Page 10 of An Unexpected Claim

I tensed and my wolf brushed under my skin, suddenly alert. Madame Bishop—the code name for one of my former operatives, and Asher’s sister—Makayla Laurier.She’d gone freelance a couple of years ago thanks to Marc—who’d become her mentor when he stole her from my ranks. I still hadn’t completely forgiven for that. However, as her alpha, I kept tabs on her. Usually using my otherworldly chess opponent, Jude, whom Sapphire had referred to as The Rook. As of the last mission Makayla’d accepted, he would know better than I where to find her. The pack link only extended so far, and since Makayla had traversed realms—something I only did when absolutely necessary—I relied on him for updates. Her brother Asher would be up my ass about it if I didn’t assure him of her safety regularly.

My brow furrowed in concern. “Has Makayla’s ring stopped working?” Like the amulet Sapphire had brought to me, Makayla’s ring held a bewitched jewel that allowed her to use the portals to travel from our universe to the other. If something interfered with the ring’s enchantment, it could lead to Makayla being stranded in the other realm.

Sapphire waved her hand in a fluttery motion. “Depends on your definition of functionality. But I would get this to her sooner rather than later. Perhaps use it yourself for a visit in, say, four weeks’ time?” She glanced down at my legs again. “Maybe three weeks instead. You move faster than you should. Of course, I think she’ll like that quite a bit about you.”

I almost asked who would like it but bit my tongue at the last second. Even if she did answer me, it would just be more incomprehensible gibberish that I was too tired to try and translate. A low growl of annoyance resonated in my chest. “Why exactly do you need me to deliver it for you,malen’kaya ved’ma?” I asked the little witch tiredly.

I pulled off the elastic band holding my hair up and let it down, hoping it would stave off my building headache. I hadn’t slept much the night before—not that I had any complaints about it—and it had been a long fucking day. “I don’t have time to play your games. If you’re not here to help with—”

“I’m always here to help,” she chirped with a mischievous grin. “I’m quite fond of your Bishop, as you know. Perhaps talk to the other chessmaster soon? He might have details about your next play.”

“Jude.” I clarified, referring to my constant “opponent.”

“Jude who?” she asked with an innocent blink, dangling the amulet. “Trust me or don’t, but you will need this, Alpha.”

I held out my hand and she dropped the amulet into my palm with a pleased smile. Closing my fingers around it, I frowned when it felt different from the others I’d encountered. I briefly considered the idea that Sapphire might have a sinister purpose, but Dimitri trusted her and that was no easy feat, so it was good enough for me.

“I’ll be back in the city in a week,” I informed her. If she asked me to make a special trip, it was possible I’d wring her neck.

“Might I suggest moving the Rook to E five?” she suggested.

Another reference to Jude, the director of E.V.I.E. I narrowed my gaze. “How do you know the positions of the pieces on my chessboard?”

She blinked again, that damn innocent expression on display once more. “What chessboard?”

“Alpha.”

I turned to see Tanner strolling out of my office, his expression filled with annoyance. “I need to deal with some bullshit at KBO. One of the techs hacked into the wrong server and created a fucking mess.”

“Do you need help cleaning it up?” I asked in English. All of the employees in our internet division were highly talented, or they wouldn’t work for KBO. But none of them were at a level that didn’t require supervision and more training. Tanner and I were only people in the company with the necessary skills to run the IT department, but we were too fucking busy running the whole damn business.

He jerked his thumb back toward the door he’d exited. “Just take a look at those candidates so I don’t have to babysit the toddlers anymore.”

I nodded and he lifted his chin in farewell before leaving out the kitchen door. “I need a vacation,” I groused as I swung my focus back to—no-one. The place where Sapphire had been seated was empty and I knew from previous experience that I wouldn’t find her anywhere if I went searching.

Muttering a curse, I put my fingers on my temples and rubbed in circles, loosening some of the tension. I needed a shower and some sleep, but with Tanner busy at KBO, I had pack issues to handle.

After meeting with my head enforcer to assess his current trainees, I dealt with a property dispute between two pack mates, checked in with the security team assigned to town safety and monitoring human activity, as well as completing a few other duties. By the time I showered and crawled naked into my large, comfortable bed, it was close to one in the morning.

* * *

I picked up the pawn that didn’t quite match my chess set and set it on a specific square on the board before returning to my desk and settling in to go over reports from Council members. A meeting was scheduled for the afternoon and I had plans to meet up with Asher and Jax for a drink that night.

It took about two hours, but finally, the pawn fell to its side and a portal opened up in the wall. A tall man in a custom-tailored suit and Italian loafers strolled through it. His lips were pursed, as they always were when he was stressed, causing slight wrinkles on his forehead and lines around his mouth. He had short, dark hair, a close-cropped Van Dyke, and intense brown eyes that were always assessing his surroundings. Makayla called him debonair.

He looked to be in his early forties, which was accurate for this body. However, his actual age was a mystery, even to me, and I’d known him a long, long time—in many shapes and names. He’d spent lives in both realms, but the other world most often, as he did now. I had a feeling he would be sticking with his current identity indefinitely.

He’d worked his way through the ranks of a slayer organization known as Eliminate Vampiric Influences Everywhere, or E.V.I.E. Now he ran the place, which came in very handy for me at times.We’d traded favors a time or two. Although, his price usually included a peek at whatever technology we were developing at KBO.

“Jude,” I greeted as I leaned back in my chair with a smirk.

His mouth curled down into a deeper frown, a rare show of emotion for my cool, collected friend. Jude hated being summoned as much as I did and if it weren’t for the chess pieces—Jude being the jackass who’d stolen the first set without permission—I doubted we’d get anything done because neither of us would capitulate. For that reason, we’d set up the pawns as a truce and agreed that if I sent the signal, he would come to me and vice versa. It didn’t stop us from testing each other though, hence the two-hour wait for him to appear.

I gestured for him to take a seat in front of my desk, but he just folded his arms and watched me with narrowed eyes. It didn’t bother me where he stood or sat, so I just shrugged and got down to business.

“Sapphire paid me a visit,” I told him as I reached into my shirt and pulled out the amulet before drawing the chain over my head.

Jude’s cheek creased slightly, and his brown eyes glittered with amusement. I didn’t think he’d met the perplexing witch, but he’d heard about her from Makayla and Marc.

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