Hungry Like a Wolf (Claws Clause 1)

Pausing on the back of Colt’s porch, Maddox listened for some sign of Colt in the house. The buzzing coming from somewhere off to his left told Maddox that his brother wasn’t inside but, instead, busy working in his private shed on the far side of the property.

His brother was a talented architect who not only drew beautiful houses on blueprints, but he could build them with his own two hands while working for Wolfe Construction. That was his job. Constructing wooden furniture from scratch, carving a structure, and staining the pieces before selling them off to the highest bidder... that was his labor of love. Not many people knew of his skill—Colt was quiet like that—but his “hobby” brought in more than enough to keep the pack wealthy on top of their family’s construction business.

Maddox found Colt hunched over some monstrosity inside of the massive shed. The structure was about half as big as the cabin in the woods that the pack owned, that was how much of his free time Colt spent there. Tools hung precisely in their proper place on pegs lined up along the wall, half-finished pieces of furniture stood against one wall while a large rectangular table held about fifteen different cans of stain. Colt’s carving knives were spaced exactly a half an inch apart, sized largest to smallest. A broom was propped in one corner; Maddox didn’t see a single speck of sawdust on the entire cement floor. The two bay windows on opposite walls allowed in enough natural light to reveal the pristine state of Colt’s workshop.

Maddox looked on with pride. Ah, Colt’s anal-retentive attention to details. Thank Alpha some things never changed.

Even with the sander going and his protective headphones covering his sensitive ears, Maddox had no doubt that Colt knew he was there. His brother would have picked up on his arrival as soon as he approached the shed, then decided whether or not Maddox was a threat to him. Since he wasn’t, Colt kept his attention on his work.

Ten seconds later, Colt finished sanding the corner of his project, turned the sander off, and removed both his safety glasses and his headphones. There was a peg for both. He made sure to put them in their right place before he turned around to face Maddox.

Colt’s movements were slow, precise. That… that was different.

“Hey,” his brother said, a strange look on his face when he nodded at Maddox. “Wasn’t expecting you so soon. I bet Dodge the warden would dick you around some more, find a reason to delay your release. I’m glad to see I was wrong.”

He took a ginger step toward Maddox, winced slightly and stepped again, obviously favoring his left leg. For Colt to show even that much of a reaction to pain, it had to be excruciating.

Maddox froze, his senses focused on Colt’s left ankle. He could actually feel the heat radiating off of it. If it wasn’t broken just then, it had been shortly before. Considering how fast a shifter’s natural healing abilities worked, it had to be one hell of an injury if it was taking so much time and power to heal.

Whoever did this to him, whatever caused his brother pain… Maddox had the sudden urge to chase them down and rip out their throats with his fangs. Coarse grey fur tinged with white sprouted along the length of his arms. He swiveled back and forth, to and fro, searching out any immediate threats.

Only two people in the world roused Maddox's protective instincts. One was his mate. The other? Colton.

He knew it was ridiculous. Colt was only four years younger than he was, an alpha wolf in his own right, and he'd proven time and time again that he could take care of himself. It didn't matter. Try telling that to Maddox's wolf. His dad was the only wolf in their pack more dominant than Maddox, and since Terrence fiercely protected his mate, Maddox knew his mother was in good claws. But ever since he was a young pup, his dad had pounded the notion that it was up to Maddox to look out for Colt into his thick skull.

He took that job very seriously.

“What happened to your leg?” Maddox demanded when his surveillance revealed that they were the only two on the property.

“Don't snarl at me, Mad. I’m glad to see you, but I’m not in the mood. My leg’s just fine. It’s nothing.”

Maddox wasn’t about to let Colt brush him off. “It had to be bad if you're still limping. What happened?”

“I said it’s nothing. Drop it.”

“I’ll drop it when you tell me why you’re walking on a broken ankle, Colt. And don’t you fucking dare say ‘nothing’ again. You should've healed already if it was nothing.”

“You don't think I feel like an idiot already without you badgering me?” Colt snapped. “It was a dumb accident. I dropped a dresser I was delivering on my foot and crushed my ankle, okay? But the bone’s already knitting back together. I'll be a hundred percent by tomorrow. There are more important things to worry about than my fucking clumsiness, you know. So I’ll say it again: drop it.”

Maddox pointedly continued to ignore the warning in Colt’s tone. “Clumsiness? Since when are you clumsy?”

Colt’s icy blue stare went nearly glacial as he glared up at his older brother. “Since now, I guess. How the hell would you know, anyway? When did you ever ask about me when you were in the Cage?”

Forget imaginary threats—suddenly he had a real problem right in front of him that he couldn’t pretend didn’t exist. Maddox's wolf sat up a little at that barked comment, bristling at Colt’s tone and eyeing Colt’s burgeoning snout and elongated fangs with interest. Sometimes it was a bitch to be an alpha, especially when his beast was seriously thinking about ripping Colt’s throat out for what it saw as a clear challenge. But if Terrence refrained from killing his boys over the years, Maddox could indulge his younger brother.

Now wasn't the time to assert his dominance after an absence of three years. That could wait until after he found Evangeline.

Colt must have realized how close to the edge he was

at the same time that Maddox made a conscious effort to not notice Colt’s attitude. His brother took a deep breath and dropped his stare. Turning his back on Maddox—an obvious sign of submission and trust—he picked a sheet up off of the floor and shook it out before covering his project. When he turned around again, he looked embarrassed. And entirely human.

“Sorry about that,” Colt said, running a hand through his short hair. His downcast eyes were back to their bright blue color. “I didn't mean it.”

“Don't worry about it.”

“No, it’s just—”

Maddox shook his head. “Colt, no. You’re absolutely right. I have a lot to make up for. But first—”