“Yes, all that happened. It wasn’t just your imagination. But I think you’ve had too many shocks for one night. I’m taking you to bed, and I’ll explain things in the morning.”

Tucker gave him a sharp, resentful look and jumped up from the sofa. “No! We’ll talk now.”

Gavin grabbed his wrist and pulled him close to his body, staring down into his eyes. The silence between them stretched out, almost tangible. Gavinstudied his mate’s face. He really was quite beautiful. His hair was golden brown and cut short, with just a little curl trying to start at his neckline. Gavin thought he must not like the curl and kept it short. He’d try to convince him to grow it out a little when he got him home. His eyes were a clear blue, and his eyelashes were lush. His lips were sinfully full and a little pouty. Very kissable, Gavin thought. He’d like to suck him off again. Or fuck him. Maybe both.

Tucker cleared his throat and leaned away from him as far as he could. “Gavin…if that’s what your name is…there’s something going on with you, and I have to know what it is.”

“What do you mean?” Gavin asked, startled and a little amused. He pulled his mate close, ignoring his little struggles and made him settle in his arms. Tucker was too smart. Gavin hated being evasive with him, but it really wasn’t time yet to let Tucker know what was happening to him. He’d come so close to losing him.

“You know exactly what I mean! What was that thing that attacked me? After you…after we…you practically ordered me to go home, and then, then I see you on the beach, like you were following me. I don’t understand any of this. Who were those men you were with?” He glanced up and gave Gavin a resentful little glance, his sweet lips pushing out in a pout. Oh yeah, sweetheart. You’re all mine. You just haven’t realized it yet.

“I did follow you, baby, because I got a bad feeling. Good thing too, or I’d never have been in time.”

Tucker shuddered, but shook his head doggedly. “But how did you know? How did you know I was on the beach? And what were you doing there? How did you…” He buried his face in his hands. “Shit, I don’t even know what I’m saying. I’m so confused.”

Uncomfortable with the turn the conversation was taking, Gavin let Tucker go and turned toward the window to gaze out at the darkened beach. “We don’t need to talk about it right now. We’ll talk about it in the morning. Right now, you need to rest. You’ve had a big shock.” Gavin turned to walk over to the refrigerator for another beer, but Tucker leaned forward and pulled on his arm.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Gavin grinned down at him. Damn, he was cute. Especially when he went all law enforcement on him.

“Just to get another beer, baby.”

“No,” Tucker said, relaxing a little, but not dropping his hand. “I have more questions for you, Gavin, and damn it, I need some answers!”

“Maybe you’re right. Enough beer for the night. Let’s go to bed, and I’ll give you all the answers you need.” Gavin put his arm around Tucker’s waist and drew him toward the bed.

“No, I’m serious, Gavin. We need to talk.” Tucker looked like he was beginning to get a little angry. His eyes darted around the room, maybe looking for a way out. He tried to pull back a little.

“We will, baby. I’m too exhausted to do this tonight, so you’re staying until morning. Please.” Maybe that was the magic word to get Tucker to cooperate just a little. It had seemed to work last night in the club. “Please, baby. We’ll talk then. I promise, sweetheart.”

The word still retained a little of its power, because though Tucker stiffened, he finally sighed and nodded his head. “All right. I don’t want to fight with you either. Since it’s so late, I guess I could stay till morning. I’m feeling a little odd. Maybe I can sleep there on the couch.”

“No fucking way,” Gavin said with a smile, still drawing him toward the bed. “You’ll sleep with me. Let’s get some rest, darlin’. We’ve both had too much excitement for one night. I’ll explain everything in the morning. I promise. Things will look better then.”

In a matter of minutes, he’d pulled Tucker to the bed and quickly divested him of his clothes. He put a hand on Tucker’s chest and gently pushed him back on the bed. Tucker sank down, obviously still a little disoriented and dazed by the turn of events, or he’d never have let Gavin handle him that way without a struggle. Climbing in next to him, Gavin wrapped his arms around him and heard Tucker sigh in soft contentment.

Tucker fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, but Gavin lay awake a long time, unable to relax with his mate’s strong, delicious scent surrounding him. He tried hard to will himself to go to sleep, but his mind kept racing.

Gavin and the other members of his pack had tracked Tommy to the southern tip of Alabama and then lost the trail, reluctantly returning home. A couple of days later, they’d read of the horrific murders in Panama City, Florida. When they first suspected Tommy was in Florida, Gavin had immediately flown down two of his best men to begin searching for him. Pretending to be tourists who’d had their hotel room burgled, the gammas had gone to the police station when they arrived and spoken to the lead detective on the case, a Lt. Tucker, recognizing his scent right away as that of a natural pet and a member of their pack. They had immediately notified their alpha.

Richard, Gavin’s beta, was shocked and excited.

“I’m the one who needs to go to Florida—this man is almost certainly my son!” Richard had said when Gavintold him he’d decided to travel down to Panama City. He’d slammed his hand down on the desk between them, his handsome features pulled down in an angry frown.

Twenty-five years before, Richard had finally found his blood mate after years of searching. She was a beautiful young woman who lived in the nearby town of Sylva, North Carolina, a small town close to the border of Tennessee, about halfway between the North Carolina pack and Gavin’s own pack.

Richard met his mate, Angela, in a shopping mall. She had come to the Pigeon Forge area near the park to shop the outlet malls close by. Richard had been there too, shopping for some new boots, and they fell in love at first sight.

This was not at all unusual for wolves, who had one bloodmate, chosen for them by fate, and they recognized this mate by their scent, which was usually totally irresistible to them. The surprising thing was that Angela seemed to feel the same way, and had quickly agreed to become his wife and his mate after only a week. She said later that she fell in love with him at first sight and would have married him the same day if she hadn’t been afraid he’d think she was totally shameless.

She became pregnant right away, and when their child was born after not quite a year together, they were supremely happy. Then on a cold December afternoon, her car slid off an icy mountain road, and she was killed instantly. Their infant son was safe in his car carrier, with barely a scratch on him.

Richard was inconsolable for months. Wolves only have one bloodmate, and had been known to pine away and even die themselves after losing their mates. Richard struggled badly, but in the end he’d pulled himself out of his deep depression for the sake of his son. Angela’s mother had offered to care for the baby until he felt more able to do so, and when Richard finally called to let her know he’d be by to pick the baby up the next day, she’d seemed fine, if a little distracted. When he arrived, however, the house was empty, and no one seemed to know where they had gone. He searched for them everywhere, but they had vanished seemingly without a trace. Richard had spent the next twenty-some years searching for his son.

Knowing how upset his normally calm second-in-command must be to lose control and yell at him that way, his sharp tone coming very close to insubordination, Gavindidn’t immediately answer. Instead, he’d leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “Richard, I know how you must feel, but you can’t be sure he’s your son.”

“C’mon, Gavin, my wife’s maiden name was Tucker. And James was her father’s name!”

“It’s wonderful that you may havelocated your son after all these years, and I can’t tell you how happy I am for you. But I need to be in on this capture. We need to find out who has been kidnapping our pets, and I want to take Tommy alive. I mean to talk to him and see if he can give me some answers.” He leaned forward, willing his beta to understand. “I promise you I’ll bring this man home to you, Richard, if he’s your son. You have my word. In the meantime, I need you here to run things while I’m gone. Can you please do that for me?”

Richard had jammed his hands in his pockets, dropping his gaze. “You know I will. But what if he won’t come, Gavin? He’s a grown man now, and he’s listed as a detective on the case. He might just refuse to believe any of this. Maybe his grandparents have made him hate me.”

“Let’s take one thing at a time. If I had to guess, I’d say he doesn’t even know you exist. The gammas we sent to talk to himsaid he didn’t seem to notice anything odd or different about them, so that makes me think he’s a pet, and definitely not a wolf. A wolf would have caught their scent.”

“Thank God he’s a pet,” Richard said. “Can you imagine how frightened he would have been at puberty if he’d suddenly shifted?” Richard’s lips thinned to a white line. “Damn them for taking him from me! They had no right!”

Gavincame around the desk to put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “At least you may have finally located him after all these years. We need to get him here so you can explain things to him, and then let him make his own decision. With any luck, he’ll decide to stay with us.”

Gavin and his personal guards had left the next day to travel to Florida to track Tommy down, hoping to find him before he killed again. As soon as they arrived, he’d gone to the last crime scene, hoping to pick up a scent or maybe get a glimpse of Tucker.Though he’d found a detective working there, he hadn’t looked like the pictures of Tucker. Tommy’s scent was faintly there, but overlaid with too many others to be of any use. When the detective on the scene started to take an interest in Gavin, he’d moved reluctantly away.