Page 55 of Noah

Chapter 15

Jackson

The forest was quiet,save for the occasional rustling of leaves.

I sat on a fallen log, staring at the dirt beneath my boots, my mind trapped in an endless loop of frustration and regret.

Three days. Three whole days without a word from Noah.

Without hearing his voice, without seeing his face, without feeling that steady, grounding presence that had always made me feel whole.

It was my fault. I knew that. And my wolf—my damn stubborn, guilt-ridden wolf—hadn’t let me forget it either.

He prowled restlessly inside me, angry, impatient, but mostly…lonely.

I clenched my fists, remembering the hurt in Noah’s eyes when I’d grabbed his shoulders in the dining hall, demanding that he let me protect him.

I’d let my instincts take over, let my possessive nature override everything else.

Seeing Adrian so close to him had triggered something dark and territorial inside me, something I wasn’t entirely proud of.

But that didn’t justify the way I had dismissed Noah’s feelings, the way I had ignored his plea for space.

I sighed heavily, running a hand through my hair. How did I fix this?

I felt a shift in the air before I caught the scent. Familiar. Beck.

Beck dropped down onto the log beside me without a word, elbows resting on his knees as he stared out into the trees.

My brother always knew when to give me space, when to sit in silence, and when to tell me to stop being an idiot.

Finally, I muttered, “Beck, I messed up bad.”

“Yeah, we all saw,” he said dryly.

I huffed a laugh, but it was hollow. “I told Dad and Hudson about Noah and me.”

Beck nodded. “I heard.”

I shook my head. “Now I’m not even sure we’re anything anymore.”

To my surprise, Beck punched me in the shoulder—hard enough to make me grunt.

Beck wasn’t violent by nature, but when someone pushed his buttons, he could be brutal.

I blinked, startled, and for the first time, I saw a similarity between him and Noah.

“You’re an idiot sometimes,” Beck said.

I rubbed my shoulder. “What do you mean?”

“I was there in the dining hall too, dumbass,” he said. “All Noah asked for was time to cool off. He wasn’t breaking up with you.”

I frowned, replaying the moment in my head. “But Noah said?—”

“—because you were being too pushy,” Beck interrupted. “So he had to give you an ultimatum. But even I knew he wasn’t serious about it.”

I groaned and covered my face with my hands. How had I misread the whole thing so badly?

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