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 f**ked-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.