What was it about making Snow upset that troubled him so much? Sure, with anyone else, he didn’t bat an eye, but that look of disappointment on her face--- it just got to him. It wasn’t often that he felt genuinely ashamed of himself, but Snow could take his words, twist them around, and shove them right back towards him to make her see her perspective.
From his perspective, Zeke was nothing but a stubborn old wolf. He always had been--- to him, at least. He could only imagine, based solely on what he had seen, that Zeke would be as uncaring and uncompromising with Snow, as he was with him. The idea of the grouchy old wolf ‘saving her life’ seemed like a contradiction to who he was--- Zeke made things worse, not better.
But still, despite all that, Snow still stood so strong and so ready to defend him. Despite all of the hardships he’d put her through, she remained determinedly loyal. He actually felt jealous. And for a brief, flickering instance, he wondered if she might do the same for him. Suddenly, under her disappointed gaze, he felt uncharacteristically small.
“Okay,” He answered simply. “I know. It’s just, uh… no, wait, actually I don’t know.” He let the statement trail off. He really couldn’t put it into words. Not all at once, and certainly not in a way that sounded good. He simply didn’t like Zeke. And some part of himself would take great satisfaction in being chosen over him; in beating him in the petty, unspoken contest that the two of them had been engaged in--- he was being selfish. “Sorry. I know you can pick.” He could have spouted untruth after untruth to try and convince her--- tell her that he was worried Zeke would try to hurt her, or push her away, or not appreciate her, but honestly, believed none of that. Despite their heated rivalry, he had seen that Zeke could be a good father and person. For some strange reason, he couldn’t even bring himself to lie. “I just don’t like him.” But more than that, he was jealous.