Chapter One, New Beginnings

Panama City, Panama, Central America

Jasper ran as fast as he could, in a hurry to get to his mate as fast as possible. Before he knew it, he was on the edge of Panama City, Panama where he was supposed to meet Peter and Char. Jasper didn't have too long to wait before he heard two fast running feet behind him and the scents of his best friends wafting on the breeze; a moment later they were standing before him.
"Hello Major." Peter and Char greeted Jasper.
"Hello Lieutenant and hello Captain." Jasper greeted his friends. "How do you know they'll accept me into their Coven?" Jasper asked, pausing to quickly hunt a deer before they moved on.
"Come now, Major." Char crooned in a slightly disappointed tone but mostly teasing. "You know about Peter's gift, plus we sent a message ahead to the head of the Coven, Kachiri."

"It's not a gift, my love, I just know shit." Peter gently reprimanded Char, causing Char and Jasper to laugh.
Once Peter and Char had hunted their fill (capturing a lowlife each and disposed of the three carcasses) the trio set off once again, Peter filling Jasper in on all held had been able to gather about the Coven and its members. Which admittedly wasn't much but thanks to his Gift he was able to fill in the blanks that he couldn't find from others. After a two day journey, they were approaching the border of the Amazon forest - where they were meeting Kachiri and the rest of the Coven - and Jasper was prepared about the Coven as he could be from an outsider's perspective.
"Now, we just have to wait. I doubt we will have to wait long." Char commented. And she was right.

A few moments after Char had finished speaking they heard rustling come from high within the trees. Suddenly, the rustling stopped when four women dressed in nothing but animal skins to cover their modesty appeared before them. Although, you could tell the familial resemblance between the quartet, they were also different in appearance as well as height. Despite how hard it is to tell a vampire's age by appearance; Jasper and his friends had a good guess. The second tallest out of the quartet of women standing before them appeared to be the eldest in around her thirties, she also had muscular limbs matched with a slim build, wild black hair, dark coloured skin, and big, round blood red eyes.

She was also wearing wilder clothing than the other three, by her appearance Jasper knew this to be Kachiri, the oldest and the Coven leader. He quickly flitted his eyes over the others.
The tallest women, Jasper and Major thought must be Zafrina. She had a slim build with long limbs, pin straight black hair with a fringe, blood red eyes, and Jasper could tell by the way she stood that she had a very wild, almost animalistic fighting style. The next woman that his eyes darted to had her long black hair in a braid and she stood slightly in front of the fourth woman who seemed to be holding some type of weapon in each of her hands, but they didn't seem to be made of anything solid. On closer inspection, Jasper realised they were made of both literal light and darkness.

Realising who this was, Jasper's golden eyes darted upwards, locking on to her dark chocolate orbs, and immediately, it felt as if Jasper's whole world had just shifted and stabilised all at once. He'd found her. He'd finally found his mate after all these years, and she was beautiful. She was the shortest out of the four, standing at only 5"5 where her aunts ranged from 5"10 3/4, to 5"9 and 5"8. She had a slim build, long black hair and dark brown eyes. She appeared to be only eighteen years old and had a lighter complexion than that of her aunts, which Peter had informed Jasper was due to her father's Mexican heritage. Like her aunts, she was watching them with a wary and calculating expression.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" A deep voice said strongly, it was the second woman, Zafrina, who had spoken. It would seem she was the spokesperson for the Coven.
"My name's Peter. This is my mate Char, and our friend Major Jasper Whitlock, he would like to join your Coven. I sent a message on ahead as Jasper is Aiyana's mate." Peter informed, but it did not have the desired effect he was hoping for as this had only made Kachiri, Zafrina and Senna become more tense.
"What Peter means is; he has a gift where he just knows things, despite him proclaiming otherwise." Char enlightened, which caused them to relax a little.

"We have heard many tales of you, Jasper Whitlock." Kachiri said softly, her tone lacking any judgement and only held curiosity. "Including your other half Major, the God of War or Ares. We do not seek war but our niece is very special, not only because she is a Hybrid but because like Zafrina she has an exceedingly rare gift. She can control both light and darkness, and many would seek to either use or destroy her. It is why we have remained hidden and cut off from the world outside this forest, but if you join us you will help protect her."
Jasper, Peter and Char knew exactly who Kachiri was talking about; the Volturi and the Romanians.

If either found out about Aiyana it would only spell trouble.
"Photo-Umbrakinesis." Jasper muttered.
"Yes." Aiyana agreed, speaking for the first time and enchanting Jasper with her voice. He wanted to hear more of it.
"If you ever need help we will help you." Peter stated firmly, as Char nodded in agreement, and ceasing Jasper's chance of hearing his mate speak again. "Major is our dear friend and we would do anything for him, including helping his mate and new family."
"Thank you, that is most appreciated." Senna said softly, she was more softly spoken then her niece and sisters. "Jasper, if you have a gift I can help you use it when you're hunting." Senna added to Jasper.

"How?" Jasper asked intrigued. "I have Pathokinesis."
"Then I can definitely help you. You can make your prey feel relaxed by creating endorphins and taking away their fear. It'll be easier on you as you'll no longer feel their fear or feel as they die. As it'll be like them falling into a deep sleep and not waking up. Of course, this is in theory as I do not have your gift, but I'm positive this will work."
"It's okay Jasper." Aiyana said, grasping her mate's hands when she saw his fear and hesitance. Seeing the fear in his golden eyes had hurt something deep inside her, despite only just meeting her mate, their bond was strong as they could both feel it in their chest, and Aiyana never wanted to see that look in his eyes ever again. "No one will force you on to human blood, but the offer is there should you need or want it. We only hunt hunters and criminals and I only hunt once a month as I can live off blood or human food."

As soon as Jasper's hands had been enveloped in his mate's smaller ones all of the tension seemed to bleed right out of him and for the first time in his existence he felt relaxed, he felt like himself again, and not the monster he'd been turned into.
"I'll give it a try and thank you, Ma'am." Jasper said with a crooked grin, that made Aiyana weak in the knees as he brought her hands up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on them. As soon as his lips touched her warm skin a surge of electricity stronger than a moment ago surged through both of them causing them to yearn for more of each other.

Throughout this interaction Aiyana's three aunts, along with Peter and Char couldn't help but grin as they watched Jasper and Aiyana smile so brightly at each other it would put the sun to shame. It seemed they would both be all right and Peter and Char could relax at seeing their dear friend so happy with his mate. All the way back to Kachiri's home, (Peter and Char had been invited to stay for a few days), Jasper and Aiyana did not relinquish their hold on each other's hands. It may have been a big risk to leave the Cullen's and journey all this way but Jasper could happily say it was worth it, and he did not regret his decision one bit. He was finally happy.