𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒, Volturi Kings

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ¹⁰

I knew that when the sun came up we would have to return home, but that didn't mean that we couldn't enjoy the darkness while we could.

"Catch me if you can, Alec!" Jane teased her brother, running through the trees in the forest.

Waiting for them to catch each other, I keep Helios placed in my lap. It was good that he had his first big meal. Before we had been limiting him to one human per feeding, but from now on we may have to feed him two humans to satisfy him for the week to come. Constantly having to give him blood bags was not easy, as he could get hungry at any time and place. Being hungry hurt and I would not be allowing my son to be in pain.

"Don't run too far, children!" Aro called out to the two of them, who had begun their own game of tag. "We can't draw humans to our location!"

"We know!" They call back in unison, Alec tackling Jane to the ground.

"Kids these days," Caius mutters, fiddling around with Heelie's jacket that he had on. Hybrids still had the ability to get cold, even if it took much more. We were standing in the middle of a dark forest during a Canadian winter, so it was well below freezing at the moment. How people had even survived out here in the first place was a mystery.

"Always running around," Marcus tutts, walking along the sides of the trees. "What do you think will happen once we get back home? Everyone knows our little secret now."

"Not much of a secret anymore," Aro counters. "Although I think that we will be able to find something to do with ourselves now that all of this is over. There are always places to see and people to reconnect with. I do not think we have visited the Americas for a long time."

"We just got off of vacation," Caius points out, "We can't just go back and pack our stuff to come right back. The world needs our rule, no matter how annoying that may be. I suspect that we will be quite busy once we come back to Volterra."

"Raising a child doesn't sound like a vacation to me," Aro whines. "No offense, Heelie, you're my best hybrid son and I love you more than I love my throne and myself," our son nods and smiles into my side. "Do we have to go back right away?"

"Yes, brother," Caius stills Aro's dreams of travel. "Don't fret, we shall be able to have some time to travel with our mate once we get all of our paperwork up to date, set things up so that others are able to conduct trials in our absence, and make sure that everyone calms down from this trial."

All three of my mates sighed before nodding, understanding that we were all mentally exhausted from our latest trial, which had taken more out of us than we had expected. Having to deal with Edward and Bella left a sour taste in my mouth and having to hear about how poorly young Renesmee was being treated just made me sick to my stomach.

Bella had treated her hybrid child like she was an extension of herself, which she wasn't. No child should be fawned over only when they do something extraordinary. Sometimes being just ordinary is what kids want. I had known that too well in foster care, where the only time I would ever get any sort of attention, good or bad, was when I did something extreme. Attention was something that everyone craves in some way, not getting it as a child can be detrimental.

Rose and Jasper are heading back to the house now. They caught a few things and Emmett was able to catch a bear. Any news? Not that I can see clearly. Although I should warn you that your brother is getting more and more annoyed with Edward and his behavior. I think he's become a bit protective over that hybrid girl. Not that it's bad, just thought I would let you know. Thanks, Maeve.

"The sun is getting higher," Marcus whispers, looking to the horizon that was almost blocked by the thick trees surrounding us in the Canadian wilderness. "Let us take our leave and head back to the house. We may get to see the Masen girl on the way."