"You’re back! I—I wasn’t expecting you."
"Yeah," I said, keeping Mateo’s grin on my face. "Ca back early. Missed ho."
And who’s been making it feel like ho for , huh?
She giggled and stepped aside, waving in. "Well, welco back. Co in, quick, it’s freezing."
I obeyed, my boots clicking on the tile as I crossed the threshold. The scent hit imdiately. Warm water. Mint. Tea leaves. And her. Always her.
"Slls amazing, were you making tea?" I comnted, glancing toward the kitchen.
"Oh—yes! Just sothing light. Ginger, chamomile..." She hurried past , that robe swaying like a promise I wasn’t allowed to cash in. "Do you want so?"
"Would love it. If it tastes half as good as it slls, I’ll start faking pack ergencies more often just to co ho to this." I sheepishly grinned.
That got a real smile out of her. A small one, but real. Still, I was watching.
Every twitch of her fingers as she picked up the teacup. The stiffness in her spine when I moved behind her. The fact that her eyes kept darting to the front door, like she was expecting soone to burst through at any mont.
I took the cup from her hands when she offered it, letting our fingers brush for half a second longer than necessary.
She flinched. Then hid it with a sip of her own tea.
Interesting.
I sat down, cradling the warm mug like it was a hand grenade with a "fragile" sticker on it.
"So," I said, letting my voice drop a note deeper and more casual. "Didn’t expect , huh?"
She answered too quickly. "No. I an—yes. I an, you told you wouldn’t be ho until... until the end of the week."
I raised an eyebrow. She smiled. A little too hard.
That little alarm in my head went from maybe I’m paranoid to definitely bugged.
Because here’s the thing—she wasn’t supposed to expect . But sothing in her posture, her clean kitchen, the extra mug already beside the kettle, like she was debating pouring two – it all reeked of preparedness.
"Yeah," I said slowly, watching her over the rim of the cup.
"Pack security’s been a ss. Had to pull so strings to co back tonight."
"Oh?" she sipped. "Why?"
I narrowed my eyes a hair, then smiled again. "Wanted to see you."
And there it was again: that twitch. The panic under the surface. I leaned back in my chair, pretending to relax while every cell in my body was wound tighter than piano wire.
What did she know? Had Axel told her sothing? Were they planning sothing? God, what if my cover was blown?
What if this whole operation was one big axe waiting to drop, and I just walked right into the chopping block with my best dumb grin?
Humor , but this was my hypothesis: Axel figured the witch was sohow connected to my place, which was why he ca over to perform that little show that sohow backfired on him.
Oh, I almost barked out a laugh right here in front of María José just thinking about it. He had co, thinking he was the main character, but for so reason, my master, who never appeared to in the presence of a third party, erged.
It took every control in not to react or hold my stomach laughing at him as my master crippled him with fear, breathing into his neck, and almost making poor Axel pee his pants.
I an, who could stand the presence of the devil? Even I used to stay a reasonable distance away from him when he appeared. But my master, he... he probably hated Axel as much as I did because he bent right beside him, paralyzing him with his aura.
And good ol’ hero Axel, what did he do? He went ahead to pretend like there wasn’t an overpowering aura seeping chillingly into his bones and almost knocking the breath out of him.
And that—that was what gave out his plan. The fact that he didn’t visibly freak out ant he thought he knew what was in the room with him – he didn’t.
He thought it was "the witch," and he had co to bait him. Now, if Axel had co to bait the witch and María José was internally freaking out in my presence, it could only an one thing.
They figured I wasn’t the real Mateo and was, in fact, "the witch." And now, now, they wanna set up. I had no idea what they were planning, but I’d give it to them.
They were smart. They were literally the first to see through my act. Even though they had it all wrong. I wasn’t a witch. It wasn’t a witch behind all of these atrocities.
It was , Luis. The disabled cousin, subjected to a pitiful wheelchair. It was I, Luis, forr werewolf, now a demon.
If Axel and María José wanted to play, then I could dance to their tune. Finally, this was getting fun. I was getting tired of playing on my own. Now, I have playmates.
Perfecto.
"I thought you’d be asleep by now," I sighed, swirling my tea.
She laughed softly. "I couldn’t sleep. Just... thinking."
"About?"
She paused. I set my gaze on her, but she flinched hers away.
I filled the silence for her. "The wedding?"
Ti to get down to business and reveal the jaw-dropping secrets of her evil big sister to her tonight. I hope to hell that her stomach wasn’t already filled with too much tea because she had a lot to swallow tonight.
"W-what?" She jumped, almost spilling her tea.
Easy, mi Amor, I’m on your side.
I shrugged. "Everyone in the pack knows you like Beta Axel. Surely, you can’t be happy he’s marrying your sister."
That... that caught her off-guard. Bet she was expecting to try to get under her pants while reciting everything Axel told , thinking he was baiting like I did the last ti.
She was expecting a mindless witch who wanted nothing but sex and ruining Axel’s image. Sorry to shock you, Amor, Big Bad Daddy Luis is always one step ahead of you.
Not that I wouldn’t play regardless... or touch.
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