“That’s good news. Good news, Mad… isn’t it?
“It should’ve been. It was supposed to be easy. Find Angie, claim Angie. Only…” Maddox shrugged helplessly, his golden eyes wild. “Her scent was gone,” he admitted at last. “And her eyes… she looked right through me. She acted as if she didn’t even know who I am.”
Colt nearly choked on his breath.
So it wasn’t just him, was it?
Maddox’s head snapped in his direction. “What was that?”
Colt swallowed roughly. “What was what?”
He didn’t give anything away in his scent, he was sure of it; born an alpha wolf to the Alpha, Colt learned how to keep his emotions locked up tight so that nothing gave him away. He was working on twisting his words enough that no one could pick up on the rare times he didn’t feel like being honest. Apart from that strangled gasp, there was no way Maddox should have been able to guess that Colt was suddenly rattled.
Except that Maddox was his older brother. So what if he spent the last few years in the Cage? Colt didn’t stand a chance against him.
Maddox moved carefully across the room, picking his way around the furniture, never taking his predator’s gaze away from Colt. “What aren’t you telling me? What the hell is going on, Colton?”
Colt winced. Colton. Maddox sounded just like their father—just like the Alpha—whenever he barked out Colt’s full name like that.
He couldn’t help it. He immediately went on the defensive.
“Okay. Listen. You can’t blame me. I thought it was a fluke. I mean, she’s not my mate.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“When I found her scent, right? When I followed her to the store in Grayson? She saw me. I know she did. She had to have known I was waiting out front, too. Why else would she sneak out the back? But… here’s the thing, bro. She acted like I was a stranger. No recognition. She had a blank stare, a sad smile, and the same scent that used to be embedded in your skin. I knew it was your Evangeline, only she didn’t know it was me.”
Maddox glared at him. A rumble built up in his chest, growing louder and louder before his accusation came out in a mix of snarl and spit. “You didn't tell me any of that!”
Colt held up his hands. “Hey, I was hoping to be wrong. I'm not the one who bonded with her. I figured she had no reason to remember me. But you… she loved you, Mad.”
“She might have once, but now she doesn't remember me. My mate doesn't remember me!”
Colt dared to meet Maddox’s angry gaze. “What did you expect? She would see you, the bond would spring back, and you’d be busy making pups as soon as you got her back home?”
From the frustrated look on his face, that was exactly what Maddox had expected.
“That's what you told me would happen!”
“How the fuck would I know? Who died and crowned me the mating king? I told you what you needed to hear to keep from going full wolf the second you got out of the Cage.”
Sometimes Colt wished his wolf didn’t have that all-consuming need to obey Maddox’s because, shit, what he wouldn’t have given to be able to lie straight to his face.
Because the second the words were out of his mouth? Colt hated himself for telling the truth.
And when Maddox snarled before lunging straight at him, Colt didn’t try to evade or submit to him without giving Maddox the chance to blow off some steam. Why would he? Whatever came next, he knew he deserved it.
Still… this was going to hurt.
The fight was fast and furious, a flurry of fists and fangs as each of the Wolfe brothers engaged in a partial shift. It was how they had always fought since they were pups: not a challenge or a real attempt to hurt each other, but a scuffle between brothers. In their human shape, Maddox was taller, though Colt was faster and wasn’t afraid to hit his brother as hard as he possibly could; as wolves, Maddox had the full advantage because of his dominance. Halfway shifted, they were more evenly matched.
Colt was a single-minded f
ighter who fought dirty when he had to. Maddox had his missing mate bond to fuel him. While Colt got in a few good hits, it was no surprise that Maddox wiped the floor with his younger brother.
In fact, the floor was where they both ended up when the fight was over. Colt was flat on his belly, Maddox perched on Colt’s back, forcing Colt to keep on submitting. There was blood on Maddox’s knuckles and Colt’s right eye was swollen shut, but while they both panted from a combination of exertion and adrenaline, the injuries were already starting to heal.
It was easy to let a good right hook do the talking when the damage done would fade away in minutes due to a shifter’s metabolism. Their tendency to use a fistfight to solve all of their disputes used to drive their poor mother crazy, especially when Terrence jumped in and fought alongside his boys.