Page 3 of Stalked By the Alphas

2

CARTER

I stare at her through the lens of the spy camera set up in the light shade above her bed. Zooming in slightly, I focus on her face. I sit back in the dark office, only a block away from where she lives, the desk and chair the only items in this house so far. I’ve been here for two days. Two long days without seeing her, but it has to be perfect. It has to be her seeing me first, not the other way around. It is a few weeks from her twenty-fifth birthday, and so far, all threats have been neutralised. The latest one was eager to go running for a grand in cash; some of them were less inclined. But it doesn’t matter. All of them will let her go whether they like it or not. That has always been the way, and until she realises she is meant to be with me, with us, that will be the way it goes. The game has moved onto the next level. Hazel insists on trying to find a mate when she knows this pact deadline is around the corner. She thinks she can back out, but we aren’t going to let her. Never.

I watch as Hazel’s eyelids flutter, her breathing growing shallow and erratic. She thinks she has taken herbal remedies for her anxiety, but she doesn’t know they are laced with something stronger. Taking four within a short space of time has knocked her out completely. She is only meant to be hazy so that she can sleep better. She is agitated and starting to spiral. I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or a bad one.

My fingers twitch with the urge to reach out and smooth the frown lines from her forehead. I touch the screen, stroking it, wishing it was her skin. Soon. Soon, I’ll be able to touch her, to ravage her, to bite her and make her mine.

For now, this will have to do.

My phone buzzes on the desk, breaking my concentration. Noah’s name flashes on the screen.

“What is it?” I answer, my voice low and controlled.

“We have a problem,” Noah’s clinical tone comes through the line. “The latest alpha she was seeing—Rob. He’s not backing off as easily as we thought.”

I lean back in my chair, eyes still fixed on Hazel’s sleeping form. “Explain.”

“He’s outside her house right now with flowers.”

A growl builds in my throat. “That’s unacceptable. We had an agreement.”

I zoom in on Hazel’s face again, watching a stray lock of hair fall across her cheek.

“Want me to handle it? ”

“No, I want to do this myself.”

I hang up and rise out of the chair. Pulling my suit jacket from its back in a fluid motion, I put it on and head to the front door. It won’t take me long to reach Hazel’s cottage.

I stride down the quiet village street, my footsteps echoing on the wet pavement. The rain has eased to a light drizzle, but the wind still whips around me, carrying the scent of petrichor and desperation.

As I round the corner onto Hazel’s street, I spot him immediately, standing under a lamp post, clutching a bouquet of wilting roses. His shoulders are hunched, his hair plastered to his forehead by the rain. Pathetic.

I approach silently, my presence unnoticed until I’m mere feet away. When Rob finally looks up, his eyes widen in recognition and fear.

He takes an involuntary step back. “I was just?—”

“Leaving,” I finish for him, my voice low and dangerous. “We had an agreement, Rob. You were paid to disappear from Hazel’s life.”

He swallows hard. “I know, but I can’t stop thinking about her. There’s something special about Hazel. I made a mistake letting her go.”

My hand shoots out, gripping his throat. I slam him against the lamppost, the flowers falling forgotten to the ground. “Your mistake,” I growl, “was coming back here. Your mistake was thinking you had any right to her.”

Rob’s eyes bulge as he struggles for air. I increase my grip, aware that the neighbours are probably watching this. Dropping my hand suddenly, I straighten my jacket. “Move on. If I see you here or anywhere near her again, I will kill you. Do we understand each other?” The aggressive alpha in me is itching to beat this fucker into the ground before I snap his neck, but that would draw attention to Hazel, and more importantly, it would put me in a precarious position. It doesn’t mean I won’t make good on my threat; it just means it has to be somewhere private, not in the middle of her street, right outside her house.

Rob nods frantically, gasping for air. “I understand. I’m sorry. I won’t come back, I swear.”

I step back, watching as he scrambles away, nearly slipping on the wet pavement in his haste to escape. The roses lie crushed and forgotten on the ground, their petals scattered by the wind.

I turn my gaze to Hazel’s cottage, dark and silent.

Bending down, I pick up the roses and throw them on her doorstep—a less romantic gift for her and more of a scare tactic.

Walking back to my house, I pull out my phone, dialling Noah’s number. He answers on the first ring.

“It’s handled. But I want you to keep tabs on Rob. He has decided he made a mistake letting her go.”

“Understood,” Noah replies.

“Tell Zach he can go in tomorrow after she has gone to the bookshop. I want her spooked enough to start slipping up with this security routine she has going on.”

“You’re giving him free rein?” Noah asks, surprised .

I smirk. “As much fun as that would be. No. Tell him to keep it small. Simple to start with. A little thing here and there that she will notice but wonder if it was her. Subtlety is key. We’re not trying to terrify her, just unsettle her. Make her question her reality.”

I end the call and slip my phone back into my pocket, a satisfied smirk playing on my lips. Everything is falling into place. Hazel’s carefully constructed world is beginning to crumble, just as we planned.

As I reach my temporary residence, I pause at the door, my hand hovering over the handle. The thrill of the hunt courses through my veins, but I force myself to take a steadying breath. Patience, I remind myself. We’ve waited years for this moment. A few more weeks won’t kill us.

Inside, I return to my makeshift office, settling back into the chair in front of the monitor. Hazel hasn’t moved, her chest rising and falling in the steady rhythm of drug-induced sleep. I lean forward, drinking in the sight of her.

“Soon, tiny omega,” I murmur, tracing her face on the screen again. “Soon, you’ll understand that you’ve always belonged to us.”