[Claws Clause 0.50] • Mates

Paranormals exist.

When the community finally came forward, finally announced that they’d been there all along, it wasn’t exactly a surprise. Centuries of stories, rumors, myths… deep down, humans knew they were out there. But, thanks to the modern era and technology’s rule, paranormals had no choice but to reveal themselves to the rest of the world.

After the shock wore off, the humans reacted. While some were afraid, most accepted that witches, shifters, vampires, and ghosts firmly existed now—and the humans did so because of Ordinance 7304, a set of laws hurriedly put in place that the Paras had to follow. When the alternative was being thrown in a magic-free prison, there really was no choice. And, besides, Paras had lived side by side with humans for years. Now the humans just knew what their neighbors got up to at night.

More than fifty years later, Ordinance 7304—also known as the Claws Clause—keeps the Paras in line, and gives the human population an illusion of safety. And why not? With the power of the entire government behind the laws, even an alpha wolf loses some of his strength.

Because one of the biggies? When a shifter finds his fated mate, it doesn’t matter what his nose—or his body—says. His instincts might scream mine, but that doesn’t mean he can run off with his woman and claim her. To the humans, that’s kidnapping, and it’s a big no-no.

Maddox Wolfe understood that… until the day he stumbled upon Evangeline and knew in an instant that this was the woman he’d spent twenty-six years waiting for. And while his wolf says take her, he knows he can’t woo his mate from inside of the Cage. She’s human, so he has to think like a human. Act like a human. Pretend he’s a human.

That is, if he wants to make her his mate.