[ Chapter Eighteen—queen victoria a.k.a sully ]

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I have had a lot to think about in the past week that I have been trapped in this damn room. Fighting was not worth it, Alec caught me every single time. As much as I liked being put under his tranquilizing powers, it was hell when I woke back up in this stupid room.

In the amount of time since my first grand escape, I managed to get out of the room using my powers a total of eight different times. Each time I was never out longer than five minutes as either Demetri, Felix, or Alec immediately brought me back. Caius had not yet made another appearance, something I was mostly glad for but also secretly disappointed at.

Now, I was not disappointed because I liked the blond douche in the least but rather our spouts at least brought some form of entertainment. It was satisfying when I was able to bash my fist into that stupidly perfect assholey face of his.

For one, I finished all the seasons of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix, now I was watching some show called the End of the Fucking World. It sure as hell felt like the end of the fucking world to me.

The walls of this room were beginning to get me, the boredom of it all. How the hell was I supposed to do this for the rest of eternity? I was more confused about why Caius even wanted me here. A lot of it had to do with Aro, sure, but at the same time, it was not like Caius was completely powerless against him.

Surely, Caius could allow me to leave if he truly wanted it. With as much as he obviously hated me, you would think the vampire would want me gone as soon as possible.

Besides, if he had no use for me then there was no point of me taking up one of their many rooms and using the guard's 'oh-so valuable time' as Demetri often complained.

I would always respond back to Demetri with the same thing, 'I am more important than you though' and he would growl at that. It was amusing, to say the least, but even pushing Demetri's buttons could last for so long as he could not remain in my room with me for more than ten minutes when he brought my food.

I was hanging halfway off the bed, my feet in the air while I distractedly picked at my nails. What I would do for a pedicure at this moment. Renesmee and I were supposed to get a full manicure and pedicure once we returned from helping Kate and Garrett. However, seeing how it all turned out, that appointment was going to need to be put on hold.

My voice reverberated around the large room in a hum. The full moon was less than two weeks away, and the closer it got the more I could feel the energy. The beast inside scratching at the door.

A part of me hoped that the Volturi forgot about the dastardly full moon, if what Aro told me about werewolves was true than once I was fully shifted — I desperately hoped the animal side of me would rip this damn tomb to shreds.

The Volturi thought I was a problem this past week and a half, then they had no clue what was about to hit them. With the arrival of the full moon, I could also feel my strength growing.

Now I was able to pause time for a longer period, I felt less tired — more restless. My hearing was piqued at the slightest rustle, I could smell out every single vampire in this place (Caius smelled rather good, but I would never admit that out loud).

Despite the perks, the downsides were also becoming apparent. My strength was increasing by the day, so much that it was becoming hard to control. If I was not careful, I would break something without even trying.

The dreams also sucked. Dreams which consisted of the full moon, Caius, or the full moon and Caius.

Caius is disgusting, I want to rip his p̶e̶r̶f̶e̶c̶t̶ throat out.

Not to mention all of the hair. I was shedding alike to a damn husky, my hair growing back just as fast. At this rate, I was forced to shave like clockwork, and cleaning up hair around the room was tedious.

The only good thing about it was Demetri's disgust over all the hair.

I only imagined what Caius must think of all this as Demetri no doubt was telling him. Though, Demetri did not realize this was a side-effect of the approaching full moon.

I felt as though I was on a special edition of 90 Day Fiancé: Caius and I would become the meme of the century. We were even worse than Ed and Rose.

Ha, maybe Caius secretly puts mayo in his hair just like Ed. That must be how he makes it so luscious

Ew, why the hell did I just think that? This fucking bond, it was beginning to grow against my will.

Before I could go deeper into my thoughts, I ran my hands through my hair only for a few strands to fall out. Sighing, I pushed myself away from the bed and began walking toward the bathroom.

Another shower was in order, more shaving and a second hair wash of the day. I could not wait until after the full moon passed, then I would not need to worry about all this shedding for another few weeks.

The shower was warm, and as I shaved, I could not help but think about college. A university that I loved but would never be going back to. When I first left Arizona, I was excited to finally get away from the hot state. However, after already being away for nearing on three months, I could say with immense confidence that I was seriously homesick.

I missed the things that I used to see every day; the clear skies, the dry air, the beautiful sunsets, every single thing that I had taken for granted I missed. I especially missed my best-friend, Drake. He would be able to cheer me up.

He texted me every day, but I ignored him. University was meant to start in less than three weeks and I was supposed to be coming home in one week. As far as he knew, I was still in Maine with my cousin.

I did not know how to break it to Drake that I would probably never see him nor step foot in the state of Arizona again. Drake and I had an odd friendship but at the end of the day, we loved each other more than anything. He would do everything in his power to try and help me — I refused to chance him getting hurt or killed on my account.

So for now, I had to ignore him. Though he was beginning to get worried, I could tell by the texts coming through.

After drying off my newly hairless body, I wrapped a towel around while walking into the room. I jumped after opening the door only to find Aro's wife (Sally or something) standing a few feet away.

She was as pretty as the first time I saw her, her short stature making her appear even more doll-like. Her hair was perfectly curled, half of it clipped back neatly so it was out of her face. The woman was wearing a long red and old-fashioned dress that covered her feet. It may have been old-fashioned but it was still lovely.

It was then I noticed her eyes, while they were red they were such a dark shade that they nearly looked brown in some lights. In fact, it was rather enduring just like the rest of her. Aro truly was a lucky vampire to have such a gift.

There was a sense of elegance in the way she stood, her keen eyes watching my every movement.

"You're Aro's wife, right?" I had a feeling that her name was not actually Sally.

She quirked a brow, pursing her lips. "Yes, but I do have a name, so please address me as such," she stated in a firm but proper tone.

Woah, okay then, didn't mean to hit a nerve lady.

"Hmm, okay then, Queen Victoria," I snorted sarcastically, still unsure about her name.

I waltzed past her, ignoring her sugary scent and fell across my bed with a groan. Seeing as I was going to be stuck in this room for a while, I had taken to finally accepting this bed as my own. I would need to do quite a bit of redecorating though, have some posters hanging, a few tapestries, a television, maybe a fish tank — the room was certainly big enough for all of that.

Aro's wife frowned at my tone, her eyes narrowing. She must have caught onto the fact that I forgot her name.

"My name is Sulpicia," she stated, annoyance clear as day in her voice.

I lifted myself on my elbows, throwing her a thumbs-up. "Got it, but..." I trailed off thoughtfully causing her to tilt her head in a curious manner, "that's far too long, too boring, too ancient!"

Sulpicia made a face of immense insult at my words. "I beg your pardon, my name is a lot of things but it is definitely not..." she cringed as though the thought itself was terrible, "...boring!" She exclaimed.

"Okay, fine, chill," I waved her off, "didn't mean to offend you and your name isn't boring per se, but it is long, hard to pronounce, and old..." I scrunched my nose, "plus, I'm a fan of nicknames!"

Sulpicia crossed her arms, an unamused look on her face, "and what do you propose to call me?"

I thought for a second before the name came to me.

"Sully!" I snapped my fingers, a wide smile spreading over my face. "Yes, yes, Sully may just be the best name I have ever called someone!"

"Sully?" She spluttered, looking completely taken off-guard, "That is dastardly!"

"No way, it's hella lit! Oh my Gosh, it's just like Monsters Inc!"

"Monsters Inc?" Sully was now confused, her facial expression showing it.

Her previous demeanor of poise, elegance, and wisdom had faded away — the ancient vampire wife now appearing no older than her physical age. It was a nice relief and I thought it suited her far more than some stuck-up ancient vampire queen.

"Yes, you know, the Disney movie? No? Not ringing any bells? Aw, that's okay, I'll make sure you watch it at some point seeing as we're stuck here for the rest of eternity," I snorted, holding my head up with my arm from where I was laying in nothing but a towel on my bed.

It was a comical sight, the essential vampire queen talking about Disney movies with a naked werewolf.

"Yes, Sully," I hummed, "I like that, but you know what I don't like?"

"Caius?" She laughed causing me to snort and nod.

"Him too, but no, I hate all this shedding," I motioned to the hair strands all over the bed and floor, Sully raising a brow.

"Yes, I was wondering about that, Demetri has been very adamant on telling Marcus, Caius, Aro, and I about your recent uptake in shedding. It is a side-effect of the approaching full moon, no?"

I groaned loudly. There goes my plan of them forgetting about the full moon. Sully smirked, knowing what I had been thinking.

"You must give us more credit than that, darling," she shook her head, "we have all been around for a very long time, we know nearly all the tricks in the book,"

"Well, what do you plan on doing with me during the full moon then?" I asked, laying back down and tossing an arm over my face.

I could no longer see Sully, but I could hear her light footsteps. No human would be able to hear her walking, but I was just barely able to pick up on the light tapping of her feet.

"We have not decided quite yet, though Aro would like to observe you. He wants to see if what you said about yourself being non-aggressive as a wolf is true,"

I snorted at her words, moving my arm away so I could see her. I was not surprised to find her closer than before, standing at the foot of the bed.

"Yeah, to people I like, but seeing as I don't like any of you..."

Sully rolled her eyes at my words but smiled nonetheless. "Perhaps you do not consciously, but I have a feeling that once your animal instincts take over fully the mating bond between Caius and yourself will be impossible to ignore, you'll love him instantly,"

"My ass I will," I frowned.

"Hmm," Sully murmured, "how interesting, that is exactly what Caius said when I told him my theory," she paused at the skeptical look I was throwing her, "though he may have phrased it a bit differently," she added sheepishly.

"Why are you here, did you need something?" I finally asked, rolling onto my stomach as Sully grabbed one of the bedposts lightly.

As much as I had missed conversation that was longer than ten minutes and with someone other than Demetri, I realized there must have been a reason behind Sulpicia's sudden visit.

"Ah, yes," she folded her arms behind her back, "I would like to thank you for saving me,"

I furrowed my brows in confusion, mouthing the word 'save'. Sully tilted her head.

"Against that vampire who lunged at me," she explained as to jog my memory.

My mouth formed an 'O' as I recognized what she was referring to. A week and a half ago when I first found out that I could pause time, I forgot the reason I even found that out was because I was saving Sully. The whole 'you can control time now!' kind of overshadowed it.

"Oh, no probs," I smiled, relaxing and placing my head back down, "I didn't think it would be the best if you died,"

"No..." Sully agreed, "it would not be, I cannot imagine how Aro would react. He would probably become a mixture of both Caius's anger and Marcus's never-ending grief, the world would burn if that happened..." she cringed causing me to do the same.

"Aro really loves you," I offhandedly mentioned, "how did you two get to this point, did he hold you hostage you as well?"

Sully giggled before shaking her head causing a small wave of disappointment to hit me. I was not exactly sure why — perhaps it was because I now knew there was no way Caius would ever be like Aro was with Sulpicia to me.

What the fuck?

Immediately I banished that thought to hell and allowed it to burned with every other thought I ever had that I did not want. I told myself a long time ago, way before Caius and being a werewolf and mates came into the picture, that falling in love was toxic. Falling in love used to be easy for me. Hell, I used to fall in love with every guy I ever dated, but I learned the hard way how horrible that habit was.

After Carter Valenzuela, love became off-limits. Even if I wanted to love Caius, I would not allow myself to fall into that type of toxicity again.

"No, Aro did not hold me hostage," she said thoughtfully, "I was an orphan living on the streets of Italy when Aro found me. When you become a vampire, memories from your human years begin to fade, but I will never forget the first time Aro and I met..." her voice held a touch of emotion that was so passionate and loving I almost felt as though I was intruding on a private moment.

Nonetheless, I listened attentively, my interest piqued.

"The Volturi was still new, they were looking for a place in Italy to permanently settle. It was in the early hours of the night when Aro passed me by, at first I thought he would continue on his way alike to everyone else, but he stopped. The connection was immediate, I swore I had never seen anyone more perfect and to this day, I still have not." Her eyes had clouded over in apparent memory.

"I was barely twelve, but Aro picked me up and bought me more food than I could dream of eating. He promised a future of love and power, then he placed me a sophisticated all-girls boarding school where I learned and grew for the next eight years," she explained.

"Once I graduated, Aro returned and whisked me away to Volterra. I was already in love with him even before he picked me up," she laughed with an almost dopey smile on her face, "we courted for a few years after, during which I remained human — Aro thought it best I grew a few more years to be closer to him in age. I also became close to Didyme and Athenodora during the time,"

My mind briefly wondered about the two. I knew that Didyme was Marcus's mate and also Aro's sister, I also knew that she was assassinated and Marcus has been unable to recover since. Athenodora was a different matter, up until I arrived here, I believed Athenodora was still residing with the Volturi as Caius's wife and mate. The entirety of the vampire world thought that much, what happened?

"Aro changed me into a vampire a few days after my 23rd birthday, we have been together since," her face morphed into one of sadness, "it started with Didyme, Athenodora, and I, but I am the only one left..." the pain was evident in her voice, but she kept a tight smile on her lips, "not a day goes by that I am not grateful for it either,"

Wow, that was intense. Like shit, what the fuck am I supposed to say to that?

"That's a hell of a story," I found myself saying after a few seconds of silence, Sully's eyes flickering up to meet my own, "if you don't mind me asking..." I trailed almost nervously, "but what happened to Didyme and Athenodora?"

I did not bother mentioning that Carlisle and the other Cullens had already explained Didyme's story. I wanted to see if the Volturi's account of her lined up with what I was told from the Cullens. It seemed there was always a different twist to what the Cullens knew of the Volturi to what actually happened.

Sulpicia surprised me by taking a seat on the bed, a few inches away from myself.

"As you likely already know, Didyme was destroyed over a thousand years ago," her eyes held an odd look, almost as though she was keeping something from the light, "we still have no clue who did it," I quirked a brow at how she said it, finding her tone of voice odd, "her demise completely obliterated Marcus, however, and his reaction is what prompted Aro and Caius to keep Athenodora and me in a heavily guarded tower — they would not be able to function properly if something happened to us as well,"

"Athenodora is a different story, one which Caius should be the one to tell..." she said matter-of-factly, giving me a pointed look.

I groaned, shaking my head. "Who cares? We have not even had a conversation that does not end in either a screaming match or literal brawl,"

Sulpicia's face scrunched but she let out a breathless laugh. "Good point," she nodded.

"I suppose I will tell you then, Athenodora and Caius met as newborns — they traveled together for over fifty years before meeting Aro and Marcus and establishing the Volturi. Despite what the world had come to believe, as you have probably guessed, Caius and Athenodora were not actual mates," she explained.

"Better have not been," I found myself mumbling against my will, my eyes going wide when I realized just what I said.

Sully only laughed in reply, not taking my words to heart.

"No, they were not mates, but they still loved each other greatly. It is quite interesting really, to love each other as much as they did but not to be mates," there was a feeling that I could not comprehend but knew I did not like it as it flared in my chest, "they stayed with each other for over three thousand years. However, there is a reason mates were created in the first place..."

I looked at her curiously.

"Mates are made to fully complete each other, two companions who will never get bored with each other. Athenodora and Caius outgrew their romantic love for each other over a hundred years ago, but they were still the best of friends. It was only addressed just over a decade ago, Athenodora did not want to stay hidden away in the tower anymore. After being trapped in here for so long, we were both shocked at how far the world has come when we went to investigate the Cullens. While I may be bored a lot of the time, I still have Aro — Athenodora wanted to explore the world."

I was wrapped in her story, hanging off of every word.

"Caius let her go, he only made her promise to write every now and then. Their marriage was done so long ago that it no longer held meaning in this new world, so it was rather easy for her to take off into the night. She still writes, of course, loves to explain everything that she has found in this new world. I believe she is rather fond of movies now," Sully laughed at the end, a certain light in her eyes.

I knew that look, it was the look one had when talking about their best friend. It was the same look I had when I spoke of Drake.

"But why does nobody know that Athendora and Caius are no longer together?" I found myself asking.

Sully shrugged in reply. "We do not like to express our private affairs to the world, besides it's better that no one knows of her being out in the open — safer that way. Even if she is not Caius's mate, we all care for her deeply, it would destroy us if anything happened to her."

I pursed my lips in reply. I understood why they did it, but for some unspoken reason, it annoyed me. The world should not continue to think Caius is both married and fucking someone he is not, obviously it has been a while since he got any and no one should think any differently.

There was a moment of silence before my voice rang out. "What color hair did she have?"

Sully gave me an odd look. "...Blonde?"

"Oh, so he is into blondes? What a surprise!" I dramatically expressed.

Sully scoffed in reply. "I cannot even begin to comprehend this odd relationship you two have, I have never seen anything like it. Although this is Caius I am talking about, I should not expect anything less from my hot-headed brother,"

I rolled my eyes. Hot-head was the understatement of the century.

"You should give him a chance," I was caught off-guard by Sully's words, "I know he comes across as an ass, and do not get me wrong, he is..." I snorted at her words, "...but, he also is very caring, when it comes to those he loves, even if he may not always show it, he cares so much. Loves so deeply, that is why he is so hard on the outside, someone who cares that much cannot afford to love too many..."

I pursed my lips, allowing my eyes to go down.

"Fat chance," I finally ground out, "doesn't he hate werewolves anyway. You say he loves and cares so deeply, but he can also hate just as much — and I believe I am on that very side,"

Sulpicia rolled her eyes. "He does not hate you, trust me, if hated you — you would be dead,"

I shivered at her words. Well, that was reassuring.

"Besides, no one here liked werewolves before we met you. Demetri, Alec, Felix, Aro, Marcus, myself, but there is something very likable about you," she smiled.

Internally, I scoffed. Ok boomer.

She suddenly stood up, zooming toward the door. "As much as I have enjoyed our conversation, I must go," she seemed sheepish with her next words, "I am not exactly supposed to be here, as much as Aro is a fan of you, he still does not completely trust me being alone with a werewolf — please do not take it personally!" She rushed the last part.

"Nah, it's fine, I guess, I get it. I mean, I kind stabbed Caius with a stake," Sully snickered at my comment.

"That was rather amusing, Caius thought so as well,"

I rose a disbelieving brow. "Really?" I asked dubiously.

"He would not admit it, but we could all see in his eyes that he found humor in it,"

"Hmm," I acknowledge thoughtfully, watching as Sully was about to leave, "if you don't mind, can you tell whoever cooks me dinner to make steak tonight," Sully turned back to look at me, "I have been having a horrible craving for meat the past few days," I added, just the thought of meat making my mouth drool.

Freaking full moon.

"Of course," she nodded, "I'll also make sure Caius comes to visit soon, he has been avoiding you long enough, just please consider what I said. Just give him a chance..."

I was unable to respond for in seconds Sully had raced out of the room, the door locking with a click upon her departure. I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest that was hidden by a towel.

A chance?

Of course, I did not want to give him a chance, but then again, did I really want to spend the rest of eternity here in misery?