Page 30 of Savage Claim

Barric’s words faded as blood pounded in my ears. If Charla wasn’t missing, what the hell was that list? Why would her name be on it if she hadn’t vanished like the others?

A bitter taste settled in the back of my mouth. Would she vanish?

“Tate?” Barric snapped his fingers to get my attention. “Are you okay?”

I shook the daze off as cold trepidation sank through my gut. “Uh, yeah. Charla. I’m kind of friends with her. She helped me in the archives.”

He nodded. “How’s your studying going? Find anything interesting?”

“Now that you mention it, I did find something—strange.” I jammed my hands under my legs to mask the tremors racing through them. “I noticed that humans born from shifters don’t always survive. Why is that?”

The head alpha casually lifted one of his large shoulders. “They simply aren’t strong enough.”

Ice trickled down my spine at the callous way he said it, like they were nothing to lose. Did their lives not matter as much as a born shifter’s?

“Really? That’s it? The babies just aren’t strong enough?” I pressed, a hint of anger lingering beneath my words.

“I’m not sure what kind of explanation you were looking for, but that’s the only one I’ve got.” He leaned back in the chair, his massive legs barely fitting under the desk. “The world is not a kind place, especially for the weak. It will find that weakness, claw it out, and expose it like a fresh wound. After all you've been through and seen, I thought you’d understand that more than anyone.”

He was right about one thing. The world wasn’t a kind place.

Barric grabbed a pen from the holder on his desk and wrote something on the calendar. His hand suddenly stopped moving once he noticed the notebook.

My lungs froze, shrinking within my constricting chest. Fuck. I forgot to wrap the leather straps around it.

The head alpha’s muscles stiffened, and his stare drilled into me, but I looked across the room as if deep in thought, mulling over his words. A trickle of sweat ran down my nape as I tried to choke down the panic threatening to drown me.

“There’s also another reason I wanted to see you,” I blurted, reaching for anything to explain my nerves. “I feel stupid for asking, but I was wondering if you could help me shift.” As I turned back to him, I caught his surprised expression.

My request had definitely caught him off guard, considering I’d never asked for his help before.

“Oh.” Barric returned the notebook to his desk and rubbed the five o’clock shadow covering his jaw. “I suppose I could try. It would be best to do it on the next full moon.”

“Cool.” I finally plucked my hands from under my thighs and fidgeted with my hair. “I would really appreciate it.”

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation, and Fane poked his head in, his gaze wandering over me as if to ensure I was okay before landing on the head alpha. “Can I steal Tate?” He held his phone out and gave a very uncharacteristic smile. “My cousin Dylan’s on the phone, and he says it’s life or death that he talks to her. I think it’s about a girl.”

“It always is at that age.” Barric chuckled and turned to me. “I’ll talk to you later about helping.”

I nodded and stood on shaky legs. “Sure thing. And thanks.”

Fane wrapped his tattooed fingers around my bicep and jerked me out of Barric’s office. When I grabbed his phone, putting it to my ear, he rolled his eyes.

“No one’s there,” he growled into my mind and snatched his phone back, shoving it in his pocket. “I just needed to get you out of there. Your panic almost pulled me out of my body and caused me to wreck my car.”

“Where were you?” I asked as we passed two shifters in the hall, both trying to keep as much space between them and Fane as possible.

“Running errands.”

“Can I go next time?”

He shot me an incredulous look, his mouth thinned. “No.”

“Whatever. I’ll just have to sneak out then.”

Fane dragged me into a small alcove and pushed me against the wall, his body brushing mine and sending zaps of electricity across my flesh. “What were you doing in his office? It felt like you were going to pass out.” Splashes of crimson spotted his neck.

“Is that blood?”

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