Mate's come first - 3. I won't go back to that hellhole!!!

Mica looked up as the cafe door jingled, then sighed when it still wasn't the person he was waiting for.

He swished the remains of his second cup of coffee and considered if he should order another or give up.

"I'm still not going back."

Mica's head snapped up, and he couldn't help but grin when he saw Owen standing there.

"You came," he crowed and then tried to hide a cringe at the totally obvious statement.

Owen smiled and waved to the barista. After getting a nod in return, Owen slid into the chair opposite Mica.

Once he was seated, he met Mica's gaze with his smile still fixed firmly in place. However, now he was closer, Mica could see the smile didn't reach Owen's beautiful green eyes. Those eyes were, instead, filled with a mixture of apprehension and fear. Mica was confounded. What did some spoiled rich kid have to fear? He needed to get to the bottom of the mystery and fast. He didn't want to be the one to tell everyone that the boy—man–they had all been searching for was found but was refusing to come home.

"So, what do you want to know?" Owen's tone was full of false bravado.

Mica decided direct might be the best way to go. "Why did you leave the coven without telling anyone? Your parents and friends are worried about you."

Mica was surprised by the bitter laugh Owen let out.

"Friends? I had no friends in that coven. As for my parents, I bet they weren't the ones to notice I was missing. They never get their heads out of their businesses or social calendars long enough to remember they have a child. I'm a worthless waste of their time and an unwanted drain on their money, seeing as I wasn't even making a good mage of myself. I bet if they were—by some miracle—the ones to raise the alarm, it was because I wasn't there for some function they wanted me to attend with them so we could pretend to be the perfect happy family."

Mica didn't want to admit Owen was right about his parents only noticing he wasn't around for graduation. So he concentrated on the first part of Owen's statement. "Of course you have friends. Ian Woodrow and Trevor Finaham were very worried that you hadn't contacted them for ages and hadn't been on social media even."

Owen's face and body language radiated rage. "Ian and Trevor are no friends of mine. The only interaction I had with those bastards was when they decided I had done something wrong and needed to be put in my place. I'll tell you why I left that hellhole without telling anyone; I left because I was sick of not being good enough. I left because I spent most of my time trying to conform to what you lot thought was 'normal', and when I fell short, I spent time healing myself from the beatings. Only one teacher found a way for me to use my magic, then she was reassigned, and I had to do it the new teacher's way or no way. So, no way it was. If you have checked my records, then you know I was only going to graduate academically. Magically, I wasn’t allowed to take the exams as it would be, and I quote, 'a waste of school resources and teachers time' unquote.

"All I wanted was to practice my magic and learn, but since my parents had been told by my teacher how bad I was, I was banned from using magic at home. I couldn't at school because the practice rooms were reserved for those who had a chance of taking and passing the magic exams. I even wrote to leader Grayson to ask for help. All I got was a standard reply back, saying my request had been received and was being taken under advisement. I wrote every week for three months, but only got the same reply... That was three years ago.

"Oh, and lastly," Owen said as he rose. "Someone did know I had left the coven. Why do you think I was so beat up when Mr. Mosely found me? Trevor and Ian caught me sneaking out. They beat me so badly I was bleeding internally. Luckily, I had gotten real good at healing magic. I healed the worst but didn't have the energy or anywhere to rest up to heal the rest."

Owen turned, obviously meaning to leave, but stopped suddenly and stared at Mica.

Mica was furious. No letters requesting help had come across Gray's desk. Gray would have mentioned it to him. Besides, he went through the post mostly, because Cravin dumped it on the first desk he came to each morning and that was Mica's. Mica clenched his fist. He could feel his magic wanting to escape. It wanted him to hunt down anyone who had hurt his mate and teach them what happened to people who treated others like crap.

"You're an elemental mage!"

Owen's harsh statement brought Mica out of his murderous thoughts. He looked where Owen was staring and winced at his hand.

Lightening was flickering between his clenched fingers, and the tabletop was getting chipped and scratched. He was going to have to pay for that before he left.

He looked back up at his mate with a frown, “Yes, I am. My power comes from electricity. You should know that if you paid attention in your class about coven leadership.”

Owen scowled. "The only thing we learnt in that class was leader Grayson and second Jacobson are powerful and busy men. Apparently, they don't have the time to waste with half-taught children. However, if we did well and graduated in our magic classes, leader Grayson would be there to hand out our qualifications. We were told how leader Grayson himself wrote the school curriculum and any student failing wouldn't be worth his time to meet." Mica was getting angrier by the moment, but Owen wasn't finished. "If you are an elemental mage, why is it not taught in the coven school?" Owen held out one of his hands and a glowing ball of water coalesced in it, spinning merrily. "I would have been able to keep up no trouble and would have passed all my magic classes if I had been able to use my elemental power. But Mr. Ceeman, who took over from Miss Dooli, said that wasn't the way it was done and I had to do it the right way or I would be failed. I'll give you a hint; I failed. Miss Dooli was the only teacher to ever tell me what my magic was, and why I couldn't do what the other teachers wanted me to do with it. Then one day she was reassigned, and I was told it was none of my business where and why when I asked. Now I would be taught the correct way to use magic. Water had no place in magic unless it was to do washing or cleaning. I would just have to learn to do magic properly, like the other kids."

By the end of his tirade Owen was up in Mica's face, yelling. Mica was grateful the cafe was empty, and their only audience was the barista. When Owen spun to leave again, Mica grabbed Owen's arm. A few seconds later he let go with a yelp. Shaking his hand, he stared at the steam rising from Owen's arm.

Owen sneered. "The human body is mostly water; it doesn't take much to heat up specific parts. Never grab me like that again."

Mica had a terrible thought that if he allowed Owen to leave, he wouldn't get to see him again. He threw out the first thing he thought of. "But, you're my mate. You must have felt it."

Owen glared at him. "Of course I felt it. Why fate would give me a mate I couldn't be with, I don't know. But, we will both just have to deal with it."

"Why can't we be together? You know we are both elemental mages. Our magic will be compatible, and if you want me to, I can help you with your magic training."

"Why would I want your help? And how could we be together? You are the second to the leader of a coven I’ve vowed to never set foot in ever again. I can't, not even for my mate. I'm sorry."

"I'll leave the coven. I'll transfer here."

Mica didn't know who was more surprised by his offer. He meant every word, but it would be hard to leave the coven he'd grown up in to start all over again in a new place. He would do it for his mate, though. He would do anything to keep Owen. Mates were sacred; no one could interfere in a matebond without serious consequences.

Owen dropped back into his seat with a thump. "You'd move here? Just to be with me? You don't even know me."

"Then tell me about you."