Primal Bonds (38 page)

Dylan crouching down and covering his face when he beheld Kenny’s lifeless body, Liam standing stiff and still, face wan with grief and shock. Sean had unsheathed the sword while Liam had watched with tears pouring down his face. Dylan hadn’t been able to look up.

Sean had said the prayer to the Goddess in a broken voice and plunged the sword into Kenny’s chest. Sean had followed the sword down as Kenny had gone to dust, landing flat beside the ash that had been his brother. And then Sean and Liam held each other hard while they cried, while Dylan still hadn’t managed to unfold.

All this flashed through Sean as he saw the Felines go for Connor. Callum circled, ready to attack Sean to get the sword, and Sean heard Connor scream.

Fucking, bloody hell.
Sean snarled as he started to shift. Screw the sword. No way was an ancient relic more important than Connor’s life.
I won’t let him die, Kenny. I promise you.

“Sean!”

Andrea shouted at him. Sean turned, saw her outstretched hand, the strength in her eyes, Fionn right behind her.

“I’ll take care of it,” Andrea cried. “Me and my dad.”

The empty places in Sean’s heart filled as Andrea met his gaze. He already loved her with intensity that made him insane, but right now he loved her more than ever. Andrea understood exactly what was going through Sean’s head as he watched Connor struggle, knew exactly what Sean needed. She was offering Sean a solution with her brave generosity. She was his mate all right.

You should see my girl, Kenny. She’s beautiful.

Sean threw back his head and laughed. “All right then, Xena. You look after that now.”

He tossed the sword high in the air, the blade glittering in the sunlight. It flew end over end, perfectly balanced, singing as Andrea stepped forward and caught it by the hilt, her silk robes billowing around her. Fionn closed in behind her, his bow and arrow ready, and Ronan, a bear again, stood defensively in front of her.

Still laughing, Sean shifted. Strong with Andrea’s magic, he lifted his head and roared.

The roar echoed up and down Shiftertown, proclaiming that the Guardian was there, the second-in-command of this Shiftertown, mad as hell and ready to fight. An answering roar came back to him, filled with family pride, Liam tearing it up.

Sean pounced on Callum, lifted the wildcat high with his paws, and threw him. Callum tumbled through the air, crashed into the Fae with the bow, and went down with him. While they fought to untangle themselves, Sean charged the Shifters fighting Connor and burst them apart.

Connor rolled from the ground, teeth bared, his eyes red with fury. His wildcat’s mane wasn’t well developed yet, Connor barely more than a cub, but his rage was plenty strong.

Sean took the brunt of the fight, but he let Connor battle it out alongside him, knowing the lad wouldn’t be happy to be
too
protected. Connor’s Collar was already slowing him down, but he bravely stayed on his feet and helped drive the other Shifters back toward Liam.

Sean heard Andrea shouting at the Felines around her, Ronan roaring as he fought them away from her. He knew Fionn had her back, and that fact warmed him.
The family that fights rogue Shifters and upstart Fae together ...

Liam charged through the clearing to complete the family togetherness. Liam leapt on Callum at the same time the slit to Faerie opened and about a dozen or more Fae warriors boiled through with the help of Callum’s Shifters.

They were way too close to Liam. Sean crashed the last of the Shifters he fought to the ground and ran to help his brother.

The Fae looked smug as they pointed knocked arrows at Liam. But Fionn was bellowing in an alien language, and more Fae popped out of
his
hole to Faerie, these armed with wicked-looking swords. The first set, alarmed, turned and tried to fire at the second set.

The Fae fought dirty. While Sean knew Liam wanted the battle settled with as little Shifter bloodshed as possible, the Fae killed each other without remorse. It was chilling to watch one of Fionn’s men drive his sword clean through another Fae and laugh as his enemy’s blood showered over him.

Callum’s Fae were defeated. Cut off from retreat by Fionn’s warriors, they died to the last man. The remaining one who struggled up from under Callum saw what was happening and took his revenge by turning on Callum.

Before Liam or Sean could reach them, that Fae clenched an arrow in his hand and drove it straight into Callum’s heart. Callum bellowed in agony, paws scrabbling in the dirt, and the Fae wrapped his arms around Callum’s neck and broke it.

That Fae died an instant later when Fionn’s sword swiped his head from his neck.

As soon as the last Fae fell, whatever Fae spell had been helping Callum’s Shifters fight despite their Collars dissipated. Feline Shifters howled in pain and dropped all over the clearing. Liam loped to Sean and rose, shifting as he stood.

Eric, the Shiftertown leader from Las Vegas, shifted to stand beside Liam and survey the battlefield. “Sun and moon, what a mess.”

Sean remained wildcat, his nose wrinkling at the stench of dead Fae. Fionn’s warriors began carrying them back to Faerie, the bodies of friend and foe alike. Callum, they simply left where he was.

Fionn stepped back to let the last of his warriors go through. As that door to Faerie winked out, Fionn wiped his sword clean on the grass.

“The rest will be taken care of on my side,” Fionn said to Sean. “It is finished.”

“Sure about that, are you?” Liam asked him.

Fionn shrugged. “I am a Cillian. We always prevail.” He walked away, his stride long and still energetic.

“And
he’s
going to be your father-in-law, Sean,” Liam said. “Whew. Better you than me.”

“Hey, he helped save our asses,” Connor said. He’d shifted back to human and sat, panting, at Sean’s feet, looking a little green from the effects of his Collar.

“So did Sean.” Liam’s hand landed on Sean’s mane. “Thank you, brother, for coming to Connor’s aid. I couldn’t reach him in time.”

“Yeah, good save, Sean,” Connor echoed.

Good save.
Sean wanted to laugh and settled for a Feline growl.
I’ll always save you, Con. Kenny never has to worry about that.

Liam turned a sudden furious eye on his nephew. “And what the bloody hell are you doing in Shiftertown anyway, Con? You’re supposed to be guarding Kim at her house.”

“Kim insisted we come back,” Connor said. “And I wanted a piece of these gobshites.”

“You should have talked her out of it. Stolen her keys. Anything. I see we need to have a little chat about clan leaders and orders and shite like that.”

Kim came around the house at that point, her Mustang in the driveway. It was over and she knew it, and she added her voice to what she thought about Shifters expecting her to stay away while they went out to nearly be killed.

Sean left them to it and returned to where his heart was. Andrea.

Andrea greeted him with a big smile and a hug around his wildcat neck. Sean decided to shift while her arms were around him and found himself against her delectable body. The silk that covered her let him slide against her in a delicious way.

“Sweet lady,” he rumbled. “I’m thinking I can’t wait for that moon blessing.”

Andrea’s answering kiss heated his blood. The fighting frenzy coupled with mating frenzy made him almost forget he was in the middle of Shiftertown surrounded by family, friends, and enemies.

“Sean,” Liam’s voice cut through his joy. “You’re needed.”

Sean eased Andrea from his arms with reluctance, but he knew Liam was right.

Callum was one of three Shifters who’d been killed in the fighting. Liam, Ronan, Eric, and Ellison helped lay all three of them out under the trees, surrounding them with fresh branches, murmuring prayers as they did so. They brought Jared from the back of Dylan’s truck, his body still wrapped in the tarp, and laid him next to the fallen.

Andrea’s hand slid into Sean’s as they both looked down at Jared. Sean hadn’t forgiven Jared for what he’d done to Andrea, but now the man was a mere pathetic heap of bones, as much a victim to Callum’s schemes as Callum had been himself. Sean looked at him and felt sad.

Andrea handed Sean the sword. She stayed next to him, warm at his side, as Sean prayed to the Goddess for the safe passage of the four Shifters at his feet. Then he lifted the silver sword and sent each of them to dust.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

T
he moon was two nights past full that night, but Liam decreed that they were within the time range for the moon blessing. Besides that, he added with a grin, Sean and Andrea would combust if they didn’t get it over with.

Andrea once again stood in the clearing with a garland of flowers on her head, Sean at her side. This blessing was the more sacred of the two, and all Shiftertown was there, circling and celebrating. They had two things to celebrate: Sean and Andrea’s mating and the fact that Shiftertown was once again peaceful—well, as peaceful as a bunch of Shifters living together could ever be.

Callum’s men had pretty much surrendered to Liam the day before, now that their Fae backers had been defeated. Ben O’Callaghan was put in charge of seeing that the Felines followed Liam’s strictures, Ben’s penance for having joined the Felines-only movement in the first place.
One day, Ben,
Liam had told him,
the world will belong to us again. One day. But not today.

They’d spent the rest of the day and evening recovering from the fight, Sean and Dylan and Liam having to face the delayed reaction to the Collars. It had been bad. Eric, who’d been testing out how much he could resist his Collar, hadn’t fared much better.

Liam had sent out Spike and the other trackers to clean up the parking lot of the bar where Felines had battled Sean and Jared and to recover Sean’s bike. Sean moaned when he saw the shot-up engine and gave the motorcycle a caressing hug while Andrea watched in sympathy. “I’ll take care of you now,” he’d said to it. “Me and Andrea. She has a wicked grip on a wrench.”

Glory’s car had been found as well. Dylan had discovered that Wade’s tracker had driven Glory’s car out to a road past the caves to the west of town and abandoned it, on Wade’s orders. Glory hadn’t been best pleased about that and made sure everyone knew it.

The human police had come to the bar outside Shiftertown to ask Liam about the reported noise in Shiftertown that day, and Liam had glibly told them, “Shifter games.
”
He’d smiled his warm smile and let his Irish lilt roll from his tongue. Kim had backed him up, as had Silas the reporter. “Running and jumping and other frolicking,” Liam had said. “Like your human Olympics but not as organized.”

The police, who really hadn’t wanted to deal with Shifter problems, bought his explanation and went away.

That night, as the moon rose, the Shifters were rested and joyous and now slightly drunk.

“Under the light of the moon, the Mother Goddess,” Liam said, his smile so broad that Andrea was surprised he could speak. “I recognize this mating.”

Simple words, but they meant everything.

Liam didn’t get a chance to make a speech this time. As soon as he pronounced the blessing, Shifters around them went crazy, whooping and shouting, howling and bellowing, and Sean swept up Andrea for a deep, possessive kiss.

“I love you, Sean,” she whispered, her heart in the words.

She couldn’t kiss Sean long, however, because the family was all over them. Andrea got squeezed into a round of hugs—Connor’s enthusiastic, Liam and Kim’s loving, Eric’s strong, Glory and Dylan’s warm. Glory had dressed in her favorite leopard-print pants and spike heels, and she smiled with newfound happiness. Neither she nor Dylan had mentioned a mate blessing, but Andrea felt in her bones that it wouldn’t be long coming.

The celebration lasted all night, Fionn there celebrating right along with the Shifters. Fionn had softened a bit, observing his daughter’s happiness with Sean.

Dina had loved this man, Andrea thought as Fionn held her after the mate blessing, no matter how strange their relationship might have been. They’d shared the mate bond. Andrea now felt love from Fionn for her as he hugged her close.

Ronan came to thank Fionn for saving his life and started a discussion with him about beer. Apparently Fae liked ale as much as Shifters, and Andrea left Fionn to Ronan, Ellison, and Eric, who began introducing Fionn to a succession of beers from across America.

In the small hours of the morning, Sean took Andrea by the hand, winked at her, and crept away with her from the mad festivities to Glory’s empty house.

G
lory watched them go as she slid her fingers through Dylan’s. “I’m thinking we should stay somewhere else tonight, or we’ll never get any sleep.”

“Kim offered us the use of her house,” Dylan said, taking a sip from his bottle of Guinness.

Glory smiled. “Kim’s generous.” She couldn’t stop herself from feasting her eyes on the man at her side—tall, blue-eyed, hard-bodied, with a quiet strength that belied the ferocity with which he’d fought earlier today. She watched him draw beer from the bottle, his mouth moving as he savored it, and her female places squeezed.