Heartbeat [Alec Volturi]

Dissent

A hideous, carnal growl rose from deep inside the boy. A growl he aimed at his own sister, "Jane!"

I gasped for air, and to my surprise, a familiarly comforting, tasteless smell surrounded my nostrils and sent tingles under my skin. This new olfactory scent fought against the strength of Jane's gift, and the compressed effect slowly dulled into obscurity. Alec held me against his chest with a protective arm around my back, prepared to keep any further threats from reaching me.

I took in and released a deep breath, confirming that there was no outside force still trying to cause me harm. My head was spinning slightly, but other than that I felt completely fine. I felt my knee twitch and became aware of the hard marble under my shoes. Alec's arm was more like an anchor to keep me in place against him, but I was, for the most part, supporting most of my bodyweight. Only seconds ago, my legs had given in to an invisible pain and now I was somehow able to stand on my own two feet.

I tried to catch a glimpse of Jane without physically moving to look at her except my hair had fallen to the side like a curtain, effectively limiting my line of sight. She had had to prove herself to the Masters, but I hadn't expected her to push her gift to that extent on me - at least, not yet. It was so much more intense than any of the other times, so she must have been holding back before. I'd been too curious to be bothered by the brief, limited pain her gift had caused me, but after being sucked through the blackhole that I'd just been down...I was beginning to rethink my willingness to be subjected to Jane's gift. I wasn't as confident on my ability to withstand that level of intensity again.

In a sing-song voice, a warning was issued with a single word. "Alec." His name was dragged out, and the c rolled off the man's tongue with a charming lilt. When the young man didn't respect the generosity of the forewarning, one of the lower guards in my vision began to take a step forward. Alec snarled in response, combative, daring her to try. I started in surprise at the primal sound, which only made him tighten his protective hold on me. The guard froze and turned her head in Aro's direction, likely waiting for a direct order before she dared to risk performing an offensive attack on the boy.

Aro must've been waved her down because a firm, final warning reverberated throughout the room. "Enough." The word echoed with finality and I couldn't help but tilt my head up to look at him. The voice seemed to bring Alec back to his senses and I could almost see the savage instinct fall back in line. The tension drained from his eyebrows and down, releasing the rest of his body. The vibrations in his chest lulled into silence before Alec dropped his chin to examine my face. His arm was still wound tightly around me and I was extremely aware of just how close we were. I followed his irises as they diligently scanned my body from my scuffed boots all the way up to my neck. Unlike me, he appeared unconcerned with our closeness as he made no moves to pull or push me away, He spent a millisecond staring at my pulse, matching it to the beat of my heart overwhelming his ears. I waited for his eyes to catch mine after they'd made the trail to double check every inch of my face.

I wish I could say I had not noticed how his arm felt around my waist or the inch of skin he touched at my barely exposed hip. But I could not. I did notice it. It made the caterpillars in me skip the cocoon stage to become instant butterflies, spreading from my stomach to every inch of my body like an emotional freaking cancer. Maybe cancer was too harsh a description. Stockholm Syndrome. My butterflies had Stockholm Syndrome. There's a chance that was too dramatic as well. Conceivably, it was much simpler. Hormones. My butterflies had hormones.

After all, it wasn't every day an attractive boy matching every detail from every Happily Ever After ending pulled out all the stops from Every Girl's Guide to Finding Your Prince Charming. At least, until I met Alec it wasn't. Not that Alec was Prince Charming. Far from it...except for —