Mate Claimed (Shifters Unbound #4)(53)
Author: Jennifer Ashley

A photo op. Iona nearly snapped her pen in half. He’s turning this into a photo op.

“Mr. Warden was hoping to join us here,” Iona said quickly. “He wants to discuss a few things. Can’t think what’s keeping him.”

Was it her imagination, or did Kellerman look alarmed? “We can speak to him in Shiftertown,” he said. “Where else would we find him?”

His words were too slick, too glib. Iona fell silent. If Kellerman and her mother went to Shiftertown, she couldn’t go with them. There’d be too much danger a Shifter might spill to Kellerman—accidentally or on purpose—that she was only half-human.

Her mother, thankfully, understood that. “Not sure we can spare the time for the trip today,” she said.

“Ah, well. Oh.” Kellerman glanced out the window at the same time Iona heard the throb of Eric’s motorcycle. “Here he is.”

Iona went weak with relief. And then wound up with worry again. Had Eric found the missing Shifters? Or was he here to beat their whereabouts out of Kellerman?

Not one Harley pulled up, she saw as she rose from her desk, but two. The second Shifter was Graham.

The two Shifters removed helmets and walked to the office side by side. Not in comradeship, but each not wanting to let the other lead.

Iona went to the door and opened it herself to prevent a power struggle over who got to knock. Eric gave her a warm look, then masked it as he climbed the steps to the office.

The Shifters seemed to fill up the space in the small office and left little room for Iona, Kellerman, and Penny. Iona smelled the rage on Graham, and the same rage, more controlled, but maybe even greater, on Eric.

“We were just talking about coming out to the site,” Kellerman said, extending a hand to Eric. “To look around, perhaps let a few of the local rags get a photo or two…”

Eric looked at Kellerman’s hand, then back up into his eyes. “Small problem today,” he said. “Twenty of the Elko Shifters came in on a bus they didn’t get on in Elko. They were missing for twelve hours. Know anything about that?”

Penny gasped. Iona clutched the lip of the desk she leaned on. They’d found them. Thank God, they’d found them.

“Missing?” Kellerman looked concerned. “What do you mean, missing?”

“He’s lying,” Graham said to Eric. “He stinks of lies.”

Kellerman raised his hands. “Boys.”

“What happened to them?” Eric asked. “Where were they taken? What was done to them?”

“I swear to you, Mr. Warden, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Then find out.” Eric didn’t move, didn’t approach, but he might as well have picked up Kellerman by the lapels and slammed him into the nearest wall. “I want to know who did it, what was done, and why.”

“Don’t give me ultimatums, Mr. Warden. You’re Shiftertown leader by our sufferance.”

Eric’s eyes narrowed. “The deal is, we put on Collars and follow your rules. In return, you let our kids grow up safe, and you don’t mess with them.”

Kellerman met Eric’s stare with one of his own. The man wasn’t afraid, but not because he was brave, Iona decided. She guessed he’d lived so long without anyone challenging him that he considered himself invulnerable. Not very smart.

“Fine, I’ll find out,” Kellerman said. “But it was probably nothing. The bus must have broken down.”

“Broken down, my ass,” Graham said. “Moving here wasn’t my choice, but you and your little council promised me safe passage for the females and cubs. Anything happens to them, and you’ll find out how pissed off I can truly get.”

Kellerman reddened. “Are you threatening me, McNeil?”

“Sounds like a threat, doesn’t it?”

“I can have you arrested for even speaking to me like that.”

“Humans. When you have to call on your warriors every time you’re in the least bit of danger, you know what happens?” Graham leaned to Kellerman. “You get weak.”

Kellerman at last showed uneasiness, but he didn’t step back. Graham grinned in his face, then turned his back on him.

Eric remained where he was, like a solid pillar, unmoving. Her hunger for him flared.

I need him…

“I’m sorry you’re taking this stance, Mr. Warden,” Kellerman said with the air of someone unjustly insulted. “I will look into the matter, but I can guarantee it was nothing dangerous. You’ve wasted a very good opportunity today to show the world that Shifters and humans are working together. You need a lot of good PR on your side if you want to be fully accepted into human society.”

Graham turned around at this and opened his mouth, but Iona glared at him. The Lupine actually gave her an acknowledging nod and kept quiet.

“Catch you next time,” Eric said to Kellerman.

“There might not be a next time.” Kellerman turned his attention to Penny and Iona. “I’m sorry that you had to witness this, ladies. Why don’t we go, gentlemen, and leave them in peace?”

So, Kellerman saw himself as protecting Iona and her mother from the Shifters. That was rich.

“Agreed,” Eric said. He gestured at the door. “After you.”

Graham looked meanly delighted. Cassidy had explained to Iona that Shifters considered having the strongest Shifter going first through a door the right thing to do—the Shifter made sure all was safe on the other side for the weaker members of the party. A dominant Shifter sending someone else out first was an insult, implying that the Shifter didn’t think the person worth protecting. Kellerman would assume Eric was deferring to him, when in reality, Eric was spitting in Kellerman’s face.

Kellerman gave Eric a gracious nod. “Warden.”

Eric walked out right after him, not saying good-bye to Iona or Penny. He wasn’t being rude, Iona knew, but keeping Kellerman from knowing that Iona and her mother were important to him.

Graham, on the other hand, faced both of them full-on as the door closed behind Eric.

“So you’re her mum,” he said to Penny. “The human lady who couldn’t resist a Shifter. I get that.”

Penny flushed, and Iona made an exasperated noise. “Your ego is the size of a city, did you know that?” Iona said

Graham gave her a grin that wasn’t friendly. “That’s not the only thing super-sized, sweetheart. You should have found that out when you had the chance.”