Caius was born to hunt, conquer and kill.

Or, at the very least that is what he wanted his enemies and most of the vampiric populace to believe. How it pleased him to know his name was spoken in hushed whispers among most vampires that feared The Volturi. His infamous lust for violence had kept him and his family safe for hundreds of years. But no tale was as gruesome as the one he had spun about The Children of The Moon; how he had drove them to near extinction hundreds of years ago. It was not entirely true however; werewolves would appear every now and then. A stray wolf would infect a handful of humans and him and his men would go out to exterminate them.

This was the only reason that Caius found himself deep within the woods on the borders between Romania and Hungary, his clothes a little worse for wear but still in relatively pristine condition. He had brought with him a couple of their newest recruits, teaching them how to easily trap, injure and kill their natural born enemies. With a deep sigh Caius looked over his last kill of the night, a large and pale beast that had attempted to rob him of his head; a foolish endeavour. He had intended to join the rest of his party when the wind suddenly shifted, a particular smell reaching him and igniting his hunting instincts once more.

The corner of his mouth lifted into a vicious smirk, this would be an easy kill; Caius thought. Luckily for his prey he did not discriminate, no wolf was too small or wounded for him to seek it out. He picked up his pace, gracefully weaving in between the trees as he concentrated on the tracks ahead of him. Even from a distance he could smell just how injured the werewolf was, the scent of its sour blood perforated the air as Caius neared his final prey for the evening. On the other side of the woods he could hear how his hunting party had begun disposing of their own kills. He would have to be swift if he were to join them.

And there, just about thirty feet ahead of him he could see the large shape of a werewolf leaning against some trees, panting and injured. The moment it became aware of its would be killer the beast let out a pitiful wail and began dragging itself towards safety, and Caius felt as if the wind was knocked out of him all of a sudden.

He did not understand why, but his instincts screamed at him to not hurt this Child of the Moon as it crawled away from him; dragging itself against the forest floor and coating the foliage with its foul smelling blood. Why? Why could he not put the beast out of its misery already? He wanted to go home and reward his guard for a successful hunt, as well as spend time with his family.

He watched as their bones began to crack and contort, and it must have been painful for the wolf began whimpering like an injured dog as it slowly reverted to its human disguise. Pathetic, Caius thought as he stalked them; knocking away tree branches and rocks that laid in his way. He could feel the sun at his back, peaking across the horizon and sending beams of golden light through the birch forest. He had had enough, the beast was now vulnerable and he would kill it as he had done so many wolves before it.

With the last of their strength his now human prey looked back at him, fear and confusion swimming in their eyes; and Caius froze.

It was as if the world fell away from beneath his feet, the earth itself wishing to swallow him whole before he could reach the Child of The Moon. Now he understood why he could not harm this ... person. They had been intended for him once upon a time, and the fates themselves were screaming from within the shade; do not harm them. Dread filled Caius like never before as he watched them, crawling in the nude — desperate to get away from him.

He had failed.

Again.

And now he had to right his wrongs.

Caius fell to his knees before them, leaves crunching beneath his weight as he shifted closer. His fine Volturi cloak was now coated in both dirt and blood alike, most likely ruined forever. With trembling hands he reached out to cradle their face, turning their head gently so they were facing him properly.

Their eyes shut tightly in order to not look at him, turning violently to get out of his grip but failing to do so as they screamed in agony. A searing pain settled in his chest, as if someone had stabbed him with a red hot poker. Perhaps it was the mate-pull that desperately tried to solidify a bond between them, or more likely; guilt. "Please... look at me" his voice was raspy and luckily his plea did not fall upon deaf ears, for his would have been mate opened their eyes cautiously; peering at him. Tears had begun gathering, and soon enough they would spill over.

For a while Caius let his eyes wander over their body; a gash in their shoulder was deep enough to show bones and oozed with puss, a wound kept bleeding profusely near their abdomen and multiple of their bones were fixed at unnatural angles. Though the sun had began to rise they were shaking, teeth clattering as their lips began taking on an unnatural shade. Caius swallowed down the venom that had gathered in his mouth on pure instinct.

They had beautiful eyes though, he could see beyond the exhaustion and imagined how fierce of an individual they must have been — not just anyone could be his mate after all. For a second Caius let himself imagine what they would have looked like if they were a deep red. But those were dreams that would never be, fate had not been on his side after all. Caius had laws to follow.

"I will spend the rest of my life making up for not finding you earlier."

His grip shifted ever so slightly, it could easily have been mistaken for a loving caress; the way his hand now sat firmly beneath their jaw. His thumb stroking their cheek reassuringly as his other hand grasped on to their matted hair at back of their head. Caius took a deep breath, attempting to filter out the stench of his enemies and finding their sweet perfume underneath.

"Forgive me,— "

A vicious crack and yelp was all that was heard before the forest was still once again, the only noise the birch trees that had softly began swaying as the wind picked up.

────

On the outskirts of the woods a village lay, quiet and unaware of the carnage that had befallen the lands so close to their home.

When the sun was at its highest point the townsfolk would talk of how they had heard a wounded beast wailing. How its sorrowful cries pierced through the peaceful morrow, lost and alone in the world.