Chapter 69

"And I don't appreciate you threatening him!"

"Lexi–"

"If he's going to be your son-in-law, you shouldn't be so rude to him."

"I'm going to remind you about this one time that he attacked us."

"That was Jake!"

Brett's voice jumped into the argument. "Let's cut down on the yelling, huh? It's giving me a headache..."

Ryker shoved his hands into his pockets as he followed Jo down the stairs to where his family was busy still arguing. Even though decisions had been made, Lexi had to have her final say. She was standing on the hearth, arms crossed over her chest, Duncan standing nearby with an embarrassed look on his face. The fact that they weren't heading out the door, Duncan's tail between his legs, made it clear that Duncan was going to bend to what Malcolm demanded.

No wonder he looked like he wanted the floor to open up and eat him.

"Did they actually come to an agreement, or are they still fighting?" Jo asked him quietly, though she knew that they would all be able to hear her. Werewolf hearing.

"I'm simply telling Dad that he needs to not treat Hayes like his own pack member," Lexi said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Even though what Hayes did was really stupid."

"When he earns respect, he can have it," Malcolm said.

"All right, all Alpha posturing aside, what exactly are we going to do with all the Jake wolves and the Duncan wolves, and what do we tell the Callahans?" Brett said.

"The Callahans will need to make their own decision about how they'll treat the Duncans," Aaliyah reminded him. She was still emitting a frosty feeling, her eyes either piercing Duncan or ignoring him completely. Ryker didn't blame her. He still felt like throwing Duncan out the door himself. But Lexi would pitch a fit, and he didn't want to completely destroy his sister's eighteenth birthday. It was already bad enough, her having to be Duncan's mate.

Duncan spoke up, a hand on Lexi's shoulder as if to reassure her that he had it. "Both the Duncan wolves and Jake wolves are my problem, although I respect your opinions and thoughts considering that it was your pack we wronged." Ryker didn't like the guy much, but he was glad to see him speaking up for himself–if he wanted to remain an Alpha and keep any respect, he was going to have to grow a backbone.

Duncan straightened up almost as if he'd heard Ryker, but his focus was on Malcolm. "Lexi and I talked about this in the kitchen. Jake will be kicked out of our territory and not allowed to rejoin for trying to take over the pack. Those who followed will be conditionally kicked out–they may apply for readmission to the pack, but will have to undergo questioning, trials, and will re-enter at a lower status if they had any formerly. They will also perform extra community service to the pack." Duncan glanced down at Lexi, then back at Malcolm, who had the ultimate poker face going right now. "As for my pack, we will enter into an alliance with yours, if you wish. As part of the alliance and in reparation for the attack, I will send some of my best wolves to train with yours, and serve in your community for several hours each week for the next year. Including me, as you requested." He hesitated, and Lexi reached up to squeeze the hand that was on her shoulder. "If any of my wolves who hadn't allied with Jake request to leave my pack, I will allow them to do so after a month has passed."

Ryker glanced at Malcolm, as did most of the other people in the room, but Malcolm was impossible to read right now. Malcolm stared at Duncan for a long moment, then arched an eyebrow. "And marking my daughter?"

"Is my choice," Lex growled softly.

Duncan tugged her to his side while Malcolm sent her a dry look. "While you're a member of my pack, I also have a say in it."

"We discussed this, Lexi, " Duncan reminded her. He nodded at Malcolm. "I'll wait a year, as long as I can still date her. I know in the long term not being cut off from her home pack will make her happier, so I'm willing to meet your conditions."

If looks could kill, Lexi's gaze would have dropped their father right now, but Malcolm ignored her. "Then we have a deal," he said simply. "You need to go handle your pack now, our Betas were waiting for our decisions."

"Wait," Lexi spoke up. "I have my own conditions." She stepped out of Duncan's embrace, facing up to their father. Lexi had always been a bit spoiled by their dad, being the baby and the only girl in the family, so Ryker had to imagine that having her stand up to him like this was a bit of a shocker for him.

Ryker felt Jo tense next to him, probably out of worry for Lexi, and he rubbed her back soothingly before pulling her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her. The main terms had already been agreed to, so Lexi couldn't make it worse. Which was probably why she waited until now to speak up–anything she could get Malcolm to agree to now would just be a bonus for her.

What could he say? He had some pretty smart siblings.

"You treat him the same way you would Ryker when you're training him," Lexi said, voice quiet but fierce. "And I know that means he won't get off easy, but you're going to be fair with him." Her glance flickered to Ryker for a second and reluctantly he nodded, knowing what she was silently asking–he'd let her know if their dad wasn't following through on her request. For Lexi's sake though, not Duncan. She focused on their dad again. "And at the end of the year, no fights about when I get marked, and you treat him as an equal in your alliance, no more conditions." She crossed her arms and raised her chin. "And, you only get the territory Duncan conceded if, at the end of the year, we haven't kept our side of the bargain."

There was a glimmer of something in Malcolm's eyes–was it pride? He looked at Duncan, then back at Lexi. "You should teach your mate to bargain better," he said gruffly, before holding his hand out. "I can agree to those terms."

"Good." Lexi said with a jerking nod as she shook his hand. A yelp escaped her as Malcolm yanked her in and gave her a fierce hug.

"Good," Malcolm echoed roughly. Over the top of his daughter's head, he narrowed his eyes at Duncan. "If you hurt her–"

"I'd never," Duncan said, hands up, jaw tense.

Ryker would make sure he kept to his word on that one.

"Now that negotiations are over, maybe we should try to salvage what's left of this party," Brett suggested. He had one arm around Aaliyah's waist, and he was pointedly not looking at Duncan. While Brett was certainly the peacemaker out of all of them, it had to be hard to deal with letting the guy who had scared his wife and kids join the family. It was going to be an uphill battle for Duncan when it came to Brett and Aaliyah.

"Or we could just wrap it up," Lexi said, wriggling out from the hug.

"Nah, we didn't even really start, and everyone's still here," Brett said.

"I think they've even started grilling already," Aaliyah said, "And they may have started eating your birthday cake."

Lexi shrugged. "Fine by me. I didn't want this party anyways."

Jo moved away from Ryker and smiled at Lexi. "Yeah, but I'm sure everyone brought you a ton of gift cards and money, so you might as well open your presents."

Ryker hid a smirk. Practical Jo. "And it'll give us time to talk to people."

"It's your day, Lexi," Duncan said quietly, "You should get to enjoy some of it."

She rolled her eyes at him. "It's not like it's been the worst day. Just a weird one. Really weird."

"It's been a bad day for the rest of us," Malcolm said, brushing past the sore spot in the room, but he didn't entirely ignore Duncan, unlike Brett. He opened the door to the back porch, and a second later, pop music came in like a sugary peppy hurricane, an assault on everyone's enhanced hearing.

"I bet that's Blake," Jo said, her nose scrunching up.

"He likes music," Duncan mumbled as he walked out the door.

It was a good thing Duncan wasn't trying to really talk to him or Jo right now. Ryker's patience for anyone besides Jo was shorter than a lit match.

Aaliyah slid away from Brett and looped her arm through Lexi's. "You at least need to try your cake. Before everyone else eats all of it. It's your favorite."

Lexi's eyes lit up. "You got a Funfetti cake?"

"An extremely large one," Aaliyah said.

Lexi was immediately heading out the door, dragging Aaliyah with her and reaching back a hand to pull Jo along. "You could've led with that!"

"It was supposed to be a surprise. How else were we supposed to get you to enjoy the party?"

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A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Hope everyone enjoys this chapter. :D Thanks for reading, voting, commenting, and following!