[ Chapter Twenty Four—mates ]

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Upon shifting under the power of the full moon, my already scrambled mind leaves the scene entirely. I personally compare the experience to a bender of sorts, it was similar to the days before I was bitten when I would consume so much alcohol and do so much pot that I would black out for hours at a time.

It was in no way safe nor healthy. To be honest, I am surprised it did not end up killing me.

A girl could dream.

My memories are hazy in the hours leading up to the full moon, but when the moon reveals itself and the shift takes place my mind draws completely blank. There is only the pain as my bones snap and the feeling of fur ripping through the skin and then nothing.

My mind caught up only when the first golden rays of sunlight broke through the night. Tsar Lunar disappeared along with the moon as the world was basked in light and warmth.

Power begins retreating and the beast who is trapped for 29 days out of the month whimpers. She shakes her head and paws at the Earth: this wild part of me knowing that I only have minutes left.

And in the last minutes, the inner beast wants nothing more than to be closer to her mate. For my mate is a blessing not from Tsar Lunar but from his cousin — Artemis — Goddess of the Moon and Hunt.

Caius's cold hands are nice against my fur as his fingers scrape through it, scratching at just the right areas. As pained whimpers escape my being and the sun officially lights the Earth: my body twitches on the ground in pain.

My mate is still there though, his low voice whispering sweet nothings and assurances in my ear.

I may regret being so vulnerable around him when I am in a better state of mind, but right now I cannot find any problem with his soothing presence and assuring words.

Bones are snapping once again, my form shrinking and my fur falling off in some areas only to turn into human hair in others. It did not last longer than a few minutes: the transition back from beast to human is longer than the transition from human into beast as the inner wolf rarely wanted to leave.

However, as I finally open my eyes to the rising sun, my body shaking from the trauma of the shift — I could not stop myself from attempting to curl on my side. My breaths came in tired pants. I was aware of my dirty naked form, but I could not care that much as the violent tremors took hold.

As I tried to curl into myself, ready to pass out again from exhaustion, I was stopped by a cold figure. Squinting my eyes, I looked up only to come face-to-face with an angel.

"Caius?" I rasped as he looked down at me with worried red eyes, his pale skin glimmering under the sun.

He only shushed me before he pulled off his cloak and placed it over my trembling body.

"Shh, it's okay — you're okay..." he murmured suddenly pulling my body up and against his as he stood.

My face was pressed against his chest, my face which was the only thing visible beyond the cloak. My eyes closed against their will: my body betraying me in finding peace and safety in Caius's arms.

"I know that I'm okay, you pompous—" My own sour words were cut off by a yawn and I delivered a weak slap to his chest before ultimately nuzzling myself closer.

His coolness was an amazing gift against the fire that licked through my veins after the transformation. My body which always ran a few degrees warmer than average found solitude with Caius's ice.

I was surprised when rather than getting the angered growl that I was so used to receiving, I got a small chuckle from the vampire leader.

"So my mate has a sense of humor, after all..." I muttered sleepily against him and I swear I heard Caius intake harshly when I claimed him as my mate in a way that was not crude or sarcastic.

"I have always had a sense of humor, perhaps you would see it more often if you chose to stop being such a troublesome thing at all manners of the day," he murmured back.

"Never!" I proclaimed dramatically and slightly drunkenly. I once again was gifted with a snort. "Besides my pure species pisses you off..."

He said nothing simply clutching me tighter. "It's complicated, young wolf..."

I ignored the new nickname. My mind became even hazier — sleep was beginning to invade my senses.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked as I realized that he had been walking with me in his arms.

"Back to Volterra," he answered easily, and like that, my mind and body finally gave out as sleep overtook me.

————————

When I woke up next, I still felt achy and tired. However surprisingly, I still felt better than I usually did after waking up.

Normally I was barely even able to get up for a day or so. But I sensed that it had been far less time than an entire day — twelve hours perhaps?

Humming happily, I stretched out before rolling over, nuzzling my face into the pillows and blankets beneath me.

Cracking my eyes open ever so slightly, I was greeted with a lowly lit room. The lights were all off except for the few lights that glowed dimly from overhead. I assume they were left on so that I was not totally spooked when I woke up in yet another unfamiliar place.

I could only assume this was Caius's room seeing as Aro did tell me I would be moving into it — also this bedroom was by far the nicest room for sleeping that I had seen in this castle.

Of course, the room was themed in blacks and whites seeing as this is Caius. The bed was high off the ground and the sheets were probably worth more than my life with how soft they were. Actually, everything in this room probably was.

I curled further under the thick black duvet as I continued to allow my gaze to stray around.

The bed was on a platform of shorts with a few steps leading down to the rest of the bedroom. There was a couch seated across from a fireplace, and surprisingly a television hung over the fireplace.

I raised a brow at this as I did not believe Caius to be the type to even know what television was.

A tall bookshelf with ancient-looking books and scrolls was plastered against one of the walls — the wooden floors covered in dark carpets. A large desk sat near the bookshelf, a few papers scattered on the desk but other than that it was rather neat.

Various other decorations were weaved throughout the large room, but my eyes locked onto the door that presumably led to the bathroom. It was down the platform and to the left.

While my bladder screamed at me to get up and go: my body wanted nothing more than to stay in this caccoon of warmth I had made myself. Overall, the aesthetic of this room gave the absolute best sleeping vibes, in my opinion.

The naps I could take in here would be unmatched — perhaps Aro actually did me a favor by moving me into the blonde douchebag's room.

Automatically, my lips tilted downward as the few memories I had regarding the full moon came crashing back. Myself crying to Caius before I shifted and then snuggling him like some sort of personal teddy bear after I shifted back.

Anything that happened in between was lost to the winds of my mind.

Honestly though: I was more shocked that he actually let me do that. And the fact that he sort of comforted me.

I mean him telling me that he doesn't hate me is a big step for us.

Especially considering the fact that I hate him... yes, I totally most definitely hate him.

And yet, there was unfortunately a warmth that fluttered in my chest at the thought of the angry blond vampire leader.

With a huff, I slowly made my way out of the bed cringing at the sore feeling of my body.

There were two times when I was at my weakest: the day after the full moon and during the new moon, the time of the month when there was no moon in the sky. Even then I was still far stronger than the average human, but I was not as strong or fast as I was capable of.

Not to mention, if Caius and I decide to have another brawl during either of these times he'd easily be able to win.

The wooden floorboards were cool against my feet as I rushed to the bathroom. Pushing the door open, I reached toward the wall trying to find the light switch.

Upon flipping the newly found switch, fluorescent light flooded the room and momentarily blinded me. I hissed and dramatically covered my eyes before they adjusted and I was left gaping at the bathroom.

White marble flooring and giant sinks that ran along a beautiful clear mirror. There was gold — I think it's real! — woven throughout various areas of the bathroom. There was a large wall of a shower that spanned the corner covered by glass and in the middle was a very large tub.

As I walked in, I ran my hands along the tub surprised by its sleekness. I was almost a thousand percent positive that I had never seen a nicer tub in my life.

Once upon a time, I thought that I would never get to witness the luxuries in life that money could buy. Obviously, I was not poor as my parents supported me and I had been pursuing a degree at university, but still: this shit was bought with the kind of money that you see from celebrities and major people of politics.

Or royalty.

A shiver was sent down my spine as I remember that in a way, the Volturi kind of was royalty. I say that very loosely seeing as these vampires were not crowned or anything official. Not to mention, the Cullens and many other vampires in the world certainly don't see this coven as any sort of real royalty.

They see this coven with fear — nothing more than the upholders of the laws — the vampire police if you will.

That was a much better phrase for Caius in my mind. Not King but rather Police Chief Caius.

I laughed out loud at the thought, finally coming to another door. Opening it, I was greeted by a small room with a toilet. As quickly as possible, I used it before washing my hands and nosing my way into the only other door that led to the closet.

Possibly the biggest closet I had ever seen.

I tilted my head and strolled through: pressed white, red, and black suit shirts that once again looked expensive as hell. Suit jackets and pressed pants, shiny shoes, and to my surprise just a few casual outfits.

I highly doubted that Caius ever took the liberty to wear the more casual clothing, but it never hurt to have. I picked up the sleeve of one of his dress shirts — examining it. It was the same color as blood but extremely soft.

This closet reminded me of The Great Gatsby, specifically in the movie when Jay begins throwing all his incredibly valuable shirts at Daisy whilst she sprawls on his bed.

The thought had me frowning — I had seen the movie a handful of times. However, the first time I ever saw it was my junior year of high school in English class: I had been sitting next to Carter, and we were holding hands below the desks while the movie played.

I cringed thinking about it now as a flash of sadness wrapped in hot anger flooded me. Shaking it off, I wished for nothing more than either a joint or a glass of wine at this very moment. Turning toward the door, I was caught off guard by my reflection in the floor-length mirror of the closet.

Someone had cleaned me up and changed me.

I could not find it in myself to care that much that someone had obviously managed to give me a sponge bath while I was unconscious as there would be no worse feeling in the world than waking up in the magnificent bed dirty.

The changing part I was not concerned about seeing as I quite literally was naked when I initially passed out anyway.

Warmth once again ran through me when I remembered waking up for the first time to Caius. The way that he held my trembling body to him — how he placed his cloak over me.

As happy as it made me (sadly) I reminded myself that it was simply common courtesy.

Whoever had changed me put me in an easy short nightgown that dipped rather low at the chest. At least it made my breasts look good — they appeared full and perky in this nightgown. The red and black was flattering against my olive skin tone and it was short enough that it made my legs look long.

My brown locks were rather messy — fluffy from sleeping for who-knows-how long as my dark eyes were rimmed red from the exhaustion that still crept up on me. Overall, while I appeared a mess for a werewolf: the werewolf beauty caused me to still look hot in human eyes,

A hot mess.

I definitely was not complaining about that, but sometimes it was still off-putting to see myself with such beauty. It was not that I was ugly before being turned or anything, but I certainly did not look like this.

Becoming too put off by my own beauty (as unlike Lady Gaga, I certainly was not born this way) I turned away from the mirror and walked out of the closet and bathroom. As soon as I left the bathroom, I made sure to turn the light off and close the door behind me before racing toward the bed like a mad woman.

I laughed loudly as I leaped into the air landing on the soft bed with a bounce and immediately crawled under the covers. Resting my head on my arms, I quickly brought the blanket up so it was over my head as well.

Completely covered by the blanket, I had never felt safer.

E̶x̶c̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶C̶a̶i̶u̶s̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶m̶s̶.̶

Just as I closed my eyes they shot open again as a voice intruded on my peace.

"What did I just witness? Are you a gremlin now?" Caius's voice suddenly spoke, and from what I could guess, he was speaking from his couch by the fireplace.

Looking up, I was proven correct as he lounged almost too casually on his black couch just in front of the fireplace, red eyes trained on me harshly. At least, he did not appear as murderous as he had the last few times I had seen him.

Alike to always, he wore a neatly pressed suit, and his hair lay in blond waves stopping just at his shoulders.

I immediately scowled at him before returning to my previous state cuddled in the bed.

"Leave me alone, demon of the night..."

Caius scoffed loudly. "What? Are you going to call Jesus Christ on me?"

"I might just do that, we're pretty good friends," I sassed back, total bullshit spewing from my mouth.

Unsurprisingly, the bed held little to none of Caius's scent and rather smelled of clean linen. Seeing as he did not sleep, there was no reason for him to ever be in this bed. Well... I guess there were a few other reasons he might be in his bed: I shuddered at the thought and was slightly grateful that I did not smell his scent all over the bed.

"Somehow, I highly doubt that," I jumped as his voice came from directly above me.

Fucking vampires and their quietness.

Peeking upward, I was greeted by Caius standing above me, his arms crossed with a scowl written across his perfect face.

"What do you want?" I finally deadpanned while looking at him in an unimpressed manner.

His lips quirked up at the corners so slightly that I thought I might just be imagining it.

"I see the endearing cuddlesome puppy side of you is now gone..."

I growled at his words, my mind once again reminding me of how needy and ridiculous I had acted toward him. Despite this — there was still an unwanted warmth that made itself present in my chest.

"What're you talking about?" I decided to play dumb. "There is never a cuddly puppy version of me that wants to be near you..." I stated it as plain fact.

To my surprise, I felt the bed shift as Caius sat on the edge: my body being forced to lean against his. His coolness seeped into my cacoon of warmth but my natural burning temperature and the added blankets easily overpowered it.

I quickly scooted further toward the middle of the bed so I was not near him.

Caius frowned at this, something that had me quirking a confused brow at him. In milliseconds, when he noticed my look, he wiped his frown away for a blank expression as he spoke.

"Are you sure about that? Because I certainly remember you crying about how you thought I hated you..." he spoke casually: an almost sinister grin overtaking his face.

But honestly, anything Caius did was sinister. Even as he sat on the edge of the bed in his dark suit — his lips pulled into a smile... sinister!

Unfortunately, I did remember that, and I can most definitely confirm that I was not in my right mind.

"I was slightly insane during that time, don't take anything I said to heart," I scoffed and waved it away.

Caius snorted. "Slightly?" He mocked. "But if that is the case then perhaps that is why your wolfish self wanted nothing more than to sit in my lap as though a lapdog?"

His words reminded me of the giant loveable dogs that would try and sit in their owner's lap.

I immediately shot upright, the duvet falling around my lap. The room was surprisingly warm — not as cold as I was expecting seeing as the rest of the castle was practically freezing.

Staring right at Caius, his bright red eyes met my own dark brown: my eyes no doubt looked desperate.

"Please tell me you're lying?" I nearly wailed and Caius smirked at my display.

He slowly shook his head, his upper body pushing closer to mine so that our faces were inches apart.

"It would appear as though you have been hiding how much your inner animal yearns for me, my dear..."

Why did he currently look so sexy? I could feel his cool breath fan across my face — and the way that he was currently staring at me seemed to awaken something deep inside. My body shuddered internally as warmth subconsciously flooded my midsection.

Despite this, I hardened my features. "Whatever the inner wolf desires doesn't matter until the full moon, pal." I sneered at him.

Caius's expression dropped into something of irritation, but it was replaced as his brows furrowed and he suddenly took a whiff of the air. His gaze seemed to abruptly pinpoint me, his red irises darkening immensely until they were only black.

I swallowed at his look of hunger but there was also something else there.

Oh shit — he can most definitely smell even the slightest bit of arousal that was coming from me. My cheeks went warm against my will — a rare show of fragility as I became flustered and looked away from him.

How fucking embarrassing!

"I'm hungry!" I found myself fumbling to get out of bed.

And it was true — my stomach was now screaming at me to feed it.

Unfortunately, my legs got caught in the duvet from how fast I was attempting to move, I shrieked as I fell out of the high bed and toward the floor awaiting impact. An impact, that surprisingly never came.

Caius's arms wrapped around me as he pulled to a standing position against his body.

Seeing as I did not want to become even more flustered and risk any more arousal: I pushed him away.

"Ugh: don't touch me!"

Caius growled as he released me and stepped back. He stared down his nose at me in annoyance.

"Most would consider saying thank you..." he sneered.

"Unfortunately for you, you were gifted a mate without manners..." I snarked and it took me a moment to realize that I had once again referenced Caius as my mate — this time in the right state of mind.

Caius also recognized this, his features twirling into satisfaction.

"Yes..." he smirked and his words held bemusement. "Unfortunately, my mate has no manners..."

My cheeks went pink without my consent once again — I don't like this. Angry Caius, I can handle it: that guy was familiar. But this version of Caius? Unfamiliar territory: I don't like it.

Warning bells went off in my head, even apart from it being just Caius and the mating — I had promised myself over three years ago that I would avoid matters of the heart.

Boys, no not boys — men were fun and that was that. They were a good time: but if you allow yourself to truly love them, then all that was waiting was broken trust and a broken heart. I had no doubt that even allowing myself to love Caius in any way, shape, or form was a one-way ticket to the biggest heartbreak of the century.

I did not want to do that to myself: not again. But then again, was it even possible to avoid such feelings?

I rolled my eyes, and stared down at my bare feet with a scowl: I really needed pedicure. "Whatever," I ground out, "I'm still hungry, where are my shoes, I'm going to the kitchen."

"I will have one of the guards bring you a change of attire — perhaps consider taking a shower before you venture out of the room, as well. You may have been given a sponge bath and a change of clothes, but you still smell like the wild..." Caius said simply, managing to insult me in about three different ways.

"Who gave me a sponge bath? And also fuck you — you wear the same shit every day..."

Caius rose a brow. "Don't think I did not hear you wandering about my closet, I have many different suits each more expensive than anything you own..." he scowled, before walking towards the door. "And one of the human workers gave you a bath..."

"You mean the human slaves you all try to pass off as 'employees'?" I snipped, my voice holding every ounce of judgment possible.

Caius's back was to me and he waved me off. "Oh please, of course, they are employees."

"You don't even have an HR department here!"

"Of course, we have an HR department—Aro established it," Caius scoffed.

My eyebrows rose in surprise.

"What? Where?" I said in disbelief. "Can I file a complain with them?"

Caius turned around almost smugly. "Very well..." He nodded.

It was silent for a moment as we had a stare off. He then motioned for me to speak.

It took a moment before I understood, and my mouth morphed into of anger.

"Hold on?" I scoffed before pointing to him accusingly. "You're the HR department?"

He gave a wicked grin. "More so my fangs, but yes, I am head of the HR department. Aro is the one who created it and yet is forcing me manage it... it's disgraceful,"

"Disgraceful indeed..." I cried. "You're definitely the least qualified to be working HR—let alone managing it!"

"Would you like to take it up with the HR department?" He mockingly questioned tilting his head and flashing his pearly teeth at me.

I shuddered, walking backward toward the bathroom.

Caius gave a genuine chuckle—something that still sounded malicious. He was gone in the next second, the door slamming closed behind him.

Fucking Volturi HR department, as if... how the hell was I so gullible as to believe him for even a second.