Conner had the urge to cuff the kid. Seriously smack him. His mate was still bleeding and the kid was looking like he was full of himself all over again. He turned away from the young leopard to keep from springing on him and ripping the smirk from his face. With gentle hands, he wrapped up Isabeau’s arm and, because he couldn’t help himself, he pressed a kiss over the bandage, uncaring what she—or any of the others—thought.

“Let’s move out. Adan? You all right?”

“Still deciding whether or not to shoot our young friend,” Adan answered from where he was hiding in the brush. “It’s more tempting than you could possibly know.”

“Oh, I think I have some idea,” Conner said. He slid his hand down Isabeau’s arm until his fingers tangled with hers. “Let’s get moving.”

“Where are we going?” the kid asked eagerly. He nearly bounced as he hurried after them.

Elijah launched himself into the air, leaping on the kid’s back, hitting him with enough force to knock him over. The boy rolled in the leaves and insects, and Elijah kept going without breaking stride, his large paws making no sound as he paced alongside Conner.

Conner sent him a small nod of appreciation. Isabeau turned her face against his side and muffled a small laugh.

“You did good, Isabeau,” he praised. “You didn’t panic.”

“I knew you’d come,” she said, shocking him.

There was a quiet acceptance in her voice. She might not realize it, but she trusted him a lot more than she let on. “He didn’t threaten me at first. He was shocked when he came out of the brush and I was there.”

Conner sniffed his disdain, his cat chuffing in annoyance. The kid hadn’t used his leopard senses even when he was hunting. His disdain for Adan had left him handicapped. He hadn’t done his homework. He didn’t even realize who he was hunting. Adan’s skill in the rain forest was known far and wide, yet the young man hadn’t been aware of him.

“What village do you come from?” Conner asked, suddenly suspicious.

“My village is in Costa Rica,” Jeremiah said cheerfully. He shot Conner a quick grin. “I’ve been around. It’s not like I’ve never been out of the forest.”

This time Rio charged him, knocking him flat. He hit the kid hard enough to produce a grunt of pain. As Rio moved off the boy, he cuffed him hard with his large paw, his claws retracted, but definitely a reprimand.

Jeremiah rolled, came up in a crouch, scowling at the large leopard as he dusted himself off. “Hey! I have been around.”

“Obviously you didn’t learn respect,” Conner pointed out. “You have five elders here and an elder from one of the local Indian tribes as well as a female. So far I haven’t been impressed.”

The boy had the grace to look ashamed. “I just want to see some action,” he said.

“How did Suma contact you?” Conner asked.

“Internet. He put an ad up asking for help. I figured I was just the thing he needed.” Jeremiah stuck out his chest.

“Young. Impressionable. Stupid.” Conner spat on the ground.

“Hey!” Jeremiah’s cocky grin faded to another scowl. “I just want some action. I don’t want to spend my entire life locked up in some boring village with the elders telling me what I can and can’t do. I’m fast.”

“You have to be more than fast in this business, kid,” Conner said. “You have to know when to depend on your cat and when to depend on your brain and when you need to blend them both. You’re all over the place. Right now, you’re walking so hard, any leopard in the forest would be able to hear you.” He shot the boy a hard look. “Adan would have heard you coming a mile out.”

Even in the darkness, the kid’s flush was apparent. He made an effort to walk quietly. “You could teach me.”

“Do I look like someone who wants to teach some damned cub wet behind the ears? You sank your claws into my mate, you ass.” His cat rode him hard all over again, furious that he didn’t attack the kid right then. His breath came out in a long hiss and his muscles contorted.

Isabeau stumbled, whether deliberate or not, he didn’t know, but his arm slid around her waist and he simply lifted her, cradling her in his arms. She stiffened, opened her mouth to protest. Her gaze met his and she stayed silent.

He needed to hold her. Her weight was nothing to him, but the feel of her in his arms was everything. He nuzzled the top of her head and glared at the youngster. The kid didn’t have any idea yet how difficult it was to find a mate. He had no idea about life or danger. The idea of living on the edge was a terrifying lure to the young. He knew because he’d been the same way. He’d been young and cocky and full of his own strength without a clue of what mattered or would ever matter.

Conner closed his eyes briefly and wondered why the universe was slamming him so damned hard. He couldn’t just turn the kid loose to get killed—and Suma would kill him. Jeremiah Wheating wouldn’t stand by and watch children be killed. The moment Suma took him to Imelda Cortez and the kid realized what was really going on, he’d see himself as the hero and get himself killed. Conner had no choice but to look after the little punk.

He sighed and looked down into Isabeau’s upturned face. She smiled at him.

“What?” He asked it almost belligerently. She had too much knowledge in her eyes.

“You know what. I don’t think you’re as much of a bastard as you want everyone to think you are. Not by a long shot.”