NOBODY FEARED FOR THE SAFETY OF THEIR COVEN QUITE LIKE MARCUS.

The man had nearly lost everything multiple times, first as a human then as a vampire, and he knew the sound of the alarm meant true danger that he would have to confront. How terribly for him that he used his gift and saw a bond of malice on one end, and of a twisted, obsessive love on the other coming from the direction of where he could only suppose his mate was based on where their golden bond shot out from.

Instantly he realized that it was a mistake to have the castle so close to the city. Their stronghold could not survive an attack in the daylight unless they wanted to get the authorities involved. It people were thrown and exposed to the sun outside on a Sunday afternoon, everything would be lost.

This intruder knew that, the clever fuck.

"Caius!" Marcus shouted into the empty hallway leading to the East Towers that once held Sulpicia and Athenodora. He wished that he'd been able to cram River in there for the lockdown, but he doubted she would have let him. "Where the hell are you?"

His feisty blonde brother came out of the shadows and shushed him loudly. "You don't want the motherfucker to realize where you are, do you?"

No, he didn't particularly want his man to know where he and Caius were, the remaining Kings of the castle. They didn't have any guards around them.

"Where did everyone go?" Marcus asked in a whisper.

"Down into the dungeons, the rear section where the massive furnace is, in case they need to defend themselves. We've got no idea how many or who got inside," Caius explained, grabbing Marcus' hand to lead him into the main part of the castle. "River is safe with multiple capable guards. Everyone is in communication with one another."

"How?"

"Damnit, Marcus, they have their fucking phones on them for a reason," Caius snapped at him as he practically dragged him along down the hallways, listening in to hear for any sign of the disturbance. "Chrissy was taken, so..."

So, that was what the issue was. Chrissy Destarri had been taken from her cell and likely out of the city, by the way that nobody could smell a single inside of the castle any longer. Marcus groaned and continued to allow himself to be dragged while Caius mumbled things to himself.

Marcus was incredibly thankful that they hadn't been stopped by some force trying to infiltrate their castle (or had infiltrated, Marcus supposed, which was surely a much worse way of putting it despite the eerie accuracy to their current situation) and steal Chrissy and perhaps his own mate as well, knowing that River's history put them together as targets of attack.

It was connected, he decided, and that meat that the letter that Aro said Carlisle was sent was a tangible threat to their mate and her former friend. Someone who had the real name (nobody he'd talked to knew of a vampire by this name) or pen name of Xanthus did this.

He witnessed in real time as the black string of hatred began weaving its way towards someone.

"This fucker is still in Volterra," Marcus spat as the black weaved around again and again until it created a thick black line headed right towards the man who had brutalized his mate for so long.

"How do you know that?" Caius snapped and let go of his arm. "Where is he? It's broad daylight out there, it's nearing the summer. he's be a fucking disco ball if he dares step into the sun."

The bond wasn't thinning, which is what happened when people got too far away. That was his understanding of his gift. The thicker the bond, the closer they were. The more visible, the more you felt whatever way you felt towards an individual.

The line was thick and black. Do not cross, it screamed, but Marcus had a plan for how to catch this man, if he could.

"You will stay in the castle," Marcus told his older brother, who shook his head in defiance. "Yes, Caius, you will be here to protect River and hold the castle down. I can track him, alone, understand me? I will go alone and catch him, take him down once and for all. She hates him."

Caius grabbed his arm again and stood firm. "You are not getting yourself killed. I can't live without you. Aro can't live without you. Our mate can't live without you, especially knowing that it was him who killed you."

"We have no other choice!" Marcus exclaimed, attempting to pry off his brother's hand from his arm. Damn him for being so strong. "You must stay to guard the castle! Aro is in Forks! I am a King and I must protect my home!"

The second that the younger vampire got his brother's hand off of him he was tackled down to the floor, held down and forced to stay there.

"I AM NOT LOSING YOU AGAIN!" Caius screamed at him, "I LOST YOU FOR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS AND I REFUSE TO LOSE YOU AGAIN!"

He'd never seen his brother so incensed, so upset with an action he was taking. Caius had never tackled him before like this either, never screamed in his face like a child begging someone to not walk out on them.

Their bond shook with the fear, he felt it even in his chest as his eyes were glazed over. That silver bond that had been built up over the years, had told them that they were brothers despite having no blood relation, it had hints of worry that were wrapping over on his side. The barely visible hurt and pain that came with burned as he tried to wiggle away.

Caius was convinced that if he left that he would never come back.

"Why can't you let me catch and kill him?" Marcus asked the question that he knew the answer to. "Just let me get him now and we won't ever have to deal with him ever again!"

"YOU WON'T GET HIM NOW GOING ALONE! YOU WILL DIE AND I WON'T BE ABLE TO BRING YOU BACK!" Caius' eyes were glazed over with tears that he couldn't shed.

"You mean too much to me," Caius whispered as he loomed over him on the floor. "Marcus, you can't take this kind of risk. You're a king, you have a family who need you here. I need you here."

Marcus had always been the one to take the leap, even if he didn't seem like it. The second danger struck, he would be protecting the ones that he loved, which made this even harder for him. He could not hurt Caius and make him truly believe that he would be dead outside, it would make him non-functioning inside these walls in case of another infiltration.

So, he had to strategize inside.

Hopefully someone had a plan.

---

ARO WAS HYPERVENTILATING IN ONE OF THE FORESTS IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, HE WASN'T QUITE SURE WHICH ONE IT WAS OR IF THE NAME OF IT ACTUALLY MATTERED IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS.

He'd been heading home from a hunt when he'd gotten a frantic call from Jane, who in her jumbled state had mentioned the alarm and not being able to find Alec. Just a minute later he'd received a text from Renata stating that they'd found Alec and River, but that someone had taken Chrissy from the cell he'd had her stay in.

Every time that alarm went off, Aro was right there to take charge and command Marcus to go with the guard to destroy whoever needed to die, but he wasn't there. He was on this stupid, Gods forsaken trip to Forks to find out more about the Cullens and their antics and now this fucking bitch Victoria.

Aro wished he was human and could curl up on the floor of the forest and cry until it didn't hurt so bad. He felt anger and rage that this was taking up his time, that now their secrets were not secure in the castle, that River was hearing the alarm and didn't have a mate to comfort her.

Because he knew that without him, Caius and Marcus would argue. It had always been that way between them during dangerous times. Caius was too scared to lose anyone, and Marcus loved him but also had his own self-sacrificing way that annoyed Aro to no end.

There had to be three of them for this reason and with two Aro was balled up on the forest floor not knowing where to go or what to do. It wasn't like Renata answered his first call, or his second or third. A lower guard had texted the main chat but Aro didn't find the message of much service.

'first time with the alarm: hope we don't die'

Yeah, Aro hoped he didn't either.

After thirty minutes had passed since he said he would be back in the house, Esme had called.

"Hey Aro, is everything alright?" Her honey like voice did nothing to calm him down. Nothing at all. "You were supposed to be back, Carlisle is getting a bit worried that you weren't home yet."

"Oh, yes, everything is alright."

He was a horrible liar. He liked to pretend that he was a good one, that people didn't see straight through his shit, but he was a bad one. A truly pathetic liar and Esme saw right through his shit like he knew she would the second the half-assed lie came out of his mouth.

"Did the hunt go poorly?" She asked.

"Oh, no, the alarm in the castle just went off and now everyone is freaking out, including me, and I'm in a forest. Don't know where I am but thats absolutely alright I'll handle everything myself from across the world so people don't die left right and center in my beautiful home that I keep nice and clean so people don't end up thinking that the Volturi was a stupid concept made by a madman."

Esme gasped and seemed to whisper something away from the phone at someone.

Carlisle was the one to answer the phone next, "Aro, what forest are you in? I really do need to know, okay? You have reception?"

"Clearly, I'm talking to you on my cell!" Aro snapped, knowing that he had no idea where he was other than that he had cell service. "Clearly not deep enough to not be able to use my phone. I was coming home when everything imploded on my life and now I fear I may never be normal again."

"Come on, Aro, this is important! Forks has some service out in the woods but I don't know where else there could possibly be service in the state."

"Alright, so I'm near your house? Or, close enough to it! I will just walk around until I find the main road. It should not be that hard. When I do get back, ignore my ramblings, I must make many calls to the people back home to make sure no battles have been fought and nobody is dead." Aro cleared his throat. "Is that alright?"

"I'm coming to get you." Carlisle's voice yelled to what he could only assume were his children, "He's in their territory! We need to get him out of there!"

"Whose territory? You are living here, is the territory not yours?" Aro questioned his friend as he wondered what he could possibly mean. Carlisle could not be so stupid as to set up his home  in someone else's territory. "Carlisle, you have a home here. If you are worried about Victoria, she is not that strong and I doubt she would try and kill me if she found me. She is a bitch not air-headed."

Another person came down to the phone. "Aro?"

It was fucking Edward, just his luck.

"Fuck you, what do you want?" Aro asked, not having any patience for pleasantries. He still wanted this self-righteous asshole in his furnace. "Give the phone to your father."

"You are in-"

Aro cut him off, "Nobody loves you, give the phone to your father."

"I am trying to-"

"I should have let you off yourself," Aro spat, hearing a gasp from Esme. "Give. The. Phone. To. Your. Master."

There was no time to hand over the phone, as Aro had hung up, deciding that he would do whatever the hell he liked. Fuck Edward. Edward rarely had anything constructive to say anyways.

Aro was almost a mile from the main road when he heard a growl from behind him. When he turned around, expecting to see that it was just his imagination.

A massive wolf glared at him.