Tyler’s irises shot to amber, emotion churning deeply in their depths. “I get it, Jess. You don’t have to worry. I don’t think you’re Alpha, but I can honestly say I don’t know what you are, so I’m willing to give it try. Whatever happens, happens. But I’m not leaving you, and Dad’s right—we can’t do this without changing the game. The stakes went through the roof when the Underworld joined the party. This is of my own free will and I’m willing to deal with the consequences.”

“If you’re not really Alpha,” Danny said, “I, for one, am curious to see what you are. Honestly, I haven’t had this much fun since I broke into the palace at Whitehall to give Queen Elizabeth a cheeky surprise. She’d been tied up with that Dudley sot, but as soon as he’d left she’d been putty in my hands. We had quite a romance after that. I’d like to think it’s why she never married.” He winked and inclined his head in the direction of his waist.

“Danny, you never cease to amaze me. The Queen of England?” I shook my head. Danny could diffuse a situation like no other and I was grateful. “Okay,” I said, getting back to business. “Let’s go.” I dropped my hand from Tyler’s wrist.

Tyler lifted the knife again and said, “I’ll feed you the words while I cut Danny’s palm. He can go first.”

“We don’t need to do anything more formal?” I asked. “This seems too easy.”

“Nope,” Tyler said. “It’s all about the words and the blood. Ready?”

“Yes,” I said. As ready as I could be. My wolf paced back and forth in my mind, patiently waiting. Do you know what’s going to happen? She snapped her muzzle at me and lifted her head. I took that as a maybe.

Tyler said, “Of my mind and body, I ask thee.”

He sliced Danny’s palm open and I repeated the words. “Of my mind and body, I ask thee.”

“Do you Pledge of me freely?”

“Do you Pledge of me freely?” I asked Danny, looking into his eyes.

Danny answered, “I pledge to you freely with body and soul.” His eyes flicked down in submission.

I held out my palm and Tyler sliced it cleanly. I winced a little.

“With the blood that mixes, it binds us together,” I repeated after Tyler. Then reached out to grab Danny’s palm.

Tyler finished with, “You are my Pack and I am your Alpha.”

“You are my Pack and I am your Alpha,” I intoned.

The second our palms met there was a shot of power so strong it blocked everything out of my mind. It jolted from my body into Danny’s and back again.

“Bloody hell!” Danny yelled. The force of the connection bucked us both backward, separating us very quickly. I leaned over, panting.

Danny was on the ground.

I turned my hand over. It was completely healed. I angled my head toward Tyler. “Was that normal?”

“Fuck no!” Tyler said, his voice stricken. “Danny, what happened? What does it feel like?”

Danny pulled himself up from the ground with ease, dusting the dirt from his mended hand. He looked at me and raised a brow, his mouth quirking at the sides. “That was off the charts. Like nothing I’ve ever felt. Even now your blood is singeing my insides. But it’s not like your father’s at all.” He turned toward a waiting Tyler. “You were right. The bond is different.”

“What is she?” Tyler asked.

“I dunno, mate, but I feel electrified. Like I could take on the world. If you give me a minute, I might even want to fight you.” He clenched and unclenched his fists.

Tyler looked startled. “You want to fight me? For status?”

“My wolf senses your power, and right now I’m above yours.” Danny chuckled. “There’s a first time for everything, right?”

Tyler’s expression changed as his wolf sensed Danny’s power for the first time. “Holy hell,” he breathed.

“Once you take her blood, we’ll see where we lie,” Danny ribbed. “And even if she’s not Alpha, she’s clearly my leader now. My connection to your father vanished the moment her blood seared my palm.”

I straightened and looked directly at Tyler. “We’re not doing this. You can’t take my blood.”

Tyler still seemed shell shocked.

“Tyler,” I said, waving my hand in front of his face. “We’re calling Dad back to tell him what happened. He won’t make us do it. It’s too risky.”

Tyler glanced at me, blinking a few times, and replied, “So he says no. Then what? There’s no way to break my Selective bond without doing this. I already told you I’m not leaving you.” His lips pursed together stubbornly. “We’re doing this.”

My mouth opened in surprise. “You can’t be serious. I just shot Danny to the ground with a few drops of my blood. We’re not doing it.” If I could’ve stamped my foot like a five-year-old child I would have.

“Jess,” Tyler said, his voice low. “I think I get it now. The thing Dad was talking about.”

“What do you mean ‘you get it now’? We’ve been at this for exactly three minutes,” I said. “What can you possibly have learned in that short amount of time—other than my blood is toxic and I should wear a sign around my chest telling people to back the hell away?”

“Danny’s smell just changed.” He gestured to Danny. “He’s giving off a hint of ozone now. But it’s just a fraction of yours—almost undetectable—but it’s your same signature.” I took a gratuitous sniff, but I didn’t even smell ozone on me, so there was no chance I was getting it off Danny. “When you bond with your Alpha, you don’t smell like your Alpha.”

“So?” I said. “What does that mean?”

“It means you’re different than an Alpha, just like I thought. Danny took a piece of you with him. I also think it means we don’t need to exchange the vow for this to work between us.”

“Come again?” I asked, with my hands on my hips. “How are you figuring this out? I’m still as confused as I was when this all started.”

“I know it, because I know genetics. DNA compatibility for normal siblings is fifty percent. We’re twins with an unusual connection; my guess is we share more than fifty percent. Possibly much more. Because we’re so closely bonded, your blood isn’t going to change me as much as it did Danny, and because you’re not technically an Alpha, there’s no need for the vow.”

“But once the words of the vow were spoken, Danny exploded. Nothing happened before then,” I helpfully pointed out.

“I didn’t technically ‘explode’ per se.” Danny chuckled. “It was more of a force of supreme magnitude that toppled me over for a mere second. But as you saw, I recovered fully and feel better than ever.”

“Danny is not blood-bonded to you already,” Tyler said. “What I’m saying, Jess, is we are too closely related and share too much DNA for you to be above or below me in status. You were right. The absence of any feeling was the key. Once we’re connected on this last level”—his irises sparked amber—“it will change the last of my DNA enough to sever my Alpha bond with Dad.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because you’re not tied to Dad the way I am. He can’t reach you or control you when you’re in your Lycan form.” Tyler ran a hand through his hair and exhaled a long frustrated breath. “I don’t know why I didn’t figure this out before. You must have something in your system that inhibits the Alpha bond. And when we exchange blood, you’re going to give it to me.”

“That sounds way too risky,” I said. “What if you’re never able to get the bond back with Dad?”

Tyler shrugged. “There’s a chance that could happen, but this feels right to me, something we’ve been missing all these years. I’m never going to take over Pack while Dad is alive anyway. And I’m still his son, with his DNA inside me. That will never change. Honestly, Jess, the protective instinct I have when you’re around almost paralyzes me with its intensity; it has ever since we were young. It’s made me crazy with worry all these years. If I have to choose Dad or you right now, I pick you.”

My heart thudded in my chest. “Tyler,” I stammered. I didn’t know what to say. “It feels like too much. Like you’re giving away too much. I don’t want to be responsible for your break in status.” But he was right. Something about it seemed to fit, the final connection that had been missing between us all these years.

Before I could say anything else, he sliced his palm. I extended my hand without looking down. He sliced it cleanly.

“Here we go,” he said, grasping my hand.

He closed his eyes and I followed.

The moment our blood connected, his emotions flared inside me, bright and clear. Everything we had shared as children ran through my mind at lightning speed. All the fights, the battles, the love, and the protection. He was right. This was different from Danny. Danny’s bonding felt possessive.

This felt like home.

“Jess,” Tyler said. “I feel Dad’s emotions in your blood too. He can feel this. I’m sure of it.”

My blood had just connected the three of us.

“It’s all so vivid,” I murmured. His blood seared through my veins, bringing a piece of him with it, just as mine was doing to him.

We both stumbled backward after a minute.

I panted again, bracing my hands against my thighs to catch my breath. Tyler looked up from where he stood a few feet away, his irises blazing full yellow. “The Alpha bond is severed with Dad,” Tyler said. “But I can still feel him from whatever was in your blood.”

I nodded. “When Dad and I took our Blood Oath, I connected with him on a different level. I can feel his emotions through the bond, like I’m feeling yours right now. I can feel Danny too, but it’s very faint.” I glanced at Danny and tried to speak to him inside my head. Danny, can you hear me?