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 me, her hand carefully tipping a spoon toward my lips, whispering something 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 come back?

Caspian’s grip on my hand tightened as his gaze met mine and his eyes shimmered. No, more than shimmered. 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 me 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 moment.

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

Caspian’s name.

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

back, cupping my cheeks, eyes wide with fierce denial. "No. No,

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

my voice shaking. "I need to see him.

confused. "Hazel... what are

saying that...that he hated me. That he hurt me. But they don’t know. He didn’t. My mother wiped his memory. But before she did... he loved me. Even if it

Panic was crawling its way back

hitched. "I hope I haven’t killed

gently, his

listen to me..your mom will wake up soon. And when she does, we’ll make a plan. We’ll

on to that—just

for

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

say a word. But

was the answer...It was him. He was the one who killed my father.

But Ariel?

staggered up. "No,"

tried to reach for me again, but I shoved

in two steps and grabbed Cayden by the shirt, slamming him back into the

his face. "Why did you kill her?

answer. He didn’t

hard. My hand stung from the force of

expression. No

"She was a child! She didn’t even get to live!

echoed

Monster.

it out loud. And then... it cracked

I stumbled back.

Monster.

now. Bitter. Because suddenly, it wasn’t

Pack members. Innocent people who were just doing their jobs, trying to protect their Alpha. I

knees,

a monster," I whispered. "I’m also

me again, but I

when Cayden finally

what it feels like. When your

up at him through

act without acting. When you carry the pain and the shame and can do nothing about it. That’s

me, and I couldn’t read him.

to disappear from the pain. But me? I’ve always been

turned to Caspian, his voice

to find the babies. And we need to alert

walked

They stayed

frozen, replaying every syllable. Every

about

as a monster that I never saw the war he was fighting

to him but it wasn’t really a whisper to me.

much right now. She’s a paranoid mother who hasn’t even held her own babies..hasn’t fed them, hasn’t

me. The hesitation in them sliced through me. He didn’t want to leave—his whole body screamed to stay. But Aurora tugged at him again. This time, he gave in.