Sparks flew up from a bonfire at the edge of the lake, casting embers and ash into the sunset sky. Lavender, scarlet, and orange burned across the sky as the sun sank behind the mountains. Jo leaned back against the warmth of Ryker's truck, her eyes scanning the scene.
There were about fifteen to twenty people hanging around the edge of the water, and there were also a few wolves scattered around amongst the humans. One particularly large wolf (though not as large as Ryker in that form) was perched on a massive boulder at the edge of the water, ears perked and alert. The other wolves seemed more casual, like they were simply enjoying the party in wolf form.
One of the wolves ran up to Jo, and she struggled to not press farther back against the truck. While she had been around werewolves frequently, it was dark and there was still that first instinct of seeing a predator running at you. She knew she had to stand her ground, and she didn't even look over at Ryker as he rounded the front of the truck.
The wolf was lanky and shaggy, and there was blond/brown tint to his coat. Now that he was closer, Jo recognized the wolf as Charlie. He often had stakeout duty at her house, and sometimes he sat on the porch and chewed the enormous rawhide bone she had gotten him while she read. His tail swished as he bumped against her legs, mouth open in what had to be a laugh.
"Well hey there," she said, grinning down at him. "You know I always have the strongest urge to scratch your ears when you look like this."
"Don't feed his ego," Ryker grumbled, wrapping his arms around her, and trapping her arms in the process. It was like he was trying to prevent her from touching Charlie. Probably so--she'd been warned by Lexi that Alphas could get possessive sometimes, especially when they had cause to worry about their mate.
"Okay, Mr. Alpha, a little ear scratch doesn't hurt anyone."
Charlie made a huffing sound as if in agreement, while Ryker rolled his eyes.
"Attention hog," he muttered.
Jo laughed, then pushed against Ryker's arms. "C'mon, let's go meet some people."
Ryker released her, his hand going to touch her lower back as she walked toward the bonfire. Someone had laid out hot dogs & fixings as well as s'more ingredients on an old rickety wooden table that looked like it had seen better days. There were a couple of coolers of drinks beside the table, and a variety of camping chairs had been set around the fire.
"Jo, this is Oliver, Hannah you've met, Aiden..." Ryker went around the fire naming off people and they paused to wave or nod at her before going back to their conversations.
Lexi hurried forward, another boy and girl tailing her. Hang on, that was...
"Eli!" Jo said, grinning. He often ate lunch with her, Katie, and Lexi at the college campus. She hadn't realized he was a werewolf though.
He gave her a sheepish look as he rubbed the back of his neck, which had turned red. "Don't exactly look like the werewolf type, do I?"
He didn't look quite as ginormous like Ryker but beyond that, what was a werewolf type supposed to look like, anyway? From what she could tell, there were as many variations with werewolves as there were people. "At this point I'm going to assume half this town are werewolves," Jo said with a laugh.
"You wouldn't be far off the mark," Lexi said breezily, reaching past her to grab a hot dog for her stick. She looked back at them. "And since Ryker somehow thinks you have the superhuman ability to remember 20 names all said in a row, I'm going to reintroduce you to one of my best friends, Emma."
Jo said hi to the blond Emma, who seemed a little on the shy side but very friendly. A while later, Ryker was across the fire talking to a few of his pack members while Jo roasted hot dogs with Emma.
"My cousin used to be in love with Ryker," Emma said, laughing a little as she turned her hot dog over the fire, trying to get it perfectly cooked.
'Who's your cousin?"
"Hannah," Emma nodded across the fire, where Hannah had just joined Ryker's group, grinning at something that was being said. Jo fought back against the surge of jealousy in her, suddenly remembering the way Hannah had been looking for Ryker at their college orientation.
"Hmm." Jo made a noncommittal noise, but narrowed her eyes as she watched Hannah. Jo wasn't worried about Ryker--he'd never shown an ounce of interest in another girl. But it was still mildly irritating to see Hannah obviously flirting with the pack of guys across the fire. Then again, maybe she wasn't flirting with Ryker...probably not. But still.
"Don't worry," Emma said hurriedly, noticing Jo's glare. "She'd never go after someone who had a mate."
"Who, Hannah?" a guy with curly black hair popped up behind them, then squeezed between the two of them to roast his own hot dog. "Don't worry, sweetheart. If you need a back-up, I'd always be happy to take you out." At Jo's raised eyebrow, he grinned. "I'm Aiden, in case you need a name to call out--"
"Aiden!" Emma hissed, elbowing him. "Are you trying to get yourself killed by the Alpha's son?"
Aiden grinned. "I'm joking." He waggled his eyebrows at Jo. "Or am I?"
"You should be," Jo said, rolling her eyes.
He laughed as he stuck his hot dog deeper into the fire, crisping it. "Aw, you can always tell me to get lost. Not that you'd want to. I know I'm adorable."
His energy was amusing, if somewhat aggravating. "Does this normally work for you?"
"Sometimes," he said cheerfully, "Right, Emma?"
The blonde blinked and frowned at him. "I can't think of anyone it's worked on."
"That's because she loves me secretly and doesn't want to admit it," Aiden said with a smirk.
"Or she doesn't want you to bother her."
Jo glanced back to find another guy standing there, shorter and more compact. Probably a few years older than her, he had on a grey t-shirt from App State. He sported a strong superhero jaw, short blondish-brown hair, and piercing teal eyes, and one of his eyebrows was lifted as he glanced over at Emma.
Aiden's shoulders lifted, and he gave a sheepish grin. "I was just teasing, AJ," he said, lifting his hotdog stick from the fire.
"I know, man," AJ said, "But maybe you should tease someone besides my little sister. Just a thought."
"AJ..." Emma said, putting her face in her hands.
"Is he bothering you, too?" AJ asked, looking at Jo.
"Not really," Jo said, shrugging. She offered him a smile. "I'm Jo."
"She's Ryker's mate," Aiden said, as if he was trying to prove that he knew his place. Or maybe he was trying to warn AJ.
"I've aware," AJ said. He smiled back at Jo, polite and friendly. "My brother Lincoln and I have done a couple guard duty rounds at your house." He gestured toward the wolf sitting on the boulder, who seemed to be on lookout duty. "Thanks for leaving out steak."
"Oh!" Jo blushed, embarrassed but also glad they liked the steaks. It had been weird, knowing there were werewolves keeping an eye on her house, so she had started to leave things out for them, like the bone she had gotten for Charlie and the medium rare steaks. "You're welcome. If you ever need anything, feel free to knock on the door."
"I'll keep that in mind," AJ said, a dimple forming in his cheek.
"Hold on, guard duty gets you steaks?" Aiden asked. "How come I never get to guard?"
Jo felt Ryker's presence before he loomed over her, his arm catching around her waist. She put one foot forward and tried to stay where she was instead of letting Ryker yank her to him. "Because you're unreliable and easily distracted," he growled at Aiden over her head.
"And you like to tease," AJ said.
Aiden rubbed the back of his neck and hunched farther down. "Okay, okay..."
Ryker shifted forward since Jo didn't want to budge, then leaned down to kiss her neck where it joined her collarbone. Okay, Mr. Alpha. She knew what he was doing--he'd probably heard Aiden earlier and now felt the need to show that Jo was his mate.
Still, Jo was perfectly capable of fending off unwanted advances herself. As she had just done.
She turned her head slightly to look at Ryker, then rolled her eyes. "You good?"
He tightened his arms around her and stole a kiss, expression turning mischievous. "Getting there. I think it's gonna take a little more though..."
Jo chuckled, but allowed herself to lean in to Ryker a little. Mainly because he was so darn warm and comfortable, but also because she knew there was some honesty in what he'd just said. He'd explained before how it was difficult sometimes for an Alpha to see an unmarked mate around other mateless male wolves. She didn't have anything to compare Ryker to, but from what Lexi had said when Ryker wasn't around, he was handling it pretty well for not just an Alpha, but a wolf in general. Apparently marking usually happened fairly soon after mates met each other in most circumstances.
Yeah, well, Jo was still deciding how she felt about letting Ryker chow down on her neck for funsies.
She kissed his jaw and then gave his arm a sharp pat, a silent reminder that she wasn't going anywhere and that he should behave. There wasn't really anything he needed to worry about when it came to Aiden, anyways. Not exactly her type.
Speaking of, he had disappeared, vacating the spot between her and Emma. AJ stepped up, crossed his arms, and looked over at his sister. "I think I saw Santi here."
"Really?" she said, her eyes lighting up. She brushed her fingers through her hair. "I didn't think he was coming home this weekend."
"Right, a couple of the Callahan pack said they were coming," Ryker said.
"I'll go say hi," Emma said with a bright, small smile. "To make everyone feel welcome and stuff."
"How many Callahan members did you see?" Ryker asked, looking over at AJ as Emma hurried off, a bit of a skip in her step. As the two guys started talking, Jo wondered if Emma liked this Santi person or if they were dating or if they were good friends or something. Lots of possibilities, and Jo still felt like she didn't understand all the intricacies of how werewolf relationships worked.
They could date and marry outside of mates; Ryker's dad had been with Brett's mom officially before he had met Ryker and Lexi's mother. It seemed complicated. It had to be difficult, loving someone, and then finding out that you were supposed to be with someone else entirely and having no control over it because it was all supernatural.
She did know that usually people didn't marry until they found their mate, but luckily people often found them within a few years of turning eighteen. And no one was really sure why eighteen was the age and why the actual birthday was so important, but Lexi had said it was documented throughout werewolf history. Lexi seemed a little nervous about her birthday but overall, she came off as more excited than apprehensive.
A loud bark came from the boulder, and AJ and Emma's brother Lincoln stood up in his wolf form, his fur standing on end.
Ryker's arm, which had relaxed to sling around her hip during his conversation with AJ, tightened again as his whole body tensed with alertness. In fact, the whole pack came alert--Jo marveled as they all suddenly swung in Lincoln's direction, growls reverberating through the air. Not just the air, but through her body, she realized--from the solid chest behind her.
Lincoln swung his head to look at Ryker, paused for a solid moment, then took off in the direction he'd been looking. Several other wolves took off with him while a few more shifted, the sounds of clothing tearing filling the air.
"What's going on?" Jo said, trying to keep her voice quiet enough for Ryker's ears only. She was still getting a handle on just how sensitive werewolves' hearing was.
"Duncan's pack is on our land." Ryker's muscles were practically vibrating with anger.
"But they're allowed to be," Jo reminded him, stroking his arm as she tried to calm him down.
"So soon after our first agreement means they're deliberately flaunting the loophole. They never come here!" He pulled Jo around to look at him, and while his eyes were focused on her, they also seemed distant--she suspected he was with his pack, hearing them hunt him down.
"I have to go."
Jo wanted to argue with him. She really didn't think they had to, not if these guys weren't doing anything wrong. But...she didn't have a place in the pack yet, so she knew her input didn't really mean anything. It was still frustrating when it was her boyfriend who might be needlessly putting himself in danger.
Ryker's eyes softened and truly looked at her for a moment, as if sensing her conflict. "We'll, talk later, promise," he said, leaning forward to kiss her temple. "Lexi will stay with you so she can let me know if any come your way." He smirked, kissing her again, "Communication purposes only, not because I don't think you can roast them."
And then he was turning, running, shifting into his shades-of-brown werewolf as he followed where his pack members had gone. A minute later, Lexi was at her side.
"Not the way I thought this party would end," Lexi said, sighing with mock dejection as she looked around.
"Well, no one can accuse y'all of having a boring party," Jo said, trying to use humor to dispel her anger. Frustration? Whatever it was. She just didn't feel like the situation had warranted the response it received, but she guessed she still had a lot to learn about werewolf politics.
"That's true," Lexi grinned, then looked around. "However, if they think I'm going to do all the cleaning up, they got another thing coming.
"Nah, but we should at least get all the trash," Jo said, not wanting to leave it lying around the woods. "Whoever brought the coolers can come back for them later." Lexi reluctantly agreed, and they quickly set to work picking up any trash and tying off the bags. They were just about to start loading them into Ryker's truck when Lexi suddenly grabbed her arm, eyes glowing unnaturally in the dark.
"I think one of them is here."