Mason's POV
As Elle drifted off to sleep, her head resting gently on my chest, I couldn’t bring myself to look away. Her tear-stained face, still etched with the remnants of pain and fear, made my heart ache in a way I wasn’t prepared for. She looked so fragile, so vulnerable, and yet there was a strength in her that I admired, even in her brokenness. The weight of whatever she had been carrying—her past, the fear from that night—pressed heavily on me too. I could see it all in the way she clung to me before falling asleep, the way her body finally relaxed as if she’d been holding everything together for far too long.
I swore right then, as I watched her sleep, that I’d change things for her. She didn’t deserve to live in this constant state of fear, of always looking over her shoulder.
