Defeated. That was the only way Colt could describe the way Maddox sounded as he told him about his disastrous trip to the D.P.R., including the lustful clerk, the strict supervisor, and the tangle of red tape that meant that no one at the agency was going to give Maddox any information about Evangeline beside the fact that she was alive, unbonded, and still used her maiden name. Maddox refused to delve too deeply into his hellish hours there, but Colt knew his brother well enough to be able to read between the lines.
“That’s bullshit. I can’t believe they can pull that and get away with it.”
“Believe it. The D.P.R. was no help at all. Seems like I didn't need to show my bonding license to go into the Cage but, without it, they won't tell me where to find Evangeline.”
“Fucking Claws Clause,” snarled Colt. “I told you you should've signed the bonding license before the marriage license.”
He had. A hundred times before the accident and probably a thousand more since Maddox had been incarcerated. But Evangeline was human and had human values and human beliefs. Maddox was so eager to do things her way to make his mate happy. His brother had no doubt that she felt the bond just as deeply as he had. And while Evangeline had said she recognized that claiming was even more final than marriage to a shifter, she had point-blank refused to be legally bonded before she was legally wed.
So Maddox brought her to the courthouse and married her. Getting the bonding license notarized in a Bumptown was an afterthought. The honeymoon was supposed to come first—but they never made it to the cabin.
“Yeah, well, hindsight’s a bitch,” admitted Maddox. “Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Now I got to find her the old-fashioned way.”
“Nose to the dirt?”
“And paw to the pedal.”
“Take my truck,” Colt offered. “You’re going to need wheels to get around, and I can use my delivery van if I have to head out of town. Unless you want me to try tracking Evangeline again. I can put any orders on hold for a couple of days, no big deal.”
Maddox was his brother, his packmate, and the man who would be his Alpha as soon as their father handed the pack over to him. He would do whatever he could to help him.
Considering it was partially his fault that Maddox was missing his mate, he would do so gladly.
Maybe then fate would finally quick taking potshots at him.
Maddox’s head jerked up.
He felt the little hairs on the back of his ruined neck stand at attention. Something… something wasn’t right. He could tell. Without the silver collar dulling his senses, he was finally picking up on it. Colt was a pro at hiding what he was thinking, what he was feeling, but Maddox was his brother.
Something definitely wasn’t right.
Like the calm before the storm, something was brewing within Colt. His brother was doing a damn good job shielding it from Maddox and his wolf, but that right there roused his suspicions more than anything else—even more than when Colt lost his head before and nearly invoked a challenge.
Colt had a lot going for him, but while he was loyal to a fault, this sudden bout of generosity wasn’t like him. Maddox knew he was taking Colt’s truck—he just expected to have to pull rank to get it. And putting orders on hold? Colt’s work was his life. He was the best brother a guy could ask for, but he wasn’t a fucking saint. Something was off and right after he finally cemented his bond with Evangeline, he was going to do whatever he had to to find out what.
When Maddox didn’t push, Colt relaxed just enough for Maddox to take note. Before he could change his mind, Colt reached into his pants pockets, pulled out his keys, and tossed them at him.
“For the truck,” Colt said.
Maddox looked at the keys in his palm. He peered up at Colt, cocked his head. “Were you serious when you said you’d help me?”
“Whatever you need, it’s yours. I’ll do whatever I can to help. I know what she means to you.” A strange expression flashed across Colt’s face. Maddox never got the chance to try to read it. Seconds later, Colt’s usual glower was back in place.
Maddox debated for a second if it would be worth asking Colt about his reaction. It was… off. Before the accident, Colt rolled his eyes at the idea of mating and refused to accept it might happen to him. Now, he actually seemed to understand. Part of Maddox thought it had to do with how hard the last three years had been on the whole family.
For the first time, though, he began to wonder…
“So the truck’s all yours. What else do you need?”
Colt’s question distracted Maddox from his train of thought. He shook his head. Evangeline. This was all about getting back to his mate. Everything else could wait.
“First, boots. I had sneakers, but I left them behind after I shifted by the D.P.R.—I’ll probably need a couple of cheap pairs in case that happens again. A cell phone, if you think I’ll need one of those. You’re the only one I’m talking to right now so if you won’t call it, don’t bother. Money, definitely—my account’s still frozen from my time in the Cage, but you know I’m good for it.” Maddox held up his hand, ticking off each item as it came to him. “Let’s see… oh yeah, speaking of the D.P.R…. either I’ve got to pay someone to fix that damn counter, or maybe you could just do it for me. That would help. And, of course, I’m going to need the coordinates of the last spot you caught her scent.”
Colt had picked up a pen and pad from his tabletop and was currently jotting down his brother’s list when Maddox got to the last one. He glanced up, his brow furrowed. “I’ll give it to you, no problem. It’s just… you know I wasn't able to track it again, right? It’s like her scent just up and disappeared.”
“I know, but I figure she passed by there once, she's bound to do it again. You know Angie, she likes her routines. Besides, it’s the only lead I got. I'll live on the street corner if I have to, if it means I might see her again.”
“Just don't do anything stupid. I lost you once to the Cage and, now that you’re out, I don’t need you giving anyone a reason to lock you up again.” Then, as if he could guess the direction of Maddox's thoughts, Colt raised his eyebrow. “And, yes, sniffing random humans to see if they carry her scent counts.”
Maddox laughed out loud. It was the first time he’d found anything to laugh about in years which made him realize something important. “I missed you, bro. Really missed you, Colt. I know I saw you when I was locked up but...” He cleared his throat. “Well, you know. It’s good to be out and I know I’ll never be able to repay you—”
“Don’t mention it. You’d do it for me in a heartbeat and we both know it. Now, let me make sure I got everything here.” As if he was eager to avoid dealing with Maddox’s embarrassing gratitude, Colt glanced down at the notes he’d scribbled on the page in front of him.
He blinked. “Hey, Maddox?”
“Yeah?”
“Truck, sure. Boots, got it. But, uh… counter?”
“Yeah.”
“Why do you need me to fix a D.P.R. counter?”
Maddox’s golden eyes flashed, an amber sheen rolling over his pupils. “Because I broke it.”
Colt pursed his lips. “Do I want to know why you broke it? Or when? I mean, considering you only went to the D.P.R. after the warden released you, should I just be glad that you’re not halfway back to prison already?”
Maddox climbed out of Colt’s chair. He placed a heavy hand on his brother’s shoulder before saying solemnly, “I’m never going back to the Cage, Colt. If they give me the choice again, they’ll have to kill me this time.”
8
Evangeline was dreaming about the accident again.
It had taken her a while to tell the difference between a flashback and a nightmare. For the first few months of her recovery, she relived the terror of the crash every minute of every day. It felt like she was stuck in an endless loop, trapped in the minute the truck slipped and skidded around the slick curve of the mountain before it flipped end over end down the craggy, rocky side.
>
She didn’t remember the actual impact. Just the fall. Her doctors theorized that she must have blacked out from fear before the vehicle actually ran right through the rusted guardrail and started its descent; if she was already limp, it made her unlikely survival a little more understandable.
The hole in her memory frustrated her because she felt like there was more to it than that. There was… there was something else she should be remembering.
When she fell asleep and the nightmares found her, she realized that the something was a someone.
That was how Evangeline was finally able to tell the difference between her memories and her dreams. Because, logically, she knew that she had been alone in the car when it crashed. Her parents assured her that her broken body was the only one trapped in the wreckage of the truck she’d been driving. She tried once to tell them that she didn’t even remember owning a vehicle like the one they found her in—or, for that matter, driving one—but they just sighed as they held her hands and promised that she would remember it all in time.
In her nightmares, Evangeline replaced her missing memories with her own twisted version of how the accident must have happened. It was raining, the sky dark and overcast. A hint of sweat, musk, and pine lingered in the small cab of the truck, caressing her senses and making her feel at ease despite the butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
She was sitting in the passenger seat—he was driving, his hands beating a happy rhythm on the steering wheel. It was supposed to be a shortcut, the two of them desperate to get wherever they were going. The rain made the curve in the road dangerous, but he assured her that he had taken this path hundreds of times before. It was supposed to be safe.
That lull, that sweet certainty that nothing bad could happen when she was with him… it was the last thing she remembered before she was blinded by a bright purple flash. Lightning? Maybe. The truck swerved, as if it had been struck by it. The driver yanked the wheel sharply to the right. The truck didn’t respond. In her nightmares, it never did. Like a suicidal jumper, it took its swan dive over the side of the mountain, crashing right through the pitted, old guardrail as if it hadn’t even been there.
Strong arms yanked Evangeline right out of her seat, pressing her against a broad chest. There was only enough time to duck her head under his chin as he wrapped himself around her like a protective cocoon before the truck started to flip over and over.
His name was always the last thing she screamed—the only thing she screamed. Over the squeal of the tires and the groan of the truck's metal frame folding around them, Evangeline could never make out what she was yelling before she was suddenly jolted awake from her disturbed sleep.
For almost three years she suffered from the same nightmare. As her body healed, her bones mending, her fear of heights less crippling with time, Evangeline still dreamed of the crash. Nothing ever changed. Despite knowing the identity of the shadow man while she was dreaming, she could never remember it as soon as she was jerked awake.
That night was no different.
Sweat plastering her long, dark hair to her forehead, her fingers clutching the sheet with a death grip, Evangeline looked wildly around her bedroom. The magic hum in the air told her the wards were still up. The sun streaming in through the window said she slept in later than she wanted; it wasn’t night any longer, but late morning at the earliest. She gasped and tried to get control of her breathing.
Because she shouldn’t be awake. Not yet. That wasn't the end of the dream.
So what had woken her up?
It took her a minute to figure it out. The answer?
No pain.
Evangeline shoved her sweat-soaked hair out of her face, marveling at that realization.
She'd had the same dream over and over again and it never ended until another blast of purple energy hit the car and she was violently ripped from her savior’s embrace. Then there was an excruciating pain. It shocked her, paralyzed her, and made her wish she was dead.
But she wasn’t dead. She survived the crash that terrible night, just like she continued to survive reliving it ever since.
That morning was the first time she had woken up from her nightmares without the pain consuming her first. As she panted, her entire body tensed as if expecting it to hit now. But it didn't. Instead, she could've sworn she still felt the heat of the other passenger in the car as he tucked her into his side, protecting her as they fell. It felt as real as it had in her dream, as if she'd had a guardian angel who protected her as her car careened down the mountainside.
In her dream, the angel had a name. She knew it then; ripped awake before he disappeared, it was on the tip of her tongue. She scrunched her forehead, struggling to remember. It seemed so important. M… M-something.
Her heart, which had calmed, suddenly began to beat a wild tattoo inside of her chest at another realization. This was the closest she’d come to a breakthrough in years. She normally woke up with nothing but the memory of the pain and the empty lonely ache she suffered so much from, yet worked so damn hard to hide.
M-something… Mmm. Matt? Was it Matt? No. Not that.
Max? Max… Evangeline rolled the name around her head, forcing it to work harder. Not quite it, but close.
Very close.
The ‘x’ sounded right, but she felt like there was a ‘d’ in there somewhere. Something like Mad-something. She wanted to scream in frustration—screaming seemed to be key.
Why was she screaming for—
Madison? Madden? Maddo—
Her phone rang and the name slipped away like the grains of sand in her timer. She struggled to hold onto it, gave in to her urge to scream just the once, then cursed loudly when the remnants of her dream—the name, his scent, his protective heat—simply faded away, leaving her alone.
She was alone. And she hated it.
Picking up her phone without checking to see who was calling, she answered it by snapping, “What?”
“Eva? What’s wrong, babe?”
Adam. She should have known. Who else would be calling this early in the morning? At least her mother always waited until after dinner.
Leaning back in her bed, Evangeline let her head fall against the pillow as she shielded her eyes with her arm.
“Hey, Adam. Sorry about that… nothing’s wrong. The phone woke me up just now. I guess I’m pissed at myself for sleeping in so late.”
“Is that why you weren’t answering? Lazy bum,” he scolded lightly, with enough humor in his tone that Evangeline decided it didn’t warrant her snapping at him again. “I’ve been trying you all morning. I was just getting ready to head out and check in on you. You know I like to make sure you slept well.”
Translation: I like to make sure you didn’t have any nightmares.
She hated to admit it, but she thought his open concern was kind of sweet; he didn’t make her feel as smothered as her mother did, either, so that was a huge plus. Adam wanted to be the last voice she talked to at night, and the first she heard as she started her day.
At first, she suspected he was doing all of that because he wanted her to sleep with him. After dating exclusively for more than a month now, Adam hadn’t spent the night yet. He never even pushed for her to do more than kiss him. And when he sensed that she was hesitant to do even that, he backed off.
He didn’t need to touch her to show Evangeline how much he cared. He did so in a million other ways.
Due to his hectic work schedule, they saw each other maybe three times a week. Adam still made sure he spoke to her at least twice every day, more when his fourteen-hour-long shifts at the Cage allowed him to use the phone. He brought her dinner when she admitted she hadn’t eaten, and he liked to shower her with gifts. The perfume was only the beginning. And, sure, it kind of seemed like he was buying her affection.
Oh, well. It was working.
It warmed Evangeline how Adam followed her lead when it came to their relationship. The slow pace didn’t frustrate him; he seemed happy
and content that she was willing to continue to see him romantically. She had to admit that Adam Wright might have grown up after all.
Evangeline remembered her tantrum and grimaced. At least one of them had.
“I’m sorry if I worried you. I must’ve slept through my alarm clock and”—she pulled her phone away from her ear, pressed a button, and checked her missed calls. Wincing, she said—“and your seven phone calls.”
Adam groaned. “That many? Shit. Sorry, babe. I’m at the window again, so I was dialing in between visitors, hoping to get you on the line. I didn’t mean to be so obnoxious.”
“Hey. Don’t worry about it.” Seven was nothing. When she first moved out, she would sometimes wake up to twelve missed calls from her mother. “I’m glad you did. Sleeping in wasn’t on my agenda today. I guess I was more tired than I thought.”
“I should’ve known better. It took you… what? Three days to crank out the edits on that last manuscript? I’m surprised your eyes aren’t bleeding by now.”
It was her first big test, a massive editing project that had a turnaround of only three days. Three days since she left her cramped apartment. She ordered in meals when she could take a break from her work, and went without when she couldn’t. Adam came over last night with take-out from the Chinese place down the street. She’d barely been able to eat half of her sweet and sour chicken before he was tucking her into bed, risking a chaste kiss to her forehead, and replacing her wards on his way out of her apartment.
She winced when she remembered how hard she had crashed. “I wasn’t much company last night, was I?”
“It was nice. Quiet, but nice—just what I needed after a long day in the Cage. I’d love to do it again the next time they give me a night free. Sometimes I feel like I’m locked up with those animals, the hours they want me to work. Crazy, right?”
There was a sneer in Adam’s voice whenever he mentioned working at the paranormal-only prison that she couldn’t ignore; he never brought it up and she never mentioned it, but Evangeline got the vibe that he wasn’t a fan of the paranormal part of the population. She knew he was counting the days until his year was up and he could rejoin the ranks of the Grayson PD.
Hungry Like a Wolf (Claws Clause Book 1) Page 7
