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.
Nicky had whirled around to face his tormentor, and fixed him with a look that would peel paint. “Well, thank you, Rory. Coming from you, we’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Really?” the brown-haired boy replied. “Then I must have said it wrong.”
Nicky turned back to Jax, mumbling stupid wolf-boy, mostly under his breath. “Jax, this unfortunate individual is a member of Marco’s family. His name is Rory, but you have my permission to ignore him completely. God knows I try to.”
“Nicky, Rory,” Marco said, a look of irritation on his handsome face. “Not in front of our guests, please.”
Jax giggled and put out a hand to the attractive boy. Before taking Jax’s hand, the young man glanced up at the wolf beside him, who nodded permission curtly before Rory stepped forward to take Jax’s hand. “Hi, Jax. Welcome. This is my mate, Casey.”
As they all moved inside the huge lodge behind Marco, Cade made sure he pulled Jax over to walkbeside him. Jax wasn’t like these other mates, and it was time he started distancing himself a bit.
Like Zack’s lodge, there were small groupings of sofas and chairs, and Marco led the group over to one of these by the massive fireplace. Cade sat down with Jax on one of the sofas, with Zack and Marco on the one facing them. Gabe perched on the arm of the sofa next to Zack and Nicky flopped down in one of the huge, overstuffed arm chairs. Casey and Rory stood by the fireplace.
“Zack tells me you’d like to look around for land with the idea of building here,” Marco said.
“Yes,” Cade said, leaning forward. “I refused to challenge my father for leadership, as Zack probably told you. When I left, some of the pack came with me. As their alpha, I’d like to do what Zack did—start my own branch of your pack, if you’ll have me.”
Marco smiled at him warmly. “You don’t even have to ask, Cade. We’re family, even if we haven’t seen each other in a while. There’s plenty of land north of here, up around the Nantahala National Forest. That’s all government park land, of course, but some of our own land adjoins the forest. A lot of it is pretty remote—no roads, just mountain trails we’d have to access by all- terrain vehicles. As a matter of fact, the area I have in mind is so remote, you’d have to take the ATVs as far as you could and then you may have to walk in the rest of the way, depending on the trail conditions. But the spot I have in mind has good water and drainage, and a great view. Beautiful country up there. When the rains come heavy, the creeks along the trail get too deep and rapid for the ATVs, though. That’s the only problem I can see with it. Getting building supplies in there would be a challenge, for sure.”
Casey nodded. “The logs could be cut on-site, but the rest would have to be taken in by the ATVs. It’ll take time, but it can be done, if the weather holds out. We could build a bridge over the deepest of the creeks you’re talking about, and take supplies in that way. It’ll take a little time to bring them all in though. You wouldn’t be able to finish it up before spring.”
“What I’d suggest,” Marco said, “is finding your spot and clearing it, get your foundation ready. Then work on building that bridge and getting some building materials up there. You can cut some of your logs before the weather gets too bad. My beta, Ian, was in charge of building all that you see around here. He’s excellent with construction, and he’ll be at your disposal. Between us and Zack, we can accommodate your group through the winter months. I’ll be glad to give you some men to help. It shouldn’t take too long.”
“That’s more than generous, Marco. I appreciate it,” Cade said.
Zack nodded. “I’ll send some of my guys too. Once we have the materials, it’ll go up quickly.”
Marco nodded. “Okay. Now we need to take you up to see this place. See if it’s what you have in mind. We can get an early start in the morning, if you’re up to it.”
Cade nodded. “Absolutely.” He glanced down at Jax and a slight color came into his cheeks. “Uh, do you know how long we’d be gone?”
“A couple of days, probably. No more than three.” Marco glanced over at Zack and then back at Cade, raising one eyebrow inquiringly. “Problem?”
Cade shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. “I-I’ll have to take Jax with us then.”
Marco looked confused. “I’d like to move fast, and we’ll probably have to hike some of it. I think it might be best if he stays here with Nicky and Gabe.”
Zack leaned over and murmured in Marco’s ear and his eyes widened. “Oh, I see. Damn. Well, of course, then. We’ll just have to make allowances for him.”
Nicky, who had draped one leg over the arm of the chair and was staring idly out the window, rolling a curl up on his finger, suddenly perked up. “Why? What is it?” he asked, breaking in on the conversation.
Marco glanced over at him with a slight frown. “I’ll explain later, Nicky.”
Nicky regarded Gabe withraised eyebrows. “They’re new mates, Nicky,” Gabe said. “They have a different kind of blood match too. Zack said it was called soif de sang, if I’m pronouncing it right. It means bloodlust, and they have to stay together almost all the time.”
“What? What is that, Marco? How come I’ve never heard of this before?”
“We’ll discuss it later, Nicky,” Marco said, but leaned over to touch his arm, as if to soften the words.
“Gabe,” Zack said, a hint of warning in his voice. “It’s not your place to talk about other people’s relationships.”
“It’s okay,” Cade said.
“No,” Marco said. “It’s not. Nicky can be inquisitive. Sometimes too inquisitive. Zack’s right—it’s none of our business.”