Page 31 of An Unending Claim

Chuckles floated through the group as Celine and I burst into laughter. Nathan hadn’t ceased playing with my hair and rubbing my back—that he’d done it at all had kind of astonished me because I’d been under the impression that showing softness in front of your pack was detrimental to your leadership—but as I chortled, I felt his palm on my neck. He gave it a small squeeze, then kissed my temple before settling back into his soothing touches.

Puzzled, I turned my head and met his gaze. He raised the corners of his lips in what constituted a smile for him most of the time, then winked at me.

Considering the majority of us were naked, which was not unusual for shifters, I rarely felt self-conscious about my nudity. But when Nathan winked in that ridiculously sexy way of his, my body immediately reacted, heating up and causing my nipples to harden.

His silver eyes turned molten as he watched me, but when he inhaled a second later, his whole countenance changed. He became more like his wolf, acting on instinct, jumping to his feet, and scooping me into his arms. He lifted his chin at the group, then pivoted and ran toward home.

Once we arrived, he punched in the code to disarm the cabin before stalking inside like a man with a single purpose. We were barely across the room when his cell phone rang from where he’d left it on the kitchen counter. His steps slowed slightly, but he didn’t stop. If it was an emergency, he’d be able to pick up on that through the pack link, unless it was KBO business, since he employed plenty of people who weren’t part of our pack. Some of them were non-shifters, too.

“Nothing in the pack web?” I asked.

“It’s my mother,” he replied, resuming his purposeful stride across the room.

Feeling a little evil, I squirmed to be put down, swallowing a smile when he groaned as my ass brushed his hard cock. “You can’t ignore your mother, Nate! What if it’s an emergency?”

He paused and frowned at me. “It’s not.”

“Maybe not life and death, but…”

His silver eyes flashed wolf before he glanced down the hall toward the bedroom, then came back to me and narrowed. “She can wait.”

“You know as well as I do that if we go to the bedroom, we won’t come up for air until tomorrow.” I tried to sound indignant, but I clearly failed because a smirk formed on his lips. “Just answer the phone, Alpha.”

Nathan growled, but set me on my feet. “Now who’s a tease?” he asked before stomping into the kitchen to retrieve his phone. He made a shooing motion at me before hitting the accept button and putting the phone on speaker. “Mom.”

I must not have moved quick enough for him because he returned to my side and gently pushed me toward the bedroom before delivering a smack to my ass. I leveled him with a glare over my shoulder, receiving an eye roll in return before he gave me another small push.

“Hello,moy malysh,”she replied in her sweet, motherly tone. “How are Peyton and my sweet grandbaby?”

“What makes you think she won’t be a hellion?” Michael piped up in the background.

“She’ll still be my sweet grandbaby,” Beth huffed.

“We’re fine, Beth,” I answered. “Thank you for asking.”

“My mate and I have some… business. Can this wait?” Nathan interjected, his tone impatient.

I gave him a dirty look as I entered the bedroom and tried to swipe the phone, but he held it out of my reach, which was hard to do at my height. But he was such a fucking giant, he made me feel petite.

“I called to remind you about Thanksgiving on Thursday.”

My brows drew down and my stomach flipped as I processed what she’d said. Not about the holiday itself, but the fact that if Thanksgiving was so close, that meant we were approaching the beginning of B’s four- to six-week window. Considering what he’d said about Melinda, I didn’t think she counted in his mind. He would most likely be keeping to schedule as if he hadn’t murdered some random woman who looked like me. Except, with his current fixation on me, it was anyone’s guess what he would do next.

Nathan’s fingers came to rest beneath my chin and he raised it so I was looking up into his silver eyes. Between his expression and the turmoil I felt in his emotions, I knew he’d come to the same conclusion. “We’ll be there,” he said gruffly, then hung up his phone and tossed it on the bed. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, baby,” he vowed in a low voice.

“It’s not me I’m worried about.”

“You know I’ll protect both of you.” Nathan pulled me into his arms, surrounding me with his warmth and making me feel safe and secure.

“I didn’t mean our baby,” I told him softly. “I know you wouldn’t let anything happen to us. But if he isn’t able to get to me, will he go after someone else?”

Nathan was quiet for a while, then he sighed. “I don’t know, baby. And it might make me the world’s biggest asshole, but right now, I don’t care about anyone except my mate and our pup. You both matter more to me than anything in this world. Or any other.”

I chuckled at his joke about other worlds and laid my head on his chest. Standing there in his gentle embrace, feeling safe and cared for, I had to admit, I loved the idea of ending every day like this.

“Same,” I whispered.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

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