Chapter 3

When she didn’t show, I was ready to go out and drag her home with me. Her mind should have been screaming for her to be here exactly at sunset, which was half an hour ago. She would pay for making me wait, especially since her mind knew that she had to get to me as soon as possible. I could feel my smile grow as I thought of all the things I could do to her for keeping me waiting.

Because she didn’t respond to my mental calls, I decided to drive around, so I could look for her. It was possible that the piece of trash she drove had died and she was walking.

Another good thing about controlling a human and having their blood in our system, was that we could track them anywhere in the world. As it turned out, that ability still worked perfectly as I found her running down a deserted street. That human had no self-preservation, which was good for me. Not so much for her though.

“Isabella, get in.” She climbed in without any hesitation on her part. Good girl. I gave her a worried look as she stared at her hands which were lying on her lap. “What happened?”

I could see her tears as well as the bruise on her neck. If her father harmed her in any way—screw the rules—I would take her away and keep her as my own.

“D-don’t make me go back.” I watched as she trembled in fear. “Don’t let him near me.”

I reached up to wrap an arm comfortingly around her and told her in a soothing voice, “Shh. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I promised you last night, remember?” She nodded, obviously remembering only the things I wanted her to. “Now, take off that bandage.”

I watched as she pulled the bandage away from her neck, revealing the two small holes in her neck. Leaning over, I placed a kiss where they were, before drinking from her. She was my own personal blood bank, mate or not. Her blood was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. When I was done, I ordered her to place the bandage back on.

Pulling away so I could drive us back to my home, I sensed another one of my kind in the area. This would make things interesting, a game of sorts. Of course, there was no way that I would lose to him, considering this was my mate.

“Who hurt you?” I asked.

I could see that she was close to tears as she answered, “His name’s Carlisle. I’ve known him since I was little. He got mad.”

I couldn’t help the smirk spreading across my face at the sound of that name. I knew Carlisle fairly well, having both been well over a hundred years before our kind took over. I had also heard rumors that he was protecting a human in the area who he was smitten with. If my mate knew both of them, that could be a potential problem. The strangest thing about this information though, was that I had never heard of Carlisle purposefully harming any living being.

Pulling up to the house, I reached over and touched Bella’s cheek. She turned to face me and I captured her gaze, smiling softly at her. I bent towards her and lightly pressed my lips to hers before pulling back and telling her, “I want you to stay away from Carlisle and his human.”

“How do you-?”

“It doesn’t matter. You have to stay away from them.”

“Esme’s my boss…”

I growled, gripping her arm tightly. “Then quit your job.” She nodded in agreement. “First thing tomorrow, you will call and quit your job. You will never see them again.”

When she broke out of the trance, she smiled at me and said, “You kissed me.”

“I guess I did.” She giggled, an absolutely beautiful sound. “Let’s go inside. Dinner’s cold now, thanks to your mistakes.” I stepped out of the car and glanced over to where she remained seated. “Let’s go.”

I led her into the kitchen and she sat down at the table with her eyes cast down. It was a beautiful sight to see.

I didn’t bother to heat up her food, choosing to just give it to her cold instead. If she wanted to be late and get into trouble, she would have to suffer the consequences. This was nothing compared to what would happen once she was informed of what was to become of us. It was nothing more than a little taste of what was to come.

“Jasper?” I stared at her. “C-can I heat this up?”

“No.” She looked down. “I know what happened was not your fault. However, you will be punished when you are late, no matter if it’s your fault or not.” I saw her nod her head before picking up her fork. “When is your birthday?”

“In three weeks,” she muttered.

Little did she know that she was answering the question of how many more days she had left to live with her father and her friends. Each day was one day closer to the moment I’d take her away and she’d spend the rest of eternity as one of my kind.

“What time does your father expect you home?”

“He doesn’t.” I looked up to see her staring at her plate. “Esme called him. He thinks I’m over there.”

I nodded. That was perfect.

“Finish eating and then wash your dishes. We can watch a movie or something after.”

She went back to slowly eating her food.

As soon as she was finished and had washed her dishes, I decided that I would take her up to my bedroom. I figured that she had been punished enough for being so new. At least for tonight and this being the first time she was being punished.

Half-way through her meal, she stood up and took her things to the sink. This was easier than I had ever expected. I had always believed a witch to be more powerful than my kind, but this girl was just one big pushover.

“Jasper?” I looked up at my mate to see her staring at the ground. Her voice was so soft that if I were human, I would never have heard her speak. “I’m done.”

“Just one last thing and then we can go choose a movie.” I reached into her pocket, pulling out her cell phone. I scrolled through the phone until I found the number for one Esme Cullen. “I want you to call your boss and tell her you’re quitting your job.” I could see tears in her eyes, which made me roll my eyes. “Hey.” I touched her shoulder in a comforting gesture, which made her pay more attention to me. “I just don’t want you to get hurt again.”

She nodded and took the phone from me, pressing the call button. I leaned against the wall, keeping an eye on her as she took a deep breath.

“Bella?” I smiled, being able to hear everything perfectly. This was indeed the Carlisle I had known for years.

“I need to talk to Esme.”

“She’s asleep.”

“I need to talk to her.”

“Alright.”

I heard the phone shift and touched Bella’s shoulder in comfort. “It’s going to be okay,” I whispered in reassurance. “You’re doing great.”

“Bella?”

“Hi, Esme.”

“Where are you? I’ve been so worried.”

“I-I can’t see you anymore.”

“Bella? What are you talking about?”

“I quit.”

“But you love your job.”

“C-Carlisle hurt me.”

“He’s so sorry, Sweetheart. He didn’t mean to act like that.”

“I-I don’t want to be hurt.”

“Alright. If that’s what you really want.”

I watched as my mate hung up. She walked over, wrapping her arms around me to gain some comfort from me. Playing my role, I held her tightly and shushed her. This was for the best and in time, she would realize this.

Scooping her up bridal style, I carried her up to my room.

This was all turning out excellently.