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How many times had he and Seth run wild and whooping through this very forest, brothers-in-arms, young lords of the chase? Too many to recall.
But Kade remembered the night that the idyll of their shared childhood had ended. He still felt the weight of that moment in the cold hand of dread that clamped down on the back of his neck as he approached the sprawling compound of hand-hewn log buildings that comprised his father's Darkhaven. Unlike most Breed civilian communities, this Darkhaven had no perimeter fence or closed-circuit security cameras. There were no guards posted along the way, either. Then again, this far out in the bush, there was no need. The land itself acted as sentry to the many residences and the people living within them. Harsh, remote, expansive.
If the predators on four legs didn't dissuade any unwanted human visitors from stumbling onto the property, Kade's father and the roughly twenty other Breed males living inside the Darkhaven would be happy to take care of them.
Kade trudged through the snowy path that led up to the large main house. He knocked on the doorjamb, uncomfortable entering the place unannounced.
His father's younger brother came to the door and opened it. "What are you doing standing out there in the snow, Seth ...?"
"Uncle Maksim," Kade said, tipping his head in greeting when recognition lit up the other male's face. "How are you, Max?"
The Breed male was nearly three hundred years old but, like all of their kind, looked to be in the prime of life with his unlined face and thick brown hair. "I am well," he replied. "This is certainly a welcome surprise, Kade. Your father will be so pleased that you are home." Kade resisted the urge to chuckle at that sentiment, but only because he knew his uncle meant it as kindness. "Is he here?"
Maksim nodded. "In his study. My God, it's a relief to see you again and to know that you are alive and well. You'd been away so long without contact, I'm afraid many of us had assumed the worst about you."
"Yeah," Kade said, knowingly wry. "I get that a lot. Will you tell my father I'm here?" His uncle clapped him lightly on the shoulder. "I'll do better than that. Come with me. I'll take you to him myself."
Kade followed the big male through the massive residence to the private study that overlooked the broad western range of the property. Maksim rapped his knuckles on the door, then squeezed the latch and pushed it open.
"Kir. Look who's returned home, my brother."
Kade's father turned away from an open program on his computer, rotating in his large leather chair to face them. Kade watched the stern expression darken from one of surprise and relief, to one of confusion and not-too-mild disappointment when he realized it was the prodigal son who waited at the threshold, not the favored one. The scowl deepened. "Kade."
"Father," he replied, knowing there would be no emotional embraces or warm welcomes as his father got up from his seat and strode around to the front of his long desk. He spared only the barest glance at his brother who stood behind Kade near the door. "Leave us, Maksim."
Kade felt rather than saw his uncle's silent, obedient retreat from the room. He watched his father instead, seeing the harsh disapproval in the dark gaze that pinned him across the distance of the private study. Kade set down his duffel of belongings and weaponry and awaited his father's displeasure.
"You failed to mention you intended to come home when we spoke a couple days ago." When Kade offered no excuse, his father exhaled sharply. "Then again, that's hardly surprising. You didn't bother to say much before you left us a year ago, either. Just walked away with no thought to responsibility or to your much before you left us a year ago, either. Just walked away with no thought to responsibility or to your family."
"It was time for me to go," Kade replied after a long moment. "There were things I needed to do." His father's scoff sounded brittle with animosity. "I hope it was worth it. You broke your mother's heart, you realize that, don't you? Until you called out of the blue the other day, she was certain you'd gone off and gotten yourself killed by joining up with those warrior vigilantes back in Boston. And although Seth would be the last person to speak poorly of you, I can tell you that your leaving broke his heart, too. Your brother has changed since you've been away."
And of course, the blame for that and everything else sat squarely on Kade's shoulders. He shook his head, knowing that it was no use trying to defend himself or the Order. Lucan and the other warriors didn't need his father's support or approval. For that matter, neither did he.
He'd survived without that for a long damned time already, and he had since given up needing to prove himself to the man.
"So, Seth is still away on business for you?"
His father met the question with a narrow look. "He's due back soon. I presume he will also feed while he's gone, which is likely the reason for his delay."
"What about Patrice?"
"They are not yet mated," came his father's clipped reply. Kade grunted in acknowledgment, and wished he could feel more surprise to hear this news. For half a dozen years, it had been accepted that Seth and Patrice, one of the Breedmates who lived in the family Darkhaven since she was a child, would eventually become a blood-bonded pair. At that time, Patrice had chosen him above all the other males in the region, and to his parents' delight, Seth had agreed to make the female his mate. Problem was, he seemed to find one good excuse after another to put her off. Without a Breedmate to fulfill a vampire's need for blood, he was forced to feed off the mortal population for sustenance instead. Most Breed males welcomed the unbreakable, eternal bond that would release them from the slavery of their bloodthirst and provide a steady, loving source of strength and passion for the whole of a male's life.
But there were some who preferred to remain unattached, hunting where they willed, relishing the constant chase and conquest of new human prey.
Kade himself was in no rush to lock himself down with a Breedmate of his own, another point of contention with his father and mother, who had been blood-bonded and happily mated for more than a century. Instead they'd pinned their hopes on Seth. He'd been the studious one, the cerebral one, who it was assumed would one day take the reins as the leader of the family Darkhaven or form his own. Kade had always been the raucous opposite of his brother. It was that reckless streak that had likely condemned him in his father's eyes, while Seth's careful outward control had given him seemingly limitless freedoms.
"Well," his father said after a prolonged silence. "Since you've come to your senses and returned home now, I trust this means you're ready to try to be part of the family once more. As it seems you've come back with barely more than the clothes on your back, I'll make arrangements to transfer some funds into your old account."
"I didn't come here for a handout," Kade bit off, his anger spiking at the assumption. "And as for staying, it's not in my plan--"
"Where is my son?" Kade's words were cut short by a petite cyclone who threw open the doors of the study and breezed inside. "It really is you! Oh, Kade!"
She pulled Kade into a fierce embrace, her body vibrating with emotion. His mother was just as beautiful and vibrant as ever--more so, her glow enhanced by the large, expectant swell of her belly beneath the loose-fitting, winter-white sweater and pants she wore. Ebony-haired with pale silver eyes that matched both his and Seth's, Kade's mother, Victoria, was a breathtaking woman. Like her mate, she, too, appeared no more than thirty years old, her aging halted by the blood bond she shared with Kir.
"Oh, my darling boy. I've been so worried about you! Thank God you've come back--and will you look at me, just in time." She smiled, positively beaming. "You'll have two new brothers in less than a month. Identical twins again, just like you and Seth."
Although she seemed delighted by the prospect, Kade felt a sick twist in his gut. The talent that he and Seth shared, the ability to communicate with and command predator animals, was a unique skill passed down to them genetically from their Breedmate mother, in the same way that Seth and he shared Victoria's smooth golden skin, dark hair, and exotic eyes. But unlike her, in Kade and Seth, with their father's Breed blood running hot through their veins, the talent had a dark side. He hated to think that the pattern might repeat itself in another set of brothers.
