Hungry Like a Wolf (Claws Clause 1)

She was interested in what he had to say for the first few minutes, only to cut him off when he mentioned that he was a shifter looking for information on his missing mate. Which she would have known if she asked to see his P.I.D but, after the time he spent getting that squared away, not one damn person asked to see it. Almost ruefully, she sent him off to Window F. He loped away from her window, his wolf yipping at him to put some distance between the pheromones coming off of the woman.

After waiting over an hour for the pointy-faced man at Window F, Maddox walked up and opened his mouth—then never even got the chance to say a single word. The little man looked him over, swallowed loudly, and shook his head. His beady eyes were locked on Maddox’s bared teeth.

Maybe it wasn’t the smartest idea to show this clerk his sharp fangs. He’d admit that. But he couldn’t help it. The weaselly man’s whole countenance shouted ‘prey’ and the predator in Maddox responded.

“Window B,” the man squeaked out, pointing at a window across the crowded room. “Next!”

Maddox knew a dismissal when he saw one. Plus, the reek of the man’s fear was even worse than the blatant way the human female at the other window had openly lusted after him. With a dirty look that caused the clerk to tremble noticeably, Maddox stormed his way back over to the first bank of windows.

At least fifteen others were leading up to Window B, a motley mix of shifters and vampires waiting anxiously. One sniff told him that his wolf was the most dominant animal in line. Too bad pack didn’t mean nothing when it came to bureaucracy; no matter how badly he wanted to bully his way to the front of the line, he couldn’t.

Even worse, with so many vampires nearby, the tangy rust of blood and dead meat assaulted his senses—a bloodsucker’s scent both tantalizing and repulsive to a shifter—and he was forced to breathe shallowly through his mouth before he gave in to his instincts at last, wolfed out, and attacked.

There was at least another hour’s wait ahead of him. His wolf let out a long, mournful howl and, honestly, Maddox didn’t blame the beast one bit.

* * *

“Next.”

Maddox realized with a start that it was finally—finally—his turn. He took a step forward, then watched as some smarmy vampire tried to cut in front of him. Oh, hell no. It didn’t matter that he was dealing with a more docile Dayborn instead of a ferocious Nightwalker, he reacted the same: with a deafening snarl that left spit on the vampire’s smooth alabaster cheek. The vampire hissed, wiped the spit away with the back of his hand, and bared his fangs in warning at Maddox.

But when Maddox lunged forward, the bloodsucker took a hurried step back. Maddox didn’t even blink. The vampire's fangs were only half an inch long. A mere fledgling. He wasn't even worth a second look as Maddox stalked over to the open station and the bored human standing behind the glass partition.

At least, the human male had looked bored before the shifter appeared before him. The second he got an eyeful of Maddox, his eyes widened and he gulped. Now he just looked alarmed.

Maddox resisted the urge to snarl at the clerk, too. Not another one. This was the fourth line they had sent him to and each of the D.P.R. workers acted as if they’d never served a Para before. This clerk alone, in the last hour, had helped six vampires and nine shifters—one of which was a fucking bear. Was his wolf that scary? Shit.

He huffed and waited for the human to regain his composure. As long as the Ant didn’t ship him off to another line like the last one, Maddox could spare a few more seconds before he said fuck it and let his wolf take over, screw the consequences.

Would it have killed them to have a worker who didn’t flinch every time a dominant Para approached a window?

The D.P.R. tended to hire Ants because, as they discovered shortly after its inception, there was something about the menial tasks, the paperwork, and the tedium that just called to human workers. Sometimes the agency would make a mistake and hire a Para, but after the last time a witch got frustrated and blasted a Para civilian who complained about their P.I.D., they secretly adopted a very pro-human hiring policy. Normally that wouldn’t bother him. But his patience had worn thin the instant he walked into the D.P.R. and now he was seconds away from losing it.

A month back, Colton’s news had caused a drastic change in Maddox. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t sense Evangeline yet, just knowing she was out there was enough for the moment. His appetite came back triple-fold—and, for a shifter, that was saying something—and his boundless energy made him manic, considering he couldn’t give his beast free rein. While he was still in the Cage, the warden gave orders that he had to wear the silver collar, but the urge to bust out into fur and claws and break free simply manifested itself in another way. He exercised. He ran laps and lifted weights. He did sit-ups until he fell asleep and woke up in a push-up stance. In the cozy darkness of their bedroom, Evangeline always loved to run her hands along his defined muscles as she murmured how hard he felt. She already owned him, heart and soul. He wanted to give his body back to her, too.

Maddox had to admit that he probably looked better now than he had at any point in the last three years. Taller, stronger, and deadlier. There was no denying he was a powerful alpha shifter who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

No wonder the Ant on the other side of the counter was staring at him in ill-disguised terror. That’s how humans always seemed to react whenever they had seen him with Evangeline. Looked like he was going to have to get used to that all over again. Fine. It was a miniscule price to pay to have his mate back—even if he was finding it kind of hard not to spring at the glass and watch this Ant piss his pants.

Maddox had to give this clerk credit since he did recover much faster than the others. He didn’t quite resume his bored expression—Maddox could feel the tension that surrounded him even through the enchanted glass—but he sounded like a true professional as he actually attempted to help Maddox.

Hallelujah, he had found the right window at last.

6

“Name? Last name first, please.”

“Wolfe, Maddox. Two ‘d’s, one ‘x’. There's an ‘e’ at the end of Wolfe.”

The clerk turned to look at the screen in front of him. It was positioned so that, even with Maddox’s shifter eyesight, he couldn't see a damn thing. There was the fierce tapping of keys and then a brisk nod.

“Thank you, Mr. Wolfe. Now what can I do for you?”

“They told me that this was the window to ask about mates. Is that right? Because I’m beginning to think someone’s giving me the runaround here.”

“Hmm… okay.” The clerk tapped his computer screen, his lips moving as he read something to himself, then pressed a couple of more keys. An instant later, he frowned. “That's interesting. I think I see what’s going on here.”

“What's interesting?” The air suddenly shifted and Maddox tensed. The human wasn’t so much afraid as he was suddenly very, very anxious. “What’s going on?”