Hazel POV
Time slipped away faster than I wanted it to. One month passed in a quiet blur—days blending into nights, routines settling back like they’d never been broken. Lucas was home. He slept better now, ate more, even cracked a few weak jokes at dinner. Mom’s color was returning; she smiled again when she thought we weren’t looking. The hospital bills were still there, the rent still loomed, but we were breathing. We were together. That was enough.
I told myself I’d never have to see Alpha Asher again.
I told myself that night in the parking garage was the end of it—a terrible, humiliating chapter I could lock away and never open. He’d kept his word: Lucas was free. No more calls, no more shadows at the door. I hoped—prayed—that our worlds would stay separate forever. He was the Alp
