The Denali's Conundrum

The Denali sisters were seated in the living room with Carmen who had become like a new mother figure for them over the years, though Tanya was still the leader of the coven. Carmen was more than happy that Tanya wanted to hold onto that position. It left her to simply be there for the girls instead of having to deal with the inevitable politics that came with leadership. They all turned towards the door as they heard footsteps approaching. Tanya leapt in front of the group and took her position as the head of the coven. They knew it was a vampire by the speed and lightness of the footsteps. Besides, they were so far into the mountain side that no human ever came across their territory.

Whomever it was stopped at the door and knocked after a moment. Tanya motioned for Carment to answer the door while Kate got into position to the right and slightly behind her. Irena stood but stayed towards the back, she had never been one for confrontation and preferred to stay out of it as much as possible. She was the "baby" of the family after all.

Carmen opened the door to reveal a female vampire with auburn hair, in a red dress that matched her eyes. What drew their attention however, was the Volturi crest around her neck. This instantly drew a hiss from the sisters as they dropped into a defensive crouch in front of Irena. "Girls!" Carmen admonished them, "That is no way to treat a guest. You do not even know why it is that she has come yet. The least you can do is allow her to speak before you pass judgement. If she meant us any harm I highly doubt she would have come alone nor taken the time to knock." She looked straight at Tanya as she said this with one hand on her hip and one eyebrow raised in a way that only a mother could.

Tanya growled as she straightened out of her crouch, hating that Carmen was unfortunately correct and hating even more that she had essentially been publicly disciplined. She motioned for the woman to come in before beginning the standard introductions. " I am Tatiana, the leader of the Denali coven. This is my sister Katarina, do be careful not to shake her hand as she enjoys shocking new people when they least expect it. ("Hey" Kate exclaimed) This is our youngest sister Irena, and finally Carmen who has become like our mother for all intents and purposes."

The stranger bowed her head in acknowledgement. "It is a pleasure to meet you all. I am Heidi of the Volturi. I work for the Queens and have been sent with a request…" the rest of her statement was cut off abruptly.

"Woah woah wait a minute. Queens? I thought that dick Aro and the other two were the supposed 'Kings'. When did that change?" Kate blurted out before anyone could stop her. Carmen quickly slapped her on the back of her head. "Ow, what was that for?"

Tanya looked to the ceiling, taking a deep breath and counting to 10 before looking at Heidi once more. "I apologize. My sister tends to forget herself and isn't known for her tact. She does however raise a very good question which I would like to know the answer to myself. After all it was Aro who claimed to be the King and main ruler of the Volturi when he executed our mother."

Heidi chuckled and sighed, "There is no need to apologize. Truthfully she reminds me a bit of Queen Anthedora in that respect. There is much that happened around that time and much that needs to be explained. However, it is not my place to do so as it is not my story to tell. Queen Sulpicia and her sisters have wanted to speak to you since it happened, having arrived too late to stop Aro. They were afraid if they tried to force their presence upon you that it would only make things worse." Tanya bowed her head in acknowledgement. Especially if it had happened too soon they would indeed have run in the opposite direction.

Heidi took a breath and continued, "Which brings me to why I am here. The Queens have found themselves in a very, shall we say "unique", situation that requires them to bring a vampire with medical training on board. Irena, the Queens would be honored if you would accept the position. It would require you and your entire coven to relocate to the castle for a period of time. She made it clear that the invitation extended to your entire coven as she did not wish to force you from their side. I cannot say anymore, as the Queens would like to speak to you about everything themselves. You will learn everything once we arrive in Volterra should you accept this invitation, and I was told to emphasize that this is an invitation not a demand or an order. You may turn it down and say no without any consequences or condemnation at any point in time. I will leave here and you will never see or hear from anyone in the Volturi again unless there is a law broken that would require our presence. If you simply wish to hear their story and then leave, you will be free to do so."

Even Carmen stood surprised beside the statuesque Denali sisters looking at Heidi with pure shock written across all their faces. They had all heard of the tales of the ruthless Kings and the fact that they never took no for an answer. It was either join and obey or die. So to hear that not only was that incorrect, that apparently there were three women, Queens, who ruled and that they could walk away freely was baffling to them. Tanya was the first to recover from her shock. "May I have some time alone with my family to discuss your offer before making a decision?"

"Of course. I will go into Anchorage for a hunt. This is my phone number as well as the address of the house that I will be staying at for the time being. Feel free to take as much time as you need. The Queens told me there is no time constraint so I may stay in the area for as long as you need to be able to reach a decision."

Heidi then turned to leave and allow the family the time they needed to discuss everything. She really hoped that they would accept. It had been eating away at Sulpicia since Sasha was executed. The fact that they had heard her out and asked politely for the time to discuss everything without automatically rejecting the request was a good sign. She just hoped it was enough, that she had said enough to help begin the healing process over the still gaping wounds that their mother's death had left on the sisters.

As soon as Heidi was out of hearing range Katarina had to open her mouth as usual. "Well, I don't know about you three but I say let's pack this bitch up and hit the road. I mean come on, apparently everything we thought we knew was a lie and there are 3 badass chicks in charge of the vampire world. Not only that but they're in a 'situation' that requires Irena? Irena, the sweet, almost pacifist, baby of the family. This I gotta see for myself." She flopped back onto the couch as she finished her little speech.

Tanya resumed her seat across from her sisters and pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation, as Carmen came to stand beside her. "Katarina, you are over a thousand years old. Grow up and act like it for once." Kate huffed and crossed her arms over her chest as she stuck her tongue out at her sister.

Tatiyana looked towards her baby sister, "Irena, what do you think? As the initial request was made for your presence and expertise, I believe it should fall to you to make the decision. If you would like to go and accept the position, then we shall all support you. We will pack up this minute and contact Heidi to arrange travel to Italy. If, however, you do not wish to work with or for the Queens then ALL of us will also support you in that decision. We will contact Heidi and politely decline the invitation."

Irena sat back on the couch to consider all that they had heard. As Irena thought through what she wanted to do, Tanya's right hand came up and began absentmindedly rubbing where her heart lay still in her chest. Something felt like it was gripping her heart though she didn't know what. Irena noticed this and could only think of one reason that a vampire would be bothered by their heart. She was not sure if her sister realized she was doing it, let alone what the action meant.

"I want to go. If what happened was not all that it seemed then I want to know the truth. We deserve that much. Plus, it would be fun to use my skills as a doctor once more. You don't really get much business in the vampire world as a physician. Besides, I want to meet my big sisters' mate. It's about time you found your mate Tan, I know how much you've been looking forward to this day and I wouldn't miss it for the world." She finished with a small smirk playing at her lips while she waited for her words to sink into the minds around her.

"Of course. Let us begin packing up the house. Make sure you separate what you want to take with us and what can go into storage. Then we'll prepare the house for lock down until such time as we wish to return. Then you can meet…wait WHAT?" She stopped in the middle of her instructions and looked at her baby sister in shock.

"What do you mean mate? Who's mate? Where, how do you know?" she fired off her questions in rapid succession until Irena held her hand up as she giggled at her sisters' uncharacteristic behavior. She pointed at Tanya's chest where her hand still rubbed above her heart. "You have been rubbing at your heart since Heidi left after explaining that the Queens had a situation and would like it if all of us joined them in Volterra. That can only mean one thing."

She leaned forward and placed her hand on her sister's knee, "Whatever the situation is, your mate is in Volterra with the Queens that Heidi spoke of. Tan, does it feel as if something is squeezing at your heart and tugging as if trying to pull you in a certain direction?" She questioned her sister, knowing Tanya would want more facts before accepting her words.

Tanya looked down to see that indeed her hand was rubbing at her chest. She made a conscious effort to lower her hand as she thought over her sisters' questions. It did feel like some force had an iron grip on her heart and was trying to pull her somewhere. Her mate, she had a mate, and whomever they were they are currently in Volterra. Talk about irony, up until now she had vowed never to set foot in Volterra and refused to go to Italy on the off chance of running into the "Kings" or one of their guards. Now there are Queens on the throne and her mate was there waiting for her. She could feel venom tears come to her eyes as she raised her gaze to Irena and simply answered, "Yes, something is pulling at my chest, urging me towards a destination."

Kate squealed in excitement as she launched herself at Tanya to congratulate her. Carmen wrapped her arms around the girl, knowing what an emotional experience it was to know of one's mate. She still missed Eliazar with everything she had. Aro had him killed when he tried to leave the guard so that they could go off on their own. The girls had helped her to heal from the death of her mate. Otherwise, she would have found a way to join him in death. Irena just sat back and smiled at Tanya. She deserved to find her mate after everything they had been through and how much she sacrificed to take care of them all.

Tanya sat there for a moment as she absorbed everything before jumping to her feet, throwing Kate to the floor in the process, and racing upstairs to begin packing up her belongings. She had a mate, and they were waiting for her. She would not make them wait a moment longer than necessary.

Carmen chuckled as she heard Tanya begin the process of packing everything upstairs before clasping her hands together and looking at the two remaining girls. "Well, you heard your sister. Hop to it."

It took less than an hour to have everything packed and sorted. The house was locked down and they were on their way to meet Heidi at the private airport in Anchorage.

Heidi was happy that they had accepted the Queen's offer and that it hadn't taken long to arrive at the decision. She knew Sulpicia was eager to have someone take a look at Isabella to ensure that all was well. She told the Denali's that the Queens would meet them in their office upon arrival instead of the throne room. As this was not a trial or a political endeavor the Queens wanted to make it as relaxed as possible for all involved.

Tanya spent the trip daydreaming about her mate. Who they were, what they looked like, the things they would do together and the places they would visit. She would need to know if they planned to stay permanently in Volterra, as well as how long Irena's assignment would be, how to broach the subject of "little Tanya", all of this would determine where they went from there and if they returned to Alaska or not. Either way did not matter to her. If her mate wished to remain in Volterra with the Queens then she and her coven would reside in the castle as well. She would give Carmen and her sisters the option of course to go their own way should they so choose, though she hoped they would be willing to stay with her. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she did not realize they were descending into Volterra until Carmen nudged her and reminded her to put her seatbelt on.