Shifters Unbound 1 - Pride mates Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Acknowledgements

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Teaser chapter

  Praise for the novels of Jennifer Ashley

  PRIDE MATES

  “With her usual gift for creating imaginative plots fueled by scorchingly sensual chemistry, RITA Award–winning Ashley begins a new sexy paranormal series that neatly combines high-adrenaline suspense with humor.”

  —Booklist

  “A whole new way to look at shapeshifters . . . Rousing action and sensually charged, Mapquest me the directions for Shiftertown.”

  —Publishers Weekly “Beyond Her Book”

  “Absolutely fabulous! . . . I was blown away by this latest release. The action and romance were evenly matched and the flow of the book kept me glued until the last page . . . Paranormal fans will be raving over this one!”

  —The Romance Readers Connection

  “Ashley has created a riveting tale that . . . explores different interpretations of human and nonhuman interaction.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “A very promising start to what should be a fresh take on a well-worn idea . . . A clever, quick book with some interesting twists that has whetted my appetite for more.”

  —The Good, The Bad and The Unread

  LADY ISABELLA’S SCANDALOUS MARRIAGE

  “I adore this novel: It’s heartrending, funny, honest, and true. I want to know the hero—no, I want to marry the hero!”

  —Eloisa James, New York Times bestselling author

  “Readers rejoice! The Mackenzie brothers return as Ashley works her magic to create a unique love story brimming over with depth of emotion, unforgettable characters, sizzling passion, mystery, and a story that reaches out and grabs your heart. Brava!”

  —Romantic Times (Top Pick)

  “A heartfelt, emotional historical romance with danger and intrigue around every corner . . . A great read!”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “A wonderful novel, filled with sweet, tender love that has long been denied, fiery passion, and a good dash of witty humor . . . For a rollicking good time, sexy Highland heroes, and touching romances, you just can’t beat Jennifer Ashley’s novels!”

  —Night Owl Reviews

  THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE

  “Ever-versatile Ashley begins her new Victorian Highland Pleasures series with a deliciously dark and delectably sexy story of love and romantic redemption that will captivate readers with its complex characters and suspenseful plot.”

  —Booklist

  “Mysterious, heartfelt, sensitive, and sensual . . . Two big thumbs up.”

  —Publishers Weekly “Beyond Her Book”

  “A story full of mystery and intrigue with two wonderful, bright characters . . . I look forward to more from Jennifer Ashley, an extremely gifted author.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Brimming with mystery, suspense, an intriguing plot, villains, romance, a tormented hero, and a feisty heroine, this book is a winner. I recommend The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie to anyone looking for a great read.”

  —Romance Junkies

  “Wow! All I can say is The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie is one of the best books that I have ever read. [It] gets the highest recommendation that I can give. It is a truly wonderful book.”

  —Once Upon A Romance

  “When you’re reading a book that is a step or two—or six or seven—above the norm, you know it almost immediately. Such is the case with The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. The characters here are so complex and so real that I was fascinated by their journey . . . [and] this story is as flat-out romantic as any I’ve read in a while . . . This is a series I am certainly looking forward to following.”

  —All About Romance

  “A unique twist on the troubled hero . . . Fresh and interesting.”

  —Night Owl Reviews (Top Pick)

  “A welcome addition to the genre.”

  —Dear Author

  “Intriguing . . . Unique . . . Terrific.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  Berkley Sensation Titles by Jennifer Ashley

  THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE LADY ISABELLA’S SCANDALOUS MARRIAGE THE MANY SINS OF LORD CAMERON

  PRIDE MATES

  PRIMAL BONDS

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

  Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia

  (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

  Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand

  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  PRIDE MATES

  A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Leisure Books mass-market edition / February 2010

  Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / July 2011

  Copyright © 2010 by Jennifer Ashley.

  Excerpt from Primal Bonds by Jennifer Ashley copyright © by Jennifer Ashley.

  Hand lettering by Ron Zinn.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-53257-7

  BERKLEY® SENSATION

  Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

/>   BERKLEY® SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Many thanks go to my editor Kate Seaver and all those at Berkley who helped make Pride Mates again available for readers.

  Special thanks go to Theresa A. and Kerrie D., two defense attorneys extraordinaire who answered my many questions in minute detail. They helped me understand how a defense attorney spends her days and what kinds of challenges a female in the field might experience. I am extremely grateful to them for their time and knowledge; any errors in the book are mine. Also many thanks to my editor Leah, who once again didn’t flinch when I presented her with my idea for a brand-new world. Working with her is always the greatest pleasure.

  For more details on the series, please visit the Shifters Unbound pages at www.jennifersromances.com.

  CHAPTER ONE

  A girl walks into a bar . . .

  No. A human girl walks into a Shifter bar . . .

  The bar was empty, not yet open to customers. It looked normal—windowless walls painted black, rows of glass bottles, the smell of beer and stale air. But it wasn’t normal, standing on the edge of Shiftertown as it did.

  “You the lawyer?” a man washing glasses asked. He was human, not Shifter. No strange, slitted pupils, no Collar to control his aggression, no air of menace. Well, relatively no air of menace. This was a crappy part of town, and menace was its stock-in-trade.

  Kim told herself she had nothing to be afraid of. They’re tamed. Collared. They can’t hurt you.

  When she nodded, the man gestured with his cloth to a door at the end of the bar. “Knock him dead, sweetheart.”

  “I’ll try to keep him alive.” Kim pivoted and stalked away on her four-inch heels, feeling his gaze on her back all the way.

  She knocked on the door marked “Private,” and a man on the other side growled, “Come.”

  I just need to talk to him. Then I’m done, on my way home. A trickle of moisture rolled between Kim’s shoulder blades as she made herself open the door and walk inside.

  A man leaned back in a chair behind a messy desk, a sheaf of papers in his hands. His booted feet were propped on the desk, his long legs a feast of blue jeans over muscle. He was a Shifter all right—thin black and silver Collar against his throat; hard, honed body; midnight black hair; definite air of menace. When Kim entered, he stood, setting the papers aside.

  Damn. He rose to a height of well over six feet and gazed at Kim with eyes blue like the morning sky. His body wasn’t only honed; it was hot—big chest, wide shoulders, tight abs, firm biceps against a form-fitting black T-shirt.

  “Kim Fraser?”

  “That’s me.”

  With old-fashioned courtesy, he placed a chair in front of the desk and motioned her to it. Kim felt the heat of his hand near the small of her back as she seated herself, smelled the scent of soap and male musk.

  “You’re Mr. Morrissey?”

  The Shifter sat back down, returned his motorcycle boots to the top of the desk, and laced his hands behind his head. “Call me Liam.”

  The lilt in his voice was unmistakable. Kim put that with his black hair, impossibly blue eyes, and exotic name. “You’re Irish.”

  He smiled a smile that could melt a woman at ten paces. “And who else would be running a pub?”

  “But you don’t own it.”

  Kim could have bitten out her tongue as soon as she said it. Of course he didn’t own it. He was a Shifter.

  His voice went frosty, the crinkles at the corners of his eyes smoothing out. “I’m afraid I can’t help you much on the Brian Smith case. I don’t know Brian well, and I don’t know anything about what happened the night his girlfriend was murdered. It’s a long time ago, now.”

  Disappointment bit her, but Kim had learned not to let discouragement stop her when she needed to get a job done. “Brian called you the ‘go-to’ guy. As in, when Shifters are in trouble, Liam Morrissey helps them out.”

  Liam shrugged, muscles moving the bar’s logo on his T-shirt. “True. But Brian never came to me. He got into his troubles all by himself.”

  “I know that. I’m trying to get him out of trouble.”

  Liam’s eyes narrowed, pupils flicking to slits as he retreated to the predator within him. Shifters liked to do that when assessing a situation, Brian had told her. Guess who was the prey?

  Brian had done the predator-prey thing with Kim at first. He’d stopped when he began to trust her, but Kim didn’t think she’d ever get used to it. Brian was her first Shifter client, the first Shifter, in fact, she’d ever seen outside a television news story. Twenty years Shifters had been acknowledged to exist, but Kim had never met one.

  It was well known that they lived in their enclave on the east side of Austin, near the old airport, but she’d never gone over to check them out. Some human women did, strolling the streets just outside Shiftertown, hoping for glimpses—and more—of the Shifter men who were reputed to be strong, gorgeous, and well endowed. Kim had once heard two women in a restaurant murmuring about their encounter with a Shifter male the night before. The phrase “Oh, my God,” had been used repeatedly. Kim was as curious about them as anyone else, but she’d never summoned the courage to go near Shiftertown herself.

  Then suddenly she had been assigned the case of the Shifter accused of murdering his human girlfriend ten months ago. This was the first time in twenty years Shifters had caused trouble, the first time one had been put on trial. The public, outraged by the killing, wanted Shifters punished, pointed fingers at those who’d claimed the Shifters were tamed.

  However, after Kim had met Brian, she’d determined that she wouldn’t do a token defense. She believed in his innocence, and she wanted to win. There wasn’t much case law on Shifters because there’d never been any trials, at least none on record. This was to be a well-publicized trial, Kim’s opportunity to make a mark, to set precedent.

  Liam’s eyes stayed on her, pupils still slitted. “You’re a brave one, aren’t you? To defend a Shifter?”

  “Brave, that’s me.” Kim crossed her legs, pretending to relax. They picked up on your nervousness, people said. They know when you’re scared, and they use your fear. “I don’t mind telling you, this case has been a pain in the ass from the get-go.”

  “Humans think anything involving Shifters is a pain in the ass.”

  Kim shook her head. “I mean, it’s been a pain in the ass because of the way it’s been handled. The cops nearly had Brian signing a confession before I could get to the interrogation. At least I put a stop to that, but I couldn’t get bail for him, and I’ve been blocked by the prosecutors right and left every time I want to review the evidence. Talking to you is a long shot, but I’m getting desperate. So if you don’t want to see a Shifter go down for this crime, Mr. Morrissey, a little cooperation would be appreciated.”

  The way he pinned her with his eyes, never blinking, made her want to fold in on herself. Or run. That was what prey did—ran. And then predators chased them, cornered them.

  What did this man do when he cornered his prey? He wore the Collar; he could do nothing. Right?

  Kim imagined herself against a wall, his hands on either side of her, his hard body hemming her in . . . Heat curled down her spine.

  Liam took his feet down and leaned forward, arms on the desk. “I haven’t said I won’t help you, lass.” His gaze flicked to her blouse, whose buttons had slipped out of their top holes during her journey through Austin traffic and July heat. “Is Brian happy with you defending him? You like Shifters that much?”

  Kim resisted reaching for the buttons. She could almost feel his fingers on them, undoing each one, and her heart beat faster.

  “It’s nothing to do with who I like. I was assigned to him, but I happen to think Brian’s innocent. He shouldn’t go down for something he didn’t do.” Kim liked her anger, because it covered up how edgy this man made her. “Besides
, Brian’s the only Shifter I’ve ever met, so I don’t know whether I like them, do I?”

  Liam smiled again. His eyes returned to normal, and now he looked like any other gorgeous, hard-bodied, blue-eyed Irishman. “You, love, are—”

  “Feisty. Yeah, I’ve heard that one. Also spitfire, little go-getter, and a host of other condescending terms. But let me tell you, Mr. Morrissey, I’m a damn good lawyer. Brian’s not guilty, and I’m going to save his ass.”

  “I was going to say unusual. For a human.”

  “Because I’m willing to believe he’s innocent?”

  “Because you came here, to the outskirts of Shiftertown, to see me. Alone.”

  The predator was back.

  Why was it that when Brian looked at her like this, it didn’t worry her? Brian was in jail, angry, accused of heinous crimes. A killer, according to the police. But Brian’s stare didn’t send shivers down her spine like Liam Morrissey’s did.

  “Any reason I shouldn’t have come alone?” she asked, keeping her voice light. “I’m trying to prove that Shifters in general, and my client in particular, can’t harm humans. I’d do a poor job of it if I was afraid to come and talk to his friends.”

  Liam wanted to laugh at the little—spitfire—but he kept his stare cool. She had no idea what she was walking into; Fergus, the clan leader, expected Liam to make sure it stayed that way.