Jace didn't drive straight home.
Or, he did drive back to his property, but instead of carrying up the main driveway, he turned down one of the side driveways, one that lead toward an old barn house that he had been renovating in the past couple of months. It had been there for years, although as long as his mother had been living on the property, it had never been used, and had just been left to rot away. When Jace was younger, he used to play there with some of the other pups, and then in the past year, he had found himself straying there more and more.
If he was being honest, it would be nice to have a little place away from the main house.
Not all of his pack lived there, but a majority of them did.
And there were certain members of his pack who had a lot of difficulty when it came to personal space. Not that there was much when it came to a wolf pack, but Jace sometimes liked to have somewhere of his own, that was quiet, let him think.
It was still dark, just after two in the morning, but there was a clearing of trees where the barn house was, and when Jace got out of his car and looked up at the sky, he could see the stars winking down at him and he could see the moon shining brightly, catching the tops of the trees that circled the clearing. Jace paused before slipping out of his jacket and tossing it back into his car, taking in a deep breath and inhaling the warm scent of Clary. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment before he straightened up and slammed the door of the car shut.
Years.
It had been years since he had seen Clary.
Not quite as long since he had heard from her, because she had called him just before Christmas last year. The conversation had been completely formal, and stiff, asking for his permission to come into the city to see Luke and her family. Jace hated that they were so distant and awkward with each other, when she was asking question to the local Alpha to come into the city was just meant to be something by unrelated werewolves, ones without any link to the pack. Jace knew for a fact that Clary usually flew into San Diego, which was closer to Del Mar. Jace may only be an Alpha in the Los Angeles district, but he had the strongest pack, so he had the most alliances, and so he would generally catch wind of a werewolf passing through, as a respectful heads up.
Luke also told him.
Because Luke wanted things to work out between Jace and Clary.
He never blatantly said that, but Jace could tell.
And he was grateful for it.
He knew that he was up against a lot when it came to Clary, and so he was glad that at least someone who had his ear could vouch for the fact he was a good guy who only wanted what was best for.
Actually, he was pretty sure that she knew.
At least, her wolf knew.
It was the person who was having a hard time coming to terms with it.
Jace would never say that to Clary though, that was up to her.
It had been nearly six years, and he was really hoping it was going to happen soon.
Because it was getting harder and harder to operate without his mate at his side.
Jace ran.
He ran for a long time, until the sun was coming up. Then he got back to his car, his thighs burning and streaks of mud and blood on his arms, and he fell asleep in the uncomfortable front seat of his car.
"Sooooo..." Isabelle wiggled her eyebrows the minute Jace walked through the door. The smug smirk on her face dropped as she took Jace in, obviously not finding what she was looking for as she looked him over. And smelt him. She pursed her lips together and made a face, pulling her fingers through her hair and tossing it over her shoulder. "I was hoping that you didn't come back last night with Maia and Alec because you and Clarissa were getting it on." Jace just arched an eyebrow at her, not responding, as he walked over to the cupboard and took out a glass, and then went to the fridge and leaned the glass against the side where the water filter was.
"Nope," Jace shook his head and sipped from the glass once it was full. Isabelle made a face and sighed.
"Clearly," she muttered. "You smell all...Sweaty. And not in the good, sex way." Jace didn't answer as he finished the rest of the ice water off. Isabelle didn't say anything else as she came over to him and snuggled up against him. She rubbed her cheek against his chest, her arms tight around his waist, just trying to comfort him. Jace didn't respond for a moment, but then he put down his glass and wrapped one arm around her and the other came up to rest on the back of her neck, rubbing it lightly, scenting her.
Jace went upstairs and showered, coming downstairs just as Will Herondale was plucking bacon off Maia's place. Maia snapped her teeth at him and narrowed her eyes. Will just smiled at her and patted her curls, dancing backwards quickly to avoid her hand as she reached out to slap him.
"Nephew," Will smirked at him, and Jace just rolled his eyes before walking into the kitchen.
"Stop bugging my pack," Jace muttered as he looked into the pan where Alec was frying more bacon.
"I am your pack!" Will said indignantly, although that smirk was still fixed on his face. Jace didn't respond to that, because Will could stand up for himself. Not that Maia couldn't, but Will made a point of getting on the nerves of pretty much everyone. Alec emptied the panful of bacon onto the plate, and then began to put more into the pan. Jace lifted his head to look out the window as he heard a car coming up the driveway, and a few moments later, it appeared through the trees and Jace's eyebrows pulled together as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time.
"What's he doing here?" Jace muttered under his breath. "He should be on his way to school." Isabelle turned around in her seat at the kitchen table to look through the window and grinned as she saw her little brother get out of the car, not even bothering to shut the drivers side door properly, before jogging up to the house.
"Alec! Jace!" Max Lightwood announced loudly as he pulled open the door. He practically threw himself against his older brother and his Alpha, arms tight around their shoulders. In the past couple of months—probably more over the past year—he had really shot up in height, and he wasn't much shorter than Jace now. He still had a few inches to go before he caught up with Alec though.
"What are you doing here, Max?" Jace asked with a raise of his eyebrow. "You should be on your way to school?"
"I..." Max trailed off before fixing Jace with a charming smile. "I came for breakfast?" It was posed as a question and wasn't entirely untrue, so there was no skip in his heartbeat. But Jace knew that it also wasn't the full truth. Jace just stared at him until Max's smile grew and he wiggled his shoulders a bit. "I came to see if she was here." Alec stiffened where he was frying the bacon, and he pursed his lips together as he flipped the bacon over in jerky movements. Jace glanced at Alec before he slipped an arm around Max's shoulders and tugged him away.
"We'll get you some breakfast, and then you're off to school, okay?" Jace said, his tone friendly but still stern. Max sighed and made a face but nodded, and he moved over to take a seat beside Alec. Will had begun walking toward the side door, and Jace followed after him, shutting the door behind him and leaning his head against the wooden side of the house. Will was quiet for all of two seconds, before he moved to stand opposite Jace, leaning against the wooden railing that ran around the balcony.
"How did it go?" Will asked. Jace didn't reply for a long few beats, and Will cleared his throat pointedly, until Jace tipped his head forward, away from the wall, and looked at his uncle. "Jace..."
"Well, she's not here, is she? So it can't have gone that great," Jace stated, waving a hand toward the kitchen where some of his pack were eating breakfast.
"But that was never really part of the plan, was it?" Will prompted with a knowing look. "You didn't actually think that you would just show up at her door, take her away from her life, and she would just fall down at your feet and give her her neck?" There was a mocking tone to Will's voice that had Jace glaring, but he knew his uncle was right. Will's nose twitched, and he could obviously smell the upset that was coming off Jace, and he twisted his lips together. He leaned forward and put a hand on Jace's shoulder, thumb pressing firmly into the muscle. "She came back with you. That's saying something." He gave his shoulder a last squeeze before he was heading back into the house.
Will could be frustrating.
He could smug and self-assured, and he acted as though he had knowledge so far beyond Jace's years, even there was only ten years between himself and Jace.
He was the much younger brother of Jace's father.
He also thought that the Alpha spark was going to be passed onto him, and so there had definitely been tension when Jace was a teenager and Stephen Herondale had begun training Jace to take on the responsibilities and power of an Alpha. But it had waned over the years, and they had settled into a reasonably steady relationship, mainly where Will acted as though he wasn't going to respect Jace's decisions as Alpha, as though he had free range, but generally he did, and he even offered helpful advice from time to time.
And Will had been right in what he said.
Clary could have stayed in New York.
Jace would never have forced her to come back with him, and she knew that.
At least, he really hoped she knew that.
He and Clary had a bumpy start to their relationship.
Actually, that was putting it mildly.
Jace had been accompanying his father out to Del Mar to see an Alpha who had attacked several witches who had been minding their own business and had had permission from Stephen to pass through the territory. Jace didn't know the details of what had happened, Stephen had just gotten a phone call and collected Jace and said that they were needed. His father had been worried on the way, Jace could smell it on his Alpha as they drove from their place and to the other township.
The witches hadn't been from just any coven.
They were from the Idris coven, one of the most powerful in the world, and Valentine Morgenstern had decided to take them on.
It wasn't until a few hours later that they had realized what had happened.
Valentine's wife, Jocelyn Morgenstern, had gone to the witches when she found out they were passing by, because she wanted their help. Whether that help was to kill Valentine, or just to help her get away with her family, Jace wasn't sure, but either way, Valentine had found out, and he had lashed out, both at the witches themselves, and also at his family.
It hadn't been until years later that Jace knew more of the story.
Valentine and Jocelyn had been married for years, but when Valentine's old friend, Luke Greymark, had come to Del Mar, seeking refuge and somewhere to stay, things shifted. Valentine had been a powerful werewolf, even for such a small pack, but he was angry. He was angry and he kept his pack secluded from others, which was such a strange thing because werewolves were tactile and loving and they liked being around other people, other werewolves. He was jealous and possessive, and not in the way werewolves usually were, more aggressive and vicious. When he saw Jocelyn and Luke becoming close, it seemed to trigger something inside, and he became even more violent than he had been before, toward his small pack and anyone who threatened the strength that he had.
As the Alpha werewolf of the entire California area, Stephen knew Valentine and had been the one to give him permission to live on the land, as he had to several other werewolf packs, but he had only met him a couple of times.
Jace knew that Stephen had regretted not being aware of what had happened with the Morgenstern pack. Because they had all kept to themselves so much, no one had really realized what had happened, so there was no one to report it, but Stephen still blamed himself, because a good Alpha took responsibility for things that went wrong in their territory, whether it was their fault or not.
Jace had killed Clary's father.
The first time he had ever met his mate, he had killed her father.
He and Stephen had gone to the coven, where only two witches were still waiting for them. The coven had only been small, because of how old it was, there were only eleven of them in total, and three had been slaughtered, caught completely off guard by their enemy, and apart from the two that remained behind to prepare the bodies to be transported to be buried, the others were back in Idris. The witches were enraged and preparing their own revenge, and it was only when Jace caught a scent that had made his skin burn and his eyes flare that they had backed down, realizing that there was something more there.
Stephen had recognized the scent, he knew that it was Valentines, and he had driven them to the Morgenstern homestead. Something had felt wrong, the whole way there, and Jace couldn't shake this strange feeling that had settled over him and put him on edge. The minute they pulled up outside the house and got out of the car, Jace got his first full inhale of the scent that had been driving him crazy, and he realized what it was.
His mate.
His mate was here.
Jace had been growling and his eyes glowing and Stephen gave him a surprised look but had let him lead the way, allowing Jace to take charge. They heard shouting and screaming and then there was a sickly sound of flesh ripping and bones breaking, and when they had gotten around the back of the house, they had seen Valentine throwing a red head toward a tree, her petite body slamming against the solid trunk and a sickening crunch sounding out.
Jace barely took stock of the situation before he had flown into action, instinct driving him forward.
Now Jace knew that the red head had been Valentines daughter, Clary.
Now Jace knew that Clary had lashed out to protect her mother.
Now Jace knew that Valentine had been ready to kill Jocelyn for going to the witches for help.
Now Jace knew that Valentine had been abusing his family for years, to the point where one of the few pack members had actually died.
Jace hadn't known that when he had ripped Valentines throat out with his teeth.
All Jace had known was that this man had been hurting his mate.
And so he had killed him.
I don't really have the energy for a paragraph thing sorry. I've been fucking spiraling for the past six weeks or so, although I guess I had my birthday? Which was okay?
Um...Nightmare by Halsey is a fucking anthem and I don't know how many times I've listened and cried to it in the past day and half it's been out.
Hope you enjoyed the update.