Season of the Witch (Claws Clause 2)

He yanked his phone out, heart sinking back into place when he saw the picture of his brother glaring at him from the screen.

He almost put the phone away, ignoring the call. But it was Maddox. The guy hated talking on the phone more than anyone he’d ever met. If he could get away with not having to make a call, he always did. And that meant, whenever he did call, it was usually important.

Besides, after their conversation the other day, Colt had been trying to be better at keeping in touch with his family. He considered it penance for skipping Thanksgiving.

Might as well answer.

Colt swiped the screen, then lifted the phone to his ear.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“Listen to me, okay? No time to explain, but I need you to come here and sit with my mate.”

“What? Now?”

“I’m not fucking around. You’re the only one I trust with her safety.” Maddox’s voice was a mix between a shaky rasp and a restrained snarl. He didn’t know why, but his brother was on the edge of losing it. “Either you go after the scent trail or I do, but someone’s gotta stay with Angie.”

Scent trail? Colt had no idea what Maddox was talking about. A hunt, maybe?

No time to explain...

Know what? Colt didn’t need an explanation. Maddox needed him?

He was on his way.

“No prob, Mad. I’m heading back to the house now. Let me grab my keys. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

“Will your wolf get you here faster?”

Good question. Wolf’s Creek was a little more than an hour away by car from Colt’s Bumptown; the out of the way location, surrounded by the 5,000 acres of wooded land for shifters to roam on, made the neighborhood prime for a Para settlement. Colt normally enjoyed his solitude—though, in times like these, when his father demanded his presence on pack land, or Maddox needed his help, he wished he lived a little bit closer.

If he broke out into his fur, running at top speed, he might be able to shave off some of the time. His wolf didn't have to limit itself to roads or traffic laws, either. Dashing through the woods, cutting through backyards, streaking across the highways… he just might be able to get there faster in his other shape.

Plus, with the exception of a run here or there, his wolf had been chained up tight for weeks. So long as he could keep it from loping off toward Grayson instead of his brother's home in Wolf’s Creek, he would run himself to the ground to get there.

His wolf needed the freedom and the exercise.

Maddox needed him.

“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “I think so.”

“Good. I’ll have clothes waiting for you. Do whatever you have to, but get here now.”

“You got it, bro.”

8

Colt loved it when he had the chance to break out into his fur and just run.

It was something about the freedom, his paws pounding the dirt, the thousands of scents hitting his nose and making him feel alive. His wolf was curious by nature, a trait so at odds with the two-legged part of Colt that it amazed him. As a man, he needed ironclad control of his surroundings at all times. As a wolf, he could run forever and forever find something new to marvel at.

There was one downside to traveling as a wolf. Unless he wanted to carry a satchel with his phone and his wallet in it, maybe a spare change of clothes, when Colt made it to his destination, he arrived empty-handed. And since setting that all up would’ve only slowed him down, Colt didn’t have any way to contact Maddox until he made it to Wolf’s Creek.

He found Maddox’s oversized grey wolf waiting on the back porch when Colt finally burst through the wooded area that surrounded his brother’s house. Maddox yipped, swinging his muzzle toward a pile of clothes set out on the stoop. Colt barked back, letting Maddox know that he saw them and that he was ready to guard Evangeline.

After throwing his head back and baying at the yellow moon hanging heavy in the sky, Maddox galloped toward the trees, trading positions with Colt.

The shift was instantaneous. With a snap, Colt went from an arctic wolf with pale blue eyes to a scowling man with a murderous expression.