Village

"Why? Is it because you do not like me? Or because I once hated you?" She inquired, her expression turning serious.

"No, it is not about you. It is me. I cannot love someone…I find it hard to embrace people," he stated, his voice devoid of emotion.

Mia scoffed. "I am not just 'people.' I am your mate. Is that not reason enough to want to be committed to me? Isn't that what everyone hopes for? To find their mate?" She questioned him, her voice laced with frustration. Though she had once been guilty of loving a man who was not her mate, she now realized how wrong she had been. She should have waited for the one fate had chosen for her instead of trying to forge a love where it did not belong.

"Not me, Mia. I have never, even once, wanted a mate," he responded, earning a bitter smile from her.

"And you do not wish to try? To embrace your new reality?" She asked, her voice quieter this time.