Landing back in Volterra was a very strange experience. Just like being back in Forks, it felt like home. I was excited to see my mates again…though a little fearful of the tantrum Caius was going to throw. Even if it was completely understandable. The one requirement he had was that I keep in contact every 15 minutes and I hadn't done so.

'Granted though,' I thought, 'It would have been a bit difficult to tell Renesmee and Jacob to wait a moment while I sent a text'. Abrax and Ahura bowed as I exited the plane. I smiled when I saw Chelsea and Afton standing underneath umbrellas to shield them from the sunlight as they waited beside a black car that was parked on the tarmac.

"Chelsea! Afton!" I greeted happily, "It's certainly been a while".

Chelsea smiled cheekily, "A long time indeed, almost 20 hours without seeing you! How did we ever survive?". Chelsea and Afton were the two newest guards I had been introduced too. I had learned from Aro that Chelsea was a highly valued guard amongst the coven due to her ability to influence the emotional ties between individuals. Chelsea was a gorgeous African American woman who had been turned in her mid-thirties. Her ebony coloured hair was styled in an afro blow out, her eyes were bright red from a recent feed and she wore the traditional guard cape. While Chelsea was more outgoing, Afton was very quiet. I don't think I've ever heard him say anything ever since I met him. He was an African American man who was probably turned in his late thirties and had short black clipper cut hair. Like Chelsea, his eyes were bright red and he wore the traditional guard cape.

"I'm glad to see you made it through this difficult time," I teased back as I got into the car. Chelsea joined me in the back while Afton jumped into the driver's seat and began the short drive to the coven. Chelsea and I conversed quietly during the drive and I had to particularly restraint myself from leaping out of the car to see my mates. I could get back to the castle much quicker than any car could. Once the car had finally arrived at the coven, I eagerly jumped out of the car and quickly made my way to the library where I knew my mates would be. It was obviously very amusing to Chelsea as I heard her laughter. I smiled at Alec and Jane who was guarding outside and pushed the doors opened before I entered.

"What part of contact us every 15 minutes do you not understand?" Caius demanded as soon as I entered.

I literally flung myself into Caius' arms as I buried my head into his chest and hugged him tightly, "I missed you so much". I looked up and kissed his lips several times.

"This-"

Kiss

"does-"

Kiss

"not-"

Kiss

"excuse-"

Kiss

"your-"

Kiss

"lack-"

Kiss

"of-"

Kiss

"communication," Caius finally managed to say amongst my shower of kisses.

"I completely understand and sincerely apologise ma force," I smiled against his lips before I kissed him one last time. I pulled myself away from Caius and pounced into Aro's open arms. Aro kissed me like a vampire starved of blood and I returned his passion with just as much force.

He eventually though somewhat reluctantly pulled away and rested his forehead against mine, "Welcome back Lottie".

"I'm so happy to be back in your arms mio salvatore," I replied, my heart filled to the brim with happiness. I had been away from my mates for less then a day and my heart ached over the distance between us. I wormed out of Aro's arms and turned to face my third mate. Like Aro, Marcus opened his arms and I happily stepped into his embrace. Despite it just being us, Marcus was much more reserved with his affection. He kept his arms locked tight around my waist and the kiss we shared was soft and full of love. It was the perfect balance between the storm that was Caius and the domination that was Aro.

"You mentioned that the mission was a success?" Aro began as he held his hand out, "Show me my little swan". I went to approach Aro but Marcus' arms remained locked around my waist, an indication that he was not letting me go anytime soon. Aro chuckled at my imprisonment and approached me. I placed my hand in his and lowered my shield so Aro could see what Renesmee had shown me. My mates and I watched quietly as Aro processed the information.

"My oh my," Aro eventually said, "That is certainly interesting. It appears that the immortal child that Irina reported is indeed not an immortal child but the product of a human mother and a vampire father".

Caius studied Aro for several moments in silence, "Are you absolutely sure? I have never heard of a hybrid child before".

Aro hummed, "As hard as it is my dear brother, the child is indeed only half vampire".

"That means Irina lied and she should be punished for her crimes as a result," Caius reasoned.

"While there is a law that states false witnesses, regardless of intent, is punishable by death, a hybrid vampire is particularly unknown," I argued, "I had to convince you that they even existed".

Marcus hummed, "While I enjoy having you in my arms i kardiá mou, perhaps we should take a seat as this could be a long discussion". I nodded in agreement and my heart clenched in sorrow at the loss of contact with my mate. My mates and I retreated to the sitting area in the library and we all took out seats. I reached over with my left hand and wrapped it around Caius' while my right hand wrapped around Marcus'. I was surprised by my clinginess. While I enjoyed the physical contact my mates, I was never normally this affectionate. My inner beast though was very pleased with the skin to skin contact of two of my mates.

"It will get easier," Marcus' words broke me out of my thoughts, "It's your first time away from us. Your vampire needs to re-establish contact. As you mature, the need for constant contact won't be as great".

"Unless of course you still want the constant contact," Caius teased, "And then rest assured vasílissa mou, we would be more then happy to oblige".

"Moving on," Aro said, I had the slight feeling he was jealous that I wasn't holding his hand but I only hand two hands and he was too far away, "Irina's punishment".

I quickly piped in, "I understand she broke the rule of false accusations but the circumstances are unique. We want to encourage vampires to report situations to the Volturi. If they fear they may be killed if it's false, they may not say anything at all and this could cause even greater problems".

Caius frowned, "But to let her go without any consequences shows that the Volturi are weak".

"Or it shows that we are merciful and reasonable," I countered.

"What is your opinion on this Marcus?" Aro asked our silent mate.

Marcus slowly turned to look at Aro, "The journal Lottie and I came across notes the existence of a hybrid long before this situation and yet we had never heard about their existence until now. From a physical aspect, it is impossible for a vampire to impregnant a female human. While Irina did break the law, we were unaware of the possibility of hybrids existing ourselves".

I frowned and nodded in agreement, "Does it change if the vampire and human are mates? Would it then be possible for a child to be created?".

"It might. It could explain the hybrid from Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen," Marcus said.

"How do we know that the child will not cause issues in the future?" Caius asked, "It may not be an immortal child but it could still pose danger to our existence in the future. Humans cannot know about us and this hybrid is an unknown element".

"I understand your point Caius but what I saw in the memories was the child drinking blood. If she's drinking blood, then I assume she would have the diet of a vampire. It would mean she would only need to adhere to the rules that other vampire follow," I reasoned.

Caius stared at me while Aro and Marcus watched the two of us silently, "I must ask vasílissa mou, you are not feeling conflicted over this situation because this hybrid is your niece?".

I bristled in anger over Caius' question, "Rest assured my dear Caius, I would kill the child if the situation called for it. My loyalty is to you three and nothing, absolutely nothing changes that. If you feel the need to question that, there is a problem with our relationship". I ripped my hands from Caius' and Marcus' grasp and wrapped them around my chest as anger swirled through me.

"I wasn't questioning your loyalty Lottie," Caius quickly tried to explain, "You are still a newborn and your human emotions are still very prominent. I imagine it would be extremely hard for you to find out that your sister has the family she always wanted while your opportunity was ripped away because of her. I wanted to ensure that you weren't influenced by a child that is family. I know how important family is to you and we are incredibly lucky as mates to have someone so passionate about protecting their family". My anger slowly disappeared after Caius' comment.

I sighed and muttered a small apology to Caius, "I'm sorry ma force". Caius reached his hand out and gently took mine, squeezing it slightly to show that he had no hard feelings.

"If the child follows a blood diet and adheres by the laws, then there are no issues," Marcus said, "However if she steps out of line, then she will be killed". We nodded in agreement.

"Now that the matter of Renesmee Cullen is dealt with, we have another issue to discuss," Aro lend back into his seat, "A potential werewolf problem". Caius' attention whipped towards me.

"Vasílissa mou," Caius gritted out in annoyance and his hand squeezed tighter around mine, "You failed to mention anything about a wolf problem".

"In my defence," I began to justify, "I didn't even know werewolves existed. Jake was my friend, well, former friend and when I last saw him, he definitely wasn't changing into a giant wolf".

"Former friend?" Marcus cut off whatever Caius was about to say.

I nodded my head, "Remember how I mentioned that my friends and I had a falling out just before I became a vampire? He was one of them".

"And he was only ever a friend?" Caius asked.

I raised my eyebrow at my mate, "Are you jealous Caius?".

Caius scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous. I want to make sure that there's no conflict of interest". I studied my mate silently for a few moments before I removed my hand from his, stood up and strolled over to him. I stood behind his chair and managed to weave my arms around the chair and wrap them around his neck. My inner animal purred in approval at my actions.

"Rest assured Caius…ma force," Caius shivered, in what I could only guess at delight without boosting my ego, at my words, "You are the strongest vampire I know and your place in my heart will never, ever change". A low growl of approval emitted from Caius' chest and I suddenly found myself in Caius' lap with his arms wrapped around my body, preventing me (not that I was going to) from leaving.

Aro cleared his throat, "Now that Caius' ego has been stroked, shall we return to the matter at hand?".

Caius chuckled darkly at Aro, "You're just jealous that our pretty little mate is in my arms not yours".

"As Aro was saying," I quickly interrupted to stop the argument that was about to start between two of my mates, "The potential threat of the Children of the Moon".

"Based on what you showed me, your friend appears to be able to turn into one," Aro stated, "While I'm not entirely sure they are werewolves, he appears very similar to one".

Marcus looked at Aro in confusion, "Not entirely sure?".

Aro nodded, "He seems to be able to control his phasing unlike the Children of the Moon and he has pack mates".

Caius hummed as he took in this information, "I've not heard of a werewolf being able to control their phasing and typically speaking, werewolves are lone creatures. They do not travel in packs".

"If they're not werewolves, what would they be? What else exists out there?" I asked in confusion. I was slowly starting to discover that vampires weren't the only supernatural creature that existed among us.

"Without seeing them myself little swan, I am unsure," Caius, our resident werewolf expert, said. The four of us sat in silence as we plotted our next course of action.

"We'll still need to go to Forks," I concluded. Aro stood up and quickly approached myself and Caius.

Aro started to run his hand lightly through my hair, "We do my little swan. If your former friends are indeed werewolves…".

I removed myself from Caius' lap and wrapped my arms around Aro, "I know mio salvatore. My loyalty is to you and our mates. It…It will hurt but that's our…that's my responsibility as your mate". Aro must have sensed my inner distress at the thought that I may have to kill my former friends as he somehow managed to hold me even closer.

"Your strength continues to amaze us my little swan. We are so lucky to have you as our mate".


"Why must you do this again?" Caius said in a grumpy voice.

I quickly hushed him, "Oh relax ma force". It was Christmas eve and my mate and I were making our way to the local church in Volterra. I had cooked for the church several times over the last few months and wanted to deliver the food myself this time. Caius wasn't happy with the fact I would be leaving the castle to take the food myself and since I wasn't going to change my mind, he reluctantly agreed to accompany me. After the success that Marcus and I had in making tiramisu and the feedback from the church about how well the dessert was received, I decided to make another batch for the church's Christmas Day feast. I had even managed to get all my mates help me make the tiramisu that Caius was currently carrying bags of.

"How do you know we won't burn when we enter the church?" Caius mused darkly. I restricted the urge to roll my eyes.

'And I thought Aro was meant to be the over-dramatic one out of all of us,' I thought. We stood in front of the Volterra Cathedral and being my first time there, I was taken away by the beauty of the stone church. It was early evening and the sun had long since set so we did not need to fear the sunlight. I had recently fed so my blood lust was under control and Caius and I wore contact lenses to hide our red eyes.

I walked up to the wood door and gently pushed it open, "Father Accardi?".

"Ah Signora Volturi! Piacere di conoscerti finalmente (Nice to finally meet you)!" an elderly priest chirped as he quickly approached myself and Caius, "Ti ho sentito parlare inglese. Ti dispiace se pratico il mio inglese con te (I heard you speak English. Do you mind if I practice my English with you)?". I was taken aback by his appearance. Father Accardi was a man in his seventies who had no hair and his fragile body was hidden by his priest robes. What concerned me though was the massive black eye and the dark bruises that covered the poor Father's face.

I smiled at the elderly priest and responded in English, "Of course Father".

"Very beautiful you are," the priest said as he shook my hand. My advanced eyesight spied even more bruises on his fragile hand.

I looked at Father Accardi in concerned, "Are you okay Father?".

"Ah," Father Accardi waved off my concern and continued in broken English, "Very kind you are. Some trouble with local gang. I good". I frowned and filed that knowledge away for later.

"Father Accardi, this is my husband Caius," I introduced my mate. Caius nodded in acknowledgment but refused to shake the human's hand. Father Accardi did not look fazed by Caius' standoffish behaviour and smiled brightly at him.

"I brought him along to be the muscle," I chuckled as I indicated to the several bags Caius was holding that contained containers and containers of tiramisu.

"Strong man," Father Accardi patted Caius' forearm and waved us to follow him, "Come". We followed the elderly man and he led us through the cathedral to the back section where there was a large fridge. The Father went to the take the bags from Caius before I quickly stopped him.

"Please Father. My husband can put the tiramisu away for you," I assured him and looked at Caius. My mate didn't look too impressed with me but did what I asked and started to put the containers of tiramisu in the fridge at a human pace.

Father Accardi looked very grateful for Caius' actions, "Thank you. Very kind. Both very kind". Father Accardi and I chatted for a few more minutes while Caius unloaded the food. Once Caius was done, I decided to take pity on my mate and announced we had to be off. While Caius' expression didn't change, it was evident he was relieved that we were returning home. The priest walked us to the exit and thanked us profusely for our kindness.

"Travel safe home," Father Accardi farewelled in broken English, "Danger at night".

I smiled one final time as I waved to the old priest, "Thank you. Merry Christmas Father". Caius and I left the church and began to walk away when I heard noise from the alleyway beside the cathedral.

"Il vecchio sarà solo. È ora di finirlo (The old man will be alone. Time to finish it off)," a voice said. I froze and slowly turned to look at the pitch-black alleyway. No human eyes would have been able to see the three men, all in their mid-twenties and dressed in black, but I was no human.

"Vasílissa mou," Caius warned, almost as if he could read my mind, "Don't get involved".

I didn't take my eyes away from the three men and watched as they started creeping to the back entry of the cathedral, "I'm hungry". I disappeared from Caius' side and appeared in front of the three men, preventing them from entering the cathedral. They stumbled back in shock at my sudden appearance and wrapped my hand around one of their throats, preventing him from screaming. Before the other two men could scream, Caius appeared and slammed them by their throats against the church's stone wall.

"Tu chi sei (who are you)?" I questioned and loosened my grip slightly so the man could speak.

The man was frozen in fear but managed to choke out, "Che cosa siete (what are you)?".

"Il tuo incubo (your nightmare)," I hissed at the human, "Hai ferito il prete (did you hurt the priest)?".

The man somehow managed to look even more terrified at my question, "Il vecchio si era infilato il naso dove non apparteneva (The old man was sticking his nose where it did not belong)!".

I raised my eyebrow at the human in my grasp, "Oh?".

The man suddenly seemed to get a bout of confidence, "Sai chi siamo? Siamo i serpenti italiani! La mia banda ti ucciderà per questo (Do you know who we are? We are the Italian Snakes! My gang will kill you for this)!".

I chuckled darkly at the stupid human, "È così (is that so)?".


It was the early hours of Christmas Day and the entire Volturi coven had gathered in the throne room. Their leaders had requested their presence and it was unusual as both the elite and lower members had been asked to attend. There was soft whispering amongst the lower ranked guards about what this could be about, particularly as there was now four thrones instead of the usual three. All conversations stopped when the three leaders entered. What surprised the lower ranked guards was the fourth vampire that appeared behind their leaders. The fourth vampire was female and dressed in a deep purple cloak. Her eyes were bright red and her brunette coloured hair was tied back in a ponytail. She had pearl earrings and an air of royalty around her. The three leaders took a seat in their usual throne with the throne between Aro and Caius remaining empty.

"Merry Christmas," the mysterious woman greeted the coven, "My name is Charlotte Swan. I am the mate of Aro, Caius and Marcus and one of the new leaders of the Volturi". The elite guard, having already known of Charlotte's existence, were not shocked by Charlotte's words but the lower guard were extremely surprised. There had been rumours floating around the coven that there was a newborn vampire the leaders had taken interest in but that was it.

"I look forward to getting to know each and everyone of you over the coming few days as well as continuing to lead the Volturi to greatness. To celebrate this wonderful occasion and Christmas, I have a gift for all of you," Charlotte smiled darkly at the coven members, "As a newborn myself, the desire and need to hunt down prey is strong. Scattered throughout the castle are the members of the former upcoming gang the Italian Snakes that were trying to make their place in our dear home of Volterra".

The Queen of Volturi watched in delight as the coven members, both elite and lower rank vampires, started to stir in joy at the prospect of getting to hunt, "Caius and I gathered up the fifty-two gang members who thought it was smart to make home in our city. There are fifty-two gang members running loose in the castle". Charlotte raised her hand and suddenly the scent of terrified humans filled the air. This excited the group of vampires even more.

"Merry Christmas," Charlotte Swan, the Queen of the Volturi, chirped. The coven members scattered as they ran through the castle looking for their food. Charlotte Swan took her seat on the empty throne, her eyes full of delight at the outcome of the events.

"What an entry my little swan," Aro purred at his mate, "Your powers have developed nicely. You were able to successful expand your mirror-like ability around the entire throne room and stopped any human scent from coming into the throne room until you lifted your shield".

Charlotte smiled at her mate, "I learned from the best mio salvatore". Felix emerged from the shadows, easily dragging three human males before the leaders. The three humans looked terrified as they looked at the woman they had encountered only hours before they planned to beat the old man up.

The beautiful demon licked her lips as she stood up and slowly approached the three petrified humans who unlike the night before, were to scared to breath little own speak. She approached them like a spider who had just caught a bug in their web, toying with her prey.

"She definitely learned from the best," Caius said as he watched his mate's terrorisation of the humans.

Even Marcus, who was the least blood thirsty of them all was proud by his mate's control as she taunted the humans in front on her, "And that is why she is ours".


Hello everyone!

Wow! Over 250 story followers! I'm am so incredibly moved by everyone's support and kind words! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I wasn't too happy with how I ended it but it was done to reinforce that Lottie was coming into her own as a Queen and that the entire Volturi coven now knows of her existence. I also would like to apologise in advanced for all the Google translated Italian I used in this chapter (practically for those who understand Italian and if Google's translation is wrong). Being in Italy, I really wanted to show how confidence Lottie has become in her home. While more on the filter side, this chapter lays the foundation for the long-awaited confrontation between the Volturi and the Cullen's!

I'm starting to make plans for my next story but I have no idea what I want to do. If anyone has any suggestions, please definitely let me know!

Thank you once again for your support and stay safe xxx