Pure Claim

by Marie Johnston

  It was X’s turn to blink. “Wow. Congrats?”

  Drawing in a shaky breath, Dani put a hand lovingly over her abdomen. “Yeah, it is great. It’s just scary. Terrifying. Shifters don’t usually have young this close together, and Dante has such strong abilities, and I feel so damn unqualified to raise powerful babies. And…” Dani sucked in a ragged breath. “We haven’t told anyone else, but…it’s twins.”

  Whoa. “So you’re a little stressed?”

  “That’s an understatement,” Dani said, nodding.

  Heavy boots climbed the steps outside. Dani’s face brightened as X stiffened. The front door opened to reveal a hulk of a male with dark hair that gleamed silver. The same silver glittered through the male’s eyes as he took in X sitting in his living quarters, hanging out with his mate and kid.

  “’Sup, Merc?” Drool pooled onto X’s foot as Dante laughed and bounced at the sight of his father.

  Mercury’s gaze warmed when they landed upon his son, then trailed down to the drool and back up to X. It was like he was waiting to see her reaction at getting baby body fluids on her.

  Please, baby drool was the tamest body fluid she’d encountered.

  Standing up, she bent down, winking at Dante when his bronze gleaming eyes caught hers. She gently dislodged him from her leg.

  Mercury was still tense, Dani’s mouth tightened in irritation at her mate, but she knew the history, and only waited for the confrontation to play out.

  Dante babbled happily where X had set him down.

  “You have a beautiful family, Mercury.” She made her way to the door.

  “I know.” He eyed her warily and stepped aside to let her pass.

  “Catch you later, Dani.” Stepping across the threshold, X turned and caught the door before it closed all the way. The muscles in Mercury’s chest flexed. Irritation at his reaction glinted in Dani’s eyes. “For what it’s worth, Dani, my mom talked about how nursery rhymes would soothe little vampires when their urges would get to be too much for them. She said singing helped me and my brother calm down when our eyes would get the vampire-red glow.” X left without waiting for a response.

  She really wished she could get down on the floor and hang with the baby. Just like Julio and his Legos were the best part of the previous day, she suspected seeing a cute, chubby baby would be the only highlight of today.

  Stepping off the porch, X decided to walk back to Rhys’ cabin and…totally not hide. Read, maybe. Would it kill Rhys to get a TV or something? Hell, even a radio. The silence in the cabin was going to drive her batshit, otherwise. She needed to watch Jeopardy or something to keep her mind occupied.

  She was halfway back when movement caught her eye. In an instant, a throwing knife was in one hand and ready to go. A young male stepped from behind a tree. His pale hair and pale-blue eyes was so much like his seer mother. X lowered her hand.

  They stood staring at each other for a long time. She hadn’t encountered him his entire time at Sigma. Madame G had kept him secret and highly protected. And in all truth, X and E ensured they got assignments that took them away from the compound often, for as long as possible.

  A trace of ever-present guilt laced through her mind. If she and E had been around more, maybe they would’ve heard that a young shifter had been studied, tortured. A little interference, a small accident and oops he escaped…They could’ve done something to help the kid get away.

  His hands started moving, and X tensed, her hand closing tighter on her knife. She held back a scowl at her reaction and sheathed her knife. He was still a damn kid, barely eighteen. Even if he did attack her, she wasn’t going to hurt him.

  He was communicating to her in sign language. She shook her head. “Sorry. I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

  He frowned and slumped his shoulders, his pale hair falling into his face. He was tall like most shifters, and carried a good amount of muscle, but it was clear he still had more filling out to do.

  She’d been so preoccupied with his appearance, and who his mother was, that the details of his scent finally registered.

  A Guardian. No wonder he’d been kept here after Mercury rescued him.

  She wanted to laugh. That would really piss off the Lycan Council. Parrish’s pale coloring indicated he was a seer. A seer who was a Guardian. A seer who the council couldn’t completely control.

  Did she suffer?

  X was startled by the voice filtering through her mind. “What do you mean?”

  She always tried to console me, told me lies to make things seem better than they were. Was she suffering the whole time? The kid’s head hung even more, and he rubbed at his temples, like the effort was giving him a headache.

  Oh hell. X would take two more months of maladroit visiting over this experience. “Uhhh, I don’t know.” He glanced up at her perplexed; she shrugged. “None of us knew about her until a few weeks ago. But when I saw her, she seemed well-cared for.”

  His hands dropped to wipe at his eyes, and he sniffled.

  She didn’t know much of his history, just what Rhys had passed on. The kid had spent most of his life at Sigma, and it had only been the last few years that were miserable for him.

  “I can tell you that we tried to save her.” At her words, he yanked his head up, his pale-blue eyes anguished. “She was ready to go. She knew it was her time, and that you were where you needed to be.”

  He considered her for a minute before nodding and dropping his gaze. Her heart wasn’t so jaded that it didn’t go out to the kid. He was a seer. He must’ve known it wouldn’t end well for his mother.

  She felt a tickle at her mind like he was going to telepathically say something else, when they were interrupted.

  “Parrish, you doing okay?” Bennett Young strode smoothly out of the shadows, eying X like a coiled cobra.

  As if she’d hurt a kid.

  Parrish ducked his head, his hands flying. X would bite her tongue until she drew blood before she asked Bennett what Parrish was saying.

  “He’s says he’s sorry.” Bennett snapped his gaze back to X. “Why does he look like he’s in pain?”

  X snorted. “Cuz you’re here,” she shot back at him.

  Parrish was waving his hands, brushing off Bennett’s concerns.

  “Why do you have a headache?” Bennett asked him. To X he asked, “Were you trying to hypnotize him?”

  Bennett thought she mind-blasted the kid? “Fuck you.” X shot back at him without thinking. Well, this day was going down the shitter.

  “It’s not me you’re fucking with,” Bennett hissed at her.

  She cocked her head at him. What the hell did he mean?

  “Parrish.” Bennett didn’t take his eyes off her. “Head back to the lodge.”

  The kid was about to argue. Instead, he shot X an apologetic look and followed Bennett’s orders.

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she waited for Bennett to elaborate.

  “Look,” he ran a hand through his hair, “I get you’re Sarah’s aunt. And you’re supposed to be the commander’s mate. But,” he shook his head, “he didn’t think we saw, you know, how crazy you made him. I helped patch him up after his fights with you. Hell, we all carry scars from you.”

  “Are you dead?”

  Bennett scowled at her.

  “Exactly,” she kept going before he responded. “Rhys understands. I did what I had to do.”

  “And what if you have to do something in the future and Sarah gets hurt?”

  X clenched her jaw, her anger flaring. Mostly because he hit a nerve. “I protected her and Ron the best I could.”

  “You protected yourself even more.” Bennett’s navy-blue eyes matched her ire. “I respect Commander Fitzsimmons. He wants you as a mate. Whatever. But I don’t want to find myself patching up Sarah’s wounds because of you.”

  “And what does Sarah have to say?”

  Bennett’s eyes flicked away briefly, the only indication that his mate had no idea he
was confronting X. “I already had to moderate a fight between her and Ronnie after you left yesterday.”

  X recoiled in shock. They were fighting? Over her?

  Bennett nodded. “Seems you stopped by. She thought Ronnie said something to piss you off since you left so abruptly. Then they were arguing about what to tell their father about the sister he thinks is dead.”

  It hit X that she was leaving a heavy burden on her family’s shoulders. Honestly, she wasn’t much older than each of them, but it felt like decades.

  “I’ll call John tonight,” she said quietly.

  Bennett didn’t reply right away. If he was surprised by her offer, he didn’t show it. Finally, he nodded. “Don’t screw over the commander. If he goes down, I’ll have to lead this team, and then I’ll be really pissed at you.”

  Bennett started walking away when X called after him. “Hey Benji.” She’d heard Mercury refer to him as that once, so X did, too. Mostly because it irritated him. “You realize I’m your aunt now, right?”

  She sensed his irritation spike and it made her laugh. He didn’t stop to acknowledge the point she made. Suck on that, Benji.

  *****

  “I need your phone.”

  Rhys had just stepped into his cabin. X lowered the book she was reading to look up at him through her hair. He liked the new cut, but it covered more of her face than usual.

  “Okay.” He tossed it to her.

  “And there’s a number I need.”

  When she told him, he shouldn’t have been as surprised as he felt. He had the number ready, just in case. Her brother’s number changed frequently, and he always knew the latest digits in case Sarah or Ronnie needed to get hold of their parents.

  Then she went out to the back deck for some privacy.

  Rhys set the bag he brought home on the table. He had a strong hunch that X wouldn’t want to eat at the lodge with the rest of his pack, so he grabbed some burgers and fixings, and packed them to go.

  He waited to eat until X came back twenty minutes later. Her face was ashen, shoulders not as square. No tears stained her cheeks, but he wished they did. Then it would mean that she let some emotion through.

  “Have a seat.” He warmed up some food and set it in front of her.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled, and went about eating like a robot zombie.

  Rhys didn’t even bother with conversation, just cleaned up the meal when they were done.

  “Will you…” Her gaze landed on the floor, her brow creased deep. “Can you…lie with me? Like you usually do?”

  She wasn’t asking for sex. She wasn’t asking for anything more than spooning on the bed.

  He took off his gear, kicked off his boots, and followed her lithe form into the bedroom. Crawling into the bed, he wrapped his arms around her, angling his hips back so she wouldn’t feel the ever-present erection he had around her. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel pressured into anything intimate she wasn’t ready for.

  But that day, over a month ago in the woods, before she helped E escape Sigma, that day would get him through many nights. It already had. The feel of her lips wrapped around him, cupping his—

  Yeah, so not the time.

  Occasionally, he would feel her blink where her head lay on his arm. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep, and he followed her in to protect her dreams, anticipating a more nightmare-filled sleep than usual.

  *****

  “It’s been two days, Commander. What do you have?” Councilman Seether rasped into the monitor.

  Rhys smoothly rattled off his reply while Bennett observed. He figured he’d better have another Guardian clued in to what was going on with the council. Later, he would bounce ideas off Master Bellamy, since he was commander before Rhys, and might have more insight into how to handle the crusty bastards.

  Telling them nothing more than how X was captured, he described the scene. He’d seen it enough in her dreams. He detailed what he knew of her time with Sigma and how she partnered with E, in hopes that they could work together to defeat Madame G.

  “That’s what I have for now,” Rhys concluded. “I’ll work on getting more details.”

  “Don’t you have a family name?” Councilmen Hargrath asked, with too much interest for Rhys’ liking.

  Rhys was even more grateful Bennett was with him. The other Guardian needed to know what his own mate might face—the too avid interest from the council.

  “It’s coming. She’s working on remembering the details of her history.”

  Several members of the council shifted in their chairs. A few exchanged unreadable looks.

  “And Agent E. Has he shown any penchant for malice?” Councilman Seether asked.

  “None. I fully believe he is in his right mind.”

  Councilman Hargrath leaned into the camera. “Why is he of sound mind and Agent X is not?”

  “E was a grown man when he was abducted and converted into an Agent. X was still a teenager, and she was put through rigorous…efforts…to make her agree to become an Agent.”

  Harrumphs and throat clearing could be heard as they digested that. It was a good sign, a sign that they were seeing E and X in a different light, and not just as Agents.

  “How long do you anticipate this,” Councilman Seether waved his hand, “amnesia?” His tone was almost a sneer. Rhys wished he could reach through the camera and wring his wiry little neck.

  “Unknown. Give me another week to work with her and report back.”

  More looks were exchanged before the council grudgingly acquiesced.

  Clicking off and shutting down the computer for good measure, Rhys turned to Bennett.

  “What are we going to do?” Bennett asked.

  Rhys knew the male’s fear was for Sarah, and with good reason. Keeping X a secret was risky. If they discovered her and started digging into her past, they’d figure out Sarah used to go by Spencer and is X’s niece.

  “For now, keep stalling.”

  “Does X know they know about her?”

  Rhys sighed and scrubbed his face. He slept like shit, constantly being roused by X’s nightmares. He left his lovely mate sleeping in their bed this morning so he could come answer to the council.

  “No. It’s not really on her mind right now, with everything else.”

  Bennett remained ominously silent.

  “What?” Rhys demanded irritably.

  The blond male threw his hands up in a helpless gesture. “What is right. We need to tell the council something, like X’s entire family is dead and she wants to be your little mate and live happily ever after. Make up some bullshit last name, forge some records, whatever. Or, we need to own that we’re hiding hybrids—a whole family of hybrids—and deal with the fallout. This isn’t just about X.”

  “You think I don’t know that?” Tension coiled tightly in his gut, and Bennett was standing on the release lever.

  Both males felt strongly that they couldn’t trust the council to have X and her family’s best interests in mind. Not with a strong suspicion that the shifters on the Lycan Council had interfered with several packs, possibly killing members in the name of protecting bloodlines.

  “You know it, but you’re letting X cloud your duties as pack leader.”

  Before a coherent thought formed in Rhys’ mind, he had Bennett hauled up out of his chair and shoved up against the wall. The male’s eyes blazed blue fire, while Rhys’ own burned with his anger and frustration.

  “Think about what she’s been through. Think!” Rhys shoved at Bennett, again wanting to shake the male. To the blonde’s credit, he didn’t fight back, sensing he’d pushed his commander too far. “When your first mate turned on you and you were tortured for her betrayal…remember? That was nothing compared to what Alexandria King was put through. Hell, it was nothing compared to what she went through as an Agent. So, yeah, if she needs some extra time to get her shit together and figure out what the hell she’s gonna do in this world, then I’m going to make sure sh
e gets all the time she needs.”

  Rhys abruptly let go and stepped back, his body coiled, ready, in case Bennett reacted.

  Bennett warily regarded Rhys as he straightened his clothes. “If that’s what she needs, so be it. But after dealing with X and E for the last however-many years, I’m not ready to assume now that Madame G’s gone, they’ll be picture perfect citizens. I can’t trust that they’re not sitting back, waiting to see which way the wind blows, and forming a plan in their minds where the end justifies the means.”

  Anger spiked in Rhys again, but he forced himself to remain still. Bennett was allowed his opinion, and dammit, he was watching out for the pack. Up until a few weeks ago, X and her partner had been the bad guys.

  He glared at Bennett. “We have a week. You can at least give her that.”

  Chapter Seven

  Silence.

  That’s what X had gotten on the other end of the phone when she had called her brother. Her end of the conversation was basically, “Hey bro, guess what? I’m really alive. After two years of torture, I became one of the best Agents ever so I could finally kill Madame G. Wow, the kids have really grown, right?”

  John hadn’t stuttered, sputtered, or bombarded her with questions. There was silence, followed by an even, “Whose body was in the car with Mom and Dad?”

  “Probably a recruit who wasn’t performing. Sigma loved the old switcheroo trick.”

  It’s how Madame G faked E’s death. It obviously worked. Since her family couldn’t call the cops and forensics wasn’t an option, she could see how three bodies burned beyond recognition would be pretty convincing.

  “Anyhoo, I’m laying low. Why don’t you give Sarah or Ron a call?”

  “Alexandria—”

  X had hung up before listening to anything more and sat gazing out at the night after that. She hadn’t known what John was going to say, but honestly, she couldn’t take suspicion from him. Not after what she’d been through.

  Then she went inside and, in a moment of weakness, asked Rhys to damn near rock her to sleep. Ugh. Three days out of Sigma and she was already a gigantic pussy.