Rejected and Pregnant I Fled The Pack novel Chapter 78

Chapter 78

+15 Bonus

Chapter 78

“That’s generous,” she said quietly. “More generous than I probably deserve.”

“Maybe,” I admitted. “But you’re also the mother of an infant who needs you well enough to actually raise her eventually. Whatever judgment I might still carry about everything that happened, that doesn’t change what Hazel actually needs from both of us going forward.”

She nodded slowly, processing that, something like genuine resolve settling into her exhausted expression for the first time since I’d arrived.

“I’m going to actually try,” she said. “Properly, this time. Not just going through the motions, but actually doing the work the doctors are asking of me.”

“Good,” I said. “That’s exactly what Hazel needs from you.”

I stayed a while longer, until visiting hours ended and the staff gently indicated it was time for me to leave, and made the drive back toward pack lands with the evening fully dark around me, processing everything-Marissa’s fragile but genuine resolve, the possibility of transfer to somewhere closer, and underneath all of it, that same grateful, humbled awareness of exactly how much Evelyn’s grace had mattered tonight, extending compassion to a woman who’d caused her genuine, lasting harm.

I found Evelyn still awake when I returned, curled in the armchair with a book she wasn’t really reading, clearly waiting up despite the late hour.

“How is she,” Evelyn asked, setting the book aside as I settled onto the couch across from her.

“Stable, for now. The doctors are looking into transferring her somewhere closer, actually, so she can stay more connected to Hazel during treatment.” I rubbed a hand over my tired face. “She asked about it herself, actually. Said she felt like she was disappearing out there, completely disconnected from everything that matters.”

“That makes sense,” Evelyn said quietly. “Isolation rarely helps healing, in my experience.”

Something in the simple honesty of that statement settled heavy in my chest, thinking of everything she’d survived entirely alone before any of this reconciliation became possible. “Thank you,” I said, “for tonight. For how you handled her showing up here, unannounced and clearly unwell. You didn’t have to be that generous, Evelyn. Not after everything she did to you.”

“She needed help, not judgment,” Evelyn said simply, echoing what she’d told me earlier through the phone. “I meant that. Whatever happened between us, I’m not going to pretend I didn’t see someone genuinely struggling tonight.”

I crossed the room, sitting on the arm of her chair, reaching to gently brush a strand of hair back from her face. ” You’re extraordinary, you know that? After everything you’ve survived, everything I put you through, you still found room for genuine compassion toward someone who hurt you badly.”

“I’m not a saint,” she said, something wry entering her tired voice. “I still feel complicated about her, Damon. Old hurt doesn’t just disappear because I helped her through a panic attack. But tonight wasn’t about resolving all of that. It was just about someone needing help in an immediate crisis.”

“Still,” I said quietly. “I don’t think I deserve you. I keep thinking that, watching how you handle everything-my father, Marissa, all of it-with more grace than I probably would have managed in your position.”

“You’re doing better than you give yourself credit for,” she said, reaching up to take my hand where it rested near her face. “You went with her tonight. You’re helping arrange better treatment. You’re not the same man who told me I should have expected what he did eight months ago.”

+15 Bhus

I sat with that, grateful for the reminder, for her steady, patient willingness to actually see the changes rather than simply holding me permanently to who I’d been in my worst moment.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify