Alejo

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"Ehm, so, yesterday. What is the complicated thing with the coven?"

The question made me freeze and wish she hadn't asked it. Not that I didn't want to tell her. I wanted her to know, for many reasons.

Partly, she would, inevitably, meet other female witches and for that, she needed to be prepared for how they would act towards me. It was a part of the culture of witches also and, as much as I detested that particular part, she deserved to know about the culture. If I truly was going to teach her all about being a witch, it would have to include this.

Then I had my selfish reason for wanting to be the one to tell her. That if I was the one to tell her, she would take my side in the matter. Though I was afraid I would be wrong about that part. But she really seemed kind and accepting, not someone that would fall for peer pressure. I could be completely wrong though. I still didn't know her that well.

But I really wished she hadn't asked. The conversation had been so easy and light. Okay, we had talked about some darker aspects of magic with the mentioning of Necromancers. But it still had been light, and she seemed to be so excited about everything.

I also couldn't help but wonder if she would rather want someone else to teach her after I had told her about this. Not because she would think like the rest of them, but simply because she would want someone more experienced and knowledgeable. If she did, that would dramatically lessen my time with her, and my excuses for spending time with her, which felt like the biggest blow that could happen at that moment.

Once again, I couldn't help but to think about the fact that the woman sitting next to me wasn't my mate. It didn't make sense to me. I hadn't been able to get her out of my head since I had been forced to leave her yesterday. It had been just after lunch when I had cracked and scried for her. When I had realized she was working, I had spent three hours outside the store waiting for her like a creep.

"Alejo," she said. Just hearing my name on her lips had my heart racing. Then she continued by placing a hand on my hand and for a moment, I thought I would explode.

"You don't have to tell me if it's too hard," she continued. The concern and worry were clear in her tone and eyes. At that, I brought myself out of the storm inside of me and forced a smile on my face.

"I want to, Morana," I said. Adding her name at the end simply to get to feel the pleasure of saying it. Then I looked away from her shortly and took a deep breath before starting.

"Remember how I said that male witches aren't that common?" I asked, and she nodded. "That is, I guess, the root of my issues with the coven. Because of that, male witches are generally viewed as less powerful. Or that's part of how I see it. If you ask female witches, they will simply state that male witches are weaker, and that's that. And well, they do good at working to confirm the stereotype."

I knew I gave a very biased view of the matter. I couldn't help it though. All my anger towards my so-called family and my so-called coven simmered at the surface of my mind. But I felt Morana squeeze the hand she held lightly, which made my anger lessen slightly.

"If a female witch told you about this, she would probably give a very different version," I said before continuing, to make her aware of my bias. I took a breath to keep going, but she spoke first.

"It's your version that I want to hear."

I felt a genuine smile cross my lips, though it was short-lived as I continued explaining.

"Because I'm a man, I was never taught like the women. They didn't want to waste time and effort on a witch they knew would never be powerful. I've taught myself as much as I can, and do continue to practice. But I am at a kinda basic level still. I probably know the most theoretical knowledge of everyone in my coven though."

"But..." she said, and a frown had appeared on her face. "I don't understand. Why do you still stick around them? And honestly, not to be like that, but if they think you are weak, do they even care to have you around?"

I snorted and a bitter smile appeared on my lips.

"Oh, they definitely do want me around. If there is some dirty work they don't want to do, they give it to me. And as for me staying around, well, they do provide for me so I can live a very comfortable life. But also, even if I tried to get away from them, I couldn't. Any type of cloaking spell I would perform they would be able to break easily."

I didn't look at her. I just couldn't. There was more that I didn't tell her, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her more of the details in that moment. I wasn't sure why. Fear probably. All the things I had told her earlier and the little magic I had showed her had caused her to look at me with awe and admiration. That would surely disappear if I went into more details about what my life really was like.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

She had earlier moved, so she faced me completely. I, however, still sat facing out of the couch. That made the hug she gave me slightly awkward, but that didn't matter. It warmed me all the same.

We sat in silence for a while. Her care made it all better. Then, to completely drive the dark thoughts away from me, she asked a question that made me laugh.

"But Merlin is super famous and powerful. And he was a dude, right?"