Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 65

"What's that look for?"

Without anyone to translate for him, Ryker could only shake his head and stare at Jo, frustrated that he couldn't tell her that Lexi had apparently lost her mind. There was no way she had found her mate, and on top of that, what had happened to the group she was supposed to cutting off?

What do you mean your mate? he demanded, but Lexi didn't respond. Sometimes when wolves were running or fighting, mindlink voices couldn't get through. Only the actual pack alpha, which would be his dad, could break through then.

"Hey, Jo, how do I look in these pants?" Blake struck a pose like an overly enthusiastic body builder, and Ryker swiped at him with one paw, not caring if his claws hit home. Blake dodged out of the way with a whoop.

Ryker snarled. No matter what was going on with Lexi, they were still in a fight and Blake was acting like an idiot. How did Duncan put up with this guy?

"Not now, Blake," Jo said, making a face at the goofy wolf. She reached out and put a hand on Ryker's shoulder. "What's going on? Can someone translate?"

If he could find someone who wasn't busy...

"Hold up," Blake said, lifting a hand, his head cocked to the side. His eyes glazed over as someone mentally spoke or, more likely, yelled at him. A laugh burst out of him a moment later. "Man, I wish I was better at this, I had to hear that wrong. Hold on." He squeezed his eyes shut and put his hands over his eyes.

Was that his way of focusing?

While Blake continued being ridiculous, Ryker spotted a large light grey wolf as it stepped around the corner of the house, fur stained red in patches. Immediately Ryker jumped in front of Jo and bristled, recognizing the wolf. He should have smelled him, but there were a lot of scents right now and he had been distracted.

Jake lifted his head and watched them for a moment, golden eyes narrowed. A low growl rumbled in Ryker's chest, a distinct warning that even Jake couldn't mistake.

"Oh shit," Blake said before he started waving both hands at Jake. "You better stop, Hayes said don't!"

I'm not following that worthless piece of trash anymore. Jake's mental voice startled Ryker, who was unused to hearing other people besides his pack members except other alphas. Had Jake really managed to pull that much power away from Duncan? If Ryker could hear him, that meant at least a few wolves recognized Jake as their alpha instead of Duncan. Which wasn't good for any of them right now.

Back off, Ryker said, It's your last chance to get lost.

Ooo, should I be scared? Jake bared his teeth. If you haven't noticed, I'm not the one protecting--

He let out a yelp when a fireball caught him in the shoulder.

Ryker didn't look backwards at Jo, but he huffed, approving.

"Um, so, I think Jake's not going to leave," Blake said, "But nice fireball move, Jo. How'd you do that?"

"Can we talk about it later?" Jo said.

Jake was hesitating now–as he should, for he thought that Ryker's weakness was his mate.

But Jake had definitely underestimated the situation he was blindly leading his little pack into. Because, if anything, Jo was his strength. Ryker hadn't known it was possible before he'd met Jo, hadn't really understood–but now he knew, the best kind of relationships were where each person made the other person better, stronger. And it had been completely unexpected to discover that, but wholly welcome.

Especially right now.

Ryker paced forward, baring his teeth in a grin as several of his own pack placed themselves behind Jake, barring him from escape.