Pure Blooded (19 page)

“Which is peace, I hope?” I asked. “That’s what I want. I want the supernatural race to take a few minutes and breathe.” I knew there would be trouble at the start with supernatural challenges to the new reign of power, but after a few years I was hoping that the Coalition would use their power to quell the unrest and create some kind of peaceful state—at least for a while.

“I think that’s an achievable goal,” he said. “Once the dust settles, I’m hoping, like you, that there will be a period of calm for us.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep that peace once we have it,” I said. “I can almost taste the victory, and it’s delicious.” I snuggled into his chest.

“You have to remember, it’s in the nature of supernaturals to fight.” His chest rumbled in his low bass. “I’m certain it won’t be calm forever, but my guess is this new Coalition will be the most powerful one to date. That will give us a decided advantage and likely buy us big chunks of peace.”

“Why do you think it will be the most powerful?” I asked, bringing my hand up to stroke his face, loving the feel of stubble under my fingertips.

“Because you’re on it,” he said simply. “I can feel the swell of magic inside you. You have tremendous power. Not to mention Eudoxia, who is not only a powerful vampire, but also fae. I see the Coalition members coming in with their root abilities and having a mix of power—almost like hybrids. And once you all share your magic, you will be unstoppable.”

“Do you think I have more power than you now?” I teased.

“Much more. And it’s raw. Jessica, you vibrate with strength. It’s amazing. It’s unbelievable to me that you have no idea how strong you are.” He grinned as he slanted his lips over mine.

I took his kiss greedily.

I broke from him, panting lightly. He tasted wonderful. “I know I have power, I can feel the concentrated magic in my body, but my wolf is in control of it. Now that I know she’s her own being, I trust her to deal with it, and because of that—and that alone—it allows me to feel more normal. Even after all of this. Without her, I don’t think I could do this. I really don’t.”

Rourke lay back and brought me with him, rolling me on top of him, his arms crushing me in their grasp. “You are perfect, you know that? You are handling this,” he murmured, “with your wolf. You’re a team, like we’re a team. I’ve never heard of a shifter and their beast being separate, sharing one body. Mine is very much a part of me—an extension of myself. I have feelings and lots of animal instincts that rear up inside me without warning,
but it’s still just me. It makes us decidedly different, but I like that. I think having your wolf separate will keep you levelheaded and able to make good, solid decisions in a stressful time. That’s an asset.”

“It’s strange, because I don’t feel separate from her. I still consider her ‘my wolf.’ But having the knowledge that we’re different, each with our own soul, makes it easier moving forward. I felt that immediately. It lessens any competition for control on my end when it comes to supernatural issues. I can trust her to think for herself, and she knows a lot more than I do, and there’s no way to put a price on that. But we still don’t agree when it comes to my human issues. Her tendencies are decidedly supernatural, mine are not, and I’m not willing to give up my control on that. I will keep my humanness, whatever happens.”

“It makes sense you’d push back on that and hold your ground, and, Jess, your humanness is what makes you who you are. Your wolf will come to see that. And even though she might be irritated with you, she will respect you for it in the end.”

“She might, grudgingly.” I laughed. “I already feel like we understand each other better and it’s only been a handful of hours since it happened—”

“
Ma Reine
.” Naomi’s voice was quiet in the darkness but I jumped nonetheless. “We are sorry to bother you, but we must have a word.”

“Well, we’re not exactly
sorry
to interrupt you, per se,” Danny added as I scrambled to stand, Rourke right behind me, a very low chuckle rumbling under his breath, “but I am, however, apologetic it’s the middle of the night. See, we heard you chatting, even though you were doing your best to be quiet, and my girl and I”—his face broke into a huge grin as he beamed at Naomi—“would like your permission to get the hell out of here.”

“But only if that’s okay,” Naomi added hastily. “We know you will need us, but in light of what happened, we were hoping—”

“—with me almost losing my life and such,” Danny interjected smoothly, “we decided we have some catching up to do. And here”—he glanced around the planking and the trees—“is not the bloody place to do it.” He cleared his throat. “The kind of catching up we need to do is of a delicate nature.” Then he winked.

Rourke started to laugh openly and Naomi stiffened.

She blushed so hard, it resonated in the moonlight. I slapped Rourke on the chest with the back of my hand and inclined my
head. “I hope Naomi is well aware that she’s going to have her hands full with you, Daniel Walker. And of course you can leave. You have my permission to get out of here ASAP. We’re going to be heading back at first light, and we’ll meet you at home.”

Danny replied, “Oh, Naomi knows what she’s in for, and she’s told me herself she’s in.”

“He speaks frankly,” Naomi said. “I am definitely… invested. But our duty to you comes first. We would not leave you knowingly in danger, but if you feel you are safe for a time, we would appreciate a few days away.”

“Well, let’s not be hasty. It could take weeks to complete the—” Danny said.

Naomi elbowed him in the ribs and he smiled like he’d just won the lottery.

“Of course, take your time. You two deserve it,” I said. “We’ll rendezvous at home. If anything happens, I’ll get word to you. Check the Pack phones daily.”

“We will,
Ma Reine
.” Naomi’s face broke into a wide grin. “I swear to it.”

Danny moved forward and took my hand, surprising me. “There’s just one more thing I must do before I leave.” He knelt down on one knee in front of me. “You are blood-bonded to my mate already, and we were bonded as well, until my untimely semi-death wiped the troth away. I would swear another one to you right now before we leave. Before all gathered here, I choose you, Jessica McClain, to be my Alpha. I was meant to serve you, and you alone, and I will continue to do so until I take my last dying breath.” He put his other hand over his heart.

“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.

Like everything else in my life. That’s why it made perfect sense.

Tyler trailed after him, adding, “Get some sleep, why don’t you? And no more talking. You can hear a pin drop in this godforsaken place.”

“All I hear are the frogs. So many frogs,” I joked as Rourke folded me into his arms. I turned into his chest and murmured, “Home will feel nice for us too. I can’t wait.” My apartment was still pretty bare, but I did have a bed.

“Waiting is not my strong suit,” Rourke whispered, “but it looks like we have no other choice.”

“Well, there might be a few other choices,” I said as I leaned up and kissed him.