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Though, my lack of a House ring prevented me from leaving anytime soon. Unless I wanted to risk No Man’s Land on my own.
I’d been told that I wasn’t allowed to have a ring for my own protection. That it wasn’t safe outside of the protection of our coven for a nearly no-powered witch. That I was best with the ones who protected me.
There seemed to be a thin line between protection and captivity.
Though, No Man’s Land was no joke. I wasn’t naïve enough to think I could survive that cesspool on my own, and I’d yet to make any friends I could rely on that would watch my back when I finally fled the coven.
With a heavy sigh, I pushed up to my feet and gave the moon one last glance. “I guess it’s time to go back to my cell…house.”
If I were being honest with myself, I’d admit that the coven hadn’t treated mebadly. I’d been given food and clothes and always had a roof over my head, but there had never been a “home” for me.
No pseudo parents who gave a shit about me, merely rotating caregivers who made sure I never got into trouble. Once I’d become an adult, and it became clear that I wasn’t going to be some remarkable witch, I’d been transitioned from living with different families every few months to a small studio space above the coven’s gym.
My feet began carrying me back toward my apartment, and I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans as I trudged through the grassy field.
When I’d made it a dozen or so feet from the treeline, something stirred behind me. My shoulders stiffened and I glanced up, spotting the main part of the coven a mere fifty yards ahead of me. If I was a normal witch, I could simply teleport back to my house, but of course, I couldn’t even conquer the most menial of magic abilities.
Knowing that and hearing whatever was behind me getting closer, I tilted my chin up, hung my arms loose at my sides, and strode forward as if I didn’t have a clue that someone was lurking in the shadows.
If I was attacked, I wouldn’t be completely defenseless. A benefit to failing all of my magic teachings was that I’d at least used those disappointments to excel in combat classes. Plus, living above the gym gave me all the after-hours access to training that I could want.
Physically, I could take down a couple-hundred-pound man, so there was at least that.
Another ten feet closer to the coven and my chest was feeling a little lighter. Maybe I’d just been imagining whatever I thought I’d heard in the trees…or maybe not.
“Kinsley Ash,” a deep man’s voice said from behind me.
I couldn’t have heard him correctly. Nobody would ever be out here looking for me specifically.
A random attacker, sure, but someone using my full name? Not likely. I kept walking.
“Stop,” the same voice demanded.
My left foot paused in the air, almost as if his command were laced with magic, but it didn’t quite stick.
I slowly turned around, widening my stance and preparing myself for a fight.
If this guy wanted me, I wasn’t going to be taken easily.
He stepped out of the shadows from the forest, and I sucked in a breath when my eyes took in his dark glare.
My heart momentarily stopped before it began racing again, and I felt myself being drawn toward the rigid stranger.
Mate.
This man… He was…Mine.
Feelings erupted inside me that I’d never experienced. My skin heated and my mouth ran dry while my heart felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest.
Was he going to take me away from this lowly existence I’d been living? Was this the answer I’d been searching for all these years while standing under the night’s moon?
“I’m going to kill—” His words cut off as I assumed he’d finally realized the same thing I had.
We were mates. A bond created by the fates that could tie us together for life.
Yet, I hadn’t missed the malice in his previous words or the way the moonlight showcased dark, menacing eyes directed right at me.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he snarled. Then he quickly added, “I reject you, Kinsley Ash.”
