“Of course. Go have fun with your mates.” Marcus walked over and clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
August turned to Peter, Kayden and Anastacia, nodding at them and thanking them for their time, while Ryker turned to Marcus.
“Thank you for everything,” Ryker said, bowing his head respectfully. “August and I appreciate how much you’ve helped us.”
“Of course,” Marcus said, grabbing Ryker’s shoulder and squeezing it. He nodded at his little brother. “It will be nice to have some help keeping this one out of trouble.”
Steve let out an indignant noise, rearing back in offense. “I do not get in trouble!”
Marcus just looked at him, raising one eyebrow and letting his silence speak for itself.
Steve flushed and then rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
Ryker grinned. “We’ll take good care of him. I promise.”
August nodded along. Steve could be an annoying puppy of an alpha, but he was their annoying puppy. They would make sure he was happy.
44
RYKER
After a quick shower, Ryker put on a fresh set of clothes and exited Steve’s bathroom. He made his way through the younger alpha’s bedroom, stopping for a minute to look at the posters he had up on the wall. There was a nice mix of classic movie posters, pin-up shots, and nature images, and Ryker wondered how old Steve had been when he put them up.
The pin-up models were all human, with a mix of large-breasted women with wide hips and pretty young twinks, making it obvious that Steve hadn’t deviated far from his type when he pursued Dylan.
Along with the posters, Steve’s room had all the expected trophies you’d expect from a young alpha who grew up in a large pack. Looking closer, Ryker could see that Steve had played football and wrestled all through high school, and done pretty well for himself.
He had a picture of himself in his football uniform, and Ryker was tempted to bring it out to show August and Dylan. Young Steve was adorable.
Letting the picture stay on the shelf, Ryker turned around and set out to find his mates.
It didn’t take him long to find them.
August, Steve and Dylan were in the living room, drinking beer on the couch and talking about what they should expect at the party the next day. Dylan was seated in the middle, August with his hand on his thigh and Steve with his arm draped over his shoulders, looking very snug and cozy between his much bigger mates.
“Where am I supposed to sit?” Ryker asked, hooking his thumbs in the waistband of his jeans and looking down at the three of them.
August glanced up at his question, grinning and crossing his legs where they rested on the coffee table, while Steve started to get up like he intended to give Ryker his seat.
“No, stay where you are,” Ryker said, laughing and waving at Steve to sit back down. “I can take Dylan’s place.”
“What?” Dylan said, looking up with an offended expression. “I was here first!”
“I know, but I’m bigger and stronger than you, so there’s nothing you can do to stop me from taking your spot.”
Ryker walked between the couch and the coffee table and reached down, lifting Dylan up and out of his seat. He held him in the air, enjoying the way his legs dangled, and brought him close so that he could place a wet kiss on his cheek.
“You can sit on the floor,” he said, turning around so that he could sit down between August and Steve while folding Dylan down to his knees between his legs.
Dylan let himself be manhandled, sitting back on his haunches and shooting him a narrow-eyed look that didn’t do a thing to hide how much he liked being lifted up and bossed around.
“Am I supposed to just sit here?” he asked, crossing his arms and doing his best to glare up at him. The effort was ruined by the fact that he couldn’t keep the grin off his face.
Ryker leaned back, looking down at him and nudging his side with the tip of his foot.
“Would you like to just sit there?”
Dylan considered it and then gave up on trying to look offended and shrugged.
