Fever Claim (The Sigma Menace) (15 page)

“So what did you study?” She wanted to learn more about the real him and not the Jace he presented to the world.

“Business and accounting. Figured it could take me anywhere. But I came back here,” he spread his hands wide and leaned back into his chair, “found Christian and got a job doing his books during the day, stocking and tending bar at night.”

“Found Christian? Did you know him from before?”

Jace shook his head. “No, just had heard of him. He’s become a pack leader for the area. For those of us who are essentially packless.”

“And that means?”

“Wolves have packs. If you leave one, you can be accepted into another one and abide by their rules and regulations. If you’re estranged, then you lack the resources our kind sometimes needs—protection, new identities, hiding in plain sight.

“Christian was an alpha, left his pack for his wife, Mabel, and moved here. He’s been able to reinvent himself consistently over the years. He seems to attract rogue alphas with no home, puts them to work, takes care of any problems, and we stay content to have a place to set down and live a little. He’s become pack leader for the West Creek area.”

“You’re an alpha?” She was not surprised in the least.

“Yeah, I would’ve been.” He said no more, not wanting to delve into that part of his past again. He finished up his drink and stood, offering her his hand. “Ready for a scenic ride?”

She grinned, begrudgingly, and accepted his hand, standing.

The ride was beautiful, the evening air crisp and refreshing. The hum of the bike lulled her, her earlier fear of riding gone. He took them down a side road through the trees paralleling the river, but true to his word, turned around to head back into town when the road’s speed limits increased. She sat behind him, helmet firmly in place, and sank into his back,
enjoying the view and the feel of him. 

***

Jace pulled off the road into a riverfront park before they got back to town. Large, shading cottonwoods dotted the shore, monuments detailing the area’s history were adjacent to the walking path, interspersed with benches to sit and enjoy the peace of the great outdoors.

Cassie took Jace’s hand while climbing off and held onto it while he led her toward one of the benches.

“This place is almost always empty toward evening. I thought we could hang for a bit before I took you back.” Jace hoped she didn’t mind.

Cassie closed her eyes briefly to breathe in the fresh river air. “It’s lovely. Do you come here often?”

“When I’m studying and the bar is too loud to concentrate.” Jace picked a bench facing the river so they could watch the early season boaters go by. He sat with his arm across the back of the bench behind her, hoping she’d snuggle in next to him. And she did. With his heightened senses, he didn’t have to lean down to inhale her scent. The subtle floral and vanilla aroma worked its way through his body, easing his worry about her still possible rejection of him. At the same time, it brought the memories of the stronger version of those scents in her office and what he’d done with her the one and only time he’d ever been to her office.

He tried to redirect his thoughts before his raging erection captured her attention, potentially ruining their compatible evening. He made it through the long ride, when her arms were wrapped around him, her delightful breasts pressed against his back, where they brought to mind the details of their size and shape. He remembered the rosy tips perfectly, and how they peaked when his mouth got so close—
Fuck!
Need to make more conversation.

“You look great.” He hoped the desire clouding his gruff voice wasn’t obvious.

“Thanks. You too, as always.”

“You’ve been checking me out?” he teased.

Cassie chuckled. “Maybe a little.” She reached up and feathered her fingers over his scalp. “Do you have to shave your head every day?”

Jace stilled. Cassie snatched her hand back, sensing the sudden tension.

“I’m sorry,” she said, quickly.

“No, it’s just—I didn’t want…” He drifted off, gathering his thoughts. “I intend to tell you everything eventually. I do. I just didn’t want the low points in my life to cloud our getting to know each other, like they did at first.”

Cassie nodded, her dark eyes were filled with concern and a little dread, so he figured he’d just get on with it before her imagination, combined with what she already knew and had witnessed, got the best of her.

“One of the convicts in prison, one of Madame G’s fucked up experiments, knew what I was. He was relentless, fuck. Just fucking messing with
me those first couple years—stealing my belongings, throwing my food tray across the room, whatever would make my life hell. They called him Argen, you know, a play off of argentum, the Latin word for silver.”

“Why silver?”

“His teeth were capped with silver. He even had his nails embedded with silver. The old legends had that part right about werewolves: silver’s deadly to shifters. One morning in the showers, his gang got to me. Held me down while he shaved me with a silver razor.”

“So your hair won’t grow back, just being cut by silver?” Cassie asked incredulously.

Jace nodded.

“And the scars on your shoulder? Argen?”

Jace nodded. “Wounds made from silver will scar. If we can treat the silver poisoning with salt, usually saline, everything else should heal completely.”

“And then what?” Cassie prompted.

“And then I planned. I wasn’t going to spend my years behind bars fighting Argen. Commander Fitzsimmons’ contact found me. Argen was getting careless and we took him down before he revealed our secrets to the humans we lived among. I was pretty much left alone after that.” Jace waited while Cassie thought over his revelation.

“So if you heal completely otherwise, then how do shifters have tattoos? Like yours covering your scars.”

Jace let out a laugh, stunned at her line of conversation. She was either accepting their world, or avoiding it. “A special blend of ink with both silver dust and saline. I got mine as soon as I got out.”

He watched her, snuggled into him, hoping she wouldn’t do the ol’ yawn-I’m-tired-let’s-call-it-a-night. Her contemplative expression gazing out at the river told him she had more questions, but was unsure of whether to ask him. He didn’t know whether to encourage her or dread another question.

“What’s your power?” she finally asked.

The girl kept going left when he expected her to go right.

“My power?” He knew exactly what she meant, he just wanted to know what she knew.

“Well, at the risk of a HIPAA violation, I can’t tell you how I heard many shifters have a special talent that goes beyond even a sixth sense.”

Ah, Bennett told her. So she knew about their extra abilities, just not his, nor how he’d used it in the past. That could wait until she trusted him completely.

“I can persuade people to do what I want them to.”

“That’s handy.”

“Sometimes. If they’re really against what I’m asking, then it’s difficult, sometimes impossible. The length of the effect is variable, depending on how strong someone’s mind is.” Cassie gazed across the river again. He could read her easier now, and if she wasn’t looking at him, then she was processing something that made her uncomfortable. “And no, I have never, and will never, use it on you.”

Finally, she looked up and met his eyes again with a shy smile. “What do you use it for?”

“You mean other than booking an appointment with a hot doctor?” Jace watched the slight blush stain her cheeks as she recalled their “appointment”, loving that she was not unaffected when reminded how explosive they were together. “Usually to prevent trouble, their purpose being to keep our species safe. I used it in prison to get the other inmates and guards to leave me alone. It worked really well after Argen was gone. Now, I mostly use it to talk people out of stupid fights at the bar.”

Cassie settled in a little closer. He wrapped his arm around her a little tighter, trailing his fingers up and down her skin, content to hold her. Mostly. He wanted to do more with her, so much more, but now wasn’t the time. She needed to get to know him, feel comfortable with him, learn to trust her instincts that told her they belonged together.

“Do you change often?” she asked a bit hesitantly.

“Every chance I get. Running through the woods is a great stress reliever and after so many years of being restricted, I crave the openness and the freedom. Saves on a gym membership,” he joked. She had only witnessed the violent part of their shifter nature. He wanted her to understand they were as much a part of nature as they were the human world.

“I get it. I’m a runner, too, but I stick to asphalt paths. Too many strange, naked men running through the woods,” she teased.

Jace laughed, enjoying their interplay. “You don’t hear that part of the story in Little Red Riding Hood, where she sees the Big Bad Wolf’s bare ass cuz his clothes are in a pile in the woods.”

Cassie giggled and stood up, grabbing his hand and pulling him with her. “Come on. It’s getting late. Let’s go ride back to town and have some dessert.”

Chapter Ten

They wandered up to Cassie’s door, holding hands, fingers entwined. Cassie didn’t want the night to end; she enjoyed dating Jace. He was warm, funny, intelligent, and gorgeous—gawd, he was hot.

When they reached their door, he turned to her and cupped her face. “This is where I kiss you goodnight,” he murmured.

Giddy with anticipation, wishing he’d ask to bypass the dating deal and carry her into her bedroom where they could remain all night, she tilted her chin up to him as he leaned in.

He tasted divine. Still sweet from their shared dessert, fresh from their ride home, this one kiss made her feel more alive than zipping through the city streets on his steel monster.

She heard a subtle popping noise and Jace grunted. His perplexed brow creased and he slumped against her, sinking to his knees.

A small dart stuck out of his shoulder. Cassie struggled to keep him from face-planting on her concrete steps. “Jace, what is that? What’s happening?”

Jace had his phone out, hitting a speed dial number before it clattered to the ground. “Get the Guardians,” was all he mumbled before he lost consciousness.

She squatted next Jace, her vision blurred and her thigh throbbed. A dart similar to Jace’s was lodged into her muscle. Someone called out for Jace on the other end of his phone.

Cassie dropped back on her butt, sagging against Jace’s still form. “We need help.” She prayed the man on the phone heard and could help them.

A dark shadow fell across Cassie, the familiar form highlighted by the light above her door. Cassie’s fuzzy mind registered a sort of déjà vu where she’d been on the ground, looking up at a powerful figure before her.
Alex?

“Sorry, Runner Girl. Boss said it was time to take you in. She’s got plans for you and your boo, there.” It was the last thing she heard before she joined Jace in oblivion.

***

Jace’s head fucking pounded. His mind tried to process why. Sensing Cassie nearby, he wondered if they crashed his bike. No, he remembered dropping her off. Did he have the strength to leave her place with nothing but a goodnight kiss? Wait, they were kissing, and then trepidation replaced confusion. He kept his eyes closed, listening to his surroundings. Clean air carried on a light breeze that can only be found far away from the city surrounded him. The tangy scent of bark and budding trees meant they were in a wooded area.

Did his call to Christian go through? Fucking Sigma bastards. He knew they were in the area, a few recent cases of shifters suddenly going off the grid had the Guardians concerned Sigma’s tendrils had sunk into West Creek. They would be the perfect group for Sigma to harvest from – they laid low, often with little family, even fewer friends. No one to miss them if they happened to disappear one day.

Why they targeted Jace and Cassie, he could only guess, and none of it good. They didn’t throw surprise mating showers for lucky couples about to tie their lives together.

He opened his senses to listen for Cassie’s breathing. Slow and steady suggesting she was still out cold. They must’ve hit her with a tranq, too.
Bastards!
His rage rose and he forced his breathing to remain even. His arms were tied in front of him, his legs bound at the ankles; hers must be, too.

“The male’s aware,” he heard a deep human voice say.

“Why don’t you open those stunning eyes of yours and join us?” said a female shifter. Her tone was airy, like this was quite the rave he was missing out on. “Your honey’s not up yet and we can’t get started without her. And by the way, don’t try the freaky eye thing on us. You can’t capture more than one of us in your radar and we’re not taking the bait.”

He slowly opened his eyes, very little moonlight filtered through the newly-budding trees, it was well after sunset. He had no idea how long they’d been passed out, but from overhearing the Guardians talk training and weapons, he thought they said the tranqs could last a couple of hours. That was for a grown shifter male, what would they do to Cassie?