Over the next two weeks, it became apparent to the other three Sons, and Kate and Sarah, that something between Pogue and Kai had changed. Pogue had been the most standoffish of the brothers since the Chase incident, and had been no more than polite to the new girl, but now he treated her almost as a younger sister. The newfound intimacy between them was surprising, but more so was Kai's attitude to him. She still rarely talked to or even looked at the other three boys, and was hesitant to allow Kate and Sarah to touch her, but with Pogue she accepted the casual touches common between close friends, and even shared a few hugs with him, which was never permitted for anyone else.

It irritated Reid. He had no idea why Pogue had been so swiftly and totally forgiven, and every time the younger boy hugged the dark girl a hot stab of anger and pain shot through his chest, making him clench his hands into fists and grit his teeth. He had felt one of them Using in the night days before, soon after the now-welcome touch of foreign Power, but he had figured it was Pogue or Tyler trying what he and Caleb had already tried. Now, though, he wondered if maybe the long-haired biker had found something out that he wasn't sharing with the rest of them, and it had something to do with Kai. That annoyed him too. Wasn't Reid the one who had realized there was something up with the girl? Wasn't he the one who was most touched by the strange Power, which he still thought was connected to her? She was his, damn it!

Pogue noticed Reid's confused anger, and was amused. Kate, however, noticing the affection and warmth that had sprung up between them, and seemingly kept on growing in leaps and bounds, was not. The hurt and anger would have no doubt festered in her mind, feeding on itself like a parasite, had Kai not quickly set things straight between them. Noticing Kate's frown when she sat beside Pogue at lunch, she cornered the other girl as they left the cafeteria, pulling her into the girls' bathroom. Kate, surprised, didn't resist. In a rare move, Kai reached out first and took the smaller girl's hands in hers.

Looking Kate in the eye, Kai smiled. "There is nothing between us. He is as a brother to me. He found out something about me that I do not want known, and was good enough not to share it with anyone. You are a lucky woman to have such a mate."

Pogue's girlfriend weighed things up for a moment, then let her lips slide into a wicked smile as her eyebrow rose. "Mate?"

Silently cursing her slip, Kai shrugged it off. "It is an appropriate word for humans as well as animals, sometimes. You are a pair destined to stay together. Come on, let's find the others."

When they came out of the bathroom, Reid gave them a leer and a once-over, as though looking for evidence. Kai merely raised her eyebrows coolly and pointedly turned away, and Kate rolled her eyes. Pogue came over and looked anxiously between them, and Kate smiled reassuringly before moving away to tell Sarah that all was well again; the blonde had noticed the tension between the two darker girls. Reid watched with suddenly narrow eyes as Kai lightly touched the back of Pogue's hand, smiling warmly.

The voice in his head didn't surprise the biker as much as before, but he still froze for a moment before relaxing. 'It is well, my friend. She understands.'

I didn't know you could do this like… that. He looked at her very human, significantly female body questioningly.

'The animal is strong in me, stronger than in almost every other of my clan, but I am a human first. The abilities are those of the human, not the animal.'

Abilities? There are more?

'Come to the woods one night. I shall show you them, in part.'

Pogue smiled in understanding and accordance, gripping her hand a moment before breaking the contact. Reid's nostrils flared angrily and, as the new girl turned and followed after the others, who were moving up the hallway towards their afternoon class, he fell in beside the biker. For a moment he was silent, and when he did speak it was with feigned disinterest, his casual tone only contradicted by his tight lips and smoldering eyes.

"You two have become close. Going to let her join the party? That'll be one hell of a ride for you. I'm hurt that you didn't invite me, brother."

Pogue stopped, turning to face the blonde, who smirked arrogantly. "Kai is a friend, Reid, and that's all. Leave it. I think you've hurt her enough already, don't you?"

Surprised by the serious, stern reply when Pogue usually accepted his ribbing in good enough humor, Reid stared after the younger boy as he jogged to catch up with their friends. Forcing down his own guilt – he couldn't seem to forget the look that had been in her eyes after their prolonged stalking, damn it – he lifted his chin and swaggered after them, doling out winks and carefully calculated glances to any pretty enough girl to cross his path. It didn't matter that none of them had chocolate-dark skin and glossy raven hair. Nope, it didn't matter at all. Not a bit. Not even a… I'm so screwed.

At midnight, exactly two weeks after Pogue's adventure, Caleb awoke. He was unsure why, at first, but then he felt a feather-light touch of Power, followed by the warm rush that he was now accustomed to. He frowned in the darkness; he'd become so used to it that it no longer woke him, and was surprised that it had this time. Settling back against the pillow, he was ready to drift off to sleep when he felt another twinge of Power, and this time of a familiar kind. One of his brothers was Using.

Looking over automatically at Pogue's bed, he blinked in surprise. The covers were thrown back, and the bed was empty. Concentrating, he felt around him with his own gift, still more surprised when he realized that it was Pogue who had Used; he'd been expecting Reid. Getting out of bed, he went over to the window and looked out, adjusting his vision appropriately. He scanned the grounds, quickly spotting the long-haired figure moving towards the woods. Scowling, he jerked open the window and, with his eyes blacker than the clear night, floated into the air. As soon as he cleared the side of the building, he shot forward at almost impossible speed, heading for his brother.

Pogue stopped when he felt the rush of Power, cursing Caleb and his Ascended officiousness. Turning, he watched as his elder touched down gently, folding his arms while the other boy approached. Caleb was frowning angrily now, his eyes glittering with rarely unleashed temper, and he opened his mouth to lecture Pogue beat him to it. The surprise was enough to keep the older boy quiet; Pogue was usually the one who agreed with him, while Tyler sided with Reid more often than not. He'd never interrupted Caleb so curtly before.

"I know what I'm doing. I don't need you."

Caleb's voice, when he replied, was soft. "So what are you doing? What made you feel the need to Use unnecessarily, to sneak out on your own in the night, without telling your brothers? You remember what happened last time you went on a lone mission?"

Pogue snorted bitterly. "I remember. This is different."

"Oh yeah? How?"

The biker's face became wooden and closed. "It's none of your business."

Caleb opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped when he saw Pogue's eyes widening slightly. Turning, he looked over his left shoulder and felt his jaw drop. Not ten feet away stood a huge panther, staring at him unblinkingly with its lips half drawn back from its teeth. Without thinking, he fired a bolt of energy at it, ignoring Pogue's shout to stop in his instinctive panic. The human mind is not dissimilar to that of a prey animal in its basest responses, and his fear expressed itself in his natural lashing out at the danger.

Kai's initial surprise wore off when she realized that the boy with Pogue smelt like snow, and she had just identified Caleb by sight when the shot came arcing towards her. She threw herself aside in a repeat of her first meeting with Pogue, a few nights previous, but wasn't so lucky. The edge of the orb caught her hind paw, searing the flesh and making her snarl in outrage. Turning, she raced into the woods as another energy ball exploded behind her. As soon as she felt steady enough on her wounded limb, she scrambled up into a tree and turned to inspect it, hissing angrily at the raw, blistered skin where her coat had been burned away.

Caleb went for a third shot before Pogue grabbed his arm, forcing it down. Looking into his brother's face, he was surprised by the fury there, even more so by the fist that crashed into the side of his face. From his position on the damp earth, Caleb looked up at the biker in confusion. "What was that for? I was trying to save us!"

"You dick! You hurt her!"

Caleb's bewildered frown deepened as his own anger flared. "Of course I did! I had to scare it off somehow!"

Pogue snarled, "She wasn't going to hurt us. Go back to the fucking dorm, brother." With that, he turned and sprinted into the wood.

After a few moments, the Ascended Son jumped up and raced after him. Caleb almost Used to find Pogue, who would surely get himself killed if he went looking for a wounded predator in the forest at night, when he heard a muffled snarl off to his left. Turning, he headed in that direction as fast as he could, feeling the breath rasping painfully in his lungs as his heart beat a painful tattoo against his ribs. Coming to a particularly dense patch of trees, he heard the murmur of a male voice, and stopped short in shock when Pogue finally came into his view.

The biker was crouched over the injured cat, but instead of attacking him, it lay still as he inspected the wound. Caleb could hear the low sound of its purring from where he stood, and he watched in amazement as it nuzzled Pogue's hand in what appeared to be gratitude. He must have made a sound, because the sharp green eyes turned to him and the creature bared its teeth in a silent warning. Pogue, alerted, turned to glare at Caleb, but when he opened his mouth to speak, his head suddenly jerked around to look at the panther, a look of surprise on his face.

After a minute, he rose and stomped over to Caleb, dragging the unresisting boy over to kneel on the ground next to the now silent cat. Caleb made a noise of protest, but Pogue just yanked his hand to touch the rippling shoulders.

'That hurt.'

The voice made him jump back, staring in amazement. It took a moment for him to recognize it, then his eyes widened in horrified surprise. "Kai?" He looked at Pogue, who scowled at him, then at the panther, then back at Pogue. "Kai?!"

The biker smirked and pointed at the cat, which was glaring at him. When he didn't move, Kai bared her teeth again before stretching her neck and gripping his hand firmly in her teeth. Caleb froze, hardly daring to breathe, but she didn't bite down; instead, he felt gentle pressure against his skin, then:

'An apology would be appropriate now, Caleb.'

Seeing the realization dawning on his brother's face, Pogue grinned and touched his own hand to Kai's tail. Oh yeah, it's a doozy.