Hungry Like a Wolf (Claws Clause 1)

Evangeline was sleeping.

At least, she thought she was.

She’d been waiting for Maddox to come back after the way he stormed off last night. If she knew how to find him, she would’ve chased after him. She had a thing or two to say to him, especially since a relationship wouldn’t work if there wasn’t an open and honest communication. Too bad he left his stupid phone behind when he left or she would’ve already let him have it.

The night wore on. As it did, her anger turned to worry when he didn’t return to Wolf’s Creek. She thought about giving up and driving home to Woodbridge—they’d talked about moving in together a couple of times, though she still had her house—and decided that she’d give it a few more hours.

She must have fallen asleep because, next thing she knew, she was being nudged gently awake by a strong, warm hand.

“Angie?”

That was her name—no. That was what Maddox called her.

Maddox.

She came to slowly, stretching her arms, her back, her toes before shifting from her side to her back. It was brighter than it had been. She blinked a few times, then focused on the handsome beast of a man crouched next to her.

Evangeline smiled. There was no one in the world she’d rather wake up to than Maddox Wolfe. “Hey.”

Relief flashed across his face. “Hey. What are you doing on the couch?”

She was quiet for a moment, thrown back to the night before. The argument when Maddox sprang an impulsive proposal on her, and the awkward discussion when it came to becoming his bonded mate. He asked her to marry him because he wanted to bite her, wanted to claim her fully. Evangeline was down with mating—she wanted to hump him so bad, it wasn’t funny—but she had insisted that they get married by human officials before the claiming.

A paranormal through and through, her shifter mate balked at the idea.

Evangeline stood her ground.

Maddox left the house, probably to cool off, then hopefully realize what a massive, hypocritical dick he had been. But he was back now. Whatever his reason, he came back.

That didn’t change the fact that he left her.

Evangeline’s smile slid off of her face. “Oh. I was waiting for you to come back home. I guess I fell asleep. Sorry about that.”

“You could’ve slept in the bed.”

Without him in it? No, thanks.

“I wasn’t planning on sleeping,” she told him, purposely turning away.

The long night weighed on her shoulders and she started to yawn. She stifled it with the back of her hand before shrugging. For some reason, it seemed important not to let her big, bad wolf see how much his abandonment hurt her. Because now? Evangeline couldn’t find it in her to be angry, even though she was. Maddox was her mate. The one who professed to love her. He wasn’t supposed to run away.

He wasn’t supposed to leave her alone.

They had a bond. All that was left was the final claiming, and the two certificates that would make them married and mated in the eyes of all. She already gave him everything: her love, her hope, her dreams, her future. When he was ready to take her, she’d give him her body.

All she wanted was him—

There was so much more that should have happened. Like the strongest sense of déjà vu, Evangeline had the feeling that she had lived this exact same scene once before. Maddox would apologize, the two would work out their feelings, and then… something would happen.

Something did happen.

The room flooded with a cloud of thick smoke. It wasn’t dark, more of a pale purple, and it moved like thunderstorm clouds across the sky. Within seconds, Evangeline was surrounded. She felt it reaching for her, washing over her, pushing her down like a wave crashing over her. She was blinded by it, consumed by it.

And, once again, she was alone.

The couch disappeared the instant that she got to her feet. Evangeline walked easily on both feet, another sign that this was still a dream. While she was awake, her right ankle was too swollen and painful to support her weight. At that moment, she was trudging through the empty space, searching for her mate. Her ankle was the last thing on her mind.

Where was Maddox?