by Mason Sabre
“He killed a boy.”
“He did,” she said solemnly. “But can you blame a puppy for pissing over your favourite rug when you haven’t taught it to go outside? Or that it hasn’t learnt how to control the things that happen in its body?” She heard Stephen’s wisdom in her own words, but he was right. “He was a Human boy. How the hell is he meant to handle the hunger? I blame whoever bit him. He should have taken him in and shown him the way.”
“Or put him out,” Cade mumbled, as if he didn’t really want to voice that thought.
Gemma didn’t respond to it. It was too ugly a thing to think about. She got up and pulled the plug on the bath instead, and when the water had drained away, she reached behind her and pulled one of Cade’s towels from the rail above the cold radiator, and then draped it over the boy. “Stephen can move him when he gets back,” she said, taking another towel to dry the boy’s hair. Cade might look better, but she didn’t want to risk draining him again in any way.
“I can lift him,” he said, standing and stretching his arms out on either side. His shirt pulled tight over his sculpted chest, the muscles in his arms bulging as he flexed. It was as if someone had flipped a switch in her head and all she could think about suddenly was those arms a tight band around her as they lifted her, crushing her against him.
“Tell Stephen we’ll be down in a minute.” His words snapped her out of her reverie, and a flush crept up her neck to her face. She really had to learn to control herself more.
He lifted the boy with no effort this time, and as he carried him to the back bedroom, Gemma got a blanket for him. Cade dressed him in one of his own t-shirts and a pair of shorts—both were much too big for the boy’s small frame—but it didn’t matter. They would do for now, she supposed. The clothes the boy had been wearing were old and tatty, and not much use to anyone. She would have thrown them away, but then worried about possibly upsetting the boy. Maybe he’d still want them.
“He’s okay to leave alone?” she whispered.
“We can hear him,” Cade said. “Besides, he’s hunted and fed. I don’t think we’ll hear from him for a few hours. “
Stephen was sitting at the small table in Cade’s kitchen when they got there. It wasn’t a grand table, nothing huge or fancy like she had at home in her parents’ place. The lounge just off the kitchen held a sofa and a television, and the walls were lined with bookcases overflowing with books, some of the bookshelves two books deep. The only sofa in the room was covered with papers and work Cade had obviously brought home, and the top of the television was stacked with even more books. He read everything from Poe to King—Gemma liked that about him, too. She couldn’t really recall when Cade was not reading something.
“The kid is sleeping?” Stephen asked them.
“Yes,” Gemma said. “Out like a light. Maybe he’ll sleep to morning.” She sat down at the table and Stephen pushed over a mug of coffee for her. “Did you speak to dad?”
Cade went over to the small fridge under the counter and pulled out a frozen piece of meat as they talked. He grabbed a plate and tossed it into the microwave before hitting defrost on the display. Stephen had stilled and was scowling at him.
“You don’t have to watch me cook,” Cade muttered.
“That’s not cooking.” Stephen scoffed. “That’s revulsion in a bag. Don’t even come over here and eat that in front of me. I’m not going to sit and watch you poison your body that way.”
“You could have brought me something back with the boy’s food if you were so concerned.”
Gemma could hear the edge in Cade’s voice, even though she knew his words were meant to be said jokingly. There was a hint of tiredness and defeat to them, like he really couldn’t be bothered to fight about it.
“You could keep fresh meat in the fridge,” Stephen said. “There’s an entire field of bloody sheep out there. Don’t you … I don’t know … fancy some fresh lamb chops or something?” Stephen laughed at his own joke and Cade rolled his eyes. “Big bad wolf could find some little pigs or something?”
“Big bad wolf could find himself a nice, tasty cat to eat or something,” replied Cade.
Stephen grinned. “Meow.”
When the food was defrosted but still raw, Cade sat at the table and then proceeded to eat his rabbit with as much noise as he could manage. Gemma stifled a laugh, sure that he had chosen to sit opposite Stephen on purpose.
Stephen fake retched as he watched him. “I have no idea how you can stand to put that in your mouth.”
Cade cut off a sliver and then offered it to Stephen. “Mmm … it’s really good. I’ll share if you like.” Stephen screwed his face up in disgust and it was Cade’s turn to grin.
“Stop. You’re scaring him,” Gemma chuckled, earning herself a tug on her hair from her brother. Stephen leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, his expression one of pure disapproval as he watched Cade finish off his meal.
“What did your dad have to say when you called him?” Cade asked.
Stephen sighed heavily. “We lost Newberry, Breckenridge and Duncliffe Woods. All of them fucking burnt down and gone. Society is there. They’re going nuts. My dad wants me home, but I told him it’ll have to wait for morning. I don’t have my car, and I'm not walking. The Humans will pick my ass up just for being out after dark like a bad little boy.”
“Do they know what they’re looking for?” Gemma tried her hardest not to visualise the Humans creeping up to Cade’s house as they spoke, ready to ambush them.
“They don’t know,” said Stephen, shaking his head. Then he laughed. “They're looking for something that is over six feet tall. Something with claws like swords, red eyes and two sets of razor-sharp teeth.”
Gemma sat back in her chair as Stephen spoke, and stretched her legs out in front of her. Little butterflies of apprehension danced in her stomach as she dared to move her bare foot and rest it on Cade’s, tucking her toes under the hem of his jeans. His eyes flicked to hers and his entire body tensed. He glanced back at Stephen, as if checking if he had seen, but Stephen seemed lost in his own thoughts at that moment. Cade’s shoulders remained stiff, and a muscle worked in his jaw, but Gemma was delighted to see that he didn’t move his foot away. That just made the need to touch him hitch up even further.
Cade cleared his throat before speaking again, his eyes avoiding Gemma’s again. “Goddamn Humans. They just twist shit all the time. I suppose we should at least be thankful they aren’t looking for the boy. “
“No, but sure as shit they will kill him anyway when they learn that he is a half-breed. Won’t matter what he has or has not done. You know they won’t let him live.” Stephen got up to pour himself more coffee and Cade’s gaze darted back to Gemma. She watched him struggle with some kind of emotion, his eyes falling to her mouth after a moment and lingering on her lips. Gemma’s heart sped up, her lips parting of their own volition. The draw of him was so powerful that she had no idea how she stayed put, the overwhelming compulsion to crawl onto his lap almost irresistible. She quickly removed her foot from his before she made a total fool of herself, her body’s violent reaction to that hot look shocking her. God, if she ever got Cade into her bed, sex with him would be explosive. Breathing raggedly, she couldn’t contain the excitement that coursed through her veins at the look of disappointment that flitted over Cade’s features as she withdrew her foot—the fact that he had also not pulled away from her giving her heart hope.
They both averted their gaze as soon as Stephen turned back to face them. Gemma’s heart was pounding like a jackhammer while Cade sat there looking calm and collected—as if the entire earth had not just shuddered under their very feet. Stephen’s eyes narrowed on Gemma as he leaned against the counter with his mug. “You okay?” he said, frowning at her.
Oh god. Could he hear her frantic heartbeat? He was Other, their hearing heightened. She nodded earnestly, not trusting herself to speak, hoping he’d just believe she was feeling a little anxious. Cade a
nd Stephen were both extremely tall men, but at Stephen’s six feet, four inches to Cade’s was six feet, Stephen seemed to tower over almost everyone in any room. As he stood in the kitchen now while they sat, Gemma couldn’t help but feel that sense of being dwarfed even more. Stephen had a predatory air about him that made people tread carefully. Only a fool would ever try to sneak up on him—and actually hope to get out alive. “Have you decided what you're going to do exactly?” Stephen looked at Cade as he took a sip of the hot liquid in his mug. “I mean, you have this boy upstairs, and he isn’t going anywhere after what we just saw.”
Cade shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Your father’s going to go like hell at this.”
“Oh, for sure,” Cade replied. “But I’m not just going to push the boy out. I’ll find something.”
“You could train him,” Gemma added. “Don’t tell your dad about him until he is ready. Get him trained up so that he controls everything. Get him trained so that he is of use.”
“That could take ages,” said Stephen.
“Maybe, but then at least it makes it harder for Trevor to argue.”
“You mean like sneak him in a side door?”
“Exactly,” she said as she leaned back. “Make it that he can't say no.” Gemma glanced from one to the other. It was the best shot they had. Cade wasn’t beta to his pack—that was his brother, Aaron. “You could pay for him. We could pay for him,” she corrected. “Between us, we get him Society status and then no fucker can touch him.”
“And when they find out he is a half-breed?” asked Stephen.
“Then we run,” said Cade. “Fast.”
Chapter Twelve
Cade’s house had so many rooms that when it came to sleeping arrangements, there wasn’t ever really an issue with who would go where. The problem was mostly actual beds. Gemma was taking Cade’s bed, although Stephen had protested. “If the boy wakes up, where’s the first place he is going to go?”
“I can handle myself,” Gemma had scolded him, and he had eventually given up. He was taking the small room that went over the porch. It was nothing more than a tiny box room. There was no bed in it, but Stephen set up the camping cot that Cade had. It was all he needed, he had said. Cade took the sofa—after he managed to find it under all that paperwork. Not that he would manage much sleep on it anyway he mused. The truth was that he would have preferred to have slept in the room next to the boy. Just in case.
Cade stood in the bathroom, the small lamp that rested on the chair casting odd shadows around the small room. He grabbed the sides of the sink and waited for the throbbing in his head to subside. Judging by the pressure at his temples, it didn’t seem likely that was going to happen any time soon. He was burning up under his shirt and his vision swam as he raised his head to stare into the mirror. It took a moment for his reflection to actually come into focus. His mind filled with chaos and his thoughts tumbled around in his confused and troubled mind. Nothing was making any sense to him and the more he tried to force it, the less effective he was.
What would he do with the boy? That was the ultimate question. Was he prepared to take him on full-time? It occurred to Cade that perhaps the boy had a family searching for him. The boy could have been the child of someone of importance. Perhaps there was a nationwide search for the kid. Loving parents and all that shit. Of course, Cade chased that stupid thought away easily. If there was a family looking for the boy, wouldn’t they have found him? The boy’s shoes alone indicated that he had walked a very long way. What were the chances that his family were looking? Slim. It was a better bet that the family had thrown the boy out. They’d not accept an Other as one of their own—even if he was a half-breed, and even if he had been one of their own before he had been turned.
“Stupid fucking Humans and their beliefs,” Cade growled under his breath.
Cade glared at himself in the mirror, questioning himself and every decision he had made in the last few hours. How much hatred the Humans had for Others to enable them to turf out their own flesh and blood; a child. So what if they had caught what Humans termed a disease. Was that really a good enough reason? Someone gets sick and then they’re thrown out? Cade was willing to bet his life on the conviction that that would be the boy’s story. It was usually how it went. Except … this boy … he was different. He had made it somehow. Half-breeds never did—not to Cade’s knowledge anyway. Usually it was the shift that got them. This boy had strength at least.
Turning on the tap, Cade let the water run for a moment so that it was as cold as possible. His face was pale in the mirror, the rims of his eyes red and the whites bloodshot. It was his connection with the boy—he was sure of it. Was that how the boy was making it? Through Cade—through their energy? It had to be the reason why Cade had felt so drained before that he had basically passed out.
Cupping his hands under the running water, Cade splashed some onto his face. “Shit.” The water was like ice against his burning skin. He gritted his teeth and splashed on more, until the tingle under his skin began to subside and his mind began to clear. He was running a fever, except, he knew that it wasn’t his. It was the boy’s. Cade hoped it worked the other way and that if he cooled himself down, he could cool the boy down, too.
Cade patted his face dry with the small hand towel that he kept on the back of the door. He stopped and inhaled deeply. It smelt like Gemma—sweet and musky all at the same time. He kept it against his face and drowned in the scent. It calmed his wolf. He had found the piece of him that had been missing, the part that completed him. But it was wrong and forbidden. Reluctantly, he hung the towel back up and tried not to ponder what had happened before in the kitchen. Perhaps Gemma had simply needed contact tonight—perhaps she had needed something to calm her nerves. But cats didn’t need touch like wolves did, so it didn’t really make sense. Had she been flirting with him? Had what had happened after their shift earlier this evening not been in his imagination, and Gemma was actually trying to seduce him? The entire notion seemed absolutely absurd. Yet, he had heard her heart speed up, watched how her lips had parted in silent invitation, and sensed her arousal. He swore silently. Whatever the case, he had to stay away from her. This was Gemma. This was Stephen’s little sister. Practically his, too.
The small lamp in the hallway barely cast any light at all. Tonight, it seemed a little darker than usual … or maybe it was him who was a little darker than normal. Cade walked quietly, careful not to disturb Stephen and Gemma, who had both already gone to their rooms. As he was about to walk past Gemma’s room, he noticed her door stood slightly ajar. His stomach knotted, anticipation of maybe catching a glimpse of her asleep in his bed—where she belonged. The thought rose unbidden to his mind, and he forced it back down with a silent curse. As he approached her door, he kept reminding himself he was simply going to go close her door so that she’d have her privacy. That was all. He wasn’t doing it for any other reason. He wasn’t hoping to try catch a glimpse of her, he tried to convince himself. But when he reached the door, his mind emptied. Gemma was standing next to his bed in the semi-lit room, dressed only in the shirt he had loaned her.
Cade’s breath caught in his throat as his gaze travelled up the length of her long, naked legs, to the shirt, and then all the way up to her face. Their eyes met and locked, just like they had in the kitchen before. He watched her with a growing hunger that only spiked when she reached to the top button of the shirt and slowly pushed it open, exposing her throat to him. Keeping her eyes on him, she moved her hand down slowly, opening the next button and then the next. Cade sucked in his breath and took a step forward, almost as if in a trance. His mind suddenly engaging, he realised what he was about to do. He grabbed onto the wooden frame, the wood threatening to splinter under the force of his grip. It was the only thing that kept him from racing into the room and possessing every part of her.
Breathing hard, he desperately tried to regain his control, feeling it slowly slip from his grasp with e
very new button Gemma slid from its fastening. Cade almost lost it when he finally glimpsed the smooth streak of silky flesh revealed to him under the shirt that now gaped open. She only had a pair of skimpy white panties on underneath, and the sight made him as hard as steel. His arousal strained against the zipper of his jeans as his gaze travelled hungrily up over the firm smoothness of her stomach to the gentle curve of her breasts barely visible to him. His eyes caressed her perfect, naked flesh, desperately wishing it was his hands, not his eyes. He needed to taste her with an urgency that was all-consuming. His wolf howled and clawed at him, demanding to take what he considered his. It didn’t make any sense. She was tiger and he was wolf, and they could never be together. There could never be anything between them, and to even entertain the idea was sheer stupidity. Gemma let the shirt slide down her shoulders, revealing herself to him inch by inch. Cade stopped breathing, tightening his grip on the doorjamb as he fought the urge to go to her. He had seen her naked before—had seen her shift from woman to tiger. But this was different. What she was doing was just for him, not the basic, primitive need to shift. He needed to feel her in his arms, against his mouth. He needed to taste her—all of her. He needed to be inside her, leave his mark on her so that no one other than him would ever dare touch her.
You're wolf, idiot. Fucking wolf. But his mind didn’t want to listen. No matter how much he knew that this wouldn’t work—it couldn’t—his body didn’t care. And most of all, his wolf didn’t give one shit that she was a tiger. There was something different with Gemma. Something that was more than anyone he had ever been with before. He wanted to possess every part of her and make her his. He wanted to mark her and claim her as his potential. It was utter madness, he knew that. But he couldn’t fight it. The ache inside him twisted and demanded he go take what was his. His breath came in ragged and short as he watched her in all her naked perfection, the roundness of her full breasts as they came free of the fabric. His erection strained painfully against his jeans as he imagined cupping her breasts in his hands and sucking them into his mouth. Gemma’s lips parted, her breathing turning ragged as if she could read his mind. She stepped forward and that was it. His self-control snapped. The wood under his hands cracked. He let go of the doorframe and moved towards her.
