She hated to admit it, she truly did, but Bella couldn't deny the fact she was having a lot of fun. While she would like to say it was the company, she knew that would be a lie, and it was because of the exuberant amount of alcohol she had ingested up to that point.

She was so drunk, as a matter of fact, she was even able to ignore the fact Esme and Rosalie were among the trainees made into the serving staff, though not so much to the point she didn't have a laugh or several at Rosalie's expense. The bitch was so used to the finer things in life, to be relegated to carrying a tray of champagne flutes clearly did not sit well with her. To Bella's absolute delight, she actually got to watch her get dismissed without even so much as a glance multiple times; the guests not stopping their conversation to take a glass from the tray, or merely waving a hand in her face to shoo her away.

Bella also never thought she would actually enjoy having a titled position. She had never felt any sense of superiority to anyone before. She never thought she was better than anyone. Many times since Aro dubbed her Mistress she had told people not to call her that because she didn't like it. However, when the Blonde brought her cute little tray full of delicious bubbly, Bella crossed her free arm over her chest, popped out a hip, and cocking a brow, staring the Cullen down until she said it.

That was the first time she didn't recoil at the sick sense of pleasure she got at someone else's expense.

Her new coven, Demetri specifically, couldn't have been more proud of her.

She was not only proving herself to becoming more comfortable with herself and her situation, but there were also sporadic glimmers here and there she was starting to embrace her new life as well. In the eighteen days she had been with them, an extraordinary amount of resources and effort had been put into her, and the work done seemed to be starting to pay off.

It wasn't just nursing her back from her deplorable state of malnourishment when Demetri found her in the woods. It wasn't just restoring movement in her jaw and shoulder. Honestly, her physical ailments were the easy part to deal with, even if what needed to be done wasn't the most desired. It was what couldn't be seen, the invisible injuries she sustained, that were the hardest to combat, and even if she was beginning to periodically show the promise Demetri always knew was there, there was still a very long road ahead of the pair.

When she pulled rank on Rosalie, Demetri had just stood next to Bella, the stem of his wine glass between his fingers, the bulb nestled in his palm, watching the situation with a close eye. He wasn't the only one that watched to see what would happen and how she would handle herself, and the smirk that pulled at his lips when she roughly, pointedly, cleared her throat, was one for the books, but it wasn't until Bella called her 'dumb bitch' as the blonde was walking away he chuckled. He said nothing about it, however, merely tapped his mate with his elbow, winking at her when she grinned her triumph.

That was an hour ago, and since then, the couple had met back up with Peter and Charlotte, the latter of which was as drunk as Bella, which made for some very interesting moments and slightly uncomfortable situations for a few people.

More than slightly tipsy himself, Demetri, standing next to Peter on the side of the dance floor, snorted as the two females decided it was a good idea to drag Felix into their little game. "I'm trying to decide if I should feel bad for him."

Peter, bringing his beer bottle to his lips, grunted. "That, right there, is why my lady ain't allowed ta drink wine. Shit makes her forget ta use her brain."

Chuckling slightly under his breath, Demetrii brought his own glass to his lips. "Are you insinuating wine makes your mate stupid?"

Swallowing his mouthful of beer, Peter pointed a finger at the dance floor, or, more specifically, Bella as she rubbed her ass on Felix's thigh. "Take a gander at your own fuckin' mate and tell me wine don't do the same damn thing ta her."

While it couldn't be denied her actions left something to be desired on Demetri's part, he just shrugged. In his mind, there were two very simple truths to be considered. Bella was a teenager when she was turned, and he was well aware this was her first time ever being shitfaced. He had long since resigned himself to looking the other way when it came to her behavior, and he would simply keep an eye on her as she enjoyed herself. He had told the Cullens in the dungeons he was not her keeper and, while their relationship had changed since then, he still did not find it his place to smother her.

Felix, who was completely aware of his surroundings, was as quick as he could be getting away from the pair of females, who didn't care, and simply danced with each other, leaving their males on the side of the dance floor to, in synchronized fashion, tilt their heads to the side.

Watching as the two girls grinded against each other, Demetri licked his lips and clicked his tongue. "We should separate them."

A hum in the back of his throat, Peter pursed his lips. "Mmhmm... get right on that."

Neither one moved a fucking muscle.

While Demetri might have been the definition of class and poise, he was still a man, and holy shit...

Clearing his throat, and finding it far more difficult than it should have been to tear his eyes away from the show his and the Captain's mates were putting on for whoever wanted to watch it, he did eventually find success in that endeavor and turned his attention to Peter, who continued to watch without a care. "So, have you made your choice?"

Peter clicked his tongue as he shrugged. "Ain't much a choice, Demetri. If I got the option, my lady stays with me." Cutting his eyes to the tracker, He continued before the man could start his bullshit again. "And, 'fore ya say it, so 'long as I'm alive, nothin' gonna happen ta either a them girls. Can't say I ain't rusty on some things, but protectin' a female's ass ain't on that particular list. Trust me, Char keeps that particular talent a mine nice an' honed."

Finishing his glass own glass of wine, Demetri licked the flavor from his upper lip before he grinned. "I had no intention of saying a word, Captain." When he heard Peter grunt, he looked at him. "I didn't. Reverse our situations, and then tell me you would not have said much the same to me as I have said to you."

A groaned growl slipped past Peter's lips as his own clouded mind did as he was told. Nose wrinkled and eyes narrowed, Peter shook his head. "I don't wanna like you."

It was with a chuckle Demetri crossed one arm over his chest as he held his empty glass by his face. "Then don't. I could truly not care less if you despise my very existence. Believe me, you would certainly not be the only one. However, I do not survive on the warm, fuzzy feelings others hold for me; I thrive on their discontent, and in many cases, strive to make it worse." Handing off his empty for a full glass, he continued without looking at Peter. "You think you're horrible, that your sire is the definition of evil." With a hard snort and a scoffed 'please', he then turned his head, locking his suddenly pitch black eyes on Peter's now somewhat standoffish red ones. "You're children."

Peter watched as Demetri blinked, opening blood red eyes once again with no transition between the onyx they just were. He wasn't sure what it was that loosened his tongue like it did, but after he killed his beer, Peter cracked his neck and shook his head. "There somethin' wrong with you."

Grinning wide, Demetri cocked a brow as he leaned to the side and closer to Peter, though he didn't speak any quieter. "Remind me again which one of us hears voices."

Giving Demetri a hard shove in the shoulder, pulling an outright laugh from the tracker, Peter glared. "That shit was just uncalled for."

There was still a laugh in Demetri voice as he caught his balance. "What was? Pointing out the fact there is something wrong with everyone present in one way or another? We all have our vices, Captain, and we all have our weaknesses." Returning his eyes to his mate, he twirled the wine in his glass. "The difference between you and I is more than just our age, upbringing, and personal life experiences. I am over ten times your senior, but with age does not always come wisdom. I was several centuries older than you are now when I learned what was probably the most important thing I ever have... what made me into the vampire that stands before you now."

It was something of a buried instinct for younger vampires to listen when their elders spoke of their past. It wasn't they were offering unsolicited advice, because what they had to say could rarely be considered advice. It was a moraled story, ending with a lesson already learned the hard way. Since much of humanity's folklore, and many of vampiric legends revolved around the actual life lived by this particular older vampire, Peter found himself more interested than he thought he would be in what Demetri stopped saying.

Exchanging his own empty bottle for a fresh beer, he prompted the asshole to finish what he was saying. "And that was?"

Turning his head, the look on Demetri's face, and tone of his voice when he spoke, told Peter it was literally the most obvious answer in the world. "Acceptance."

Forcefully jolting back, the look on Peter's face was one of utter confusion. "That's it? It took ya over three centuries ta learn that?"

Sighing hard, Demetri reached up and rubbed his temple with two fingers. "And that assumption of knowing what I meant is why you are still a child." Downing his wine, he audibly gulped down the overly large mouthful of red wine, and played with his tongue as he ordered his thought to express it properly. "I'm not talking about accepting yourself for who or what you are. If you haven't done that in the last however long you've been of the undead persuasion, you're not likely to do so, basically ever. And if you haven't yet done that, it is truly mind boggling you are still alive."

Tilting his head from one side to the other, Demetri hummed. "What I'm talking about goes far deeper into... your..." twirling his finger in a circle, he tsked a few times before he looked at Peter. "Subconsciousness than swallowing the pill of vampirism and all the side effects that goes with it. There are no stark realizations, no epiphanies. There is coming to terms with the fact your way is not the only one, and there are no perfect beings. If there were, we would all be the same, because you cannot deviate, you cannot alter, you cannot improve perfection.

"At the end of the day, all that bides in our world is just... a singular, simple truth. And that is..." It was then he lowered his voice, locking his eyes on Peter's. "Eternity doesn't exist."

Eyes immediately snapping to his laughing, drunk as fuck mate, Peter grunted hard. "Well... that sucks."

Looking to his own mate, Demetri crossed his arms. "I don't make the rules, Peter." A sinister smirk split his lips and he hummed in the back of his throat. "I just enforce them." Rolling his eyes when he was called a dick, Demetri sighed through his nose. "What I was saying before is really quite simple. Once you accept the fact no one is truly immortal, understand that forever is a lie, you obtain a whole new level of... well, I don't want to call it enlightenment, but there is certainly a healthy dose of liberation. It is our willingness to understand that we can actually die that decides our fate. It is our willingness to embrace what is wrong with us that determines how easy it is for that happen. It is our willingness to accept every part of ourselves, including the deepest, darkest abyss of our minds where every evil thought and horrible action is cataloged, that allows us grow and, ultimately, evolve. Brash decisions are the calling card of children and you, Captain Whitlock, are still very much a child, or you wouldn't be standing here having this conversation with me."

Peter once again grunted as he reached across his throat and scratched at the back of his jaw. "Not sure I'd call this shit a conversation, Fella."

Though his annoyance was clear in his expression over Peter once again calling him something other than his name, this time, Demetri let it go in lieu of something else. "My point is this... for your age, you have a very impressive resume of hard earned accolades, and there is no a part of me that doubts you could best your sire even with his gift against you. However that said, you rely far too heavily on your mental friends to see you through your trials, and not nearly enough on your own true abilities." Then he gave an offhanded shrug. "You're not the only one, though. Most gifted do. The difference between vampires with gifts vs those of us without them, I suppose."

Turning fully to stare at the side of Demetri's head as he watched his mate, Peter's irritation began to grow. "The hell you mean 'those a us without 'em'? You as gifted as I am."

Closing his eyes, Demetri rubbed them with his fingertips. "I have explained this twice now." Dropping his hand, he looked at Peter. "I am not 'gifted'. My tracking ability is not a gift. It is a talent that was honed over time. Vampiric gifts do not change. They are the same from the moment they are discovered to the moment of death. If I stopped using my ability to find people, it would fade over time. My enhanced senses were passed down to me by my sire. Isabella's were passed to her by her sire. Our senses are a genetic evolution passed down through generations. It is in our venom. The things I could train my mate to do with her senses would blow your fucking mind. Before this year is over I could very easily teach her to do what I do, and if she wishes it so, I will. What I was getting at before is, if you were in a life or death situation, can you stand there and say with certainty you would be able get out of it alive without your voices telling you what to do? Or, would you have be able to avoid that same situation in the first place without them?"

When Peter's eyes cut away, Demetri crossed his arms. "This is the only advice I will ever give you, and it is only because I am entrusting you with the safety of my mate I am giving it at all. Never rest of your laurels. Never stop learning, never stop growing... just never stop because there is always going to be someone better than you. One day, sooner or later, you will have your moment. While odd with where you were raised you haven't had it yet, you will have it eventually, and nothing your voices tell you to do will avoid it. When that moment comes, when the Cosmos align just for you, you will have to make a choice, and that choice is what will define you for the rest of your existence."

Being nothing if not perpetuate at that point, Peter sneered. "How you know I ain't had it yet?"

Locking their eyes, Demetri leaned in so close to Peter's face, their noses nearly touched. "Because you are standing. right. here." Pulling back only slightly, he didn't release Peter's eyes as he continued. "You still think we can't change, and it's adorable. Hold tight to that blissful feeling. I envy you haven't had to face your absolution just yet. The crushing feeling that comes when you do is... indescribable."

Leaning back as far as he could to distance himself from the piercing gaze, Peter cleared his throat. "What the fuck happened to you?"

Demetri didn't miss a beat as he responded. "That is my business, and absolutely none of yours." It wasn't said with any attitude. It was simply stated at the truth it was.

Taking a full step back for a little space, Peter rubbed at the back of his head at the base of his skull with his thumb, his lips pressed hard together. Finally breaking eye contact, he glanced at the girls, seeing them both looking back. Before they had a chance to make off the dance floor, Peter asked Demetri one last question. "You ever regret the one ya made?"

Shaking his head, he lifted his arm as he mate tucked herself into his side. "I never regret my choices. I make them for a reason."

Inexcusably hammered and having no idea how serious of a topic had just been discussed, Bella smiled wide up at Demetri. "So, what was your reason for choosing me?"

Peter once again watched as Demetri's entire being changed right in front of him as the tracker set his eyes on the little spitfire. He had seen couples mated almost as long as Demetri had been alive, other that were almost his age and freshly mated, and he had never seen such a total shift in the male. Males were always indulgent when it came to their mates, some overly so, but it was so extreme on the part of the tracker, Peter could only stare with a level of awe he never felt before as Demetri himself visibly melted under the gaze of his mate.

It was one of only a handful of times in his life he was left without a full understanding of what was going on. Even just a foot between them and Demetri was a completely different vampire, something he noticed four days ago in the catacombs the day he was enlisted as Bella's bodyguard. It wasn't just because the relationship was new, or because there were others present in the palace Bella once had a positive relationship with. It was something... else, something deeper, and he couldn't stop himself from trying to figure out what it was.

Eyes shifting across the room, Peter's lips pursed slightly. There was one person he could ask.

For Demetri, as he looked down into the liquid eyes of his mate, the world vanished around him, his attention only for her. That arm that wasn't around Bella raised, his hand cupping her cheek. His voice lowered and softened to velvet. "You were never a choice, Psihi Mou. You were a necessity."

Leaning into his palm, Bella smiled as she bit into her lip slightly. The problem she was having was, there were two of him, and she wasn't positive she was looking at the right one. She hadn't known vampires could get drunk, let alone see double, but the explanation Charlotte gave her made sense. Her organs didn't work, so there was no filtering out the alcohol, and she had no body heat to burn it off. Vampires could get exceptionally fucked up; it didn't take much, and they stayed drunk for much longer. It wasn't like it really mattered. It wasn't like a vampire party only lasted a couple of hours and everyone left. It could go on for days and no one gave a shit.

Then, of course, there was her complete lack of attention span. She was scatter brained on her best day, but with the added alcohol in her system, her ability to focus became next to nonexistent. As she opened her mouth to respond to Demetri, a server caught the corner of her eye, so instead of what she was going to say, "Ooh... wine" is what came out as she pulled herself free of Demetri's hold.

Left with little to do but chuckle and shake his head, Demetri waved off Charlotte when she offered to retrieve the newborn. "I'll get her. You two enjoy yourselves." Then, he looked at Peter, "and you think about what I said." With that, he vanished from their sights, catching up to his mate without issue.

Snagging her by the wrist, he lifted his arm and spun her around, her belting laughter drawing attention and amused smiled from those around them as she face planted into his chest. Lacing his fingers behind her back, he looked down at her with his own amused grin.

Bella, still laughing as she pushed herself back slightly, looked down as she grabbed the skirt of her dress, lifting it out of her was and exposing her foot. "I think I broke my shoe."

Chuckling in his throat, Demetri shook his head. "Darling, Charlotte took your shoes off two hours ago."

Lips puckering, Bella grunted. "Well... so much for perfect fucking memory."

Rolling his eyes, Demetri clicked his tongue. "Rarely, if ever, are drunken memories accurate. That aside, when was the last time you ate?" When her nose wrinkled and eyes started rolling slightly as she looked at the ceiling with a long sound of thought, Demetri hummed as he lifted an arm and crooked two fingers at a nearby server. "Wrong answer."

It was also the wrong assumption on both the part of Bella and the young lady that presented them a tray of wine. Bella perked up and picked up a glass, only to be left to pout when Demetri plucked it from her fingers and set it back down. Looking up at him with a full on toddler worthy pout, Bella whined. "I wanted that."

Smiling down at her, he gave a shallow nod of his head. "And you can have it..." her eyes lit up, and he continued. "After you eat." When Bella harrumphed, Demetri chuckled and looked at the server. "Blood."

While somewhat resigned, Bella still continued to pout as the server scampered off. Playing with buttons on Demetri's vest, she sighed quietly. "That was mean." The moment, however, didn't last longer than Demetri could snort before Bella once again perked right up. Her eyes ignited with an ominous light and her lips pulled up in the corners. Her voice, however, went straight to Demetri's dick. "So, I thought about it and I know what I want now."

Asking the Gods for strength, Demetri lifted a brow as he looked down at her. "Oh, and what's that?" Lowering his voice, he dipped his head and spoke in Bella's ear. "Keeping in mind his mate is present."

It was the tickle of his breath on her neck that pulled the giggle from her throat.

But she still made the sound.

A deep growl rumbled Demetri's chest, the roughness finding it's way to his voice, dripping down Bella's spine and nearly taking her out at the knees. "That little giggle is going to get you fucked."

The nip at the back of her jaw did take out her knees.

Tightening his grip around Bella's waist, he held her flush against him, pulling his head back and locking his black eyes on her glossy ones.

Bella's voice was barely there after she licked her lips and let out a breath. "You don't play fair."

Demetri's expression turned wicked. "I never claimed otherwise." When she went to argue, he grinned. "No, I didn't. I said it would be your choice. I never I would keep my hands to myself until you made it."

Though she again went to open her mouth to argue, Bella just as quickly closed it. He was right; he hadn't. All he said was he wouldn't force her to do anything she wasn't ready to do as far as their relationship went, and she couldn't say he was. Sure, there were other things she hadn't wanted to do and was given little choice in the matter, but those had nothing to do with them, and only to do with her.

When the server returned, she presented Demetri the tray she held, that contained four glasses. She hadn't been sure how much blood he had wanted her to get because he never told her, so she brought one for each of them, and a glass of wine for each as well.

Though her brow creased and face pinched when Demetri handed her a glass of blood, she didn't put up a fight with drinking it. She knew she was thirsty, but it wasn't until the thick liquid coated the back of her throat she realized just how much. She had the glass empty in just a few swallows and licked the blood from her lips as she held the glass out to Demetri. "That wasn't as bad as it normally is."

The server chuckled slightly at the statement, smiling at her new Mistress when the sound caught her attention. "This was obtained much more recently than what we keep on hand to preserve its freshness and warmth."

As she took the second glass from Demetri, Bella paused before it was to her lips. "What? Are you slicing humans open on demand tonight?"

There was a grin on the server's lips as she lifted a shoulder in a shallow shrug. "Pretty much, yes."

Not wholly surprised by the answer, but still mildly taken off guard by it, Bella choked on the mouthful of blood. She wasn't, however, sure if the noise she made was more of a snort or a gag. With a hard swallow and a loud gulp, she then used the back of her red gloved hand to wipe the crimson trail from her chin and chuckled. "Okay, then."

While acutely aware of Bella's even miniscule movements, Demetri's attention was over her head, his eyes following a body that thought he was slick. Crinkling in the corners, his eyes narrowed, though he didn't move more than just his eyes until his mate handed her glass back to him and he exchanged it for the promised glass of wine. Pure and undiluted irritation filtered across his face as he lowered his head to speak in his mate's ear. "Go play with Felix. I'll be right back."

When Demetri slid along her back, Bella turned her head, hoping to ask about his abrupt change in mood, but wasn't able to utter a word before he stepped away and glided across the room toward a pair of vampires talking to Peter. While she wanted to go after him, if only to find out what the hell annoyed him so much, the tone in his voice kept her from doing so. With one more glance Demetri's direction, a frown on her lips, she did as she was told and made her way back toward the dance floor.

His approach did not go unnoticed by everyone, but his voice caught one person completely off guard. With his head held high and his hands clasped behind his back, Demetri's eyes burned holes in the back of Peter's head. "I won't tell you what you want to know, so you run to my sire?"

Peter cringed so hard, his shoulders damn near covered his ears. Slowly turning his head to look over his shoulder, he was left with little more than the ability to stutter.

Demetri, with a shake of his head, lifted a hand and flicked his fingers to the in a clear 'shoo' motion. "Walk... away."

Clearing his throat, Peter nodded once. "Yeah... I'll do that."

Unmoving, Demetri watched as Peter slinked away, muttering 'child' under his breath. A long since dormant level of frost slid down his spine as he turned his head ever so slightly toward his sire, a man he hadn't seen he left the tracker to die. Holding Amun's gaze for a short moment, he clicked his tongue, deciding his course. Turning to face his sire fully, Demetri returned to his previous position with his hands behind his back. Switching to a language he hadn't used in longer than he had, he kept his voice perfectly pleasant. "And here I thought... nothing would ever get you to leave the desert."

It wasn't difficult to figure out where his childe's mind went, but Amun stood as straight spined as he could in the face of the living reaper. When he spoke, it was with a higher level of respect than Demetri recalled him havings. "It is not everyday your first turned mates, Demetrius."

Brow sliding up slightly, Demetri hummed in his throat. "Demetri, and I suppose that's true enough. Still doesn't explain what you're doing here, Amun. Even a demand of your presence has never been enough to drag your ass from the sand hilled Hell that is the Nile River Valley."

While there was no acid in his tone, it was clearly in Demetri's eyes, and it set Amun slightly on edge. He knew coming was a calculated risk, the past something that remains so fresh in the mind of an immortal, but he had no intention of overstaying his welcome. "I did not come to quarrel." Pushing past the hard snort from his childe, Amun silently cleared his throat. "I am merely here to offer you and your mate my congratulations... and to give you this, for old time's sake."

Demetri remained in his place as he watched Amun turn to a woman that was clearly his own mate, picking up a long wooden box, and shifting back to face him. There was zero interest on his face as his sire presented it to him, and he didn't make a move to see what it was.

When it was clear to Amun Demetri wasn't going to accept the offering, he pressed his lips together, but said nothing as he flicked the latches undone and, changing how he held the box, pulled open the lid and showed Demetri what was inside. Lifting his eyes from the present to the tracker, he saw Demetri tilt his head, and spoke. "This used to hold your attention for hours as a newborn."

Taking in the jewel encrusted dagger that laid in the carved wooden box, Demetri hummed in the back of his throat. It was with measured movement he reached for it, picking it up by the handle between his index finger and thumb, turning his wrist over. After a moment, without looking away from the dagger, he nodded ever so slightly. "I remember. It was so different than anything I had ever seen... and very shiny, though that seems to have been lost to time; among other things."

Emboldened by the minor change in Demetri's demeanor, Amun grinned. "Do you remember the story?"

Scoffing, Demetri was barely able to keep from rolling his eyes. "Of course. It was centered around sex, deceit, and murder... as all good stories are." He never lost the light hearted tone to his voice as he changed his hold of the weapon, gripping the handle in one hand and twisting the tip of the blade on the pad of a finger on his other. Clicking his tongue, he grinned as he looked at the slight bouncing off the blade. "Interestingly enough, did you know there are also stories of vampires that say we are as susceptible to silver as The Children of the Moon?" Finally, with a flick of his eyes, he looked back at Amun's, a very dark interest shining in the bloody depths. "Shall we see if they're true?"

Though Amun didn't say anything, his scent took on the heady scent of fear.

Licking his lips, Demetri took a half step forward, gently, as if it was made of glass, set the dagger back into the pillowed liner of the box it was presented in, gingerly closing the lid. As he was setting the latches back into place, he tsked. "I will give you... three minutes to get out of my city." Lifting his eyes to Amun's, he enunciated every syllable. "For old time's sake." Lightly running the tips of his fingers along the smooth wood, he gave his sire a deadly smile. "I suggest you don't waste them." Returning to where he had been standing, Demetri lifted his arm, pushing the cuff of his shirt and jacket and exposing his watch, and turning his attention to it. It wasn't impossible to get out of the city in that amount of time, but it certainly wasn't easy.

That was how he remained as Amun looked to his mate. He didn't twitch as the two backed away, saying something that Demetri didn't pay attention to. He didn't even look up as he blew a near silent whistle and Jane and Alec appeared to either side of him. Counting down the final seconds, his lips pulled into a teeth flashing smile as he fixed his sleeve and reclasped his behind his back.

They were still in the city.

Eyes dancing, it was then he turned back to the room, his orders hanging on the air between the twins as Demetri made his way back to his mate. "Kill them both."