Fated to the Alpha–And His Triplet Brothers

Chapter 3: Devil’s in disguise

Hazel’s POV

I didn’t waste a single second.

The moment Caspian disappeared from sight, I spun around and bolted to my room. My bare feet thudded softly against the wooden floor, and my breath came in shallow gasps. My hand shook as I grabbed the doorknob, and the second I crossed the threshold, I slammed the door shut behind me.

He saw me.

Beta Caspian. The second most powerful man in the Blue Moon pack. The second of the Triplets. The same man who was supposed to mate with my sister.

Saw me—the disgrace. The shame. The bruised, pathetic girl cowering at the top of the stairs in a torn nightgown and a haunted expression.

What if he tells my father?

What if Father storms up here, drags me downstairs by the hair, and finishes what he started whipping me raw right in front of Caspian?

My stomach twisted at the thought. My hands curled tightly around my gown, fingers digging into the fabric until my knuckles turned white. It was a habit I’d formed over the years clutching my dress to ground myself, to stop my body from shaking. A way to stop myself from breaking.

A skill born from survival.

Then I heard it.

An engine. Rumbling outside.

I gasped and ran to the window, heart pounding in my ears. I pushed the curtain aside and peered through the cracked glass.

There he was.

Beta Caspian stood by the car, impossibly tall and devastatingly poised. His driver had already started the engine. Sophia was clinging to him like a leech in silk, and before he could get into the vehicle, she leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek.

My stomach churned.

Ugh. Seriously?

He didn’t flinch or push her away, but he didn’t smile either. Caspian turned to shake hands with my father, expression unreadable. But then... his gaze drifted upward—straight to my window.

And our eyes met. Again.

I froze.

lips curved, not into a smirk of mockery, but into something gentler...

turned and got into the

the window like

the hell... just

He smiled at me?

He smiled at me?!

he looking at me like I was filth? Like every other wolf in this damn

me. Maybe he

burned as the car rolled down the long driveway and disappeared into the distance. I pressed my hand to my

thin bedsheet and yanked it over my head, burying myself in the scratchy fabric as if it could hide the

What’s wrong with me?

clawed at me. But instead of thinking about

Damn it, Hazel.

The door creaked open.

upright and threw the sheet off me in one panicked motion. My father stood in the doorway, tall and silent as a shadow. I shot to

tried to

my greeting and

the man that

once. "Beta

a

ceremony for him and his brother. That’s where they’ll discover

my throat

"The final opportunity to prove you’re a true-born Gilbert. To prove you deserve

love was something that needed to be earned. Like it wasn’t something a father owed his child, but a trophy

nodded again. A mechanical reaction.

if you don’t shift" he

around my throat. He didn’t squeeze, but the threat

you’re human," he hissed, "you didn’t inherit any of my

I’ll kill you myself. And no one

my eyes, but I didn’t sob. I couldn’t. Crying never helped me. I kept my hands locked

to survive

let go, turned, and walked