Even though he didn’t live in town himself, Grayson was his home precinct. Evangeline thought that was strangely suspicious until Naomi admitted that part of the reason she didn’t fight the move was because Adam’s mother, Fiona, had recommended Grayson as a predominantly human city with a low crime rate and no real need to drive.
Perfect for Evangeline.
Just the thought of riding in a car again made her panic; it had gotten so bad that her mother gave her a sleeping pill before her father drove the moving van into Grayson. She refused to risk the chance of another car crash. Right after they finally let her out of the hospital, she sold her car and took her old six-speed bicycle out of the garage. The fact that she didn’t remember anything leading right up to the crash, but had no problem riding a bike, told her that the damage to her memory was only short-term. She might be missing almost a year of her life, but she could still pop a mean wheelie.
Adam cleared his throat, reminding Evangeline that it was her turn to say something. Too bad she had no idea what the last thing Adam had said was.
Something about work, maybe?
“Are you gonna be working all night?” she asked. “I only have a couple of pages to proof today. I can cook something to make up for conking out on you yesterday. You could come over again.”
“I wish I could, but they have me pulling an all-nighter. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, though.”
Tomorrow? Evangeline racked her brains, trying to remember what tomorrow was. That was the biggest problem with always suffering from the sensation that she forgot something: so consumed with remembering to remember, she tended to forget even the littlest things.
“Um… tomorrow?”
“Yeah. You remember, Eva. It’s date night.”
She managed to bite back her groan in time. “It’s Friday already?”
Date night was Adam’s genius idea. After she agreed to the first dinner, he asked her to lunch. Then another dinner. A movie that Friday. By the afternoon walk around Grayson on Saturday, Evangeline had to admit that she was dating Adam Wright. It just sort of happened.
The next Friday, Adam proclaimed it date night. It was the one night of the week that he was always free and he wanted to spend it with her despite their busy schedules. So far there had been three date nights. She hadn’t been able to dissuade him from any of the nights out yet, though she always tried.
Evangeline knew she was being ungrateful. She genuinely liked Adam and enjoyed spending time with him—when they stayed in for the evening before Adam went home. The anxious feeling that something wasn’t right nagged her whenever she left the apartment on one of their special ‘dates’. But she didn’t dare tell him—or, God forbid, her mother—that being seen with the handsome cop in public left her feeling short of breath. Both of them treated her fragile enough already. If she admitted that she was only getting worse, the next thing she knew she would be cocooned in bubblewrap.
For her own safety, of course.
Oblivious to how she was already trying to figure a way to get out of this Friday’s date night, Adam chuckled. “Wow. These last few days worked you over good, didn’t they?”
“I guess. But at least that job’s over and done with now. The next one’ll be a walk in the park compared to it.”
“Is that what you’re working on today?”
Evangeline hesitated. His tone hadn’t changed. Adam sounded as concerned and interested as he usually did and that, she decided, was the problem. It was bad enough that she felt like she had to account for her every move to her mother. Recently, she couldn’t shake the suspicion that Adam expected her to do the same for him.
“That was the plan. Get up, take a shower, get dressed. I slept through breakfast, so I thought I might pick up a muffin or something and get some coffee before I start my work. That sound okay to you?”
If Adam heard the sarcasm she couldn’t quite keep out of her short tone, he didn’t act like it. “I don’t know, Eva—”
“What’s wrong with my plan?”
“Don’t you have coffee in the kitchen?”
She did. But it wasn’t the same. “The coffeehouse is only a couple of blocks away. Plus, they have muffins.”
“Babe—”
“I’m just going to get coffee and come right back. It’ll be fine.”
“Hang on. I was about to go on break,” Adam told her. In the background, she heard the squeak of his desk chair as he stood up. A moment later, the jangle of his keys came through loud and clear. “Wait for me to get there. I’ll take you out.”
He had to be kidding. “What? No! I mean… you don’t have to do that.”
“I was on my way already. When you didn’t answer, I got Bennett to okay an early break. I’ll be there in fifteen.”
Evangeline closed her eyes, prayed for patience, then said, “Adam, don’t be ridiculous. I could walk to Mugs and back before you got here. And Grayson is harmless, right?”
She had to believe that. Even with Fiona and Adam’s endorsement, Naomi had researched every inch of the town before she approved Evangeline’s move. Its crime rate was almost nonexistent. Evangeline attributed that to its proximity to the Cage. About ten miles away, it was too close to draw many criminals. Paras wouldn’t want to catch the Cage’s attention, and human crooks feared the threat of being thrown inside with paranormals regardless of what the laws said.
Adam’s voice gained a hard edge. “You can’t think like that, babe. No place is harmless. Something could happen at any moment. You, of all people, should know that.”
Evangeline knew his heart was in the right place. Still, she hated when anyone tried to take her choices away from her. If going out to get coffee was the one thing she could control in her life then, damn it, she was getting that cup of coffee.
“Careful, Adam. You’re starting to sound like my mother.”
“That’s because I love you, too, Eva.”
She winced. He’d started up with that during their last night out together, right before she started the editing job that, okay, she might’ve offered to take because it gave her an excuse to avoid Adam for a few days. Afraid that he was just using the words to soften her up so that she would invite him to spend the night—and terrified he might mean it after only a month together—she refused to say it back.
The words held weight for Evangeline. She would only say them when she meant them. And, as much as she was growing to care for Adam, she didn’t love him. Not yet.
“I’ll be safe. How about this? I’ll bring my phone with me, grab my breakfast, then call you when I get back to my place. Better?”
Adam started to say something, stopped, then sighed. “Since you’re probably halfway out the door now, I guess that’s fine. I’m going on record saying that I don’t like it, though.”
“Duly noted, Officer.”
“Eva.”
His stern voice might have counted for more if he didn’t punctuate it with a sexy little chuckle. Between that and his handsome face, strong body, the charming dimple… she wished she knew what it was that Adam saw in her and why he was wasting his time when he could probably have half the population of Grayson with only a wink.
Evangeline was glad he couldn’t see the way her cheeks heated up. No matter how she tried to discourage him in the beginning, he was adamant about seeing her. She didn’t understand it, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t like the attention. He was kind, considerate, good-looking as hell, and willing to bend over backward for her. In her darker moods, she wondered if her mother was paying him to watch over her. But then she caught sight of the way he would look at her as if he was the lucky one and she had to smile.
“I’ll talk to you in a little bit, Adam. Promise.”
“Okay.” He sounded resigned, though he didn’t argue again. “Love you.”
Blowing him a kiss with her lips pressed against the mouthpiece—that was the most she could offer him. She disconnected the call a second later and tossed her ph
one away from her. Holding her breath, she waited to see if it would ring again.
It didn’t.
Evangeline exhaled softly.
Adam was overreacting, she decided. As a police officer, it was his job to be wary and prepared. But that didn’t mean that his mother hen routine was going to keep her from living her life. She went to Mugs nearly every day and maybe she hadn’t mentioned that, but what did it matter? Sure, Adam was a protective guy—that was the cop in him—but to drive all the way into town to walk her two blocks over? That was pushing it, even for him.
Besides, she wondered as she finally climbed out of her bed, what could possibly happen to her in the ten minutes it took to get coffee?
9
At first, Colt hadn’t wanted to tell Maddox where he was when he first scented Evangeline. Maddox couldn’t figure out why. When he was in the Cage, it wasn’t that important. Knowing that his mate was inexplicably still alive was enough.
Now that he was back on the outside? He desperately needed the coordinates.
Colt kept putting it off. Without any sign that she’d been back to that spot, he argued that it would only be a waste of time to focus on one single location. Maddox disagreed. It was the only lead he had and, with a little bit of brotherly persuasion, he went about convincing Colt to spill it.
A heavy hand to the back of Colt’s head, a few barked threats, and Maddox had a name.
Grayson. He couldn’t fucking believe it. While Maddox was locked up and rotting the rest of his life away, Evangeline had started over in the well-known human suburb less than ten miles away from the Cage.
So close, but not close enough.
Where was she now? Colt didn’t know. Neither did Maddox. She certainly wasn’t at the local Quick Stop set on Grayson’s main thoroughfare.
But she had been.
Colt swore to Maddox that that was the spot. A month ago, he followed Evangeline to the convenience store. After catching her scent on the breeze, immediately recognizing it despite how impossible it seemed, Colt traced it to a shy, leggy brunette as she entered the Quick Stop on the corner.
Torn between grabbing her, shaking her, demanding she tell him where she’d been for three years or running straight to Maddox, Colt tapped into his beast. He went straight into hunter mode. Staking out the corner on the opposite side of the street, Colt decided to watch and wait and see if he could figure out what was going on before he confronted anyone else with the truth.
Even with the distance, he could sense that at least five other humans were shopping inside the Quick Stop, all of them human. Knowing Grayson’s anti-Para reputation, Colt kept his wolf under lock and key, unwilling to reveal himself as a shifter before he saw Evangeline again.
Only one problem.
He never did.
After leaning against the corner lamp post, eyes narrowed on the front door of the convenience store for close to half an hour, Colt finally realized he’d been duped. Maybe she saw him and was trying to avoid him. Maybe she simply took another way out of the store. Didn’t matter. Either way, when Colt braced himself and stormed inside, only her scent lingered. And while he had half a mind to chase after her—that was his wolf’s input, at any rate—Colt knew what he had to do. Hopping in his truck, he headed right out to the magic-free prison to tell Maddox.
More than a month later—and two days out of the Cage—Maddox wished Colt had tracked Evangeline out of the Quick Stop. Knowing his mate, she would never be walking around the downtown area so late in the afternoon if she didn’t live nearby. Colt had been so sure that he would be able to pick up her scent trail again; since he hadn’t, Maddox was left wondering if maybe he was wrong.
He really hoped not.
There were no laws against Paras entering cities like Grayson. Since humans and paranormals had the same rights—at least, on paper they did—where one was allowed, the other one was as well; ideally, society was fully integrated these days. That didn’t stop Bumptowns and Ant Farms from springing up, though. It might not be illegal for Maddox to stroll into the predominantly human Grayson, advertising the fact that he was a bonded shifter fresh out of the Cage, but he knew he wouldn’t be welcomed, either.
He was proven right the second he walked into the Quick Stop. A big, burly redhead with a bushy mustache stood behind the register, his arms crossed over the ill-fitting yellow uniform shirt he wore. A satisfied smirk disappeared underneath his mustache as he surveyed the handful of customers milling around the store.
His eyes fell on Maddox, dipping to the scars that circled the base of Maddox’s throat. The big man stayed quiet, moving closer to the counter. His shoulder shifted. Maddox could tell that his hand was reaching for something.
Gun, bat, or witch’s protection spell, Maddox didn’t give a shit. He’d walk through fire to get Evangeline back. This Ant thought he could stop him?
Not in this lifetime.
Loping to the counter, Maddox pointedly ignored the gasps from some of the other shoppers. Whispers filled the air and then, almost as one, the shoppers put down anything they were holding and eased toward the door. Within a minute, no one was left inside the store except for Maddox and the clerk.
He’d give the human credit. The big guy bristled, a hint of nervousness seeping into his scent, but he didn’t back down. Instead, with a flat look, he rumbled, “You’re not supposed to be here.”
No. Probably not.
Too fucking bad.
Maddox reached into the back pocket of his worn jeans, pulling out a photograph.
Since his disastrous trip to the D.P.R., Maddox decided to skip going to his old home. It was too painful with Evangeline in the wind somewhere. Colt had a spare room and Maddox took it over.
Maddox was relying on his brother for everything: his truck, his clothes, his money, his old cell phone. And now this. It was a good thing Colt had a picture of Maddox and Evangeline in his junk drawer that he was willing to lend him, saving Maddox an agonizing trip out to Wolf’s Creek.
Folding it over so that she was the only one visible, Maddox showed it to the clerk.
“I won’t be here long,” he said. “Look at this picture. I just need an answer. You know this woman?”
“No.”
“Look closer. She’s shopped here before. Has she been in recently?”
The clerk made a display of peering at the photo. After a second, he gulped, then shook his head. “Never seen her before in my life and I work most shifts ‘cause I manage the store. She’s never been a customer of mine.”
Maddox’s wolf had a sense of smell that was especially keen. He’d always been able to tell when someone was lying to him. It was hard to explain to a non-shifter, the way dishonesty had a sour tang like curdled milk. Some witches had the same power, but that was just magic. Maddox, like most shifters, relied on his nose.
Snuffling, he blew the stink from his nostrils. “You sure about that?”
“Damn sure.”
“You’re lying,” Maddox said softly.
He didn’t mean to do it. It just happened. Narrowing his eyes on the human, he stared without blinking. A true predator’s stare. From the way the Ant lost all of his color, Maddox was willing to bet his eyes flashed like liquid gold, a warning rolling across his shuttered expression.
The human took a step away from the counter, followed by another until he was forced to back into the wall behind him. His hands were shaking. So was his voice as he pointed to the exit. “I answered your question. I think it’s time for you to go.”
“Maybe when you give me an answer I like I will.”
The blotchy patches on the clerk’s beefy neck started to match the color of his unruly hair. He raised his arms, showing empty hands. “I’m not looking for any trouble here.”
“I didn’t say I was looking for trouble, either. I said I was looking for her.”
Another gulp. “And I said I’ve never seen her before.”
The scent of deception was even stronger, min
gled with noticeable fear. He didn’t back down, though. Jutting his chin, maintaining eye contact with Maddox’s burgeoning fangs, he pointed at the exit again.
Maddox let his wolf peek through. A rumble deep in his chest, the beginning of a warning growl—
“I’ve got a panic button under my counter. If you don’t leave right now, I’ll press it.”
It was a threat—and a good one, too. Maddox could probably leap over the counter and take out the human manager before he pressed it, but what if the big guy was faster than he looked? No way he could break through emergency wards if they slammed down, leaving him a sitting wolf for the Cage cops to pick up.
Getting out of the Cage was a one-shot deal. If he went back, no amount of pleading or proof would get the board to release him again.
With one last snarl, Maddox snapped his teeth at the Ant before crumpling the photo in his fist, shoving it back in his pocket, and storming for the door.
The Ant might have been able to force him to leave the shop, but that didn’t mean he was going to get rid of Maddox so easily. Unless he was willing to go toe to toe with the wolf, he had to put up with Maddox pacing back and forth on the street corner right outside of his store.
Maddox prowled the same stretch of sidewalk for four straight hours before the human manager finally grew a pair and, from behind the safety of his closed door while waving the phone clutched tightly in his grip, threatened to call the local police and tell them that Maddox was loitering.
Scowling, Maddox debated whether or not it would make him feel better to shift into his wolf and mark his territory all over the jerk’s trash cans. He ultimately decided to take the high road and cross the street where he could glare at the Ant while continuing to keep a vigil for any sign of his mate.
When the woman who ran the shop he was now pacing in front of came out to see what was going on, she took one look at his scars, his scowl, his frantic pacing and went back inside. A few minutes later, she came back with a bottle of water for him.
Hungry Like a Wolf (Claws Clause Book 1) Page 8
