Page 12 of Savage Claim

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a couple of bills. “Can I get a soda too? I’m tired of water.” Too bad there wasn’t an uncrushed soda cup in the trash can.

“Sure thing.” After he tossed a few scoops of popcorn into the bucket, he filled a cup of soda for me and passed it over. “Enjoy the rest of your movie.” He flicked frizzy brown curls from his freckled face as he grinned.

I returned the smile and plucked a few napkins from the holder. “Thanks.”

My excitement could barely be contained as I marched to the left of the theater where that exterior door was hidden behind a wall of giant cardboard cutouts and promo crap. I set the food and drink down and opened the door, peering out as Jayla paced in the alley.

“Jayla bear! Get over here.”

She spun when she heard me and sprinted through the door. “What took so long? I thought you forgot about me.”

“I had to get some provisions.”

Her eyes lit up when I grabbed the popcorn and soda. “You are the best, Tate!” Her arms wrapped around my waist as she squeezed so tight she threatened to pop my lungs.

My laughter echoed around us. “Don’t forget that when I tell you to read those books.”

She scowled. “Why do I need a summer reading list? I’m not even in school.”

“You have to learn to be street smart and book smart.” I tapped her temple as she released me. “Then no one can touch you.”

“But you promised to teach me how to fight, too, remember?”

“I remember.” Of course I wanted her to be able to physically defend herself when I wasn’t around.

Jayla grabbed a handful of popcorn and moaned. “There’s just something about theater popcorn.”

“It’s special.” I winked and jerked my chin to the right. “Come on. Let’s go see some shit get blown up.”

Her beaming smile hit me right in the gut. “Car chases too.”

My eyelids popped open, and I groaned at the creak in my neck from falling asleep on the desk in a cramped corner of the archives. Light from the small lamp cast a glow on the book I’d used as a pillow.

Earlier tonight, I couldn’t sleep, so I snuck out of the room I shared with Fane and spent the last few hours poring over books and papers. After Jax told me about the archives at Silver Ridge, I started searching for any information on my parents. If one or both were shifters in Georgia, the head alpha might have a record of them. Of course, I told Barric I just wanted to learn shifter history.

At first, the stuffy room, crammed full of bookshelves and file cabinets, triggered my claustrophobia, and I spent hours sweating and trying not to have a complete freakout. Eventually, I got used to the small space and breathed a little easier. This was not the closet in Rena’s room, and I wasn’t locked in or tied to a pole. I could leave any time.

As the dream of Jayla flooded back, the pain of losing her brutally cut me. Warin crashed into our lives not long after that day and snatched her away. Maybe she could have defended herself if I’d taught her how to fight sooner.

My bitter laugh echoed against the surrounding dusty shelves. A little thirteen-year-old human wouldn’t have done shit to a high demon. I barely survived.

I ran my fingers through my snarled pinkish-red hair and closed the book of family trees. How the hell could I find my parents when I literally had nothing to go on except my birth date? Then again, that could also be a lie.

A faint pulse of frustration throbbed in my chest, but it wasn’t my own emotion. It came from Fane. He was either dreaming or woke up to find me gone. He claimed he hated being around me and had to curb his murderous urge all the time, but how much effect did Kaspin’s spell still have on him besides the memory loss?

Our bond continued to deepen and pull us together like Cirilla warned. It felt like the vines connecting us had grown roots, burrowing into my very soul. Severing this link was impossible.

I stood and grabbed the books scattered around me, replacing them on the old wooden shelves along the walls. The scent of wood, leather, and dust wrinkled my nose, my senses sharper than ever. Maybe living in a house with so many shifters brought my own wolf closer to the surface.

I left the archives and entered a long hallway with dark wainscoting and baroque wallpaper that stretched before me like a never-ending passageway in a dream. The interior of the head alpha’s house was huge. Like Corvin Manor, the raven’s headquarters, witches had enchanted the Silver Ridge compound to significantly alter its size. On the outside, it appeared to be a typical historic Georgian style mansion in downtown Savannah with a wrought iron gate and a courtyard in the center. On the inside, a few dozen shifters could live comfortably.

Some of the pack members did live here—lots of unmated males—but most had their own homes within Savannah. Silver Ridge was an enormous wolf pack.

Besides the size, witches also created a mystical forest shifters could slip into and run in their animal form. Barric wanted a safe place for them—us—to get in touch with our animal side and run without fear of humans. Citizens and tourists spotting wolves in the city might cause a bit of chaos. We didn’t need zookeepers and environmentalists trying to figure out why a bunch of animals were roaming the urban streets.

My toes sank into the soft carpet, and I turned the corner to find a similar hallway. I’d gotten lost a few times, circling the inner corridors for an hour until Fane projected himself to me to lead me out.

He got a laugh out of that.

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