“Well done, Daniel.” My father strode toward us from the other sleeping area. I knew the entire camp had heard our conversation. He turned to me. “Daniel Walker is unfaltering in his loyalty to you, and that’s the best kind of ally you can have. As we move forward, my dream is to have an army of wolves who are loyal to you, and who will swear an oath to protect you at all costs.”
Tyler walked up, his hair tousled from sleep. “I’m keeping my allegiance to you, too, Jess, and any wolf who doesn’t like it can answer to me.”
My father nodded his agreement. I glanced between my brother and my father and smiled, feeling proud to call them family. Danny still had my hand. He gave it a small tug. “Shall we get on with it, then?” he asked. The look on his face was so serene and content, it made me smile. It was hard to believe we’d almost lost him.
I nodded and Rourke handed me a knife, which I gave to Danny. “You’ll have to go first. I heal too quickly, so this might be a challenge,” I said.
“Happily,” he answered as Naomi moved to stand behind him. She looked as joyful as I’d ever seen her. Her loyalty to me was absolute and I knew she and Danny were going to make perfect partners.
I remembered the words for the troth and had no need for a prompt this time. I projected my voice as I started, “Of my mind and body, I ask thee, Daniel Walker. Do you pledge of me freely?”
Danny slashed his palm, handing me the knife, and answered, “I pledge to you freely with body and soul.”
I sliced my own hand in a long, deep gash, bringing it to his as fast as I could. “With the blood that mixes, it binds us together. You are my Pack and I am your Alpha.” I barely had the words out when Danny was tossed backward violently, narrowly missing taking his mate with him. He smashed into a cypress tree, tangling in its roots. “Are you okay?” I gasped as I rushed over.
“Good gods, woman.” Danny lay faceup, unmoving. “That was a killer dose. Your blood is much more potent than before.” He lifted a fist and pumped it in the air. “I feel like I could rule a small country or quite possibly bench press a metric ton at the moment.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Rourke muttered. “Let’s start with obeying your Alpha first.” I moved toward my mate and wrapped an arm around his waist, tugging him close. Our mate bond trumped all others, but me being tied to other wolves wasn’t the best scenario for him. I reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek and he growled his reply, a small grin on his lips. He knew he had me, heart and soul, but it was nice to show it to the world occasionally.
Tyler helped Danny off the ground by grabbing his wrist and hoisting him up. “That was pretty sweet,” Tyler said, thumping him on the back once he was up. “No wolf is going to challenge you now.”
“Why would they?” Danny answered gleefully as he moved over to Naomi and slung his arm around her shoulders. They already looked comfortable, like they’d always been a couple. “I’ve just become Jessica’s second. That would be silly.”
My eyebrows shot up my forehead. He was right. “You are my second,” I said. “I can feel it. This time our connection is more powerful.” James was my father’s second in command—his most trusted wolf and the second most powerful in the Pack. James and Marcy were at the other camp for the night, or they’d be standing here with us. “How did that happen?”
“The oath this time was given freely by Daniel,” my father answered. “And you weren’t in extenuating circumstances like before. You are not his temporary Alpha—you are his permanent one. The bond is strong. I can sense it. The link of second comes automatically to the strongest wolf in the Pack. If you were to rebond with Tyler, I’m not sure—”
“No need for us to explore that option,” Danny asserted, waving a hand in dismissal. “I like where I am just fine.”
Tyler chuckled. “No need to worry, Danny. Jessica and I are bound in a totally different way. By blood and genetics first, Pack status second. If you remember, when we were in those mountains, I never gave Jessica an oath. We did exchange blood—and something definitely changed between us—but even if we swapped blood again and I actually swore my fealty to her, I don’t think I’d be her second. I would be something completely separate. If that’s something you want to explore”—he nodded his head at me—“we should think long and hard about the impact before we do it. But having Danny as your second is perfect. I couldn’t choose a better wolf for the task.” Tyler grinned.
“I now have a first and a second.” I rested my head against Rourke’s shoulder. No one could take the top spot away from Rourke. He was my protector in all things.
Naomi moved forward. “We will head out now, if it’s still all right. But we will be in contact and will rendezvous with you when you arrive home.”
“Yep,” Danny added, taking her hand. “My bachelor pad could use a little pick-me-up. It’ll be nice to be home.”
“Safe travels to you both,” I said. “After we try and connect with Juanita, the next order of business is finding Tally. It’s a growing possibility that Ceres has her in Europe, and if that’s the case, we’re headed there immediately.” The moonlight filtered into our small area, giving it a surreal effect, like we were all standing in the middle of a painting frozen in time. It was the early hours of the morning and my family surrounded me in the dark. I’d never felt safer.
“I will have a long talk with Julian when we get home,” my father said. “He should know what’s going on in his backyard, and once we’re apprised and have support from him, we take action. Although I haven’t always been in favor of an alliance with the witches, I cannot deny the role they play in your safety, Jessica. We will ally with them, and if that means finding Tallulah and making sure things are set to right, so be it.”
I nodded, agreeing with him. “We owe Tally,” I said. “Without her, Tyler wouldn’t be here.” I didn’t have to mention that James was now mated to Tally’s niece, which made them blood kin.
“That’s the best plan we’ve got, but let’s not forget, our first priority is to get off this makeshift island,” Tyler said. He turned to address Danny. “Are you going to just fly on out of here? Or take a boat?”
“Fly,” Danny answered. “I enjoy flying, really. The wind in my hair, a beautiful woman with her arms wrapped tightly around me, gripping me in all the right places. It’s quickly become my favorite method of transportation.”
“You’ve only done it once that I know of,” I said, chuckling. Naomi had flown him one time at the vamp headquarters. “And this is going to be a much longer journey. You might not love it as much as you think you do at the end.”
“Oh, we’re not flying straight through.” He waggled his eyebrows at me. “I’m certain there will be plenty of pitstops, and I plan to thoroughly enjoy our flight time together as well.” He turned toward Naomi. “Can you snog while you’re flying, love?”
She elbowed him in the stomach, and then wrapped her arms around his middle, a slight grin playing on her lips. I’d bet money that she was going to be doing her fair share of snogging during the flight to make up for lost time. She turned to me. “Thank you, Ma Reine. We will see you soon.” As they shot upward, Danny’s shouts echoed on the air.
I snickered. “She’s going to teach the boy a lesson or two he won’t forget, guaranteed. I think they are a perfect pairing.”
“I agree,” Tyler said. “Never in a million years did I think I would, but seeing them together makes sense.”
My father grunted as he turned to go. “We leave at first light, which is only in a few hours from now. I’m going to get the wolves started on packing the boats now.” I could tell he respected Naomi and loved Danny like a son, but that’s all we were going to get from him. A wolf-vampire pairing was unprecedented.