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"Simon, I'll be back at my apartment soon," Clary said in a hushed tone into the phone.
"Are you okay? Where are you?!" Simon demanded, and from where Jace and Alec were standing next to her, they could hear a slight growl in the werewolves voice, undoubtedly worried about his close friend.
"I'm with Jace," Clary told him. "I'll be home soon, I promise."
"Okay, don't let them leave you alone," Simon lifted his voice a little, knowing that the werewolves on the other end of the phone would be able to hear him. Clary gave the two were's next to her a tight smile and pulled the phone away from her ear, tucking it into her pocket. Jace let out a long breath, tilting back his head and scenting the air. Before it had just smelt like fresh air, and cut grass, and ever so slightly of sweat from the bleachers nearby. Now, there was panic and worry rolling off his beta and also from his mate. He wanted to reach out to comfort her, reassure her, but he stopped himself from doing it, because he didn't want to make her uncomfortable.
"I can't believe this has happened again," Clary let out a shuddering sigh. This time, Jace couldn't stop himself. He instinctively reached out for Clary, putting a hand at the curve where her neck met her shoulder. Alec raised an eyebrow at the movement, and Jace's eyes widened as he realized what he had done and almost pulled his hand away, but he felt her relax against him. Relief surged through him, with the way she was leaning into him.
"I need to go to the scene, I'll call the Sheriff," Jace began, keeping his voice soft.
"Yeah, uh, one of the desk girls called me when she couldn't get ahold of you," Alec said. Jace frowned, the hand not touching Clary reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. He made a face and held it up to them.
"It must have run out of battery," he said.
"It's fine, but you should really head over there," Alec glanced between him and Clary before fixing his eyes back on his Alpa. "It's another fresh one, they think only an hour or so old this time."
"Yeah, I'll..." Jace licked his lips before narrowing his eyes slightly. "Did you drive?"
"Yeah, I brought my car," he answered. "I picked up your scent from the apartment."
"Okay, give me your keys. I'll head over there," Jace said and Alec nodded, digging the keys out of his pocket and tossing them over. "I want you to take her back to the apartment and stay with her."
"Jace, no—" Clary began, frowning at him and beginning to pull away, but Jace just tightened his grip on her neck. As someone who had been raised by werewolves, she would know that the way he was touching her was almost in a claiming way, the way that an Alpha touched the rest of his pack. If she showed even a hint of discomfort, he would have pulled away, but she didn't. She was still leaning into him.
"I just want to know that you're going to be safe," he told her earnestly. There was confusion in her eyes as she looked at him, and he knew that she didn't completely understand why he was so worried about her well being. "Please, just go back with Alec." Clary pursed her lips together, and for a moment he thought that maybe she was going to tell him 'no', but then she nodded.
"Luke will probably be on his way over as well once he finds out," Clary said. "But come over to my place after—after you've spoken with the cops, if you want."
"Yeah," Jace flashed her a quick smile, reluctantly dropping his hand from where it was cupping her neck. "And we'll carry this conversation on later as well." Clary frowned again, but then remembered what they were talking about before the interruption, and her cheeks stained pretty pink, nodding. "Do you know where I need to go?"
"Head toward town," Alec said shortly. "You'll be able to find it from there." Jace nodded, taking the keys from Alec's out stretched hand and then running at a blur toward the parking lot alongside the field. Alec looked over at Clary, who took in a deep breath and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. "Uh," he looked uncomfortable as he looked her up and down. "Are you cold? Do you..." he made a move to take off his jacket, but Clary shook her head.
"No, I'm fine," she murmured. Her phone started vibrating again, and when she looked down, she saw that it was her mum. "I just need to take this," she told Alec before taking a few steps away from him. It was more for show, given Alec would still be able to hear every word that she and her mother were saying. "Mum?" Clary answered.
"Where are you, babe?" Jocelyn replied.
"I'm with..." she glanced over at Alec. "I'm with Alec. He's one of Jace's beta's, Jace just left. I assume you're calling because of the body?"
"Yes, Sheriff Jeremiah called him and Luke is just getting ready to leave with Gretel," Jocelyn said. "He's going to come by your place as well, after he's spoken with the police, he just wants to make sure you're okay."
"No, no, that's fine. I'll be at my apartment," Clary told her. "I'll be fine, Alec's going to look after me," she glanced over at Alec, and he raised his eyebrows at her, knowing that she was just saying that to make her mother feel better. Little did she know that Alec wasn't going to let her out of his sight or hearing range until Jace was back and gave him the all clear. "I love you, mum."
"Love you too, babe," Jocelyn said. "You make sure you're keeping yourself safe, okay?" Clary hummed out in response and then ended the call. She looked over at Alec and took in a deep breath through her nose.
"Ready to go?" He grunted at her and Clary nodded. The walk home was quiet and a bit uncomfortable, very different compared to how it had felt with Jace. She didn't know much about Alec apart from what Maia and Simon had told her. He was very protective over Jace—over Isabelle and his boyfriend as well—and apparently he barely ever said anything. Bat, who Clary wasn't particularly close with but was welcome into her life because of his connections with Simon and Maia, said that both Jace and Alec were helping him to control his shifts, and Alec had been a big part of that.
"I don't think we've properly met before," Clary finally said when they were a block against her apartment. "I'm Clary," she attempted to give him a smile, even though the situation was weighing on her shoulders and over her head. Alec looked at her out of the corner of his eye and then directed his gaze forward again.
"I know," he grunted and Clary's eyebrows lifted.
"Right," she breathed out through her teeth. Clearly he wasn't the charming one out of the lot. As they reached her apartment building and she swiped her key card to open the front door, Alec frowned and his steps faltered.
"What's wrong?" Clary asked, pausing and looking over her shoulder at him. She may not know much about Alec, but she knew enough about werewolves to trust their instincts when they started twitching their noses and acting as though something was wrong. Alec's eyebrows pulled together and he reached out to push the door open further, his hand resting on the door above her head.
"It's nothing, I just—my sister is worried," he explained in a mutter.
"Oh right," Clary nodded. "Izzy. You'll see her in a sec, she'll still be in my apartment." Alec nodded in response and they hurried upstairs. The relief on Alec's face was obvious when they reached her apartment and opened the door, Isabelle already walking toward them, obviously able to smell her brother coming. Clary stepped aside to let the two hug and then looked around her apartment. Everyone was awake now, and Simon was just coming out of her bathroom, one of her spare toothbrushes in his mouth and his face looking damp, as though he had just splashed water on it. He relaxed slightly when he saw her, jerking the toothbrush out of his mouth and throwing an arm around her, pulling her in close and pressing his nose against the side of his face. He pulled away after a second, frowning, and Alec looked over, knowing that the other werewolf could smell the Alpha on her skin.
"What were you—" Simon broke off, seeming to realize that they were surrounded by other people, and especially other werewolves, who would be able to hear everything they said. "I need to go," he changed the course of the conversation. "Sheriff is calling everyone in because of the new body. He called Luke as well."
"Yeah, mum rang me," Clary replied. "You go, and I'll see you later." Simon nodded. He called out his goodbyes to the other werewolves and humans in the lounge, and then paused by Isabelle on the way out. There was an awkward moment where it looked like maybe they were going to kiss goodbye, Alec practically glaring at the two of them while Clary just raised her eyebrows, and then they settled for a hug before Simon fled from the room to get rid of Alec's glare. Clary turned to everyone else, taking in a breath. "I don't really feel like going out for breakfast, with everything's that happened..."
"I get that," Maia got up from where she was sitting in between Jordan and Bat. "I think I might head home—will you be okay?"
"I'll be fine," Clary assured Maia. "You guys head home." Maia nodded, gathering up her clothes and walking over to Clary, throwing an arm around her friend. She nuzzled her face into Clary's neck, breathing in her familiar scent and then rubbing her nose against the side of Clary's face. When she pulled back, she was frowning.
"You reek of Jace," she stated, and there was a snort from Lydia on the couch, who quickly tried to cover it in a cough, but really wasn't fooling anyone. Maia stared at Clary for a moment longer, but Clary didn't give anything away, even though her scent clouded with something like embarrassment.
"Bye, Clare," Jordan got up and hugged Clary as well, giving her a kiss on the cheek, doing the same with Lydia and Helen before following after his girlfriend. Since Clary and Jace had left, the group had done some cleaning up, undoubtedly after Simon had woken them up because of the call from his boss. Usually they were all still fast asleep at this point, and Clary still had no idea why she had felt so rested after only a few hours of sleep, but she was glad that she had woken up to him, and not to finding out about the murder.
"Do you know who it is?" Clary asked, looking over to where Helen was sitting, running a hairbrush through her hair.
"Not yet, no identity has been released," Helen made a face. "I can't believe this has happened—we haven't had anything like—like murder around here in years, and now there's two in the space of a couple of weeks?" Helen sighed as she got up, dropping the hairbrush onto the coffee table and pulling her hair back in a ponytail. "I'm going to head into work, technically the Sheriff only called in all the officers, and someone else is on desk duty, but I think I'm gonna go in, see if there's anything I can do to help."
"Let me know if you find out anything," Clary said as she dropped down onto the sofa where Helen had been sitting, leaning back against Lydia. Lydia looked the worse out of everyone there, pale faced with blood shot eyes, and she wrapped an arm around Clary, dropping her head into her lap as she made herself comfortable on the couch.
"I'll head off as well," Bat murmured as he got up from his seat.
"You don't have to," Clary offered with a small smile which Bat returned.
"It's fine. I need to go for a run anyway, I'm feeling a little..." he made a face and shook out his hands at his sides. "A little cooped up." Clary nodded. As Bat passed by Alec at the door, Jace's second in command reached out and put a hand on Bat's shoulder. Clary's eyes widened slightly, surprised at the man who had seemed so quiet and reserved reaching out for someone other than his sister.
"Make sure you keep off the trails, stay away from humans if you're going to shift," Alec said softly. "People are going to feel even more on edge today, and you don't want to give them any more reason for panic." Bat nodded again and then left with one final wave over his shoulder, leaving Clary, Lydia, Isabelle and Alec alone in the apartment. It wasn't unusual for Bat to leave if Maia or Simon weren't there. He was one of the newest ones in their circle of friends, brought in by Maia when she had found him fully shifted and out of control on a full moon. Bat had been mugged when he had gone on vacation in California, but hadn't been too badly injured. He hadn't realized he had been bitten until he was back in Raven Creek and the full moon was high in the sky. He was still making himself comfortable with the group who had been friends for so long, and it appeared as though Alec and Jace were also making him feel welcome into their pack as well.
"So has it been classed as another werewolf attack?" Lydia mumbled from where her face was buried in Clary's lap, the red-headed girl running her fingers through her friends long, blonde hair.
"Yes," Alec stated. "And I think that it'd be a good idea if we just stayed here until Jace came back from meeting with the Sheriff." Isabelle raised an eyebrow at her brother before looking at the two on the couch. Clary frowned at Alec, not too sure how she felt about him practically declaring that he wasn't leaving her apartment until getting permission from his Alpha.
"Uh, we would be perfectly fine here by ourselves," Clary began, a slight edge to her voice. "It's not as though we're targets or anything."
"No, but Jace wanted me to make sure you were safe," Alec replied steadily, reaching over to close the front door firmly and then folding his arms across his chest, making it very clear that he wasn't planning on going anywhere. Lydia snorted again and turned her head to look up at Clary.
"That's cute. First you challenge him, then you spend the night in bed with him, and now he's got his guard dogs protecting you," Lydia teased. Alec's eyebrows furrowed even deeper but Isabelle just smirked. "I think you've gotten under his skin, Clare baby." Clary rolled her eyes as she shoved at Lydia's shoulders, pushing her off her lap.
"Whatever," Clary mumbled, although the two werewolves in the room exchanged looks when they smelt the tinge of embarrassment that she was giving off once again. "If we're getting the record straight, I didn't mean to challenge him at the club, that was just some big misunderstanding that we've never spoken of again, so I'm pretty sure everyone involved is just pretending that didn't happen. Then last night, if you don't remember, you were in bed with us. And now," she hesitated slightly as she looked over at the Lightwood siblings. "Well, I guess now he's just being a bit of an overprotective Alpha. We're the only friends he has in town other than his pack and he wants to make sure we're safe."
"Funny," Lydia tilted her head to the side as she sat back up. "I'm pretty sure if I left this apartment, it's you that Alec is going to stay with," she had a cheeky glint in her eye and Isabelle was full blown grinning now, knowing that Lydia was someone that she was going to get on with well. Clary didn't really have an answer for that, because she knew that Lydia was right.
Something about the way Jace looked at her, and then the way he had touched her neck just an hour earlier, told her that there was a whole lot more there than what she understood at the moment.
"I'm going to have a shower," Clary said, by way of ending the conversation. "If you guys want to eat or whatever, food is in the kitchen," Clary waved her hand toward the kitchen, more for Alec and Isabelle's benefit, since Lydia knew her way around like this place was her own. She disappeared from the room and Lydia turned around and looked over the back of the couch.
"So? Anyone want to make bets on how long it's going to be before they bang?" She asked with a smirk.
Sooooooo, in exciting news, I'm off to Ed Sheeran in just a few days! Whoop whoop! Don't even care if it rains like the forecast says it's going to, it's going to be amazing.
I've got quite a few song recommendations this time; All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, Pray For Me by Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd and Love Lies by Khalid and Normani. Older ones that I've been listening to a bit lately that I used to be completely in love with are The Devils Tears by Angus and Julia Stone, Dare You To Move by Switchfoot (those Walk To Remember feels! Haha) and Breath by Breaking Benjamin.
In TV show recommendations by big one is Everything Sucks! on Netflix. It's amazing. Me and my hubby binged the whole thing in an afternoon. Haha. I just love all of the characters so much! The parents, the kids—I definitely have a thing for Scott Pocket, I thought he was fucking amazing. Hahahaha. I know there's a lot of controversy around Kate and Emaline because of the actual actresses, but I thought they were gorgeous.
Now, here's where I need some help from you guys! So, in two areas...
First is with Pressing Play (Rewind and Repeat). I'm doing another round of songfics based on letters of the alphabet and I still have some letters left. K, O, P, Q, U, W, X and Z. So please send me some songs starting with those letters and I'll see if I can make a fic work around them!
The second thing is something that I'll be asking for more help with later. There's a story I'm working on at the moment, called Changing Faces, the summary for it is on my profile, and it's spanning ten years. The year that I'm planning at the moment is 2009. So, what I'm asking from all you beautiful people, is send me things you were into in 2009. Music, movies, TV shows, fashion trends. Things you were dealing with in 2009, things that you were going through. Also big things that happened; celebrity news, political news, national and international events. Anything! I will, of course, credit it you.
Leave a review, let me know what you think, of the chapter and my notes x