Frau des Winters *Under Editing*

1.13

The front door of the cabin opened to reveal Aro and Marcus, Marcus moving forward first to kneel before Charlotte and let his hands hover over her skin, checking for any sign of injury without actually touching her. Behind him Aro looked over his shoulder before whispering some things in Italian to Caius. 

"Are you alright, love?" Marcus asked slowly after he had looked her over.

Charlotte nodded and looked down at her lap, "I am fine. I think." 

Marcus sighed and stood up, sitting in the chair Caius had pulled up for him. Aro and Caius took their own places, Aro in a leather back chair and Caius took a spot on the other side of the couch. It was time. Though as the three Kings eyed each other to see who would start Charlotte was coming up with her own thing to say.

"You're not human, are you?" She asked and looked up into three pairs of red eyes.

"No, we're not." Marcus nodded and all three heard her heart start beating faster.

"Esme... Esme said those wolves were Paul, Seth and Leah." Charlotte gulped and looked over at Caius who nodded.

"That's correct." Caius nodded and held his hand out to Aro so he could understand what she was talking about.

"So... the legends are true then?" Charlotte started eyeing them as she spoke, choosing to be careful with her words.

"Yes." Marcus spoke while Aro processed Caius's thoughts

"Which means that you're... Cold Ones?" Charlotte was thinking hard to remember the stories she grew up hearing from Billy.

"We are better known as Vampires, my dear." Aro finally spoke back up now finished running over everything that had happened... besides from Charlotte.

Charlotte took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The Kings shared a look of concern as she did this. One breath. Two breath. Three breath. 

"Explain." She spoke as she opened her eyes and sat up straight suddenly in a new mind frame. The past few weeks she had let go of much of her walls, showing a side not many saw. But now she was back to the woman who slapped Edward Cullen and lectured Alice. 

Aro chuckled and held back a smirk at her cool attitude. She was truly regal. He could picture her on her throne, casting judgement on rogues, "As you wish, my dear." he crossed his legs and too returned to his Kingly personality, his brothers following suit. They had to long forgotten who they were in order to enjoy their time with their human mate. But they were in fact the Kings of the vampire world, "I am Aro Volturi and these are my soul brothers, Marcus and Caius Volturi. We are the three Kings of the Vampire Race." 

"Kings?" Charlotte raised a brow.

"Kings. We rule over our kind by keeping order and ensuring that our laws are followed." Aro had taken the lead and eyed his mate curiously to gave her reaction.

"And why are you here?" her tongue flickered out to wet her lip as she spoke, her eyes darting between the Kings and they heard her heart start to race again.

"In our world we live thousands of years. Never aging. Never changing. Somehow we were blessed with the ability to find our soul mates. So we don't whither away into nothing from the loneliness." Marcus's voice was firm but soft and she saw the flash of pain in his eyes, "Some vampires possess a gift. I am one of those blessed with a gift. I am capable of seeing the bonds which tie one being to another. There are many bonds, but the mate bond... it is always the same. Always golden." His voice had a velvet smooth time as he spoke of the bonds, her eyebrows scrunched up at the mention of gifts but she choose to question that later.

"Why are you telling me this?" though she felt as already knew the answer.

"Why do you think we are, Charlotte?" Aro raised a brow and Charlotte felt something inside her start to hum.

She knew the answer. She knew she did. She had known they were connected somehow the moment she locked eyes with Caius across the dance floor. She knew it when Marcus laid his hand on her shoulder. And she knew it when Aro appeared by her side. There was definitely something there... And with everything they had told her and she had seen... It had to be true. But... Soul mates with three different men? She had believed there was one person out there for everyone. Someone special just for you. Yet, these three Kings of Vampires sat before her claiming they were her mates. Three of them! Not one. Not two. Three.

"All three of you?" Her voice had lowered from the confident level it had been at before.

The Kings looked at each other and Aro nodded to Caius. The blonde King shifted to kneel in front of her and carefully took her hands in his. She felt the hum in her body vibrate harder at the sight of this Vampire King kneeling before her. He gave her a look as if to ask permission to speak and she gave a small nod.

"I have waited thousands of years to stand in your presence. I have slaughtered hundreds and have fought bloody wars. I have ruled over my kind for hundreds of years with an iron fist and a cruel grin. All so that I could find you one day. My brothers and I are very different men who bring different things to a relationship, but we have always complimented each other. Our bond links us in a way very few are lucky enough to find. We are destined to stand together, rule together... And love together. Yet, there has been an emptiness in our existence. Something even we could not fill in our own. We needed our mate. Our Queen. The one who is meant to stand by us and rule along side us. To love us as equally as we will love her. You are that woman. The final link in our chain. You complete us. You are the Queen we have waited for. I know it is hard to imagine being with three men at once. Humans don't normally have such relationships, but it isn't unheard of in our world. Especially with a bond like ours. We will take as much time as we need to to win your heart. And it is always your choice. But we will wait as long as we must. As long as you stand next to us, Charlotte Frost." Caius's words flowed through her and Marcus leaned forward in awe as the bond started to shimmer and glow brighter.

"Will you give us this chance, my dear?" Aro spoke softly.

Charlotte pulled her hands away from Caius gently with a strange expression on her face. Caius twitched at the loss of contact and his inner beast roared out in anguish. Charlotte's heart was beating faster and faster, her breathing becoming harder to control. Aro's eyes narrowed as he started seeing her breath and his eyes darted over the room seeing frost spreading around them slowly. He reached out and tapped Marcus's shoulder and nodded over to it. Marcus shared a look with him and leaned forward more towards Caius.

"Brother..."

"I know." Caius hissed and tilted his head to try and lock eyes with her.

"Mi amor... You must relax." Marcus and Aro crept out of the chairs and crouched low in front of their mate.

Marcus focusing on the bond and Aro watching the spreading ice, his mind calculating every detail of it. Caius stayed still, calming his beast and keeping from reaching out to her. Charlotte's eyes flashed between white and blue, snowflakes swirling around her fingertips, and her breath turning white.

She was in a different place in her mind. Seeing more flashes of images in her head. Creatures with red eyes reaching for her. Wolves howling and vampires snarling. The sound of marble cracking and trees falling to the ground. She remembered floating in the air and being moved from one person's arms to another. She remembered rolling off a cliff and being caught in someone's arms. Red eyes. Black hair. A voice.

She heard someone speaking. A velvet like voice. Then a harsher one. Then a heavy accent. Three voices whispering her name. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath feeling a rush of fresh air fill her lungs. She opened her eyes and was met with three sets of red eyes. The red was a bright contrast against the white room. She gasped as she took in the snow covering the entire room. Even the Kings had flakes of snow in their hair. Then she settled on them...

"What am I?"