Page 45 of Stalked By the Alphas
44
HAZEL
When I open my eyes later, the sun is high, telling me it’s afternoon now. My stomach growls, and I groan when I turn over, reaching for the water I set down earlier this morning when Mrs Lewis arrived. My fingers hit the glass, and I grip it, forcing myself to a sitting position to gulp it back quickly.
Carter isn’t in the room, but I can hear him moving around downstairs.
Well, I hope it’s him. Last time…
My hands shake and I eye up the bottle of anti-anxiety tablets on the pillow next to cam bear. The sight of them makes me sick and is like a slap to the face with a wet dishcloth. I didn’t need them. This whole time, I didn’t need them. I wasn’t going crazy. It was those two fuckers messing with me. I clench my jaw so tightly that I give myself a headache, allowing myself to remember briefly what the guys did to them before I shove the horror of that under the mental mat .
I wonder where Noah and Zach are. Why haven’t they come to see me yet? Maybe it’s good they haven’t. I need time to think about what to say to them and how to act.
I force myself out of bed and shuffle to the bathroom, I catch sight of myself in the mirror and grimace. My face is pale and drawn, with dark circles under my eyes. The thin line from the knife is visible, and I wonder what Mrs Lewis must’ve thought.
Turning away from my reflection, I use the toilet and then wash my hands and face, trying to feel more human. I brush my teeth, and the minty taste helps to clear some of the fog from my brain.
Back in the bedroom, I rummage through my suitcase for clean clothes. I pull on soft leggings and an oversized tee.
Taking a deep breath, I make my way downstairs. The smell of food hits me as I reach the bottom, and my stomach growls loudly.
Carter looks up from the stove as I enter the kitchen. “Hey,” he says softly. “How are you feeling?”
“Hungry.”
He nods. “I’m making some soup. It should be ready in a few minutes. Do you want tea?”
“Please.”
Carter busies himself, making tea and stirring the soup. I sit and watch him move around the kitchen, feeling out of sorts. It’s strange seeing him in such a domestic setting after everything that’s happened.
He sets a mug of tea in front of me, and I wrap my hands around it gratefully, inhaling the comforting scent.
“Thank you,” I murmur.
He nods and turns back to the stove. We sit in silence as he finishes cooking, the only sounds being the gentle bubbling of the soup and the occasional quiet thud of the wooden spoon against the pot.
Finally, Carter ladles soup into two bowls and brings them to the table, along with some buttered bread. The smell makes my mouth water.
“Eat slowly,” he advises as he sits across from me. “Your stomach might be sensitive after, you know.”
I nod, not needing a rehash of my purge last night and take a cautious spoonful. The warm broth soothes my throat and settles comfortingly in my stomach. We eat in silence for a while, the heaviness of everything unsaid hanging between us.
“Noah and Zach want to see you,” Carter says eventually, his voice careful. “When you’re ready.”
I tense, my spoon freezing halfway to my mouth. “Oh.”
“You don’t have to see them if you’re not ready,” he adds quickly. “They understand if you need more time.”
I lower my spoon, staring into my bowl. “I... I don’t know what to say to them. To any of you, really.”
Carter nods slowly. “I know. There’s a lot we need to talk about. But it doesn’t have to be now.”
I look up at him, studying his face. There’s concern in his eyes, but also something else. Guilt? Fear? I’m not sure.
“After what happened…” I trail off, unable to finish the sentence.
Carter’s expression darkens. “They won’t hurt you or anyone else ever again.”
A chill runs down my spine at his words and the cold fury in his voice. I know I should be horrified, but all I feel is relief.
“I know, but you… them…” I say quietly. “It was…”
“Necessary. We know about your past, Hazel. When you were a child at Leah’s party.”
His words slam into my chest, and I choke on my saliva. “H-how? I never told anyone.”
“You did. You told Noah while you were drunk one night years ago. He kept the secret safe, but all this time, he tried to find out who it was. He eventually received a phone call from Leah, and things became more clear.” He clears his throat and avoids my gaze.
I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. The room spins slightly as I try to process this information. “Noah knew? All this time?”
Carter nods grimly.
“Fuck,” I mutter and look down. “I don’t remember telling him.”
“I know.”
“He had no right to tell you!” I snap, shoving my soup away.
“He didn’t want to. But aren’t you glad that he did?” he snaps back, his alpha side showing when he growls and stands up abruptly.
I shake uncontrollably as his growling affects me. He notices and visibly calms himself. “None of that matters. What’s done is done. Those men will never hurt you again.”
He storms off as if he is the one who has been wronged, and I hear the front door open and slam shut a second later.
He left me.
Panic hits me, and I look around frantically, hoping no one will jump out of the shadows at me.
Moments later, the front door opens again and closes more quietly this time.
“I’m sorry,” he says from the kitchen doorway. “I shouldn’t have yelled, and I definitely shouldn’t have left you.”
“It’s okay,” I stammer.
He sighs sharply. “No, it isn’t, Hazel. I am your protector. I always fucking have been. We all have. But we can’t even seem to do that right.”
“You don’t need to be my protectors,” I say with a frown. “That’s not your job.”
He slams his fist on the counter, making me jump. “Dammit, Hazel! When will you realise that you are ours? When? What do we have to do?”
“What?” I stammer in shock at his outburst.
Carter’s eyes blaze with intensity as he stares at me. “You’re ours, Hazel. Mine, Noah’s, Zach’s. We made a pact, remember? To be together when you turned twenty-five. That pact still stands.”
I gape at him, stunned. “But... but?—”
“No buts,” Carter cuts me off. “The pact is still valid. We’ve been waiting for you all this time. Longer even. Everything we have done has been to ensure you ended up with us!”
My mind reels, trying to process this information. “What is that supposed to mean?” I stand up, needing to be bigger for this conversation. He still looms over me, too tall and twice as wide.
Carter’s jaw clenches as he seems to struggle with what to say next. “We’ve been involved in your life more than you realise,” he admits reluctantly. “Watching over you, making sure you were safe.”
“What?” Anger rises in my chest.
“We never meant to hurt you, Hazel. We just wanted to keep you safe, to make sure you stayed ours, to make sure you came back to us when it was time.”
“By doing what?” Dread wells up in my gut, and my head swims. What is he saying? What have they done?
Carter glares at me. “We have made mistakes. I know that. But everything we did was out of love for you.”
“Love?” I croak. “What are you talking about?”
“We have loved you for as long as we can remember, Hazel. You are ours. No one else’s. No other fucker gets to take you from us.”
I back away, shaking my head as he all but says the words I don’t want to hear. “I’m not yours! I’m not some possession for you to claim.”
“But you are,” Carter insists, his eyes blazing.
“No! This is insane. You are insane! You are no better than them!” I lunge for the doorway, but Carter is too quick.
His hand grabs my arm before I can escape. “Hazel,” he warns.
“Let go of me! You can’t keep me here! I am not your prisoner, and I am not yours!”
Tears are stinging my eyes, making his face blurry. He releases me, and I lurch forward, needing to get out of here. I run upstairs and throw what little belongings I had unpacked back into the suitcase and zip it up. I grab the bear, the pills and my handbag and struggle downstairs with them, my head pounding and my breathing erratic.
Carter is waiting at the bottom. His expression is pained, his body tense but restrained as he watches me struggle down the stairs with my belongings. “Hazel, please,” he says softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Let’s talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I snap, my voice shaking. “You practically admitted to stalking me, to interfering in my life. How is that any different from what those monsters did?”
Carter flinches at the comparison. “We never meant to hurt you,” he insists. “Everything we did was to protect you, to keep you safe. ”
“Safe?” I laugh bitterly. “You call what happened to me safe? You didn’t protect me from anything!”
“We saved you,” Carter argues, his voice rising. “We came for you when those bastards took you. We killed them to keep you safe!”
But I don’t want to hear it. I’m already pushing past him, dragging my suitcase behind me. I fumble with the front door, my hands shaking so badly I can barely turn the handle.
“Hazel, wait!” Carter calls after me. “Please, just let me explain!”
I ignore him, finally managing to wrench the door open. I stumble out into the hot summer day, gulping in the fresh air and slam straight into the other two alphas, which I’ve just learned have ruined my life.