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"I’ to us I would rather die than have you hurt Don’t ever try to protect ain"

"I can’t promise that" He was her life It was that sirazed her ear "You have to be submissive"

She was tempted to use her teeth on him in retaliation "Does that ever work?"

"It worked when you were five"

That ood - with her acceptance of the truth, a truth that was a child’s, not a wo her to the past But even as she laughed, she wondered and worried about the impact of her words on Clay He was protective and loyal to a fault He also had a temper that could si If that temper turned inwardNo!

She set her jaw She would not let that happen to her beautiful, wonderful Clay Let this damn disease try to kill her She would not let it win, not until she’d brought the light back into Clay’s eyes

Chapter 17

Safely alone in the car with Clay, it had been easy to make a promise to help him Now that Talin was in the presence of his packance He was clearly a much loved and respected member of DarkRiver What had made her think he had any need of her interference?

Then he glanced at her from where he stood with Nathan and her panic caled to these leopards, he belonged to her first

"I’ve never seen him look at a woman that way"

Startled, she turned to face the tall brunette who had walked up to stand beside her Clay had introduced her as Tamsyn, the pack healer Nathan was herback against the kitchen counter

"Don’t worry" The other woht be a healer, but I’m no soft touch Just ask Kit and Cory" She nodded out the- at the two teenagers who appeared to be running herd on her twins "They want chocolate chip cookies, they babysit" She grinned

Talin found herself sht so" Tamsyn’s eyes arm, an unusual color closer to caramel than true brown "And what I said earlier, I wasn’t doing it to be nice If you’d been a threat to Clay, I’d have kicked you out of DarkRiver landto separate her frorin widened "Sascha said you had spine She likes you"

Talin didn’t drop her guard, though the abandoned child in her n of acceptance from Clay’s new fah for him?"

"Hmm, well, now, maybe you’re not"

It wasn’t what Talin had wanted to hear, though she knew it to be the truth

"But," the healer continued, "Sascha wasn’t particularly good for Lucas when they started out, either There were so for a Psy"

Talin kept getting thrown by these leopards "Really?"

A nod "In the end, it doesn’t make a difference what anyone else thinks DarkRiver rew pensive "But that doesn’t mean I won’t poke my nose into it You should know that - we’re crazy protective of our own"

The back door swung open with a bang and one of the teenagers stuck his head inside "Juice?" His tone was plaintive

Taer as she went to the cooler "Your debts are adding up, Cory"

"You totally fleeced us on the cookies - Julian and Roman are like demons on crack Do they ever stop?"

Talin was taken aback by the boy’s sers she knew never s over, Ta cold and al out to muss up his hair at the same time "You were exactly the same"

"Aw, come on, Tammy Don’t tell baby stories about irl"

Talin was about to turn around and look for that girl when she realized he was looking at her The cocky char impossible Just like with Jon Her smile dulled

"She’s way too old for you" Clay’s voice was relaxed as he cae"

Cory took the glasses Ta out "Hah! I told Kit you were hot for her!" A gleeful look on his face, he backed out the door and jogged to the others