Chapter 11 - Goodbye and Welcome

Joss was perched on a stool at the Den, sipping a Dr Pepper and chatting with Mags when Lisa walked in. Joss recognized her immediately from John's description. Joss smiled pleasantly at the newcomer, but Lisa merely glared. Mags leaned on the bar and raised an eyebrow at Lisa. "Lees, have you met Jocelyn?" she asked in the same tone of voice she would use with a recalcitrant child.

Lisa looked over at Joss with a distinctly unfriendly look. "No," she said shortly in a tone of voice that plainly said she would rather gouge her eyes out with spoons than meet Jocelyn.

Joss was unfazed. John had told her about his confrontation with this woman a couple of days ago, so Joss already knew she was not Lisa's favorite person. Not that she cared much, but she thought she should make an effort to be friendly to someone who had once been important to her mate. Her mama raised her to polite after all.

Joss smiled pleasantly at the newcomer,"Hi, I'm Jocelyn. It's nice to finally meet you."

Lisa, however, had other ideas.

"I'm Lisa," the blonde woman replied in a distinctly chilly manner. "Did John tell you how close we were in school? We…ran together quite often. I, ahem, ran with him first." Lisa looked smug, like she had scored a point.

Joss gave Lisa her best "Bitch Please" look. OK, if that is how you want to play it, Joss thought. "It doesn't matter who ran with him first, it's who ran with him last that counts. And that would me.

"You see honey, unlike you, I would follow John to the ends of the Earth, because I love him that much. So it will always be me."

Lisa visibly shrank in on herself, but she unwisely fought back.

"Everett's heart it is broken, I hope your proud of yourself, you and your mate," she snarled at Joss, pronouncing the word "mate" like it was an expletive.

Mags opened her mouth to say something but Joss caught her eye. With a quick shake of her head, Joss communicated to her new friend, I got this. In return Mags's mouth split into a wide grin and she leaned back against the counter behind the bar to enjoy the show.

Joss set her soda down on the bar and turned her seat towards Lisa. Joss's legs were crossed, she had one hand on her hip and the other elbow on the bar. She fixed a cold, hard stare on Lisa, "You'll have to take that up with Mark, Marie and Matt."

Lisa sulked. "You shouldn't have come, Everett would have caught them."

Joss glared at Lisa. "Let's get a few things straight. Had Everett gotten close to the truth, Mark and Marie would have killed him; just like they killed everyone else threatened their operation. Everett was alone with no back up. John and I survived for one reason, because we're a team and we had each other to rely on.

"So stop sulking like some damn Disney princess, you're lucky you're not a widow right now."

Lisa stared at Joss for a minute, then slid off her stool and quietly left the building.

Later, John leaned against the bar in the Den, watching his mate laugh and talk with Janelle and Mags and some of the other she Wolves of the pack. She caught his eye and gave him one of her huge smiles that never failed to make his heart skip a beat and went back to her conversation.

Everett walked in and stood next to Reese watching Joss. "You're a lucky man, John. She's an amazing woman and Wolf."

"Ev, you have no idea how lucky I am," John replied as he reluctantly tore his eyes from his mate and looked over at his friend.

Everett still had bags under his eyes and his clothes were rumpled like he had slept in them. "I thought you should know; I talked to my dad. He knew Mark and Marie killed your parents. That's why he started the whole rumor about you being the murderer; to deflect attention from them. To put it bluntly, he needed a scapegoat and you were the best candidate."

Everett took a deep breath, "Dad knew all along what Mark and Marie were doing, but he helped them cover the whole thing up. He couldn't face the thought of them going to jail."

Everett hung his head, "I'm sorry, John, about all of it. If I hadn't been blinded by loyalty to a family that didn't deserve it, I would have seen what was happening a long time ago. Maybe the Hunters and some of the others would still be alive."

John shook his head. "You can't blame yourself. Mark and Marie killed the Hunters, you didn't. All you're guilty of is believing that your family wasn't a bunch of killers. I can't blame you for that; no one can."

Everett leaned heavily on the bar. "John, I need to tell you something. I don't think I can take over the pack, not after what my family did. The pack should have been yours a long time ago, I won't stand in your way if you want become our Alpha."

John shook his head again. "I don't belong here anymore. New York is my home and I already have a pack there that depends on me, depends on us." John inclined his head in Joss's direction. "We'll be going home in a few hours."

Everett rubbed his hand over his face. "I was afraid you were going to say that. You changed a lot, more so than any of us who stayed here. I don't think this little town could contain you even if you did want to stay. But I had to ask. The pack needs a new leader, a strong one after everything we've been through. I think it's going to take a Born Alpha to get us straightened out."

John nodded, "You would be a strong leader, Everett. I don't think you should give up quite so easily."

Everett shook his head, "No, I've already heard rumblings from some of the pack members. I'm tainted by what my family did. The pack needs to start over."

John sighed, "I'm sorry to hear that. You would have been a good Alpha."

"Thanks, I appreciate that. But honestly, I don't want it anymore. My family ruined it for me."

"I know some Born Alphas that don't have a pack yet. I'll make some calls. Once the word is out you may have more applicants than you know what to do with. This is a nice place to live and raise a family."

"Thanks, John. You and Joss have a safe trip home. Don't forget about us, OK?"

"I never did, Ev."

Everett gripped John on his shoulder and left.

As soon as Everett left, Janelle waved John over to the table. John obediently walked over and sat down next to his mate, grinning at the old she Wolf.

Janelle smiled fondly over at John. "Mags and I have something to give you and Joss before you leave, John. It's been sitting in my closet for a very long time and it's time it was returned to its rightful owner. I tried to find you several times over the years to give it to you, but the Army had you listed as "whereabouts unknown."

Mags reached under the table and produced a cardboard box; about the size of a box used to store files, and pushed it over to John and Joss.

"After the police finally released your house, Mags and I shifted through the wreckage, looking for anything that was still intact."

John looked at the box, his heart pounding fast, "I didn't think anything had survived the explosion and the fire. The house was completely demolished."

Janelle nodded, "Yes, it was pretty thoroughly destroyed, but a few items survived. Just enough to fill this box. We've been keeping it all this time hoping you would return someday. I just couldn't bring myself to throw it away."

John stared at the box for a minute. It seemed so unfair that his parents, both good people, good Wolves and descendants of some of the oldest bloodlines, should have their lives reduced to one small box. But, as he firmly reminded himself, for the last twenty-two years he'd thought that nothing at all survived from his parents and his childhood, so he was going to be grateful for whatever was in this box.

Tentatively he opened the lid, fortunately any smell of smoke and fire that had clung to the items inside has dissipated over the years. Slowly he began looking through the items.

There were a surprising number of photographs. Most of them were singed, but they were there. John stopped at one; it showed his parents exactly as he remembered them. They were sitting on the couch that used to be in their living room, his dad had his arm around his mom, and she was leaning into him with a huge, happy smile on her face. His dad had a small smile on his face; he'd never been much of a smiler, but John could tell he was happy. The picture had probably been taken only a year or so before they were killed.

John continued looking through the box, there were a few of his father's tools and a vase, with a small chip out of it that he remembered as being intact. His dad's wallet was in there, along with a few pieces of his grandmother's' silver.

Then he pulled a ring box out. He stared down at the box for minutes and looked at Janelle. Janelle smiled at him while a tear rolled down her cheek. "Yes, that's what you think it is. Your mom was wearing it when she died and Sheriff Berke was kind enough to release your parent's personal effects to me when he found out that I was collecting their things for you."

With tears in his eyes, John opened the box to reveal his mother's precious emerald ring. John's father had bought it for her when John was born because emerald was the birthstone for May, and she had cherished it. His mom had told him once that when he mated, she would give the ring to his mate. Over the years, whenever John had thought about his parents he would wonder what had happened to that ring.

John lifted it from the box. Janelle had obviously had the ring cleaned and repaired, it was in perfect condition. He heard Janelle telling Joss about the history of the ring and how important it had been to John's mother.

John's voice was soft, he could barely get the words out. "Hold out your hand, Joss."

Joss did as he asked and he slipped the ring on her finger.

"It's a perfect fit!" Mags exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

"It's beautiful," Joss whispered as she moved her hand around causing the emerald to flash.

John didn't have the words to say how he felt, so he cupped his hand behind Joss's head and pulled her to him for a gentle, loving kiss. He touched his forehead to hers and allowed himself to get lost in her large, soft eyes for a minute.

Finally he turned to Janelle and Mags, who had watched the whole time while wiping tears from their eyes. "Thank you," he said simply, but his eyes said everything else that needed to be said.

Janelle leaned forward and laid her hand over his, "We should be thanking you and your mate, John. You two have lifted a great weight off the shoulders of the Pack. After all these years, after all those secrets and lies, we're finally and truly free of the evil that festered for so long."

John and Joss sat with Mags and Janelle for a while longer while they entertained Joss with stories of John's youth. Finally, John checked his watch. "It's time to go," he said softly with a smile. They said their goodbyes to Mags and Janelle and left the bar, hand in hand.

To Joss's surprise, John drove in the opposite direction from the airport. Instead, he drove them out into the woods and parked on one of the logging roads that had become so familiar to them over the last few days. Joss turned to her mate as they got out of the car, "What are we doing out here? Did you forget something?"

John smiled, "In a way I did. I forgot where I came from. I think it's time I showed my mate the woods I grew up in. We have a few hours before our plane leaves, feel like a run?"

Joss smiled at him and quickly doffed her clothing while John did the same. Then a large salt and pepper Wolf with a smaller black Wolf loped off into the brush, together.

A few days after their return to New York, John returned to the apartment he shared with Joss and Taylor very late one night after successfully wrapping up the latest number. As he walked into the living room, he realized that something looked different. He paused in the middle of the room and looked around.

He realized a few things had been added to the décor. On the shelf in the curio cabinet was the vase from his parent's house, carefully turned so the chip was in the back. Several of the pictures they had brought back from Washington had been framed and joined the ones of Joss's family scattered around the room.

Joss walked in from the kitchen, "Notice anything different?"

"I do. Thank you," he said with a smile as Joss snuggled under his arm against his side.

"It's kinda nice to have some things from your family around," Joss said looking around. "It feels like OUR home now that there's a part of you here too."

John kissed the top of her head, "It's been a long time since I had a real home. It feels good."

Joss looked up at her mate, her eyes shining, "Welcome home, John."

Well that's it folks, thanks for reading! The Wolves will return soon, I promise.

Once again I have to thank my awesome betas for helping me make this story better than it was. Thanks to everyone who left a review. I have tried to respond to all the reviewers who have a login, if I missed anyone, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I can't respond individually to the Guests, but you are all very much appreciated!