "Eleazar—I need to speak to Eleazar."
She smiled brightly and answered, "Of course darling. I'll send him right in."
The door closed behind her and he growled or tried to, wishing he could clench his fists at the very least, to relieve some of his pent-up anger, but his arms—hands—oh fuck, just everything was still too damaged to function properly yet and so he growled again.
The sound of approaching steps had him cutting his gaze toward the door and he watched a very guarded looking Eleazar walk in and take a seat in the chair next to his bed. "Edward, Tanya said you requested my presence?"
"I did," he whispered. "Please forgive…"
Eleazar held up a hand. "Please dispense with unnecessary speech Edward. I know it's difficult for you at the moment. Now, what can I do for you?"
Edward smiled gratefully. "Carlisle? Alice?"
Eleazar nodded in understanding. "So Tanya hasn't told you the outcome of Major Whitlock's psychotic break."
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "As well as I can tell, the rest of your coven has been destroyed young one. I went back a day ago, and the entire house was burned to the ground. I'm sorry."
Edward closed his eyes for a moment. All their effort… All their planning and hard work… Gone because of one crazed vampire…
His eyes snapped open and locked with Eleazar's. "The plan?"
He watched as Eleazar's eyes filled with wary shadows and his whole body tensed. "Major Whitlock is a very seasoned and shrewd being Edward. One can only assume that he took the time to question why he'd been held against his will in such a manner for these many years. If he managed to get Carlisle or Alice to crack, then we must assume he knows everything."
Edwards eyes widened as his breathing accelerated in alarm. "This is very bad," he croaked. "We must contact Stefan and…"
Eleazar shot from his seat, effectively cutting off his words as he hissed lowly, "I will not have anything more to do with this mess Edward! There's entirely too much at risk! I am in enough trouble as it is for simply helping to identify talent all these years, even if I remained ignorant of the ultimate goals of your group! I warned Carlisle! I begged him not to involve himself, but he wouldn't listen! And look what that led to… No," he shook his head and paced. "…you'll just have to wait until you're well enough to venture out on your own before proceeding any further with this madness if that is your intention because I won't have it here, is that clear?" He stopped and glared at the broken vampire on the bed, hoping he wouldn't have to take further action.
Edward's jaw clenched in resentment before he gave the barest pained nod and rasped out, "Perfectly clear."
DISCLAIMER: Twilight and its inclusive material is copyright to Stephenie Meyer. Original creation, including but not limited to plot and characters, is copyright to the respective authors of each story. No copyright infringement is intended.