AN: I will be on holiday for the next couple of weeks. I am hoping to be able to update on Fridays, but it will depend on internet access.

Here's the last chapter for this section :)

ALPHA MALE

The guards were glad to have their stolen items returned, but no one had bought Basileus' story that he'd found them in the castle grounds.

Renata had stayed true to her word and told no one what she knew, but somehow … and no one quite knew how … the guards had learned that it was Carlisle who had invaded their private rooms and taken their belongings.

Aro was forced to defend his brother. He eventually claimed that the new kid was involved, but with no way of backing up his assertions he only served to sever the guard's trust for him, too.

Magnus was still missing from the guard hall. It had been three days since he had removed himself from coven life and the guards complained bitterly that Aro had forced their master out. That was the Volturi rumour mill at work - the guards had come up with that all on their own. Aro had forced Magnus to resign, and so all of the upheaval - the women seeking equality, their dorms being infiltrated by a thief, the infighting between the guards - all of it was Aro's fault.

It was a shame, then, that Aro was the one running the guard hall at that time. Freyr refused to pick up extra time on duty, especially now her mate was no longer at her side. Caius called by, but he refused to help in any meaningful way.

Aro explained what had gone on with Carlisle but Caius already knew, though he couldn't remember how he had found out. No one could, they all 'just knew'.

"Do you know how to fix the issues in the guard hall?" Aro asked, looking to the guards who were clearly discussing their king in a less than positive light.

"Kill a kid an hour until it sorts itself out?" Caius suggested, grinning at Demetri, Alec, and Lucius as they strolled into the hall.

"Oi!" Aro exclaimed rushing to his sons. "You are on restriction!"

"Mom said we could come to the guard hall," Demetri answered for the two of them.

"We agreed she would keep you two at home today," Aro replied, though he was watching Lucius' reaction as he spoke. The boy could barely suppress his smile and Aro knew, he just knew, that the new kid had something to do with Sulpicia going back on their agreement. "I already have Felix and Jane to watch, I can't watch you two, as well!"

Felix scoffed from Aro's desk whilst Jane threw a look of disgust towards her father. They didn't need 'watching'. Jane was only with Aro to make use of Renata's protection. She trusted Lucius even less than Aro did, if such a thing were possible.

There was something about the way Lucius looked at Aro that scared him. Scared might be a bit strong … unnerved him, perhaps? It was a feeling Aro couldn't quite place. Deciding he was better off without the boy in his presence, he allowed Demetri and Alec to go in the guard hall, just to get rid of Lucius. "I don't want any fighting from you two today, understood?"

Demetri and Alec bounded away from their father without further word.

"I thought Demetri and Alec had fallen out?" Caius asked when Aro returned to his desk.

"They had, but as neither of them could remember why, they have kissed and made up," Aro explained.

He watched his sons move around the hall with Lucius. They followed the new boy like a pair of lost puppies and it made Aro anxious. "I need to work out what's going on with that kid, Caius. You will have to watch the guard hall today."

Caius laughed in his face. "No chance, brother, I have my own work to do. Just go and apologise to Magnus. Stop being such a stubborn prick!"

"Fuck Magnus," Aro replied, like a spoilt child. "He's the one being a prick, not me!"

"Aro, he won't come back until you go up there," Caius explained, lowering his voice so the guards, who were hanging as closely as they could to the masters' office, wouldn't hear. "I've been to see him …"

Aro cut him off. "You went to his chambers before supporting me here?!"

"HE hasn't done anything wrong, Aro!" Caius cursed how loudly he had replied, seeing the guards walking away smugly. "You are the one dragging this out, why would I support you in that?!"

"Because I am your king!" Aro said, getting to his feet and shoving Caius away. "WE started this coven, Caius. Magnus rode roughshod up the ranks. You should remember where your loyalties lie."

Caius shook his head. He wasn't getting into a row with Aro over status and he had no complaints over Magnus' appointment to master, either. "You want to pull rank with me? Seriously? Now?!" Caius scoffed. "Go ahead, Aro. See how much good it does you when you lose another master." With that, Caius walked away.

Aro was ready to call Caius back but a ruckus breaking out in the guard hall took his attention. For fuck's sake! He stalked into the guard hall, expecting silence to fall by his presence alone - as it usually would.

Not this time.

The guards were too intent on fighting and they had lost so much respect for Aro, for the entire Volturi family with Carlisle's treachery. It took Freyr rushing into the fray for anyone to stop their argument.

"Explain!" Aro ordered, growling ferociously at Afton who dared to continue his complaint with Turk.

Turk was happy to explain now Afton had released him. "That idiot thinks he's next in line now you've sacked Magnus," he said, jabbing an angry finger in Phillipe's direction. "If anyone is next in line, it would be Lev."

"Like fuck would it be Lev!" Afton roared. "I've been here longer than any of you. If anyone is the next alpha, it's me!"

"I've been here longer than you!" Turk shot back with Odi backing him up.

Afton burst out laughing. "You are giftless, Turk!" he said, as though that discounted Turk from the running, completely forgetting Caius was also one of the 'giftless' and had been a master from the very beginning of the Volturi's conception.

"Why would it be another man?!" Corin asked. "Why not one of the women?!"

That wild notion had all the men laughing in unison.

"As if that even needs an answer," Afton said, voicing the opinion of the male members of the guard. He had to duck pretty sharpish as Chelsea offered her mate a hefty slap to his head before the two of them broke into a separate argument.

"We need Magnus back," Freyr sternly told her co-master, expecting Aro to put aside his foolish pride and apologise to her mate.

Aro huffed. "Demetri, go and tell Magnus what's going on in here and that he needs to grow up and come back to work."

Demetri scurried away as fresh arguments broke out behind him.

Freyr's mouth hung open in shock at just how unaware Aro was of the issue he had created with her mate. "You think Magnus will come because you call?" she asked in astonishment. "You really don't know him, do you?" Freyr started walking away shaking her head, leaving the guards to their argument.

Aro wasn't having that. "Freyr, these are your guards, too, you know!"

"I do know!" Freyr responded just as forcefully. "But you have pissed them off, Aro, YOU. If you want them toeing the line, you need to appease them!"

"Where are you going?!" Aro called, holding Afton back as Felix took hold of Turk. "FREYR!"

Freyr looked back over her shoulder to see her guard hall in disarray and her guards at war with one another over who would take her husband's seat at head of the guard hall. "I'm done, Aro. DONE!"

Aro scowled at the lack of support coming from the masters. When Demetri returned to tell him Magnus had slammed the door in his face, Aro was also 'done'. "For fuck's sake!" he roared, separating guards and throwing them to the four corners of the room.

Once everyone had settled down, Aro tried to explain what was going on in the guard hall. "I have not sacked Magnus. He's taking a break from his duties …" he started, only to be cut off by yet more arguing!

"QUIET!" he bellowed.

It was rare for Aro to shout at the guards. It just wasn't his style. It certainly had them all sitting up and listening. As he looked around his staff, Aro caught Lucius' eye. The boy was thoroughly enjoying the coven king's downfall.

I am so done with this shit! Aro thought, coming up with a plan to force Caius into helping him with the guards. "All of you follow me, NOW!"

…

Marcus casually strolled into the guard hall and took a seat next to his co-master. "Busy?"

Aro looked to Marcus and gestured to his cup with his chin. "Yes, I am engaged in wishful thinking," he said.

"Looks more like wishful drinking," Marcus said disapprovingly. "You won't find an answer at the bottom of your glass, Aro."

Without responding to Marcus out loud, I don't need your moralising, he thought, Aro defiantly refilled his glass with bloodwine.

Marcus raised his eyebrows to his co-master's actions, but chose not to comment on them. "It's very quiet in here," he said, looking around the completely empty guard hall.

The guard hall was never empty. Since the Volturi first built a guard hall, initially little more than a wooden barn, it was always occupied.

Aro sighed. "I've thrown the guards in the dungeons," he admitted, knowing Marcus wouldn't be happy to hear it.

"All of them?!" Marcus asked, surprised. He removed the cup from Aro's hand just to get his attention.

Aro gestured to Renata. "Clearly not all of them," he replied rather snippily.

Renata, for her part, stayed quiet.

"They were fighting," Aro excused, snatching his cup back.

Marcus looked down his nose to the younger master, exuding disapproval. "If your father finds out the guards are fighting …"

Aro wasn't listening to any judgements from Marcus, particularly not if he was going to come in heavy with references to the creator! "What are you trying to say?" he asked, cutting Marcus off. "It sounds like you are questioning my judgement, my leadership no less."

"Aro, listen …"

"This is not a good time to give me an order, brother." Aro placed heavy emphasis on the 'brother'.

Marcus, and even Magnus at times, were prone to playing 'adult' with Aro and Caius due to their advanced years and Aro was in no place to hear it.

Marcus shook his head, appraising Aro as he did so. "Caius told me you are in the mood to pull rank," he said, sounding like he was addressing one of the twins. "You may be king, Aro, but I always have the full backing of the creator. Basileus is my good friend, as I am his. Which one do you think he will support in a quarry between us?"

Aro knocked his drink back in one. Yeah, he'd support you, as fucking always! He wasn't quite ready to concede to Marcus, however, and kept his thunderous expression fixed firmly on the glass he rolled between his hands.

Aro may not have said much out loud, but Marcus had been the wise voice of reason throughout their eternity and he could read Aro like a book. He's listening. He reasoned, knowing Aro wouldn't do anything to force Basileus' involvement when he was already in the wrong.

"There is a very simple solution to all of this," Marcus told his co-master. "Magnus."

Aro scoffed. "HE," he said scathingly, "knows what's going on but he refuses to come back," Aro continued chuntering about how useless the masters of HIS coven were and what a crock of shit it was that HIS staff were so defective.

Marcus, like Magnus, Caius, and Freyr before him, was done. "Then I will leave you to deal with the guards."

"Marcus!" Aro called after him. "You are a master of this coven - it's as much your problem as mine."

Marcus smiled, it was as close to a laugh that anyone had seen from Marcus since he'd lost Didyme. "On the contrary, you caused this, it's your problem - apologise to Magnus," he suggested.

"No."

The smile immediately dropped from Marcus' face. "The next time Felix butts heads with you, I want you to remember where the poor child has learnt his attitude from."

Caius rushed in, passing Marcus on the way. One look to the elder master and Caius knew Aro was still being a prick. Not that he needed Marcus to tell him that after what he had just found in his dungeons.

"Why is my dungeon full of guards?!" he asked, demanding an answer from Aro who sat sullenly at the bar.

"I have other work to do you know?! I can't babysit the fucking guards night and day!" Aro replied. Though as his 'other work' appeared to be getting pissed, alone, Caius was hardly going to take Aro seriously.

"So you locked them up?!" Caius said, wondering if Aro truly had lost his mind. It made him nervous, which wasn't a usual feeling for Caius, but as when Aro became stressed with work he tended to self destruct, Caius had good reason to worry.

"What else was I supposed to do?" Aro asked, throwing his hands in the air. "It was that or kill a couple!"

He really thought it was partly Caius' fault the guards were in the dungeons as he had refused to help in the guard hall. But after his conversation with Marcus, he decided not to voice that, lest he end up with Basileus at his door for falling in his duty and alienating every other member of the coven in the process.

"This can't go on, Aro." Caius pulled his co-master to his feet. "Swallow your pride and apologise to Magnus."

Aro didn't want to. He knew he was being childish but that didn't change his feelings.

As if reading his mind, Caius gave him the final push. "If you don't go to Magnus, Marcus will go to Basileus. You know he will."

Oh fuck. Aro knew Caius was right. He sloped off to Magnus' quarters as Caius headed back down to his over crowded dungeons.

Magnus looked Aro up and down when he opened the door. "Fuck off," he said, trying to close it again.

Aro stuck his foot in the way and pushed back. "Don't treat me like a cunt, because then I have to treat you like a cunt and I am MUCH better at being a cunt than you are."

Magnus smirked despite himself. "Pulling rank again, my king?" he asked, throwing Aro a withering look.

Aro held out his hands pleadingly. "I'm your friend," he said, sounding hurt at such by Magnus' assertions.

Magnus let Aro in, though he asked Renata to wait outside. Aro may have been content with the guard knowing every inner inch of his personal life, but Magnus wasn't so keen. The guards took up enough of his time as it was.

"I thought you were my boss?" Magnus said, still looking to Aro expectantly for some sort of apology.

Aro smiled coyly in return. "I'm your bossy friend."

You bastard! Magnus thought as he burst out laughing. "Lets hear it then." You aren't getting away with all of this without apologising to me.

Aro huffed. Isn't coming here enough?! he thought. "I am very sorry that you took offence when I backed our women with their latest little scheme."

"That's a bullshit apology and you know it," Magnus replied, taking a seat and watching his co-master. "I'm sure I've heard such a shit apology from your sons in the past. I gave them a bollocking at the time … now I see they were just copying you."

"You know, this is all Lucius' fault …"

Magnus looked away in disgust. All previous good humour left him. "You cannot blame that child for your failings, Aro. You are the one who crossed me. Lucius isn't yanking your strings!"

Fuck me, when did you become a grown up?! Aro thought, thinking Magnus sounded more like Marcus at that moment.

For a while Aro had viewed Magnus as a playmate, someone who would joke with him. When he looked at the rather stern looking juggernaut sat judging him he started to see why his own sons were so fearful of pissing him off. He joined Magnus on the sofa. "I was a prick, we both know I was a prick. I won't be a prick again for a while."

"I wanted those changes made, Aro," Magnus explained. He was genuinely hurt that Aro had gone over his head, worse than that, he had excluded him. It was the first time since his appointment that Magnus felt he'd lost Aro's backing. "I only resisted in the first place because I was following the doctrine I inherited from you and Caius."

"I know that now."

Aro hadn't intended to actually piss Magnus off. Not properly, anyway. He was 'playing' and he'd thought Magnus would take it on the chin - like all of the other times. When Aro thought about it, he realised that, actually, he had pushed Magnus too far. "I should have consulted you. I'm sorry."

He waited for a moment letting his words sink in before he pushed a little further. "Will you come back to the guard hall before I kill all the guards. Please."

Magnus softened just hearing about his guards. "I do hope you haven't damaged any of them?"

"They are all on lock down in the dungeons."

"ALL of them?"

Why do you all place so much emphasis on the 'all'? "Except Renata … yes." Aro caught Magnus' clear annoyance. "They were pissing me off!" he offered by way of explanation. It was weak, he knew it.

Magnus scoffed, wearing the same expression of disapproval Marcus had worn earlier that day. "You really are a prick."

"I know."

Magnus dragged his finger through his long hair and secured it at the nape of his neck with a tie. "I was coming back today anyway," he told Aro, enjoying the reaction in his co-master. You never would have apologised to me if I'd told you that, would you! "Your old man came around earlier and he gave me a compelling reason to return to my post."

Aro grimaced. "What was that?"

"He was going to beat the daylights out of me if I didn't."

"You're right, that's pretty compelling," Aro nodded to himself. I probably came pretty close to suffering the same consequences, he thought with a shudder.

"I'm keeping Carlisle out of the guard hall for a while," Magnus announced. "I heard what happened."

Aro couldn't argue with that. Though he doubted his brother would be darkening the guard hall any time soon anyway. He still can't walk. "That was Lucius' doing …"

"Do you realise how petty you sound?" Magnus asked, wincing for effect. "You hardly know him, Aro. He's just a child. At least wait until you have proof before you string him up."

Aro tried to wave Magnus away, but Magnus continued.

"You know, Aro, it sounds like you are jealous of him."

Jealous?! If only you knew how glad I am to have LESS of my father's attention! Aro couldn't voice that because then he would have to explain why and he just couldn't admit to Magnus that he had submitted to his father. I should, perhaps, be grateful to the boy … Basileus is certainly less involved in my day to day life now he has the boy to focus his attention on.

"What do you think of Lucius?"

"I like him, he's a nice kid."

Hearing that godforsaken phrase spooked Aro. He went straight to the door to fall back under Renata's protective power. Magnus is right, I need to wait until I have proof, he thought, but I won't put myself at risk whilst I find it.

Caius looked relieved to see Magnus and Aro coming down his dungeon stairwell. "Are you taking them?" he asked Magnus, hopefully. "I have better things to do than babysit the entire fucking guard!"

"Don't blame me," Magnus bustled. "I didn't put them here!"

"I'm not blaming you, I'm blaming my king!" Caius glowered at Aro as he spoke for causing him the unnecessary stress of having to involve himself in guard life.

"I've apologised!" Aro shot back.

Caius reared up, ready to reply just as snottily as Aro had.

"Caius, don't." Magnus wasn't in the mood to play piggy in the middle between the masters. After talking at length with Marcus about his position in the castle, and how he was viewed, he planned on taking a much firmer stance going forward. He was determined to convince Basileus that he was more of a 'Marcus' than a 'Caius'.

He walked the length of the newborn hall. Up and down, eyeballing his guards as he went. "I take three days off and you all end up on lockdown?!"

Magnus stopped at the door, but though he had taken the keys from Caius, he didn't unlock it. "What kind of contortions are your brains doing right now to make this seem reasonable to you?"

Afton and Turk looked particularly concerned as they wondered if their master knew they had been vying for his position in the guard hall.

Oh he knew alright! And he was pissed off to be treated with such disloyalty.

"I hear there has been some in-fighting to see who would be the alpha in the guard hall."

Afton gulped. Oh fuck. So did everyone else for that matter - whether they had been putting themselves forward for the role or supporting someone else's cause, they all knew they had displayed a shocking lack of loyalty towards their master, their favourite master!

It was weird, though. The guards bloody loved Magnus and Freyr being in charge and they would never in their right minds want someone else in post. Since they had been thrown in the dungeons not a single one of them could explain their earlier argument. It was as though someone else had controlled their mouths, their thoughts, and now that someone was gone they were left confused and without a logical excuse.

Not that Magnus was interested in any excuses from them, anyway. "Let me set you straight: It is MY guard hall, I AM THE ALPHA!" he roared.

Every single guard jumped to attention. So did Aro and Caius, much to their own surprise.

Satisfied with the response, Magnus made to leave.

"Are you going to let us out, Master?" Chelsea asked. She was so often the spokesperson for the guards.

Magnus put the keys in his pocket. "In the morning," he said, back to his usual tone.

Caius looked askance to Aro, but as Aro had now handed the guards back to Magnus, he wasn't going to help Caius get them out of the dungeons. You didn't help me, he thought petulantly.

"Magnus!" Caius called, flashing to his co-master's side. "What the hell am I supposed to do with a dungeon full of guards?!"

Magnus paused for a moment, until he came up with an idea. I'll put you fuckers back in your place! He went to Caius' torture room, collected an armful of goblets, and brought them back to the guard.

The guards, bless them, thought they would be getting a shot of dungeon blood, or bloodwine, at least. They were confused to see the goblets were empty.

Magnus smiled to his co-masters - both of whom had realised his plans. "Caius is collecting data on vampiric babies. You can leave when you have filled your cup!"