Connor and Rayce were both looking at him with startled concern. “What are you doing, Cade?” Connor asked. “The waitress was about two seconds away from calling the cops.”

Cade shrugged and took a big sip of the ice water in front of him. He shook his head and ran a big hand over his face. He tried to speak and realized he was already in a partial shift, his mouth suddenly full of extra teeth, and his voice a guttural growl. “Damn it, it was that boy. Fucking bloodlust.”

Rayce and Connor both looked astounded and Connor fell back in his chair. Cade concentrated on forcing his beast back down. “A soif de sang?” Connor was saying. “That kid? Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure. Ah hell, yeah, I’m positive. I could sense him as we rode past this place. I’ve never heard of anybody being able to do that before with a blood match, no matter how strong it was. That’s why I turned to come back here. God, it’s so strong. His scent hit me when I walked in the door, and when I touched him I thought I wouldn’t be able to control it. It scared the shit out of me.”

“But Cade, mon frère, if he’s your mate, your bloodlust, why are you letting him get away?” Rayce asked anxiously. “If you lose track of him…”

Cade blew out short breath and took another sip of water. “Did you seehim? He’s just a fucking young kid. How can I… no, I have to let it go. I have to figure out a way to resist it.”

Rayceraised his eyebrows. “Resist it? You can’t resist it—it would kill you. You’d know this too, if you were thinking straight.” He shook his head restlessly, and stood up. “No, we have to go after him.”

“And then what? Kidnap him? Think about it, Rayce, he couldn’t be more than sixteen years old,” Cade said bitterly.

Connor stood up too, holding out a hand to Cade. “Come on, we have no choice. You know this. We’ll figure something out, but we have to find him first. He’s getting away.” Cade shook his head and picked up his cup. “He’s on foot—hewon’t get too far.” Rayce tilted his head at him. “Unless he gets a ride.”

Slamming the glass back down on the table, Cade felt a jolt of sheer panic. “Fuck, I never thought of that.” He jumped to his feet and raced toward the door. He was aware that both Connor and Rayce followed him to the bikes, along with one or two of the gammas nearest the door, while Rayce called to most of the others to stay put until they got back.

As soon as they got on the road, Cade could see the boys up ahead. They were on them in a matter of only minutes, but still too long to ease the almost crushing anxiety that had lodged in Cade’s chest at the idea he might lose track of his mate. When the boy saw them coming up behind him, heyanked at the smaller boy’s arm and fled off the road, up toward a bank of trees a few yards away. Yelling to his men to be careful and not frighten him any more than they already had, Cade followed him, his speed much greater than the boys’. Though the two were running fast, dodging around trees and underbrush and obviously scared to death, the older men were able to surround them quickly, and Cade pulled the boy into his arms.

The poor kid was so frightened he fought like a mad thing while Cade concentrated on subduing him while not hurting him, not an easy thing to do. The other child had tried to run, and Cade was vaguely aware of Rayce catching hold of him and speaking to him in a soothing voice. Cade had his boy on the ground, telling him over and over he wouldn’t harm him, while the boy screamed at the other child to run and finally became so overwrought he passed out. Cade was surprised at the flood of protectiveness that washed over him, though in this case, the one person the kid was most scared of was him.

The rain was slamming down on them, really pounding down hard by this time, so Cade picked the boy up and carried him quickly back to his bike, where Rayce was already pulling out rain gear and wrapping it around the other child. Cade called out and reassured the crying child that the boy he carried was all right, but he felt like a monster for scaring him so badly. He pulled out his rain gear and draped it over the boy in his arms. The members of Cade’s pack weren’t bothered much by the rain, no matter how hard it was, but the humans who traveled with them needed to be protected, so all of the pack carried the gear on their bikes.

Cade had noticed a little motel next to the café, so they drove toward it, and Rayce went inside to secure some rooms. Cade took both the boys to one of the rooms that was ready, and told the others to head back for their breakfast, while he decided what was to be done. Cade knew Rayce would smooth over any apprehension as well. The little scene with the boys at the café had gone against his strict rule not to bring any undue attention to the pack, but he hadn’t been thinking straight once he’d seen his little mate. Connor insisted on staying with Cade, and was sitting at a table in the room, talking calmly with the younger child. Connor had bought the child a soft drink and turned on some cartoons for him, and other than a few worried glances over at the boy on the bed, the child seemed to be settling down.

When Cade got the boy, whose name the younger boy said was Jax, inside the room, he’d stripped off the wet clothing, wrapped him in some blankets, and turned up the heat. The child, who said his name was Mason, was soaked too, so Connor wrapped a thick blanket around him. He took off the child’s shoes, but neither Cade nor Connor felt comfortable asking him to take off his wet clothes. They would wait until Jax woke up.

The boy on the bed, however, belonged to him, so Cade stripped him down. No doubt he’d be upset and alarmed when he woke up, but he couldn’t risk him getting sick. He was still out like a light, so Cade hung up his clothes to dry on a chair by the low-slung heater, and went through his meager belongings, while Mason watched TV. The boys had no backpack or suitcase of any kind, nothing but the clothes they were wearing. Along with a few dollars and a business card from a probation officer, Jax’s billfold contained an Alabama driver’s license that proclaimed him to be Jackson Cody Monroe, aged nineteen—the age was a huge surprise and relief. He certainly didn’t look nineteen, but the child confirmed it.

Cade didn’t want to alarm the younger child by questioning him too closely, but when Connor asked him if they lived nearby, the child shook his head and looked evasive. He told them Jax was his brother, but that was about it.

He knew Rayce would make discreet inquiries at the café, so settled back to wait for Jackson to wake up. In the meantime, he studied his face.

Jax was beautiful, no other word for him. He had full, lush lips and high cheekbones. His face was almost delicate, but saved from looking feminine by a strong jaw with a hint of dimple in his chin. Cade already knew his eyes were a dark, striking blue that had glittered at him like colored glass when he’d held onto his wrist.

He was small, even for a human, not much larger than a female, though there was nothing feminine about what he’d seen when he stripped off his wet jeans and underwear. The sight of his pretty, thick cock, coupled with the strong scent radiating off him in the motel room had almost made Cade lose control again. He had to go stand in the open door and breathe in the fresh air for a few minutes to calm himself.

With a little moan, Jax twisted and turned in bed, coming more awake, and Cade moved to sit near him, in case he tried to bolt outside again. Mason saw it too, and jumped up to go sit beside his brother on the bed and hold tightly to his hand. Even though he was prepared for it, the icy glare Jackson fixed on Cade when he quite suddenly opened his eyes hit him hard. The boy was surprisingly calm after the scene in the woods and didn’t make any move to get up. He just pulled Mason up closer on the bed beside him and stared hard at Cade, pressing his lips together.

“Don’t be scared, Jax. No one’s going to hurt you. I promise.”

The boy’s gaze swept the room before coming to rest on Cade. His voice came out low and hoarse. “W-where are we? What are you going to do to us?”

“You’re in a motel room,” he jumped up to catch his wrists and push him back down when the boy tried to leap out of bed at those words. Cade held onto Jax as he spoke in a firm voice to him. “Calm down. It was just to get you both out of the rain. You were soaking wet, and you fainted. I told you, no one is going to hurt either of you.”

Jackson frowned, his face furious. “I didn’t faint. I never faintedin my life,” he said. “You must have knocked me out, you or those gorillas you had with you.” He struggled against Cade’s grip on his wrists. “Let me go, I tell you. I’ll kill you when I get up.”

“Well, as terrifying as that sounds, you’re not going anywhere, so relax or I’ll have to tie you to the bed.” He squeezed his wrists a little. “Stop it. I mean it, Jackson.”

“My name is Jax, and I’m not scared of you.”

“Mmm-hmm. Well, good. I don’t want you to be scared, which is what I believe I just said.”

Jax settled down, and Cade released him. Immediately, he scooted back up to the headboard, pulling Mason along with him.

Cade stood over him for a long moment, looking down at him. “Concentrate, please, and answer my questions. Is this ID real? Are you reallynineteen years old?”

“What? Yes, of course it’s real, and what do you mean am I really nineteen? That’s what it says, doesn’t it? What’s it to you anyway? Just cause I’m not some big overgrown asshole doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself.”

“Yeah, you seem to be doing a fine job of it so far, stealing tips and crackers to get something to eat, running out in the rain and fainting from hunger.”

“I did not faint. I just took those crackers because I...because I was…”

“Planning on having a really big salad later? Bullshit, boy, don’t lie to me. You had seventeen bucks in your wallet, and you didn’t want to spend it on unnecessary things like, oh, I don’t know, food for example.” Cade could hear himself being snarky and sarcastic, and he honestly didn’t know where it was coming from. Something about this situation was just bringing it out in him. Feeling trapped and like his back was against the wall, he nevertheless took a deep breath and reminded himself how frightened the boy must be. He needed to cool it.