Page 40 of Savage Claim

“You should go back inside. You’ve been trying to shift for an hour. It’s not happening.” He motioned his finger around the forest. “You’re not going to change into a little wolf and run around like everyone else in Silver Ridge.”

His harsh words extinguished the fires in me and cut me to the bone. I choked back the hot tears, shoved him away, and marched through the forest. Fane’s intent had been to hurt me so he didn’t have to think about why he’d taken my pain, but knowing that didn’t make it any worse.

“Don’t be mad.” He quickly caught up to me, his steps somehow silent on the crunchy leaves and pine straw blanketing the ground. “I’m just stating the obvious.”

“Go to hell, Maverick.” I stomped over a pile of broken twigs and leaves, wishing I could hide under them and disappear from this world. “You’re an asshole for saying that. You know what it’s like not to fit in.”

He pulled me to a stop, his mouth opening and closing like he was at a loss for words. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Maybe?”

A growl vibrated his chest. “I shouldn’t have said it.”

I choked back the lump rising in my throat. “I’ve never fit in. I was always the freak kid in foster care or the quiet weirdo in the corner people rarely noticed.” My cheeks flamed when a tear slipped free, and I angrily swiped it away. “Even as a raven, I was the rebellious one who didn’t belong, and then I became the one who excelled too fast and was too good.”

“You shouldn’t be ashamed for being too good at something.” Fane’s fingers loosened on my arm.

“I was too good because I wasn’t normal. I was born human but not from humans. Or we really don’t even know.” Another tear ran down my chin, falling onto a dead leaf with a splat. “And now I’m a shifter-demon hybrid who can’t even shift. Let’s not forget the other thing inside of me.” I poked my sternum where the sun tattoo inked my torso.

Fane’s head bowed, his lips thinning. “You’re right, Teague. I know what living in two worlds is like, not fitting into either one. I shouldn’t have said it. I’m sorry.”

My eyebrows shot up my forehead. “Did you just apologize? To me?”

He dragged his thumb across my cheekbone to rub away a tear. “Don’t make a big deal. It won’t happen again.”

But it was a big deal. A few weeks ago, he would have stormed off after hurting me.

I couldn’t stop myself from falling against him and burying my face in his chest. I just needed his comfort. He might toss me in the dirt, so I remained on high alert.

But after a few awkward seconds, Fane’s arms reluctantly lifted and held me against him.

My muscles relaxed, and I melted into him as my heart squeezed. It felt like coming home after being gone for years. A tiny sob slipped out, and I snuggled deeper, soaking in this moment because it wouldn’t last, no matter how much I wanted it to.

Chapter

Fifteen

Captain Coltrane tapped the marker against the whiteboard at the front of a conference room in Corvin manor. Notes on the vanishing shifters were scrawled across in red and black. “Lord Ruin has to be involved.”

Of course, she’d blame Ruin for this. She had no clue who the high demon really was. Most people didn’t.

But Anna Coltrane had always hated demons, ever since they killed her sister and brother-in-law, Hawk’s parents. She worked her way up in the organization until she became the leader of the Savannah chapter. She stood with her back ramrod straight, her ash-blonde hair slicked into a ponytail, and dressed in the raven’s all-black attire.

She was so average-looking, almost forgettable. Now that my blinders had been removed, I didn’t see anything special about her other than her ambition to police nightworlders.

When Hawk looked back from his table in the front with Roxie and gave me another scathing glare, Fane stiffened in his seat next to me, feeling the pangs tearing into my heart. Roxie smirked at Hawk’s disdain. Did she whisper horrible things about me into his ear at night? Did she coax his hatred like a devil on his shoulder?

That bitch had hated me from the beginning. She’d hid it so well. Her betrayal made me second-guess my opinions of everyone.

My gaze flicked to Barric who sat with Jax at a table on the left. Could the head alpha be fooling me into believing he was a kind, reasonable leader when he was really an elitist asshole belonging to a secret hate group?

Barric invited me to this meeting since I was a former raven, and he thought I could mend ties with them.

He thought wrong. The only ravens who didn’t openly loathe me were Gia and Kortney.

Tran had an actual reason to be pissed after Venna used her to get to me, but she didn’t hold a grudge. She’d even asked Fane and me to join her table.

“Any nightworlder could be involved,” I said, resisting the urge to look at Barric. Ruin wasn’t to blame, but something was definitely going on with demons. Some had gone batshit crazy while numerous sub-demons were entering Earth and attacking humans.

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