THE PARTY

Nalini Singh

(Deleted scene from Branded By Fire)

Mercy felt so deliciously loose and relaxed after her encounter with Riley that she had the urge to turn leopard and just curl up somewhere. It was as well that she had a standing date with the women of the pack that night.

Showering and sprucing up after her return from the den, she made it to the gathering half an hour late. It was being held at Annie and Zach�s house this time around�though Zach had been kicked out for the duration. Attendance fluctuated depending on work-shifts and the general mood of the pack, and tonight, after Nash�s successful return, there were well over twenty-five women in the small house filled with the delicious smells of chocolate, cocktails and friendship.

�Mercy!� Anu all but dragged her to a seat on the sofa. �I have something for you. Show me your toes.�

Grinning, Mercy did as bid. Ten minutes later, her toenails had been painted a vivid silver-blue that glinted in the light. �I like it,� she said definitively. Anu was one of her favorite people, being so infectiously good-natured that it was impossible to be in a bad mood around her. �How�s the baby?�

�Gorgeous. See?� The proud mommy pulled out a phone with an array of new photos.

Genuinely interested, Mercy spent several minutes looking at them. �She�s growing fast. Feels like only last week I held her and she was the size of a tadpole.�

�Tell me about it.� Anu turned to put her phone back into her purse. �Make sure you take home the rest of the polish for touch-ups.�

�Thanks.� Admiring her toes and feeling distinctly feline in her pleasure, Mercy nudged Anu.

�Where�s Annie?�

�Here.� A margarita was put into her hand. �Anu?�

�Better not�breastfeeding. Gimme that pineapple juice.� Taking a glass, she picked up her bag of tricks. �Time for my next victim.�

Mercy glanced up at Annie as Anu arrowed her way toward Poppy. �You know how to throw a party.�

Annie grinned. �I think Zach�s having visions of coming home to find drunken naked women all over his lawn. Actually, I think he�s hoping for it. Except for his sisters, of course�I have strict instructions to save him from that trauma by warning him to stay the hell away.�

Laughing, Mercy took a sip of her margarita and watched as Annie moved to put the rest of the drinks on the low table a couple of feet away. The small brunette was immediately shanghaied by her sister-in-law, Jess, and Sascha, into a heated debate that pitted Mr. Darcy against Heathcliff. Mercy was leaning forward to listen to Annie�s take on things when Tammy waved to her from the other side of the room, where she was being offered something that had her red-faced and laughing. Curious, Mercy made her way over.

Her eyes almost crossed when she saw the array of objects on the table in front of the healer. �Tammy!�

�Hey, don�t blame me.� Tammy wiped tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes. �This is all Faith�s fault.�

The F-Psy looked incredibly demure when she answered the charge. �How was I to know what Lurrrve Motion produced? When they said they were sending me samples to help me tune my mind for forecasts, I said fine.� She glanced at long, green and very...flexible, Lurrrve Toy, her eyes dancing with laughter. �I never had to worry about things like this when I was working exclusively for Psy companies.�

Mercy was trying to figure out how another toy worked when it came buzzing to life in her hands, turning six different colors in as many seconds before bouncing out of her grasp and across the table to fall into Talin�s lap. Tally took one look at it and said, �Do you think Clay would know what this was if I took it home and gave it to him as a present?�

Seriously naughty suggestions came from all sides, and by the time it was over, Mercy was laughing so hard, her stomach muscles protested. This, she thought, was life, was joy. She couldn�t imagine a future in which her pack didn�t play an integral role. DarkRiver was part of her soul through her blood-bond to Lucas, but her packmates were part of the very fabric of her heart.