Page 57 of An Unending Claim

“Let’s go down this list one by one,” Willa suggested and we heard more paper rustling.

When we’d examined the death of each shifter, as well as the Council members, Tanner’s hypothesis began to look more and more like a reality.

Not only did we find a link to each hunted shifter that had potential to weaken or destroy packs, but then we moved on to the council members and, after Peyton did a little digging, we also found ties between them and the shifter community. Even Melinda, which was unexpected since B had admitted to killing her in Peyton’s place.

“Someone is weakening the packs and dividing the Council,” Peyton observed, twisting the ring on her thumb. “Mediation. They are trying to sway any issues brought before the Council in their favor.”

“Removing the swing votes doesn’t guarantee that, though,” Jase pointed out. “It just means it will swing heavily one way or the other.”

“Not if they’re bribing the remaining members.”

Peyton’s statement stunned everyone to silence. She was still on my lap, using my computer, so she leaned back and turned the screen to fully face me.

She had several bank statements open and as I looked them over, my blood heated and fury built. At least six of the remaining Council members had unexplained influxes of cash at seemingly random intervals. Except they weren’t random.

Anticipating my thought process, Peyton clicked another window and brought up the schedule of votes for the last year.

I cursed and slammed my fist on the desktop. “Willa, thank you for your help. I’ll get back with you about Azreal.”

Then I hung up. I didn’t want any more of our conversation to be heard beyond Peyton and my enforcers. I called them all through the pack link, doubling up perimeter patrols and putting two enforcers at each of the town’s security booths.

“If you take what you know about B and Xavier before the Council, I have no doubt it won’t come out in our favor,” Peyton murmured. “He’s positioning himself to take over the territories all around so he can challenge you. And now his mate…”

Peyton and I were staring into each other’s eyes and when she trailed off we sat in silence as we contemplated. I knew the second we came to the same conclusion.

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

PEYTON

“He knows I’m alive.”

“He knows you’re alive.”

Nathan and I spoke at the same moment, both horrified by where the evidence had led us.

My panther curled into a ball in a dark corner. She recognized my grandfather’s name and my emotional state was making her anxious. I shook my head, then pressed my palm against my forehead as I wracked my brain, trying to figure out how Xavier Castile could possibly have not only learned that his granddaughter was alive, but located me, too.

“When B didn’t manage to kill you, Xavier encouraged him to take you.” Nathan’s tone was hard as he voiced his thoughts. I could practically see his mind methodically working through everything we knew.

“Then he failed at that, too.”

“I don’t know how the fuck Xavier orchestrated it,” Nathan seethed, “but I’m sure that he planned Geoff’s death assuming I would cast you out.”

“He couldn’t know I would shoot Geoff,” I protested.

“It didn’t matter. He meant for Geoff to die as you arrived, hoping we’d smell the blood, then see you and the gun and assume you’d killed him.”

Nathan made sense, but I still couldn’t wrap my head around it all. “Do you… do you think Xavier had B kill his mate?”

Nathan was quiet as he stared at the computer screen while stroking his beard. Then he ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled harshly. “I don’t know. Although I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“I don’t understand the message he’s sending with Hamna.” Jase spoke up.

“Credibility,” I told him, and Nathan nodded in agreement. “He’s setting me up, trying to damage the trust I’ve earned.”

“How so?” Tanner asked.

I sighed and tossed Nathan a warning glance. “I don’t want to hear any part of ‘I told you so,’” I grumbled. He clearly wasn’t in the mood for humor, but something he saw in my face or felt in my emotions must have clued him in to the fact that I needed to lighten the atmosphere before I fell apart.