#caius

*3rd Person POV*

The change in Caius did not happen all at once; that was what unsettled Aro the most. Had it been rage, violence, or obsession, he would have recognized it immediately. Caius had always been a creature of extremes. Cruelty sharpened him. Anger animated him. Even boredom from his brother was usually expressed through cold irritation or bloody efficiency. But this? This was quieter. And therefore far more dangerous. 

For weeks, Caius had vanished from the tower without explanation. Not often enough to draw attention from the guard, but enough for Aro to notice the pattern. Always after dusk, always alone, and always returning hours later with something strangely alive in his expression. Not happiness, Caius was not built for happiness, but anticipation. It lingered around him like smoke. Even Marcus noticed, and Marcus noticed very little these days. 

The ancient vampire sat motionless in the great chamber while petitions droned on below them. His red eyes tracked Caius as his brother stood rigid beside the throne, pale fingers tightening almost imperceptibly against the armrest. 

“He’s distracted.” Marcus murmured eventually. 

Aro’s lips curved. “Mm, you see it too.” 

Caius’s gaze snapped toward them instantly. Sharp. Suspicious. 

“I hear you.” He said flatly. 

“Of course you do.” Aro replied pleasantly. “Your hearing has always been exceptional.” 

Caius narrowed his eyes. Marcus continued staring at him with eerie calm. 

“You leave often now.” 

Aro leaned forward slightly, intrigued by the fractional pause before Caius answered. 

“I patrol the city.” 

“Personally?” Aro asked softly. 

Caius’s jaw tightened. 

“The guard is capable.” Marcus added. 

“I did not realize my movement required approval.” The edge in his voice would have terrified most immortals. Aro only smiled wider. 

“No approval, brother. Merely curiosity.” 

Caius rose abruptly from his throne. “Then satisfy it elsewhere.” 

And he left. The chamber echoed in silence after his departure. Aro slowly steepled his fingers beneath his chin. 

“Well, that was fascinating.” He said lightly. 

Marus’s expression remained distant, but his eyes lingered on the doorway long after Caius vanished. 

“There’s a bond.” 

Aro turned immediately. “You saw one?” 

Marcus rarely spoke about his gift anymore. Centuries of witnessing emotional ties had dulled his interest in nearly all of them. Human affection flickered weakly to him. Vampire alliances were brittle and political. But mate bonds, those were different. Ancient. Unbreakable. Marcus looked almost awake for the first time in decades. 

“Not fully formed, but growing.” He said quietly. 

Aro’s smile disappeared. For a long moment, neither brother spoke. Then Aro laughed softly in disbelief. 

“Caius?” 

Marcus gave a single nod. 

Interesting did not begin to cover it. 

The following night, they followed him. Not openly, Caius would never tolerate that. The streets of Volterra glowed gold beneath the moonlight, narrow alleys winding with tourists and locals alike. Human voices echoed through the city, warm and oblivious. Aro moved soundlessly across the rooftops beside Marcus. Below them, Caius walked through the crowds in a dark coat, expression carved from marble. Yet there was purpose in every step. Expectation. Aro watched with growing fascination as Caius turned down familiar streets with increasing speed, though he clearly fought the instinct to hurry. 

“He’s eager.” Aro murmured. 

Marcus’s eyes unfocused slightly. “The bond is stronger tonight.” 

Aro practically glowed with curiosity now. They followed Caius to a small piazza near the edge of the city, and then they saw her. Human. Young. Laughing softly as she stood near a fountain beneath strings of golden lights. She spotted Caius immediately. Her entire face brightened. Aro nearly stopped moving altogether because Caius, Caius smiled back. Not the cruel, mocking curl of lips he used during executions. Not the cold politeness he wore during diplomacy. A real smile. Subtle. But devastatingly genuine. 

“Well… this is unprecedented.” Aro whispered. 

Marcus had gone utterly still. Invisible threads stretched around the girl in brilliant lines only he could see. Emotional connections laced between every human in the square, weak and fleeting. But the bond between Caius and the girl burned like molten gold. Ancient. Absolute. Mate. Marcus looked at his brother standing beside the human female with impossible softness hidden beneath centuries of brutality, and something strange crossed his face. Not amusement, but something almost wistful. 

“He’s gone.” Marcus said quietly. 

Aro arched a brow. 

“Oh?” 

Marcus continued watching the bond strengthen every second Caius remained near her. 

“There is no world now where he lets her go.” Marcus murmured. 

*Caius’s POV*

I knew they were following me long before I saw them. Aro cloaked himself in elegance, in performance, but I had known him for thousands of years. Marcus was quieter, emptier, but his silence had weight. Presence. They were there, watching, and still, I went to her. 

Perhaps that alone should have terrified me more than it did. The apartment was dim when I arrived, lit only by the amber glow of candles Y/N insisted made the place feel “less ancient.” Human clutter had begun infecting the rooms in small, impossible ways. A book left open on the sofa, her shoes abandoned near the door, a half-finished cup of tea cooling on the table beside the window. Signs of life. Signs of her. She looked up immediately when I entered and smiled. That smile had become my greatest weakness. 

“You disappeared for two days.” She accused softly, though there was no real anger in it. 

“Duties.” 

“You say that like you’re a medieval king.” 

I removed my coat slowly. “In many ways, I am.” 

She laughed quietly at that, thinking it another strange joke. Humans had remarkable ability to ignore impossible truths until confronted directly with them. Though Y/N no longer had that luxury. Not after the first week… Not after I lost control. I crossed the room toward her carefully, every movement deliberate. She watched me approach with that same dangerous trust that still unsettled me nightly. 

“You’re hungry again.” She murmured. 

Perceptive little thing. 

My throat burned viciously. Her scent saturated the apartment entirely now, woven into every fabric and surface until existing inside these rooms felt like exquisite torture. 

“Yes.” 

Fear should have existed here. 

It didn’t. 

Instead, she tilted her head slightly, exposing the elegant line of her throat to me without hesitation. My restraint nearly snapped on the spot. 

“Y/N…” I said quietly. “you should not make it so easy for me.” 

Her pulse fluttered faster beneath her skin. 

“Would you rather I fight?” The confident tease in her voice was both flattering and deeply alarming, because she trusted me absolutely… and I was not a safe creature to trust. I reached for her slowly, fingertips brushing against her jaw before sliding down her throat. Heat pulsed against my pal. 

Alive. 

Fragile. 

Mine. 

The possessive instinct had become impossible to ignore now. It threaded through every thought I had concerning her. I bent my head. Her breathing caught slowly when my lips brushed her skin first, cold marble against living warmth. Then my teeth pierced her throat carefully. Blood flooded my mouth. I closed my eyes immediately. 

God. 

Every single time felt worse. Or better? I could no longer distinguish anything I had tasted in over three millennia, sweet enough to drive me feral, rich enough to eclipse thought entirely. It burned through my throat like fire and silk simultaneously. Y/N shivered beneath my hands. I forced myself to drink slowly… Carefully… Reverently. A soft sound escaped her when my hand tightened instinctively at her waist. 

“You tase…” I murmured against her skin, voice roughened by thirst. “like something heaven itself would kill to keep.” 

Her fingers slid into my hair weakly. I should stop, I knew that… Instead, I drank another pulse. Another. Another. My control frayed violently. 

“You are perfect for me.” I whispered. “Do you understand? Perfect.” 

Her heartbeat stumbled erratically. 

“I’ve never wanted anything the way I want you.” That was the horrifying truth of it. Not kingdoms. Not power. Not bloodshed. Her. Her blood. Her heartbeat. Her warmth beside me at night while the rest of the world remained cold and distant. 

I finally pulled back before instinct overwhelmed reason entirely. A thin line of crimson trailed down her throat. I stared at it with naked hunger before licking it away automatically. Y/N looked dazed when our eyes met. 

“You always look angry afterward.” She whispered. 

Because I was angry. At myself. At her. At fate for creating something capable of reducing me to this. I cupped her face carefully. 

“You have ruined me.” 

A faint smile touched her lips. “That sounds dramatic.” 

“It is accurate.” 

I leaned my forehead briefly against her, breathing in her scent despite the agony it caused. 

“I love you blood.” I admitted quietly. “More than I should. More than I can endure sensibly.” 

Her pulse accelerated again. 

“And you,” I continued, voice lowering further. “are dangerously accepting of this.” 

“You’ve never hurt me.” 

The words struck harder than they should have, because she believed them completely. Perhaps the most disturbing part was that I would tear apart the world before I allowed harm to reach her now. 

A soft clap echoed from the doorway, slow and amused. I went perfectly still. Aro… Y/N startled violently as Aro stepped from the shadows beside Marcus, both of them impossibly composed. My arm moved around her instantly, pulling her behind me on instinct. Aro’s crimson eyes flicked to the fading bite marks on her throat. Then to the blood still staining my mouth. His smile widened. 

“Well, this is significantly more intimate than I anticipated.” He said pleasantly. 

I bared my teeth before I could stop myself. “You entered here uninvited.” 

Marcus said nothing at first, though his eyes lingered on Y/N with unnerving intensity. I knew what he saw. The bond, fully formed now. Unbreakable. Y/N gripped the back of my coat tightly. Fear radiated from her heartbeat at last. 

Good. 

She should fear them. 

Aro tilted his head slightly. 

“So, our dear brother has not only revealed our existence to a human…” His gaze dropped meaningfully to her throat. 

“But has apparently decided to keep her.” 

“She is under my protection.” I said coldly. 

Aro laughed softly. 

“Yes, that is abundantly obvious.” 

Y/N’s voice came quieter behind me. “Caius…” 

I reached back immediately, taking her hand without looking away from my brothers. 

Marcus finally spoke. “You love her.” 

Not a question. 

A fact. 

Silence stretched, then Aro sighed dramatically. 

“Oh, Caius. You are breaking our law rather spectacularly.” 

“I am aware of our laws.” 

“Are you?” Aro asked pleasantly. “Because last I checked, humans aware of vampire existence are generally executed.” 

Y/N went rigid behind me. My eyes flashed instantly. 

“No one touches her.” 

The temperature in the room seemed to plummet. Aro studdied me for a long moment, then smiled… And somehow that was worse. 

“She could tell people.” He said softly. “Humans gossip. They panic. They expose.” 

“She won’t.” 

“You cannot guarantee eternity from a human lifespan.” 

I moved subtly more in front of her. Predatory instinct. Protect. Mine. Aro noticed, natually. Marcus watched the exchange with strange stillness, his ancient eyes fixed on the bond threading between us like molten gold. Finally, Aro collapsed his hands behind his back. 

“Well, since killing her would apparently send you into several centuries of homicidal grief…” He smiled brightly at Y/N. “We shall compromise.” 

I narrowed my eyes immediately. 

“Aro.” 

“You have two choices,” He continued smoothly. “Either you transform her soon…” His gaze flicked meaningfully toward Y/N. “or she returns with us to the castle.” 

Y/N blinked. “The castle?” 

“The Volturi residence.” Marus clarified quietly. 

Aro nodded. “There, Caius may feed from you freely without risking exposure. You would remain protected. Hidden.” His smile sharpened faintly. “And eventually, if he chooses, he may change you himself.” 

Silence crashed through the room. I could hear Y/N’s heartbeat pounding violently now. Human. Fragile. Terrified. And despire everything, she stepped closer to me instead of away. My dead heart would have stopped if capable. Aro noticed that too. 

“Fascinating.” He murmured. 

I looked down at her finally, her eyes searched mine carefully. 

“You’d really take me there?” 

I answered without hesitation. 

“Yes.” Because there was no world left where I let her go.