✓ | 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒, Volturi Kings

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ¹⁶

It had taken Aro over an hour to come back with a bag of blood for me. During that time, I had been rolling all over my mates, uncomfortable with the hungry and burning in my throat. Marcus looked like he wanted to die once more and Caius was just about ready to decapitate Aro for taking so long to get me something so simple as a bag of blood. Aro, reading the energy of the room, didn't try and defend himself against the glares of his soul brothers and just sighed as he saw me rolling and trying to clutch at Marcus' chest.

"Il mio amore, I have the blood," my eyes lit up as I dashed off of Marcus, much to his relief, and ripped open the blood bag to drink it. I had gulped down the red substance in less than two big gulps. I had been so hungry and I needed the blood in my system. Being that hungry was not normal for me. I hadn't been so hungry as to need to roll myself out of some discomfort in more than a year. I glared at Aro when I realized that he had allowed me to stay hungry for an hour while he doddled, allowing my mates to suffer along with me as they read my hunger and discomfort through the rolling and through the incomplete mate bond.

"Aro, if you ever take that long again, I will kill you," Caius threatened his brother. Aro gave a scared smile and tried to hold me. I moved away, throwing the blood bag down and sitting on Caius' lap, much to Aro's dismay. I kissed Caius and stilled myself on him, laying nicely on his chest. I could hear the low purr that came deep within my chest. My mate let out a confused whine before kissing my head, eventually settling at my purring.

"What is that sound?" Aro asks, looking around to see if it was coming from somewhere other than his very comfortable mate. "It sounds like purring."

"It's Annalise you great buffoon," Caius deadpans. Marcus stares at me longingly before looking to a very smug Caius, turning his head. "She's the one who's purring."

"Annalise, how and why are you doing such a thing?" Aro asks, still confused about the entire thing. For a man who has been said to have seen it all, he did sure seem clueless about the topic of purring.

"Let her purr on me, Aro. Maybe if you weren't so late she would be purring on you right now," Caius snarks. Marcus laughs at his throne.

"Caius, I am simply curious!" Aro defends himself, looking offended as ever.

"She looks comfortable. It seems that since I have been the one to make her comfortable, she purrs on me," Caius looks down at me. I was listening but too happy and comfy to make a sound, simply allowing the loud purrs to come from deep in my voice box. "Cara mia, for the sake of Aro's ignorance, can you tell us how you are making such a sound?"

I purred loudly at him and looked around to see Aro looking intently at me. I stop purring to say, "I dunno. I just got comfy and happy."

"If that were the only factor, wouldn't you be purring as well, Caius?" Aro questions. It was a good point. The man seemed very happy and comfortable with the situation he was in, having his most precious mate cuddling up to him and had been purring at him.

"I do believe that this is something we have personally never heard before, but some of the other guards may have some knowledge. Chelsea and Afton are true mates. They have explained our mate giggling at us, but I do not believe that they have ever said anything about a true mate purring," Marcus muses. Aro and Caius look to each other before Aro sighs and leaves the throne room, leaving to go and grab the true mates in question.

My heart, though dead and unbeating, felt almost fuzzy as I snuggled into Caius, taking a deep breath of his scent. My most protective mate smelled of mint and winter, smells that I loved. I let myself curl into him deeper as I felt myself drifting into my own sort of dream. While I was awake, I was not really present and conscious.