By the next afternoon, the whole cabin smelled faintly like pine. Despite her grumpy mood, having the tree up made her smile. And that’s when Maddox walked into the front door with an armful of cardboard boxes and an impish smile on his rugged face.
“What’s all this?” Evangeline asked.
“My dad arranged for it for me. Since I didn’t want to leave this territory, one of the betas went back and got these boxes out of where Colt kept them in storage.” After setting the stack down, he popped open a couple of the boxes until he yanked out a plastic container full of shiny, glittering ornaments. “Can’t have a tree without any decorations.”
Her breath caught in her throat. A sheen of tears covered her eyes as she murmured throatily, “Oh. Maddox… that was so sweet of you.”
“You recognize them?”
Evangeline reached into the container he held out to her, lifting out a gold ornament that reflected her beaming face.
Recognize them?
Of course she did.
Back when they first met, around the time she was accepting what it meant to be a shifter’s mate, Evangeline celebrated her first Christmas with Maddox. It was right after she moved from Woodbridge to his Wolf’s Creek home to be closer to him.
A bachelor pad just crying out for a woman’s touch, Evangeline spent that whole December creating a magical holiday season that neither of them would ever forget. From the tree they cut down together to the meal she hosted for half the pack, it was one of the memories she treasured the most once Cilla’s spell was finally lifted.
She remembered the ornaments the most, though. Because Maddox was a shifter, she refused to let a single piece of silver decorate their home. Every bauble, every decoration, every strand of garland even was purposely chosen in shades of red and green and, most importantly, gold because it matched Maddox’s stunning eyes.
Just like this one.
She gave her hand a twirl, watching the ornament glitter and spin, and she smiled.
“I do. They’re perfect, babe. I love it. Thank you! I can’t wait to put them on the tree.”
“I’m glad. I know I’ve been busy, trying to track down Cilla, checking in with Colt, running border checks… I didn’t want you to think I forgot about Christmas. This time is for you and me.”
She was so touched by his gesture that she wasn’t thinking clearly. That was her only excuse for what she let slip as she marveled at the ornament in her hand.
“I know. That’s what I told my mom.”
“Your mom? You talked to your mom? You didn’t tell her where you are, did you? You’re only safe so long as no one knows where we are. Pack knows, that’s about it, and it’s really just Colt and my dad. I won’t risk you, Angie. I won’t do it.”
Evangeline set the ornament down. She didn’t want to accidentally break it; the way her hands were suddenly shaking, that was a possibility. “I didn’t tell her where we were spending the holidays, Mad. Calm down. She invited me over for Christmas and I told her we had plans. She understands.”
The scowl he was wearing actually deepened. “Invited you, right? Not us.”
“It’s not like that—”
“No? Let me guess. When your mother offered the invite, did she mention that Wright’s gonna be there, too?”
Adam Wright. Her ex… something.
“Maddox. Adam’s an old family friend. If he goes to my parents with his mother, I can’t stop it. I’m not going to be there. What does it matter?”
“What does it matter? You can’t be fucking serious. I mean, when is Wright gonna get the hint anyway? We’re already bonded, and I claimed you for life. You’re mine, Ang.”
Her hands went straight to her hips. “Am I?”
The words just popped out of her. She wasn’t even sure that she said them out loud until Maddox reacted.
Her mate went predator-still. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
What did it mean?
She wasn’t sure. It wasn’t something she said on purpose, and considering she knew damn well that Maddox hated Adam—even more now since the Nightwalkers wouldn’t have come after her in the first place if it wasn’t for his position in the Grayson Police Department—it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say to her jealous mate.
She knew that, and since she couldn’t take it back, she pretended it didn’t mean anything at all.
A flippant wave of her hand. A shake of her head as she reached into the nearest box, snatched a stocking, and turned to look for a pin. “Nothing, babe. I’m just… I’m tired. It’s making me snappish. Don’t mind me.”
“Hey… that’s alright. You want to wait to decorate?” he said, concern lacing his rough tone. “We don’t have to do this today.”
Evangeline noticed the way his anger disappeared in a heartbeat, at the very second he thought something was wrong with her. Was it manipulative? Maybe. But she didn’t want to be, so she quickly shook her head.
“Christmas is in a week. I think we put it off long enough, don’t you?”
“Yeah. Sorry. That’s my fault, too. I’ve just been so busy… you looking for something?”
Evangeline glanced down at the stocking she’d been mangling in her grip as she absently dug through another one of the boxes. “A pin or a nail. Something like that. I was gonna hang this stocking up by the tree.”
“I got it. The box of pins was tucked by the ornaments. I just saw them.” As if he needed another excuse to get away from her, Maddox hunched over, reaching inside of another one of the open boxes. “Wanna grab my stocking? I’ll hang them next to each other.”
“Wha— oh. Yeah. Sure.”
She bent over and grabbed the red stocking with Maddox’s name stitched in gold, suddenly grateful that she’d thought ahead and bought gifts for her mate right after he announced that they’d be spending a quiet Christmas together at the cabin. They were all hidden away in one of the empty bedrooms. She’d been so happy when she finished wrapping them, proud that she snuck them in under his nose and hidden them before he went searching for them.
Maddox, she remembered, loved Christmas. Their first holiday together, he sniffed out every single gift.
The way things had been lately, she wasn’t even sure he noticed her attempts at being sneaky. Or that a present could even begin to smooth things over between them.
Evangeline handed Maddox the stocking. “Here you go.”
He tacked the two next to each other, smiling to himself when “Evangeline” and “Maddox” were hanging side by side.
“Together,” he said, more to himself than to her. “Just like it should be.”
If only.
* * *
After their small fight around the Christmas tree, things went back to normal for a little while.
Well, almost.
Maddox still wasn’t showing any signs of wanting to be intimate with her. The one time they were heading toward the back door together and Evangeline pointed out the mistletoe she hung near it, he offered her a quick peck on the cheek before bolting out into the backyard. He shifted into his wolf without even bothering to strip down first, leaving Evangeline to gather the scraps of his tattered flannel and torn jeans from the snow-covered ground.
At least he returned from patrol not much later, wearing a sheepish expression and absolutely nothing else. Her hormones kicked into overdrive when she noticed that he wasn’t even a little shriveled from the cold. In fact, under her approving gaze, he was already half-hard.
Before she could make a move herself and show her mate just how much she missed his body, Maddox barked out a quick apology before her big, bad wolf dashed up the stairs, heading to their bedroom. When he came back down, he was fully dressed.
Well. That certainly killed the mood for her.
Evangeline sighed as she sank down on the couch. Maddox went into the kitchen, whipped up a plate of sandwiches for them to share, then joined her. The cabin didn’t get cable, but it did have a pretty good wi-fi signal, and the two of the
m snuggled on the couch, streaming nostalgic Christmas movies on the television mounted to the wall.
It was nice. Maddox held her hand in his giant one, pulling her close as he nuzzled his nose in her long hair, breathing in her scent. She arched her neck, inviting him to kiss her skin, and even if Maddox didn’t take the hint, he was still there with her.
She’d take what she could get.
When the third movie ended and Evangeline turned down his offer of another sandwich, Maddox untangled his arm from around her shoulder and sat up on the edge of the couch. He yawned, stretched, before running his hand through his shaggy, sandy hair. He scratched at the stubble on his cheek, smacked his lips, and moved the blanket away from their laps.
“Should we start another movie,” Maddox wondered in that deep, raspy voice of his, “or would you rather go to bed now?”
Her heart nearly skipped a beat. Was he finally showing some sign that he was interested? “I—”
“It’s alright, Ang. You don’t have to stay up and keep me company. I saw the way your eyes were drooping during that last flick. Go on. You lay down and I can clean up the kitchen while you get cozy.”
It took everything she had not to let a disappointed frown cross her face.
Nope.
Not interested.
Tucking her hair behind her ear, Evangeline mustered up a small smile. “Yeah. You’re right. I… I guess I am kinda tired.”
“It got late without us realizing it and you decorated most of the cabin on your own. I can tell you’re beat.”
Oh? So Mad knew when she was exhausted, but he was clueless when she was feeling horny?
Evangeline had to try. “You, um… you coming to join me soon?”
“In a bit. I’m gonna take another run around the mountain when I’m done first.”
Of course he was.
Her smile dipped down into the noticeable frown she’d tried to hide before. Not now. “You just said it’s late. Come on, Mad. Come to bed with me. The patrol can wait until the morning.”
“Your safety is too important to me to skip it,” Maddox told her, patting her knee once before pulling his hand away. “I shouldn’t be gone long, just a quick patrol to reinforce our territory lines. You don’t have to wait up for me.”
A flash of fury mixed with sadness ran through her.
Evangeline got up from the couch.
“Don’t worry,” she said, turning away from her mate. “I won’t.”
* * *
Maddox was gone.
Again.
Feeling grumpy, feeling grinchy, Evangeline sprawled out in the king-sized bed, her body stretched out like a starfish as the chilly sheets told her that he wasn’t just gone. He’d been gone for a while.
At least she knew that he did come to bed last night. If it wasn’t for her early morning trip to the bathroom, when she saw Maddox lying on the edge of the bed, his back to where she’d been curled up sleeping, she might’ve wondered if he’d slept downstairs on purpose to avoid her.
Just like he told her not to, Evangeline didn’t wait up for him. She didn’t. And if she was semi-conscious when he came tiptoeing up the stairs much later than he should’ve, well, that was just coincidence.
What was he doing out there? She couldn’t help but wonder. If it was just a patrol, he should’ve have stayed out that long. But he had.
It wasn’t another woman. No doubt in Evangeline’s mind about that. Cheating… it wasn’t the way a Para was wired, especially not a shifter. Mating for life wasn’t just something that attributed to wolves in the wild. A shifter only got one mate; for Maddox, Evangeline was it. So it wasn’t another woman.
It was something, though.
For weeks, he’d been secretive. Pulling away, careful in every touch, every embrace. As much as he confessed to love her, the man she married—that she mated—was so very different than the one who was living with her in this cabin.
And it was about time she found out why.
Deciding she could take a shower later, Evangeline traded her sleep pants and shirt for a fresh blouse and a pair of jeans. Since she didn’t know if Maddox had already gone out, she stopped long enough to lace on her winter boots and throw on her coat before she went out in search of him. She was still so new at following the bond that tethered the two of them together, but she felt an answering tug toward the back so that was where she went.
She didn’t have to go far. As soon as she stepped out through the back door, she found him walking in from the trees, wiping his hands against the sides of his jeans as he whistled something under his breath.
“Frosty the Snowman”? That’s what it sounded like to Evangeline.
He paused at the edge of the yard once he sensed her presence. She didn’t even have to say a word. His head just jerked up, alert gaze locked right on her.
His lips thinned. “Angie, honey? What are you doing out here? Weather forecast is calling for a squall. You should be inside where it’s warm.”
“I was looking for you.”
“Me? What for?”
What for? Maybe because it seemed as if she’d hardly spent any time at all with her mate since he brought her to this stupid cabin?
Evangeline couldn’t hide her frustration. From the way Maddox’s forehead furrowed, he totally picked up on it.
Good.
“Maddox, we’ve got to talk.”
At first, Evangeline thought it was what she said. When Maddox went absolutely still, she wondered if she could’ve brought it up more subtly than that.
But then a warning shot through the bond, from Maddox to Evangeline. A warning and a killer instinct for the shifter to protect his mate.
“Babe?”
“Someone’s in our territory.”
In less than five seconds after he made that pronouncement, he cleared the distance between them, standing right in front of her. He placed his claws gently on her shoulders, turning her easily so that she was facing the door to the back of the cabin again. “Go back inside.”
Evangeline snorted.
“Ang—”
“I’m safer with you than anywhere else,” she argued. “And if it’s the witch, am I really safe anywhere?”
She could tell that she touched a nerve. A muscle ticked in Maddox’s jaw as he clenched it tightly. He didn’t argue, though. How could he? They both knew from experience that she was right.
Luciana’s potion made it so that Cilla couldn’t reach her while she was sleeping. Wide awake? If Cilla got close enough to touch Evangeline with her magic, not even Maddox’s brute strength could save her.
“Stay close,” he ordered, letting go of her shoulders. “And if I tell you to run, you go.”
She nodded. “Fair enough.”
Maddox moved in front of her, providing a shield. He had his hands ready at his side, claws already fully extended. She couldn’t see his face, since his broad back was all but covering her, but she’d be willing to bet that he was engaged in a partial shift, ready to lunge at a moment’s notice.
His head tracked a movement that only his shifter’s senses could read. When Maddox planted his feet, his body twisted in one direction, Evangeline knew that that was where the intruders were heading in from.
She was right.
Less than a minute later, two figures appeared in the distance. She didn’t need his amazing sight to recognize the tall, dark-haired man who towered over the petite blonde woman walking hand in hand with him.
Maddox let out a huff, but he didn’t change his position in the slightest.
Evangeline wasn’t so surprised by his reaction. The company, yes, but not Maddox’s open frustration.
Lifting her hand, resting it comfortingly on his lower back, she murmured, “Isn’t that your parents?”
Maddox didn’t relax a muscle. A growl rumbled deep in his chest as he stared at the mated pair leisurely approaching the cabin.
“Yeah,” he snarled. “That’s them alright.”
Evangeline frowned. “Were we expecting them?”
“You weren’t.”
So Maddox was.
Huh.
Another secret. How freaking wonderful.
3
When his mother immediately threw an arm around Evangeline’s waist once she was close enough to, then hurriedly bustled his mate back inside, Maddox knew that his parents hadn’t stopped by to wish them a very, merry Christmas.
Shit.
As if he could hear Maddox’s curse, his father widened his stance from where he kept a good ten feet distance between them before crossing his burly arms over his barrel chest.
He jerked his head, one part greeting, one part approval. “I checked the borders on our way in. Good job. I picked up on a couple of traps, and you’ve sprayed the mountain so thoroughly, no shifter or corpse is gonna dare come any closer to your lair.”
“Thanks. Until I get my paws on Cilla, I’m not taking any chances.”
“Don’t blame you, boy. You know what you’re doing.”
Did he?
He fucking hoped so.
Once the women had gone inside of the cabin and closed the door behind them, Maddox dared to peek a little bit higher.
Colton, with his teen idol, clean-shaven good looks, took after their beautiful mother. Maddox, though? As he glanced over at his father, careful to peer at the other man out of the corner of his eye so that the powerful wolf didn’t take it as a challenge, Maddox accepted that he was looking at his future in the next thirty years or so.
Terrence Wolfe might have been sixty years old, but a human would’ve never been able to tell. Sure, he had his share of marks on his face—only they weren’t wrinkles, but scars. Gashes and lines covered every inch of skin, each scar another fight he survived in his four decades as a shifter Alpha on the wrong side of the Claws Clause.
Since Paras were forced to reveal their existence to the human world more than fifty years ago, Terrence came into power during a time when paranormal communities were under scrutiny by Ants, other Paras, and the government. He cobbled his pack of motley shifters together out of necessity, fighting hard to keep it together, and keep it powerful.
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