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But the way Wright snarled ‘mine’ roused Maddox’s wolf, the possessive need to assert his claim over his mate almost unbearably hard to resist.
And then the wind shifted. His nostrils flared, automatically searching out the scent of his sudden rival. Because there was no denying that Wright was telling the fucking truth. Maddox knew that scent. He’d smelled hints of it all over Evangeline before her scent came back and overpowered it. With a stifled growl, he narrowed his gaze on Wright’s nameplate.
A. Wright.
“Adam,” he snarled. He knew in an instant that he’d made a huge mistake. Didn’t matter. He couldn’t have stopped his reaction if he wanted to.
This was the man who had tried to steal his mate from him?
Wright’s shit-eating grin was huge. “Eva tell you about me? She remembers me, you see. Can you say the same? What kind of bond do you think you had with her if she forgot you so easily?”
If Maddox hadn’t been too busy kicking his own ass for slipping up in front of Diaz, he would’ve turned on Wright. That—and timely intervention by the other police officer when Diaz realized Maddox was going to lunge at Wright again—was probably the only thing that saved the Ant’s life.
Diaz grabbed Wright by the shoulder and hauled him about five feet away from Maddox’s front porch. Did he forget that Maddox was an alpha wolf? The distance wasn’t anywhere near far enough to keep their conversation quiet. Though Diaz dropped his voice to a whisper, Maddox’s shifter senses picked up on every word over his angry panting.
“Adam, what the hell are you trying to do?”
“He’s got her, Lou. I know he does.”
“We’ve got to do this right, you know that, too.”
“She needs me.”
“Sure she does, but do you think it’s a good idea to rub his face in the fact that you knew his mate when he was locked up in the Cage?”
“What’s he gonna do? He wolfs out, you shoot him. Plain and simple.”
“I can’t—”
“That’s the beauty of the Claws Clause, Diaz. Yes, you can.”
Then, before Diaz could get another word in, Wright stomped back over to Maddox, hand out, pointer finger extended.
“You weren’t supposed to get your paws on her. I watched her from afar, took care of her while she recovered. When it seemed like you might go after her again, I kept her safe from you. It was easy, too. Fucking animal follows its nose, right? So I hid her scent trail, made you work for it. But you got to my girl anyway. Tell me. Tell me, Wolfe. How did you find her?”
Maddox’s gaze strayed back over to Diaz’s gun. It was a struggle to keep his voice steady, but he did it by forcing himself to remember that he couldn’t bond with Evangeline if he had a chest full of silver bullets.
“I didn’t.”
Truth. Maddox hadn’t found her.
Colton had.
“You’re lying,” spat out Wright.
Diaz shook his head. “He’s telling the truth.”
“How the hell would you know? You a witch or something?” Then, as if realizing how he had spoken to a fellow officer, Wright regained some composure. Wincing, he said, “Sorry about that. You know I don’t honestly think you’re one of them.”
Of course he would apologize to Diaz. Because, to an Ant, accusing a human of being a Para was the lowest of the low.
Diaz didn’t seem to care. He waved Wright off before jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the waiting cruiser. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. But do me a favor? Get back in the car. You’re not helping either one of us here.”
It seemed as if Wright wasn’t going to listen to the other officer for a moment before he huffed and started to back off. He must have felt incredibly guilty over his low blow to give in so easily.
It was Maddox who wasn’t ready to end this. It was reckless and stupid and basic macho bullshit, but he wasn’t done with the man who thought he deserved Evangeline just yet.
“If she was yours, wouldn’t she have come out when she heard you here? You’re making enough racket to wake the dead, Wright. And I don’t see her. So if you’re right, and she’s here, I guess she’d rather stay with me than come running to you.”
