Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Everything Has Gone to Shit
Third POV
Her words fell on deaf ears. Asher kept dialing, his thumb pressing the redial button over and over like a man possessed.
Hazel’s chest heaved with each angry breath. She watched him ignore her completely, his entire focus on that damn phone.
“You need to stop treating Estelle like she’s the Moon Goddess herself!” Hazel’s voice cracked with frustration. “We don’t need her, Asher! Get it in your head! She abandoned us! She abandoned Moonveil!”
Still no response from Asher. The phone rang and rang before going to voicemail again.
Hazel’s hands trembled with rage. “When will you wake up and realize that she’s gone? She isn’t coming back! Estelle isn’t the woman you think she is anymore!”
She stepped closer, her green eyes blazing. “She’s not that kind, subservient woman who lets you walk all over her anymore. She’s changed, Asher. She can’t be controlled anymore.”
The words poured out of her like a dam bursting. Years of jealousy and resentment came flooding to the surface.
“Right now, all you have is me!” Hazel slammed her palm against his desk. “I’m enough! I can manage Moonveil just as well as she could. Maybe even better!”
That finally got Asher’s attention. His head snapped up, his eyes wild and unfocused.
“Like hell you can!” he roared, jumping to his feet. The chair scraped against the floor behind him. “Look around us, Hazel! Everything has gone to shit!”
His arm swept across his desk, sending papers and files flying. A coffee mug shattered against the wall.
“The pack is falling apart!” Asher continued, his voice breaking. “Members are leaving! Our allies are cutting ties! The finances are a mess! Even Finn has been sick ever since Estelle left! This has never happened before!”
Hazel jumped back as he threw more items across the room. A picture frame cracked as it landed on the floor, and books scattered everywhere.
“And you think you can fix all of this?” Asher laughed bitterly. “You can’t even handle basic pack administration without Nigel’s help!”
The cruel words hit their mark. Hazel’s face went pale.
“Damn it!”
Hazel watched him spiral deeper into desperation. Part of her felt vindicated seeing him suffer, but a larger part felt scared.
“Asher, please,” she tried again, her voice softer now. “Just calm down. We can figure this out together.”
“Together?” Asher’s laugh was hollow. “There is no together without Estelle. Don’t you get it? She was the backbone of this pack. She handled everything so much more efficiently than you ever will.”
His confession stung. Hazel had always suspected as much, but hearing it out loud was different.
Hazel felt a chill run down her spine. She had never seen Asher look so broken. For the longest time, he always had everything in control. He fooled his family, Estelle, and the rest of the pack, just to get what he wanted. Everything had always been in the palm of his hand.
Now, he looked like a fool lost in the woods.
“How is this possible?” Asher stumbled backward, collapsing into his chair. “How did everything fall apart so quickly?”
Hazel remained silent. She knew the answer, but saying it would only make things worse.
Asher continued calling from different phones in his office. Eventually, he even tried calling from the pack house’s main number. But even that seemed to be blocked.
“She’s really gone,” Asher whispered, staring at the phone in disbelief.
The realization hit him like a physical blow. His chest tightened and his breathing became shallow.
Hazel couldn’t take it anymore. Watching the man she loved fall apart over another woman was torture.
“Pull yourself together!” she snapped, moving toward him.
Asher didn’t respond. He just sat there, staring at nothing.
“Asher!” Hazel raised her voice. “You’re the Alpha of this pack! Start acting like it!”
Still nothing.
That’s when Hazel lost it completely. Her hand flew through the air, connecting with Asher’s cheek in a sharp slap.
The sound echoed through the destroyed office.
Asher froze, his head turned from the impact. A red mark bloomed across his face.
“I said pull yourself together!” Hazel’s chest heaved with emotion. “This isn’t helping anyone!”
Slowly, Asher turned to look at her. His green eyes were unfocused, like he was seeing her for the first time.
Then he staggered backward, falling heavily into his chair. His hands came up to cover his face.
“She found someone else,” he mumbled through his fingers, his voice barely audible. “That voice on the phone... it was her fated mate, wasn’t it? It has to be Logan or Jude.”
“What voice on the phone?” Hazel asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
How could Estelle find another man so quickly? For years, Estelle had always been a devoted and loyal woman. She was a fool in love, and dedicated her life to Asher, his family, and Moonveil.
As far as Hazel knew, this wasn’t the first time Estelle had been snubbed by Asher. All the other times, Estelle always found some sort of excuse to placate herself so that they could return to how they were as a happy little family. In Estelle’s eyes, Asher could do no wrong.
In such a case, it was impossible for Estelle to fall in love with another man so quickly.
Then, she recalled what she had said to Asher, Jessie, and Ashley earlier about seeing Estelle at the event with the leaders of the Tidal Valley Pack.
Her mind raced. Fated mates would make things different. If Estelle really had found her fated mate, especially someone as powerful as Alpha Jude or Beta Logan, then she would never come back to Moonveil.
The bond between fated mates was different, much more powerful than that between normal attraction or even a completed bond between chosen mates. That was the whole reason why Asher had always sided with Hazel throughout his fake marriage with Estelle, whether Estelle knew it or not.
At first, the thought of Estelle never coming back to Moonveil, and by extension, her and Asher’s lives, should have made Hazel happy. It’s what she had wanted for years.
But seeing Asher’s reaction made her rethink.
“She wanted to be Luna...” Asher continued to mutter to himself, trailing off. “Yes... Maybe if I announced her as the proper Luna of the pack, she would come back... Yes...”
Panic crept up Hazel’s throat. She had to do something before Asher handed the position of Luna over to Estelle.
“Maybe I was wrong,” she said quickly, the words tumbling out before she could stop them. “Maybe this is just a ploy for you to contact her first and beg her to come back. She’s just toying with you!”
