CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The wind whispers through the trees as I make my way back to the village, leaves dancing like specters in the moonlight. My heart is a heavy stone in my chest—a weight forged from Jackson's rejection. Each step feels like an effort, each breath a reminder of the distance now between us.
I'm not sure why I expected anything different. Jackson was always an enigma, his eyes holding secrets deeper than any forest I've roamed. But for a moment, I let myself believe that the way he looked at me meant something more. That maybe, just maybe, beneath the Alpha's guarded exterior, there was a place for someone like me—Grace, the she-wolf who can't shift, whose small stature betrays her every time.
"Hey, Grace!," calls Xavier as I pass by the edge of the clearing where our pack ga
