Don't Let Me Be Yours - Alec Volturi

18. Family

My heart was in my throat as Alec led me deeper into the castle, towards his parents wing of the building. Every fiber of my being wanted to scurry in the opposite direction, but I loved Alec and I wanted to give our relationship the best shot I could - even if that included spending quality time with his parents.

"Are you sure I look okay?" I asked, still very apprehensive about how I looked. I had the good sense to change out of my overalls, but even in my nice black knee-length dress with a thick white collar and my oxford shoes, I still felt sorely out of place.

"You look beautiful," Alec assured me. "Your outfit looks fine."

I tried to take his word for it, although I still wished he wasn't completely biased.
Shortly after, we slowed down in front of an open doorway and turned to enter the room.

Inside was a large sitting room, which was artfully decorated and immaculately well kept. There was a fireplace against the back wall and two couches and an armchair positioned in the semicircle near it, angled slightly more towards the door rather than the fireplace.

The couch on the right was occupied by the King and Queen, the Queen being seated closest to the door. Next to the Queen sat Princess Jane, who was seated in an armchair just to the Queen's left. There was an empty couch opposite of the King and Queen, which is where Alec and I landed.

"Ah! So, you were able to locate her after all!" Aro said gleefully as Alec and I took our seats on the couch opposite of him.

"Hello, Aro," I said, hoping I wasn't overstepping by calling him by his first name.

He didn't seem to mind. "It's good to see you again, Indigo," he said. "I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon after your sudden departure from our ball back in November. But, then, Alec told us the good news!"

Sulpicia looked like she disagreed deeply with her husband's sentiment. Aro's words rung false in my ears, anyway. I didn't believe a word he said. Jane looked at her mother expectantly.

"My family was just surprised to hear the news, as well," I replied.

"I doubt that," Jane said with a steely smile.

"I heard Carlisle wasn't pleased," Aro said. "It's unlike him to have such a harsh opinion. He's usually much more tolerant of change."

"Perhaps the man isn't as good natured as you believed," Sulpicia said cynically.

I wanted to chime in and defend my father, but I lost my nerve and the conversation continued to flow onward.

"Don't say that, my love," Aro said to his wife. "Carlisle is a good man, and an even better vampire. I'm sure it's simply rooted in the interests of the rest of his coven."

"He chose to create a coven, therefore it's his job to lead," Sulpicia replied, becoming increasingly sour. "What coven leader lets their children run wild like the Cullens do?"

Jane watched her parents avidly, enjoying their discourse. Alec maintained a neutral outward appearance; I couldn't read him. I, on the other hand, was mortified by the direction the conversation was going.

"Carlisle certainly didn't let his children do whatever they pleased this time," Alec said with a smile on his lips, joining the conversation with his parents. "Indy asked for grace and she received none simply because Edward threw a temper tantrum."

"I would never allow my children—" Sulpicia began. "Who does that Edward think he is? That he thinks he is above my child!"

"Edward isn't our problem, mother," Alec said soothingly.

"At the moment," Jane said with a smirk.

I worried what she meant by that.

"Are they still with the wolves?" Aro asked Alec, his interest peaked.

"Yes, unbelievably," Alec replied, somewhat haughtily.

Alec proceeded to give his father a full update on my coven, and at that moment, I understood why my family wasn't comfortable with him hanging around. Having to always live under a microscope; It put a bad taste in my mouth.

"Vile creatures," Sulpicia said, in regards to the wolves. "The stench alone — I couldn't imagine living under such circumstances."

"I actually don't mind them," I blurted out, finally forcing myself into the conversation.

All four royals looked at me. Suddenly, I was on the spot.

"The wolf pack is nice, to me at least," I continued. "They just want to live a quiet life on their land. It's not their fault my coven decided to set up camp next to them. And it's not their fault that Jacob got involved in Bella." The wolves had never been anything but good to me and it felt wrong to sit by and let people trash them. Even though there was no way I could sway anyone's opinion, saying something nice felt like the right thing to do.

"Well, they're dangerous, too," Alec said, shifting his tone to appease me. "It's probably best you aren't around them any longer."

"Until I go back," I replied. I didn't want to discuss how we intended to allocate our time between covens in front of his family, but still, I had to stand up for myself and my coven, to the best of my ability, at least.

"Yes," Alec chuckled, glancing around the room at his family. "Which we haven't decided yet. I think that's a conversation for another time."

It annoyed me that he was speaking to me as if he needed to explain the obvious, but I didn't want to argue with my mate in front of his family. The last thing we need, with all the complications we already faced, was to have people around the castle think we were already having issues.

"Right," I conceded. I wanted to be a good sport in front of his family.

"You just got here, after all," Aro added, using a lighthearted, chastising tone.

I struggled to tell if he meant offense or not. Regardless, I knew the queen wouldn't be pleased with my desire to leave so soon. The words had slipped out although, however, and I couldn't take them back.

"Excuse me," I said, rising to my feet. "I'm going to—um. I'm going to go."

Completely overwhelmed, and thoroughly dissatisfied with how my little meeting with Alec's family went, I rushed out of the room. I'd tried my best, and I'd still managed to mess my first meeting up. I was exhausted and over it; I rushed back across the castle, to my bedroom, where I threw myself in bed and wondered how much longer I'd have to stick around to appease Alec before I could finally go home.