CHAPTER 16

HAZEL

My head pounded, and my eyes throbbed. My body felt like it had been crushed under a heavy weight. Groaning, I forced my eyelids open, relieved to find myself in human form and resting on a comfortable bed.

My vision was blurry, and the room was dimly lit. I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through my body, forcing me back down. A soft sigh escaped my lips as I tried to recall what had happened.

'How did I even get up here?'

I snapped my eyes open again, heart pounding. 

Someone was sitting beside me. Disorientation washed over me as I realised I was in a strange bedroom from the one I could recognize from the Alphas private den.

The man beside me stared at me, his gaze piercing through me as I jolted upright, pulling away. He was one of the Alpha's, dishevelled as if he'd just risen from a tumultuous sleep. His eyes, an almost ethereal hue, were so pale they seemed to shimmer. If not for my heightened vision, I might have mistaken them for orbs of pure white until his eyelids fluttered.

‘Damn. Check out Mate! He’s hot! Look at those strong arms.’ I mentally rolled my eyes at my wolf’s drooling. She was pretty much rolling around and purring while I maintained eye contact with my mate. 

I remember him but not his name,

He had saved me,

Made me shift.

I stared at his beautiful eyes-with few black specks in them–and silky black hair that he brushed to the side. I could almost feel how soft his hair was. He was basically breathtakingly handsome. On top of all that, as my wolf so graciously pointed out, he had a very masculine arms underneath his navy green hoodie. 

‘hoodies,’ My weakness. There was something about guys who put on one, they were always sexy and attractive. 

“Drink,” he demanded, his voice low and urgent. He thrust the glass into my trembling hands. I stared at the cool liquid, my mind racing, unable to bring myself to take a sip.

“Please,” he repeated, and for some unknown reasons I didn't like the idea of upsetting him, so I quickly just obeyed, bringing the glass to my lips. The icy liquid poured into my mouth, which was so dry that I gulped the remnant down before nearly choking on it. 

“Slow, not so fast,” he growled, his grip a little possessive. My breath caught as his fingers brushed mine, sending a spark of desire through me. 

He lifted the cup, his eyes darkening with want ‘perhaps I was the only one seeing the desire’. I drank the remnant of the liquid forgetting the intensity of the moment.

A thought formed on his lips, but before he could utter it, the door creaked open. Our heads snapped towards the interruption.

“Sparrow,” Thea called, his voice a low rumble that halted him in his tracks.

Thea leaned against the door frame. I quickly averted my gaze from him, back to the man beside me. Recognition dawned, and I knew exactly who he was.

“You’re Sparrow?” I breathed, my voice barely a whisper. 

His gaze snapped back to me, intense and unwavering. A moment of silence stretched between us, his hand outstretched, a silent threat or a peace offering? It was one that I couldn’t tell. Before I could react, Thea's voice cut through the tension, pulling me back from the brink.

“Sparrow, Thaddeus wants to speak with you,” Thea said while pushing off the doorframe. Sparrow dropped his hands instantly and sighed. 

"Why?" he questioned, his head turning slowly to meet Thea's gaze. His voice, a low rumble, carried a certain warmth that was unexpected.

"You know why," Thea said to him, his voice softer as he turned to Sparrow. "Don't keep him waiting. You know he hates it." Sparrow's shoulders slumped as he rose from the bed. Oddly, I didn't want him to go. He was the only one to whom I felt indebted, ‘if that made any sense.’

Yet as he moved around the edge of the bed and towards the door, I noticed that Thea would not follow him. Instead he walked inside the room. 

"Do me a favour... close the door." Thea's voice, low and menacing, sent a shiver down my spine. I hesitated, a flicker of fear igniting within me. I looked up at Sparrow, his eyes filled with a strange sorrow, he nodded solemnly before shutting the door with a finality that chilled me to the bone.

‘shit’ I couldn't help but wish I was still trapped in my wolf body. 

'Not mate,'  my wolf purred in my head while looking away.

Thea stepped slowly around the edge of the bed, and moved to the other side, and I on the other hand was getting ready to run if I needed to. 

He chuckled, a mirthless sound that seemed to mock my fear. He paused by the mirror, its surface reflecting his smug expression.

"Stay put, Hazel Soni Tarrant. Don't test me; it will only bring you suffering," Thea warned, his gentle tone toward Sparrow replaced by a harsh, chilling one. I paused, my foot hovering over the red carpet. He glanced away, and I quickly retreated, pulling my legs back under the covers.

The door creaked open once more, revealing the remaining two Alphas. Thaddeus, the most imposing of the trio, exuded an aura of raw power. Sparrow, the second to enter, seemed to possess a possessive glint in his eye, a silent warning to all who dared approach. Their mere presence was a force to be reckoned with; Thaddeus and Thea commanded attention with a single glance, while Sparrow's icy gaze could have turned a man to stone.

“both of our mate, they are here.” My wolf purred in my head in excitement. 

How did this even work exactly? Having two mates had never been something I thought would ever occur to me. Was I supposed to wait until they said something? Should I perhaps introduce myself to them. What if they thought I was creepy?

‘just shut up and kiss them both.’ My wolf said. 

Fuck, if I did that. They would definitely think that I was a creepy person.

My wolf snorted and shook her fur out. ‘Atleast, I have an idea of what to do. Do you have any, Soni.” 

Thaddeus folded his arms across his chest, glaring down at me, and I dropped my gaze, unable to handle the intensity: it burned into me with a hatred that made my stomach twist. 

The three of them just stared at me while I did my best to avoid their stares. 

“Nothing to say, Hazelnut?” Thaddeus asked teasingly. Fuck, what could I possibly say to this people? What excuse would be accepted that was good enough to convince them that I had been falsely accused of a crime I didn't even commit. 

How can I possibly convey the depths of humiliation, betrayal, and rejection I endured? Thaddeus's sudden, sinister presence sent chills down my spine. His demonic eyes, filled with a darkness I'd never seen before, bore into mine as his fingers clamped down on my face. The carefree facade he'd worn during my helpless transformation had shattered, revealing a monster I never knew existed.

He was the devil

He was evil incarnate. 

He was beastly. 

“I asked you a damn question, you need to start speaking before the horny wolves began to scent and crave you more.” he said, his voice now deadly calm when he shoved my face away. I rubbed my cheek when his nails dug in a little too hard, breaking the skin. 

‘Crave me?  Why would they?’ I think.

He watched my face for a second, and I swallowed as his eyes ran down my body and to my lap, making me shift uncomfortably. He growled; the noise gave me goosebumps as he lowered over me. 

“Your garments have been prepared for the welcome party. It's the brute wolf's night, pray the Goddess is appeased, or you shall suffer the ultimate fate of getting your head chopped off,” he declared, a sinister smile playing on his lips.

"Being our 'Mate' doesn't guarantee your safety, little wolf. When we are hungry and need to devour, you're the meal to prey on.” Thea said with a chuckle. 

He whirled and exited, the Alphas trailing behind. The door clicked shut, leaving me alone with their captive.

I ran to the bathroom and vomited. 

I panted, wiping my mouth as my thoughts raced. I couldn't stick around here. No, I wouldn't even stick around here. I had been obedient my entire life, putting the pack before myself at nearly every turn , and this was what I was getting in return? Being shoved into the enemy den with Alphas who only wanted me as their plaything, how could I be in the same place with Alphas who killed dozens of people without thinking. 

I took a deep breath, shaking breath and forced myself to calm down. I wasn't going to let myself reach tonight here. I was going to take my life into my own hands for once. I wasn't about to get pawed off by these alphas. It was ti

me I did something for myself. 

I would have to leave this place, I couldn't stay here. But I had to worry about that later. The first thing I would have to do is get the hell out of this room.

I needed a good plan.