Mates: Prequel (Claws Clause 0)

Second, back off.

It wasn’t about sex. His wayward cock might disagree, but he didn’t spend twenty-six years searching for his mate just because he was a horny wolf eager to get laid. He wanted a mate, a partner, someone who would be by his side for life.

Mating was just a bonus.

He remembered that now. And, prepared to be the big wolf, he lowered his hand to Evangeline’s shoulder and gave it a gentle shake.

“Angie?”

She came to slowly. He knew she was a deep sleeper so he waited, his hand pressed to the thin fabric of her t-shirt, loving the warmth of her skin as it seeped through. Evangeline stretched, moving from her side to her back, before she finally opened her eyes.

As soon as she recognized him crouched next to her, she smiled. Her eyes lit up.

“Hey.” Her voice was scratchy, thick from sleep, but there was no denying how happy—and relieved—she was to see him.

Maddox felt his heart skip a beat. He smiled. “Hey. What are you doing out on the couch?”

“Oh.” The light dimmed enough to make Maddox lose his smile. “I was waiting for you to come back home. I guess I fell asleep. Sorry about that.”

She never needed to apologize to him. “You could’ve slept in the bed.”

“I wasn’t planning on sleeping.” Stifling a yawn—or maybe that was just an excuse for Evangeline to turn away, shielding her face with her hand—she slowly pulled herself up to her elbows while still looking anywhere but at him. “I tried calling you. You left your phone behind.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“I would’ve gone after you, Maddox, but I didn’t know where you went. So I waited here. I hope that’s okay.”

She still wouldn’t meet his gaze. The sorrow in her tone hit him like a bat upside his thick skull. He didn’t need to see her face to know that his running off had hurt her deeply.

Even worse was how helpless his taking off had made her. Without his phone, she couldn’t get in touch with him, and apart from his house and hers, she really didn’t know how to track him down. She was a human and didn’t have any way to find him: no shifter senses, no magic. She was stuck.

That was his fault. So worried that being a paranormal would have her refusing him, Maddox spent months hiding what he was. Even when she assured him that it didn’t bother her, Maddox made a point to keep his pack life separate from the life he hoped to build with Evangeline. He introduced her to his brother, to Dodge, to his parents, but that was it.

He never brought her to Colt’s Bumptown. Everything was kept around humans so that Evangeline was comfortable. At least, that’s what Maddox told himself. Part of his big epiphany that morning? He finally understood that keeping her separate from his life kept her from becoming involved in his life.

And if he couldn’t share his life with her—and vice versa—how could he expect them to build a solid one together?

Another mistake. Another colossal, what the hell was he thinking? mistake.

He only hoped he could make up for it now.

Maddox had faith. Fate had brought her to him. Evangeline Lewis was the one woman who was perfect for him in all ways. Of course she wouldn’t care that he was a shifter. So her parents didn’t like it. That was fine because, hell, it wasn’t like Colt was the biggest fan of non-shifters, either.

He spent so many months trying to be something he wasn’t because he was the one who was worried that she wouldn’t want him. Looking down at Evangeline, her head turned, her hair shielding her expression like a dark curtain, Maddox realized something.

She could have left. She could have given up when things got rough, she could have run right out the door. She never had. Unlike Maddox, the big, bad wolf who went running when things didn’t go his way, Evangeline stayed. She was a human, without a drop of paranormal blood inside of her, and she was braver—stronger—than he was.

She was his mate, and he would never abandon her again.

“This is your home, Angie. That’s your bed. If you never let me touch you again, I totally understand, but I don’t want you to ever think that you have to ask for permission to stay here. Shit, if I had it my way, you’d stay here all the time. No reason for us to have two houses. And, hell, if you want to live in your place instead, I’ll move in a heartbeat. I just want to be with you.”

She turned slightly, hope peeking through her guarded expression. “You mean that?”

That same hope that he didn’t completely fuck things up with Evangeline filled his chest. Maddox felt like there was a balloon behind his ribs, the sudden pressure making him lunge forward so that he could take Evangeline’s hand in his. “I wasn’t kidding when I said we should go get married.”

She sighed. “Maddox, I—”

He gently squeezed her hand, always aware of his shifter strength. “I’m sorry, Ang. Hear me out. I know I was an ass. I guess, in the excitement of finally finding you, I forgot that being mates goes both ways. You’re mine, but I’m yours, and that means we’re in this together. It’s not just about my needs—”