~Caspain's POV~
Sophia's claws nearly scraped my hand as she lunged forward, eyes gleaming with fury, her lips curled like a cornered wolf. "Why are you holding filthy Hazel?" she growled, venom dripping from her tongue. "Get her off you! She'll stain you"
My ears barely registered the rest because one word caught and echoed in my mind: Hazel.
So that's her name.
It suited her too well. The moment it landed in my brain, it was like a key turning inside my chest. Hazel. A name soft, natural, and radiant—just like her.
Then another scream.
"What!" Natasha's shriek sliced through the air as she stormed to my side. She whirled toward Cayden, who stood just behind me, his face unreadable.
"Cayden! Why didn't you come for me?" she cried, desperation thick in her voice. "The search is over! You were supposed to find me!"
Then her gaze dropped to my hands to Hazel in my arms and the world seemed to stop.
Her mouth hung open as if her soul had just been yanked out of her chest. "No. This cannot be!" she wailed. "Hazel is human! She shouldn't be involved in our business! She should be dead!"
Her eyes darted wildly around the room, frenzied, unhinged.
"Dad promised to kill her!" she howled, practically foaming.
"Where is Dad? He should've taken care of his Moon-damned mistake!"
"Natasha!" I roared, my voice sharp and final.
She flinched. Her eyes met mine, and I let the fury in my gaze speak the words I couldn't say aloud without tearing this house apart. Her mouth trembled. I didn't need to say anything else.
She backed away, shoulders shaking, then darted to Cayden's side. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, whispering in her ear as if to keep her from crumbling.
"It'll be fine. Everything will be sorted out," he murmured, comforting her like she was the one whose entire existence had just shattered.
I didn't stop walking.
I carried Hazel into the High House, the grand ancestral high-house of Blue Moon pack. Footsteps echoed behind me—some hesitant, others filled with disgust or awe. The silence of judgment weighed heavy in the air.
I laid her down gently at the center of the hall, in full view of the entire pack. Blood streaked across her skin, bruises forming like warnings. My jaw tightened.
"Pack healer," I commanded.
The healer rushed forward, her magic-infused touch moving over Hazel's wounds. Light shimmered faintly across her skin as the bleeding began to slow. She stirred but didn't wake.
Then my mother, our Luna, appeared.
Or should I say, the former Luna?
She pushed through the crowd, her lips parted in disbelief, her sharp, stately eyes widening as they landed on Hazel. The color drained from her face.
Then she collapsed.
"Mother!" Cayden lunged and caught her just before she hit the floor. His gaze snapped to me—accusing, dark.
But I wasn't finished.
I turned to our father, Claus Salvatore, the former Alpha and the coldest man I've ever known. "Father," I said, voice low, unshaking. "I present to you our mate—Hazel Gilbert."
A collective scream.
The hall lost its mind.
Voices broke into chaos. My wolf growled low in my chest, anger building. He could sense another wolf approaching.
Marcus descended the grand stairs with his Luna at his side. She held a silver bow, —until she saw Hazel on the floor. Her weapon clattered to the ground.
"What is this?" Marcus thundered. "Why is she there? Breathing?"
He moved fast, too fast, toward Hazel's limp form.
I blocked him. He stopped. Our eyes locked. His fists clenched.
A dark grin tugged at my mouth as my wolf—Nizen—took over. My fangs slid down.
I stepped in, leaned close, and whispered into his ear, "Back off."
He trembled. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He backed away, his cowardice on full display. Satisfaction bloomed in my chest.
I turned back to Hazel, my heart pulsing with a strange, quiet warmth I hadn't known I was missing.
Then Natasha broke again.
"No. No. NO!" she shrieked, scrambling across the floor. "This is wrong! She isn't supposed to be the mate! I am! I'm the one fated to the Salvatores! I'm the Moon's chosen!"
Her knees buckled.
She crumbled to the floor sobbing, shaking her head as if denial could rewrite fate.
"I'm supposed to be the Luna," she whispered. "Not her."
Her mother wrapped her in arms, Cayden joining them again, his face unreadable.
Then Cayden exploded.
He spun and grabbed Dahlia—the witch—standing in the corner with a gleam in her eyes. His hands closed around her throat like a vice.
"You did this, didn't you?" he bellowed. "You manipulated the Moon's answers! You twisted fate just to get back at us!"
Dahlia smirked.
Cayden slammed her against the wall. The ground cracked.
Leon..the Gamma—rushed forward and yanked him back. "Alpha, stop!"
"No! I can't," Cayden snarled, voice breaking. "A human as our mate? This is a disgrace to the Blue Moon legacy. Everything I've built, everything we've fought for—it's all going to collapse. We'll be a joke. No longer the most feared pack!"
Leon struggled to hold him down. Then our father's voice cut through.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of, son."
Everyone turned. Father stood tall, arms folded, eyes blazing.
"She's human, yes. But that doesn't change your strength. You're still the most powerful alpha in existence. And we will still show them who we are."
Hazel stirred.
She coughed once, weakly, and then her eyes opened—those eyes.
They were the most perfect hazel I had ever seen.
Everything in the room stopped.
Even Cayden fell quiet.
She blinked slowly, confused. Frightened. Her gaze moved over the room, not fully grasping the storm she had awakened.
Then another voice sliced the silence like a dagger.
"You witch!" Selene—pointed a trembling finger at Hazel. "You bewitched them. You charmed them. Say something!"
Hazel flinched. Her breathing hitched. Sweat beaded down her face as she clutched the fabric of her dress.
"You will not talk to my mate like that," I said, my voice low and dangerous.
Selene opened her mouth to argue, but her mate, Marcus, tugged her back. He knew better.
"She's not a witch," Father said, rising above the noise. "She's the future Luna of our pack. You two—" He pointed at me and Cayden. "should mate her now."
Cayden's growl shook the hall.
"Never!" he roared. "I reject her!"
Hazel's eyes widened, horror blooming in her soul as his words pierced the air.
The gasps echoed. I didn't hesitate.
"I accept her."
Silence fell again.
My feet moved before thought could catch up. I knelt beside her, brushing her hair back gently.
She trembled beneath me. Her lips parted slightly, her chest rising and falling in fast, shallow breaths.
My wolf rumbled with need and possession.
I pressed my lips to her shoulder, just above her pulse, then sank my teeth into her skin.
Her taste hit me like fire and rain—fierce and sweet. She tasted like what heaven should feel like. She bit her lip, trying to contain the moan I could feel pounding in her heartbeat.
Screams erupted: Sophia, Natasha, and the others.
But I didn't care. I had marked her.
She was mine now.
And anyone who dared touch her again would bleed for it.