Pride Mates

Chapter Eleven

Fergus's gaze locked with Liam's, and Liam felt a surge of triumph.

"Dylan," Fergus snapped.

Dylan answered in a calm voice. "My son is not yet mated. It's his right."

Don't defend me, Dad. Walk away. This isn't your fight.

Dylan remained in place. Liam hadn't really thought he'd be wise and disappear. Dylan would never desert his offspring, even if it meant his death.

"Excuse me," Kim burst out. Heads swiveled to her, a hundred pairs of Shifter eyes pinning her, but she didn't flinch. "I don't like all this talk about mating, thank you very much--especially when it involves me."

Liam wanted to laugh out loud. She was a treasure. Shifter instincts were starting to blot out his human reason, making him yearn for Fergus's blood under his claws and then Kim in his arms.

Sex with Kim would be glorious, even if he had to stay in human form for it. He'd gotten a taste of her last night, her sweet mouth, her kisses, her touch on his body. He wanted to lie on top of her, practicing more human kissing as he slid inside her and made her his.

Fergus's own pheromones rolled off him, thick and strong, polluting the air. Smelling them, Liam realized Fergus didn't plan to make Kim mate in name only. He wanted Kim, wanted a furious fuck. Liam would die before he let that happen.

"Silence her," Fergus growled at Liam.

Sean stepped to Kim's other side. Even without the sword, he stood like a warrior, ready to fight. "Liam has made the Challenge," Sean said. "Nothing we can do but see how it plays out."

"Screw that." Kim tried to twist out of Liam's hold, but Liam wasn't about to let her go. "Connor," she said over her shoulder. "Can you find something for me to stand on? A chair or something?"

Her question jolted Connor out of his frozen terror. Good for Kim.

The Shifters parted to let Connor leave the room. Liam hoped it would take him hours to locate a chair, or that he'd think better of returning at all, but Connor came back almost at once with a stepstool.

"Good enough." Kim told him to put it on the floor in front of her, and Liam released her long enough to let her climb on it. He kept his arms around her as she straightened up, both to steady her and to keep her in his protective hold.

"That's better," Kim said. The stool let her stand half a head taller than Liam, and now she could look across the crowd of Shifters.

"There doesn't need to be any violence over this," she said. "What y'all don't understand is that I can be the best friend you've got. You have a Shifter in jail, and the world howling for his blood. If I can prove he didn't kill his human girlfriend, think what terrific PR that would be for all of you. Shifters are viewed with suspicion and hostility. If I show the world that Brian was wronged, make him a sympathetic figure, even a hero, imagine what an amazing step forward that would be. They might let you integrate more, let your kids go to schools that aren't held in abandoned warehouses."

Silence. Not one expression changed.

"Hey, maybe they'd even let us have cable," a Shifter in the back drawled. The room rumbled with male laughter.

"I'm serious. I'm good at my job. I can do this if you help me."

Fergus's mouth drew to a thin line. "Liam, shut her up."

Liam wasn't about to. Kim had Fergus baffled, and he liked that.

"You act like you don't want Brian released." Kim went on. "He didn't kill Michelle. Why should he be executed for it? Why would you let him be?"

Fergus drew the cat-o'-nine-tails from his belt. "Liam."

"He's going to whip me?" Kim asked Liam in amazement.

Liam lifted Kim off the stool. "Time to stop talking, love. Fergus, if we're doing this Challenge, let's get on with it, man."

"Not until I teach the bitch some manners."

Connor stormed forward despite Sean's attempts to restrain him. The young man's face was red, his large hands in fists. "Leave her alone! She's not doing anything to you. She's just talking. How can that hurt you, you bastard?"

"Connor, shut it," Dylan said fiercely.

Fergus's gaze chilled the air as it rested on Connor. "Come here, boy."

"He's a cub," Dylan tried. "He doesn't understand."

Connor wiped his eyes. "I understand, Grandda'." He glared at Fergus, though he dropped his gaze almost immediately. "I meant it too."

Fergus was livid. Cords stood out on his neck, and his eyes burned with the intensity of a feral's.

Liam knew full well how Fergus had envisioned this cozy scenario: Liam and family would scurry down to San Antonio, hand Kim over in abject apology, then hurry away again, letting Fergus do whatever the hell he wanted.

Instead all four Morrisseys had defied him--twice. The first time by refusing to respond to his verbal summons, yesterday. Now, in Fergus's own lair, Kim had lectured him, Liam had made the Challenge, and Connor had broken the rule of a cub not confronting an alpha before he was of age.

Cubs could get away with a lot on account of their youth--Goddess knew Liam had been a pain in the ass during puberty--but flouting Fergus in front of the whole clan could not go unpunished. Connor was too young to fight for dominance, so he'd have to be swatted, as a lion might bat aside a cub who'd gotten too rambunctious.

"Come here," Fergus repeated.

The magic in the command propelled Connor toward him. Sean started after him, but Liam shook his head. "No, Sean, let me."

Sean opened his mouth to argue, then nodded, his eyes bleak. He turned away, unhappy, but knowing why he had to stand down.

"Let you what?" Kim asked Liam.

Her eyes were wide in her white face. She was afraid and angry, and so damn beautiful she made his heart ache.

Liam cupped her face in his hands. "Kim, my love, stay here with Sean and Dylan. Don't even think about coming after me, and please, stay quiet."

Kim's lips parted as though she wanted to protest. Then she closed her mouth and nodded. Good girl. Liam turned from her and swiftly followed Connor.

Liam was the same height as Fergus. He and the big man looked at each other eye to eye, Liam without flinching.

"If you do this," Fergus said in vicious fury, "then when I answer your mate Challenge, I'll wipe the floor with you."

Gods, what an arrogant bastard. "Just get on with it."

Connor's eyes held tears, but his head was up, though he couldn't meet Fergus's gaze or even Liam's. "No, Liam. Leave it."

"It's my right, nephew," Liam said quietly.

Two of the thugs, the one with the shaved head and the black-haired one, divested Connor of his shirt. Connor couldn't meet their eyes either.

Liam stripped off his own shirt and dropped it on the floor. The thugs ignored him. They turned Connor around and bent him forward at the waist, exposing his young, unblemished back.

Fergus raised his cat-o'-nine-tails. With a grunt, he brought it down. Before it could strike Connor, Liam leaned over his nephew and took the blow directly across his own back.

"What the hell?" Kim shrieked. "What is he doing?"

Horror filled her as Fergus, eyes fixed, mouth curled in vicious enjoyment, struck again. The sound of the leather swished through the silence, followed by the slap against Liam's skin.

Dylan moved toward them, grim-faced, tugging off his shirt to reveal a back as broad and muscular as Liam's. When he reached Connor and Liam, he leaned over Connor as well, father and son enclosing the boy in a protective Shifter embrace. Fergus continued to ply the whip as though he didn't notice, lips pulling back from teeth that had become fangs.

Kim started forward, but Sean stepped in front of her, blocking her way. "Stay here. Let it finish."

Sean's eyes held anguish, but she saw he wasn't about to try to stop Fergus. She also sensed that if Sean hadn't felt the need to keep Kim bottled up here, he'd have joined the human shield around Connor.

"This is insane," she said, heart in her throat. Barbaric, uncivilized.

But they're Shifters, a voice whispered in her head. Isn't that why they're forced to wear the Collars, to keep their barbarism under control?

The Collar wasn't doing jack to keep Fergus from beating Liam and Dylan to bloody pulp. The leather straps opened Liam's flesh, and blood dribbled to the floor. Liam was taking the brunt of it, only some of the blows hitting Dylan, as though Fergus's aim was to debilitate Liam only. Nothing reached Connor, enclosed in a Shifter wall.

The other Shifters watched without comment, no murmuring, no growling, neither egging Fergus on nor trying to stop him. The beating went on and on, as though Fergus was taking out years of welled-up aggression on the Morrisseys.

"Why don't you do something?" Kim asked Sean, tears in her eyes.

"It's the Shifter way." Sean's mouth was set in a grim line.

"It's a fucked-up way."

Kim waited until Sean again turned to watch, then darted around him and ran through the pack. Short height could be an advantage--the tall Shifters weren't used to dealing with one small, athletic female slithering through their grasps.

She reached Fergus. "Stop this!"

Fergus gave Liam two more vicious blows, then trained his awful gaze on Kim. He was far more frightening than Dylan, his eyes red with rage, a tinge of madness in them. She was looking at a man who would do absolutely anything, no matter how ruthless, to get what he wanted. No holds barred.

Liam jerked his head up. "Sean, take her out of here."

Sean was already behind Kim. Kim spun away and put herself right under Fergus's nose. Fergus snarled. His face had half changed, his lips peeling back from his red, angry mouth. She thought of the Lupine who'd tried to kill her, and realized that Fergus wasn't too far removed from that un-Collared Shifter's vicious rage.

"I'm not Shifter," Kim said. "I'm not afraid of you."

Big fat lie. The man was terrifying, and Kim had no doubt he could kill her fast. But Kim couldn't stand by and watch him beat on Liam, whose back was now coated with blood.

Fergus went for her, whip raised. Liam lunged at him with a fighting snarl. The sound filled the room, loud and inhuman.

Fergus's eyes glittered, not in fear, but in glee. A second later, Dylan was next to Liam, his skin glistening with sweat and blood.

"No, Liam. It's not your right."

"Let him," Fergus said.

"No." Dylan's voice was hard.

As Kim watched, tiny sparks raced around Liam's Collar and into his flesh. Liam flinched as his muscles registered the shock, but he never took his eyes from Fergus.

So the Collars did work. Liam was in a deadly rage, his adrenal system signaling he was ready to fight and kill. The Collar was trying to stop him, to once again torture him from the inside out.

"Liam," she whispered. "Please don't."

Her words seemed to penetrate the haze of fury in Liam's brain. Liam broke the gaze lock with Fergus, turned his head, and looked down at Kim.

"I claim her as mate," he growled.

To Kim's surprise, Fergus's angry look receded until he almost smirked. He spread his arms, the ends of the cat-o'-nine-tails fluttering. "I hereby release my claim. I wouldn't want the bitch in my house, anyway, with my cubs. I wish you joy of her."

The Shifters let out their collective breaths, stances relaxing. What the hell? "Liam..."

Liam seized Kim's arm, his hand slick with blood. "I claim her before the clan, as is my right."

Fergus's eyes glinted. "The clan recognizes your claim."

"He changed his mind quick," Kim said. "Fastest one-night stand I ever had."

Liam laughed, the sound rumbling. Fergus looked triumphant, as if he'd won, his eyes glittering in a way Kim didn't like.

He wasn't giving in. He was planning something.

Fergus gave the rest of the room a flat stare. "Everybody out."

The Shifters started to leave, their voices growing louder as they wound down. Kim wondered how many truly supported Fergus and how many had been compelled here like Liam and his family. Glory had said Shifters didn't like clan leaders who used the Summons so maybe Fergus had simply bullied them into showing up.

Fergus stepped past the Morrisseys, followed by his thugs, the only ones who hadn't relaxed. His bodyguards, Kim realized. Fergus was the clan leader, the ultimate alpha, or whatever. But if he had such power over the clan, why did he worry so much that he'd lose it?

Dylan pulled his shirt back on, wincing when the fabric touched his raw back. Liam took his T-shirt from Sean and balled it in his hands, his back a bloody mess.

Liam had rushed to protect Connor from dire hurt, and Dylan had rushed to protect both his son and grandson. Kim understood love like that, the same that had reared up and kicked her when she hadn't been able to save her brother all those years ago.

She took Liam's T-shirt from his hands, giving him a watery smile as she shook it out and folded it.

The only one not pleased was Connor. When the last of the Shifters had left the room, Connor launched himself at Liam.

"Why did you do that? I could have taken it. I didn't ask you to stand in for me."

Tears of rage and frustration streamed from Connor's eyes as he beat on Liam's chest.

Liam grabbed his fists, his voice incredibly gentle. "Connor, lad, stop that now."

Connor jerked away from him. He started to strike at Dylan, then probably realizing that was a bad idea, rounded on Sean. Sean responded by wrapping his arms around Connor and pulling him close.

Liam moved behind Connor and stroked the young man's hair. "The punishment wasn't for you, Con. Fergus was pissed at me for not groveling enough. He couldn't come up with a legitimate reason to have me beaten, so he picked on you. It wasn't your transgression, lad, it was mine."

Kim saw Connor relax, the young man leaning into Sean. "Why'd you let him? Grandda', why didn't you fight him?"

"Not the time and place," Dylan said. "Come on, we have to go."

He turned and left the room without waiting for them, his boots clicking on the tiles of the hall. Connor finally unwound his arms from Sean and went after Dylan, wiping his eyes, and the other three followed.

"You are going to explain what the hell just happened, aren't you?" Kim asked, as she started up the stairs ahead of Liam. After the elegant surroundings in the basement, the stairs were dingy and musty. She thought about spiders again.

Liam ruffled her hair. "Kim, who likes everything nice and neat. What a woman."

He caressed her neck under her hair. He might have just gotten skin whipped off his back, but his touch still raised goose bumps on Kim's flesh. It was the touch of a man desiring a woman, nothing less.

Damn if she didn't want to turn around right there and jump his bones. Never mind that his father, brother, and nephew were only a few steps ahead of them. Kim wanted to kiss Liam as she had last night, maybe have him lift her so she could wrap her legs around his waist.

Liam kissed the corner of her mouth. "Come on, love. Let's go out to the sunshine."

Kim kissed him back, which did not dampen her fires; then she made herself turn and follow Sean up. They clattered through the silent house, then out the front door.

The Shifters were waiting for them, all of them, arranged in a semicircle between them and Kim's car. Kim's heart started to pound.

"Aren't they going to let us leave?"

"Not yet," Dylan said.

Doors around the group of houses were opening, and female Shifters emerged. With kids. Happy to be released from whatever confinement had been imposed on them, the kids raced to the playground, making the sad patch of grass suddenly come alive. The entire dog population joined them, tails waving.

Fergus had clipped his cat-o'-nine back to his belt, and now stood with arms folded, talking to some of the male Shifters. Kim almost fell over with shock when a woman moved through the crowd and slid her arm around Fergus's waist. She wasn't some wimpy thing, either--she was tall, strong, muscular, with a hard but beautiful face. Like Glory, though not as flamboyantly dressed.

"Who is that?" Kim asked Liam.

"His mate," Liam said. "Andrea."

"Wait, wait, wait." Kim waved her hands. "He was going on about taking me as his mate. Why, if he already has one?"

"Clan leaders can mate with more than one woman, and Fergus has two already. Selfish, because there aren't many females to go around, but it's true that mixed offspring have a better chance of surviving."

"Oh, for God's sake." Kim rounded on Liam. "Can you have more than one mate? Do you have three wives tucked away in Shiftertowns around the state?"

Liam burst out laughing, and Sean followed suit. Their laughter held a note of tension, as if they were happy they had something to laugh about. Liam put his arm around Kim. "I couldn't handle more than you, love. And I hope you can handle me."

His smile gave the double entendre impact. Kim flushed. "We need to talk."

"Not yet." Liam walked Kim out to the semicircle of Shifters. He didn't retrieve his shirt; his back had to be killing him under the burning sun.

Fergus faced them as they approached, Andrea letting go of him but remaining only inches from his side.

"Why would she want him?" Kim whispered. "Especially when he has another?"

"Because he is the most powerful man in the clan. Only Dad comes close to him for dominance. And I should have mentioned that Shifters have terrific hearing."

"Thanks."

"Liam." Fergus's voice rolled across those of the other Shifters and the kids playing. "Stand here."

Liam stopped in front of Fergus and turned Kim to face him. He brushed a finger over Kim's cheek, then held up her left hand in his right, twining their fingers.

Without waiting for everyone to quiet down, Fergus said, "Under the light of the sun, I recognize this mating."

He spoke in a monotone, the words rapid, as though he wanted to get this over with. He was ready to move on to the next thing, and Kim wondered what that next thing was.

Liam smiled at Kim. The other Shifters started clapping and cheering, and Connor threw his arms around Kim and gave her a breath-stealing hug.

"Thank you, Kim."

Before Kim could ask, "For what?" Connor was leaping away, whooping and yelling with the others. Fergus twined his arm around Andrea's waist and walked away with her.

Kim never knew where it came from, but all of a sudden beer foam showered the air. Sean shook a bottle and sprayed it over them, laughing hysterically. He'd gotten his sword back, she saw, the hilt protruding over his shoulder.

"Just what I wanted, beer in my hair," Kim said.

Liam rubbed his thumb across her chin. "We'll have time to wash it out later." He leaned down and pressed dry, warm lips to her mouth. "Is this kiss up to your standards? I'm still learning."

He smiled, but his skin was hot under her fingertips, his chest still sweating. "Are you all right?" Kim asked. "I saw the Collar shock you."

"I'll live." Another light kiss, Liam's hand stealing to her waist. "I'm thinking of another ache right now."

The stiff thing pressing her abdomen left no doubt about what he meant. "You're back's a mess," she said.

"So we'll be washing that along with your hair."

Liam kissed her again. Around them, the Shifters partied, a complete change from the cold resentment in the basement. They could have been at a block party, friends and neighbors coming together to celebrate. Dylan struck up conversation with some of the Shifter men, and Sean had been lured away by a couple of females. Sean and the ladies were flirting pretty fiercely, although Shifters liked to touch a lot, so maybe they were discussing movies or something while hands ran along arms and shoulders and backs.

Questions swam in Kim's brain--she'd thought she'd researched everything about Shifters, but she realized she'd only learned what they'd let humans learn. There was too much she didn't know, too many nuances she needed to understand. She hadn't argued about this "mating" with Liam because she saw that it let Liam walk away from Fergus, and Fergus stop trying to beat up on Connor and Dylan. And she definitely hadn't wanted to do any kind of mating with Fergus.

She'd smile and laugh with them, go along with their pretense that everything was all right, but once they got back to Austin, she and Liam were going to have a long talk.

A shadow fell over her, and Kim looked up to see Fergus looming next to them. "You accept the mating?" he asked Liam.

He asked Liam, not Kim. Asshole.

Liam's expression remained cool. "I do."

"You know what it means, then?" Fergus kept his voice soft, turning away from the other Shifters. "You are responsible for everything she does. She steps a toe out of line, it's you who pays. Your father won't interfere; he knows the rules."

Kim's anger flared. "You--"

She found Liam's fingers over her lips. "Not now," he said. "I know what it means, Fergus. You forgo the claim forever, then?"

"I do, but I have a condition."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Kim muttered behind Liam's fingers.

"Brian goes down," Fergus said. "You, woman, will let him, and Liam, you'll make sure she does it. He pleads guilty and takes the punishment. Those are my terms."

Without waiting for their answer, he turned from them and walked away.