Blake was sitting in a chair by a window, reading a book. He looked up in surprise, eyebrows furrowing for a moment as he probably tried to figure out who she was. After all, the last time he'd seen her was in the dark, half-lit by firelight, and, well, bloody.
Then his eyes widened. Ahh, the recognition.
"Oh shit." He dropped the book in his lap, and then it slid to the floor with a quiet thump as he stood up. "Hey, um.....I didn't think..."
Jo laughed and held out her tupperware. "Here's dinner."
He took the container from her hesitantly, eyeing her as if she might bite. Which would be valid if she was a werewolf. "You're the girl I.." he hesitated, his neck turning red as he eyed her bandaged shoulder. "I'm sorry about injuring you."
Jo shrugged, in turn eyeing him. She didn't see any obvious burns--werewolves really did heal quickly. That was a relief. "There was a lot going on that night. I think anyone might go a little crazy if they're getting burned by fire."
"Yeah," Blake muttered, eyeing her with a curious expression, as if surprised she wasn't angry at him. "That definitely threw me off," he mumbled. "But I really wasn't trying to hurt you or Ryker's sister." He tilted his head as he continued to study her. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen you around before."
Had Duncan not briefed his Beta? Or maybe Blake just hadn't made the connection--she certainly hadn't seen him around Duncan before, probably because he was keeping an eye on their pack whenever Duncan was away. "I'm new here," she said, smiling a little as she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms before nodding at the tupperware in his hands. "So you gonna eat your dinner or you like your spaghetti cold?"
Really, she just wanted to distract him from any more questions about her place in the pack.
Blake chuckled and sat down, opening the lid off the container. She thought she heard him mutter something about 'bossy,' but couldn't swear to it. Just as she was about to turn and head out, he spoke up.
"Hey, you wanna go out for coffee sometime?"
Jo raised an eyebrow at the smirk on his face just as a growl sounded outside the cabin. She huffed an annoyed breath, realizing what he was doing. This pack never knew when to quit.
Blake held up his hands defensively, the smirk turning into a more genuine smile. "Look, now I know why a human's involved in this pack. You're somebody's mate, aren't you?"
The guy was smart, she'd give him that. He was just lucky Ryker wasn't here. "Something like that," Jo said, rolling her eyes as she grabbed the door handle. "Bye, Blake."
"Hold on, wait," Blake said, "Can't you stay a little longer? I'm sort of bored..."
Jo tapped her fingers on the doorframe. "And you think I can entertain you?"
Blake grinned, but it wasn't inappropriate or teasing. At least not this time. "Not like that. But everyone else just wants to snarl at me."
"It's probably not a good idea for me to stay," Jo said, "But maybe I could talk to someone about bringing you something more interesting than that book."
"A TV would be cool," Blake said, "Or a tablet."
"I was thinking more like a deck of cards," Jo said, "Have a good night."
While Blake fussed about solitaire, Jo headed out into the living room. Lincoln and AJ were sitting there, both of them holding plates of spaghetti as they glared at the bedroom door, blue eyes narrowed. Jo raised her eyebrows. Now that they were sitting side by side, it was easy to tell them apart, no matter the fact that they were identical. Lincoln was scruffy and had an intense air about him while AJ was clean-shaven and exuded friendliness.
"He doesn't need playing cards, he needs a kick in the teeth," Lincoln said, breaking off his glare to shove his fork into the pile of spaghetti.
"What he needs to do is shut his mouth," AJ said, not too kindly.
"I think he's just tired of being stuck in that room and looking for a rise out of someone," Jo said, "Maybe it's a running theme with their pack."
"Like a bunch of toddlers," AJ mused, "Sounds about right."
Jo half-smiled. She glanced out the window to see Aaliyah talking to Charlie, the latter holding a container of spaghetti while they chatted. She turned her attention back to the twins. "When does he get to leave?"
"Whenever Malcolm says he can, which is probably whenever Brett says so," AJ said. Spearing a meatball, he shrugged. "Probably tomorrow. Maybe the day after that, since it'll be Lexi's birthday."
"Or we could blindfold him, drive him out past Tennessee, and let him sniff his way home," Lincoln said with a grin before he tore a hunk of garlic bread off with his teeth. "Is there dessert?"
"Only if someone else packed it," Jo said, somewhat amused by the two of them.
Lincoln sighed and leaned over the arm of the couch to fumble around for the bag of food. Jo and AJ exchanged looks, and she could see clearly that his brother sometimes embarrassed him. She offered him a smile to silently say it was fine before she gave a wave and headed out the door.
"Feeling better?" Aaliyah asked as Jo came out.
Jo nodded, and when Charlie gave her a quizzical look, she elaborated. "I wanted to make sure Blake was doing ok."
Charlie snorted. "You're worried about the guy who attacked you?"
Jo shrugged. "I'm a humanitarian."
"Mhmm." Charlie crossed his arms. "If the Alpha's mate turns out to be a pacifist I'm going to laugh my ass off."
Aaliyah rolled her eyes. "It's not like he's some kind of warmonger."
"Not yet," Charlie paused, eyes glazing over a moment, then started laughing, "but Lincoln just shared what Blake said..."
Stupid werewolf mindlink! Jo spun around to glare at the cabin. "I'm putting ghost peppers in your spaghetti next time Lincoln!" she said furiously, knowing no yelling was required for werewolves. Several other laughs joined in with Charlie's while Lincoln sputtered his protests, until Aaliyah grabbed Jo's arm.
"We better get going Jo before Ryker shows up here."
Resigned to dealing with an overreacting Ryker, Jo got in the car, although she was feeling rather mutinous. If he thought he could control every single person around Jo, he had another thing coming. Jo could handle herself, and if he freaked out every time someone said or did the wrong thing around her, you couldn't really call that trust.
By the time they got back to the house, Jo had admittedly worked herself into a bit of a storm, and she was practically stomping up the driveway to meet Ryker, who was striding toward her from the porch. Aaliyah wisely sidestepped around the two of them and made her way into the house.
"All right," Jo said, ready for battle, "let's have--" Her voice got muffled as Ryker's arms wrapped around her, tugging her close, pushing her face against his chest as his lips pressed against her hair. Jo felt distinctly like a cross between a marshmallow and a ragdoll at the moment.
"Um, Ryker?" What, did he actually think she'd want to get coffee with Blake? This man.
Then he released her and stepped back, all tension drained from his body. Well, mostly. His hand lingered on her hip, seemingly reluctant to fully let her go. Jo tilted her head, studying him as she tried to figure out the sudden mood swing.
"What?" he asked.
"Pretty sure that's my line." Jo tapped his chest. "You're not going to get all angry?"
Ryker chuckled. "At an idiot who I know you have no interest in? No." Jo frowned and Ryker's face actually turned slightly red. 'I mean...I'm not thrilled with him. But I'm okay now?"
A half-grin stole across her face. "Because you smelled me?"
Ryker shrugged, glancing away. "Your scent calms me, what can I say?"
Her grin widened as she stepped closer, leaning into his chest as she tilted her head to look up at him. "So what you're saying is, it doesn't matter if I ever shower again?"
His fingers tightened against her hip. "I'm sure you'll shower again at some point. Empty threat."
Jo went up on her tiptoes for a moment to kiss his jawline. "You never know."
Ryker's eyes were deep and warm, and she had the distinct feeling he was about to say something that was going to be sentimental and gooey, in the best kind of way, but the screen door flew open, making him jerk back.
"I won't never take a bath!" Conner yelled as he flew off the front steps and landed on the ground in front of the porch. He was covered in what looked like ice cream and maybe peanut butter; it was smeared across his face, clothes, arms, and blue jeans. Barefoot and lightning quick, he took off toward the forest.
"Seriously?!" Brett yelled as he came out the door, sounding exasperated and maybe a tiny bit amused. "Get back here!"
"No baths!" Conner's voice was joyful and increasingly happily defiant. "Never! Dirt forever."
"You couldn't be bothered to catch him?" Brett mused in Ryker's direction as he moved toward the woods.
"He said no baths," Ryker said with a shrug, "I thought maybe that was a new family rule. Jo's even been talking about it."
Jo laughed and bumped her hip into him as she stepped away. "Playing the blame game, huh? Someone wants to sleep on the floor again." Ryker growled and pulled her closer, arms tightening as he lighted her off the ground and swung her around playfully.
"Ryker!" Jo was giggling helpfully like she was a friggin' high schooler all over again.
"Um, a little help corralling my wild son?" Brett called as he strode toward the woods.
"You're the one who made him!" Ryker said, laughing as Jo swung her elbow back into his abs. He could take it.
"C'mon, it's getting dark," Jo said.
"Okay, ok," He set her down and then snagged her hand, pulling her toward the woods. They didn't even get far though before Brett appeared, a wildly struggling Conner tucked under his arm.
"Not fair!" Conner was yelling again and again.
Brett grinned at their bemused expressions. "I may have relied on some extra senses to track him." Oh yeah. No wonder Brett hadn't been too alarmed by his son running off into the woods.
"Sorry kid, that's how life works," Ryker said to his disgruntled nephew as they all climbed the porch. "Trust me, your dad and I tried the same thing too." Wild children ran in the family. Good to know.
"Remember the day we made it?" Brett asked, starting up the stairs.
"I don't know if that counts since we still ended up in the lake."
"Look you, there's no need to go ruining the telling like that."
As Brett disappeared in the bathroom with Conner, going on about how it had actually been his intention to end up in the lake, Ryker wrapped an arm around her from behind, leaning close to speak quietly near her ear. "You know, if you've changed your mind about that whole showering thing, my shower is roomy enough for two..."
"Nice try," Jo said, smirking over her shoulder at him. "But that is so not happening in your dad's house where everyone has crazy hearing ability."
"Thank you!" Lexi yelled out from her bedroom.
Yup. Case in point.
"I wish I was an only child!" Ryker growled loudly.
"Heard that!"
"You were supposed to!"
"I didn't do anything!" That was Brett. Jo laughed, turning to press her forehead against Ryker's chest as she leaned into his embrace. It was kind of fun, listening to Ryker bicker with his siblings--something she'd never really gotten to experience as an only child.
"You know what," Ryker said, his arms tightening around her, "I'm starting to think we'd be just fine to return to your place..." That was entirely tempting. She loved her bed. She also loved her house, even in its partially fixed-up state. But she also knew the reason they were here was because Duncan would likely be on edge until Blake returned, and they didn't want to stretch the pack patrols too thin. Jo didn't want to be the reason someone got attacked.
"We can hack it one more night," Jo said, looking up at him. "We're probably going to be needed for party prep most of the day tomorrow anyway."
Ryker made a face, but she could tell he already agreed with her that it was probably the right decision. "Next week," he said, his tone turning husky, "I'm locking you up in your house."
"We have class..."
"Every hour outside of class." He pressed a hungry kiss against her smirking lips, which she quickly reciprocated, feeling a deep need to be as close to him as possible. They'd been holding back for days it seemed. A shiver stole through her as his hands traced down her hips before dipping lower, pulling her tighter against him, and she found herself threading her fingers through Ryker's hair. A moment later and she was against a wall, breathless as part of her mind wondered how she got there. One of his hands curled around her back, keeping her wounded shoulder away from the wall, thinking of her even in the moment. On her part, it was hard to think about much of anything as Ryker groaned against her mouth, low and full of need.
"Damn," he murmured, breaking away and resting his forehead against hers.
"Mhmm," Jo agreed, still trying to find her words again. With kisses like that, she was such a goner.
"Uncle Ryyyyykeeer!"
Annnnnd their time was up.
--------------------------
A/N: Thank you for reading, the votes, the comments--it means so much! We're getting closer to the end of this story, but there are many more to come in this world, some involving Ryker/Jo, some with other characters. One I'll start posting even before I finish this story, so keep an eye out for an announcement about it!
And let me know if there are any particular characters whose stories you'd like to see, readers are a big part of my inspiration!