Free Fever Claim (The Sigma Menace) by Marie Johnston Page A

on display. He never noticed the women with short skirts and sprayed on pants who accidently dropped something in front of the bar. Kaitlyn saw some bend over shows put on that would make any strip club ask for lessons. Kaitlyn’s first thought was that he was gay, but nope, men didn’t turn his head either.
    The only thing that turned his head was Cassie. And the look he saved for Grant when he thought no one would see… that man was into her friend something fierce. Kaitlyn would’ve fueled that fire, but Cassie had too much respect and loyalty for Grant to ogle other men. Anytime Kaitlyn tried to lure Cassie close to the bar to order drinks, she’d get flustered and flag down another server.
    Nope, she had no guilt leaving Cassie in the large, strong hands of the mysterious bartender.
    Then they showed up together this morning to rescue her sorry ass out of the gravel pit. If she hadn’t been so freaked out by the shit in her head and the bodies in the warehouse, she would’ve whooped and chest bumped both of them.
    Aaaaand, that thought brought her back to the locker room and the borrowed sweats she was sitting in. The sweats must’ve been from one of the guys. She was tall, muscular but slender, and they hung on her. Did they even have any women out here? And where was here?
    A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts.
    “Are you decent, Miss Savoy?” Master Bellamy asked through the door.
    “Uh, yeah. Come on in.” The nerves constricted in her belly, not knowing what was going to happen next. Nothing the men had done, except for when they scared the fuck out of her appearing almost from thin air and she turned furry again, had given her any indication they meant harm. That made her just as nervous as waking up and hearing that she had to be put down.
    In Kaitlyn’s experience, life was about bargaining. There was nothing given for free. If they wanted to help her, then what would she have to do for them in return?
    Master Bellamy walked in. He was a handsome man, older than the others, and it was obvious he was in a leadership position from the way Bennett referred to him. The master conveyed an air of quiet confidence in the way he carried his body; he reminded Kaitlyn of all her dojo masters. They had years of training and experience, years of teaching inexperienced kids and adults who thought they knew better only to be proved wrong, and they had no need to show off their abilities. No one would mess with them, and if any idiot wanted to try, it was their wasted energy.
    “How are you feeling, Miss Savoy?” he asked.
    “Please, call me Kaitlyn. I feel fine. For now. Just a lot of questions.”
    “I can imagine. We have a lot of questions for you, because Miss Savoy—Kaitlyn—we’ve never encountered one such as you.”
    Kaitlyn gave a nervous chuckle, “I’m sure you haven’t.”
    “Not in the way you think. We’re like you, the men you’ve met today: Commander Fitzsimmons, Bennett, Mercury, and myself. Even Jace. Kaitlyn, in my world you are normal. No, what we haven’t encountered is a full-grown adult who seems to not know she can shift into a wolf.”
    Kaitlyn blew out a breath and shrugged. Master Bellamy was sympathetic, his green eyes filled with concern.
    “Did you really not know you were a shifter?”
    “Nope,” she replied. They sat in silence and Kaitlyn shifted in her chair. What did he expect her to say?
    “Did your parents ever explain to you what you were?” he finally asked.
    Kaitlyn snorted, “Um, no. The whole murder/suicide when I was eleven ended all that. Before my mom died, when she wasn’t recovering from my dad’s beatings, she was pretty intoxicated. I was always out of the house, for whatever reason I could find. After that, I lived with my aunt and uncle, and they never said anything about four legs or fur. They didn’t even own pets.”
    “I’m sorry, Kaitlyn.” She was sick of his sincerity. The pitying looks everyone gave her when they