Once Bitten, Twice Shy

-Chapter One-

Viola

"What is the meaning of this my love?" I cry out to my mate, his once soft and adoring eyes are now hardened and cold...like he's looking at an enemy instead of his mate...

"Viola..." Even the way he says my name has turned emotionless, "I realize now that you and I were not meant to be mates forever, that we were meant to live separate lives." He murmurs, and I can feel my heart twisting with each cold word that leaves his lips.

"That cannot be! The goddess brought us together! I've been by your side for the last three years! I was the one who protected you when you were human, the one who changed you and taught you the ways of vampires! How can you say that we aren't meant to be together?" I argue, but my teary eyes have no effect on him.

"True, you gave me the life of a vampire, and taught me the ways...for that I will always be grateful...but mates we never should have been."

The sight of another female vampire coming towards us from the shadows catches my attention, her dirty blonde hair and sharp green eyes seem to pierce through my soul as she stares me down...and attaches herself to my mates side.

"Have you not told her yet darling? It seems unnecessary to draw this out any longer, don't you think?" She asks with a voice that's sickly sweet to my ears, making my blood turn cold.

"I suppose you're right Genevieve..." He sighs, and I can feel my chest tighten as he looks back up at me.

"She is the mate I was meant to be with Viola...I just had to be a vampire so I could find her..."

"Don't do this Jacques...please..." I plea, but my words fall onto deaf ears.

"I, Jacques Laurent, reject you Viola Moreau as my beloved."

I cry out as I feel the mark he gave me burn painfully off my skin as it disappears, while the man I once called my beloved doesn't even flinch while the one I gave him does the same. I sink down into the grass in front of his feet as the tears stain my cheeks, my heart slowly ripping in half already...

Why....why would he do this to me? I thought he loved me...

"Don't draw out your suffering Viola...just let me go, spare yourself the pain." Jacques demands...softly, it almost sounding like a plea.

There isn't any point in fighting the inevitable...there isn't a point in fighting for a man who no longer loves me, for one that would so cruelly cast me aside after everything we've been through together...

I don't want to fight this...I don't have it in me...

"...I, Viola Moreau, accept your rejection." I force out, my whisper of a voice filled with defeat and anguish as our bond is severed completely. I stand up and turn away from him, not wanting to even see him...even now his scent is already hurting me.

"Viola...I wish it didn't have to-"

"Don't. Don't you dare say another word to me, I don't want to ever hear your voice again." I bite out, cutting off his cheap words before I could hear anymore of them. The anger beginning to form a cocoon around what remains of my heart.

"In fact, I don't ever want to see you again, or even catch a whiff of your scent. So enjoy your life here Jacques...and don't you ever worry about seeing me again...because I'm gone."

I walk away swiftly, trying my best to hold my head high and keep my tears silent. If he wants me out of his life, then that's exactly what I'll give him...even if it tears my heart in half.