Pride Mates

Chapter Ten

They'd better be grateful for this. Kim sped down the I-35 as fast as she dared, cursing under her breath at the crawling traffic. It was Sunday--shouldn't all these people be in church or something? But no, they were meandering along the freeway between Austin and San Antonio, clogging the ramps, driving slowly in the left lanes, cutting her off...

She drove as swiftly as she was able, though she didn't dare risk being pulled over for speeding. She imagined herself trying to explain to the nice police officer why she had four half-crazed Shifters stuffed into her car and a big sword in the trunk.

Connor's moans had turned to whimpers. Kim had no idea how this Fergus had caused their state from so far away, but she wanted to scream at him. Liam was the strongest man she'd ever met, and to see him hunched up in the seat next to her, rocking in pain, made her furious.

"It's not much farther." She had no idea if Liam could hear her, and he didn't respond.

The freeway had never seemed so long. Signboards with German-sounding names slid by: New Braunfels, Gruene, the ever-popular Schlitterbahn water park, which Kim had loved as a kid.

When they reached the northern outskirts of San Antonio, Liam at last took his hands from his face. "This exit."

Kim dove for the off-ramp, which took her to a freeway that looped around the city. "Then where?"

Liam flicked his fingers at the road, which she took to mean, "Keep going." Dylan sat up behind her. In the rearview mirror, Kim saw him draw Connor to him, cradling the boy against his chest. Sean had his eyes closed, but Kim couldn't tell whether he slept.

When they'd reached the southwestern edge of town, Liam gestured for Kim to take another exit. He directed her down a road that became a highway, running west out of town again.

"There's a Shiftertown out here?" Kim asked, as they left the city limits behind.

Liam didn't answer. Sean was sitting up now, leaning against the window. Their breathing had calmed, no longer tortured rasping, but they still looked gray and drawn.

About twenty-five miles later, Dylan leaned forward between the seats, long arm pointing out a side road that wasn't signposted. "There."

They'd left Hill Country behind and had reached the deserts of south Texas. The land was flat and dry, grasses clumped and yellow instead of soft green. On the left side of the road, behind barbed wire, a few cows grazed.

No barbed wire lined the right side of the road, the land open and flowing to the white-blue horizon. The humidity had dropped considerably, Kim's sweat was quickly evaporating in the dry air.

"It's coming up," Liam said. He sounded almost normal, and his fangs had receded.

Two wooden fence posts with no fence and no gate marked a dirt road that reached a pale finger across the land. Kim turned down it, silently cursing the ruts that banged her car's underbody. Maybe she could charge this Fergus for the damage.

A cluster of houses lay about three miles down this joke of a road, and a hand-painted sign read: WELCOME TO SHIFTERTOWN! POPULATION: FIFTY-TWO SHIFTERS, TWENTY HORSES, FIVE DOGS, AND FIFTEEN CATS.

The houses were long, low adobes with tiny windows, probably ranch houses left over from earlier in the twentieth century. Like the houses in Austin, these had been fixed up and painted, but instead of having yards, they were grouped around a somewhat sad playground where no kids played. Pickups were parked haphazardly in the dirt around the houses.

A steel pole corral that surrounded open stalls with corrugated steel roofs sat at one end of the street. A dozen desultory horses moved between pens and corral, paying no attention to the car hurtling toward them in a cloud of dust.

One of the town's five dogs lounged at the front door of the house in front of which Liam told Kim to park. The house was no bigger than the others and had a green-painted door flanked by two windows to either side of it. The dog got up, stretched, and wandered toward them, tail wagging.

"Are you sure this is right?" Kim asked, as she got out and yanked the seat forward to release the others.

"Very sure," Liam said.

The four men had returned to almost normal, except for the tension. Connor leaned against the car once he'd gotten out of it, his face still tight.

"Why did he Summon Connor?" Kim asked Liam in a low voice. "If he wants me, why didn't he just get you and your dad to bring me down? Or can't he pinpoint who he wants?"

"No, the spell can be very specific. Fergus decided who he'd cast it on."

Kim looked at Connor, who had walked away to retch into a stand of tall grasses. "What kind of asshole is this guy? Connor doesn't have anything to do with me."

The Liam who looked at her was no longer the affable, sexy man she'd met yesterday. The Liam next to her sparked with contained fury and would have scared the shit out of her if she'd walked into the bar's office and seen him like this behind the desk. She realized that Liam had showed her the "nice" Shifter, the one humans could talk to. The one she could sit with on a bed and kiss.

No, wait, she could kiss him even now. She'd taste his fury and let him know she shared it, while he ran his hands over her body.

How would sex with Liam be when he was like this? Raw and wild. Against the wall or on the hood of the car--all-out, good-time sex. That's what I'm talking about.

Liam opened the door of the house and walked in. The inside didn't impress Kim. People obviously lived here, but they just as obviously didn't much care about cleaning up the place.

Liam strode through the cluttered living room and kitchen littered with dirty dishes, and opened a door. Cool air poured up stone stairs beyond. Cellar? Storm shelter? A place like that could house snakes, scorpions, black widows...

"In there?" she asked. She thought she could face a hostile Shifter, but spiders? Not so much.

Liam passed her without a word. Thank God for the Shifter custom of the male entering a place first. If there were spiders down there, Liam could stomp on them before she went down.

Dylan nodded at Sean, who'd retrieved his sword from her trunk, indicating he should enter after Liam. Then Dylan, then Connor.

Kim hesitated at the top of the steps, still thinking about spiders--and Fergus. She could run, make it to her car, and hightail it back to Austin. No one was behind her; she could get a good head start.

Connor looked back at her, the light from the kitchen glinting on the fear in his eyes. He was terrified and, from the greenish cast to his face, still nauseated from the Summoning. Would the bully Fergus try to hurt Connor if Kim ran for it? Probably.

"Bastard," she growled, and started after Connor. She couldn't do that to the kid.

Connor flashed Kim a nervous grin and kept going. Kim picked her way along, feeling out of her depth and refusing to touch the stone walls.

The Morrissey men waited for them in a tiled corridor that was completely incongruous with the house above. The walls were polished wood and, to Kim's astonishment, filled with paintings and beautiful photographs. Real paintings by real artists that museums paid major money for, photographs by people like Ansel Adams. Spanish-style, carved wooden doors with small square windows lined the corridor between the priceless artwork.

What the hell kind of place was this?

Liam led the way to the end of the hall and opened a door to a cavernous room. Dylan went in first this time, then Liam, then Sean, then Connor. Kim, in most need of protection, entered last.

The room was huge, meant to hold several hundred people. The walls were paneled with warm wood, the purple-red hue speaking of exotic Oriental forests. The ceiling was arched like a cathedral, the arches intricately carved and marching toward an enormous fireplace at the end. Money and artistry had gone into shaping the chamber, which was far larger than any of the houses above it.

The room was also filled with Shifters.

There must have been a hundred of them, each as physically honed as Liam, Dylan, and Sean. The sign outside said that only fifty-two Shifters lived in this Shiftertown, so these must have driven in for the occasion. Every single one was male.

The crowd parted as Dylan led the way forward, past the looming arches, through the sea of Shifters, to the center of the room. Four men waited for them there: a big guy with a long black braid and a leather motorcycle vest, surrounded by three equally thuglike men.

"Let me guess," Kim whispered to Liam. "That's Fergus."

Liam nodded grimly. Fergus turned hard blue eyes to Kim and gave her the Shifter once-over.

"This is her?" he asked. His accent was more Southern than Texan, and his tone said he'd expected her to be more formidable.

Liam set his mouth, and Dylan became their spokesman. "This is Kim Fraser, the defense attorney for Brian Smith."

All eyes on Kim. Nostrils flared as the Shifters took in Kim's scent and the fact that Liam had marked her. Every single Shifter in here wore a Collar, but it dawned on Kim that the Collars might not make a damn bit of difference if she tried to run or fight. These were dangerous men, watching for now because they chose to.

"Crap," she said under her breath. "And me without my pepper spray."

"We like pepper spray," Liam answered.

"Figures."

Fergus pinned her with a blue stare, then looked at Sean and held out his hand.

Sean unstrapped the sword on his back and took it to him. Fergus didn't say thank you; he just grabbed the sword from Sean and passed it to one of his underlings. As he turned, strands of braided leather swung across his hip from a handle hooked to his belt.

"Is that a cat-o'-nine-tails?" Kim asked Liam.

"Most like."

"Why, in case he loses his own?"

Liam's sudden smile burst over his face. Connor laughed openly.

"Shut it," Dylan hissed.

Fergus's attention riveted to Kim. "Come here, woman."

Kim remained where she was, not about to trot obediently to him. Liam stood beside her, his body solid and warm, making her feel suddenly safe.

"I said, come here."

Kim lifted her chin. "Do the words 'screw you' mean anything to you?"

Fergus's eyes glittered as the Shifters muttered to each other. Fergus's three henchmen folded their arms and glared. One had a shaved head and a neck covered in tattoos, one had a sandy blond ponytail, and the third had short black hair. He looked ex-military, although Shifters weren't allowed to join the military.

"Bring her to me," Fergus said curtly to Liam.

Liam didn't move. The room was silent, the tension ramping high. Fergus's eyes changed from blue to whitegray.

Kim didn't know what all Fergus could do--another Summoning to make Liam drag her across the room to him? Kim felt like a sapling in a tall forest; Shifter males were mostly over six feet tall, and she was five feet high in flats. And where were all the women Shifters? Baking cookies?

"You know you can't kill me," Kim said in her brisk courtroom voice. "There's already one Shifter in jail because of a human's death, and even though I'm convinced he didn't do it, plenty of people think he did. If I disappear or turn up dead, you'll have your county sheriff and possibly the feds all over you."

Fergus just stared at her, then turned to Liam. "Does she ever shut up?"

"Not that I've noticed."

"Not a point in her favor."

"I don't know," Liam said with a faint smile. "I kind of like it."

Fergus's lip curled. "Bring her to me."

"Sorry, Fergus," Liam said. "I'll be leaving that choice up to her."

The room held its collective breath. Kim didn't have to be an expert in nonverbal cues to see that Fergus's whole stance now said, Obey me or suffer. Liam's stance said, No way in hell, but Kim noticed he wouldn't meet Fergus's eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt the woman," Fergus said, tight-lipped.

"No?" Kim broke in. "Why am I not reassured?"

"He's telling the truth." Liam's voice warmed her ear, his voice so tight she realized how much he must be holding himself back.

"Could have fooled me."

Liam turned Kim to face him. He touched her cheek, his eyes wary but with a sparkle of excitement deep within them. "He doesn't want to hurt you, love," he said softly. "That was never his intention. When Fergus called Dad last night, he ordered us to bring you down here so he could claim you as his mate."

Kim's blue eyes went wide, shining with anger, fear, and astonishment. "You've got to be kidding me."

Liam smoothed a lock of her hair, trying to soothe her with his Shifter touch. "Don't worry, love. I'm not going to let him."

It struck him suddenly that he'd been waiting for something like this. Maybe all his life. He'd told himself he'd passed up potential mates to give other Shifter males a chance at happiness, but he realized now that he'd simply not found a woman he wanted to be with. Easy to be altruistic when he wasn't making much of a sacrifice.

But when this sassy human female had walked into his office yesterday, with her blouse buttons straining, her short gray skirt smooth over her sweet rump, when she'd started laying out a heated, well-reasoned argument why he should help her before Liam could even speak, his well-ordered world had overturned. She'd managed to touch something that Liam had always kept protected. Maybe she'd touched it because he hadn't kept his guard up, hadn't expected a human to reach what no Shifter had ever reached.

Last night, when Dylan had broken the news that Fergus expected Liam to bring Kim to him so Fergus could claim her as mate, Liam had flat-out refused. Dylan had argued, not understanding. What was the fate of one human against the good of all Shifters? Fergus could control Kim, and that would be the end of the matter.

Liam had nearly punched his father in the face, something he'd never in his life dreamed of doing. Kim would go to Fergus over his dead body, he'd said. Dylan had regarded Liam first in amazement, then comprehension, even sympathy. He'd stopped arguing, told Liam he agreed to disobey Fergus, then walked out of the house.

Mate. Mine. Protect.

Liam wanted to hold Kim and not let her go. He wanted to kiss her, screw her, make her pancakes the next morning. The instincts that hadn't manifested in a hundred years of living suddenly rose and raged.

"Why would he want me to be his mate?" Kim was asking. "Whatever that means. He's never met me before today."

Goddess, how could a male not want her? But she had a point.

"He wants to control you," Liam said. "Because you're right. It would cause him major problems if he killed you. But if you're his mate, you're subject to him and clan law. And no longer a threat to Shifters."

"And if I refuse?"

Fergus wasn't going to let her refuse. Liam wasn't certain how Fergus planned to subdue Kim--drugs, spells, terror--but the man wanted Kim under his thumb.

Fergus also likely wanted to see how far Liam would go to protect her. Once Fergus knew what Liam felt for Kim, the better he could manipulate Liam and the rest of his family. Either way, Kim would be watched, controlled.

"You won't have to," Liam told Kim.

Fergus gave them a narrow stare. "Does this mean you make the Challenge for her?"

Liam sensed Dylan and Sean move in behind him, their instinct to protect manifesting, no matter how bloody stupid they thought Liam was being. Liam wished Connor would get the hell out of here. Connor was a kid, a cub, and he wasn't ready yet for this kind of confrontation. Liam didn't think Fergus would take that into consideration when he started meting out punishment.

Liam slid his hand into Kim's, looked Fergus straight in the eye, and reached for a Texas phrase that would make Ellison proud.

"Damn straight."