Season of the Witch (Claws Clause 2)

Fucking great.

And now he was stuck with a human partner and a witch liaison, and a brother who wanted to kick his ass for agreeing to be a part of this in the first place.

Hey.

At least his Alpha was happy with him.

7

It took two days before Colt finally heard from Corporal Adam Wright.

And when he did?

The anger rolling off of the cop made it clear that he was fighting this partnership harder than Maddox had. Even before he climbed out of his Grayson PD cruiser and stormed up the walkway to Colt’s front porch, his wolf alerted him to the prospective threat.

Colt wasn’t too bothered. Wright was a human in a Bumptown. So what if he was a cop? As he told Diaz, the local law enforcement squads didn’t have any jurisdiction in the Para settlement.

In the Bumptown, might made right. As far as his neighbors were concerned, Colt was the biggest, baddest wolf onsite. Even the damn Claws Clause couldn’t touch him here.

He didn’t have anything to fear from one hopped up Ant.

Besides, he owed Wright.

Maddox hated the guy. That was just the way it was. Colt accepted that his brother had the stronger claim when it came to a real challenge. If it wasn’t for the way that Evangeline still protected her old friend, Maddox would’ve already twisted the Claws Clause to his advantage to slake his wolf’s need to eliminate his rival.

He couldn’t, though, because his instinct to keep Evangeline from harm was even stronger. Maddox’s mate made it clear that, should he go after Wright, that would hurt her… so he didn’t. And Colt couldn’t because it would be a real dick move, stealing the satisfaction of winning the challenge from his brother.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t make Wright wriggle a little.

It’s what Wright had done to him countless times while he was still doing his year as a Cage cop. During the entire last year Maddox spent incarcerated at the magic-free prison, any time Wright was at the desk, he gave Colt grief. Scoffing at him, acting as if he couldn’t arrange for Maddox’s visits, even pretending Colt’s P.I.D. was no good.

It was a power play, obviously, but more than that. Everything about Wright screamed he believed the world would be better off if paranormals still kept their existence a closely guarded secret.

Colt was a hypocrite. Knew it. Accepted it. He’d never been shy in his belief that Paras had an edge over Ants, and it used to piss him off how he was forced to take Wright’s shit because, most of the time, the cop was the only thing standing between Colt visiting Maddox or not.

The only way he got through it was by promising himself that he’d get back at Wright one day. Then Maddox was finally released from the Cage, he ran off with Evangeline to make her remember that he was her mate, and it all came out that, while her memories were missing, Wright made his move. Once the bonding license was signed and Maddox had claimed Evangeline, dealing with Wright became Mad’s privilege.

So he couldn’t challenge the guy. Not only would that screw up this deal he had made with the Grayson PD, but he’d probably tick off both his brother and his unpredictable beast.

But if Wright challenged him...

His wolf could use the release. The stubborn male refused to return to Grayson, following Shea’s strong suggestion that he stay away from her. He was back to staying in his two-legged form, keeping a tight leash on his animal side, and toying with this Ant might be the best way for him to let off some steam.

Eager and a little amused as Wright slammed his car door behind him, Colt stepped down from his front porch, strolling down the walkway.

The two of them met halfway. When Colt raised his eyebrows mockingly, Wright pointed his finger at him. “Don’t you look at me like that. I don’t want to be here anymore than you do.”

Because Colt didn’t think that the cop was any kind of threat, he made an exaggerated display of looking around. “Bumptown seems fine to me. Well, except for my Ant problem.”

Wright’s eyes went from brown to almost black as his expression darkened. “This partnership isn’t happening. It doesn’t matter what my sergeant says. I don’t need your help, Wolfe.”

At that very second, the contrary beast that prowled around inside of Colt lifted its head. Hey, he’d been tricked into this partnership by that witch detective. And now Wright had the nerve to come bursting into his territory, making pronouncements?

No fucking way.

Colt decided then and there—with his wolf’s yip of agreement—that he’d rather gnaw off his own paw than give Wright the satisfaction of backing off.

“Tough shit,” grunted Colt. “Your boss came to me. Asked me to join your little A-team. Even if I hadn’t already given my word, my Alpha knows. He’s given the okay for me to take some time away from my pack duties. I’m all yours.”