Primal Claim

by Marie Johnston

  With a deep inhale, Dani stretched, eyes still closed. When she opened them, looking dreamily at him, she smiled. Then broke into tiny giggles.

  Mercury gave her a perplexed look. Was it his beard and shaggy hair? It was only three weeks of growth, it shouldn't be sticking out anywhere.

  "I totally punched your V-card," Dani said between giggles.

  V-card? Oooh. He was officially not a virgin. Mercury smiled back at her. "You punched it good."

  "Sure did," Dani grinned. The light sparkled and danced in her eyes, her humor so genuine, Mercury knew he had made the right decision about her. She was no evil Sigma Agent. She was a young woman who made a bad decision and was trying to figure the rest of her life out because of it. And he would be there with her.

  The laughter faded as she caught his serious undertone. "What are you thinking?"

  When he told her, they talked. She ran through everything, every detail she had given the other Guardians after he left. She even told him about the throat punch.

  "I wish I would have talked to you first. I'm sorry I didn't," she confessed.

  Mercury agreed, appreciating her apology. He had one of his own. "Sorry I took off. I just couldn't..." His brows drew together. Talking feelings was new territory and he found he didn't know how to be straightforward given the complexities of how he felt.

  "I know," she said softly, cupping the side of his face gently. "Sorry I slapped you, but you totally deserved it after the first week."

  Despite the seriousness of the situation, he smiled down at her.

  "I did. They treated you well?" It was half question, half statement. He trusted his brothers with her. If she proved to be an evil Agent, they would have treated her as such while protecting the child. If she was genuine, they would have still treated her with caution.

  "They did. If you can call a diet of twenty-five percent bacon 'well'." They both smirked at each other and his stomach growled at the mention of fatty, cured heaven.

  With a grave note in her voice, Dani said, "Mason didn't make it."

  "I know," Mercury said flatly. "I sensed it when I got to you. He attacked you and got what he deserved."

  A beat of silence passed.

  "His death bothers me." Mercury should have been devastated but he wasn't. The asshole intended to kill his mate and child. "He was never like the others, and with you and Cassie, he just hated humans. His hatred didn't make sense."

  "He kept saying 'we'. Do other Guardians hate humans as much?"

  Mercury thought on that for a bit. "No. A general distrust and wariness maybe. When a human becomes a mate, they become part of the pack. Our mates are what we live for. Families are why we have Guardians. To protect the species from ourselves and humans. It just is."

  Mercury's fingers trailed farther down from where they had been on her belly. His ever present erection around his mate pressed even harder into Dani's side. She rolled onto her side to face him, stroking his hardness like he was stroking her.

  "I should be sore, but I can't get enough of you." Dani leaned in for a kiss.

  Alarms rang out in the form of howls, several shifters calling out. They weren't far away and were closing in fast.

  Dani swore. "I forgot. I walked out of the cell. They must've found me gone and caught our scent."

  Mercury popped up, grabbing Dani's clothes and handing them to her. She fumbled with the material, trying to get it right side out but it was damp from the morning dew and wasn't cooperating.

  Nudity wasn't a problem for him, but it obviously bothered his mate to be seen naked. Without thinking, he sent out a mental order, Stand down! Let her get dressed first.

  Dani looked up with a gasp, "How'd you do that?"

  She heard him too? Telepathy hadn't worked for the Guardians for a while. Well, it worked – sporadically. So much so, they went completely to radio contact. Like the rest of their gifts gone wonky, they'd quit using all mental powers, relying instead on brains and brawn. It was one of the reasons they were sent to bumfuck West Creek. At the time, their higher council didn't know Sigma's tentacles had been so entrenched in this area. Or did they?

  "Okay, I'm ready." Dani was fully dressed, her clothes rumpled and covered in grass. She resembled an earthen goddess with her dark hair and eyes complimented by the green hues around her, if earthen goddesses wore yoga pants and athletic shirts.

  All right, we're ready, Mercury tried again.

  He scented them before he saw them. Appearing amongst the trees around them were five wolves. He felt Dani stiffen next to him when she saw them, well after he knew they were there.

  The russet-colored big wolf transitioned silently into Commander Fitzsimmons. There was no need to explain what happened or why Dani had left. It was more than a little obvious when the smell of sex permeated their surroundings.

  If the sex wasn’t obvious, the new mating marks they each sported were. And freaking Sweet Mother Earth, the sex while being marked was…well, there’d be more biting.

  The commander pinned Mercury with his daunting hazel gaze, concentrating internally.

  Mind speak, came the order.

  We need to go back so you can catch me up on what I've missed.

  No, shit. This one from Bennett, who was still in wolf form. Well, hell. Mind speaking with four legs had almost never worked for them. Why now?

  Why didn't anyone tell me we could do this? I could save a ton on my phone plan! Kaitlyn chimed in. She also remained in wolf form since she was still passing out after her transition back to human form.

  The familiar furrow in the commander's brow told Mercury he had no answers either.

  Let's go. Mercury, get Dani settled, and I'll talk to Master Bellamy before we meet. Commander Fitzsimmons transitioned smoothly back into his wolf as he left. Bennett followed, with the twins, and Kaitlyn retreated also.

  Holding his hand out to his mate, he asked, "Ready to go home?"

  Mercury settled Dani into bed after he showered her and then himself. Although he couldn't stay and linger with her, he had pulled her into the shower after he shaved and trimmed his hair, and had his first ever what Dani called a "quickie". Deciding he was a fan of quickies, they got out and dressed, Dani for bed and Mercury to go meet with his team. Deciding against another quickie while tucking Dani in, only because she looked exhausted, he headed down to the lodge.

  Bennett met him halfway there, as if he was waiting for him.

  "You sure about her?"

  "Yep," was all Mercury said.

  "All we have is her word right now."

  Mercury stopped and faced his partner. The male squared off with him, preparing for a physical confrontation.

  "Remember when I asked if you were sure about Abigail and you said 'yes' but we both knew you were full of shit? Well, I'm sure about Daniella and we both know I'm not full of shit."

  Bennett clenched his jaw and his right arm twitched. Mercury stood strong, readying for the blow but it never came. Bennett forcibly relaxed his body as a string of emotions carried through his expression. Anger passed into pain and sadness and settled on regret. Mercury noticed the deep shadows under his friend's navy-blue eyes.

  "What's going on, Bennett?"

  "Nothing a visit to the club can't fix now that the twins are back in town."

  "Watch yourself."

  Bennett nodded and they started walking to the lodge.

  Bennett's demons could ride him hard and things had been looking up, but Mercury suspected that watching a fellow Guardian find a mate was opening all kinds of raw, barely healed wounds within Bennett. Especially when Mercury's mate was willing to turn her back on everything she had known for years, because she both knew it was wrong and felt it was wrong. Bennett's mate had turned on him by turning him in.

  Mercury also didn't think the club could fix anything, but it was in their nature to fuck, and to do it a lot. He also knew firsthand that getting off with random strangers didn't work any better than fighting or working o
ut, or as Kaitlyn preferred, "power shop." But she too would give in rarely and head down to Pale Moonlight to use their special room, The Den. Only finding true mates would help, and in Bennett's case, the male was afraid lightening only struck once.

  Making their way through the lodge to their intel room where Mason used to lurk, it seemed empty now, but brighter. It was as if the male's demise took away a darkness that had settled into the place where he had spent so much time.

  Commander Fitzsimmons was leaning over the row of computer screens that showed interior rooms and the lodge's surroundings, along with a three-sixty span of the surrounding woods. Shifters had embraced the technology wave, so did Guardians – their pack especially. With their gifts on the fritz, they found much usefulness in today's information technology.

  The commander wasn't one for small talk so he got right down to business. "We've been all over this place making sure Mason didn't set any traps. We found some bugs that didn't belong and replayed every angle available of his confrontation with Dani."

  Punching a few buttons, Mercury watched that night play out all over again. Lights in the room began to flicker and one of the monitors blanked out.

  "Calm down," the commander ordered. "It's over and done with."

  Mercury let himself envision his lovely lady tucked into his bed. The lights settled and the screens flickered back to life.

  "I'll be damned," Bennett muttered. "How much of your gift can you control now?"

  "Hard to say. It's not like we know what I can actually do." Never having complete control of his abilities made it hard test their limits. After the debacle freeing Bennett at the turn of the twentieth century, he rarely attempted to use his gift. He used it to secure his cabin or open locked doors, but otherwise didn't want to hurt shifters or ruin missions in case it went awry.

  "We'll worry about it later, we've done without it this long," the commander cut in. Nodding to the twins as they walked in, he continued. "What we need to figure out, is who Mason was really working for. While you were gone," he pinned Mercury with a hard look, "we've ruled out everyone here being in on a conspiracy. At least this one." This time he pinned the twins with a hard look. They stared back innocently, as innocent as two full-grown shifters dressed in black leather, covered head-to-toe in guns, knives, and things that go boom, could look.

  "Got any leads, Boss?" Malcolm asked. He usually talked for the both of them. Sometimes, Mercury wondered if Harrison could function without the other twin. The males were much younger than he at about fifty years old. Like him though, they looked to be in their mid to late twenties.

  "I do. And I'm not liking where it's going," the commander replied grimly. "Mason came to us before we settled in West Creek. Before that he was up in Canada, with a pack that worked directly for the Lycan Council."

  "We know the council's dirty, what about his old pack?"

  A low growl from Harrison directed Bennett's scowl toward the quiet male.

  "Yeah, I said it. They're fucking corrupt."

  Harrison stepped forward and shoved Bennett who hit the wall with an oomph but rebounded quickly, barreling into Harrison with his shoulders. Both males hit the door hard and shook the whole room.

  Mercury stepped aside, letting the males sail by as they wailed on each other. Malcolm almost looked bored, not as affected by the insult to his parentage as his brother.

  "Enough." One sharply spoken word brought the two to a halt, chests heaving, adjusting gear and clothing.

  "This is serious enough, we have to consider every angle. Since you two," the commander jutted his chin toward Malcolm and Harrison, “have close ties to the council, you're gathering intel and we'll start with what you already know."

  "I wouldn't call the ties 'close'," Malcolm drawled.

  "Our father wouldn't hunt and kill human mates," Harrison spit out.

  "Now, our mother..." Malcolm said ruefully.

  "Mal!" Harrison stopped to think. "Yeah, she might. But she'd do it herself."

  Commander Fitzsimmons nodded. "Give us everything you ever heard growing up around council life, even if it's just rumors. Then head up there and gather what information you can."

  "Got it, Boss." Malcolm gave a little salute.

  As he was leaving with his twin, the commander gave them one last order. "Off the radar."

  "Always," Malcolm chuckled.

  The commander turned to Mercury and Bennett. "While they're finding out who wants human mates killed, we need to find out why Sigma's using human mates to make babies. And why."

  As if they didn't have enough problems.

  "And we need details for Dani's doctor appointment."

  "Is something wrong?" Mercury asked alarmed.

  "Your mate needs to start her normal OB visits. We need to know if her pregnancy is progressing normally. We’ve got her in at the end of the week. You'll go in with her while Bennett and I stay outside the clinic. After the appointment, we'll go to the bank. We switched her accounts to us so she has the freedom to use her own money. We also moved her trust fund, wiped out any old addresses, and got her stuff out of storage."

  "Have you told her that?"

  "Nope. You get to." It was the closest Mercury had seen of the commander smirking in a long time.

  Chapter Eleven

  There were a few raised eyebrows at the handling of all Dani's remaining assets, but she finally just shrugged and said, "It needed to be done. When do I get my stuff? It's been years since I've seen some of that."

  Mercury was astounded at the amount of money Dani had in her name.

  Again, Dani shrugged it off. "My parents worked hard, saved a lot, and spoiled me. I was their only indulgence. After they died, I never had a chance to spend any of it. The only good that came out of me signing on with the devil."

  "Jace transferred it, diversified it and some other shit I didn't understand, and left it up to you what you wanted for spending. We'll need to meet with him."

  When they did, Dani noticed Mercury became slightly agitated during the meeting so she talked to him afterward. He confessed to little knowledge about financial matters and math in general, telling her he was never able to get beyond the basics.

  She recalled seeing his scribbles in the cabin, but thought it was a hobby, like reading.

  "I can help you, if you don't mind. But Mercury, it's not like I walk around understanding IRAs and annuities either. I can't talk stocks and trading, that's why I hired out. I only need a basic understanding."

  "But you've taken a lot of college level math classes. And aced them. I've seen your transcripts."

  "I started to major in bioengineering because my mom pressured me to follow her, but then I had plans to be a big shot criminal lawyer, and the main reason was so I could wear power suits that cost over a thousand dollars each and be on TV. I couldn't do an algebra or calculus equation for the life of me."

  "You were a straight A student."

  "And I worked my ass off for it. But it's not like I use it every day. Or every year. Or since class for that matter. There isn't a whole lot I remember from my classes. If I worked with it, maybe it would come back. We aren't all walking math whizzes just because we went to school."

  From the obstinate look on his face, she feared she wasn't getting through to him.

  "Mercury. There's nothing wrong with your brain. Period."

  Now they sat in the doctor's office. Dani was reading the latest in clueless parent literature that the clinic supplied and Mercury was doing sudoku, wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans, along with a baseball hat and glasses that helped mute his exotic eyes. He was still insanely hot under his disguise. Dani feared she’d start some prenatal throwdowns in the main waiting room when she noticed some overly hormonal bitches eying her man until Mercury gave her a quizzical look when magazines started rustling on the end table.

  Dani decided once and for all that her mate (when had she began to think about him like that) was undeniably attractive and she would have t
o get used to women noticing him. And God forbid they ran across any woman from his past at the club who would remember him. At this rate, Dani would throw the woman against the wall, not just books or magazines.

  With a sigh, Dani calmed herself down. It hopefully wouldn't be this bad after the baby was born as it seemed the child added fuel to her raging hormones, which would settle a bit.

  The clinic visit was anticlimactic overall. There were a ton of questions, many of which Mercury couldn't answer because they were family medical history questions, but once they told her doctor he was orphaned, it went quickly.

  The pelvic exam proved more than a bit embarrassing, and this time it was Mercury asking all the questions: “What the hell is that thing?” about the speculum; “Does it hurt?” when the doctor inserted it; “What are you looking for down there?” Dani was extremely glad she chose both a female obstetrician, and one with a few years under her belt so Mercury’s astonishment wasn’t the worst expectant dad behavior dealt with.

  They both vehemently refused genetic testing, fearing the questions that would arise on the genetics they might find testing a half-breed. Dani reluctantly got normal prenatal blood work done, still fearing what abnormalities might get flagged, but worrying more that refusing the basics would raise even more eyebrows. Today was all about normalcy and blending in.

  Sent packing with an armful of educational materials, free diaper samples, and another appointment in a month, Dani felt immense relief, yet more trepidation. It was still so early. So many unknowns. This felt normal, but their baby wasn't and she didn't know what to do to shake Madame G's tendrils off.

  "The bank's uptown," Mercury was saying. She'd been losing herself in her little world of anxiety, she almost missed what he said. "We can stop there and there's a drugstore a few doors down if you want to stop and pick up anything. As long as it's all clear."

  "That'd be awesome." She felt downright civilized and it felt great being back in a world with appointments and errand running. Too bad she had to worry about being abducted and her baby stolen.

  “It’s daylight and in the middle of town, chances are low any Agents will try anything,” Mercury tried to reassure her, as if sensing the road her thoughts went down.