Page 54 of Stalked By the Alphas

53

CARTER

“Knew you’d come here,” I say to Zach as he scampers out of Hazel’s bookshop like the devil is on his tail.

He glances at me, his gaze fearful and almost like he is in shock.

The scent of sex and Hazel’s sweet omega scent cling to him, telling me exactly what transpired inside. Jealousy and anger surges through me.

“What did you do?” I growl, grabbing his arm and yanking him away from the shop front.

Zach’s eyes are wide, his expression dazed. “I... we... Carter, I didn’t mean for it to happen. I just wanted to apologise, to explain?—”

“And you ended up fucking her instead?” I hiss, my grip on his arm tightening. “What happened to respecting her? To giving her space?”

“It just happened. She wanted it. She told me she wanted it. ”

I freeze, processing his words. Hazel wanted it? After everything, after her anger and hurt, she wanted this to happen?

“Tell me everything,” I demand, dragging him towards a nearby alley for privacy. “Every detail, Zach. Now.”

As Zach recounts what happened, my emotions swing from jealousy to anger to confusion, but a spark of hope battles for dominance.

“She called me back,” Zach says, his voice filled with wonder. “I was leaving, and she called me back. We kissed. It was perfect.”

I clench my fists, fighting the urge to punch something. Or someone. “And you just went along with it? After everything we’ve put her through?”

Zach’s expression is distraught. “I should have stopped it. But God, Carter, when she kissed me back, I couldn’t think straight. All I could focus on was Hazel, her scent, her touch.”

I growl low in my throat. “And after? What did she say?”

His face falls. “She said it was a mistake. That it felt too good, too right, that it was how it was supposed to be all along, but that it doesn’t change anything.”

My heart clenches at his words. Of course it doesn’t change anything. How could we expect it to? We violated her trust in the worst way possible. One moment of passion doesn’t erase that.

“Did you grovel to her? Did you appeal to her sweet nature?” I demand .

He nods. “She cares, Carter. But we hurt her so badly. I don’t think all is lost. But we have to make this up to her somehow, even if it takes until the day we die. I’m not walking away. Not now, not ever. Not after that.”

I run a hand through my hair, struggling to process everything Zach has told me. Part of me wants to shake him for being so reckless, for potentially ruining any chance we had of making things right with Hazel. But another part understands all too well the pull of her, the overwhelming need to be close to her.

“We need to tell Noah,” I say finally. “And we need to come up with a plan to keep you and your dick on a leash. We can’t keep ambushing her like this.”

Zach nods, looking sheepish. “I know. I’m sorry, Carter. I needed to see her. I didn’t, even in my wildest dreams, think it would end up the way it did.”

I sigh, my anger deflating. “I get it. But we have to do better. For Hazel’s sake.”

As we walk back to the car, my mind races. Hazel responded to Zach, wanted him even. Does that mean there’s still hope for all of us? Or was it just a moment of weakness on her part? Did she give in to him because of last night on the bridge, or because she truly wants him? How big a part did the omega side she tries to squash play in this? All these questions are bouncing around in my mind, and I don’t know the answers. Only Hazel does. And I can’t go to her to ask her. Not yet. It could ruin everything.

The drive back to the bridge where Zach’s car is still parked up is terse. Zach looks up at the place where he nearly took his life only last night and shakes his head with a grim determination. “She didn’t do it because she felt sorry for me,” he spits out.

“Who said that?”

“You were thinking it.”

“Well, excuse me for having a fleeting thought that for all we know is accurate. We don’t know why Hazel did what she did. You don’t even know, for fuck’s sake.”

Noah’s car screeches to a halt next to my SUV, and he storms out. “What the fuck is this?”

“Nothing,” Zach says. “Just collecting my car.”

“Zach went to see Hazel and fucked her. In her office,” I snap.

Noah’s face would be hilarious if this situation weren’t so dire.

He stares at Zach in disbelief. “You did what?”

Zach shifts uncomfortably under his gaze. “I went to apologise. Things escalated.”

“Escalated?” Noah repeats incredulously. “You fucked her in her office after we explicitly agreed to give her space?”

“It wasn’t planned,” Zach says defensively. “She called me back when I was leaving. She wanted it too, Noah.”

Noah’s eyes narrow as he processes this information. “She wanted it? Are you sure about that, Zach? After everything that’s happened?”

Zach nods emphatically. “Yes. I asked her. Twice. ”

Noah runs a hand through his hair, looking torn between hope and frustration. “This complicates things. A lot.”

“You think, Captain Obvious?” I say sarcastically. “We need to figure out what to do next very fucking carefully. We can’t afford any more impulsive actions.”

Noah sighs heavily. “We have to be smarter about this. Hazel’s feelings are fragile right now. We can’t keep pushing and pulling her in all directions.”

I nod in agreement. “We need a plan. A real one this time, not just vague promises to leave her alone that we can’t seem to keep.”

The three of us fall silent for a moment, each lost in our own thoughts. The situation with Hazel has become even more complicated, if that were possible. Her actions with Zach suggest there might still be hope, but her words afterwards indicate she’s still deeply hurt and conflicted.

“There is only one thing for it,” I state, getting over myself and remembering who I am. I am the prime alpha of this pack, and I don’t struggle to make decisions. “We capitalise on what Zach did. We, Noah, need to go to her on our own with our grovelling apology. If we try to do it together like we have done, it will overwhelm her. She won’t be able to think straight, and maybe she has things she wants to say to us alone that she feels she can’t do with others there.”

Noah nods slowly, considering my words. “We need to approach this individually. Give her space to process each interaction. ”

“Exactly,” I say, feeling more in control now that we have the beginnings of a plan. “We’ll each go to her separately, give her our apologies, our explanations. Let her react however she needs to without the pressure of all of us being there. We will take gifts, something personal to each of us that she will hopefully respond to.”

Zach nods along, but I slap my hand on his chest. “Erm, you had your shot. This is for me and Noah. If we have to do this more than once, which I suspect we will, you have to wait your turn.”

“Okay,” he says quietly, but if I didn’t know better, I swear I saw a smug smile pass over his lips for a millisecond before he removed it.

Arsehole.

“I will go to her tomorrow. I ordered something to be delivered to the house for her before all this went to shit. I’ll pick it up and take it to her after she gets home from the bookshop. No more interactions with her while she is trying to work. It’s not fair on her.”

Noah nods, already plotting what he will do and say to Hazel. He gets back in his car and drives off without another word. I glare at Zach and point to his car. “Get in that and drive back to the hotel. If you stop anywhere on the way, I will rip you a new one. Clear?”

He nods and climbs reluctantly into the car.

I get back in the SUV and wait for him to drive off. Then I set off and tail him. He knows I’m here, but that’s good. It will give him pause if he even thinks about going back to Hazel today .

We all reconvene at the hotel and disappear into our rooms.

After a few minutes, I sneak back out and drive to the Victorian house in Hazel’s village. I’m going to be true to my word, but I want to pick up the package which was thrown over the garden fence.

I pull up in front of the Victorian house, scanning the area to make sure no one sees me. The last thing I need is for word to get back to Hazel that I’m here. Quickly, I hop out of the SUV and make my way to the side gate, letting myself into the back garden.

The package is there, half caught in a hedge. I grab it and tuck it under my arm before heading back to the car.

For half a second, I debate if I should go to her now, but I stick to my own plan. Showing admirable restraint, I set off back to the hotel, nervous about seeing Hazel tomorrow and dreading the twenty-four hour wait until I can set my ego aside and lay my feelings for her on the table once and for all.