Hungry Like a Wolf

In a world where paranormals live side by side with humans, everybody knows about Ordinance 7304: the Bond Laws. Or, as the Paras snidely whisper to each other, the Claws Clause-a long and detailed set of laws that bonded Para couples must obey if they want their union to be recognized.

Because it wasn't already damn near impossible to find a fated mate in the first place. Now the government just has to get involved...

Three years ago, Maddox Wolfe lost his mate.

Since there's nothing more dangerous than a bonded shifter on his own, Ordinance 7304 gave him three choices: voluntary incarceration until he's no longer a threat; a lobotomy-like procedure performed by government witches that would dissolve his bond; or a state-sanctioned execution so that he could be with his mate again. And while death held a certain appeal in the hazy days following the tragedy, Maddox had his family and his pack to live for. So, refusing to give up his memories of his sweet Evangeline, he chose to spend the rest of his days in the Cage.

That's when his brother drops the bomb on him: his Angie isn't dead. In fact, she's living in the nearby city of Grayson while Maddox is locked up in the magic-free prison. With the newfound knowledge that his mate is alive-alive and on her own-he earns an early release. Eager to get back to her, it never dawns on Maddox that there was a reason he spent three years without her.

And there is. A big one.

His beloved mate doesn't remember him, or their time together. Maddox is nothing but a stranger to her-and worse? When Maddox tracks her down, he discovers that she has a new male.

Can you blame the wild wolf shifter for what he does next?

There's a hole in Evangeline Lewis's memory. The doctors tell her that it's normal, that she'll recover fully in time. After all, it's only been three years since the accident that nearly killed her. They never thought she'd wake up; a nagging, annoying sensation that something's wrong is the least of her worries. Especially since she has so much going on: a new apartment, a new job, her mother's well-meaning attempts at match-making... but tell that to her wayward psyche.

By day, she can't shake the feeling that something's missing. And, by night, she can't escape the dreams of a shadow man with glowing golden eyes...

Her lifeline through it all is her addiction to caffeine. Though her new boyfriend is as overprotective as her parents, she stubbornly clings to her routine. No one is going to stop her from going to the local cafe for her morning coffee. Not her mother. Not Adam.

Especially not the gorgeous man who seems to be nursing his own mug every time she stops by.

He says his name is Maddox, and he's new to Grayson. Despite his size and the aura of danger that clings to him, he seems friendly enough-right up to the point that he abducts her from Mugs, taking her home with him.

***

Maddox is a firm believer that sometimes a wolf's gotta do what a wolf's gotta do. Stalking his mate, taking her home with him and keeping her by his side until she remembers him... if it works, he'll have his mate back. If it doesn't, he won't survive losing her again.

Even worse, Evangeline will probably hate him forever...