Page 35 of An Unexpected Claim

Ugh! Get a grip, Peyton!I mentally shouted at myself.

Nathan watched me closely while I tried to form a response, but he spoke before I succeeded. “You know where to find me if you change your mind, baby.” He walked soundlessly out of the room and I imagined him entering his room and stripping off his clothes. Would he take a shower before bed? I doubted he would object to some company.

“Ugh!” This time I uttered the exclamation out loud as I dropped my face into my hands. Why couldn’t I control my hormones? We were over a week past the last full moon so I couldn’t blame it on the lunar cycle.The baby. I’d blame it on the baby.And my cat, the hussy.And Nathan.This was mostly his fault for being so…so… So fucking sexy! Argh! I hated that I felt so drawn to his powerful dominance, but my body didn’t give a rat’s ass what my brain wanted.

Irritated with myself, Nathan, and my panther, I punched the power button on the remote a little harder than necessary and tossed it into the drawer where I’d found it. I tromped down the hall, paused for half a second at Nathan’s door, then shook my head to clear away the fog of lust and continued on to my room. I stifled the urge to slam my door and shut it quietly before falling backward onto my bed.

I sighed as I stared up at the beautiful timber ceiling. The truth was that no-one was really to blame for our attraction. And the only one I could point the finger at for my suffering was myself. Nathan had made it more than obvious that he wouldn’t hesitate to take me to bed again. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it while I was keeping such a huge secret from him. Besides, letting him ply me with a night of hot fucking and incredible orgasms could potentially have me saying or doing things I would regret later. I’d agreed to stay temporarily, and people said stupid things in the heat of the moment. Right now, I could absolutely see myself being very, very stupid in the throes of ecstasy.

Despite my resolve—shaky as it was—it took a long time for me to calm my raging desire and fall asleep.

The next morning, food awaited me on the kitchen counter again, along with a now familiar note about Nathan having left for work. Except this one had an added, “Stay.”

My temper spiked and I glared at the delicious-looking breakfast, since Nathan wasn’t there to scowl at. The next time I saw him, I might let my panther take a swipe just to remind him I was feline, not a dog. If he weren’t so freaking huge, I would’ve challenged him to prove who was at the top of the food chain…I’m a badass jaguar, damn it!

I knew Nathan had a lot on his plate, Pack and Council responsibilities, and I thought I remembered him mentioning his own business.Still, did he think I’d agreed to stay indefinitely? And for shit’s sake, we had a killer to find before he found me!

It suddenly occurred to me that he might be investigating the murders without me.Oh, we’ll definitely be having a come-to-Jesus meeting about that the next time I see him.If he was pulling some protective bullshit, keeping me uninvolved, I was going to play purple nerple with his balls.

Unfortunately, I spent the whole damn day waiting for Nathan to return.

When Beth came over, I was already seething and ready to kill Nathan, but I had this weird need to avoid disappointing Beth, so I put on my best attitude and didn’t tell her how big of an asshole her sone was.

It didn’t take long for her to put me at ease and the afternoon turned out to be more fun than I’d had in a long time.

Nathan’s mother was kind and patient—a product of a hellion for a son, I’m sure—and I realized she was exactly the type of mom I wanted to be.

Which struck me as odd considering her deep ties to her roots, her pack, and her family. Would I feel more like that once I’d had my cub? Perhaps I needed to consider my idea of building a foundation somewhere near here and making my travel less frequent. I wasn’t sure if it would put me in the looney barn or give me a sense of stability that I would end up appreciating.

It was hard to imagine when I was already itching to be free of my chains. My panther and I were feeling cooped up and in dire need of a run.

When Beth finally left, I considered letting girl out to get some exercise, but I was afraid I’d miss him if I left, and I was determined to have it out before I went to bed.

So, I did another tiring bout of yoga. It didn’t help my mood much. However, I’d been pleased that it hadn’t been quite as strenuous as the day before.

The joke was on me because I only managed to stay awake until just after two in the morning before I fell asleep on the couch.

Chapter Seventeen

Nathan

Igently laid Peyton on the bed and stepped back so I could pull the quilt up over her.

The moonlight streamed in through the large window, illuminating her pale skin. Her face was serene as she slumbered peacefully, and I felt a twinge of jealousy. My nights had been filled with tossing and turning, dreams of our night together and fantasies about new ones. I debated with myself about slipping into her bed and seducing her, even going so far as to stand outside her door a couple of times.

In addition to my sexual frustration, and the lack of progress we’d made in tracking the killer, both Councils were driving me batshit crazy. All of a sudden, the representatives from every supernatural species didn’t trust anyone besides me, and even that was rocky these days. I’d been breaking up arguments and dealing with accusations and it was making me feel like a preschool teacher with a bunch of kids hyped up on sugar. And besides handling my own pack, there were several alphas who wanted to challenge another, and mediation had only worked with a handful of times. But I would only step in if things continued to escalate like this and I felt the situation warranted it.

Ever since the night Peyton arrived, I’d been inundated with bullshit I had to wade through and constantly putting out fires, so we’d barely crossed paths. Every time I tried to leave KBO to catch her before she fell asleep, I was waylaid by yet another problem, and called in at ungodly hours of the morning for more issues.

The pregnancy had been weighing on me as well and the rage I felt at her deception burned hot. So much so that when I’d come home around midnight the other night and found her still awake, I’d decided to hold off on confronting her until I was sure I wouldn’t do or say something I’d regret later.

Truthfully, the distance between us had given me time to work through the shock and anger from learning the cub was mine. And although my resentment only continued to grow, I had more control over it and wasn’t worried about it taking over.

I’d never thought about pups of my own. With no intention to mate, it hadn’t even been a question. And I had enough childish squabbling to deal with as the alpha of the Silver Lake Pack.

That being the case, I hadn’t expected my first reaction to be a healthy dose of male pride. The animalistic side of me puffed up over having procreated, a basic instinct for most men, though a great deal of us ignored it. Now that it had happened, those instincts roared to life and I couldn’t help but be a little cocky over it.

I was also blindsided by the overwhelming rush of protectiveness and affection, more than I’d ever felt for a child, even the ones in my pack. It was a lot to analyze and understand, which wouldn’t be the simplest task because emotions were messy and unpredictable. Learning to control them and filter through what was necessary while throwing out the rest had saved my life over and over.

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