DPOV

I was in my happy place between my mate's thighs, her body molded to mine. The arm she could move was wrapped around my neck and my fingers were threaded in her matted hair. She still needed a bath, but for now, I could deal with the smell. Quite honestly, I doubt I smelled any better to her.

Grabbing the back of one of her knees, I pulled her closer to the edge of the counter, her legs wrapping around my waist. A nip at her lips and she parted them without hesitation. I wouldn't let it go much farther than this. She was far too injured for it, no matter if she thought otherwise. A few meals and a couple for days for her to regain use of her arm, and there isn't a surface in the entire palace I'm not going to fuck her on.

Unfortunately, I wasn't given the opportunity to tell her as much before there was a knock on my door. Growling against her lips, because I certainly wasn't done with currently activities, I broke our kiss and sighed as I set my forehead against hers. "And it starts."

She didn't look upset, merely resigned as she raked her nails against my scalp. "Better answer it. You know Felix won't go away."

Humming in my throat, I pulled back and looked down at her. "I'm actually quite surprised you can smell him right now with all the wolf blood covering your skin."

The corner of her lips turned up and her eyes showed an annoyed amusement. "I can literally, always, smell everything."

Before i could say anything there was another knock, pulling another growl from my throat. "Jesus Christ... knock it off! I'll be right there, fuckface." Now, there was only amusement present on Isabella's face and I glared at her. "You too, Mate. Stay put. I'll be right back." Her eyes clearly told me she didn't believe that for a moment, and I couldn't blame her. I hardly ever was.

Leaving her on the counter, I left the bathroom and went to the door. I expected to see Felix, but not the two bodies he had hung over his shoulder. I just cocked a brow at him, and he shrugged the other shoulder. "There's pure chaos in the Training Chamber right now. No one is listening to anyone else, and Isabella needs to eat. I didn't think the catacombs were in the picture at the moment."

There was a light snort behind me, causing me to turn to the side. Bella was leaning on the doorway to the bathroom, her eyes pitch black, but not upset. She laid her head on the door jam, and smiled. "Go, before they rip each other apart and make things worse."

I just looked at her a moment longer before I turned my sights to Felix. "She was clawed by a wolf and can't move her right arm, so she'll need hand fed. And please, Isabella..." turning to look back at her, I saw her raise a brow. "Keep in mind this is not a feeding chamber." The most devilish looking smirk I have ever seen grace the lips of a newborn settled on her features, and I grunted.

I reached over and snagged a fresh cloak that was hanging over the back of a chair, I went to pass Felix, but his voice stopped me. "This is going to be bad, isn't it?"

Glancing up at him as I shrugged into my jacket, I pulled at my shirt from below the cuff to fix it and turned back. "You haven't had the pleasure yet, have you?" Arms behind my head to fix the back of the collar, I chuckled deep in my throat as I settled the lepels in place and he shook his head. Oh, you poor bastard. I smirked wide, showing my teeth. "Be careful. You interrupted us, Felix... and she bites."

I'm not sure if he actually took a moment to pray for his safety, or his he was merely preparing himself for what was about to happen, but either way, he waited a moment before he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. I wasn't to the end of the hall before I heard her snarl and him yelp like a dog. I laughed loud enough for it to carry back to the room, and the following 'fuck you' from Felix.

Well, if nothing else, I was in a slightly better mood as I headed back to the ground zero, even knowing the vast majority of the furniture in mine and Bella's room was going to need to be replaced.

BPOV

"How the fuck does someone with only one arm make such a fucking mess?"

I just leaned against the bedpost, the hand of the arm I could move in front of my lips, sucking the blood from my fingers. I said nothing, and Felix just continued to look around the room that looked like any other when I was done eating.

He wiped a trail from his cheek that feel from the ceiling, his face confused yet covered in awe. "Seriously, Young One... I was holding the bodies. How? I mean, I know why I was bit, but... fuck. Demetri is going to be pissed."

Lifting the shoulder I could, I I used the nail of my pinky to pick a piece of flesh out of my teeth. Looking at it, I flicked it away and smiled. "I don't know. I taste blood and I just... black out. I don't know what happens between point A and point B." My own eyes surveying the room, I licked my lips clean and cleared my throat. "I can't help it, and he knows it." Then, I giggled. "The room was in need of a remodel anyway. It was so... five centuries ago."

I watched him roll his eyes and shake his head, and waited for my moment. He would have to get the body parts out of the room, and I figured he would do that by just chucking them over the rail of the balcony. Waiting for him to turn his back, I made my move.

Darting into the closet, I grabbed one of Demetri's cloaks and tore ass out of the room, slipping it on as I ran. I wasn't going outside, but I did want to cover the fact I wasn't covered anymore. Between the fight and feeding, my clothes were useless and even more covered in blood than they already were.

Calling Demetri's scent to the forefront of my mind, I followed the tail he left, and knew when Felix was in pursuit. I would make sure he wouldn't get in trouble, but I wanted to see Demetri actually work. I hadn't gotten to do so yet, and I wanted to see what kept stealing him away from me.

I saw the pink trail leading to the stairs that went up to the catwalk, but didn't follow them. Instead, I slipped through the crack in the door that led to the Training Floor. Skirting the outside of the room, I stopped breathing. There were a lot of bodies, and I didn't have my mask. I didn't even know where it was. I lost it in the fight against Jack, and have no idea what happened to it.

Pulling the hood over my bloody hair, I kept my face hidden as I weaved through the bodies that peppered the walls of the room. Since it was no cleaner now than it was, my scent was easily covered since it blended in with rest of the wolf blood all over the dam place. I had no idea the guard was so big, or that Demetri oversaw what was literally hundreds of vampires. Things certainly made more sense now. Not like he could just stand back and let this many vampires go at it. They would rip the palace completely apart.

When I got to the middle, I still kept as much of my face hidden as I could as I looked up the catwalk. There Demetri stood, his hands on the metal railing, Caius and Marcus to either side of him, and Jane and Alec to the sides of them. Demetri's face was hard, his eyes completely black, but I was unsure if it was because he was pissed off or he just needed to eat.

I ducked my head slightly before his eyes landed on my position, and waited a few beats before I looked back up. He wasn't looking where I was, so I leaned back against the wall. His voice never seemed so... enthralling before.

"I challenge everyone present to name one time, one single time, I have put up with disobedience. Name a single time when I gave an order I did not expect it to be followed. I gave a very simple order; clean this fucking chamber. Easy, simple, hardly worth mentioning compared to basically any other order I have ever given out. No difficulty involved, and something that shouldn't have taken any time at all. It was an order, not a request, so imagine not just my surprise, but my level of sheer annoyance when I was pulled away from my mate, again, to deal with your petty fucking bullshit. Squabbling amongst yourselves for shit you have no claim to. Fighting against each other for a position you do not deserve.

"I'm sure by now all of you know, through his own stupidity, Aro is dead. I'm sure all this pointless bickering between you all is somehow connected to that. I am here to tell you your lives have not changed. Nothing here has changed. If anyone thinks to try and take his place..." he held his arms out to the side and straightened his spine, standing to his full height, "come on then. I will not run. I will not hide. I will take you all on but you remember this one thing before you step up to the Devil. You took me away from my mate, my injured mate, forcing me to leave her in the care of someone that lacks the ability to keep her confined to a room."

Uh...oh. His eyes locked on mine, and I cringed. However, he didn't stop as he continued to addressed the room before him. He did begin to pace, though.

"Do I want Aro's job? Fuck no I don't but you will fight me for it." With that, he hopped the railing, landing in the center of the room where everyone present tripped over the next to get away from him. The cloak he chose snapped at the tail when he popped out his crouch. His arms were out to the side, and his face darkened to a level I have never seen before. "You want to be my boss? You want to tell me what to do? Step up and force my submission. Surely if you'll fight against each other for the power to lead, you'll fight the one that actually holds it."

He turned and looked around the room, his eyes daring anyone to step forward, and held up a finger. "Before you attempt to do something as foolish as force me to submit to you, you should know I am in an exceptionally bad mood. Not only will I pound you into the ground, it will so far below the surface, no one will ever find all the pieces." Then he smiled, but it was anything but nice. "Anyone? Anyone at all?" He turned a circle, but no one moved a muscle, making his smile all the darker. "No one? Not a single person in here wants to fuck?"

I cleared my throat and his eyes cut to mine, but they narrowed and I looked away.

He then addressed the room again. "Then I suggest you stop fucking yourselves, and get this Goddamn room clean. If I come back in here and it still reeks of shifter blood, may God show you mercy because I have no intention to." He then turned toward the door, barked my full name, and I gulped.

I didn't, however, leave him waiting.

Threading my arm through his presented one, he walked with purpose from the room, growling at Felix who stood just outside the door, though he said nothing as he led me away. He didn't stop until we were in a hallway a decent distance from the chamber, and he released my arm, crossing his, and looking down his nose at me with pure annoyance on his face.

I bit my lip and looked down. "I just wanted to see what kept taking you away from me."

His tone was irritated and words clipped. "You could have just asked."

I looked up at him. "Would you have let me come if I had?"

He leaned back against the wall and propped his foot behind him, shaking his head. "Not this time, no. That could have ended much different than it did, I certainly wouldn't have wanted you to be there to see it."

Reaching up under the hood, I scratched at the drying blood on my scalp. "So... those barbaric means you talked about when you first brought me here?"

He uncrossed his arms and looked at his nails for a moment before recrossing his arms and looking at me. "Vampiric submission is obtained through sexual exploitation. It starts with a fight, and I bet I don't need to tell you how it ends."

I shook my head and bit my lip. "No; I think I got it." I then looked up at him through my lashes. "Have you..."

I trailed off, and he didn't make me actually ask. He just nodded. "Yes. I told you, I earned my place, and it has nothing to do with my gift. I will also be sure to have to defend it once word gets out that Aro is dead. When that happens, they will have to kill me to take my place, because I will submit to no one but you."

I blinked and jerked back from him at his words. "Me? I... I can't... I would never be able to beat you."

He actually laughed, the sound bouncing off the walls around us as he smiled and crossed the halls to stand in front of me. His hands came up and took up a place to either side of my head, caging me between him and the wall. His voice lowered and took on a tone I knew very well. It was the same cynical way he used to talk to me before he bit me. "No shit. You're still so young, and you still have so much yet to learn. My submission to you isn't forced, Agapimenos; it's done willingly. Your wants and wishes are my pleasures, and your pleasures are my wants and wishes. It's the way of mates. One day, years down the road, possibly even centuries into the future, you'll know exactly what that means. Eventually, you'll understand why I did everything I've done, and will do, for you. You think you do now, but you don't; you can't, and that's fine. You're not supposed to. But, when it happens, you'll look back, to this time, and everything that makes so little sense now you'll see with crystal clear clarity."

I was drowning in his eyes, but I was able to keep enough of my mind working to be able to get my mouth to so the same. "And what will I see?"

His entire presence changed right before my eyes. His darkened, the whites vanishing as the orbs took on the most possessive look I have ever seen. His voice took on a growl that settled right between my legs. "That you have always been mine, and you will be mine for eternity."