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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 h 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 toto 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 s 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’anyone, breed or hu 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, letabout Haley She’s more stubborn than those ot 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 arning

"Do you believe you’re going to keep him out of it?" Noble stared back at hi to keep hi to protect her Let’s at least use hiut instinct Gut instinct warned hih fire for someone he cared for, and for whatever reason, he cared for Haley

"Sive 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 the within her property line is fair game Do we understand each other?"

Gut instinct and trust were two different things

The sheriff et 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 ht not be easy, but at least here he would know the breeds who should be in place In Sanctuary, at the h space to ensure no breed but those he trusted ithin 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 infor was small One of the Either way, they would be found ’

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

"It’s all the ti to the sheriff "As of tonight, call before you arrive here Call before your deputies arrive here

Don’t try to surprise et mean when I’m pissed off And trust me, you don’t want to see that side ofot thewith a breed, he was dealing with one that didn’tsoh to try to blindside hiHaley 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 hiht froles of his face

His thick black hair fell to his shoulders and frah cheekbones, deep-set, slightly tilted eyes, and a strong, sharp nose He could never be called handso but a pretty boy He was a h, certain of hileamed in his black eyes

She remembered, several months before, the report that he had been wounded on aweeks 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 so 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