: The Alp

um of wolves' restless movements outside. Hazel moved through the corridors like a shadow, trying not to draw attention, trying not to breathe too

e back, shrinking into herself, her hazel eyes scanning the crowd. She coul

und him, every head turning, every whisper fading into silence as his presence fill

t became my responsibility to maintain order and ensure the strengt

his day ever since she realized Asher had

pened. "Hazel Whitney... you w

nsure she had heard correctly. "Your... your

eside in the maids' quarters and attend to my needs at a

. "Asher! Please! This isn't fair! She's been through en

am the Alpha now. I decide what is fair. She disobeyed once. She endange

ightened. "But...

ed coldly. "Including mine. She is the

ed the hard way that protest often led to worse consequenc

d," she whispered

bare-far different from the warm chambers she had shared with Alessia. She arranged her

ss in her eyes, the patience in her hands, the way she treated even the youngest apprent

d, brushing flour off her apron. "You already serve

exhaustion. "I want to help," she said softly. "I ca

Hazel continued to assist the other maids. She scrubbed floors, carried water pails, and stirred massive pots in the kitc

completed. She had been the one to suggest the river trip-the moment that had led to Hazel

whispered to herself, tears pricking at her eyes. "I sh

steady even as her heart quaked inside her chest. She was learning to survive, l

-a shadow of something he could not name-whenever he watched her bow so gracefully under his

self one evening, as Hazel polished his sil

at had driven him to make her his maid, there was something ab

it cost her everything. She could not undo the past, could not save Alpha Zane, but she could

ry act of quiet service, she continued to endure. The palace had turned into a prison, the Luna and Ashe

new one thing with certainty: she would not l