verona hale and alec volturi; two lonely immortals so immersed in their petty coven rivalry that it's almost too late when they realise they're in love with each other. almost.
the twilight saga / alec volturi
new moon ― breaking dawn
...
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CHAPTER ONE: CALM BEFORE THE STORM
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VERONA HALE HAD NEVER understood the meaning of love. She'd read about it in books and watched it flourish in movies. She'd witnessed her brothers and sisters find those they were destined to spend forever with, but she'd never been fortunate enough to find her own mate. Verona had waited for almost a hundred years with no one but her adopted brother (the only person who truly understood what it was like to be alone) by her side, and even then, fate hadn't been kind to her. Her brother had found his partner in a shy but lovable mortal girl while Verona was still on her own, an immortal vessel walking the earth without a purpose.
Oh, how she yearned to be in love with someone. It was something she'd witnessed as a child when her mother and father looked at each other. It was what she clung to when her parents were murdered and the state declared her insane, shipping her to the nearest mental asylum alongside her best friend, the girl who claimed to see the future. But no matter how hard she searched, Verona never found her true love, and the thought was both heartbreaking and terrifying for her. What if she was never meant to find the person of her dreams? Would she be able to tolerate an eternity of loneliness? She didn't think so.
And when her brother - who'd only just found the reason for his existence - decided that he wanted the family to leave town without her, Verona fought with everything in her for them to stay. It was in vain, but nonetheless, she tried her best. Edward was being too hasty and it annoyed Verona to no end, seeing him destroy his only chance at happiness. Why couldn't he see what he was letting go? Verona would do anything to have what he had, and he couldn't care less.
But now, several months later, they were back again. Well, two of them were, at least. And to say it was under bad circumstances would be an understatement.
"Alice, are you sure about this?" Verona's voice echoed around the otherwise silent living room, lost in shadows and flares of moonlight that streamed in through the window. "Maybe you made a mistake."
"I didn't," she insisted, her voice bleak. "I saw it happening, okay? I watched her die."
Verona fell silent again, biting down on her lower lip anxiously. Bella was someone that Verona had never gone out of her way to be friends with. Sure, Bella was Edward's mate, but that didn't matter when her status as a human was putting everyone's lives in danger. But that wasn't important anymore. Alice had gotten a vision just an hour ago, witnessing the human that changed their brother's life for the better jump from a cliff in an attempt to end everything. Verona was the only one with Alice at the time, and they immediately rushed back to their old home to comfort Bella's father as he heard the news of his daughter's suicide. Charlie was a good man, and both of them knew he wouldn't take her death well.
The front door opened before either of them knew it, and in stepped the last person either of them expected to see. Bella's hair was wet as it hung around her face in a knotted sheet, her weak frame shivering from the cold air that followed her inside. But other than those small imperfections, she looked alive and well, like she wasn't meant to be dead. Alice's vision had been wrong for once, something that was both relieving and disturbing in Verona's opinion.
