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No one told the Alpha no and got away with it.
Because Maddox was—or used to be—next in line to succeed as Alpha, Terrence was holding onto his wolf by the thinnest of threads. Of course, an essential part of being the pack’s leader was learning control. It was one of the reasons why Colt could never be more than a pack beta. Maddox’s younger brother didn’t know the meaning of the word when it came to a fight.
Maddox, though? He lowered his eyes, looking at the snowy ground instead of meeting the challenge in his father’s glare.
If he accepted it, there would be no going back.
Terrence snorted. “Don’t look away from me, boy. You didn’t think I’d let you get away with turning your back on us so easily.”
“Evangeline is my priority,” Maddox snapped back. But he didn’t look up. Not yet. When he recognized that the intruders were his parents, he had retracted his claws. Now, they burst out from the end of his fingers, slicing into the meat of his palm as he clenched his fists. He forced them in again before the scent of his blood carried on the wind over to this father. Still, he didn’t look up. “My mate means more to me than anything else—even your plans for me.”
“Evangeline is family,” his father agreed. “And that makes her Pack.”
Maddox jerked his head. A nod. He knew that. From the second his wolf caught her rich vanilla scent on the air and recognized that the brunette beauty with the forest green eyes was its mate, she’d been his responsibility. With their bonding, that extended to the rest of the pack.
“I know.”
“The boy I raised to take my place would know that a strong pack is a far better protection than one lone wolf.”
“I’m not a lone wolf,” Maddox snarled, bristling at his father’s calculated insult. Old man knew exactly what he was doing, he’d give him that. “I told you to find someone else to groom as the next Alpha, Dad. Never said I was leaving the pack.”
“Anyone else tries to take over the pack, they’ll run you and your mate right out. You can’t expect another Alpha to lead when he knows that no one’s stronger than you, Mad. You’d always be a threat—and, just like your brother and his witch, anyone could use your mate against you.”
Maddox tried not to let his surprise show. It shouldn’t be such a shock that Terrence knew what was going on with Colt and Shea. Nothing got past him, not when they were kids, and certainly not now.
And he wasn’t wrong. His father was only telling Maddox the same things he already knew. He might not want to be a lone wolf, with his human mate as the only other member of a pack of two, but that was a very real possibility if he chose to turn the pack over to someone else.
He dared a peek up at his Alpha. “You know why I tried to give up my position, right?”
“Oh, yeah. Mating dance and the final claiming makes all of us a bit stupid, though. I don’t blame you for it. Your mate’s gonna be the most important part of your life for the rest of it. But I’m not lyin’, boy. With the power of the whole pack behind you, nothing will threaten your Evangeline. You want to hide her away in the cabin? Do that. But do it because you’re the Alpha and your word is law. You understand me?”
Maddox… did.
This time, when he met his father’s stare, he didn’t blink. He didn’t steal a glance or look away suddenly so that Terrence’s wolf didn’t recognize it as a challenge. Because it was.
A challenge.
He shrugged. A nervous lump lodged in his throat. He swallowed roughly as, inside his chest, his wolf started to pace anxiously, ready to burst out of his skin and into its fur.
“I’m not the Alpha,” Maddox said. His fangs lengthened. His claws sliced out again in a snick-ing sound that echoed throughout the yard. He leaned forward, his body primed for the shift.
Terrence mirrored the stance, an anticipatory smile quirking his scarred lip upward. “No. I am.”
“For now.”
“You ready, boy?”
Maddox tugged off his shirt. The cold was an afterthought against his overheated skin as he threw his shirt to the snowy ground. “Whenever you are.”
When his father widened his grin, the older man made sure to show off his canines. “Then let’s go.”
* * *
As soon Sarah guided Evangeline inside of the cabin, she thought that her mother-in-law would let her go.
She was, uh, kind of wrong about that.
Sarah Wolfe was more than a head shorter than the six-foot-tall Evangeline. With dark blonde hair, a pale complexion, and a gorgeous face that belonged on a woman more than half her age, Maddox’s mother was petite, she was sweet, and she wasn’t just the Alpha’s mate—she was also a wolf shifter, so she was super freakin’ strong.
