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“Well, here we are,” the bigmetal panel that must be a door

Of course, Makenna didn’t understand his words, but she found his deep, ru, a Florian fehtened and her body sensed instinctively which ood for her…and which would not How often had her mother told her to listen to her body?

“Never fear, your body will let you know, child, which man is the one for you,” she’d told Makenna when she had asked who she would someday join with “The minute you find hiet that feeling, listen to it And ree to join with aof safety—of ho take its full course and bring you pleasure instead of pain and regret”

During the last visit Biter hadhad just been co Trollox Not just because he was disgusting and exuded an odor of sweaty, unwashed flesh, but because her body arning her against him in every way possible

No! Stay away fro, anytie Trollox came near her He’s bad—he’ll hurt you, Makenna—stay away!

In contrast, thevoice of the man named Bard, she had felt immediately drawn to him And then, when he had put his arms around her and she had breathed in his warain Home, it said Safety Security Protection Stay here and you’ll be all right He is the one—stay with him

Makenna had learned to listen to that interior voice And so, when the people at the place that looked like a Healing Hall had tried to dislodge her, she had gripped Bard even tighter She wasn’t letting go of her only source of safety and security—theher she needed to be with! She wasn’t going to let anyone separate her from Bard She—

At thatbarking filled the air Makenna jerked in fear as a huge, blue hairy shape ca towards them

Oh, Goddess—what now?

6

“Down, boy—down, Tiny!” Bard ordered as he felt the girl begin to treain “Get do—you know better than that!”

He spoke sternly, knowing that his pet would understand Ya’greers were huge, wolf-like creatures with shaggy coats of dark blue fur that lived in the jungles of his hoeron They were usually pack animals, but it was possible to take one as a puppy and bond it to a huht humanoid

The way to bond with a Ya’greer was to look deep into their glowing, yellow-green eyes If you were the right one for them, they’d be with you for life, literally—they didn’t die until their person did

Bard had gotten Tiny a few ht that the Ya’greer had saved his life Tiny had been an apt name for him then—the little creature had been the runt of the litter, so s palms And to make matters worse for the little pup, he had been rejected by his mother

“If you don’t take hireer breeder had said The breeder had also happened to be Rilla’s brother, which ht the other male had seen the hopelessness in his eyes and had decided the best way to help hi hi sure the runt of the litter lived

For weeks he’d had to feed Tiny around the clock, waking up at all hours to quiet the pup’s pitiful crying with a bottle of warmed synthi-rown to theas the Earth animal called a horse

Of course, having a bond with an ani a soul-bond with a iven hi smaller and weaker than himself to take care of and to love at the darkest time of his life

But now he had to be certain that his faithful pet knew his place—he couldn’t have Tiny scaring the little female in his arms

“Tiny,” he said sternly, when the Ya’greer stopped barking and looked up at hioing to be staying with us for some time While she’s with us, she’s pack Do you understand? Pack”