Hey everyone, sorry about the wait but I'm needing more reviews if you wish for me to continue this story, otherwise it's going on hold. Anyway this is where the rest of the guard gets to know Maureen, or at least the main part since she's going to be kept hidden for a while, until the mystery person finds her.

Please enjoy this chapter cuz it could be a while until the next one, depending on if there's more reviews or not.

Maureen was sleeping soundly in the room Marcus had brought her to until a slight noise caught her ears. She awoke to see a young boy with dark hair standing at the door. He had white skin like the others, and red eyes, but his expression was different. It was hard, yet calm and solemn.

"Who are you?" she asked and he walked towards her.

"I'm Alec, I was told to guard you until you awoke. You are…?"

"Maureen. Where's Marcus?"

"He's with Aro right now, I'll go get him if you'd like. I was there the night he saved you."

"Then you know about me?"

"Yes, I watched him save you and I kept it secret for a good while. Not even my own sister knows of you."

"Who's your sister?"

"Her name is Jane, she's my twin sister. We've been inseparable since we were changed by Aro."

"Oh…how long have you been a vampire?"

"About over a century or more…let's hope you're just as lucky."

"In becoming a vampire and not a meal?"

"Oh yeah, it's rare for humans to see the insides of this place. Especially when one of the vampire leaders saves one and she shows up ten years later wanting to meet him. Should I go find Marcus for you now?"

"Um…yes thank you." He smiled a little and left closing the door behind him. Maureen slowly got up from the huge bed and looked around at the magnificent room. She felt the smooth texture of the curtains over the bed, and noticed a small ring on her finger; the same ring the doctors found on her the night she was rescued.

'Marcus must've put it there when I fell asleep.' She began to admire the ring as it twinkled in the light, but then the door opened and inside stepped a different vampire with stark white hair, red eyes, and pale skin; his expression was shock but bloodlust as well.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly. The vampire came close to her and she backed into the corner. He sniffed the air, and smirked.

"Not my taste, but it'll do."

'He's going to eat me!' just as she was about to scream someone grabbed the vampire's arm and yanked him back. Marcus stood in front of Maureen and she took a huge sigh of relief.

"What's the meaning of this?" the vampire growled and another with long jet black hair put a hand on his shoulder.

"That girl belongs to Marcus dear brother, haven't you already fed today?"

"Is she his meal or what?" the white-haired one snarled.

"We will discuss that later Caius, now please go Athenodora is looking for you." The vampire called Caius shook off the other's hand and stormed out of the room. The black haired man looked at Maureen and smiled widely.

"She's a lovely one Marcus, might you let me read her now?" Marcus looked at Maureen and she looked confused.

"He won't harm you, he has the power of tactile telepath."

"The power to read every thought ever made?" Aro's eyes widened but his smile remained.

"A smart one at that, just give me your hand my dear. I'm able to control my thirst around most humans like you."

'Does he mean my condition? Can he tell?' she thought as she slowly approached him and held out her hand. He gently took it and felt it, all the while she could sense him reading her mind. 'Don't say anything please. I want to tell him myself.' He heard her thoughts and let her hand slide from his.

"She's a remarkable one dear brother. She will make a great addition to the coven, but for now we'll need to keep her hidden until the guard and Caius are in a better mood."

"I know, but she's not an animal Aro."

"She will be cared for, and you can see her whenever you wish. For now I will speak to the others and Alec will come with me. Do as you wish, there shouldn't be any interruptions." Aro smiled and left closing the door behind him. Maureen looked back to Marcus and smiled sweetly.

"Once again you saved my life, I can imagine how many more times it will happen."

"I will keep you safe mia stella, and no one will harm you as long as I'm here."

"I know, but I want to know one thing before anything else happens."

"That is…?"

"Out of all the girls in the world, why did you save me and let me live. From what I understand your existence is completely secret from the world, but why keep me alive and let me live as a human for ten years?" Marcus walked up and put his hand on Maureen's cheek. His thumb stroked her chin and her eyes twinkled into his.

"I have the power to see relationships, and when I found you I could see a bond with you. The soul mate's bond is what you and I share; I let you live as a human because I didn't want you to grow up around monsters like me and the rest of my coven, and you were too young to understand what a soul mate is."

"You knew I would come back?"

"If you hadn't I would've found you and brought you back; I wanted you to be normal for a while." Maureen laughed a little.

"In a way I'm not normal Marcus, my life has changed ever since you saved me. I wanted to thank you personally, but I didn't count on staying here for so long." His hand moved away from her.

"You're seeing someone else aren't you?" he growled. Maureen's eyes widened and she tried to touch him but he yanked backwards.

"NO! I'm not, I was just a bit stunned. If I were seeing someone else you'd know, I wouldn't have come back here and I'd likely be married." Marcus relaxed a bit and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"It's ok, so am I going to live here from now on?"

"I'm afraid so. Any human who knows of us will end up being changed or killed, that's our law."

"Vampires have laws?"

"Ones that I, Aro, and Caius created a long time ago; you will learn them all eventually, but for now we need to have you settled." Maureen thought for a minute and then her eyes widened.

"I need to call some people. My aunt and her two sons will worry if I don't fix this."

"Fix what my dear?"

"When my grandparents died, they left me the mansion, and their fortune; my aunt took over the company but she's broke. Her ex husband cheated on her and took all her money she was saving for her sons. I just need to call my attorney and have him transfer it all to her name."

"And your things? Did you bring anything with you?"

"It's all back at the hotel."

"I'll send Alec and Jane to pick it up for you. I'm surprised you're going along with all this so quickly." Maureen smiled and touched his shoulder.

"Let's just say I knew I wouldn't go back after I saw you. My life has never been normal…" Marcus smiled and put his arms around Maureen. She hugged his waist and took in his scent. A knock came at the door and in entered a tall masculine man with short dark hair.

"Aro wishes to see you and the girl in the throne room."

"Yes." The tall one looked at Maureen and smiled slightly.

"This is Felix, he's one of the main guard." Maureen looked nervous at the one called Felix, but she relaxed enough to speak.

"A pleasure to meet you."

"You too miss…?"

"Maureen Lombardi." Felix left before them and Marcus led Maureen through many corridors and through some large double doors where a lot of vampires were waiting. Maureen held tight to Marcus's hand, as he led her into the room and held her behind him.

"Ah there you are Felix, Marcus. Come now you don't have to hide her, everyone knows who she is now." Marcus cautiously stepped aside and all eyes were on Maureen. The one that took Maureen to the dungeon went a little closer to her and smirked.

"Didn't think she'd be alive this long. Is she your meal?" Marcus growled and stood in front of Maureen again.

"That wasn't necessary Demetri; I already told you she's a guest here."

"Aro! You're letting this human stay in our midst?" Caius bellowed and Maureen stood behind Marcus.

"There's more to her than meets the eye Caius, Marcus rescued her ten years ago."

"Say what?" a girl with long gold hair tied in a bun raised her voice and Aro looked at her.

"Dear Jane, why don't we let Marcus explain the story, and maybe Maureen here could tell her part as well." All eyes went to the two and Marcus cleared his throat.

"Ten years ago, that night we struck down that band of newborns, I had come across a young child in an alley just after killing a newborn. She was weak, starved, and I could tell she'd been abused; I checked to see if she was alive and took her to a nearby hospital. I saw she had the best care, and then I left after Alec found me."

"But you didn't think she would've seen you save her?" Caius growled and Maureen stood out from behind Marcus. "She could've already told someone!"

"Who would believe a ten year old girl, starved half to death, with a nasty concussion on a night of accidents all due to newborn vampires?" Maureen stood up and Caius went over to strike her when Marcus kicked him away.

"You didn't have to do that."

"You should be grateful he helped you at all." The girl called Jane spoke up sharply.

"Jane that's enough; now Maureen if you'll kindly explain to everyone what you remember from that night we might answer a few questions?" Maureen cleared her throat and stood up straight.

"I don't remember much from that night; just the smell of smoke, screaming, my mother protecting me and then hitting my head. After that my vision was blurred and the last thing I remembered before waking up in the hospital was a pair of sad red eyes looking down at me, and when I woke up I found this on me." She showed them the ring on her finger and a few vampires gasped.

"That's…!" Jane and Heidi started but Marcus gave them a look and they quieted down.

"Do you remember anything else? What about your father?" Caius asked a bit more calm but stern. Maureen's eyes widened and her face fell; she felt like crying but held back her tears.

"That's alright Maureen; you've already told us what you can." Aro looked at Caius and gave him a serious look.

"I'm taking her to her room." Marcus took Maureen's hand and led her out of the throne room back to her room. He sat her down on the bed and held her to him.

"What's wrong Maureen?" She clutched his shirt and a tear fell from her eye.

"My father…wasn't the best parent."

"It's alright you don't have to say it." Maureen gave a small sigh and let Marcus stroke her hair. She relaxed in his arms and held onto him as he did her.

"Out of all the people in the world, you were the one to rescue me from a life that could've killed me."

"I'm glad it was I who found you and not some hungry newborn." Maureen giggled a bit and looked back up at Marcus.

"The one thing I remember about my mother was the nickname she gave me."

"And that's?"

"Rena, it sounds better than Maureen." She blushed at the name but Marcus smiled.

"It's a cute name, and it suits you." Maureen blushed even redder and then her stomach growled. Marcus smiled and played with her ponytail. "Sounds like you're hungry, what do you feel like eating?"

"My favorite is eggplant parmesan with hot tea."

"I'll call Gianna to make some for you."

"Gianna?"

"She's our human receptionist but she's also a great cook. Wait right here Rena…" he kissed her forehead and left the room closing the door behind him. Rena took the time to look around the room more closely, and decided to check out the view in the window. When she pulled the curtains open she could see the lights of the city and her eyes widened as she realized she'd been in the palace longer than she'd thought.

"Your luggage Maureen." Rena turned to see Felix and Alec holding her bags and set them down near the bed.

"Thanks." Alec went over to her and smiled slightly.

"I'm sorry about my sister, she's just not up with the fact that you're possibly Marcus's new mate after he lost Didyme." Rena's eyes widened again in curiosity that time.

"Didyme?"

"She was Marcus's first wife, but she died from an attack from the Romanians years ago. She was Jane's best friend, they were really close and the loss took a great toll on all of us."

"I see. Was she related to anyone here?"

"She was Aro's little sister, but he was changed when she was just a kid and he came back for her. She had the power of happiness, hell she brought life to this place…"

"Felix!" Alec gave him a warning tone seeing how Maureen was getting upset.

"I'm sorry Maureen, I didn't mean to upset you." He apologized and Maureen smiled.

"It's ok, I understand that it's hard to move on when you've lost a loved one. I felt the same way when I lost my grandparents last year; they found me a day after I'd been admitted to the hospital and adopted me. I don't let it get to me though, I'm just glad I was able to live a good life with them." Alec and Felix smiled and left the room just as the same woman who'd pushed Maureen into the throne room during the feeding came in with a hot plate of food and a cup full of tea.

"Oh it's you…I didn't realize you were with Marcus please forgive me." She talked as she set the plate down on the bed and the cup on the nightstand.

"I guess I can, you're Gianna right?"

"Yes, I work here for the Volturi."

"I know, how is it you're still human?"

"Oh they haven't decided yet if I'm going to be changed or eaten, I'm just hoping I'll be changed like you will." Rena took a few small bites of the food and then bigger bites since it tasted so good. "Wow I'm glad to see you have a good appetite." When she finished and drank all her tea Gianna took the empty dishes and smiled at Rena. "I'll see you around miss, goodnight."

"Goodnight." The woman left and Rena waited patiently for Marcus to return, all the while admiring the ring he'd given her. 'I didn't know I was replacing someone special to these people, does Marcus really want me?' she kept thinking to herself for an hour when Aro walked in.

"Still awake Maureen? It's almost midnight…"

"I took a long nap sir, I'm not really tired right now."

"I see, you can call me Aro if you wish. Don't worry about Marcus he's feeding right now; your scent's intoxicated him almost."

"I-I didn't realize it was that strong…"

"For some humans it is. Now tell me, why didn't you want me to tell Marcus about your condition?"

"I didn't want him to think I'd rushed over here just to see him…and then leave."

"I understand that, but you only have half a year to live; we're going to have to change you before then you know?"

"Yes…"

"Do you take any medication?"

"Yes, it's all in my bags. Aro can I ask you something personal?" he gave her a questioning look.

"It depends on the question."

"Well…Alec and Felix told me about…your sister. They said that she was a great friend to everyone here…" Aro looked down a bit and took Maureen's hand.

"She was, and I'm sorry for Jane's behavior earlier. She'll have to get used to the idea of you being here from now on and don't worry…you're not replacing my sister, it's just been a long while since any of us have seen Marcus this way. We thought he'd never move on…but you are something special, and we'll all see it soon I'm sure." He finished just as Marcus came in looking refreshed.

"Aro…?"

"It's alright brother I was giving her some company that's all. I'd advise you to get some rest Maureen, tomorrow's a big day." He smiled and left the room.

"Did you enjoy your meal?"

"It was delicious, maybe I should get some sleep now. Could you turn your head the other way please?" Marcus turned looking at the wall while Rena changed into her purple pajamas with silver stars on them. "You can look now." He turned and smiled.

"That's a good color on you."

"Grandma made this for me as a birthday present." She took out her ponytail and sat down on the bed. Marcus took the silk-lined bed spread and laid it over her tucking her in gently.

"Sleep well mia cara." He kissed her forehead and she grabbed his hand before he could get up.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" he smiled and nodded; after a few minutes Rena fell straight to sleep and Marcus rubbed her back to help her rest easily.

Hope you liked it cuz the next one brings in the mystery person and Maureen's encounter with them. It could bring out a lot of mysteries but more bonding with the guard and the wives. If you have any ideas for me please let me know, cuz I'm still a bit slow since the holidays are so close now.

Later!

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