“Do you swear to protect those in our clan even into death?”
“I do.”
“Tao, son of Cheng, I accept you into my clan as one of my own. I swear to protect you, guide you, and care for you even into death.”
“Thank you, Alpha Zhuang.”
Zhuang felt a tingle at the base of his skull. He trembled as that tingle swept through him. He had expected there to be some sort of pain, but what he got was a warmth that spread throughout his entire body and the feeling as if he belonged to something bigger than himself.
“Can you hear me, Tao?”he asked silently.
Tao’s grin was bigger than Zhuang had ever seen. “Yeah,” he said out loud. “I can hear you.”
Zhuang smiled as he sliced another cut into his wrist and held his arm out to Xias. “Your turn, mate.”
* * * *
“Zhuang, we need to stop so I can feed the cubs.”
Zhuang glanced into the backseat. The cubs were awake and trying to suck on Xias’s fingers. “I don’t suppose they’re up to meat yet, are they?” It would be so much easier going through a drive-through and grabbing some hamburger patties.
Xias shook his head. “They’re just starting to eat solids now. Meat is a couple of weeks off.”
“Okay, we’ll find someplace.”
“There’s a town about ten miles down the road,” Tao said. “Why don’t we rent a motel room? That way, Xias can feed the cubs, we can eat, and then we can all get a couple of hours’ rest. I doubt your father will be at work before dawn anyway.”
Tao was right. His father was an early riser, but he spent first thing in the morning with his mate. He never went to the office before eight o’clock in the morning unless there was an emergency. While this qualified as an emergency, Zhuang didn’t want to do anything that would draw attention to them. He was hoping to slip in under the radar.
“What do you think, mate? Fancy something to eat?”
Xias groaned. “God, yes. I’m starving.”
Zhuang chuckled. “Okay, find us a motel, something not on the main road if you can help it. And we’ll need to pay in cash. I don’t want anyone to be able to trace us back to the motel.”
Tao nodded. “I’ll find something.”
He was right. He did find something, and it was off the beaten path. It was actually a couple of miles west of town. Tao had gotten that information from the guy pumping gas at the gas station. It wasn’t the nicest place in the world, but they were only going to be there a couple of hours. They didn’t have time to be picky.
Zhuang and Xias waited in the car with the cubs while Tao went inside and rented them a room for the night. The place had seen better days, but Zhuang doubted management had sunk to renting out rooms by the hour.
By the time they got to their room, the cubs were crying. It was the most heart-wrenching sound Zhuang had ever heard. He wanted to go out and kill the world to make them happy again. Xias wasted no time in setting the cubs down on the bed, stripping his clothes off, and then shifting. Within moments, blessed silence filled the room, broken only by the sound of slurping.
“I’m going to go find us all something to eat,” Tao said as he headed for the door. “I should be back in about a half hour.”
Zhuang pulled some money out of his pocket and handed it to Tao. “Could you stop by a store and pick Xias up some shoes? I don’t like him running around in just his socks.”
Tao took the money before glancing at Xias. “What size do you wear, short stuff?”
Even in cat form, Xias had a pretty good eye roll. “I wear a size eight,” he sent Zhuang through their bond.
Zhuang chuckled. “He wears an eight.”
“Got it.”
Zhuang closed and locked the door after Tao left. He turned to watch his little family. If someone had told him two days ago that he’d be staring at his mate and cubs, he would have laughed himself silly. Now, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the world.
He’d known finding his true mate and bonding would change his world forever, but he’d never thought he’d be so filled with…just everything. Simply watching Xias feed the cubs filled him with a completeness and peace he’d never expected.
