Annie Nicholas - Sigma

Sam set Sugar’s small pink suitcase in the trunk and slammed it shut. Love sucked. No matter what Sam did in a relationship, he got screwed. If he loved a woman, she wasn’t interested. Or worse, she fell in love with someone else.

Not that he blamed Sugar, his only human friend, for breaking his heart years ago. Who could compete with a Nosferatu vampire warrior? Not him.

The Omegas, his small pack of friends, had hired Daedalus to teach them how to fight over two years ago. The Nosferatu could twist Sam into a pretzel, dip him in hot sauce, and have him for dinner without breaking a sweat. His kind was a different class of vampire, more monster, less human. Considering Sam could lift a mini van over his head showed the vampire’s strength and skill. Sometimes he wondered if Sugar was the only reason Daedalus hadn’t eaten him yet.

His inner beast grumbled, sulking in the corners of his mind. Ever since Sugar had been attacked on his watch, when Katrina’s old werewolf pack from China had broken into their home, his animal nature didn’t seem interested in the outside world. Even when he shifted to his beast form, it remained distant, not sharing in the hunt, or even sex.

His love for the human female had faded over the years and transformed into something more brotherly, but the rejection still ached. Every woman he’d been involved with took off. Some base instinct kept him from caring about anyone new and he was tired of it. Shit, even his beast couldn’t stand hanging around him anymore.

All his roommates had shacked up, but he still slept in an empty bed, the one-night-stand wonder. Fuckable, but not worth loving. Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. He tried to believe…

The rehabilitation center night security guard let him park his car in front of the entrance, since Sugar was being discharged. Six weeks in physical rehabilitation, yet she still couldn’t move her left side. The scans showed she’d suffered a stroke after the attack, something that could happen to trauma patients, even young ones.

Daedalus, her vampire lover, was supposed to be picking Sugar up. That’s why they’d arranged a late night discharge, but the vampire had vanished, leaving a note for Sam to take care of Sugar. The asshole didn’t need to write an or else on his message. It was implied. Sam rubbed his temples, his pulse pounding, the sure sign a migraine would be paying him a visit soon.

He and Daedalus had never been on the best of terms. The vampire had discarded Sam when he first started training the pack to fight, and focused only on Eric as alpha. The vampire had known Sam’s feelings for Sugar, yet had still stolen her away. Now, the bloodsucker could barely look at him. Daedalus blamed him for Sugar’s injuries.

The vampire was right, though. It was Sam’s fault. He was Sugar’s Sigma. Spice, his pack’s female alpha and Sugar’s twin, had charged him with shadowing her sister. Not every pack owned a Sigma, not every pack needed one. They protected the innocent or the weak, like orphaned pups or the elderly, who had no children to care for them. In his case, he took care of their token human.

He strolled through the corridor of the rehab center, his footsteps echoing in the quiet, and he waved at the nurses. One offered him an inviting smile. Something he would have pursued a few weeks ago. However, his interest in humans had waned. Too fragile for a shifter.

Light streamed from Sugar’s room and he stuck his head through the open doorway. The place smelled of disinfectant, but Spice and Katrina had done a great job of making the room look homey. Thick blankets lay on the bed and a stack of books on the bedside table. They’d even hung pictures of the pack on the wall.

He sighed. “I didn’t think to bring a box to pack her belongings.” The pack should choose someone else as Sugar’s Sigma. He could barely take care of himself.

“No worries.” The young nurse helping Sugar sit on the edge of the bed smiled at him. “I’ll pack her things and someone can come pick them up tomorrow.”

Daedalus hadn’t spared any expense on Sugar’s recovery–private center, the best doctors, and her own nurse. Still, the Nosferatu should be here to take Sugar home. That’s what mattered to her.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Sugar supported her limp left arm in a sling as the nurse attached the heel brace on her left ankle. Sugar glanced at him and a huge lopsided grin spread across her face.

His heart skipped a beat. The stroke she’d suffered after the attack hadn’t affected any of her true beauty. She contained an inner light that wasn’t affected by her trauma.

“Hey.” He couldn’t stop from returning the silly grin. The original pack members were waiting at the brownstone for her return with an intimate surprise party.

“Hey.” Her gaze wandered away from his as she checked behind him. “I’m almost ready. Daedalus couldn’t make it?”

He shook his head. He could make excuses for the vampire, but stayed silent.

Her smile faded a little. “That’s okay. Me and you always manage to have fun together no matter what.” She tried to hide her hurt feelings, but he’d known Sugar long enough to see through the veil of cheer.

The nurse set the wheelchair next to her and locked it.

Sugar reached for the far armrest with her good hand and shifted her weight to the edge of the bed.

His heart dropped and he stepped forward, ready to lift her in his arms, but the nurse gave him a don’t-you-dare look over Sugar’s head.

With halted grace, Sugar shuffled onto the chair and settled her paralyzed limbs. He understood the need for her independence, but it destroyed a piece of his soul each time he watched her move.

He forced his hands to relax. Nosferatu warrior or not, he would have some things to say to Daedalus about this, even if the vampire could tie him into a pretty bow for crossing him.

She straightened her light sweater. “I’m ready.”

“Then let’s do it, boss.” He steered the wheelchair out of the room and zoomed down the hall. As he passed the nurses’ station, he popped a wheelie with her chair.

She squealed in delight. The sound eased the tight knot in his gut. He didn’t care what the doctors said about Sugar’s poor recovery. She had options most humans didn’t have. Living with a pack of shifters and having a vampire fiance, Sugar could choose to become either one and heal.

They just needed to convince her.

He parked the chair by his car and opened the passenger door. His need to care for her would suffocate him, but he didn’t cradle her in his arms like his instincts cried for him to.

She held out her hand. “Let’s dance.” Somehow she always knew what to say or do to ease the suffering of those around her. This was another of those moments.

“How?” He took her delicate fingers in his hand. She’d done all her occupational therapy with Daedalus or Spice. He didn’t know how to help.

“Place my hand on your shoulder. Then support my hips, especially my left side.”

Following her directions, they ended up standing face to face. Her body pressed against his. He cleared his throat. “Daedalus will tear my hands off if he hears about this.”

“He won’t. If he wanted to dance, then he’d be here.” Her smile took the edge off her words. “Now, shuffle your feet with mine as we turn, then sit me in the car.”

“It would be easier if you’d let me carry you around.”

“This is more fun.”

Guilt still shadowed his soul. He set her on the seat. “Sug…I wish you’d reconsider–”

She pressed her fingers to his mouth. “No. My physiotherapist thinks I’ll be on crutches by the end of the month.” She lifted her left leg into the car. “Is this why Daedalus sent you? To sweet talk me into becoming a vampire?”