Out of the Shadows

13. Meetings Part 3

''You did what?'' Caius hissed, throwing the closest thing he had to hand, which happened to be a paintbrush, at Aro's head. Aro deftly sidestepped which only caused Caius' scowl to deepen even further. ''What were you thinking?''

''I had no choice,'' Aro defended, ''She asked and I could not lie... It would hardly be a good foundation of any relationship.''

Caius scoffed. ''What relationship? She's run off...'' He turned to look at Marcus, throwing him a hard look. How could his brother be so rash, he expected this type of behaviour from Aro but believed his older brother wiser. ''What happened to not confronting her? You were the one that said it would only scare her off.''

''It was not my intention... Her presence surprised me, I couldn't control my reaction. Once she realised I knew that she was there, I needed to reassure her that I meant no harm,'' Marcus replied, lowering himself onto his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh.

It was the truth. Marcus had not expected to find her sitting right in front of him. Her side of the bond had him so captivated he couldn't look away from it. It was still in a myriad of colours, each colour representing an emotion, blending and shifting together so quickly that it was difficult to distinguish all the emotions she was feeling.

Unsurprisingly there was fear, anxiety, confusion and wariness, but he also saw interest, affection and longing which had pleased him but the most prominent of all had been curiosity. He had never seen a bond quite like it.

When the fear and anxiety increased, smothering the rest he had realised that he had been staring right at her, his eyes following her movements and she was aware of his attention.

He spoke only to reassure her, not hoping for much and at first it had appeared that he had made a huge mistake, doing the one thing he had warned his brothers against, but then she had materialised surprising him yet again.

When they had made eye contact and established the bond, he knew he had made the right decision. They had an almost pleasant conversation, full of even more surprises until Aro had interrupted them.

Even with his interference, the situation had still remained amicable, until Aro had to go and drop that bombshell on her. He felt an unfamiliar flicker of anger at the thought but it quickly passed, his brother technically wasn't wrong in telling her the truth but they were both paying the price for it now. The strain of the bond due to the distance between them and their mate caused an unpleasant ache in both their chests. 

He took a deep breath and looked back up at Caius. ''You would have done the same thing.''

Caius snarled, but whatever he was going to say next was interrupted by Aro.

''We cannot change what has already been done.'' Aro moved to sit in his own chair and neither brother missed how his hand came up to rub at his chest over where his unbeating heart lay before he turned his head to look at Marcus. ''Has her side of the bond changed any?''

Marcus doubted it had changed in the short amount of time since he had last checked it but he slipped into his bond sight anyway. As he had suspected, it remained the same. As soon as Aro  had told her of the mating bond her anxiety had increased and doubt and distrust had flooded her bond a dark orange.

''It remains the same.''

Aro sighed, his eyes closing as leaned back in the chair. ''Have faith, brothers. She only needs time.''

''You said that last time,'' Caius grumbled under his breath.

''She is not Maria!'' Aro snapped, startling both Marcus and Caius enough that they shared an alarmed look. Aro rarely spoke about their deceased mate but it was even rarer to hear him speak her name. Aro glared at Caius as he continued, ''Grace will return... She feels the bond and her curiosity alone will supersede any negative emotions.''