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. ”
Nicky gave Marco a dark look before turning to Cade and giving him a brilliant smile. “I apologize, Cade, if I appearto be nosy. I really don’t mean to. ”