Page 10 of Savage Claim

Fane’s words were so faint in my mind I wasn’t sure if he’d said them or if it was just wishful thinking. When I peered over my shoulder, his lips parted while he blinked. He had said them, but he didn’t know why.

My heart thumped at the glimpse of Fane beyond the spell. Was there still hope for us?

“Maybe it’s more.” Barric’s voice stole my attention from the demon shifter. “I’m sure it is.”

“What do you mean?” My pulse raced for a whole new reason. Did Barric know about the Infernal Sol? Or did he know who my parents were and the reason they hid me?

The head alpha slowly closed the distance between us, his large body dwarfing mine, and pointed to a photo of a beautiful woman with strawberry-blonde waves flowing around her narrow shoulders. Laughter emanated from her green eyes as she stood in a stream, holding a bouquet of flowers.

“This is my mate, Tamara.” His throat bobbed as he explored her picture. “I’m sure you know I lost her a long time ago.”

I nodded. Knox, a wolf shifter, had told me in the Underworld prison.

Barric broke away from his fated mate’s image and dragged a hand down his face as if trying to rub away the pained expression. The scar slicing his eyebrow and grazing his nose was much more distinguishable this close. “We had a son, but he died shortly after childbirth. He just… stopped breathing.”

The thought of losing your fated mate and your child within the same day had my heart squeezing into a hard knot. I swallowed and blinked away the tears as I recalled the unfathomable pain I felt when Mykel dragged Fane off that bridge and back to Heldrok. And he wasn’t even my fated mate or my mate at all. He never claimed me like a shifter would.

Fane’s phantom gaze burned into the back of my head. He’d felt the burst of agony that memory caused me, and anger swelled through our bond. He didn’t like me feeling this way but wouldn’t admit it.

“Our son, Anton, would have been about your age.” Barric palmed his nape as he stared at his boots, his broad shoulders slumping. He seemed to shrink into himself, shortening his over-six-foot frame. “I guess I just feel like maybe the gods put you in my path to give me a chance to protect you like I couldn’t do for Anton.”

“Oh.” His words left me speechless, and the hand clutching the bottle of water slowly lowered as the tension faded from me. Any animosity I’d held for Barric drained away at his confession. Coltrane had once tricked me into believing she viewed me as part of her family just to gain my loyalty and trust. Of course, I was wary of Barric, but you couldn’t fake the waves of anguish infiltrating the air around him. My shifter senses picked up on it.

He shrugged, his cheeks reddening. “It’s kind of stupid, right?”

“No, it’s not.” Was that why he’d wanted me in his pack from the beginning?

“You’re strong, Tate. You can withstand my power, and Anton would have been exactly like that. Headstrong, stubborn, and he probably would have grown to be more powerful than me.” Barric gave a dry chuckle. “I’m sorry if this is weird. I just wanted you to know why I feel protective of you.”

I took a shaky breath and set the bottle on a small table. “I don’t mind. But I’ve already been a prisoner, and I can’t do it again. Besides, there’s been no sign of Venna or Mykel.”

Instead of arguing or pushing back, Barric nodded. “I’ll try to lighten up.”

“So I can leave the compound whenever I want?”

Before Barric answered, a knock at the door echoed, and he strolled across the room to answer it. “Ah, Roman, come in.”

A tall, thin male witch with platinum hair and a pale complexion strolled in, that perpetual crooked smile broadening when he noticed me. “Hello, Tate.” The frequent visitor at Silver Ridge looked to be in his late twenties, but like most nightworlders, he could be decades older. “Seeing you is always a pleasure. I hope Barric didn’t lecture you too harshly for sneaking out again. If he did, just let me know, and I’ll turn him into a toad.” He winked one of his dark, almost black eyes.

I ignored the growls seeping out of Fane as he glared daggers at Roman. “We can hold off on the toad thing as long as Barric lets me leave the compound whenever I want.” It was a longshot, but I had to try.

The alpha lifted a hand to tamper my excitement. “You need to have a guard with you, Fane or someone else.”

“Oh, Barric, give her a little more freedom than that.” Roman wrapped his arm around the alpha’s shoulders, or at least attempted to. “Tate’s a big girl.” He arched his pierced eyebrow as his gaze roamed over me, setting off another round of growls from Fane.

As much as Roman liked to flirt, he never gave off any slimy, creepy vibes that would have me longing to knock his teeth out. Besides, he wasn’t serious most of the time, and I didn’t get the sense that he would actually try anything with me.

Barric slipped out from under Roman’s arm and gave me a wry smile. “Small steps, Tate. You still need a guard with you.”

I tried not to pout. “Well, that’s better than nothing.” Plus, I could get away from any guard who accompanied me—except Fane.

“Oh, don’t worry, Teague. I’ll be the one escorting you every time.”

My jaw clenched against the curses I wanted to unleash on the demon shifter. “We’ll see about that.”

His chuckle swooped through my mind like a soft, lingering caress. “There’s no escaping me, fiera mika.”

Chapter

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