The Inauspicious Beginnings Of A Prince
by Laura Spudzmom
Chapter 35
They spent the long flight planning their attack, their strategy very basic; draw out the shifters from the main village area, destroy them, and then locate the homes they came from by scent and destroy any family members they had. By doing so, they hoped to eradicate the shifter gene completely. They would set the whole settlement ablaze just before leaving.
Was it a brutal plan? Without doubt, but these were their natural enemies and they had taken someone from them who was most dear and that was something they would not allow to go unanswered.
Jasper let his gaze touch on the members of the group they had assembled; all their best and brightest. In addition to himself and his father, they had Demetri, Jane, Alec and Santiago.
He smirked as he thought about how pissed Felix had been when his father had ordered him to stay behind to take charge of the castle guard. He'd never seen the vampire so outraged, but to his credit, he had conceded with grace and taken charge of making sure the best guards were posted in protection of the royals that were left behind.
That relieved a great burden from Jasper's shoulders. He'd been worried about Bella, especially with Tanya still in the castle. He hadn't missed her continued interest even though he'd done his best to ignore it. He didn't think that she would be so bold as to attack his mate, but he wasn't willing to take any chances either, so he'd taken Felix aside just before departing and had warned him to watch out for her.
Refocusing his thoughts on their mission, he began to go over the steps they had laid out.
They would travel to Forks on foot and by swimming. It would be much faster than a vehicle and would assure that they go unnoticed by any humans. Their speed, the dark cover of night, and the dark clothes they wore would make them virtually invisible; the death they would bring, silent and sudden.
It was their hope that the pack would have a patrol out somewhere on their perimeter. Jasper was banking on them calling in the other members of their pack when they realized the size of the group they were facing.
They would take out the patrol, and wait on the others to arrive, taking them out in succession. He thought they would probably assign one or two wolves to stay with the dwellings. It only made sense to do so after all, but he had little concern for them. He was well fed, the strongest he'd ever been and his gift was ten times what it was as a half-vampire. He only hoped it worked on the shifters now, as it hadn't seemed to before.
He shrugged mentally. No matter. Gift or no, they would see victory this night. Their numbers were such and their arrival so unexpected, that they were sure to eliminate the dogs with minimal effort.
The feeling of the plane beginning its descent brought him out of his thoughts and he met his father's eyes, giving him a nod.
They were ready.
Their trek through the woods was almost imperceptible but Jasper knew that wouldn't matter. Their enemy would smell them and that was enough to draw them out.
They were just drawing near to the remembered treaty line when the overpowering stench of the shifters cause several of his companions to growl lowly as they ran, their instincts against the creatures coming to the fore.
Jasper halted in a large clearing, the sounds of padded feet drawing closer bringing a vicious smile to his face as he turned to his father, an anticipatory gleam in his red eyes. "For my Uncle! We shall never forget!"
Caius clasped arms with his son and surveyed the rest of the group. "For your King! For Marcus!"
They all raised their voices as one, "We shall never forget!"
Seconds later, chaos broke out in the clearing as the wolves descended from all directions, snarling, snapping, lethal jaws coming within millimeters of the vampire fighters as they twisted and spun, striking with deadly precision while gracefully evading their enemy.
The shifters proved to be no match for the prepared group of seasoned, elite fighters however, and the skirmish was over quickly; eight wolves, including a black-coated alpha, lying dead, forever silenced at the vampires feet.
Caius approached his son who stood staring at all the dead shifters, some of whom had shifted back to human form just before dying. "Are you well son?"
Jasper glanced up. "Yes Father. I'll just be glad to have all of this behind me. With the exception of finding my mate here, this place has been nothing but a curse upon my life, and after today, I never wish to think on it again."
Caius nodded. "Understandable." He looked to the rest of their group who had assembled off to the side of the clearing and then back at his son. "I don't hear any more approaching. Shall we proceed with the rest of the mission?"
Jasper met his eyes with a determined look. "Yes, it's time we finish and be on our way."
The group tracked the scent of wolf back to the dwellings and began their task of eliminating the families of the shifters.
For Jasper, this proved to be the most difficult part of the mission, but still, he carried it out, a large part of his gift concentrated on blocking the sheer terror that saturated the entire area as they systematically moved through each house, cleanly snapping necks before moving on to the next.
He had just entered one house, snapping the neck of an older woman when the sound of a familiar voice caught his attention. "Run Leah! Out the back! Now girl! Don't argue with me!"
Jasper entered the kitchen, a deadly smirk on his face. "Well, well… if it isn't Chief Charles Swan. Or does that title even apply, seeing as how you're a convicted felon now?"
Charlie sneered at him. "You… you worthless little snot-nosed bastard. You cost me my career!"
Jasper smiled widely, causing fear to shoot through Charlie at the sheer malice behind it. "Nope Chuck, you got it all wrong. You did that all by yourself. I just made sure the law was applied equally here in good ol' Forks. Didn't want you feeling left out after all."
Charlie looked nervous now as he stared at the kid that didn't look like much of a kid any more. "So, what the hell are you doing here now? What's going on? And where's Bella?"
"Bella's fine, thanks for finally asking and I'm here serving a little justice of my own, vampire style which means that you had better make peace with whatever deity you may believe in Chuck, because you are running a little short on time." With that, he stepped forward and snapped Charlie's neck, putting the whole tiresome conversation to an end.
It was then that his attention was drawn to the last beating heart in the house; that of Leah Clearwater. The curious thing though was that her's wasn't the only heart beating and his startled gaze was drawn to her slightly rounded abdomen where her hand rested protectively as she glared at him, even though her body trembled in fright. "Jasper Volturi. I had hoped that we would never meet again."
He smirked. "And here I thought you had enjoyed it. At least the nail marks on my back and you screaming out my name seemed to indicate such at the time."
Her lip curled. "That was only because I didn't know what the hell you were…"
She looked down, radiating sorrow. "…or what I would become, for that matter."
His brow pinched. "What do you mean by that?"
She smirked bitterly, her dark eyes flashing in defiance. "I'm a shifter. I began phasing shortly after our night together."
Jasper flashed to her, grabbing her by her neck. "Then you will die this night."
She grabbed hold of his arm that held her, rasping out in desperation, "No! Please, you mustn't!"
"Really? And why is that, shifter?", he hissed.
"Because", she choked. "You'll murder your own child."
Shock flooded through him and he focused on her with every ounce of his gift, searching desperately for the lie and finding only truth laced with fear and desperation.
His hand shook as he dropped her, staring for moments at her coughing and wheezing form as she lay there on the floor.
Every bit of common sense he had screamed that he should kill her and be done with it… but he just couldn't.
She carried his child, and he just couldn't.
Turning away from her, he grabbed Charlie's body and the older woman's, exited the house, and tossed them into a burning structure before approaching the group of vampires and his father. "Are we done here Father?"
Caius looked around the settlement and then back at his stoic son. "Yes, with the exception of burning the house you just came from."
Jasper shook his head, staring back at the small dwelling as he murmured sadly, "No, there's no one of consequence there. Let's just go home."
They spent the long flight planning their attack, their strategy very basic; draw out the shifters from the main village area, destroy them, and then locate the homes they came from by scent and destroy any family members they had. By doing so, they hoped to eradicate the shifter gene completely. They would set the whole settlement ablaze just before leaving.
Was it a brutal plan? Without doubt, but these were their natural enemies and they had taken someone from them who was most dear and that was something they would not allow to go unanswered.
Jasper let his gaze touch on the members of the group they had assembled; all their best and brightest. In addition to himself and his father, they had Demetri, Jane, Alec and Santiago.
He smirked as he thought about how pissed Felix had been when his father had ordered him to stay behind to take charge of the castle guard. He'd never seen the vampire so outraged, but to his credit, he had conceded with grace and taken charge of making sure the best guards were posted in protection of the royals that were left behind.
That relieved a great burden from Jasper's shoulders. He'd been worried about Bella, especially with Tanya still in the castle. He hadn't missed her continued interest even though he'd done his best to ignore it. He didn't think that she would be so bold as to attack his mate, but he wasn't willing to take any chances either, so he'd taken Felix aside just before departing and had warned him to watch out for her.
Refocusing his thoughts on their mission, he began to go over the steps they had laid out.
They would travel to Forks on foot and by swimming. It would be much faster than a vehicle and would assure that they go unnoticed by any humans. Their speed, the dark cover of night, and the dark clothes they wore would make them virtually invisible; the death they would bring, silent and sudden.
It was their hope that the pack would have a patrol out somewhere on their perimeter. Jasper was banking on them calling in the other members of their pack when they realized the size of the group they were facing.
They would take out the patrol, and wait on the others to arrive, taking them out in succession. He thought they would probably assign one or two wolves to stay with the dwellings. It only made sense to do so after all, but he had little concern for them. He was well fed, the strongest he'd ever been and his gift was ten times what it was as a half-vampire. He only hoped it worked on the shifters now, as it hadn't seemed to before.
He shrugged mentally. No matter. Gift or no, they would see victory this night. Their numbers were such and their arrival so unexpected, that they were sure to eliminate the dogs with minimal effort.
The feeling of the plane beginning its descent brought him out of his thoughts and he met his father's eyes, giving him a nod.
They were ready.
Their trek through the woods was almost imperceptible but Jasper knew that wouldn't matter. Their enemy would smell them and that was enough to draw them out.
They were just drawing near to the remembered treaty line when the overpowering stench of the shifters cause several of his companions to growl lowly as they ran, their instincts against the creatures coming to the fore.
Jasper halted in a large clearing, the sounds of padded feet drawing closer bringing a vicious smile to his face as he turned to his father, an anticipatory gleam in his red eyes. "For my Uncle! We shall never forget!"
Caius clasped arms with his son and surveyed the rest of the group. "For your King! For Marcus!"
They all raised their voices as one, "We shall never forget!"
Seconds later, chaos broke out in the clearing as the wolves descended from all directions, snarling, snapping, lethal jaws coming within millimeters of the vampire fighters as they twisted and spun, striking with deadly precision while gracefully evading their enemy.
The shifters proved to be no match for the prepared group of seasoned, elite fighters however, and the skirmish was over quickly; eight wolves, including a black-coated alpha, lying dead, forever silenced at the vampires feet.
Caius approached his son who stood staring at all the dead shifters, some of whom had shifted back to human form just before dying. "Are you well son?"
Jasper glanced up. "Yes Father. I'll just be glad to have all of this behind me. With the exception of finding my mate here, this place has been nothing but a curse upon my life, and after today, I never wish to think on it again."
Caius nodded. "Understandable." He looked to the rest of their group who had assembled off to the side of the clearing and then back at his son. "I don't hear any more approaching. Shall we proceed with the rest of the mission?"
Jasper met his eyes with a determined look. "Yes, it's time we finish and be on our way."
The group tracked the scent of wolf back to the dwellings and began their task of eliminating the families of the shifters.
For Jasper, this proved to be the most difficult part of the mission, but still, he carried it out, a large part of his gift concentrated on blocking the sheer terror that saturated the entire area as they systematically moved through each house, cleanly snapping necks before moving on to the next.
He had just entered one house, snapping the neck of an older woman when the sound of a familiar voice caught his attention. "Run Leah! Out the back! Now girl! Don't argue with me!"
Jasper entered the kitchen, a deadly smirk on his face. "Well, well… if it isn't Chief Charles Swan. Or does that title even apply, seeing as how you're a convicted felon now?"
Charlie sneered at him. "You… you worthless little snot-nosed bastard. You cost me my career!"
Jasper smiled widely, causing fear to shoot through Charlie at the sheer malice behind it. "Nope Chuck, you got it all wrong. You did that all by yourself. I just made sure the law was applied equally here in good ol' Forks. Didn't want you feeling left out after all."
Charlie looked nervous now as he stared at the kid that didn't look like much of a kid any more. "So, what the hell are you doing here now? What's going on? And where's Bella?"
"Bella's fine, thanks for finally asking and I'm here serving a little justice of my own, vampire style which means that you had better make peace with whatever deity you may believe in Chuck, because you are running a little short on time." With that, he stepped forward and snapped Charlie's neck, putting the whole tiresome conversation to an end.
It was then that his attention was drawn to the last beating heart in the house; that of Leah Clearwater. The curious thing though was that her's wasn't the only heart beating and his startled gaze was drawn to her slightly rounded abdomen where her hand rested protectively as she glared at him, even though her body trembled in fright. "Jasper Volturi. I had hoped that we would never meet again."
He smirked. "And here I thought you had enjoyed it. At least the nail marks on my back and you screaming out my name seemed to indicate such at the time."
Her lip curled. "That was only because I didn't know what the hell you were…"
She looked down, radiating sorrow. "…or what I would become, for that matter."
His brow pinched. "What do you mean by that?"
She smirked bitterly, her dark eyes flashing in defiance. "I'm a shifter. I began phasing shortly after our night together."
Jasper flashed to her, grabbing her by her neck. "Then you will die this night."
She grabbed hold of his arm that held her, rasping out in desperation, "No! Please, you mustn't!"
"Really? And why is that, shifter?", he hissed.
"Because", she choked. "You'll murder your own child."
Shock flooded through him and he focused on her with every ounce of his gift, searching desperately for the lie and finding only truth laced with fear and desperation.
His hand shook as he dropped her, staring for moments at her coughing and wheezing form as she lay there on the floor.
Every bit of common sense he had screamed that he should kill her and be done with it… but he just couldn't.
She carried his child, and he just couldn't.
Turning away from her, he grabbed Charlie's body and the older woman's, exited the house, and tossed them into a burning structure before approaching the group of vampires and his father. "Are we done here Father?"
Caius looked around the settlement and then back at his stoic son. "Yes, with the exception of burning the house you just came from."
Jasper shook his head, staring back at the small dwelling as he murmured sadly, "No, there's no one of consequence there. Let's just go home."
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.