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Three years ago not one damned soul gave a shit that they had never visited the local Bumptown to get a stupid piece of paper signed. After the accident, it was clear to everyone that he was both a bonded male and highly unstable without Evangeline so they immediately invoked the Claws Clause. As soon as the human cops got word that she was DOA at the hospital, Maddox was given his three choices: life in a voluntary incarceration facility; he could undergo a mystical lobotomy that would rip Evangeline from his soul; or be put down like the animal they clearly thought he was.
No one ever asked him to see their bonding license when they were cuffing him in silver and transporting him to the Cage.
Now though, now that he had discovered the truth—the impossible, glorious truth—that damn piece of paper was everything. No bond, no rights. That’s what this Ant was telling him. All because of the ridiculous Claws Clause.
No fucking way.
“She’s my mate,” Maddox said, pushing away from the damaged counter before he broke off the rest of it. “You have to tell me where to find her.”
“Actually,” the supervisor shot back, “we don’t.” There was a finality to her tone that told him he could argue until the moon turned blue and she still wasn’t budging. “Franklin, please explain to this… gentleman how the bonding laws work. Quickly now, we have a line to get through before we break for lunch.” She turned her nose up at Maddox and waved her hand at the mess. “And make sure to take his information. We will be sending him a bill for repairs to the counter.”
The clerk, Franklin, waited for the woman to walk away before he leaned in. Though he lowered his voice, Maddox picked up every word through the haze of his denial. “Sorry about that. Unfortunately, she’s right. Agency’s a real stickler when it comes to the Bond Laws.”
The Claws Clause. If he ever came face to face with the lawmakers who made up those ridiculous laws, he’d love to show them how much damage a real pair of claws could do. Because that damn ordinance had done a number on him. He figured he could return the favor.
Maddox kicked roughly at the mess at his feet. He had to make him understand. “I don’t care if she’s right. I just want to know where my mate is and get her back.”
“I wish I could tell you, but... look, between you and me, I get it. I really do. I’ve had girls run out on me before, too. It sucks. But if this ex of yours found a way to get out before the two of you actually bonded, there had to be a reason.”
No, Maddox thought as he shook his head. Not his Evangeline. She loved him. She married him. Before the accident ripped her away from him, they couldn’t have been more bonded—
“She didn’t want to go anywhere before the crash. We were already bonded,” he snapped through gritted teeth. His gums began to burn, his fangs begging to leng
then again, before he forced his change back. He had to. More ridiculous laws for Paras to follow. Just like vampires weren’t allowed to bite in public and witches couldn’t cast spells within twenty-five feet of public buildings, there wasn’t any unauthorized shifting allowed within a federal facility. “She’s mine.”
The clerk flinched—based on the way his vocal cords stretched and his voice sounded like gravel, Maddox could only imagine the distortion of his features locked in the beginning stages of a shift—but refused to back down. If Maddox wasn’t so frustrated, he might have been impressed.
“Not according to the government, she isn’t. Our records are foolproof and you know the law, Mr. Wolfe. Without the bonding license, you can’t invoke any of the clauses in Ordinance 7304. I can’t give you any further information on Ms. Lewis. There’s simply nothing else I can do for you in that regard. Please don’t make me get my boss again.”
“Mrs. Wolfe,” he growled out. The words were almost unintelligible, slurred out behind an overlarge tongue and a set of canine fangs. He’d lost the battle with his teeth the instant the clerk used Evangeline’s maiden name. Let them fine him for losing control. He didn’t care. “The second I get the bonding license signed, she’s changing her fucking name. I promise you that.”
“So you say, sir. Just remember that you can’t actually force anyone to be bonded to you.”
Maddox didn’t even dignify that with a response. He let the flash of his wolf’s glare and a hint of fang let the clerk know that he’d gone too far with that last comment. He wouldn’t have to force his mate to do anything as soon as the bond snapped back into place and anyone who knew anything about the mating instinct knew that.
This time, when the clerk flinched again, Maddox knew he rattled the poor Ant. A wave of sudden terror hit Maddox in the snout, burning the inside of his nose. Okay, Maddox allowed, watching as poor Franklin pushed his chair back away from his station, called out that he was going to the bathroom, then scurried away. Maybe he might have shifted a little more than he thought he had.
Whoops.
Biting back his frustrated growl, Maddox took a deep breath and forced his features to return to normal. Then, because there were no other windows he could go to and no one left to help him at the D.P.R., he left. He nearly slammed the door on his way out except he could tell the entrance's glass wasn’t protected like the glass partitions. If the glass door shattered, he would have to pay for it. Bad enough he was already looking forward to a bill for the counter.
Wonderful.
Standing in front of the D.P.R., Maddox took stock of his situation. His bond was still eerily quiet, which meant he couldn’t track down Evangeline on his own. The D.P.R. did jackshit for him. He had the clothes on his back, twenty bucks in his wallet, a brand spanking new P.I.D., and that was it—
Well, no, he admitted. That wasn’t quite true. He had Colton, and while Maddox refused to let the rest of the pack know what was going on—including his parents—until he had formally claimed Evangeline entirely, he knew that Colt would help him with whatever he asked.
And it wasn’t like the trip to the D.P.R. was a complete waste of time.
Evangeline was undeniably alive. He didn’t realize how much he was harboring a quiet fear that Colt was wrong, that the warden and the prison board had made a mistake, until the clerk confirmed that she was, at the very least, still alive. Not married, not bonded, but breathing… he’d take it. It was some kind of closure.
And based on where Colt spotted her in the first place, he had a starting point. Fuck if he didn’t have every little thing about her ingrained in his very soul. Maddox didn’t actually need those bureaucrats to find her. He was just trying to be nice. Law-abiding. A fucking Ant.
But he wasn't an Ant. He was an alpha wolf shifter who was going to do whatever it took to track down his mate and revive their mating bond. Starting with going to the last place he knew she had been.
After he went to see Colt, that was. He’d refused Colt’s offer to come pick him up when they finally let him out of the Cage. His brother had done enough already and Maddox needed to prove he could do something for himself.
Now, though?
