Wild Invitation A Psy Changeling Anthology - By Nalini Singh Page 0,6

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."

"It'll draw Psy to the area like magnets." The other race knew nothing of the pack's network of lairs and aeries.

It was a form of protection against the Psy hunger for power. "You want to announce our Pack Circle?"

"I'm not an idiot." The words were blades. "The lights are special low-impact ones. They won't even show to the top of the tree, much less put out a detectable heat signature."

He wondered if insanity was catching. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you. It's ten o'clock at night."

"Feel free to leave if it's past your bedtime."

The bite of sarcasm made him grin.

His cat liked being near Tamsyn, no matter her mood. And he was animal enough to appreciate her claws - no leopard wanted a weak mate. "So, what are you planning to do for an encore? A parade of giant jack o'lanterns? Maybe we can use them to scare off the wolves?"

"Good idea." He could hear her smirk. "Shouldn't you be out doing important sentinel stuff?"

"I'm not officially a sentinel yet." Though he was already being allocated most of Cian's work as the other man concentrated on his role as advisor to Lachlan and trainer to Lucas. "I have the night off."

"And you're here? What, Juanita was busy?"

He let her hear the angry rumble of his growl. "Are you really accusing me of cheating?"

"Not possible to cheat on something that doesn't exist."

"Tamsyn," he began, intending to tear into her. Then his beast suddenly realized something. "You're still jealous of a relationship that was over years ago." He couldn't understand why, not when he'd made it plain that he'd been celibate since the mating bond snapped into being.

Silence for several minutes. "It hurts me to know a woman who's been allowed full skin privileges with you - while I'm not even worth a simple kiss." He froze at the amount of pain in that single statement. "Don't you ever compare yourself to any other woman," he said, his beast raging at the mere idea. The instant he'd realized she'd been born for him, it had blinded him to anyone else.

She didn't answer.

"Tammy."

"I don't want to talk anymore." He was certain he heard tears in her voice. It shook him. His strong, beautiful mate never cried. "Tammy, don't."

"Don't what? Decorate my tree in peace?" The acerbic edge was back.

"I thought..." He shook his head, relieved. "What's next, after the lights?"

"Ornaments. They'll take a while.

I'm going to get the kids to make one each."

He jumped easily to the ground and picked up the last rope. Stringing that took far too little time though he tried to stretch it out. Tamsyn was waiting for him when he jumped down the second time. "Thanks."

He fisted his hands to keep from stroking the delicate line of her profile.

"You going to turn it on?"

"Not until it's ready." She shoved her own hands into the pockets of her jeans. "I'd better get inside. It's chilly." He was one step from pulling her into a hug, would have done so for any other packmate who needed it - touch was the cornerstone of who they were.

But if he touched Tamsyn, it wouldn't stop at a simple hug. He'd take all of her, claim proprietary