Chapter 161

Jack

He walked further into the forest, his back tense, and his hand on the gun at his side. Jack wasn’t taking any chances. Spending three months in close quarters with a bunch of wolves hadn’t warmed him to them. He didn’t trust any of them, and they didn’t trust him.

The trees bent in the heavy wind, branches cracking. Leaves littered the ground at his feet, brown and curling with frost.

He wore a thick leather jacket, but it didn’t protect him from the wind as much as he would have liked. His muscles were tense from the cold, and from the unease. A branch snapped somewhere to his right, and he whipped around, his gun already in his hands.

“Take it easy,” a familiar voice said. Freddy stepped out from between the trees, his hands raised in surrender. He wore a black leather jacket and jeans. On his feet, he had on a pair of heavy biker boots, and on his head, he wore a black beanie. Other than his pale complexion, he blended in with the surrounding darkness.

“You should be more careful,” Jack said, holstering his weapon. “I could have shot you.”

Freddy laughed. “I’ve been trailing you for miles. I could have shot you.”

Jack scowled. He was such an ass. “Then why didn’t you?”

“What kind of guy would I be if I shot my cousin?” He stepped closer, and Jack gave him a warning look. Freddy chuckled. “No love lost, huh?”

“I only agreed to this because you threatened me. We’re not family.”

“No, clearly not. A Schreiber wouldn’t work with a bunch of overgrown mutts, no matter the reason. Still, I commend the effort. You must really love that sister of yours.”

Jack narrowed his eyes.

“Interesting that the Crescent wolves wanted her badly enough to steal her from under your nose. She must be something special.”

“Alyx hates Matt.”

“I’m sure he does,” Freddy said, grinning slightly. “But you and I both know that’s not the reason he took her. Grandfather told me all about her mother. An interesting wolf. So interesting that Grandfather decided to spare her.”

“Sure, to do experiments on her.”

He shrugged. “Even so. She had powers. Extraordinary powers.”

“So?”

“Well, it would see those powers passed down to her lovely daughter. No wonder you went to such lengths to keep her away from us. All this time, we just thought she was a boring human. Maybe worth taking and training for the cause, but nothing more. Imagine our surprise.”

“How do you even know about all this?”

Freddy had shown up a few days ago out of the blue. Jack had been smoking a cigarette alone, a few feet into the trees, when a hand came over his mouth and he was dragged away from the motel. When he’d finally managed to get free, he’d found himself face-to-face with his lovely cousin.

“Grandfather was getting worried, you know,” Freddy said, changing the subject. “He thought you gave up. You couldn’t kill Matt, so you deflected to the wolves.”

“I need them to get to Celeste.”

“You should have checked in.”

“I’ve been preoccupied.”

Freddy narrowed his eyes. “You sure that’s what you want to go with? I’d work on your excuses just in case you ever see Grandfather again. I just don’t think ‘preoccupied’ is going to cut it with him.”

“Can we get to the point? I have somewhere I have to be.”

“Right, you can’t be gone too long. Your buddy Matt might notice, and you can’t have him getting suspicious.”

Jack had to resist the urge to punch the self-important look off his cousin’s face.

“You’d better start talking then.”

“Excuse me.”

Freddy grinned. “If you ever want back in this family, you’re going to tell me everything you’ve found out about the Peacekeepers. I want to know everything they’ve talked about in your presence. I want names. Hell, I want you to tell me how often they took a shit.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I’ll kill you and take your sister. You won’t be able to help her if you’re rotting in the woods somewhere, now, will you?”

Jack considered his options. He didn’t care that much about making his way back into the fold. It was clear the family never trusted him, and the likelihood of being able to repair that after going dark for a few months wasn’t great. He also needed the Peacekeepers to help him get his sister back. Betraying them now had a very real possibility of biting him in the ass later.

Freddy pulled a gun out of his pocket. “Now, Jack. I’ll kill you right here, right now. If you know anything about me, you won’t have trouble believing that. You know why Grandfather uses me for these kinds of things.”

Jack knew all too well. “Fine,” he grumbled. It didn’t seem like he had any choice. He had to betray Matt and the others. It was the only way to save his own neck.

“Great.” Freddy leaned against a tree, his gun still in his hand. “Start from the beginning.”

Jack did. He told him everything, from the moment Celeste was taken until the meeting he had this morning with Matt and the others. Freddy listened with a neutral expression. At the end, he took a step forward.

“That’s everything?”

Jack left out everything he thought he could get away with, and he prayed he’d managed to satisfy Freddy with the rest.

“That’s everything. They don’t always include me.” Another truth, though they were beginning to bring him in for more and more stuff.

“Alright.” Freddy turned to leave. “We’ll be keeping in touch.”

“I need the wolves to get my sister back,” Jack said before Freddy could walk away.

He looked back over his shoulder, a malevolent gleam to his eyes. “Oh, don’t worry. We’ll wait until they’ve helped you rescue poor Celeste. She’s more important, after all.”

Unease pricked at Jack’s skin, and he took a step toward his cousin, reaching for his gun.

Freddy just laughed and pointed his gun at him again. “I’m not the only one here.” Suddenly, figures appeared between the trees, all holding guns. “Shoot me, and you’ll be dead before I even hit the ground.”

Jack let his hand fall away from his side. “I’m going back,” he grumbled.

“Better hurry.”

Freddy walked in the other direction, and the others melted back into the trees. Jack turned and headed back to the motel, walking as fast as he could without running.

When he got back, most of the rooms were silent and dark. Only his and Seth’s room were lit, though the curtains were drawn.

Jack let himself into his room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. Matt was lounging in his bed, the blue light from the TV washing over his pale face. He looked worse and worse every month that passed. Dark circles marred the skin under his eyes, and he’d lost some weight.

He gave Jack a bored look before turning back to the screen. Jack doubted he was even really paying attention.

“We need to hurry this up,” Jack grumbled, not for the first time.

“No shit,” Matt answered. He turned up the volume on the TV before Jack could answer.

“Asshole,” Jack muttered, but he didn’t push it.

He removed his weapons, putting them on the table near a few of Matt’s guns. Then he climbed onto his bed and leaned back against the cushions.

“What are we watching?” he asked.

Matt gave him a dull look. “Who the hell cares?”

Jack almost felt sorry for him. The man was falling apart, and the more time that went on, the worse it got.