Primal Bonds

  “None of your bloody business,” Sean said, but he gentled his voice and returned his nephew’s hug.

  “Well, if she’s not, get a move on, man.” Connor let Sean go, spun around to Andrea and gave her an equally hard hug that lifted her off her feet. “Welcome to the family, Andrea. You and Sean can have my room—it’s the biggest one in the house. I’ll take Sean’s. It’s like a closet. No room for cubs there.”

  “I thought I’d move myself in with Andrea and Glory,” Sean said as Connor set a flushed Andrea down. “Kim and Liam will be needing all the space they can get.”

  “Aye, that’s true,” Connor said. “And Glory needs a man about the place.” He glanced meaningfully at Dylan, who waited a little way away for the ceremony to start. “Now that Grandda’ has moved out.”

  “Exactly.” Glory walked toward them, dressed from head to toe in silver lamé, her silver platform shoes shining in the sunlight. Her finger- and toenails and been painted to match her outfit and decorated with thin-lined Celtic designs. “We ladies need protection.”

  “Huh,” Connor said. “One look at you, Glory, and your enemies fall over in fear.”

  “Well, that’s true.” Glory smiled, showing every tooth. “I welcome Sean and look forward to a lovely stack of pancakes each morning. It will be nice to have someone to take out the trash, clean the gutters, rake the leaves, fix the sink ...”

  Sean broke in with a growl. “Stop before I change my mind.”

  Glory covered her mouth in mock fear. “Ooh, wouldn’t want that.”

  They were laughing, eager, and the air was tinged with joy. Another mating in Shiftertown, another strengthening for the Morrissey family and its pride and clan, another strengthening of Shifters in general. Kim was nearly dancing with happiness, and Sean wouldn’t have been surprised if Connor broke into cartwheels. The young man bounced around, making whooping noises as neighbors came out of houses to join them.

  Liam stepped to Sean and pulled his brother into his arms. Liam’s embrace felt good; the brothers were of equal strength. The two men had comforted each other through so many years and hardships, so much grief and pain. Sean had rejoiced when Liam had found Kim, his perfect mate, and now Liam thumped Sean on the shoulders, nuzzled his neck, and finally smiled into his face.

  “Ready?”

  Sean nodded, impatient. “I’ve been ready for weeks. Can we do this?”

  Andrea came to him, and Sean warmed when she ducked under his arm and stood against his side. Liam raised his hands, and the little crowd went quiet.

  The sun blessing was not as formal as a full-moon blessing, the more sacred of the two. The immediate family arranged themselves in a circle around the couple, and the neighbors formed a ring outside them. Eric was in the family circle, invited as a family friend. Kim stood next to Liam. As the clan-leader’s mate, she had the right to participate in the ceremony and add a blessing of her own. Not all clan mates exercised this right, but Kim liked the idea.

  Likewise, clan leaders didn’t need to say more than a few words to complete the ceremony, but Liam cleared his throat and launched into a speech.

  “Friends, my brother, Sean, has at last chosen himself a mate.” The crowd fell silent as Liam’s voice broke the afternoon. “’Tis a romantic tale, one of a man reaching out to help another Shifter and then falling for the lass when he at last met her in the flesh. Sean has taken a mate outside our clan, as is custom, but she’s also outside his species. Andrea has Fae blood, which can provoke some hardness of feelings against her from some Shifters. But let this be known.” Liam’s gaze took in all present. “Andrea Gray is now accepted into our pride and our clan. She is protected not only by Sean, her mate, but by me, the pride leader, clan leader, and leader of the Austin Shiftertown. If anyone wishes to dispute this decision—well, too late, because here I am making it. ’Tis done.”

  Connor let out a cheer. Liam opened his mouth to continue, but Kim nudged him. “Just finish it.”

  Liam grinned. “My mate, she’s anxious for the celebration. In that case ...” He rested one hand on Sean’s shoulder and the other on Andrea’s. “By the light of the sun, the Father God, I recognize this mating.”

  Connor launched himself into the air, screaming at the top of his lungs. He came down and grabbed the nearest person—Glory—and spun her into a hug.

  “The Father God go with you, Sean,” Liam said, embracing his brother again then Andrea. “And you, sister.”

  Andrea’s eyes were moist when Liam let her go, and then Kim clasped both Sean’s and Andrea’s hands. “My turn. I’ve never done this before, but here goes. May your mating be blessed and you be forever bonded. And may you be blessed with many cubs.” She smiled. “How was that?”

  “Perfect.” Andrea pulled Kim into a hug, then it was Sean’s turn to show his sister-in-law some affection. After that, the rest of the crowd surged forward, wanting theirs.

  It was a Shifter thing. The tactile acknowledgment of a mating, the reassurance that the pride, the clan, and the species would continue.

  Liam’s acceptance of Andrea, even more than Sean’s, seemed to work magic. The Shifters who might not have come near Andrea before suddenly wanted to hold on to her for a moment or two. Feline, Lupine, Ursine—didn’t matter. She was one of them now, part of the chain of existence stretching far into the past and on into the future.

  Ronan squeezed the breath out of Andrea and then let her go, laughing out loud. Eric too gave her a hard hug, congratulating her, the man who’d lost his mate happy to see another find one. Andrea’s pack leader, Wade—now her former pack leader—also stepped up to embrace her. Wade was middle-aged, for a Shifter, which meant that he was about the same age as Dylan. He’d let softer living get to him and was forming a paunch, which did not look good on his wolf.

  “Be well, Andrea,” Wade said. The look in his yellow eyes was one of relief that he wouldn’t have to deal with the problem of half-Fae Andrea anymore.

  “Thanks.” Andrea supposed that Wade had felt pressure from his clan and his pack about letting her come to Austin. A good pack leader didn’t simply obey his own whims but tried to do what was best for the pack. She could feel sorry for him. Almost. A good pack leader also needed balls.

  Ellison was a Lupine who obviously hadn’t resented her coming to Austin. His hug lifted her off her feet.

  “Congratulations, Andy-girl. I got your back anytime. Even if you’ve mated with a fucking Feline.”

  Andrea dragged in a breath once Ellison let her go. “Thanks, Ellison. You’re a treasure.”

  “For a Lupine,” Sean said from beside her. “Shifters who chase their own tales. What a travesty.”

  Ellison put his Stetson back on with one hand. “At least I don’t cough up hairballs

  .” He grinned and sniffed the air. “Hey, time for some good old-fashioned Texas bar-bee-cue.”

  Sean drew Andrea a little from the crowd as Ellison ran off. “I love my family and my friends, but damn.” He circled his arms around her neck. “You’re mine, not theirs.”

  “Give them a break. A mate blessing is a happy time. We need those.”

  “True.” Sean pressed a kiss to her mouth, then another. “But right now I’m thinking the mating frenzy will overshadow the Texas barbeque.”

  “I think so too.”

  “Well, then,” Sean said into her ear, teeth on her lobe.

  Andrea wished she didn’t like kissing him so much. Sean tasted like sunshine and salt, his mouth splendid against hers. She rubbed fingers under his warm hair and inhaled his scent, a Shifter aroused.

  Another scent came to her, this one sharp like mint. A cold breeze slapped her, and Sean jerked her away to growl at the white gap that was opening in the trees, a little way from the celebrating Shifters.

  Fionn stood in the opening, the mists of his world swirling around the gleaming silver of his mail. It was raining in the land of Faerie, though the sun shone in the human world as hard as it could.


  Andrea walked to him, Sean right on her heels. The other Shifters hadn’t seen, but they would, and who knew what they’d do once they knew a gate to Faerie could open behind Glory’s house? How Fionn had opened the gate without Andrea being asleep and dreaming, she didn’t know either. But she would be sure to ask him.

  As she neared him, Fionn reached out a hand gloved in finest leather. “Andrea. Child. Take my hand. Let me cross.”

  “Don’t touch him,” Sean rumbled.

  Fionn’s eyes flashed anger. “Can you not let me come to my own daughter’s wedding?”

  “It’s a mate blessing under the sun,” Andrea said. “Not the same thing.”

  His voice softened. “Please.”

  Andrea saw something other than arrogance and rage today in Fionn’s dark eyes. Sorrow. Loneliness. Need. The Shifters partied by the Morrissey house, the scent of barbecued ribs floating on the breeze. Here in the grove behind Glory’s house it was quiet, mists drifting from Faerie to dissolve in the Texas sunshine.

  “All right,” Andrea said. “If you promise to behave yourself.”

  Sean stopped her. “Andrea, no.”

  “Come on, Sean. I need to know.”

  She hadn’t told Sean what she’d planned if she saw Fionn again, and she didn’t have time to tell him now. Without giving herself time to think about it, Andrea shook off Sean’s hold and held her hand out to Fionn’s.

  The moment Andrea touched him, Fionn’s expression turned from sorrow to triumphant glee. He grabbed Andrea’s wrists and yanked her toward him, and she heard Sean yell as she went hurtling toward the gap.

  Fionn started to laugh, a laugh that cut off in a scream as Andrea slapped the first steel handcuff she’d pulled from her belt around his wrist. Fionn stared in disbelief. Andrea smiled hugely as she clicked the second cuff around his other wrist, hooked her finger around the cuffs and dragged Fionn into the human world.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The Fae warrior wrenched away from Andrea and fell to his knees, his chain mail rattling as he clawed at his wrists. “They’re burning! Get them off me!”

  Sean whipped his sword from its sheath and rested the point against Fionn’s neck. “Sun and moon, Andrea, where the hell did you get handcuffs?”

  “Glory.” At Sean’s amazed look, she added. “Don’t ask.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m not wanting to know.”

  Andrea gazed sternly down at Fionn. “So, the great Fionn Cillian, now that you’re here, do you still maintain that I’m your daughter?”

  “Of course I do. No other would dare bind me.”

  Sean let out a laugh. “I see where you get your self-confidence, Andy-love. What do you want to do with him, now that you have him trussed?”

  Andrea crouched down to face Fionn. He glared back at her with eyes as black as night.

  “Prove it,” Andrea said. “Prove that you sired me, and I’ll let you go back to Faerie land.”

  “My word should be good enough.”

  “Oh, sure, because no Fae would ever lie to a Shifter.”

  “Damn you, child, these manacles are killing me. Take them off and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

  “Tell me what I want to know, and then I’ll take them off.”

  Anger and fierce pride surged on Fionn’s face. “There’s no doubt to me that you’re my get. Here.” He thrust shaking hands under his mail coat and pulled a chain from a hidden pocket. Delicate silver links shaped like leaves formed a bracelet, and a unicorn charm dangled from every other link. “This was hers, your mother’s. She gave it to me that last night, when I left her, knowing I could never return.”

  Andrea had seen bracelets like this in the shops she and Glory had gone to in SoCo, though this one was of real, heavy silver. It was definitely human-made, however; a trinket that a Shifter woman might have seen and liked.

  “That’s Dina’s.”

  Glory stopped next to Andrea, her face stricken. Andrea became aware that most of the Shifters had moved this way, the conversations stalling and drifting to silence.

  Glory yanked the bracelet out of Fionn’s hands. “Damn you. That was my sister’s.”

  “Are you sure?” Andrea asked her.

  Glory’s eyes blazed. “Of course I’m sure. I gave it to her. Why does he have it? Don’t tell me this is the fucking Fae who seduced her.”

  “Yes,” Fionn said without flinching. “I am that fucking Fae.”

  Glory screamed and let fly a kick, her five-inch heel driving toward his face.

  Fionn had reflexes a Feline would envy. Even with his hands bound, even in pain, he caught Glory’s foot as it went by, flipped her onto her back, and got to his feet, all the while evading Sean’s sword.

  “Cowards,” he spat. “Shifters, fighting a man caught and chained. Is that the best you can do?”

  Dylan’s savage growl filled the clearing as Glory struggled up, mud all over her silver lamé. Andrea turned and stepped in front of Dylan.

  “Get out of my way,” Dylan snarled at her.

  Dylan had never looked more terrifying, but Andrea couldn’t afford to back down. If she let him tear through Fionn, she’d never know the truth.

  “Don’t touch her, Dad,” Sean warned.

  “Dad! Sean!” Liam’s voice cut like a whip. Dylan and Sean remained locked in place, eyes on each other. After a long moment, while Andrea’s heart froze, Dylan dropped his gaze from Sean’s and turned away.

  Liam’s whole body was tight with fury. “To avoid any Shifter blood spilling on this fine day, I suggest we let the Faerie man speak.” He switched his glare to Fionn. “Tell Andrea what she wants to know, and if you’re sweet about it, I might decide not to rip you to shreds. I might let Sean and my father do it instead.”

  Fionn’s lip curled. “Goddess, Andrea, how do you live with these ... creatures?”

  “I never had much choice, did I?” Andrea took the bracelet from Glory, her breath catching as sunlight danced on the unicorn charms. Her mother had always loved unicorns. They were gentle beasts, she’d said, in spite of their horn and some stories that painted them as fierce. “How did she know so much about unicorns?”

  “I showed them to her,” Fionn said. “I risked taking her to Faerie to show her the unicorns, because she was so fascinated by them. I wanted to give her that much.”

  His dark eyes swam with sorrow for a deep-felt love that had been torn from him too soon. For all his Fae arrogance, Fionn Cillian had loved and lost. Andrea touched his hand.

  “My daughter.” His stern voice broke and his eyes grew wet. “I’ve waited so long to find you.”

  Andrea swallowed. “I think I believe you.”

  Fionn raised his manacled wrists. “Then will you have pity on your poor old dad?”

  “Oh.” Andrea turned to Glory. “The key?”

  Glory had her arms folded, her expression forbidding. “There is no key.”

  “Then what are these for?” Andrea held up her hands. “No, please don’t tell me. Sean, can you help?”

  The handcuffs were ordinary steel, the same as the police used on human captives, but they would be no match for the strength of a Shifter. Sean sheathed his sword, worked his fingers between the cuff and Fionn’s gloved wrist, and twisted one handcuff open. He did the same with the other, and Fionn quickly stripped off his gloves.

  “Let me see,” Andrea said.

  Fionn held out his hands. Below the tunic he wore under his mail shirt, his bare wrists held red marks in the exact shape of the cuffs. The metal had burned him right through the gloves.

  Andrea brushed her thumbs over the wounds and closed her eyes, reaching for her healing magic. She saw the tangle of threads around Fionn’s hurt skin, blackened and burned, but the aura of the rest of his body was amazing. He was like silver and light, shimmering strength.

  She’d seen some of that glittering silver in her own body. As she touched the threads of Fionn’s being, they wrapped around her, familiar, loving, welc
oming.

  She also sensed Sean beside her, as she had when she’d healed Ely. Tall and strong, like a bright fire, Goddess blessed. The magic of his sword ran through him, and she reached for it and for Sean, who was bound to her now through the mate blessing.

  It was real, this mate blessing, she realized. Not just words spoken by the clan leader in a social agreement. The Father God had been in the words and in the sun kissing their skin. She saw the bond between herself and Sean, gold and strong. Real.

  Under her hands, Fionn’s wounds closed. When she opened her eyes, Fionn’s wrists were whole and unblemished, and he was watching her with an amazed expression.

  The silver threads of his being still wrapped Andrea, seeking her own. “I see it, the substance of your aura in mine,” she said. “Yours and my mother’s.”

  Fionn’s eyes were fathomless. “Well, yes, child. ’Tis only natural.”

  He was part of her, and she of him. Andrea had been conceived by this battle-hardened, proud warrior, and a gentle and loving Shifter woman.

  Tears trickled from her eyes. At last, after years of shame and fear and withdrawing into herself, Andrea knew who she was. She belonged, both to the Fae holding her hands and to the Shifter at her back who’d just made her his mate, bound to her body and soul.

  My mate. Mine.

  Sean shuddered with release in the darkness, surrounded by the feel, the scent, the warmth of Andrea. Her lips, her hands, her breath, touching his skin. She gasped along with him, her sexy little noises making him wild.

  He kissed her face, her hair, her mouth. He’d lost his power of speech, and he kept silent, simply kissing and touching, arching his body to drive himself deeper inside her.

  Her lips were soft with desire, as were her eyes, which were silver-gray in the moonlight. Fionn had looked at Sean with the same kind of determined arrogance Sean had so often seen on Andrea’s face. They were related, all right.