Page 29 of An Unexpected Claim

“You need to rest,” I grunted. The glare she shot my way was ice cold and threatened to cause me pain. “You can’t exercise on an empty stomach,” I said, trying a different tactic.

Peyton blew out a frustrated breath, smacked her palms onto the arms of the chair and shot to her feet. “Yes, Mother,” she snapped before stomping inside.

How am I the bad guy here?I shook my head as I followed her inside.I will never understand women.

I entered the kitchen to find Peyton nibbling on an apple.

Despite her scowl, I made a quick pasta salad—millennia of being a bachelor had given me excellent skills in the kitchen. Plus, my mother insisted that every man should be able to cook his own food. Peyton ate every bite and asked for seconds. Not wanting to create more tension between us, I bit back my desire to say, “I told you so.”

She pushed away her empty bowl and guzzled down the rest of her water, then yawned.

Fortified with food, I was anxious to do some digging into my theories. I jerked my head toward the large couch and suggested, “Why don’t you take a nap. I have work to do.”

Peyton yawned again, but her attention drifted to the wall of glass that showcased the back porch and the river and forest beyond it.

“Rest,” I grunted. “We can go for a run later.”

Her eyes returned to my face and she studied me with open curiosity. “You can’t help it, can you?”

“Pardon?”

“I’d say you’re treating me like a child, except that’s not quite right. You just fall naturally into the role of protector. And you’re a born leader. It makes you high-handed and honestly…a little condescending. But I’m starting to realize that you’re not being intentionally insulting.”

My brow puckered as my mouth tightened at the corners. “Of course I’m not trying to insult you.”

Peyton rolled her eyes and hopped down from the chair she’d been perched on at the kitchen island. “Since you are oblivious, let me spell it out for you. I’m willing to work with you as a partner for the moment. If you keep treating me like I’m breakable, I’m going to break you.” Then she spun around, marched over to the couch and flopped down onto her back.

I wanted to laugh but swallowed the urge. Her feisty side was sexy as hell and memories of the spitfire she’d been in bed made me hard as fuck. If it hadn’t been so obvious that she needed to sleep, I would have taken her to the bedroom and fueled that fire while showing her who was the alpha here.

Instead, I shuffled off to my office to work on fleshing out our next steps.

Chapter Fourteen

Nathan

Ipicked up my phone and searched for Dana in my contacts, tapping her work number once I found it.

“Nathan,” she answered in a harried tone. “I’ve been meaning to call you, but it’s been hectic around here. What did you need?”

“You first.” I wanted to know what had been happening lately, hoping she would fill in some of the gaps in my theories so I could weed out any pointless theories.

“There’s been another attack, but…something is off. Serial killers don’t often deviate from their routine and this one…parts of it fit and I would swear it’s him, except…”

“Only minor slashes, though they were enough to kill her,” I guessed. “No semen. But the timing fits and her tongue was missing?”

Dana didn’t speak for a long moment, then asked quietly, “How did you know that?”

“That’s not important right now.” I wasn’t ready to tell anyone about Peyton or the fact that she’d been a witness. “First, tell me more about the victim.”

She hesitated, probably deciding whether or not to demand answers. However, she knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t budge, so she didn’t push.

As the ME, she didn’t have many of the answers I was looking for, so I asked for the contact information for the officer assigned to the case, Detective Rogers.

Unfortunately, he was a human with no knowledge of shifters, which meant he wouldn’t be inclined to share much about the case with me. I didn’t want to bother the chief of police, Scott Hamilton—a warlock on the ISC. In the end, I decided the best way for me to ascertain the information I needed would be to do it through electronic back doors. I blew out a frustrated breath as tension built inside me. A dull throbbing in my head had me yanking the elastic from my hair. I sighed with relief as it tumbled down around me.

I needed to talk to Tanner and preferred to have our conversation in person. Leaning back in my chair, I opened my mind and sorted through all of the voices filling my head. My connection with my Beta and enforcers was stronger than with any other members of my pack, so they were easiest to locate. Our communication was also deeper than with others. I could see into their minds and through their eyes, whereas with other members of my pack, it was mostly just telepathic—hearing their thoughts—and an awareness of their emotions.

When I contacted Tanner, he appeared to be working in his office at KBO. Rather than call him to me, I decided to go see him since I needed KBO resources to move forward anyway.

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