Branded by Fire

know what’s in store for him?”

Mercy’s intestines tied themselves into a giant knot. It wasn’t surprising that Hamilton had picked up the scent layer faster than those in her pack. They knew how much time she and Riley had to spend together, probably figured it was a surface layer of contact. But she’d showered this morning after Riley left, then slicked pretty- smelling body cream over herself. And if Hamilton could still sense Riley . . .

No need to panic, she told herself. Lovers often wore layers of scent that made it clear who belonged to who—females and males both. “What’s the scent layer like?”

Hamilton gave her a keen glance, then whistled. “You didn’t know.”

“Answer the question.”

“I picked it up the instant I walked in the door—I’m getting a very definite ‘hands-off’ vibe.”

Mercy swore under her breath. Then again. “It’s the start of the mating dance.”

“Which is why I’m sitting wayyy over on this side of the desk and making no physical contact,” Hamilton said, raising his hands in the air. “I have no desire whatsoever to be hunted by some rabid male who’s decided I touched his woman.”

“I’m no one’s woman.”

“Not yet anyway. Am I the first to sense it?”

She nodded, trying to find her footing when the world had just shifted sideways.

“Since no one in your pack’s exactly a slouch,” he commented, “it means the change is recent. I probably picked it up because I haven’t seen you for so long.”

“And you’re single,” she said between gritted teeth, realizing the dance had to have kicked in the night before. By accepting his word that he’d try to never again hurt her as he’d done yesterday, she’d trusted Riley on a level she’d never before trusted a lover. More than that . . . he’d trusted her. “Every male I’ve seen this morning has been mated. The scent wouldn’t register as strongly to them.”

“So, who’s the lucky guy?”

“I’m going to kill him,” she muttered. “He knew and didn’t tell me.” Changeling males always knew when the dance began.

“Ah, Mercy . . . I wouldn’t tell you, either.”

She felt her eyes go leopard. “Men!”

“Please,” he drawled out. “Look how you’re reacting. Dominant females don’t like the idea of being tied down. So if it was me, and you somehow didn’t notice the scent, I’d make sure we were well and truly entangled before I said anything. Less chance of you deciding not to accept the mating.” Getting up, he gave her a mock salute. “Are you sure you don’t know any more like you?”

She thought about it. “Indigo.”

“The wolf lieutenant?” He whistled. “She’s all kinds of fiiine. Would she date a cat?”

“Ask her.”

“Damn if I won’t.” He held out his hand for Indigo’s number.

Mercy gave it to him in thanks for the fact that he’d spilled the beans about the mating dance. She also threw in a bonus warning. “Don’t try any dominant shit on her—she’ll eat you for breakfast then suck the marrow from your bones for dessert.”

It was a measure of Hamilton’s confidence that he grinned as if he’d just been told he’d won a million bucks. Hah, she thought as he walked out. He was all fun and games now, but if it got serious, he’d probably turn as crazy as Riley and try to keep Indigo from harm. Now that, Mercy thought, would be a fireworks show she’d pay to witness.

Of course, Riley had seen the error of his ways. More, he’d offered her a glimpse of his heart, something she’d never expected. It had undone her.

Ten minutes later, he surprised her again. “We need to go look at a corpse.”

Mercy blinked. “Wow, so romantic.”

“Intel came to me since I’m in charge of city security this morning. But I thought you’d want in on it. I’m on my way to pick you up.”

“I’ll grab a kit with gloves and things.”

It didn’t take them long to get to the body—found by a couple of the Rats in one of the less accessible corners of the bay, the information had traveled to cat and wolf ears rather than Enforcement, which meant they had free rein at least for a short time frame.

The body was wedged between several rocks, having apparently been washed up at high tide. Parking the car in the shadow of a large tree, the two of them headed down the tiny dirt access road to check it out. Though the sea had done a credible job of smothering the man’s natural scent, they both caught the faint metallic tang.

“Psy,” Mercy said, crouching beside the body. “Those squads that Sascha and Judd told us about must be combing the city, searching for him.” All Psy who disappeared from the PsyNet without explanation were tracked to verify the reason for their sudden disengagement.

Riley nodded. “The instant word of his body gets to Enforcement, we lose all hope of figuring out how he ended up here.”

“I’ve got enough training to process this,” she said. “We bring in our techs and we give away the game.” There was nothing much out here—two people might skate under the radar, but a team would be highly visible.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Anyway, it could be simple drowning or suicide.” Putting on thin protective gloves, she checked the corpse for evidence of how the male might’ve died, while Riley took photographs with a small but high-resolution camera. “Fish have nibbled a bit and he’s been banged around, but I’m not seeing anything that screams murder. Of course, I’m no expert.”

He tapped a finger on his knee. “Can you take samples without it being obvious you took them?”

“No problem—I’ll go through one of the bite sites.” She was drawing blood as she spoke. “Haven’t done anything like this for a while.”

“Remind you of med school?”

A pointed glance. “That background check sure was thorough.”

“Of course.” He kept an eye out around them as he spoke, making certain to look skyward, too. “Falcons are coming today. They want us to grant them permission to fly over pack land.”

She took a number of swabs, making quick notes on where they’d been taken from. “Been in the works for a while.” The WindHaven clan occupied territory—a large slice of Arizona—that bordered SnowDancer land. Their request wasn’t unprecedented. The bird changelings, especially the species that were meant to fly far and wide, often negotiated such treaties—the right to flight along strictly drawn paths.

If WindHaven wanted even limited landing privileges, they’d have to agree on some kind of an alliance, but first SnowDancer—and DarkRiver, as the wolves’ main ally—had to find them worthy of an alliance. A weak partner could cause incredible damage. However—“They seem pretty solid.”

“Guess we’ll find out when we meet.” He looked at her as she removed her gloves and put them in the biohazard bag before closing the lid on the whole kit. “Done?”

“Yeah. At least we got this much.” She made a face. “Probably won’t be enough for any real answers.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky with the blood work.” He held out his hand for the kit. When she raised an eyebrow, he didn’t so much as blink. “I’m stronger. Suck it up.”

Her mouth fell open as he turned something she’d said to him more than once, right back on her. Taking the chance to grab the kit, he loped over the rocks and up to the car ahead of her.

Since his back was turned to the cat prowling up behind him, he missed the smile tugging at the curve of her lips.

Mercy checked her phone when they got back to the car. “Falcons postponed,” she told Riley. “Meet’s set for day after tomorrow instead.”

“Must’ve been something big,” Riley murmured. “They’ve been working for months to reach this point.”

Agreeing, Mercy cleared the message. “I’m thinking we get a Rat to call in an anonymous tip on the body. No