FELIX'S POV

I was fully aware of the grins on my friends' faces. Those dicks.

I focused again on the small, beautiful brunette in front of me. My Princess. The title had a nice ring to it.

"Milady. My name is Felix Volturi. I was changed by Master Aro, and since then I have been part of the Elite Guard. I have no gift except enhanced fighting abilities and superior strength. I am honoured to call you my Princess, and I'll be delighted to serve, protect and honour you like you deserve" I told her, and she smiled a beautiful smile, a blush colouring her cheeks.

She slightly inclined her head. "And I'd be honoured to have you as a friend and follower" she said.

I smiled and bowed again. Her eyes were truly the window to her soul. She was so sincere and pure. Perfect, beautiful and clever.

I went to speak again, but a throat being cleared stopped me. I looked toward the source of the sound, finding Master Marcus staring at me with a confused and slightly annoyed expression. I bowed quickly after he spoke, dismissing me, "Thank you for expressing you loyalty to my daughter, Felix. You can go enjoy the evening."

"Good evening, Master. Princess." I stepped back and went to one of the tables where blood was served.

I felt the exact moment when Bella's eyes turned away from my form.

Why was Master Marcus annoyed? I asked myself. I tried to think of a reason for his anger, but I found none. Maybe he was just annoyed because I met Bella before him, and he didn't know how I treated her. Yeah, that was definitely the reason. He surely gave Dem the same stare. Although I couldn't know if he actually did. I had been too occupied with admiring our new Princess to pay attention.

I refilled my glass of blood and went to take a sip, but a powerful slap on my back nearly made me spill the entire liquid.

"She's nice! Very beautiful, also" Santiago told me enthusiastically.

For some unknown reason I was disturbed by his words. They triggered something primal in me that encouraged me to punch him in his face. I decided to ignore that strange instinct.

"She indeed is" Dem confirmed, "I'm sure she'll be a just, active and clever Princess."

"Of that I have no doubt" I added.

"I wonder how the Cullens will take this new bit of news" Santiago snickered.

"Those two have taken it pretty well" Dem pointed out, and we all looked to the two vampresses, who were now engaged in an enthusiastic conversation with Bella.

"I think that Carlisle will be surprised, but happy. He was never one to hold grudges against anyone, no matter what. Esme will be the same. I don't know her well but it's clear she thinks of Bella as a daughter" Dem continued.

"I'm pretty sure the one we should worry about is Edward Cullen" I said and my friends nodded in agreement.

Before we could resume our talk, Master Aro's voice resonated in the air.

"Jane! Alec! How could you?" he shouted, disbelieving and angry. All the attention was now focused on him and the twins. Both of them looked ashamed and mortified. Jane was talking with Chelsea and Afton, while Alec's hand was firmly grasped between Aro's ones.

Both twins were now standing before our Master. They hung their heads.

The rest of us was confused. The twins rarely received any punishment, and surely not by Aro. But now, he looked livid.

What was going on?

My confusion must have been reflected in my face and in others' ones, because Master Aro growled, "They used their power on Isabella" he said, too furious to remember that the Princess didn't like to be called with her full name.

Every guard member released a collective gasp. All of us looked horrified. Caius and Marcus looked as livid as their brother. Marcus growled savagely, and I found myself echoing the sound. His eyes snapped briefly in my direction, and they were pitch black. A constant rumble was being emitted by his chest, and it only stopped when Bella flung herself into his arms.

"No! Don't be angry with them! They had my permission!" she said frantically, trying to save the twins from a severe punishment, if the Masters' faces were any indication.

"Bella…" Caius started, but she cut him off. "No. they had my permission, and I knew what their gifts would do to me if they worked—"

"Wait, you mean they don't work?" Caius asked, astonished.

She blushed then. So damn cute. "They don't."

Everyone was gobsmacked. It was unthinkable. The witch twins, two of the most powerful vampires in the world, neutralised by a human.

I immediately scolded myself for that thought. Bella was no simple human. She was my Princess. And—"The most powerful human in the world" I uttered, not realising I had spoken out loud until everyone shifted their gazes to stare at me.

Bella blushed even more brightly. Her blush was beautiful, like the rest of her body. Unlike other girls', her blush was only on her cheeks, and not on her chest also, so that she didn't look like a red tomato.

Obviously I wasn't staring at her bare chest to know that. Of course not.

"That's an exaggeration…" she muttered, so low that if I hadn't been a vampire I wouldn't have been able to catch that.

Caius caressed her head, "It's not, my dear. You truly are powerful. Not powerful like those idiots who run the human world nowadays. You have true power" he told her.

Bella was probably going to burn alive because of all our stares.

"Thanks" she whispered, smiling shyly.

Our attention was brought back to the twins by Master Aro's sigh. "What to do with you?" he sighed again.

Bella went to grab Aro's hand. Her confidence was amazing. Granted, our masters themselves had told her to be familiar with them, but for her to adapt so easily… simply amazing.

"Please, Uncle. I gave my permission. We had even discussed the terms of this try" she begged, the turned to extend the beg to Caius and Marcus.

As I looked into Aro's eyes—as well as Marcus and Caius' eyes—I knew they had lost. I grinned inwardly. Nobody could say no to Bella when she made those sweet puppy eyes. Adorable.

"Alright" Master Aro muttered, still not entirely convinced. Bella then smiled a radiant smile that immediately caused all of us to smile, too. As I said, adorable.

"And, since we are already talking about this…" Bella started, then turned to us guards, "If any of you desires to use your powers on me, you can. But at these conditions: you must tell me beforehand and wait for my verbal approval to proceed, you must tell me beforehand what your gift will cause me, you must stop as soon as you realise your gist is working, or not."

We were all awed. Bella was speaking with such confidence, such authority, that we all found ourselves bowing and muttering "Yes, Princess" at the same time, just as we did when one of the Masters issued a direct order.

Caius was the first to come to his senses. "Very well. Now that this issue has been taken care of" he said, "Let us return to our food and blood."

While everyone went to refill the glasses of blood and Bella went to pile on her plate some Milanese risotto, I noticed Marcus staring at me with a concentrated expression. As soon as he realised I had noticed, he went to speak with Aro and Caius.

I shrugged his weird behaviour off. It must have been strange for him to interact so openly with us after decades of shutting off. At least, that was what I thought his uncomfortableness came from.

Bella went to speak with the brothers, and they began discussing the ceremony when all guard members would pledge their loyalty to her.

I went to speak with some lower guards and from that point the night flew by flawlessly, with lots of talking and joking and eating.

We all wished Bella a good night when, two hours later, at 1 am, she declared she would retire for the night. Her sisters followed her, and soon the rest of us went back to our own chambers or went on guard duty. The blood had ended half an hour ago, and more than two thirds of Bella's food had been consumed.

As soon as I closed the door of my private chambers, I felt a pang of pain in my chest. It wasn't unbearable, but it was certainly distressful. I rubbed at my chest, trying to ease the uncomfortable feeling, and suddenly memories replayed in my mind.

Bella charming me. Her beautiful eyes. Her smile. Her beauty. Marcus' piercing stare. His confusion and anger. His protectiveness toward Bella.

Marcus' gift was reading relationships.

"Oh, God" I breathed, falling to my knees.

Realisation dawned upon me.

Suddenly, I was being shaken by two pairs of hands. I looked up and saw both Santiago and Demetri looking down at me with worry.

"Dude! What's wrong?" Santiago asked, scanning the space for a possible threat.

"She—" I gasped, but I couldn't finish the sentence.

"Who?" Dem asked, shaking me some more.

I bolted up, going to sit on my leather sofa. They stared at me. The pain was still in my chest, so I rubbed it to try to ease it, even though I knew full well that nothing could ever make that stop, except her.

They followed my movement, and their eyes bulged out after a second, when they, too, realised.

"Dude…" Demetri breathed.

Then, I looked at them straight in the eye. These words I was uttering felt so right—

"She's my mate."

He finally realised that! But... Bella still has no clue!

QUESTION: would you like to have a special chapter in Marcus' POV, so that he can tell us what he saw in Felix's bonds? Please tell me in the reviews, and also tell me what you think of the story! Kisses!