Page 83 of An Unending Claim

He’d rounded his desk to sit behind it and as if he felt my stare, his head lifted to look at me. “Thank you.”

My jaw loosened, but I didn’t let it drop. Instead, I gave him a small smile and inclined my head.

“Now, get your ass back to the cabin and stay there.”

“For the love of…” I rolled my eyes and stalked out of the room.

Four enforcers were waiting in the hall and Tanner wasn’t far behind me. “Well, let’s move it, posse,” I snipped before heading to the elevator.

We made it to the SUV without incident and Tanner sat in the driver’s seat, while Allison and Ephraim climbed into the back. Sabrina and Jase had already shifted to run with the car, and a minute later they were joined by Mason’s wolf.

Tanner pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road to make the short drive back to the cabin. I turned to look at him and started to ask a question when there was a loud boom and the SUV went careening to the side of the road. My head whipped around and I watched in horror as my side of the car smashed into a tree. My head burst with pain and then there was nothing.

CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE

PEYTON

My head was pounding like a fist banging on a door and I groaned, then immediately regretted it when it caused a splitting pain to lance through my brain. My panther groaned, in much the same shape.

The pounding wouldn’t stop and I attempted to crack an eye to see what the fuck was going on, but it hurt too much so I just remained still. I was pretty sure there was someone at the door and I wondered why Nathan didn’t answer the door and stop the infernal knocking. He was usually so protective when I didn’t feel well, and I felt like I’d been run over by a truck—fuck, fuck, fuck!

It all came screaming back to me. The car, the tree. I didn’t remember anything after that, but terror shook my body as I tried to assess my condition without moving. I had no way of knowing if my baby was okay. My body was one big ache, making it difficult to focus on any one spot.

My cat was nearly hysterical, but she didn’t try to surface because she’d wrapped her essence around the baby. I was grateful for her extra protection, because I had no ability to move right then, let alone attempt an escape.

Forcing myself to focus on my situation and work through the pain, I managed to open my eyes to slits and look around. Thankfully, the knocking stopped.

I was positioned on my side, so I had a decent view. The room reminded me of the shack where B had taken me before Nathan caught up with us. I tried to take a deep, cleansing breath, but it got caught in my lungs when I realized several of my ribs were broken. I forced my eyelids all of the way open and attempted to take an inventory of my injuries, focusing hard so I could pinpoint specific spots. I had no way of knowing how long I’d been out, but from the healing cuts I spotted on the arm in front of me, it had been long enough for my body to begin repairing itself.

My right leg was stacked on the other and the alignment was only a hair off, but it was enough for me to guess that I’d broken my leg or hip. My right wrist flashed with pain when I moved the fingers. It appeared to be broken, too. Once I paid better attention to my head, I realized the pain was somewhat localized, and I was pretty sure that I had a nasty gash from my head hitting the glass window and possibly the trunk of a tree. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had cracked my skull, especially since I was fairly certain that my cheekbone and jaw had been broken. Both ached, but didn’t cause me immense pain when I carefully moved my mouth.

None of that told me the one thing I really wanted to know, though. What was my cub’s condition? Was she still alive? But these were answers that would only come if I escaped.

The small cabin was slightly bigger and in better shape than the little shanty on Silver Lake land. It looked like it was set up as a hunting shack, with all sorts of weapons hanging on the walls, as well as the stuffed heads of several animals. My stomach clenched when I thought about any of them being shifters, but I was more concerned about my child and I ending up as décor than who was already displayed.

The pounding started again and a door across the room swung open, slamming against the wall. “I’m coming, dammit! For shit’s sake.”

I held in a gasp when Bane stomped out of what looked to be a bathroom and hurried to the front door. He unlocked it and pulled it open, but I couldn’t see the visitor from where I was lying. Then the visitor said something and there was no mistaking the voice. I hadn’t spoken with my grandfather in twenty years, but his voice was burned into my brain. My panther hissed and spit, repulsed by the man who used to hurt and terrify us.

“Get out of my way,” Xavier Castile commanded.

“What are you doing here?” Bane hissed, continuing to block the door. “I was preparing to start.”

“Move, Bane, or I will gut you right where you stand.”

Bane hesitated, but then he stepped back and my grandfather entered the cabin.

Both men turned their eyes on me, and I didn’t bother to pretend I was asleep. I just stared back at them.

“You’re awake.” Bane’s voice was filled with glee and he moved back in the direction of the bathroom.

“Don’t bother,” Xavier growled. “You won’t be killing her tonight.”

Bane spun on his heel to stare at the Castile Alpha with a mixture of shock and rage. “Why the fuck not?”

“Because I want her alive.”

Bane exploded, shouting and shrieking at Xavier. His decibel level was splitting my head so I didn’t catch much of what he said. Then there was a deafening bang—making me cry out from the throbbing pain the sound caused—and Bane dropped to the ground.

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