Page 50 of An Unending Claim

“Who’s stopping you?” Peyton sassed.

An hour later, Peyton was passed out in our bed. I quietly pulled on a pair of loose shorts, and headed to my office to work. I probably should have felt guilty for sapping even more of her energy but…fuck it. Hearing Peyton come had become an addiction. Besides, it would help her sleep.

I gathered my hair up and twisted into an elastic band at the back of my head. Whenever we had sex, Peyton had a habit of running her fingers through it or pulling on it—which was hot as fuck and one of the reasons my mother would never convince me to cut it.

I worked for a few hours before Tanner and Jax stopped by. We talked about a few pack issues, but then we grabbed some chips and beers and went to the living room to relax. I found a snowboarding competition and we sat around dissecting the sport and shooting the shit. It was the first night since we’d watched the baseball game at my parent’s that things felt normal.

What I found most interesting, though, was that it wasn’t Peyton’s absence that made this feel that way. The fact that my mate was a few feet away, asleep in my bed, felt right. This was the new normal and that pleased me. Although, I would have enjoyed myself more if she’d been with me. That realization had been coming to me more and more with each day that passed. For someone who had always been perfectly happy with solitude—not antisocial, simply comfortable with both people and being alone—it was a strange sensation to always be missing Peyton when she wasn’t near.

When she first arrived, I would have chalked it up to the true mate bond, but as my feelings for her deepened, I had to admit that it wasn’t the universe, or fate, or anything else that caused me to crave Peyton’s company.

It was simply Peyton.

Her charisma, her dry wit, her caring nature, her protective instincts, her strength and independence. She was my friend, my lover, my colleague, my partner, and soon the mother of my child.

Everything clicked into place and I no longer wondered at my feelings for her. I didn’t have to ponder or guess anymore. It was staring me in the face.

I’d fallen in love with her.

CHAPTERTWENTY

NATHAN

The epiphany that I loved Peyton didn’t come as a major shock, but it would take some time to fully acclimate to it. My wolf was incredibly smug about it, though.

I still wasn’t sure how, or if, this would change anything. After Tanner and Jax had gone home, I’d spent some time looking at different angles and trying to discern what this meant for the future. When I finally went to bed, I’d come to the conclusion that loving Peyton would make our eternity together a form of paradise.

However, it also left my heart vulnerable, as I’d opened a door and waved Peyton inside, then stood there while she decided whether to keep my heart or toss it away and leave. I wasn’t entirely happy with that, but I also couldn’t change it. My heart had picked Peyton the same way my soul, and wolf, had chosen her.

If she didn’t feel the same, well… I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. At the moment, everything took a back seat to finding the bastard hunting her. It would be impossible to make truly lasting decisions with that hanging over our heads.

As usual, I was up before the sun and Peyton was sprawled out in the bed, her face peaceful in sleep. I made sure there were at least two enforcers guarding the cabin and took my wolf out for a run.

I did a lot of thinking while I let him roam, and I came to the same conclusion that Peyton had the day before. We’d take everything we knew and bring it before the council.

Not only did I need to set an example as the head of the Council, but if I circumvented the rules, it would send a message that I didn’t believe in the system, and that would cause chaos. It was my job to keep that from happening, and with the tensions between species heating up, it was even more important to unite the shifter community. Which also meant finding the person responsible for the deaths of all the shifters.

When I returned home, I shifted on the porch, then punched in the key code to disarm the door. Peyton was sitting at the island with her laptop and as I entered, she looked up. Her emerald eyes swirled with gold flecks as she smiled at me and from the emotions she wasn’t bothering to hide, I knew she was genuinely pleased to see me. My wolf barked like a happy puppy, eager to be near her, especially after the heaviness of my thoughts during our run.

“Good morning, baby. You look well rested.”

“Thank you,” Peyton replied as her eyes devoured my naked body. “You look… delicious.”

My cock had already stirred the moment I was near Peyton, but at her hungry expression, it fully hardened. I gestured to the thick shaft and winked at her. “You’re welcome to have me for breakfast, baby.”

She licked her lips and I was across the room in the blink of an eye. I lifted her off her stool and set her on the counter before crashing my mouth down on hers. The room exploded with heat and my wolf shoved his way to the surface of my mind. My mind became empty of everything except the primal need to take my mate.

Peyton had slept naked, but she’d put on a T-shirt and shorts when she’d risen. My claws extended and I sliced the front of her top before ripping the scraps of fabric away.

“Fuck, I missed you,” I groaned when we came up for air. I traced the bite mark on her shoulder, the animal in me begging to refresh it.

“You, too,” Peyton panted as she twined her fingers through my hair.

My claws made fast work of destroying her shorts and panties as well. Then I grasped her ass with one hand while the other drifted up the soft skin of her stomach, the valley between her breasts, stopping when I reached her throat.

In all of my thoughts since I’d realized what Peyton meant to me, I’d been focusing on the logical repercussions, just as I thought about all facts and considerations with any other major decision or path in front of me.

But Peyton had changed everything the first time I saw her. I should have predicted this. When it came to Peyton, my emotions went crazy and logic flew out the window. Where ten minutes ago I was accepting of the idea that Peyton might not love me, now I was determined to make sure she did. She would not be leaving and I needed to prove it to her.

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