“What do you mean she hexed your coven to rot?”
She looked like she wanted to tell me to shut the fuck up—but instead, she dragged her tattooed hands down her face.
“Have you noticed how small my coven is?” she asked. “Jade made it so we can’t continue our lineage. I was the last witch born to the Deathweaver Coven. We’ll die out when I do. No one’s figured out how to break the curse.”
I looked to the house and then back to her as her pretty eyes watched me more intently when she thought I couldn’t see her. But I could feel her eyes on me every time she looked my way.
“Elowyn!” a woman called from the front door. “Zane’s waiting for you!”
Elowyn turned toward the house, and I frowned slightly. I didn’t want to leave yet, and especially not while another man waited for her.
“I’ll be right in!” she shouted back, then turned to me again.
“Is he your date or something?” I asked instantly regretting it.
Don’t let her know you care.
She frowned. “Not exactly. I have a duty to the coven.”
Before I could ask what that meant, I heard Della calling for me in my mind.
Fuck.
I raked a hand through my hair and looked at Elowyn. We stared at each other longer than necessary.
“Is there a reason you asked if he was my date?” She whispered, almost as if she didn’t want to ask.
I glanced down at her chest, looking for a mating bond—anything that would tell me she was actually mine.
There was nothing.
I couldn’t hide the disappointment. This had to stop—whateverthiswas. So, I let the warmth drain from my face and hardened my emotions. She noticed immediately.
I scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m not interested in you like that. I was just wondering how you tricked a man into dating you with that charming personality.”
I expected her to explode, but she didn’t, and I hated myself for it.
Her eyes widened with hurt. Then she looked down.
She wasn’t my mate. And it wasn’t fair to my future wife that I was flirting with this frustrating, infuriating woman. When she looked up at me, I knew that the look would haunt me for years.
“Right,” she whispered, before turning and walking back toward the rotting house without another word.
I waited until she disappeared from view. Maybe hiding away for a few years would fix this. Maybe by the time I came back, she’d be a distant memory. She’d be married with children, and I would find my true mate. The jealousy that bloomed in my chest was smothered immediately.
I probably wouldn’t even remember who she was.
Chapter 1
Abram—Present day
Della’s home was oddly quiet when I arrived. Haden was with Cassius and Ezra doing gods know what, so I thought I’d pop in and apologize for my ridiculous behavior a few weeks ago, when I’d tossed Elowyn over my shoulder and left Della's party.
Gods, I smiled when I remembered how pissed off Elowyn had been. She had backed me into a wall and wagged her finger in my face, telling me how big of an asshole I was. But I couldn’t help being drawn to how pretty she looked when she was furious.
It was supposed to be easy to forget Elowyn if I didn’t have to be near her. But no, Della just had to become friends with her. Now she was everywhere I was. She was haunting me, or the fates were mocking me with the woman I desperately wanted.
I dragged my hand down my face.
