Chapter 0194


    I find myself feeling quite touched, and a little overwhelmed, as I lean against his chest, tucking my


    head for a second beneath his chin, cozy and warm despite the chill in the night air. Because…


    maybe he should be mad. There is…there is moreing, after all, that he’s not going to be


    pleased about – it’s actually not so simple as him having me now.


    And if he just forgives me at every turn, even though none of it is my choice either, even if the


    Goddess herself gave us this path…


    Well, who is going to watch out for Jackson’s heart, in the trials toe?


    We are, my wolf growls, fierce.


    And I set myself to the task, immediately agreeing. Jackson – he’s big, and he’s powerful, but he’s


    quite tender, beneath it all, isn’t he? And…


    As sad as it sounds, Jackson is a bit more desperate for love and affection than I’d like him to be.


    He’s willing to wipe away all the offenses against him, just to have me in his arms.


    God, he’s too good, to pure and sweet. I press my eyes shut, begging the Goddess for strength so


    that I can be as good to him as he deserves.


    “What?” Jackson murmurs, nudging me with his nose, and I realize that I’ve gone quite still and rigid


    in his arms.


    “Nothing,” I murmur, lifting my face to look into his. “Just…thinking about a thousand things.”


    “Well, don’t worry about them,” he says with a little frown, like it’s so easy to just not. I grin at him,


    laughing a little. “We’ll figure it all out. It will all turn right.”


    I smile at him, unable to stop myself as I reach up to stroke his hair, tucking it back behind his ear


    over and over again. “Jacks,” I murmur, as he looks down at me with such tenderness in his face,


    his expression. A tenderness that is…not totally unfamiliar, if I’m being honest – because he has


    looked at me that way before, even if he thought I was a boy. “Did you really not know?”


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    His face bursts into a grin and I can feel himughing all around me – in his chest, in the way his


    arms shake. My smile widens and I find that I quite like being all wrapped up in him. “Ari, I definitely


    did not know. It was the shock of my life when you pulled your shirt up and I saw you had a girl body


    under your uniform.”


    “Really, though?” I ask,ughing outright now, shaking my head a little in disbelief. “Like, no hints


    before? No inklings – nothing about my face, or my mannerisms? I was just…all boy to you?”


    “Ari,” Jackson sighs, shaking his head, growing a little more serious even as he smiles. “I have…


    absolutely no context for any of that. I don’t know any girls – everyone I’ve met is a guy. So, if there


    are social cues that I’m supposed to pick up on to be able to tell that you’re a girl? I just don’t know


    them.”


    I tilt my head, considering him, remembering what Ben said about me reminding him of his sisters.


    “Ben says Iugh like a girl,” I blurt out, saying the words as I think them.


    Jackson grins. “I like yourugh,” he murmurs. “So, if that’s how girlsugh, then…I guess I like


    that.”


    “Were you attracted to me?” I hear myself ask, curiosity getting the better of my mouth.


    Jackson’s smile grows. “No,” he murmurs, shaking his head.


    I squeak a little, sitting up straight, indignant.


    “I mean, I am now!” he says,ughing as he works to correct himself.


    “What, just because I show you my stomach and you realize I’m a girl suddenly you think I’m


    pretty!?”