Branded By Fire - PSY Changeling 6 By Nalini Singh

A Part from the book
There was a celebration in the Pack Circle a week later, after Tamsyn and Lara had cleared both Mercy
and Riley. It was a joint celebration—of the new life coming into the pack, and of Riley and Mercy’s
mating.
Bas thumped Riley on the back. “Look after her or I’ll scalp you in your sleep.” A smile so feral that if
Mercy hadn’t known better, she’d have thought her brother didn’t even know what a suit was, much less
a financial market.
“Judd said one day it would come back to bite me,” Riley muttered, leaning on his crutches.
“He won’t hurt you,” Mercy teased. “If he does, I’ll use his kitten defurring tools on him.”
Bas showed her teeth. “I’m bigger than you. And I intend to cheat.”
Laughing, she pulled him down for a kiss on the cheek, then pushed him into the dancers. “Go make
some woman’s night.” And there were a lot of them giving Bas the eye.
Grinning, he blew her a kiss and merged into the dancers. Grey, she saw with a surge of warmth in her



heart, was flirting outrageously with Mia, both of them none the worse for their short kidnapping. Sage
was operating a camera somewhere, recording this for Keely’s archival files.
“This is nice,” she said, leaning into Riley’s side as they stood with their backs against a large tree trunk.
“Both our packs here.”
“And everyone behaving.” He nodded at the two groups of juveniles, one on either side of the Pack
Circle. That the event was being held here was another step into trust. Changelings guarded their Pack
Circles zealously. During Dorian’s mating ceremony, certain wolves had been invited down, but it had
been a limited number.
But with Riley and Mercy’s mating, Lucas had decided it was time to extend the hand of friendship.
Hawke had snarled, but he’d taken it. There was going to be another joint party up in the SnowDancer
circle a month from now. However, the SnowDancer alpha had only made a fleeting appearance at this
party—Mercy had a good inkling why.
“Hey, as long as they don’t claw into each other,” she said, putting the issue from her mind, “I don’t care
how much they glare.”
“Poor Sascha,” Riley said, a laugh in his voice. “She can’t find a minute to herself.”
Mercy glanced over to see Sascha being offered food, drink, a blanket, suggestions for baby names, and
God knows what else. Changelings adored children, but their fertility rate wasn’t as high as that of
humans or Psy. As a result, any birth was cherished. And any pregnant woman was cosseted, petted,
and generally driven out of her mind by the others in the pack—male and female.
As Mercy stood there, amused by the knowledge that Lucas would most certainly be getting a strip torn
off his hide later tonight, she glimpsed Kit slipping off into the forest. That wasn’t unusual. He was a
twenty-year-old male, after all—a gorgeous one. What was unusual was the girl holding his hand. Sienna
Lauren.
Oh, shit.
Mercy was about to go after the two—if only to stop an interpack incident, when Riley said, “Look at
her.”
She followed his gaze to find Brenna laughing up at Judd, her golden presence a stark contrast to her
mate’s quiet intensity—but no matter what he looked like, there was no doubting the bond between the
two. “They’re good together.”
Riley hugged her to his side. “Yeah, they are.” And for the first time, there were no shadows in his eyes
when he looked at his sister. It was, Mercy thought, an excellent start. “God,” he continued, “I can’t
believe I used to play horsie for her when she was a little bit.” He shook his head. “What games did you
play with your brothers?”
“I considered Bas my own personal doll. I used to dress him up in sentinel gear and take him on raids.”
Riley laughed and it was such a rich, open sound that her leopard was enchanted. “Dance?” she asked.
He looked down at his cast. “If you don’t mind staying in one place.”
“If that’s pasted up next to you, sounds about perfect to me.”


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