53

53

Mason's POV

The room buzzed with conversation, laughter, and the kind of light chatter that always fills a pack gathering. A normal evening in my territory. But none of that reached me. Not with my focus locked on Bethany across the room, where she was seated next to Adrian. Her back was straight, her posture relaxed in that familiar way, her eyes catching his as they exchanged words. And then she laughed. A laugh that wasn't forced, not the kind she'd given me for weeks now. This one was real. Genuine. It reached her eyes and for a split second, I saw the Bethany I once knew. The one I had been able to pull into my world where it was just the two of us.

I felt my jaw tighten, a slow burn building in my chest. I didn't want to see it. I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to feel it, that stab of jealousy that always seemed to rear its ugly head whenever I saw Adrian so effortlessly sliding into her space, making her smile the way I used to.