BRANDED BY FIRE

“Don’t ‘Bas’ me. You might be able to control Grey and Sage but don’t even try it with me.”


She glared at him. “This is my business.” She trusted Riley not to hurt her brothers, but a lot could go wrong when men got stupid—especially when those men had claws and teeth meant for hunting prey.

“Should’ve thought of that before you told my ex-girlfriend I eat live kittens for breakfast.”

A tiny twinge of guilt. Then the cat wondered what Riley would think of her last successful “shoo-away.” “Who knew she’d believe me?”

“Oh no? When you ‘accidentally’ opened the cupboard to expose my ‘kitten cage’ full of the poor, sad kitties I was going to snack on?” A raised eyebrow. “Wasn’t the cage next to my special ‘kitten defurring’ tools?”

“They were obviously fake.”

Bas just stared at her.

Mercy snarled. “Damn it. Let’s go dancing.”

“Yeah, let’s. I need to plan how I’m going to fillet this bastard if he hurts you.”

*

Riley couldn’t do it. He couldn’t stay away from Mercy. However, her cabin proved empty. He debated calling her, then realized that would betray far too much of the driving need in him. And he couldn’t let her learn that, couldn’t give her that much power over him. Shoving the phone into his pocket, he headed back to his vehicle.

That was when he scented him. Another male. One of the South Americans. His wolf bared its teeth inside him, but it was possession, not rage. The man had been here but wasn’t any longer. He’d probably come looking for Mercy. It was tempting, oh-so-tempting, to track him down and make sure he understood that Mercy was off-limits, but Riley knew his cat. She wasn’t the kind of woman to play off one man against another.

And if he went after Eduardo and Joaquin, she’d assume he didn’t know that.

“Fuck.” Logic was a bitch sometimes. Forcing himself to get in the vehicle, he turned around and went home, parking the four-wheel drive in a designated spot miles from the den and completing the rest of the distance on foot.

The exercise burned off most of his frustration and anger, but he couldn’t make himself stay inside the network of beautifully constructed tunnels that had protected SnowDancer from enemy eyes more times than anyone could count. Instead, after showering and pulling on a fresh T-shirt and jeans, he went outside and found a seat on a storm-fallen tree on the edge of the White Zone.

He was sitting there, second-guessing his decision not to track Mercy down, when someone tracked him down. Catching the strawberry and candy scent on the breeze, he kept his back to his visitor, allowing her to decide if she wanted to talk to him.

A moment later, a small hand tugged on his sleeve.

Turning, he chucked Sakura under the chin. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“It’s only nine and I had a nap today.” A smile and a hopeful look.

Knowing he was a sucker, but unable to resist, he picked her up—doll and all—and sat her on his lap, where she curled into a contented little ball, her ear over his heart. A wave of tenderness swept over him and he cupped the back of her head in a gentle hold.

“Riley?”

“Hmm?” He stroked his hand over the sleek black fall of hair she’d inherited from her mother.

“Have you seen my daddy?”

Riley went over the roster in his head. “Elias should be coming back within half an hour.”

“I’ll stay and wait.”

“Did you tell your mom?” he asked, thinking that while the hair had come from Yuki, the eyes were indisputably Elias’s.

A nod. Tiny fingers braiding her doll’s silky hair. “Riley?”

“Sakura.”

A giggle. “Did you see my tooth?” She tilted up her head. “See, I lost two.”

“Where’d they go?” he teased.

Another giggle, innocent and bright. “Mom said you should come have coffee with her and Dad.”

Riley raised an eyebrow. “She did?”

“Uh-huh. And she even made pecan pie.”

Riley loved pecan pie, as Yuki well knew. “Your mom’s sneaky.”

“That’s what Dad says.” She snuggled closer and he tightened his arms, very aware of her fragility. He couldn’t believe one of his tough soldiers had produced this tiny creature, but it was true. Half the time, Elias didn’t seem to believe it either. The other half, he strutted around like the proud papa he was.

“How come she’s sneaky?”

“She wants to ask me questions, and she’s bribing me with pie.” He had no doubts that Yuki wanted to grill him about Mercy. Damn nosy packmates.

“Oh.” Her attention was on her doll. “Do you think she looks pretty?”

“Very. Just like you.”

A sunny smile was his reward. “I like you, Riley.”

Riley felt his heart tighten. He liked Sakura, too. Brenna had once asked him if he’d had enough of parenthood what with having to shoulder so much responsibility in raising her and Andrew, but Riley had never seen it that way. To protect and raise a child was a gift. “What’s your doll’s name?”