Page 34 of Hexy Beast

I get up in his face, adrenaline racing at the idea of giving Nikos a what for after what an asshole he’s been to me, to Artemis, to Darius, and probably a million other people. Really, a guy like him is a prick to one and all, and not in the good way.

“Yeah, we. What do you think will happen to me if Nikos becomes the alpha? And what happens if this proximity charm or hex or whatever it is ties me to the Aetos alpha, not you?”

His whole body tenses and he lets out a low, possessive growl as he watches me, his dark eyes nearly black with repressed anger at the possibility. “So we’re in it together.”

“Agreed.” Just to tease him, I hold out my hand like a princess in the olden days. “So we kiss on it to seal the deal.”

He looks down at my hand and shakes his head before looking back up at me, a sexy smirk on his face. “We kiss, but not like that.”

Chapter Twelve

Darius…

Kissing Effie is the most illogical, risky thing I could do in the middle of a blue moon gauntlet, especially when there are literally werewolves at the door.

Part of me wants to blame my own wolf for what I just said, but the truth is that even though my wolf is always closer to the surface out in the woods, what I said was all me. I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want the gap-toothed chaos witch with an adrenaline addiction in front of me. I don’t give a shit if it’s fated mates or pheromones or just plain old sexual attraction, as long as I get to kiss that lush mouth of hers.

One side of her mouth goes up in a crooked smile, and she presses a hand to my chest. My whole world goes still, and my lungs are crushed under the absolute certainty that I’ve played it all wrong, and she is going to shove me away.

But she doesn’t.

Instead, she grabs the front of my hoodie and yanks me closer. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, wolfman.”

“Never do, broom babe,” I tell her, teasing her the way she loves to tease me.

Her eyes go wide with surprise, and a squawk of a laugh slips out before she mutters “broom babe” under her breath with a giggle. “You think I’m a babe.”

“Obviously.”

“Are you flirting with me, Grumps?” She inches closer. “When you should be kissing me to seal the deal?”

When the witch is right, the witch is right.

I lean down, closing the space between us, and half a second before I make contact, my wolf lets out a gruff “finally,” which I ignore because I have more important things to care about. Things like how soft Effie’s lips are, the tease of her tongue, and the determined umph sound she makes as she pushes me onto my back and straddles me, never letting even a hint of space come between us as the kiss continues uninterrupted.

Kissing Effie is like touching fire but not getting burned. It’s like I’m becoming the flames, wild and hungry. Needy for more. Desperate for her. My cock is so hard it aches as pre-cum pools at the tip. She is mine. In that moment, I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.

Her hands are planted on the blanket on either side of my shoulders, stabilizing her—as if I’d ever let her fall—but my hands are busy. She’s buried under the layers of the cotton and fleece of my spare clothes, which are so big on her that they bunch under my palms as I glide them down her sides to her hips and around to cup her ass. I give in and squeeze, the soft roundness yielding in my hands. She deepens the kiss as she rocks against me, leading me right to the edge of losing control. I can feel the wildness of my wolf that I always keep buried starting to surface.

It’s a dark, moonlit need now that I have her in my arms. It’s more than just my wolf—him I’m used to, padding around in the background, trapped in a space I made for him.

But the wildness of my wolf? That innate spirit inside me that’s more animal than human? It’s different.

Stronger.

Hungrier.

More cunning.

It’s what differentiates a regular werewolf from an alpha because of the added strength it delivers. But that strength comes with a danger all its own. If it gets the chance, it will take over until you’re all id, seeking pleasure and power no matter what.

No want is too minor.

No desire can be denied.

No craving is to be ignored.

And you’ll never be satisfied, because there is no such thing as enough for your wolf.