Their Chance at Redemption

by Maia Dylan

  She started to put a plan together. When she left here in the morning for her shift at the diner, she would take everything with her. The beauty of that plan was the fact that she had very little to take. She would ensure that the apartment was clean when she left. She might have defaulted on her rent, but she would make damn sure they knew she had taken care of the shitty place. It was a matter of principle.

  She spent the night executing her plan, so when she finally closed the door behind her just before dawn the next morning, both sets of keys on the table inside with a note of apology to her landlord, she was exhausted. Her head was pounding, and it felt as if every joint in her body had broken glass within them. Every movement she made hurt. Carrying her backpack, laden with all her pitiful possessions, was difficult. Not because she had a lot, but because she was just too damn sore. Gritting her teeth against the pain and discomfort, she walked slowly down the stairs. It was hard to think that when she stepped out that door she wouldn’t be coming back. She had a list of women’s shelters in her pocket and would call them today to see if she could get in, so she hoped the cardboard box could wait a night or two.

  She was so lost in her miserable thoughts she didn’t realize there was anyone standing in the darkened foyer of her building until they stood before her. “Well, hello there, little one.” The voice made her skin crawl, and her heart began to pound in fear. “Don’t you just smell fucking delicious?”

  “Let go of me,” Josie said in a voice that quavered.

  “Now, why the hell would I want to do that?” the man drawled. He was huge, similar in size to Kieran, so she knew she had no chance of making him. She cringed back when he leaned in to whisper in her ear, “I know who you are, little slut. You’re someone special to the Black Ridge Alpha.”

  Josie cried out as he licked her, biting into her earlobe. “Please! I’m not. I’m no one.”

  “Yeah, you are.” The man picked her up off the ground, backpack and all, and moved toward the front door. “We tracked that fucker’s scent here. We lost it pretty damn quick, but I know he’s been around. And I caught your delicious scent just outside this building. I figured all I had to do was stake out the lobby and I’d get you sooner or later. You are always around when he is, and he looks at you like a man does when he finds the one woman he would happily fuck for life. Me? I’m just gonna fuck you ’cause I know it’ll drive his lion insane. Gives us a strategic advantage.”

  The man stepped out the door with her and Josie inhaled to scream, but the man slammed his hand against her mouth, holding her easily with one arm. “None of that.” He gave a low whistle, and Jose started to panic even more as she realized he was calling in his friends. She cast a quick look around her, but instead of seeing death walking out of the shadows, out stepped her salvation.

  “Hurt her and my lion will dine on your heart while you watch,” Kieran growled, and Josie had the thought that he sounded more lion than man.

  The air pressure around them seemed to alter, but the man who held her appeared unaffected. “Well, fuck me! This has to be my lucky damn day. Not only do I get myself a soft, sweet-smelling plaything for the day, but the contract worth a cool three million to me makes it easier to cash in by walking straight up to me.”

  Kieran tilted his head, watching the man with a predatory calm that had Josie trembling. “You that eager to die? Come get some. But to give yourself a fighting damn chance, you might want to let the lady go.”

  “She your mate?” the man asked, his hand closing over one of her breasts, but Josie was too afraid to do anything but whimper.

  Kieran had been completely stone up until that point, no emotion at all. But there was a flicker of it in his eyes at the question. “No, she’s not.”

  “I told you,” Josie whispered, struggling against the man’s arm. “I am no one and nothing to him. No one at all. Just let me go. Hurting me will not hurt him.”

  “Josie—” Kieran started to speak, but stopped as two more men ran out of the shadows of the alley that led behind her building. One of whom was very familiar to her.

  “Oh, my God,” Josie cried out, struggling harder. “Liam, run! Go for help!”

  Liam didn’t react the way she’d hoped. His face became a mask of anger, and he glared at her for a moment, before he looked beyond her, and in Kieran’s direction. Josie had no idea what was going on, but both men seemed to flinch at the same time, then stumble backward.

  The man holding her barked a laugh. “Well, girly, things just got a whole lot more interesting.”

  Before she could ask what he meant by that, she found herself flying through the air, fortunately slamming into her building back first so her backpack took the brunt of the collision, but it was still hard enough to leave her lying stunned on the footpath. Roars of rage erupted around her, and the world exploded in an array of light and magic, and before her eyes four huge lions began to fight.

  Later, Josie couldn’t say if it was fear of the fight before her, emotion over everything that had happened in the last few hours, or a combination of both, but she broke. That was the only way she could describe it. Something broke inside her, and she had to get away. The overwhelming need to run eclipsed everything else within her. Turning away from the fight, she did just that.

  Chapter Six

  “Where the fuck did Hugh go?” Liam growled.

  His lion was pacing within him, a clear sign he was as agitated as the man. Something was coming, and it had him on edge.

  “I’m not his damn keeper, Liam,” Brett answered in a disinterested tone. “I called you down because Murphy’s scent trail ended here. You heard Rossi. We have until the end of today to deliver that bastard’s head to him on a fucking silver platter or the contract’s canceled, and we have to deal with the consequences.”

  Liam knew all too well what those “consequences” would result in. And he wasn’t quite ready to pass into the arms of his ancestors just yet. If he woke in the arms of his father, there’d be bloodshed and carnage no matter where the hell they were.

  “You haven’t even tried to find the target. As far as I can see, you’ve spent too much time mooning over that piece of ass you met and not taking care of business.”

  Liam wanted to argue that, but couldn’t. Finding this fucker Murphy was the last thing he wanted to do. When he’d broached the subject of stepping away from the contract, he was told in no uncertain terms that the results of that would be the same as failure. He also wanted to pound his fist repeatedly into Brett’s face for calling Josie a piece of ass, but knew it would be a bad idea to highlight what she meant to him

  “I just wish he wasn’t quite so bloody insane,” Liam muttered as he scanned the surrounding area.

  A burst of dominance somewhere near them had Liam’s lion growling in response. Because of the way his own father had demanded his obedience, shamelessly using his alpha dominance against him and his mother, Liam’s lion revolted against any kind of dominance play from another shifter.

  “Murphy,” Brett snarled, and the two of them sprinted in that direction. As they neared an alleyway that would take them through the city block and to where they could now sense two other lion shifters, Liam’s heart stuttered. He’d caught the alluring hint of honey and orange blossom on the air that told him Josie was near. What the fuck!

  Putting on a burst of speed, suddenly more afraid than he had ever been in his life, he rounded the corner of the building and slammed to a halt. The scene before him had his heart racing. Hugh had Josie in his arms, holding her as she struggled to get down. When her gaze met his, he saw the flash of hope that flickered there just for a moment, before it disappeared beneath a wave of fear. Liam was shocked to see that it was fear for him.

  “Oh, my God,” Josie called out, and he saw her struggling to get released. “Liam, run! Go for help!”

  Liam’s lion pressed forward at the knowledge that Josie was in danger. Anger spiked through him until it filled him completely. He caught movemen
t over her shoulder, and his gaze slipped to the large man behind her and everything stopped as recognition slammed into him. The man had hair as jet black as his own, and the two of them were similar in size. But he knew he’d never met the man in person before. The familial link ignited immediately. If they’d met any other time, that link would have slammed home just as it did in this moment. He’d had no idea when he came to America that he had a blood relative in Chicago.

  It was the mating bond that snapped into place in the same moment that almost dropped him to his knees. He saw his cousin falter under the strength of the bond forming, too. It immediately became clear. He and Kieran Murphy, the man he had been contracted to end, were cousins, and destined to share the same mate. The bond hadn’t formed because they’d had no knowledge of each other. Once the three of them were in the same vicinity, it had slammed into place with the strength of a locomotive.

  “Well, girly, things just got a whole lot more interesting.” Liam heard Hugh speaking to his mate—his fucking mate—and knew that he and Brett had felt the ripple effect of the Alpha bond that linked him to Kieran form, as well as their connection to Josie.

  Liam took one step forward, then shouted as Hugh tossed Josie away from him. He saw her slam into the building just as his lion pushed forward. Liam embraced the change, giving himself over to the pain and the ecstasy that came with a shift and allowed his lion to come forth.

  He lost track of Josie as Brett leaped onto him in his lion form and he was suddenly in a fight for his life. From the growls and roars that erupted around him, he knew that Kieran and Hugh were also locked in battle. Brett fought with a skill that Liam would have admired had he been watching rather than countering the big bastard. It was clear the two of them were similar in skill, and they battled back and forth, swiping at each other with their massive front paws, pushing off with their strong back legs, both trying to maneuver the other into position for the kill. But Liam had an advantage over the other male that made it impossible for him to lose.

  Liam had a mate and a reason to live.

  With a roar of anger that echoed off the surrounding buildings, Liam surged forward, knocking Brett’s back legs out from under him, and as he dropped to his back, Liam was on him. He wrapped his jaws around the other lion’s neck, not stopping even as the animal’s blood filled this mouth. He ignored the pain of the wounds the dying lion inflicted as it tried to save itself. Liam felt the moment the animal gave up, having lost too much blood, and having no strength to fight, giving itself over to the inevitable.

  Liam held on for a few minutes more, wanting to make sure the lion was truly dead. Then he pulled back, lifted his head and roared his victory to the world. He turned, the flood of adrenaline from the fight still fresh in his veins, and was surprised to see the massive white lion he knew to be his cousin pacing calmly in front of Hugh’s body. The speed with which he dispatched him spoke of a deadly skill Liam was instantly wary of. Hell, despite having blood in his fur, Liam had a feeling very little of it was his. A car slid sideways into the curb beside them and four men climbed out, all four of them shifters. From the way Kieran didn’t even flinch, Liam figured they were part of his pride.

  Kieran shifted in an explosion of light and energy until he stood before him as a man. “Change back so we can talk.” His lion was still clear in his tone, but none of the dominance that came with being Alpha.

  Liam once more embraced the magic of his shift. It took every ounce of strength not to flinch from the pain the wounds he carried gave him. From the quirk of Kieran’s brow he knew the bastard could tell, anyway.

  “I didn’t know my father had a brother,” Kieran said with no hint of query in his tone.

  “Me neither,” Liam replied. “The name’s Liam, and I know who you are. Was your father as big a bastard as mine?”

  Kieran’s gaze narrowed on him. “Nope. Ornery and stubborn as hell, but honorable and fair.”

  Liam shrugged. “Then you lucked out. My father was a drunk, wife-murdering, child-beating asshole who believed the world owed him a debt.”

  Kieran crossed his arms over his chest and scowled, something Liam did when he felt like he was on the back foot. “I assume he’s dead then?”

  “Oh, aye,” Liam said with a wicked grin. “Fecker died at my hands, seconds after he took me ma from me.”

  Kieran nodded, seemingly satisfied. “You with these assholes?”

  Liam shrugged. “Was, but not really. I ran into Josie the first day I was here, and the contract on you lost its appeal pretty damn quick. Now? I reckon Rossi might take my ripping the throat out of one of his contractors as my resignation.”

  “Alpha.” A man with short blond hair spoke as he stepped closer, tossing him and Kieran a pair of running shorts. “Violet called Josie. She said she was scared and ran but is fine. She’s at work, got a double shift today, but would be back home,” he indicated the decrepit building behind him with his head, “later tonight.”

  The relief was instant. He’d been aware of the moment their mate had run, but he’d had his hands filled with a lion intent on taking his throat.

  “Rossi.” The Black Ridge Alpha practically spat the man’s name. “He have any more shifters here to take my ass out?”

  “Nah, just me and the two crazies at this stage.”

  Kieran nodded. “Josie’s been through a lot, and that was before she watched four men burst into lions and rip each other to pieces. She’s emotionally fragile at the moment, and she’ll need the normality of the diner. We’ll go get her at the end of her shift.” Kieran looked off to the side, and a second later Liam heard the sound of sirens approaching. “We’re going to have a shitload of questions to answer after this.”

  Liam nodded as he tugged on the running shorts. No one liked to talk to the authorities with their dick hanging out.

  Kieran pulled on his shorts and turned to look back at Liam. “Looks like you and I have a few things to talk about. Not least of which is how we are going to convince our mate to take a chance on us.”

  Liam grinned. “Not a problem. She and I have just started dating, and I am charming as fuck.”

  Kieran flinched. “Yeah, well, I might have a problem convincing her, and may have to rely on that charm of yours to get me back into her good graces.”

  Liam prayed it wouldn’t take much. He and the others all raised their hands in the air as a police car skidded to a halt a few feet from where they stood. The Fates had gifted him and his cousin with a mate. Oh, sure they had to deal with the fact that he and Kieran had only just met, a mate who had run from them, and some slight Kieran had made with Josie, but he figured no relationship started out perfect.

  ****

  Kieran listened as the young cop went over their statement for what had to be the millionth time. He shot a quick glance at the clock on the wall and mentally cursed. Josie would be finishing up her shift in a few minutes, and he had wanted to be there as soon as she’d clocked out. Detailing what had happened this morning and why there were two dead, naked men on a downtown sidewalk wasn’t something that was easily explained.

  “I’m sure you can understand why I am finding this a little difficult to follow, Mr. Murphy,” the officer said as he lowered Kieran’s statement. “I have no idea how to deal with this.”

  Kieran nodded. “I can understand that, Officer Harper, which is why I keep asking to speak with Lieutenant York. He knows all about what I have been telling you.”

  Harper winced. “Like I said, today is the Lieutenant’s rostered day off, and we’ve all been told what he will do to us if we interrupt him. I’m sure if you go over it one more time I can—”

  The door opened abruptly, and Kieran exhaled in relief as Lieutenant York strode into the interrogation room. “It’s okay, Harper. I got this.”

  The relief on the young man’s face was almost palpable. “Oh, thank God!” He stood up so quickly his chair rocked back on two legs. “I know this is all righteous, and that everything
is above board, but I have no idea how to classify and file it.” Harper reached across the table and shook Kieran’s hand. “Thank you, sir, for putting up with all the questions. I wanted to do right by you, but I’m just not across everything yet.”

  “It’s all good, Officer Harper,” Kieran replied. Despite his lion wanting to shred the man with every question he asked, Kieran knew he had only been doing his job.

  The young man walked to the door, but hesitated before leaving the room. “I lost my sister a few years ago, Mr. Murphy. I know she was taken by Santiago and his men, but we could never prove it. I became an officer of the law in the hopes of making that bastard pay. You and your friends were able to make that happen. The city of Chicago owes you a debt of gratitude. You have more support in this city than you know.”

  With that the man left the room and Kieran sat staring at the door even after it was closed.

  “You know, that is an opinion shared by many within this precinct,” York said as he pushed some paper across the table in Kieran’s direction. “You and your pride have a lot of support here, and at city hall. All the statements we have taken from your men today all confirm what you’ve been saying. Sign these and you can go. We’ll get the rest tidied away. The two deceased men have been confirmed as members of this man Rossi’s group. He has been contacted. He’s apparently confused as to why we would be holding Mr. McMurtrie. Apparently, he has no clue that the two of you are related?”

  Kieran ignored the question and reached for the papers on the table. “You got a pen?”

  York nodded, handing one over. “Didn’t think I was going to get more information from you.” Kieran scribbled his signature on the release forms confirming that the statement was his. “Your cousin is waiting for you outside. He and the two brothers who came in with you are currently glaring at each other out in reception. Let’s get you out to them before their fake relaxed poses dissolve into something that’s going to mean we need to redecorate.”