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The next few minutes were spent trying to understand nearly incoherent Greek screaming between Caius and Marcus, who sounded both terrified and upset. Cain, I had never heard that name before. Whoever he was, they hated him with a fiery passion that couldn't be put into words of any language.

"How could you bring up something like this?!" I understood Caius' broken cry. He sunk to the floor, in a heap of his own tears. I did what I could, bending over to see my mate on the ground. He was a mess, breaking down and hurting. "Please don't make me━"

"Il mio amore," Aro was sniffling himself, "Nobody is going to make you do anything, amore. You're safe. Nobody can get to you━"

"No!" I wrapped my arms around the king, who huddled himself on top of me. He cried into my chest and shoulder, staining my clothes with his venomous tears. I tried to calm him with a touch to the face, but it didn't work, with him almost crying harder after I gave him affection. "Not him! Anyone but him!"

This was not like the attack he had before. Panic, he was completely panicked.

Lowering my head, I placed a kiss to his forehead. Caius struggled a bit under my hold, but eased himself into stillness. His cries soon slowed as I peppered kisses to his head. Those once steady sobs turned to whimpers, still burning a hole in my heart, but not as horrifying as the ones before.

My hands lingered on his back, making sure that his head stayed in place.

"Sweetie," he looked up at me with teary eyes, holding back a sob, "Oh, sweetheart, it's okay. It's okay to cry, Caius. Let it all out."

A small scream left his lips as he burrowed his head into my shirt. "That's it. That's it, sweetie."

As much as it pained me to hear him so upset, I knew that he had to do this. It was either he gets all of his pent up emotions out right now in a safe environment or he ends up doing what he did and goes comatose. He needs somewhere that he can feel safe enough to cry. Everyone needs that. I would stay with him for however long he needs. Be it a day or a year, I would be right by his side, holding him as he cries. Nothing would make me leave his side.

"I'm scared," Caius whimpered into my chest, holding onto me for dear life.

"I know, sweetie. I'm right here. Nothing can hurt you with me here. Your mate has you," I soothed, running a finger down his arm.

"Please don't leave me," he pleaded.

"Not going anywhere, sweetheart. I promise I'll stay here," I promised, propping him upright. I gazed into his puffy eyes and saw something new. He looked so small, so meek and hopeless. This wasn't the face of a vampire king, of a man who the world feared the wrath of. He felt so blissfully human.

Our usual roles reversed, I made sure he was comfortable in my arms. The floor was not the best place to be right now, but Caius made no indication that he could get up.

I would suffer if it meant that my mate could feel okay.

"Do you want to snuggle with me on the bed, honey?" he nodded, letting me help him up. I could have sworn I saw him stumble on the way over. He flopped himself down and I came right next to him, holding him in my arms once more.

"Please stay with me," he mumbled the request, burying himself in blankets and my body. I nodded quickly, giving him some peace of mind. I would never leave him. Not now, not ever. Not when I loved him so much that even thinking of leaving knocked the breath out of me.

"I love you," my mate whispered, honesty lining his voice. I smiled down at him, rubbing my face against his head. A little purr escaped from his chest, filling me with confidence. Caius was notorious (as told by Aro, not that I knew much about the idea of scenting) for dodging head scents, doing whatever he could to get away from them. Even with that knowledge, doing this felt right.

"I love you too, Caius." My mate started to let out deeper purrs, cuddling up to my chest.

Some comfort within the chaos had been achieved.

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It took Caius almost a day to separate from me physically, and even now he was unwilling and unable to attend trials throughout the day. During the past three days I've been right by his side, comforting him whenever he cried. He cried a lot during the first twenty-four hours, but now it was starting to be less extreme, just small sessions rather than hours of vampire tears.

I was still worried about him. Day in and day out I worried. He was getting better, but not fast enough where I could do much of anything with him. Caius was a vampire and vampires need their routine. Now, he was without that.

No matter, I would just have to make the most of our situation. With Caius now laying on my chest, I realize just how much he weighs. Pure muscle, I assume, but still.

Still, despite my discomfort, I insist on him being on me like a child. He's so cute. Oh look, he's purring again.

Those purrs made all of what I did worthwhile. Perfectly content and comfortable. I would do anything just to have him purr for me. It was a power surge like no other to know that I was the one to make him purr.

Nobody had informed me of the identity of this Cain figure, or what he meant to Caius. There were only so many assumptions you could make about a person and their role when nobody talks about them. His name was like some sort of bad omen, almost like people around here were too scared to say it. That sort of terror could only be invoked by the lowest of the low, and that would have to be what I thought he was. Low, horrible, and evil enough to make my Caius cry.

Cain, what a name. Like the bible story, I suspected that he did something terrible. Perhaps it was something having to do with my mate. That would explain the panic attacks. PTSD is a fickle.

I wanted to know. Too bad I don't have a voice inside of my head that tells me this sort of stuff. Ah, knowledge is power.

Caius stirred slightly on my chest, rubbing circles on the pillow on his right. "You ready to get up, sweetie?" He shook his head, frowning at the notion.

"I miss everyone," I raised an eyebrow at his random comment. "I miss my family."

"Oh, sweetie..." Caius stopped purring and started to cry again. "I have an idea." Caius turned his head up to look at me. "How about we take a bath and you can tell me about them. It would be good for you to talk about what makes you upset."

"I miss them," he repeated. I nodded, knowing that he still hadn't given me an answer. "Yeah, bath sounds nice," he mumbled.

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Bubbles and finally washing yourself do make telling life stories a lot easier. Easier to listen to them as well, with all of the soapy goodness floating around. Although we were in there for a few hours. His bath was the most comfortable I've ever been in, so it wasn't all that bad.

His story made me want to cry, cheer, and tear Cain apart limb from limb. Of course, none of that was shown, with Caius just needing someone to listen to him and his story.

"I never got to say goodbye..." Caius mumbled into my chest, getting himself comfortable after our shared bath, "I didn't want to leave them. I really wanted to be with them. I hate him so much for taking them away from me."

"And you have every right to hate him, sweetie," Caius nodded, grabbing a handful of blanket and pulling them over his head. I giggled at his childishness. Hands running down the sides of his blanket-covered body, I notice him start to purr again. He was so weird like that, purring one second crying the next, but it kept me on my toes. "My sweet Caius━"

A knock at our door cut me off. Caius hissed deeply and huddled himself further underneath the blankets, almost being fully consumed by them. He was but a lump on the bed. A very, very tall lump.

The door opened without me giving an answer, making me frown. That happened sometimes, but usually it meant that it was just Aro and Marcus coming in. However, I knew that they would be at trial during this time of day, meaning that my other mates were in the throne room.

It was the blonde girl from before, Alesia. Marcus had informed me that she would be joining the coven. For what reason, I did not know why. She seems nice enough.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt you, my Queen, but I need to speak with King Caius," I groaned, knowing that he was in no way capable of having a formal conversation with a new member of his coven.

"What do you want?" Caius hissed, unhappily interrupted.

"Oh, uhm, this may come as weird or something━"

"Just get to the point." Well so much for nice and cute Caius, he's reigning in the sass today. "I don't have time for this, child."

"My king, king Marcus told me that━"

"My mate will tell me whatever I need to know━"

"Please, just━"

"Marcus━" I was getting tired of his rudeness already. I snapped my fingers and pulled him out of his little blanket pile, giving him a deadly glare. "Let me back in━"

"No. Be nice to Alesia or no more snuggle time today," my blonde mate whined but nodded. "Alesia, do tell him what Marcus told you."

"Well Marcus told me that the bonds indicate that you're actually━" Caius cut her off once more.

"Just get to the damn point, insolent child!" I sent Alesia an apologetic smile and glared daggers into my mate. "Sorry, cara mia. Just she literally is going on and on━"

"Brother would you listen to me for one second!" Caius was now fully listening, almost a slab of stone as he looked at Alesia. "You're my brother, okay? We thought that you left us three thousand years ago when you went off with Cain. Marcus told me that I should tell you know since the Volturi are helping get the rest of our family out. I was five when you left and I couldn't recognize you before, but your name gave it away. What other three thousand year old vampires are named Caius?"

"That's a lie," Caius denied her story, "My family fucking died in a house fire."

"We got out, brother. Even mother and father! They're being held captive by Cain and we have to get them out! Please, I need you to believe me. Aro saw it. Aro hinted at it! He said that he did. You have to believe me, Caius," Alesia stood true to her claims.

"No. You know why I really don't believe you?"

"Why, Caius?"

"Never in a million years would Zenon actually believe that I left him."

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Alesia's claims did not hold in Caius' eyes. No longer did he cling to me, or show me any attention. Marcus, our poor mate, was being given the worst sort of silent treatment known to mankind. Caius barely came back to our room, heading off somewhere and deciding to stay away from all three of his mates.

Aro said I had the best chance of getting through to him, but I wasn't so sure about that. Caius, he flipped some switch inside of himself that I couldn't comprehend. Cold, careless, heartbroken.

No matter how many times he claimed Alesia a liar, he must know deep down that there is some truth to what she says. Aro has seen it and Marcus can see their bonds.

He was claiming his mates as liars as well.

"Go away." It had taken me hours to find out where he was hiding in the castle. Outside, to be more specific. The gardens were a lovely place to sulk, I suppose. "I told you to go away, Astraea."

"You can't just send me away," I said, sitting down next to him. He growled, looking away from me. His eyes wandered down to the ponds, those lovely little ponds with moss and fresh flowers. "You also can't dodge the truth by sitting out here. Caius, don't you trust Aro or Marcus, their gifts?"

"They have been misled," I rolled my eyes at him, "What, it's the truth."

"No, it isn't the truth, Caius. No matter how many times you tell yourself, tell me that, it won't just suddenly become true. Your family have been turned into vampires and they need your help. Do you not want to take down the man who caused you pain? Is that not a goal?" Caius shifted his body away from me now, clearly annoyed that I was not going along with his tactical denial. "To be quite frank, sweetie, you're treating Aro and Marcus like crap these days. They do not deserve that."

"Yes they do." His denial was starting to make me mad. Our mates did not deserve to be treated badly. What kind of mate actually wants to treat their mate like shit?

"Now, you don't actually believe that." My mate stood up, ready to walk away from me. I grabbed his arm, not letting him leave. "You aren't going to treat them the way you have been. This isn't you, Caius, and you're worrying us all to death with your recent behavior. This isn't the man that I love and it most certainly isn't my mate."

"This is who I am and I am your mate." This isn't you at all. I would never be paired up with the man right in front of me. I make sure that everyone is happy, that everyone feels safe within themselves. This man━ This is toxic.

"No, no, not like this you aren't. This has to stop, Caius. I'm putting my foot down right now. Caius Volturi, you're going to stop." It was my turn to stand up. Even when he's almost a foot taller than me, I have my own sense of authority. Fiery anger burned in my eyes as I spoke, "If you don't stop this right now, Caius Volturi, you're going to lose us all. Not just Aro and Marcus. I have stood by you through everything, but I will not be treated like crap or watch people I love being treated poorly. This is your final warning. No more toxic behavior from you or I'm done."

Whether or not he was in pain at the moment and trying to process things didn't matter. That explains behavior, but it will never justify it. He had to stop or he would lose me. Maybe not forever, but until he got his act together.

"You would leave me?" There was real pain in his voice, almost on the verge of tears. "You would dare leave your mate? After everything, you would just up and leave?"

"If this is how you're going to act, Caius, then yes, I will just up and leave," I spoke with confidence, crossing my arms annoyedly, "I'm sorry that this is all that seems to be getting you to even consider listening to me, but I'm out of options. You're ruining whatever we had in the first place, Caius. I love you with all of my heart but being treated like this isn't what being your mate should be. I can't let you put me through this."

"You don't like it, fine. I'll just━" He turned to face the exit of the gardens. With one last breath, he vanished.

I had just lost the love of my life.

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