She just smiled and his belly tightened. He didn’t want her getting the wrong idea about him. The kid was going to learn a lesson tonight. Isabeau would think he was a brute, and the kid would sulk for a while, but his cat would be happy again and maybe give him a little respite from the clawing need and the sharp, angry reprimand.

The cabin was just ahead, built high in the trees, hidden by the heavy vines and broad leaves surrounding it. He had mapped it out for the others just in case they were separated. He had lived there for several years with his mother, separated from others while she mourned the loss of her husband. His father had never been her true mate, but she had loved him.

The cabin didn’t hold happy memories for him, but the moment he’d stepped foot in the rain forest it was the first place he’d gone. He’d spent two days making repairs and stocking it so they’d have a base camp if needed. It wasn’t for sentimental reasons. He wasn’t a sentimental man. He should have checked in immediately with Rio, but he needed the time to readjust. And he’d gone looking for his mother. Now he knew why she hadn’t been there.

Strangely, the cabin looked as though it had been occupied recently, lulling him into a false sense of security. He’d even found a couple of his old toys, a truck and an airplane carved from wood out on the table. He’d imagined his mother looking at them and remembering their times together in the cabin. Now he didn’t know what to think.

He set Isabeau on her feet and leapt up to catch a vine. Pulling himself, hand over hand, he gained the small porch and dropped the ladder made of tight vines down to the others. He shoved bundles down to them, knowing the men would need the clothes after they shifted, and then he dropped back to the ground.

“I’m not certain I can climb,” Isabeau admitted. “My arm has really stiffened up.” Even as she voiced her doubt, she reached up to grasp the ladder.

“I can take you up,” Conner said, “but you’ll have to go over my shoulder.”

She gave an experimental pull, winced and let out her breath. “It’s a long way up. I think I’m going to forgo my pride and just let you take me up.” She stepped back from the ladder.

Conner signaled Adan to go up and pointed to Jeremiah. “You can wait down here for me. We’re going to have a little talk before I invite you in.”