They chatted some more, and even though the food was technically meant for Anthony, they ended up eating together anyway. Hazel kept close, stealing bites off his plate like she had every right to which annoyingly, she did and more surprisingly he found himself lifting forkfuls to her lips when she lingered too long between bites, his fingers steady, eyes locked on hers. The motion felt inevitable, like the natural order reasserting itself between them: Alpha and rogue, now simply two bodies feeding one another in the golden morning light, and somehow this small ritual felt more intimate than anything that had passed between them before. Without trying too much, they felt closer. every shared bite carried the weight of surrender. By the time the bowl sat empty and the last crust of bread h
