Chapter 17

Strips of bark and ruined chunks of wood were scattered over the riverbank, the aftermath of Ryker letting out his frustration on a young beech tree. It had been that or going straight to Hayes Duncan's land and ripping into Jake Burdock. After hearing from Lexi what had happened between her, Jake, and Jo at the college, he had been close to going after the whole Duncan pack. It was only Charlie's pleading and then Brett and Lexi arguing against it that sent him toward the river instead of Hayes' territory.

The beech tree had gotten the rough end of his shift.

Ryker hurled the mostly shredded log into the river, fury still bubbling under his skin.

"Seven out of ten on the throw," Brett said calmly. He was sitting on a nearby boulder, stacking rocks on top of each other, making sure they all balanced. Lexi perched on the other side of his rock pile, her attention on Ryker instead of Brett's artwork. "You could throw it across the whole river if you were really trying."

Ryker stepped into the edge of the icy cold river, his bare feet hitting the mossy rocks. The shock of the cold water didn't do much to curb his remaining rage.

"I could kill Jake," he said, his hands balled into fists.

"That's the fifth time you've said that," Lexi said quietly.

That's because he meant it. Jake Burdock was a sleazy but ignorable member of Hayes' pack, but the idea of him coming near Lexi and Jo--

"I'm fine," Lexi said, as if she could overhear his thoughts, "I'm fine, Jo's fine, everyone's fine."

Ryker ran a hand through his hair in frustration. When he'd taken Jo home this afternoon he'd had no idea what had happened earlier. She'd texted him during her afternoon class and he'd told her he could drive her back, already having finished his classes for the day. He'd just been studying in the library. Jo had made sure to tell him several times he didn't have to, but that was stupid. Of course he had to take her. For his sake as much as hers.

Though Jo had seemed oddly quiet--well, compared to the few days he'd known her--the drive had been uneventful, besides the small amount of bickering when they arrived at the house and she wouldn't let him carry her bag for her. He'd forced himself to leave her house since he knew as a human she wouldn't get his need to constantly be close to her, but a few minutes down the road he'd received the text from one of the pack members, saying he needed to talk to his sister.

He had not been happy. Lexi was lucky she brought Brett and Charlie, his Beta, to deliver the news. Otherwise Ryker would probably be starting a war with the Duncan pack right now. Although technically, in his view, Jake would have started it.

"If he knew who she was to me..." Ryker couldn't even finish the thought.

"He doesn't," Charlie interrupted, arms crossed. "Only we do."

"Not for long though if you still keep acting so possessive of her," Lexi muttered.

"Not helping, Lexi," Ryker growled. Lexi's head bent a little at the Alpha tone in his growl, but then her eyes snapped back up to his, flashing. "Don't you start..."

"I wasn't prepared for a human mate!" Ryker exclaimed, throwing his hands up. He took a deep breath. "I can't just leave her alone." Ryker sagged against a tree for a moment, the remnants of the shirt that had gotten torn when he'd lost control and shifted into his wolf form on the ground below his feet. He'd had to change into a spare set once he calmed down enough to shift back.

Ryker had tried explaining it to Brett the other night--his brother had been highly amused at the way he'd acted about Jo's ankle, so Ryker had to tell him about Jo then. Having a human mate was terrifying. What if another werewolf wanted to get to Ryker by going through her? How would she defend herself? Granted, she didn't smell like a normal human, even to those who weren't her mates, but she also didn't smell like werewolf, vampire, or anything that could defend itself in an attack.

The thought of losing his mate when he'd just found her, before he'd even figured out how to develop a relationship with her (without her thinking he was some kind of possessive stalker), was enough to drive him crazy.

Just a few days and she meant everything to him. And it wasn't just her beauty. A few minutes' conversation in the store and he was already amused and intrigued by the spunky female lugging around bolt cutters for nefarious purposes. He would have been interested even if she wasn't his mate, he was sure of it.

"I think you should just walk up to her and let her know she's the lifelong soulmate of a werewolf," Brett said, completely failing at hiding his amusement as Ryker leveled a flat look at his half-brother. "What, you don't think that would solve everything?"

Charlie snorted, but tried to hide it with a cough.

Lexi rolled her eyes while Ryker gave Brett a murderous glare. "Or try easing her into it maybe?" Lexi offered sarcastically, leaning back on her hands. "With, you know, like a normal date or something."

Instantly, an image came to mind of Jo's brown eyes, sparkling and warm, looking at him.Her golden-brown skin glowing in the afternoon sun. As if watching a movie, the image panned out, revealing her dark hair spread around her head as she laid on a red-and-white checkered picnic blanket. His hand running across her neck, her side, her leg...

His body instantly responded to the image, and Ryker closed his eyes for a moment.

Yes.

A date seemed like a very good idea.

He nodded, considering the idea, rolling it over in his mind. He glanced over at Lexi. "What do you think she'd like? For a date."

Lexi blinked. "Oh, you're really going to try this?"

"It's not a bad idea," Ryker said, crossing his arms over his chest, "It's a lot better than Brett's."

"Mine was a joke," Brett said lazily, "Just in case you're in an extra literal mood."

"I think his mood is probably more murderous than literal," Charlie said with a grin. When Ryker turned his glare on him, he bent down and started looking at the rocks as if they were captivating.

Ryker growled and rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying not to get too irritated with his beta. He was just trying to help, in his own easygoing, cheerful way.

"I don't think Jo would want anything extravagant, so don't take her somewhere expensive," Lexi said, "And don't take her hiking."

"Obviously," Ryker grumbled. Her ankle wouldn't be healed enough for a hike any time soon. Maybe his picnic idea was actually a good one.

"And take her somewhere public first," Brett said, crushing that idea. "Just in case she's worried you're a serial killer."

Charlie's eyebrows jumped up his forehead. "I don't think Ryker gives off serial killer vibes."

"No, but it can't hurt," Lexi said. "She seems sort of guarded, so being thoughtful like that might help."

"Has she been up here a lot?" Charlie asked, "What does she like to do? Is there anywhere she's talked about going?"

Ryker bristled. "I don't know, Charlie, we haven't talked that much yet." It was infuriating, all the things he didn't know about Jo. He felt the pull to be near her, but he barely knew anything about her yet. And it wasn't for the lack of wanting to.

No one had prepared him for what he should do if his mate ended up being a human. It was rare among werewolf packs, and it was basically unheard of when it came to alphas.

"Well, you're giving her rides right now, right?" Lexi asked. "Just ask her for coffee or something when you see her tomorrow morning then."

Ryker grinned, suddenly feeling a little smug. He couldn't help it, Alphas had a lot of pride. "We already got coffee this morning." Ha. Apparently he was already ahead in the human dating game.

"That doesn't count," Lexi said, rolling her eyes. Brett chuckled, ignoring the glare that Ryker gave his siblings. Really, brothers and sisters were the worst.

"Okay, think of it like football," Charlie said,smirking as he recalled their high school days. The dude had seriously enjoyed tackling people way too much. "We need a game plan. Tomorrow you figure out what she likes, Friday you ask her out on a date, and then Friday night or Saturday you go on the date." He clapped his hands together, a broad smile on his face. "Bam, you got the girl!"

"Somehow I don't think it'll be that easy," Lexi said, smirking over at the blond Beta.

"Not if you keep stealing my mate away from me," Ryker said pointedly, the bare hint of a growl in his voice.

"Chill already." Lexi said, returning his look with a bored expression.

Yeah, that's what he'd been trying to do. That's why there were shredded clothes and trees everywhere.

Ryker sighed. Time with his siblings and Beta did help, but after another hour, he started to get restless. He knew Lexi said Jo was fine, and sure he'd seen her when he dropped her off this afternoon, but he hadn't known the full extent of what had happened earlier. Even if it was completely irrational, he just wanted to check again and make sure she was okay. He wished she didn't live alone, thinking about it was making it even harder for him to be away from her. So he eventually made his excuses, ignoring their knowing looks, and shifted again before running back into the forest.

He followed the stream until he got to the familiar trail that led up behind her house, and a few minutes later he was basically in her backyard. Being a total stalker, maybe, but he was going to blame that on the mate bond.

Hmm. Ryker couldn't decide if what he saw was a good thing or not. On one hand he was pleased to see the door open, with Jo clearly visible for him to check on as she scrubbed at the entryway floor. On the other hand he wasn't happy at the idea that any passer-by could just walk into her house. And why was she working so hard with a messed up ankle? Okay, she wasn't standing, but still...

In the car this afternoon Jo had mentioned something about getting the house into shape, apparently floor scrubbing was part of that. Knowing it had been empty for several years, Ryker had to admit it wasn't surprising that it might need some help. That gave him an idea. It wasn't a date, but maybe this was the excuse he needed to hang out with her more. He'd already told her he liked to fix things, so it was very normal, very human, for him to want to help her.