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Chapter One
Julius
Sittingin the back seat of the car, Julius looked out the tinted window at the courthouse steps. The crowd of people had been getting bigger every day this week. By today, five days into the trial, it threatened to spill out of the confines of the police tape and into the street.
After all, closing arguments were today. Julius’s stomach knotted. He hadn’t managed to eat breakfast.
Between the two throngs of protestors was a narrow lane, leading up the steps and to the massive doors of the courthouse. Julius watched as his clients ascended the steps: two male shifters and their female human mate.
One of the shifters hoisted an adorable, smiling two-year-old girl onto his shoulders, and the kid waved enthusiastically at all the people screaming at them from the sidelines.
Julius couldn’t help but smile. That’s exactly what we’re fighting for, he thought. For that kid’s parents to get married, even if there’s three of them. It seemed so simple.
He’d been awake for half the night, prepping his final arguments, but nothing got him quite like watching a happy triad, but even as he did, his heart twisted in his chest. He loved Hudson, his mate, more than anything. But lately, both of them had been feeling the urge to complete their triad.
Without their third, there was just something missing.
Julius took a deep breath and opened the back door of the Town Car. He wasn’t used to being driven around, but this was by far the highest-profile case he’d ever been involved in, and there were security concerns.
The moment he stepped out, the crowds on either side of the courthouse steps went nuts.
On his left were the humans who’d come out to protest shifters. They held up signs with slogans like LOVE MEANS TWO and NO TRIAD MARRIAGE and TRIAD? MORE LIKE TRY-BAD!
Julius thought that last one was particularly stupid.
Not that he was surprised. In the past few weeks he’d had to deal with his fair share of humans who really hated shifters, and most of them hadn’t been the brightest bulbs.
On his right, as he began the walk up the courthouse steps, were both shifters and humans, the people who’d come out to protest the protesters and show their support for triad marriage. Their signs said things like LOVE IS LOVE and LET LOVE BE THREE and MORE LOVE TO GO AROUND.
Among them, Julius quickly found Hudson, in the very front, holding up a sign that said LEGALIZE LOVE. He was wearing his usual outfit — a tight black t-shirt that showed his beefy physique and blue jeans — and Julius smiled at him.
Just having his mate there made him feel better, even as his stomach tightened again.
If he lost this case, he’d be letting Hudson down. Not just Hudson — most of the shifters in Cascadia.
Hudson smiled back, waving his sign. Then he put his hand to his lips and blew Julius a kiss, and Julius laughed. It was almost ridiculous, watching this six-foot-six, buff-as-hell mechanic blow a kiss, but that simple action made Julius feel better in a way that nothing else could.
He walked on past Hudson, keeping his target in his sights. The courthouse doors. As he walked all the yelling intensified, and even though he tried to keep his eyes on the doors and not look at the protestors, he couldn’t help it. Julius was always curious about them.
What kind of person dedicates their lives to hate?he had to wonder.
As his eyes skipped along them, face after face twisting in rage, he saw her.
Shehad nearly black, shoulder-length hair and killer curves. Even though she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, just looking at her made Julius’s mouth go dry, and he nearly missed the next step, just barely catching himself in time.
Even though she was holding a sign that said TRIAD PERVERTS, her mind was clearly anywhere but there. She stared off into the distance, not shouting or taunting.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the girl. Something deep inside called to him.
Something primal and urgent, his bear waking up all at once.
It growled.
No, he thought, desperately, still unable to tear his eyes away from her. Not here. Not now.
It was too late. His bear was completely awake and full-on roaring with lust.
Julius’s hands broke out in a sweat, and he gritted his teeth together, determined to keep himself in check.
