Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 62

"Can we turn on some music?"

"You're supposed to be focusing," Jo said, cutting in before Ryker could snap at Blake. They had only been on the road for fifteen minutes, but she could tell Ryker's patience for Blake was all used up. Honestly, it was probably nearly nonexistent to begin with, so maybe they should all just be glad that they needed Blake alive and intact or she doubted the goofy irreverent werewolf would still be sitting there with all his teeth. Ryker did have a mean right hook, after all.

Blake grinned at her through the mirror. "I can multitask." He reached up and grabbed the edge of her seat, presumably to lean forward and turn on the radio.

Ryker's hand slammed into Blake's wrist, jostling her chair before he yanked Blake's hand away.

"Ow, ow, OW! What?!"

A low growl rolled out of Ryker. Jo shot him a concerned look, her eyebrows knitting together. "Ryker..."

"Sit. Back." Ryker glared forward, not bothering to focus on Blake. "Stop talking and focus."

"It's too quiet," Blake said, rubbing his hand. "I think you broke my fingers."

"Stop exaggerating."

"Still hurts," Blake complained, flopping back into the seat, "Want me to tell Duncan you're beating up on me while I'm at it?"

Ryker snarled, quick and frightening, but Jo reached out and put a hand on his arm. "Boys. Chill out. Ryker, if you could just drive, that'd be great." She turned slightly in her seat so she could pin Blake with a frown. "And you, stop antagonizing him."

"Hey, he's the one that crushed my fingers."

"You put them on my seat, and you knew better," Jo said. Honestly, sometimes these guys acted years younger than they actually were. "Can you please try to get in touch with Duncan before some kind of werewolf war..."

Blake snorted, but Ryker remained stone-faced, which told her how serious he considered this situation. Apparently Blake didn't realize how tense things were between their two packs, which made her wonder about him being Duncan's Beta. There were some odd dynamics in that pack.

"What's with Jake, anyway? Jo asked, mainly hoping to distract Blake before he provoked Ryker into killing him, but also because she was truly curious. She'd never had a pleasant interaction with the guy.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, giving her a cautious look.

"Well, why wouldn't he have delivered our message to Duncan? Does he hate our pack or something?"

Blake visibly tense. "It was Jake you guys sent the message through?" At Jo's nod, Blake cursed, his language surprisingly colorful, then sighed. "Eli didn't mention that part."

Jo caught Ryker eyeing their passenger in the rearview mirror, this time with a little less anger in his expression. Probably something to do with the fact that Blake finally seemed to be believing the gravity of the situation.

"So..."

Blake looked out the window, frowning. "Jake's dad was the Beta for Ryker's dad, back in the day. So first, he hates my guts for benign Beta and would probably have danced on my grave if you guys had buried me alive." He gave a weak chuckle at that.

"He also wouldn't mind if Duncan got taken out, I'm guessing?" Ryker asked. He had mentioned that Duncan seemed to be struggling with his pack dynamics ever since he inherited his Alpha position.

"Probably not," Blake said, leaning back, arms crossed. "With no one else closely related to the Alpha bloodline alive right now, taking over the pack would probably come down to a contest between me and Jake."