A Psy-Changeling Novel

Inspired by the books written by Nalini Singh

Prologue

Finding love is tough. Finding a mate is even tougher.

The Psy are lucky, they can just mix eggs and sperm to create their children.

Changelings are unique. To have children needs a happy home and love.

Without love their race would not survive.

Love and touch are as important to them as breathing.

CHAPTER ONE

Checking her appearance in the refection on the window, Kathryn smoothed down her trousers... again.

She pressed the doorbell, although they had probably already scented her and her nerves. Being head hunted by any company was a big deal, but being head hunted by one of the most powerful and influential changeling packs in the world, was remarkable, especially as Kathryn wasn't even a leopard.

She was in a fact a wolf. However she wasn't a Snow Dancer. She had been head hunted all the way from England. Her pack, Willoughby Chase, were not to be messed with when it came to the safety of the pack or any pack mates.

It took lengthy video conferencing between her Alpha Christian and the Dark River Alpha to agree to her leaving her post in England, and becoming a Dark River guest for up to a year. If they needed her any longer, more negotiations would have to take place.

The door opened, and the first thing Kathryn saw was a set of piercing green eyes, and a handsome face, with three stark white slash mark scars, running jagged along his cheek.

Lucas Hunter looked her up and down. "You seemed taller when we were video conferencing."

"I get that a lot." Kathryn shrugged.

Lucas was flanked by, what Kathryn assumed, was a sentinel. Judging from the location of the house and the appearance of the sentinel, Kathryn guessed it was Nathan Ryder, Dark Rivers more senior sentinel.

"You must be Nathan." She held out her hand as she took stepped into the house.

The man raised an eyebrow, but nodded and shook her hand.

"You've done some research, although most people call me Nate." He gestured to a table in the middle of the room which had a few chairs around it. She took the one nearest the window – an old habit.

Lucas took the chair opposite her, whilst Nate leaned against the wall, eyes scanning the room before he settled his hip more comfortably, arms folded across his chest.

Lucas opened a folder that was on the desk. The first thing she noticed was that were several pictures of her, a CV and what looked like a family tree.

She cocked her head with interest. "Looks like I'm not the only one to do research." She stretched her hands out to pick up her family tree, whilst Lucas picked up her latest medial report.

"We're interested in your skill set." He looked her straight in the eye – a show of dominance that would have had most leopards and wolves shivering. She was not most wolves. Although she did like the fact he was blunt and to the point. Still she could play dumb for a little longer.

"I thought you already had a replacement PA." She kept her face blank and emotionless as a Psy.

Lucas ignored her and pulled out her Psy gradient chart readings. "It's well known that you have a high gradient reading for telepathy even though you're a changeling. What we know is that you also have the use of telekinesis. And that you're a lie detector - that can't be cheated."

Kathryn clicked her tongue, before looking back at him.

Footsteps behind her stopped her train of thought. The women came round to stand by Lucas.

"You also have the rare gift of Psychometry"

The women had wild ebony colored hair and caramel colored skin. She stood by Lucas, placing her hand on his shoulder, which he leaned into before gesturing for her to take the seat next to him.

"It's nice to meet the famous Sascha Duncan Hunter. You're a legend in my part of the world."

Sascha smiled. "And you are a legend to the Dark River sentinels and the Snow Dancer Lieutenants. You possess a variety of gifts, even though you're not even 50% Psy."

Kathryn leaned back in her chair, taking the comment as a compliment. "It comes from my grand-father. He was a cardinal J Psy, with high gradient telepathy and telekinesis. It skipped my father completely and I got the Psy gifts."

Sascha looked confused for a moment. "So your grand-father was one of the Forgotten? And what about the feedback Psy need? How do you get yours? How do you survive?"

Kathryn looked from Lucas to Sascha. "My grand-father defected from the net when he met my grand-mother. Justice Psy were, and still are, prone to breaks in their shields and their silence, as I'm sure you know. Their mating was kept quiet from the world as it was an unusual thing to happen. When they had my father, the pack thought of it as a blessing. We've never been treated any differently just because we have a higher percentage of Psy in us. My whole family is blood bonded to the Alpha, which provides enough feedback for my father and me. It was a necessary move when my father began experiencing black outs and headaches."

A stunned silence fell across the room as they all digested the information Kathryn had just given them.

It was Lucas who finally broke the silence. "Do your Psy abilities affect your wolf?"

Kathryn snorted at the question "No. I have full changeling strength, sense of smell and vision at all times. I just can't use my Psy abilities when I'm in full wolf form."

A look passed between Lucas and Sascha, and Kathryn guessed they were communicating using the mating bond. "Your daughter may well be the same."

Sascha looked at her, "How did you guess what we were thinking?"

Kathryn felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips. "Call it a gift."