Nick was breathing hard, aware of every muscle in his body screaming abuse, every nerve ending ablaze, every sound and scent and sight clearer and sharper to him. He was hyper-aware, ready to fight back once again, ready to unleash everything he was upon his attackers.

Something inside him, something dark and powerful, was snarling and snapping, wanting to go another round. His hands clenched and unclenched and while he knew he was bleeding, it wasn't important. The bruises didn't matter. The cuts were superficial and already had stopped bleeding. The one tear in his shoulder was only a bother right now.

Gray eyes, deep and dark and filled with power, met the golden ones of the man who had just dispatched of several attackers.

He had never seen Sean Renard in his full form and looking at the sleek creature, so powerful and deadly and… beautiful, Nick felt something else. Sharp and hungry and wanting this man like he had never wanted him before. A month into their relationship as mates and he was still as horny as a teenager sometimes.

Who was he kidding? Whenever he looked at the other man outside their work relationship he wanted to touch him, make sure this was truly real.

There was movement to his left.

Nick turned quickly, gun coming up, pointing at the stranger who just smiled at him. He was taller than Nick, looked strangely familiar, and there was a smirk reflecting in those eyes that he didn't like. Dressed in an expensive suit, he looked like a businessman who had just come off a plane.

"Bravo, Grimm," the man said with a faint accent, clapping his hands almost mockingly. "I didn't think you had come this far."

There was a snarl of fury from the regnant at his side. Nick felt the anger like a living thing through the connection he shared with his mate. Still new to the bond, still trying to get accustomed to someone else's emotions, he almost flinched at the ferocity of the upheaval.

"You!"

Sean knew him?

Wings snapped open and claws flexed. And then the regnant shot forward and grabbed the other man by the throat. Nick had never seen him move this fast, this sleek and deadly, this precise. There was a flurry of movement, roars and hisses and a yell of primal rage.

The sensation along the link was muted, the emotions there but still shielded. Despite his fury, the regnant was still taking care not to overwhelm the Grimm.

Nick tried to follow the fighters with his gun, then suddenly the two men were apart, Renard baring impressive teeth. The stranger's clothes were torn, rumpled, and – Nick blinked, tilting his head – his features shifted. The eyes were a familiar orange and there were also claws at the end of his fingers.

Those eyes – not unlike Renard's, but not like his mate's either – were on Nick and a slow smirk was on his lips. A drop of blood oozed from his cut lip.

"Temper, temper," he chuckled. "All for the Grimm? Impressive, my dear Sean."

"Who are you?" the Grimm in question hissed.

The man smoothed down his rumpled suit, looking mournfully at a tear. "I should have known that Sean wouldn't mention me. Or anyone else. An oversight to be expected."

Renard approached, each step measured, his human façade almost back in place. But his eyes were a deep orange, glowing dangerously. "Detective Burkhardt, meet Maurice Arnaud Henri Renard. My older brother." Brows drew down over cold eyes. "Who I warned not to enter my protectorate."

Maurice chuckled, flicking lint off one shoulder. "Ah, but what older brother could pass up the chance to meet the mate of the Guardian of Portland?"

Renard's expression became glacial. "A suicidal one."

Another smirk.

Nick's face was emotionless, cold, hard. He sized the other man up, seeing more of the family resemblance now. The hair was longer than Sean's, who kept his cropped very short, and it had less gray. He looked more dark blond. The features were sharp, the olive complexion like Sean's. but with a lot more arrogance. And haughtiness.

The very human looking, blue eyes meeting his own gaze were cool and calculating, the complete opposite to the smile on his face. And if he squinted he could see the faint shift in the man's features.

Definitely a regnant.

And Nick already hated his guts.

So much for Meet The Family.

"You sent them?" he asked evenly.

"To test if you are worthy of my brother."

Worthy? Test?

Something inside of Nick was close to snapping, disbelief and anger fighting for dominance. It was something he rarely felt. Something that had been set free when Marie Kessler had died, when the Grimm in him had become active.

And the dark part screeched at the very idea that Renard's brother had sent a bunch of attackers after him to test his… his… worthiness?

A hand on his shoulder kept him from doing something very stupid. Renard stepped beside him, then neatly in front of the smaller man. The wings obscured his view, but he repositioned himself to keep an eye on matters without taking himself from behind Sean.

"I believe you saw what you needed to see. Leave." Renard's voice was so controlled, it hurt to listen to the words. It wouldn't take much to break the regnant's control.

Nick still had his gun pointed at the older Renard, his aim steady. He wouldn't miss.

"His claim on you has changed you, brother," Maurice only said lightly. "He's a very strong one. Too bad you found him first."

Renard snarled and Nick braced himself, glaring at the brother.

"Nadine is a fine mate, but this one? Oh, you got yourself perfection, my dear."

He felt the light presence in the back of his mind strengthen, like a rubber band stretching to its limit and about to snap. It was pulling at him, trying to get loose, and he knew what it meant. Sean was using him to keep his balance and if Nick let go, the regnant would do something very stupid.

"I didn't believe you had initiated a bond with a man under your command," the older regnant continued leisurely. "Nor did I want to believe that he is a Grimm. But as I see, he is both. A very handsome man and a very strong Grimm."

There was a leer on the smooth features and Nick's brows drew down. He really, really wanted to wipe that look off the other's face.

"Maurice…" The warning from Sean was clear.

Nick reached for the strained presence in his head, tried to think soothing thoughts, tried to keep Sean in line without physically touching him. No words were lost between them, but Renard was very much aware of his mate's attempts to keep him calm. The prior explosion of violence had surprised Nick, had overrun his defenses and his ability to control the regnant at least a little.

The other regnant smiled more. "Not that you would take care of the continuation of the family name, brother. You take what you want and that's it. Ah, youth. No pressure. You can have all the fun. And your Grimm looks like a lot of fun. Probably more than Bella. You remember that young, vivacious lady, don't you? She had such potential. And she would have made a good partner. Maybe not a mate like him, but a woman to bear your children."

Renard's wings snapped open in full glory once more and his lips were pulled back over impressively long fangs in a mouth that no longer resembled a human's.

Not again!

Obscured by the wings, Nick pushed against one and Renard moved it almost without thinking as the Grimm joined him at his side, no longer protectively behind his back, gun aiming at Maurice once more.

The safety was off.

The older Renard laughed softly. "Oh so tamed, brother. He has you leashed!"

The pull on his control was by now almost painful. Renard, always so composed and controlled, was ready to tear into his sibling once more, this time not as a warning where only clothes got torn. Nick felt the intent to maim. He knew if he stepped back and let it happen, it would.

His whole body tensed with the effort to hold his mate, feeling pain shoot through his abused body from where the attackers had actually drawn blood. He ignored the discomfort. It was something he had learned by now. The injuries were bothersome, but not life-threatening, and it was his job to keep Sean Renard from doing something very, very stupid.

This was family. Granted, family that really got on Nick's nerves and he would have loved nothing more than to kick the older man's ass himself, but this was a family matter.

And family mattered.

Maurice shot him a calculating look. Then he tilted his head once more, looking a bit more serious.

"Still touchy over the claim, brother? I should have known. But you really don't have to protect him. He's done very well on his own."

Nick felt the hot and fast burning anger coming off Renard like a living thing, touching the same comparatively cold anger inside him. Where his rage at the audacity of this man was cool and calculating, Sean was hot and flustered and close to primal rage. Standing at his side, Nick glanced momentarily at the impressive creature, then purposefully let some of the tension drain just a little. Trying to diffuse the situation. Keeping the psychic bond open and hoping that it would go through.

Despite the blood and the violence of before, the Grimm tried to mediate and calm the upset regnant bonded to him. In his own way. Showing the creature side of his mate that he wasn't taking Maurice as a serious threat any more. A bothersome itch, maybe. Someone who should take a hint and leave, but no one he might regard an enemy.

Fingers crossed, he thought fiercely.