Jacob doesn’t seem to give a damn that Alder was here.
No, no. It was more close to the fact he was TRYING to get a rise out of the deputy. Hunters always looked for weak points when it came to their hunt, and Alder shouldn’t let his EMOTIONS get in the way for all that. Faith was dead, yeah, but that only left two of the more DANGEROUS Heralds out to play.
He had to be SMART about this.
Carefully, Alder’s foot slides through the grass, prompting a careful step back. The distance he wanted to put in between them was DIRE. Jacob was a loose cannon, not NEARLY as unpredictable as John, but almost just as bad. It was difficult for Alder to know what was going on in his head at all times, and that proved to be UNCOMFORTABLE for the deputy in question. No wonder Eli worried so much about Jacob.
“Well….I don’t show that kindness to your HUNTERS.” Alder breathes, choosing to keep the topic on his SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS rather than his companions. “They don’t DESERVE it.” Not after everything they’ve done.
Not after the shit they PUT him through.
“Well, maybe if you had some friends of your OWN, you’d know how I feel. It’s the same as loving your FAMILY.”
“It is not.”
This time the answer was immediate and as Jacob’s eyes flicked back to the Deputy, there was a cruel – a cold streak to them.
“Friends come. Friends go. Friends help you – sometimes. But they also leave you in the gutter. They would feed you to their family.”
His head called back memories long shoved away… pictures of those he had called friends, comrades, a family in disguise in a time when none of them had anything like that. But that did not matter. It really did not matter now.
“Family stays. Family will always return to you. Family will never leave you behind.”
That was the truth. Nothing else. His head dipped down, Jacob followed the Deputy’s step. Walking towards him that one step he had taken back. He would see what to do with this one… he was careful. Cautious. A good fighter from what he had shown. There certainly was a purpose for this one… Jacob would find out. And then he would take advantage of it.
“What is it about you…? Where is your family?”
