Hungry Like a Wolf (Claws Clause 1)

Witches were nothing if not a contradiction. If they trained in it, they could be as good a lie detector as a shifter, using magic to sense a deception rather than sniffing one out. But, because of how they could use their magic, most witches tended to glamour themselves. Luciana had been the head witch of this coven since before Colt was a pup. She didn’t look a day over twenty-five. She was a walking lie.

He had to remember that. She could lie to his face by keeping her glamour up. If he so much as tried to tell a fib while in front of her, she’d make him pay.

Fucking witches.

Colt strode forward, forcing himself to remember why exactly he was doing this again.

He wouldn’t even be there if it weren’t for his brother. Finding a witch to check on the status of Maddox and Evangeline’s bond was exceedingly important and if it kept him from dwelling too closely on his own troubles, that was fine with him.

Luciana folded her hands, finger over finger, resting them on the edge of her desk. The epitome of a business professional about to make a deal.

See? Just another day at the office.

“Did you bring the diamond?” she asked.

He showed the witch what was in his hand.

Her painted lips pulled upward in a satisfied smile. “It’s mine? Meant for me and no one else?”

Colt nodded.

More witchy bullshit. The diamonds had to be freely given otherwise they were worthless to their spells. It was why the witches sold their magic to the government and those who could afford their steep prices. If making off with a sackful of precious diamonds left their inherent power intact, there would be a rush of gorgeous jewel thieves with purple eyes. Since they had to earn them—and buying them with their own funds didn’t seem to work, either—spells and wards cost a pretty diamond.

Luciana held out her hand. Soft purple light bathed her palm in an otherworldly glow. She closed her eyes, hummed, then opened them wide.

The diamond was nestled in her palm.

Colt glanced at his. Completely empty.

He hadn’t felt a thing.

His wolf bared its teeth. Just in case he gave in to the same urge, Colton clamped his mouth shut. Probably not a good idea to accidentally threaten the witch.

As if she even noticed his reaction—or maybe she did and didn’t care. She laughed joyously at her prize, dipping her hand down to one of the pockets in her suit. As soon as the diamond was gone, Colt knew she’d taken his payment. For as long as she wanted to humor him, he had an audience with Luciana.

Well, then. Better make the most of it.

20

“I need a favor.”

Luciana leaned back in her desk chair, the very picture of a regal queen in her throne. “Go on.”

“A witch severed one side of a mate bond. I’m willing to pay as much as you’re asking to put it back together again.”

“Interesting. Tell me… was it your witch?”

His back went up. A heartbeat later, his wolf lunged to the forefront. Fur sprouted along his arms, his neck, his throat. He struggled to force the partial shift back, but it was almost as hard as his poor, unfortunate dick.

But his witch? Colt didn’t have a witch.

Luciana pursed her lips. “Your eyes go blue. Almost icy blue. That’s… unusual.”

It was. He was the only shifter he knew whose eyes did that. In the case of wolf shifters, even if the two-legged shape didn’t have the golden eyes common to his kind, the wolf did and his shifter’s gaze turned a mix between amber and yellow.

Not Colt.

While pure-bred wolves in the wild didn’t have blue eyes, shifters could—but only the man, never the wolf. Colt was the only one he knew whose gaze went icy blue when his wolf was in control. He’d given up trying to understand why.