Page 31 of An Uncertain Claim

“Well”—he glanced at Peyton—“I’m assuming you aren’t going to be content to sit on the sidelines anymore.”

“You guess right.”

I sighed. “Baby, I agreed to keep you in the loop, but—”

“If you make one more comment that implies I’m weak, I’ll change your legal name to Dog,” she snapped. “I’m going to help with this fucking problem because, at the end of the day, it’smyproblem”—she jabbed her thumb into her sternum—“so quit trying to box me out. I’ve never sat back and let someone else deal with things for me. I’ve handled them myself”—she swept her hand down her body—“and here I stand. Which means I’ve done a pretty fucking great job.”

“Peyton,” I said patiently, “I don’t doubt you have the skills and strength to take care of yourself. What I don’t understand is why you feel you have to.” Despite my calm, my wolf was pacing around inside me, agitated by the tone of our conversation.

Her chin lifted stubbornly. “You mean because I don’t want to?”

“As fascinating as this argument is, you can continue it later,” Tanner said. “I’m hungry and if you aren’t going to feed me, then I’m going to go grab something before our meetings.”

I’d put my hair up while cooking, but tension was mounting in my head, so I took out the elastic band and ran my hands through it. “You’re right,” I agreed. “Tell us your idea.”

“Well, when I realized what Peyton could do yesterday, an idea started percolating. It seems the most logical thing to do. We have a hole to fill at KBO and it seems to me that the perfect solution is standing over there planning your gruesome and ‘accidental’ death.”

Peyton snorted and shook her head. “I don’t do gruesome. Clean kill, easy to dispose of the physical evidence and scrub any record of them so it’s as if they never existed in the first place.”

Tanner scrutinized her for a minute, then turned to me and grinned. “I like her. She’s going to be an unusual Alpha female.”

I ignored him and went back to the discussion at hand. “You think Peyton should fill the spot as head of our IT department?”

“Fuck, yeah. She’s one of the best out there, we’d be fools not to take advantage.”

“Again, right here, boys,” Peyton interjected, her tone dry.

“My apologies,” Tanner said to her. “I’m just used to talking out KBO business with Nathan.”

“Understandable. But I need a little more explanation than he does.”

Tanner reminded her about our empty position and gave her a few more details. “I thought it would be a great role for you to take and we need you desperately.”

Peyton didn’t respond at first, her knitted brow and pursed lips indicating that she was thinking things through. Finally, her emerald eyes turned to me, the gold flecks swirling as the wheels in her mind spun. “What do you think?”

I hadn’t known if she would seek my opinion or approval, but I’d still been going over possible responses in my mind. “Setting aside my personal opinion that you shouldn’t take on any more stress while you’re pregnant”—I gave her a hard look when she seemed as though she might interrupt—“from a purely business standpoint, as the head of KBO, Tanner’s right. It’s not only logical, but also a stroke of luck to find someone who can fill the shoes of the previous employee, and far exceed them. Plus, it means no more interviews and poring over résumés. It will give you something to do, while keeping you close, which means I’ll be able to get shit done instead of worrying about you.” My wolf would be ecstatic to always have her near and stop harassing me to find her whenever we were separated.

“See?” Tanner said with a smug grin. “Winning all around.”

“For now.”

I stilled at Peyton’s comment, then turned to peer at her suspiciously. “Explain,” I demanded.

She bristled and her eyes bled to gold, her panther glaring at me for a moment before she retreated. Peyton twisted her ring around her thumb, something I’d come to realize that she did when she was uncomfortable. It was a comforting ritual. However, I’d started to see a second pattern associated with the habit. She often played with the ring when she spoke about her nomad lifestyle and her plans to eventually leave Silver Lake.

“I will definitely be helping with the investigation into B. I’m also happy to help out and fill in the position while I’m here.”

I closed my eyes and pinned the bridge of my nose, hoping to alleviate the throbbing that was building at my temples.

“While you’re here…” Tanner trailed off, confused by what Peyton meant. We hadn’t had much time to discuss things outside of work and the pack lately. Not that I was particularly open about my personal life, but Peyton’s intention to leave was something I would normally have shared with him.

“Yeah. I wouldn’t quit your search though, otherwise when I leave, you’ll be doing just what you are now. Searching while scrambling to cover for the vacant position.”

“When you leave?”

“Tanner.” When I said his name, I pulsed with Alpha vibes, drawing his immediate attention. “My office,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.

Recognizing the edge in my tone, he jumped from his stool without a word and stalked toward the hallway. Right before he disappeared, I glanced at Peyton and called for Tanner to stop. “Tanner.”

---