Page 60 of An Unexpected Claim

“First, I never agreed to stay inside, you just assumed I would obey your order—frankly, I’m a little surprised you haven’t figured out that I don’t follow anyone’s rules but my own.”

My mouth flattened from repressing the urge to cut her off because I wanted to hear what she had to say for herself and if I pushed too hard too fast, she’d close herself off and I’d get no-fucking-where.

“Second, I wasn’t alone. And we didn’t go far. The fact that I considered your demands,at all, is rare for me. Take the win, Nathan.”

I swallowed hard, repressing my desire to shout at her, and instead spoke in a cold, even tone. “You really thought Samantha and Emerald were sufficient protection, Peyton? Samantha is a submissive wolf, not a fighter. And while Emerald has been trained to kill vampires, she’s been out of the game for a long time.”

“I can take care of myself,” Peyton insisted again.

I ran a hand through my hair before pinching the bridge of my nose in an effort to stave off the growing ache in my temples. “You wouldn’t have just been protecting yourself—and I’m not just talking about the pup,” I spit when she opened her mouth. “You would have ended up protecting Samantha and Emerald too. Do you not fucking remember what happened the last time you fought this motherfucker?” By the time I finished, I was shouting.

Peyton was quiet for a while and I wondered if I’d finally gotten through to her. Until she muttered, “I remember every time I get a glimpse of my back or feel the scars pull. I remember every time I close my eyes. I rememberall the damn time, Nathan. But I can’t live my life in fear. I refuse to let you coddle me and treat me like a child.”

“Then stop acting like one!” I yelled before picking up my pacing again. I was filled with energy and while pacing didn’t help free it, it kept me from taking Peyton to the ground and releasing my aggression by fucking her long and hard.

Peyton stood and walked over to her clothes. I turned my head when she bent to pick them up because it only pushed me closer to the edge. After a few seconds of listening to the fabric rustle, she appeared in front of me. “What’s the solution here, Nathan?”

“Other than chaining you to my bed and wearing you out so you don’t have the energy to be a pain in my ass?”

Her contemptuous glare made it clear that if I tried to follow through with my suggestion, I’d be risking my life, or at least my balls. “Other than that,” she hissed.

“I’m going to put a couple of enforcers on you,” I decided. My wolf wasn’t happy about other men watching our mate, but he understood the necessity when we couldn’t be with her. And we couldn’t catch the killer if we were with her all the time. Especially with what I’d learned the day before. I needed KBO’s supercomputer and other resources.

Peyton played with the ends of her hair for a minute. “Okay,” she agreed.

My wolf nudged me, wanting me to go after her, but I just watched her walk away, wondering if I should be worried about how easily she’d accepted my decision.

When the enforcers called the next day to report that she slipped her tail and I had to track her ass down,again, I had my answer.

“Why won’t you stay where you’re put?” I demanded after returning to the cabin and dumping her onto the couch.

She snorted and rolled her eyes, jabbing a thumb at her chest. “Panther.” Then she pointed to the butterfly tattoo on her inner wrist. “I’m a free spirit, Nathan. Nobody ‘puts’ me anywhere. When are you going to accept that I don’t fit in the damsel-in-distress box you keep trying to shut me in?”

“I’ll stop treating you like a helpless damsel when you prove you have some sense of self-preservation,” I grunted.

“Is that so?” she asked, her gold flecks glittering suspiciously.

A warning sign flashed in my head.It’s a trap! It’s a trap!But I foolishly stepped right into it. “Yes.”

“So you’ll tell me what the hell is going on with the investigation into my situation? Because I’m pretty fucking confident that in all the time I’ve been here, you have to have discovered something.”

Yeah, I’d stepped right into that. “Baby…”

She jammed her hands on her hips and aimed a deadly glare at me. “Don’t ‘baby’ me! Turnabout is fair play, Nathan. If you don’t want me to lie to you, don’t lie to me.”

“I haven’t lied to you,” I stated firmly.

Her green eyes flashed gold—both she and her cat were calling bullshit. “According to you, omission is still a lie.”

I had to be careful how I approached this. I had the feeling she wouldn’t see this as a gray area like I did.

She probably thought she could help. Shortly after she showed up at my door, I’d done a full dossier on her. Among other information that needed further research after we put this asshole in the ground, I knew she had a degree in cybersecurity engineering, but from what I could tell, other than her internships during college, she hadn’t done anything with it. And so much of the information we needed required stealth and in-depth skills that she didn’t have.

“Baby, when I have something significant to share, I promise to tell you,” I vowed, walking a very thin tightrope. As far as I was concerned, she didn’t need to know any of the gritty details of the investigation. Especially if we had promising leads that didn’t pan out. Which had been the case a few times. The only thing that mattered was when we caught the guy and until I could tell her that, I didn’t have anything important to share with her.

Peyton stood still and silent, her face completely masked and unreadable.

“I’m going to get dressed and make you some lunch. Then I need to get back to work.”

---