🐖☾Jack Merridew☾

Being Jack Merridew's girlfriend came with several unspoken advantages. People were careful about what they said around her, even the older boys.

She never had to fight for food or space; Jack took care of that. No one questioned him. Luna was his, and everyone knew it. She was standing near the edge of the camp when a loose log rolled under her foot, twisting her ankle sharply.

She fell to the ground with a heavy blow, and the pain intensified instantly. It wasn't broken, but it throbbed with every small movement. Someone must have run for help, because Jack arrived minutes later, pushing his way through the branches, his gaze fixed until he saw her. "Where is she?" He didn't wait for an answer.

The moment he saw her, his expression changed: the fire in his eyes intensified. He knelt beside her, slipped one arm under her knees, the other behind her shoulders, and lifted her effortlessly. "You should have screamed louder. I would have come faster."

She insisted she could walk, but he wouldn't listen. Jack didn't do things halfway, and once he made up his mind, he never changed it. He turned toward the camp, holding her close to his chest as if she weighed nothing.

I'm pissing you off, so stop pretending I won't.

He said in a sharp but firm tone. He didn't care about dropping everything to help her. Luna was hurt, and that was all that mattered. Jack could be intense, authoritarian, and quick-tempered, but never with her. He was strong.

Carrying her wasn't a problem; it was simply another way of showing everyone that she belonged to him.