CHAPTER 23

HAZEL

"Bonjour, mon amour," Thea greeted, a wide grin spreading across his face as he walked into the room and presented a bouquet of forget-me-nots.

I smiled, returning the greeting. "Salut, ça va?"

He raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Wait, you know French?"

"It was an elective in high school," I explained. "Pretty much everyone knows a bit."

He nodded, understanding dawning on him. "Well, these are for you," he said, offering the flowers.

I took them, my smile widening before sniffing them. "Thank you, Thea. They're beautiful, and they smell very nice.”

Before Thea could say anything, there was a knock on the door, and I directed my attention to see Peter. He gave me a small smile. “Thea told me what had happened and I thought to come see you, nice to see you alive.”

“It’s nice to see you again, Peter,” I said with a forced smile, rolling my eyes playfully. He moved to stand beside Thea and handed me a chocolate bar, a peace offering, I supposed.

“My mom swears by chocolate,” he mumbled, his cheeks tinged with a blush. “She says it’s the elixir of life, the cure-all for everything from a bad day to a broken heart.”

I nodded in approval, "She's absolutely right. I'm a total chocoholic. It's like a drug – once you start, it's hard to stop."

He rolled his eyes at my choice of words and leaned back against the wall. I studied the two of them in amusement. 

It was funny how Thaddeus, Sparrow, and Thea were all best friends but had completely different personalities, they were as different as night and day. Thaddeus was the more uptight and serious one with a very annoying attitude, while Sparrow was the one who didn't really show a lot of affection but he is the cool one among them. Thea, on the other hand, was my favourite– the life of the party. He was sweet, funny, kind, basically anything a girl could want in a mate. 

He had explained to me why he had rejected the mating bond. "My wolf," he had said, his voice low, "felt you weren't his true mate. He sensed a disconnection, a missing piece in our bond." His eyes, usually so vibrant, were now clouded with a sadness I'd never seen before. "It wasn't a conscious decision, but rather an instinctual one. His primal nature recognized a truth that my human mind couldn't fully comprehend."

“So, how are you feeling?” Thea asked, snapping me out from my observations.

I shrugged, “I just have this crazy pain like someone ran me over. I feel like my bones don't even exist.”

He winced and shook his head sadly,

“Sparrow or Thaddeus should have stayed with you, and none of this would have happened if they had.”

“Where are they anyway?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Were they planning on avoiding me for the rest of their life?

“Sparrow is away for a business trip and Thaddeus. He’s…busy?” Thea tried to explain, but his explanation came out as a question instead.

Peter rolled his eyes. “What Thea meant to say is that he is busy dealing with some pack stuff. Somehow, everyone found out about you. Thaddeus' parents are apparently even planning to come down here just to meet you.”

I stared at the wall blankly, trying to ignore my wolf’s quiet whimpers. 

“Hazel, what are you thinking about?” Thea asked, looking slightly worried. 

I looked at him with the most serious look on my face, all amusement aside. “I’m thinking about whether I should reject both Thaddeus and Sparrow on the next full moon day.”

“What?” Peter and Thea gaped at me as if I had said something terrible, which it kind of was. 

Rejections from females were really rare, and they only happened if the mate was abusive or couldn't accept the bond. Unfortunately, they looked down no matter what the circumstances were. Most rejection happens on full moon day because that’s when the moon goddess would continue the process of pairing mate together. If she felt the wolf deserved a second chance mate, she would find them a new mate that day. 

It was almost like a free matchmaking deal.

“You can't do that. What about the pack? We need an Omega with the Alphas.” Peter snapped. 

I narrowed my eyes. “But they are all ignoring me because of the pack. They want me to prove that I’m worth being a mate before they can accept me.”

“Then do it.”

My face contorted with anger, “I shouldn't have to prove myself to anyone. I am who I am and I can only continue to improve. I know that I'm not perfect, Thea, but they expect me to be all that when Thaddeus in particular isn't all that himself. It totally makes no sense whatsoever.”

“You have to understand where they are coming from. Hazel. They all have gone through one heartbreak or the other and they don't want to repeat such mistakes all over again and claiming you means you have to stand with the pack as their Luna.” Peter protested. 

“See, they don't even have faith in me. They think  I wouldn't be a good mate and that I could be the downfall of the pack which is actually baffling because I wasn't good enough to be a Luna, I have had a rough fate and I don't know why the fuck the moon Goddess' would give me the blessing by putting us together?”

“Blessing?” Thea asked incredulously. 

‘Crap.’ I perhaps said too much. 

I gave him a pointed look, “out of everything I said, the only thing you got out of that was the word ‘blessing’?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What's the blessing?”

I shook my head, “That's a topic for another day. We were talking about the reason why I could reject both of my mates.”

“Which you shouldn't.” Peter added. 

I glared at the two of them. 

How could they be on their side? Did they not see what they have been putting me through? I was unconscious for good three fucking days because they couldn't suck it up and put their big boy pants on. 

Peter sighed and sat on the bed before my feet. “Hazel, I know things have been completely unfair for you. From when your pack and father betrayed you but hear me out. Thaddeus and Sparrow are good guys.”

“Maybe Sparrow but not Thaddeus.” I murmured.

“Thaddeus is a good guy. He has just had a hard time since he lost his first mate, his father had forced him to take over as Alpha even if he didn't seem interested.” 

I stared at him curiously- his sudden idea to tell stories piqued my interest wholly. 

“Few years back, Thaddeus dad was injured by a silver blade that has refused to heal. The silver blade had narrowly missed his heart and brushed his shoulder arm instead. The doctors managed to help him before it killed him, they decided to cut off his arm, as a result of that, the doctor said that his father couldn't stress himself so much or stress could potentially kill him if he panicked at any point. 

The thought of having a silver knife, sword or bullet touched me. Those were very dangerous weapons on Wolves. Thaddeus' dad must have really been a strong wolf.

“So his father decided to step down and pass the Alpha title on. However, Thaddeus didn't want the title and he was not ready to have it anyway. So his father temporarily passed it on to his most trusted wolf named Jamal.”

Thea took over, giving Peter a break. "Jamal, a good wolf and Alpha, was beloved by the pack in general. But everything changed when he met his rogue mate, Winner.”

A shiver ran down my spine as Thea's voice, laced with dread, hinted at the havoc the rogue had wrought.

“At first, everything was great. Winner was a pretty good and charming Luna and no one suspected anything of her. After all, rogues joining packs after finding their mates was normal. But, on the day of their wedding, during the reception, almost every wolf got drunk except for some of the pack warriors and older wolves. It was the worst timing ever.”

Thea looked at the blanket with a hard look in his eyes and spoke through gritted teeth. "Winner's parents had long harboured resentment towards the Shadow Moon Pack, and this was her twisted revenge. She'd rallied an army of rogue wolves to strike at our very heart.”

My eyes widened in shock. I was not expecting that of all things.

"Hazel," Peter's voice was heavy with grief, "Three hundred and four of our pack member were lost that day. Jamal, Winner, and Thaddeus's mate—all gone. A day meant to celebrate love turned into a day of mourning for hundreds of broken hearts.”

A wave of horror washed over me as I contemplated the loss suffered by the pack. I couldn't fathom the depths of their grief, the emptiness that must have consumed them after such a devastating blow.

"Thaddeus torments himself, Hazel. Haunted by the 'what ifs,' he wonders if he could have seized the pack leadership when his father offered, averting this catastrophe.”

“But he wasn't ready. It isn't his fault,” I said quietly, still trying to process all this new information.

"While that may be the truth, it doesn't deter his belief. His hesitation stems largely from fear and the lingering love for his first mate. He worries that the Moon Goddess is trying to replace her with you, a fear exacerbated by the perceived animosity of your pack, who blame him for their Alpha's daughter's death.”

I frowned. “I can understand his fear, but he has to think about this more logically. But I'm not a spy who had come here to kill over three hundred people because of a revenge for my pack. Those people have hurt me instead.”

Thea and Peter were silent.

“Let me ask you something, if you found your mate again after a long time, would you ignore her until she proved to you that she was good enough for you, would you expect her to be the perfect one like you first mate?” 

“Of course not,” Thea snapped angrily. “That would be ridiculous.”

I gave him a pointed look. 

Peter sighed. “I see what you mean, Hazel, we will help you out with your both mate. But don't you give up on any of them.” 

"I'll wait until the full moon, but if there's no progress by then, I'm walking away from both of them, no questions asked, period?”

They looked at each other for a split second and nodded in agreement.

“Period.” They uttered in unison.