Bite Me | Volturi Kings

Chapter 19

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Two years had passed since Shoomah first met her soulmates. It had been with much reluctance on her part and encouragement from her fellow survivors that she'd accepted Caius, Aro, and Marcus into her life. 

In the beginning, her eyes had always been wary around her soulmates. She was loathe to touch any of them in case it harmed them. Her memories of being a prized possession of the previous ruler haunting her every move. 

Whenever they were in a room together, she could practically feel his hot breath against the shell of her ear, whispering to her, "You're just like me." 

There were many times when either brother had had to calm her down from a fit of worry. She would repeatedly sob out the word "sorry" over and over again, rocking back and forth as she curled in on herself. 

Shoomah felt pathetic; she felt so dirty. Memories of her time in the collection had constantly plagued her the past two years—memories that she had thought she'd gotten over. They were vile and repulsive, and they made her want to scream to high hell for forcing her to go through them. 

That time in her life had been so degrading and humiliating that she wished for no other soul to know such pain, and no other soul did know her pain. They were all dead now, all who were in his collection. Gone from this world. 

Aro was the only one who truly knew; he'd seen it himself in her mind. Watched through glazed eyes when she broke down in his arms after he'd shown the slightest hint of displeasure. It made his blood boil, and he cursed himself for being unable to do anything about it. 

He hadn't been there so long ago when it happened, and the one responsible wasn't there now. 

That first year had been difficult to say the least, but after the constant reassurance of her soulmates, Shoomah had slowly started to stop worrying so much. The memories had dulled once again in the back of her mind, but she was still wary of them resurfacing. Aro, Caius, and Marcus had made sure to be overly jubilant when around Shoomah for the past two years to make sure she knew how happy she made them. To make sure that she never once had the chance to doubt their relationship. 

Of course, it had been exhausting—the necessity to be happy all of the time. It was not in their nature, and they found themselves sometimes desperately requiring a break from it, but for Shoomah, it was worth it. 

Their breaks came in the form of returning to Volterra on business now and again. They made sure that one of them was always in Ashaf, with Shoomah—something she later became very grateful for when she did eventually move past the memories that trailed beside her every step. 

But in November of 1610 (or December for Ashaf), Shoomah had gotten to the point where her episodes were infrequent enough to allow long periods of bliss with her soulmates and her work. 

It was one such day, that followed a fortnight of peace, when Shoomah had her head laid down on Marcus's lap. They were both situated on a lavish couch in the middle of the enormous public library, with Marcus holding a copy of one of his favourite books in his hand. 

He was murmuring the words to her as he read, low enough so that it wouldn't disturb the other humans there. While he did this, his hand stroked the hair on her head, which caused her to close her eyes in bliss. She had no doubt that, had she been able, his soft voice and delicate fingers would've lulled her into a dreamless sleep. 

"Are you even listening, Shoomah?" His amused voice reached her ears, but she took a second to process that he wasn't reading aloud anymore. 

One eye cracked open and gazed at the handsome man above her, smiling fondly down at her. In that moment, she was acutely aware of an overwhelming warmth in her chest, one that made her feel like she was weightless. Shoomah could feel her eyes turn adoring as it all bubbled within her—the feeling of love. 

If she could've, she would've cried for the sensation; it was so perfect, so amazing. It was so different from anything she'd ever felt before. Elicited from such a simple moment, but it was still powerful. 

Her eyes roamed over every perfect feature he had, and she found herself adoring every single one. From his long hair to his wizened eyes. 

Marcus Volturi loved her. Shoomah loved him. 

She wanted to cry, to laugh, to smile widely, to kiss him, to hug him. Anything, everything, because he was her eternity. Her everything. 

And now she was very much aware of that fact. 

It was like she looked down on her life and saw him at the centre. Him and his brothers. All the black tendrils of her past could not claw at them in her mind, and she could not give them any care as she truly regarded her soulmates. Because none of it mattered, not truly. The happiness she felt with them far overshadowed the devastation she felt in the past. 

"What?" Marcus's smile widened as he saw the look on her face, one he had often given her. 

"Nothing." She shook her head but could not shake off the dumb smile that had broken through. 

He set aside the book and put it on the table, fully investing into this conversation instead. "It's not nothing. Tell me, αγάπη."

"Go back to stroking my hair and I'll consider telling you." She quirked her lips up and leaned into his hand as he complied with her request. 

Not that he could ever deny her anything. She had unwittingly wrapped every single formidable Volturi king around her finger, through each moment of vulnerability and strength. Through every cry and laugh. Through every moment where she was herself, they had each fallen completely for her. 

And when her worrying had subsided, in turn, she had done the same for each of them. Or re-falling in terms of Caius. 

"Well?" 

"I considered it, and I'm good with silence." Shoomah just chuckled at him as he shot her an annoyed look. His hands yanked at her hair slightly, and she swatted away his hands in faux-offence. 

She sat up, turning to face him, and he frowned at the loss of contact. 

"I love you, Marcus." 

The words caused his thoughts to stall. Had he heard them right? She hadn't said it in the past two years, and he hadn't pressured her to do so because she'd been vulnerable, but... 

She loved him?

She loved him! He wanted to cry, to laugh, to smile widely, to kiss her, to hug her. 

"I love you, Shoomah." He said for probably the thousandth time since meeting her but this time it was different. This time, it was definitely required; it wasn't hesitant; it wasn't forced. She loved him. 

She loved him. She loved him. Gods, she loved him.

His hands clasped hers in his as he looked at her with eyes that were so full of love, his pupils blown wide to the point of swallowing up his red irises. "Say it again." He practically begged. 

Shoomah shuffled to be closer to him. Their thighs touched and their lips were centimetres apart, so that her lips brushed against his with every single word. "I love you, my sweet Marcus." 

"Again." He said, hardly believing this dream was reality. 

She shivered at his breath against her, at the feeling of their closeness that was so different from any they'd had before. "I love you." 

He kissed her. Gently and with care, his hands held her face to make sure she didn't disappear, as if she were a figment of his imagination. Shoomah inched closer to him as she lost herself to his mouth. To the feeling of him against her, so maddeningly right that she cursed herself for waiting two years to do so with him.

It had been completely worth being kicked out of the library for.

She loved him. 

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