"Ughhhhh..." Nora grumbled as she emerged from the apparent coma she'd been in, taking a second to recognise she was in her room before screwing her eyes tightly shut to protect them from whatever light was shining in front of her. Even the small noise sent sharp pains to her already aching head-it literally felt like someone was squeezing it with all their might, trying to make it explode.

Curling into a smaller ball than she already was, she was hyper aware of every little noise that went on around her. Thanks to this, the attempted quiet footsteps that approached her sounded like the unnecessarily loud rumbles that came with a thunderstorm, each thump against the ground making the pressure in her head that much greater.

Nausea swirled unpleasantly in her gut and she remained painfully still, afraid that even the slightest move might make her actually throw up. The air changed around her, becoming significantly colder. She didn't need to guess that it was one of the kings-she was proven right when a gentle hand was placed on her clammy forehead.

Without meaning to she flinched at the change in temperature, but was soothed when a thoughtfully quiet voice graced her ears, the person tucking a loose strand of limp hair behind her ear. "I was afraid you might have overdone it, though I didn't want to be proven right. Maybe next time we'll make sure you indulge less, my love."

With a tired smile she leant into the hand as it cupped her cheek, still refusing to open her eyes. "Marcus."

"This may be redundant, but how do you feel? Can I get you anything?"

"I'd love some water." She managed to croak out, her throat was drier than the Sahara and she vowed that she wasn't going to drink ever again...well-there was no solid proof to that but she could pretend.

"I'm afraid that you're going to have to sit up, you'll choke if you drink it like that." Caius. How could it not be, the bastard always managed to have an air of smugness to his voice.

In no mood for his teasing at that present moment she glowered at the air, eyes still defiantly clamped shut. "Back off, Legolas." The enthusiastic chuckle she heard at the insult, unmistakably Aro, confirmed to her that all three of them were here.

The strong hand that had once been on her cheek now grasped her own. Marcus counted to three for her sake and no matter how much she braced herself, the disorienting spinning in her head when she finally sat up made her feel immensely ill. Without thinking she leaned forward with a fed-up moan, face leant on something incredibly soft and cold. Marcus chuckled, the rumble against her skin letting her know she was apparently leaning against his chest-his very very muscular chest.

At this point she didn't care about embarrassing herself, she felt too miserable to even bother thinking clearly. Even if she was thinking straight why would she want to move? Despite feeling like a stone statue he was surprisingly comfy.

Tone laced with amusement, he was thoughtful enough to whisper quietly in her ear. "You need to lean back, my sweet."

Cheekily she pushed herself even further into his embrace. "Well, what if I don't want to?" A scoff came from behind her, again she knew from the snootiness of it that it was Caius. It appeared that he became jealous easily. 'Storing that away for later.'

"Well then you won't have your precious water. Maybe all that alcohol has rid you of your brain cells." Unfazed, she lifted her finger and flipped him off. She could only imagine from Aro's joyful cackles what the sour blond's face looked like.

"Caius is right amore, however harsh his affection for you may sound." Aro finally spoke and it felt like something was complete inside of her, like his voice assured some hidden worry she hadn't known was there. It scared her how...unnerved she became when they weren't all together but, she wouldn't think of that for now.

The simple act of leaning back took too much effort, it felt like all of her muscles had forgotten how to function, like they were all held down by heavy weights. Things were still for a moment before she felt the cold chill of a glass against her lips.

Opening her eyes she smiled at Marcus, shakily taking the glass from him and barely managing to take a meagre sip. Ever the caring one of the three kings he grasped her wrist to steady her hand and with that she finished the drink in seconds.

"Better?" He asked, but his ruby eyes watched something intently. Before she could react he swiped his thumb along the corner of her lips, catching a loose droplet. With a devious smirk he licked the drop from his finger, eyes once again clouded with that dark gleam.

"Much." She managed to squeak out, unable to hide the effect the action had on her, her whole body heated and flushed a light pink.

"When you're finished with your flirty little game, we have quite a great deal to discuss." Caius may have sounded annoyed as he strided angrily to stand in front of her, but he offered her his hand to help her up from the couch and she knew there was no real malice behind his words; especially proven with the care in which he took to help her stand when her weak legs wobbled, handling her like she was a delicate jewel.

"Jealousy is unbecoming of you brother." Marcus was the smug one now, and she observed their interaction with blatant curiosity. The dynamic between them all was interesting, especially Marcus and Caius's relationship. They often took jabs at one another, so much so she wagered if it were her and Bella doing the same they'd be likely to fall out. But there was no harshness and their taunts were more teasing than anything, like true brothers were to one another.

Aro, she had noticed, was the more reserved of the bunch but that wasn't fitting with what Demitri had told her about him. They were all the leaders, but most viewed Aro as the face of the coven. From what she had been told he was confident, charismatic, terrifying and was extremely imposing-he did all in his power to know the in's and out's of a person. But with her there was a certain...reluctance, like he was holding back, she just didn't know what or why he was doing so.

With a curious tilt of her head she acknowledged that the gloves he'd been wearing were now nowhere to be seen. She wondered what had changed to make him take them off. Without them she could see he had very nice hands, something she was a sucker for.

Caius led her over to the bed and Aro stood, pulling the covers back for her so she could slip in. As she situated herself she felt the bed dip; looking up she found them now all sat around her with Caius lay on her left, Marcus just below him and Aro perching himself near her legs.

The playful atmosphere that had been there when she woke up was now gone, left in its place was an odd tenseness that was reflected in the kings' rigid postures and their serious scarlet gazes.

With a confused smile she raised her eyebrows at their odd behaviour. "Uhhh...is everything okay?" She let out a nervous laugh at the end, unsure of the reason for their strange shift in moods.

Caius, never one for dragging things out, was his usual blunt self. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

"Yeah, we had an amazing dinner and I got absolutely hammered. I guess I must have fallen asleep at some point but that was it, wasn't it?" Her expression became pinched when they looked between one another with secretive glances.

The silence dragged on and on. She was annoyed now and slightly disturbed to notice that though their lips were moving she couldn't hear a single word they were saying.

Her annoyance bubbled over and unable to hold her tongue she crossed her arms with an angry frown, the action garnering their attention. "Okay, what is going on? I thought we had a good night last night?" Dread washed over her suddenly as her tired mind jumped to the worst conclusion. "Oh my god, do you...do you not want me anymore? Fuck...I screwed it up somehow didn't I?"

Aro's eyes widened and he rushed to comfort her. "No! Nora, that's not the case at all my darling," His hands hovered above her own like they had in the library that day; once again he didn't touch her but this time he seemed infinitely more frustrated. "We're simply struggling with something. Forgive us for excluding you in such a derogatory way, amore."

Pursing her lips she decided she'd had enough. Whatever they were gossiping about they could just spit out-they were acting like three mean school girls on the playground. "Okay...well whatever it is just say it, if we're gonna do this then there can't be any secrets between us."

They hesitated again and Caius, seeing the fury beginning to brew in her eyes at their reluctance decided to bite the bullet. "You said something last night that has brought a great deal of concern to us all. I'm afraid mia dolce that we simply won't be able to rest until we know the full implications of what you said."

That same dread she felt just moments ago came back, this time it felt like it was ten thousand times stronger. 'Oh fuck...what did I say? Damn me and my loose lips. Maybe I really am never drinking again.'

With a nervous twitch of her nose she fiddled with the emerald sheets, trying to ignore the relentless anxiety beginning to take over her senses. "What, um...what did I say?"

Afraid his brother might upset her somehow Aro took over and dare he say Caius seemed almost relieved for it. "You said that you were happy you'd decided to stay, that you knew we truly cared for you..." Aro trailed off, causing Nora to lose the happy smile that was beginning to form at his words.

Her nerves assaulted her heart, it squeezed painfully at all of their suddenly tormented expressions. Leaning forward she made sure their eyes met, hoping it would somewhat persuade him to continue. "What else? It's okay, you can tell me."

"You said that you...hoped we wouldn't hurt you like he did." They watched her intently for a reaction but she just...froze. Completely.

Nora felt like every atom, every cell, every organ in her body had stopped working in response to his words. Her muscles locked, her eyes stared lifelessly at the bedsheets and her heart pounded furiously in her chest at the lack of oxygen entering her lungs.

Uncertainly, Marcus stood and came to crouch next to her, placing his hand over her own that was beginning to tremble. Worryingly she didn't even stir, she just continued to stare. The only difference was her now heavy breathing.

Squeezing her hand he bent his head, trying to catch her eyes though he had a feeling it was a long shot. "Nora? Carissima, can you hear me?"

His voice miraculously seemed to snap her out of whatever strange daze she'd been in but it didn't rid her of the blind panic nor the excruciating heartache, the repressed memories that her words had brought back to her.

Their bond burst to life at her agony and now, it was their turn to be consumed with panic.

Marcus continued to try and comfort her when tears spilled from her eyes, when her body trembled in his arms, when she began to cry hysterically and mumbled the word 'no' over and over again like a mantra.

Caius on the other hand floundered, having absolutely zero idea on what to do. "Oh, well done Aro! Now look at what you've done!"

Overcoming his shock and worry for his mate he rounded on his vicious brother, the rational part of him lost in primal rage. "Me?! We were all involved in this brother, don't think of yourself as some kind of saint!"

As they stood from the bed and yelled at each other, Nora's condition worsened considerably. Marcus's own rage reached its boiling point, eyes a terrifying black void.

"ENOUGH!"

Caius and Aro blinked in shock, breathing unnecessarily as they calmed down from the nearly physical fight and backed off from one another. Their hearts broke at the sight of their mate, clinging to Marcus like he was a lifeline and sobbing violently into his chest.

"Do you not see what you've done! Instead of bickering like children, why don't you help me comfort our distraught mate."

Caius felt hopeless and almost useless as he came to be by her side. Always the strategist and in control, he had no idea where to even begin in helping her, sometimes mortal's were a complete mystery to him. So, he settled on rubbing his hand comfortingly up and down her back, whispering sweet things in her ear.

At their attention she calmed but only slightly. With each passing second that she didn't get better their worry grew tenfold and Caius in frustration growled irritably at his brothers. "What are we going to do? She can't go on like this or she'll lose consciousness."

Marcus was at a loss. It had been centuries since they had been exposed to anyone who would allow themselves to be this vulnerable in their presence, as a result they were clueless.

"I'll look."

Caius and Marcus looked at Aro incredulously. "You can't brother. I thought we agreed you would wait until she knew."

Aro's lips curled into a snarl at their unhelpfulness. "Well if you have something better to suggest Caius, then by all means provide it!"

Looking down at Nora, Marcus stroked her hair, bringing her closer to his chest to at least try to give her some comfort. Just like before it did nothing. With a defeated sigh, his venom filled eyes met Aro's. "Do it."

Wasting no time Aro approached cautiously, determinedly ignoring Caius as he raved at him angrily. He himself didn't want to invade her privacy in such a way but what other choice did they have? If he knew what the cause of her hysteria was then he could stop it. If she hated him after this then he would accept it, for her and for his brothers.

His hand clenched, hovering over hers. He could feel the heat that was coming off of her, it called him to touch her like a siren's song and he listened, getting pulled into the wonder that was her life. He experienced her anger with her mother at her immature morals and behaviour, her adoration for her younger sister and the stress of having to essentially raise her, the joy she felt when she would visit her father and when she finally got to leave her troubled life behind. But the next memory was not happy at all.

He watched as the pathetic, vile creature drugged and defiled his mate against her will. He felt the complete agony and disgust she felt while she cried and struggled, felt the pain of his filthy touch on her skin.

As he felt her soul shatter and break he was consumed with white hot, blinding rage. Disconnecting his hand from her's like he'd been scolded he allowed himself to slip into the murderous oblivion that took over his entire being. The last thing he remembered was the sight of her terrified eyes staring into his.