Page 19 of Hexy Beast

She tuts again. “It has nothing to do with her magic, and you know it.”

I swallow my groan. This will be the five millionth time we’ve had this conversation. “Now, Aunt Artemis—”

“Don’t you Aunt Artemis me, Darius Iason Aetos,” she says with a huff. “I’ve known you since before you ran under your first full moon.”

Aunt Artemis has known everyone in the pack from infancy, and she isn’t afraid of pulling rank—even with me, and I’m the alpha.

“You take her back to the cell, and she’ll just pop right back to you.” She smooths her hand over the box’s lid and tucks it under her arm as she stands. “It’s the way.”

I want to argue, but really, what’s the point. It’s what has happened every time Effie and I are more than ten yards apart. I don’t know how a witch’s magic works (why would I, werewolves and witches are more than just not friends), but Effie must have done something to make hers go sideways. I didn’t slip a charm on her, so that just leaves user error—definitely not some mystical fated mates that will break the hex that’s been hanging over the pack for generations.

Effie shifts on my lap, a little more elbow to the ribs than cushy ass to my dick this time.

“Plus, you know, starving the prisoner is bad for business,” Effie says with a grin that screams she knows just how much she’s stirring the pot. “Not that I’ve kidnapped anyone, but it seems logical.”

“Oh, we’d never do that,” Aunt Artemis says. “Do you like strawberry rhubarb pie? I always like to start off with a little slice.”

Effie’s smile is huge and genuine. “Life is too short to eat dessert last.”

“Exactly.” Aunt Artemis walks over to us. “That’s what I keep telling Darius, but he likes to stick to his rules.” She holds out her hand to Effie. “Come on, let’s go fix ourselves a plate, and if we’re lucky, we can get Georgios to save us two extra slices for after.”

“That sounds like my kind of plan,” Effie says as she gets up and links her arm through Aunt Artemis’s. “Double pie for the win.”

She doesn’t look back as she goes down the steps and toward where the buffet is set up a couple of yards away, but I can’t stop watching her hips sway as she goes. I’m on my feet, ready to follow, before I realize what I’m doing, and I can’t even blame my wolf this time.

Nikos blocks me from following them out of the gazebo.

He’s a few inches shorter than I am, but he’s got about fifteen pounds on me—and I know that any fight with him won’t be a fair one (not that I give a shit). After the last challenge to become alpha came down to the two of us (I kicked his ass), he’s worked his way up the pack hierarchy for the past year until he claimed the number two spot. Everyone in the pack knows he’s not done climbing. Well, too fucking bad, because I’m not going anywhere.

Crossing his arms while standing on the edge of my personal space, he makes a pathetic attempt at an intimidation stance. “I think it’s time you told us what’s going on.”

Before I can tell Nikos what he can do with his big thoughts, the dinner bell clangs.

“Food first,” I say. “Then we’ll talk.”

My number two doesn’t like that answer, but he can’t do shit about it, so he dips his chin down in acknowledgment and walks off to where our motorcycles are parked and his cronies are waiting.

Meanwhile, I follow my dick straight over to the table where Aunt Artemis and Effie are sitting. It takes about thirty seconds to realize I’ve made a mistake, because Artemis is scrolling through my baby pictures on her phone and showing the most embarrassing ones to Effie.

“And when he was a toddler, he used to line up all of his toy trucks, and you did not want to mess with his system.” Aunt Artemis shoots me an indulgent smile. “What was it, by size or by color?”

I sit down and swipe Effie’s pie plate from in front of her. The pie is mostly gone, but there’s enough for me to take a forkful of sweet-sour goodness. “Both.”

Effie snags her plate back. “So you’re saying he’s always been set in his ways.”

“Since the day he was born,” Artemis says with a shake of her head. “Our Darius always knew what he wanted.”

To be a more fair alpha than my dad, to make wiser decisions than my grandma, and to not fall for witches who like to dole out hexes like my great-great-granddad did.

“Right now what I want is for you not to share your theory about her with the rest of the pack,” I say, keeping my voice quiet so we don’t draw the attention of everyone else enjoying the feast any more than we already have by Effie just existing here in Arcadia. “Things are too volatile right now. They would not take well to even the idea of a witch joining the pack.”

Aunt Artemis’s long silver hair poofs out a little in irritation. “It’s not a theory. It’s a fact.”

“You can’t prove that,” I say.

“I can,” she says, loud enough that almost everyone turns their head toward us. “Come around to this side of the table and take your shirt off.”

I’m about to tell her no when I notice the change in Effie. For a witch who seems to always be in motion, she’s gone perfectly still except for a pink flush rising on her cheeks. For anyone else I would be guessing embarrassment, but not with her. It’s anticipation.