[ Chapter Sixteen—the magnificent werewolf ]

So yeah, all the vamps were kind of just standing there staring at me. Caius and Marcus were standing in front of their thrones, Aro was in front of his wife, and the guards were all watching me as though they did not believe what they were seeing.

The sound of a pounding heart caught my attention causing me to turn and look back to the dying couple.

"Impossible! Heartbeats?" Caius spat, his facial expression that of anger.

I'm telling you, this guy either looked angry or disgusted, there was no in-between.

"Yeah, not for long though," I chuckled just as their hearts gave and out and they were officially deceased, "see dead?" I kicked the male vampire on the shin as though to show that he was really gone.

Caius flashed me a look of disbelief making me give him a condescending smile in response.

"If he was alive, he probably would have attacked me—" I stopped short when Aro suddenly zoomed forward, standing inches away.

I yelped and jumped back, but Aro reached out and grabbed my hand with his own icy one. Somehow, his perfectly silky raven hair stayed just as silky, not even a hair moving out of place. Geez, how much hairspray did this guy use?

Caius let out a growl taking a small step forward while I only narrowed my eyes at him.

"Hey, you tried to kill me last time we were together!" I accused, throwing him my own snarl.

Caius brought his intense gaze to me, his lips upturning ever so slightly as though he were amused.

"No, I left so I would not kill you," the blonde sneered causing me to scowl.

Bringing my gaze back to Aro who was holding my hand, his eyes giving a far-off look. I pursed my lips, looking toward his wife who was also staring at her husband with something akin to worry.

"Does your wife have a name?" I questioned the leader, trying to awkwardly pull my hand away, but Aro's grip was strong.

The vibe I got from Aro was odd. On some level, I really wanted to hate him, but on another—I also could not help but want to bake cookies with him. Weird, I know.

I had not spoken with Marcus at all, but he seemed like a relatively chill guy. Depressed, but chill all the same.

Now, Caius—the hothead who I was stuck with for the rest of eternity, I hated. Plain and simple, he was an asshat and I hated him—he could go fuck himself. Okay, so maybe that was a little much, but I was still sour over our last encounter with each other.

Like not only was he trying to kill me, but he ran away after—he might as well have finished the job. I did not want to live in this hellhole anyway. I was ready to see God... or possibly Lucifer, but wherever I ended up was not important seeing as I was not fucking dead yet.

"My name is Sulpicia," the pretty woman who I now knew as Sulpicia took a slight step forward, her red eyes wide with curiosity.

Caius and Marcus both held out their hands as a clear sign for her to stop and not come any closer. I tilted my head at the interaction, noticing the almost sibling-like bond between the three immediately.

Yeah, they may have been old as hell, but all in all, it was the same.

"Sulpicia," Caius hissed causing her to whip around to face him, "do not go near her, she is dangerous..."

I scoffed at his words, already fuming. He was literally the only person capable of grinding my gears this way. "Okay, whatever," I rolled my eyes, turning to Aro who looked as though he was just now coming back to the present, "have fun?" I pulled my hand away from his as his grip had loosened immensely.

Aro stared at me with a look of astonishment, his eyes gleaming as though he had just got the very last piece of cake. I gave him an odd look, crossing my arms while quirking a brow.

"What is it, did you see something...?"

"Magnificent," Aro all but whispered, his hands folding over themselves as though debating on what to do.

"What is it?" Caius hissed, standing next to Sulpicia.

His red eyes were moving between me and Aro, his expression one of hot anger.

"It would appear, dear brothers," Aro paused, staring at me as though he was still in disbelief, "that Jaclyn here is gifted..."

"Gifted?" Caius immediately sneered. "That is not possible! Werewolves have never been gifted, all they have is toxic venom!"

"...And yet," Marcus's voice was barely above a whisper, but he managed to catch everyone's undivided attention, "a gifted wolf stands before us—your mate, brother..."

Caius was inches away from me in seconds, his red eyes glaring harshly into my own. "Why did you not bother to speak of this before?"

I opened and closed my mouth, unsure of how to reply. Thirty minutes ago, I did not even know what 'this' was!

"She did not know herself, brother," I for once was thankful for Aro stepping in.

Caius laughed in an almost sarcastic manner, turning to face Aro. "How do her own gifts go undetected? How long have you been a werewolf, a few years, I suppose?" He rhetorically asked me, obviously not intending for an answer.

"Try a few months," I quipped back.

Caius looked taken aback for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"When were you turned?" He demanded, taking a step closer causing my heart rate to speed up.

I furrowed my brows, not understanding why that was happening. Why the fuck was my heart rate speeding up like that? It did not make sense. Caius smirked in response, but it was gone in a flash.

"October of last year," I finally spoke causing Caius to glare.

"So you are a newborn?" He deadpanned in a chilling tone.

I shrugged, recalling that newborn was term used for new vampires.

"I don't know, I guess..."

Caius looked at me for a few more seconds before moving his eyesight to Aro. However, the blond King did not move away, instead, he stayed in his spot making me shrink at the height difference.

I hate tall people.

"How did she not know about her own gifts?" Caius questioned Aro, everyone else in the throne room interested as well.

"Well," I said out loud gaining their attention once again, "I'm normally too high to notice things like that, so I guess it makes sense. Wait, what is my gift again?"

I was honestly confused, and the vampires in the room were staring at me blankly. Caius was the first to break out of the shock, looking down his nose at me.

"Impeccable," he muttered causing me to growl.

"From what I have seen you are able to manipulate time itself! Remarkable, in all my years, I have never seen anything like it," Aro breathed, stopping my growling and causing me to look at him curiously.

He was looking at me with something akin to wonder, Caius's face twisting into one of shock.

"Aro," it was the soft voice of Sulpicia, "are you certain? A gift such as that is unheard of,"

"Yes," Aro nodded, "from what I saw, you can only hold it for so long and..."

"Okay, hold on," I put my hand up, looking around as though this were some kind of joke.

It sure as hell felt like one.

"How do you even know all of this, I thought you said you have never seen anything like it?" I was suspicious because while I could be an air-head, I feel like would notice if I had been stopping time.

Then again, how was I to explain the phenomena which took place a mere few minutes ago?

"You have not been conscious of it, Jaclyn," Aro tilted his head, "but I saw it in your mind. Truly consider it, there have been moments where you felt like time was slowed, yes?"

Now that Aro mentioned it, I supposed there was. It was not often, but since I had been bitten if there was ever a situation where I felt like I needed extra time—it seemed like time sort of just trickled to me. Whether I was taking a test or wanted an extra few minutes before heading to bed, the time just kind of appeared.

"I thought it was just a werewolf thing," I looked down in shock, many different moments since I had been turned where time had no meaning coming to the forefront of my mind.

"You thought it was just a werewolf thing?" Caius said slowly, his tone portraying that of incredulity.

"Well, I am kind of new to this, okay!" I snapped, taking a few steps away from him. "And I did not really have any help at first, no thanks to you! Oh gosh...!" I exclaimed, becoming light-headed, "I can control time!"

"You can control time," Aro confirmed with a smile, probably thinking he was helping me.

"I can control time!" I wailed, bringing a hand to my head. "I need to lay down or get my hands on a joint..." I whimpered in a pathetic manner, sitting next to the dead vampire couple.

I leaned back against the stone wall, placing the palms of my hands on my forehead. Caius stood, gazing down at me with an unreadable expression while Aro still looked as though he had won the lottery.

"Stop it, both of you!" Sulpicia glared at the two. "You're overwhelming her!"

In an instant, Caius and Aro zoomed back over to the thrones. Suddenly, the three brothers and Sulpicia were in a quick-paced conversation, all of them speaking in some type of language that I could not understand. But it sounded really really old.

Looking away from the group of elders, I turned to Demetri and Felix who were standing with Santiago, Jane, and Alec—all of them watching me with expressions of shock. Well, everyone other than Jane who was glaring holes through my skull.

"I can control time," I mouthed with a disturbed expression, Demetri slowly nodding back with a fake grin—Felix giving me a thumbs up.

Alec continued to watch me in a blank manner and Santiago looked as though his life had changed. I did not even want to look at Jane.

Every single instance where I had slowed or stopped time came to me full force. I had even done it while I was with the Cullens—how had they not noticed either? How had Edward not noticed?

"Do you have twenty bucks?" I asked the dead male vampire, reaching over digging through his pockets.

"What are you—?" I hushed Demetri, pulling a wallet out of the vampire's pocket.

With little to no concern, I opened it up and shifted through the items. Pulling out a bland credit card and all the cash he had (it was more than twenty bucks), I slowly stood up while pocketing the money. Jane looked from the four speaking to me with an expression of fury.

They were too busy talking to notice me pickpocketing him.

"Don't judge me, you guys kill people for a living," I narrowed my eyes at the guard group before Marcus suddenly spoke in clear English.

"She was turned in North America, perhaps the werewolf physiology is different there. She already has had subtle changes from the common werewolf that once walked Europe and Asia." His tone was knowing and seemed to spike something inside the other three.

"Yes, and it has been over a thousand years since we wiped the Children of the Moon, evolution is possible," Sulpicia stated, making a good argument amongst the group.

Me, on the other hand, it seemed the exhaustion was creeping up by the second. I could not remember the last time I got a good sleep and after holding time for so long, everything in me seemed to just be dragging. Plus the shock of it all was taking its toll.

God, what I would do high or drunk at this moment, preferably high.

Pushing myself off the ground, I cleared my throat loudly gaining the attention of the four.

"I don't mean to interrupt—well, actually I do, but point aside, I am tired as fuck and want nothing more than to take a shower—!"

Caius growled, taking a step closer but Aro grabbed his shoulder.

"Of course, Demetri and Felix, please take her to her new room while we continue to discuss things here," Aro nodded to the two vampire buddies. "Oh, and please try not to destroy this one, Jaclyn," he added as an afterthought.

"No promises," I shrugged before turning to the dynamic vamp duo, "Now show me the way, Bert and Ernie..." I expressed as Demetri and Felix sighed, leading the way out of the throne.

"Goodbye blondie!" I winked at Caius who once again let out a ferocious roar before the doors to the throne room closed.

Finally, some peace.

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