Page 2 of Noah (Pecan Pines #4)

Chapter 2

Noah

Adrian's smirk widened. He’d just suggested we play our own little “hunt” since we couldn’t participate in tomorrow’s real one.

Except this time, I was the target.

“That’s just stupid!” I blurted, my voice sharper than I intended.

Jackson wrinkled his nose, his face twisting in disgust. His eyes flashed golden, a warning.

“We’re not doing this,” Jackson said firmly, crossing his arms.

“Oh, come on. It’s just a game. You’re all so dramatic,” Adrian said, his tone dripping with mock innocence. His eyes flicked to me, and I felt the weight of his smirk. “What’s the matter, Noah? Scared?”

I scowled, heat rising to my face. “Am not!” My chest tightened at the implication.

Adrian leaned in slightly, his voice low and taunting. “It makes sense, you know. The prey is always the weakest. It’s just nature.”

“I’m not weak!” I snapped, stepping forward before I could stop myself.

Adrian’s smirk grew, but before I could close the distance between us, Jackson immediately shifted to block me, his broad frame cutting off my path.

“Back off, Adrian. We’re not turning this into a hunt—or anything like it. We’re not chasing Noah,” Jackson growled, his golden eyes flaring bright.

For a second, Adrian’s grin faltered, but then it returned, sharper than before. “Relax, Jackson. You’re right,” he said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “It’s not fair, is it? I mean, look at him.” He tilted his head toward me. “He’s too small anyway.”

Something inside me snapped. I lunged at him without thinking, but Adrian just laughed and stepped back easily, out of my reach.

“Stop it!” Jackson barked, grabbing my arm and pulling me back. “It’s not worth it.”

Adrian snorted, clearly far too pleased with himself. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s just go back.” His tone was mocking, every word daring me to react. He brushed past Jackson with a smug grin. “This was getting boring anyway.”

I glared at the back of his head, my anger bubbling over. “No!” The word escaped before I could stop it. Adrian turned, one eyebrow raised, amused.

“Let’s all race for it,” I blurted out. “From here to…” My eyes darted around, landing on a large oak tree at the far edge of the clearing, its gnarled branches towering over the underbrush. “That tree. First one there gets the sandwich.”

Adrian slowly tapped his chin, like he was savoring the idea. “A race? Fine. But don’t cry when you lose.” His smirk deepened. “I’ll even give you a head start.”

I ignored his jab, already calculating my odds. I was fast.

I’d raced with Miles and Griffin plenty of times and almost always won. Being smaller wasn’t always a disadvantage—I could dart through tight spaces and turn faster than most.

I glanced at Jackson, noticing the way his jaw clenched. A wave of guilt tugged at me, messing with my focus.

“You’re in, right?” I asked nervously.

Jackson hesitated, his gaze flicking between me and Adrian.

Before he could answer, Adrian chuckled darkly. “What’s wrong, Jackson? Afraid you can’t keep up?” He paused, his smirk twisting into something sharper. “Or maybe you’re not worried about what might happen to Noah if you don’t keep an eye on him.”

The air suddenly seemed to grow colder. My eyes darted to Jackson, silently pleading with him not to let Adrian’s words get under his skin.

Jackson’s jaw clenched. “Fine,” he said, his tone clipped. “Let’s just get this over with.”

We lined up at the starting point, the oak tree looming in the distance like a challenge. My legs tensed, ready to spring forward.

Somewhere in the trees, a bird called out—a single sharp cry. That was all we needed.

We launched forward, a blur of motion. The world melted into the thud of my feet against the ground and the rush of wind tearing past my ears.

The cool air stung my lungs, but I didn’t care. I pushed harder, legs burning as the distance to the tree disappeared beneath me.

Adrian was right on my heels—literally. I could feel the brush of his shoe against mine, and the sharp tug almost making me trip.

“Watch it!” I snapped, twisting to zig-zag away from him.

My stomach clenched when I tripped on an exposed root but recovered, veering hard to the right. His frustrated grunt made me smirk.

For a moment, I thought I’d shaken Adrian off. But then he was there again, too close.

My chest tightened, and I pumped my arms harder, forcing myself to go faster.

Out of nowhere, Jackson appeared beside me. He surged ahead, slipping between Adrian and me like a shield.

Adrian made an annoyed clicking noise with his tongue. I could tell Jackson was trying to block him, weaving slightly to cut him off.

Adrian didn’t take it well. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him slam a shoulder into Jackson—not hard enough to send him flying, but enough to make a point.

Jackson shot back with a sharp sidestep, his movements tense and deliberate.

I looked back just in time to see Adrian stumble. For a second, I thought he was faking it—one of his stupid tricks to mess with us.

But then his eyes went wide, his arms flailing as his foot caught on something. A root? A rock? I couldn’t tell. He pitched forward, disappearing from view.

The sickening thud that followed made my stomach twist. Then came the crunch of snapping branches and the dull sound of earth shifting.

“Adrian!” I yelled, skidding to a stop.

Jackson was already at my side, and we both ran toward the slope. My chest tightened as I peered down.

Adrian lay crumpled at the bottom, his clothes torn and streaked with dirt. His arm hung at an odd angle, and deep scratches crisscrossed his skin. A red welt was already forming on one side of his face.

He groaned weakly, trying to push himself up, but slumped back with a hiss of pain.

“Shit,” Jackson muttered under his breath. I’d never heard him swear before.

“What do we do?” I asked, panic clawing at my chest.

Jackson didn’t hesitate. “We have to get down there,” he said, already moving.

I scrambled after him, the loose dirt slipping beneath my feet. Half-running, half-sliding, I reached the bottom just behind him.

Jackson crouched beside Adrian, pressing a hand to his chest to stop him from moving.

“Don’t move,” Jackson said firmly, his voice steady despite the tension in his jaw. “You might’ve broken something.”

Adrian winced, his face pale but still managing a weak glare. “No shit,” he rasped, his voice laced with pain.

Before I could say anything, the crunch of heavy footsteps reached us. My stomach dropped.

A group of shifters emerged from the treeline—Thornebane wolves. Their eyes flicked over the scene—the torn-up ground, Adrian sprawled on the dirt, Jackson and me standing over him—and their expressions darkened.

“What the hell happened out here?” one of them demanded.

By the time we were brought back to the Thornebane pack house, the sun had already started to set.

I’d wanted to stay with Jackson while the healers worked on Adrian, but they wouldn’t let me.

Instead, I was ushered back to Pecan Pines’ assigned quarters. Griffin explained it was protocol—something about keeping everyone separated so no one could interfere with the story.

I barely nodded, doing my best to appear calm while Griffin was around.

Now, standing in the Thornebane pack alpha’s office, with only enforcers and pack alphas from the other packs present, Griffin was nowhere to be seen.

The weight of it all pressed down on me like a boulder.

My eyes darted around the room. Adrian sat on a cushioned chair in the corner, his arm in a sling, scratches covering his face and arms.

Jackson stood with his dad across the room, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, eyes darting between Adrian and the Thornebane enforcers standing guard.

I wanted to go to him, to say something—anything that might ease the tension—but a wall of pack members kept us apart, and I couldn’t cross it.

I stood stiffly behind our pack alpha, Cooper’s father. My dad was at my side, his hand resting firmly on my shoulder.

Every time I shifted or even considered speaking, his hand tightened, a silent command to stay still.

When I looked up at him, his eyes were sharp, warning me with a subtle but unmistakable shake of his head: don’t speak. Not yet.

The Thornebane pack alpha, Marcus, loomed behind his desk, his face a mask of barely controlled anger.

“My son is injured,” he said, his voice icy as his eyes swept over the room. “His arm is dislocated, his body bruised, and his pride…” He let the sentence hang, a sneer curling his lips. “This is what happens when children are allowed to run wild without proper supervision.”

Cooper’s father, kept his tone calm as he responded. “They’re kids, Marcus. Boys being boys.”

“Boys?” Marcus snapped, his voice rising. “Boys don’t leave one of their own tumbling down a slope, nearly breaking his neck. That’s negligence.”

I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to keep quiet. I wanted to speak up, to defend myself and Jackson.

It wasn’t our fault Adrian had been so reckless. But Dad’s hand clamped down on my shoulder again, this time hard enough to make my teeth click together.

His silent warning was clear: stay quiet.

Marcus stepped forward, his piercing gaze cutting to Jackson and me. “Your boys have shown nothing but recklessness,” he said coldly. “Recklessness that could’ve cost my son his life.”

The pack alphas’ voices overlapped, rising into a tangle of accusations, defenses, and barely veiled threats.

My chest tightened, the weight of their anger suffocating. I stopped trying to follow what they were saying.

My mind was all over the place, and my heart was racing so fast, I couldn’t hear anything else.

What would they decide? Punishment? It wasn’t right.

It was Adrian. He was the one who taunted us, pushing until things got out of hand.

My fists curled at my sides, frustration bubbling up. It wasn’t fair.

"That's not true!" Jackson’s voice cut through the noise.

I flinched at the sound, my eyes snapping to him. What was happening? What was he doing? Why was he?—

Movement caught my eye. Adrian leaned back in his chair, his uninjured hand draped lazily over the armrest.

A smirk tugged at his lips. He was enjoying this.

Jackson took a step forward. “Noah didn’t do anything. It was me. I dared him. Pushed him into it. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me.”

The room erupted into chaos. Voices clashed, loud and sharp. I couldn’t make sense of them, couldn’t hold onto a single thought long enough to process. It was all too much.

Jackson was lying. For me. Why? Why would he do that?

My mind raced, panic and confusion flooding me. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

I glanced toward Adrian. His face twisted into a dramatic grimace, his hand clutching his arm like he was in unbearable pain.

But then, just for a second, it flickered—a smug little grin flashed across his face before vanishing behind the mask of agony. My fists clenched tight enough to hurt.

That liar. He wasn’t in pain anymore; the healers had already patched him up.

“Enough.” Marcus’s voice cut through the chaos. He raised a hand, and the room fell silent. His sharp eyes scanned the room, lingering on Jackson.

“This happened on Thornebane pack lands, and we follow our traditions. An injury for an injury, a scar for a scar.” His tone was cold, unforgiving. “The boy is of age. He will face the same consequence.”

It felt like the floor dropped out from under me. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This wasn’t fair!

Adrian stayed motionless, his expression carefully blank, but his eyes gleamed with something cruel—something that made my stomach churn.

And Jackson didn’t flinch. He stepped forward. Then, to my horror, he dropped to his knees.

“No.” The word barely left my lips.

A Thornebane enforcer moved toward Jackson, gripping his arm and pulling up his sleeve. The fabric tore away, revealing the unblemished skin of his shoulder.

The same shoulder Adrian had injured.

No. No, no, no.

My chest tightened, panic clawing its way up my throat. This couldn’t be happening.

Jackson didn’t deserve this. He shouldn’t be punished for something I did—or something Adrian did.

My heart pounded, drowning out the room’s muffled noise. Jackson was doing this for me. Protecting me. Taking the blame for me.

Before I knew what I was doing, I broke free from the hand holding me back. My feet stumbled, and then I was running, everything around me a blur as I hurled myself toward Jackson.

I wrapped my arms tightly around him, gripping him like he was the only solid thing in the room.

“Don’t hurt him!” My voice cracked, the words tumbling out in a desperate rush. “He didn’t do anything! It wasn’t his fault—it was mine!”

The weight of the room’s attention fell on me, but I couldn’t stop. My breath hitched, and my words spilled out. “Adrian started it! He’s lying! He kept pushing us!”

The room exploded again, voices rising and crashing into each other, but I didn’t care.

I buried my face against Jackson’s shoulder, clutching him as if letting go would shatter everything.

This was all my fault. If I’d just walked away, if I hadn’t let Adrian get under my skin… Jackson wouldn’t be here, about to be hurt because of me.

My arms tightened around him, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the chaos.

Just don’t hurt him. Don’t hurt him. Please.