Nalini Singh - Kiss of Snow

For you, my readers

In alphabetical order by first name

Key: SD = SnowDancer wolves DR = DarkRiver leopards

AdenArrow, Telepath (Tp)

AlexeiSD Lieutenant

Amara AleinePsy member of DR, former Council scientist, twin of Ashaya, mentally unstable

Andrew (Drew) KincaidSD Soldier, mated to Indigo, brother of Riley and Brenna

Anthony KyriakusPsy Councilor, father of Faith

Ashaya AleinePsy member of DR, former Council scientist, mated to Dorian, twin of Amara

AvaSD, mother of Ben, friend of Lara

BarkerDR Soldier

BenSD pup, son of Ava

Brenna KincaidSD, tech, mated to Judd, sister of Andrew and Riley

Clay BennettDR Sentinel, mated to Talin

CooperSD Lieutenant

Council (or Psy Council)The ruling Council of the Psy race

EliasSD Senior Soldier, mated to Yuki, father of Sakura

Evangeline (Evie) RiviereSD, sister of Indigo

Faith NightStarPsy member of DR, cardinal foreseer (F-Psy), mated to Vaughn, daughter of Anthony

GhostPsy rebel

HawkeSD Alpha

Henry ScottPsy Councilor, husband of Shoshanna

Indigo RiviereSD Lieutenant, mated to Andrew, daughter of Abel and Tarah, sister of Evangeline

Jem (real name: Garnet)SD Lieutenant

Judd LaurenPsy member of SD, Lieutenant, mated to Brenna, uncle of Sienna, Toby, and Marlee

Kaleb KrychekPsy Councilor

KenjiSD Lieutenant

KieranHuman member of SD, Soldier

KitDR Novice Soldier, brother of Rina

LaraSD Healer

Lucas HunterDR Alpha, mated to Sascha

LucySD, nurse, assistant to Lara

MariaSD Novice Soldier

Marlee LaurenPsy member of SD, daughter of Walker, cousin of Sienna and Toby

MatthiasSD Lieutenant

Max ShannonHuman, Nikita’s security chief, married to Sophia

Mercy SmithDR Sentinel, mated to Riley

Ming LeBonPsy Councilor

Nathan (Nate) RyderDR Senior Sentinel, mated to Tamsyn, father of Roman and Julian

Nikita DuncanPsy Councilor, mother of Sascha

RiazSD Lieutenant

Riley KincaidSD Lieutenant, mated to Mercy, brother of Andrew and Brenna

RinaDR Soldier, sister of Kit

RiordanSD Novice Soldier

Sascha DuncanPsy member of DR, cardinal empath (E-Psy), mated to Lucas, daughter of Nikita

Shoshanna ScottPsy Councilor, wife of Henry

Sienna LaurenPsy member of SD, Novice Soldier, sister of Toby, niece of Judd and Walker

Sophia RussoFormer Justice Psy (J), works for Nikita, married to Max

TaiSD Novice Soldier

Tamsyn (Tammy) RyderDR Healer, mated to Nathan, mother of Roman and Julian

Tarah RiviereSD, mother of Indigo and Evangeline

Tatiana Rika-SmythePsy Councilor

TeijanRat Alpha

Toby LaurenPsy member of SD, brother of Sienna, nephew of Judd and Walker

TomásSD Lieutenant

VasicArrow, Teleporter (Tk-V)

Vaughn D’AngeloDR Sentinel, mated to Faith, jaguar changeling

Walker LaurenPsy member of SD, father of Marlee, uncle of Sienna and Toby

Xavier PerezHuman priest

YukiSD, lawyer, mated to Elias, mother of Sakura

1979.

The year the Psy race became Silent.

Became cold, without emotion, without mercy.

Hearts were broken, families torn apart.

But far more were saved.

From insanity.

From murder.

From viciousness such as unseen in the world today.

For the X-Psy, Silence was a gift beyond price, a gift that allowed at least some of their number to survive childhood, have a life. Yet over a hundred years after the icy wave of the Silence Protocol washed away violence and despair, madness and love, X-Psy are, and remain, living weapons. Silence is their safety switch. Without it . . .

There are some nightmares the world will never be ready to face.

HAWKE FOLDED HISarms and leaned back against the solid bulk of his desk, eyes on the two young females in front of him. Hands clasped behind themselves and legs slightly spread in the “resting” stance, Sienna and Maria looked like the SnowDancer soldiers they were—except for the fact that their hair straggled in a wild mess around their faces, matted with mud, crushed leaves, and other forest debris. Then there was the torn clothing and the sharp, acrid scent of blood.

His wolf bared its teeth.

“Let me get this straight,” he said in a calm tone that had Maria turning pale under skin that was a warm, smooth brown where it wasn’t bruised and bloody. “Instead of staying on watch and protecting the pack’s defensive border, you two decided to have your own personal dominance battle.”

Sienna, of course, met his gaze—something no wolf would’ve done in the circumstances. “It w—”

“Be quiet,” he snapped. “If you open your mouth again without permission, I’m putting both of you in the pen with the two-year-olds.”

Those amazing cardinal eyes—white stars on a background of vivid black—went a pure ebony, which he knew full well indicated fury, but she clenched her jaw. Maria, on the other hand, had gone even paler. Good.

“Maria,” he said, focusing on the petite changeling whose size belied her skill and strength in both human and wolf form. “How old are you?”

Maria swallowed. “Twenty.”

“Not a juvenile.”

Maria’s thick black curls, heavy with mud, bounced dully as she shook her head.

“Then explain this to me.”

“I can’t, sir.”

“Right answer.” No reason they could offer up would be a good enough excuse for the bullshit fight. “Who threw the first punch?”

Silence.

His wolf approved. It mattered little who’d incited the exchange when neither had walked away from it, and the fact of the matter was, they’d been meant to work as a team, so they’d take their punishment as a team—with one caveat.

“Seven days,” he said to Maria. “Confined to quarters except for one hour each day. No contact with anyone while you’re inside.” It was a harsh punishment—wolves were creatures of Pack, of family, and Maria was one of the most bubbly, social wolves in the den. To force her to spend all that time alone was an indication of just how badly she’d blundered. “The next time you decide to step off watch, I won’t be so lenient.”

Maria chanced meeting his gaze for a fleeting second before those rich brown eyes skated away, her dominance no match for his. “May I attend Lake’s twenty-first?”

“If that’s the use you want to make of your hour on the day.” Yeah, it made him a bastard to force her to miss most of her boyfriend’s big party, especially when the two were taking the first, careful steps into a relationship, but she’d known exactly what she was doing when she decided to engage in a pissing contest with a fellow soldier.