Chapter Eighteen
Jett
Jett was very annoyed with a loud buzzing sound. It pulled him from the blissed out sleep he was currently locked in. He didn’t know why or what the loud noise was, but it had to fuck right off. He was in heaven, and he had no intention of leaving it. His body felt happy and relaxed. That was probably because his hand was full of one of Selene’s ass cheeks while her body was against his.
What was bothering him was the sound of his phone. Its loud vibrating on the bedside table was seriously messing up the tone of the evening. He grabbed the phone and barked into it. “This had better be good.”
“You need to get down to the community center right away.”
“What?” he asked, not understanding. He sat up, running a hand across his face. “Why?”
“There’s been an act of vandalism,” Carson said on the other line. Now that his head was clearing, he could hear the anger in his pack member’s voice.
“What happened?”
“Well, don’t freak out. We already put it out. But they had set up a pyre in the front yard of the center and set fire to it. It’s out. And the damage is very minimal. They spray painted witch lover, heathen, and a few other things on the outside walls.”
“Oh, shit.” Jett and his wolf were both ready to wage war on whoever had attacked the pack’s community center. “I’ll be right there. Track any scents. I want the culprits caught.”
“We’re already on it,” Carson said. “And before you ask, we already called Blaze to let him know.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
Jett jumped out of the bed, feeling like a fucking asshole. He had slept with Selene, and now he had to run off in the middle of the night to deal with a problem. This was the last thing he should be doing. He should be basking in the afterglow with his woman in his arms.
But no.
Vandals had ruined the best damn night of his life. He almost let himself believe this was going to happen every time he tried to chase after happiness.
“What’s wrong?” Selene asked as she sat up in bed. Her hair was in a disarray, and he wanted to smooth it down, proud and happy that he had done that. He had mussed her over. He had cast that rosy glow to her cheeks.
“I’m sorry, love. I have to take care of some pack business. There’s been an incident.” He didn’t want to say more.
“What?” she blanched and leapt off the bed. “It was the witch hunters, wasn’t it? Did someone get hurt? What can I do to help?”
“Nothing, baby. Get back to bed. I’ll take care of it. It’s my job.”
Selene, who was still buck ass naked, crossed her arms. “I don’t think so, Jett Arrowood. You are not going off to deal with a problem that I brought onto your pack by yourself. I am going to help you.”
Fuck, he wanted to kiss her. It was so nice knowing she was willing to be there to help. It was just too bad for her that there was no chance in hell he would take her with him to an uncertain scene. Now that he had a taste of what it was like to have a mate in his life, he wasn’t about to put that in jeopardy.
“No, Selene. I won’t be alone. There are already pack members there.”
“I’m going,” she insisted.
Jett gave her a small smile. Because she really was beautiful when she was all fired up for his pack. It made both him and his wolf extremely happy to see her reacting in such an intense way.
“I’m sorry, but you are not coming with me. You stay here where it’s safe. Besides, there’s no way of knowing if this has anything to do with the Order of Salem.” That was bullshit, but he didn’t need to tell her that.
“Oh? How many acts of vandalism has there been on pack lands in the last ten years?”
Shit. She had him there. She was way too smart. Jett should have known she would catch on.
“Well, none. But…”
“There’s no way a kid from the pack decided to vandalize his community. You would all recognize his smell, right? So that would be really dumb.”
Jett could only nod. She was right, of course. He already knew the witch hunters were responsible for whatever had gone down at the community center. He didn’t really want Selene to know. He wanted to protect her. It was this deep, gnawing need inside him.
That’s us, protecting our mate. That’s what we do. Because we care for her.
It was as his wolf was talking then it dawned on him. He couldn’t leave her in his home alone. That could have been the order’s plan all along.
“You can go without me, and I’ll just follow you.” Selene shrugged. “Or we can go together. I’m going to be your mate, aren’t I? Isn’t this the kind of thing I’m supposed to be doing as your mate, anyway?”
Again, his mate was sharp. There was no denying it. “Okay. Yes. You’ll come with me. I don’t know if I would feel comfortable leaving you here alone without any protection, anyway.”
“Good,” Selene said as she started to grab her clothes from around the room.
“Just be prepared for what we’re going to see. Don’t let it affect you.” He gave her a quick kiss and they resumed getting dressed.
It only took them a few minutes to rush to the community center. The elders were already gathered there with buckets and flashlights.
The community center had been tagged with some atrocious slurs, condemning the wolf pack for siding with the witches. It seemed the Order of Salem wasn’t too pleased with the existence of the wolf shifters either.
“I did this,” Selene whispered, hugging herself. “This is my fault.”
Seeing his mate’s reaction made Jett angry and sad. It was almost too many emotions in his body all at once. He had to remember to take deep breaths.
Make sure she’s okay. Comfort her, the wolf growled.
Right. He could do that. That’s what he wanted to do. He just didn’t know how.
“No, it isn't. Not for one second are you blaming yourself for other people’s actions. You didn’t put the spray paint in their hands. They did that. All you did was come into this world with magic. Just like I came into it with a wolf. That doesn’t give people the right to do this kind of thing to our community.”
Selene nodded, but her eyes were lined with tears. Jett cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forehead softly.
“It’s okay,” he assured her.
She hugged him close and took a deep breath. “We have some cleaning to do,” she said as she pushed away from him.
Selene picked up a bucket of water before making her way to one of the spray-painted walls.
“You don’t have to help,” he told her as he reached into her pail of water to grab a sponge.
Selene frowned. “Why in the hell would I not help? Your wolf pack is protecting me. This attack is my fault. The least I can do is help you all clean up. Besides, I like being useful and I really hate the idea that the kids will come out to play and see they can’t because of this.” She gestured to the vandalism.
Jett noticed the sadness in her eyes. He could smell it on her, too. Selene offering to help wasn’t an empty gesture. She actually wanted to help because she was a good person. A good woman.