Page 23

23

JACOB

O f course Shane couldn’t let me walk away. My brother tore past me, halting my progress. I stopped with a sigh and crossed my arms.

“Hold on. I want to talk with you. Where are you going?” He glanced over my shoulder, but I could already smell Chad and Alayna behind me. “We need to chat in private. Jacob?”

“I’m busy, Shane. What do you want?”

He narrowed his eyes. “You sure you want me to spell it out here?” Something in his tone said I should hear him out, even if I’d rather not.

I curled my lips in disgust and turned back to Chad, completely ignoring Alayna. “I’ll find you later.”

He lifted an eyebrow at me, then glanced between us like he wasn’t sure we’d be fine. At my nod, he placed his hand on Alayna’s shoulder. “Let’s go. I’m sure you can find something better to do than snoop around the Armstrong brothers.”

A snarl trickled from her lips, but she let out a startled whimper when Chad’s power washed over us in a scalding wave. Showing teeth to the Pack’s second-in-command and Alpha’s son? Not smart. He wasn’t someone you messed with.

Once they were gone, I frowned at Shane. We ducked into one of the mansion’s sitting rooms. I hated being confronted by him here, but it seemed like I didn’t have much choice.

Leaning against the wall near the door, I crossed my arms again. He stood toward the center of the room beside two leather sofas facing an enormous marble fireplace.

“You going to talk?”

“Sure.” He perched on the arm of a couch and stared me down like he was trying to provoke me. “You’ve got a chick at your place. Our Alpha didn’t want anyone to speak up before he could talk with you. Your fragile state of mind and all that. But the voicemail is proof she exists, bro.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “And I smelled her on you. I followed her the morning of the trial. If you think you’re keeping her locked up, you’re wrong.”

My heart slammed against my ribs. He’d followed her?

“I’m not locking her up. She visited a friend. What does any of this matter to you?” I didn’t like what he was implying . If this was his play, then we were done. “If you’ve got a point, make it. Because right now, you’re just pissing me off.”

“A point?” He scoffed. “How’s this? Unless your girl toy was meeting her ‘friend’ in the dean’s office at Winter Forest University, then you don’t know what she’s doing. Must’ve been pretty intense in there since her eyes were amber when she came out. Looked like she was about to lose her shit. So, why haven’t you brought her before the Pack? You hiding her from us?”

My jaw ached from grinding my teeth, and I squeezed my hands into fists at my sides. My body vibrated with rage. It’d be so easy to send Shane’s teeth clattering to the floor. I didn’t want to believe Kelly went behind my back, but Shane’s report confirmed how rattled she’d been. She’d nearly gone rogue and lost control completely. For a moment, she had.

Why? Because she couldn’t listen to wisdom. I’d been looking after her, trying to protect her, and she betrayed me like this. I knew she wanted to return to school, but she put herself and others in danger.

“No, I told Mom about her. I just needed time.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fucking momma’s boy.”

I let out a low rumbling growl and flipped him off. Knowing my brother was aware of this didn’t staunch the rage and hurt flaring in me. If he told others, it could damage my reputation. I’d been harboring an unknown werewolf. I doubted my mother’s influence as a councilmember would help me. Not that it’d bother my brother. He didn’t seem to care whether I lived or died.

Fuck. So that’s why they wanted to hang out today and why Kelly was desperate to get rid of me this morning before they talked. Was Emma in on this? Did she know about Kelly’s plans to go back right away? Then again, I doubted Emma knew the complete story about why it wasn’t a good idea. She didn’t know Kelly was a werewolf who lacked self-control.

I needed to talk with Kelly about this. Should I confront her? My gaze met my brother’s again. No, I couldn’t let it go and hope things worked out. We needed to work through this. “Who have you told?”

He shrugged, running his fingers along the leather arm’s divots. “Just you so far, bro. Unless you want me to loop in our Alpha? I bet he’d be interested.” He lifted a cocky eyebrow at me.

That stupid look had me crossing the room in a few long strides, the urge to punch him so strong. Only when I was a foot away did I stop, keeping my hands at my sides. The growing desire to clock him warred with my rational side. “If you tell anyone, you’ll regret it. That’s a fact. Understand?”

Shane met my gaze. His lips parted, and he lowered his eyes in submission. “I do. Fucking idiot. I don’t know why, but Alayna likes you. You’re going to break her heart being with some chick you found at the research lab. You don’t deserve someone like Alayna. She’s special.”

Seriously? She was ‘special,’ all right. But the trace of sincerity in his voice made me pause. He had feelings for her. That was new. No one ever seemed to stick. He was always chasing new tail.

“Then why don’t you tell her how special she is?” I stretched my fingers, trying to ease the tension in my knuckles.

“What?!” The muscles in his jaw ticked, but he met my gaze again. Curiosity softened his anger. “She wouldn’t take that well. No. I can’t. What if she—?” He shook his head. “Come on. I’d make myself a laughingstock. More than I already am, you know. Thanks very much.” He slumped onto the sofa and dragged his hands through his hair.

“What are you talking about? She’d have to be blind not to notice how much you like her. Hell, I’ve seen the looks you give her.” I stalked toward the opposite couch and dropped onto it. “She’ll smell your honesty. She’s a werewolf, just like us. Why are you so worried?”

Shane jerked to his feet and started pacing in front of the fireplace. “Are you serious?” He shot me a look. “I want to tell her. But what about Mom? She might think I’m poaching your girl.” A low growl rumbled in his chest, and he smacked a pillow from the sofa. “After the voicemail incident, she’s been furious with me. Not that you probably feel any different. I know, okay? I screwed up big time. Should’ve checked the fucking message. But how was I supposed to know you were in trouble?”

I opened my mouth, but he kept talking.

“It’s not like we’ve been close. I figured it was more school bullshit or something. Look at you, bro. You’re doing something with your life that you want to do. Engineering major with big goals. You don’t want to be dragged into our parents’ business, and you’re smart enough to do your thing. What do I have going for me?” He grabbed the pillow from the floor and chucked it at the sofa. It bounced and hit the wall. He spun to face me. “Nothing, that’s what. I’m stuck, man.”

The fiery anger I’d felt toward him faded. He envied me? I hadn’t imagined that in my wildest dreams. He’d always acted so cocky and sure of himself, like he was better than me. “You have plenty going for you. You’re getting an MBA?—”

“Sure, an MBA that Dad forced me into at his alma mater. He refused to pay for my college if I didn’t go that path. When I told him I didn’t need college, he backhanded me and said I better not complain again.” He touched his cheek as if reliving the moment, then turned his wolf amber eyes on me. “This isn’t my dream. None of this is what I want.”

My jaw dropped, and I struggled to form a response. Dad did that to him? They didn’t get along on a good day, but I almost couldn’t process what he’d said. Dad’s actions were inexcusable. “Did you tell Mom?”

He rolled his eyes. “She’s always busy with Pack business or her job. You really think she’d care?” There was a tinge of hope in his voice that hurt my heart.

“Yeah, I think she would. She’s always supported me, and I don’t think she’d want you to feel stuck doing something you hate.” I crossed the distance between us, then placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do what makes you happy, man. Don’t stay stuck in something that’ll drain the life from you.”

He blew out a calming breath. “All right. I’ll… I don’t know. Maybe you could talk to her first? She cares about your opinion more. Hell, she’s trying to hook you up. She’s never tried that for me.” He gave me a sheepish grin. “You’re her precious baby.”

I grimaced, wishing he hadn’t said that. It wasn’t true. A lot of times, I wondered if Mom was training me to take her place on the Council. Besides, she’d wanted me to be with Alayna. That wasn’t what I wanted at all. However, she knew about Kelly now and hadn’t mentioned the arranged relationship. I hated that, but Alayna said my mother had approached her before shit went down with the mercenaries. Maybe what happened today was a misunderstanding.

I sure hoped so.

Hell, I wasn’t getting a free ride through life either. But I didn’t think Shane wanted to hear my side, so I’d keep my mouth shut. “Sure, I’ll talk to her. In the meantime, tell Alayna how you feel. And don’t mention the university to anyone, okay? I was going to talk with the Alpha about my girlfriend, but now I think I should head home and talk with her first.”

Did our relationship mean as much to Kelly as it did to me? I hoped she would tell me the truth. And if Alayna was determined to be my mate, I needed Shane to lure her away.

Shane nodded. “Good luck, bro. Guess we both have tough conversations ahead.”

I patted him on the shoulder, then pulled away. “Guess so.” The walk from the Pack’s mansion felt heavy. What I was going to do now might either break my heart or bring about more understanding between me and Kelly.

However, I wasn’t hopeful things were going to go well.