Chapter 2 The Forest's Solace

Raine pov

I wandered aimlessly after school, I can't go home now because I don't have the patience and strength to take my mum and sister piercing gaze and their sniding remark if I'm yet to feel my wolf.

I just can't, I might snap at mum, and that will make dad really disappointed in me.

There is only one place to go that will welcome me with open arms.

"The Nightshade forest"

I hated the pack's territory.

Hated the way everyone looked at me. Hated the way even the air felt suffocating.

But the forest? The forest was mine.

It was the one place no one followed me. The one place I could pretend i wasn't an embarrassment.

The scent of pine and damp earth filled the air as i walked deeper, inhaling the crisp coolness. The full moon was rising, and in the distance, I could hear wolves shifting, running through the trees.

I tried to picture myself among them.

I had spent years wondering what it would feel like.

To belong. To feel the power of my wolf, wild and unshackled, surging through my veins.

Instead, all i felt was emptiness.

My fingers curled into fists.

"What if I never shift?"

I can understand the pack's frustration.

I will be turning 20 in a few months time and I can't even feel my wolf talkless of shifting.

Most cub can shift before the age of 16 but me.... I sigh.

My sister shifted last full moon and she is not even 16, she will be 16 in a few months time .

There is something definitely wrong with me.

I had spent so long pretending i didn't care, pretending that it didn't tear me apart inside. But the truth was-

It did.

It did, and I hated myself for it.

A sudden rustling snapped me from my thoughts.

My body went rigid.

Something was here. Watching me.

Slowly, I turned-just in time to collide into a broad chest.

I gasped, my breath stalling in my throat as my head snapped up-

And met golden-brown eyes.

Ronan.

His scent hit me first-cedarwood and something dangerous, something wild.

I stumbled back, heart hammering. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Ronan didn't answer right away.

For a moment, he just stared at me, his brows furrowed like I was something he couldn't quite understand.

Like he had been expecting something else.

Then, just as quickly as it came, the look vanished.

He scoffed, crossing his arms. "Relax, wolfless. I wasn't following you. No one would waste their time doing that."

My jaw tightened. "Then leave."

For a second, he didn't move.

And then-he stepped closer.

Not enough to touch. But enough that the air between us tightened. Enough that i could feel the heat radiating off his body, smell the sharp, woodsy scent of his skin.

Something deep in my chest twisted.

"No."

I wouldn't let him get under my skin. Not today.

But then, just as I was about to step back, Ronan's lips parted.

His voice was lower this time. Less mocking.

"You don't belong here."

My stomach dropped.

My hands trembled, but i forced myself to stay still. Forced myself to keep my voice even.

"I know."

The words tasted bitter.

God, I hate him.

Because no matter how much i fought, how much i pretended i didn't care-

I knew it was true.

Something flickered in Ronan's gaze. A sliver of something I couldn't read.

Then, with a shake of his head, he stepped back.

"You're nothing," he muttered.

And then, he turned and disappeared into the woods.

I exhaled shakily, heart pounding as i watched him go.

I didn't know why-but for the first time, his words didn't just sting.

They unsettled me.

As if he didn't believe them.