Mates: Prequel (Claws Clause Book 0)

by Jessica Lynch

  The blazing light from above flashed against the gleaming metal, mocking him.

  Fucking silver. And the humans called his kind monsters.

  So what if the inside of the collar was treated to keep from burning a shifter’s skin? It never worked. The outside was pure silver, potent and terrible enough to not only keep Maddox trapped in his human skin, but to weaken him significantly. No wonder Colt’s beast wanted to take Maddox’s role in the pack. The silver was messing with him almost as much as it was draining Maddox.

  Too soon. This visit was too soon. Colt’s shoulders jerked and hunched, his body primed to shift. It was a hard fight to push back. The tendons on his arms stretched and his feet arched off of the ground seconds before he slammed his full weight back on the tile. He huffed and grunted, relaxing only when he felt his human form settle back into place.

  That’s when Maddox finally decided to look up.

  Hell.

  No matter how many times Colt saw him like this, it always took him by surprise.

  Maddox was a big man, standing a couple of inches taller than his younger brother and Colt was no slouch. But the pounds fell away from him the first year in the Cage and he never managed to gain many back. He looked older than his thirty years, his skin paler than its normal golden hue, his hollow face creased with worry and despair. His once vibrant eyes were dull, as were his blunt human teeth.

  His face was expressionless, as if at first he didn’t recognize his visitor, then he couldn’t be bothered when he did.

  “Oh. It’s you again.” Maddox’s brow furrowed. “Hang on. It hasn’t been a month yet, has it?”

  Colt kept his hands curled into his fists at his side as he shook his head. His damn near miraculous discovery couldn’t have come at a better time. Maddox might not have chosen to be put down after the accident. The result would end up being the same since the Cage sure as hell was killing his brother.

  Maddox huffed. “Didn’t think so.”

  His voice was hoarse and listless. That wasn't new. It was all part of the sad, sorry routine. Maddox went through the motions during Colt’s monthly visits, knowing that as soon as he did, Colt would leave him alone to his misery.

  Since he lost his mate, that was all he had left—or wanted.

  Not for the first time, Colt was fucking grateful he hadn't found the one woman meant for him. If this was what he had to look forward to if he ever lost her, he'd much rather never find her in the first place.

  “The pack all right?” Maddox asked. Just like he always asked. At least he still cared that much.

  “Pack’s fine.”

  “Dad okay?”

  He didn't bother wasting any words to ask after their mother. Both brothers understood that, so long as their father was still kicking, Sarah Wolfe was safe and sound. The day something happened to her, they'd be digging two graves.

  “Old bastard’s still hanging in there,” Colt said with a hint of a wistful smile.

  Their father was the most ornery old bastard he knew, but his wolf was undefeated. He wasn’t kidding when he said Terrence Wolfe was hanging in there. Colt believed his father lived on spite and the desire to kick ass until his oldest son was back with the pack. Once that happened, Terrence could finally step down to retire someplace remote and wooded with his mate.

  Every wolf shifter in the state knew that Maddox was supposed to be the pack’s next Alpha… only he couldn’t do that while he was stuck in the Cage. Enterprising shifters had tried to challenge Terrence and failed. Their father decided three years ago that he would lead the pack until he died or Maddox got out. Up until that morning, Colt didn’t see either of those things happening any time soon.

  But now—

  That wiped the smile off of Colt’s face. “Listen to me, Maddox. I… look. There’s no easy way to say this so I'm gonna just spit it it out. Okay?”

  When he got a listless shrug for an answer, Colt realized that that was the best he was going to get. He took a second to brace himself. On a shudder, he said, “I’ve come about Evangeline.”

  Maddox stiffened, strung as tight as tension wire. It was a knee-jerk reaction whenever someone dared to say her name out loud. Colt knew that well.

  At least he had his brother’s attention now.

  “What about her?”

  The entire ride back to the Cage, Colt tried to figure out the best way to tell his brother what he had accidentally discovered. But he’d never been all that good with words, and he hated wasting time beating around the bush, so, in true Colton Wolfe fashion, he was honest, brash, and to the point.

  “Your mate isn’t dead.”

  And there it was. A sudden spark in his amber eyes that said, no matter how deeply buried it was, the old Maddox was still in there somewhere.

  Instinct hit Colt like a sledgehammer. He immediately lowered his gaze, watching the way Maddox’s hands flexed and cracked. He subtly tilted his head to the right and offered his throat. Colt was an alpha wolf, damn it, and even he recognized the danger rolling off of his brother.

  “Say that again,” whispered Maddox.

  “She's not dead.” Colt purposely made his own voice as gentle as possible. Rousing Maddox's beast, probably not the smartest plan. Sure, the collar kept him from shifting, and the Para-proof glass kept them separated.

  Tell that to his whining wolf.

  His brother’s answer was halfway between a snort and a snarl. Flecks of spit dotted the glass when he snapped out, “Bullshit.”

  “I saw her myself this morning, then rushed here to make sure you knew first thing. And, let me tell you, she's got too much color to be a ghost. She's got a pulse. A scent. She’s fucking alive.”

  A warning grumble started deep in Maddox's chest. “Stop lying to me.”

  Colt’s wolf demanded he obey the Alpha’s command. He was, though—he just needed to convince Maddox of that fact.

  “You know I would never lie to you.”

  “No. What I know is that my Angie is dead. Gone. Trying to convince me otherwise is an insult to her memory and to me. Now get the fuck out of here before I make you. And if you know what’s good for you, don’t come back.”

  Colt bristled. Okay. Sure. He knew this wouldn’t be easy. It still stung that Maddox thought him capable of lying about this.

  Trying hard to hold onto his temper, he stayed where he was. Until Maddox got it through his thick head—or Bennett returned to drag him out—Colt wasn’t going anywhere.

  “It’s true,” he insisted. “First I scented her, then I saw her—”

  Maddox’s growl raised in pitch.

  “It’s the damn truth!”

  His brother snapped his pathetic human teeth. “Don't make me tell you again.”

  Colt sank down onto the stool opposite of his brother. Though he was careful not to make any eye contact that could be taken as a challenge, he wanted Maddox to see his earnestness. “Listen to me. I wouldn't have come all the way back here and fucked with you like this if I wasn't a hundred percent positive it was her.”

  “She—”

  “I can't explain it, I don't know what the hell is going on, but Evangeline is abso-fucking-lutely alive. You know I’m telling the truth. It’s your mate, Maddox. You can trust me on this.”

  Colt poured as much sincerity into his words as he could. He didn't need to have a mate to understand that there were just some things you didn't screw around with.

  The growl subsided at last. Colt dropped his gaze, waiting for Maddox to process the bombshell that just got dropped on him. When enough time had passed and his brother was still eerily silent, Colt peered up through the thick fringe of his eyelashes, watching him through the glass. Maddox had to believe him. He had to.

  It took a couple of tense minutes full of heavy breathing and wild eyes for Maddox to finally digest what Colt had said. In the end he must have realized that Colt was probably the only one he could trust right now.

  Maddox shook his head, the quiet broken up
by a keening whine that escaped from the broken man on the other side of the glass. Colt understood, his own wolf anxious to answer his Alpha’s mournful call.

  Because if Colt wasn’t lying… he could see the struggle play out on Maddox’s weathered face.

  “No… she… then that means—”

  Colt exhaled roughly. “That your mate is out there. And she is. I swear it.”

  He didn't expect it to sink in right away. Colt might be a heartless bastard when it came to the idea of mates, but the bond he shared with Maddox was just as sacred. He could feel his brother’s pain, and the blossoming hope that maybe the impossible had happened.

  Three years was a long time to mourn and grieve; it wasn't easy to turn that off like a switch just because Colt had told him that Evangeline was miraculously still alive. But when he did understand, Colt expected Maddox to be anxious and happy and desperate to get back to his mate.

  What he got instead was unbridled fury.

  Available Now

  Hungry like a Wolf

  In a world where paranormals live side by side with humans, everybody knows about Ordinance 7304: the Bond Laws. Or, as the Paras snidely whisper to each other, the Claws Clause—a long and detailed set of laws that bonded couples must obey if they want their union to be recognized.

  Because it wasn’t already damn near impossible to find a fated mate in the first place. Now the government just has to get involved…

  * * *

  I remember—

  Three years ago, Maddox Wolfe lost his mate. Since there’s nothing more dangerous than a bonded shifter on his own, Ordinance 7304 gives him three choices: voluntary incarceration until he’s no longer deemed a threat; a lobotomy-like procedure performed by government-employed witches that would dissolve his bond; or, most final, a state-sanctioned execution so that he could be with his mate again. And, while death held a certain appeal in the hazy days following the tragedy, Maddox had his family and his pack to live for. So, refusing to give up his memories of his sweet Evangeline, he chose to spend the rest of his days in the Cage.

  I forget—

  There's a hole in Evangeline Lewis's memory. The doctors tell her that it's normal, that she'll recover fully in time. After all, it's only been three years since the accident that nearly killed her. They never thought she'd wake up; a nagging, annoying sensation that something's wrong is the least of her worries. Especially since she has so much going on: a new apartment, a new job, her mother's well-meaning attempts at match-making… but tell that to her wayward psyche.

  By day, she can't shake the feeling that something's missing. And, by night, she can't escape the dreams of a shadow man with glowing golden eyes…

  * * *

  It's entirely by chance when Maddox's brother follows that familiar scent to the beautiful brunette with the haunted smile. But he knows immediately what he's found: Maddox's mate, alive if not altogether well.

  Once he learns the truth, Maddox will stop at nothing to get her back, even if it he has to follow every twisted, convoluted letter of the ridiculous Claws Clause to do it.

  * * *

  Out now!

  Pre-Order Now

  Season of the Witch

  I won’t—

  Colton Wolfe has never liked witches.

  There’s something about their magic. With a snap of a finger, a witch can cancel out his brute strength, razor-sharp claws, and inch-long fangs. It just isn’t natural. The Para-proof wards constructed by witches always made his fur itch, and it has bothered him for years how they betrayed all paranormals by selling their services to the highest bidders.

  Then a witch nearly killed him and his dislike turned into full-blown hate.

  His brother thinks his anger is unhealthy. Following his brush with near-death, Colt refuses to even talk to any packmates. Dodge, his best friend and a ghost, can’t even get through to him. Colt keeps himself confined to his workshop, shutting every one out. His wolf is just about rabid and he keeps his beast locked up tight.

  His wolf wants its mate. Colt won’t admit it, but he does, too.

  Only Shea is a witch.

  And Colt hates all witches—

  Doesn’t he?

  I can’t—

  Shea Moonshadow is a healer first, a witch second. Considering her magic has a way of backfiring on her whenever she tries the simplest of spells, she sticks with what she knows will work. Her herbs and her poultices have never failed her before.

  Now if she could only say the same about her brother.

  Hudson is a Donor, a blood junkie who gives blood to vampires in exchange for a high only a dangerous Nightwalker can give. When he gets in over his head, he does what he’s always done: runs to Shea for help.

  She can’t say no. She’s never been able to say no.

  Not to Hudson.

  Not to anyone.

  And that’s how she finds herself pledged to a blood-bonding with an obsessed vampire.

  * * *

  When a dangerous group of Paras move in on Colt’s territory, going after humans and paranormals alike, the Grayson Police Department recruit him to take on the vicious Nightwalkers. If it’s bad enough that Colt gets saddled with an old enemy, it’s even worse when he discovers that his almost-mate is in it up to her adorable purple eyes.

  He might’ve put off claiming his mate. But no way in hell is Colt—or his wolf—going to let some Nightwalker scum take Shea away from him.

  * * *

  * Season of the Witch is the second full-length novel in the Claws Clause series. It’s the story of a grumpy wolf shifter hero and the sassy witch who has cast a spell over him. With danger, intrigue, and heart, watch as Colton submits to the one woman meant for him.

  Available February 14, 2020

  Pre-Order Now!

  About the Author

  Jessica lives in New Jersey with her family, including enough pets to cement her status as the neighborhood’s future Cat Lady. She spends her days working in retail, and her nights lost in whatever world the current novel she is reading or working on is set in. After writing for fun for more than a decade, she has finally decided to take some of the stories out of her head and put them out there for others who might also enjoy them!

  Also by Jessica Lynch

  Welcome to Hamlet

  Obsession*

  Devotion*

  Don’t Trust Me

  Ophelia

  Let Nothing You Dismay

  I’ll Never Stop

  Wherever You Go

  Here Comes the Bride

  Gloria

  Tesoro

  Welcome to Hamlet: I-III

  (incl. the first three books, plus Execution)

  No Outsiders Allowed: IV-VI

  Mirrorside

  Tame the Spark*

  Stalk the Moon

  Hunt the Stars

  The Witch in the Woods

  Hide from the Heart

  Chase the Beauty

  The Other Duet

  (incl. the first two books, plus Track Down Dudley)

  The Claws Clause

  Mates*

  Hungry Like a Wolf

  Season of the Witch

  Sunglasses at Night

  Ghost of Jealousy

  Touched by the Fae

  Favor*

  Asylum

  Shadow

  Touch

  * prequel story