Page 15 of An Unending Claim
“I haven’t seen you allow someone to ruffle your feathers in nearly two millennia.” Dimitri’s voice held mild amusement—practically raucous laughter for my old friend.
“You’ve never met Peyton,” I replied, one corner of my lips kicking up. “She’s brilliant and wily. Her mind is incredibly complex. I doubt even your bewildering seer would be able to predict her every move.”
“This Peyton is quite high-maintenance, is she?”
I grunted in agreement.
“And you put up with it, why? Other than the pup? Because you don’t have to be together to raise a baby.”
“She’s my mate,” I replied, because to me, it was just that simple.
Dimitri scoffed. “Don’t bullshit me, old friend. Nothing is as uncomplicated you’re making this out to be.”
The sheets on my bed rustled and I murmured, “Hold that thought.”
I listened for a moment to see if Peyton had woken up, but she still breathed slow and steady. However, I didn’t want to chance waking her before her body had finished healing.
I grabbed my phone from the desk and slipped it into my pocket before making my way out to the back deck. After lowering my frame onto one of the chairs and kicking my feet up into the railing, I finally answered my friend. “We could be a powerhouse Alpha couple in public and have a strong relationship in private.”
“So that’s it?” Dimitri said slyly. “She’s really that good in bed?”
I scowled, irritated at his mention of Peyton in relation to sex. An irrational reaction, but that seemed to have become my new normal in regards to my mate. My wolf didn’t like Dimitri’s tone, inferring the direction of his comment and growling about it loud enough that it rumbled in my chest.
“Your wolf certainly seems attached.”
“Like you, he seems to think we own Peyton and her panther,” I said dryly.
“I’ve often suspected your animal had more sense than you.”
“You drink blood. Do I judge you?”
“Touché,” Dimitri sighed. “I’ve known you longer than anyone besides your parents, Nate. There’s something you’re not saying.”
Thinking about my feelings for Peyton and saying it out loud were two very different things. “I think I might be falling in love with her.” Verbalizing it didn’t help make anything clearer in my mind, not that I expected it to, but it would have been appreciated.
“Love?” He sounded even more disgusted than when he’d first asked about Peyton’s pregnancy. “Did I really just hear that word come out of the mouth of the ruthless, deadly motherfucker who rules the shifters on two continents? You’re a fucking legend for your skills as an assassin and an interrogator. And you said love?”
“You heard me,” I answered. Had he expected me to deny it? I didn’t say things I didn’t mean and he knew it.
“Love is utter bullshit,” Dimitri grunted. “If it does indeed exist, it only makes one weak.”
With parents like mine—not to mention all of the other happily mated couples in my pack—I couldn’t possibly agree with Dimitri, but I did know why he carried that opinion. I didn’t feel it needed further argument, though, so I changed the subject.
“Now that we’ve dissected my life for your amusement, are you going to tell me why you called? And from home?”
I thought about Jude’s mention that Dimitri finally intended to make a move, but Peyton had shown up before I’d had a chance to call him. Since he’d clearly returned to Russia, I assumed Jude had been correct.
“I found her, Nate.”
My feet immediately dropped to the ground and I sat up straight. “Anastasia Romanov?”
“She goes by Nikola now, but it’s her.”
“Damn. Do you really believe she’s the key to everything?”
“Anastasia is theonlyone who can get me through the door.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. “I can’t leave with Peyton—”