Sigma by Annie Nicholas

balance. She twisted to face her master and her stomach clenched. Granite had more warmth than the Nosferatu. She’d seen this expression on his face before, and someone’s death usually followed.
    Sugar stroked his chest. “It’s not his fault.”
    “Stop defending him all the time. He’s your sigma. Your safety comes first.” Daedalus poked Sam in the chest with his finger. “You shouldn’t have left her here alone with Spice.”
    “But–” Sam frowned and straightened his spine. “I didn’t have a choice. You charged me to protect too many with no resources. I had to make a choice and there was no way I’d send Clementine out in the city by herself. The twins should have been safe here.”
    Her chest swelled as Sam verbally claimed her. His protective nature drew her like no male ever had. She blocked her master’s move toward her shifter. “This attack was from your carelessness, not Sam’s. We left because of the text sent to my phone from you. It led to an ambush that should have killed me.” She sensed Sam step closer from behind, and then he placed a hand on her shoulder. His warmth spread through her body.
    Daedalus stared at her, his frown melting into confusion. He pursed his lips and lifted his chin. “I may have expected too much of you. I hadn’t planned on the safe house’s location being compromised.”
    That was the closest Clementine had ever heard her master come to an apology.
    Sam’s hand clenched on her shoulder. “None of us did.”
    “The important thing is we’re all safe and unharmed.” Sugar touched Daedalus’s jaw and drew his gaze toward her. “I’m tired and want to go home.”
     

 
    Chapter 11
     
    Sugar held her limp arm to her chest as Daedalus carried her from his car into their bedroom. She could have walked–well, at least limped–inside.
    Robert, the pack’s beta or second in command, followed them with his small troop of omegas he’d been training. They surrounded her and Daedalus as they made their way into the brownstone.
    She had a glimpse of what the president must feel like with the secret service. Except his people were highly trained, whereas theirs just shifted and tore their enemies apart. A shudder shook her.
    “You’re cold.” Daedalus held her tighter.
    No, she was creeped-out, but she kept silent. He always grew upset with her inability to naturally accept his and the shifters’ violent natures. There were groups of people begging to be turned from human to creature, some of them ill or crippled like her. She had options they never would, yet she couldn’t bring herself to say yes.
    Religion didn’t stop her. Neither did stubbornness, as her twin, Spice, believed. It was simple fear. Would she still be herself after the change? She’d watched her sister after she’d become infected with the shifter virus. Spice had always been on the selfish side. Not anymore, she was all about the pack now. But was that from the change?
    Robert barked out a few orders and the omegas scattered, two of them bumping into each other.
    She flinched at the impact and swallowed a laugh. A frustrated sigh whispered from her vampire lover. Their guards still needed a lot of training.
    Daedalus entered their bedroom. Well, she thought of it as theirs, but when she’d returned from rehab she’d noticed his clothes no longer occupied closet space. Ever since she’d been injured, he’d started to drift away. She couldn’t blame him. She was mortal and she was dying.
    He glanced at Robert, who still followed. “Your omegas are…” Holding her with one arm like a small child, he pulled back the covers with the other hand before tucking her in. “Raw.”
    “Daedalus.” She had warned him to be nicer.
    “What? I thought I was being generous with that assessment.”
    Leaning against the doorframe, Robert shook his head. “I know. I’m hoping once this Pal Robi thing is over that you’ll take over their training.”
    “No, no.” Daedalus shook his