Chapter 60

Was everyone at the party a werewolf? She should've checked with Ryker. Jo stood beside Aaliyah, watching Lexi as she made her rounds and talked with everyone, very much the life of the party whether she wanted to be or not. While she had protested against the big party, she seemed to be handling it well.

"That's a lot of presents," Jo said,glazing over at the overflowing pile. There were tiny boxes, huge bags, dozens of cards, and a poorly wrapped dirt bike that Jo assumed was a gift from Malcolm because who else would dare to get that for her? Lexi didn't seem like a daredevil to Jo, but maybe dirt bikes were her thing? There was still a lot she needed to learn about Lexi, Brett, Aaliyah and everyone.

"It's pretty normal for a werewolf's eighteenth birthday," Aaliyah said. She was handing Talon little goldfish crackers one at a time, and he was sticking them into his pockets. "People tend to go overboard for it."

"Why do you think it's only after eighteen that werewolves recognize their mates?" Jo asked. The question had been nagging at her on and off. "It's sort of an arbitrary number, right? Why that exact age?"

Aaliyah shrugged. "Must have something to do with whatever controls werewolf biology." She and Brett were both more likely to blame it on science than magic.

"I guess," she said, "But I can't help being curious. Does it ever happen earlier or later for someone?"

"It's hard to tell if it's happened later, since everyone meets their mates at different times," Aaliyah said, "But no one's ever had it happen before eighteen, or at least I've never heard of it."

Jo nodded, momentarily satisfied even though she still had questions. So many why's and what's and how's. But she supposed getting all of that answered at a birthday party wasn't a good plan, especially when said party might be crashed by grumpy antisocial werewolves from a misbehaving pack, to put it mildly.

She met Ryker's eyes across the backyard and offered him an encouraging smile. He was stuck with a group of older men and women, all of them looking rather serious. Most likely they were the higher-ups from the Monroe and Callahan packs, especially since Malcolm, Marcus, and Brett were over there too. While she wanted to go over there to him, she didn't think intruding on werewolf business was a good idea, at least not until she was officially part of the pack. Which, speaking of, was something else she needed to talk to Ryker about. How was she supposed to be a member of a werewolf pack when she wasn't a werewolf? No one else seemed terribly bothered by it, but then again, not everyone in the pack knew yet...

Lexi moved away from the group she'd been talking to and stopped in front of Aaliyah and Jo, cheeks flushed with excitement–as much as she hadn't wanted a big party, Jo could tell Lexi was enjoying seeing all her friends here. Even if it meant having to suffer through the occasional exchange of pleasantries with the older adults. Jo felt oddly adrift in that sense, knowing one day these people would be her family, but not yet...

"Having fun?" Aaliyah asked as Talon reached for his aunt. Lexi hoisted him into her arms, pressing a kiss on the top of his head.

"I guess," she said, then she smiled. "But it looks like I'm safely mateless."

"Is that what you were worried about?" Jo asked, bemused. Was that the whole reason for not wanting a big party? That she didn't want to meet her mate for some reason?"

Lexi shrugged. "I mean, maybe part of it. I'm just not ready to be tied down, you know?" Catching the look on Jo's face, she hurried to add. "Not that I think you and Ryker are tying each other down, nothing like that. Just...not everyone is like you guys."

Jo understood–after all, she definitely hadn't planned on finding her soulmate her first year of college. Honestly, she hadn't ever planned on finding one, not after discovering her powers. She thought spinsterhood as the crazy old hermit lady in the mountains would suit her just fine.

But plans changed.

And she definitely didn't feel tied down with Ryker. If anything, he'd expanded her horizon and her plans.

"Don't get me wrong," Jo said, "I'm sure you know about mates more than I do. But...I'd assume whoever your soulmate was would have feelings that align with yours, right? It wouldn't make sense for a soulmate to be the one who made you feel miserable."

Lexi tilted her head, blinking. "I guess you're right." Someone called Lexi's name, and after a quick wave at them, she handed Talon back to Aaliyah. "Sorry, catch up with you guys again in a bit! Thanks Jo!"

"Anytime," Jo said with a chuckle, watching as her friend made it about ten feet before getting stopped again.

"You know, you're better at this than you think you are."

Jo glanced at Aaliyah, wondering what she was talking about.

Aaliyah elaborated. "I'm guessing you're worried about fitting into a werewolf pack. Especially as the wife of a future Alpha." She smiled and nodded towards Lexi. 'But it's clear you're going to do just fine as a leader."

Jo felt her face grow warm and she studied her feet, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "Um, thanks."

Aaliyah laughed and then was suddenly trying to manhandle a squirming Talon. "Talon, no, one sec..." Talon pulled at her hand and she groaned. "Hey Jo, I'll be right back ok? He probably needs to go to the bathroom."

Jo nodded and gave her a short wave, deciding she'd use the time to check on the drinks–it'd still be easy to keep Lexi in sight too, which was the most important thing tonight.

She weaved through the crowd, checking on Lexi every so often to make sure she was still in her line of sight. The drink table was heavy with 2 liters and buckets of ice, and there were two more coolers filled with ice and aluminum cans. Some of the ice had gotten scattered on the table and started melting, leaving large puddles, so she grabbed a roll of paper towels that had been stashed under the table for emergencies and cleaned up.

When she looked up again, Lexi was out of sight. Jo frowned and glanced around, trying to find her red-headed friend. She finally spotted her closer to the edge of the party, about to join in on a game of cornhole.

"I think four gallons of sweet tea might be overkill," Ryker's voice interrupted her thoughts. His fingers brushed against the small of her back as he appeared at her side, but while his tone was teasing, his expression was serious.

"I think it's better to be overprepared," she said, half-smiling. She put her hand on his wrist for a moment. "Speaking of, did anyone get a hold of Duncan?"

His expression darkened. "Not yet. I haven't heard anything from Charlie, which isn't encouraging."

"I'd say that maybe they had somewhere to be, but yeah...probably not?"

"Probably not," Ryker confirmed. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked out across the party. There were over a hundred people there, but so far, no one from the Duncan pack had showed up. Maybe it was a matter of time.

"Did you want to play cornhole after Lexi?" she asked, "Just for something to do?"

Ryker glanced down at her. "I'm pretty good at cornhole."

"I'm not, so we can be a mediocre team."

"Only if this mediocre team is going to win." He smirked a little, which meant his mood was picking up a bit. There might be impending doom, and she knew she didn't want to take his attention entirely off of it, but waiting and doing nothing wasn't helping either.

"Oh, I think we could win. Maybe. We can at least try."

"Monroes don't just try. We do."

Jo laughed. "Not a Monroe, remember?"

Ryker leaned forward, pulling her closer to him at the same time so that he could bend down to speak softly next to her ear. "It's only a matter of time."

Jo blinked up at him, speechless for a moment despite the fact she'd basically accepted them as her eventual family a while ago.

Ryker smirked at her expression and leaned back before intertwining his fingers with hers. "C'mon, let's go practice for when you are." He tugged her in the direction of the cornhole board and Jo shook her head in an attempt to refocus on the present. This man sure liked to keep her on her toes.

"Hey guys!" Lexi said, beaming at them as they approached. "Come to challenge the champion?"

"Oh, I see, cornhole is like a family genetic thing?" Jo asked, watching as the team opposing Lexi at the moment finished their tosses.

"Well, werewolves do have excellent hand-eye coordination, and then when you add in Alpha blood..."

"What you're saying is, I'm never gonna win against you guys," Jo said dryly.

"Not true," Ryker interjected, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind her. "We just need another non-werewolf on Lexi's team. That should even things up."

Jo turned slightly to glance up at him. "Yeah, okay genius, and exactly how many non-werewolves are at this party?"

At least he had the grace to look sheepish.

Lexi and several others cheered as she finished the current game and then she gestured for them to step up. "I can pair up with Conner, how's that?"

Really did things to your ego to be matched with a kid. But it was just a game, Jo wasn't going to lose sleep over it, and Conner would be excited to be invited to play with the adults. "Sounds good to me."

They called Conner over and started the game, which went pretty much how Jo predicted it would go–with the exception that even Conner was doing better than her. Note to self, get Ryker to add hand-eye-coordination to their training regimen.

Right before the start of the final round, Ryker stiffened, his eyes taking on the mindlink glazed-over look. Jo watched him, waiting for the awareness to return.

"Everything ok?" she murmured, although she could already tell from his tight expression that it wasn't.

Ryker's eyes flitted to Lexi, then back to Jo before he leaned closer so he could keep his voice quiet, his message deliberately vague for anyone who might overhear. "Charlie just reported back...he hasn't reached their territory yet, but he just ran across a whole bunch of fresh scents tracking this way."

It took Jo a second to process what exactly that might mean, even as Ryker's eyes took on that faraway look again, probably communicating with his dad.

Oh no. Duncan's pack was heading toward the Monroe territory. And she doubted they were just coming to party.