Page 1

Chapter

One

R ian was bored.

Like seriously bored. There was only so much corporate law could teach a guy, and he was in desperate need of an adrenaline rush. While he had to admit that life had gotten considerably more interesting there for a while when his brother Symon’s takeover of Shiftr had become…complicated, that all seemed to have died down.

Now his life was all contracts and phone calls and lunches, and he needed a new challenge. Maybe a personal one.

But he would settle for a professional one.

Maybe he should see if Quin was in town. Surely his dear biker brother could make things more entertaining. Right?

“Call Quin,” he told his phone, stacking his heels on the edge of his desk.

The phone rang and rang, and right before voice mail picked up, a strange voice answered.

“Whaddaya want?”

“Who the hell is this?” he snapped. “Where’s Quin?”

“Sleeping it off. Who the fuck wants to know?”

“His brother. Where is he? I’ll come get him.” He grabbed his phone and his keys.

“Who the fuck are you? Why the fuck do you have my phone?”

“Come on now, baby…”

“Don’t you fucking baby me, motherfucker!” Oh, he knew that roar. His brother was displeased.

“Quin! Quin. Get your damn phone and get out of there!” he shouted.

“Come get me before I rip this fucker’s head off!”

“I’m coming. Meet me outside. Drop me a pin.” He headed for his vehicle, knowing he needed to gun it. Quin could get grumpy.

Grumpy Quin could get violent, and he was sort of on a thirty-strike-you’re-out plan.

“I’m on it,” Quin snarled, and he felt his phone buzz. Then Quin hung up.

Rian grinned. This was way more interesting than his brother Symon’s wedded bliss.

Seriously. They were in geek heaven.

Rian could just barf.

But Quin being all grr and needing a pickup? Now what had he gotten himself into? Intriguing. At the very least, he would get brunch out of it.

That sounded great, in fact. Coffee. Eggs. Possibly some ham. A pile of bacon the size of his head. Yeah, he was into it.

His baby brother was always getting into some kind of trouble. The son of a bitch had a death wish. He would have thought running a biker bar would get Quin into enough trouble.

But no.

Quin needed bonus trouble.

The neat thing about Quincy is that he never knew what he was getting into.

When Rian drove up on him, it could be damn near anything. Problems with the police. Assault. A dip in the lake. Grand larceny.

Every so often, it was something truly entertaining like busting up a drug ring.

Usually, though, it was just your basic bar fight.

He pulled up into the worst part of town, following that pin blinking. How the fuck had Quin ended up here.

Here, of all places.

The man was worth a small fortune. And yet he was looking for love in the absolute worst part of town.

He found his brother sitting outside on a filthy stoop in leather pants and no shirt, smoking a cigarette.

Quin was watching a pretty little redhead who was pacing up and down, wearing a spot in the sidewalk like a pacing lion.

Not that this kid was a lion.

No, he was more like a little marmalade kitten.

“What the hell, Q?” he asked, half of his attention on the…well, he was a young man, not a kid, really. And a rather attractive one, at that.

“I—”

“It’s my fault,” the kid said. “He was here to help me, and Walt fucked with his drink. I kept Walt busy after that, but—it’s all my fault.”

“You. Hush for a moment. You.” Rian pointed to Quin. “Where is your shirt?”

“Who the fuck knows? I woke up without it.” Quin’s eyes flashed gold.

Rian felt a flash of rage. “Are you both…intact?”

“Oh, brother, I haven’t been unsullied since I was sixteen. But if you mean did he hurt either of us this time around? No.”

“No.” The redhead rubbed his arms. “I managed to keep him distracted, but I didn’t have to do that.”

“Little Foxy here drugged him, but he couldn’t move me, so he stayed. Dumb, but kind.”

“Foxy?” Rian raised an eyebrow. “What’s your name, sweet?”

“Eyre.”

“Interesting.” The kid pronounced it Eye-Ray, but he had a feeling it was spelled in a more ancient way. “Do you need a ride somewhere?” He ducked back into his car, pulling out one of Quin’s shirts to toss at him. This one said, “Fuck the Patriarchy”.

“No, I’ll?—”

“You’re coming with us. Don’t argue.” Quin tugged the shirt on.

“Pizza?” Rian offered. “You can tell us your tale of woe. This one is always starving when he’s been roofied.” His light tone belied the urge to go beat “Walt” down until he couldn’t get up. How much did a guy have to suck to drug people’s drinks?

“Does it happen often?” Eyre’s eyes went wide.

“To Quin?” Rian tilted his head the other way from before. “More often than you’d think.”

“Grab any shit you don’t want destroyed when we leave, Foxy,” Quin growled. “I am so not coming back here.”

“No. No, of course you’re not. Go on. I’m going to…” Eyre shrugged, blushed.

“Going to what?” Rian scowled. “You’re going to get your stuff and come get pizza.”

He wasn’t leaving Eyre behind.

Eyre’s brown eyes went wide. “Growly, much?”

“Always,” Quin drawled. “He’s a lawyer. Makes him have to pit his inner wolf against his inner shark. Come on, get your shit.”

“Okay, okay, fine. Jesus, you don’t have to be an asshole.” Little fox ran off, and Rian watched his ass. Not bad, not bad at all.

“Quit ogling the foxy, brother.”

“So what’s the deal?”

Quin shook his head and shrugged. “He got hooked up with this guy. Wasn’t sure how to get out. I was helping him out. I was supposed to just be a distraction.” He rolled his eyes. “I got distracted, I guess.” Quin grinned, and the look was undeniably wolfish. “The kid needs a collar and a leash.”

Rian was not going to admit for a second exactly how appealing that particular thought was.

He never played where he lived.

“Well, we’ll feed him. I want to listen to his story, and I want to make sure you’re all right.”

“Me, I’m fine. I should have checked the coffee. I just figured there was no way that he could be that fast.”

Huh. “What kind of shifter is he?”

“Orangutan maybe? I’m not really sure. Something smart and quick.”

“Your little fox is pretty smart and quick.”

Of course, if he was really smart and quick, he’d already be back down here.”

“You think…”

They stared at each other.

Oh fuck.

They headed inside as one unit, knowing who would go high and who low without speaking about it. If that fucker had laid one hand on Eyre’s head, he would rip it off and shove it down the guy’s throat.

The door was cracked a little, bruised fingers clinging to it, trying to wrench it open.

“Get your ass back in here, you fucker.”

The fox screamed, “Just leave me alone! That’s all I’ve asked. I just want to be left alone.”

“People in hell want ice water, you dick.”

Oh, Rian did not think so. There’s a lot of shit he was going to put up with, and this was not part of it.

They hit the door together, knocking it clean off of its hinges. Quin was already wolfy and went to hamstring the big guy. Rian didn’t even bother. He just swung out with one hand, slamming into the guy’s face as hard as he possibly could.

The crack of bone and a wail that turned into an infuriated roar sounded. The big guy staggered back, and Quin went for him, so Rian hoisted the fox up over one shoulder.

Eyre didn’t fight him. He just kept his head down and stayed still. Good lad.

He rushed out to drop Eyre in his SUV. “Is there anyone I need to worry about but him?” He barked it. He didn’t have time to ask gently.

“No. No, he woke up…”

“Okay. Sit tight while I go retrieve my brother.” He winked, then headed back inside. Quin would have rage for the kid and for himself, and he didn’t need to end up back in the county lock-up.

That was the last thing Quin needed. Eventually, they were going to stop letting him out.

He burst back in at a run, his ears picking up the snarls and wild squeals first. “What is he, a werewarthog?”

That would so suck. Warthogs were stubborn and had a huge pain tolerance.

But when he ran into the back room, it was Quin in wolf form chewing on the human-form man’s leg. Well, that would make a guy squeal. “Quit dicking around and let’s go!”

Quin barked at him, shaking the leg in his teeth and rumbling.

“Let it go, Quin. The little fox is in the car. Let’s hasta.” His instincts were telling him to hit the road. They needed to get out of there.

Quin nodded and released, listening to him, like he always had. Thank the gods. He let Quin go ahead of him, because if he didn’t, he’d end up biting again when the guy went nuts. Which he was. They were stealing his fox.

Or, more exactly, retrieving Rian’s fox.

He grinned wildly as he opened the door for Quin to jump in, then leaped in himself and got them moving, gunning the engine.

One way or the other, this was the most fun he’d had in ages.