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They had known she had influenced several of the tests that indicated she had ood" Noble exhaled as he held Haley closer, his nerves still taut, still ae his mate possessed

"Yes"

"Don’t you tellvoice filled the house as Haley jerked in Noble’s aret out of my way before we jerk your head off your shoulders and rip your guts out your throat"

"Oh God It’s Daddy"

Noble stared down at her, then into the kitchen

Flaer, and followed by two more just like him, it appeared the McQuires had finally made it back to Buffalo Gap All six-foot-five or better, powerful, red-haired, with blazing eyes and furious expressions The three warriors stood glaring at hihtened around her

Haley turned in his arms and faced her father as he shoved his way past the breeds filling the kitchen He stopped in the doorway, stared at the carnage, then at his daughter

His expression twisted in pain before it s to have fallout?" he asked Haley, as she turned to hi her to leave him, to rush to her father, the man who stared at her noith such paternal love that for a mo ever let his daughter out of his sight

Haley sighed "Noble will catchNoble, as well as her father and brothers "Don’t worry Noble will catch ue

Christmas with Haley wasdifferent For a breed who had never experienced Christ A terrified breed

He did fine through all the visits, Christ, and more food than he had seen in his entire life

They went thatto Sanctuary and delivered cookies Other breeds smirked as he helped her hand the Until they ed presents with Callan and Merinus, and Haley even gave Jonas a present After all, she said, Jonas had ensured that plans to rebuild the library werequickly

They visited the elderly, they visited a children’s hospital Not just he and Haley He could have handled that No, it was the whole da at hi cereot a present, and gave his own version of a warning

As he had told all three McQuire males: date, time and location were her decision She was his No ceremony could make or break that claim And then the older brother had arched his brow and asked about the engage a woman to marry hiht of it

And slipping away froh to find a jewelry store had been hell Mating a nonbreed was complicated, he decided It had its perks Of course, the perk part was being severely limited by faotten for Haley wereit bearable for her

Bearable for him was another story

But when she asked him--she didn’t demand, she asked--that he attend church with her, he nearly backed out

"I celebrate Christive gifts in remembrance"

This was her life This hat made Haley

Haley, and he wanted to know all of her So he went

A breed, his hands stained by blood, his soul in question, and he stepped into a church and found a beauty he hadn’t expected

The entire McQuire clan celebrated Christhed, visited and shed tears, and Haley’s tiny mother bustled around everyone with a smile and drinks

And on Christs were cohts than three red-haired Scottish soldiers in his life They didn’t scare hiht came

The tree was devoid of presents now, but it still twinkled lowed cheerily, and Noble thought he ht have had one too many shots of that homemade low burning in hi hiaily wrapped present His present he knew

In his hand, he held hers

He sed tightly as he moved across the roo the jeweler had put the ring box in

"You bought

Noble swore he could feel nerves rising inside hiht never to be nervous It couldn’t be nerves

"Open ht with excite of anticipation"

He took her present He’d watched her unwrap presents all day She did it slowly, she savored it

He unwrapped his present slowly and savored her excite jeweler’s box surprised hi hint of ious that he knew or understood But this one, he knew His trainer had, surprisingly, been a religious man He’d told them once about St Michael That if they were honorable warriors, if they were good soldiers, then the saint would look upon them benevolently No matter their lack of soul, he seemed to think