Chapter 13 – Safety

She couldn't move.

Castiel was internally panicking. She had no control over her body and as hard as she tried to move, even her fingers she remained still as stone. Her brain was seemingly unable to communicate with her body.

It only took a second for Nikita to be upon her, grabbing a fistful of hair at the back of her head and yanking it back to expose her throat.

A cry of pain had bubbled up from her due to his hard grip on her scalp, and in the blink of an eye, the library become very crowded.

There was a flurry of motion, a woman's voice yelling "Nikita!", and a roar that chilled her to her very bones.

Abruptly Nikita was gone, and Castiel was flying backwards – a cold arm was wrapped firmly across her waist.

She was being pressed against the wall at the back of the library before her brain could process anything else. The fireplace was only a few feet to her right while her front was pressed against someone's back. It only took her a moment to notice the white-blonde hair anf for it to occur to her that Caius was the one who had grabbed her, and he was now sandwiching her body protectively between the wall and his back with his arms outstretched defensively on either side of him.

She could barely see below his armpit, the strange paralysis that had hold of her still refusing to let her move, but she could distinctively see the forms of both Afton and Chelsea crouched in front of her and Caius, poised and ready to strike.

Her attention was drawn from the guards in only a second as she heard the vicious roar that had chilled her before echoing through the library again.

Directly in front of them, in the center of the room, Marcus had grabbed Nikita by the neck and slammed him down full force into one of the circular tables. Parchment and books were scattered everywhere as the table was reduced to a pile of splinters.

Raising his fist Marcus punched Nikita in the face, causing a series of painful cracks to form before he lifted and threw the man toward the opposite wall.

Nikita had barely crashed into one of the bookcases before Marcus was on top of him again, continuing the savage beating and causing a domino effect that ended up taking down nine towering shelves of books.

Unexpectedly, there was a terrible grinding sound as if someone was tearing apart metal and a horrifying scream of pain.

A white blur flew onto the floor in the center of the room, and it only took a moment for Castiel to notice that the item was none other than Nikita's arm.

In that same moment, it felt as if someone had cracked an egg on her scalp, and she could sense the feeling trickling back to her limbs.

"MARCUS!"

Her voice was back, whatever spell that was over her had passed, and now that she could speak, she felt like she had to do something to stop this. She had to make Marcus stop.

"Marcus!" She sounded petrified and out of breath, "Marcus please stop! I'm fine! I'm fine!" She wondered if he could even hear her over his savage growling, as his grip seemed to be tightening on Nikita's other arm and the hand on his neck was causing more cracks to form and more cries of pain to be uttered from Nikita.

If she wasn't so focused on getting to Marcus, she might have realized how strange it was that Caius lowered his arms and allowed her to step around him. She might have noticed the somewhat large gathering of vampires watching the fight from the other side of the library with Aro, Sulpicia, and Athenadora at the front.

But she didn't notice. Instead she walked slowly forward, Caius following her a few feet back, and surprised everyone when she stopped halfway toward Marcus and picked up Nikita's severed arm.

Although she certainly looked a little squeamish, and as if she were pointedly ignoring the arm in her hands, Caius found himself feeling rather proud of his little human sister. Castiel was trying to do what she could to help mend the situation and while he could see his wife giving him a look that implored him to help her, he did not.

Only she would be able to calm the terrible bloodlust Marcus was feeling now. Nikita had very nearly killed his brother's fragile human mate without a second thought, so no one would be able to bring Marcus peace like Castiel could. And, while he followed her for her safety, Caius didn't dare get too close. It would take very little for Marcus to close the distance between them and tear off his arm for perceiving him as a possible threat.

Once Castiel was beside Marcus, who snarled threateningly at Nikita when he tried to make eye contact with her, she set down Nikita's arm – which appeared to be his left – with exaggerated slowness. She lined the shoulder joint up with the socket even though she wasn't exactly sure how vampires reattached their limbs, before reaching out and placing her hands on both of Marcus' shoulders. She was pleased to see her hands weren't trembling, because even though she knew Marcus posed no threat to her she couldn't help but feel perturbed about the whole situation.

"C'mon," She said, quiet as a mouse, as she gave his shoulders a light squeeze, "C'mon he won't hurt me. Let him go."

With one last threatening snarl, Marcus removed his knee from Nikita's chest and released his neck and right arm. Castiel was shocked to see his left arm was already reattaching, the skin beginning to grow and weave together like a quickly moving spider web. The cracks on his neck also began to rapidly heal, but Marcus lightly resting one of his large hands on her waist and placing himself between her and Nikita broke her gaze.

"I must say, she's exactly as sweet as you said Dora honey," A soft feminine voice with a heavy Russian accent came from their left, and Castiel found herself gazing at the two blonde women from her vision; Veronica and Daphne.

Castiel couldn't tell who had spoken, and she was sure that she'd have no hope of telling either of them apart anyway. Athenadora and Sulpicia were smiling at her from next to the twins but refrained from moving forward to avoid further upsetting Marcus whose eyes were black and whose jaw was tight.

"Athenadora and Sulpicia hung behind to wait for us to drop our things off in our rooms while our husbands were talking with Aro and Caius. They told us about Marcus imprinting right away and it really was such a happy surprise! But perhaps we shouldn't have waited to surprise our mates with the news." The blonde twin who was standing closest to Aro said, "I'm Veronica, and this is my sister Daphne." She indicated the twin standing closest to Athenadora

"Thank you for showing mercy to my husband, young one." Daphne sighed before taking a small step forward and looking longingly at where her mate still lay, Nikita's expression one of utter bewilderment. "Such kindness is a rarity."

Her gaze flickered to Marcus' face, "I do not begrudge you for protecting your imprint, and I must thank you for not killing my husband."

Marcus' expression hinted that he wasn't entirely pleased he hadn't.

"What? She's – the girl is his imprint?"

Castiel peaked under Marcus' arm when Nikita began talking, she was shocked that he could even speak since Marcus had nearly mutilated his throat. And the expression on his face was one of acute disbelief.

"Nevozmozhno! I would never have thought… but it has been so long! How did this happen?"

"How does anything happen Nikita?" Caius snapped from behind Castiel, drifting around her and Marcus while keeping the same amount of distance between them. After a moment he motioned with his hand for Daphne to come and she moved at a human place to be by her husband's side. "Imprinting is the rarest thing in our world, and there isn't a five-step guide on how to imprint."

His tone was sarcastic, and Castiel imagined a bright yellow book titled, "Imprinting for dummies", at his words.

"Of – of course," Nikita was looking exceptionally pale and, as Daphne pushed his hair back from his eyes, he swallowed unnecessarily, "I swear, I hadn't any idea. I would never intentionally hurt an imprint. Never."

Castiel looked up to see Marcus' reaction to his words, and the reaction wasn't exactly good. He bared his teeth and looked as though a simple sorry would not be enough to appease him. Marcus wanted him to pay, wanted him to feel the pain he had felt when the fool tried to kill his mate.

But the only way to do that would mean attacking Daphne, and he wouldn't hurt her if she hadn't done anything wrong.

"Marcus I'm tired, let's just go to bed okay?" Castiel was now gripping his arm with both of her hands and pulling him with all of her human strength. She didn't know where the words came from either. She had never asked Marcus to go to bed with her.

She didn't even feel tired because her blood was still pounding in her ears and she felt as though she was having an adrenalin rush. But she thought Marcus would start fighting again and that was terrifying enough to her. She was begging him with her eyes to just walk away. Enough was enough.

But he was still angry. Marcus wanted revenge for Nikita trying to take away the best thing that had happened to him in his entire existence. Castiel was his very reason for existing now, and he found that he simply couldn't forgive this. Even his sweet little mate's big blue eyes and pleading expression couldn't sway him now.

"Marcus please. I'm tired and I just want to go to my room. I… I don't feel safe."

These were the magic words. Aro felt as though he could have applauded her for her quick thinking. Everyone could see Marcus was about to continue on attacking Nikita as it really wouldn't have taken much for him to set Castiel down somewhere away from everyone else and continuing dismembering him, but she knew that one of the most important things in the world to Marcus was her safety. And no good mate would ever leave their partner in a situation where they didn't feel safe.

Without warning Marcus stooped down and put his forearm behind her knees and tipped her backward, causing her to lose he balance and fall into his arms. As he lifted her securely off the ground Castiel watched as the group of vampires, Marcus' immediate family and about twenty guards, some of whom wearing red that she hadn't seen before and others wearing black who she vaguely recognized, separated so that there was an opening between them that Marcus could get through. She even saw Raphael, who was standing beside Veronica now, watching Marcus just as cautiously as everyone else.

Before she could look back at where Caius was standing over Nikita and Daphne, Marcus was running.

The halls blurred by alarmingly fast. It felt even faster than when Afton ran with her, so she did what she always seemed to do when Marcus carried her and buried her face against his shoulder.

The run seemed to take a little while longer than expected and even though it usually only took a couple minutes at most she somehow noticed the difference this time.

She barely lifted her head in time to see Marcus pushing open a door made of deep brown wood. It was beautifully carved with a nature scene and he carried her through it without a word. It was too dark for her to see, so she was surprised when she was placed down on something so soft it could only be a bed, and was a little embarrassed when she let out a pathetic little whine when Marcus stepped away from her, her chest suddenly seizing with fear.

Warm light unexpectedly filled the room, and Marcus was back at her side, gently shushing her before sliding onto the bed and pulling her onto his lap. He didn't bother to remove either of their shoes as he folded his arms securely around her.

"Relax little one, I'm not going anywhere. You're safe here."

The bed she was in seemed to be in a nook in the wall just large enough for it, one small side table, and three feet of room on either side to walk around.

And the room itself was massive, the living room was easily twice the size of the one in her room. To the left near the entrance of the room she could see a sitting area with dark leather couches and a plush rug covering the stone floor. Against the entrance wall almost every available space was covered in bookshelves, but directly in the center to the right of the door there was a beautiful all-white marble fireplace with a television mounted above the mantle. And on the mantle, there were various picture frames and a vase of wildflowers.

To the right she could see a desk near the far wall; there were a lot of windows on this side as well as what could only be balcony doors. Thick red curtains currently covered the doors and windows', blocking what she was sure was a magnificent view… probably of the countryside.

Across the room from them there were multiple doors, and it seemed that every free area of wall in this room was covered in bookshelves.

The only source of light currently was the lamp that was on the small side table next to the bed which, when she looked at Marcus, threw his features into sharp relief.

His face was closer to hers than she expected, and she found herself trying to memorize every detail of it; his straight nose, his strong jaw, and perfect cheekbones. His eyes, framed by thick lashes and perfect eyebrows, were softer now, gentler since he was alone with her. And of course, his mouth… his lips were pale pink, full and inviting but she still found herself pulling back slightly and looking away, not wanting a repeat of her embarrassing rejection from him earlier.

Suddenly he raised his right hand, his fingers firmly lacing themselves in the hair at the back of her head beneath her braid as his left hand lightly stroked her right side from her hip to her breast and down again.

"Castiel."

He said her name so softly as if in reverence, and the moment her eyes met his, his mouth descended on hers.

His lips were surprisingly soft against hers, and his mouth a little warmer than she expected. While she wasn't prepared for the kiss, she certainly wasn't ever going to fight it.

She let out a soft moan, her arms coming up to wrap around his neck as she kissed him with earnest, her lips molding to his and moving with his guidance. The sound of her desire had caused Marcus to purr deeply in his chest and guide her gently back so she was lying down with her head by the foot of the bed and him hovering over her.

She could feel every line of his body against hers but none of his weight, and she shivered in delight when she realized that she was positively correct to think that kissing Marcus would be like nothing she had ever experienced. He was by far the best kiss she had ever had, and her eyes fluttered open for a second in surprise when he ran his tongue across her lower lip.

Though she was unsure at first, the gentle coaxing of Marcus' mouth caused her to part her lips, allowing his tongue to move forward and gently persuade hers into stroking back. She had never kissed anyone so deeply before – the boys she had been close to this way being so clumsy they ended up licking most of her chin when they tried – and the taste of Marcus' mouth alone was enough to cause another soft moan to pass her lips.

Luckily Marcus was more aware than she was in that moment of her need to breathe, and he pulled back to rest his forehead against hers while she caught her breath.

Her cheeks were flushed, and her lips were slightly swollen from the force of his kisses. It was satisfying to him to see this, as this was the only way of showing that she was his at the present time.

"I was so worried." His voice was almost too low for her to hear, and she found herself running her fingers through his hair which felt softer than silk.

"I'm okay," She reassured, trying to sound brave, "I'm fine thanks to you. I don't – I don't know what happened. I just went to grab my book and I could sense he was behind me. But the moment I was looking at him I couldn't move. I just… I just couldn't move."

Suddenly she could feel real fear bubble up in her chest recalling how utterly hopeless she felt. She had wanted to scream for Marcus but was unable to.

She didn't realize tears were running hotly down her face until Marcus unwound his fingers from her hair and wiped them away with his fingers.

"Shhhh, little one you're safe. No one can hurt you here, I promise." He cooed at her, gently pulling the hair tie from the end of her braid and running his fingers through to unweave it.

She felt her stomach flutter at the pet name and found the description to be fitting when she realized how huge he was compared to her. His body was completely covering hers and hiding her from everything in the room, so she believed him when he said she was safe here.

"What you were experiencing is Nikita's gift," He said Nikita's name as if it were a curse, his lip curling, "Once making eye contact, he has the ability to paralyze his prey. It extends to keeping the prey mute as well, and it only works on humans and only one at a time. We think his gift formed because in his human life he never liked to work for his food or… anything for that matter. The easier it was to obtain what he wanted the better. So now his gift allows it so his pray cannot run or scream."

"So essentially he turns his prey into a sitting duck?" The very idea of this depressed her and, feeling her distress, Marcus sat back onto his heels before adjusting himself so he could sit properly on the bed. He opened his arms in invitation and felt immensely pleased when Castiel sat up and crawled onto his lap again.

Purring gently, he ran his fingers through her hair, knowing how much she enjoyed when he did so.

"He won't be allowed near you again." His tone was solemn, "I promise,"

Castiel could feel exhaustion beginning to take hold of her as they sat in silence for a few moments and found that she was suddenly dog-tired.

Resting her head against his shoulder she yawned, "What time is it?"

"It's almost six in the morning… you should get some rest." He whispered before motioning to the room with the hand that wasn't currently holding her.

"The door on the far left across from us is my closet and dressing room, the door next to that is a – err spare dressing room, next to that is the washroom, and on the far right over there is the door to a small hall that will lead you to the doors to my private bedroom, my own personal library, and my private office. I do have another office just outside of these rooms down the hall which is usually where I hold meetings or meet with guards, but my main office is here. The desk over there," He waved toward the desk near to the covered windows, "I merely use when I respond to letters and wish to work in the sun."

And though she was tired, he had her full attention at that. She hadn't even considered that this room was his and not just another guest quarters. Of course, it was his though, it fit his personality so well. It was all dark colors and sophisticated furniture.

"Oh um," She was glad that he didn't seem to be dismissing her, but was this necessarily an invitation to stay the night? She didn't want to be alone because when she really thought about it she truly didn't feel safe, and the idea of Marcus leaving her now made her feel incredibly vulnerable.

"Why don't you go use the washroom. You are more than welcome to take a shower if you'd like. I can also send Afton to retrieve you some nightclothes or you may simply wear something of mine." Marcus had no plans to leave her side. He had slipped into his bond sight while he was telling her which doors were which, and he could see how her end of the bond yanked against his in her worry, obviously of abandonment after what had happened.

He wasn't sure she realized how close it really was. Nikita's teeth were hardly a centimeter from her neck when he had thrown him off her. Her end of the bond was calling out for protection, and the individual strands of his end of the bond were gently wrapping around hers, trying to soothe her fear and provide security and comfort.

But this wasn't the part of the bond that worried him.

The bond was humming now, and now more than ever before individual strands of the bond were trying to come together. Some were gently looping together, and others tentatively trying to connect, while some still bounced away from each other like similar magnets. The bond was trying to steady itself and some of the thickest strands, but not the main one of his imprinting, were glowing a little brighter and looping together but not fusing as one. And they wouldn't completely fuse together, not until they consummated their relationship and he gave her the mating bite.

But the bond was more alive now than it had been since it formed, and all it took was one passionate kiss.

"I think I will shower," She peaked up at him through her eyelashes, all beautiful and bashful, "And I'm okay with wearing something of yours… if it's okay with you."

At his answering smile and nod Castiel slid off the bed, heading to the door he had indicated as the bathroom.

And if she thought her bathroom was ridiculous, it was nothing compared to his. Easily twice the size of hers, his bathroom was complete with double sinks and a toilet and bidet on the left. A large glass shower with many heads was in the back right corner and there was a huge soaker tub at the far end next to the shower that would comfortably hold six people, while the right wall had four laundry baskets each labeled black, white, colors, and delicates respectively.

Above the sinks was a large mirror and above the laundry baskets, before the towel rack, was a beautiful all-glass portrait of the countryside that fit in nicely since the room had no windows.

The bath did look extremely inviting, but she resolved to try to figure out how to work the shower instead.

Marcus could hear the water start running in the shower, and the sound of fabrics being dropped lazily to the floor as his mate undressed. In an effort to distract himself from the thought of his mate naked in his shower, he decided now would be a good time to get a fire started and find her something to sleep in.

It really was such a shame that he didn't light fires in his room more often, he thought as he placed some dry wood in the hearth and grabbed the small lighter on the mantle to light one of the fire starter blocks he had.

It wasn't until recently that he had wood to light for his fire it all. It was all Sulpicia's idea really. If Castiel was going to be remaining human until further notice she felt he should have what he needed to keep her comfortable. He had denied himself things as simple as warmth during his depression, opting to live his days in mute solitude, being present for meetings and trials but not truly being there.

It really was fate, a gift from merciful gods that he imprinted. Castiel was everything he would have asked for if he knew to ask, and he would have waited his near four thousand years without complaint if he had known that she was waiting for him all these years later.

Heading to his closet it only took him only a moment to find one of the black button-up shirts that she could wear to bed. He made sure he grabbed one of the softer ones that had seen it's fair share of laundry cycles so it wouldn't feel too starchy or uncomfortable for her and hung it on the knob to the bathroom door.

He hoped that in time some of her clothes would find their way into the empty dressing room next to his.


By the time she emerged from the bathroom Marcus was sitting on the bed against the headboard with his legs stretched out in front of him reading a book. He had removed his shoes and changed into a pair of soft looking charcoal grey slacks and a white button up. Castiel had never seen him look so causal, this outfit was certainly more comfortable looking than his usually all black ensembles and suits.

She felt herself blush when Marcus' eyes rose to hers before moving down her body, obviously appraising her. He should have considered how tempting she would look in nothing but one of his shirts. Yes, she was short, but her pale legs certainly looked long enough to him in that shirt. The bottom of his shirt barely reached the top of her knees, and he found that the collar showed a decent amount of her collarbone since she hadn't buttoned it all the way.

It took more control than he would have liked to admit to keep his hands to himself as she crawled into bed beside him. He could see that she had discarded her bra by the natural soft swell of her breasts, and in that moment he felt very relieved when she buried herself under the covers and pulled them up over her chest to rest under her arms.

Turning on her right side she reached her arm out to grab Marcus' free hand while resting her head on one of the pillows. The innocence of the action helped Marcus, who was attempting to stop the hardening of his erection and keep it down.

She made him feel so young. How easy it was for her to unintentionally coax a physical reaction from his body was startling.

Settling his book in his lap he reached over to turn off the lamp, the only source of light in the room being the merrily cracking fireplace. The sun would rise any minute now, but his curtains were thick enough that in his room it felt like night, which he was grateful for as he really didn't like how dark the circles were becoming under Castiel's eyes.

"You won't leave right? You'll be here when I wake up?"

The sleepy mumble from beside made his heart feel like it seized in his chest. She was still frightened.

"Of course, I'll be here." He assured, "I might move to the desk to respond to some correspondence at some point, but I certainly won't leave you. I'd never leave you Castiel."

At his word's relief washed through her; she was sure she seemed very clingy and pathetic, but the last thing she felt she could handle right now was him leaving.

"And Afton is guarding the door, right? And Chelsea?"

"I believe Chelsea is currently assisting my sisters with something but yes… Afton is guarding the door." Marcus' voice was suddenly gruff, as if Afton had done something to make him angry.

And Castiel, who was on the verge of falling asleep, forced her eyes open before leaning up on her elbow to look it him.

"Are you… angry at Afton?" she gazed at him in confusion, and he realized she wasn't about to go to bed without an explanation.

Sighing deeply, Marcus set his book on the nightstand and ran his fingers lightly through her still slightly damp hair.

"In the library, before you were attacked… I hurt your feelings." He paused and she lowered her eyes to the bed. He knew she was embarrassed about what happened, but he felt he needed to address her feelings sooner rather than later. "Dearest, if you think for even a second that I never wanted to – that I haven't always wanted to-,"

He found himself, momentarily, at a loss for words before figuring the best course of action was to be blunt.

"Of course, I wanted to kiss you Castiel. It's just that our allies were coming to meet us, and I knew that once I kissed you, I would want nothing more than to take you back here and-,"

He stopped talking, knowing she could guess where he was going with his thoughts and the blush that crept from her ears to her cheeks indicated he was right.

"You felt as though I was rejecting you, and I know how much that hurt. You know I can feel what you feel due to the bond. I wasn't going to let you leave my side… I didn't like that I had hurt you but Afton encouraged me to let you go, to give you a minute to grab your book so I wouldn't risk making you more upset only for our visitor's to come and see that I had made you cry."

"Once you grabbed your book… I heard him come into the library. I didn't think he would try to eat the first human he saw, but when I heard your heart start to race, I figured he had used his gift on you."

He paused, looking down to make sure he still had her attention, and to make sure that she was really there with him. He didn't like having to relive the moment his foolishness had almost made him lose her forever.

"I ran toward where you were, and Afton must not have noticed where I was coming from and he got in my way. We bumped into each other, and that single second we had to use to right ourselves was enough time for Nikita to get his hands on you…" He let out a harsh breath "All it takes is a second. As a vampire it's only a second that keeps your prey from becoming someone else's, that keeps your head on your shoulders while you're being attacked, and that keeps the people you love here with you."

"And in this case, I was a second behind Nikita, due to Afton's thoughtlessness."

Castiel could see where he was coming from with his anger toward Afton once Marcus explained himself. She knew how important she was to him, and though she was still working on the whole falling in love part, he was already head over heels in love with her. She felt a little guilty about that, but she was only human, and she couldn't force her feelings to come along any faster than they naturally would.

"I don't think Afton was being thoughtless," She whispered as she set her head back onto the pillow and shut her eyes. "I think he wanted to protect me just as much as you did. You both had the same goal in mind. What happened was an accident."

Marcus understood what she was saying. From her point of view it was obvious. He found himself smiling softly at her as she began to fall asleep.

She mumbled something that was almost unintelligible, but he was sure she was trying to say, "Don't be mad at him."

He chuckled, brushing her hair back from her face before lying on his back and closing his eyes as if he planned to sleep next to her.

"I'll get over it," He assured softly, "I love you so much Castiel."

"Mmmm." Was all the response he got before she fell asleep.


It was just after noon, and Marcus was at his desk writing a response to the 27th letter in the pile of correspondence that never seemed to get any smaller. This letter was from a small coven in Ireland that was pissing and moaning because one of their coven mates failed in the recruitment process for the Volturi guard. Really it wasn't any of their faults that young Connor couldn't meet the minimum speed requirement. No vampire should have any problem passing the physical section of the recruitment exam, he just happened to be exceptionally slow for one of their kind and they could not take him.

Really the "coven" was only angry because Connor was a newborn the couple had accidently created and had to take responsibility for. The two were a solitary couple and were trying to push their burden on anyone who would take him. And how great would it be if they could be alone and also have bragging rights that a newborn they created went on to join the Volturi?

A soft knock at the door caused him to look up. He knew it must be one of his brother's or sister's since they were the only one's Marcus had given Afton permission to interrupt him with Castiel.

Crossing the room in a split second, he was greeted with the smiling faces of Athenadora and Sulpicia – with both Caius and Aro behind them.

Without speaking Marcus stepped aside to let them in before Afton shut the doors behind them. Holding a finger to his lips, Marcus pointed at the bed where Castiel was still asleep. She had almost buried herself under the blankets shortly after falling asleep, and all that could be seen was her hair.

"Ah, we were wondering why Afton was outside your rooms and not hers." Athenadora said with a teasing wink. She spoke low enough that there was no way a human could pick up on her words, though they had no problem hearing it.

His family all settled themselves on his couches; Aro and Caius both laid back on the couches opposite each other while their wives sat on the largest couch in the middle, patting the seat to indicate to Marcus that they wanted him to sit between them.

Once seated, he sighed heavily before running his hand through his hair. He looked pointedly at Aro and Caius in turn since they obviously had some things they needed to speak about.

"Well Nikita is fine, he fed a few hours ago and has been walking and talking since." Aro shrugged, as if saying, "So that's that and no harm done."

"Oh yeah he's been talking alright," Caius growled under his breath, casting a glare in Marcus' direction, "The blithering idiot hasn't shut up since Arkos finished properly reattaching his arm."

Caius took a deep, steadying breath, "He won't stop apologizing to anyone who will listen and I'm going to mutilate him myself if he even says the word sorry one more time around me."

"Sweetheart calm down," Athenadora said softly before uttering a small laugh, "Well at least we don't have to worry about our alliance being affected. Daphne, Veronica, and even Raphael haven't stopped calling Nikita a moron since you left. They all more than approve of Castiel you know. Veronica said she was surprised that she returned Nikita's arm."

"Yeah, and Raphael said he was surprised she didn't barf." Aro laughed, "I think his exact thoughts were "The girl has to have some serious nads to be an imprint to Marcus". Your reputation as the god of war certainly hasn't faded. Not to mention their guards were very impressed with how well she diffused the situation."

"Well I sure am glad we left a good impression after Nikita tried to kill her and I mauled him." Marcus scoffed sarcastically, before glancing at the bed where Castiel still slept.

"Hey," Sulpicia said softly, reaching out to gently pat his hand, "You'd don't have to keep looking over at her to ensure she's still here. She's fine."

Sulpicia had a way of catching things like that. Marcus didn't seem to have noticed himself worriedly looking over at Castiel every twenty seconds.

With a small nod to Sulpicia, Marcus turned his attention to Caius, who was watching him a bit apprehensively, as if expecting to be reproached.

"I can't thank you enough Caius, for protecting Castiel yesterday. I'm sorry that I ever told you to keep your distance from her as I've not made anything better that way. I appreciate that you also risked crossing me to keep her safe. I was not in my right state of mind and could have attacked you as well."

Caius, who had been expecting to be told off for being near Castiel, couldn't help the small smile that had twitched at the edge of his lips. At least Marcus was acknowledging that he cared for his human sister, so with a shrug he muttered, "Well what is family for if not love and protection?"

There was silence for a few minutes before Athenadora and Sulpicia stood, Caius and Aro following their example.

"We should get going, there are a couple of trials Daphne and Veronica wish to sit in on in the next hour and you should probably wake Castiel so she can get breakfast before the cook leaves for his winter vacation to visit his grandchildren." Aro said simply, grabbing Sulpicia's hand and tucking it into his arm on his way to the door.

"Yeah, and I was going to go to the garage to work on that Toyota. It's a 2007 and has hardly forty thousand miles on it, but the steering wheel starts to shake whenever you brake for going anywhere above twenty miles an hour!" Athenadora complained, she had taken up fixing cars as a hobby within the last decade and was still learning.

"Have you shown Castiel the car collection?" She continued, her voice chipper, "I know we have many expensive cars she's probably never seen, but I'm sure she'll be surprise when she sees just how many ordinary cars we have! Oh, and I'm sure she'd love to take a look at the motorcycles-,"

At these words Marcus' expression soured and his voice was gruff as he walked his bubbly sister and Caius to the doors. "No motorcycles."

Athenadora looked like she was about to argue, as the motorcycle was Castiel's preferred choice of vehicle, but Caius shot her a pointed look that said, just drop it.

"Anyway!" Athenadora was speaking at normal volume now, "It's taken me weeks and I still can't figure out why the steering wheel wobbles! I already looked through the transmission and everything is fine. How much longer is this going to take?"

Everyone was shocked to stillness when a sleepy mumble replied to Athenadora's question.

"You'll figure it out m'later," Castiel mumbled from the bed, "You'll need ta replace the brake padsss and roh-ders,"

All heads turned toward where her voice came from, and Marcus slowly came to the end of the bed. He was surprised to see that Castiel had rolled onto her back, the covers were now pooled down at her waist and both of her arms were up with her hands resting near either side of her head.

She was still sound asleep.

Her soft lips were parted slightly as she slept deeply, before muttering something about hating vanilla.

"Is she – is she still asleep?" Caius' slightly shocked whisper came from near the door. None of the family had moved when she spoke, worried that she had realized they were all there. Castiel would surely feel a little nervous if she woke up to everyone staring at her, and they were sure some physical activity had occurred between her and Marcus earlier since her scent was being slightly masked by his own. His scent would only continue to mask hers from physical contact until the day he bit her, at which point her scent would permanently become a mixture of both her own and Marcus', so they were sure that until then the bond would probably make her feel a little defenseless and sensitive after any… activity with him.

"Yes," Was Marcus' simple reply as he sat on the edge of the bed near her head and carefully pulled the covers back up to her chin.

"She's doing that sleep-predictions thing you told us about?" Caius pressed, shocked that what they were told was actually true.

"Yes!" Marcus snapped irritably, a small snarl creeping into his voice, "Which I promised her none of us would do."

"It's not like Athenadora was asking her! She was just thinking out loud." Caius whispered furiously, automatically coming to the defense of his mate.

But Caius and Marcus' little tiff seemed to have affected Castiel even asleep, for a small whimper came from the bed and her arms rose as if searching for something. Marcus quickly moved over her at that point, so her hands bumped his chest and shoulder, which seemed to calm her. He ran his fingers through her hair before lowering his chest to hers and purring lightly, encouraging her to stay asleep.

"He wasn't saying I was," Athenadora whispered, grabbing her husband's elbow and dragging him out the door with her to where Sulpicia and Aro were waiting in the hall, "Let's give them some privacy. Castiel is obviously starting to feel the bond in more than just fleeting symptoms every few days. We should all do our best to be courteous of that. Marcus is only going to become more protective over her, and we should just resolve to try and watch over Castiel when he's not around, okay?"

Seeing their nods of agreement, Athenadora bid Afton good day as he shut the doors to Marcus' chambers before leading the run back to the council room.


Revised January 19th, 2021

(16 Pages, 7,166 Words)

Translation: Nevozmozhno – Impossible