Page 97 of An Unending Claim

“Having an entire pack in my head while I’m fucking my mate isn’t my kind of kink,” he grunted and I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. “And unless it’s life or death, I don’t see what couldn’t wait another fifteen minutes.”

I scooted back on Nathan’s lap and put one foot on the ground, before swinging the other over so I was standing on my own. Before I could take a single step, Nathan snaked an arm around me and pulled me back down into his lap. I shot him a disgruntled frown for manhandling me, but the smug bastard just winked. Making me even more hot for him.I’m so fucking easy,I thought.

Yes, you are.Nathan’s deep, sexy voice floated into my mind like a caress, taking me by surprise. It had only been a couple of months since we sealed our bond and gained full access to each other's' minds. I was still adjusting to the fact that he knew all my thoughts unless I chose to block them from him. Which pissed him the fuck off, so I sometimes did it just to earn myself a spanking and a hard fuck.

I shivered and felt more than heard Nathan’s silent chuckle.

“Explain,” Nathan growled at Asher.

“Rogan came to see me,” he replied.

My brow shot up. “I thought Tanner was handling the contracts with him.”

Asher nodded as he leaned back and rested one ankle on the bent knee of his opposite leg. “It’s not about KBO business.”

Nathan rubbed his beard, then dropped his hand to the desktop and drummed his fingers. “He needs your covert skills.”

Again, Asher nodded. “A lion shifter on the African Council was discovered in Faery. ”

“Dead?” I asked.

“Drained,” Nathan guessed.

He wasn’t referring to the shifter’s blood, though. If a Fae fed on someone other than another Fae for too long, they would consume their soul, and the victim would essentially become a mindless shell of a person. Like a zombie that didn’t eat brains…and was super horny because their last memory was only of the pleasure they received while they were being fed on.

“Yeah. Barely alive, but his mind is completely gone.”

“He couldn’t have entered Faery without an escort,” Nathan rumbled, his tone thoughtful. “Does Rogan know who it was?”

“He’s narrowed it down to a few suspects, which is why he called on me.”

Nathan and I hadn’t talked much about Asher, so I had very few details about his past. I knew he’d gone into the military at eighteen and that he’d been recruited into a group that didn’t officially exist. Which meant there was no record of what he’d actually done for them. But, his reputation as a black ops instructor, particularly in interrogation tactics, hinted at the work he’d done for the military. If the Prince of the Light Fae was calling on Asher for help…damn. He had to have mad skills.

But, my question wasn’t why Rogan had come to Asher for help. It was why he’d called on anyone. “How did the information get out? He could have covered up the whole thing. Especially since the shifter was still in Faery.”

Asher cocked his head to the side. “I gathered that there is shit brewing at home and he doesn’t want a war any more than we do.”

Nathan grunted and ran a hand through his hair. “His father’s mind is breaking, but he won’t let go of the crown. Rogan is trying to find a solution that won’t tear his people apart by forcing them to take sides.”

“Has he told the head of the council about the lion?” I queried. Calling for help was one thing, being completely transparent to outsiders was quite another.

“No,” Asher said before exhaling harshly. “I called a friend who works at the HQ there. She said his absence has already been noticed, but they had no leads yet. Rogan doesn’t want to approach them until he can give them someone to blame.”

I twisted the ring on my thumb as I mulled over the information. “I see the logic in that choice, but if they figure it out on their own, they’ll think he was trying to cover it up,” I predicted.

“Which is why I’m in a hurry,” Asher explained, finally getting to why he’d interrupted us.

I turned my gaze to Nathan’s face and raised an eyebrow. “Do you think this will work? If he waits too long while they figure it out, he could be the catalyst for the very war he’s trying to avoid.”

My mate nodded and absently threaded his fingers through my hair. “I agree.” His silver eyes shifted to Asher and he watched him in silence for a few beats. “Tell Rogan he has two weeks to go to the Council, or I will.”

“Understood,” Asher replied. He put his foot on the floor and stood, but instead of walking toward the door, his blue eyes locked onto me. “You’ll keep an eye on her?”

“Of course,” I promised without hesitation.

Things between Asher and Savannah hadbecome even more strained lately, but in his own way, I knew he cared for her.

He nodded his thanks and headed toward the exit, but paused when Nathan spoke.

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