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And it would stop at nothing to find its mate

Finding her, clai her… it was his main focus Sure, he worked hard as a construction foreroomed to take over the pack since he was a pup, but that didn’t change who Maddox was on the inside

Of course, to a shifter, living on the wild sidecompletely different than it did to the humans—which hy Terrence was so frustrated with his oldest son It side the hu as if their societies didn’t stay separate despite the powers that be insisting that—more than fifty years after paranormals were forced to reveal the truth of their existence—Paras and hu happy family

Maddox was an oddity aling with the other races One of his oldest friends was a witch, he host pal, and he did all of the interacting with humans on the pack’s behalf that needed to be done Despite the do all types, human or Para

Well, except for Nightwalkers But no one liked Nightwalkers—not even other Nightwalkers

His father gave up arguing over Maddox’s open attitude years ago Colton had never been able to figure out his older brother’s fascination with the hury when it caht of the hu other than ants: far tooand ay too easily squished

Maddox was different He didn’t give a shit who knew it, either If they were strong enough to challenge hi an alpha wolf shifter There weren’t e him

Which was precisely why it didn’t matter to him where he went to break out into his fur for a while Laws said that shifters could have free rein of any park—even if most stayed away from the humans—and he was confident that, wherever he roaest, the baddest beast around

So, instead of running on pack land, or even taking to the hundreds of acres that bordered the Bumptohere his brother built his hoe

It was a mostly human town, not too far fro on the outskirts, trying their best to blend in

Besides, he had a built-in excuse If anyone asked why he chose to run in Woodbridge of all places, he could always tell the Cilla

Maddox had known Priscilla Winters for most of his life Like him, she was a Para who found herself trapped between both worlds A witch who chose not to live with her coven in Coventry, she rented a small house on a secluded hu spells, chanting incantations, crafting wards, and dabbling in a bit of divination for a client who kept her in as many diamonds as her witchy little heart could ever want

Because her e under his father—as second in the pack and lead foreman for their construction company—left Maddox with little free tiood an excuse as any to see if she was in, rab a bite to eat and check in with her, see how she had been

If he rereat hole in the wall down the street from Cilla’s cul de sac that served two-inch thick steaks His wolf lifted itsall of the scents in the air On the late afternoon breeze, he could just catch a hint ofin the distance He started to salivate Even if Cilla was out, he could cap off his run with a delicioushome

The wind shifted

Another scent blew past him Soft Sweet Whatever it was had an undertone of vanilla, but that wasn’t all There wa

s a depth to it that had his wolf snuffling before it sniffed deeply—

His fur stood on end He dug his claws into the dirt, tearing at the grass as he pawed at it anxiously—