Page 46 of An Uncertain Claim

Jase’s face lit up and he smiled. “Thank you. I really appreciate it. I should warn you my little sister Jocelyn will probably be around to pester you about your travels. She’s obsessed with seeing the world.”

“Anytime,” I said with a laugh.

“You can exchange your knowledge for babysitting,” Gilly offered, her eyes twinkling. “She loves babies and she’s excellent with them.”

“Wow,” I breathed.Babysitting. This shit is getting real. “I haven’t even thought that far ahead, I’ve been so focused on the pregnancy and birth. Tell Jocelyn I’ll take all the help I can get.”

The crowd on the television was going wild, drawing our attention back to it. A couple of minutes later, I was sucked into the game and while I wasn’t as vocal as Nathan, I did my fair share of cursing. Emerald kept me amused by whispering translations of Nathan’s exclamations.

“You have to be fucking joking, Blue!” he snarled, running his hand through his hair, having long since yanked it down in agitation. The manager called for a replay review and Nathan grunted in support. When the decision came down that the call was going to stand, he slumped back into the cushions and barked, “Khui tebye!”

Emerald snorted and leaned in to speak in my ear. “Not sure who he’s talking to, but he’s insistent that they go fuck themselves.”

Nathan grumbled something under his breath, and I couldn’t help chuckling. I’d never seen him so laid-back and animated, so focused on something he enjoyed that he seemed unburdened for a while.

When the game was over, our team winning with a double in extra innings, the group slowly dispersed, but no-one left without introducing themselves to me. They all acted genuinely happy to meet me and while several mentioned my species in passing as we talked, not one of them seemed put off by it. It was a little unsettling, this feeling of acceptance. I wondered if my fear for my child being in this pack if she turned out to be a feline was all for nothing. Did packs like this really exist?

“Peyton.” A tall man with glasses perched on his Grecian nose stopped in front of me. “Nathan told me about a couple of your suggestions, and I wanted to thank you. A fresh perspective seemed to do the trick.” I suddenly remembered meeting this guy at KBO.Kellan.He was developing a code—essentially an antivirus—to protect some new AI artillery from being hacked. I’d been fascinated.

“You’re welcome. It was fun to help.”

Kellan’s face lit up and he smiled hopefully. “Really? Because we are starting a new project in a couple of weeks, and I was wondering if you’d consult.”

Shocked and flattered, I wasn’t sure what to say at first. “Wow, um,” I sputtered. “I’d love to.”

Before Kellan could respond, Nathan stepped in. “It’s late. I need to take my mate home. She’s going to be taking Henry’s position, so shoot Willa an email and she’ll set up a time for you and Peyton to talk.”

Kellan was practically bouncing on his feet with excitement, and I couldn’t help reacting with a grin. I’d been bored with my skills for a few years now, and the idea of working on new technology and pioneering new techniques was stirring up the fire that I used to feel when using my talents. “Will do!” he said before bouncing out of the room.

I laughed as Nathan and I followed Kellan out of the den. Michael was standing at the door seeing everyone out, while Beth flitted around the kitchen cleaning up. Emerald called out her goodbye and I waved as I made my way over to help Beth.

On the way home a little later, I fell asleep and woke up as Nathan was carrying me through the cabin to the master bedroom. I was tired as hell, but the sight of the mussed bed still stirred up heat and I sizzled in my core. Nathan’s breath caught for a beat, then he blew out a harsh exhale. He set me on the bed and straightened, his molten silver eyes boring into me. After a few seconds, he ran his hands through his hair and backed up several steps. “I’m going to take a shower.”

I nodded and fell back onto the mattress. He woke me briefly when he removed my clothes and slipped naked into bed. Gently, he pulled me into his arms and my panther and I both sighed with contentment when he nuzzled his face in my hair before I drifted off again.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Nathan

Iwas dead tired when I crawled into bed with Peyton. Long after my arctic shower, the cogs in my mind continued to turn, working through the revelations from the night. Any other person might wonder what there was to learn from spending the evening watching a game with my parents and packmates. The difference came in truly knowing Peyton, recognizing her body language and verbal cues.

My possessive reaction to Asher had almost ended the night before it began. It had been as much of a shock to me as it had to Peyton, but I’d grown up around mated couples and dealt with plenty of them as the Alpha of the pack. I had a deeper understanding than Peyton, so I’d accepted it as a part of the process and moved on. Peyton, however, had balked at the idea of my possessiveness increasing—the concern wasn’t completely without merit considering I’d already become very territorial around her. Just in the short time since I’d claimed her again, progressing the mating, I’d noticed I didn’t like it when she wasn’t near. Another aspect I’d known about, but awareness didn’t often stack up to reality. The depth and aggressiveness of my craving for her—mind, body, and soul—had staggered me at first. But I’d assimilated quickly, accepting it as a part of possessing Peyton. And it had become increasingly clear to me that I would stop at nothing to own my kitty cat.

Hopefully, some of her actions at my parents’ house were a sign that she was coming around. When she’d joined me on the couch, she’d been stiff and wary, but not as much as when everyone arrived. She’d relaxed even more as she talked with Gilly, Jordan, and Emerald. My attention had been consumed with the baseball game, but I’d still been aware of Peyton and what she was feeling, ready to step in if a problem arose.

Each time someone assumed her presence at a date in the future and she didn’t immediately correct them, I had to suppress a smirk. Hopefully, this would help her see that she’d fit in and would be happy here.

I’d considered giving Kellan a raise when he managed to extract a future commitment from Peyton. I wasn’t sure if she realized it wasn’t something she could do remotely, but even after she faced that fact, I knew she’d keep her word. And the project Kellan had been referring to was a long-term assignment, which meant it gave Peyton a reason besides our cub to stick around after we’d taken care of the danger chasing her.

The uncertainty came after she finished the project. Which was one reason—among many—that we needed to discuss the future. We couldn’t ignore the fact that we’d taken another step toward being fully bonded. Her knowledge of pack life was confusing. At times she alluded to having experienced it, and at others it sounded like she barely knew the basics. It made me wonder if she had any idea what we’d have to endure to break the connection.

The stronger the bond, the more painful it was to sever it. At this point, we’d be knocked on our asses for a couple of weeks with severe pain in our hearts and heads, usually confining us to bed. To make it worse, our animals would reject the idea of separation, leaving us consumed with loneliness and desolation. These feelings could linger for months. Granted, this was nothing compared to what happened to couples who were farther along in the process. If the couple was fully bonded, the process was so harsh that many couples didn’t survive it. And those who did usually came out the other side radically changed. This rarely happened though. I’d only encountered it a handful of times in my very long life.

As Alpha, I’d dealt with many separations in the early stages, but when Jax’s chosen mate had changed her mind in the second stage, I’d been at his side as his friend, as well as his Alpha. I certainly had no desire to be put through it, especially considering how much I’d come to care for Peyton. Jax and Camilla had seemed compatible with their quiet personalities and desire to settle down with a family. They’d been comfortable with each other, which was also how he’d described their sex life—it still baffled me that he was willing to settle for “comfortable”—but there had been no depth of emotion between them.

Peyton and I probably wouldn’t notice if the world were burning down around us. We’d only add to the fire when we went up in flames with our explosive chemistry. In addition to our sexual desire for each other, we’d begun to build a relationship that went deeper than friendship. I still wasn’t sure exactly what I felt for Peyton, but I was confident that it was enough for us to build a life together. When we mated, it wouldn’t just be for time, it would be for eternity, so it said a whole fucking lot that I believed we would be happy and make it through whatever came our way.

I’d been attempting to force the realization on Peyton. It was my nature to bulldoze anything in my way, especially if it was a cause I was passionate about. I also wasn’t used to having my decisions questioned to this degree and it tended to send me into Alpha mode where I expected obedience and trust. But after seeing the progress during the time at my parents’ house, I wondered if a subtler approach would be more successful. The idea had merit, but I had no fucking clue how to go about it. Even with my size, years of combat had trained me to be stealthy, nearly invisible when needed. When someone needed to disappear quietly, they often never knew I was there, dying with no clue who’d done the deed.

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