Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 47

Jo crouched down beside the stream, letting the icy cold water play through her fingers. She picked up a smooth stone and rolled it around in her hands, shoving off a bit of mud that clung to it. Beneath the dirt, it was a dark blue color. "Do you think it'll be enough?"

"No."

She looked back over her shoulder at Ryker. He was sitting with his back against a tree, watching her and the water. It felt like his frustration was rolling off of him in waves.

"At least Duncan can't come here."

"But it isn't always him, and he could just send someone to do his dirty work," Ryker said. "We shouldn't agree to it."

"When do you have to send someone to seal the deal?" Jo asked. She walked back toward him, rubbing her thumb against the river stone.

"We didn't give a date or time," Ryker said. It showed Duncan that they had more power and control than he did, not establishing everything in front of him. "But we'll still need to do it soon."

"Maybe a little bit of peace is better than no peace?" She sat down beside him and placed the river stone in his hand. "At least to start with."

Ryker closed his hand around the stone and gave her a stormy look. He hadn't smiled since he had gotten to her house after the meeting with his dad and Duncan. In an attempt to perk him up, she had suggested a short hike to the stream. Slowly, he had relaxed, but not enough to get a smile out of him yet. "I don't want him or his pack anywhere near you or anyone else in my family."

"I'd like for everyone to be safe, too," Jo said, "And we could see this as a start to that."

Ryker gave her a half-smile. She wasn't going to count that, because it still looked more forced and tired than anything else. "You're going to be great at this, you know."

"At what?"

"Leading my pack with me."

Oh. Yeah, that. She must've made a face because a second later, he was pulling her onto his lap, his arms circling her body as she rested her thighs on either side of him, straddling him. He leaned his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry, I know that's probably a lot to think about right now."

Jo ran her hands through his hair, enjoying the soft feel of it. "It's okay," she said quietly. "I know that's happening, down the line. I just...it's weird when I haven't even met most of your pack."

Ryker nodded and looked up to kiss her temple softly. "A bunch of us are having a bonfire tomorrow night if you want to meet some of them then? Most of the ones who'll be there are around our age."

"I'd like that," Jo replied after a second of thought, her fingers still absently running through Ryker's hair. It might be easiest to start with people her age since most of the pack members she'd met so far would be included in that. She'd at least have someone to talk to that she knew.

"Don't stop," Ryker suddenly growled and Jo looked at him in surprise, before realizing she'd paused in combing her fingers through his hair.

"What?" she asked, laughing a little.

"It feels good," Ryker muttered, and to her astonishment, his cheeks actually turned slightly red. Normally she'd tease him about it, but knowing how much he needed soothing right now, even if he didn't say it, she just went back to stroking his scalp.

"Y'all will get the pack through this," Jo said confidently. "Duncan doesn't have a reason to make things worse between your two packs, not if he really does have the smaller pack like your dad said."

"Yeah, I just don't get it," Ryker said, leaning back against the tree again. Jo settled against his chest, her hand lowering to play with the hair at the nape of his neck while Ryker's fingers traced circles against her back. "He wasn't like this when we were kids."