Okay. This isn't edited yet. I honestly don't have the energy. I will do it later. I love you all, please, please, please keep yourself safe and keep the ones you love close x
21/06/2020 - Edit-ish :)
"You made cake?" Max's overexcited voice was heard through the entire house as he bounded inside, his nose twitching as he ran into the kitchen and threw an arm around his sisters shoulders. He had caught up in height to her last year, and was now steadily still getting taller, resting his head against hers and reaching forward to try and dip a finger into the cream cheese frosting that was in the big green bowl Isabelle was currently whipping up.
"Hey!" Isabelle snapped out, hand moving at lightning speed to slap his fingers away and Max pouted, pulling back from Isabelle and then looking up with rounded eyes as Jace came into the kitchen. He smiled at his Alpha and Jace smiled back at him, just a small one, but a fond one just meant for his pack, and he lifted a hand to brush it through Max's hair and then rest it at the back of Max's neck, giving it a squeeze. Max leaned against him and Jace kept his hand there, soothing and comforting, and Jace narrowed his eyes.
"Izzy?" Jace asked.
"Hm?" Isabelle hummed out.
"Why are you making cake?" Jace raised an eyebrow and Isabelle shrugged a shoulder as she moved over to the two layers of cake that were on cooling racks, smelling incredible. Isabelle was a terrible cook, but an incredible baker, although she generally hated being trapped in the kitchen. "Izzy?" Jace asked again and Isabelle finally turned around, the spatula in her hand and a smile on her face, although there was something a little nervous in the corners of her eyes.
"I invited Clary and her friend Simon to come to dinner tonight," Isabelle said, her voice even and confident, and Max let out a cheer but Jace stilled, other than his hand falling to his side as Max darted out of the kitchen, probably to share the news.
"You...Invited Clary and Simon over?" Jace spoke slowly, as though he hadn't quite heard her, even though from his reaction, Isabelle was very aware that he had.
"Yup," Isabelle replied as she went back to slathering frosting on top of the first layer of carrot cake.
"Without asking me?" Jace continued, and he hadn't moved from where he had been standing next to Max a few moments ago when the younger boy had still been there.
"I didn't realize that we had to ask for your permission to invite pack over on pack dinner night," Isabelle sung out, glancing over her shoulder, and there was a smirk on her lips, and if she was anyone else in the pack—even if she was Alec—she would be getting a glare, or at least a flash of his red, Alpha eyes, but instead he just kept one eyebrow arched and his lips pressed together. Isabelle grinned back at him, turning back to her cakes. Finally, Jace came over, bumping her shoulder briefly.
"She's not pack yet," he told her quietly. "I don't want you getting your hopes up."
"Like you? And Max?" Isabelle retorted, although there was no bite in her words. Jace froze again, but it was only for a split second and then he sighed and moved away. Isabelle paused what she was doing to watch him go, and she smiled as she heard him join Max and Helen in the lounge with Alessa. A lot of the pack was already there, and so they were all going to find out soon enough that Clar was coming with Max bouncing around. The only ones who weren't here yet were Isabelle's parents, Aline, Jordan, Imogen and Kaelie, since Kaelie always came with Imogen. Part of her hoped that Clary would arrive before them, so that she had some time to settle before everyone was at the house, but either way, Clary and Simon seemed as though they had a strong enough bond that he could settle her down. She was just finishing spreading on the icing of the carrot cake when the familiar scent of Will appeared behind her, and she narrowed her eyes as she prepared for him to try and get in a swipe at the cake, like her brother had.
Luckily, that didn't seem to be his focus.
"I hear you invited Miss Clarissa over for dinner," he noted airily behind them and Isabelle glanced over her shoulder.
"You got a problem with that?" She asked with an arched eyebrow.
"None at all," Will grinned as he opened the fridge, taking out one of the specially made bottles of the beer that had a wolfsbane percentage running through it as well. "It'll make for an interesting evening." He tipped the neck of the bottle in Isabelle's direction before he was sauntering out, and Isabelle just rolled her eyes as she started on the dishes. She heard the tell-tale clicking of Jordan's rusty old truck getting closer down the driveway, and there was sounds of another car not too far behind, and she kept her eyes trained out the kitchen window to see if it was possibly Clary and her warlock friend.
It was.
Jordan was in his truck in front, with Aline in the passenger seat next to him, and they both had obviously noticed Clary and Simon in the car behind them, because their eyes instantly flicked toward the window of the kitchen that looked out over the lawn where the cars parked, meeting Isabelle's gaze questioningly. She flashed them a smile, telling them it was okay with a simple look, and they both seemed to relax at that, turning off the truck and getting out, circling around to the back to get the groceries out.
"Max!" Isabelle called out. "Go help with groceries!" There was a small yip in response, from somewhere in the lounge behind her, and she heard feet running across the floor a few moments later before she saw Max heading outside, meeting Jordan with overflowing paper bags in his arms just as Clary was parking her car up alongside the truck and getting out. Max seemed to completely forget about his original reason for heading outside when he spotted them, bounding over, but Isabelle didn't call out to remind him, hoping that he would relax Clary a bit, because Isabelle could feel her nerves, all the way from up here. Jace and Will came back into the kitchen, and Isabelle leaned back into Jace as he came over to look out the window, and he rested his hand on her shoulder. She could feel him centering himself, and then Will snorted.
"Please tell me you prepared her for Imogen," he muttered as he sipped from his beer and Isabelle instantly felt Jace tense up again behind her. "And Kaelie."
"She'll be fine," Isabelle replied, throwing a glare over at him and Will just grinned back. She pulled the fingers and he made a wounded face before leaving again and she rolled her eyes. "Ignore him," she murmured to Jace.
"That's generally what I try to do," Jace replied and Isabelle grinned. Jordan, Aline and Max had gathered all of the groceries from the back of his truck, and it looked like Simon was carrying one of the bags as well, talking to Jordan as the five all walked inside, while Clary was carrying a chiller bag. She was walking slower behind the others, although Max was right at her side, chattering away, and Isabelle smiled as she looked out at her brother, and her wolf made a happy purring noise of the whole pack being together tonight.
It wasn't going to be easy, that would be naive to think, but she hoped it would be a good start.
It didn't take long, by five thirty, everyone was at the house and it was loud and boisterous and Clary felt overwhelmed and grounded at the same time, her wolf feeling at home among the werewolves that she clearly recognized as her pack, but her human side was pulling back, not letting her wolf run free with the others, be as open and affectionate like it wanted her to be. Jace had smiled at her when she arrived, and come over to give her a quick hug, but then Maryse and Robert had arrived—the Lightwood parents—and they had obviously been just as surprised by her presence there as Jace had been, because she had been able to smell the hesitance and nervousness on him and she was guessing that Isabelle hadn't really given him a heads up before she had shown up.
Everyone seemed to at least be accepting of the fact that Clary was there, although there was definitely a divide between the camp that seemed to like her and those that were a lot more hesitant. But then there was Imogen, who Isabelle had been right about, was terrifying, and there was Kaelie.
Clary wasn't stupid.
It only took her two minutes to put everything together from the time that Kaelie had arrived to put together that there was definitely something between her and Jace. She wasn't sure if it was current or if it had recently stopped, but she knew that it wasn't history, at least not for Kaelie, and probably not for Jace as well, because their hug was tight and slightly lingering, and the way that Kaelie was angling her neck to never look in Clary's direction was very telling. But that wasn't something that she was going anywhere near tonight, that wasn't what tonight was about, and there was a lot else to focus on.
"Yeah, so there's a lot of event managements, mainly for weddings or birthday parties, but sometimes work conferences and things like that," Clary explained, keeping things brief since it was clear that Imogen was only asking out of politeness, her stiff expression and complete lack of smile a dead giveaway.
"And is that based just in New York? Or do they also have a branch here?" Imogen asked, and that was clearly where the conversation had been heading and Clary's smile stiffened slightly.
"They are based in New York," Clary replied, and she kept her voice light but the older werewolf would definitely be able to smell her annoyance. Before she had to think about what else to say, though, Simon was at her side, his scent soothing and calming and slipping an arm through hers.
"Sorry, just need to steal Clary," Simon smiled brightly while tugging at Clary's arm, and then they were moving away without another word, out of the lounge where Clary had managed to get herself cornered when she was coming back from the bathroom Isabelle had pointed her toward. They didn't say anything as they walked away, given they were in a house with people who could hear every word they said, but he squeezed her arm in a comforting way as he lead her over to where Jordan was standing in the kitchen with Isabelle, a beer in his hand and a spatula in the other.
"Usually we do barbeques when the weather is good," Jordan said as he glanced over at them, an easy smile on his face, just like there had been when they had first arrived and Clary felt herself relax in the change in atmosphere instantly. "But someone hasn't gone out and got us a new gas bottle yet," he didn't say it too loudly, but out on the deck where Jace and Alec were standing, Jace glanced back inside with a fond roll of his eyes and Jordan smiled back easily before taking a sip of his beer. The kinship between them was clear, even though Jordan was human, and Clary's wolf warmed at the way Jace clearly still viewed him as pack, just like Isabelle had said. Isabelle was humming along to the radio that was playing and she held out a glass of wine to Clary and pointed to where there were peeled garlic coves and a sharp knife.
"You wanna mince that while I watch? I'm only allowed to bake in this kitchen, everything else is viewing only," Isabelle grinned as she pulled herself up onto the counter and sipped at her own wine, which Clary quickly realized was infused with a touch of wolfsbane. She drank her wine a bit quicker, hoping the wolfsbane would help to calm her down a bit before she got to mincing the garlic, and then helping Jordan with the salad. Most of dinner had already been cooked and just needed to be heated up, and from the sounds of it, they usually took turns in the kitchen or else things got a little bit to crowded and chaotic which had resulted in more than one food fight. Clary and Isabelle were onto their second glasses of wine and Simon and Jordan were standing surprisingly close as they laughed over something related to the lasagna that Clary wasn't going to over-analyze in the moment when Jace came into the kitchen with Max in tow.
"It smells so good in here!" Max announced, and his nose was twitching and his fingers clenching at his side, clearly wanting to overtake Jace and follow his nose to the ribs that were piled up underneath a napkin but respectfully holding back. Jace moved to the side as they reached the kitchen and Max practically bounded past him, fingers stretching out for the lasagna that Jordan had just taken out of the oven, before Simon's magic was reaching out and lightly stinging. "Ow!" Max pouted as he looked over at Simon, who just gave him an easy smile, wiggling his eyebrows. For a moment, there was silence, and then Jordan laughed and Max giggled as he leaned against Isabelle's side and Clary smiled as she sipped from her wine again.
Jace's scent lightened as well, even if his expression didn't change, and that made Clary's nose twitch and her wolf feel anxious, eyes lowering, not wanting to give anything more away than her scent already was.
She didn't doubt that tonight would be the first night since she had been in California that she was going to need Simon's magic to help her sleep. Because she felt good and she felt settled for two minutes, when she was with Isabelle, and Simon, and Jordan, and even with Max, but then someone else came in, or Jace came over, and she felt a wave of nervousness come over her. Jace sensed that—everyone sensed that in the house, that was the downside to being around werewolves and their keen sense of smell, or other magic beings, but it was something that Clary just accepted, given that had always been the case.
"Did you want a refill?" Jace asked, his voice quiet and light from beside Clary as Isabelle took out two of the big salad bowls from the fridge and started carrying them outside, already yelling for everyone that dinner was ready as Max, Jordan and Simon starting picking up the other plates and bowls.
"Yeah, thanks," Clary flashed him a small smile, holding out her wine glass. Jace took it from her, their fingers brushing briefly and Clary folding her arms over her chest as she waited for him to fill her wine glass again. She may have flexed her fingers a little and then clenched that hand into a fist as she felt the phantom touch of Jace's fingers over the back of hers. When he handed it back, they didn't touch, but Jace didn't move away, only a foot or so between them.
"Sorry about...All this. And Isabelle kind of forcing all of this on you..." Jace's voice was still quiet, low, intimate. "They can be a lot."
"Most families are, but they mean well," Clary replied with a small smile and Jace blinked before there was a rush of happy pheromones that made her wolf uncurl and preen and then it was Clary's turn to blink and look away because the happiness on Jace's face and coming from his wolf and through the tentative bond that wasn't quite as frail as it was before was a lot.
Sitting at the long dinner table out on the deck, surrounded by Jace's pack, was chaotic to say the least, but that was good, because most of the attention wasn't on Clary, even though she could definitely feel eyes on her. Simon was on one side, and Isabelle was on her other, although most of her support was actually coming from Isabelle, given Simon seemed completely distracted by Jordan on his other side. Opposite them was Magnus, and Clary was completely in love with him already—if she didn't see him and Alec interact, and see the way Alec seemed to completely soften when Magnus was at his side, in a way that didn't even happen with the rest of his family and pack, she would never have believed that they were together given how different they were.
Jace was sitting at the head of the table, which made sense, but there wasn't any rhyme or reason to how people were lined up around the table, no hierarchy like a pack might usually sit, Maia and Alec not on either of his sides. Clary liked it, she liked the casual environment and the way everyone seemed to respect each other—well, except her, most people were still pretty uncertain about her, but they definitely had enough respect for Jace not to interrogate her at the table.
Although, Imogen—who was sitting on Jace's right, with Kaelie on her other side—didn't speak all that much and she had spent most of the meal staring at Clary with a squint, her nose slightly wrinkled as though she smelt something she didn't like.
Clary.
She was assuming that she was the thing that Imogen was smelling that she didn't like.
Will was interesting, he wasn't sitting at the table, he was sitting on the wide, flat balusters of the deck next to Max, the two of them easily getting on, Will seemingly more comfortable in Max's company than most of the older werewolves, based on what Clary had seen in her short time here. Her eyes moved to the table and took in Maia, who was sitting opposite Jordan and was talking to Helen and Magnus, but her gaze returned to her mate and to Simon every few minutes, and she could see something there, just like Clary could, but her gaze wasn't angry or possessive, it was contemplative, and Clary made another note to herself that she was going to have to bring Jordan up with Simon when they left.
"Can you pass the salt, Clary?" Aline asked and Clary flashed a quick smile before reaching for the salt and passing it over to Aline, needing to reach past Isabelle slightly to do it, and making eye contact with Jace, given he was by Aline, at her end of the table. His expression was warm, leaning back in his seat, clearly comfortable and sated from the food, and Clary paused, feeling that warmth inside her, not just coming from Jace, but feeling it from his pack as well, through him, because it wasn't as though she had that bond with them yet. But it felt so nice, and so pure, and so different to what she had experienced from pack before, even with Luke and her mother, and her forehead creased after a moment. Jace seemed to sense her shift in mood, even with everything that was happening around them, and he leaned forward slightly in his chair before Imogen was speaking up.
"Kaelie, dear, help Jace start to clear the table, won't you?" Imogen's voice was light but her intent was clear, and from the way that Isabelle stiffened slightly beside Clary, she knew that the moment between her and Jace had been recognized, and Imogen was purposefully interrupting. She didn't say anything, because it wasn't the time, and she picked up the glass of water that she had switched to after her second glass of wolfsbane wine. The table got even louder as the pack all started to clear things off, Clary helping where she could but feeling a bit awkward and in the way, even though Simon was clearly right at home next to Jordan and even Maia as she joined the two men, and she was taking a few calming breaths when Helen came over, Alessa in her arms, the little girls wispy blonde hair starting to form loose curls and her blue eyes wide.
"How you feeling?" Helen asked with a soothing smile, and even though anyone who wanted to could have listened in on their conversation and heard the question, Clary still felt a lot more at ease, able to sense how genuine the other werewolf was being.
"Yeah, I'm good," Clary replied with a smile and Helen just nodded, not looking as though she believed her but accepting her answer.
"Well, I have to go and get this monkey to bed, she didn't have her nap today," she rubbed her nose against the top of Alessa's head a few times and there was quiet giggle from the girl that was absolutely endearing. "But it was really good to meet you. We should go out for coffee sometime? Or a run?" Clary's eyes widened at the offer and she felt some of the tension in her shoulders release, at the fact that Helen wanted to spend more time with her. That she clearly hadn't screwed up that much, even though it felt as though she had been quiet and on the wrong foot all night. Although as soon as those thoughts came, she tried to beat them off with a stick, her wolf restless, because she hadn't come here to be judged, or to self-judge, it was because she was finally in a place where she was ready to get to know her mates pack.
"Yeah," Clary said softly. "That sounds good." Helen's smile widened, and there was a spark of gold in her eyes as she nodded before she was walking away and Clary took in a deep breath as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, tapping out a quick message to Simon, telling him that she was ready to go. When she looked back up, Maryse was standing there, no smile on her face, but not looking anywhere near as confrontational as she had when she had first come on and practically glared at Clary. "Hi," she said, clearing her throat and glad that her voice didn't come out tentative. She was still standing out on the deck, her glass of water in her hand, the big double doors of that lead into the lounge wide open where some of the pack were gathered, and the other door that lead into the kitchen also open and clattering noises coming from where Aline, Maia and Max were doing the dishes. The breeze was nice and not too cool, and Maryse's scent wasn't abrasive as she approached Clary.
"You did well tonight," Maryse said simply and Clary couldn't help but let out a short laugh.
"Right," she murmured.
"Don't worry about Imogen," Maryse's lips curved upward in a knowing smile, small but familiar and as though she was inviting Clary in on a secret. "She takes a long time to warm up to anyone." Clary's wolf couldn't help but also note that it seemed like there was maybe more to it, given Imogen's clear bias toward Kaelie. "She knows that Jace has been in a lot of pain and she just wants to protect him. He's already lost his mother and father, she doesn't want him to lose anyone else." That made Clary stop, heart stuttering a little in her chest at the realization that it wasn't just because Imogen knew Kaelie and had a connection with her, but also because obviously, Kaelie hadn't been one a large contributing factor of her grandsons pain for so many years, and she forced herself to take in another deep breath.
"What about the rest of you?" She asked boldly and Maryse's smile grew, just a little, eyes glinting.
"He's been through a lot. You've been through a lot," she shrugged a shoulder and gave Clary almost a motherly smile. "I think you both have your heads screwed on right, you'll figure it out." Clary didn't know how to respond, and Maryse didn't seem to expect a response, and then Simon was walking over, his scent comforting and his eyes flicking between Clary and Maryse as though trying to judge if she was okay, and she shot him a quick smile to reassure him.
"You ready to go?" Simon said as he reached them and Maryse stepped back to include Simon in a sort of semi-circle with them.
"It was good to meet you as well, Simon," Maryse smiled at him and Simon gave her a grin back, easy now since he knew that Clary didn't feel uncomfortable. "We'll be seeing you around a lot more, I hope."
"Of course," Simon threw his arm around Clary's shoulders, smiling widely at Maryse. They called out their goodbyes, not lingering and dragging things out. Simon stood at the bottom of the steps with Maia and Jordan while Jace walked Clary to the car.
"So that...Happened?" Jace sounded awkward and Clary let out a laugh that he joined in on, and it felt good, trying to shake the tension together, even though that tension for some reason suddenly felt as though Clary was on a high school date after meeting the parents for the first time.
"I'll text you, okay?" She said, nudging him with her elbow and Jace nodded, and she sensed relief coming off him. There was a split second of awkwardness that was quelled quickly when Jace leaned in, wrapping an arm around her back and tugging her in for a hug that didn't last anywhere near as long as Clary's wolf wanted it to, but given she could actually see Will and Max and Isabelle watching them out the kitchen window, and neither of them were here to put on a show.
"Thank you for coming," Jace murmured as he pulled back and his hand fell, down to where Clary's was hanging at her side, and he squeezed her fingers briefly.
"Yeah," Clary nodded, her throat tightening a little but she swallowed hard as she heard Simon approaching the car. "I'll see you soon."
Jace was left as the only one standing on the deck after the car had disappeared down the driveway. The sun had almost completely set and the doors were being closed up to stop any bugs from getting inside. Maryse and Imogen were in the kitchen with Kaelie and Isabelle, getting dessert ready, and Robert and Alec were in the lounge with Max, Helen and Maia watching some video that Max was streaming to the TV from Youtube. Jace could feel that his pack was content and happy, and Clary and Simon's scent was still lingering, twined with all of theirs in a way that felt right.
"She did well," Will's voice was abrupt and had a slight teasing lilt to it, but wasn't straight out sarcasm, which Jace appreciated. "She kept her head up, even with good ol' mum glaring at her every second." Jace couldn't help but let out a laugh, because the door to the kitchen was still open, and Imogen would have definitely heard that, and there was no way Will wasn't going to be getting a slap up the back of the head from good ol' Imogen. "I like her."
"I do too," Jace mumbled and Will snorted, nudging his nephew with his elbow before heading inside and leaving him with his thoughts.