Hazel stood frozen in the doorway, staring at the empty space where he’d been, every old fear roaring to life: that she wasn’t enough to make anyone stay, that the Goddess had given her a mate only to watch him walk away like everyone else who’d ever mattered.
Then Joshua’s hesitant voice brushed her mind through the pack link.
'Alpha… we need you in the kitchen. The rogue says he’s hungry. The staff won’t serve him without your permission, and he’s… arguing with everyone. What should we do?'
Relief crashed over her so hard her knees nearly buckled.
“Oh, mother,” she muttered aloud, pressing a hand to her chest as the bond steadied, warm and faintly amused despite itself. She had almost forgotten.
Anthony wasn’t pack-raised, not in the way that taught wolves hierarchy, protocol, the u
