True Claim

  True

  Claim

  The Sigma Menace: Book Three

  By Marie Johnston

  True Claim

  Copyright © 2015 by Lisa Elijah

  Copyediting by EbookEditingServices.com

  Second Edition Edit: The Killion Group

  Cover by P and N Graphics

  The characters, places, and events in this story are fictional. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are coincidental and unintentional.

  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?

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  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

  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 One

  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 future.

  “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?”

  Bennett scowled at his partner. “Fuck off. It’s a good plan.”

  Mercury gave him a sure it is glance and strolled out of the kitchen looking like any adult woman with a ticking biological clock’s wet dream, at least according to Dani. His broad muscular shoulders encased in a tight black t-shirt were easily viewed under the blue paisley fabric of the sling. Mercury’s arm rested lightly under the teardrop-shaped bundle that was fast asleep.

  Bennett shook his head. He’d been doing a lot of that lately, with all of the changes going on with this pack. In the last year, they gained two additional Guardians, protectors of the shifter species, with Jace Stockwell and Kaitlyn Savoy. Three if they counted the young male shifter Mercury rescued last summer. But Parrish was still young, not just young for a shifter, a literal teenager, and he still didn’t talk. They all learned sign language to communicate with him, but the youngster preferred his Xbox over anything else.

  Jace’s mate, Cassie, had become a solid part of their pack and the psychologist was crucial to Bennett’s sanity…or at least had been for a while. He got tired of talking, preferring action instead, and even that was getting old. With the twin Guardians, Malcolm and Harrison Wallace, out of the territory on official duty, he’d been loath to troll for women on his own. It had been so much easier to stroll into the backrooms at the shifter club, Pale Moonlight, where the twins were working their magic on random women, and join in.

  For years, he’d been the recruiter, leading nubile sex partners to the notorious rooms dubbed The Den, where he and other shifters exorcised their demons through extreme physical exertion. It got old. It really did. Unmated shifters, especially Guardians, needed an outlet for their increased levels of aggression. Fighting only went so far, maybe a little therapy helped, and then there was sex. And that wasn’t helping like it used to. Not the random, nameless hookups he’d been having, and with the twins gone, it left…expectations…when it was just him. The girls would want to kiss, touch, and, ugh, talk.

  He used to go to The Den with Mason and Mercury. But Mason’s downward spiral beyond major asshole was halted when his heart got blown out of him, and Mercury was solidly mated to the human, Dani. And didn’t that just stick in Bennett’s craw.

  Of course he was happy for his partner and best friend. Maybe he couldn’t find a human woman who accepted him for what he was, willing to turn her back on everything she knew for life with the Guardians, but he was happy Mercury found one. After the suggestion by their nemesis, Madame G, that Mercury could choose his own mate, she wasn’t predetermined, well…it just rankled a little more.

  Seeing Jace and Mercury each in their respective forms of mated bliss left Bennett feeling…conflicted. They both found human mates who not only left their lives as they knew it, but dedicated their themselves to defending the shifter species. Over a century ago, Bennet
t had been happily married. Or so he thought until his human mate was brainwashed, told that someone like him was an evil abomination and needed to be destroyed, with her help.

  Abigail was weak, mentally and physically, and her humanness was the only comparison that could be made to Mercury’s and Jace’s mates.

  But why wasn’t Bennett worthy of a solid, quality mate? And wasn’t that the number one question that had been riding him hard for the last one hundred and twenty-five or so years?

  The other question was: what the hell was he going to do? He’d taken on increased responsibility and was now second in command to their pack leader, Commander Rhys Fitzsimmons. Their pack was facing off with the local Sigma chapter under the rule of the demented, evil Madame G. Suspicions of corruption in their own ruling body, the Lycan Council, left their pack short-staffed while the twins were sent off to investigate.

  Finding a mate was a once in a lifetime event. Urban legend suggested that shifters who didn’t go off the deep end when a mate was lost to them, could find another destined to bond with, if they lived long enough. But finding substance to the myths never went beyond “my cousin’s best friend’s dad’s old roommate heard of a guy who…”

  So here he was. He’d survived the devastation of his mate’s betrayal and her subsequent death, or execution, as it were, thanks to his duty and Guardian brothers. However, he was finding it increasingly difficult to control the raging emotions roiling in his chest and old memories banging around his head. He was so. Damn. Angry.

  Giving his head a brief shake, he ran a hand through his short blond hair, making sure it was tousled just right. One secret to his survival had been to alter his name and looks, distancing himself from that guy. That guy who was stupid enough to believe a timid, human woman would remain by his side, endure his duty, and welcome him home into their bed after a suckass day. The aww-shucks Benjamin Young with the scruffy good looks and dusty cowboy hat became the immaculate Bennett Young, who wore expensive shit and never had a hair out of place. Benji—fucking loser. Bennett—winning.