“Is it, now? Well, this won’t be. It wasn’t pretty the first time I put on a Collar, and I don’t imagine this will be much better.”

Kim folded her arms. “I’m not leaving. I’m your mate, remember? In the traditional human wedding ceremony, we promise to stick together for better or worse. That means not just when everything’s pretty, but when it’s bad, very bad.”

“I’m thinking there’s no line in there about watching your Shifter mate take his Collar.”

“Not last time I checked, but the idea is the same.”

Liam looked down at the Collar, chest rising sharply. “I can’t lie to you, Kim. It’s a bit easier knowing you’re near me.” He looked up, his eyes clear, dark blue, full of fear and full of love. “Wish me luck.”

“I love you,” Kim said.

A hint of his warm, wicked smile touched his mouth. “Love you too, sweetheart.”

He studied the Collar a long moment, then took another sharp breath and lifted the chain to his throat.

Liam’s muscles tightened as the Collar settled against his neck. Kim had no idea how the thing fastened, but as he touched the bare end to the Celtic knot, she heard a loud click, and then Liam screamed.

Cords stood out on his neck, and his entire body arched backward. He balled his fists and clenched his teeth, fighting the agony.

Kim rushed to him. Shifters comforted and helped each other with touch—maybe she could ease him a little bit if she could hold him. Liam thrashed as spasms racked his body, his screams becoming hoarse cries.

She reached for him. “Liam.”

Liam focused on her, his eyes white-blue. “No, Kim. Stay back.”

“You need me.” Kim grabbed his wrists, but he snapped them away from her.

“I said stay back.”

“And I said, you need me.”

Kim darted between his hands and slid her arms around his sweating waist. His skin was ice-cold. She rubbed his back, trying to warm him.

“Kim, no.”

“You need me,” she repeated firmly.

Liam drew breath after shuddering breath. He stood stiffly, body shaking at the same time. Then with a cry of agony, he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck.

Chapter Twenty-three

How long they stood like that—arms locked around each other, Liam rocking in pain—Kim didn’t know. She held him while his hot tears dropped to her shoulder, while he kissed her neck and held her as if he’d never let her go.

Kim heard shouting outside. She lifted her head to see that the warehouse had grown darker, the rain still pelting but more softly now, the storm over. Flashlights cut through the gloom, and then the tall forms of Sean and Dylan emerged out of the darkness. Others trailed behind them—Glory, Ellison, Connor, Nate, and Spike.

Dylan played his flashlight on the two of them in the middle of the warehouse, Liam filthy and naked, Kim in rumpled clothes and probably just as filthy.

She called to them, “He put the Collar back on and the pain is tearing him up.”

Dylan approached, but the others hung back. Liam managed to lift his head, his eyes filled with incredible pain. “Dad.”

Dylan stopped just shy of Liam, eyes troubled. “Do you want me, son?”

“Of course he wants you,” Kim said. “You’re his dad.”

“He’s clan leader now,” Dylan said. “And pride leader. He can reject me if he wants.”

“He won’t.” Kim shook her head. “He told me once that he wouldn’t fight you because he loves you.”

“That was before,” Dylan said.

“Doesn’t matter. People’s status might change, but love stays the same.”

Dylan opened his mouth to argue, but Connor jerked away from Ellison, who was trying to hold him back. The lanky boy charged past Dylan and threw his arms around both Liam and Kim. “Damn it, we thought Fergus would kill you,” he sobbed.

The others tensed, Dylan taking a step back.

Liam looked up at Connor, his eyes wet. Connor held him tighter, and Liam’s eyes flicked from feral white to beautiful blue. He wrapped an arm around Connor and pulled him close.

Like water released from a dam, the others flowed to them. Dylan clamped his arms around Liam and Connor, gathering them in. Sean laid down his sword and joined the group hug, followed by Glory, Ellison, and to Kim’s astonishment, both of Fergus’s thugs.

Kim’s eyes filled as Sean leaned his head into Liam’s neck. Kim could feel the warmth, the caring, in the huddle, heard the soothing words they whispered to each other. She was squished between Dylan and Liam, Ellison and Connor. She started to giggle. “A Kim sandwich.”

Ellison laughed his big, booming Texas laughter. “Sounds good. Let’s eat.”

“You are so disgusting,” Glory said to him. She had her arms firmly around Dylan’s waist.

Ellison gave Glory a big kiss on the cheek. “You love it, darling. I say we all blow this place and go get shit-faced drunk.”

“Damn straight,” Spike said.

Liam’s immediate family remained silent. Kim felt the energy flowing between them, love that had kept them alive and together all these years. And now they wanted her to be part of it.

“Drunk,” Liam rasped. “You don’t know how good that sounds.”

The group began to part, slowly, smiling the unembarrassed smiles of people who’d shared a happy experience. Sean rubbed Liam lightly on the back and moved to pick up first his sword and then Liam’s clothes.