The Magical Christmas Cat

The thought of dying filled her with terror. The thought of Noble dying, especially for her, filled her with cold, bleak agony.

She couldn't bear it. He would have to leave. She would make certain they all left. The breeds didn't have enough power to invade her home, or her life, without her permission. If they weren't out of her house by dawn, she would call the state police. She would pack her bags and leave town. And then she would figure out exactly what it was going to take to survive.

Because dying wasn't in her plans. At least not for a while. Living was. And there had to be a way to live without risking everyone she loved.

Noble stared at the closed washroom door and silently opened it a crack to make certain Haley wasn't there.

Motioning to Shiloh, he sent her inside to watch for the fiery little librarian before he turned back to the others.

"Well, that was interesting," Dane commented as he turned to Noble. "She does do orders quite well. Too bad she wasn't born a breed."

He smiled, a mocking little smile at odds with the cold fury in his brown eyes.

"Contact the state police," Noble warned Jonas.

"Inform them we have a situation here. I want Haley placed under the Bureau's 'persons of interest' mandates."

Persons of interest, meaning anyone, breed or human who might have information pertaining to or involving an open breed case under investigation.

"That's pushing it," Jonas pointed out. "If she gets a lawyer, she could beat it within forty-eight hours."

"Then let's not tell her that," Zane warned them before Noble could speak up. "Listen up, boys, let me tell you a little something about Haley. She's more stubborn than those mountains out there, and she's sure as hell got more fire in her than that explosion that nearly killed her tonight. You're not going to bully her as easily as you think you can."

"I have no intentions of bullying her," Noble ground out. "I'll protect her. With your help."

"Noble," Jonas's voice was warning.

"Do you believe you're going to keep him out of it?" Noble stared back at him coolly. "You're not. And you're not going to keep him from trying to protect her. Let's at least use him wisely."

Man or breed, sometimes one had to go with gut instinct. Gut instinct warned him that Zane Taggart would walk through fire for someone he cared for, and for whatever reason, he cared for Haley.

"Smart boy." Zane's smile was hard.

"Jonas will give you details, you will stay out of the perimeter he lays out to you. This house is fairly sheltered. No neighbors too close, no reason for them to be on her property. Anyone moving within her property line is fair game. Do we understand each other?"

Gut instinct and trust were two different things.

The sheriff might get information, but he wouldn't be aware of the security protocols Noble intended to set up.

Haley's home sat at the end of a block. She owned a little over an acre, the boundary of which was fenced and thick with trees. Across the street were several clear lots, the street that ran by the side of the house was an occupied lot, enclosed by a privacy fence.

Behind her property were more homes, closer together.

Protecting her might not be easy, but at least here he would know the breeds who should be in place. In Sanctuary, at the moment, there were too many suspects and not enough space to ensure no breed but those he trusted were within sight of her.

"We'll have the information we need on this soon, Noble," Jonas promised, his voice hard now.

And they would. Noble knew that the number of people with the information of the witness who had overheard that meeting was small. One of them told someone, or had personally done the killing. Either way, they would be found. '

"You have two weeks," Noble warned him. "After that, she disappears." He stared back at Jonas, knowing the director understood exactly what Noble was telling him.

"That won't be enough time," Jonas growled.

"It's all the time you have." Noble shrugged before turning to the sheriff. "As of tonight, call before you arrive here. Call before your deputies arrive here.

Don't try to surprise me, Sheriff Taggart, and don't try to piss me off. I get mean when I'm pissed off. And trust me, you don't want to see that side of me."

The sheriff's gaze locked with his for long moments before the other man cursed and scowled. He got the message. He wasn't just dealing with a breed, he was dealing with one that didn't mind killing someone for stupidity. If the sheriff was stupid enough to try to blindside him, then he would die. Nothing mattered at this point but protecting Haley. No matter from whom he had to protect her.

Chapter 4

Haley's bedroom door opened slowly, and Noble stepped into the room.

She stared at him from her bed, watched the way the dim light from her lamp followed and loved the hard, strong angles of his face.

His thick black hair fell to his shoulders and framed the hard, sharp contours of his face. High cheekbones, deep-set, slightly tilted eyes, and a strong, sharp nose. He could never be called handsome, not really. Noble was anything but a pretty boy. He was a man, rugged, tough, certain of himself and his abilities to the point that his confidence gleamed in his black eyes.

She remembered, several months before, the report that he had been wounded on a mission. He had been away from Sanctuary for several long weeks. She had waited, and she had worried, and she had promised herself that the next time she saw him, she would push past the wariness inside herself and do something about this "almost" relationship they seemed to share.

Yet, when he had returned, she had retreated again. And it wasn't that she lacked confidence, or even daring. Everyone knew Haley could be daring.

No, there was something else that had held her back, a certainty, a knowledge that any woman who took Noble on would be taking on much more than a lover.

And there was always the chance that the "mating-heat" rumors and gossip trash stories in the rags had enough truth to them to be dangerous. Haley was a great believer that where there was smoke, there was fire. And where there was Noble, things would naturally get hot.

She flinched as he closed the door quietly behind him, still watching her, his black gaze cool and shuttered.

"You're not supposed to be here," she told him. "I asked you to leave."

"Are you that anxious to die, Haley?" He leaned against the door and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Strange, I never saw you as a quitter."

His lips quirked at one corner as she stared back at him silently.

"You can't run, and you can't hide. Not from this."

She was already realizing that. That didn't mean it was any easier to accept.

"Jonas can assign someone else to protect me then,"

she told him. "I don't want you here."

She wanted him with a need that sometimes bordered on a craving. From that first meeting a year before, when he had walked into the library, she had known a need for him unlike anything she had known for anyone else.

And her need was going to cause complications, she could feel it. She had made the mistake years before of having a short affair with Zane until he realized his need for the job was stronger than his need for a woman. But that relationship had taught her how to spot a problem male. And Noble was definitely a problem male.

"I'm your best bet to stay alive," he told her.

"And what was Jason?" she asked, her tone biting.

"You didn't even warn me you had anyone else watching me. He died needlessly."

"All breeds die needlessly," he informed her roughly. "It's a war out there, Haley, and you're smack in the middle of it now. Get that in your head. You will not survive alone. You will not survive without me. Period. Until we figure out what the hell happened, you're stuck with me."

She came off the bed, denial raging inside her.

"Find someone else. I told you, I don't want you here."

"And I told you, sorry 'bout your luck," he snarled, those wicked, wicked canines flashing at the sides of his mouth.

Haley fantasized about those teeth sometimes.

Fantasized about watching them rake over her breasts, nip at them. Sometimes she dreamed of them at her neck, her shoulder, biting against her, holding her in place as he took her.

The animalistic quality of those dreams had always shocked her to her core and left her wet and hungry for days on end.

As she faced him, she felt that arousal, a constant companion anytime he was near, and forced herself to back away from him.

"You act as though all you need to do is place distance between us to alleviate the sweet smell of your hunger for me," he bit out, shocking her. "Do you think I can't smell your desire a mile away?"

She shook her head. She couldn't face this tonight, not on top of the blood and death that surrounded her.

She felt as though her body and her soul were stained with guilt.

"This is why you can't be here," she whispered.

"I'm not stupid, Noble. I'll distract you, and you'll end up dead."

He shook his head and moved closer. Just a few steps, just enough to warn her that he wasn't going to pay attention to her.

"We'll definitely distract each other," he promised her, his voice low, vibrating with lust. "There's no help for it. And that will be our advantage."

She shook her head fiercely. "It's not an advantage.

You know better than that."

She backed farther away from him, jerking in surprise as she came against the wall behind her. She watched, her breathing harsh, heavy as he came closer, stalking her, his expression becoming intent, heavy with hunger.

"You're my mate, Haley," he told her, his voice heavy. And it didn't sound like a good thing. It sounded much too close to the stories that were devoured in the magazines that featured the breeds prominently, with stories of lust-crazed hungers and desires that defied believability.