~HAZEL~

It was the fourteenth day in the Woods of Abyss. Ashton and I had scoured the forest and rocky streams countless times, yet we still had no luck finding anything edible to sustain ourselves. Since that memorable day by the twisting stream, the tension between us had grown more intense, unspoken words and feelings hanging in the air.

I didn't fully understand how to articulate what was happening to me, but a spirited sensation of heat was burning within my body—a relentless fire ...