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some justice of his own. Besides, no way he'd let his brother face the attacker alone. Not after what had happened to Kenny.
    "I'll go too," Connor said. He'd come silently out of the living room and leaned against the breakfast bar in the kitchen. "If it's a simple takedown."
    Dylan gave Connor a look of compassion. Dylan's dark hair had gone gray at the temples in the last few years, finally making him look older than his sons. But a Shifter's eyes, not his human shell, betrayed his age. Dylan's eyes had seen much.
    "No, Connor."
    "I'm not a cub anymore, and I need to learn to fight these bastards."
    Connor's father, Kenny, had been ripped to shreds by a feral Shifter.
    Their family had avenged the death long ago, but Connor had been too young to participate. The need for personal vengeance burned in him. But not only did Connor look twenty, he was twenty in human years. His fighting ability would take another decade or so to hone.
    Liam drew his lanky nephew into a hug. "Like you said, lad, it's a simple takedown. We'll get him and go out for pizza." Liam kept his voice light, though he was buzzing with adrenaline. He was more than ready to get on with it.
    Connor rolled his eyes as Liam released him. "You and Sean are so condescending it makes me sick. You have human scent all over you, Liam.
    What have you been up to?"
    Sean grinned as he pulled a beer out of the refrigerator. "You should have seen him. He meets this human lady, and ten minutes later he's massaging her feet. He wouldn't leave her alone."
    Liam threw his bottle cap at him. Sean snatched the cap out of the air and threw it back.
    "She needs protecting," Liam said, catching the cap in turn and tossing it to the counter. "She's busting her ass for Shifters, the little idiot."
    "Brave for a human," Dylan said. He was the only one in the room who didn't look amused.
    "She's brave, but she's innocent. I scent-marked her so other Shifters will leave her the hell alone. They'll know that if they bother her, they answer to me. That goes for Fergus's thugs too."
    Dylan watched him closely, and Liam pretended not to hold his breath as he drank his beer. Whose side would Dylan take? The clan leader's? Or Liam's? It was never certain.
    Dylan gave Liam a slow nod. "If Fergus asks, I'll tell him I sanctioned it."
    Liam relaxed. He went to his father and clasped his shoulder in thanks, then returned to the refrigerator. "We might as well eat while we wait. How about old-fashioned burgers on the grill?"
    "Grand idea." Sean sauntered into the living room and threw himself on the couch. He crossed his feet and leaned his head back on his folded hands. "Make mine medium rare and put a slice of cheese on it, why don't you?"
    Connor sprawled on the floor and took the DVD off Pause. "Rare for me, Liam."
    "Gobshites," Liam growled, but he pulled the meat out of the freezer and stuck it in the microwave to thaw.
    As he started up the grill outside and formed the burgers, leaving out all the onions and salt and crap that humans littered their meat with, he thought about Kim. How she smelled, how she felt. How her blue eyes could open so wide that her lashes curled against her skin. Her dark hair had gleamed in the sunlight, revealing golden highlights.
    He wondered what she was doing now. Back at her office, hunched over a desk? Talking to Brian at the jail? Reading thick law books to see what she could do for a Shifter?
    She'd go home soon. Liam had easily found where she lived when her secretary had contacted him earlier this week. A simple computer search had sufficed, even on dial-up--no cable modems for Shifters. Why the human government thought not allowing Shifters cable or wireless or good cell phones would slow down their communications, he didn't know. Humans had weird ideas.
    What would Kim do when she got home? Peel off that severe gray suit, most likely. Would she wear sexy underwear beneath it? Did all-work-and-no-play Kim Fraser buy herself shimmering lingerie?
    Liam