Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 55

"Why can't we just toss him over into Duncan territory? We could tie him up with a bow and hurl him over into that glade that's close to our border."

"Because we're trying to not start a fight."

"Yeah, about that, not sure what the problem is with a fight..."

"Dude."

"Bro."

Ryker stood on the porch of the guest house, his arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowed as the twins bickered. Behind them, Charlie was leaning against the door, his expression long-suffering.

"Seriously, Ryker, if we just put them in their place--"

"No," Ryker said firmly, leveling a frown at Lincoln. The scruffier of the two identical twins, Lincoln's main difference from AJ was his nonchalant and occasionally antagonistic attitude. AJ, on the other hand, was always quick to help out and play by the rules. Lincoln, not so much.

"Why no--"

"There hasn't been an all-out pack war in our area in over fifty years, and we're not going to be the pack that starts it." That was a pretty good stretch of time, considering how territorial werewolves could get. The long record was mostly attributed to how well the Callahan and Monroe packs got along; the Duncan pack had always been the odd group out, but that was mainly because of how it was run. The Duncan pack had always been more brutal and difficult than the other two packs.

"Technically, we wouldn't be starting it," Lincoln said with a cocky shrug of his shoulders, "Duncan would be. Or we could pin it on Blake."

"Why are all your plans terrible," AJ said with a stressed out sigh.

"You mean why are all my plans awesome."

Ryker made a face and moved past the twins toward the door, leaving them behind to bicker and potentially get into a wrestling match.

Charlie shoved away from the door. "We do have to put him back eventually."

Ryker rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to retort sarscastically. "I know." Being even this close to Blake after he hurt Jo was hard, and he was about to have to be in a room with the guy. Maybe he should've brought Brett with him; his brother was always a good mediator, though Charlie was pretty good at it too.

Actually..."Charlie." he turned around, his hand still on the doorknob. "Come in with me."

Charlie raised an eyebrow while Lincoln snickered. "Scared of the big bad Duncan wolf?" Ryker shot his friend a look that quickly shut him up.

"More like he should be scared of me," Ryker said, glaring at the door before looking at Charlie again. "Try to stop me if I go to attack him, okay?"

Charlie rubbed the back of his neck. "Sure, I mean...you sure you want to talk to him?"

Ryker nodded. "I can't let who he is or who he attacked stop me from taking care of my responsibilities." He was the next Alpha, he was going to have to deal with a lot of moments like this in the future--although hopefully they would rarely involve Jo. He had a feeling it was always going to be tough to keep his anger in check if someone ever hurt her.

"All right, let's do this then," Charlie said, rubbing his hands together.

Ryker finished unlocking the door and then headed inside. The guest house was more like a one-bedroom cottage. One window looked out onto the front porch, but there was another window in the bedroom and a west-facing window off the living/dining area that both had guards stationed at them as well. He wasn't taking any chances, no matter how injured Blake was.