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“They always hated me. Her mother especially. It didn’t have anything to do with me, not really. It’s my wolf. They hated the idea that Evangeline was a shifter’s mate.” Maddox stopped pacing. There was a little wobble in his step so the whiskey was still affecting his body. His mind, though? He was getting it. “If Evangeline was hurt, they would’ve blamed me in a heartbeat. They had the money to get the diamonds to hire the best witch in the state. They could’ve done it.”
“Someone did do it,” Colt said. “I don’t know who for sure, but I’d be willing to bet anything I’ve got that they’re responsible. Gonna make family dinners kind of awkward in the future.”
Maddox didn’t seem to appreciate his joke. Scowling, he said, “What family dinners? Evangeline chose someone else. The fucking Claws Clause is clear. She might be my mate but, unless she chooses to bond with me, I’m shit out of luck.”
“Then screw the Claws Clause. Take her. If she’s not around her parents or that other guy, maybe the bond will come back. She’s your mate, Mad. Take her and prove it.”
“Yeah, right. The Ants will have me thrown in the Cage so fast, my ass’ll leave skid marks on the floor of my cell. Be serious, Colt. Hell, I thought I was the drunk one here.”
“I am serious. It’s how an Alpha always did it. Stupid Claws Clause didn’t even come about until… what? Fifty years ago? For centuries, a shifter found its mate, claimed its mate, and doted on its mate. It never failed before. The bond knows. Even the humans admit that after a while. Besides, Evangeline chose you once before. Give her the chance and she’ll choose you again.”
Maddox blinked. “You… you mean this. Really mean this. What happened to ‘that’s kidnapping and it’s against the laws’?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I distinctually... no, distinctly… I distinctly remember that. When I first met Evangeline and I knew she was my mate. You said not to take her, ‘cause the Ants consider that kidnapping.”
That sounded like something Colt would’ve said. But that was before.
Before he watched Maddox and Evangeline fall in love. Before Colt saw just how happy his mate made Maddox. Before—
“So? It’s not like whoever had your bond cut didn’t already go against the laws. You’re just evening the playing field.”
Shaking his head, Maddox muttered, “Oof. There’s still way too much whiskey in my gut for me to listen to this shit.”
“Why? Because you think it’s too risky?”
“No. Because I’m beginning to think you’ve got a point. Evangeline already agreed to be my mate once. The bond’s coming back… for me, at least. And we’re still fucking married. It… it wouldn’t be taking her, right? Just bringing her back home.”
Colt could tell that Maddox’s drunk brain wa
s reaching. And, while he made a very excellent point, they both knew that the law wouldn’t see it that way.
Know what?
Fuck the law.
Evangeline was Maddox’s mate. And Colton Wolfe was going to do anything and everything he could to bring them back together.
“Exactly.”
The next morning, after Maddox slept off his whiskey binge in Colt’s spare room, he wanted to believe that Colt was kidding. That, while Maddox was too inebriated to retaliate, his brother was deliberately fucking with him.
Taking Evangeline? Paras didn’t see it the same way—not when it came to a mate—but there were so many Ant laws against it, Maddox would be risking his neck if he even tried it.
It had to be a joke.
Only it wasn’t.
Laying on his back, remembering most of the conversation from last night, Maddox realized that Colt was serious when he said they could do it.
He was only too willing to help, too.
At first Maddox thought it might be the whiskey talking, but it wasn’t long before he couldn’t blame the booze any longer and, over lunch, Colt was still explaining how easy it would be to just run off with Evangeline.
Sober, aware, and missing his mate painfully, Maddox began to buy into the idea himself. And the more they plotted and planned and connived, it became clear that his younger brother got a kick out of trying to beat the Claws Clause.
He eagerly offered up the continued use of his truck, and even suggested using his house as a base of operation. Grateful for the offer, Maddox had to tell him no. He couldn't risk involving his family or any of his extended pack with this crazy idea. Something also warned him against bringing Evangeline to a Bumptown. The temptation to get that stupid piece of paper signed once and for all would be hard to resist, but he couldn't do that, not when Evangeline didn't even recognize him.
