“Neither of those things will happen,” growled Ryan. His wolf echoed his growl.

“Something tells me that if they did,” began Tao, “Makenna would be first in line to kill them. There’s a wildness in her.”

Riley smiled. “There is. I like it.”

Trey looked at Ryan. “You’re positive she’s your true mate?”

This again? “I already had this conversation with the females and Marcus.”

Dante smiled. “Yeah, he told me about the female intervention.” Jaime and Taryn had the grace to blush. “Let me give you some advice. I’d known Jaime since we were kids, but we hadn’t once guessed that we were mates. It wasn’t until Kye was born, in that one unguarded moment while she held him and both our defenses fell, that we both realized the truth.”

Jaime linked their fingers. “It hit us like a two-by-four.”

Ryan scowled. “Makenna doesn’t have any defenses up now.”

“There has to be something or you’d feel the bond,” said Tao.

Not necessarily, given recent developments. “It’s operating.”

Dante arched a brow. “Operating how?”

“I feel what she feels. I think our scents are starting to mix.” It was only a slight change, but Ryan could swear it was there.

Trey pursed his lips. “That could be the start of imprinting.”

Ryan shook his head. He sensed it was more.

“I don’t see how the bond could have snapped into place without you feeling it,” said Dante.

Taryn held a hand up. “Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that it had. That would mean the frequency isn’t jammed, that the bond is up and working just fine. Something is stopping you and Makenna from psychically sensing it.” Taryn’s shoulders sagged. “Honestly, I don’t see how anything could possibly do that.”

“There is another possibility,” said Riley.

“What?” Tao asked her.

“It could be that the bond truly hasn’t formed yet. But that it’s functioning on some level because it’s so very close to snapping into place.”

Taryn’s brows flew up. “That is possible.” She looked at Ryan. “Usually when mates psychically connect, the bond isn’t fully formed; it takes certain emotional steps to make that happen because the couple still has some hurdles to jump. But what if you and Makenna don’t have any hurdles? What if the bond is ready and waiting, it just needs a little something to get out of the damn way?”

“Like what?” Trey asked, and she shrugged.

“Ooh,” interrupted Jaime, “maybe it’s an external issue. Something that isn’t coming between you and Makenna—hence why the bond is ready to fully form—but something that’s coming between the bond and you as a couple.”

Tao waved a hand. “For example . . .”

Jaime sat upright. “If I remember correctly, Makenna went to the shelter when she was a child. Right?”

Ryan nodded.

“Was she banished? Betrayed in some way?”

Taryn gaped at her. “I can’t believe I never thought of that.”

“You would have eventually,” assured Jaime.

Taryn smiled. “It makes total sense now.”

“I know, right?”

Trey sighed. “Could you please share with the class?”

Taryn turned to Ryan. “If Makenna was betrayed by her pack, it stands to reason that part of her is hesitant about joining another. Mating with you means becoming one of us. She’s done that. But maybe somewhere deep inside, she doesn’t trust that we won’t betray her too.”

It made sense. Makenna spoke of the pack as if she were an outsider. She had yet to call herself a Phoenix wolf. Years of volunteering at a place where other people were banished and betrayed by their packs wouldn’t have exactly filled her with faith about packs. “She’s holding back from the pack, not me.”

“Exactly,” said Taryn. “She needs to see—to believe wholeheartedly—that we won’t betray her.”

“We’ve done what we can to make her feel like one of us,” said Jaime. “She is one of us.”

Taryn shrugged. “That’s a realization she has to come to on her own. At least you can take comfort in the knowledge that she’s not at all unsure about you, Ryan.”

Smiling at him, Jaime nodded. “She loves you. We can all see that. She doesn’t even try to hide it.”

Riley caught Savannah as the little girl sprang onto her lap. “You’re lucky to have Makenna as your mate. She’s awesome.”

Tao leaned closer to the viper. “What’s that you got in your hand?”

Savannah smiled impishly. “It’s for you.” She opened her fist and offered her possession to Tao.

To the guy’s credit, he did nothing other than say, “It’s a worm.”

“You can share it with your mean old lady.”

Apparently Savannah had decided that since he was Greta’s ally, Tao was her enemy.

Tao shot a silently laughing Riley a narrowed-eyed look that she completely ignored.

“I absolutely love this kid,” said Taryn, grinning.

Dante pulled out his beeping cell phone and swiped his thumb across the screen. “It seems we have a visitor.”

“Who?” Trey asked, stiffening.

“Myles is here. And he’s brought a friend.”