“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.