“And then what happened?”
“That was it,” she said softly. “Bradley brought me in, then stayed with me until Maddox came rushing back. He heard my scream and felt my fear and there he was. He told Bradley to go after the vampire, but he needed to go himself. So he called you.”
Evangeline’s true scent—her innate essence—was a rich vanilla that, Maddox swore, was the most amazing smell ever. And, while it didn’t hold a candle to Shea’s woodsy aroma, Colt didn’t mind it.
When it developed a sour edge, curdling like spoiled milk?
Not only did it offend his nose, it offended him.
“You’re lying,” he said flatly.
“What? Colt, I’m not—”
“Maybe by omission, but sure you are. What aren’t you telling me, Evangeline? I won’t tell Maddox if he doesn’t need to know”—as overprotective as he was, sometimes a little secret wouldn’t hurt him—“but you can’t keep it to yourself.”
“It’s okay. I already told Mad. It’s just… right as the vampire left, he called back something.” When Colt just watched her, arms crossed over his chest as he waited for the rest of her answer, she sighed. “He told me to make sure I say hi to Corporal Wright for him.”
Colt blinked.
Okay, then. He hadn’t expected that.
* * *
It would’ve been better if Colt went after the Nightwalker. He might’ve actually had a chance of tracking him down.
Maddox couldn’t stay away from his mate for too long. He was torn between taking out any threat to Evangeline and staying close enough that she’d be protected by his wolf. Sure, he trusted Colt, and he knew Evangeline was in good hands when she was with him, but he couldn’t help himself.
He made it half an hour before he was back, spitting and snarling and cursing every Alpha damn Nightwalker on the east coast. He spared only enough time to shift back to two legs and, thankfully, pull on a pair of jeans before he returned to Evangeline’s side.
She tried to calm her mate down, but even her touch wasn’t enough to cool the beast. He was gentle with her—always gentle—but he paced around her in a circle as if he needed to keep her in his sight at all times. Musk filled the air. Maddox’s wolf was throwing off enough pheromones to make it obvious what was on his mind. Now that he was sure that Evangeline was safe, he needed to claim her, needed to prove that she was there—that she was still his.
Colt was just about to make his excuses and leave the mated pair to it when his wolf cocked an ear, picking up on the sound of a car screeching toward them.
Maddox’s golden eyes lit up, an amber sheen rolling over them, turning them into headlights right there in the living room. “Someone’s coming.”
Colt was already on the move.
After Evangeline’s confession, he was sure he knew who was quickly approaching and, as he ran out the front door, he was right. A shiny blue coupe was parked in the middle of the cul de sac, the door wide open as the driver started to sprint toward the house.
He intercepted Wright at the foot of the drive. “You’re not going in there.”
“I have to see Eva.”
Not gonna happen.
If the cop got inside of Mad’s house while his wolf was riding him, Colt had no doubt that his brother would attack first, ask questions later. Especially now that Evangeline had confessed to Maddox that the Nightwalker had used Wright’s name.
Colt held his palms out, shoving Wright in the chest, pushing him about five feet before Wright dug in his heels, regaining his footing on the blacktop. “I said no.”
“You don’t understand—”
Maybe he didn’t. Then again, maybe he did.
His nostrils flared.
Adam Wright was running scared. That was fear dripping off of him, like the sweat beaded along his brow. Colt would know that nasty, sour stink anywhere. And he wasn’t scared because the Nightwalkers had a read on his identity as the cop running the task force.
He was scared because he thought they’d already gotten to Evangeline.