after several minutes had passed, lucas became aware of larssen standing nearby, and lucas turned to him, his eyes pleading with him to forgive him and understand that he'd been out of control. larssen put a hand on his shoulder. "it's all right. i knew you didn't realize what you were doing." he glanced down at kai, whose face was red and furious, his eyes tightly shut, his face scrunched up and full of tension.

"kai, it's all right now. lucas is back to himself, and he's not going to hurt you."

"get away from me, both of you. you're both monsters." kai's voice was calmer, but still hoarse and breathy. lucas kissed the side of his face and whispered to him.

"baby, you know we shift to our wolves when we're angry or upset. i thought you understood that. we didn't mean to frighten you."

kai opened his eyes and glared up at him. "who said i was frightened? i was startled-shocked, that's all. it's nothing i've ever seen before. and you tried to kill me." his voice broke on the last few words, and he turned his face away again.

"no, no, kai. i didn't mean to hurt you. i've been-upset. i've been looking for you everywhere. i thought you were lost." lucas could hear his voice rising, and made a conscious effort to calm himself. it was suddenly all he could do not to shake kai to make him understand that he could never disappear like that again, but he clamped down on his anger, not wishing to frighten him any further.

kai nodded, and turned his face away, doubling over and hugging his stomach. he closed his eyes. lucas kissed him again on the side of the face, trying to ease his pains, but kai pushed him away.

larssen patted kai's shoulder as well, turning an accusing look on lucas. "i've got the windiga in the vehicle. take care of your boy." he glanced down at him again. "he's obviously in pain and frightened half to death. come when you're ready."

he headed back to the vehicle and lucas took a deep breath. "kai," he said softly. "kai, i can't tell you how sorry i am for hurting you and scaring you like that. i didn't mean it. i let my wolf get out of control. i'm so sorry, baby."

at the use of the rare endearment, kai opened his eyes and stared up at him accusingly. "you attacked me," he said, pushing at his chest. "i thought you were trying to kill me."

"i know it must have seemed that way to you, but my wolf was claiming you. he was trying to mate with you, not kill you. i-i should have had better control, but i was...i was so..." he sagged a little in exhaustion. "there's no good excuse for my actions." he stood up and hauled kai back to his feet, still holding onto his wrist, realizing that he was absolutely incapable of turning kai loose.

the sheer violence of his feelings scared him a little. he was the alpha and he should never allow his feelings to overwhelm him so, but he couldn't help it. he'd known the attraction to kai was strong from the first time he'd seen him, but he'd fallen totally in love with this boy when he wasn't looking, and the idea scared him to death. he took another deep breath to calm himself and tried to make his voice non-threatening.

"where have you been, kai?"

"up there," kai said, gesturing toward the mountain with a jerk of his head. "merri ran away, and followed another windiga up in the forest. i was chasing her."

"you mean to tell me you came all this way over that damn little..." lucas could hear himself getting loud again, so he made another conscious effort to calm down. "did you ever think about coming back and letting me know, so i could go after merri for you?"

kai looked confused. "no. i was perfectly capable of going for her, and you were at work. i didn't want to disturb you. i used to go on hunts that lasted for days, lucas. i know what i'm capable of. i would have been back sooner if not for the storm-oh, and i twisted my ankle when i fell."

"fell?" lucas looked him up and down. "that's right, you were limping. where are you hurt?"

"just my ankle.it's nothing, really, but it's a little swollen so i had to take it slow this morning. then i couldn't find the trail again, so...i know it all sounds dumb now, because you've probably been looking for me some. i hope you didn't have to take a whole day off work."

looking for him some? hope you didn't take a whole day off work? could he be serious? lucas had shut down the entire mining operation for over twenty-four hours and had most of the pack out scouring the area for him. he rubbed a hand over his face and pulled kai gently toward him, checking first to make sure he came willingly. after scaring him so badly, he wouldn't have blamed him if he'd shied away and never spoke to him again. kai allowed him to draw him closer, though, and even pressed his face into lucas's neck. "i just want to go home. i'm thirsty and hungry."

lucas sighed, kissing the top of his head. "yes, kai.we can go home."

"what's the matter, kai?" ryan asked, using the tiny remote device to flip through the choices on the screen of the vid machine. "not in the mood for a vid? we can just talk, if you'd rather."

"no, it's not that," kai said, scratching furiously at his upper arm. "it's just that i'm so furious at lucas for putting this thing in me."

"the locator chip?" he came over to inspect the swollen place on kai's arm. "oh hells, they're not so bad once the scab heals over. blayde put one on me a while ago."

kai's mouth fell open. "and you allowed it? he put a chip in your arm like you were some kind of pet animal, and it doesn't make you angry?" he tightened his jaw. "i tried my best to kill lucas, but he gave me some kind of sedative. damn him."

ryan shrugged. "kai, listen to me. you have to understand the reason behind it. the family is so well known and powerful that the mates are at risk for being kidnapped and held for ransom. or even worse. it's kind of a long story, but when blayde and i first got together, i was running away from this powerful official of the alliance. the guy had everyone fooled, and he'd killed my best friend and then blamed it on me. blayde took me back to earth to try and clear my name, or at least get me immunity, and while we were there, i was kidnapped by the bastard who accused me. thank the gods nikolai was kidnapped right along with me and they had no idea of just how fierce the lycans are. he saved me from being raped and killed before blayde found us."

"oh dear goddess," kai said softly. "but no one's after me, ryan. the whole thing's stupid."

"look, you were a member of the royal family back home, right? so you must have had guards and stuff, all the time."

kai shrugged and nodded.

"well, things are more relaxed around here, but lucas is still our leader-our alpha. that's the same as royalty in the lycan world. would you rather he put guards on you to follow you around all day?"

kai, not ready to give up his anger at lucas just yet, pursed his lips and stared out the window.

"so when blayde wanted to chip me," ryan continued. "i didn't put up a fuss. the balenescus are bounty hunters, you know, along with their other enterprises, and chip prisoners all the time so that if they escape, they know just where to find them again."

kai crossed his arms and huffed out a breath. "i'm not a prisoner either. though i'm beginning to feel like one."

"no, of course not, but the chip helps lucas keep you safe, at least in his mind. he was pretty frantic when you got lost in the woods."

"i wasn't lost, i keep telling everyone. i'm not an idiot, and i was heading back home when they found me. i had a little trouble locating the trail, but that's to be expected, surely. i'm not familiar with these woods on lycanus 3. but i located the city and i'd started walking back when they found me. i just hurt my ankle, that's all, and i was walking slowly."

"oh, you don't have to explain it to me." ryan said. "it was lucas who was going ballistic."

"what does this mean, going ballistic? you mean he was angry? i know." kai folded his arms across his chest and got a hurt expression on his face. "he attacked me when he found me, and bit my neck. "he turned to show ryan the healed over puncture wounds that hadn't quite faded yet. "see what he did?"

ryan raised his eyebrows. "wow, he really was torn up if he tried to give you the mating bite again. was he in his lycan wolf?"

"yes, it frightened me half to death. i'd never actually seen that before. i knew they shifted, of course, but to actually see it...and to see it coming after me! i admit i panicked a little. then when we got home, it was even worse. he put me in his bed and made love to me for hours. so long, i think i passed out for a little while."

ryan's eyebrows shot up. "ooh, nice. fucked unconscious. it's been a while since blayde did that to me."

kai felt the hot stain of a blush on his cheeks. "he must have gone to sleep that way because when i woke up he still had his-you know, his thing-still up inside me, and his hand was holding onto my flesh. the one between my legs," he whispered conspiratorially.

"your flesh? his thing? honey, don't you even know what to call your dick?"

kai felt the hotness spreading over his face. "ryan. it's not nice to talk like that. yes, i know the names for it-lucas has told me, but i was brought up not to discuss such things. besides, isn't a cock some kind of bird? why would you give it a name like that? and a prick is a cut and dick is a man's name. aren't they? i just don't understand all these names you have for it."

ryan laughed so hard he fell down on his back on the sofa. kai smiled at him indulgently. "i know you're laughing at me, but it's true. i don't understand."