Chapter 70

The party had definitely taken on an odd feel of almost forced revelry, although Jo would never mention that to Lexi. Nope, taking that to her grave. But, it was a little strange to think that at the same time half the pack was digging into funfetti cake, part of them were still getting treated by Brett for some of their wounds, and another part were still settling down some of the worried children. Not to mention that her own boyfriend had disappeared from her side–he'd been given the duty of making sure Duncan carried out his promises with how he handled his own pack. Charlie and Malcolm's Beta were with him, as well as some of the other wolves, while Malcolm kept an eye on everything here.

"Being a leader is never easy." Jo started with surprise, glancing up to her right. Speak of the devil. Malcolm's eyes were on his daughter, but his words were spoken quietly, meant for just her.

Now that she thought about it, this might be the first time she and Malcolm were having a conversation alone together.

Not intimidating at all.

"I can tell," Jo said, wondering what had brought this up all of the sudden. She'd observed a lot of moments that weren't easy for Ryker over the past month. But why this conversation now? What was Malcolm getting at?

"Sometimes you have to pretend everything is okay, even when it's not," Malcolm said, nodding at Lexi, for the sake of the morale of the pack. "Sometimes you have to make decisions you don't like." Now he glanced at her, hard blue gaze piercing. "Sometimes you need to support someone else in their decisions, even if you don't want to."

"I know that," Jo said, unconsciously tilting her chin up as she tried to appear confident and self-assured in front of the Alpha.

Malcolm studied her for a moment, then gave a brief nod. "I'm sure you didn't like how I handled Hayes and Lexi being mated. Hell, Ryker probably liked it even less, although for different reasons. But we need everyone behind them now if this is going to work. Our leadership needs to be a united front, and if you're on board, I know Ryker will be too."

That was a lot to process. She didn't know how she felt about the idea of being so influential with Ryker. If he ever felt strongly about something, she wouldn't want to be the sole reason he went against his gut instinct. But she also would want him to be willing to listen, maybe even change his mind if the facts warranted. So was that a good thing?

It was also weird to be included in pack leadership. She was still just Ryker's girlfriend; he hadn't even marked her yet, and from what he'd said, that was what made this all official in werwolf terms.

As if reading her mind, Malcolm spoke again. "You're his mate, Jo. It's only a matter of time before marking. If I've observed anything in the time I've known you, you two aren't going to leave each other. That makes you one of us."

"Oh."

Malcolm chuckled, and it was as if the air around him softened, like he was pulling in his Alpha vibes. If that was even possible. "I'm glad you're one of us," he said before turning his attention back to Lexi. "You're good for each other, you know. The way mates are supposed to be." And then Lexi was calling out to her dad and Malcolm was striding over, an easy smile on his face as if he'd just been discussing the weather with Jo.

Jo brushed her hand through her hair, deciding to not be overwhelmed by everything that had happened that day. Maybe when she got back home, she could have a minor meltdown or at least lay on her bed, stare up at the ceiling, and process everything.

And maybe get some homework done. If she was going to pass the semester, she was going to have to finish at least one project and pass more tests. But for now, there was a birthday party and werewolf problems to deal with. Wow, her life was weird now.

"This party needs a dance floor," announced a cheerful voice. She glanced over to find Blake standing next to her, a grin on his face, blond hair flopping into his eyes. "Then maybe it'd have some more energy."

"You don't think a potential werewolf war had any effect on the vibes?" Jo asked, her dark eyebrows lifted.

Blake huffed a laugh. "It was barely a fight," he said, his mouth twisting up into a turn of grumpiness. "Which we're going to have to work on."

"We're all lucky it wasn't worse than it was," Jo said.

"I guess Lexi's one of us now, right?" Blake said, smirking, "Or she will be."

"I wouldn't mention that to her brothers right now." Jo rolled her eyes.

"Well, if she thinks she can take my job as pack liaison, she can forget it," Blake said stubbornly. "I called dibs."

"That's not even a real job."

"I bet it will be now," Blake said, "And I'm perfect for it."

Jo's mouth quirked up. Maybe he was ridiculous, but at least he was confident. And funny. He had been a moron when he had attacked her and Lexi at that party, but he didn't seem all that awful. He could possibly manage in the liaison role.

"If I'm the liaison, that means we get to hang out all the time," Blake said.

"What exactly do you think a liaison does, Blake?"

Blake eyed her. Probably trying to decide if that was a trick question. "Makes sure that the packs understand each other, like each other, that kind of stuff?"

"Mhmm. And liaisons usually spend all their time with the people in charge."

"Well Ryker..."

"Isn't Alpha yet," Jo said, trying to hide the urge to laugh. Blake looked too crestfallen for her to take joy in his sadness. Well, okay, maybe only a little joy. "You'd have more luck hanging out with us if you went to the community college," Jo said with a shrug.

Although she had skipped more classes than she should've lately...

"I'll enroll next semester!"

Jo groaned. Oh god. Ryker was going to kill her. "If you do, please don't tell Ryker that I gave you that idea."

"I won't if you dance with me," Blake said, blue eyes twinkling mischievously as he tossed his fluffy blood hair back out of his face with a flick of his head. Guy really should have been born into a California surfer pack or something.

Jo glanced around, thinking that Malcolm was right–being a leader was hard. She wanted to do the right thing, but what was the right thing here? How could she step up? She didn't have the know-how to help with the medical, there was no need to step in with what Ryker was doing, and Aaliyah had everything more than handled with the kids, who were currently occupied playing a game of tag.

"I don't think now's the time for that," Jo said, and Blake didn't seem very surprised, already nodding his head. "But I promise next party we're at, I'll dance with you, ok?"

"Works for me," Blake said, grinning widely, "just make sure Ryker's there," he said, winking at her.

"You're horrible," Jo responded, rolling her eyes. She pushed off the wall and snagged Blake's elbow, dragging him with her. "Come on, as sort-of leaders of two different packs, let's show the others we can get along." She dragged him right up to the cake-serving table, ignoring the stares of some of the pack members as she grabbed a plate with an already-cut slice and held it out to Blake. Blake luckily had skin thick as an alligator's–hmm, were-gator?-- and happily accepted it, also ignoring the stares.

Looking up after she grabbed a plate for herself, she found Lexi taking in the two of them with a tentative expression. But when she met Jo's eyes her smile grew and she mouthed a thank you. If there was anyone this was hardest for right now, it was probably Lexi. Realizing that, Jo immediately moved toward her, setting her plate on a table before pulling Lexi into a quick hug.

"Doing okay?" she asked Lexi quietly while still keeping an eye on Blake in her peripheral vision. While at this point she trusted him not to have bad intentions, she didn't really trust him to keep himself out of trouble. He seemed to have an even more unfortunate knack for attracting it then she did.

Lexi bit her lip, her expression dimming a bit, before she nodded. "I will be. It's just...a lot to process right now." She looked toward her dad, who was now joining in on the game of tag with the kids. "In some ways, I'm kind of glad he's making us wait a year." Lexi grimaced. "Although I was super pissed off at the time." She norted. "Probably because my wolf was right on the surface."

"Are you relieved...'cause now you have time to learn to trust Duncan?" Jo guessed.

"And forgive him," Lexi admitted. "I'm just as pissed at him as I am my dad right now." A small grin stole across her face. 'I can't decide who I'm angrier with."

"Well, there you go, unbiased rage," Jo said dryly.

"I think the probably is it's equally biased," Lexi said with a half-amused huff that turned into downright exasperation. "There didn't have to be any bloodshed if Duncan had just flippin' communicated and my dad didn't have to threaten to kick us out of the pack just because we wanted some time to actually communicate and talk things through." Lexi growled as she stabbed at her cake. "Stupid Alphas."

"They do seem to enjoy making ultimatums," Jo said. "But at least your dad didn't bite Duncan's head off. Literally."

"There's that," Lexi said, "Small blessings, I guess."

"And they didn't completely ruin your birthday party," Jo added, "Though Blake says there needs to be dancing."

Lexi made a face. "It's already too big! And he wants to add dancing? No way. I don't do group dances."

"I think they can be fun," Jo said, laughing, "Who doesn't like doing the Cha Cha Slide? Or Copperhead Road?"

Lexi held up a hand and waved it in front of Jo's face. "Notice me."

"Fine, fine," Jo said, "I'll keep that in mind for your eventual wedding."

"Or I could just elope."

"Always an option."

Lexi was called away to talk with a few friends, and Jo headed over to babysit Blake, who had wandered over to sit on the porch steps. The Beta was currently digging into his slice of cake, devouring flowers made of fondant.

"Man, who made the cake? I need ten of these."

"You'd have to ask Aaliyah," Jo said, leaning against the railing. She wondered how much longer Ryker would be off doing leader-y things. While she liked Blake, she would much rather be spending her time with Ryker than him.

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A/N: Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year! Thanks again for reading, commenting, and everything!