Disclaimer: IAMIniquity does not own Twilight or anything that belongs to Steph Meyer. She literally owns an ugly sun spotted Toyota, a laptop, a kindle, and some clothes she got thrift shopping because she isn't about that spending fifty dollars on a t-shirt life. So don't sue her because she's just a broke 24-year-old college student with too much debt already.

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Beta Love: MissVolturiKingsfan- who's fantastic.

True Mate Saga Book One: Demetri

Prologue

A hooded, cloaked figure strode boldly down the dimly lit streets of Volterra. The sound of its footsteps were non-existent but the scent expelled from it in droves, alerting the cities… nightlife to its ethereal feminine presence. She could feel her own anxiety climbing with every step closer to the castle she took. Her fear gripping nearly paralyzing she was afraid that her gift would not be accepted, as it wasn't useful for the kings' benefit or for battle. Then again, there was always the option that her ability could be used to the benefit of the kings. Cruel as it was, her gift had the flexibility to be utilized in that way. Not that she wished it so.

Still, the woman continued to glide across the stone streets with only one destination in mind, against her coven's better judgment. Mentally she accosted herself for her boldness. Was it alright to just appear in Volterra? She didn't know if it were against the law, perhaps an appointment would have been necessary? How does one make an appointment with the Vampire Kings? Call 1 800 Volturi and schedule your appointment today!

Her frantic mental arguing screeched to a halt when she felt them. Two vampires, almost materializing beside her.

"What do we have here, Felix?" One chimed, voice a low but elegant baritone, almost playfully speaking to the other.

The woman glanced at the two through the stitching of her cloak to find that they were both wearing much thicker hoods than she. She realized they could easily see her face, and she had no luck in seeing theirs. Had she a heart, it would be thundering loudly in her chest in this moment. Regardless of her intentions for tonight, meeting Volturi guard members was an intimidating experience. Fear was a natural and undoubtedly expected reaction.

"A nomad, perhaps?" The one called Felix responded, his voice deep and resonating, sending a shiver of fear down her spine, she did her best to conceal it, squashing her anxiety as best as she could. Which wasn't well, mind you.

"Your presence begs the question, are you visiting or simply passing through?" The first vampire spoke once again, directing his questions at the woman.

The woman, taking a deep unnecessary breath to calm her nerves so they would not show in her speech, answered quickly giving the barest of details, "I am not a nomad, but I have left my coven to seek audience with the Volturi."

The gruff response from the one called Felix was rather chilling in the tone he'd used to deliver it, "Then you shall not be kept waiting."

They walked quietly at a human pace, turning down a main road and walking passed a fountain. Even in the night no detail of the magnificent stone structure was lost on the vampires. The light of the moon reflected delicately on the surface of the water, casting beautiful moonlight glow across the fountains surface. Every fine line, every speck of dirt, and even the newly forming algae around the ring of the basin was evident to the three, but only the woman was engrossed by its beauty.

"Impressive, no?" The one called Felix asked her as he held a door to the building on the far left of the statue. He'd taken notice to the woman's enthralled expression as her eyes followed the piece of historical artwork whilst they walked forward.

She simply nodded, hoping to squash his interest before he was to ask too many questions. She hoped to only answer to the Volturi, if it were possible. She flashed him a small, respectful smile as she passed through the open door behind the nameless vampire, feeling rather than hearing the door shut behind her and Felix following closely. Quickly they came to a hole in the ground and the vampire before her jumped casually, the sound of his graceful landing evident only a second following his departure.

"Demetri will catch you, if he is needed." Felix assured, his tone teasing.

The woman scoffed, and jumped down into the hole. There was no light, but she could easily see the ground and the one called Demetri, whom had now dropped his hood. His face held a certain neutral expression, causing his high cheekbones and defined jawline to look naturally gaunt. His crimson eyes were in a deep setting, adding easily to his dark and mysterious appearance.

As she fell, she had quickly become sidetracked in her careful contemplation of the vampire below her and she was just milliseconds from hitting the floor ungracefully when his arms snapped out to catch her. His hand brushed a small exposed area of her midsection and she gasped audibly, suddenly swaying where he had placed her on her feet as her gift came to the forefront. A blast of information and images surged within her mind's eye. At the end, a face, a name, and a location were the only things she was left. The memories she had been assaulted with faded away as she was no longer able to retain the information.

But the face, the name, and the location would remain.

Such had been the case since before she could remember.

Demetri looked at the woman questioningly, but she did not speak. He grew suspicious but, considering her mission to speak with the Volturi, knew it was not his place to question what Aro would soon see. The guard was on a need-to-know basis, and Demetri knew what was and was not acceptable in the eyes of his masters.

Felix landed a few seconds later and they resumed their trek to the throne room, ignoring what had just transpired. As they walked the woman withdrew into herself, attempting to regain some of the flashes that had overtaken her. It wasn't often she had the chance to exercise her gift on vampires, which was why it had been difficult for her to hone her skills. She knew she should probably pay closer attention to the halls she was being led through, but her gift was more important at the moment, as it was the one thing that she could use to help others of her kind.

Her thoughts were pulled to a stop when her body nearly collided with Demetri's in front of her. She halted in her steps a mere inch away from his ridged back and attempted to keep her eyes focused ahead of her, hoping they hadn't seen her near accident.

What kind of vampire am I, for Christ sakes? She scolded herself.

Demetri and Felix quickly made to stand in front of her, now both facing her they were sure to flash her a secretive smile that told her they hadn't missed her near run in, though they didn't say anything about it.

"Please wait here while we announce you, may we have your name?"

"Aurora of the Empire Coven." Demetri nodded before he and Felix both disappeared through the immaculate door that stood imposingly before her.

When she was alone she tried in vain to calm her nerves. This was it. Her coven had warned her not to come but she refused to listen. She would not allow for her talent to be wasted when it would be so detrimental to many of her kind. Demetri- he would surely suffer unknowingly if she hadn't met him today. She would soon tell him what she had seen, regardless of if she were proven useful to the Volturi or not. He deserved to know.

She was not left waiting for long, a new Vampire, very small in stature with blond hair pulled tightly into a bun and a vacant expression pulled open the doors, staring the woman down. The girl was almost child-like in appearance. She had clearly been very young when turned. A pang of sorrow swelled Aurora's undead chest. Although, if it weren't for the girls' schooled vacant look, Aurora would think that this young looking vampire was giving her the evil eye.

"Aro will see you now." Her voice, like bells, chimed through the hollow entrance hall causing an almost shiver to once again trail down the woman's spine.

This was it, there was no turning back. Aurora quickly stepped into the room and, although it was expansive with elegant architecture, it was the three thrones and their occupants that drew her attention. She cared none for the vampires surrounding the room, the ones that more often than not were the ones to rip offending vampires to shreds and burn them. She cared little for the giant letter V that was sculpted meticulously into the floor.

What drew her attention were the Vampire Kings themselves.

She'd only heard of them. Her coven stayed out of trouble and so she had, in her nearly fifty-year immortal life, never had a run in with the authority of the vampire world. Seeing them face to face was quiet the experience. From their sophisticated, unworldly, faces to their clothes that cost more than most people's homes they practically dripped royalty and screamed power. She briefly entertained the idea that they must have been princes as humans, or at least noblemen of a sort, and wondered just how old they actually were.

This time, Aurora was not caught up in her thoughts as she witnessed the raven haired vampire King, Aro, raise from his chair and clamp his hands together underneath his chin. He smiled down at her and it sent a jolt of instinct that screamed DANGER as he descended his throne with such grace that it would have a human fascinated, a vampire enraptured.

Aurora bowed slightly as he reached her, even though it was against every feminist urge she had ever had to do so, out of respect for the Vampire King. His small chuckle briefly pierced the silence in the room and she raised up, removing her hood for the first time and allowing a cascade of blonde waves flow from the now fallen cloth. "Aurora of the Empire coven, it is a pleasure to meet you." Aro held out his hand to her, and she placed hers in his.

Her maker had warned her of Lord Aro's gift, but she had expected to feel the invasion of her mental privacy beyond the touch of his hand. She was actually quite surprised to find that she felt nothing. No tingling sensation or alarm, just the feeling of his hand in hers.

It was rather bizarre, to think that every thought and experience that had ever entered her mind was flowing freely into his. But just as the moment passed a new sense was emerging, the same as she'd had when Demetri had accidentally brushed her skin with his. Aurora's mind erupted with erratic images of a woman with dark hair. Her name was Sulpicia, and she was somewhere within this castle.

"Affascinate!" He exclaimed, retracting his hand from Aurora's and offering a dashing smile, "For one of our kind to hold the information of our eternal happiness at the brush of a finger! How wonderful it must be."

If she could blush, Aurora felt that she would be doing so now. She was humbled by Aro's reaction to her gift. "Please forgive my intrusion, I came in hopes that my gift may be of better use here than it would be lazing about my home."

Aro's hands once again met underneath his chin as he answered. Aurora could almost see the gears turning in his head, "Of course, dear Aurora, of course!"

Just as the words had left Aro's mouth another voice erupted across the distinguished room. This one was far darker and demanding than Aro's light and feathery tones. It gave an impression of contempt and anger. Aurora figured that this voice, coming from the blond King, must belong to Lord Caius.

"We tire of your prattling, Aro, do enlighten the rest of us to which you have seen."

Something akin to anger quickly flashed through Aro's eyes, Aurora had only briefly glimpsed it before it was gone once again, his friendly demeanor seeping through once more as he looked towards the other vampires in the room.

"Aurora, progeny of Michael of the Empire coven in the northeastern United States, has the ability to see the true mate of any being she happens to have physical contact with. Human and Vampire alike." Aro announced, a gleeful smile upon his face.

All of the sudden it was as if someone had opened the flood gate on whispers in the room. Though the guard members were speaking among themselves their comments and their conversations could easily be heard by every vampire in the room. Some comments were flattering, others were not. Particularly coming from the child-like blonde vampire in the corner to an equally child-like brunet vampire beside her.

"Silence, please, my friends. Do you not see it? Dear Aurora, with one touch, can tell us if our mates have yet to live, have passed on, or are currently alive and waiting for us. What could be more prudent to our kind than finding our true mate? The likes of which few of our kind have ever found."

Aurora was instantly filled with a sense of dread. She couldn't place it, every word that came from Aro's mouth seemed like it was innocent. He sounded as though he truly cared about his people, and he honestly wished to see them mated, sated, and happy. However, something was wrong. There was some sort of sinister purpose for his instant excitement and acceptance of her gift.

She was kept from her musings when the blond king, Lord Caius, spoke almost venomously, directing his question to her. "And what limitations do you have?"

"I cannot recall everything I see," she began quickly, "if the mate of the one I touch is alive only a name, a location, and a face will remain, and although I believe I see far more than that, this is all that retains when the vision is over. I can feel if the mate has already transcended this life, or if they have yet to live. It is rare that I see a mate currently living. Over the years, I have encountered only four who's mates were currently alive and they weren't already mated to them. One was a vampire already, and the other three were human."

"The humans were then turned; I imagine?" Caius' voice did not lose its venom as he spoke.

"One was turned soon after I informed the vampire of her mate, as he was already a bit older than comfortable for her. The other is still human and has yet to be approached with our world for she was only eight years old when I saw her, she will be turned after she reaches adulthood."

"The last one?"

"I have not yet informed the vampire I have witnessed their mate. It happened recently."

Caius said no more. Instead, he rose from his throne. From the looks on the faces of the guard members in the room this was an action that did not happen often. He glided, much like Aro had, down to the floor and halted in front of Aurora, holding his hand out for her to take.

Aurora obliged and within seconds of touching Caius' hand was assaulted with a deep sense of humanity and laughter. There were no memories and no names, just a forlorn sense of time. Decades, in fact. Caius quickly wrenched his hand out of her grasp and Aro held his hand out for her to show him what she had seen. She touched Aro's hand and he grinned while Caius looked as if he were ready to rip the heads off of every vampire in the room. Impatiently, he spoke up.

"Well?" Caius asked gruffly.

Aurora offered him a gentle smile, "Your true mate has yet to be born, Lord Caius. Another fifty to eighty years from now, I estimate."

"Ah! She can estimate time of arrival, magnificent!" Aro spoke, while Caius looked almost stunned into silence.

Suddenly a shrill cry erupted from the right of the throne room as a blonde woman, roughly five foot and five inches came gracefully barreling at Aurora. Not knowing what to do, Aurora attempted to side-step the woman, and only succeeded in making her even more angry. The blonde woman grabbed the back of Aurora's head and slammed her down against the stone floor. Something told Aurora not to fight back. "Caius is my true mate, you're a fraud!" she hissed.

Images swarmed Aurora's mind as she felt her skin crack underneath the pressure of the woman's hands. "Your mate is alive, he lives in Russia and goes by the name of Victor!"

Aro's piercing laughter echoed across the hall. Surprisingly, it was Caius who commanded attention and action, "Athenodora, release Aurora at once." He thundered.

Athenodora's face morphed from anger to shame in less than a few seconds, holding her hand out to actually help Aurora from her spot on the floor. Sensing that the woman before her was shocked by the revelation of her true mate, Aurora understood. Though, still, Aurora glared at the blonde woman and stood on her own, ignoring the offered hand. It was a statement; Aurora would not forgive Athenodora for having attacked. Though the cause was justified.

Caius placed his right hand on the small of Athenodora's back, "We will look into your mate. For the time being, go back to your room and remain there until called for."

As Athenodora, head bowed and ashamed, made her way out of the double doors Aro grasped everyone's attention once again. His hands in their usual spot he took to circling Aurora like a vulture ready to swoop down and kill, or in this case, grasp in his vice like grip. Aurora almost wondered if she had made a mistake in coming here, but already her gift had told Caius his mate was not far from being born, Athenodora that her mate was alive, and she'd deciphered that Demetri's mate was also alive.

It was as if fate had made sure she would come to the Volturi, before it was too late for these vampires to meet their mates.

"Now, Aurora, my brother's and I will have to discuss whether you belong among the Volturi. If it were solely my decision you would begin training to be a member of this coven tonight. I do believe, as I have seen in your thoughts, that there is one other vampire you wish to inform of a living mate." Aro looked at Aurora pointedly, "You may do so now."

Aurora, understanding what has been asked of her, turned to view Demetri once again. His eyes widened by a small fraction in surprise. He had simply been listening patiently to the conversations before him. It was never his job to intervene or make statements. If asked directly he would have to admit that the idea of finding his mate would have intrigued him. As Aurora's bright red eyes met his crimson orbs he almost felt as if his undead heart beat in his chest.

"Demetri, you happened to brush some of my skin when you caught me earlier. In that brief contact I saw your mate. Her name is Delphia Payne; she lives in the city of Detroit in the state of Michigan. Her face looks young, late teenager to early twenties."

Demetri couldn't decipher the surge of emotions that nearly overwhelmed him. These all came to a vicious halt when he realized that he wouldn't be available to visit and meet his mate until he had earned some off from the Volturi, and that was rare seeing as how he was their number one tracker. Perhaps he could put in a request to Aro in the next few days. If his mate was old enough he would surely court her for a few weeks and then turn her.

"Ah!" Aro exclaimed excitedly, "I believe you have earned some time to yourself, Demetri. Perhaps two months would suffice as a brief hiatus?"

Demetri's face lost its expressionless veneer and erupted into a very small, yet oddly satisfying smile as he bowed to his master, not questioning Aro's intentions in the slightest. "Thank you, master."

Aro smiled down on his tracker and floated elegantly back to his throne, Caius following dutifully. Marcus had sat like a statue throughout the entire exchange, not once had he so much as flinched. The moment Aro was seated, Marcus' hand stretched across the gap in between their chairs and Aro held out his hand. Marcus' right index finger brushed his brother's outstretched palm. There was a brief and unnatural quiet that stilled the room. Not a single vampire took an unnecessary breath or moved an inch.

"Caius, your vote?" Aro questioned the blond with an eyebrow raised.

Caius, who Aurora was certain would not care for her gift, actually surprised her. "Although her gift has caused an upheaval in my marriage, I have to say that the knowledge of the impeding birth of my true mate has greatly made up for the trouble. I can see the advantage to this vampire joining our ranks. Should she prove useless in the next decade we can reevaluate the situation. For now, I vote that she join the Volturi."

"It is rare, indeed, that a vampire receives a unanimous vote of confidence from the Volturi to join our coven. Let me be the first to welcome you, Aurora." Aro stated warmly, eyes glinting mischievously, before acknowledging his guard, "No one is to touch Aurora without first gaining permission from us. We will not have everyone at once learn of their mate, especially if more turn up to be living, currently. It will be an earned privilege."

No one questioned Aro's decision.

"Felix, Demetri, please escort Aurora to an unused suite."

As she followed the two who had brought her into the Volturi in the first place, Felix asked Aurora a question that no one had once thought to ask her before, and she was filled with a surge of something that she couldn't identify. Perhaps it was loneliness, perhaps it was something deeper. Whatever it was, it hurt.

"Can you see or sense your own mate?" The large vampire asked, drawing the curiosity of Demetri who glanced at the small blonde vampire.

Aurora smiled sadly, "No, Felix, I can't. I never have."

Author's Message

Welcome to the True Mate Saga! This is only book one, I have planned at least another three. Aurora is actually not the main character of this particular book, but she will be reoccurring and she will play a major part in every one with the last one being her story. She's the catalyst for many events to come so I hope you like her; even though you don't get to see much of her personality here.

This book centers around a Demetri/OC pairing, as you read above the OC in this book is named Delphia (Della). She will make her appearance in Chapter One, as most of the story is in her point of view. Only two out of the four are OC pairings, one is a crack ship, and one is cannon.

Be advised - I'm not scared to kill off supporting/minor characters.

I hope you like this idea as much as I do. I would like to inform you all that I am a college student, so there will be times that I'll be hard pressed for my time and will have to neglect this story. I won't abandon it, so you can take solace in that fact. This saga is my practice for writing my own novel, and with that being said I am determined to finish it and make it the best I can.

If you're here because you're on my Author's Alerts from another story that I have put on Hiatus- I'm sorry! I won't be working on any of my Naruto stuff for a while. Inspiration got up, slapped me in the face, grabbed its suitcase and tore outta here like a hooker that stole your wallet, leaving me writing in agony over my lost muse.

To everyone else – please don't forget to review, alert, or favorite this story if you like it! Updates come faster when you feed the beast!

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