Chapter 71

If Ryker had to spend one more minute with Duncan instead of Jo, he was going to pop. Having to be this close to Jake again so soon after thrashing him also wasn't helping anything.

"If you weren't so weak, this wouldn't have happened," Jake snapped at Duncan, repeating the same bullshit he had been ranting about for the past five minutes. The greasy-looking weasel was sitting on the ground, a bandaid over one eye, a scowl on his face. He and the rest of his hodgepodge tiny pack had been tossed into the guest house or whatever Blake had decided to call it during his stay there. The dungeon?

Brett, who was reluctantly patching up the rogue wolves, had kicked Jake out when Duncan came to confront him. He didn't want more injuries to deal with if Jake's little group tried to gang up on them, though that would be stupid since there was a whole patrol of Monroe and Callahan pack members guarding the little house.

It had been Ryker's idea to have Jake sit on the ground like a child receiving a scolding.

"You've always looked for some excuse to try to step up and be Alpha," Duncan growled back. "If you had challenged me to a fight, I could respect that." He pointed at Jake. "But what you did? There's no coming back from that. No forgiveness."

"Like I care."

"Well, I guess you won't care when you get banned from the pack and our territory," Duncan said, finally delivering the news. About time. Jake didn't seem much phased, a smirl curling his lips into a highly unpleasant expression. Ryker felt sorry for his future mate–thank God Lexi hadn't ended up with him. As much as he wasn't a fan of Duncan, Jake would have been infinitely worse.

"Not just Duncan's territory," Ryker added, finding some enjoyment in the part he got to play in this. "You're also banned from Monroe and Callahan territories." The Callahans had no problem getting on board with this, seeing as several of their members had also been injured by Jake's little rebel pack.

That surprised a growl out of Jake, his smirk dropping. "You're banning me from the mountains?" Essentially, yes, that's what they were doing. Between the tree packs, their territories covered most of the North Carolina mountains, plus some areas of the Georgia and Tennessee mountains. If he wanted to stay in North Carolina, all that left Jake was a small bit up near Virginia–but he'd have to get permission from a pack they rarely worked with to stay in that area.

"Guess so," Duncan said with a shrug, although the glint in his eyes was hard. "Maybe should have thought about that earlier."

"This is gonna make things worse with the pack," Jake started in on his rant again, rising to his feet, "they won't let you take over, they'll.."

"Cut the crap," Duncan growled, shoving Jake back down. "Don't worry, your little pack has the option to leave with you," he said. "Tomorrow you all will be escorted to the border. If you send us an address, we'll ship your things to you and the money from the sale of your house, although that's more than you deserve." They'd decided to do that when Malcom's Beta had brought up the fact that Jake could technically turn to the human legal system to get access back to pack territory if they didn't do everything by the books.

It left a bad taste in Ryker's mouth, but that was the world they lived in. And at least, with what they were offering, nobody could say they were setting Jake up to fail in his new life.

"Whatever you think–"

"I swear, I'm about two seconds from punching this dude," Ryker commented flatly to Duncan. Not that he'd knock a guy already on the ground, but if Jake tried to put up a fight again, he'd happily remind him which of the two of them had asserted Alpha dominance in the fight earlier.

From the way Jake was suddenly avoiding his eyes, he was already remembering that as well.

"Be my guest," Duncan said, crossing his arms. They waited a moment while Jake just glared at his clenched fists.

"Seems like we're done here," Duncan said finally. He nodded at Ryker, and the two moved away from the silent Jake, back toward porch. Ryker sighed and rubbed his face tiredly–it felt like this day had somehow become a month, and yet it wasn't even over. There was still Lexi's party, his mate–God, he just wanted to be with Jo right now.

"You should get back to your sister–my mate–um, the party," Duncan said, shifting uncomfortably.

"You too," Ryker said after a second of thinking about what Jo would want him to say. "Lexi will want you there."

"You think?" Duncan asked, face lighting up, making him look almost like a kid. Did Ryker look like that whenever he talked about Jo?

"Yeah," Ryker snorted, "I think. And I know. You're mates."

Duncan nodded, expression falling a little. "I'm um, I'm sorry. About the threats and...I didn't know what the mate bond was like, not really."

Ryker tensed. "Not now." It was too soon for him to be able to forgive Duncan. He wasn't going to let go of that deep-seated irritation with him any time soon, no matter what kind of agreements his dad made with the guy. Or how much Lexi liked him. He was still having trouble wrapping his head around the fact that Lexi was going to marry this guy. Be marked by him.

"Okay, okay," Duncan said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I just wanted you to know–"

"Duncan. Shut up," Ryker said, turning away from him. Idiot. He put a foot on the bottom step that led up to the small cabin porch and leaned forward to yell inside the open doorway. "Brett!"

"Yeah?"

"We're leaving," he said, "Jake's going to sit out here for a while though. Maybe an hour. Give him some time to think about his actions." He could've told his brother that through their mindlink, but making sure that Jake's little group knew their leader was being treated like a child was very satisfying.

"Fine, leave me to rot out here. Send back cake!"

Ryker rolled his eyes. He would have to get enough for Brett and the rest of the Monroe pack members who were stuck on guard duty, or otherwise he might have his own revolt to deal with. Without a word to Duncan, he started walking back toward the house, moving quickly down the footpath and completely ignoring Jake as he passed by him.

They managed almost the entire trek in silence that was only broken by the crunch of leaves and the occasional snapping twig, which suited Ryker just fine. He didn't want to get into any kind of heartfelt, deep conversation with Duncan. Maybe the guy was going to be a part of his family, but he clearly needed to show that he deserved that spot before Ryker truly acknowledged him. He had a long way to go.

"I know you don't want to hear it–"

And there went the good walk. Ruined. "Then don't say it."

"I have to," Duncan said, stopping.

Ryker kept walking. Yeah, nah, Duncan could have his dramatic moment, but he was going to have to do it on the go. When Duncan realized Ryker wasn't going to stop, he cursed and hurried after him. "Whatever, dude. I just want to say that I really am sorry."

"And I'm not forgiving you today," Ryker said stubbornly, not giving him an inch. "Everyone else can treat you however they like. But don't expect hugs from me any time soon. Or ever."

"Like I'd want one," Duncan grumbled.

The trees thinned out, and it was easier to make out the sounds of the party. Someone had turned on music, which was hopefully making things less awkward. Had the rest of Duncan's pack stuck around? Ugh, he wanted to find Jo and take her home, but he couldn't leave Lexi's party that early. His dad would skin him alive.

Shedding Duncan, he maneuvered through the crowd, searching for Jo and following her scent. The mood seemed off, like everyone was happy but also on edge. It was an odd feeling, but at least everyone wasn't sitting around glaring at each other.

"Hey!" Jo's voice sprang at him from above, and he spotted her leaning over the edge of the porch, dark hair brushing her cheeks as she smiled at him. "Did you get lost or something? You were gone forever."

"An hour, tops," he said, running up the steps. He reached out as he neared her, running his hand over her arm, and then looked around. "Where's the cake?"

"Ah, yes, the cake," Jo said, putting her hands on her hips. "Way more interesting than me."

"Sweeter than you," he teased, smirking at her.

Jo gave a fake gasp. "Rude..."

Ryker chuckled and leaned down to hug her as she turned away from him. He drew her back against his chest and nuzzled the top of her head. "I prefer you, though. Over cake."

Jo's tone was wry as she tried to wriggle out of his grip. "That's a relief, I'm better than cake, wow. I know that was a really hard choice, so I just want to express how grateful I am that you came to the conclusion that I, your girlfriend, am better than birthday cake."

"Yeah, I struggled." Grinning at how she glared, he gave her one tight squeeze and released her only to grab one of her hands. He tugged at her. "Come on, I need to pack enough slices for everyone at the cabin."

"And I'm helping you after you insulted me why?" Jo asked, her brown eyes glinting with playfulness. "After you're all mean to me and stuff, and you abandoned me at this party with Blake–"

"I don't remember that last part," he said, his brow creasing. Where was that little golden retriever of a wolf? Well, figuratively little. Blake was almost as tall as him, though not quite. "Where'd he go?"

"He's manning the 'DJ station,'" Jo said, making air quotes as they both made their way toward the table where the cake was sitting. "He was whining about the lack of a dance floor, and then he got upset that the music wasn't loud enough, so he put himself in charge."

"I guess he's good for something," Ryker said. Besides being a general menace, like a splinter stuck under his fingernail, impossible to get rid of. "But he could have a better taste in music."

"I dunno, I don't hate 90s stuff," Jo said, "Like the Spice Girls."

"Classic rock is so much better."

"That's the most stereotypical tough gruff grouchy guy thing to like," Jo teased, turning around and walking backwards to better antagonize him. "Now if you said you like folk music or bluegrass or something–"

"ACDC, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith..."

"Why are you even in our music class?" she demanded. "Just to declare classic rock supremacy?"

Ryker smirked. "You say that like it's not a good thing."

"It's not," Jo said dryly.

Ryker lunged forward, grabbing her around her waist and hauling her up against him. "Better watch what you say," he warned teasingly, his breath causing some escaped tendrils of her hair to lift slightly as bent to speak right next to her ear. "Or I'm gonna haul you over my shoulder right here in front of the rest of the pack."

Jo stared at him for a second, eyes wide, and then shoved against him ineffectively. 'And then I'd light your ass up with a fireball!" she hissed, but there was laughter in her eyes. So he figured his ass was relatively safe.

"Sure, if you want to play nurse for the next week and hear me groan in pain, go ahead," Ryker said with a chuckle, moving around her to the table. Leaving the pre-cut and pre-plated slices alone, he started cutting several to pile on to one plate. With most people having already gotten their cake, they were relatively alone at the table.

"Nah, I'd make Brett take you home," Jo said, smirking up at him.

"Speaking of home..." Ryker glanced at her as she grabbed some forks and napkins. "Want to stay at your place tonight, now that we know we don't need to worry about Duncan's pack anymore?" He loved his family, but he would really, really love some private time with his girlfriend. It kinda sucked to stay in the same house as your traditional dad when said dad was not only your Alpha, but also had werewolf hearing.

He felt like he'd unknowingly joined a monastic order.

"Actually, that would be really nice," Jo said, her smile going all soft and sweet as she looked up at him. "With everything that's happened, it feels like ages since I've been there, even though I know it hasn't been."

"Yeah, we really better check on it," Ryker said, nodding seriously.

Jo put a hand on her hip as she smirked up at him. "Uh-huh, that's all you care about."

"Oh definitely." He counted–yup, enough slices.

"So you still don't mind sleeping on the couch then?"

He stopped and stared at Jo. Wait, what? For real.

Oh. Laughter.

"Not funny," he grumbled.

"It is to me," she said, grinning as she hugged him. Then she stood on her tiptoes–apparently it was her turn to whisper in his ear, her breath like a soft caress. "But if you're not attached to the couch, there's always my room..."

"Your bed. Definitely vote your bed."

"Who said anything about a bed?"

"Am I allowed to say I hate you right now?"

------

A/N: Mid-week update!! :) Hope you like it, thanks for reading!