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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.
