CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The hum of the pack's daily life becomes my soundtrack—a constant thrumming reminder that time doesn't pause, not even for a heart quietly fracturing. Lucas's presence, once a steady compass point in my chaotic world, drifts further away with each sunrise. I watch him from across the clearing, his laughter no longer reaching me, his glances skirting past as if I'm a ghost haunting the edges of his vision.
It's been days—days of this self-imposed isolation, where I navigate the spaces he vacates and whisper to the shadows he leaves behind. I've become an expert at dodging inquiries and masking the dull ache with a smile as brittle as frost. And Jackson—the enigmatic Alpha who stirs a tempest within me—I tuck him away into the darkest corners of my thoughts, a dangerous sec
