~Caspian’s POV ~
The warmth in her eyes... it was gone. Completely.
She stood in the center of the room barefoot, blood-splattered, her hair wild like a storm cloud. Around her lay the torn bodies of wolves...my wolves.
And she had ended them, just like that. I stared at her, unable to breathe.
How did she get so strong? Is that even Hazel anymore? The questions tore through my chest like claws.
She turned to , slowly. And then she smiled.
It wasn’t her usual smile...the one that lted my heart. No... this was cruel.
"I’ve never felt this good," she said, her voice light and airy, like she was comnting on the weather.
"Maybe those babies being taken away from ... was the right thing, you know?"
My heart dropped. What?
Then she laughed. Hard. She grabbed her stomach like soone had said the funniest thing.
"Hazel..." I stepped forward slowly, cautiously. "What’s wrong with you?"
"Nothing, Caspian," she said, grinning wider now. "It’s . Hazel. I just... can’t feel anything anymore. And it’s wonderful."
I blinked, stunned.
"But you’re...you’re talking like—why would you say sothing like that? About your children?"
She tilted her head, amused. "Say what? That my babies were taken away from ? That maybe it’s for the best?"
I flinched. She took a step toward , barefoot in blood, and I instinctively stepped back.
"Ever since I got pregnant, everyone’s been whispering. Judging. Telling what to do, what not to do, how to act, what to feel. Everyone’s been telling whole lots of stuff."
Her voice cracked on that last word, but she quickly composed herself, wiping her bloodied hand down her arm.
"It’s an abomination, right?" she sneered. "Isn’t that what they said?"
"Hazel—"
"Even Cyrius said it," she cut in, her eyes flashing gold for a brief second. "That I should fear those babies. That they would be the very things that destroy . And maybe... just maybe... he was right."
"No. No, don’t do this," I pleaded. "You don’t an any of this. You’re in pain. You’ve been through too much, Hazel...just let help you. Please."
She turned away from .
"No one can help now," she whispered, and then her voice turned ice-cold. "But I can help myself."
I watched her clench her fists, blood dripping down her fingers like ink.
"My father... I’m going to kill him."
The way she said it...like a promise, a prophecy...sent a chill down my spine.
"I’ll rip him apart for what he did to . For what he made . For torturing all these years, I’ll make him pay." Her chest rose and fell with ragged breaths.
"Hazel..." My voice cracked. "You’re not alone. You don’t have to beco this to get justice. You don’t need to lose yourself to fight them."
She turned back to . The smile had faded. Her face was blank. Empty.
"I already lost myself, Caspian. The mont they took my babies... the old Hazel died."
And then she walked past . My mind was spinning, completely, utterly stunned.
That wasn’t my Hazel. It was her... but it wasn’t
Where once I felt her warmth, her fear, her pain...now there was only power. Raw, unfiltered, terrifying power.
I tried to stand, to run after her, but my legs buckled beneath like snapped twigs. My wrist twisted again with sharp, biting pain as I slamd my head against the ground, growling through gritted teeth.
"Damn it..." I breathed. "What the hell did she do to ?"
She had just thrown across the room. Caspian. Her husband. And she did it like I was nothing.
Bones cracked. Muscles scread. It would take ti for my wolf to heal, but that wasn’t what made my chest tighten. It was her. Hazel.
She had looked at like I was a stranger. No...worse. Like I was sothing in her way.
"What...?" I whispered, struggling to sit up. "Did she just wolf out?" But the full moon isn’t even close.
And Hazel....Hazel wasn’t supposed to have a wolf. She had no scent, no connection to the Moon Goddess, no shifting history.
She was human. Then she beca sothing like a witch fixing the dagger. And now this?
A hybrid? A witch? A werewolf? What the hell is Hazel
This shouldn’t be happening. Hazel shouldn’t be doing this now.
Not now.
Not when we should be looking for those babies.
We had just gotten downstairs and soone sprinted toward us.
"Beta Caspian!" the guard yelled. "The Gilberts... they’ve been murdered." My chest sank hard. Why does the situation keep worsening?
"What?" Hazel....no... Hazel—stopped dead in her tracks and whipped around. Her eyes burned gold, feral.
"Who did that?" Her voice was low, dangerous, coiled like a predator mid-pounce. "No. I was supposed to kill them. I can’t believe soone stole my fun. Who. Did. It?"
Her breath ca out like steam.
The guard hesitated. Then:
"Alpha Cayden. He slaughtered them... including their youngest daughter."
I turned instantly, eyes widening.
Hazel’s face cracked
"What?" she whispered. "Ariel...?" Her tone trembled, not with grief, but fury. "Ariel is dead?"
"Who. did? It."
A new voice echoed from behind us.
"."
We turned imdiately to see who it was and soone entered the high house.
Cayden. Covered in blood. Hands shaking. Eyes unreadable.
"Hazel, I can explain...it was not supposed to be her." She stepped back. Her body twitched. I felt the energy shift.
"You...you killed Ariel?"
"I was trying to kill Natasha...she betrayed us, but Ariel... she stepped in. It...it was a mistake."
But she wasn’t listening.
Her hair lifted on its own, charged with static and sothing otherworldly. Her claws extended...longer than I’d ever seen. Her veins glowed faintly, pulsing with golden light.
Cayden stumbled back. "Caspian..." he said slowly. "That’s not Hazel. That’s not Hazel!"
"I know," I muttered. My heart sank. "I don’t know what’s happening to her."
She let out a low growl, tears pricking from her eyes and she lunged towards Caydrn.
Cayden barely dodged her claws as she sliced through the air like a blade. She moved with him, matched him strike for strike...then grabbed him mid-turn and slamd his body into the ground, the earth cracking beneath the force.
The guards behind stirred, instinctively shifting. "No!" I barked. "Hold your ground!"
"She’s killing Alpha Cayden!" one of them cried.
"I said HOLD!"
Hazel towered over Cayden now. "How dare you," she hissed. "She was not a Gilbert. She wasn’t one of them. Why did you kill her?"
"It was an accident!" Cayden spat, coughing up blood. But she didn’t care.
She moved again....faster than before. Snatched him by the neck and hurled him through the high house wall stone and debris falling like thunder. Dust rose around us like smoke from her.
"Hazel, stop...Please," I begged. "You don’t want him to lose it. You know what Cayden becos when he snaps!"
"I don’t care!" she snarled. "Because I’m going to kill this goddamn Alpha."
"Be ready to crown a new one—because this one’s already dead."
She rushed him again. But this ti, Cayden caught her arms and pinned her against the shattered wall. His eyes bled red.
"I don’t want to hurt you!" he yelled. "Calm down! What is this? Who are you right now?"
Her eyes narrowed. She kneed him in the groin, uppercutted his throat, and spun him like he weighed nothing.
Then she lifted him one-handed by his wrist, bones popping beneath her grip.
Gasps filled the air. No one...no one...had ever bested Cayden in a fight. Not our father.
She let him fall again. His body hit the ground like a sack of stones.
She turned to . "Get that dagger." I froze. "Hazel... what are you doing?"
Her smile curved slowly, dark and delicious.
"You’ll find out soon enough."
Reviews
All reviews (0)