Marcus looked at Dante, who grinned at him and mouthed “whipped.” Asshole.

“Why are you talking so quietly?” Roni asked Jaime.

“I’m hiding from your mother. I promised I’d hand Willow back to her . . . but I don’t want to.”

Kathy and Nick literally fought over Willow Mika Axton all the time, both equally possessive and protective. Shaya seemed to be enjoying the reprieve from being on the receiving end of such overprotectiveness. The Alpha female had been an absolute trooper throughout labor, while Nick had been white as a sheet and had nearly lost consciousness.

Stroking a hand over the baby’s small tuft of blonde hair, Roni said to Kye, “What do you think? Isn’t she beautiful?”

Kye’s little face scrunched up. “No.”

Jaime laughed quietly. “I think she’s gorgeous, like her mom. I want to keep her.”

At that moment, Taryn and Trey joined them. “Oh, Kye, you can’t eat Uncle Marcus’s cake,” Taryn gently admonished. “He’ll sulk for, like, ever.”

When his father held out his arms, Kye practically jumped into them. Trey’s gaze danced from Roni to Marcus. “Have you decided which one of you is switching packs?”

Sighing, Marcus exchanged a look with Roni before replying, “We can’t choose.”

Taryn pursed her lips. “Well, we have a suggestion.”

Unable to guess where this was going, since he’d considered every possible option, Marcus frowned. “What’s that?”

“Instead of switching packs, you could belong to both.”

“That won’t work,” said Roni. “Our wolves would feel confused and unsettled.”

“It’ll work if Trey and Nick blood. That would join the packs. Not unite them into one, but connect the pack links on a psychic level through the Alphas.”

“That would be awesome.” Jaime’s eyes went wide with excitement. “Please say you will!” Kathy suddenly appeared, scowling, and Jaime laughed a little awkwardly. “Oh, there you are.”

“Give me back my granddaughter.” Kathy reached for the baby, but then Nick was there—an amused Shaya in tow.

“Why does everyone keep disappearing with Willow?” he grumbled, taking the baby into his arms. Shaya placed a soft kiss on the baby’s head.

Kathy placed her hands on her hips, complaining, “You’re always holding her.”

“Of course I am.” Nick stroked his finger over her cheek. “She’s my baby girl.”

“And she’s my grandchild. I suspect she’ll be my one and only grandchild, unless you and Shaya decide to have more.” Kathy cast Roni a meaningful glance.

Instead of being annoyed, Roni was amused. “Be as bitchy as you like, woman, I saw you crying when I nearly drowned.” Kathy just huffed.

Brushing his lips over her temple, Marcus said, “Don’t remind me of that day.” The fear and anxiety hadn’t quite left him yet. As if she sensed that, she fleetingly rubbed his lower back. His mate still wasn’t a touchy-feely person, and he knew she never would be. But she was slowly becoming more and more tactile with him.

“I was just telling Roni and Marcus our little alternative to them switching packs.” Taryn repeated her proposal to Nick and Shaya.

“You would be willing to do that?” Shaya asked Trey.

The Phoenix Alpha male shrugged carelessly. “I don’t want to lose Marcus to another pack. He’s my friend as well as one of my best enforcers. Besides, Roni would make a valuable addition. That makes this a logical move.” And Trey was all about logic. When Kye struggled to get down, Trey placed him on the ground before turning to Nick. “What about you?”

Nick looked like he wanted to stamp his foot. “I don’t even like being blooded to my pack members.”

Marcus gave Nick a look of mock sympathy. “Need a hug? Bro?” He received a glower.

Stifling a smile, Shaya laid a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “I think it’s a good idea. We don’t want to lose Roni. And if you connect with Trey, Marcus would be ours as much as theirs.”

“But which Alpha would they answer to?” asked Dante, sliding his arm around Jaime. “It can’t be both.”

Trey snorted. “When has Marcus ever answered to anyone for anything?”

Nick sighed. “Yeah, Roni’s just the same. You won’t get obedience from her.”

“No,” agreed Taryn, “but we’ll get someone who can handle Greta. That makes your sister worth her weight in gold.” Jaime nodded in agreement. “Packs have done it before, including my father’s. As you know, Lance collects alliances, and it worked out well for him.”

Feeling someone fiddle with the back of her top, Roni twisted to see Dominic reading the label inside her collar. “What are you doing?”

He just nodded. “Made in Heaven. I knew it.” Jaime laughed, Marcus growled, and everyone else groaned. “I tell ya, I didn’t know angels could fly so low.” He chuckled when Marcus took a swing at him.

When Roni went to retaliate with a cheesy line of her own, Marcus clapped his hand over her mouth. “No.”

Eli, Tao, and the Phoenix and Mercury enforcers appeared, took in an irritated Marcus covering Roni’s mouth while Dominic laughed hysterically, and instantly summed up the situation. Ryan obligingly cuffed Dominic over the head.

“Ry! Ry! Ry!” To everyone’s amusement, Kye proceeded to climb the enforcer like he was a fence post. Poor Ryan couldn’t have looked more awkward.

Coming to Roni’s side carrying Lilah, Greta lightly kissed Roni on the cheek and gave her a winning, affectionate smile. “Hello, sweetheart, how are you feeling?”

“I’m good. You?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Now that one of my boys has found a worthy female, I couldn’t be happier.”

Taryn leaned toward Roni, her voice quiet. “Roni, I have to know how you do it.”

Greta sneered at the Alpha female. “It’s rude to whisper.”

“And yet, I just don’t care.”

“So,” began Trey, obviously looking to halt the argument, “what do you think, Nick? You willing to blood or not?” As he elaborated on the matter for Greta and the enforcers, Nick thought about it for a moment.