Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 63

She would bet anything that Ryker was warning his family about Duncan's approach, but she still wanted them to get back to the house as quickly as possible. Did all of this have to happen on Lexi's birthday?

Hopefully they could get Duncan to back down once he realized that Blake was fine, more or less. The Beta seemed to be having a good time as they ran; he kept jumping over any obstacle in his path with a boundless enthusiasm. He was probably glad to get out of the guest house.

Cold wind whipped across her face as Ryker tore through the woods, his enormous stride eating up the ground. Maybe they should've gone to get Blake this way, though the possibility of falling off at this speed was making her giddily terrified. Breaking a bone would be the least of her worries.

Jo didn't realize how much distance they had traveled until she spotted the roof of the house through the trees. She dug her fingers deeper into Ryker's fur as two wolves bounded toward them, almost completely identical. AJ and Lincoln, hopefully? Ryker didn't stop as the other two wolves raced toward them then turned and ran alongside them. One of them snapped at Blake, who skipped out of the way.

As they closed in on the house, Jo could feel the tension in the air, like how the air became still before a thunderstorm. Wolves were everywhere, with only a few people still left in their human forms.

Lexi was perched on one of the tables, still human, her arms crossed over her chest. Brett was sitting at the table, phone out and texting, while a golden and brown wolf paced around nearby. Talon and Conner were barely visible under the table, playing with a set of toy trains. A huge wolf, the same height as Ryker but bulkier, stood at the ready nearby. She was going to guess that the wolves were Aaliyah and Malcolm, probably. This would all be a lot easier if she could communicate telepathically, too. Actually talking to Ryker right now would be incredibly useful.

Jo swung off Ryker's back the second he slowed down enough for her to safely get off. Relieved to have her feet on solid ground, she ignored his concerned growl as most of the wolves swung their attention toward him, probably receiving orders or an update or something. While she was relieved to see Duncan hadn't attacked yet, she couldn't quite figure out how they'd beaten him. Unless he'd taken a really, really long route toward the Monroe house, he should have been arriving at about the same time.

"Oh good," Lexi said, jumping off the table. "Maybe someone can finally explain what's going on now that y'all are back." She eyed the couple of unfamiliar wolves from the Duncan pack who'd stuck with them instead of joining the interception group, eyebrow arched in confusion, then glanced at her pack members as the ones in wolf form started to circle the newcomers warily.

Yeah, Jo doubted they'd managed to keep her focused on her party with half the party-goers now in wolf form. Not to mention them bringing several Duncan wolves to crash it.

"They're just being cautious," Jo said, glancing at Ryker before looking back at Lexi. There wasn't any point keeping this from her anymore. "Long story short, there was some miscommunication and Duncan thinks we hurt Blake, he–"

But she didn't get to finish, because all of the sudden, howls and snarls broke out from the trees on the other side of the house. The side they weren't on. Of course. "Shit," Jo said, turning in time to catch Ryker and Blake taking off toward the sound. A grip on her arm had her whipping right back around, other arm half-raised in preparation to defend herself before she realized it was Lexi.

"What is happening?" Lexi demanded angrily.

Still no time for explanations, because Brett was there now, shoving Conner and Talon into Lexi's arms. "Lexi, get them inside." Before Lexi could argue, he added an emphatic "please." He ran a hand through his hair. "I need to be there in case someone is injured."

The second Lexi's expression softened with hesitation, he took off, yelling a thanks as he rounded the house.

Jo met Lexi's gaze guiltily, and Lexi grumbled. "Go. I know your long range fireballs are probably more useful than another teenage wolf. I got the kids." Jo wasn't sure she would have been so accepting of the circumstances in Lexi's shoes–guess that was what happened when you were an Alpha's kid. Always thinking about the good of the group.

"Everyone helping is important," Jo reminded her. And you never knew where the fight would end up, although Jo hated to think of them making it to the house before they'd managed to connect Blake and Duncan and calm things down. That couldn't be too hard, could it?

Lexi and Jo parted ways, Jo following the path Brett had taken. Immediately she was confronted by what seemed to be total chaos. Where was Duncan in all this? How many groups had he sent out to the Monroes? If he still wasn't here, this could be a bigger problem than they'd been expecting.

Noting a pair of wolves fighting pretty close to her, Jo drew her fire to the surface, cupping the warm starters in her hands. She didn't release it yet though, scanning the territory to make sure no one in her pack was in dire need. Jo didn't want to lose anyone tonight because of one single, stupid, power hungry idiot.

Now if there was one person she wouldn't have any regrets frying...well, a Jake-kebab sounded awfully appealing at the moment.

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A/N: I'm sorry that I didn't update last week! This season has been a little crazy and trying. But hopefully there will be a Wednesday update this week, along with the next chapter of Race the Storm! Thank you for reading, commenting, voting for, and following along with this story!