Page 43 of Stalked By the Alphas

42

CARTER

Hitting Buy Now on the phone screen, I sit back with a smile. I’m still on the floor beside Hazel’s bed, listening to her steady breathing as she sleeps. My body aches from the fight, and my stab wound throbs and has started to bleed again, but I ignore the pain. All that matters is that Hazel is safe, and she wants me here. Okay, she said to stay with her until she fell asleep, but I didn’t want to leave once I was here.

As night turns to dawn, I replay the events of the day in my mind. The scuffle with the masked man outside, being stabbed and knocked out, the terror of realising Hazel had been taken. The desperate search. The brutal fight to get her back. It all happened quite quickly, considering, but to Hazel, it probably felt like years. What did they do to her while she was with them? We found her naked and tied to a fucking bed.

A soft whimper from the bed pulls me from my fresh surge of rage that makes me wish we could kill those fuckers all over again. Hazel stirs restlessly, caught in the grip of a nightmare. I rise to my knees, hesitating. Should I wake her? Touch her? I’m not sure what she needs.

“No... please... stop,” she mumbles, her voice thick with fear.

I can’t bear to hear her suffering. “Hazel,” I call softly. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

Her eyes fly open, wild with panic. For a moment, she doesn’t seem to recognise me.

“It’s Carter. You’re safe.”

Recognition dawns, and she lets out a choked sob. Without thinking, I gather her into my arms. She clings to me, trembling.

“I’ve got you,” I murmur into her hair, stroking her back soothingly. “You’re safe now. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Hazel burrows closer, her tears dampening my shirt. I hold her tightly, murmuring soft reassurances as she cries. Gradually, her sobs subside into quiet sniffles.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, her voice hoarse.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” I say firmly.

She pulls back slightly, wiping at her eyes. “I got your shirt all wet.”

I chuckle softly. “It’s already bloody, so I think it will survive a few tears.”

Hazel gives me a watery smile, then winces as she shifts position. “Everything hurts,” she admits quietly.

“I’ll get you some painkillers,” I say, starting to rise .

Her hand shoots out, gripping my arm. “Don’t go,” she pleads, fear flashing in her eyes.

“Okay,” I soothe, settling back down. “I’m not going anywhere.”

We sit in silence for a while, Hazel’s breathing slowly evening out. I can tell she’s fighting to stay awake, afraid to fall back asleep and face more nightmares.

“Do you want to talk?” I ask gently.

She shakes her head, then hesitates. “Okay. Tell me something. Anything.”

I nod, thinking for a moment. “Do you remember that time when we were ten, and we snuck into old Mr Peterson’s orchard to steal apples?” I ask, a fond smile tugging at my lips.

Hazel’s eyes soften slightly at the memory. “How could I forget? You got stuck up in that tree, and I had to talk you down.”

I chuckle softly. “That’s right. I was so scared, but you kept me calm. You’ve always been the brave one.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t feel very brave right now.”

“You are,” I insist gently. “You survived something terrible. That takes incredible strength and courage.”

Hazel is quiet for a moment, her fingers absently tracing patterns on my arm. “I keep seeing their faces,” she whispers. “Every time I close my eyes...”

My arms tighten around her instinctively. “They can’t hurt you anymore. They’re gone.”

She nods slowly. “My head knows that, but I’m still scared. They stalked me. They were watching me all this time. I went and had tea with Ayden. He seemed so nice. He defended me against Rob...”

I grimace at the reminder of Rob and then mentally sigh. This is a shitshow. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Hazel was supposed to be ours and none of this was ever meant to happen. “Why did you leave us? Really?”

The question takes her by surprise, and she avoids my gaze, looking down as she picks at the cover. Her sweet scent ripens, showing me she is afraid to tell me.

“You don’t have to be scared, Hazel. I just want to know if we did something wrong.”

Her gaze shoots to mine. “What? No. God, no. It was never about that. I didn’t feel that I was good enough for you. You all had these big, bright futures in front of you, and there was me, an orphan who was slightly paranoid and not good enough for you to be associated with. Your parents hated me?—“

“No, they didn’t?—“

“Yes, they did,” she cuts me off as I did to her. “I heard them talking about me one day, how common I was, and how I would only bring you down. It hurt me at the time, but when I thought about it, I knew they were right. I had this opportunity to come here, to start over, and for all of you to forget about me and live your best lives. The pact we made was stupid. It was never going to happen.”

My heart has practically stopped beating at this confession. My parents have a lot to answer for. I’ve killed for less. Do they get a pass? Well, that fucking depends on if they can admit they fucked up and ruined my life. “There is still time. Your birthday isn’t for another week.”

She glares at me, anger and hurt in her gaze that almost breaks me. “No! Just don’t.” She turns over and curls up, pulling the duvet over her head. “Just go now.”

I want to argue, but I don’t want her to feel worse than she already does. So, I stagger to my feet, and, clutching my phone, I say, “I’ll get you those painkillers.”

“Fuck you,” she mumbles, and I smile. She’s still in there, our feisty, gorgeous omega.

Hazel’s words replay in my mind as I head downstairs to fetch the painkillers. The revelation about my parents’ role in her departure enrages me, but it also fills me with a sense of relief. We can still make this right. It wasn’t us. We didn’t do anything. It was them. I’ve been discontent with my life for a long time now, probably longer than I realise, and this has been the final push to do what I should’ve done years ago. They are dead to me. I’m not going to kill them, however hypocritical that is of me, I just don’t think they are even worth it. Not to mention, it all just has to stop. We have to be better for Hazel. She has been through hell, and we have been a big part of that. It all has to stop so she can heal.

With my epiphany firmly in place, wondering how the fuck I’m going to convince Zach and Noah, in the kitchen, I fill a glass with water and grab some strong painkillers from the cabinet. I’m about to head back upstairs when my phone buzzes.

It’s Noah.

“How is she?” he asks before I can say anything.

“Physically recovering. Emotionally... it’s complicated. There is a lot to unpack, not just about this but about us.”

“Yeah, well, we have some news to discuss.”

“Good or bad?” Dread wells up.

“Wasn’t us who blew up the boat. It actually was an engine overheat.”

My blood runs cold. “What?”

“Exactly what I said,” Noah replies, his tone grim. “I’ve had someone looking into it. The boat explosion really was just an accident. Engine overheated, just like they claimed at the time.”

“This changes things,” I say finally.

“Does it?” Noah asks. “We still stalked her, scared her, messed with her life. We’re not innocent here, Carter.”

Frustrated, I snap, “I know that. But this feels different somehow. We didn’t take her parents from her.”

“No, we just planned to,” Zach’s voice echoes down the phone bitterly.

We’re both quiet for a moment, the weight of our past actions hanging heavily between us.

“I’ve also got news. Hazel overheard my parents talking about her years ago, and that was a big push for her to leave us. They said she wasn’t good enough. It played on thoughts she was already having because we, like utter fuckheads, let our families dictate our lives, our futures to us. No fucking more. I’m done. This all ends here.”

Noah grunts. “Shit. That explains a lot.”

“Yeah,” I agree grimly. “We’ve got a lot to make up for.”

“So what’s the plan?” Zach asks.

“For now, we focus on Hazel’s recovery. She needs time and space to heal. We’ll be here if she needs us, but we don’t push.”

“And after that?” Noah presses.

“We come clean,” I say firmly. “About everything. The stalking, the meds, all of it. She deserves the truth.”

“And if she hates us?” Zach’s voice is quiet and vulnerable.

“Then we respect her wishes,” I say, even as the words rip my soul apart. “This isn’t about us anymore. It’s about what’s best for Hazel.”

There’s a long pause before Noah speaks again. “You’re right. We came to the same conclusion.”

A maudlin silence falls over us, and I hang up, needing to get back to Hazel. I head back upstairs with the painkillers and water. Hazel is still curled up under the covers, but I can tell she’s awake.

“I brought you some painkillers,” I say softly.

She emerges slowly, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy but narrowed in my direction. “I told you to fuck off.” But she holds her hands out for them anyway .

I pass them to her gently and hover until there is a loud rapping on the front door that startles Hazel.

“Who is that?” she whispers.

“Wait here,” I say and take the stairs quickly.

When I open the front door a crack, I see an older woman standing on my doorstep, clutching a handbag that seems to hold everything but the kitchen sink.

I eye it warily as she snaps, “Where is she? I know you’ve got her in here. Don’t make me call the police on you.”