MARCUS PART SEVEN (TLNRS)
Usual warnings apply for the whole series- low self esteem, suicidal thoughts, talk of death, violence, mild cursing probably somewhere.
Also, playing fast and loose with cannon details in a terrifyingly amount of ways.
This is a little shorter than the others have been- getting back in the groove of writing.
If youâre tagged and donât want to be any longer, lemme know!
Your head was spinning as you paced your room, packing abandoned. Even though you had arrived with nothing but the clothes on your back, the Queens would hear nothing of it and insisted you take back at least some of the clothes your room in Volterra had been filled with.
But even the designer labels couldnât hold your attention too long.
You were going back to Forks.
Back to your job, your old life, familiarity.
Marcus was coming with you.
King Marcus was coming with you.
And he had apparently justâŠclaimed you as his Charge and would now die for you.
Youâd tried to ask Edward details after heâd so graciously dropped that bomb shell on you, but heâd remained tight lipped.
Apparently it wasnât his place to say any more about it.
You were really getting tired of vampires leaving you in the dark. This was your life!
âAlways have a choice, my eye,â you grumbled as you scrubbed a hand over your face. New decision. No agreeing to anything without a freakinâ essay about what it was.
A sudden knock at your room door made you startle and spin around, heart hammering.
What if it was Carlisle? Or another Cullen? You were pretty much trapped in your room- no avenue for escape and Edward had told you that youâd be left alone to pack and prepare for the flight. You had a sneaking suspicion he meant more mentally and emotionally preparing than packing.
A quick glance out the window showed it was still early afternoon- too early for anyone to come fetch you for the plane.
This was getting ridiculous- you were ready to be Home in Forks!
The knocking sounded again, a little more forcefully and you took a deep breath.
Time to pull on your big kid panties and open the door then.
Nauseous, you headed to the door and with a grimace, pulled it open.
There, looking severely unimpressed, was Caius.
You let out the breath you didnât realize youâd been holding and your shoulders lost a smidge of their tension, though they were still tucked up around your ears.
Not the best person to be at the door but at least it wasnât Carlisle.
After a moment of silence, you ventured out a tentative, âUm, would you like to come in?â
The blonde vampire king seemed to size you up before ultimately nodding once and sweeping past you elegantly into the room.
You closed the door and mentally gave yourself a pep talk.
You could do this. Yes, this was Caius, Human Hater extraordinaire, yes, he had no use for any humans OR the Cullens, (the latter of which you pretty much were considering yourâŠBond), and yes, you were alone with him where no one could probably hear you scream, and yes, he looked very not happy and very murderousâŠand nope, you were going to die. This was the end for you. Finite.
At least you hadnât wasted your last moments on Earth packing.
âIâm surprised your human heart can beat that fast,â came his nonchalant drawl. Cue your heart rate almost tripling.
âI, uh, donât think itâs supposed to?â you squeaked, putting a hand to your chest as if that would keep it from beating right out onto the floor.
Caius looked at you for a long moment with narrowed eyes. You felt as if he was trying to see into your soul - and once doing so, found you lacking.
âI have been informed that calling you âmortalâ or âhumanâ is not only discourteous, but potentially frightening for you as well,â he began lowly. âMy brother has made it clear that you are to be protected and treated well, but you and I must come to an understanding before you leave this room, Charge. I watched my brother wither and fade once. It nearly destroyed all of us when he lost his Bond Mate and now that he has Life back in him, I will not see him ruined again.
The Pull between Bond Mates is stronger than any Pull out there- stronger than any relationship ties that weâve seen in our collective nine thousand years. My brother has already tied himself to you- against my counsel and all common sense- as your Protector but do not trifle with his feelings before running back to your Bond Mate. You would not survive the week.â
You stood there gaping at the violent vampire king.
First thing he says to you since youâve been here and itâsâŠa threat? You felt a sliver of anger that you did your best to stamp down. This King could outmatch any rage of yours, every time. That was a battle you would never be equipped for.
But at the same time- what were you supposed to say to that?! You didnât ask to be a Bond Mate, you didnât ask to have said Bond Mate and almost his whole family hate your guts, you didnât ask to be a part of a relationship that had so strong of a Pull that it was almost impossible to break or ignore, you didnât ask Marcus to be your protector- you still didnât even know what that meant! So why were you the one being threatened?! Why were you the one being told not to hurt anyone?! Youâd been hurt plenty yourself and for something that wasnât your fault!
There was a deadly silence and you realized with horror that you hadnât thought any of that. Youâd said it out loud. Essentially screamed it, actually, at the most violent member of the ruling Vampire coven.
Caius shifted on his feet and your heart started actively trying to make a run for it. This was it. Your end.
To your surprise, or what you could feel past the mind numbing fear almost certain death will bring you, Caius simply turned and moved to one of the chairs situated by the fireplace, gesturing for you to join him in another.
âCome, Charge. Have a seat. If my brother had any idea the stress you were under with me being here, heâd have my head.â
Woodenly, you moved to sit down in the chair across from him, stiff as a board, eyeing him nervously.
âYou want to know about Protectors? I will tell you,â he said abruptly. âIt is too serious a matter for you to be uninformed.â
You blinked in surprise. Wow. A vampire that actually wanted to tell you something- that was a new one.
Caius must have read the surprise -and gratefulness- in your face for he shook his head, though a very small smile played at his lips.
âWe have been around for thousands of years. Weâve learned, and enjoyed, keeping things close to the chest and keeping others ill informed and off balance. However, this is not one of those times. How much did young Edward tell you about Protectors and their Charges?â
You slowly shook your head, âNot much. He said it wasnât his place to tell but that Marcus would now fight my battles andâŠand die for me.â
You ended on a whisper, still reeling over having any bit of the kingâs attention, let alone something like that. Who were you that an immortal vampire, a royal one at that!, would want to be connected to you in such a permanent way?
Caius nodded, leaning back in his chair, doing a very good impression of a lounging feral jungle cat.
âThe mind reader was correct. On both counts. A Protector-Charge relationship is usually something that only the Protector would explain- though back when this relationship was more prevalent, it needed no explaining.
Most of the Volturi are very old. A small number of our members have only seen a few hundred years, but most have reached at least their thousandth. When my brothers and I were young vampires, the immortal world was a different place. It was more outwardly violent, with brutal feedings, turnings and deaths in plain sight. Vampires did not hide their natures like we do now; there was no vampire law and order. It was kill or be killed and the number of vampires was a fraction of what there is now, simply because of violence and no one to keep them in check.
If you thought someone looked at you wrong, it was acceptable to rip them apart and burn the pieces- giving a permanent death for something that may not have even occurred.
Vampires that were weaker or lacked a honed fighting skill set often endeared themselves to a vampire that could protect them. If both parties were willing, the stronger vampire would claim the weaker as their Charge and act as their Protector. It signaled to other vampires that if they tried to engage with the weaker vampire, the stronger would be their opponent.
Naturally, my brothers and I regarded all of this unnecessary killing as absolutely barbaric and worked to fix the system. The best way: introduce law and punish those that broke it.
It has been almost 2 millennia since the last Protector relationship was recorded. My brother has decided to enact one now and rest assured, it will send a wave through the vampire world, for though it is no longer practiced, it is still remembered. It will tell our entire world that you are the Charge of one of the Kings- that you are under his protection. There will be scrutiny and potential attacks by those who feel we are unfair and unjust in our rulings, though rest assured Marcus is more than capable of eliminating any threat. The question is: are you prepared for that? Are you prepared to stand next to Marcus as his Charge, disregarding your Bond with the Cullen Sire? I will not have my brother hurt again and I will not have him shamed by offering you Protection and you throwing it away to complete your Bond. It is natural that you feel a Pull to your Mate but you must make a decision before you leave this room and board that plane. Which side will you choose?â
You stared at the blonde king, though you didnât really see him, soaking it all in.
That wasâŠa lot more than you expected. Not only an explanation, but a demand to make a decision. A part of history, ancient history, was being revived and it included you.
Were you prepared for that?
Were you prepared for the scrutiny and potential judgement from what sounded like the entire vampire world? The Kings were well known, the rulers of their kind, and one enacting an ancient custom, on a human and a Unwanted Bond Mate at that, would definitely be something to garner the attention of immortals around the globe.
You had no desire to complete anything with Carlisle, let alone the Bond. Youâd be perfectly happy never to see him again, but were you strong enough to resist the natural instinct and desires of the Pull? Could you stay loyal in this newfound relationship as a Charge and deny the very relationship you had longed for your whole life? A love between two people- a love that would accept you and make you one half of a whole?
Your mind flashed to the impromptu âdateâ youâd had with Marcus- how cherished and valued heâd made you feel. How attentive and sweet he had been, never making you feel unwanted or a burden but seeming to genuinely enjoy your presence. You thought of how he made you smile with giddiness even the next day and how quickly he had jumped at the chance to go with you to Forks, to the Cullenâs territory, how quickly he was willing to put it all on the line for you and protect you.
Could you stand firm by his side in the face of the whole vampire world and the Bond?
Yes. You could. You would.
Your Bond Mate may not have wanted anything to do with you, may have made you feel worthless and inadequate, made you question the value of your own life.
Marcus was everything you had hoped for in Love. Everything you had been silently wishing for since you could remember- the things dreams, and Hallmark movies, were made of.
You focused in on the king before who had not moved, but sat silently watching you as you thought.
Lifting your chin with the stubborn determination that had you cussing out vampires since the day you arrived, you looked into ruby red eyes and said resolutely, âI choose Marcus.â
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