There was a text message on his phone when he checked it the next morning. Green eyes narrowed and he nearly gave in to the urge to snarl at the innocent device.

The gall!

"What?" Nick asked, turning over and pushing himself up on one elbow.

It was an enticing site, despite the clear signs of injuries on the pale skin. Nick's shoulder injury looked red and angry and slightly puffy, but Renard had checked it twice and there was no poison. The Grimm felt no averse effects, aside from the twinges and pulls, and he had patiently sat through the treatment. There was a bruise spreading from the shoulder to the neck, more bruises showing on his upper body.

None were dangerous or needed additional treatment. They were simply reminders for Renard just how much he despised Maurice for his 'risk assessment'. Part of him still wanted to find him and rip his wings out.

"My brother," he now spat, feeling the old annoyance rise..

Nick sat up and plucked the phone out of Renard's hands, scrolling through the text. His brows rose.

"Huh."

'Hope your Grimm is a good fuck' had been the message. 'Try not to neglect your city over the pretty face.'

"So? Am I?"

Sean blinked at him, still radiating anger, now mixed with bafflement.

"Am I?" Nick repeated, a grin stealing over his lips. "A good fuck, Sean?"

The regnant tossed the phone away, pushed Nick back onto the mattress and straddled him. The bare chest underneath him, actually the naked man underneath him, had his creature brain miss a thought or two.

Nick's grin widened.

"I don't care what my brother says or thinks or wants," Renard hissed, feeding on the indignation and anger instead of the want and lust for his mate.

"You look like you care," the Grimm pointed out cheerfully.

"I don't."

"He does. About who you fuck."

Renard leaned closer. "You're my mate." He kissed Nick's lips gently. "And I love you." Another kiss. "There is nothing crude about what we do." And another. "And my brother can call himself lucky that I didn't kill him." He rested his head briefly against Nick's. "He has no right to question my choices."

The Grimm wrapped his arms around the broad shoulders and found Sean's lips in a renewed kiss, this one more than a brief contact.

"He didn't question the choice. He followed tradition."

Green eyes flashed.

"So maybe he went a little overboard."

A rumble.

"And," Nick added as if he hadn't heard the warning growl, "he might have taken it a step too far because of who I am."

Renard's fingers dug into the mattress.

"Wouldn't you have questioned his choices at taking a Grimm mate? Under his command? In his shoes, I mean."

"No!" he spat.

"Really?" Nick's brows rose.

Sean fought his inner beast. Of course he would have questioned his brother's sanity, but he would also have seen the rightness of it. Grimms were perfect mates, Grimms were meant to be a regnant's partner!

"And he's family."

Renard snorted.

The soft vibration of Nick's mind caressed his own, calming the turmoil with such natural ease it always stunned the regnant, wrapping around him the same way the body wrapped around his.

Nick carded the fingers of one hand into the short hair. "Family is important, Sean."
Because he didn't have any anymore. His last living family member was dead.

Renard brushed another kiss over his lips, then looked into the serious, gray eyes. "My family has no influence on me. Regnants don't have family ties like that. Maurice is being a pompous ass. Whether he approves of my relationships or not is of no consequence. This is my protectorate and I would have every right to remove him, piece by piece, if I wanted to. He'd do the same if I dared to enter his territory."

Nick's fingers kept up the soothing caress.

"And to attack my mate…"

Now the golden glow was back and there was a hint of fangs. The Grimm never stopped the touches.

"It's over, Sean."

The regnant growled. "The guts…"

"I'm fine."

A hand touched his injured shoulder and Nick grimaced. "You're not," Renard rumbled.

"It's a scratch. And how about we forget this?"

Renard wouldn't. Never. But looking into the warm eyes, the handsome face, he felt some of the anger drain away again.

Balance.

A mate meant balance and he felt it again and again when he was together with Nick. The bond had done wonders for him and he knew he wouldn't give this up for the world at his feet. Maurice had been lucky to escape with all his limbs attached, which was another sign how much Nick kept him in line.

Just thinking back to that moment, feeling the incredible strength of the Grimm wrapped around his soul, taming his urges without reducing him to a trained pet… Renard shivered. It still sent pinpricks of something close to wonder and awe through him. It kept showing him just what lay dormant in the younger man, what Nick truly was and was becoming. He was evolving and when he let the Grimm take over, he was an awe-inspiring sight to behold.

And whatever Maurice told the rest of the family back home, Renard didn't care.

He never had.

Portland was his.

As was Nick.

It was all that mattered.

Pushing it all aside, the regnant turned fully to his mate, showing Nick just how deeply he felt about him.

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When he received a call two days later, Sean Renard rolled his eyes as he listened to the chipper voice at the other end of the line. Mireille Luce Renard was the ruling Guardian of London and the area. Sean hadn't seen her in ages. Like all his family, with the unwanted exception of Maurice.

"Sean!" she greeted him, sounding chipper and happy.

He sighed silently. "Miri." He should have known she would call. He should have known Maurice would talk to the family. And of course his oldest sibling would call him somehow.

"How are you doing, little brother?"

"I'm fine. Why are you calling?"

She chuckled. "You're my brother."

"And you haven't called the past years."

Ten, actually.

"Time passes so quickly. Especially with a busy city like mine."

London was a handful and it showed just how strong and powerful Mireille was that she had been the Guardian for the past forty years. Renard knew that it took a lot of juggling and hiding trails to be at the top of the wesen food-chain in that regard, to be an influential figure in the human world, too.

"Miri…"

"You could have told me, you know." With a distinctive British accent, she now sounded like a snobbish teacher. "About your mate. Hearing it from Maurice… what were you thinking?"

Renard groaned.

"Does anyone else in the family know?"

"None of their business," he snapped.

"Oh, touchy."

"Miri," he warned her.

"It is our business. You are family."

"Since when have you become so attached to the concept?" he snapped.

"Humans tend to rub off on you," was her mock-haughty reply. "Tell me, brother dear. Or you'll have a new regnant invasion in your city."

"You wouldn't!" he hissed.

"Dare me."

He closed his eyes, fighting for composure. Unlike Maurice, Mireille was a more likable sibling and while she managed to rile him up as well, it wasn't as sharp and aggressive as his brother. His parents hadn't talked to him ever since he had become the Guardian of Portland. His only contact with his old home were a select few people. And even them he only called once in a while.

Like with the coins.

"His name is Nick," he finally acquiesced.

"And?"

"What more do you want?"

"All the little details. Like the fact that he's your subordinate at work?"

He heard the suggestive tone quite clearly.

"Or that he's a Grimm? Looks like you not only found a mate, you found the perfect mate."

Yes, he had.

"I'm jealous, really."

"Andrew is your perfect match."

Her laugh was soft, filled with a reflection of love. Renard had never met his brother-in-law, but Andrew Luce had captured Mireille's heart and she was hellishly protective of the man. The few times she had mentioned him after meeting Andrew, Renard had heard it in her voice that this was him; the very one.

"And he didn't cut off your head," his sister went on cheerfully. "Big plus. Maurice told me he's a different kind of Grimm. Catch and release? How did he catch you, Sean?"

Sisters!

"Yes, he's one of my junior detectives. And yes, he's a Grimm."

"Sean…" she wheedled. "Tell me. You bloody well know Maurice will get this back to the others and even if no one else is stupid enough to walk into your protectorate unannounced, there are email and phones and texts… You could send me a picture of him. Maurice mentioned he's handsome."

That last remark almost had him snarl.

"Sean? Please?"

Renard knew when he had lost. He actually liked his older sister, mostly because she had kept a respectful distance from him, had never forced her way into his city, and she hadn't tried to hurt his mate.

So he did tell her more. And Mireille was interrogating him like a pro. She sounded pleased as punch that her little brother had found a mate, someone so special that everything else was secondary.

"I want to meet him," she finally said.

The regnant bristled, a low rumble escaping his lips.

"Oh, please!" she huffed. "It's not like I want your city or your Grimm! But I never met one like him before."

"You ran into a Grimm in London," he reminded her.

"He was a bloody maniac!"

Renard smiled as he remembered that escapade from ten years ago. Mireille had been outraged at the audacity of the Grimm who had left bodies in his wake as he had hunted down two blutbaden in the streets of London.

"You have all the luck," she sighed. "He must be gorgeous."

He was. More than that. He was simply perfect and he was Renard's.

"And he must be good for you, too," Mireille added. "You sound like it."

He grimaced.

"Take care of him. And yourself."

"I will," he replied seriously.

As long as Maurice stayed out of Portland, hopefully out of the state, and even better out of the country! He might be able to tolerate Mireille, but that was questionable. Renard had no problem with the fact that Nick was best friends with Monroe, but another regnant was competition. For him, for his protectorate, and for his mate!

When she had hung up, three hours had passed and Sean sank back into his chair. Damn the woman! So much for handling work this Saturday afternoon!

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Nick had just walked in the door when his phone rang. He glanced at the screen and found the number was unknown.

"Burkhardt," he answered.

"Hello Nick," a woman said cheerfully, her voice accented. "My name is Mireille Luce Renard. Maybe my little brother mentioned me already."

Nick frowned. "Yes," he said slowly. "You're his older sister?"

"Perfect! He did mention me. I was so happy to hear he found a mate in you!"

Nick sat down on the couch, mystified. "Uh, okay?"

And then the questions started.

For the first time he wondered how wesen that claimed their family ties were barely existant and never really saw their relatives after they left home, were so immensely interested in a regnant's mate.

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"You have a very nosy family," Nick grumped as he walked into the hideously expensive city condo, straight into the kitchen, and got himself a soft drink. He would have preferred a beer, but he still had a job to do tonight.

Brows rose. "What?"

"Your sister called!"

There was a flare of gold and Nick knew even without the strain that suddenly pulled at the normally so quiet and soft connection that he had hit a nerve. Dark brows lowered over the narrowing eyes and Renard's features were suddenly sharper.

"Mireille?" he exploded.

"I hope you have only the one because she was bad enough! She should go into police work. She has interesting interrogation methods!" Nick took a deep swallow, enjoying the cold drink.

"What did she want?" the regnant snarled.

"Oh, just about everything. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had inquired about my blood type and shoe size. At least she didn't ask about my intentions; at least directly."

Long fingers clenched and unclenched. Nick tilted his head, studying the taller man, then set the can on the counter and walked over to the seething regnant. He pulled hard at the bond he felt in his mind, and Sean blinked.

"Calm down, okay? She wasn't any worse than Juliette's mother. Actually, they were very much alike. And she's nice."

"She's nosy!"

He placed his hand flat on the muscular, broad chest. The bond vibrated between them, their psychic link straining. Renard wanted to pull away, wanted to explode in outrage and indignation.

Nick wouldn't let him.

"She's a woman and your sister, Sean. She asked, I answered. I think the Grimm part is what upset her a little. She mentioned a Robert Weishaupt… seems like they clashed."

"A mild understatement."

Nick pushed his mate toward the couch and Renard willing let himself fall, then the Grimm settled over his lap. He caught the regnant's lips in a gentle kiss.

Sean answered, opening up under him, muscles starting to uncoil. Strong hands slid over his thighs, his lower back, his sides. The connection calmed slightly and Nick let go of it, trusting his mate not to rouse again.

"She promised no one else would call. Me or you."

Renard grunted.

Nick smiled and kissed him again. He nipped at the lower lip, gazing into the intense, deeply green again eyes.

"I really like her. Unlike your brother."

"No one likes Maurice," was the cool response. "I hate him as a child, and I never learned to like him as an adult." Sean's hands slipped underneath Nick's shirt, pulling him closer.

Making out on the couch was fun, Nick decided, losing himself in the touches, caresses and kisses. It was also soothing the wesen, calming Sean to a degree, even though nothing much else happened.

When they finally let up, Nick knew that his mate had reasserted complete control over his emotions. He ran gentle fingers through the short hair, hiding the smile that wanted to escape when the other man leaned into the touch.

"Got a date," he murmured apologetically.

"Someone I know?"

Nick only smiled.

"Hunting?" the regnant inquired.

"No. Surveillance. Legwork. Nothing concrete. Rumors and such."

Renard raised an eyebrow, but Nick shook his head. This was Grimm business. He didn't turn to his mate for information on wesen; he always went to Monroe or used the books in the trailer. Monroe kept complaining about it, pointing out that he had a perfectly good source in his mate, but he had never said no. And Nick didn't really want to tap into that knowledge.
Sean Renard was his mate, he wasn't his partner as a Grimm. And Renard also kept him separate from wesen politics out of the same reasoning.

So he didn't tell him just who he was after, what he was surveilling, or where he and Monroe were going tonight.

"Long night?" Renard asked.

"Probably."

Sean nodded his acceptance. Nick gave him a last kiss, then reluctantly rose. He had a few preparations to make and Monroe to pick up. He needed his help tonight, especially since blutbaden had good noses and better eyes than humans. And looking for a forest creature in the park was like the needle in the haystack scenario. Can't see the forest for the trees.

The bond was humming softly between them and he smiled at his mate, then grabbed his jacket and car keys.

"See you later," he called.

Renard nodded, eyes sharp and deep and filled with emotions he couldn't hide. Then the door closed and he was on his way to the elevator.

He had a waldmann to find.

fin for this one!