Chapter 30

Jo sat on the edge of her porch as night fell, her hands wrapped around a hot cup of coffee. As the summer slid swiftly into fall, the mountains were growing increasingly cold in the evenings. The leaves were just beginning to change, and Ryker had said that next month people would start coming up to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway.

A rustle of leaves caught her attention, and she glanced over at the edge of the forest. Normally the yellow eyes glinting in the last bit of sunset glow would make her want to jump up and rush inside, but she knew better.

"Are you going to be creepy or are you going to come over here?"

Ryker padded out of the forest, huge and furry in his wolf form. Jo had only seen him shifted a few times, and she still wasn't entirely used to it. He walked over and jumped up onto the porch with an easy, powerful grace. Crossing the wooden boards, he came and sat down next to her, briefly setting his chin on her shoulder before bumping her shoulder.

"What? Do you want clothes? Or a rawhide bone?"

Ryker huffed and poked her in the cheek with his nose.

Laughing, Jo got up and ruffled his fur before going inside, Ryker following after her. There was a spare set of clothes for him in the bathroom; she had actually asked for the set when she realized he might show up like this at some point. While he went to go change, Jo headed for the kitchen to get a snack for the both of them.

It was funny, she mused, how they sort of already had a routine even though they'd only been dating a short while. He picked her up in the mornings--even when she tried to object--they got coffee, some days they had classes, some days lunch when she wasn't with Lexi and the others, and then if they didn't hang out after classes, he dropped her off wherever she needed to go.

She was going to kind of miss getting picked up once she got a job--which reminded her, she needed to let him know she had an interview-trial thing with Ms. Blue at Ye Old Goods tomorrow. Hopefully for a job as a barista.

Arms wrapped around her waist and a chin settled on her shoulder as Ryker leaned around her to peer at the snack she'd pulled out--meat, cheese and crackers, since the boy seemed to constantly need protein. She couldn't really fuss too much, seeing as how something seemed to be working right in the creation of those damn fine muscles.

Not that she'd blow his head up by telling him that.

This was her favorite part of their routine--more nights than not, Ryker stopped by. Even if one of them had a lot of schoolwork to get done, it was nice to have company in this big old house. When they didn't have schoolwork, Ryker was teaching her how to fix and repair various things around the house. And in bits and pieces, talking while they worked, she was learning more about pack life and the supernatural world.

There was SO much to know.

He still refused to answer her question about whether vampires and werewolves were really mortal enemies though. Like he was personally offended by Twilight, Underworld, and all those other vampire versus werewolf stories. In her opinion, if there were that many similar legends out there, there had to be some kernel of truth, right?

Werewolves were real and she was a friggin' fire-powered girl.

Anything was possible.

"Thanks babe, you're the best," Ryker said, reaching out to grab one of the meat-cheese-cracker stacks she'd made.

"Uh-huh. You date me for my snacks, don't you?"

Ryker attempted to grin at her around his mouth full of food. "You caught me."

"Ugh," she muttered, covering her eyes. "So didn't need to see that mouth full of food."

He swallowed and laughed, then pecked her on the cheek before grabbing the plate with one hand and tugging her toward the living room with the other.

They settled onto the couch, Jo curled up in one corner with her feet pressed against Ryker's leg while he dug into the snacks. It was somewhat amazing how quickly he could inhale food.

Jo grabbed a pillow and pulled it into her lap for something to hold onto. "Did you have a reason for wandering over to my house or did you just miss me? Because you saw me a few hours ago..."

"I can't just come over?" Ryker asked, holding up a piece of salami. He held it out to her like a peace offering, and she took it, popping it into her mouth.

"I didn't say that," she said, rolling her eyes.

Ryker grinned and grabbed a couple hunks of cheese. "Uh-huh. But you're right, in a way."

"See. I knew something was up."

"It was a good guess." He handed her a piece of cheese. "Lexi's birthday is coming up. I was hoping you'd want to come. It'll just be family and pack members, and it'll be over at my house."

Which was somewhere Jo hadn't gone yet. She straightened up, holding the pillow closer. "Your family knows I know, right?"

Ryker shifted uncomfortably. "They know I planned to tell you. I didn't want to get into anything else because they'd wonder how you handled it so well. And I wasn't sure if you wanted me to share about your fire ability."

Jo nodded, a little relieved that Ryker had thought of that--it hadn't even occurred to her about the conversation that would follow a round of supernatural revelations. Jo didn't want to be weird about any of it, but she wasn't sure how to move forward. She didn't want to tell anyone else her own supernatural secret right now, so it would also feel odd to talk to Ryker's family about a secret someone else had told her.

He reached over and squeezed her ankle, the one she hadn't injured weeks ago. "They're excited for you to be there either way. If you want to come, that is."

"I do," she said. Meeting his family at once was going to be...an adventure. Well, she had already met Lexi and Brett, so there would be two people there she knew. And then Charlie and Hannah were part of the pack too, so she also knew them. But everyone else would be a stranger.

"Do you mind if I tell them?" Ryker asked, watching her closely. Jo felt a lump of nervousness in her throat and bit her lip, thinking.

"Do you mind if we just tell them I have a super chill personality and that's why I handled it so well?" Jo said, smiling a little at Ryker's soft chuckle. "Just...for now. Until I'm ready." Maybe after she'd met the rest of his family she'd feel more comfortable about sharing her secret. After all, their secret was just as big, so it was kind of fair. She just...she wanted to be the one to tell them.

Ryker's smile was soft. "We can do that. I'll let them know tomorrow morning that I've told you, if that sounds good?" Jo nodded--it was going to be interesting to see what Lexi did tomorrow.

"Now that that's settled..." a mischievous look crossed Ryker's face as he pulled on Jo's ankles, tugging her toward him.

"Ryker!" she laughed, trying to grab fruitlessly at the couch cushions. It wasn't a fair fight when the guy you were dating was an extremely strong werewolf. Especially when you couldn't use your own superpowers since they would burn said couch cushions.

"You don't really want to stay away from me," he teased, pulling her up into his lap, his hand supporting her back as her legs slid to either side of him, unintentionally straddling him. His other hand stole the plate of snacks and placed it on the coffee table before settling on her hip.

"Debatable." Yeah, except that was a total lie. She really, really liked where she was right now.

"Shutting down the debate," he murmured, leaning forward to brush a kiss against her neck. Jo shivered. Oh my.

"You don't play fair," she replied, her voice strangely breathy. Ryker chuckled against her skin, both arms curling around her now to pull her closer.

"I--" he paused, and Jo looked down at him confused. His eyes had a strangely unfocused look that she'd recently realized meant he was talking to someone from his pack in his head. Friggin' telepathic wolves. Like, for real? How many superpowers did one supernatural being get?

His muscles suddenly tensed as a low growl came from him--but Jo wasn't scared, somehow knowing it wasn't directed at her. She rubbed her hand over his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Ryker's gaze refocused on her. "Disturbance at the pack border." He sighed and rubbed his face. "I'm going to need to check it out, I'm on call tonight."

"What, like a doctor?" Jo asked, already getting off his lap so he could stand up.

"Something like that," Ryker said, linking his hand with hers and tugging her toward the hallway. "Those of us in leadership positions in the pack take turns being the emergency point person at night." Hmm, that made sense. This pack ran an efficient operation it seemed.

"Lock the door," Ryker said sternly, stopping in front of her, a hand on her cheek.

Jo had to make an effort not to roll her eyes, knowing Ryker was wound tight right now. "I will," she promised, leaning forward to kiss him. He was quick to kiss her back, but Jo stepped back before it could go anywhere. "Now go handle that border thing."

He gave her a silly grin that made her heart thump weirdly, then quickly moved out the door and into the woods. She suspected he'd leave the clothes there in the trees for now and collect them later, but she figured she might as well grab them and add them to the laundry load she was planning to do tonight.

Normally the woods at night felt serene, but after watching Ryker run off like that, knowing something might be out there--well, she was a little quicker than normal as she made her way into the trees. The shadows seemed to stretch ominously, the tree limbs twisting painfully as they clawed at the dark night sky. Jo took a deep breath and focused on the forest floor, pointing her phone flashlight at it. Luckily, just as she'd suspected, the clothes were right there, barely out of sigh. Jo didn't even have to hunt for them. Quickly grabbing them up, she turned and made a beeline for her front door.

Back in the house, she let out a sigh as the comfort of the golden lamp lighting seeped into her, chasing away the weird feeling she'd gotten in the woods. Jo focused back on her task list--she would start the laundry, make lunch for tomorrow, lock up, take a shower...

It was while she was in the kitchen putting together her PB&J that the unexpected voice interrupted her concentration, causing her to drop the butter knife to the floor.

"Perfect, I was hoping we could talk."

Jo looked up into the light brown eyes of Hayes Duncan, leaning against her kitchen doorway.

Okay, next time locking up would be first on her list.

------

A/N: Just a reminder, the next update is planned for next Wednesday! :D Thanks for reading!