*
Adam hurt for Cage. He could see how conflicted his brother was over Madeline. She’d thrown Adam for a loop in the beginning, but now that he’d had time to think about her, and their connection to her, he understood that a true match rarely came along once in a lifetime. It would be foolish of him and Cage to turn away from a second chance out of loyalty to their lost love.
His chest squeezed as he remembered Clary. He thought there would never be another woman after her, but this Madeline was proving that maybe the gods did know mercy. Cage would say if the gods were involved then Madeline was a cruel joke. She was so different from Clary. Clary had been docile, almost submissive—exactly what two dominant males needed in a mate. Her beauty was only rivaled by her generosity and kindness. She’d been able to soothe Cage in a way Adam couldn’t. He loved her for saving Cage from his own demons.
Madeline was a different creature all together. If Clary had been sharpened steel, Madeline was a blunt edge. In a very short time, Adam learned she was quick to judge, quick to anger, and quick to passion. He smelled it on her with every encounter. Clary had taken longer to come around—a slow burn. She’d been uncertain about mating with two lion-shifters and becoming their queen. It had taken almost of year of courting for her to finally agree. Their time as a trio had been cut short too soon. Nearly two years of pure happiness—he’d almost forgotten what Cage had been like before she loved them, before they’d claimed her.
As he watched his brother torment himself over the loss, Adam knew Madeline would never replace Clary, but it didn’t mean they couldn’t learn to love again. When Madeline had touched his hand at breakfast, he could smell Cage’s scent on her. She would have had to have touched his face, and he would have had to release the oil from the tiny glands at the side of his mouth on purpose.
What had happened in the short time it had taken Madeline to leave Alana’s trailer and find her way to the dining area? Cage was too keyed up to ask him now. Adam would wait until tonight. He’d wait until Cage relaxed next to him, where he could calm his brother if needed. He would wait.