Fast forward six months to when she learned about, and became a part of, the world of vampires and werewolves. She remembered young Ronnie Newton and his ravings, and realized the guy may have been serious, and in great danger.
Agreeing that a Guardian needed to talk to the young man, Cassie arranged an appointment to meet with Ronnie, only to find out he was not only in psychiatric isolation, but was restricted from receiving visitors. No problem—Cassie was his therapist prior to commitment.
Big problem. For some reason, security was a major issue and it was extremely difficult to get to Ronnie Newton.
Bennett looked into the kid’s background and found nothing exceptional, except the fact he didn’t exist. Made sense—who the fuck went by “Ronnie” nowadays? Bennett always made sure his name stayed current and trendy. He predicted “Bennett” would carry a few decades. Benji didn’t need to exist anymore. Bennett Young left that shit in the past.
So, here they were. A drugged-up kid, all of twenty-two, with no past, squinting at them through his drug-induced haze. Cassie was talking in low motherly tones to keep him calm and determine how much mental status he could reach in this conversation. Jace waited outside the door using his magic eyeballs to keep staff from getting too concerned about their presence.
“Do you remember what you said that day in my office, Ronnie?” Cassie ventured.
“You didn’t believe me. You gave me to them.”
Bennett’s eyebrows rose. Well, well, well. Tightened security for safety reasons, or Sigma trying to prevent the Guardians from finding out what this kid knew?
“I’m sorry, Ronnie. I really am. I believe you now.”
Ronnie made an indignant sound. “Do you? Or are you just trying to find out what they want to know?”
“We want to help,” Cassie countered.
“I knew you’d be with them.” He titled his head toward Bennett. “You finally brought them here.”
Did he have special abilities? Well, I’ll be damned. Bennett finally caught on. The kid was good. “Why fool them into thinking the drugs work on you, but not pretend with us?”
Cassie looked questionably between Bennett and Ronnie, the irritation at being interrupted fading away as comprehension of Bennett’s claim dawned on her. “You’re one of us?”
Ronnie leaned forward so quickly Bennett prepared to take him down if he lunged at the woman. Jace would be a pain in the ass if Bennett let the man touch one fiber on her.
“You’re fucking crazy!” But his eyes told Bennett a different story. His eyes remained calm, lucid. “Do you think I’d be here if I had any skills that could get me out? Sorry, just a puny human here.”
Cassie’s gaze flicked to Bennett, making sure he was on the same wavelength. “So then why do they want you?”
“They think I know where she’s at. Or that she’ll come to me once she finds out I’m in this place.”
“She?” Bennett asked.
“My sister. They think she’s the alpha hybrid. The one that will give rise to a new species. One that can’t be conquered by vampires or shifters. One that can finally live on Earth without hiding.”
Bennett and Cassie sat in stunned silence.
“But they’re wrong,” Ronnie shrugged. “It’s not her. Whoever Madame G is selling her soul to for world domination fucked up.”
“Why do you think that?” Bennett couldn’t help but be caught up in the kid’s story, suddenly wanting every detail on the mysterious sister. Finally, they were getting some answers on Madame G’s goals. Were they both hers and Sigma’s? If Ronnie was telling the truth, was Madame G led astray, and about what and why?
Ronnie’s expression froze. “I just know. Besides, why would my sister be key, but not me? If she’s a hybrid, then I would be, too. And if we were hybrids, would we really have all the strengths of both species and no weaknesses? Doubt it, there is no such thing as an alpha hybrid. Perhaps we could blend better, but most likely, we’d take on the traits of one species or another, like how offspring of human mates are shifters. So why do they want her?”
Ronnie rocked back on his mattress hugging his knees as Cassie and Bennett absorbed his ponderings. Bennett tried to read into what the kid was trying to tell them. Ronnie’s sister wasn’t the alpha hybrid. And if she was the first ever offspring of a vampire/shifter mating, what would the big deal be? Maybe a territory conflict over who would rule the poor soul?
“Seriously. At least you saved me Doc. If I wasn’t locked up here, I’d be at Sigma’s compound getting milked dry while they tested my sperm for shits and giggles.”
“Then I don’t understand why you are here and not there?” Cassie mused.
Ronnie shrugged. “Dunno. What do flies and minnows have in common?”
Bait.
Perplexed, Cassie asked, “Why are you talking to us?”
“It’s nothing they don’t know already and you’re the good guys. It’s about time you’re getting up to speed. Besides,” Ronnie pinned Bennett with bright hazel eyes, absolutely not clouded by anti-psychotics. “You need to find her.”
__________
Bennett’s loved and lost. Could there be another mate out there for him? Find out in True Claim.
Thank you for reading. I’d love to know what you thought. Please consider leaving a review at the retailer the book was purchased from.
Marie Johnston
True Claim
The Sigma Menace Book 3
True Claim
Copyright © 2015 by Lisa Elijah
Copyediting by EbookEditingServices.com
Second Edition Edit: The Killion Group
Cover by Mayhem Cover Creations
The characters, places, and events in this story are fictional. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are coincidental and unintentional.
Created with Vellum
Over a century ago, Bennett Young found his mate, a human woman he trusted and was brutally betrayed by. With his one chance at happiness gone, Bennett throws himself into his work. He dreads the inevitable day he turns feral and his partners will be forced to put him down, then a routine mission brings him face-to-face with his worst nightmare. A human mate. Discovering the lovely, but evasive woman is being hunted, Bennett can’t bring himself to abandon her, at least not until she’s safe.
Spencer King has a boy’s name and lives in the boondocks for a reason. The tall, sexy shifter who showed up on her doorstep was unwelcome…and pushy. The mating instinct she feels for him threatens everyone she’s worked to keep safe. Realizing the frustrating, brooding Guardian doesn’t intend to leave her alone, Spencer has to figure out if she can trust him, and to decide—stay and fight, or run for her life?
To my friends and family. You were my first readers, and your enthusiasm and excitement kept me going. Thank you for all your support, your kind words, your awesome reviews, and your constructive criticism.
Prologue
Date: 1890, Kentucky
Commander Dane Bellamy stood over the woman’s lifeless body while anguished screams from an emotionally destroyed male echoed in the deep recesses of the nearly abandoned mine.
“He’s going to want to see her.” Rhys Fitzsimmons warned him upon entering the dark control room in the small headquarters shack just outside the mine entrance.
Commander Bellamy sighed heavily. Leaning down, he wiped his blade clean on the inside of the woman’s skirt, since leaving visible bloodstains would be beyond insulting to the heartbroken shifter they were rescuing.
“I know. He’ll hate me, but he couldn’t have lived with himself, or survived, if we let him kill her.”
“He wouldn’t have been able to do it.” Rhys said with confidence, and Commander Bellamy firmly agreed.
Benjamin Young was crass and wild, but he’d done his best by his human wife, Abigail. Yet, no matter how tame he tried to be, she sensed the wildness inside of him and couldn’t get over her fear of what he was.
Her fear was
preyed upon by the local smooth-talking Sigma chapter leader and the corrupt leader’s wife. Word had gotten back to them; one of their spies had known the young shifter was courting innocent Abigail. And low and behold, timid little Abigail suddenly had a new friend to confide in about her fear of her new husband. Not only his ability to change into a wolf, but his work outside of the law to police his own species.
The new friend, the Sigma leader’s wife, having gained Abigail’s trust, reported back to her Sigma husband after convincing the young bride to glean more information from her accommodating spouse. They used the virtuous nature of Abigail to turn her against her new husband and his entire pack.
Thinking his lovely new wife wanted to know more about the shifter Guardians’ way of life and eventually commit to his world, Benji had talked with her about what their Guardian pack did, and to some extent, how they functioned.
Then on a mission that had Commander Bellamy’s small Guardian pack split off into smaller teams, Benji’s team was attacked. They lost two Guardians that day. Benji had refused to believe that his wife had turned on him by passing information of the mission to the Sigma leader, who then made it appear as though they had captured her. Benji allowed himself to be taken, in an effort to save her. Sigma brought the injured shifter to the faux mine, which was used as a front for the torture and mutilation of anyone Sigma deemed paranormal.
Still convinced she was innocent and that he could save his bride, Benji withstood weeks of being mercilessly tortured and studied as Abigail was used to coerce him to shift constantly, only furthering her own belief she’d married an abomination and all his species needed to be eradicated.
“At least he didn’t mate her by our ritual yet. He can sense her enough to know she died, but he may still survive his grief.” Commander Bellamy didn’t look forward to the following months, or hell, years.
Mercury, let him out, Rhys spoke telepathically to their newest addition, an odd young shifter still learning about himself and the Guardians.
Minutes felt like hours as they waited for the distraught shifter to be helped out to the shack to say his good-byes.
Light fell directly onto Abigail’s body as the door opened. A bare, bloodied, and bruised Benji shoved himself off Mercury’s broad shoulders to fall at her head. He smoothed her hair and glared up at Commander Bellamy with bloodshot eyes.
“Why?” His heartache was gut-wrenching. “She was mine to take care of. She was my responsibility.”
Whether Benji was asking why he killed the woman, or why he didn’t let Benji kill her himself, Dane didn’t know and he doubted the young shifter knew either.
“She was going to fire a shot to warn the others when she saw us. I had to stop her…” The commander drifted off, unwilling to explain how he gave Abigail a second chance to come with them, fuck, even a third chance. But when she reached for the trigger of the gun that would have echoed through the mountains, alerting Agents to descend on the mine, it left him no choice. He chose against the slower death of a slit throat, instead spinning her and shoving the blade up the base of her skull into her brain. Instant death. It was to spare Benji, not Abigail.
“I scented Agents heading this way.” Mercury was calm as he informed them the enemy was closing in. He was a good addition to the pack; he would prove more vital as Benji began his healing process.
“Is the gunpowder in place?” Rhys gave a curt nod and they made their way swiftly out of the building, dragging a grieving Benji off Abigail’s body.
Crouching in the shadow of the old wooden building, they waited for the commander’s order to execute one of the many escape plans they came up with. The goal was to leave as few Sigma behind as possible. Mercury’s power was the match for the gunpowder, but his talent had not been so reliable lately. Well, all of their talents were starting to fucking suck.
We head up, Dane communicated telepathically with his team, glancing at the rugged land surrounding them. We can lose them on the terrain. Mercury, light ’em up.
Mercury hesitated only long enough to concentrate on heating the kegs of powder. Blasts could be heard starting in the mines and ringing out over the trails.
They had only just begun to bolt away from the shelter of the building when a hot wall of air blasted the four Guardians out into the open.
“Mercury! You blew the building, too!” Rhys yelled, but Dane barely heard him over the ringing in their ears.
Recovering quickly as they started to take on gunfire, Commander Bellamy tried to use telepathy, but the shifters were still shaking their heads. Finally resorting to hand signals, they ran, returning fire when possible.
A grunt and the familiar smell of Rhys’ blood told the commander his partner had been hit. A quick look at his pack and he made the decision they would all benefit from four legs over two.
He himself shifted, expecting his pack to follow suit. They did and the pack ran up the steep incline, weaving through the trees and brush, outrunning the human Agents. Thank the Sweet Mother for daylight, because they couldn’t outrun any vampire Agents right now.
Night fell, and the Guardians kept going, stopping only for water and to catch some food, just enough to keep them from collapsing. Commander Bellamy led them on as they trudged through the night, keeping an ear and nose out for Agents, those with fangs and those without. The blasts did enough damage to keep Sigma from hot pursuit.
When the orange glow of dawn lit up the sky, Commander Bellamy gave the order to stop and regroup. Everyone in the group spread out on the ground in their human form, relaxing for the first time in weeks, all except for Benji.
One eye now swollen shut, the other red and angry and glaring at the commander, Benji finally looked away to stare blankly into the rising sun.
The weight of the world settled heavily on Commander Bellamy’s shoulders. A thought he’d been batting around for a while was firmly cemented into a decision.
“Rhys,” he said gruffly, “we’ll make our way to the next Guardian pack and send our report to the Lycan Council.” Their own meager headquarters had been compromised by Abigail. “And then I’m turning command over to you,”
Rhys and Mercury swiveled their heads toward Commander Bellamy, shock registering on their faces as they sat up. Benji continued his blank perusal of the sun.
“I’m done. I’ve got some shit with Irina,” Commander Bellamy tried to explain roughly. Some shit was right. His mate might not despise him like Benji did, but the tragedy they both endured not too long ago caused a rift in their mating bond that he had no idea how to repair. “And Mercury still needs training, plus we’ll take on more Guardians after our reassignment. They’ll all need extensive training and I can concentrate on that.”
Rhys grunted, nodding in agreement. “No doubt the council will stick us with rookies or fuck-ups.”
It was the truth. Why this pack had the council’s target painted on it, he didn’t know. But the Guardians they sent were so poorly trained, they barely survived the first month.
When he became commander, Rhys would be solid, leading the pack with intelligence and little emotion. All Commander Bellamy could offer was his experience and a tenuous mating bond. The new Guardian, Mercury, whom they rescued from the wild, was still learning how to be human and had almost killed them all with his power. And Benji, a devastated shifter who hated him now, and might very well try to kill him.
Chapter 1
Present day, West Creek
“He’s lucky he’s cute.” Bennett held the squirming bundle thrust into his arms and reluctantly grinned. Every time the newest addition to the West Creek Guardian pack squalled, the lights flickered. If his mother, Dani Santini, took the time to change the hungry shifter baby’s diaper before feeding him, the kid damn near blew a fuse all the way over at the lodge.
Bennett’s best friend and partner, Mercury, a.k.a. Baby Daddy, was getting a handle on controlling their little Dante’s powers, but there were probably a few more shattered windows in their fu
ture.
“Whatcha think, Uncle Benji?” Mercury slipped back into the old nickname he used to use before Bennett upgraded his name to outrun his past. No one needed Benjamin Young around, Grade A fool and Class A fuck up.
“I think you’re not conning me into babysitting for you again.” Bennett unconsciously swayed side-to-side with the tiny male swaddled in blue superhero flannel. “I just got the window and both lightbulbs replaced in my cabin from his epic tantrum the last time I watched him.”
“I told you to change his diaper as soon as his face goes beet red,” Mercury pointed out.
“Don’t matter. He’s a baby. They cry. When he cries, shit breaks. Little dude’s got some power.” Bennett handed baby Dante back to his daddy. “Besides, I’ve got to go talk to the new owner of the neighboring acreage. We’ve got reports there’s some wicked traps that could get shifters out running their wolf seriously injured.”
“Human?” Mercury was situating Dante into a little sling that hung over his shoulders. Bennett had damn near choked on his steak when Mercury walked in wearing the baby one morning. But it kept the little guy happy, and that kept shit from breaking. Plus, Dani swooned and got a come-hither look in her eye every time she saw her man packing baby, so everyone was a winner.
“Probably. Name’s Spencer King. I’m sure he’s just a crusty old recluse, trapping lunch and trying to live off the grid. But it’s a threat we’ve got to investigate.”
“Need me to go with? In case he’s a crazy with a shotgun?”
“Naw. I’ll just roll up for a neighborly introduction, bullshit a bit, then mention finding some traps and ask him what they’re all about.”
Mercury snorted. “Ya gonna bake some cookies or a nice casserole to bring over?”
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