Of Mistletoe and Mating: a Claws Clause holiday short

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Cover by Jessica Lynch

FOREWORD

Surprise!

So, first off, Merry Christmas and happy

holidays! Like last year, with

Let Nothing You

Dismay

in the Hamlet series, I’m releasing a

surprise holiday-themed short story. This year it’s
part of the Claws Clause series.

The whole holiday season, from Halloween

through New Years… it’s my favorite time of year.
I  love  everything  about  it,  from  dressing  up  and
trick-or-treating  to  decorating  the  Christmas  tree
and  exchanging  gifts.  And,  since  I’m  currently
working on the second book in this series, I started
to  wonder  how  the  couple  from  the  first  book,
Maddox  and  Evangeline,  would  celebrate  the
holidays.

The more I thought about it, the more I decided

it might be nice to take some time out of my

schedule and see if I could make a short story out
of it. Well, here it is! And, since it takes place while
Colt and Shea are off dealing with the Nightwalkers
(you’ll read all about that in the upcoming book,

Season of the Witch

), you get to see Maddox and

Evangeline’s Christmas celebration in Of Mistletoe
and Mating.

Plus, even though it’s a steamy holiday short, it

actually sets the stage for some important things
that will come into play later in the series so that’s
fun, too :)

I hope you enjoy!

xoxo,

Jessica

vangeline woke up slowly.

The room was quiet. Peaceful. It had

snowed the night before and she stayed up late,
watching the big, fat flakes drift down while she
waited for her mate to return.

Of course, as usual, Maddox stayed out far later

than she could keep her eyes open. With the stress
of everything that had been going on these last few
weeks,  Evangeline  found  it  harder  and  harder  not
to  just  give  in,  pull  her  blanket  over  her  head,  and
go  to  sleep.  Thanks  to  the  potion  Luciana—the
head  witch  of  Coventry—brewed  for  her,
Evangeline  could  finally  have  dreamless  nights
where  she  didn’t  have  to  worry  about  Priscilla
Winters  trying  to  harm  her  while  she  was
unconscious and too vulnerable to fight back.

Because, though it was now December and no

one had seen or heard anything about the psychotic
witch  since  June,  Cilla  was  a  constant  threat  that
hung over Evangeline’s head. Maddox wouldn’t let
her forget that the witch was still out there, and he
vowed  that,  between  him  and  his  brother,  the  two
shifters  would  track  the  witch  down  and  have  her
tossed in the Cage.

Only Colton was dealing with a whole other

threat currently, and Maddox decided that whisking
his mate away to the solitude of the mountains was
his best option while Evangeline was still at risk.
Which was fine—she’d do anything that made her
mate happy—except for the fact that he didn’t
seem to realize how worried she was about him.

It was a relief when he slipped into their bed

sometime late last night, pulling her close and
nuzzling her neck, letting her know that he was
home.

That he was safe.
Evangeline knew she was being ridiculous. Her

mate  was  a  big  man,  with  shoulders  that  put  any
linebacker to shame, and sculpted muscles that she
adored  running  her  fingers  over.  He  was  also  an
alpha  wolf  shifter  who  could  transform  into  an
oversized grey wolf with a snap.

His fangs were longer than her pinkie finger

while he was in that shape. His claws were sharper
than a chef’s knife. The laws regarding Paras might
have blunted them a little, but when it came to

protecting his territory—his home, his pack, and his
family—Maddox  would  stop  at  nothing  to  keep
them safe. His obsessive need t0 mark his territory
lines  and  patrol  the  boundaries  surrounding  the
rustic,  two-story  cabin  he  claimed  as  his  showed
just how far he was willing to go.

Even if Evangeline wished he’d spend more

time inside of the cabin with her than outside
guarding over it…

Hey, at least he was in their bed now. Or, she

amended, the bed that would be theirs for the
foreseeable future. Their home was back in Wolf’s
Creek. The bed they were lying in? The cabin in the
mountains where Maddox had taken her after he
claimed her nearly six months ago.

And, okay, the same cabin he brought her to

after he abducted her last summer.

Cilla couldn’t get to it. It was on pack land,

tucked away, secluded and protected. The group of
Nightwalkers  that  were  terrorizing  the  area
surrounding  Colt’s  Bumptown,  all  the  way  to
Grayson,  where  Evangeline  used  to  live?  She  was
sure they couldn’t touch them there, either.

Which was a good thing. Due to her history

with a Grayson police officer, and her being mated
to an Alpha’s son, the Nightwalkers were as much a
danger to Evangeline as Cilla was.

Hiding out in the mountains, she was as safe as

she could be—but tell that to Maddox’s wolf. The

overprotective beast wouldn’t settle for less than
constant patrols, marking the outer boundaries of
pack land, verifying that no one else was around for
miles.

Once he was satisfied, only then did her mate

return to her side. The dip in the bed as Maddox’s
weight joined hers on the mattress woke her up last
night, alerting her to the fact that he’d finally gone
to bed.

To her surprise, Maddox had reached out for

her  when  he  slipped  into  the  bed,  his  hand  going
straight  to  her  hip.  She  was  wearing  pajama  pants
that  had  shifted  while  she  tossed  and  turned,
leaving  the  patch  open  and  inviting  for  her  mate.
He  had  barely  grazed  the  curve  of  her  naked  skin,
though,  when  he  pulled  his  hand  back  like  he’d
been burned.

“It’s cold as shit out there,” he said, shaking his

hand as if he was trying to get rid of the chill.
“Sorry, Ang.”

The way he touched her before immediately

moving away left her feeling far colder than the
temperature of his skin.

He’d been doing it a lot lately. Moves just like

that, where he absently went to stroke her, nuzzle
her, kiss her… then didn’t. He just stopped.

Mating?
Forget it.
She kept waiting for him to make the first

move. It had been ages since he even tried. When
was the last time they actually mated?

Beginning of December?
Maybe.
Disappointed and feeling rejected, Evangeline

had murmured something that might’ve been an I
love you or maybe you’re right, but was really a
what’s wrong with us before she rolled over, curled
up in a ball, and drifted off to another uneasy sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, the quiet

was the first thing she noticed. Quiet… because
there were no loud snores coming from the wolf in
bed with her.

Because there was no wolf.
Maddox had already left the room.
Her heart sank. He’d probably risen with the

sun, waking up early to check his traps, his marks,
his territory and make sure that no one had
attempted to cross the lines while he got a couple of
hours of shut-eye.

It was something he’d been focusing on since

they  came  to  the  cabin.  As  second-in-line  to  take
over  the  pack  when  his  father,  the  current  Alpha,
finally  gave  up  the  reins,  Maddox  could’ve
arranged for some of the unmated packmates to act
as  additional  soldiers.  Could’ve,  but  didn’t.  As
much as he trusted his packmates, the only person
he  would  let  around  his  mate  was  his  brother,  and
since  Colt  was  already  preoccupied,  that  left

Maddox to run the watch all on his own.

She tried to tell him that it wasn’t necessary.

She’d  been  more  than  fine  the  first  few  months
after  Cilla  first  transported  her  away  and,  well,
nearly killed her. But then the Nightwalkers tried to
use  her  as  leverage  and…  yeah.  Maddox  was  too
stubborn to let that go.

But Evangeline was secure now. And all she

wanted was to spend a cozy, quaint Christmas with
the mate she adored.

Too bad they weren’t on the same page.
They never really had a chance for a

honeymoon.  When  they  were  married  three  years
ago,  the  near-fatal  accident  that  Cilla  orchestrated
came  right  before  they  could  celebrate  their
elopement. Then, after Maddox served his time in a
Cage  while  Cilla  held  Evangeline’s  memories
hostage,  her  mate  had  only  one  thought  on  his
mind:  getting  Evangeline  to  remember  him  so  that
he could finally claim her as his bonded mate.

Which he did, but there still hadn’t been any

time  for  a  true  honeymoon.  Evangeline  was  still
getting used to her memories coming back to her in
waves,  then  pieces,  and  there  was  the  question  of
where  did  Cilla  disappear  off  to  and  what  the
jealous witch was plotting now?

This was supposed to be their time together.

That’s what Maddox said when he first proposed
the idea of their spending Christmas together at the

cabin that meant so much to them.

Evangeline went along with it because, even a

month ago, she had started to sense her mate
pulling away from her, both physically and
emotionally. In the weeks since they moved into the
cabin for the holidays, it had only gotten worse.

And then there was last night. She could still

feel his hand against her hip, the possessive brand
that warmed her all the way to her heart—until he
jerked it away, making another excuse to put more
space between them.

So they slept in the same bed. It might as well

have been different worlds.

She shook her head, then threw back the

rumpled  comforter.  No  use  in  sitting  in  bed  and
moping  all  day.  When  Maddox  came  back  from
wherever  he’d  run  off  to  this  time,  she’d  confront
him.

He was keeping something from her. She knew

him well enough to tell when he was being
secretive.

After his desperate approach to get her to

remember him, the way he drugged her then
kidnapped her so that she’d remember who he was
and that she was his wife, Maddox swore that he’d
never keep secrets from Evangeline again. It was
the only thing she asked for back then.

It was all she wanted now.
Christmas was in little more than a week. If

that’s all he gave her for a gift, she’d get to the
bottom of why Maddox seemed to be regretting
their mating.

He was her mate. She was his. They had a

marriage certificate and a bonding license—plus
Evangeline had Maddox’s bite—or prove it.

If he changed his mind about them, he owed her

an explanation at least.

VANGELINE

WAS

THE

UP STAIRS

SHOWER

Maddox could hear the soft spray of the water

against  the  tile  the  instant  he  let  himself  back  into
the cabin. Just imagining his mate’s gorgeous body
standing beneath the water had his cock twitching,
going  instantly  hard.  If  he  thought  she’d  welcome
him,  he’d  shuck  off  his  clothes,  his  boots,  and  go
join her for a little shower sex.

With a rough hand, he palmed at his erection

through his jeans. He needed to tame the bulge
because, honestly, Maddox wasn’t so sure that
Angie would welcome him.

Ever since he brought his mate back to this

cabin, leaving their fledgling home in Wolf’s Creek
behind them, she’d been giving him the cold
shoulder. He didn’t want to push her, not when it
was still so soon after the trauma she went through,

but giving her her space was giving him the worst
case of blue balls he’d ever known.

For his mate, though, he’d deal with it.
Besides, with Christmas quickly approaching,

and no news from Colt, Dodge, or any of his other
contacts  about  their  hunt  for  Cilla  or  the
Nightwalkers,  there  was  no  time  to  even  think
about  mating.  When  he  could  be  sure  that  not  a
single  threat  existed  against  his  Evangeline,  only
then could he give in to his urges to climb on top of
her and get inside of her where he belonged.

As his father told him repeatedly, there was

more to being mates than just mating. No matter
what, her needs had to come first—even if that
meant ignoring his own.

Because his Ang was a human, her hearing was

nowhere near as good as his. Locked in the
bathroom, with the sounds of the shower echoing
around her, this was as good a time as any for him
to make the call he’d been meaning to make.

Reception was shit out on the mountain. He

learned  that  when  he’d  brought  Evangeline  here
during  the  few  days  when  she  was  his  captive
instead  of  his  mate.  He  couldn’t  get  a  single  bar
outside of the cabin which made sense. It was pack
land,  and  the  shifters  who  made  up  their
community  knew  how  to  navigate  the  caves,  the
trees, and the terrain. No trespassers would.

Why would the Alpha give them the chance to

call out for backup or help?

Nope. The only spot that got any service was

right inside of the cabin.

He’d have to make this quick, though. Grabbing

his phone from his pocket, he pressed a button.
There were maybe three people that he kept on
speed-dial.

His brother was one of them.
Colt answered on the third ring. “Yeah?”
“It’s me.”
“Figured when your name popped up on the

screen. What’s up, Mad?”

Maddox could hear noises coming from just

beyond Colt. Unless he was mistaken… “What’s
going on with you? It sounds like fighting.
Everything okay?”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about me. What about

you?”

When it came to sensing a lie, a shifter needed

his nose and his eyes to tell when an opponent was
being deceptive—neither of which he had while he
was on the phone. But this was Colton, his younger
brother, and Maddox had a sixth sense when it
came to Colt being less than honest.

Colt was totally full of it right now. But, since

he was also more than capable of handling
whatever was going near him, Maddox was willing
to let it go. “Just checking in. Any update on
Cilla?”

“Nope. Sorry, bro. I thought I might have gotten

a lead, but it didn’t pan out. I’m still working on it,
though. Word is she might’ve hooked up with this
gang of corpses I’m trying to flush out of town.”

Corpses. The Nightwalkers. “Fucking A. Kill

two birds with one stone. Throw Cilla in a Cage and
get yourself a couple of fangs. Merry Christmas to
you.”

Colt’s laugh came out like a bark. “You know it.

Speaking of… how’s the gift for your mate coming
along?”

“The bike? Ralphie came and dropped it off the

other day. I’ve got it hidden out in the trees since
it’s gonna be a bitch to wrap, but it’s perfect. Just
what I ordered.”

“Not that one,” Colt said. “The big one. One of

the runners get my plans to you?”

They did. And, because they were Colt’s

design,  they  were  perfect—and  super  fucking
complicated.  Because  of  the  degree  of  difficulty,
and  the  fact  that  Colt  was  too  busy  to  come  and
help him knock it together, it was taking longer than
he’d  expected  to  get  right.  He’d  come  up  with
excuse after excuse to sneak out into the woods to
work  on  it,  staying  out  late  and  waking  up  early,
and  he  felt  Evangeline’s  loneliness  through  their
bond like an ache that wouldn’t go away.

It would be worth it. And while his mate might

be left alone for a little longer, it would all change

after he gave her her gift.

“Yeah. Thanks. Got the tools, too, and they’ve

been a big help.”

“If you need me to take a trip over, I might be

able to fit it in. I’m sorry that I won’t be able to be
there on Christmas, but I could probably spare a
night before then.”

“Nah. Don’t worry about it, Colt. Finish what’s

on your plate and you, me, and Angie can have a
Christmas get-together in the New Year. If you
want, you can even bring your witch with you.”

“Don’t

have

witch,”

Colt

retorted

automatically. “But, okay. I’ll see if Shea wants to
come.”

Maddox blinked, stunned. This was the first

time he’d heard his brother say the raven-haired,
purple-eyed witch’s name out loud instead of
saying her, witch, she or you.

Before he could remark on it, though, Colt hung

up the phone and he was left teasing a dial tone.

couple of days later, nothing had changed.

Not really.

Not for a lack of trying on her part, either. It

was  just,  every  time  she  tried  to  have  a  heart  to
heart  with  Maddox,  he  looked  at  her  with  such
adoration,  she  couldn’t  help  but  convince  herself
that she was overreacting.

Then he’d disappear again and she’d regret

staying quiet.

It snowed again, too, which, Evangeline was

beginning to understand, was pretty normal for the
mountains  this  time  of  year.  It  was  so  chilly,  she
was  grateful  for  the  space  heaters  on  every  floor
and in every room of the cabin. Maddox might not
feel  the  cold,  but  she  sure  as  hell  did,  and  it  was
warm and cozy inside, with or without her mate to
warm her up.

The morning before, Maddox did surprise her

with a Christmas tree that he cut down himself and
carried  it  inside.  He  lifted  it  single-handedly,
placing  it  in  a  tree  stand  that  he  pulled  out  of  a
closet  somewhere,  then  left  it  alone  so  that  the
branches could fall.

By the next afternoon, the whole cabin smelled

faintly like pine. Despite her grumpy mood, having
the tree up made her smile. And that’s when
Maddox walked into the front door with an armful
of cardboard boxes and an impish smile on his
rugged face.

“What’s all this?” Evangeline asked.
“My dad arranged for it for me. Since I didn’t

want  to  leave  this  territory,  one  of  the  betas  went
back  and  got  these  boxes  out  of  where  Colt  kept
them  in  storage.”  After  setting  the  stack  down,  he
popped open a couple of the boxes until he yanked
out  a  plastic  container  full  of  shiny,  glittering
ornaments.  “Can’t  have  a  tree  without  any
decorations.”

Her breath caught in her throat. A sheen of

tears covered her eyes as she murmured throatily,
“Oh. Maddox… that was so sweet of you.”

“You recognize them?”
Evangeline reached into the container he held

out to her, lifting out a gold ornament that reflected
her beaming face.

Recognize them?

Of course she did.
Back when they first met, around the time she

was accepting what it meant to be a shifter’s mate,
Evangeline celebrated her first Christmas with
Maddox. It was right after she moved from
Woodbridge to his Wolf’s Creek home to be closer
to him.

A bachelor pad just crying out for a woman’s

touch,  Evangeline  spent  that  whole  December
creating  a  magical  holiday  season  that  neither  of
them  would  ever  forget.  From  the  tree  they  cut
down  together  to  the  meal  she  hosted  for  half  the
pack, it was one of the memories she treasured the
most once Cilla’s spell was finally lifted.

She remembered the ornaments the most,

though. Because Maddox was a shifter, she refused
to  let  a  single  piece  of  silver  decorate  their  home.
Every  bauble,  every  decoration,  every  strand  of
garland even was purposely chosen in shades of red
and  green  and,  most  importantly,  gold  because  it
matched Maddox’s stunning eyes.

Just like this one.
She gave her hand a twirl, watching the

ornament glitter and spin, and she smiled.

“I do. They’re perfect, babe. I love it. Thank

you! I can’t wait to put them on the tree.”

“I’m glad. I know I’ve been busy, trying to

track down Cilla, checking in with Colt, running
border checks… I didn’t want you to think I forgot

about Christmas. This time is for you and me.”

She was so touched by his gesture that she

wasn’t thinking clearly. That was her only excuse
for what she let slip as she marveled at the
ornament in her hand.

“I know. That’s what I told my mom.”
“Your mom? You talked to your mom? You

didn’t tell her where you are, did you? You’re only
safe so long as no one knows where we are. Pack
knows, that’s about it, and it’s really just Colt and
my dad. I won’t risk you, Angie. I won’t do it.”

Evangeline set the ornament down. She didn’t

want  to  accidentally  break  it;  the  way  her  hands
were  suddenly  shaking,  that  was  a  possibility.  “I
didn’t  tell  her  where  we  were  spending  the
holidays, Mad. Calm down. She invited me over for
Christmas  and  I  told  her  we  had  plans.  She
understands.”

The scowl he was wearing actually deepened.

“Invited you, right? Not us.”

“It’s not like that—”
“No? Let me guess. When your mother offered

the invite, did she mention that Wright’s gonna be
there, too?”

Adam Wright. Her ex… something.
“Maddox. Adam’s an old family friend. If he

goes to my parents with his mother, I can’t stop it.
I’m not going to be there. What does it matter?”

“What does it matter? You can’t be fucking

serious. I mean, when is Wright gonna get the hint
anyway? We’re already bonded, and I claimed you
for life. You’re mine, Ang.”

Her hands went straight to her hips. “Am I?”
The words just popped out of her. She wasn’t

even sure that she said them out loud until Maddox
reacted.

Her mate went predator-still. “What’s that

supposed to mean?”

What did it mean?
She wasn’t sure. It wasn’t something she said

on  purpose,  and  considering  she  knew  damn  well
that  Maddox  hated  Adam—even  more  now  since
the  Nightwalkers  wouldn’t  have  come  after  her  in
the  first  place  if  it  wasn’t  for  his  position  in  the
Grayson  Police  Department—it  probably  wasn’t
the smartest thing to say to her jealous mate.

She knew that, and since she couldn’t take it

back, she pretended it didn’t mean anything at all.

A flippant wave of her hand. A shake of her

head as she reached into the nearest box, snatched
a stocking, and turned to look for a pin. “Nothing,
babe. I’m just… I’m tired. It’s making me snappish.
Don’t mind me.”

“Hey… that’s alright. You want to wait to

decorate?” he said, concern lacing his rough tone.
“We don’t have to do this today.”

Evangeline noticed the way his anger

disappeared in a heartbeat, at the very second he

thought something was wrong with her. Was it
manipulative? Maybe. But she didn’t want to be, so
she quickly shook her head.

“Christmas is in a week. I think we put it off

long enough, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Sorry. That’s my fault, too. I’ve just

been so busy… you looking for something?”

Evangeline glanced down at the stocking she’d

been mangling in her grip as she absently dug
through another one of the boxes. “A pin or a nail.
Something like that. I was gonna hang this stocking
up by the tree.”

“I got it. The box of pins was tucked by the

ornaments.  I  just  saw  them.”  As  if  he  needed
another  excuse  to  get  away  from  her,  Maddox
hunched over, reaching inside of another one of the
open  boxes.  “Wanna  grab  my  stocking?  I’ll  hang
them next to each other.”

“Wha— oh. Yeah. Sure.”
She bent over and grabbed the red stocking

with  Maddox’s  name  stitched  in  gold,  suddenly
grateful  that  she’d  thought  ahead  and  bought  gifts
for  her  mate  right  after  he  announced  that  they’d
be spending a quiet Christmas together at the cabin.
They  were  all  hidden  away  in  one  of  the  empty
bedrooms. She’d been so happy when she finished
wrapping them, proud that she snuck them in under
his nose and hidden them before he went searching
for them.

Maddox, she remembered, loved Christmas.

Their first holiday together, he sniffed out every
single gift.

The way things had been lately, she wasn’t even

sure he noticed her attempts at being sneaky. Or
that a present could even begin to smooth things
over between them.

Evangeline handed Maddox the stocking. “Here

you go.”

He tacked the two next to each other, smiling to

himself when “Evangeline” and “Maddox” were
hanging side by side.

“Together,” he said, more to himself than to her.

“Just like it should be.”

If only.

FTER

THEIR

SMALL

FIGHT

AROUND

THE

HRISTMAS

tree, things went back to normal for a little while.

Well, almost.
Maddox still wasn’t showing any signs of

wanting to be intimate with her. The one time they
were  heading  toward  the  back  door  together  and
Evangeline pointed out the mistletoe she hung near
it, he offered her a quick peck on the cheek before
bolting  out  into  the  backyard.  He  shifted  into  his
wolf  without  even  bothering  to  strip  down  first,

leaving Evangeline to gather the scraps of his
tattered flannel and torn jeans from the snow-
covered ground.

At least he returned from patrol not much later,

wearing  a  sheepish  expression  and  absolutely
nothing  else.  Her  hormones  kicked  into  overdrive
when  she  noticed  that  he  wasn’t  even  a  little
shriveled  from  the  cold.  In  fact,  under  her
approving gaze, he was already half-hard.

Before she could make a move herself and

show her mate just how much she missed his body,
Maddox barked out a quick apology before her big,
bad wolf dashed up the stairs, heading to their
bedroom. When he came back down, he was fully
dressed.

Well. That certainly killed the mood for her.
Evangeline sighed as she sank down on the

couch. Maddox went into the kitchen, whipped up
a plate of sandwiches for them to share, then joined
her.  The  cabin  didn’t  get  cable,  but  it  did  have  a
pretty  good  wi-fi  signal,  and  the  two  of  them
snuggled  on  the  couch,  streaming  nostalgic
Christmas movies on the television mounted to the
wall.

It was nice. Maddox held her hand in his giant

one, pulling her close as he nuzzled his nose in her
long hair, breathing in her scent. She arched her
neck, inviting him to kiss her skin, and even if
Maddox didn’t take the hint, he was still there with

her.

She’d take what she could get.
When the third movie ended and Evangeline

turned  down  his  offer  of  another  sandwich,
Maddox  untangled  his  arm  from  around  her
shoulder  and  sat  up  on  the  edge  of  the  couch.  He
yawned, stretched, before running his hand through
his  shaggy,  sandy  hair.  He  scratched  at  the  stubble
on  his  cheek,  smacked  his  lips,  and  moved  the
blanket away from their laps.

“Should we start another movie,” Maddox

wondered in that deep, raspy voice of his, “or
would you rather go to bed now?”

Her heart nearly skipped a beat. Was he finally

showing some sign that he was interested? “I—”

“It’s alright, Ang. You don’t have to stay up and

keep me company. I saw the way your eyes were
drooping during that last flick. Go on. You lay down
and I can clean up the kitchen while you get cozy.”

It took everything she had not to let a

disappointed frown cross her face.

Nope.
Not interested.
Tucking her hair behind her ear, Evangeline

mustered up a small smile. “Yeah. You’re right. I…
I guess I am kinda tired.”

“It got late without us realizing it and you

decorated most of the cabin on your own. I can tell
you’re beat.”

Oh? So Mad knew when she was exhausted, but

he was clueless when she was feeling horny?

Evangeline had to try. “You, um… you coming

to join me soon?”

“In a bit. I’m gonna take another run around

the mountain when I’m done first.”

Of course he was.
Her smile dipped down into the noticeable

frown she’d tried to hide before. Not now. “You
just said it’s late. Come on, Mad. Come to bed with
me. The patrol can wait until the morning.”

“Your safety is too important to me to skip it,”

Maddox  told  her,  patting  her  knee  once  before
pulling  his  hand  away.  “I  shouldn’t  be  gone  long,
just  a  quick  patrol  to  reinforce  our  territory  lines.
You don’t have to wait up for me.”

A flash of fury mixed with sadness ran through

her.

Evangeline got up from the couch.
“Don’t worry,” she said, turning away from her

mate. “I won’t.”

ADDOX

WAS

GONE

Again.
Feeling grumpy, feeling grinchy, Evangeline

sprawled out in the king-sized bed, her body

stretched out like a starfish as the chilly sheets told
her that he wasn’t just gone. He’d been gone for a
while.

At least she knew that he did come to bed last

night. If it wasn’t for her early morning trip to the
bathroom, when she saw Maddox lying on the edge
of the bed, his back to where she’d been curled up
sleeping, she might’ve wondered if he’d slept
downstairs on purpose to avoid her.

Just like he told her not to, Evangeline didn’t

wait  up  for  him.  She  didn’t.  And  if  she  was  semi-
conscious  when  he  came  tiptoeing  up  the  stairs
much  later  than  he  should’ve,  well,  that  was  just
coincidence.

What was he doing out there? She couldn’t help

but wonder. If it was just a patrol, he should’ve
have stayed out that long. But he had.

It wasn’t another woman. No doubt in

Evangeline’s mind about that. Cheating… it wasn’t
the way a Para was wired, especially not a shifter.
Mating for life wasn’t just something that attributed
to wolves in the wild. A shifter only got one mate;
for Maddox, Evangeline was it. So it wasn’t
another woman.

It was something, though.
For weeks, he’d been secretive. Pulling away,

careful in every touch, every embrace. As much as
he confessed to love her, the man she married—
that she mated—was so very different than the one

who was living with her in this cabin.

And it was about time she found out why.
Deciding she could take a shower later,

Evangeline  traded  her  sleep  pants  and  shirt  for  a
fresh  blouse  and  a  pair  of  jeans.  Since  she  didn’t
know if Maddox had already gone out, she stopped
long enough to lace on her winter boots and throw
on  her  coat  before  she  went  out  in  search  of  him.
She  was  still  so  new  at  following  the  bond  that
tethered  the  two  of  them  together,  but  she  felt  an
answering  tug  toward  the  back  so  that  was  where
she went.

She didn’t have to go far. As soon as she

stepped out through the back door, she found him
walking in from the trees, wiping his hands against
the sides of his jeans as he whistled something
under his breath.

“Frosty the Snowman”? That’s what it sounded

like to Evangeline.

He paused at the edge of the yard once he

sensed her presence. She didn’t even have to say a
word. His head just jerked up, alert gaze locked
right on her.

His lips thinned. “Angie, honey? What are you

doing out here? Weather forecast is calling for a
squall. You should be inside where it’s warm.”

“I was looking for you.”
“Me? What for?”
What for? Maybe because it seemed as if she’d

hardly spent any time at all with her mate since he
brought her to this stupid cabin?

Evangeline couldn’t hide her frustration. From

the way Maddox’s forehead furrowed, he totally
picked up on it.

Good.
“Maddox, we’ve got to talk.”
At first, Evangeline thought it was what she

said. When Maddox went absolutely still, she
wondered if she could’ve brought it up more subtly
than that.

But then a warning shot through the bond, from

Maddox to Evangeline. A warning and a killer
instinct for the shifter to protect his mate.

“Babe?”
“Someone’s in our territory.”
In less than five seconds after he made that

pronouncement,  he  cleared  the  distance  between
them,  standing  right  in  front  of  her.  He  placed  his
claws gently on her shoulders, turning her easily so
that  she  was  facing  the  door  to  the  back  of  the
cabin again. “Go back inside.”

Evangeline snorted.
“Ang—”
“I’m safer with you than anywhere else,” she

argued. “And if it’s the witch, am I really safe
anywhere?”

She could tell that she touched a nerve. A

muscle ticked in Maddox’s jaw as he clenched it

tightly. He didn’t argue, though. How could he?
They both knew from experience that she was
right.

Luciana’s potion made it so that Cilla couldn’t

reach her while she was sleeping. Wide awake? If
Cilla got close enough to touch Evangeline with her
magic, not even Maddox’s brute strength could
save her.

“Stay close,” he ordered, letting go of her

shoulders. “And if I tell you to run, you go.”

She nodded. “Fair enough.”
Maddox moved in front of her, providing a

shield.  He  had  his  hands  ready  at  his  side,  claws
already  fully  extended.  She  couldn’t  see  his  face,
since  his  broad  back  was  all  but  covering  her,  but
she’d  be  willing  to  bet  that  he  was  engaged  in  a
partial shift, ready to lunge at a moment’s notice.

His head tracked a movement that only his

shifter’s senses could read. When Maddox planted
his feet, his body twisted in one direction,
Evangeline knew that that was where the intruders
were heading in from.

She was right.
Less than a minute later, two figures appeared

in the distance. She didn’t need his amazing sight to
recognize the tall, dark-haired man who towered
over the petite blonde woman walking hand in hand
with him.

Maddox let out a huff, but he didn’t change his

position in the slightest.

Evangeline wasn’t so surprised by his reaction.

The company, yes, but not Maddox’s open
frustration.

Lifting her hand, resting it comfortingly on his

lower back, she murmured, “Isn’t that your
parents?”

Maddox didn’t relax a muscle. A growl rumbled

deep in his chest as he stared at the mated pair
leisurely approaching the cabin.

“Yeah,” he snarled. “That’s them alright.”
Evangeline frowned. “Were we expecting

them?”

“You weren’t.”
So Maddox was.
Huh.
Another secret. How freaking wonderful.

hen his mother immediately threw an arm
around Evangeline’s waist once she was

close enough to, then hurriedly bustled his mate
back inside, Maddox knew that his parents hadn’t
stopped by to wish them a very, merry Christmas.

Shit.
As if he could hear Maddox’s curse, his father

widened his stance from where he kept a good ten
feet distance between them before crossing his
burly arms over his barrel chest.

He jerked his head, one part greeting, one part

approval.  “I  checked  the  borders  on  our  way  in.
Good  job.  I  picked  up  on  a  couple  of  traps,  and
you’ve  sprayed  the  mountain  so  thoroughly,  no
shifter  or  corpse  is  gonna  dare  come  any  closer  to
your lair.”

“Thanks. Until I get my paws on Cilla, I’m not

taking any chances.”

“Don’t blame you, boy. You know what you’re

doing.”

Did he?
He fucking hoped so.
Once the women had gone inside of the cabin

and closed the door behind them, Maddox dared to
peek a little bit higher.

Colton, with his teen idol, clean-shaven good

looks, took after their beautiful mother. Maddox,
though? As he glanced over at his father, careful to
peer at the other man out of the corner of his eye so
that the powerful wolf didn’t take it as a challenge,
Maddox accepted that he was looking at his future
in the next thirty years or so.

Terrence Wolfe might have been sixty years

old, but a human would’ve never been able to tell.
Sure,  he  had  his  share  of  marks  on  his  face—only
they  weren’t  wrinkles,  but  scars.  Gashes  and  lines
covered every inch of skin, each scar another fight
he  survived  in  his  four  decades  as  a  shifter  Alpha
on the wrong side of the Claws Clause.

Since Paras were forced to reveal their

existence to the human world more than fifty years
ago, Terrence came into power during a time when
paranormal  communities  were  under  scrutiny  by
Ants, other Paras, and the government. He cobbled
his  pack  of  motley  shifters  together  out  of
necessity,  fighting  hard  to  keep  it  together,  and

keep it powerful.

His dad might have been handsome once. Now?

Now, he was the epitome of Para strength, from his
shaggy, dark hair barely peppered with grey, to his
amber shifter’s eyes and a jagged scar that tore
right through both of his lips. Even when he was
trying to put his opponent at ease, it always seemed
like Terrence was scowling.

Then again, when it came to dealing with his

firstborn son, Terrence usually was.

“What are you doing here, Dad?”
“Not here as your father, Maddox. I’m here as

your Alpha.”

He could tell. As a born alpha himself, he could

pick  up  on  the  power  level  of  other  shifters  as
easily  as  breathing.  Normally,  his  wolf  outranked
most  other  predatory  shifters;  in  his  thirty  years,
he’d  never  come  up  against  another  beast  in  their
territory who was stronger than he was—except for
Terrence Wolfe.

His Alpha.
Growing up, his father reined in his dominance

until  he  had  a  reason  to  use  it  against  his  boys.
Even  after  Maddox  and  Colt  got  older  and  they
each  took  their  respective  place  in  the  pack,
Terrence knew when to be their father and when to
be their Alpha.

Maddox had been expecting this visit. His

father wasn’t pulling any punches, either. One

quick  glimpse  at  the  man’s  ominous  golden  gaze
warned  Mad  that  his  father’s  beast  was  simmering
right  below  the  surface.  One  snap  was  all  it  would
take.  One  snap  and  he’d  be  at  the  mercy  of  the
grizzled wolf’s fangs.

No one told the Alpha no and got away with it.
Because Maddox was—or used to be—next in

line to succeed as Alpha, Terrence was holding onto
his  wolf  by  the  thinnest  of  threads.  Of  course,  an
essential  part  of  being  the  pack’s  leader  was
learning control. It was one of the reasons why Colt
could  never  be  more  than  a  pack  beta.  Maddox’s
younger  brother  didn’t  know  the  meaning  of  the
word when it came to a fight.

Maddox, though? He lowered his eyes, looking

at the snowy ground instead of meeting the
challenge in his father’s glare.

If he accepted it, there would be no going back.
Terrence snorted. “Don’t look away from me,

boy. You didn’t think I’d let you get away with
turning your back on us so easily.”

“Evangeline is my priority,” Maddox snapped

back.  But  he  didn’t  look  up.  Not  yet.  When  he
recognized  that  the  intruders  were  his  parents,  he
had  retracted  his  claws.  Now,  they  burst  out  from
the  end  of  his  fingers,  slicing  into  the  meat  of  his
palm  as  he  clenched  his  fists.  He  forced  them  in
again  before  the  scent  of  his  blood  carried  on  the
wind  over  to  this  father.  Still,  he  didn’t  look  up.

“My mate means more to me than anything else—
even your plans for me.”

“Evangeline is family,” his father agreed. “And

that makes her Pack.”

Maddox jerked his head. A nod. He knew that.

From  the  second  his  wolf  caught  her  rich  vanilla
scent  on  the  air  and  recognized  that  the  brunette
beauty  with  the  forest  green  eyes  was  its  mate,
she’d  been  his  responsibility.  With  their  bonding,
that extended to the rest of the pack.

“I know.”
“The boy I raised to take my place would know

that a strong pack is a far better protection than one
lone wolf.”

“I’m not a lone wolf,” Maddox snarled,

bristling  at  his  father’s  calculated  insult.  Old  man
knew  exactly  what  he  was  doing,  he’d  give  him
that.  “I  told  you  to  find  someone  else  to  groom  as
the  next  Alpha,  Dad.  Never  said  I  was  leaving  the
pack.”

“Anyone else tries to take over the pack, they’ll

run you and your mate right out. You can’t expect
another Alpha to lead when he knows that no one’s
stronger than you, Mad. You’d always be a threat—
and, just like your brother and his witch, anyone
could use your mate against you.”

Maddox tried not to let his surprise show. It

shouldn’t be such a shock that Terrence knew what
was going on with Colt and Shea. Nothing got past

him, not when they were kids, and certainly not
now.

And he wasn’t wrong. His father was only

telling Maddox the same things he already knew.
He might not want to be a lone wolf, with his
human mate as the only other member of a pack of
two, but that was a very real possibility if he chose
to turn the pack over to someone else.

He dared a peek up at his Alpha. “You know

why I tried to give up my position, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Mating dance and the final claiming

makes  all  of  us  a  bit  stupid,  though.  I  don’t  blame
you for it. Your mate’s gonna be the most important
part of your life for the rest of it. But I’m not lyin’,
boy. With the power of the whole pack behind you,
nothing will threaten your Evangeline. You want to
hide  her  away  in  the  cabin?  Do  that.  But  do  it
because  you’re  the  Alpha  and  your  word  is  law.
You understand me?”

Maddox… did.
This time, when he met his father’s stare, he

didn’t blink. He didn’t steal a glance or look away
suddenly so that Terrence’s wolf didn’t recognize it
as a challenge. Because it was.

A challenge.
He shrugged. A nervous lump lodged in his

throat. He swallowed roughly as, inside his chest,
his wolf started to pace anxiously, ready to burst
out of his skin and into its fur.

“I’m not the Alpha,” Maddox said. His fangs

lengthened. His claws sliced out again in a snick-ing
sound that echoed throughout the yard. He leaned
forward, his body primed for the shift.

Terrence mirrored the stance, an anticipatory

smile quirking his scarred lip upward. “No. I am.”

“For now.”
“You ready, boy?”
Maddox tugged off his shirt. The cold was an

afterthought against his overheated skin as he threw
his shirt to the snowy ground. “Whenever you are.”

When his father widened his grin, the older man

made sure to show off his canines. “Then let’s go.”

SOON

ARAH

GUIDED

VANGELINE

INSIDE

THE

cabin, she thought that her mother-in-law would let
her go.

She was, uh, kind of wrong about that.
Sarah Wolfe was more than a head shorter than

the six-foot-tall Evangeline. With dark blonde hair,
a  pale  complexion,  and  a  gorgeous  face  that
belonged  on  a  woman  more  than  half  her  age,
Maddox’s  mother  was  petite,  she  was  sweet,  and
she  wasn’t  just  the  Alpha’s  mate—she  was  also  a
wolf shifter, so she was super freakin’ strong.

It didn’t matter that, like Terrence, Evangeline

towered  over  her.  Sarah  rose  up  on  her  tippy-toes,
her  arm  a  steel  band  around  Evangeline’s  waist  as
she  led  her  all  the  way  through  the  cabin,  into  the
room furthest away from the back exit.

Evangeline wondered if that choice was on

purpose when her mother-in-law finally let go and,
to her surprise, moved so that she was standing
directly in front of her.

Sarah’s golden shifter’s eyes seemed to

shimmer in delight as she locked her gaze on
Evangeline’s middle.

“Congratulations, dear.”
“Congratulations?” echoed Evangeline. “For

what?”

“For your pup. And I know, I know… it isn’t

proper etiquette for me to say anything before you
and Maddox make an announcement, but I can’t
help myself. This is wonderful! I—”

Sarah might have kept on talking forever if

Evangeline didn’t squeak out one word that cut her
mother-in-law off mid-sentence:

“Pup?!”
“Oh, yes.” Sarah gestured at Evangeline’s belly.

“Pup. Baby. Whatever you want to call it, you’re
having one. And I’m gonna finally get to be a
grandma, so I guess I’ll congratulate me, too. What
an absolutely wonderful Christmas present!”

“What are you— are you kidding me? I’m…

I’m not pregnant.”

“Sure, you are.” As her wide smile drooped,

Sarah cocked her head slightly, her dark blonde bob
falling almost to her shoulder with the motion. Her
eyes flashed. “You knew that already, though,
didn’t you?”

Um, no. Evangeline didn’t.
She must have given it away because her

mother-in-law  let  out  a  soft  chuckle  as  she
straightened.  “Well,  now  you  do,  I  suppose.  It’s
fairly  recent,  I’d  say,  since  I  didn’t  notice  at
Thanksgiving,  but  you’re  definitely  plus  one  for
Christmas, sweetie.”

Evangeline blinked. Not at how Sarah put it—

Maddox’s mother had always had such a colorful
way of putting things—but at just what she was
saying.

That, after the last few months of trying,

Evangeline was—

She bit down on her bottom lip, wanting it too

badly to believe it so readily. “I don’t know. Maybe
I should get a pregnancy test or something.”

“Oh, goodness. You don’t need to do that.

This,” Sarah said, tapping the side of her nose with
a manicured finger, “is the best test around. Trust
me on this one. Maddox knocked you up and
good.”

Really?
Finally?
He had warned her from the first time he came

inside  of  her  without  a  condom  that  pups  were  a
huge  possibility.  It  had  everything  to  do  with  the
make-up  of  a  shifter.  Mating  was  an  instinct
specific  to  paranormal,  most  notably  shifters.  A
biological urge to continue the species.

It was also a biological quirk. Because a shifter

couldn’t reproduce with anyone but their mate, the
body  didn’t  respond  until  they  found  their  mate.
The males didn’t get hard until then, and they were
shooting  blanks  until  they  claimed  their  mate.
Female  shifters  didn’t  ovulate  or  release  eggs  until
they started to bond with theirs.

Evangeline was human. Maddox, though? A

full-blooded alpha wolf shifter, he was surprised the
first time he caught Evangeline’s scent and
absolutely shocked the first time his cock came to
life.

And, okay, it had taken them some time before

the  two  virgins  were  ready  to  mate.  They  were
careful,  though.  Due  to  her  insistence  that  they
marry before he fully claimed her, Maddox always
wore  a  condom  to  keep  him  from  giving  in  to  his
instincts to bite her and breed her and bond her.

Last summer, after her memories started to

come  back  from  the  awful  witch  who  stole  them,
Evangeline  realized  they  were  married.  They  were
mated.  They’d  been  bonded,  too,  even  if  Cilla’s
spell did its best to sever the tie between them.

And finally, after she slipped into his room one

night and seduced him, they claimed each other.
Maddox, by giving her his bite the same time he
gave her his seed. And Evangeline, who offered her
heart and her body and joyously took everything he
offered her.

He had warned her that first night that while

mating  and  claiming  cemented  the  bond,  his  seed
was  just  that:  something  he  planted  deep  inside  of
her  every  time  he  came,  with  the  hope  that  a  new
life would start.

It hadn’t.
Well, until now.
Evangeline felt a bubble of hope rise up within

her.  She’d  never  admit  to  anyone—especially  not
her  mate—but  she’d  been  worrying  about  that.
Over the last few months, she kept waiting for the
inevitable, growing more and more frustrated when
it became clear that she hadn’t gotten pregnant yet.
She understood that it wasn’t automatic, and that it
wasn’t  always  easy,  but  she  thought…  well,
Maddox was a shifter. She was his mate.

Wasn’t creating pups together the whole point?
She didn’t want to let herself believe it. And

when she skipped her period last month, she had
just about convinced herself it had everything to do
with the stress surrounding the Nightwalker attacks
and how Cilla was still out there somewhere.
Because she couldn’t be pregnant at last—

Could she?

She really, really hoped so.
“I guess I could make an appointment with my

doctor just to make sure, but he’s humans only.” As
if she just realized what she said, Evangeline
cringed. “Sorry, he’s my mom’s recommendation.”

“It’s fine. I sent my boys to a vet the first

couple  of  years  of  their  life  because  there  weren’t
so many doctors who specialize in Paras outside of
our  community.  And  after  the  way  my  T  lost  his
ever-loving mind every time I was with a pup, none
of  them  wanted  to  square  off  against  the  Alpha  to
tend to his mate.”

Oh, jeez. Evangeline didn’t even think of that.

If  Maddox  was  so  single-mindedly  focused  on
doing  whatever  he  had  to  to  keep  her  safe  now,
how  far  would  he  go  when  he  found  out  that  she
was pregnant?

Would he be happy? Or, with as distant and

secretive as he’d been lately, would he take it
poorly?

Evangeline gulped.
Her mother-in-law caught it. Pursing her lips,

reading something in Evangeline’s expression that
she couldn’t quite hide, Sarah asked softly, “You
didn’t know. Does Maddox?”

“What? No. I… I had no clue until you sensed

it  and  told  me.  I  just  thought  it  was  the  holiday
blues  or  something,  plus  one  too  many  Christmas
cookies.  But  I’m…  I’m…”  Evangeline  couldn’t

even say the word. She just lifted her hands,
nestling around the small curve at the bottom of her
flat belly.

Huh. So it wasn’t the cookies after all.
“So he’s not sure. But… a male wolf usually

senses these things. So he doesn’t know, but, then
again, maybe he does. It would certainly explain
some things.”

That didn’t make a lick of sense to Evangeline.

“What do you mean? Explain what?”

Sarah leaned in, then lowered her voice. “Since

I know your secret now, I’ll share one of mine.”

“No.” Evangeline’s stomach flip-flopped.

Secrets… just the word made her feel queasy.
“Please. No more secrets.”

“Trust me, neither one of these will be a secret

for long. Once my boy gets his head out of his ass
and uses his nose for once, he’ll figure out what’s
different about you. What’s making him even more
overprotective than usual. And then, after my mate
finishes up with him, he’ll stop all this nonsense
about leaving his position in the pack.”

“Wait—what?”

arah nodded.

“Oh, yes,” she said. “Didn’t he tell you?

It’s why my T and I took the run out here. Mad told
my  mate  that  he’s  planning  on  stepping  aside,
giving  up  his  shot  at  being  the  next  Alpha,  so  that
he  won’t  have  to  leave  you  by  yourself  for  too
long. If his wolf can sense you’re carrying a pup, it
would explain Mad’s turnabout.”

Evangeline felt her mouth drop open in

surprise. For as long as she knew him, Maddox had
always known that he wanted three things: a loving
mate, a big family, and the control of the pack he’d
been born to rule. When he thought Evangeline was
dead, Maddox sacrificed his position in the pack
while he was in the Cage, but as soon as they were
bonded mates, she accepted that he’d be Alpha one
day.

Why the hell would he give that up again? And,

most importantly, why hadn’t he told her?

Another secret?
She was so freaking over all of the stupid

secrets.

Evangeline closed her mouth, clicking her teeth

together with the force of his motion. After shaking
it off, she said, “I would never want him to do
that.”

“I didn’t say that you did.” Sarah cocked her

head again in that decidedly canine motion.
Evangeline wasn’t sure if her mother-in-law even
realized that she was doing it. “Especially now, the
two of you will need Pack more than ever.”

“I just… that doesn’t make any sense to me.

Maddox  doesn’t  even  seem  to  want  to  be  around
me.  No  matter  what  I  do,  it’s  like  he  always  finds
an  excuse  to  get  away.  I  don’t  even  know  if  he’s
gonna  be  happy  about  this  news,  and  now  you’re
telling me he’s trying to give up his alpha status?”

“For you.”
“For me? I’m sorry, and I know you’re his

mom, but… he…” Evangeline huffed, the words
spilling free without her really meaning for them to.
“He doesn’t even seem to want me anymore.”

“Oh, sweetie. I don’t mean anything by it, but

you’re  such  a  human.  If  my  boy  is  acting  a  little
less…  amorous  than  he  usually  does,  it’s  because
his  instincts  are  pulling  him  in  different  directions.

The  urge  to  mate  quiets  a  little  when  you’ve  got  a
bun  in  the  oven,  Evangeline,  dear.  It’s  all  about
protecting  his  mate,  making  a  safe  home,  marking
his territory. He might not even know he’s doing it,
but it’s what a good alpha wolf is supposed to do.”

Sarah wasn’t wrong. Evangeline was human.

She thought like a human, experienced life like a
human. She’d learned a lot about Paras in the time
since she discovered she was fated to be a shifter’s
mate, but this… this was something new.

“Are you… are you sure?”
“I’m positive, Evangeline. I had two pups,

remember?  I  know  what  it’s  like  and,  between  us
girls,  I  was  never  more  in  the  mood  to  get  frisky
with my mate than when he’d already knocked me
up.  If  Maddox  is  too  busy  following  his  other
instincts to notice that you’ve got an itch that needs
to be scratched, it’s up to you to let my boy know
just what you need.”

Evangeline’s eyes widened. Did Maddox’s

mother just—

A loud smashing sound, followed by a throaty

howl  that  split  through  the  air  had  Evangeline
freezing  in  place.  It  didn’t  matter  how  many  times
she heard Maddox’s wolf cry. She was still a human
and  her  tiny  human-sized  brain  shrieked:  monster,
big monster, freeze and don’t breathe and maybe he
won’t find you.

He was the predator, she was the prey, and it

always took her a split second to remember that if
her mate was chasing her, she had way more fun
when he inevitably ran her down.

That wasn’t his playful howl, though.
Was there a threat out there?
Cilla?
“What was that?” asked Evangeline.
“I think that’s our cue.”
“What?”
Sarah gestured for Evangeline to follow behind

her. “Come along, dear. You won’t want to miss
this and, besides, they’ll need witnesses.”

“What?!”

VANGELINE

CHASED

AFTER

ADDOX

’

MOTHER

For such a petite, gentle-looking woman, Sarah
Wolfe could move when she wanted to. Good thing
for Evangeline’s long legs because she just
managed to catch up to Sarah as the blonde tornado
burst out into the backyard.

She followed after her mother-in-law, coming to

a dead stop when she caught sight of the scene in
front of her: two wolves snarling at each other, their
fangs bared, and their hinds raised as if ready to
attack.

What the—

Evangeline turned to Sarah, worry written all

over her face. “What’s going on?”

Sarah lifted her hand, patting each strand of

dark  blonde  hair  back  into  place.  Unlike
Evangeline,  she  didn’t  seem  the  least  bit  surprised
—or  concerned  with—what  they  discovered  out
back.

“It’ll be fine,” she told Evangeline. “This is

how they’ve always worked out their problems.
Hasn’t Maddox told you about his squabbles with
Colton when they were younger?”

Well, sure. When they were first dating,

Maddox  went  to  great  lengths  to  hide  his  Para
status.  He  got  this  crazy  idea  in  his  head  that
Evangeline would never want to be a shifter’s mate
so he pretended to be human. It didn’t take long for
her to see through his act—not that she ever cared
anyway since she loved him for him—and after he
revealed  that  he  was  a  wolf  shifter,  he  didn’t  shy
away from what he was ever again.

Except for when the witch stole her memories

and she didn’t know he was a shifter, that was. But
even  then,  even  after  Evangeline  worked  out  that
she  was  dealing  with  a  Para—though  she  hadn’t
learned  he  was  her  husband  just  yet—she’d  been
interested in his wolfish nature.

So, yeah, she knew all about what it was like

for him growing up as a Para. He used to love
telling her stories about fights with Colt, not to

mention the trouble the pups got into, especially
when Dodge ghosted along with them.

One problem, though.
That wasn’t Colt.
Evangeline had seen both brothers in their wolf

shape countless times before. She didn’t need Sarah
to spell out that Maddox was facing off against her
mate—Maddox’s father—to recognize that the
brindled wolf wasn’t Colt. Colt shifted into a white
wolf with arctic blue eyes while Maddox… she’d
know that big grey wolf anywhere.

Paranormal shifters were bigger than their

animal counterparts. Alphas? Double the size, easy.
As a born alpha, all of Maddox’s muscle and bulk
shifted into one hell of a massive wolf with fangs
that stretched longer than one of her fingers.

The two wolves were currently circling each

other. They weren’t fighting—but they had been.

Evangeline focused on her mate. Mud covered

his side. Snow and dirt kicked up the ground. Dots
of red sprayed against the white—blood. Someone
had gotten in a lucky swipe with their teeth or their
claws, though neither wolf appeared hurt.

Maddox’s muzzle lifted in the air. The grey

wolf’s lips peeled back as it snarled a warning at
the large brindled wolf.

One second. That’s all it took. Maddox’s ears

twitched, his head jerking to the side just long
enough for the wolf to catch sight of Evangeline in

its glowing amber gaze. Maddox’s attention strayed
to his mate—and not his opponent—for only a
second and Terrence took advantage of his son’s
lapse.

The brindled wolf leaped at Maddox, aiming

straight for the grey wolf’s throat.

The grey wolf dodged the attack, wheeling

around,  its  jaws  snapping  at  the  brindled  wolf’s
hind  leg  as  it  landed  roughly  against  the  snow.
Terrence  yipped,  snarled,  and  kick  his  leg  out.
Maddox  let  go,  paused  for  only  a  heartbeat,  then
dove at his father again.

After that, the fight was fast.
It was brutal.
It was decisive.
After a few terrible moments where fur flew

and  blood  sprayed  and  Evangeline  fought  the  urge
to  cover  her  eyes  with  her  hands,  the  fight  was
over. The brindled wolf lay on its back, legs kicking
out  wildly,  the  weight  of  the  grey  wolf  pinning  it
down  as  it  lowered  its  muzzle  toward  the  brindled
wolf’s face.

As Evangeline continued to watch in horror, the

grey wolf closed its jaw over the brindled wolf’s
throat. Not enough to break through the fur or
pierce its skin—but enough to show that, if he had
wanted to, he could have easily torn it out.

Terrence went still.
Maddox kept the pose for a good fifteen

seconds.  When  the  brindled  wolf  didn’t  show  any
sign  of  restarting  the  fight,  the  grey  wolf  carefully
opened  its  jaw,  lifting  its  fangs  from  the  other
wolf’s  throat.  It  climbed  off  of  its  opponent,  tail
down, ears flat, as he limped a few steps away.

It didn’t look behind it. No need. With that

decision, the grey wolf knew that it was the biggest,
baddest wolf in the whole east. It had toppled the
previous Alpha.

It was the new ruler of the pack.

ADDOX

SHIFTED

BACK

FIRST

Since Evangeline was the only non-shifter

there,  she  was  the  only  one  who  had  a  problem
with  the  open  nudity.  Watching  her  mate  strut
around  butt-naked  was  one  thing,  but  when  she
realized  that  her  father-in-law  would  shift  back
without  a  stitch  of  clothing  on  next,  she  spun  her
back to them, ignoring Sarah’s muffled laughter.

She heard another twang, then the rustle of

clothing  as  the  two  men  yanked  their  clothes  back
on. When Maddox softly murmured her name, she
turned  around  again  to  see  that,  despite  the  battle,
both  men  were  upright  and  regarding  each  other
with open affection and respect.

“You beat me,” Terrence said to Maddox,

reaching  up  to  rub  the  red  gashes  that  ringed  his
throat.  In  an  hour  or  so,  the  marks  would  be  gone
thanks  to  the  shifter’s  amazing  regenerative
properties,  but  for  now  the  marks  remained  as  a
symbol of his defeat.

Mirroring his father’s stance, Maddox touched

his  own  neck.  The  ragged,  ruined  skin—the  sign
that he wore the silver collar while he was locked in
the  Cage—would  look  like  that  forever.  He  wore
his  brand  proudly,  though,  since  it  proved  he’d
rather suffer in the Para prison than live for even a
moment without the memories of his precious mate.

“I did,” Maddox said.
Terrence looked over at his mate. His

expression softened when his gaze fell on Sarah.
“You witnessed your Alpha fall.”

She nodded, beaming over at him. “I did.”
His golden eyes slid over to Evangeline. “You

witnessed your mate become Alpha,” he rumbled.

Since everyone else already agreed, Evangeline

figured she should do the same. “Um. I did.”

“That settles it then. By the laws of the pack,

Maddox Wolfe is the newest Alpha.”

Then, with the three others watching closely,

Terrence Wolfe tilted his throat and offered his
human throat to his son.

Maddox tossed his head back and howled.
And, unless Evangeline was imagining it, the

wild wolves that made the mountains and the

nearby forest their home all howled back in return.

HREE

DAYS

AFTER

HIS

PARENTS

LEFT

THE

CABIN

Evangeline still hadn’t told Maddox the news about
the baby.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, either. It was

just… there didn’t seem to be any time.

After he beat his father in the dominance

challenge,  Maddox  was  named  the  new  Alpha  of
the  pack  and,  well,  that  kind  of  took  precedence
over her news. Everything would be changing now
that he went from next-in-line to the head honcho.
And, sure, throwing a pup into the mix was another
huge  change,  but  she  had  a  couple  of  months
before she would give birth.

Maddox was Alpha of the Eastern pack today.
Thankfully, since it was so close to Christmas,

Terrence offered his son an early gift: he’d save the
announcement  and  the  official  transition  of  power
until  after  the  new  year  so  that  Evangeline  and
Maddox could enjoy their first holiday as a bonded
mated  pair  without  interruption  from  the  rest  of
their packmates.

Evangeline knew that Sarah had something to

do with that. After the fight, she took her mate
aside with the excuse that she needed to tend to his

injuries.  When  they  left  the  bathroom,  Terrence
said  he  would  delay  the  announcement  until  early
January  before  Sarah  said  it  was  time  for  them  to
go.

The next morning, though, her mother-in-law

called convinced Evangeline to take a ride into
town with her while Maddox was missing again.

Convince was the right word.
One of the effects of the crash where

Evangeline  almost  died  was  a  newfound  phobia
when  it  came  to  being  a  passenger  in  a  moving
vehicle.  Part  of  Cilla’s  cruel  spell  was  forcing
Evangeline  to  relive  the  accident  over  and  over
again  until  she’d  been  so  twisted,  she  pushed  the
last  vestiges  of  Maddox  from  her  mind  while
experiencing  pure  terror  at  just  the  idea  of  being
trapped inside of a car. Even now that the spell was
broken,  she  couldn’t  stop  herself  from  imagining
the  truck  flipping  end  over  end,  careening  off  the
mountain—even if the trip was as simple as running
down to the store.

Making matters worse? The cabin was built on

the  same  range  of  mountains  where  Maddox  and
Evangeline  were  forced  off  the  mountainside.  It
was  such  a  struggle  to  drive  up  to  the  mountain  in
the  first  place,  Maddox  had  to  sedate  her  before
they could take the trip.

No drugs this time. She couldn’t, not in good

conscience, not now that she believed she was

pregnant.  And  the  only  reason  why  she  even
pushed  herself  to  get  inside  of  Sarah’s  car  was
because  her  mother-in-law  found  a  respectable
OB/GYN who would see her on short notice.

When the human Evangeline nearly snapped

the grab bar off the inside of the car because she
was clutching it so tightly, she began to regret
forgoing the drugs.

She got a frantic call about ten minutes into the

drive.  Turned  out  the  bond  alerted  Maddox  to  her
severely  anxious  and  fearful  state  and  he  returned
to  the  cabin  to  discover  her  gone.  She  only
managed to calm him enough to keep from dashing
after  her  when  she  confessed  that  she  was  doing
some last-minute errands with his mother and she’d
be home before he knew it.

It was the truth. Just because the main purpose

of the trip was to visit the doctor, it didn’t mean
that the two women didn’t make a few pit stops
along the way.

In a bid to keep Evangeline’s mind off of her

very  valid  phobia,  Sarah  did  all  the  talking.  Not
only  was  she  Maddox’s  mother  and  a  very  honest
and sharing woman, but Sarah had also been where
Evangeline  was,  pregnant  and  unsure  how  to
navigate these strange new waters.

She realized they were both at fault. Sarah

explained that, while the early stages of a shifter
pregnancy—and, just because Evangeline was

human,  the  pup  she  was  carrying  meant  it  was  a
shifter  pregnancy—had  a  female’s  hormone  levels
through  the  freaking  roof,  that  only  explained  the
way  she’d  been  feeling.  Sad,  angry,  abandoned…
she  took  a  situation  that  normally  wouldn’t  have
been too upsetting and turned it into the end of her
mating.

Maddox, on the other hand, might have been

subconsciously following his instincts when it came
to his pregnant mate, protecting her to the point
that he was neglecting her, the man he was should
have known better than that. Especially since it was
still extremely obvious that he was hiding
something from her.

Which was kind of fair, she admitted, since she

hadn’t told him about the baby just yet.

By the time Christmas Eve rolled around,

Evangeline  decided  that  one  of  two  things  needed
to  happen:  she  needed  to  either  prove  to  herself
that  her  mate  still  wanted  her,  or  she  needed  to
drop the bomb and let Maddox deal with it.

She couldn’t stop thinking about Sarah’s advice.

Maddox would eventually figure it out on his own,
but unless she basically jumped his bones, Maddox
might not get the hint that all she wanted was her
husband’s loving touch.

That night, when Maddox finished his patrol,

she knew exactly what she was going to do.

Hell, she seduced him once. She could do it

addox thought his mate had turned in for
the night.

With the excitement of Christmas being the

next morning, Maddox put his worries off to the
side for the evening, eager to get the chance to play
Santa Claus—or, as he liked to think of it, Santa
Claws. The big gift was too damn big to even think
about bringing it inside of the cabin, but he quickly
got the last of his presents together, adding them to
the growing pile under the tree.

He was just propping the awkwardly wrapped

bicycle up against the wall behind the Christmas
tree when he heard the creak on the stairs and
knew Evangeline wasn’t sleeping.

She also was wearing a coat.
Maddox finished hiding the bike, shifting his

bulky body so that he could cover it up. Between

the size and his disastrous attempt to wrap it in half
a roll of wrapping paper, it was kind of obvious
what it was, and he didn’t want her to guess what it
was before Christmas.

He also had no clue what she was doing

wearing  a  coat—since  the  bare  legs  peeking  out
from  beneath  the  hem  told  him  that  she  didn’t
really  have  any  intentions  of  going  out  into  the
freezing cold night.

Still, he had to ask. “Hey, sweetheart… it’s a

little late. You going somewhere?”

Evangeline didn’t answer him. She just gave her

head a coy shake. And then, to his shock and
surprise, she unzipped her coat.

His mate was wearing the teeniest, tiniest,

flimsiest  lingerie  nightie  he’d  ever  seen  before.  A
pale  pink,  almost  completely  see-through,  it  had  a
deep,  plunging  neck,  and  a  wispy  skirt  that
whispered just past her pussy.

It was also brand new. He would’ve

remembered if she’d ever worn anything like this.

Evangeline bit her bottom lip, jutted out her

chin—and her chest—then let the coat tumble to
the ground behind her.

His cock punched straight to life. All of the

blood rushed straight to his groin, leaving none for
his brain as he stared at the vision of his mate in
front of him. He couldn’t think of a damn thing to
say and settled on licking his lips.

God, she was fucking gorgeous.
She shrugged one shoulder, allowing the thin,

lacy strap to slip down to the crook of her elbow. It
took half of the see-through top with it, baring a full
tit, a rosy nipple winking right at Maddox.

He stifled his groan.
What was she doing?
Did she want him to explode in his jeans?
‘Cause he might. It was definitely a possibility.
He should stop her. Unless… unless this was a

Christmas  gift.  Evangeline  had  been  so  distant
lately,  so  quiet,  always  looking  at  him  with  a  sad
frown. And then there the dreams… at night, when
he  laid  beside  her  in  bed,  she  would  whimper  and
cry  and,  when  he  asked  her  about  them  in  the
morning, she always acted as

He didn’t want to push her. As soon as he

claimed her, he’d wanted to fuck her every which
way he could, whenever he had the chance. But
then Cilla stole Evangeline away and tried to really
hurt her, then the witch tossed Colt out of a fucking
window, and Maddox had to watch over his brother
while he recovered.

By the time things were slowly getting back to

normal, and he could finally enjoy the mate that
was destined just for him, danger struck again and,
damn it, Maddox knew whose needs he had to put
first.

Newsflash: it wasn’t his.

Even so, it would be damn rude to refuse a gift,

right? If that’s what his Angie was offering him, he
couldn’t deny her anything. If she wanted to show
off her body and possibly do a little more for
Christmas, could he really say no?

If this was what she wanted, he’d go along with

it,  Maddox  decided  just  as  Evangeline  slowly
tugged  the  second  strap  down,  the  rest  of  the
material pooling at her waist. She shimmied it down
past  her  ass,  Maddox  swallowing  roughly  when  he
saw  that  she  wasn’t  even  wearing  panties  beneath
the nightie.

Ah, hell.
A man could only take so much temptation.

And while his wolf was urging him to take his mate,
claim his mate, Maddox wanted to prove to himself
that he wasn’t all beast. Until Evangeline was fully
recovered, until the bad dreams went away and he
didn’t  feel  like  he  needed  to  hide  her  away,  he
shouldn’t  take  pleasure  in  her  body  when  he  was
such  a  shitty  mate,  her  life  was  constantly  in
danger.

And what if, this time, his seed finally took?

Could he really bring a pup into this? When he was
newly the Alpha, and Colt was out risking his own
wolf, searching for Cilla while taking on the
Nightwalkers?

But if he refused her…
Ignoring his wolf’s howl and his twitching cock,

Maddox  followed  his  heart—and  his  bond.
Evangeline  had  come  to  him,  bared  herself  to
him… and he knew in an instant that, if he pushed
her  away,  he’d  do  far  more  damage  than  anything
his claws could do.

Besides, he really, really wanted to mate her.
No time to change his mind. No time to strip,

either. In a snap, he shifted into his wolf, let it offer
its  mate  an  excited  yip,  then  forced  the  change
back. The tatters of his clothes rained down around
him,  but  he  didn’t  give  a  shit.  Shaking  off  the
remains  of  his  shirt,  his  jeans,  his  boxers,  Maddox
reached  down,  gave  his  aching  erection  a  single,
promising pump, then curled a finger at Evangeline.

This was her show, right? Her gift? He was just

going along for the ride.

Her forest green eyes sparkled with a promise

that  nearly  brought  Maddox  to  his  fucking  knees.
Instead  of  moving  toward  him,  though,  she  turned
away, letting him gobble up the slight curves of her
long,  slender  body.  Already  so  magnificently  tall,
she  glided  easily  on  the  arches  of  her  feet,  lifting
her ass high as that he could watch the cheeks sway
as she walked away from him.

The sight might’ve stunned him at first, but no

way in hell was he letting it get away. He’d follow
her anywhere. Like a puppy on a leash, he matched
every step, unable to break from her mesmerizing
spell.

She led him into the bedroom, pointing at the

bed when he stopped

He wasn’t about to ask his mate twice.
Maddox spread out on the bed, his cock

bobbing to and fro as it pointed eagerly toward the
ceiling. When he shifted to make room for
Evangeline in the center of the bed, the wayward
appendage seemed to follow wherever she went.

And, as soon as Evangeline’s soft hand closed

around its length, the damn thing still didn’t to
behave.

Maddox felt her warm breath against his

overheated  skin  a  heartbeat  before  her  lips  closed
around  the  head.  Control  was  a  fleeting  thing.  As
her  cheeks  hollowed  on  the  first  drag  against  his
sensitive  cock,  he  wasn’t  sure  if  he  wanted  to
pump,  to  explode,  or  to  lay  back  and  enjoy  her
gentle touch.

She stroked the length of his erection with her

practiced hand, her tongue laving the side between
a strong, sucking motion that had Maddox’s eyes
nearly rolling into the back of his head.

“Ang,” he grunted, trying to keep from going

off too soon. “It’s, uh, it’s been a while. Just
warning you.”

At the sound of honest need and concern in his

raspy voice, she gave the head of his cock one last
lick, her tongue lapping up the pre-cum that beaded
at the tip. After wiping her mouth with the back of

her hand, she gazed right into his dazed expression.
“It has, hasn’t it? Maybe we should get right to the
good stuff.”

Before he could tell her that was she was doing

was more than good enough, Evangeline swung her
right  leg  over  his  middle.  A  wet  heat  touched  the
area  right  below  his  belly  button  as  his  mate
straddled him. Maddox felt better knowing that she
was  as  primed  as  he  was  which  was  why,  as
Evangeline  lifted  her  ass  and,  grabbing  his  cock,
started  to  slip  inside  her  tight  pussy,  he  knew  that
she was ready to take all of him all the way.

It took her a few seconds to get seated right

before she slowly lowered herself on top of him.
Only when she was fully seated, skin touching skin,
did Maddox let out the breath he’d been holding.

The urge to start stroking in and out of her was

almost undeniable. He just managed to hang onto it,
though. This was Evangeline’s show—he was just
going along for the ride. As her mate, he would just
sit there and let her do whatever the hell she
wanted to do with him.

And he’d do it while wearing nothing but a

smile.

At first, she went slow. Maddox clutched the

covers  with  his  fingers,  trying  desperately  to  hold
his  claws  back.  His  wolf  was  going  wild  inside  of
him.  To  the  beast,  there  was  nothing  so  important,
nothing  so  freeing  as  the  bond  it  shared  with  its

mate. When the two became one, all that existed
was their unbreakable bond.

Pleasure, too. Maddox couldn’t forget that.
She placed both hands against his chest,

scratching  the  shit  against  his  skin,  massaging  his
nipples, scrabbling to find some kind of purchase as
she  began  to  pick  up  her  pace.  Up,  down.  Up,
down. Her tits seemed to fly in his face the fast she
rode  him.  Maddox’s  mouth  watered  for  a  nibble
and, feeling playful, he snapped his teeth when one
got near enough.

Evangeline’s moan turned into a chuckle when

she realized what he wanted. She ground her pelvis
against  his,  putting  pressure  against  her  clit  as  she
braced herself on one hand. With the other, she fed
her  tit  into  Maddox’s  mouth.  He  latched  on,
sucking  it  with  as  much  enthusiasm  as  he  could
since he knew especially how sensitive Evangeline
was there.

It was like her nipple had a direct line to her

pussy. With every pull he took, her pussy clenched,
nearly strangling his cock.

It felt so fucking good.
He could tell she was enjoying his ministrations

by how distracted she suddenly was. Her rhythm
slowed down, though her panting picked up. She
was getting close. He could tell from the breathless
sighs, the way she grabbed onto his side, squeezing
his flesh, kneading him in frustration.

Well. He couldn’t have that.
He opened his mouth, letting her tit free with an

audible pop. Her pouty lips formed a perfect ‘o’ as
the heat from his tongue was replaced by the cooler
air. Evangeline didn’t have long to look
disappointed,

though,

since

Maddox

took

advantage of her distraction to flip the tables on
her.

With his cock still lodged deep inside of her, he

quickly reversed their positions. He laid Evangeline
on  her  back,  angling  her  toward  the  pillows  at  the
font  of  the  bed.  Her  mahogany  hair  fanned  out
beneath  her  as  he  rose  up  high  so  that  he  was
towering  over  her.  Grabbing  her  from  under  her
knees, he yanked her legs so that he could urge her
to link her ankles behind him.

Then, once she was comfortable and he was in

a position of power, Maddox started to pound into
her.

He knew his mate. As much as she liked to take

her time, playing with him, teasing him, loving him,
nothing  excited  her  more  or  got  her  off  quicker
than  a  hard,  fast,  rough  mating.  He  thrust  in  and
out, giving her only what she could take, and when
she started chanting his name in time to his thrusts,
pleading  with  him  to  make  her  come,  he  knew  he
was doing it right.

A soft cry, a throaty moan. Her heels digging

into his ass as she tried to swallow him whole. The

way she threw her head back, her tits so close, he
barely resisted the urge to bury his face in her
mounds.

She squeezed him so hard as her orgasm hit that

he  couldn’t  control  himself.  All  of  his  good
intentions flew out the window when she whispered
his  name  one  last  time,  the  aftershocks  of  her
explosion still reverberating through her. Her pussy
clenched, his cock responded, and with a howl that
probably  echoed  past  the  trees  surrounding  the
cabin, Maddox shot his mate full of his seed.

Oops.
He, uh, didn’t mean to do that.

“ W

.”

“Mmm.” Evangeline wanted to echo his

sentiments, but she’d been nailed so thoroughly, the
soft murmur was all she had the energy to let out.

Maddox threw his arm over her tits, tugging her

close to him. “I’ve missed that.”

“Yeah. Me, too.”
“We shouldn’t have done that, though.”
That comment right there sure as hell perked

her up. It wasn’t regret in his voice, not really, but
she caught enough of a hint of frustration to
immediately feel on guard.

Shoving his arm off of her, she turned so that

she could glare over at him. “Excuse me?”

“Not all of it,” Maddox quickly corrected. “But

I should’ve pulled out at the end.”

Her stomach twisted. “What for? I’m your

mate. Isn’t the whole point to come inside of me?”

“Normally, yeah. But, Angie… look, the

Nightwalkers  have  a  bounty  on  your  head  all
because  of  Wright.  I  hate  even  thinking  it,  but  I
know  damn  well  that  Cilla  has  it  out  for  you
because  of  me.  We’re  all  we  got.  Now  I’m  the
fucking  Alpha,  and,  yeah,  that  gives  me  the  might
of  the  whole  pack  to  back  me  up  against  those
assholes,  but  it’s  not  the  right  time  to  bring  a  pup
into this.”

Forget twisted. Her stomach tightened so much,

Evangeline thought she might hurl. “You don’t
honestly mean that, do you?”

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t. Don’t get me

wrong, though. Shit, Ang, I want to start a family
with you more than anything, but now?

“You do want to have pups, though, right?”
“‘Course, I do. Except for you, it’s all I’ve ever

wanted. And if it happened just now, we’ll make it
work. As long as it’s you and me, Angie… you and
me and our kid… I know I can handle anything.
I’m just saying… wait. Why are you looking at me
like that?”

She gulped. “Like what?”

“Evangeline Wolfe. Are you trying to tell me

something?”

She couldn’t find the words. Not yet. Not when

he just said two seconds ago that he had wanted to
wait.

Too bad Junior didn’t get the memo.
He took a deep breath. His nostrils flared and

he jolted. The next moment, Maddox had braced
himself on his elbow as he stared down at her.

Just… stared.
Evangeline met his unblinking gaze. She

chuckled weakly.

“Merry Christmas?”

n retrospect, she wasn’t quite sure what she
expected his reaction to be. When Sarah said

that Maddox would figure it out eventually—or, as
her mother-in-law put it, pulled his head out of his
ass and finally noticed her scent had changed—
Evangeline thought he’d be as excited and stunned
and, well, overjoyed as she was when she found
out.

Except, only a good couple of seconds had

passed by now and Maddox was still staring at her.

She cleared her throat. “Um? Babe? You gonna

say something?”

He didn’t. Instead, slowly inching his way down

her naked body, he snuffled at her midsection,
nosing her belly as he sniffled, then breathed in
deep again.

She knew when he confirmed what she told him

the second he pulled himself up to his knees, threw
his head back, and howled.

Evangeline had to check. She was almost sure,

but… “Uh… was that a good howl or a bad howl?”

His eyes flashed while his fangs punched out of

his gums. “You have to ask?” he said, his voice a
hoarse rasp as his wolf came to the forefront.

Moving gently, but with purpose, Maddox

shifted his body so that his arms were a cage
around her and she was trapped.

And then he leaned in.
He nuzzled her neck the same way he had

nuzzled  her  belly.  The  boneless,  relaxed  feeling
returned  and  Evangeline  absolutely  melted  back
into the sheets. Maddox nipped at her earlobe, her
jaw,  then  her  bottom  lip.  She  gasped  and  he  took
the  opportunity  to  plunder  her  mouth,  stroking  her
tongue  with  his  until  she  was  breathless  and,  most
importantly,  had  no  doubt  how  he  felt  about  her
surprise.

When she finally got her breath back, she

gulped. “Well, I guess that answered that.”

Maddox’s laugh was a rush of heat against her

bare skin. “I thought it might. But what about you?
My human mate doesn’t howl, I get that, but she’s
been so quiet lately. How do you feel about it?”

Evangeline went still.
She had been quiet, hadn’t she? So concerned

with how distant he’d been lately—even if Sarah

explained  how  her  pregnancy  might  have  changed
things  in  some  ways—Evangeline  had  used  the
excuse  of  heading  into  the  mountains  to  keep  to
herself,  never  opening  up  to  Maddox  about  what
was bothering her—or what she needed.

Not anymore.
They were mates. Partners. Soon to be

parents… they needed to be able to communicate.

You know what they say. No time like the

present—ha, present—to start.

“I’m happy, too,” she confessed as he moved

back to press his lips over the skin inches away
from her belly button. “Ever since you claimed me,
I’d known this was a possibility, and I’ve wanted
this. I just… I needed to know you did, too.”

Lifting his head from where he was nuzzling

her, Maddox scowled over at her.

If it was anyone else, the grimace on the wolf

shifter’s  face  would’ve  been  enough  to  have  her
running  for  the  window—and  Evangeline  knew,
since  she’d  had  reason  to  do  just  that  when  her
memories  were  stolen.  But  not  now.  Not  after  the
way  his  whole,  weathered  face  lit  up  with  love  as
he looked down on her moments ago.

Still, she raised her eyebrows. “Hey. What’s

wrong?”

Maddox schooled his features, making his

expression go blank. He moved again, stretching
out beside her, wrapping her up in his arms. “Don’t

worry about it. It’s nothing.”

She poked him in his side, curling into him,

resting her head on a pillow she made of his bicep.
“No more secrets. Something’s on your mind. I
want you to tell me.”

“It’s stupid.”
“Maddox, I spent the last couple of weeks

convincing myself that you regretted mating me
because it seemed like you’ve been avoiding me.”

“I would never do that, Ang—” he began.
She cut him off. “I know. Maybe it was the

hormones making me crazy, and I know better than
to doubt you, but it seemed like it. You said I was
quiet. Well, you’ve been quiet, too. We’re in this
together, now and forever—”

“Richard Marx,” interrupted Maddox. “Good

song.”

“Mad. Be honest with me.”
“Okay,” he huffed, realizing that she wasn’t

going to drop it. “Fine. But I warn you, it’s
ridiculous.”

She poked him again.
Maddox’s lips twitched. It was a half-smile, and

it  was  something.  “It’s  just…  nothing  can  top  the
gift  you’ve  just  given  me.  You  think  I’ve  been
avoiding  you?  Not  even  a  little.  In  all  honesty…
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks working on your
present  and,  yeah,  there’s  no  way  it  can  compare.
And  now  I’m  pissed  at  myself  for  being  so

preoccupied with it that I never even picked up on
the fact that you’re carrying my pup. Some Alpha
I’m gonna be with a weak nose like that.”

“Oh, hush,” Evangeline teased. “Your nose is

fine. I talked to your mother. She actually explained
that  that’s  kinda  common  for  a  wolf  shifter  who’s
got  a  lot  on  his  mind.  You  were  too  close  to  my
scent  to  notice  the  gradual  changes  or  something
like that.”

“Shit.” Maddox closed his eyes for a second.

“My mom knew before me? She’s never gonna let
me live it down.”

That was probably true. Since Evangeline didn’t

want to agree with him and make him more
embarrassed, she changed the subject. “So, wait…
Is that what you were doing, with all the sneaking
around? Getting me a present?”

He shrugged, the movement forcing Evangeline

to  snuggle  even  closer  as  she  shifted.  “Patrolling
the  mountain,  making  sure  you  were  safe…  that
was  my  priority.  But  I  might’ve  used  any  of  the
extra time I could find on your gift.”

Evangeline’s heart beat a little faster. What a

sweet mate she had. Her pregnancy must’ve
already started doing a number on her because how
else could she have, for even a minute, believed
that Maddox didn’t want her.

What just passed between them was enough to

prove he did, and as she felt him stirring against her

thigh, Evangeline was ready to show him how
much she wanted him back.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll love it,” she said,

lowering her hand so that she could give his cock a
leisurely, loving stroke.

Maddox moved suddenly and she missed.
“Okay. Let’s go find out.”
When Maddox started to slide out of the bed,

she tilted her head back to look at him.

He was serious.
“Wait—now?”
“Why not?” His golden eyes lit up. “It’s

Christmas.”

It was. Glancing over at the nightstand, the

alarm clock announced that they’d boned their way
right out of Christmas Eve. The display read 12:05.
It most definitely was Christmas.

A laugh bubbled up in her throat. “You haven’t

changed one bit.”

And he hadn’t. Despite what they’d gone

through, despite the time they lost, Maddox was
still her Maddox.

They might have only spent one Christmas

together  before  this,  but  she’d  heard  stories  about
his  childhood,  growing  up  with  Colt.  When  they
were  pups,  their  parents  gave  them  each  a  special
present  on  Christmas  Eve  because  they  were  too
impatient to wait until morning. Once they realized
that  all  of  the  presents  were  from  Terrence  and

Sarah, Maddox argued that—come 12:01—it was
Christmas and he wanted all of his gifts.

Wouldn’t you know? The born alpha managed

to argue his way into opening them all as early as
possible.

It was the same when he was an adult. Their

first Christmas? Very close to this one. While they
fell asleep in each other’s arms after a vigorous
round of mating, Maddox was wide awake and full
of energy as soon as the clock struck midnight. And
he insisted on giving her her present right away.

Just like now.
His smile widened, hope written in every line of

his handsome face as he leaned back into her. “You
remember?”

Remember…
She couldn’t wait until he felt confident enough

in  their  relationship—in  their  mating—to  not  have
to  ask  that  question  every  time  she  mentioned  the
past.  Now  that  they  had  a  pup  on  the  way…
hopefully it would be soon.

For as long as she had to, she would assure him,

though. Maybe they both needed a little
reassurance: Maddox, that Evangeline remembered
who they were to each other; and Evangeline, that
Maddox was never going to leave her on her own
again.

“Remember how my big, bad wolf is really a

big kid?” she teased. She stretched her hand,

closing  her  fingers  over  his  left  pec.  Evangeline
couldn’t  quite  get  to  his  heart,  but  the  dates  inked
on  his  skin—the  jailhouse  tattoo  of  the  day  they
were

married,

and

the

elaborate

design

commemorating the day they were fully mated—
was close enough.

His chuckle rumbled deep in his chest, vibrating

all the way to her fingertips. “You sure you’re
ready for another one?”

“I’ve always been ready. I just wasn’t sure you

were.”

“A pup of our own? A little bit of you, and a

little bit of me? Except for you, Angie, it’s all I’ve
ever wanted.”

Who needed presents? His open honesty, the

hint of vulnerability, and the steel underlying his
words as he made an unsaid vow to her and their
growing family… did she need anything else?

No. However, Maddox was so excited about

Christmas, she had no choice but to nod as she
rolled away, ready to climb out of the bed herself.

“Okay,” she conceded. “Let me clean up and

get changed, then we can go open presents.”

Maddox hopped all of the way out of the bed,

throwing the covers back, and revealing the tightest
ass  she’d  ever  seen  as  he  landed  in  a  protective
crouch,  then  spun  back  around.  Like  she  thought,
his  cock  was  already  getting  ready  for  a  round—
even  half-hard  it  was  super  impressive—and

Evangeline started to wonder if she could convince
her mate to stay in bed and open presents in the
morning when he gestured for her to stay.

“Sounds good to me. And, hey, if you want, go

on and take a shower. Get comfortable. I’ve got the
perfect thing for you to start with. I’ll put it on the
bed for when you’re done. So stay here, right?
Good.”

There was no time to argue. In between a stifled

laugh  at  his  eager  features  and  her  quickly
mumbled,  “Um,  okay?,”  Maddox  blew  her  a  kiss,
then  bounded  out  of  their  room,  bare-assed  naked
and all.

That was something else she remembered from

their  first  Christmas.  Maddox  wasn’t  the  one  and
done  type,  and  that  included  his  Christmas
shopping.  She  could  only  imagine  what  that
massive pile under the tree contained.

After she hurried through a quick shower, threw

her long hair up in a ponytail, and walked back into
the bedroom wrapped in a thick robe, Evangeline
discovered what the first package held.

It was a set of cozy Christmas pajamas. Red

flannel with candy canes printed all over them and
Ho  Ho  Ho  scrawled  in  white  letters.  And,  she
noticed  when  she  lifted  them  out  of  the  box,  they
were  zip-up  pajamas,  a  one-piece  with  enclosed
feet.

Even better?

When she followed her end of the bond to

where her mate was, she found Maddox waiting
next to the lit Christmas tree—wearing the same set
of pajamas.

Her tall, buff, Alpha mate was wearing a pair of

Christmas footie pajamas, complete with a fluffy
Santa hat and a smile that, even when Priscilla was
holding her memories hostage, Evangeline still saw
in her dreams.

That, she decided, definitely counted as another

gift for her.

Maddox was a big kid at heart, but he was

super  generous.  His  exuberance  when  it  came  to
opening presents had more to do with his delight at
handing  Evangeline  hers  and  then  watching  her
reaction  as  she  saw  what  was  beneath  the
wrapping.

Up first? The big, bulky, strangely wrapped

contraption she’d walked in on as he was hiding it
behind the tree. After gleefully tearing through the
paper—what can she say? Maddox’s enthusiasm
was contagious—she saw that he’d bought her a
perfectly-sized bicycle for a woman of her height.

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

here, 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.

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

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

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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!