Fated to the Alpha–And His Triplet Brothers
Chapter 34: Doppelganger

Chapter 34: Doppelganger

~Hazel’s POV~

The dream still clung to me like wet fog... "

"She smirked, it is you who has to pay..." View the correct content at NovelFire

I jolted awake, heart slamming against my chest. A soft gasp escaped my lips as I sat up, breath hitching. For a split second, I didn’t even know where I was. The air was thick. My head buzzed. And then I saw her.

Aurora.

She was standing right beside me, her eyes wide and rimmed with tears, fear etched into every crease of her face.

"Oh my God," she exhaled shakily, pressing a hand to her chest as she leaned in. "Hazel, I was checking your temperature, your pulse—you weren’t breathing. You didn’t even look alive." Her voice cracked. "I thought you were" She shook her head. "No. No, no. What happened? Did you feel anything? Did you see anything?"

"I’m fine," I whispered, though my voice was anything but steady. "It’s just..."

My gaze drifted downward, and there it was.

Crumpled softly in my left hand.

The paper.

The same paper the woman had shoved into my palm before everything went blurry. My entire body shivered like something was on me. I flung it away like it burned.

Aurora turned sharply, following the motion. Her eyes landed on the discarded slip. "What was that?"

"She gave it to me," I said, voice shaking as the words tumbled out. "She said... she said to use it to find her."

"What? Who gave it to you?" Aurora asked, more confused by the second. Her brows furrowed as she stepped closer.

"I don’t know," I whispered, voice barely audible. "But we need to find her."

I reached out, grabbing Aurora’s hand tightly. My grip was frantic, desperate. "You’re a witch, right? You can figure out what’s in that paper. Right? Right?"

Aurora stared at me for a long second before slowly kneeling and retrieving the slip. She squinted, her brows drawing tighter.

"This... this is a hidden location spell," she murmured. "A very old one. A cloaked trail. I can try to find her, but Hazel— Who is she?how do we even know she’s real?"

"She is real," I said firmly. "Please. I need you to help me."

She exhaled, glancing up at me again. "Okay. Start from the beginning. Tell me everything. All over again."

I swallowed thickly and nodded.

"The first time I saw someone like her... it was back at my father’s house," I began, closing my eyes. "I was having a dream—a nightmare, maybe. I was being chased. And the figure chasing me looked like that witch we saw when we escaped the High House. You remember her, right?"

Aurora gave a tense nod. "The one with the long, tattered cloak and eyes like night?"

"Yes. It kept calling me an abomination. Said I was bringing more abomination into the world, disrupting the balance of nature. That night... I heard a baby cry."

I paused. My hands instinctively pressed over my growing stomach.

"I didn’t understand it then. I didn’t even know I was pregnant." My throat tightened. "But now, I do. And this time... the dream was different. She said I’m the abomination. Not my child."

Aurora’s eyes widened as she sat beside me on the bed, the paper clutched in her fingers.

"She gave me that," I said, motioning to the spell. "Told me to find her. Said if I didn’t, I’d be the one to pay. That everything depends on it."

She went still.

"I’ll go tell Caspian and Cayden," she muttered, already moving to rise.

"No!" I grabbed her wrist so fast she gasped. "Don’t tell them. Please. I have a bad feeling. If we tell them... they’ll ruin everything. They’ll scare her off. Or worse."

Her mouth opened in protest, but I shook my head.

"You’re a witch, Aurora. You can do this. You and I—we can go alone. Or you can just tell me where the location leads. I’ll go myself."

"Hazel, what are you saying? Are you hearing yourself?" she snapped, her voice hardening. "You want me to let you go alone to some cursed place, chasing some dream woman, and not tell the two alphas who will literally burn down the world for you?"

"Yes," I said, tears stinging my eyes. "Because they won’t understand. They’ll treat this like a threat. But it’s not. I felt it, Aurora. She wasn’t hurting me. She summoned me. She..."

I paused.

"She said I look like her."

Aurora’s expression changed slow, thoughtful dread.

"Like who?" she asked softly.

"I don’t know. But I need to find out. Something’s wrong with me. Something deep. And I have to know what it is."

Aurora was silent for a moment. Then she stood up and took a deep breath, her fingers tightening around the paper.

"I’ll find the location," she said. "But give me a few minutes.

She gave me a small nod and rushed out of the door.

The silence that followed stretched longer than time itself.

I sank back against the pillows, my hands gripping the sheets. Everything felt like it was slipping through my fingers—my identity, my baby, my sense of safety. But I knew one thing for sure.

My hands moved to cradle my belly, and I whispered under my breath, "I will protect you. No matter what. Not even nature will take you from me."

A sudden creak made me glance at the door.

"Aurora?" I called softly.

But it wasn’t her.

A small figure scurried in, blonde curls bouncing.

"Ariel?"

Her tiny arms flew around me before I could speak. I closed my eyes, taking in the soft floral scent of her hair. Her warmth was grounding. Familiar.

"I heard you’re pregnant!" she squealed, leaning back and placing both hands on my stomach. "You’re carrying a mini hazel! I can’t believe it! I’m going to be Auntie Ariel!"

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. A wet, broken laugh that made my chest ache with relief. She giggled too, clearly proud of her title.

But then her expression changed—more serious, almost excited.

"Hazel," she said, voice dropping to a whisper. "I found something."

"What did you find, baby?"

She pulled something from beneath her dress and handed it to me—a worn, old photograph. My breath caught in my throat as I took it.

It was a woman.

Beautiful, regal. Long waves of dark hair. Sharp eyes. The resemblance was so uncanny I felt dizzy.

"She looks just like you," Ariel whispered.

My hands trembled.

I stared at the photo, at this mystery woman... and suddenly, I wasn’t so sure the dream had been a dream at all.