that's all I have

Hazel’s P.O.V.

I wanted to cry aloud all my grievances, the humiliation, and the hurt that Naisha forced on me, but I couldn’t.

I gave myself a few minutes to calm down before I looked up and wiped my face.

My whole body was now feeling back to normal, thanks to Xyla.

I slowly stood up and took a few deep breaths.

“Let’s go, Xyla. This is not the end of the world.” I spoke to Xyla in a firm and determined tone.

“This can be a good start to our life, Hazel. Meeting Keith is the worst thing that can happen to us ever, and I was glad that you rejected her last night. After what he demanded, I will kill him if he comes in front of us like right now, and you won’t be able to stop me.” She growled a few times while venting her anger.

I laughed while walking towards the residential block a few blocks away from the pack house.

My mind was calmer, and so was my heart.

I went home and packed everything that I had.

A few sets of clothes, two shoes, a few necessities, and a few books. This is all I had as my belongings.

After packing everything, I didn’t even look at the place where I spent a whole year.

Well, I was with my mom almost every day.

So, I didn’t have much affection for this place.

I didn’t even lock the door and walked outside the block.

"Mom." I called my mother in a gentle voice when I entered Cody's room in the hospital. He was sitting on his chair doing something on his laptop.

His dark chocolaty eyes met mine, and he passed a tight and nervous smile to me.

"She fell asleep a few minutes ago." He told me, and I nodded while taking a chair across from him.

"Did you get everything?" he asked me curiously when he saw only a small suitcase and a backpack with me.

"Yeah." I replied to him in a tired tone.

I took several minutes to explain everything to him.

"We need to leave now, Cody. Naisha told me to wait for the paperwork at the border station," I told him while messaging Naisha that I am ready to leave and in the hospital with my mother and waiting for the medicine as per her demand.

"Have you any place in your mind where you want to take your mom?" Cody asked me nervously.

"Not yet. I don't know where I will drive after leaving this pack, Cody, but I will let you know." I replied to him tiredly, passing a weak smile to him.

He nodded and took a deep breath.

"What's in your mind, Cody?" I asked him while putting my elbow on the table and resting my chin on my palm.

He chuckled dryly and cleared his throat once again before looking at me with a serious gaze.

"I have a proposal for you, Hazel." He replied to me in a serious tone.

I raised my brows, jerking my chin a little, asking him silently to go on.

“How about we move to my birth pack together?” He looked at me seriously. “But we need to have a fake marriage first.”

I blinked, dumbfounded by what I heard.

Too stunned to process his words.

He looked at me with a serious expression, his brows knitted tightly, but he waited for me to react.

“Don’t change the gears of your mind this furiously, Hazel. Listen to me first.” He suddenly interrupted the train of my thoughts, making me look at him in a daze.

“We both are still unmated, and I am proposing marriage, like humans do. This will bind us legally, and then I can seek help from my father.” He clarified in a serious tone.

My brows immediately touched the hairline when he mentioned help from his father.

“Father? Yo… you never told me about your family, Cody.” I replied to him curiously, leaning forward, putting my hands on the table.

He chuckled, but both I and Xyla noticed a hint of sadness hidden in that chuckle.

“I left the pack because my father wanted me to settle down. I am 27 and still single. My father wants me to take a chosen mate and settle down, but instead, I ran away. I chose to be a free doctor, moving from pack to pack instead.” I was surprised to hear that.

“If I take you to my pack, I assure you that you will not have to be worried about your safety, Mary’s medication and treatment, your job, or anything else.” I believed what he said.

I didn’t know why, but I believed him.

“But.” He sighed and clicked his tongue while jerking his head a little.

My heart thumped against my ribcage, and I looked at him anxiously.

“The only condition for my stay in that pack is that I need to take a chosen mate or a marriage partner. I want to wait for my fated mate, Hazel. Not for long, but for one or two more years. This marriage alliance between us is useful to both of us. I will be able to move back home, and you will get Mary’s proper treatment facility. No Naisha, no Keith, or any other as*hole.” He was convincing, and both I and Xyla believed him without any hesitation.

But marriage alliance…….

"I can claim we're married in front of my father, but we don't actually mark each other or be responsible for each other. We just need to pretend until I find my fated mate or your mother's illness is healed, and you can freely find a new pack."He continued,

“He is right, Hazel. We don’t have a place to go after leaving this pack. Moreover, Keith is like a hanging sword on our neck. Once he finds us again, I am sure that he will lock us somewhere away from everyone, putting Mary’s life in jeopardy.” Xyla spoke in a serious tone.

I took a deep breath, still contemplating and hesitating.

I looked down at my phone in my hand when it vibrated.

I opened the phone, and my heart sank.

[You have only one more hour. Sign the papers and get out of the pack, or else forget about your mother’s medicine; I will personally throw you two in the darkest and deepest cell of the dungeons.]

I felt a shiver running through my spine while reading Naisha’s threat.

She was a psycho.

She can do anything.

“Let’s do this, Cody.” I spoke sternly while looking up, determination evident in my gaze.

He raised his brows in surprise but smiled in the end.

Somehow, I suddenly remembered the stranger in the suite last night. He helped me but didn’t take my innocence, and he had a pair of blue eyes.

That's the only feature I can recall about him.

“Very well, then. Let’s finish the discharge process here. I also need to finish my handover, and then we can then head home.” He suggested, and I nodded in response.

Home.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes. Cody not only provided a solution, but also made me feel like I had a family I could rely on.

I owed him too much...

“Thank you, Cody. Thank you so much for everything that you did for Mom and me. When no one wanted to even look at us,” I voiced my gratitude for him without any hesitation.

In the remaining hours, Cody helped me settle my mother in the car and set all the luggage.

At the pack's border outpost,

Naisha didn't wait a second for me to sign the documents to leave the pack.

I signed immediately without hesitation.

"Where's the medicine you promised?" Naisha tossed the medicine to me; I caught it before the bundle hit the ground.

When Cody announced his intention to leave the pack, Naisha looked astonished.

"You're kidding, Dr. Cody?"

"Hazel is my friend; I'll be wherever she is," Cody said seriously.

Losing such an excellent doctor as Cody is a loss for the pack; I'm sure Keith's parents will blame Naisha when they return.

"Then you and this Omega both get out of my pack!" Naisha didn't try to stop him.

With everything settled, Cody, my mother, and I hit the road.

Most of the day later, we finally arrived at our destination—Stone Shadow Pack.

“Hazel, before we step into this pack, there’s something I must tell you,” Cody said, looking at me with concern. Within this pack, we must always be alert in front of one person.”A chill ran down my spine.

“Who?”

“My half-brother, Alexander Nickelson, Alpha of the Stone Shadow Pack”