Hungry Like a Wolf (Claws Clause 1)

Maddox frowned.

It was one thing to know that she didn’t remember him. It was another entirely to have Evangeline act as if she was as much a stranger to him as he was to her when it was just the two of them alone together.

The words were out before he could think better of it.

“Your name is Evangeline Lewis.” Wolfe, he added to himself. She wasn’t ready to hear that yet; still, that didn’t make it any less true. “You’re twenty-seven years old. Your favorite color is orange. You love it when it rains because you think it’s God’s way of crying and that means it’s okay to be sad sometimes.”

Her mouth fell open. Evangeline blinked, then shook her head as if that was enough to get him to shut up.

“You’re addicted to caffeine. You get this fancy frou frou drink, always iced, even in the winter. Almond milk, too, not because you have a problem with real milk, but because you’re convinced it makes your drink taste a bit nuttier.”

“Stop it—”

Maddox couldn’t.

“Your mother is Naomi. Your father is Paul. They never liked me. If they knew you were here… if they had any idea I had you, all hell would break loose. It’s one of the reasons I had to do it this way. I’m sorry, but I had no choice. You’ll see. One day, you’ll understand why it had to be this way.”

For both of their sakes, Maddox hoped it was sooner than later.

Evangeline’s mouth hung open, gawking up at him. No fear. No shield. Just pure shock.

“Who… who are you?”

“My name is Maddox. And I know everything there is about you.”

“How? How…” Evangeline shook her head. Her hands were shaking. Quickly, she shoved them under the sheet. Too late. Maddox picked up on the reaction. “The coffee shop… you really did set me up. Me. You picked me out on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Angie—”

“How long have you been watching me?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then how is it? You drugged me. You brought me here, wherever here is. I met you, what? Like five days ago? But you seem to know so much about me, I bet you could tell me the name of the hamster I had when I was twelve.”

“Rupert the Survivor,” Maddox said. The answer just popped out. “He had no teeth and you fed him birdseed that he managed to gum down, piece by piece. He lived for close to four years, even after he went blind in one eye. You cried so hard when he died that you swore you would never have another pet again.”

He always thought that Evangeline’s irrational phobia about loving another pet was ironic. There she was, swearing she’d never get attached to another animal, and what happened? Fate decided she was the mate of a wolf shifter. In one fell swoop, she got a husband in Maddox and the most devoted pet ever in his beast.

Maddox didn’t know what it was that did it. She stared him down within seconds of taking stock of her situation. When her temper got the better of her, she lashed out, even though she had no idea that she had nothing to fear from Maddox. She tried to manipulate him into thinking she was harmless, even unaffected beyond an icy shield.

But showing her just how much he remembered about her, about his mate… that did it. Tears filled her eyes, making the green go glassy. She gulped and, for the first time since she discovered him in the room, Evangeline looked away.

“Get out.” She curled up on the bed, her legs tucked protectively under her as she turned away from him. “Turn the lock, I don’t care. Keep me prisoner. Just go.”

He sucked in a breath. He got another taste of her scent. Even that wasn’t enough to make the guilt subside.

Maddox never expected to break her. What happened during the last three years? The fire and the venom and the anger, that was okay. He’d been expecting that. But this?

What the fuck had he done?

Nothing that he wouldn’t have done if given a second chance to do it all over again.

She didn’t understand. She didn’t know.

Maybe—

Maybe it was time he told her.