Cade by Mason Sabre Page B

grown weak, the bond between him and the boy sapping him of his strength. Gemma prayed the boy would regain his strength soon. It made her heart ache to watch Cade, helpless to stop what was happening to him.
    They’d had to change the water in the boy’s bath twice already. The boy was so caked in mud and blood that the water had changed to a murky red almost instantly. He was still covered in bits of Human blood that the swim hadn’t managed to rid him of, as well as the rabbit’s he had just devoured. It made him appear menacing, like the sweet face of death, but as she washed it all away, the young boy revealed underneath looked pure and innocent. He had a handsome face, she mused as she cleaned off the last remnants of dirt and blood, but he was sickly pale and disconcertingly scrawny. Her heart clenched in pity for the hell he must have been through over these last days and weeks.
    “I’ll make us some coffee,” Stephen said from the doorway as he stood silently watching them. She was glad he was there in a way and, in others, she wasn’t. Although she knew that it was nothing more than her own paranoia, it felt that he watched her every move. His eyes lingered on her for a moment, and then on Cade, as if deciding whether he should leave them both alone together. Had he realised how she felt about his best friend, or was this all just her own mind playing wicked tricks on her? If there was one thing you could never deny about Stephen, it was the shrewd, cunning intelligence he possessed. It was a mistake to ever underestimate how smart both he and his tiger were. 
    She averted her gaze, afraid he might see right through her. Maybe there was nothing more to Stephen’s stare than worry for his little sister and his best friend. Despite his façade of cool composure and sarcasm, she knew just how worried he was right now about Cade. They were brothers—if not in blood, then in spirit. It was almost as if Stephen had two versions of himself. There was the part of him that was a deep thinker, who calculated every move his opponent would make before they even made it, and on the other side, you had the joker—the big grin that lit up his eyes and promised mischief and mayhem. She hoped one day that he would find the right mate. Not one to please the Council and his place as alpha, but one that would challenge his wit and intelligence, who could invoke his interest and keep it—no small feat, of course. Stephen was known for his endless train of affairs—he and Cade each had their hordes of female admirers—but with Stephen, they were always extremely short-lived, and Gemma never remembered any relationship with a woman that he’d had that was more than just physical. Any woman would have to be exceedingly strong of mind to deal with Stephen—she’d have to match his intelligent and arrogance for his interest to be piqued at all. But Gemma had hope that there was someone out there for everyone. She was so relieved that Cade hadn’t met a woman he wanted to get serious with yet. Her young heart had broken every time she’d seen him with a woman on his arm. She’d wanted to scratch and claw her eyes out.
    “You drink coffee?” Even in this state, Cade managed to add the sarcasm Gemma had come to love about him.
    “It makes me look normal,” Stephen drawled, but Gemma knew full well the relief he was feeling that his friend was well enough to poke fun at him. “Helps me fit in.”
    “There isn’t anything that’s going to do that,” Gemma snorted, rolling her eyes at him. She laughed when he placed a hand over his heart and gave her an expression of mock hurt.
    “Do you want one?” he asked, already heading towards the staircase. “I'm going to call Pops, too. See what’s going on.”
    “If you call him Pops, he’s’ going to kill you. You do realise that?” she called out after him. Of course Stephen did, and she knew that was the reason he did it. It wasn’t so much of a joke really, but