Fever Claim (The Sigma Menace)

by Marie Johnston

  Master Bellamy chuckled. “Some Guardians fare better than others. Some turn wolf and run all night in the woods. Some have demons chasing them so hard, it’s easier to fuck themselves into oblivion.

  “Anyway, we started checking on you. You have black belts in at least three different martial arts and your previous employment shows that you are drawn to security and protection services.”

  That was a nice way of saying, “you can’t hold a job, you irresponsible little girl.” Her only steady income was assisting her tae kwon do, judo, and Krav Maga gyms. She was past her first-degree black belt in each one and working her way up Muay Thai.

  “So you’re investigating me thinking I’m the next new Guardian?”

  “Exactly.”

  She turned to stare at the lockers along the wall. Her world had turned completely upside down. Today, she found out she wasn’t human, she was suffering from PTSD she hadn’t experienced in over a decade, and the truth of it was her life had turned into a hot mess long before today. This world of Guardians and people who turn into wolves promised answers to her past, present, and future.

  She turned back to Master Bellamy. “I’m in.”

  ***

  “I’ll drive,” Cassie said abruptly. Satisfied after talking to Kaitlyn when they brought her up to the interrogation room, Cassie just wanted to get back home—to her reality.

  Jace glared at Bennett for shutting him out. But Bennett was watching Kaitlyn walk away, a contemplative look on his face. Cassie worried about Kaitlyn around all these alpha males, but Kaitlyn told her she already felt at peace here, an acceptance she hadn’t felt in a long time. And relations between Guardians of the same pack were prohibited, except for mates, but Kaitlyn was told she would know if she ever met her mate. She would be in an eternal “just friends” status with all of her partners out here. Kaitlyn would be alright without Cassie.

  “I’ll drop you off at the club, Jace.”

  “Don’t you want to learn more?” he asked. “We can talk.”

  Of course she wanted to learn more. She wanted to do a lot more with Jace, and none of it was talking. If she went back home, with him, she’d learn nothing. They’d be right back where they started last night, with her being putty in his hands. And enjoying it. A lot.

  Could she trust him and be like, “Hands to yourself, right?” Or was he too smart and would know that a good way to get her to listen to anything he had to say would be to stay in her condo, completely naked, giving her orgasm after orgasm.

  Not willing to chance it, she held her hand out. “I need a little time… to process everything.”

  He reluctantly, slowly, handed her the keys, as if he’d scare her otherwise. They headed down the stairs to the front door.

  Cassie felt both better and worse with Jace next to her. His scent surrounded her, his warmth working its way across her skin. If her pitiful self-defense skills were an issue, he’d take on anything and anyone for her. But, he was still another species and an ex-con.

  She’d check on his story. She should ask him to shift for her, too, and validate that, but didn’t know if she had it in her to watch it again. Then her mind wouldn’t be able to convince herself this was a hallucination and Jace had just slipped her something in her drinks.

  Bennett went ahead of them and opened the front door of the lodge. Cassie was ready to step outside, but Jace suddenly yanked her back and whipped her around. What the—?

  Thunk! A crossbow arrow stuck out of the door where her face would’ve been.

  “Shit,” Bennett hissed, slamming the door shut.

  “Get down,” Jace ordered. She slid down against the wall, with him hovering over her protectively.

  Bennett radioed in to the commander and Mercury. Another man, perhaps a wolf, came rushing down the stairs, guns drawn. Like the others, he was tall and ruggedly handsome in his black gear.

  “You staying with them?” he asked Bennett.

  Bennett nodded, peering out of the window to get a visual on any danger. “Commander and Mercury are close, they’ll take the woods.”

  “Twins?”

  Bennett shook his head. “In town on a case.”

  “I’ll take the back.” The long-haired shifter disappeared into the depths of the building.

  “Jace, those men Kaitlyn killed were Sigma. They’re either really stupid or want Kaitlyn bad enough to attack us in our domain.”

  “Or they’re testing us.” She felt Jace’s reply more than heard it as he covered her protectively with his body, her face pressed into the hard planes of his chest. Reluctant to move from his warmth and scent, she peeked under his arm around his side, to see if she could see anything.

  “That’s the stupid part. They know they’ll die sending anything short of an army up here.” Bennett prowled low, getting a look out of the windows.

  How did Bennett not expect to get attacked out here? It’s a giant, gorgeous, facility in the middle of nowhere, with seemingly open doors and lots of windows. Any backpackers would think they could freeload for a night. Any enemies would see an easy target.

  A loud thud on the window made Cassie jump; Jace held her tighter. It sounded like when a robin would hit her big sliding glass doors until she decorated them to keep little feathered broken necks off her deck. Her eyes widened when she saw the deep grooves spider webbing through the glass panes of the window Bennett had just peeked out of. Another cross bolt or a bullet? The window should be shattered. This lodge was turning out to be more than it appeared.

  “There’s a closet under the stairs, get her in it while Mason and I eliminate the threat from outside.” Bennett’s eyes glowed like a night predator’s, and, sweet mother of all things sane, were those fangs? She drew back from Jace’s chest and glanced up. She could see his eyes glittered, even in the light. With his jaw set, she couldn’t determine whether he was sporting unusually sharp canines. Could they grow on command?

  Jace grabbed her by the shoulders, locking his iridescent blues to her warm browns. “We’re gonna make our move. He pointed to her left of the grand staircase, “There should be a closet door. I want you to run as low as you can. I’ll cover you.” Her eyes darted from his to the stairs. Another thud on the window. Stifling a yelp, she nodded.

  Almost on all fours, she scrambled across the room to the stairs. Doing exactly as he said, he stuck to her like glue.

  A blast of noise and a rush of heat and wind annihilated the front door, pushed her to the ground. Jace fell on top of her, knocking the breath from her lungs, but just as quickly rolled to the side with his back shielding her from the flying, splintering wood.

  A heartbeat of stunned silence was followed by footsteps from outside that were closing in.

  “Move!” Bennett yelled. Jace sprung up, taking Cassie with him.

  Half-pushing, half-carrying her, they made their way to the stairs.

  One gunshot, followed by a quick second and third, then a heavy body hitting the floor. Cassie’s heart raced, praying it wasn’t Bennett, knowing instinctively he was on Team Good Guys. They reached the door and both dove for the handle when sounds of snarling reached her ears.

  Jace pushed her inside with a quick, “Lock it and block it once you get in.” Then he spun around to face their enemy. She pulled back, almost shutting the door, but unwilling to cut herself off from what was happening. There were no locks she could feel on her side, and even if there was something to block it with, it was pitch black. Soft fabric brushed against her back, and with one hand holding the door open just a sliver, the other hand frantically searched around to determine what the hell was in here and what could she use to defend herself.

  The searching hand went still, along with her breath, when Jace stripped off his shirt, his broad chest sprouting fur. He stepped out of his boots and dropped his pants. Even in the melee, her eyes drifted down to his naked, taut form. He crouched, fur covering him head to toe, taking the form of a goliath, black wolf. A silent intake of air filled her l
ungs. Jace looked back at her, his teeth bared while his crystalline eyes were still Jace’s, imploring her not to panic. Not knowing why, she gave a small nod, and he turned back to face the intruders.

  Bennett, as a human, had dropped the first one through the door, but the group pouring in was too big for him to take alone. He was fighting off two more as a wolf, while two more young men rushed around him to charge Jace. One had a gun out and taking aim when Jace pounced.

  Moving faster than naturally possible, he took both men down at once. Metal clamored and skittered against the ground. Jace grabbed the closest one by the throat. From the closet, Cassie heard the sickening crunch of bones.

  “Jace!”

  The second man reared up to grab Jace around the neck and pull him off the fallen one. The glint of a knife flashed, she cried out again, but Jace twisted his body, throwing the offender off and opening him up to Jace’s attack.

  The door was ripped open out of Cassie’s hand, and she found herself face to face with a leering young man who barely looked old enough to drink. He grinned maliciously and grabbed for her neck with a gloved hand.

  Reacting without thought, except to be grateful yet again that Kaitlyn was her bestie, Cassie used her forearm to fling his hand away, simultaneously lunging to knee him in the groin. When he roared and hunched over to protect himself, grabbing for her, she rabbit-punched him in the throat and he fell to the ground.

  Cassie won that round with surprise on her side. She kicked him in the stomach and jumped over him. Frantically trying to decide which way to go, not wanting to run blindly into more intruders, she searched for Jace. The large, black wolf wrestled with the second man, his mouth around the man’s neck. She steeled herself for bone crushing sounds, but Jace held on until the man’s struggles ceased.

  Bennett was doing the same with his prey. Relieved they weren’t mindless killers when wearing fur, she scanned the room, needing to get away from the kid rolling around moaning on the floor. Spotting a gun dropped during the fight, she rushed to grab it. Out of the corner of her eye, a flash of red went snarling by.

  Cassie slid to grab the gun and spun around bringing it up in front of her, praying to God it had no safety, it was loaded, and if she pulled the trigger something would go boom.

  She lowered the weapon realizing the flash of red had taken out the kid. In her dive for the gun, he had pulled his own weapon and was about to shoot her, but Kaitlyn reached him first.

  Suddenly still and quiet, except for Cassie’s ragged breaths, the wolves were scrutinizing their environment, sniffing the air. The moment was broken when the man who ran down earlier skidded into the room, completely in the buff.

  “How the fuck did they find us? And when the fuck did they get RPGs?” he demanded to no one in particular.

  Bennett was the first to turn back to his human form, transitioning seamlessly into his nude human self. Kicking limbs from the fallen out of the way with his bare foot, he made his way to his pile of clothes and bent to dig through his gear. Cassie looked away, subtly clearing her throat.

  Flashing a wicked grin her way, quickly replacing it with a dead serious look, he stood holding the same weapon he’d held on Kaitlyn earlier that morning. Was it just this morning they’d gone to retrieve her friend, planning to head right back home? Longest. Day. Ever.

  “We’ll tranq the ones still alive, throw ’em in the cells.” He stretched his arm out to one still form and pulled the trigger. A small metal rod, the tranquilizer, now stuck out from the fallen man’s thigh. “Burn the dead.”

  As Bennett dressed, Jace stretched and rolled his shoulders, back in his glorious human male body. The sunlight filtered in through the obliterated entrance, highlighting his dips and valleys. He really was an impressive specimen, tanned skin covering solid muscle. Jace’s tattoo ran from his neck and wrapped around his right shoulder, looking like black waves of water caressing over him. In the light, the scars his tattoos covered were more distinct. He retracted his claws back into fingers, the last change that made him appear truly human, he turned to her.

  She swallowed hard. Blood that once coated his fur, now coated his face and chest. His hands were not as bloody as the fangs that had been his primary weapon. He scrubbed his face, realizing what he must look like and went to his own pile of clothes to dress.

  A muffled oomph made Cassie turn toward Kaitlyn, who now lay prone next to the young intruder she took down. As before, when she transitioned back to a woman, she passed out cold. Cassie rushed to her side, along with the unknown Guardian… who was still naked.

  She gently shook Kaitlyn’s shoulders, trying to ignore the bare male squatting next to her. Was someone growling?

  Bennett finished tranqing the two survivors and looked from Jace to the man next to her. “Mason, go get dressed.”

  Mason scowled at Bennett, then at Jace, who’d finished dressing and was stalking toward him, and stood. “It’s not like you have to worry, Miller. You marked the shit outta her. And if I’m not mistaken, she marked you, too. So we can all parade around here naked. No big.”

  “Marked me?” Cassie asked, glancing between the men.

  “Aww, hell,” muttered Bennett.

  Mason’s eyebrows shot up, then a slow grin spread across his face. “Darlin’,” he drawled, “you can bite any man you want during sex, ain’t nothin’ but fun. But bite a wolfman during sex and you’re staking your claim, tellin’ everyone he’s aaalll yours.”

  Cassie felt the blood drain from her face, then flood right back, as the events from last night, or rather early this morning, filtered through her mind. He did bite her! Oh God! She bit him, too!

  Jace looked like he wanted to throttle that shit-eating grin off Mason’s face. His shoulders back, his fists balled, it was clear he vacillated between taking Mason down and not scaring Cassie. In line with the patience and deliberation he’d shown with her so far, he held back like she knew he would, eyes glowing bright, drilling into Mason’s bare back as he exited the room, chuckling.

  Master Bellamy kneeled next to her; she never heard his approach. His concerned gaze was on Kaitlyn. “Out cold again, hmmm? Let me take her to my office, we’ll check her vitals before we start getting her settled.”

  Cassie agreed. “I’ll go with.”

  “My apologies, Dr. Stockwell, but you’re the wrong kind of doctor. I’ll check her over, then we need to get her settled before we can start with her training and find the cause of the blackouts. She won’t settle in if she feels the need to watch over you.”

  “I’ll leave when I know she’s okay,” Cassie said forcefully.

  Master Bellamy pinned her with a glare that told her he was unused to his orders being challenged. Well, too bad.

  “You would know if she wasn’t okay. You two are close, yes?” When she nodded he continued, “You’ve been her only pack member for years. You two are attuned to each other and you would know if she was in trouble, just like she knew you were in trouble a few minutes ago. Right now, she needs to get cleaned up, again, and you need to get home safely.”

  Wanting to continue arguing to get her way and stay with her friend, Cassie had to admit he was right. She knew Kaitlyn was in good hands. She also knew she didn’t want to find herself facing Jace, talking about marking, and stepping around dead bodies.

  With a sigh she stood up, avoided Jace, and looked around at the corpses. What a waste of life. Gone in an instant. And why?

  “My God, they’re just boys. What happened?”

  Mason came strolling back into the room wearing a black long-sleeved top, dark tech pants, combat boots, and head to toe weapons. How do they strip so fast to turn canine?

  “She likes ’em young and demented,” Mason said, bending to pick up the survivor Bennett left. He gestured with his chin to Jace. “They’re usually pretty fucked up kids, lookin’ for a reason to kill. They almost find her. But no worries, they’re usually over eighteen. Otherwise it gets too messy with families and authorities lo
oking for ’em.”

  “They almost find who?”

  “Madame G,” Bennett said grimly. “She the vampire who heads up the Sigma network in Freemont across the river. Sigma’s mission is to kill shifters, but hers is even more demented. She’s in charge of all the shifter killings, kidnappings, and most recently, experiments.”

  “She’s a crazy, fuckin’ bitch,” Mason agreed.

  “So who are these guys?” Cassie asked.

  “Recruits, probably. Agents are fully trained and her ‘program’,” Bennett made air quotes, “is a sadistic hell. Recruits are lackeys, expendable, and only the best make it to Agent status. If Madame G wants to cause trouble, make a distraction, or just fuck with us, she sends recruits. Jace, help me get the dead to the pyre.”

  “Why burn them?” Cassie couldn’t help her curiosity. It was morbid standing over the dead, chatting about them. But if it was true these men signed up with malicious intent, well, shit happened and she wanted answers.

  As Jace and Bennett each grabbed a guy to haul outside, Cassie tiptoed around the blood, unwilling to be left behind with the bodies.

  “Sometimes,” Bennett grunted, shifting his burden on his shoulders, “they come back.”

  “What?”

  “Madame G’s enhancements,” Jace inserted, “they aren’t always human when she’s done. The bodies could be tracked, they may not be as dead as they should be, or they may be dead, but…” he trailed off.

  “How is that possible?”

  “We don’t know yet. Sigma’s been able to dip their fingers in modern technology more than we have, trying to recover from the extinction and fend off their attacks while keeping our people safe.”

  “What extinction?” Cassie persisted, hurrying to keep up. The two big men moved quickly and efficiently, even with their loads.

  Taking sure-footed, heavy steps around the side of the lodge, Jace filled her in. “A few hundred years ago, the network succeeded in wiping out much of our race. We can live for centuries, but you won’t find many over two or three hundred years old. The ancients, the oldest of our kind, pure-bloods thought to descend from the original pack, were decimated.”