Day Four

The only other time I've had this comfortable of a rest was the nights that my daughter would sleep on my stomach after a long night of binging on movies and stuffing ourselves with ice cream. I woke up still surrounded by Aro and Marcus. I was going to kiss them but decided it would be best to brush my teeth first.

"Good morning my dear," Marcus mumbled while kissing my neck. I moaned in happiness and snuggled against him.

"Morning," I replied. They were like blankets. Cold when you first wrap them around you, but by the time its morning, they are warm and impossible to leave.

"You guys are so freaking comfortable. Can we just stay here forever?" I chuckled. Aro squeezed me gently and kissed the top my head. My happiness I felt was so extreme. I think we must be amplifying that feeling since everyone seems to be comfortable. We laid there for a couple hours in utter peace while talking about random things. Even Caius was pretty chatty, although I felt the continuous jealousy that erupted out of him. I don't know if jealousy was just a strong feeling he had right now, or if we were both just more accepting of the bond so I felt it. Hopefully it means he's more accepting of the bond. Marcus said that both his brothers have become much more receptive although they both still have reservations.

Caius did not openly say it, but he did not seem happy that he didn't get to be a part of the snuggle pile. I'm happy though that he was sticking to his guns. It made him more trustworthy than Aro, because he showed that he does care about others. I'm still unsure if Aro can really even feel compassion. Aro is the type of person who could talk sweet to you and act like he cares- while simultaneously tearing out your organs and playing jump rope with your intestines.

When the need to go to the restroom overpowered my desire to stay, I made sure to kiss Caius on the cheek before leaving. He actually relaxed and gave a small smile in return. I could've leapt for joy. When I got ready for the day, I came out to see Aro starting to work on breakfast while Marcus and Caius read at the table. I picked up Teddy Bear and let him purr on my lap.

"Alright guys this is really important. If I go to Italy, my cats are coming too," I said in a light but firm tone. Caius actually reached out to pet the head of Teddy Bear.

"I don't understand why you would waste your time on such pathetic creatures. This one never stops harassing me while you are gone." Although he spoke all mean like, he certainly didn't seem to hate my cat.

"Oh shush Caius, you like that cat more than you care to admit. I think it would be good to have a feline like that who loves unconditionally. Maybe it'll help with Caius's bitter attitude," Aro teased. Caius growled a bit but said nothing.

"Also," Aro continued, "I've grown fond of the spunkier cat. What was his name?"

"Space Junk."

"Ah, what an odd name. He's very entertaining to watch though, and I appreciate that he prefers to sit beside the person as opposed to getting all over them like your other cat does. It keeps my clothes clean. I think we could make arrangements for them to come live with us. Especially since we are going to be redesigning our rooms." I tilted my head in confusion.

"We plan on combining our rooms before your arrival," Marcus informed me.

"We will also be getting one, much bigger bed. I nearly fell off of the one in her room," Caius interjected angrily.

"Yes, and we each have a bunch of other things we would like to do, but those are surprises," Aro finished excitedly. I smiled. It was so nice to see them each animated about the idea of me being there.

"Alright good, so cats are a yes. Whaat about when I get a dog?" At that I felt disgust from all three.

"We will not let vermin in our home," Caius seethed.

"I'm fine with most animals you might want to have, but not dogs," Aro added on. All three pairs of eyes pinned me with disdainful looks. I put my hands up defensively.

"Okay, okay. We'll bench the dog idea for right now. Just know that in this eternity I will be getting a dog, and it will be in staying indoors. I have always wanted a dog, but haven't had the chance to get one yet." After a couple minutes Marcus nodded. Caius on the other hand looked like he had much more to say about the subject, but a scowl from both Aro and Marcus prevented him from saying anything. Aro handed me a plate of omelets and a glass of orange juice, before joining us at the table.

I put Teddy Bear on the ground so I could eat. As I relished in the amazing taste of the food, we switched the topic temporarily to plans about the day. We decided to go out to lunch, and have Aro cook for dinner. The whole thing with moving to Italy still stuck in my head though.

"So, what do you plan to do with your subordinates when they all find out who their future queen is?"

"Most of our top guard have seen, and felt, your power. They know that you are immune to our venom and that you are an immortal," Caius began.

"They're main concern is that you are too soft minded. They know that you are more powerful than my brothers and I, but still you are like a human. You have compassion and warmth towards others that could impede your judgment," Aro sighed, "They will not be thrilled to find out that not only are you our mate, but you also might hold power in decisions we make for the clan. Regardless the highest level guards' loyalty will not waver, especially since Chelsea has bonded everyone so closely to me, and it would not be a big loss to dispose of those below us if they falter." I finished drinking my orange juice and placed the glass on the empty plate.

"What do you mean that I 'might help make decisions for the clan'? I will not agree to move there without being given power equal to you Aro. I have been a damn good leader of my group since I was a child. You should send me something about all the customs, how things are run, info on the guards, and the rules and regulations that you hold for the clan and for the rest of vampire kind. I don't want to feel like a fish out of water or make decisions that are faulty because I wasn't well informed," Aro gave me his beautiful full grin, that was joined in by a half smile from the other two.

"Yes, I will make it priority when I return to prepare you with all the information you will need to know. As for the equal power you are demanding…," Aro looked to his brothers. They all seemed hesitant about the idea. "…we have discussed it and will comply with your requirements, but understand that I have the last say in disagreements Amaryllis. I expect that you show support behind the final decision, especially in front of others. We need to look unified in front of everyone both enemy and ally alike or they will try and exploit that weakness. You will be given power equal to Caius and Marcus for now." I thought it over before responding.

"But you will listen to us if you are outnumbered?" I tried to clarify. Aro nodded. "Alright, that'll do. Also I'm not some bleeding heart that's going to cry over everything. You think I didn't have hard choices to make when I was younger? I've had a bunch of other people's lives in my hands that I had to consider before making any moves. I have killed and have seen those I love get killed. With that in mind, I do not see reason in killing unnecessarily. And yes, I do have compassion for others that you three seem to lack, but I think it would do the people good inside and outside of the castle if there was a little warmth in the coven. I'm honestly a little insecure about taking on such a big role, but I know I can do it. I'll be strict, and will use my abilities to correct others if I need too, but I would also try and be approachable." My words seemed to greatly satisfy all my mates.

"I'm sure you will do wonderfully," Marcus encouraged with a smile.

"Just keep in mind that this isn't some little group of rag tag people that you will be handling. You will partake in the control of a whole race," Caius muttered. I inhaled deeply so I didn't lose my shit. This was probably the best I would get from him right now.

"Handling the protection of a small group from powerful enemies is more difficult in some ways than being a part of a powerhouse itself. I had to make a lot of on the spot decisions that could have made or broke the group. With your lot, it's more so about learning the interworking of the clan. It's not nearly as intense in those regards. Do not belittle me." Caius and I glared at each other, but it was Aro who spoke next.

"And we are aware that there are plenty of ways handling a smaller group can be difficult. Caius was just stating, in a rather crude way, to be mindful of your decisions. It is redundant of course to mention, but we have fought to make this clan what it is today and we do not wish to lose any of that power."

At his words I sighed, "Sorry. I got that's what he was going for, but I was having a hard time ignoring how he said it." Aro went over to kiss my cheek and then cleared away the dishes. Afterwards Aro challenged me to play chess. It was difficult to play a game of strategy with just one of them around, let alone having all three of them staring at me intently as I make my moves. I lost the first two rounds, but won the third (barely).

"I would like to play a round with you next," Caius said. Aro seemed delighted that Caius was challenging me. When Caius sat across from me, it was hard to come up with any plans of action. Unlike Aro, who had a powerful air about him that creeped into my bones and nerves until it travelled up to my brain, which was pretty damn terrorizing, Caius's power was practically screaming at me. His scowl was set in stone and he aggressively attacked me immediately after every move I made. This was much like his second game I saw against Aro, but it felt so different being the one who's actually fighting against him. The first game, he won by a landslide and the next three rounds weren't much better. Against the raging beatings of my heart, I forced myself to calm down. Although now I was able to play a much better game- I even had Caius take a moment to pause once- Caius still won the next two rounds. I groaned and let my head bury into my arms on the table.

"I concede. Your too damn good," Quickly I lifted my head and pointed at him, "But I could kick your ass in a real fight!" I then rested my chin on my hand in a huff. In response, Caius started laughing. I was shocked since I expected him to get all pissy at my statement. Damn his laugh was so beautiful and perfect.

"Next time I see you we will have to test that statement," He rumbled with an amused look in his eyes.

"Why not now. You scared?" I crossed my arms at him and gave him my sass face. His eyes darkened.

"If we fought now, it would lead to…other things," Caius's lustful tone countered. Boy I may have forgotten how to breathe with the way he looked at me- and damn that voice could turn any drought to a raging flood situation hint, hint.

"O...okay," I sputtered, much to the amusement of the others. It honestly took me awhile to regain my composure. "When we next see each other though you better be careful. I'm gonna take you to the cleaners." His smile broadened.

"We shall see."

We moved to the living room and rested together in peace. Lunch came around and we went to a diner out in Seattle, were I ate like a vacuum cleaner. I regretted sitting on the inside of the booth with Aro, because he got a bit perverse in his touches. At first I slapped his hand away, but then he caged me in and growled in my ear. It became difficult to fight after that. Marcus had the look of yearning, but Caius was much worse. I felt their need for me, but his was the strongest. He was like a man who hasn't eaten in weeks. It was arousing and mind numbing to handle. The drive back home was intense although I tried to keep the conversation light. As much as I wanted to have sex with them, it would be too cruel to do that in front of Caius.

Back at the house, we rested in the living room. "I must say that I adore your home. The style is very fitting with your personality," Aro complemented. I smiled and thanked him. I watched T.V with Aro while the other two read. My mind started wandering back to imagining my life as a Queen.

"Would you three be accepting of my daughter? There is no debate that once I'm settled in I want her to come stay with us, but I'm concerned about whether or not you three will consider her as a part of your family," I worriedly stated as I glanced into the eyes of the three kings.

"You love her, of course I will consider her as my own," Marcus responded immediately. Damn it Marcus was too amazing for me. I nearly teared up at the sincerity in his tired voice. Aro quickly followed afterwards.

"I'll accept her as my own as well. I would love to finally meet her. You hold such a softness in your eyes whenever she is mentioned." I turned to Caius to see him really thinking it over. Finally his gaze returned to me.

"I will accept her as my daughter," he responded curtly. I couldn't stop my face splitting smile. Man in three days things went from being terrible to bearable. I truly hoped that this growth between us continues.

"Thank you. You three saying that means the world to me." Out of nowhere I felt a pang of jealousy from Caius.

"I want to discuss something with you," he stated. Before I could respond, he just came out with it. "How were you able to sleep with that man? He was nothing like us but you didn't seem to mind at all. You never looked away from him," then he directed his attention away and growled. His scowl deepened. "You seemed to enjoy it." After he said this, the overall mood between the three quickly turned sour.

"Well how could you and Aro continue to sleep with your wives? Seemed like you two were enjoying yourselves," I bitterly retorted. I was wondering if this was going to get brought up, but honestly hoped it wouldn't.

"Just swallow your egos and answer her honestly," Marcus sighed with frustration. Aro stared at Marcus for a few moments, and then looked at me. He was the first to speak.

"We were not able to bed them for long. The whole time we had to consider you but every time we opened our eyes or heard their noises, it was a fresh reminder that they weren't you. I even threatened Sulpicia to quiet herself when she moaned. I assure you there wasn't enjoyment with bedding them. I continued to be with her out of anger at our bond Amaryllis, and I also hoped that you would feel the pain so you would break sooner. With Caius it was for the same reasons, with the addition to the anger at not wanting to lose his wife. Eventually the differences between you and them became too great. I personally, was fighting the urge to kill my wife with how frustrated I had become. Then we tried it with the humans that looked similar to you. It was much easier to pretend, but it was rather disgusting," Aro grimaced as if he was about to be ill at the memory. Caius reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"It must be difficult to admit that," I kinda called out their egos a bit.

"Yes. Very," Aro grumbled. I sighed.

"Okay, guess it's my turn to swallow my pride," I paused and bit my lip. It was difficult to admit a weakness to them, specifically Aro and Caius. It would be even harder to admit specifically how I did it. Their eyes pinned me down and I felt each of their raging jealousy and hurt at what I had done. Not that I think it was my fault since they caused it, but I still felt a little bad. I blushed and looked to Aro. I grabbed his hand and lowered my mental block enough to let him see the memory I had of that night. His eyes glazed over for a moment and then he gave me a shit eating grin. He moved me to his lap and wrapped his arms around me. I could feel his growing arousal, but decided not to dwell on the thought.

"Brothers she's embarrassed to admit that the only way she got through that night was a lot of alcohol and a good imagination," Aro nuzzled my neck as he continued, "She imagined it was Caius underneath her the whole time. She was fantasizing about how infuriated he'll be when he finds out and was hoping for him to punish her." I blushed, but was thankful Aro would say it for me. Caius inhaled and stared me down with lust evident in his eyes.

"You like to anger me…," his satin voice sent shivers down my spine. "…and you want me to punish you." His eyes could've devoured me whole. I couldn't help but get aroused which they of course noticed. Aro inhaled deeply against my throat and groaned out afterwards. Damn it, damn it, damn it. I can't let it go this direction right now.

"Yes, and I look forward to my punishment next time I see you." I found the strength to not sound as aroused as I was, but I still couldn't look Caius in the eyes.

"Eh, hem. So anyways, yeah I had a real hard time doing it, and I did it to piss you off because you two hurt me so badly. We good on this now?" I tried to sound as regal as I could be while being the teddy bear for Aro to snuggle.

"Yes, I feel much better knowing the difficulty you had with it," Marcus conceded. Aro agreed and Caius nodded his head. Caius was still having a hard time snapping himself out of his thoughts. I found myself grateful that Aro had me on his lap or I think Caius would've broken his wish and taken me then and there. Aro giggled like a child.

"Our little flower has a kink."

I slapped Aro's shoulder roughly. "Shut it," I glared. All that did was make him chuckle more.

Aro put me back down on the couch around dinner time. As he started cooking, Marcus left the chair to wrap me up in his arms on the couch. Caius was again jealous that Marcus and Aro got to cuddle me, but he didn't say anything about it. When dinner was ready, I ate while we talked about various things. About midway through though it dawned on me that they will be leaving when I finish. Even the idea of them leaving sent waves of sadness over me. All three sets of eyes looked at me with concern.

"My dear, is the food not to your liking?" Aro questioned.

"No, no. The steak is amazing. I'm just sad that you guys are going to be leaving," I poked my food a little. At that they all showed hints of sadness as well.

"We will miss you greatly," Marcus confessed.

"As soon as we return, I will have one of our secretaries show us how to use the video chat so we can at least see you," Aro added on.

"Make sure to call whenever you're available." Caius spoke so fast that I had a hard time hearing it.

"Alright, I will," I answered. For the rest of my meal it was gloomy. Aro cleaned up and then they got ready for their departure. We all went outside, with the only light coming from the moon and my porch. About 15 vampires stood awaiting orders.

"Felix, Katherine, Juana, and Artus, you will not leave her side and will keep a constant eye on her. Stay out of her way and out of her sight unless she orders otherwise or is in danger," Caius ordered. Damn his "in charge" tone was arousing. I didn't let it show though thank God.

"All the Cullen's can be around her without need for worry, except with Edward and Rosalie. I want you Felix to be present by her side at all times if they are around. With the situation getting worse, I need you four to be diligent. Demetri I want you to track the problem. Jane I entrust you to handle the problem. Alec, you will attend them also. If they are at all a threat to Amaryllis, I want them exterminated." Aro's voice was light, but the power behind his words did not go unheard.

"Of course masters," all the guards bowed slightly in respect. Aro clasped his hands in front of him with a bright smile.

"Wonderful. Thank you all for your participation and to those of you that are staying here, please be safe. You are very precious to me." It's obvious that his spell was firmly engrained in his subordinates. Aro can definitely make one feel special, even if he's referring to a group. "One last thing. Do regard my dear Amaryllis with the utmost respect," I did not miss the way his eyes focused on Alec and Jane specifically, "She will be your future Queen after all."

Then the three king's attention went to me. "Take care of yourself bel fiore (beautiful flower)," Marcus muttered with a lingering kiss on my lips.

"I will dread every moment apart from you," Aro added and repeated Marcus's gesture.

"Don't do anything reckless while we're gone," Caius finished. He kissed me quickly and gently on my cheek. I really had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from making a sarcastic comment about being reckless. They very well might take me seriously and assign like 5 more guards. I was surprised that they were leaving me Felix. He was like the equivalent of 20 of the lower guards.

"Call me as soon as you land in Italy," I said while giving them all hugs. As they departed, I felt myself being torn apart slowly. Marcus warned me that the pain will reemerge, but that the pain will be nothing like before since we are accepting the bond and will be contacting each other frequently. I still felt tears in my eyes though.

"Wow," Felix said while shaking his head, "I don't think I've ever seen true mates willingly depart from one another." Jane glared at him and flitted away a split second later; Demetri smirked at me as him and Alec disappeared with her.

"Well it's not easy, but it's for the best right now," I smiled at him. When I looked at the outline of Felix's personality, I noticed he had a couple of the main traits of Emmett. I wonder if every super strong vampire I meet is going to be like a football player. "Your one tough cookie," Felix commented before the rest of the guards disappeared into the woods. I gave a half-hearted soft laugh that regular humans wouldn't have heard and then I went back into my, now painfully empty, home.

Snuggling to my cats, I watched whatever was on T.V. I had put two and two together with their continuous watching of the news about murders and Aro mentioning a growing problem. I don't know much details beyond that though. The rash of murders seem like a more than one vampire deal. Maybe a rivalling clan? Aro's wonderful decorations were still up. I had yet to really go through all the items that were positioned around. It was comforting to have them around me- as if Aro was cradling me. I could still feel what my mates were feeling which sucked cause it only amplified my depression. Still it wasn't nearly as bad as before. The longing got much worse, but the physical aspects of the pain was minimal so far.

Although I tossed and turned a lot, I was actually able to sleep. I can't wait to hear the call from them.