“Oh. Hi, Alpha,” she mumbled with feigned embarrassment.
“Hey, Leah,” he answered.
As soon as she drove off, Jett could feel Blaze’s eyes on him.
“Don’t say anything. Nothing happened. I was too drunk.” That wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. He hoped the alpha didn’t pick up on it.
“You gotta stop fucking around, Jett. For real. How do you expect to be ready for your real mate if you’re wasting all of your time sleeping around?”
Jett shrugged. “I’m not looking for my mate. You know that. We can’t all be stand up men like you. I’m not meant for the wife and kids thing.”
His alpha shook his head like he wanted to say something but he didn't. Jett didn't want to know what he was thinking. He figured it was something about how fucked up his parents were.
Blaze said, “Back to our business. We’ll keep the witches separate, and once all of the culprits have been stopped, then we’ll let them go about their business.”
“Fine. So I’m to bring the witch here?” Jett asked.
“Yes. Keep her safe and, please, I beg you. Do not fuck her. We don’t need things to get complicated.”
Jett sighed and crossed his arms. “Really? You think it’s necessary to warn me not to have sex with a woman I’m protecting?”
“Well,” Blaze pointed in the direction Leah had disappeared. “Can you blame me?”
“Like I said, nothing happened. We stumbled home drunk, that’s it. Not that who I fuck is any of your business.”
“But it is. You’re my enforcer and how you behave is a direct reflection of me and my leadership. You need to chill out, Jett. I get that you don’t want to fall in love again after what happe—”
“I’m not doing this.” Jett walked around to his car. “I’ve got a witch to save. Text me the address.”
“Jett,” Blaze called out, “keep me posted. Let me know when you get back here with one of the witches.”
“Yes, Alpha.” There was an edge of attitude to Jett’s voice.
It wasn’t insubordination. He simply knew Blaze expect more of him, and now he had let him down again.
Chapter Three
Selene
Selene was almost bouncing on her feet as she watched Astra follow Mrs. Gellar into one of the treatment rooms. She looked at the clock and knew she had about fifty-seven minutes to go to the cafe down the street, grab her breakfast and enjoy it quietly before Astra was done with her appointment.
It wasn’t so much that Selene didn’t like sharing a house with her twin sister. It was more because Selene wanted a bit of peace and quiet while she enjoyed her coffee and Danish. No. She didn’t want that. She needed that.
There wasn’t enough coffee in the world to deal with a grumpy Astra, and her twin would be extra grumpy with a small dash of bitchy as soon as her appointment with Mrs. Gellar was done. Astra was a great Reiki master, and she could almost work miracles.
It’s not like Mrs. Gellar could get Reiki healing anywhere else in town. She’d have to drive all the way to Boston for the other natural healing center.
Astra had to deal with it, and in turn, Selene had to deal with it.
And she dealt with it with large amounts of coffee and the warmest, bestest cheese Danishes in the entire world.
Selene all but skipped to the cafe. The morning sun was making the glass storefronts glimmer. Salem was such a beautiful little town. It was full of charm, and even though her people’s history here was complicated, Selene didn’t think she would ever leave this place. It was homey and far removed from the loud, boisterous mess that Boston was.
Not that there was anything wrong with the city. Selene was a small-town girl who had grown up to love the quieter pace a place like Salem could offer.
Selene checked her phone. She still had forty-minutes. Plenty of time.
The line in the coffee shop was longer than other mornings, which meant someone else was there. There was a very tall, very muscular man standing at the counter waiting to be served. The barista, a tiny little dude named Lester, was struggling with the steamer this morning. Selene was used to it when the teen opened the cafe for his parents.
Mr. Tall and Grumpy ahead of her didn’t seem to understand that. He let loose his twentieth sigh in ten seconds.
“Hey, Lester,” Selene said with a warm smile. “How’s the morning going?”
She knew if she was kind and sweet with Lester, that whatever the mean costumer said wouldn’t matter. She would outsmart meanness with niceness.
“Oh, Selene. Hey. Give me a second. This thing is on the fritz again.”
Selene muttered a spell under her breath. It was a small simple one that would give Lester the confidence to tackle whatever problem the steamer was giving him.
“Look, kid. I just want a coffee and one of those.” The man pointed to the glass display where all of the delicious baked goods were displayed.
“Just one moment,” Lester answered. “I have to f—”
“No, I don’t have time. I’m on the clock. This is kind of life or death. Just pour me a black coffee and give me one of those and I’ll be on my way.”
“Life or death?” Selene wanted to bite her tongue for saying that so loudly. What had possessed her to say anything?
Mr. Tall and Grumpy turned to face her. Oh, mama. She nearly swallowed her tongue. He was so hot, so sexy, that she forgot what she had said.
“Excuse me?” he asked her. His soft brown eyes shaded to something much darker, but Selene stood her ground. She wasn’t going to let herself be intimidated by a hot dude. Especially not if said hunk was being a complete dick to poor little Lester.
Selene shook her head. “Be nice. No one is in that much of a rush. Unless you’re a doctor on a call—”
He sure didn’t look like a doctor. He looked like an angry lumberjack who hadn’t been around other humans in a very long time.
“Did you just tell me to be nice?” he asked. His voice was rough and low like he didn’t use it very often. It definitely reinforced Selene’s belief that the man rarely spoke to others. Angry lumberjack indeed.
She would teach him some manners. Selene opened her mouth to respond, but Mr. Tall and Grumpy was watching something over her shoulder. She didn’t even have time to turn and see what had his sexy face in a scowl.
“Drop the gun,” Mr. Tall and Grumpy growled. Like an actual growl. It was a primal, dangerous sound that made Selene nervous.
She opened her mouth to state she obviously didn’t have a gun. Was he even well? Hallucinating, maybe.
That’s when the impossible happened.
The man in front of her shrank into a large black wolf. Selene didn’t know what to do, so she decided to faint.
Chapter Four
Jett
Fuck this. Jett rubbed his chin again, wanting nothing more than to jump over the counter and pour his own damn cup of coffee. This kid was taking his sweet ass time, playing around with a machine he clearly didn’t understand.
His impatience was growing by the second. He shouldn’t have stopped for coffee. If something happened to the witch, Blaze was going to gut him like a fish. But Jett was feeling the effects of no sleep and he also knew that if he had to have patience with his rescue, he would have to have a decent amount of caffeine running through his blood.