The Invitation
This story is inspired by the 2022 film "The Invitation".
Plot: Isabella Swan a struggling college student wrestles with a shit hospitality job, poor relationships and not knowing what she wants to do in life. Her father died early and her mother passed away recently. A new DNA company reveals long lost family with ties to rich Italy, hesitant, Bella reluctantly agrees to meet them and her world is forever changed.
Chapter 3: Sulpicia Volturi
The grounds at night were once again, eerie and creepy. However, when walking arm and arm with Sulpicia it all seemed to fade away. Sulpicia led them to what appeared to be a private area within the castle, an almost studio. In fact, Bella keenly eyed the easel and paint brushes that were neatly placed up a tarp and then a cabinet she suspected contained paints was nearby. Sulpicia let out a low chuckle which sent a shiver up Bella's spine, Bella quickly brought her attention to the easel and brushes.
"Do you paint?" Bella asked.
"Not much no, I've not got the gift but I do so admire those that do. Perhaps you would like to pain something? There's some paints in the cabinet over there," Sulpicia said gesturing to it.
"Oh I really shouldn't, plus this dress you got me it's so expensive I wouldn't want to ruin it with paint," Bella said, Sulpicia just smiled at her.
"Don't be like that mia bella, here I'll pose for you," Sulpicia said walking over to the other side of the easel and sitting herself down in the almost throne-like chair, raising her right leg and resting it on her left as she sat.
Bella scrambled over to the cabinet and opened it, her jaw dropping to see almost every colour of paint imaginable was stored there. After a few moments and seeing Sulpicia's ruby eyes looking at her she grabbed the paints she wanted to use and got behind the easel.
It was almost freaky how still Sulpicia was able to be, Bella swore the woman wasn't even breathing as she let the brushes capture the image of the goddess in front of her. Bella wasn't even aware of how much time passed when she finally put down her brush, the painting in front of her was as realistic as she could make it. Sulpicia's pale cream skin and dark dress, her ruby eyes and red lips and her flowing blonde hair were offset by the almost throne like seat she was on with the window and stars in the background.
"It's beautiful," Bella almost screamed in fright as Sulpicia's voice came from next to her, she didn't even see the woman stand and approach.
"Do you mind if I hang it in the entryway?" Sulpicia asked, Bella gulped but nodded her head.
"I love your expressions when you paint, you seem to focus so much that everything fades away mia Bella, it is quite the thing to watch," Sulpicia commented, pulling Bella away from the paints which she now noticed some had gotten on the dress she was given which caused her to frown.
"Don't worry about the dress, I can buy you another one," she dismissed and let out a low chuckle at Bella's raised eyebrow.
"I know how that sounds, but don't worry about it," Sulpicia raised her hand and brushed a strand of hair out of Bella's face and tucking it behind her ear before her pointy nails gently scraped against Bella's neck causing her to inhale.
Bella unconsciously took a step back to feel a desk behind her, she had no idea when Sulpicia had gotten her in this position but she felt like a rabbit being stalked by a wolf. Sulpicia licked her lips and Bella felt her heart racing against her chest.
"You are so beautiful mia Bella," Sulpicia whispered, their faces so close that Bella could feel Sulpicia's breath against her cheek.
"I'm just normal, mostly," Bella squeaked out in response.
"You are far from normal, darling," their lips were so close, just then fireworks shot off behind them startling Bella momentarily before she chuckled.
"Well… now it's cheesy," she said sheepishly and Sulpicia smirked.
"Want me to tell them to turn it off?" she asked.
"No… but there's something you should know about me…" Bella said getting nervous.
"And what is that?" Sulpicia asked, curious as to what Bella could say.
"I… was born intersex. For years my parents thought I was male but when puberty hit and I started growing boobs they realised I was a girl… so yeah, I still have…" a finger silenced Bella, Sulpicia let out a sly smirk.
"You are full of surprises, and they are not bad," Sulpicia purred before closing the distance between the two of them.
The fireworks that were exploding behind them not explored inside Bella's head as Sulpicia's soft lips met her own, she didn't even notice how cold Sulpicia's skin was as Sulpicia deepened the kiss licking Bella's lips with her tongue silently asking for permission which Bella granted almost eagerly. Sulpicia's tongue started exploring Bella's mouth, seemingly intent on mapping it out as thoroughly as possible.
In a move that surprised Bella, Sulpicia lifted her up, mouths still connected and sat her on the desk behind her. Pressing their bodies up close and causing Bella's little friend to stir under her dress, she couldn't stop the moan that came out of her if she wanted to.
It was a few minutes after that they broke apart, Bella's head spinning and lungs needing air, though they remained as close as they were while catching their breaths. Sulpicia gave her a lazy smirk.
"Wow…" Bella said after a few moments of heavy breathing, something she was sure looked unattractive on her but Sulpicia didn't seem to notice whatsoever.
"Indeed… wow," Sulpicia replied, her thumb tracing circles against Bella's waist.
"It's late… I should retire for the evening," Bella definitely felt like all those glasses of champagne had gotten to her now with everything that just occurred, though she knew in her head that her painting took long enough to render her sober, she needed any excuse to calm herself down. She wasn't ready for the next step, not by far.
"Of course… I will escort you back to your room," Sulpicia didn't push but simply removed herself from their closeness allowing Bella to slide off the desk and adjust her dress.
The walk back to the castle Sulpicia refused to let go of Bella's hand, something she thought was quite sweet as the woman guided her saying polite greetings to the members of staff they passed on the way to Bella's room. Once there, Bella turned and leaned up placing a chaste kiss against Sulpicia's lips in a brief moment of confidence.
"Thank you for a lovely evening Sulpicia," Bella said bashfully before going into her room.
"It was my pleasure," Sulpicia replied with a bright toothy smile before Bella closed the door.
Sulpicia returned to the party very pleased with herself, while she had curiosities when it came to hearing about Isabella Cullen's existence. There was no doubt that the girl belong to her, though the news of her complex gender circumstances surprised her she thought it was for the better. After all, Isabella Cullen was without a doubt, her missing mate and the missing link to binding the three families under her rule. Athenodora Clockstock from ancient Scandinavia has been with her for a few millennia since the agreement was first made. Didyme Billington came along just 500 years ago replacing the previous Billington bride who was hunted by vampire hunters, and now Isabella Cullen was there to take the place of her third bride finishing the blood pact their families all formed in exchange for her influence and power.
"You took your time with Isabella," Athenodora commented as Sulpicia approached with another glass of red wine mixed with blood, their specially made brew.
"I found out a few things, but yes, I certainly enjoyed my time with her," Sulpicia confirmed.
"Is she…" Didyme started hopefully, her puppyish eyes peering up at Sulpicia with childish hope.
"She is… though she informed me of the circumstances of her birth. It appears that Isabella is intersex, meaning she functions differently downstairs. But none-the-less, from looking into her soul I confirmed that she is indeed the missing link to our unity," Sulpicia said, Didyme smiled brightly, Athenodora reached over and started petting Didyme's hair causing the smallish Romanian blonde to purr in contentment.
"I'm going to have so much fun with her," Athenodora commented receiving a warning look from Sulpicia.
"You will be gentle with her Athena, she has unresolved trauma from her past and we must be careful with how we treat her. She feels the connection to myself and the connections to the two of you but you mustn't push it. Am I understood?" Sulpicia's voice took on a commanding tone at the end.
"Of course, my love. Whatever you command," Athenadora replied.
"Now, come along you two. Bella got me worked up and I need some release," Sulpicia started off towards the castle leaving Athenodora and Didyme scrambling after her as quickly as possible.
Forks, Quileute reservation
Forks was always full of rain and fog, the smell of the forest and the liveliness of nature as a whole. But for the townspeople and the native Quileute it was quite normal and a part of every day life. Of course, issues came for those native tribe when the Denali family moved to the area and a previously ancient treaty was once again invoked, but that's not all. Old magic that existed within their blood reawakened and they shifted into large wolves. This came with benefits and drawbacks, the benefits included increased strength, hearing and smell while human as well as the ability to shapeshift at will. This connected the chosen whose blood awoke with their ancestors and familial heritage. Drawbacks, however, meant prone to outbursts of violence and violent tendencies. A source of frustration for many pack members and regret for some, Sam Uley had hurt his imprint – his soul mate whom his wolf was made for, and many of the others had their relationships break down because they knew that when they found their imprint their relationship wouldn't matter anymore.
And of course, relationships between the Denali's and the tribe became closer but also more strained when Seth Clearwater imprinted on Irina Denali, the middle sister of the Denali blonde trio. The discussions that took place following that were… intense, but they ultimately came to an agreement as Seth being a wolf and a member of the tribe meant that any imprint is automatically protected by tribe law and by extension their family.
However, for Leah Clearwater she welcome the escape that was the Denali household where she as Seth's older sister along with her mother and recently deceased father were basically told that they are considered a part of the Denali family due to Seth and Irina's relationship. The past few months it's been her primary escape place from the pack, Kate's always been up for sparring to help her manage her aggression.
The aggression that forced her to end things with Bella, in hindsight there were signs that something was up with her since the Denali's moved back into the Forks area. Bella was living in Seattle on campus so Leah would often spend weekends with her in Seattle, that was before they broke up. Then the Denali's moved in and certain members of the park started shifting, it always started the same. A sudden rise in body temperature for a few weeks, then the aggression started and could sometimes last for months, and then the eventual shift. But of course, every other member of the pack who had shifted were all male, Leah was the first female and thus went under the radar for the other pack members much to their embarrassment.
It was during the months of aggression that she endured when she ended up taking it out on Bella, the two of them had been dating for a year prior so from Bella's side the aggression came out of nowhere. It was a particularly bad fight that caused Bella to end things where she basically threw Leah out of her studio apartment and told her to never come back. Leah shifted for the first time only a few weeks after that, she wanted to go back and explain everything to Bella and apologise hoping the girl was her imprint or if she wasn't to just apologise and explain. Sam Uley, her cousin's husband and the Alpha of the pack however, had other ideas and concerns. He used his Alpha command to force Leah to remain in Forks until she was able to control her temper as he feared she would hurt Bella and others around her.
"Eleazar! You have a letter, looks quite important," Leah's attention shifted when Tanya walked in holding the official looking envelope.
"It's from Sulpicia," Eleazar realised as he took the letter from Tanya containing the Volturi seal.
"Who's Sulpicia?" Leah asked, she was currently lazing around on the couch.
"A bitch, that's for sure," Kate grumbled while Eleazar shook his head, his mate, Carmen placed a gentle hand on his shoulder giving a slight nod, Eleazar looked to Tanya who nodded her consent as coven leader.
"Sulpicia is one of the oldest and most powerful of our kind to have existed, her actual age is unknown the only ones who may be as old as her are the remnants of the Romanian coven. Her coven the Volturi are considered the royal family of our world. The guard themselves are skilled and full of dangerous foes, they're the ones who uphold our laws and keep our world a secret from the humans. Sulpicia has two wives, though I believe there used to be three. Athenodora Clockstock is the oldest, she was the eldest daughter of the Clockstock family though they've had another name in the past but I'm unaware of what that was. She was turned a millennia or so ago and that's not all. She is the one who trained all of the guard to be as deadly as they are, they say she was a warrior in the past. Didyme Billington is the most recent wife of 500 years or so, from what I'm aware she was the younger sister of the leader of the Romanian coven who tried to challenge Sulpicia and Athenodora. Sulpicia killed the majority of the Romanian coven and their human relatives before Didyme's father who was still human made a bargain with them. The third family who work under the Volturi are friends of ours, the Cullen's. From what I know there was a Cullen bride before Didyme but she was killed by vampire hunters and it was her death that caused Sulpicia to order our entire civilisation to the shadows," Eleazar explained.
"Why do you know so much about them?" Leah asked raising an eyebrow.
"I was once a member of the guard myself, technically I still am and can be summoned as such. Carmen was a member of the Denali coven, when Sulpicia and the guard came to deal with Sasha's crimes of an immortal child we crossed paths. I begged Sulpicia to spare Carmen, Titanya, Irina and Katarina because I had just found my mate and didn't want her to hate me. While I couldn't save Sasha try as I might, Sulpicia allowed them to live if only to not hurt Carmen and myself. She said I could remain with my mate but should she summon me for whatever reason, I was to appear before her."
"So, what does her majesty want?" Leah grumbled.
Eleazar chuckled as he delicately broke the seal of the letter and opened it, it took him a few moments to read it his eyes widening in surprise before he passed the letter to Carmen. A picture fell to the ground and Leah lazily stretched from her spot on the couch and picked it up intending to hand it back to him before she froze.
"What the fuck!" Leah shot up and snatched the letter from Eleazar before anyone could stop her, they were all shocked by her actions that they didn't move.
Dear Eleazar,
As a member of the Volturi guard assigned outside of the castle and not conducting any missions on behalf of Queen Sulpicia Volturi. You and your mate are invited to the impending nuptials of Queen Sulpicia Volturi and the newly emerged Cullen bride; Isabella Cullen of America. As a member of the Volturi it is expected that you represent your coven as well as provide security to the Volturi family. Your coven may attend as guests.
Regards,
Jane Volturi,
Right hand of the Guard.
"Leah, what's going on?" Seth asked as he and Irina emerged from their room at her outburst, he could see the pic Leah was holding and immediately it clicked for him as he recognized the person in the picture.
"Why are you holding a pic of Bella? Didn't you two break up almost a year ago?"
"Fuck you Seth!" Leah growled before her body shook, her vision clouding as she felt her bones shift and her inner wold emerge.