Page 21 of An Unexpected Claim

Peyton gasped and I expected her to yell at me, but she squinted and snarked, “Cats don’t heel, dog.”

“True enough,” I conceded with a nod. A small smile crept onto my lips as I turned toward the kitchen. “But if you don’t tame the wildcat, I will.”

“Over your dead body,” Peyton muttered.

I shook my head, the curve of my lips deepening, as I walked into the kitchen area.

After putting together a stack of sandwiches, I piled them onto a plate and set them on the granite countertop of the large island. I filled two glasses with water and set them beside it. Last, I added a bowl of mixed fruit. “Come eat.”

Peyton hesitated and I nearly rolled my eyes. I understood the nature of an independent alpha female, but her automatic instincts to buck authority were learned, not innate. And incredibly irritating.

After a beat, she stood, letting the quilt fall on the ground, and put on the T-shirt that hung to well below her knees. She shuffled over to a bar stool and paused, her expression on of consternation. When a determined glint entered her eyes and it occurred to me that she might be in too much pain to climb onto one of them. Before she could protest, I rounded the island and picked her up, then set her gently in the tall chair.

“I could have done it,” she grumbled. Her lips curved a little and she added, “But it would have taken me a week and hurt like hell. So…thank you.”

I swallowed my surprise at her admission and simply nodded. “Eat.”

While we ate, I tried to warm her up to her story by asking her questions about herself. She managed to dodge or deflect every question that went deeper than something like her favorite food. Eventually I gave up and we finished in silence until the stack of sandwiches had been demolished and the bowl of fruit emptied. The amount of food she’d put away had been pretty impressive for someone so petite. Then again, she was eating for two. The reminder of her romp with another man sent my mood tumbling down again and I decided it was time for her to come clean.

I gathered the dishes and took them to the sink, then turned around and faced her from across the island, leaning forward with my hands braced apart. “Talk,” I commanded.

“About what?” Peyton asked in a wary tone, her body tensing, which caused her to wince. I noticed her twisting the gold ring around her thumb absently and briefly wondered about its significance.

“You’re obviously in some kind of trouble.”

“What makes you say that?” She brushed some imaginary lint from her shirt before returning her gaze to my face, her expression carefully blank.

I bent over the island, pinning her with a hard stare. “I found you passed out on my land, starving, dehydrated, dirty, and terrified.Trust me, Peyton. I know when someone is on the run.”

Her eyes swirled with gold as she contemplated how to answer. Her cat looked at me without any of Peyton’s reluctance. I wondered if she and her panther were in agreement or if Peyton was overruling her animal’s inclination to trust me.

I waited patiently for her to make a choice. The silence grew heavy, as did the weight of my stare, and after a few minutes, she shifted positions in her chair.

“I’m not going to deny it,” she finally admitted. “But the details are not important. So, you might as well stop trying to intimidate the story out of me.” She passed a hand absently over her stomach before folding it into the other and setting them on the countertop.

The small action spurred a theory. “Is it the baby’s father?” I asked coldly.

Chapter Eleven

Peyton

My body stilled at Nathan’s query. I wasn’t surprised that he’d picked up on the pregnancy, although since he hadn’t yet mentioned it, part of me had begun to wonder how he hadn’t smelled it. I couldn’t hide the scent—our potent blood spilled many of our secrets to the keen nose of another shifter.

What had me suspended in shock was his assumption that the cub belonged to someone else. The baby’s scent wouldn’t reflect its father’s for a few more weeks yet, but still…then I remembered my own revelation the morning I found out I was pregnant. Obviously, Nathan hadn’t realized we’d been together after the full moon had risen. Given his ignorance, his assumption made much more sense.

Although I couldn’t say I was all that flattered by his implication that I’d hopped from his bed right into someone else’s. And yet…I mentally sighed. Screwing around with multiple partners in the days leading to a full moon was not unusual for our kind. And we barely knew each other. Since I’d been guilty of it plenty of times, I couldn’t exactly clutch my pearls and gasp in offense.

“Answer me, Peyton,” he ordered, his tone hard and his jaw clenched. The glimpses I kept seeing of his wolf were none too happy, either.

Were they jealous?No. That’s ridiculous.

“No,” I answered calmly. “I’m in no danger from the baby’s father.” From what I’d seen of Nathan, he had a dark side. He was domineering, a complete asshole, pretty much an alpha through and through. However, he didn’t seem anything like the pack alphas I’d known in my past and for some crazy reason, I knew he wouldn’t physically hurt me.Except for a spanking, I thought dryly.

Nathan nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, making his muscles bulge in a way that would have most people cowering, but the pregnancy hormones must have kicked in because it sent a flood of arousal to my core. Without any underwear, I could only hope that I wouldn’t leave evidence of my lust in the form of a big, wet spot on my shirt dress.

His nostrils flared and I cursed being a shifter for the first time in my life. What did it matter if I soaked through the fabric when he could smell the way my body was responding to him? Heat simmered in his gaze and he licked his lips, causing a shiver to race down my spine.Now is not the fucking time,I silently lectured my lady bits.

I cleared my throat and mumbled, “Um, pregnancy hormones.”

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