Primal Claim

by Marie Johnston

  Licking her lips, her already dry mouth now parched, she stared at the glass of water.

  “Drink first,” Mercury urged. “Then finish telling us what happened.”

  “Do you have bottled water?”

  Bennett scoffed, “No, Princess.”

  Mercury scowled at his partner, reached over and took a drink from the glass. “Now drink.”

  Dani still debated. She was confident they wouldn’t poison her, but Madame G was such a fan of administering drugs, Dani became accustomed to not consuming anything she didn’t open. Not that it did her any good in the end. Making up her mind, she drained the glass in one long swallow.

  Pushing the empty glass to the edge of the table, Mercury looked expectantly at Bennett.

  “You don’t seriously expect me to go get more?” Bennett’s astounded, and slightly offended tone spoke volumes. Bennett must be the lead in their little friendship, the one who called the shots, and here he was relegated to servant for a little slip of a woman they’d all just met who hailed straight from the enemy.

  Commander Fitzsimmons cut off any more bickering. “We’ll get her more after she finishes telling us what she spent her time doing as a prisoner and how she got pregnant.”

  His tone made it obvious he didn’t entirely believe her story. She didn’t expect them to at first. Maybe with time. Much of it was true, really. She just left out the part where she willingly hunted and killed their species. For Sigma. It didn’t matter how evil the creatures were she hunted down, she didn’t think the Guardians would be so accepting and offer protection if they knew she had the skills to kill any one of them.

  “I was put on menial details. Cleaning and stuff, stayed out of the Agents’ way. Then Madame G called me to her floor.” Dani took a deep cleansing breath. She could get through this as long as she remembered she gave the bastard what he deserved. “She made me drink wine that had a fertility booster and passed me off to an Agent to...”

  Another deep breath and she rushed through the rest. “She told him to have fun with me, but nothing more so there was no contamination. He threw me on the table, stripped me down, but the wine mostly knocked me out. He couldn’t have the fun he planned to I guess, so he did what he had to and threw me back in my room.” There, that part was done.

  “They brought me up for testing each week,” Dani continued, the rest was easier and would help them buy her escape story. “But I knew when I was pregnant. So yesterday, when the test came up positive, I knew I had to escape as soon as possible before they monitored me too closely or I got too big to run.”

  “How’d a little thing like you get away from Madame G if she didn’t let you go?” This time scorn was heavy in Bennett’s voice.

  Mercury sat riveted to her story, not taking his eyes off her.

  “Who was the Agent?” he growled.

  “Agent T. He came back to finish what was started, waiting until he heard the news so he wouldn’t get blamed for any negative results. But I had snuck a knife under my pillow a long time ago. For just that reason. I got him across the throat and seized the opportunity.”

  The low rumbling she heard stopped when she admitted to taking down the Agent. The Guardians continued to study her.

  “And in all your time there, you never tried to escape otherwise?” Commander Fitzsimmons asked, disbelief of her story lacing his words.

  “I had nothing to go back to. My parents had just been slaughtered. In front of me. And Sigma would’ve been hunting me.”

  “Was Sigma involved in the attack?”

  Dani wondered the same a few times, but eventually ruled it out. “No, it was an organized hit. My dad was a judge.”

  The police ruled it as that – her dad was Italian, they lived on the East Coast, it made perfect sense. Dani knew better, but the truth wouldn’t be believed. That’s why she showed up on Sigma’s doorstep when she learned of their mission to wipe out, or control, all shifters.

  “So you killed a full-fledged Agent, you’re only a couple of weeks pregnant, and you want our help? For how long?” The slight hint of facetiousness in what Commander Fitzsimmons just asked her was starting to piss Dani off. She was sick to her stomach, tired, still had dried blood on her, and her boobs hurt dammit.

  “I don’t want your help at all,” she bit out. “But I need it. Do you think I wanted this? Do you think I sat at Sigma’s headquarters wishing I could be a Guardian’s mate and carry his child? Because one, motherhood was the last thing I was ready for. And two, I really didn’t picture myself settling down in the boonies with a man-whore, fearing for my life and my baby’s.”

  Confusion curtained Mercury’s devastatingly handsome face. “Man-whore?”

  Dani rolled her eyes. “Please. If I literally had any other place to go, at all, I would be heading there. Believe me, don’t believe me, whatever. Either help me or let me keep going before they totally surround the place.”

  “Well, well, well.” Bennett’s lip curled in smugness. “Now our true feelings are showing. You know we can’t let you go, a human who knows about us. And they need to find the place before they can surround it. Should we keep her in the holding cell, Boss? Until we figure out what to do with her?” Bennett clearly didn’t believe her, but Dani was dismayed to find out how relieved she was when he informed her they wouldn’t let her go.

  “She’ll stay in my cabin,” Mercury said abruptly.

  “Merc-” Bennett started.

  “Not a good idea,” the commander interjected.

  Dani was even opening her mouth to argue, her heart starting to race at the thought of being imprisoned in his home, sleeping his bed. The holding cell sounded just fine. There she could get sleep. Not surrounded by the unusual male’s stuff, wondering what made him tick.

  Mercury’s eyes, gleaming more silver now than when they had all walked into the room, gave one shake of his head, cutting both males off.

  “She can have the cabin, I’ll sleep on the porch.”

  “And what if she’s a Sigma plant and tries to kill you?”

  Mercury pinned her with his intense dark stare. She could get lost in those eyes, hypnotized.

  “She won’t.” Mercury’s statement was almost a question, making Dani nod her head in agreement. She truly didn’t plan to hurt anyone anymore, Guardian or otherwise. Since the beginnings of life snaked through her, making her aware and extremely protective of it, her only concern had been the safety of that life.

  “She’s my mate. I will deal with her.”

  Dani mentally sighed at the last statement. Just what every woman wanted to hear.

  “We don’t know that Madame G didn’t tamper with her or even the baby. We don’t know what she is. Stay with her,” the commander ordered as he stood up. “Don’t her let her go anywhere around here by herself, and don’t let her leave.”

  Tearing her gaze off Mercury before she sunk into the depths of that mesmerizing silver-tinted darkness, she saw that the commander was pointedly looking at her. Great. Well, at least they hadn’t killed her immediately, and didn’t seem to plan to in the near future. Their heightened senses told them what she already knew and felt, that her baby was also Mercury’s.

  As for the mate business, she wasn’t going to think about that. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t Mercury’s mate. Aside from him being a shifter, she wouldn’t tie herself to a Guardian with their legendary exploits of violence and women. No matter how much he made her aware she was woman. Maybe it was the pregnancy amping up her hormones, maybe the waning adrenaline high, but her attraction to him was superficial. He was a stunning creature and she had seen every inch of him.

  But how many other women could say that? That thought cooled any curls of desire snaking through her, replacing it with what could not be jealousy. She’d just met the guy. Didn’t matter, she wasn’t his mate.

  Bennett was eyeballing her like she was a rattlesnake, ready to strike. The commander had already left the room. Mercury rose in a fluid motion. F
or a big man, he moved gracefully and silently.

  “Come with me Dani. You can shower and rest at my place.”

  Chapter Five

  The look on his mate’s face told Mercury she wasn’t comforted at all by the idea of staying at his place.

  Human. His mate was human. Mercury didn’t care. She already knew all about their world and with human mates, that was over half the battle. He also knew Madame G didn’t have a hand in this. Dani was his. The baby was his.

  Of course, Madame G was involved in more than just orchestrating the events that brought Dani to him. They’d find out how and remove her influence, somehow.

  Bennett headed out the door, Dani turned to follow, weaving slightly. Mercury was there to steady her with a hand on her back. That brief touch, even through her shirt, sent a shock up his arm, straight down to his groin.

  “I’m fine,” she snapped at him, and he jerked his hand back.

  Even worn and pale from tonight, she was a beauty. Her dark brown eyes, so expressive, flashing with irritation. Mercury frowned when he remembered her irritation had been at him and the stories she heard about him. Many of them were true. But many were not and he’d discern what needed clearing up and what didn’t. Man-whore?

  In single file, Dani buffered between the two much larger males, they made their way out into the night. Mercury kept his guard up, he would be a fool to trust someone with such strong ties to Sigma. Her ass, though. He watched it sway in her tight-fitting black pants. She had a lean athletic build, subtle muscles rounding her arms and legs in all the right places, including that ass. Assurance and determination in each step suggested her story of being imprisoned for three years may not be entirely accurate. Big shock. She didn’t have the walk of someone who’d spent her time bent over toilets, scrubbing floors, fearing for her life.

  They left through the back door, heading deeper into the trees. This was Mercury’s favorite view. Tall, healthy trees, finally filled out after the long winter, nearly entirely hiding the cabins that lay within. Rustic, but sturdy, cabins littered the acres behind the lodge. With peaked roofs and log sides, the two bedroom cabins that were the living quarters of the individual Guardians didn’t look like much but quaint little vacation stayovers.

  They weren’t though. Well, maybe Mercury’s. He wasn’t much for tangible goods, preferring action to lounging. Aside from his books, his space was sparsely furnished with minimal, actually no, décor.

  When they arrived at Mercury’s place, Bennett spoke to him while giving Dani a warning stare.

  “You sure about this?”

  “Would I have said it if I wasn’t?” Mercury got sick of the shadowed talk most people did with each other. He really didn’t get the complexities of human interactions. The environment he grew up in, before Master Bellamy brought him into the shifter world to become a Guardian, didn’t allow for double meanings. Voiced intentions were followed by actions, otherwise there was no need to speak. Especially since the pack he was raised in with didn’t talk.

  Bennett continued to give Dani the stink eye and she faced him head-on with her own challenging look. He finally said, “All right then. Howl if you need me.”

  With Bennett walking in the direction of his living quarters, which was the closest cabin a couple hundred yards away, Mercury took the chance to study Dani. Daniella. What did she prefer to be called?

  “What do you want to be called?”

  “What?” she asked perplexed, tearing her gaze away from studying Mercury’s cabin and the surrounding woods. Her human eyes couldn’t make out much in the darkness, but she was taking in what she could.

  “Your name. You said it was Dani, but it’s Daniella.”

  “Would I tell you my name was Dani if I hated to be called that?”

  Okay.

  “Dani fits you, but Daniella’s a beautiful name and that fits you too. It’d be a shame not to use it.”

  She gave him a wary look. He was used to it, people trying to make out if he was serious, what was the hidden meaning in his words.

  She went back to scanning from the cabin to the lodge from where they came. The shadows of the night cloaked her fatigue and paleness, giving her an almost ethereal glow. Her hair was falling out of her ponytail, wisps caressing her face like he couldn’t wait to do.

  “Only my mom called me Daniella, until Madame G. I hated it coming from her lips.”

  “And if I were to call you that?”

  She spun to face him straight on, hands on her slender hips. He wondered what her belly would look like rounding with his child. His musings were cut short.

  “Look, Mercury. Thanks for saving me tonight. Thanks for putting me up. I came to you to protect this baby and that’s it. Call me whatever you want.” Her words, along with her flat tone, did nothing to answer his question.

  Okay. “You can head inside,” he inclined his head toward the door.

  Lips pursed, she shuffled up the steps. Mercury waited for her to reach the top. That ass, sashaying up the stairs, mesmerized him. Reaching her hand to the door, it swung open before she could touch the knob. A light slowly illuminated the room inside.

  “Did you do that?” she asked breathlessly, her shoulders tensed.

  “Yeah. Telekinesis is my gift,” he answered, and watched her shoulders drop in relief before she hesitated, her brows knit together. Squaring her shoulders again she stepped inside.

  He wouldn’t tell her his shitty skills at handling telekinesis, for now the less she knew of that the better. She was only a step up from a prisoner, and it was apparent enough that she would not be leading his fan club anytime soon.

  “Why do you dislike me? Or is it all shifters in general?”

  Her eyes narrowed on him, taking on a scrutinizing look.

  “You mean, why do I not like finding out I’m supposed to be the mate of one of the biggest womanizing males I’ve ever heard of? And let’s see, how did I find out it was you?” She patted her chin with an index finger. “Hmmm, was it when I heard firsthand how spectacular you were in size and abundance from the most revolting, inhumane woman I’ve ever met?”

  Mercury was at a loss for words against her assault. That’s just the way he was, it was always accepted, that’s how unmated Guardians acted.

  “Oh well,” Dani continued, sarcasm dripping from her words, “at least she was legal, cuz I’m sure you had your fair share of underage bait in that club.”

  Instant anger took over Mercury and he moved so his face was inches from hers. Dani clamped her mouth closed and swallowed hard, but didn’t back down from him.

  “None,” he bit out from clenched teeth, “of those women were underage. All of them were over twenty-one. All of them were willing.”

  “Willing, but forgettable? Do you even remember Janice? The skank who sucked you dry and took it all back to Sigma?”

  Mercury winced at her words and backed off slightly. He regretted his outburst. Not what he said, he couldn’t let that go untold. Her scent calmed him, snaking in like a summer breeze, soothing his temper. Odd, since she was the one that utterly pissed him off in the first place.

  “No. Just from what you said, her timing was one of the last times I blew off steam at the club.”

  “Well don’t let me keep you from ‘blowing off steam.’” She gave the last phrase air quotes. “I’m sure you can’t go without sex for long and I’m not offering.”

  “I haven’t had sex.”

  Hands on her hips, she gave him a “you’re shitting me” look.

  “I’m a virgin,” he repeated.

  Dani snorted. It was the most unfeminine thing she could do and it made her entirely irresistible. He couldn’t help but love watching the expressions float across her strong, but delicate features. Even though most of those expressions had been negative and directed at him.

  This time he made air quotes. “‘Suck me dry’ is all I would let them do. The less touching the better. I just needed to get off and I’m sorry if a
warm mouth is better than my right hand, but I did that for the first century. And almost half of the next. It’s lonely.”

  He was breathing heavily, not believing he was confessing these details to a woman he just met, especially his mate. He should have known a human mate would have trouble understanding shifters’ basest urges. And he should have known the mate he never thought was out there for him, might have known about the extra drives and stresses that Guardians face and had heard stories. Fuck, even met some of the participants in those stories. What he didn’t expect was the raging jealousy and anxiety coming off Dani in waves. Was this really all about him and his supposedly sordid past?

  She’d gone quiet, but was still pinning him with a hard look.

  “Truth be told,” he continued in a quieter tone, “it was just as lonely and I’ve been trying to cope other ways. Just know, there is no one truer than a bonded Guardian.”

  The hard look had been softening until the last sentence. And it was back.

  “Well, we’re not bonded.”

  “Not yet.”

  Dani had the audacity to roll her eyes, but let the topic of conversation drop. The only emotion he could sense from her was extreme fatigue.

  “You need to rest. The kitchen is to the left. We’ll stock it tomorrow, but there’s water. The bed’s in that room.” Mercury pointed to the right. “You can use anything of mine you need. The gun safe and ammo bin only open for me, so don’t bother trying. I’ll get my roll and sleep on the porch.”

  Too tired to argue anymore, Dani nodded numbly and headed toward his room. He followed because he had to get his bedroll off the floor and he wasn’t missing another opportunity to see her tightly-clad bottom. But mostly, he felt driven to see her in his room, surrounded by his things, his scent thoroughly surrounding her. He found he could barely wait to see her in the morning after her shower, when the stink of the Agent she killed was off her and he could fill his lungs with who Dani really was.

  Books. That was his only decoration. Hell, his only possession besides blankets and clothes.

  Mercury had rolled up his bedroll – from the floor? – while she stood watching his muscles bunching and flexing, then true to his word, left her alone in the cabin. From there she shuffled into the small, but surprisingly adequate bathroom, then shuffled back out.