Hot Blooded

me informed. Are you fully healed now?”

I brought my arm up and examined the back of my hand. “Yes. But things seem to be changing quickly. Did Tyler tell you everything?” My father obviously knew about the devils, but explaining to him that I’d fed a vamp and cured her wasn’t top on my list. If Tyler hadn’t shared, I was going to wait on that one.

“Tyler told me about the rock spirit and the Camazotz, which I have only vague knowledge of, but they shouldn’t be on this plane at all. As in, there isn’t anything powerful enough to get them here except a Demon Lord, which spells trouble for your journey on the highest possible level.”

I paused and held my breath. I knew that tone and I knew what was coming.

“Jessica, if Selene is wrapped up in the Underworld, this is too big for you to handle on your own.

You need to leave there now. I will conclude my business here in a few days. We will leave the fracture group alone for now, and then I will amass wolves and we will meet you in Canada. In light of the Prophecy and the current events involving the Underworld, this is no longer a journey to obtain your mate. This is a war.”

I closed my eyes and brought my fingers up to pinch the bridge of my nose. “Dad, I can’t wait that long. I’m sorry.” I tensed, knowing that once again I was defying my father and my Pack Alpha. I

hated every second of it, but I had no choice. “Please listen. I can’t wait because Rourke doesn’t have that kind of time. I’m a hundred percent certain Selene knows we’re here. We just battled two of her best defenses. She’s not going to wait much longer to play her games. She wants us now. If I leave and abandon the journey, Rourke dies. I can’t let that happen. There is no time left.”

He quieted. I could almost feel him processing. There was nothing ideal about this situation.

Having Selene working with the Underworld was dire on every level; we both knew it. I had to keep explaining until he understood. “Dad, something happened inside me just before I set the rock monster free.” It was difficult to describe, because I barely understood it myself. “Something opened up inside me. My wolf showed it to me in a way I could finally grasp. I’m fairly certain it’s been there since my shift, but it seems I’m not as quick on the uptake as she is, which, from my viewpoint, is completely understandable. But whatever power I unlocked allowed me to break Selene’s hold over the monster,

and when I came across the line with the devils on me… I seemed to have killed them with power from my blood alone.” I glanced at Ray and Naomi, who both watched me. I walked farther away. “If what we read on the computer is the truth, my powers are manifesting and they are… significant. It’s going to have to be enough to defeat Selene on my own. Whatever’s inside me has to be enough to save Rourke.”

“Jessica—”

I cut him off before he could forbid it, because if he did, I was out of Pack before I even had a chance to start. “Dad!” My voice held a plea. “There’s no other way. You have to understand. I have to go on. I can’t leave him. We’re connected on a level I can’t explain to you. There’s no way to sever that bond. If he dies… I don’t think I will be able to continue on.”

The line went quiet for a long minute.

“Okay.” His voice was resigned. “But you may continue under one condition. And one condition only.”

“Anything,” I said as relief flooded over me. “I will do anything you ask.”

“Tyler and Danny have to submit to you as their Alpha.”

“What? ” I held the phone away from my ear and looked at it like it had sprouted fur and fangs. I slowly brought it back to my ear. “I don’t think I heard you correctly. I’m not an Alpha. We’ve already covered this. I don’t even feel Alpha-inclined. I don’t understand what you’re saying. It won’t work.” Panic welled in my throat as my wolf growled and paced, her eyes sparking violet in my mind.

“It’s only a temporary Alpha placement,” he said calmly. “I need you to relax. It will be remedied once you all return home.” If we returned home is what he really meant. This decision to make me acting Alpha meant he wasn’t giving us good odds. “In the Old Country, wolves built their own hierarchy on extended journeys. There was always a lead wolf, and he functioned as the working

Alpha. He could talk to the other wolves internally when they were in their true forms and unite them and infuse power when needed. It was a necessary precaution to ensure survival of our race. We had many of them back then. A temporary Alpha doesn’t have to be the most dominant wolf in the entire

Pack. He just has to be the most dominant in the group.” He exhaled. “Jessica, I’m unable to get through to you in your Lycan form. I can’t help you, and I can’t give you my power. I’ve tried. This is the only way. It’s also the only way around the oath Tyler and Danny swore as Selectives. As of now,

if they don’t submit, they can’t shift to protect you.” Or to save themselves. “If they swear to you, all their previous oaths will be broken. This is the only way I will give this journey my blessing. If you intend to face creatures of the Underworld, you need an army. Two wolves is all I have to give.”

My stomach thundered and I felt dizzy. This was too much. “Um, that might work for Danny”—

he’d already submitted to me in rank—“but not Tyler.” I swallowed. Hierarchy and Pack status was all a wolf cared about. “He’s not… I can’t ask him to do it. Tyler should be the working Alpha, not me.

I’ve been a wolf for only a week. His status is clearly above mine in Pack.”

“It’s not that cut-and-dried,” my father said firmly, growling in my ear. “Tyler’s wolf might have status above yours in a working Pack, but you and he share a bond that goes beyond anything I’ve ever seen in siblings— something unexplainable and utterly unique. If you are the one the Prophecy speaks of, it’s you who has the power. Tyler will know. He should feel it too. This isn’t about status or ruling wolves; it’s about something we don’t completely understand. I’m certain this will work and once it happens they will be bound to you.”

My voice quavered. I could defeat Underworld beasties, but asking my brother to submit to me made me queasy. “How… do I do it?” I knew there was a ritual and once it was done it was binding—

until the wolf swore a new one.

“It’s similar to a Blood Oath. Tyler will help you.”

“They have to take my blood?” Interference started in earnest on the line. I talked loudly over the buzzing. “Dad, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Listen, my blood is unpredictable. Remember the

Blood Oath for us didn’t work and I think there might be a problem—”

“Jessica, I’ve made my decision,” he shouted thought the static. “This is the only way. It’s the only chance you have to succeed. Once it’s over I will know. My connection to Danny and Tyler will be severed. We will not speak until then.”

“But I still don’t think—”

The line went dead.

I had no idea if he’d hung up on me or if the phone had stopped working.

“Dad?”

There was nothing but dead air.

14

I threw the phone down in frustration right as Danny and Tyler trotted back into the area carrying more supplies. My father had known that if he’d stayed on the line he risked my complete cooperation. I’d somehow talk him out of it. So he’d left me no room for further discussion, which had been his sole intent. If I tried to call him back he wouldn’t answer.

Shit. My wolf growled and showed us as the Alpha. That’s not helping! We aren’t the Alpha. I don’t even feel like an Alpha. She flashed me the box and showed us glowing with power. I know. I get it. I felt it. She barked and showed me the picture again. I squinted in my mind’s eye, but what she showed me wasn’t the Alpha; it was something else. I could feel what she was projecting, but there were no words behind it. Before I had a chance to examine it better, Tyler rushed up to me.

He grasped me by the shoulders. “Glad to see you’re awake. That was crazy and awesome at the same time. But don’t scare me like that again. Seeing you in those situations is like watching someone murder a puppy. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”

I stared at him intently, unable to talk just yet. He wasn’t going to be happy and I didn’t want to ruin our