His beast calmed. She'd gone looking for him. Gentling his hold, he slid his hand to the side of her neck and pulled her to him. She came but her body was stiff against his. "What's the matter?"

"Juanita was very happy to tell me where you were."

He heard the jealousy. "She's a friend and a fellow soldier."

"She was also your lover."

The beast wanted to growl. "Who told you that?"

"I'm a decade younger than you," she retorted. "Of course you've had women. I don't need anyone to paint me a sign."

The jagged edge of anger turned his next words razor-sharp. "I haven't taken a lover since your fifteenth birthday." He was a healthy leopard male in his prime. s.e.xual hunger did not sit well with him. But neither did cheating on his mate. "And if someone's telling you different, I'll tear out their throat."

She blinked. "No one's telling me different." Her voice was husky. "But I don't like knowing you've had other women in your bed, that they've touched you, pleasured you."

Her bluntness shocked him. Tamsyn did not talk to him like that. "What exactly did you do in New York?" The possessive fury that hit him was close to feral, a harsh thing with claws and teeth.

Her mouth dropped open. "I don't believe this!" Breaking his hold with a quick move of her head-a move he'd taught her-she faced him, hands on her hips. "You think I would-" She gave a little scream. "You know what, if I had, whose fault would that be?"

He folded his arms to keep them from hauling her back against his chest and proving to his beast that she still belonged to him. "Tamsyn."

"No. I've had it up to here!" She jerked the edge of her hand to below her chin. "All the other females my age are taking lovers left, right, and center, and the only thing I get is frustration!"

Her raw need was simple truth. Newly mature females were very s.e.xual, their scent intoxicating to the young males. Then there was the fact that the mating heat had shifted Tammy's natural hunger into higher gear. He could taste the woman musk of her, the lush ripeness just waiting to be bitten into-it was an exhilarating blend, and one he alone had the right to crave. Even the idea of any other male l.u.s.ting after her pushed his temperature into explosive range. "If I take you," he said quietly, "it'll be for life."

"I know that! And I accept it. I need to belong to you-in every way."

His c.o.c.k wanted to take her up on it. But she was nineteen. She didn't understand what it was she was committing to. He wasn't some kitten who'd follow her around with his tongue hanging out like the young males did with the females. He'd take her and he'd keep her. s.e.xually, he was far more mature than she was, and a leopard-changeling's s.e.xual needs only grew more intense with time. "You don't know what you're asking."

"Dammit Nate, I'm sick of needing you so much I can't sleep." Her hands fisted by her sides, caramel-colored eyes rich with heat. "I'm sick of stroking myself to sleep."

Jesus. The images that hit him were hot and erotic and so detailed they threatened his beast to madness. "We've had this discussion before," he reminded her. "You're carrying too much responsibility as it is." Shayla's murder had forced Tammy to step into the older woman's position-as DarkRiver's healer-at seventeen years of age. She'd never had a chance to be a juvenile, to mess about, to play and roam. "I've seen exactly how wrong things can go if leopards bond before they're ready."

"We are not your parents," she spit back.

He went silent. "I told you to never bring up my parents again."

"Why not?" She was trembling. "They're the reason you're being so stupid. Just because your mother was miserable after deciding to take a permanent partner at age eighteen doesn't mean I will be."

His mother had been more than miserable. "She committed suicide." If not in truth, then in effect. Her drinking had escalated to such an extent that even her tough changeling physiology hadn't been able to repair the damage.

"We are not your parents!" Tamsyn repeated, her voice breaking on the last word. "You're my mate. And I'm yours. Your mother and father didn't have that connection."

No, his parents had fallen in love the old-fashioned way, without being driven by the mating instincts of the leopard. It happened like that sometimes. Though mating wasn't uncommon, not every changeling found his or her true mate, the one with whom they could bond on a level that was almost psychic. "Mating will demand more from you than a nonbond relationship ever would," he told her, cognizant of the terrifying animal fury of his hunger for her. "I don't want you walking into that before you're ready."

"And you're the one who decides if and when I'm ready?"

"I'm older and more experienced." She had years to go before she caught up.

She seemed to be gritting her teeth. "Fine! Enjoy yourself in your perfect little world where everything goes according to your plans. Don't blame me if I get sick of waiting for you!" She turned and began to stalk through the trees.

"Tamsyn." He used the tone of voice that made even the rowdiest juvenile stop and pay attention.

She kept walking.

"What the h.e.l.l?" Striding after her, he caught up just in time to see her clothes disintegrate off her body as she shifted into leopard form.

He froze, stunned as always by the beauty of her. Her pelt was glossy, the dark rosettes defined luxuriantly against the gold. Suddenly, she looked over her shoulder and gave him a look that could only be described as haughty. Her eyes were green-gold, not caramel, in this form, but they were very definitely all female.

He growled at the implied challenge. She snapped her teeth in response and took off. He almost went after her-his claws were already out by the time he brought himself back under control. If he ran her down in his current state...well, she wouldn't be complaining about stroking herself to sleep again.

Oh, h.e.l.l.

Now his mind was so full of images of soft feminine flesh and long stroking fingers that he was in danger of bursting out of his pants. "s.h.i.t." Turning in the opposite direction from her, he ran toward a nearby waterfall. An ice cold bath was exactly what he needed to knock some sense into his head.

He wondered if she moaned when she brought herself to o.r.g.a.s.m.

Two.

TAMSYN SHIFTED BACK INTO HUMAN FORM NEAR HER PARENTS' home. They lived fairly close to the Pack Circle and it was where she was staying for the time being, her life in limbo-she should have been living with Nate by now. Eyes stinging at the reminder of his rejection, she went to retrieve some clothes she'd hidden for just such contingencies. Nudity was no big deal in the pack, but she was already going to be a crybaby. At least she could be a clothed crybaby.

Dressed, she walked to the front door. Her mother opened it before she could knock. With her dark hair and pale brown eyes, Sadie Mahaire was an older, smaller version of Tamsyn. It was Tamsyn's father who had given his daughter her height. Her mother took one look at her face and opened her arms. "Come here, my darling."

Sobbing, Tamsyn went into her mother's embrace. "I don't know what to do, Mom," she said, what felt like hours later. She was lying on the sofa, her head in her mother's lap and her legs curled up on the cushions. "This need I have for him, it's clawing me to pieces. But...but he doesn't seem to feel the same." That knowledge crushed her, made her feel as if she were bleeding inside.

"Oh, yes he does." Sadie stroked Tamsyn's hair off her face with gentle hands. "He's simply had longer to get used to it."

"Longer? How? The bond awakened at the same instant in both of us." He'd come to the door on her fifteenth birthday and she'd felt something in her snap taut, a connection so strong, it vibrated with how utterly right it was.

"Yes, but you were fifteen. Your s.e.xuality was young, immature."

She remembered the wave of heavy warmth that had uncurled in her stomach whenever she'd been around Nathan, the soft ache in low places. "I wanted him even then."

"But as a girl wants, not as a woman." Sadie pressed a kiss to her brow. "He, on the other hand, had to have had a brutal time of it. You were a baby and he'd never have allowed himself to touch you, but he was a man and his beast knew you were his mate."

Tamsyn began to see what her mother was saying. "He had to learn to chain the mating urges of the leopard, wait until I was ready." For the first time, she understood the pain it must've caused him. "And he couldn't be with any other woman."

"Mates don't cheat." Sadie sighed. "That's a very good thing, but it's also a hard thing to bear when things don't work out perfectly. But you understand about Nate now, don't you? He's as hungry for you as you are for him-it's just that he's had years to build up his will against the need."

"He's going to be a sentinel, Mom," she said, proud but afraid. "You know the kind of men who become sentinels. His will was already as strong as steel before he found out about the bond. Now I'm pretty certain it's unbreakable." She rubbed a hand over her heart, where the bond was a savagely twisted knot. Though it was meant to be an instinctive link, Nate had somehow learned to block it. Her animal heart kept reaching out to him...only to slam up against a solid wall of resistance.

"Oh, my baby." Sadie squeezed her shoulder and Tamsyn sat up, wiping away the final evidence of her tears. "Now listen," her mother said, pure love in her expression. "The man's will might be unbreakable for some, but not for you. You're his mate. You have a direct line to his soul."

"But he won't listen. He's made up his mind that we're going to wait and wait and wait and-" She shook her head, shoulders hunching in defeat. "I know he's thinking in terms of years, not months." A wait that long would drive her insane. She wasn't being overly dramatic-the lack of tactile contact between her and Nate, the denial of what their beasts craved, it physically hurt. "And it's not like I'm some s.e.xy little thing that can seduce him." It was out before she could feel embarra.s.sed.

"You're beautiful." Sadie's voice was full of maternal pride. "You have courage and strength and such spirit."

Tamsyn didn't have the heart to tell her mom that while those qualities might be nice, they didn't exactly make her a knockout. Her hands were practical healer's hands, her hair a plain brown, and her eyes...well, her eyes were okay. Sometimes she thought they looked like dark amber. But what man would care about her eyes when women like Juanita with their seductive, curvy bodies were sashaying around? Tamsyn was all legs and strong bones. More horse than leopard, she thought morosely.

"If you give up," Sadie said, cupping Tamsyn's cheeks with soft hands, "you'll regret it for all the long, lonely years that follow. So will he. Nathan thinks he knows what he's doing, but starving the bond will destroy both of you."

"How do I reach him?"

"That's for you to figure out." Her mother smiled. "But I'll give you a hint-he's a man. Treat him like one."

TWO HOURS LATER, TAMSYN STILL HADN'T A CLUE ABOUT what she was going to do. Frustrated in more ways than one, she stomped downstairs with the intention of finding something with which to take her mind off Nate. Maybe her mom was quilting and needed an a.s.sistant. But the house proved to be empty. Sadie had left a note tacked to the back of the front door.

Your father and I decided to go for a bit of a roam.

Translation: They were off feeding their animals' need for the wild and who knew when they would be back. It could be days.

"Great," she muttered, feeling sorry for herself. Trudging back into the living room, she had the beginnings of a good sulk going when she spied a box on the coffee table with her name on it.

Another note: Tammy, darling, I thought you might like to do these while things are quiet (and you're sulking). We could do with some new ones. Love, Mom Opening the box, she found it filled with homemade Christmas decorations. She smiled, unable to resist their magic. Every year until the horrible day when a b.l.o.o.d.y nightmare had forced her to step into the position of DarkRiver's healer, she had made these with her family. There were silver cardboard angels and beads strung on fishing wire and beautifully detailed paper dolls. But what held her attention were the round gla.s.s ornaments.

Each was meticulously painted with scenes from fairy tale and legend. Most had been done by Tamsyn and her mother as they sat side by side for hours, her father content to "supervise." She smiled. Every ornament held a memory of happiness, of love. Her hand found one decorated with the image of a running panther. She stilled.

Healing's not just about bones and cuts, Tammy, sweetheart.

Tears p.r.i.c.ked her eyes at the memory of Shayla's patient voice. Lucas's mother had been a black panther like her son. She had also been Tamsyn's teacher, her friend-a friend whose advice and guidance Tamsyn missed desperately. But today, in this moment, it felt as if Shayla stood right beside her, telling her the truths she needed to hear.

This would be the second Christmas since the attack. No one had been in the mood to celebrate the first, but perhaps it was time to heal her family, her pack.

Even if she couldn't heal herself.

Her eyes narrowed at the self-pitying thought. "Snap out of it," she ordered herself. Sulking be d.a.m.ned-she would not let Nate's idiocy ruin this Christmas for her. And she was going to make sure he knew it.

Three.

SOLIAS KING WAS A TP-PSY, A TELEPATH WITH A GRADIENT 8 ability. That meant he was strong enough to use mind control should he ever decide to. Solias had done so before-politics didn't allow for such niceties as high moral principles.

His current plans, too, would have been far easier to implement had he been able to utilize his telepathic abilities to coerce and persuade. Unfortunately, changelings had rock-solid natural shields. He might be able to turn one of them-and that with considerable effort-but he couldn't control the entire DarkRiver pack. "But it shouldn't be necessary."

"What, sir?" his aide and son, Kinshasa Lhosa, asked.

"Nothing of note." Solias turned. "Do you have the details?"

"Yes." Kinshasa pa.s.sed them over. Despite his youth, the eighteen-year-old was extremely efficient. Solias had made a good investment when he'd entered into a reproduction contract with the Gradient 7 Tp-Psy who was Kinshasa's mother. Both Kinshasa and the second child from the contract were high Gradient minds, powerful in their respective abilities.

"Give me a precis."

Kinshasa spoke from memory, his dark skin unlined. "The land in question is perfect for your needs. You can locate a small comm station and office there, then use it as a base for further expansion."

"The leopard pack?" Solias didn't trust Kinshasa-he trusted no one, blood relative or not. But the boy was undoubtedly good at research. "Will they pose a problem?"

"No," Kinshasa said, his tone holding the cool emptiness of Silence. "DarkRiver is a small group with no real presence. If we were going up against the SnowDancer wolves, it would be a different story. They're somewhat more aggressive."

That was why Solias hadn't looked into "acquiring" wolf land. "Begin preparations for development." The leopards-animals shackled by the choke of emotion-were clearly no threat.

"Yes, sir." Kinshasa paused. "There was another matter, sir."

"Yes?"

"The Psy Council has requested a meeting with you."

Solias nodded. "Forward me the details." The Council was likely interested in the details of his political aspirations-power never changed hands without the Council's approval. If Solias played his cards right, he might not only take over the leadership of San Francisco, he could rise to the Council itself.

The Councilors would appreciate his firm hand with the animals. And if it all ended with a few dead leopards thrown into the mix, so much the better.

Four.

HAVING HALF-FROZEN HIMSELF IN THE ICY CHILL OF THE waterfall, Nate finally hunted Tamsyn down well after sunset. It wasn't that he didn't know where she was. It was that he wasn't sure he could face her without doing something stupid. Like yelling, "What the h.e.l.l are you doing up there?"

Her eyes were night glow as she stood on a tree limb several dangerous feet off the ground, in human form. It would have been another matter if he'd found her there in leopard form. That was normal. The same couldn't be said for a woman with a rope of Christmas lights slung over one shoulder. Now, that woman snorted and began to string the lights around and along the boughs above her head.

"Tamsyn, I swear to G.o.d," he grit out, tracking her so he could catch her if she lost her footing, "if you make me come up there, you won't be sitting without wincing for weeks."

"You won't lay a hand on me, Nathan Ryder," she said. "That's the problem, as I recall."

She was right, of course. He'd rather cut off his hand than hurt her. "Fine." Slicing out his claws, he prepared to scale the tree and drag her down to safety.

"Don't you dare mess up my Christmas tree."

He stopped. "Your what?" The fir was so tall it seemed to touch the night clouds. Only a crazy woman would attempt to decorate this. But instead of asking if she'd lost her mind and chance getting his head bitten off, he decided to point out another fact. "It's not Christmas for weeks."

"It's a big tree." She continued walking along the branch as she strung the lights. "If you're not going to leave, make yourself useful and string the other side. There are more lights at the bottom of the trunk. Don't insult my cat by playing catcher."

Knowing she was right about her leopard being agile enough to ensure she'd always land on her feet, he looked down, then wished he hadn't. "Where did you get this many lights?" He picked up the heaviest rope, shoved it over one arm, and started climbing.

"People liked the idea of a giant Christmas tree."