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Gabe shook his head. “Beats me. I never even heard of the bloodlust before this morning. ” “The difference is what we’re not sure about, Jax,” Cade answered. “All we have to go on is old stories and wild rumors. The blood match compels a wolf to be with a mate, not necessarily of his own choosing. His blood calls to that one person, no matter who it might be. During the mating, the wolf bites his mate, and the bond is formed by a combination of the mating itself and the bite. From that time on, the wolf can read the mind of his mate, in short snatches, if the distance isn’t too great. ”
“It’s mostly images,” Zack continued. “Our wolves don’t think in language, really. For example, right now, I can taste pepperoni and hear Queen in my head. Feeling retro, baby, or channeling Freddie Mercury today?”
“Shut up,” Gabe said cheerfully, taking another bite of pizza.
“Well, your outfit today did suggest it,” Zack said conversationally, but smiled at him, even when Gabe raised his middle finger.
Cade looked back and forth between the two with narrowed eyes, but didn’t comment. He did, however, point at the green beans on Jax’s plate. “Eat,” he told Jax. “You can chat with Gabe later. ”
Gabe snorted. “Alpha pair, huh? Right…”
Zack gave him a quelling look. “Gabe? You do realize you’re speaking out loud, don’t you?”
Gabe actually blushed a little as he glanced over at Cade. “Sorry,” he muttered, barely loud enough to be heard.
Cade nodded. “It’s all right. It’s just that Jax and Mason weren’t eating well when we met them. They both still need to gain back a few pounds, that’s all. I’m just looking out for him. ” Gabe nodded. “Oh, it’s none of my business. ”
“No, it certainly isn’t,” Zack said. “Not that it’s ever stopped you before. ” Cade tried not to smile at the look on Gabe’s face, continuing his explanation. “So anyway, the bloodlust is the same, only even more intense. I actually have to have Jax’s blood to survive, just as he has to have mine, and the mind connection is a two-way one. That’s all I’m sure about so far. That and the fact that it makes us ill to be separated. Or at least that was the case for our grandparents. ”
“It’s also said that Jax will be able to shift into a wolf and his wolf will be alpha, as you mentioned,” Zack added. “I think Jax and Cade are still waiting for that. ” He turned to Cade. “Now, if you feel up to it, I thought we’d travel over to see Marco tomorrow. His place is only a little over an hour’s drive from here. They have more available land than we do here, and he may know of some good building spots. ”
“Sounds good,” Cade replied. “The sooner the better, and I haven’t seen Marco in ages. ” “Marco is the North Carolina alpha,” Gabe told Jax. “His mate is Nicky, and he’s great. He’s my best friend. ”
“Yes,” Zack said. “Ah, Nicky. And you thought Gabe is spoiled rotten. Wait until you meet Nicky. ”
Cade’s lips twisted, trying to hide a smile. He shook his head politely. “No, I
don’t think that at all. ”
Zack raised one eyebrow. “Please. I lost the upper hand a long time ago with Gabe, and I know it. With Marco, I really don’t think he ever had it, though he keeps trying. ” Gabe smirked, and the conversation continued all around Jax, but he stopped paying close attention. He hadn’t gotten much sleep at all the night before because of their mating, and even though Cade made him soak in the tub that morning before they left, he was sore and achy and dead tired. He decided to close his eyes for just a second, and the next thing he knew he heard Zack speaking to Cade in a loud voice. “Better catch him, Cade. Your mate is about to take a nap in his mashed potatoes. ”
Cade looked out the window as they climbed the mountain, heading toward Marco’s lodge. Zack was driving with Gabe sitting next to him in the front seat of the big SUV, while Cade and Jax sat beside each other in the back seat. They’d left Mason behind back at the lodge and Connor said he’d look out for him. He needed the rest.
Cade glanced over at Jax, pleased to see he looked much more rested this morning and the color was back in his cheeks after a good night’s sleep. He surveyed what he was wearing a little more disapprovingly though.
Jax was wearing his own version of Gabe’s tight, ripped jeans, and his shirt was too small. As soon as he could go to town, Cade intended to buy Jax some more new clothes, including jeans that didn’t look like a homeless person’s. He’d apparently borrowed some of Gabe’s eyeliner too at some point that morning, and though Cade didn’t find it in the least attractive, Jax had seemed so nervous when he’d reappeared wearing it that Cade hadn’t had the heart to express his disapproval.
They’d both slept well the night before, and though Jax had cuddled up next to him, he’d managed not to make love to the boy like he badly wanted to, knowing how exhausted, not to mention sore, he must be. He’d settled for spooning him all night, waking up with a rock-hard erection. Jax’s hand resting on his thigh at the moment wasn’t helping any, especially the way he kept sliding it nervously up and down between his knee and his groin.
Cade looked out the window, struck again at the beauty of the mountains. He was glad he’d made the decision to come here. He couldn’t see how he could ever get tired of looking at mountain vistas like the ones out his window.
His more distant cousin, Marco, lived on a large estate called Mountainwood. From what Zack told him, his lodge was massive, with additions branching out from the main lodge. The lodge itself lay some ten miles off the main road, back against a mountainside. Cade hadn’t seen Marco since they were in their teens, but he remembered him as a nice guy, popular with all the girls. He wondered if, like him, Marco preferred females. Or he used to, anyway. Not that it mattered much to either of them anymore, he thought ruefully.
Jax moved his hand higher on Cade’s thigh, and Cade couldn’t resist a quick squeeze of Jax’s decidedly un-female and very bulging groin. Jax gave a little squeak, and Cade lowered his head to whisper in his ear. “Behave. It’s bad enough I won’t be able to be alone with you until tonight. ”
Jax smiled and put his head on Cade’s arm. Cade’s mind was instantly flooded with images of their lovemaking on the night they mated for the first time. He shifted uncomfortably and whispered to Jax again. “Stop it, or I’ll tell Zack to stop this car, so I can take you out into the woods. You won’t be teasing so much when your backside is itching from poison ivy. ”
“Yes, Cade,” he answered meekly, but a few of the images persisted. He frowned at the back of Gabe’s head. He had a very bad feeling that Gabe, and from what he heard so far, this Nicky were going to be bad influences on his little mate.
“There’s Marco’s lodge,” Zack said, and Cade sat forward eagerly. Up ahead, he could see the lodge, situated on a little rise. As Zack had told him, the main lodge was made of handscraped logs, stained a dark brown, and it rose some three stories high. It was huge, made even more impressive by the two wings that angled back from either side of it. These were additions, according to Zack, but wellconstructed ones that looked almost as if they’d been built at the same time as the main house. The driveway circled around in front, and as they pulled up, Cade saw Marco standing on the front porch to meet them.
His cousin was probably six feet five inches tall and impressively muscular, but the one that drew his immediate attention was the young man standing next to him. He was much shorter than Marco, only around five feet ten or so, with a lean, yet muscular build. This must be Nicky, Marco’s mate. His hair was as blond as Jax’s, though much curlier, and his eyes were the same bright blue. They could almost have been brothers, except for the man’s face. As cute and young as Jax was, he still looked masculine. This man’s face was heart-shaped and pretty as a girl’s, with a delicate nose and full, luscious lips. Only a strong jawline kept him from looking totally feminine. His eyelashes were sinfully long and thick, and he exuded sex appeal, though Cade was mostly immune to it now. Still, if he hadn’t met Jax, he knew he would have taken more than a second look.
They got out of the big SUV and Zack shook hands with Marco, who shook Cade’s hand and then pulled him into a one-armed hug. Beside them, Nicky and Gabe were embracing, their talk lively and loud. Gabe put out a hand and drew Jax over to stand beside him. Cade noticed and looked over at them.
“Nicky, this is Jax. He’s not really twelve, though I know he looks it. He’s Cade’s new mate. ” Nicky gave him a beautiful smile and pulled Jax in for a hug . That’s when a loud snort sounded behind him and the boys turned to face a cute young man with curly brown hair. He was standing next to one of the wolves. He looked from Gabe to Nicky and back to Jax. “My God— Nicky and Gabe have a love child. How come I never knew that?”
Cade surveyed the three younger men with a frown. Gabe and Nicky were approximately the same size and almost looked like negative images of each other, with Nicky blond and fair and Gabe tanned and brunet. Nicky was dressed similarly to Jax, with tight jeans and a button-up shirt, while Gabe was dressed as outrageously as ever. His T-shirt this morning was red and had the words Easy Lay written across the front. In between the two stood Jax, his clothes almost as straightarrow as Nicky’s, except for the ripped jeans and the dark eyeliner. Though obviously younger, he really did resemble some kind of cross between Nicky and Gabe.
