*~ Cyrius’s POV ~*
Hazel’s scent wasn’t everywhere...but it was enough.
Faint traces danced on the wind, almost deliberate, like someone had dragged it through the underbrush with a purpose. I knew what that meant. I could feel it. If Cayden and the others were tracking her and they were, no doubt..they wouldn’t need much. Not in this forest. The odds of them coming here alone were low, but not nothing.
And tonight... they’d be everything.
That’s why I hadn’t slept. My nerves were fraying. I’d waited for her to settle, for the babies to grow heavy in their sleep, for that brief illusion of peace. But it never came.
Hazel had said she caught her hand while slicing the deer meat earlier—but I didn’t smell it. Not then.
Only now, hours later, her scent had spread she did something and she had done it on purpose.
She had spread her scent through the woods. Probably while I was sleeping . Clever little traitor.
My heart began to race. Something primal stirred in my chest..panic, rage, the overwhelming instinct to flee before it was too late. I clenched my fists tightly at my sides, grounding myself, but it was no use.
Then I heard it. Faint movement. Leaves crunching. A shift of weight, somewhere deep in the trees.
They were here.. I knew it.
I stood quickly and turned toward Hazel and the babies, still curled in the corner of the hut. I knelt beside her, shaking her gently. "Hazel. Hazel...wake up. They’re here. We have to move. Now."
She startled awake with a gasp and nearly screamed, but I clamped my hand over her mouth before the sound escaped.
"Shhh," I hissed, voice low but sharp. "You did this, didn’t you? You spread your scent. Thought you were clever?"
She didn’t answer, but the flicker of guilt in her eyes told me everything.
My jaw tightened. "Don’t worry. I’ll punish you for that. Thoroughly. But not here. First, we run."
I reached down and scooped up the twins..still asleep, thank the gods. How I was going to escape with a rebellious woman and two fragile, whimpering newborns, I had no idea. But I still had a sliver of time. A sliver of control.
And I’d use it.
I turned back to Hazel, gripping her chin and lifting her face to mine. Our eyes locked. "You will do exactly as I say," I whispered, letting the command bleed into my voice, into her mind. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
Her pupils flickered. "You’re doing it again," she breathed. "You’re compelling me."
"Yes," I replied coldly. "Because your will does not align with mine. So I’m shifting yours where I need it to go."
She didn’t resist, she stood up and without another word, she began to follow.
We moved quickly, silently, deeper into the woods until a flash of movement caught my eye..a carriage half-hidden between trees, one horse still standing while the other lay lifeless on the ground.
Perfect...It wouldn’t get us far, but it would be enough to start.
I turned toward Hazel again, still under my control, still following my command.
But something twisted inside me—aHow dare she try to outsmart me? I need to teach her a lesson so she wouldn’t do it next time.


VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Fated to the Alpha–And His Triplet Brothers