Chapter 32

As she suspected, Jo didn't have to wait long. She'd briefly debated taking her evening shower but didn't want to be in the middle of that when Ryker came back, so had instead settled on prepping everything for school and her interview tomorrow. She still hadn't had a chance to tell him about that.

Some quiet thumps on the steps and a soft whine-growl alerted her to movement outside. She cocked her head, listening, but Charlie didn't seem to be alarmed. So there was a good chance it was Ryker.

A few moments later that was confirmed after a brief set of knocks on the door. "Jo? It's me." She moved toward the door, but apparently not fast enough, because Ryker added, as if she didn't know--"It's Ryker."

Okay, as pissed and confused as she was, she couldn't help the small twitch of a smile that stole across her face at that. He could be such a dork sometimes for being a big, bad werewolf.

"Oh good, that totally reassures me you're not some doppelganger shapeshifter from the supernatural world that I didn't know existed yet," she retorted as she worked her way through the door locks. She swung the door open and before she had even a second to take in the sight of shirtless Ryker standing on her front porch, or even a moment to glare at him, his arms were around her, tugging her tightly to his chest as he buried his face against the crook of her neck.

"Ryker!" she huffed as his arms bound her tightly to him. "Can't...breathe..."

Ryker quickly stepped back with a mumbled apology, but he was still close, eyes searching her face, hands brushing her arms, as if searching for any injuries. What exactly had Duncan done to Ryker in the past?

"You're okay," he said on a soft sight, some of his tension finally releasing. Jo nodded, studying him in turn.

"I am, but I think we need to talk."

"Yeah, we need to figure out better security for this place," he said, sending a terrible glare at her door, as if Duncan getting in was its fault. His fixation on protection would've been cute if she hadn't already been so annoyed. "I'm sorry, Jo, I should've been here. It's lucky that Charlie was visiting his aunt, he smelled him--"

"I don't want to talk about security," she said. Well, maybe she did, but not right now. There were bigger things on her mind. She took a step back, her arms crossing over her chest as she frowned at him. "But we should probably go back inside. And Charlie, you can go home now. I think we've got it from here."

Over by the steps, Charlie whined and laid down, pointedly not looking at her. However, he did sneak a glance at Ryker.

"I mean it," she said, heat rising in her chest. "Ryker's not the authority at my house."

Charlie curled up in a circle, the tip of his tail covering his snout.

"Charlie! Seriously."

With another whine, the werewolf crept down the stairs, unhappiness written all over him, his ears tilted back like he was pouting. Slowly, he started off down the driveway, dragging his paws.

"I guess it's stupid to ask you what's wrong," Ryker said as she stepped inside and he followed her.

"Actually, the home invasion is only part of my problem," she said.

"Did Duncan touch you?" Ryker's eyes glinted yellow-gold.

"No, again, he stole an orange and wanted to talk."

"About what?"

"Now there's the right question," Jo said. She sat down in the old rocking chair by the couch, which meant Ryker either had to stay standing or sit down alone. He hovered in front of her, his face torn between worry, confusion, and anger, though she had a feeling the last was currently pointed at Duncan, not her.

"Okay...what did he...what'd he want to talk about?"

"I didn't realize mates were a real thing with werewolves," Jo said bluntly. "I read about it, but I didn't hear about it from you, so I thought that was a fiction thing. Apparently not." She uncrossed her hands as she drew her legs up into the rocking chair, sitting cross-legged. "Were you just going to let that one slide or were you going to eventually tell me?"

Ryker turned toward the window and then toward the kitchen. If he had been in his wolf form, maybe he would've had his tail between his legs. "I'm going to kill him."

"Oh, so you weren't planning on telling me," Jo said. Fire touched her insides, but she tamped down the flames. "You were just hoping I wasn't going to find out?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Ryker said. He shoved a hand back through his hair, making it stand on end, messy and untamed. "I was going to tell you, but on my own terms."

"When? After we'd been dating a half a year?" The fact that he wasn't sitting down bugged her. She stood up and stepped away, her hands resting on the back of the rocking chair. "A whole year? More than that?"

Ryker blinked and frowned down at her. "I was waiting for the right moment. This wasn't it."

"Mates are some crazy deep connection, right?" Jo said. Her hands tightened on wood and she let go so she didn't accidentally scorch it. "A once in a lifetime kind of thing. I shouldn't have to hear about that from your archnemesis."

"That's dramatic," Ryker said. He shook his head. "C'mon, Jo, I'm sorry. I really was going to tell you."

"Dramatic?" Contrary to how she was feeling inside, her voice came out cold and flat. She hated being called dramatic, were guys ever called that? Rarely. Always girls.

Ryker had the grace to wince, probably realizing that wasn't the best choice of words. "I know it's a lot to take in, but-"

Jo cut him off. It was her turn to talk. "Yeah, it is a lot to take in. And I don't think it's dramatic to be a little pissed when you find out your boy--" she cut herself off, since they hadn't actually had that talk yet, "I mean, the guy you're dating is eventually going to fall in love with someone else."

Ryker blinked at her. Straight up stunned into silence apparently.

"What, hadn't thought of that?" Jo crossed her arms. "About how that's not exactly fair to lead me on, knowing there's a good chance it'll end eventually?" Not to mention that when it ended, he'd have his happily ever after while she would likely be heartbroken. Did Ryker really have to turn out to be the stereotypical guy, only thinking about the next few minutes? She'd really thought he was better than that.

Yeah, no, she was going to end this thing between them well before any future heartbreak. Tonight in fact.

But of all the reactions she'd expected from Ryker--denial, arguing, pleading--she definitely hadn't expected laughed.

He was laughing?

"What the fuck, Ryker!" She tried to reserve the f-bomb for extreme frustration (usually Charlotte traffic, if she was being honest), but this man had a way of bringing out all her strongest emotions--both good and bad she supposed.

"Wait, Jo, I'm sorry," Ryker said, trying to force down his grin. It was definitely still trying to wobble into place at the corner of his lips though. She started for the hallway, intent on showing him out the door, but he grabbed her arm, stopping her. This time when she looked at him, he'd finally gotten control of his face and had managed to plant a serious expression on it.

"I'm upset and you're laughing," Jo hissed, staring up at Ryker. Did he see flames in her eyes? She hoped so, because she could feel them close to the surface, maybe even more so than she had with Duncan. But they didn't feel out of control yet. Even as angry as she was with Ryker, something about his touch always seemed to calm her. It was infuriating.

"I wasn't laughing at you being upset," Ryker said softly. "I was laughing with relief. Because I think this is all a misunderstanding."

Jo pursed her lips and gave him a hard stare, waiting for him to explain. If he didn't start clearing this up, she was going to burn his hand off her arm if she had to.

As if reading her mind, he dropped his hand, but then immediately grabbed hers instead. "Jo..." He looked at her eyes intently, as if searching for something there. She didn't know if he found it, but he continued anyway. "I didn't tell you about mates yet because I didn't know if you were ready to hear that I was committed to you for life after we'd only known each other for a few weeks."

Tilting her head, Jo tried to process what he'd just said. She was vaguely aware of the feel of his thumb stroking her knuckles, something she'd quickly realized was one of his favorite things to do when one of them was anxious.

Jo glanced at the hallway and then back at him. "I don't understand," she said finally.

Ryker gave her a smile that was filled with tenderness while emotions she wasn't sure she was ready to name shone through his hazel eyes in a way that had her heart thumping unnaturally fast. Her skin felt entirely too warm.

He tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear with his free hand, his touch lingering against her cheek. "Jo, there's never going to be anyone else because...you're my mate."

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A/N: Early update! Surprise! :D Hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and the next chapter will be posted next Sunday.