Page 39 of Broken Chains

Chapter 14

Waking up with Eve and Peyton in my arms did something to me. I couldn’t even put it into words. I had told her I would never take her as a mate but seeing the way she cared for my daughter broke my stubborn resolve. I knew that if she came to me today the way she had just yesterday when I’d watched myself break her heart, it would without a doubt be different this time.

I flexed my hand and let myself feel the soft, smooth skin of her thigh as it contrasted with her sexy denim shorts. If Eve weren’t between us, I’d likely give into the urge to claim her that kept welling up in my chest.

Mine!My wolf insisted.Mate!

My hand froze as Peyton’s eyes locked on with mine. She didn’t shrink away from my touch and I didn’t rush to move away from her.

“Has Doc been in to check on her?” she asked softly.

“I don’t know. I just woke up, too,” I admitted. Something Peyton had said to Luke weighed on me all night long. “Peyton, you told Luke that he had the right to be at this place. How?”

I watched her shrink back. She looked down at Eve and sighed before putting on her stubborn face. I knew that look well after having spent so much time with her working on the house.

“I lied to you,” she said.

I was surprised by her confession, and how much it hurt to hear her say it.

“Do you remember the day I sighed the papers for this place? You were there,” she said.

I nodded. “I remember, I witnessed them for you.”

She flinched. “No, you didn’t. You signed the title equally next to my name. I only told you it was for witnessing, and thankfully you didn’t look at it closely enough to question that.”

I did remember that day, and I remember thinking she was lying to me but couldn’t find any valid reason for those feelings.

“What?”

She gave me an apologetic look. “You own half of everything here. All of it.”

“Why would you do that?”

She seemed to struggle how to answer that. “Because, despite what you said yesterday, I do know exactly who you are and exactly who you are to me. Someday I’m going to break through that stubborn pride, and you’ll see. When that time comes, I didn’t want you to have to choose between your family and me. You have the option to transfer to Collier, but I knew with the boys in Larken Pack you wouldn’t. So this is neutral territory. It’s not Larken. It’s not Collier. But it’s both. I’m sorry I lied to you, but I’m not sorry I did it.”

I stared at her in shock. I owned half of this place? Half of the forty-nine acres of land it was on? I couldn’t even wrap my mind around it.

Brady interrupted and it took me a second to even realize he was talking.

“Oliver? You okay? How’s Eve?”

“She seems okay. Is Doc still here?” Peyton asked.

“Yeah, he’s sleeping in your room.”

“I wanted to stay close to Eve,” she confessed.

“I just called out of work. I’ll stick around the house just in case you guys need anything. Plus, I overslept. Damn, who knew a bed made that much of a difference? I slept like a rock.”

I laughed, then reality struck me—work! “Shit, I’m late for work. What time is it?”

“Relax, Luke took care of it already. He and Thomas slept on air mattresses downstairs last night. So weird. Two Alphas under one roof and everyone survived. Never thought I’d see the day,” Brady said.

She laughed. “Kyle Westin comes to stay with us every now and then. He and Thomas are good friends. It’s never an issue. Luke is a good guy. I know he’s friends with my sister Lizzy. Maybe this will bring our packs closer together.”

Peyton reached for her cell phone and made a call.

“I’m so sorry, Kate. I completely overslept. Eve’s sick,” she said. “Really? You’re sure? Thanks so much. I’ll check in later.” Peyton looked over at me and Brady. “Thomas already cleared work for me, too. Looks like we have the day off. I should probably jump in the shower then start on breakfast, though.” She must have looked at the time on her phone, because she cringed. “Or lunch.”

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