She was touched. Not only did her mate get her a bike that fit her exactly, but it was also his way of offering her back some of her lost independence. Her fear when it came to riding around in a vehicle had gotten easier over the years, but despite therapy, it wasn’t entirely gone.
In a town like Wolf’s Creek, she could easily get around with a bicycle instead of forcing herself or tricking herself into climbing inside of a car. Plus, the pink bicycle horn he attached to the sleek, sporty handlebar was another clue that her broody mate was slowly regaining some of the sense of humor she feared he’d lost while they were separated.
The rest of his gifts were just as thoughtful. A bracelet studded with aquamarine, her birthstone. A new sweater, a soft, creamy beige color that Maddox thought would make her green eyes pop. A fancy coffee machine, plus a gift card to their local cafe so that she could always get her caffeine fix. A stack of books by her favorite author.
And, because Maddox was Maddox, a reservation for two at a pricey steakhouse for sometime next year—when the threat of the Nightwalkers and Cilla was over—plus a pair of edible lingerie that she was sure he’d get a kick out of later.
Once she was surrounded by a pile of ribbons, bows, and torn wrapping paper, Evangeline gave Maddox a tight squeeze before reaching for one of the gifts she had bought for him.
He stopped her before she grabbed it.
“Hang on. I’m not done yet.”
“Really? I think I already got to everything with my name on it.”
“Not everything. Not your big gift.”
Big gift? She had thought that that was the bike. “There’s something else?”
“Oh, yeah. Come on. Let’s get you a coat.”
“Coat,” Evangeline echoed. “Are we going somewhere?”
Maddox nodded. “Your special gift? It’s too big to fit in the cabin. I’ve got it out back.”
Epilogue
There, parked in the snow, was a sled.
It was obviously handmade. Constructed out of wood, and large enough to fit a few people on it, the structure was closer to what Evangeline thought of when someone mentioned Santa’s sleigh.
She, uh, she just wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with it.
“What is it?”
Maddox lifted his hand, scratched the back of his neck. She could see a hint of his scars peeking out from beneath the collar of his pajamas. He was a shifter, so he only stopped to put on a pair of boots over his footie-covered feet, while Evangeline was bundled up in a coat, scarf, gloves, and boots.
She was still freezing, but she was also very, very confused.
Her mate frowned. “Shit, Ang, I know it’s not the greatest, but I thought you’d at least figure out what I tried to make.”
She looked at it again. She already could tell it was handmade—but never in a million years would she have expected her to mate to have been responsible for it. At the construction site where we worked, he was a foreman. The wolf in charge. He never actually built things.
“You made this?”
A nod. “Colt sent me the blueprints, helped me figure out the measurements, offered up his tools, but I did it all myself. It probably would’ve come out better with his help… still, I tried.”
“It’s amazing, Mad. I mean that. I just… you made a sled for me?”
“Well, yeah. I know you’re still working on the whole riding in my truck thing, and I don’t want to push you, so I thought this might be something we could do together instead. Not in the city, obviously, that’s what your bike is for, but when we’re on pack land. The mountains can be damn snowy. The sled will make it easier for you to get around, and we can spend more time together. Especially now… I think we both known it’s gonna be fucking impossible for me to leave your side.”
Maddox threw a pointed look her way, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight as his gaze locked on her belly.
Sarah had warned her as much. If you thought a bonded shifter guarding his mate was bad, she said, you’d never seen a bonded shifter guarding his mate and their pup.
There was one thing she didn’t understand, though.
“I love it, babe. I do. I can’t believe you actually made that for us… but isn’t it kinda small?” It could easily fit two humans, sure, but a shifter and his mate? Maddox would have to squeeze. “How will be both use it together?”
“Haven’t you figured it out?”
She shook her head.
“Look.”
Maddox swooped down, picking something out of the snow. It looked like a rope of steel chains—definitely not silver—that were connected with a long, narrow bar. The links jangled as he gave them a shake, knocking the accumulated snow from the metal. Each end of the chain was attached to the base of the sled.
And Evangeline realized what she was looking at.
“A harness,” she breathed out. Puffs of smoke came out with the words as she shivered.
Maddox noticed. “That’s right. The sled’s for you, the harness for my wolf. It’s big enough, strong enough to take you on a ride with us. More, it’s dying to get to spend some time with you. Not now, though,” he added, guessing correctly that Evangeline was about to offer to take that first sled ride. “Now we should go inside. It’s chilly, it’s late, and it’s my turn to open some presents.”
“I am pretty cold,” she admitted. A teasing smile curved her lips. “If I go inside with you, will you warm me up?”
“I think that can be arranged. After presents, of course.”
Evangeline laughed. The high, clear sound echoed through the dark, snowy night.
Maddox dropped the harness, then bounded forward, scooping Evangeline up in his arms. Her squeal of surprise mixed with delight echoed even further. And this time? Maddox’s rough bark of laughter joined in.
The mountains were full of the sound even after he carried her back inside, closing the door with a gentle slam.
Before he could bring her back to the front room with the tree and the intricately wrapped presents she had for her mate, plus the pile of ribbon and paper from her own, Evangeline tapped Maddox on the shoulder.
He angled his head, looking down at her with all the love she felt for him reflecting in his golden wolf’s eyes.
“Yeah, Ang?”
She pointed at the ceiling—and at the sprig of mistletoe he had awkwardly attempted to avoid all those days ago.
Another contented rumble started deep in his chest. Evangeline had just enough time to tilt her head back invitingly before he bowed his over hers, claiming her mouth with an enthusiasm and a passion that had her throwing both of her arms around his ruined neck and holding on for dear life.
It wasn’t until he broke the kiss that Evangeline realized she needed to hang on tighter. Maddox was booking it through the cabin—only he wasn’t heading toward the front room.
As he purposely brought them back upstairs, she reached up, tugging the fluffy cotton ball bouncing over his shoulder. He was still wearing the Santa hat, as well as a look of hunger that promised Evangeline a night to remember.
Still, giddy and excited and so incredibly in love with this man, she couldn’t help but tease. “I thought you wanted to go open your Christmas presents.”
“You’re the only gift I need,” he told her honestly, laying her down on the bed with the care of handling something precious, “and if I don’t get to unwrap you soon, I’m gonna mess up my new pj’s.”
She swallowed her giggle. “That would be a shame.”
“A damn shame.”
As the sound of her coat’s zipper being tugged hastily down mixed with Maddox’s growl of anticipation and the frantic beat of her heart, Evangeline felt like the Grinch again. Only, this time, she wasn’t dreading Christmas.
Instead, her heart seemed to have grown three sizes that day.
For her mate.
For their child.
And for their future.
Merry Christmas indeed.
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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
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Available Now
Mates (Claws Clause Prequel)
Maddox is a wolf on the hunt.
Paranormals exist.
More than fifty years ago, the community of supernatural races—shifters, vampires, ghosts, witches, and more—revealed themselves to the humans. With the rise of technology, they couldn’t stay hidden in the shadows like they had for centuries. And, while rumors of their existence go back even further than that, the announcement sent shockwaves throughout the rest of the world.
After the shock wore off, the humans reacted. Knowing that Paras had the strength, the humans struggled to keep the power. And what better way than to grab a Para by the balls?
Ordinance 7304: the Bond Laws. A set of mandates hurriedly put in place that Paras had to follow, especially when it came to their "fated" unions.
The laws kept the peace. When the penalty for breaking one was being thrown in a magic-free prison, they had to. Ordinance 7304—also known as the Claws Clause—keeps the Paras in line and gives the human population an illusion of safety. And why not? With the power of the entire government behind the laws, even an alpha wolf loses some of his strength.
Because one of the biggies? When a shifter finds his fated mate, it doesn’t matter what his nose—or his body—says. His instincts might scream mine, but that doesn’t mean he can run off with his woman and claim her. To the humans, that’s kidnapping, and it’s a big no-no.
Maddox Wolfe understood that… until the day he stumbled upon Evangeline Lewis and knew in an instant that this was the woman he’d spent twenty-six years waiting for. And while his wolf says take her, he knows he can’t woo his mate from inside of the Cage. She’s human, so he has to think like a human. Act like a human. Pretend he’s a human.
Whatever it takes to make her his mate. And since he is an alpha wolf shifter, there’s gonna be a little stalking and hunting involved. It’s okay. His human will eventually understand.
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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
Of Mistletoe and Mating
Season of the Witch
Sunglasses at Night
Ghost of Jealousy
Touched by the Fae
Favor*
Asylum
Shadow
Touch
* prequel story
0f Mistletoe And Mating: Holiday Short (Claws Clause Book 1.5) Page 6
