“Does this happen a lot? Like do you often meet women your wolf calls out mate for?”
He shook his head again. He was doing a shit job at explaining this. “No. It only happens once. My wolf told me when I found my mate. My soul mate.”
Selene’s cheeks reddened and she looked away from him. He didn’t miss the way she took a tiny step away from him.
“Your soul mate. Your wolf tells you who you’re meant to be with for the rest of your life?”
“Yes,” he grinded out. It hurt to talk about this with her.
“Okay.” She drew out the word with her cheeks going a deep shade of red. “And your wolf said that I’m your mate.”
He nodded. “But it doesn’t mean anything, all right? I mean, we’re strangers. You don’t know me and I don’t know you. If you knew more about me, you would know that I’m a bad bet to make. We’ll just pretend this never happened.”
“But,” her brow furrowed, “what happens to a wolf if he doesn’t get the mate he’s met? Does it kill the animal inside you?”
Perceptive little witch.
Of course, she would guess that ignoring the mate call would hurt. It wouldn’t kill Jett or the beast inside of him right away. But it sure would hurt like a mother fucker to ignore. Every day, a bigger part of him would die until he actually died.
Good thing I’m already heartless, he told himself. His wolf was thrashing inside his mind, demanding to be let out. Jett knew if the wolf were to take control, the animal would bite Selene to force him into matehood. That’s not what he wanted.
Not for Selene.
She was too sweet, too kind for him. He would repeat that until his wolf believed the words. That’s what was best. Right?
The image of a pregnant Selene holding a little girl that looked just like her flashed through his mind. How did he get that without hurting Selene? Was that even possible?
“Jett?” his name on her lips did something to his heart and he commanded the organ to behave.
“It doesn’t feel too good, but it’s fine,” he answered.
“I’m causing you pain?” she asked on a whisper.
“No, fuck. Selene, I’m not good with words. I can’t explain this properly.”
She gave him an encouraging smile. “You’re doing just fine.”
He could smell her confusion, and it damn near broke his heart. He didn’t even want to know what she must think of him.
“I have an idea.” She snapped her fingers and her smile brightened. “You don’t want to be mates, right? Because we’re strangers and all that.” That wasn’t it, but Jett wasn’t going to correct her. “So what if we’re just mates who are friends? Would that work?”
Jett clenched his teeth. How did he tell her that the mating wasn’t complete until he fucked her? That it wouldn’t be real until he bit her while he was coming deep inside her.
Despite himself, Jett imagined just what it would be like to do just that. He didn’t like how much he enjoyed the naughty images playing through his head.
“Friends?” he managed to ask with a suddenly very dry throat. “You want to be friends?”
“Well, if we’re meant to be, we can start as friends.”
Jett was watching her closely, and she met his gaze, almost daring him to say no. He took a deep breath, letting her sweet scent fill his nostrils. He could be her friend. They could be close. At least for a while. Then she would wise up and leave just like everyone else did. Or maybe, he would be the one to bail first. To protect himself. That was normal for him.
“What do you say, wolf man? Friends?” She held out her hand for him to shake.
He took her small one into his and he immediately felt that surge of energy he always did when she had her hands on him.
“Yup. Sounds good.”
He tried to give her a smile, but it felt forced. He hoped she wouldn’t notice.
“Now, sit your butt back down. I want to beat you at Crazy Eights.”
Jett’s eyes tracked her as she grabbed a pack of cards from his cupboard and settled into her seat.
She didn’t know, but she’d beaten him already. Not at Crazy Eights. Nope. She’d beaten down some of his defenses. Jett sat across from her and took his cards, knowing it was a lost cause.
Chapter Fourteen
Selene
Spending the day with Jett had been an interesting experience. He was much nicer and sweeter than he gave himself credit for, but she also felt a deep darkness within him, a deep pain. Selene couldn’t believe she was actually managing to enjoy herself even if she was technically in hiding in the Marblehead pack lands.
By all rights, she should have been freaking the fuck out and on a tear to get to her twin and cousins. They needed to make sure the Order of Salem didn’t hurt any witches, whether they were related to them or not. But Selene also had enough good sense to know four witches against people with guns was not a good idea.
It definitely didn’t help that their magic drained out fairly quickly, and they had never been taught offensive magic. That wasn’t needed in everyday life. It hadn’t really been taught to any of the witches in Salem in the last few generations. It was like somehow, the horrors of the witch trials had faded into a distant memory. Like it had been nothing but a nasty nightmare.
Selene had never expected to want offensive magic. There had never been any situation in her life that would have warranted it. This attack by the witch hunters had come out of left field.
Had she been silly and naive to believe she was lucky enough to live in a safer world than her ancestors?
“Whoa, there.” Jett waved a hand in her face from across the table. “Are you okay? You just got really quiet all of a sudden.”
Selene shook her head, trying to clear her mind. “Yes, I’m fine. I just… You know what? It’s nothing. Never mind.”
“I won’t press you, but if you want to talk…” He looked around the small dining room. “There’s no one here but me. Unload. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
With a sigh, she dropped her cards down and leaned onto the table, framing her face with her hands. “I’m just concerned about my family. About all of the witches out there who don’t have a wolf pack to protect them.”
“We have the entire witch communities of Salem and Marblehead covered.” Jett stood and took the seat beside her. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I mean, sure. That’s nice. But it makes me ache for my ancestors. I don’t get it. Why does the world hate us just because we have a different set of skills than they do? Rebecca Bishop, my ancestor, she was a great healer. She was actually a very respected and needed member of the community. They turned on her so quickly.”
“That won’t happen this time around.” Jett’s tone was pitched low, like he was making a promise.
“How do you know?” she whispered, feeling a little bit sad.
“Because I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Now that didn’t sound like a promise. It was something heavier.
“Is that a mate thing?” she felt compelled to ask by the darkening of his eyes.