The Sigma Menace Collection

by Marie Johnston

  The passenger side mirror blew out. Metal pinged once, twice. They were shooting at her. Dani ducked as low as she could and still drive. Must have been aiming at the tires. They’d face a punishment worse than death if they killed her. But at these speeds, a blown out tire could kill her.

  The Mustang flew farther away from town with the men close behind. Dani didn’t dare turn onto any side roads, didn’t dare risk losing control on the gravel roads, didn’t dare risk slowing down

  A pop and more fishtailing had her slamming on the brakes. They’d gotten a tire. If she could stop this thing without killing herself, maybe she could take them. She’d never been in the field alone before, but most Sigma Agents just saw her as a recruit, forgetting she had three years of field training by two of the best Agents under Madame G. Most recruits didn’t really know her at all. She didn’t know these men chasing her, but they didn’t know her, either, and she could use that to her advantage.

  The car skidded around before screeching to a halt on the deserted blacktop. No other cars were in sight, just her and the dark sedan she was now facing. They came to a stop pretty close to her and were getting out, weapons drawn, shouting orders.

  Opening the door and climbing out Dani kept her right arm hanging limp facing away from the men, like it was injured. Their headlights shone in her eyes and she held her other hand up. Time to play helpless female.

  “You—you gotta help me!” she stuttered.

  “Stop! Put your hands up,” one of the men ordered.

  Almost clear of the hood of her car, she had only seconds before she needed to act. The men were both coming around the protection of their respective car doors, giving her a good shot. Whipping her right hand up and taking aim, she dropped the man closest to her with a head shot and turned on the other who shouted in outrage and charged her, knocking the gun out of her hand before she squeezed off a second shot.

  He pushed her back onto the hood, wrestling with her. They would’ve rolled off onto the ground, but the vampire had left a nice dent that Dani was stuck in. She couldn’t get a good purchase on anything, her feet dangling above the ground. Her attacker was trying to get her wrists together to cuff her. She fought like an animal, snarling and biting anything that came close to her mouth, using her legs in any way possible to kick and squirm, but her strength was failing fast against her larger opponent. He probably hadn’t been sick in bed for the last two weeks.

  A large black shadow crossed her vision, lifting the weight of the man she’d been struggling against with it. She was jerked forward since he still had hold of her wrists, but broke free quickly and rolled off the side of the hood. Peeking over the front of the car, she took in the scene before her.

  In an eerie almost complete silence, a large black wolf with streaks of silver gleaming over the fur in the headlights, quickly dispatched the man who had been subduing her only seconds before. The only sounds were grunts and gurgles, until the man’s movements ceased altogether. The wolf lifted his head from the man’s neck and swung to face her, mouth drawn up in a snarl, blood dripping from his fangs.

  Dani was entranced. Each small movement the wolf made, sent ripples of silver through the dark fur. His snout lifted, sniffing the air. The eyes that watched her gleamed with predatory reflection, flashing the same shade of dark silver that rippled through the fur.

  Father.

  The word whispered through her mind. Her baby was only a bundle of cells. X said some expectant mothers, shifter mothers, felt a mental connection with the child they carried. She was human and only in the earliest stages of pregnancy. Did Madame G do something to either of them to create a bond this strong?

  A low growl rumbled through his body as she rose to standing. On four legs, he was taller than waist height, and thick in the shoulders and chest. Shifters were larger than standard wolves, Guardians even bigger. He was gigantic.

  “Are you the one they call Mercury?”

  No longer snarling, he tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes as if letting her voice wash over him. He opened his eyes, the pools of silver regarding her carefully. She watched in fascination as rich, dark fur transformed to smooth skin in front of her eyes.

  Her eyes wide, she followed his form as he stood to his full height. Taller than her by a good eight inches, he wasn’t as tall as she heard most Guardians were. At probably six-one or two, any perceived lack of height was made up for in width. Wide muscular shoulders were set on top an equally wide and well-defined chest and back, tapering down with rippling abs into heavily-muscled legs. He was also completely naked. Not being an admirer of naked man parts, she had to admit, his size was impressive… all over.

  Forcing herself to look into his eyes, she was mesmerized. They hadn’t changed as he transformed into his human form, gleaming silver in the dark depths. His hair was dark like his wolf’s fur had been, his strong, square jaw clenched. Nostrils flared, he was still scenting the air.

  She licked her suddenly dry lips, the movement capturing his complete attention. Her only hope was with the Guardians. Their headquarters wasn’t top secret, but she heard no one had been able to enter it since these Guardians set up shop. Sigma could barely find it, and only knew the approximate location. But anyone searching for it would get turned around and lost for days. A couple of months ago, she heard four recruits were sent to these woods, loaded for bear—wolves in this case—and were never seen or heard from again.

  “Are you Mercury?” she asked again.

  “Who the fuck are you and why do you smell like you’re carrying my baby?”

  Chapter 4

  Mercury growled. He couldn’t stop it before it rumbled through his chest. The onslaught of emotions and questions stampeded through his mind. He took in the woman before him. Human, there was no doubt. Not enhanced, but what job she held in Sigma he didn’t know. He would, however, find out. Her fine-boned, almost regal face had him wondering if she’d led a privileged life. She had full pink lips and long dark brown hair, almost as dark as her eyes. Eyes a guy could get lost in. They held many of her emotions in check, but he could see the flickers of feelings moving deep inside. She was scared, but determined.

  The little slip of human squared off in front of him. She smelled of blood (someone else’s) and death, but it wasn’t hard to get to her scent underneath it all. Womanly and refreshing, she smelled crisp like citrus. Like she should be just as naked as he, lying on a beach, sipping mojitos and soaking up rays.

  She also smelled like him. Faint undertones of Mercury laced her scent. That only happened when a woman was with child, with a shifter’s child, in this case… his child. That was impossible.

  “I am carrying your baby,” she replied.

  “Impossible,” he said simply. And it was.

  Her eyes took on an accusatory note. “Please, I’ve heard of you Guardians. Did you not think there were no consequences for playing like you do?”

  He raised his eyebrows at her tone. Play? “And you’re saying we played together?”

  She shook her head and nervously looked around. “Redhead, big boobs, couple of months ago? Janice?”

  At his blank look she continued, “Madame G sent her in to, ah, harvest from you and inseminate me, somehow thinking I could bear your young. Look, I will gladly tell you everything I know once we get somewhere safe. She wants me back, bad. They’ll find me.”

  He stood, in all his bare glory, regarding her silently. She was edgy, shifting from foot to foot, glancing repeatedly down the highway with dread anticipation.

  Finally, he spoke, “Why do you smell like a dead Agent?”

  “Cuz I had to kill one to get out of there,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “Are you an Agent?”

  “No.”

  “Recruit?”

  “No. I told you. Somehow, Madame G knew I could get pregnant by you and kept me captive until she had what she needed from you.”

  She looked down the road again and he smelled her fear. Ris
king a quick glance himself, he saw headlights in the distance. Quickly deliberating, it might indeed be Sigma, he decided he needed to find out the truth so she had to come with him.

  “Get in the car,” he nodded to the Agents’ car still idling in the middle of the lane. “I’ll load them up, then I’ll drive.”

  Relief flooded her eyes and she turned to follow his directions.

  “Wait,” he ordered her. “Raise your arms, I’m taking your weapons.”

  “But…” she sputtered, but said no more and raised her arms.

  Mercury moved up behind her, her back ramrod straight. Normally, he’d frisk her and be done. But he felt the need to warn her. “I’m going to pat you down.”

  With her terse nod, he began. Moving as quickly and efficiently as he could although it was hard to ignore the body under his hands. He felt hard muscles and womanly curves under the clothes he patted. Gruffly, he asked her to remove the knives she had hidden on her body. Again, normally he’d just take them—didn’t matter if it was a male or female he dealt with. Both genders had tried killing him. But this female… If what she said was true, life would’ve been pretty traumatic for her with Sigma. And if she was telling the truth, she carried his young.

  The scent teased his nostrils. She smelled of rank blood. He found the cloth in her pocket along with the finger, but it must coat her, too. Death lingered around them. The Agent she took out and the one he’d killed enveloped them with fragrance, but her scent was the one that teased his nose. Wafting to him, laced with the subtle scent of his essence that wasn’t possible unless he was becoming a dad. Him being a father should be impossible, but what she was saying… plausible. But how? And that feeling someone, somewhere, needed him had abated as soon as he spotted her. His midnight need to run, and changing his route midflight to this highway, he found her fighting for her life. More than coincidence.

  Once she’d unloaded her stash from her body, there was a nice little pile of gear sitting on the pavement next to his bare feet.

  “Go on, get in,” he ordered, not wanting her to hear how much she affected him. Her scent was threatening to drive him mad, and her fierce beauty and the pat down threatened to put on display exactly how much. Okay, it was too late.

  “I’ll load up the bodies.” That should put a dent in his erection. “You got anything you need in the other car?”

  She shook her head as she stepped around the agent she had dropped with a head shot. “It belonged to the Agent I killed. I didn’t have time to grab anything but…” She gestured to the little pile of guns and knives.

  While she climbed in, he hauled both bodies to the back by the trunk. She jerked when he leaned into the driver’s side to hit the trunk latch. Her eyes flickered to him and flicked away just as quickly. He was still nude, but there was nothing he could do about that until they got back to the lodge. Once the bodies and weapons were loaded, he again leaned in and ripped out the car’s GPS and threw it into the Mustang. It was the most obvious way Sigma could track the vehicle. They would dump it later, probably on Sigma’s doorstep with a note that said something witty Bennett made up, like “I swear they were dead when we got here.”

  When he slid into the driver’s seat, she stiffened again.

  “What’s your name?” he asked, as he guided the car around the stalled Mustang. The headlights were closing in. They wouldn’t need to backtrack, he could get to the lodge using roads further down.

  “Dani.” She spoke quietly, but her voice was strong. She kept glancing in the mirror, gauging how close the other car was.

  “Dani what?”

  She paused, obviously deciding what or how much she told him. Or maybe even whether to tell him the truth or not.

  “Daniella Maria-Sofia Santini.”

  Shiiiit. Her name caressed its way through him. His cock twitched again. The way it rolled off her tongue, with a slight hint of accent, like she was born American, but grew up with another language spoken around her. Italian? Maybe she was bilingual.

  “And you?” she asked. “Mercury what?”

  “Just Mercury. You don’t look Italian.”

  She glanced at him, eyebrow arched. “What’s Italian supposed to look like?”

  “Jersey Shore.”

  Her mouth quirked at the idea of him watching reality shows. “Only my dad was full Italian, his parents were from the old country. My mom’s ancestry was mostly northern European. And I’m not from Jersey.”

  They drove in silence. Mercury turned off the main highway, traversing back roads, dirt paths, and roads that were often little more than trails, until they reached the lodge. He studied her reaction to their headquarters. She seemed genuinely impressed, not smugly triumphant like she found a way to their home and couldn’t wait to get the information back to Sigma.

  He wanted her to like it and tried to see it as a newcomer might. A human. Moonlight filtered through the trees but it would be hard for her to make out detail with the shadows. Their cabins, interspersed through the trees, could not be seen at night as they blended too well. The lodge stood tall and dark, moonlight reflections gleaming off the large front windows. The rest of the building became one with the darkness.

  He pulled up close to the door. “Wait here.”

  Dani was studying the building, trying to make out details in the dark, but she made no move to get out.

  Mercury got out and let out a howl, sensing Dani jump inside the car. Dani. The nickname suited her. Tough, but feminine. He went around and opened her door. By the time she got out, dark shapes were coming out of the trees from around the lodge.

  She stiffened when she noticed the movement. Mercury stood behind her.

  “Mercury, are you bringing home strays?” Bennett called.

  As they closed in, Mercury could see they were all dressed for battle. He wanted to step in front of Dani, protect her from scrutiny and malice. These were his people, Guardians he trusted with more than his life, he should feel protective toward them instead. He resisted the urge, staying where he was.

  “Mercury?” Commander Fitzsimmons questioned. Their leader was a male of few words, but he conveyed much with his tone.

  Mercury sensed Kaitlyn and Jace in the trees, listening intently, but ready to provide extra support if needed. It seemed laughable, this little slip of a woman had five Guardians at the ready, but he had the feeling it wouldn’t be enough for the drama she brought to their door.

  He knew exactly when Bennett and the commander caught the scent that had been haunting Mercury.

  “What the…” Bennett trailed off.

  “She says she’s carrying my young.”

  “Impossible.” Bennett repeated Mercury’s first thought.

  Dani stood completely still, her eyes shifting from the commander to Bennett. He sensed her resolve, her determination, but her fear almost overwhelmed both. Commander Fitzsimmons studied her with meticulous intensity, Bennett with abject disbelief.

  “She said Madame G knew she could bear my young.”

  Bennett scoffed.

  “And how would she know that?” Commander Fitzsimmons quietly spoke to Dani. Her fear spiked another notch, but she just shrugged a little.

  Bennett rolled his eyes. “How would Madame G know some random human could carry one of our young?”

  “She’s not random. She’s my mate.”

  Stunned silence followed Mercury’s declaration. Dani felt the blood drain from her face. This was a bad idea. Really bad. Mate? The behemoth of a male would never let her go now. She came seeking protection for her baby, not realizing she’d entertained the notion that someday she and the child could escape. Odds just dropped drastically. She’d worry about that later. Right now, she had to secure protection. Madame G could not get her hands on this child.

  The males fell silent, eyes snapping between her and Mercury. Both males were tall, taller than Mercury but not as wide, though heavily muscled themselves. And dressed, thank goodness. The stunning blond looked almo
st horrified at Mercury’s declaration that he had a mate, she was it, and she was pregnant. Their leader remained impassive, no doubt taking in all the information and deciding what to do with her.

  “Take her to Interrogation Two. We’ll talk with her after you get dressed.”

  Nerves were going to get the best of Dani soon. It had been a long day and even more trying night, followed by a tense car ride with a very naked shifter male. A Guardian male. The father of the life that grew inside of her. Immense relief flooded her by being with him, but she couldn’t explain it. Sigma had felt wrong for so long, but being here, surrounded by wary males who didn’t trust her, perhaps never would—especially if they found out her true story, felt more right than anything she’d done in years, even after she’d hunted their kind, seeking to satisfy a vengeance born one fateful night years ago.

  The tall blond led the way into the massive log building. Dani couldn’t make out much in the dark, there were no porch lights, just moonlight. There was no need as the males could see perfectly well in the dark. Inside, nothing was lit and the shifters were completely silent, leading her down a pitch black hallway.

  She experienced a small moment of panic when she sensed Mercury’s absence from behind her. He’d said nothing since his mate declaration. As quickly as he was gone, he was back with a slight rustling of material. Clothes. It would be a shame to cover his magnificent body with its bronzed skin rippling over loads of muscle, but a welcome shame as his nudity unnerved her. She spent the time in the car searching out the window to see if they were being followed, but it served double duty to keep her eyes off Mercury’s handsome looks, impressive physique, and large package. Otherwise her mind might have wandered to what conceiving naturally by him would’ve been like, to have his broad back covering her and those rounded, heavily muscled thighs between hers.