Chapter 118

Jack

Jack watched Matt and his sister walk away, his frown deepening at the sight of them together. Matt had his arm around her shoulders, and it took everything in him not to walk over there and shove him away from her. He’s a werewolf, he wanted to scream, but there was a reason he hadn’t told his sister. It would just put her in danger.

No, he had to find a way to deal with Matt himself. It was the only way to keep Celeste safe. He knew she cared about him, but she didn’t know who he really was, or what he was capable of. Jack had to protect her.

Even though Matt saved his life, he knew he was still dangerous. Some of his cousins never made it back, and he knew Matt was likely the one who killed them. They were out looking for him, after all, when they went ‘missing.’

His grandfather was convinced Matt wasn’t working alone, and he had to agree. There was no way Matt was running without a pack. The Peacekeepers were generally a big unit, and since Matt used to be his best friend, it was now his job to find out who the other ones were. Which meant staying calm and observing. Something he hated to do.

“Are we on for tonight?” Henry said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Jack looked sideways at his friend. “Yeah.”

Henry gave him a questioning look but didn’t comment. They were fairly used to his moody behavior by now. It was sort of what he was known for.

He knew his friends were curious, but no one dared ask him about Matt and Celeste. Unless he brought it up, the topic was off limits. He didn’t want to have to field questions about them all day. Apparently, it was all anyone at school could talk about. It made him want to tear his hair out of his head.

“Bring beer,” he said.

Henry nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m on it.”

If he couldn’t get Matt to break up with his sister, maybe he could find a way to get his sister to break up with Matt. If she didn’t think she was good enough for him, she’d have to let him go. The plan started to take shape in his mind, and even though he knew it was cruel, he couldn’t think of a better way to separate them. It had to come from Celeste. Clearly, that was the only thing that would work at this point.

Then he just had to find out who Matt was working with, and he and his family could put an end to their entire operation.

“Let’s go,” Henry said. “We’re going to be late for class.”

Jack nodded and followed his friends to their next class. He sat in his usual seat at the back and absentmindedly took notes, his mind turning over the different ways he might trick Celeste. By the time class ended, he felt so depressed, he almost couldn’t face the thought of walking her home.

He often wished he could just be her big brother, and today he wished it more than anything. It didn’t bring him any joy to hurt her, just the opposite. But it was his duty to look out for her, and make sure the prophecy never came true. It just sucked that he always had to be the bad guy. One time, he’d just like to be the good one for a change.

He left his class, only to find himself a few people behind Matt and Celeste again. He was walking her to her next class.

Jack trailed them until Celeste said goodbye and walked into her classroom. He then followed Matt further into the school. A part of him knew it was a bad idea, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. None of this would even be an issue if Matt would just leave his sister alone, like he promised.

Matt weaved through the crowds of students, then turned into a stairwell. Jack followed him, his jaw set.

The stairwell was empty, and Jack descended to the lower landing.

“Why are you following me?” Matt said. He was standing in the shadows of the stairs, his eyes glowing. He walked forward until he was standing in front of Jack.

“Why are you walking my sister around everywhere? She’s not a lost puppy.”

“Alyx has been harassing her,” Matt snapped, his jaw tight. “You’d know that if you actually cared about the things happening in your sister's life.”

“Watch it.”

Matt just rolled his eyes and stood up to his full height. “You know what happened between them, don’t you?”

Jack clenched his jaw but nodded.

“Then you can understand why I wouldn’t want to make it easy for him to talk to her.”

Jack considered his words. Just this once, maybe Matt was right. Alyx had no right to try something with his sister, then bother her after. Perhaps it was time he had a talk with the kid. He had to make it clear that he needed to stay away from his sister.

“I can’t believe I thought we were friends once,” Jack snarled.

Matt just shook his head. “You can’t see past your own prejudice.”

“So you deny being a monster?”

“I deny it. The only monsters in this town are your family. We’re trying to keep the peace, not experiment on innocents.”

Jack frowned. He had no idea what Matt was talking about.

“Right, I guess you’re not as in-the-know as you like to think. Grandfather dearest doesn’t trust you with all the family secrets, does he?”

Jack clenched his jaw and took a step forward. “You know nothing about my family.”

“I know enough.”

“Okay fellas, let’s take a step back.”

Jack whipped around. Enzo and Nina were standing behind him, both with their arms crossed.

“What are you doing?” he snarled.

“We heard you guys arguing,” Nina answered. “We figured we’d stop a fist fight.”

Jack narrowed his eyes. How did they know people were even down here? Class should have started ten minutes ago.

“Take a step back,” Enzo added, eyeing Jack.

He considered refusing, but knew it wasn’t a fair fight. Hell, it was barely a fair fight with just him and Matt. He didn’t have any of his weapons on him, and the stairwell of their university wasn’t the place to have it out.

“This isn’t over,” he snarled at Matt.

Matt just shrugged.

Jack turned and shoved past Enzo, taking the stairs two at a time. He could feel their gazes on him as he left, and it made every muscle in his body tense. He hadn’t considered it before, but maybe now he had his answers. He always thought Enzo was a friend, but it was clear whose side he was on. Maybe both Nina and Enzo were werewolves, too. Maybe they were all lying to him.

He vowed to get to the bottom of it as he pushed open the doors and strode down the hall toward his last class.

It was clear he couldn’t afford to trust anyone, even the people he worked with. His friends were all capable of stabbing him in the back. If Matt taught him anything, it was that.