Branded by Fire by Nalini Singh

Mercy is a DarkRiver sentinel, an Alpha Jaguar looking for a mate. But with Alpha females, there is a problem- she's a dominant. So dominant that she might not ever meet a mate who can make her submit, which is necessary for Changeling matings. Mercy knows this and is resigned to it, but in the meantime, she's desperate for sex- hungry for a man.

Riley Kincaid is also an Alpha, and a member of the SnowDancer pack, second in command to the Alpha of the Pack. He finds himself attracted to Mercy, who regards him as a stick in the mud- too straightlaced to be interesting. But when they share a night of passion together, it sears them both.

But their mating is not meant to be- She's a cat, and he's a wolf. Not only are they not the same animal, but for them to be together, one of them will have to leave their pack- and neither can see it being them, and Mercy knows that she'll become a laughingstock among her people if they see her mating a wolf! But Riley doesn't feel the same- he wants Mercy, and he knows she wants him.

Adding to the problems is Mercy's grandmother, who has decided to interfere in her life by sending some of the Alpha cats from her own tribe in South America to Mercy, to see if one of them fits her and might be her perfect mate. Mercy is incensed by this interference, but her grandmother is an even bigger Alpha than she is, and by the time her Grandmother tells her what she's done, it's too late- the other cats are there, and irritating both Riley and Mercy with their presence.

Outside events take precedence when a Changeling Researcher is kidnapped from his home on pack land, and there are intimations of someone forcing Psy to kill themselves in spectacular ways- and taking others, both human, Psy and Changeling, with them. With so many of the Psy mated to Changeling, this affects the Packs as well, and the Psy are also investigating- but is it another sign of madness in the Psy, or a shadow of the Psynet known as the Darknet that is responsible?

Meanwhile, Sascha recieves a present from her Psy mother, a book on E-Psy, done by a researcher just before the E-Psy were outlawed by the rest of the Psy. But it's not just Empathic powers that are appearing in the Psy who are part of the Changeling "Web of Stars"- there are signs that one of the Psy children is an even worse and more powerful Psy called an X- Psy, whose powers deal with combat and killing. Can the Changelings deal with a Combat-oriented Psy better than the Psy themselves can? They are going to have to find out in a hurry- and deal with an unexpected foe who wants both the Psy and changelings to pay!

While this book deals with main characters who are both Changelings (instead of Changelings and Psy as in the other books in the series), because the Changelings live in the Psy world, they still have to deal with the Psy and the havoc they are creating, both among the Changelings and in the larger world.

Having both characters be Changeling made the book somewhat different than the ones before, and introducing new problems for the Changelings that didn't affect the previous books. The idea that female Changelings can also be Alphas, and the challenges that female Alphas face when it comes to mating, was something new, and added a different obstacle to overcome for Mercy and Riley. It's easier for an Alpha male- he doesn't have to submit to a mate. But a female Alpha does- and there we have the foremost problem.

But how Mercy and Riley overcome this problem was interesting to read. Not so much by straight force- but you'll have to read that for yourself. I can only say that there seemed to be very little actual submission- apparently, the Wolf/Cat dynamic is different enough that there was little direct submission. And in between Mercy and Riley's struggles was the problems with the Psy and their new enemy, who came out of left field for me. But they certainly amounted to a credible threat and introduced a new threat on the Psy Council as well.

I love this series, and this volume was packed with so much cool stuff that I lost myself in it for over a day- and you probably will as well. I heartily recommend both series- the Cool Psy, Hot Changelings, and the Neutral Humans make for an interesting mix- and I can't wait to read more and see how this world continues to develop. Highly recommended.