Fated to the Alpha–And His Triplet Brothers Chapter 79: She’s awake!

**~ Hazel’s POV ~**

"Is she awake?"

"Hazel...?"

Voices. Familiar ones..muffled, cracking through the pounding in my skull like the aftermath of an explosion. Aurora’s silhouette hovered beside , her hand carefully tipping a spoon toward my lips, whispering sothing I couldn’t quite catch.

Caspian’s hands were wrapped around mine, thumbs tracing soothing circles over my knuckles like he was holding onto a lifeline. Or maybe I was his.

My head throbbed. My chest ached.

My breath hitched, and my fingers trembled. I felt it. That pain. That... weight. The cold grip in my chest had loosened.

Wait...was that an emotion?

Did it co back?

Caspian’s grip on my hand tightened as his gaze t mine and his eyes shimred. No, more than shimred. They glowed with tears that clung to the corners, refusing to fall, but threatening with every breath.

"Oh my god," he whispered, a desperate grin cracking through his stunned face. "Hazel... it’s you. You’re back. It worked!"

Before I could even process it, he pulled into his arms like he never wanted to let go again. His hold was warm, trembling, frantic.

Aurora exhaled a breath she must’ve been holding for days. Her shoulders dropped, eyes fluttering closed as if the entire war she’d been carrying eased in one mont.

And then everything ca crashing back.

Like a tidal wave slamming into my soul.

The pain.

The sorrow.

The screams.

The bodies.

The blood.

The hurtful things they said.

The hurtful things I said.

The people I killed

It all ca flooding back and it hurt. Oh god, it hurt so much. My chest heaved. My lungs burned. And then I whispered

Caspian’s na.

"Caspian," I choked, tears now freely falling. "I’m a monster."

He pulled back, cupping my cheeks, eyes wide with fierce denial. "No. No, you’re not. Hazel—stop. You’re not."

"I am! I did those things! I let it take over..I hurt people—I.." my voice broke, breath hitched, and I gasped

"My father," I whispered, my voice shaking. "I need to see him. I need to talk to him."

Caspian blinked, confused. "Hazel... what are you talking about?"

"He didn’t hate ," I said quickly. "Everyone keeps saying that...that he hated . That he hurt . But they don’t know. He didn’t. My mother wiped his mory. But before she did... he loved . Even if it was just for a minute. He loved . He was going to run away with her..but she stopped him. She had to protect . She needed to keep safe. Where is she now? Where’s my mother?"

My voice cracked. Panic was crawling its way back in.

"I hope I haven’t.." My breath hitched. "I hope I haven’t killed her..."

Caspian shook his head gently, his hand reaching for mine.

"No," he said. "No, she’s still alive. She’s just unconscious. Hazel, listen to ..your mom will wake up soon. And when she does, we’ll make a plan. We’ll find your babies. I promise."

I held on to that—just barely.

But then he added, quieter this ti, "As for your father... and Ariel... they’re gone. They’re dead."

My heart stopped. I didn’t even need to ask. My eyes snapped across the room straight to Cayden.

He was silent. Standing still he didn’t say a word. But he didn’t need to.

That silence was the answer...It was him. He was the one who killed my father. Killing my father is still forgivable

But Ariel?

I staggered up. "No," I breathed. "No."

Caspian tried to reach for again, but I shoved him away.

"Leave ."l crossed the room in two steps and grabbed Cayden by the shirt, slamming him back into the wall.

"Why?!" I scread into his face. "Why did you kill her? Why?!"

He didn’t answer. He didn’t even flinch.

Like I wasn’t even there. I slapped him hard. My hand stung from the force of it.

Still... nothing. No expression. No guilt. No pain. Just... emptiness.

"Answer !" I yelled. "She was a child! She didn’t even get to live! Why are you such a monster?!"

The word echoed in the room.

Monster.

I had said it out loud. And then... it cracked sothing deep inside .

I stumbled back.

Monster.

The word tasted different now. Bitter. Because suddenly, it wasn’t just about him.

I had killed too. Wolves. Pack mbers. Innocent people who were just doing their jobs, trying to protect their Alpha. I had blood on my hands.

I dropped to my knees, shaking, my hands trembling.

"I’m a monster," I whispered. "I’m also a monster..."

Caspian reached for again, but I pushed him back.

That’s when Cayden finally spoke.

"You see?" he said, voice quiet and rough. "You’ve always called a monster. All your life, Hazel. But now you know what it feels like. When your actions don’t feel like yours. When you can’t stop it, even though you want to. When you live with the aftermath with the regret."

I looked up at him through blurry tears.

"When you act without acting. When you carry the pain and the sha and can do nothing about it. That’s been my life. That’s been my mind."

He stared at , and I couldn’t read him. Not anger. Not pain. Just... honesty.

"And maybe you had it easy," he added. "You turned your emotions off. You got to disappear from the pain. But ? I’ve always been awake. I’ve always rembered. I’ve always had to live with the things I’ve done."

He turned to Caspian, his voice clipped and cold.

"I’m going to wake Lilith. We need to find the babies. And we need to alert the packs. Lock the borders."

And with that, he walked out—leaving silence in his wake.

But his words didn’t. They stayed behind with .

I sat there, frozen, replaying every syllable. Every sentence.

Had I been wrong about him all this ti?

Had I been so busy labeling him as a monster that I never saw the war he was fighting within himself?

Aurora touched Caspian’s arm gently and whispered sothing to him but it wasn’t really a whisper to . It echoed loud in my ears, like she was saying it to .

"Let’s leave her alone," she said softly. "We should give her space... privacy to breathe and sink into everything. She’s going through too much right now. She’s a paranoid mother who hasn’t even held her own babies..hasn’t fed them, hasn’t touched them. She needs ti. Maybe us hovering is only making it worse."

Caspian turned his eyes toward . The hesitation in them sliced through . He didn’t want to leave—his whole body scread to stay. But Aurora tugged at him again. This ti, he gave in. Quietly. And the door shut behind them with a low click.

And that was it....Silence...Stillness.

Then collapse.

I clung to the bed, hugging the spot where I had given birth. Right here. In this very room. The mory pulsed in my bones like a ghost. And maybe if my babies were here..if I could feel them pressed against my chest, feel their warmth—I wouldn’t be unraveling like this. But they weren’t.

And then it all ca rushing back.

My mother.

I forced her to turn off her emotions. I did that. And now... now she wasn’t going to help us. She couldn’t. She would be an obstacle instead of an ally. The one person who could’ve guided us—blocked. By .

my strongest link to saving them..is now a weapon turned against . Because she, too, has no emotions now. She’ll feel nothing if I beg. She’ll feel nothing if I scream.

Tears burned my eyes, but they didn’t fall. I was beyond crying. Beyond breaking.

The thoughts hit like knives.

I’ll never see my babies again.

I’ll never na them.

I’ll never breastfeed them.

I’ll never watch them grow.

I’ll never hear their first word—which should’ve been my na.

I’ll never see them take their first steps.

Everything would be stolen from . Their first laughs. Their first tantrums. Every milestone. Every mont gone.

@@

And I still don’t know where Cyrius is.

That monster. The one who took them. The one who held my newborns in his arms and vanished into the wind.

But no.

No.

I can’t sit here. I can’t wallow. I can’t let this bed beco my grave.

I can still feel it. That bond. However faint it’s still there. They are still alive. I know it. I feel it.

And I...

I’m the one who turned off my mother’s emotions. I can turn it on back.

But what cold, emotionless Hazel taught was sothing I can’t unlearn.

She taught how to stand up.

She taught how to be powerful. How to look fear in the eye. How to not flinch when the world tried to crush .

And I may have my emotions now... but I am still her. I still have that fire. That darkness. That rage.

The power is still in my veins...I feel it boiling beneath my skin like molten silver.

This is not the ti to crumble. I am not a damsel in distress. I am not a girl who waits to be rescued.

I am a Crescent. A natural-born Crescent.

And I will find my babies. And when I do..I will make every single person who took them pay.