Jennifer Ashley: Pride Mates

"Brian never came to me," he said. "I never knew anything about this human girl until suddenly the police swoop in here and arrest him. His mother struggled out of bed to watch her son be dragged away. She didn't even know why for days."

Kim watched Liam's blue eyes harden. The Shifters were angry about Brian's arrest, that was certain. Citizens of Austin had tensely waited for the Shifters to make trouble after the arrest, to break free and try to retaliate with violence, but Shiftertown remained quiet. Kim wondered why, but she wasn't about to ask right now and risk angering the one person who might help her.

"Exactly my point," she said. "This case has been handled badly from start to finish. If you help me, I can spring Brian and make a point at the same time. You don't mess with people's rights, not even Shifters'."

Liam's eyes grew harder, if that were possible. It was like looking at living sapphire. "I don't give a damn about making a point. I give a damn about Brian's family."

All right, so she'd miscalculated about what would motivate him. "In that case, Brian's family will be happier with him outside prison, not inside."

"He won't go to prison, love. He'll be executed, and you know it. No waiting twenty years on death row, either. They'll kill him, and they'll kill him fast."

That was true. The prosecutor, the county sheriff, the attorney general, and even the governor wanted an example made of Brian. There hadn't been a Shifter attack in twenty years, and the Texas government wanted to assure the world that they weren't going to allow one now.

"So are you going to help me save him?" Kim asked. If he wanted to be direct and to the point, fine. So could she. "Or let him die?"

Anger flickered through Liam's eyes again, then sorrow and frustration. Shifters were emotional people from what she'd seen in Brian, not bothering to hide what they felt. Brian had lashed out at Kim many times before he'd grudgingly acknowledged that she was on his side.

If Liam decided to stonewall her, Brian had said, Kim had no hope of getting cooperation from the other Shifters. Even Brian's own mother would take her cue from Liam.

Liam had the look of a man who didn't take shit from anyone. A man used to giving the orders himself, but so far he hadn't seemed brutal. He could make his voice soft and lilting, reassuring, friendly. He was a defender, she guessed. A protector of his people.

Was he deciding whether to protect Brian or turn his back?

Liam's gaze flicked past her to the door, every line of his body coming alert. Kim's nerves made her jump. "What is it?"

Liam got out of his chair and started around the desk at the same time the door scraped open and another man--another Shifter--walked in.

Liam's expression changed. "Sean." He clasped the other Shifter's arms and pulled him into a hug.

More than a hug. Kim watched, open-mouthed, as Liam wrapped his arms around the other man, gathered him close, and nuzzled his cheek.

Kim made herself close her gaping mouth and turn away. None of her business if Liam Morrissey was gay. Seriously disappointing, but none of her business.

The second man held Liam in a tight hug, then with a thump of fists on backs, they released each other. Liam smiled--man, how gorgeous was he when he smiled? He had his arm around the second man's shoulders.

"Sean, this is Kim," Liam said. "She wants me to help her with Brian."

Sean had dark hair and blue eyes like Liam, and a body as honed, but his face was harder, his look sterner. He had a stillness in him that wasn't in Liam, as though something had happened to him that he'd never quite gotten over.

"Does she now?" Sean was saying. "And what did you tell her?"

"I was about to explain when you barged in without warning me. What if I'd thought you were a Lupine? I'd have taken your head off."

"Your sense of smell's that bad, Liam, that you'd mistake your own brother for a wolfman?"

"He's your brother?" Kim asked in a shaky voice.

"My brother, Sean Morrissey."

Kim's face heated. "Oh."

Liam still had his arm firmly around the other man. "Why? Who'd you think he was?"

Kim tried to control her embarrassment. "I thought you were a couple."

Liam burst out laughing, a warm sound. Sean smiled slightly. "Are all humans this crazy?" he asked Liam.

"They're all that ignorant," Liam said. "I've decided to let her talk to Brian's mum."

Sean's smile faded, and he and Liam exchanged a look that held caution, warning. Because they didn't trust humans? Or something more?

Both men focused on Kim again. No one could look at someone like a Shifter. They saw everything, missed nothing. She found that having two equally good-looking men give her the once-over wasn't bad, even if they were Shifters, potentially dangerous and potentially deadly.

"Sounds good," she made herself say. "Here's my card. Call me when you've set something up with her."

"I meant I'd take you around now," Liam said. "No time like the present."

"Right now? Without warning? Not always a good idea."

"She'll know we're coming."

Kim shrugged, pretending to share their nonchalance. Her years as a lawyer had made her anal--make appointments, keep detailed records, cover your ass on everything. Their casualness unnerved her.

And yet she sensed these men weren't relaxed at all. Liam and Sean shared another look, an unspoken warning, as if they were communicating something she couldn't hear.

But whatever. Kim had a job to do, and Brian had said that getting Liam's help was key.

She walked out the door Liam held open, her head up, trying not to melt when she passed between the two men's extraordinary heat.

They walked to Brian's house. Kim had been preparing to share the close space of her car with two Shifters, but found herself walking slightly behind Liam, with Sean behind her.

The house wasn't far. A couple of blocks, that was all, Liam assured her. He wasn't the one in the four-inch heels, she wanted to growl. Kim's shiny black pumps were great for office meetings, bad for hiking.

It wasn't a hardship following Liam, though. The man had a fine ass cupped by snug jeans, and he walked easily in the heat. No wonder people came to Liam with their problems--he looked like a man who'd invite you to rest your head on his shoulder while he made everything bad go away. His brother had the same height and build, the same strength, the same blue eyes, but Kim would gravitate to Liam if she had to choose. Sean had a wariness, a pulling back that she didn't sense in Liam.

The first block had a convenience store with a littered parking lot on one corner; another bar, closed, on the opposite end; and a boarded-up store and two bungalows left over from better times crammed in the middle. No one but the three of them walked here, and any street traffic sped through to newer and more prosperous parts of town.

Liam led Kim around the corner behind the derelict buildings. They passed through a wide-open gate in a chain-link fence and crossed a field. Kim winced and watched where she stepped, knowing her legs and feet would be open season for Texas chiggers.

When they reached the other end of the field, Kim stopped so quickly that Sean almost ran into her.

"This is Shiftertown?"

Liam grinned. "Not what you expected, eh, love?"

Kim had thought Shiftertown would be a slum, a ghetto of people not wanted in other parts of town. The houses were small and old, yes. The street itself was cracked and potholed because the city deemed repairs there a low priority. But Kim looked down the street at what appeared to be a beautiful and comfortable suburb. Every yard was green, with gardens or flower boxes running riot with summer flowers. The buildings were painted and in good repair, and most houses had deep porches filled with plants and furniture.