Page 24 of An Unending Claim

An unexpected chuckle rumbled in my chest and my wolf rubbed his fur under my skin, enjoying the reactions that Peyton elicited from me.

Giving my head a mental shake, I continued my story. “Adrienne had set regular meetings with her parents in order to extract information which she then fed to Bernard. And when I caught her in the hallway, she offered no explanation, she simply stood there waiting for my reaction. I quickly saw through her innocent invitation to meet her parents, and recognized that I was being tested. Ostensibly to gauge my loyalty to her, especially before I met Bernard. During my interrogation by her mother, she’d mentioned an event they were attending the following night, revealing the place before her husband abruptly changed the subject. During this time, holding or attending any kind of soiree that brought attention to their wealth and position would be very foolish, leaving me to conclude that they were more than likely attending a secret meeting with other royalists.”

I paused and scratched my beard while I adjusted my body into a more comfortable position on the couch. “I had two choices. Give up my game with her completely, or play by her rules for the moment. Only a few days before, I’d received a message from an aristocrat, and friend, in England—Dimitri and I simply referred to our friend as ‘the Brit.’”

My mouth curved at the memory of how it had annoyed the baron every time we called him by that nickname. “His wife was French and I think that played a large part in his choices, although they were estranged for a long time. Anyway, he’d formed a secret league of trustworthy associates who helped him rescue French aristocrats who found themselves in the path of the Barber—”

“I’m sorry, I know I promised not to interrupt. But you can’t just drop something like that in my lap and move on without explanation!” Peyton huffed.

Shit.I should have anticipated that she’d pick up on that. The hero of her favorite novel was based on The Brit.

Playing innocent, I deflected, “I apologize. The Barber is a nickname for the guillot—”

“You know what I mean, dog,” Peyton muttered, glaring at me. “Is your friend… I mean, was he…? I thought it was just a story! It’s true?”

I stared at her, completely deadpan.

“You realize that silence indicates guilt, right?”

“Anyway, Benoît refused to leave France”—

“Wow,” Peyton whispered.

I almost smiled at her reaction. “And he was determined that he could help save his beloved country, but he wanted his wife and children taken to safety. The Brit had given me a time to meet in two days. If I slighted Adrienne, I didn’t know how she would react. If she made a big enough splash, and I became easily recognized, I would lose the ability to help anyone without risking my own head. I wouldn’t do that to Benoît’s family. Or the other two families who were scheduled to be secreted out of France at the same time. Besides, my position in Adrienne’s life could yield a lot of useful information for the Brit and aid Benoît in his cause. In light of everything, I relayed what I’d learned from her mother, knowing she would take it straight to her brother.” Anger built inside me when I thought about his rash reaction. “Despite my honed skill at reading people, I hadn’t actually met Bernard and I overestimated his maturity. He’d moved up the ladder fast enough that I expected him to be less emotional and impulsive.”

Peyton’s eyes widened, as she no doubt guessed the next part accurately, but she stayed quiet.

“At lunch the next day, she showed up with Bernard. It turned out he was almost as shallow and self-absorbed as his sister. He went on and on about the ‘cause’ and then veered into a rant that ended in an evil smile when he thanked me for my help. I hated to think of the group I’d outed being arrested and thrown into prison, but straying from the path I’d chosen would have endangered the ones we could save, whowantedto be rescued. And I funneled information to a group I eventually joined that played a large part in the revolution and formation of the French Consulate government. But Bernard shocked the fuck out of me when he crowed about all the people they’d arrested, who’d been given no due process and executed that morning. I hadn’t expected them to act so quickly, but I understood how it had happened when Bernard gleefully told me all about the beheading of his parents. He’d clearly become unhinged, and zealots like him were always a recipe for disaster.

“Adrienne had been silent through her brother’s fanatic ravings and when he brought up their parents, guilt and sadness stole over her face before she looked away. Later that night, she came to my hotel seeking comfort and sobbed in my arms. It seemed she’d felt more for them than she realized, and she’d expected her parents to be held in prison. When Bernard took her to watch them be killed, she was horrified. We spent the night together, and the next morning, I asked her to marry me.”

Peyton scrunched her nose as though she smelled something distasteful, but didn’t interject.

“As expected, she jumped at the chance, especially since she’d just slept with a man to whom she wasn’t married. I had no doubt it had been an effort to ‘trap me’, so it made her all the more eager to accept. Of course, she had no idea that I couldn’t impregnate her without a full moon. My connection to the radicals, through her, gave me information that helped the Brit choose when and where to organize his rescues. It also gave me the chance to give advance warning to a lot of innocent citizens who were in the crosshairs—so to speak—of the Committee of Public Safety. Thankfully, with things escalating as they were, Adrienne had agreed to wait a while before we married.

“For a few months, we worked and survived. Benoît’s home was near the edge of the city, very close to a wooded area, giving me the opportunity to exercise my wolf from time to time. I had to be careful, though, because his nearest neighbor, Louis, who was nosier than any old woman, couldn’t be trusted. He wasn’t an evil man, necessarily, just incredibly selfish. His first priority was to keep his head firmly attached to his neck, and the same for his wife and daughter. Although, he certainly put himself first. This meant that his allegiance was constantly for sale and always went to those who held the most power, rather than those who had the moral high ground.”

My temper flared when I thought about his part in what happened next. “His first efforts were to remain neutral and stay off the radar, but if that wasn’t possible, he would spill his guts in order to divert any attention or suspicion away from himself. In addition to that, he believed—as most did in those days—that witches had made a pact with the devil, and that spilled over to other supernats such as shifters. Because of this, I’d been extra-vigilant when shifting, making sure no one saw me, especially not in transition. Not only for myself, but also for Benoît. I’d only met Louis a handful of times during visits with my friend, but it was enough that I couldn’t risk drawing his attention to me or Benoît. Unfortunately, my friend hadn’t been as discreet as he thought when sheltering families who were waiting for the Brit to help them escape.

“Despite Louis’s influence, his twenty-year-old daughter, Violette, was sweet and open-minded. She liked to spend time in the woods and she came upon my wolf a few times. We were both stunned when she didn’t appear to be afraid. She walked right up to him and offered her hand. When he placed his paw in her palm, she took that as permission to pet him. They became fast friends and after a while, he started to look for her during our outings.” I shook my head sadly. “I wish I’d known sooner that she was aware of my wolf’s human half. If I’d known she knew who I really was, I would have sent her to the Brit before it was too late.”

I stopped when I noticed Peyton twisting her ring around her thumb. “Do you want me to go on?”

CHAPTERTEN

NATHAN

Peyton nodded in answer to my question. Then she mumbled, “I just need to grab a snack,” and patted her stomach. “She’s hungry.”

“Don’t get up, baby. I’ll get it.”

I didn’t give her a chance to argue, jumping to my feet and heading to the kitchen. While I made her a sandwich, I studied her countenance. To anyone else, she would seem completely at ease, but that ring was her biggest tell.

There were things in my past that I would’ve done differently if I’d had the chance, but the choices I’d made were always to right wrongs, to fight injustice, to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. I had no regrets, no guilt, only hindsight. I used it to learn, but other than that, I let it go. Dwelling on what ifs only hampered my ability to move forward with confidence and determination.

When I noticed Peyton engaging in her nervous habit of twisting her ring around her thumb, I was taken aback by the apprehension that crept up inside me. I didn’t share a lot of my past with people, but when I did, I took their reactions in stride. They either accepted it and moved on, or not. Either way, I didn’t have the time or patience to change their mind.

However, it seemed I cared what Peyton thought, or I wouldn’t have hesitated in the middle of the retelling. Just another sign that my feelings for her were developing into something more than I’d thought they could. Nothing would change my past actions, but if I had to spend time convincing Peyton to accept it and put it behind her, as I had, then I would. I didn’t think it would come to that as Peyton usually saw the bigger picture, but no one was completely predictable.

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