Hungry Like a Wolf (Claws Clause 1)

It took her a second to focus beyond his worried gaze. Adam was kneeling in front of her and, yup, they were both on the ground. The perfume bottle—with its stopper back in place—lay on its side by his right boot. The lilac and vanilla blend seemed stronger now that it was on her skin, with Adam’s scent lingering all around her.

Evangeline had the sudden urge to get far, far away from him. She started to sit up so that she could climb back to her feet. That was when she realized he was still holding onto her by her shoulders. As if he’d been touching her all of this time.

Okay. That was too close. She started to shake—even though she couldn’t say why she did—and Adam’s frightened expression came rushing back. He got to his feet, gently easing Evangeline up until she was standing again. He didn’t let her get away, though. Tucking her into his side, he began to guide her further into her apartment.

“Come on, Eva, let’s get you down on the couch before you start to faint again.”

“I didn’t faint,” she protested weakly. Might have been more convincing if she didn’t sound like she was about to pass out. “I’m alright. Please let go.”

“When you’re sitting, I will.”

“I’m fine, Adam.”

“It’s okay. Listen, your mom said something about how you used to get headaches. I’m not gonna push when you obviously don’t feel well. We’ll go out another time.”

Adam managed to get her halfway across her living room before his words sank in. She shook his hands off of her, panic flaring up as the rest of the pain fled in its wake. “No, no. Not a headache, just a twinge. It’s nothing to worry about.”

They had to go out now, no matter how she felt. She’d never hear the end of it from her mother otherwise. And considering she’d told her parents, her therapist, and her doctors that the night terrors had stopped and she hadn’t had a headache in months, she couldn’t explain why she canceled. She could only hope that Adam forgot all about it by the time dinner was done. If he snitched… well, she knew her mother had her room waiting for her. If Naomi ever discovered the extent of her fudging the truth, she’d be moving back home before she had time to blink.

That settled it. She was going out with him if it killed her.

“Hey,” she added, skirting around him when he tried to reach for her again. The adrenaline shook off the last of the pain, making her alert and determined. “I’m dressed, it took me half an hour to find my shoes earlier, and now you’ve got me wearing fancy perfume. You promised me dinner, Adam. I won’t let you take it back now.”

Evangeline held her breath as she waited for his answer. His brow was furrowed in a concern she wished he didn’t feel, but a few seconds later his lips quirked up into an amused grin. “I did promise, didn’t I?”

It took everything she had not to let her breath out in a rush of relief. “You did.”

“And you’re sure you’re feeling up to it?”

Evangeline could barely remember what had brought the headache on so suddenly in the first place. Of course, that was the problem. They said the strange holes in her memory would close up in time. Eventually she would learn her triggers and be able to avoid them.

She was sick and tired of waiting.

She was sick and tired of feeling all alone.

Adam Wright wasn’t the man in her dream. Still, he would do.

“Are you trying to get out of dinner?” she dared him.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Eva.”

“Then let’s go.”

And when Adam dared to place his hand on Evangeline’s shoulder again to help her into the hallway, she let it stay there.

Even if she really, really wanted to shove it off.

5

It took more than a month before Maddox was finally released from the Cage.

As his brother so eloquently put it during one of their now weekly meetings: voluntary incarceration, my hairy ass. If it wasn’t for Colton’s testimony that he was the one who scented Evangeline first, then actually saw her with his own two eyes, Maddox doubted they would have even had a hearing.

Even more notably, Colt managed to rein in his wolf throughout the hours-long process, biting back his snarls as he told his story over and over again to the board. They brought in a witch to test him, to see if Colt was telling the truth. Colt passed with flying colors.

Bureaucracy was bitch, though. So what if Colt’s testimony proved that there was no reason why Maddox deserved to be locked up? It took weeks to cut through the red tape before Bennett finally got the okay to remove the silver collar from around Maddox’s throat. Once the veteran guard escorted him back to the outside, Maddox had only one goal in mind.

Find his mate.