Chapter 6

                                    

                                          
Rhea's POV
                          
As we were walking back to the car Bella called out to Jas. "Jasper," she said. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?"
                          
I rolled my eyes and let Jas answer her. "Well, your presence alone, your scent, will distract the newborns," he answered. "Their hunting instinct will take over and drive them crazy."
                          
"Good. I'm glad." We started to walk away but she called out again. "Hey. How do you and Ryan know so much about this?"
                          
"We didn't have quite the same upbringing as our adopted siblings." He pulled up his jacket sleeves and showed her the bite marks on his arm. One of the many things that didn't change, a reminder of what he has overcome.
                          
"Those bites are like mine."
                          
"Battle scars," I said running my fingers over them, tracing them.
                          
Jas gave me a small smile before explaining. "All the training the Confederate Army gave me was useless against the newborns. Still, I never lost a fight." We tried to walk away for a third time but Bella followed, her curiosity getting the better of her. It was very clear that Jas didn't want to talk about it but Bella didn't care. She never cared unless it impacted her.
                          
"This happened during the Civil War?" She asked.
                          
"God Bella, can't you just drop it?" I asked glaring at her.
                          
"It's alright darlin'," Jas said pulling me into his side. "I was the youngest major in the Texas cavalry, all without having seen any real battle."
                          
"Until?" Bella questioned walking backwards in front of us.
                          
"Till I met a certain immortal. Maria. I was riding back to Galveston after evacuating a column of women and children when I saw them. I immediately offered them my aid."
                          
"Maria was creating an army?"
                          
"They were very common in the South. There were constant brutal battles for territory. Maria won them all. She was smart, careful, and she had me. I was her second in command, Ryan her third. Our abilities to control emotions served her well. Together we trained her newborns, an endless occupation since she never let them live beyond their first year. It was our job to dispose of them. I could feel everything they felt. I thought what Maria and I had was love. But I was her puppet. She pulled the strings. I didn't know there was another way... til I found Alice. Now, she had seen us comin', of course."
                          
"You both kept me waiting long enough," Alice said walking over with Ryan.
                          
"Our apologies, ma'am," Ryan said his accent coming through.
                          
"I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't told me about Rhea," Jas said wrapping his arms around my waist. I stood up on my tip-toes and brought his lips down on mine. We reluctantly pulled away as we heard the catcalls provided by Emmett.
                          
Rose came over to us and we three got in the car. To keep up appearances we went to a few stores and bought a few things. Dad was watching a baseball game. A rerun of last night. I asked if he had eaten yet but he didn't hear me. I just shook my head before going to stand in front of the TV. He protested before I mentioned food. He finally told me that he hadn't eaten and I offered to make dinner. Seeing as we didn't have much in the house I managed to make pizza sliders, it's really just pizza on a bun, and nachos, a bag of semi stale chips and a cheese sauce from the can with some black olives, green olives, and some salsa. Dad said that it was perfect and we ate while watching the game. 
                          
Bella came in hours later before going right up to her room, no hello or goodbye or goodnight. Dad offered to do the dishes and I took him up on it. A surprise guest was waiting for me in my room, Paul.
                          
"I don't think Jas is going to like this very much," I said softly shutting the door.
                          
"Do you always do what he says?" Paul teased.
                          
"Do you always do what your imprint says?" I shot right back.
                          
"Touché. I wanted to talk about what you said earlier-"
                          
"I'm not going to talk you out of fighting if you feel like you must. I just don't want you fighting for Bella, she doesn't deserve it-"
                          
"We're not doing it for Bella. We're doing it for you and for our town and our people. I know what you're thinking and I don't want you to feel guilty. We're doing this because we see you as our family and we protect our own."
                          
I gave him a small smile and a big hug while muttering thanks. Paul soon left my room and I changed into my PJ's. I left the window open and checked my phone for messages but found none from Jas. I called him but it went to voicemail. I called Rose and she told me that he had already left. I walked down to Bella's room and opened the door. Sure enough, Edward was there.
                          
"Where is he?" I asked.
                          
"Who? Paul or Jasper?" Bella asked snarkily.
                          
"Jasper. What the hell did you say to him?"
                          
"We just told him that Paul was in your room that's all," Bella said innocently.
                          
"Dad!" I yelled. "Bella has Edward in her room!" Edward tried to make a run for it but I grabbed onto his arm, keeping him in place. Dad's footsteps came up the stairs and he was furious. He proceeded to throw Edward out of the house and ban him once again. Bella whined and said that Paul was in my room just a few minutes ago. I told Dad that he skyped me and the volume must have been loud enough to make it seem like he was in my room. Regardless Dad checked and sure enough, my room was empty.
                          
Bella seethed the rest of the night. I tried to call Jas but he wouldn't pick up. I then called Rose and Ryan and asked them to pass along a message if they heard from him. They both promised that they would. I crawled in bed and left my windows open just in case.