I briefly thought about killing him. I wanted to kill him, if I were honest, and I think the others did as well. If we could kill him, then we would never have to worry about him again.
However, there was something inside me that told me not to. There was something that told me Jenny would want us to be better.
We bared our teeth and advanced forward on Matthew. He took a step back and then whined and put his head down. In wolf terms, I understood this meant that he was submitting to us.
All three of us were bleeding, but I didn’t think that any of us were hurt seriously. I turned to my brothers, and both of them nodded. Quickly, we pushed our transformation back, and Matthew did the same.
He was not even attractive. He was greasy and skinny, and I didn’t understand what Jenny saw him.
“Just let me go,” he said, and I chuckled.
“Yeah, we’re not letting you go,” I said. “We’re not letting you ever go again You are going to come with us and be our prisoner.”
“For how long do you think?” Jacob asked me.
“Well, he controlled Jenny for at least two years,” I said. “So don’t you think that is fair? An eye for an eye?”
“That is not fair,” he cried out. “You scumbags are no better than me.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“What do you think? “ I asked. “How happy do you think she is right now, away from you?”
“You kidnapped her,” he said. “You took her against her will.”
I wanted to argue with him. I wanted to say that was maybe true at the start, but we had each made her far happier than he had ever made her.
The truth was, though, she wasn’t happy. She had made that clear before we left, and I had a feeling that if there wasn’t a wolf attack right now, we’d be having a very different conversation.
“I think you need to come inside,” Jacob said at last. “And we are going to see what Jenny wants.”
I could see Frances look at him like he was crazy, and frankly, I felt the same way.
Of course, I cared what Jenny wanted. But I also knew that I could not live without her. She was my whole world. She was my mate, my soul, and if he let her decide, she might make a decision that took her away from me.
I knew that it was a problem. I knew that we might all have breakdowns. But at the same time, I thought that maybe there was no other way.
If Jenny truly loved us, she would choose us.
As we walked back to the house, I tried to rationalize that other part of what I was thinking.
What if he chose the bear side, but she just chose one of us? What would happen then?
I had no idea if our friendship would survive if she just chose one of us. The jealousy had already almost ripped us apart, and I didn’t want there to drive more of a wedge between us.
I shouldn’t have been thinking that way. I should be proud of what my brothers were doing, all the time. If they were happy, I should be happy for them.
I wondered if part of this was that I was afraid that she wouldn’t choose me. Maybe she would choose Frances, or Jacob, and they would head far away, and I would never see them again.
That was partially an irrational fear, but it was possible.
My head was crowded with a million more thoughts as I got back into the house. Jacob and Frances had Matthew by the arms, and they were dragging him. To my surprise, he wasn’t resisting quite as much as I thought he would. He seemed like his spirit had broken the minute they approached him, and I appreciated that. I was tired, and I didn’t need any more complications.
“Jenny!” Frances called as we walked into the living room. “I need you to come down. Please.”
There was silence upstairs, and Jacob sighed.
“You know, she’s probably pretty upset.”
“Just wait,” Matthew snarled. “Wait, she'll see me and she’ll—”
“She’ll vomit,” I said. I wanted to hit him in the face, and I wondered if my elbow could break his nose swiftly instead of having to hit him several times.
“Jenny!” Jacob called, and there was still no answer. “I’ll go,” he said and started to take the stairs two at a time. I listened to him walking through the house