Page 76 of Hexy Beast

“Miss me, honey?” I ask, stealing her line.

She stands there so still, as if she’s afraid if she moves I’ll disappear again. Her eyes are watery as she says, “I thought they’d gotten you. I was ready to burn Witchingdom to the ground to get you back.”

I don’t doubt it for a second. It’s exactly what I’d do if our places had been switched.

“Guess I saved you a match,” I say.

Effie laughs and breaks the hold the fear had. She throws her arms around me, pulling me to her so hard, we both almost go tumbling over. “Where did you go?”

Now, that’s a long story for another moment, because going into everything with Artemis and her sisters is going to take some time. “I guess you could say someone pulled on my string.”

She shakes her head and chuckles. “You’re going to have to explain that more after you kiss me.”

“Is that what I’m going to do?” I tease, even as my wolf growls at me to get on with it already.

“It is,” Effie says with a knowing grin. “I can tell about these things.”

“Only because you know all I want to do is spend the rest of my life kissing you.” Being so close to her again melts the tension in my body because deep down I know this is what I was meant for, to be here with this woman. “You were right about me needing others, about me needing my wolf, about everything except one.”

“Oh, really?” she scoffs. “What’s that?”

“I don’t think it was fate that brought us together. I think it was destiny, one that we forged together without even knowing it.” Every step I took, every choice I made, every good decision and every mistake I made that made me who I am today, all of it led to the moment Effie landed on my lap as I drove down the highway. “I have it on good authority that the Fates may give us opportunities or nudge us in one direction or the other, but we’re the ones who decide where we’re going. And all I know for sure is that I don’t want to go anywhere in life without you.” I pull the rings Aunt Artemis left me out of my pocket. “Will you marry me even if it’s not convenient?”

Effie takes a step back, and the first itch of uncertainty makes my skin crawl. “I have a few conditions.”

My inner wolf gives the saddest howl you’ve ever heard, and I’m about to join in with him when she continues.

She holds up a finger. “We always run the gauntlet together.” A second finger goes up. “We go back to Pholoe so Nessus can tell me all the embarrassing stories about you as a kid.” Her face cracks into a huge smile as she lifts a third finger. “And we find a bed as big as the one that’s in the pack clubhouse, so we can both starfish while we sleep.”

“Done.” I nod in agreement, knowing I would have said yes to just about anything she wanted.

She grins at me, obviously relishing playing poke the alpha. “Then we have a deal.”

“No.” I close the distance between us and pull her into my arms. “We have much more than that. We have everything.”

I dip my head and kiss her. I can hear the howls of approval from my pack in the background, but I’m too lost in the kiss to pay much attention. Who can blame me?

Later, once we’ve both come up for air and the pack has offered their congratulations, Effie looks around, and I know what—or should I say who—she’s going to ask about before she even opens her mouth.

“So where is Artemis?” she asks. “You know she won’t want to miss this. That woman has a way of disappearing on us.”

“That’s because she’s one of the Fates, and she’s been nudging us along for years,” I say.

“Shut up.” Effie rolls her eyes at first, but then when she realizes that I’m serious, her jaw drops and her eyes bug out. “Shut. Up.”

Explaining everything is going to take hours—Effie is going to ask a million questions, we all know that already—and the story will still be the same after she’s wearing my ring.

“I know you have a ton of questions, but the moon is already changing, and I’m not sure I can wait any longer to put this ring on your finger.” I hold up one of the purple twine rings as I get down on one knee. “Effie Sherwood, will you marry me under the blue moon?”

“Yes,” she says without hesitation.

“Not so fast,” says a man whose voice I don’t recognize.

Effie and I turn around. I’m on full alert, ready to take on whatever kind of trouble a new bunch of Council witches wants to start, but instead of some assholes dressed in all black, there are a half dozen redheads and the largest man I’ve ever seen in my life. His hands are the size of the platters we serve full racks of barbecue ribs on and his shoulders are so wide I’m not sure he could make it through the front door of my cabin without turning sideways. He’s looking at me like he just might pop my arms out of the sockets and use them for toothpicks.

“Daddy!” Effie hollers as she runs toward the man. “Mom! You’re all here!”

“Right in time, it looks like,” her dad says, shooting me a death stare even as he wraps Effie in a tight bear hug. “Are these pesky wolves giving you trouble, pumpkin? I’m happy to take care of that for you.”