The Sigma Menace Collection

by Marie Johnston

  Month Five

  Nerves were getting to her. She had memorized the address, figured they hadn’t moved on, hoped they did, prayed they hadn’t.

  Brushing her hair off her face, she couldn’t imagine what John would think when he opened the door. She needed to do this. Needed to face this demon. Her brother wasn’t a demon. Far from it. There had been such a large gap in age between them, he had almost been like a father figure, or a favored uncle. He had doted on her, and she had lived for when he would bring his mate, Kenna, by with the kids. How would he act now, after he knew about everything she’d been through, what she’d done?

  “You can knock.” She whipped around to the familiar voice behind her. A tall, dark form strode out from the trees. “I doubt Kenna knows you’re here yet.”

  Kenna was human; even her heightened senses from mating John wouldn’t be good enough to sense Alex. John’s shouldn’t be, either, unless he’d been keeping them sharp over the years.

  “John.” Good one. Twelve years since she’s seen him and that was all she could say?

  He kept moving toward her, his green eyes, a deeper green than her own, reflected like the predator he was. “I’m glad you came.”

  “Are you?” After the phone call, she wasn’t sure how he felt.

  Her chest tightened with suspense as the tall figure of her brother came closer. He looked just like she remembered him, a few inches taller than her, with hair a shade darker than his daughter’s. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his pants, his feet were bare.

  “Alexandria.” Her name came on a breath, like he’d been told she was alive but it had been too hard to believe until he saw her.

  “Yep.”

  He shook his head. “Sarah said you’d left and I hoped maybe you’d come here.” A wry smile curved his lips. “I headed straight to where Mom and Dad were buried, but I sensed I had already missed you.”

  She smiled despite herself. “I wasn’t sure you wanted to see me.”

  A tortured frown creased his brow. “Of course I want to see you.” He moved closer, hesitantly, like she might run away. “You have to understand my shock when you called. It was like a dream come true. But honestly, I have horrible survivor’s guilt. The remains were burned pretty badly, but I should’ve known that wasn’t you. I should’ve searched for you.”

  “No,” she said adamantly. “You had two kids to raise and protect.”

  They both stood unmoving, and she was sure he was thinking about the what-ifs and what-might-have-beens just as she.

  “Want to head inside?”

  Alex smiled. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

  After Councilman Wallace informed Rhys he had sensed him in his dreams, Rhys decided he needed to back off from the other two councilmen he hadn’t yet attempted to dream walk on. They were older and more powerful than both Wallace and Rhys. Councilman Seether and Councilman Hargrath would have to wait.

  Mastiff’s dreams were fairly easy to get into. The burly Guardian who had been pummeling the shit out of Rhys for months may have also been assigned to interrogate other prisoners.

  Rhys hovered at the edges. He saw random scatterings of thought. Mastiff hadn’t settled into a deep sleep yet so Rhys could give him mental nudges. Using his powers, he sent dream suggestions into Mastiff’s mind to recall his sessions with other prisoners.

  It was only moments before Rhys could see flickers of shifters’ faces. He could see them how Mastiff had seen them when he was torturing them. Mastiff was a one trick pony; he used his fists to do his dirty work.

  Suddenly a scene unfolded before Rhys. Councilman Seether was speaking privately to Mastiff, and in the next instant, the scene turned into Mastiff busting into a house, grabbing a young human woman and—

  Rhys flinched and the scene went black. He opened his eyes to find himself awake in his cell, which meant Mastiff had woken up. The dream obviously bothered even the cruel shifter. The human woman hadn’t stood a chance.

  Trying to drift back to sleep, Rhys realized he wouldn’t have to walk the dreams of Seether and Hargrath. He could hunt what he needed of the two councilmen out of others’ dreams.

  Month Six

  “And who will this be for?” the petite barista asked.

  “Alex.”

  “Okay,” she said perkily, “we’ll have it right out to you.”

  Alex wandered to the edge of the coffee shop to wait for her venti latte. She picked up a complimentary newspaper to look over while waiting.

  After her visit with John and Kenna, she had stayed in cheap motels and started interacting with people. The hours she’d spent with her brother and his wife had revitalized her. It wasn’t until they had welcomed her in with complete acceptance despite her frank honesty about the past twelve years that she’d realized how much their possible rejection had bogged her mental healing down. The only negative emotion she’d sensed from them matched the sadness she felt for the years lost to them.

  Without Rhys’ blood, and being unable and unwilling to feed from another, she started socializing in the evenings so the sun wouldn’t take its toll on her vampire half. Her blood need wasn’t as great when she stayed in shifter form, but wandering on two legs would make her thirsty for more than coffee.

  Roaming the woods and mountains, she had to make sure she chose towns with a low shifter and vampire ratio. Although she’d probably smell like a shifter after being in wolf form so often, she didn’t want to chance an encounter. Who knew what had gone on while she was away.

  Her name was called, her new name, her real name. She grabbed her coffee and walked out to the sidewalk. Taking a sip, she wandered until she reached a gap between the buildings that led to an alley. Turning casually into the alley, she headed toward the giant parking ramp that lined half the block. When she cleared a brick office building, she stepped behind it.

  A quiet scraping of footsteps from the direction she had come drew nearer. They approached where she waited, rushing toward the parking ramp.

  A male scurried past and she slipped in behind him. With the arm that wasn’t holding her coffee, she circled the male around the neck and yanked him behind the building.

  He grunted and struggled. She kneed him in between the legs while she kept an iron grip around his neck. He groaned and tried to drop down, his hands releasing Alex’s arm to cup his balls.

  She wedged her knee between his legs again and he went still.

  “Why are you following me?” she asked casually, taking a sip from her coffee. She had smelled two male shifters following her when she reached the coffee shop, but she had wanted her damn coffee first.

  Easing just enough pressure so he could speak, he gasped, “Reward.”

  Oooh, how much was she worth?

  “Who’s offering the reward?”

  He lurched and twisted, reaching between them to grab the gun he had hidden in his waistband. Only, when Alex shoved him away, she had his gun and was pointing it directly at him.

  She took another casual sip of coffee; her aim remained rock steady. The male froze, hands in the air.

  She waived the gun at him to let him know she was waiting for an answer.

  “The council. They’re offering ten-thousand dollars to whoever can turn you in.”

  Alex snorted. “They thought someone could turn me in?” The male took a nervous inhale. She waved the gun at him again. “Go on. How long has this reward been offered?”

  “F-for a couple months. They couldn’t get her mate, uh, your mate, to turn you in.”

  Alex’s blood ran cold. The council has Rhys?

  She leveled her blazing gaze on him, catching his frightened brown eyes in her hypnotic stare. “Tell me everything you know about me and my mate.”

  “He’s some Guardian from up north. The council is holding him to lure you in. When that didn’t work, they released your description to all the packs, offering a reward for information on your whereabouts.”

  “And you thought you’d be tou
gh enough to bring me in?” A touch of humor laced her voice. He was a scrawny pup, barely old enough to drink.

  “I was going to knock you out so when my friend brought the car around, we could put you in the trunk.”

  “Shitty plan, you know that, right?”

  He looked sheepish, even under her hypnotic hold. “I do now.”

  A car slowed at the alley’s entrance. There was the doofus friend.

  Increasing her concentration, she spoke quickly. “You lost me in the alley and dropped your gun. Call the council, tell them you had a sighting, but you can’t be sure it was the right shifter.”

  His eyes went blank. The car was getting closer, the engine noise growing louder. The friend had turned into the alley and was creeping in their direction.

  She released the young shifter from her hold, and when he turned to peak out from the behind the building, she made her exit.

  By the time he looked back, he would only see his gun lying on the ground.

  Chapter 11

  Bennett rubbed his eyes and meandered toward the lodge to Commander Fitzsimmons’ office. Scratch that, his office. But when this debacle was over, he’d gladly hand it back to Fitzsimmons.

  Bennett had known the day would come when the pack would be his. Just not so soon. He’d rather be balls deep in Sarah’s sweet body than pushing paperwork all night. Six months of this had felt like six years.

  Fucking council. As if they didn’t have enough to deal with, they had sent new recruits. “To make up for losing a Guardian,” Councilman Seether said, as if they were a gift.

  To spy on them, that was what Bennett and his pack thought. But they would play the game and keep Sarah and Ron’s identity hidden, keep the location of E and his family hidden. Before their hand was forced, when they had finally revealed X was gone, Rhys and the Guardians met with E and made a plan. E, Ana, and Julio had left. None of the pack knew to where, it was safer for them that way. They could reach E when necessary, using a burner phone like Sarah used with her parents. E had left willingly, but not without a, “you’d better fucking call me if you need me” warning. And yeah, when shit hit the fan, it would be nice to have a former Agent’s expertise.

  Bennett dragged his feet to the dreaded office. At least they didn’t have the pain in the ass Sigma to deal with anymore. Demetrius and his devoted vampires had been leveling Sigma chapters all over. It was straight-up civil war on the down low for that species. It was old-world vampires who wanted to run anti-shifter organizations versus new-world vampires who wanted to form protection rings, much like the shifters had with their Guardians. That rankled the vampire elders even worse. Their species had always been about underground domination, not living in peace among humans and shifters.

  The fact that X was protected by Demetrius took the former vampire rulers’ focus off her status as a shifter’s mate. Those old vamps would shit if they found out she had a brother, and he mated with a human, and he procreated.

  Not just vampires would take issue, either. Many shifters would be dismayed that their blood was getting contaminated with vampire blood. Many others, though, would be relieved. Vampires mated to shifters were vampires who weren’t looking to kill them.

  Right now, Bennett had to get some training plans ready for the rookies who had arrived two months prior. The rookies showed up thinking they were ready to hit the field, typical young, dumb, and full of cum. Bennett snorted to himself. He would know. He had been that young male once.

  Instead, Master Bellamy was putting them through some serious training regimens, proving to them that they were nowhere near ready. It also served to keep them busy, and too fatigued to snoop around and report back to the council. Hopefully.

  Bennett sighed and inwardly cursed Rhys Fitzsimmons, even though he would do the same damn thing if he were in the male’s shoes. Stepping into the office, he pulled up short.

  Sitting at Fitzsimmons’ desk, with her booted feet propped on top, hands behind her head, vivid green eyes alight with fierce determination, was the hybrid in question.

  “X,” Bennett said grimly.

  “Actually, I prefer Alex.” She swung her feet down and sat up. “Mind shutting the door.” It wasn’t a question.

  Bennett scrubbed his tired face. His usual stony countenance was drawn with stress, his deep-blue eyes didn’t carry their usual light.

  He closed the door and collapsed in a chair across from the desk. Resting his cheek in one hand, elbow propped on the armrest, he stared wearily at her. “Do you know the shit-storm you’ve created?”

  “It’s totally my fault,” she said sarcastically.

  He waved her words off. “You know what I mean.”

  “I have one main question.” She swept the hair off her forehead. She’d taken to styling it again, but to sneak not just into the lodge, but into Rhys’ office, she’d had to get through some pretty tight spaces and it had gotten messed up. “Are we going to blow the lid on the council first or bust Rhys out first?”

  Bennett huffed out a breath and reclined, his head on the back of the chair. “This pack is toast if we try to get Fitzsimmons out. The newbies the council sent us will either rat us out or be left in charge because the rest of us got dismissed.”

  “I can get Rhys out.”

  “Please. Not even you are that good.”

  “I’m sitting here, aren’t I?”

  Bennett flattened his lips at that. She knew she had made her point. It was her first time in the lodge. She couldn’t have flashed into the office and no one had detected her presence at all.

  “Malcolm and Harrison grew up around the council. They’d know the layout pretty well,” he grudgingly offered.

  “The less people who know I’m here, the better.”

  “Agreed.” Bennett’s expression was somber. “You can trust the twins. Sounds weird since their dad is on the council, but they’re straight up. I’ll let Mercury know, and the rest of the pack.” His face twisted. “Except for the three rookies the council sent to spy on us. I trust you can keep out of sight?”

  She studied Bennett. “Why are you being so helpful?”

  “I’m a nice guy.”

  She rolled her eyes at him.

  A small grin twisted his lips. “I didn’t trust you, but not for the reasons I let on. I didn’t want to be commander. I wanted to have more time with Sarah before I took over these duties. When you showed up, I had a feeling this is exactly where I’d land. Mates have a tendency to change our life’s course, and as far as mates go, you’re a doozey.”

  “Agreed,” Alex echoed his statement from earlier. Then quietly she said, “I didn’t want to hurt him.”

  “I don’t think you did. Dude’s a rock. Probably scared more than anything that you won’t return for a century or two. Which would’ve been fine with me. By then I might’ve been ready to take on this dog and pony show. But the council took him instead, and here I am, an adult fucking babysitter for the council’s spies.”

  “They’re using him to bait me.”

  Bennett nodded in agreement.

  “Well, if they want me, me is who they’re going to get. I say we take down that bitch.”

  Bennett looked at her, not understanding her words at first. Then he gave his head a quick shake of disbelief because of the magnitude of what she proposed. “You aren’t talking about the council are you?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “I agree, they’re up to some bullshit. But the twins investigated for almost a year and came up with nada. They could barely even dig into anyone’s business without being threatened to get kicked out. How are we going to take down the council without starting our own civil war?”

  “I have connections your shifters don’t.”

  “I’m sure you do.” Bennett sighed, lost in thought. “If we do this, we have to time it right.”

  Alex aimed carefully down the hallway, then let the dart fly. It hit her target perfectly. The vampire slapped at his arm like he w
as swatting a mosquito. Only, by the time he looked down at the red-tipped dart sticking out from his sweater, he was slumping to the ground.

  She smiled triumphantly to herself. Doc and his drugs were pretty damn awesome. The huge supply of drugs Madame G had designed had been destroyed. A mutual decision between Rhys and Demetrius after the compound had been taken over. As helpful as it’d be to study her concoctions, it was safer to have it all obliterated.

  The shifters had been using their own tranqs for a while, and with Doc’s help, they were refined for each species.

  Alex trotted forward and wiggled the handle of the door. Locked of course, but a girl could hope. She searched the downed vampire’s pockets and came up empty. Guess she’d have to enter the old-fashioned way.

  She pulled the little kit from her belt and went to work on the lock. It was a standard lock, nothing digital. Everything else in the building had been, yet this room had a normal lock. The guard at the door was put in place instead of technology.

  Bonus. It took longer to hack an electronically-secured door, and it was not as fun as knocking out a vampire.

  The building itself was quite up-to-date, even though the outside looked like a crusty old warehouse that had fallen into disuse. The three floors below ground level were as modern as could be. The vampire in charge had spared no expense building the safe house.

  Alex let herself in and dragged the vampire in behind her. The apartment was empty. After selecting a bottle of water from the fridge and having a seat on a barstool across from the door, she kept her tranq gun handy in case the guard started twitching. Alex crossed her legs, sipped some water, and waited.

  Her timing tonight was crack on because she didn’t have to wait long.

  Demetrius opened the door. “Scurn, you in here using the head?”

  As the tall vampire entered, he tripped over the massive guard lying unconscious in his entryway.