I grew antsy the farther away from Volterra that we got. Alice seemed to be the only one who sensed this, and she watched me closely out of the corner of her eye throughout the long journey back to Forks. I tried not to fidget.

Edward was too engrossed in Bella to really notice my unease, which was probably for the best. He probably didn't want to hear my inner monologue of I want to go back followed shortly by No, shut up.

Needless to say I was very glad when we finally arrived back in the rainy town of Forks, Washington, even though I was so restless I wanted to rip off my own skin. If this was even half of what Bella felt while Edward was gone, I didn't blame her for jumping off a cliff.

The rest of the Cullens were waiting in the airport when we got off the plain, and I was struck with the realization that I would shortly have to explain why the three Volturi kings kept visiting our house. I had a feeling that would be an awkward conversation.

Rose and Emmett had immediately rushed to wrap me in a bone-crushing hug, and they didn't release me until I gasped, "Can't. Breathe!"

"Sorry, kiddo," Emmett said, ruffling my hair. "We were really worried about you. Running off to the Volturi with Alice and Bella? What were you thinking, you could have been killed!"

Rose was equally distraught, but I didn't quite blame them - they were practically my parents, since it was them that I latched on to when the Cullens had first found me, collapsed and bloody on the forest floor.

"Never do anything like that again," She said sternly.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Yeah, don't worry, I won't."

All things considered, the Cullens took the news of my mates incredibly well. They were supportive, if anything else. I suspected this was largely in part due to the mate bond, which was all but sacred among vampires. They were less welcoming of Felix and Demetri, when they showed up a day after Alice, Bella, and I brought Edward back from Volterra.

Demetri's explanation as to their presence had been short and straight to the point. "The masters sent us to be your temporary guard, as Master Caius in particular was concerned for your safety."

I hadn't seen hide nor hair of them since, but I knew they were around. The prickling feeling of being watched was enough to tell me that. I didn't have much time to think on their presence, however; in between school and homework I didn't have time to dwell on much, not even on the fact that the three most powerful vampires in the world were mated to me.

At least, I didn't until one of them showed up on my doorstep. In hindsight, this did explain why Alice had been acting so strange.

"Rowan! It's for you!" Emmett yelled, after he had opened the door.

"Coming!" I called, barely louder than normal volume. Considering I lived in a house full of vampires, it wasn't really necessary. I jogged down the stairs, and stopped in my tracks at the bottom.

Marcus stood in the doorway, hands tucked into a long black coat. He offered me a small smile. "Hello, Rowan."

"Marcus," I said, smiling in spite of myself. I didn't trust him, I didn't trust any of them - that was something they had to earn - but I couldn't stop the effect of the mate bond no matter how much I tried.

Marcus, thankfully, didn't seem to expect much of anything from me, not even a hug. He seemed satisfied with the smile as he stepped inside. Alice suddenly appeared, a smile on her face. "Marcus, what a pleasant surprise!"

"With your gift, Alice, I doubt it," He said with an amused smile.

"Let me take your coat," She said, ignoring the look I shot her as I realized she must have known Marcus was coming all along.

"Thank you," He said, removing his coat and passing it to her. Underneath he wasn't dressed extravagantly, simply wearing a deep red button up tucked into black dress pants. His focus was now solely on me, and though it was evident he wished to initiate some sort of physical contact he respectfully kept his distance. "How are you, my heart?"

"Okay," I said truthfully. I felt better than I had all week; his presence soothed the irritating, near-painful feeling of being separated from my mates.

"I'm glad," He said with a warm smile, and I got the feeling that he meant it. "I take it Alice didn't tell you I was coming?"

I let out a soft laugh. "No, she didn't. She tends to omit things like this from our conversations, funnily enough."

"How annoying that must be," He said, amusement tinting his voice.

I caught Alice's eye, resisting the urge to roll my eyes at the ginormous grin she sent me. "Oh, you have no idea. There are worse surprises, though."

"Oh, most definitely. I hope I didn't interrupt anything important?"

"No, not at all. Just homework, but that can wait. How about we take a walk?" I suggested tentatively, wanting to speak to him away from prying ears.

"Certainly. That sounds lovely, my heart," Marcus said.

"Great, let me just grab my coat." I grabbed my coat from the closet, pulling it on and zipping it up to ward off the chill that the outdoors offered. I noticed that he had, needlessly, put his own coat back on.

"Have fun!" Alice practically sang from the living room. I simply shook my head at her as Marcus held open the door for me, following after once I had left the house.

I waited until we were an appropriate distance away to speak. "I didn't expect any of you to visit so early."

"We feel just as antsy as you do, my heart. The bond is not one sided. It's likely you feel it worse, since you're mated to all three of us. Caius wished to come first, he's been very near unbearable as of late, but Aro wanted someone more… level-headed, I suppose, to make the first visit," Marcus said. "He's aware that we put on on edge."

"He told you?" I asked quietly, shoving my hands into my pockets. "About what he saw?"

"He felt it prudent that we know. Caius was outraged that someone had harmed you - we all were - and it took both Aro and I plus Alec to prevent him from hunting down your father and killing him," Marcus divulged.

I shivered at this. "I hope you don't think less of me."

"For something completely out of your control? Certainly not. If anything, Aro feels tremendously guilty that he scared you. Otherwise he likely would have came out here himself."

"It wasn't his fault. And I'm not scared of him, I just…" I trailed off, uncertain.

"You don't trust him yet," Marcus supplied.

"Yeah. It's not your fault, or his. Knee jerk reaction, you know," I said. "I'm sorry."

"I know, my heart, and there's nothing to be sorry for. We're not angry with you for something that's not your fault."

I decided it was time to steer the conversation into safer waters. "How long are you staying?"

"Until Wednesday. Caius has insisted on visiting next, so he'll likely arrive sometime the week after," He told me. "So we have plenty of time to do whatever you'd like."

I had no earthly idea as to what sort of activities a 3,000 year old vampire would enjoy. "What do you like to do?"

"Truthfully, I spend the majority of my free time reading, though I do enjoy sitting in on the guard's movie night every so often," He said. "What do you enjoy?"

"Same as you, I guess. Reading, watching movies or TV, and drawing, even though I'm not very good at it," I said with a shrug.

"Well, we can do whatever you'd like. Just name it," He said.

I made a quick decision, heading off our current course and deeper into the woods. "I want to show you something."

"What is it?"

"You'll see," I said, leading him through the woods towards a large tumble of rocks with little difficulty - I knew these woods like the back of my hand, perhaps better than that.

"Rocks?" I could hear the polite bewilderment in his voice, and smiled slightly.

"It's better at the top," I told him with a grin, pushing myself up and on to the first large stone. I glanced back, seeing the tenseness in his stance, and immediately knew that he was worried. "Oh, relax. I've climbed these rocks a thousand times. And what's fun without a little risk?"

Marcus shook his head lightly, disbelieving, though there was a slight smile on his face. "Very well. I'll follow behind you."

"Good. I showed Emmett and he just jumped straight to the top. That's much less fun." I climbed easily up on to the next rock - I barely had to think about where I was going, I had climbed up this rock pile so often. Though it was probably in Marcus' best interests to not know that I had broken my arm the first time I attempted climbing up.

"I never took you as the daring type."

"I willingly walked into the castle of the most dangerous vampires in the world and then put myself in harm's way in an attempt to save Bella," I said, pulling myself up onto the last rock before the top. "I'd say that's pretty daring."

Marcus chuckled. "Fair enough."

I reached the top, crawling over to the other side of the rock to give Marcus room to sit. I let my legs swing down over the edge, enjoying the peaceful sounds of the forest, even though the cold bit eagerly into my uncovered hands.

"I can see why you like it up here," Marcus said after a while. I glanced over at him - he looked calm, and at ease, which was much different than when I had first seen him. He looked alive now - as alive as a vampire could look - and not as if the weight of world had been placed unwillingly onto his shoulders.

"I found this rock pile back when we first moved to Forks. I had been with them for barely a year at that point, and I was in a very fragile state of mind. I still expected Carlisle or Emmett or Jasper to snap one day and hit me," I said softly, watching as he stiffened. "They never did, of course. But I always expected it."

Marcus was quiet, but incredibly tense, and on impulse I reached out and placed my hand over his. I hadn't realized what I had done until I was touching him, and we both stared at our conjoined hands in slight surprise. Quicker than I could register, he flipped his hand over so that his fingers could curl around mine, and he didn't speak as he waited for me to continue.

"I found this place when, after one afternoon, I got overwhelmed. I was angry that we had to leave Alaska, because I was comfortable there. It was familiar, but the Cullens had to leave and they weren't going to leave me behind. I was part of the family. Anyway, I stormed off, into the woods, and just wandered around for a while. And I came across this place. It was just… so peaceful. Calm. I tried to climb it, fell, and broke my arm."

I chuckled at this. "Carlisle was there as soon as it happened, he took me back to the house and fixed me up. He wasn't angry that I ran off or had gotten hurt. He was just concerned. And that's when I realized that he cared. He genuinely, actually cared. It didn't magically solve all of my problems, but… I didn't keep pulling away after that."

"Do you trust us?" Marcus asked. It was a simple question, but weighted, and full of the raw sort of emotion that only surfaced around those you truly valued.

I hesitated. To say yes would be a lie, but to say no would be one, too. "I'm… getting there."

"Good." He gave me a smile, and though I knew it wasn't quite the answer he wanted, it was close enough. And it was comforting to know that he was okay with that.

Wow, this chapter really was trying to resist being written at every turn. But I managed to wrangle it into submission. Thank you all for your comments - I'm so glad that you're enjoying this story, and I hope that you'll stick around through Rowan's journey! If you like my story, please consider following/favoriting and leaving a comment, as it really does mean a lot to me. Until next time!