"I still like Kathy's idea of an anti-sex geis," said Najma. "I'd hate to deny Asha the joys of being a fully fledged werehyena, but shi should one hundred percent be waiting for sex. A geis looks like the most practical way of making that happen."
"I guess we'll try it that way, Najma," Kibibi said. She gave Asha a stern look. "And don't think that being physically an adult means that your Aunt Asanti and I can't tell you what to do. As far as I can tell, you're still mentally a cub, and that means that we're still your substitute parents. Am I understood, kid?"
Asha just stuck out hir rough hyena tongue at Kibibi.
"So mature," Asanti whispered to Kibibi with a quiet snicker.
Kathy turned to Vivi. "So, do you think you're skilled enough to cast a geis?"
"Hard to say," Vivi sighed. "My mom is for sure, but she still needs a lot of rest. She's been teaching me a bit about casting geises, but I'm not all that advanced yet. I've successfully cast some weak ones though."
"Are they strong enough to keep a hormone-addled cub on a magic-induced growth spurt from having sex?" Kathy asked, lazily playing with a strand of her ash brown hair as if it were yarn.
"It might be," Vivi said. "I mean, if I really concentrated and pushed myself."
"I say give it a try," said Isra. "This way, everybody gets something they want."
"But I want sex, too!" Asha shouted with another stamp of hir paw.
"We don't always get everything we want in life," Asanti said to her grumpy niece. "Just be glad that you get to keep your werebeast form. You know, it's very striking. Don't tell your mother, but I like the fox coloring. And the bushy tail's a nice touch."
"Thanks, Aunt Asanti," Asha said, smiling a bit.
"Could you put the geis in place, Vivienne?" Kibibi asked the witch apprentice.
"Okay," Vivi said, a bit nervously. She approached Asha and began making mystical gestures at hir. "I, Vivienne Faye, in the names of Mother Night and Lady Moon invoke upon thee this geis! For seven years' time, sexual intercourse shall be taboo to thee! Shouldst thou touch another in lust, terrible dread and agony beyond what thou canst bear shall fill thy mind, and thou shalt flee in terror. At sunrise on thy sixteenth birthday, my geis shall be lifted and thou shalt be free to delight in the pleasures of the flesh once more. So mote it be!"
Vivi concentrated with all her might. After the longest moment in her life, she felt her power flow into Asha and bind hir to the young apprentice's words.
"Did it work?" asked Isra.
"I felt the magic bind hir," Vivi said, her voice tinged with surprise and pride. "The geis should be working perfectly. I should warn you, there's always a chance that shi'll be able to snap hirself out of the geis sometime before her sixteenth birthday with the right triggers or if her willpower's strong enough."
"Believe me," Asha smirked, "it is."
"Well, don't go trying to break it," Kibibi frowned. "If you do, I'll have Morgana and Vivienne turn you back into a nine-year-old cub!"
"And I'll write to your mother and tell hir everything you've done since we arrived," Asanti added sternly. "I think shi'd find it all very interesting in the worst way possible."
"And I doubt my sire the alpha will be too thrilled with your antics either," Kibibi remarked. "Keep that in mind."
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!" Asha sighed, rolling hir eyes.
"Feel free to borrow some of my clothes until Kibibi and your Aunt Asanti can buy you some in an adult size, Asha," Vivi offered.
"Okay, but I still think it's dumb that I have to wear clothes," Asha said as she shifted back into her familiar (albeit nine years older) form of a human girl with ebony skin and a frizzy mop of flame-red curls exploding from her head. "They're hot, they're itchy, and they hide how beautiful I am now." She gave her naked ass a little shimmy to underscore her point.
"I don't care if you've hit puberty or not," Asanti said firmly. "You're still too young in years to be showing off your goods. And even if you weren't, this isn't our old settlement. This is the heart of a human town with human police and decency laws to worry about."
"Whatever, Auntie," Asha sighed as she grabbed some clothes. "I'll play along for now."
Kibibi turned back to Vivi. "So, do you have any idea where we'll be staying? I am NOT sleeping in a werewolf homestead!"
"My mom will probably ask Carmilla von Karnstein to put you guys up in some of her manor's guestrooms," said Vivi.
"Wait, isn't Carmilla von Karnstein the matriarch of a vampire clan?" Kathy asked nervously. "Doesn't Morgana know that vampires hunt werebeasts for sport?!"
"Most vampire clans haven't done that since the Eighteenth Century," Vivi chuckled. "Only the most bloodthirsty clans still do that. You know, like Clan Tepes, Clan de Rais, or Clan Báthory. As for Clan von Karnstein, Matriarch Carmilla believes that all magicals should support each other. To that end, she's been doing a lot to support the growth of Alpha Selena's young pack. And it doesn't hurt that Selena's dating Tatiana von Karnstein, one of Matriarch Carmilla's daughters."
"Selena took a fucking dangerous risk when shi decided to ally with leeches," Kibibi said darkly. "Still, I suppose we should be grateful that it paid off, I guess. But if shi starts inviting werelions over, I'm taking hir down, promise to my sire or no promise to my sire!"
"No worries," laughed Vivi. "There aren't any werelion prides in this area."
"Good to know," Kathy smiled. "I do not want my budding werecat pride to have to compete with werelions of all things! Werewolves and werefoxes will be bad enough."
"I hope you gel well with the von Karnstein vampires," Vivi said, sounding slightly nervous beneath her front of cheerfulness. "You know, the grounds of Karnstein Manor would probably be a better place to meet with your new pack than this cramped magic shop."
"Right," Kibibi nodded. "We'll head over there as soon as we've talked with Morgana."
"Great!" Vivi smiled. "Mom should be up in about an hour. Now I should phone Alpha Selena to tell her you've arrived."