"damn psy walks like an assassin - who knows what info he can get his hands on." he kissed her without warning, derailing her thoughts with the dark heat of it. "but i know what i want to get my hands on."

half an hour later, she glanced at her neck in the bathroom mirror and scowled. "why didn't you just bite me?" she asked, rubbing at the mark he'd left.

"i did." patting her on the bottom as he passed, half-dressed in jeans, his hair wet, he gave her an unrepentant grin. "want me to do it again?" his gaze angled downward.

blushing, she pushed him out of the bathroom and continued brushing her own wet hair. "make me tea!" she called out after him, knowing they had time since this judd person was coming down from the sierra nevada.

"how the hell do you make tea?" he muttered. "i don't have tea."

"yes, you do. it's on the top shelf - i got some from tamsyn." she really had to go grocery shopping if she was going to be living with clay. that thought froze her. "clay?"

he heard her, though her voice had been a whisper. "i'm making the damn tea."

"i had a question."

"what?"

"are we living together?"

a few seconds of silence and then he was in the doorway, his eyes cat-green. walking over, he kissed the mark on her neck. "you try to leave and i will hunt you down."

relief poured through her, but she smacked at his thigh with the back of her brush. "like a rabid dog? very romantic."

"i'm serious. this is it. forever."

she met his gaze in the mirror and wondered how long forever would be. as yesterday's inexplicable allergic reaction had proved, the disease in her blood was getting stronger day by day. but, she thought with a fresh wave of fury, damn if she was giving in. "forever." she'd fight hell itself to stay with him this time.

he rested his hands on her hips and bent down until their faces reflected side by side. he was so beautiful - all masculine arrogance and possessiveness - that she knew she'd have to be on her guard constantly. otherwise, she'd give him everything he wanted.

his fingers pushed up, touched skin. "you want me."

"we'll be late." but she leaned into him, luxuriating in the strength contained within that muscular body, needing him enough to indulge this small selfishness.

"judd hasn't been mated long," he murmured, hands slipping up to curve over her unbound breasts.

her breath caught at the bold move, at the sultry image of his hands moving under her t-shirt. "what's that got to do with anything?" the last word was a moan as he began playing with her breasts, sure of his right to touch her as he pleased.

"it was early when he called." he flicked out his tongue in a quick catlike caress she was already addicted to. "he'll be delayed."

it took her desire-fuzzy brain several seconds to get his meaning. "oh. oh!" the last was a cry as he did something with those big hands that was surely illegal. but even as she surrendered to him, part of her knew that this was an illusory happiness. the ache in her belly, the endless need, it was a silent cry for something clay could no longer give her.

now that she'd met some of the couples in the pack, learned more about the leopard side of clay's soul, she understood the depth of her mistake. these predators loved with wild fury, but they were also darkly possessive, crossing the boundary into what humans might term obsession. but for a leopard male, it was simply part of his nature. clay would never forget what she'd done, the way she'd given her body to others.

with a human man, she might have continued to argue that he had no right to judge her. but the truth was, it wasn't about judgment. and clay wasn't human, his changeling blood was too strong. for him, it was about fidelity, about loyalty. it didn't matter that they had been children when he killed orrin to keep her safe - they had already belonged to each other. until she had cut their link. now the past was an unacknowledged third between them, pouring a corrosive acid on the love they had managed to salvage.

he kissed her. enough, she thought, banishing the ugly thoughts to a far corner of her mind. she was with clay; that was what mattered. finally, for the first time in two decades, she was almost whole.

she and clay arrived at the meeting point - a small cabin on darkriver land - at almost exactly the same time as the snowdancer. judd lauren was the coldest man she had ever seen. dressed in a black t-shirt and black jeans, his eyes measured her with icy precision. she'd have run very fast in the opposite direction had clay not been beside her. and had judd not been holding the hand of a small blonde with amazing eyes of brown shot with blue, and the brightest smile talin had ever seen.

"judd's mate, brenna," clay said, lips brushing her ear.

brenna's expression shifted to pure astonishment. "good lord, the rumors are true - clay actually talks to you."

talin couldn't help it, she burst out laughing despite the painful thoughts swirling in her head. "does he?" she gestured at judd.

"if i'm very good, he sometimes says two whole sentences in a row."

talin was about to reply when clay clamped a hand over her mouth from behind - at the same time that judd wrapped an arm around brenna's neck. "before they start comparing other things," he said to clay, "let's talk." taking brenna with him, he walked up the steps and grabbed a chair, while brenna curled up on the swing.

following the other couple onto the porch, clay chose to lean against the railing. talin stayed attached to his side, all amusement gone. judd wouldn't have asked them to sit unless he had something to tell them, which meant dev was probably right - the psy were kidnapping the children...doing things to jon she might not be able to erase.

"you trust her?" judd asked, cold gaze fixed on talin.

the blunt question froze her in place. she told herself not to hope, not to wish for the impossible. yet, when clay replied, she felt as if he'd flayed the skin off her flesh. "tally's mine." possession, not an affirmation of trust.

but it seemed to satisfy judd. "are you aware that silence functions by conditioning young psy not to feel?" he asked her.

she scrambled to regather her shattered resources. "yes. clay explained."

"the process no longer works well enough for the psy council," he responded.

sliding a hand behind clay's back, talin held on to him as judd continued speaking. clay's arm - already around her shoulders - tightened.

"because of the number of people who aren't taking to, or who are breaking, silence," judd continued, his voice getting ever more arctic, his eyes shifting to killing black, "the council has initiated the beginnings of an implant protocol."

as talin watched, brenna reached out to curl her hand around judd's upper arm. though he didn't seem to notice the touch, when he next spoke, his voice was less inhuman. "they want to put implants in children's brains to ensure full implementation of silence. the chips will turn the psynet - currently composed of individuals - into a hive mind, with the councilors as the controlling entities."

"don't they see that it'll kill the psy?" talin asked, horrified at the idea of cutting into developing brains. "it'll destroy innovation, bury brilliance for the sake of conformity."

judd's classically handsome face burned with deep anger. "the council sees power. that's the only thing that matters to them."

"what's the connection to the kidnappings?" clay asked.

"until a few months ago, the implant lab was located in this state. but after it was sabotaged and the research destroyed, the council moved its activities to a hidden location."

talin felt her hand turn into a claw against clay's chest. "you're saying the kids are being taken to this hidden lab?"

"i'm guessing," judd corrected. "they could have other facilities. but this one is isolated enough to provide the perfect base of operations."

clay put his hand over hers. "any way to find out for sure?"

"my contact was able to confirm psy involvement, but nothing further."

"do you believe him?"

judd shrugged. "he's loyal to the psy race, so he won't betray them. but he considers the implant protocol the worse evil. i pointed out that there is a possibility the kidnapped children are being used as test subjects."

talin choked back her rising terror. "do you really believe that?"

"i can't see the worth of using non-psy organs to test such a sensitive implant." he paused. "however, things are chaotic in the net at present. the council's attention is scattered. it may be losing control over some of those it previously contained."

brenna's expression grew solemn. "the monsters are starting to escape."

"that could explain why we're finding bodies at all - if the council was running this, they wouldn't have left a trail," clay said, as judd picked up his mate's hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. "is there any way to infiltrate this lab and verify whether or not it is the base of operations?"

"that," judd said, continuing to keep brenna's hand in his, "is the issue. if i give you the location of the lab and you go in openly, it may blow my contact's cover. only a select few have access to that data."

"but if we could save jon - and others they haven't yet taken - wouldn't it be worth it?" talin asked, angry at the snowdancer male for being so damn uninvolved.

then she saw the quiet fury in his gaze and realized her mistake. "if my contact is unmasked and the council shifts the lab again, we might not be able to stop the implant protocol. it'll affect hundreds of thousands. i'm not asking you to make a choice between this boy and the psy children who will be implanted. i'm telling you there is no easy answer."

with those words, he turned black and white into gray, left her grappling with a moral dilemma that appeared to have no solution. "i don't suppose we could sneak in?"