Fated to the Alpha–And His Triplet Brothers
Chapter 66: Demons in her head

Chapter 66: Demons in her head

*~Caspian~*

Hazel’s eyes lit up, and Lilith immediately hid, knowing she shouldn’t be seen. I held Hazel close as she stared around, confused. Her eyes slowly widened as she realized where she was. She looked at the chains on her hands and grunted.

"Really? Is this what you came up with? Chaining me like I’m some damn prisoner?" she said, laughing bitterly, breaking my soul.

"You killed multiple wolves, so you deserve this..." Cayden grunted. Suddenly, Hazel turned to me.

"Caspian, is this really what you want? Hurting me like this? It hurts; the chains are hurting me, Caspian." Tears filled her eyes, and I immediately grabbed the chains, but Cayden pulled me back.

"Don’t! She’s manipulating you," he warned. I shoved Cayden away, and she growled.

"Damn it! Don’t let her get in your head!" he shouted, but I didn’t listen. "Caspian, stop!" Father yelled, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t stand to see her like that. In pain, whether her emotions were on or not, I didn’t care. She was still mine...my Hazel, the love of my life.

Suddenly, I felt someone push me away. I turned to see who it was just as I heard Hazel shriek.

"Lilith!"

I lay on the ground as Lilith stood right in front of Hazel. Hazel’s eyes were wide open, her fingers trembling.

She glanced around at all of us and noticed we weren’t as surprised as she was.

"Who’s this? Cayden? Hazel? Old man? Who is this?" she stammered while Lilith just smiled.

Lilith smiled softly and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"You’re just as beautiful as the day I lost you."

Hazel blinked, confusion twisting her expression. "What?"

Her gaze darted between all of us, then back to Lilith.

"No. No way," she whispered, her eyes widening with realization. "Mother?"

Lilith’s smirk was soft, unsure if it was genuine or just something she had learned to wear. But there was no mistaking the glint of emotion behind her eyes—tears, real ones, slipping down her cheeks.

"You know me," Lilith said quietly. "I guess miracles do happen."

Hazel immediately stumbled back. "No. No way she’s alive. No way."

She turned to me, eyes burning. "Caspian, do something! What the hell is happening?"

Before I could speak, Cayden stepped forward. "Calm down, Hazel. She’s your mother."

Hazel’s voice cracked as she repeated, "My mother?"

She looked around in disbelief. "What is all this?"

Then she burst out laughing. A cold, bitter laugh that didn’t match the occasion, that didn’t belong in this room full of confusion and revelation.

We all fell silent, watching her with uncertainty.

Of course—her emotions were still turned off.

"So what?" Hazel said, shrugging as she paced. "I had a mother. All this time I’ve been suffering, fighting, clawing my way through pain—and I had a mother? A mother who’s still somehow young, looks exactly like me, and just decided to pop in now?"

She scoffed. "Oh, please. Is this some trick? A manipulation? A twisted little illusion to get into my head?"

Then Hazel turned sharply to Lilith. "Wait. Wasn’t it you who shot the arrow earlier?" Her eyes narrowed. "Because I definitely didn’t see that one coming. And if it was you, I have to admit—you’ve got some sharp edges."

I watched her, stunned. She had just met her mother, but there was no joy. No tears. No warmth. Just sharp words and colder laughs.

Lilith wiped her cheeks, catching the tears before they fell again. "Thank you for that. I’ve always been good with arrows."

Hazel’s expression hardened. "So... where have you been?" she spat. "All this time—my entire damn life—where were you?"

Lilith swallowed. "I was protecting you."

Hazel scoffed loudly. "Protecting me? Please. Protecting my foot."

Her voice trembled, but her face remained blank. Empty.

"Do you even know the hell I went through? The nightmares? The pain?"

She exhaled a cold breath, then added, "Well, that hell shaped me. So thank you—for your absence. Because it turned me into this."

Lilith took a cautious step forward. "It wasn’t my choice to leave you."

She reached up, slowly, to tuck Hazel’s hair behind her ear. A mother’s gesture. A soft one.

But Hazel bared her fangs and snapped her teeth in warning. "Don’t you dare touch me with your filthy hands."

Lilith flinched. "Hazel—"

Hazel only laughed again. A sharp, humorless sound. "So I had a mother after all. I can’t even believe it. I’ve spent my whole life thinking I didn’t belong to anyone. That I didn’t have a family."

She paused, looking Lilith dead in the eye.

"And all along, my mother was alive. Out there. Living her life."

"Look," Lilith said, her voice steady but low, "I’m not here for your forgiveness. And I’m definitely not here to suddenly start playing the role of your mother."

She paused, taking a step closer, eyes locked with Hazel’s.

"I’m here for two reasons. One—specifically—to help you get your babies back. And two... to help you turn your emotions back on."

Hazel’s brows lifted. "What?"

"Yes," Lilith said. "Your emotions. Because the longer you keep them turned off, the more despicable things you’ll do. And when—if—you ever turn them back on, you’ll be drowning in the weight of everything you’ve done."

"I know exactly what you’re feeling," she added gently. "It’s easier this way. To be numb. But that numbness? It’s temporary. And when the pain comes back, it will burn through you like fire."

Hazel chuckled—cold and bitter.

"Well, thank God you already made it clear you’re not here to play the role of a mother," she said, her voice mocking. "Because you’re already sounding like one."

She leaned back, her expression unreadable.

"This is the first time I’ve had control. The first time I’ve been free. And you want me to give that up... for what to go back to weak, helpless version of my myself? Impossible She chuckled

Finally I can wake up without thinking

"My father would suddenly show up and leave marks on my body," Hazel said, her voice low, distant. "Just like he’s done every damn year for the past eighteen years of my life."

Her words hung heavy in the air.

"Or my husband—the man who claimed to love me from the moment he laid eyes on me—would suddenly hit me. Joke like his own brother. Look at me with disgust in his eyes. Like I was filth."

Her voice cracked, but her face remained stone.

"Or maybe it’s me," she added. "Standing there, watching them drag my babies away. Watching them scream and cry, reaching for me... and I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t protect them. I was weak. Helpless."

She looked up, eyes empty but voice firm. "This is the first time I’ve ever felt free. The first time I’ve ever woken up and not felt pain."

Her eyes darted to me—and it hit me like a dagger.

She said that. That’s what she’s been carrying all this time.

I haven’t loved her enough.

Not loud enough. Not deep enough. Not in a way that could silence those demons.

What did she mean when she said her husband would look at her like her brother did?

Like she disgusted him?

Haven’t I proved I’m not him? Damn it. It hit me square in the chest.

"You had one job," Nizen, my wolf, growled inside me, snarling with guilt.

I reached for her. "Hazel" But she shoved my hand away. Hard.

"Don’t touch me."

"I know..." I whispered. "I know. But darling" My voice shook. "You have to turn it back on. Please."

"Why?" she said, eyes still void. "I’m not regretting any of it. Because I know what I’m going to do next will finally make sense. I’m going to kill people who actually deserve to die."

Lilith suddenly stepped between us, gripping my hand gently.

"Let me speak with her alone," she said. "Please."

I hesitated.

"She’s not going to turn it on herself," Lilith continued. "She won’t. So we’re going to turn it back on for her."

My heart pounded.

"She needs to feel something. Anything," she said firmly. "It doesn’t matter what—grief, sorrow, anger, love, fear. Emotions don’t need permission to return. They just need a crack in the wall."

I swallowed.

"I can try to show her the past—memories from her childhood. Maybe trigger sorrow," Lilith offered. "You, Caspian... maybe you can show her love."

She turned to me. "And Cayden... he can show her fear. The kind that pulls at the core."

"If she feels anything," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "it will all come rushing back. That dam will break. Her emotions will return. And with Hazel will too."

"But we don’t have enough time," I said sharply. "You said the baby must not stay in the hands of whoever took them for more than twenty-four hours—or there will be danger. We don’t have time to sit here trying to bring Hazel’s emotions back."

I looked over at Hazel, still chained, still blank and detached. My voice softened, but urgency laced every word.

"Let’s go find the babies first. Maybe... maybe even seeing them will trigger her. They’re the damn reason she shut down in the first place."

Lilith’s gaze hardened, but she nodded slowly. "You’re right," she admitted. "But to find those babies, we’ll need more than just brute force or magic. We’ll need her. The mother."

She stepped closer to Hazel, her voice grave. "That child shares a direct link with her—blood, energy, soul. No spell I conjure will be strong enough to trace the child without Hazel’s emotions intact. If her heart is sealed, that connection is severed."

I exhaled, frustrated. "So what are you saying?"

"I’m saying turning on her emotions isn’t just for her. It’s the only way we’ll find that child in time. And Hazel knows it. That’s why she’s resisting. She knows the moment she sees those babies feels again everything will come flooding back. The grief, the guilt, the love. All of it." NovelFire

Lilith turned to me, her voice low but fierce. "If we don’t bring her back now we lose everything."