Fated to the Alpha–And His Triplet Brothers - Chapter 212

Chapter 212: Greatest shock
**~Hazel’s POV~**

What if Nature rejected the vampires—and instead took every single one of them? The thought wouldn’t stop clawing through my chest. The twins. My mother. Aurora. My father.

I didn’t even know if my babies were still where they’d been back in the high house. My stomach twisted painfully, my heartbeat pulsing in my ears like a war drum.

Klaus placed a firm hand on my shoulder. “It’s fine, dear. Don’t worry. Just calm down. Have faith.”

“I’m trying to have faith,” I muttered, my voice shaking. “But it seems faith doesn’t want to have me.”

He gave me a sympathetic look, but before either of us could say another word, a powerful gust of wind swirled around us. My hair whipped across my face as the air thickened, heavy with magic. Klaus and I locked eyes just before I turned toward the haze forming ahead.

Figures began to emerge—many of them—and three tall, brooding silhouettes that could only mean one thing.

The triplets.

A sob ripped from my throat as I bolted forward, shielding my eyes from the stinging dust. The moment the haze cleared, I saw them—Cayden, Caspian, and Cyrius—and behind them, my mother, Aurora, and… my babies, safe in their arms.

I didn’t even have time to wonder how my twins had gotten there but they were back. They were really back.

I ran straight into Cyrius’s arms. He caught me, crushing me to his chest before his mouth claimed mine. His kiss was deep and desperate, stealing my breath and every broken piece of my heart with it. Argh! I miss his soft taste.

“Cyrius,” Caspian’s voice cracked through the haze.

I tore myself away, turning to him. He held Christian gently in his arms, the baby breathing softly against his chest. I brushed Caspian’s cheek, tears streaming down mine, before I turned to Cayden, who was holding Heather. I kissed him too, on the cheek, trembling with relief.

Then my gaze shifted to Aurora—she was holding my mother upright, and my mother looked… lifeless. Her skin was pale, her eyes dim, like every drop of strength had been drained from her.

“Mom?” I whispered, rushing toward her. “What’s wrong? We won! We freaking won! The fight is over—we’re finally safe! We can live happily ever after now.”

My mother didn’t answer. Instead, she pulled me into her arms, hugging me so tightly I could barely breathe.

“Mom—” I gasped, prying her arms loose enough to look at her face. “What’s going on?”

Aurora turned her gaze away, refusing to meet my eyes. My heart dropped. “Aurora… what’s happening? Is my baby not alive?”

I broke free from my mother and ran to Caspian. Christian was breathing fine, steady, calm, asleep. Then I turned to Cayden. Heather stirred in his arms, tiny hands clutching at his shirt. She was alive too.

So what was wrong? Why wasn’t anyone saying anything? Why was the air suddenly heavy with dread instead of victory?

“Cyrius?” I whispered, looking at him. “What’s going on? Tell me. We won, right?”

He didn’t answer. None of them did.

I turned to Klaus—his confusion mirrored mine—and just then Alice appeared, running toward us. “You guys are back!” she gasped, but her joy faltered when she saw their faces. She looked at me, then at Klaus, both of us wearing the same lost expression.

“Hazel,” my mother’s voice broke through the silence, thin and trembling.

I turned to her, my heart hammering. “Mom? What’s going on?”

She didn’t answer immediately. Her eyes filled with tears, her lips quivering as she finally whispered..

“Marcus… didn’t make it.”

“What…?” I stumbled back.

“Your father,” my mother stammered. She paused, her lips trembling. “Your father is gone.… Nature took him.”

Aurora wrapped her arms around her, trying to steady her shaking body. My mind went blank. My eyes blinked rapidly, struggling to make sense of what I’d just heard. Gone? My father—gone?

I turned to the triplets; their gazes softened in unison, and that softness only made the words feel heavier. Klaus’s face hardened, unreadable, his jaw flexing. Alice—still confused—looked between all of us, searching for clarity that wasn’t there. My babies, meanwhile, slept peacefully in their uncles arms.

The air grew still. The world tilted…My father was dead.

And I didn’t even know what to feel.

Was I supposed to cry? Rejoice? Hate him more? Mourn him? Nothing inside me made sense. My chest felt empty, and my heart just pounded against my ribs like it was trying to remind me I was still alive.

But when I looked at my mother—her body wracked with sobs, her eyes swollen and wild, her grief spilling out in guttural cries. something inside me cracked.

I didn’t feel sad for him. I felt sad for her.

I forced my numb legs to move toward her. “Oh, Mom…” I whispered, reaching out and taking her hand. I pulled her into my arms, holding her tightly as she buried her face against my shoulder.

She loved him. She really did. She saw the side of him that I never got to see—the warmth, the laughter, the man he could have been. To me, just a man who tortured me HARD.

And maybe that was why it hurt so much to see her like this.

I wasn’t crying. I wasn’t broken. Just hollow. Forcing myself to feel through her.

Cayden cleared his throat, breaking the heavy silence. “Let’s give him a befitting burial,” he said firmly. “He was the father of my Luna, once a beta of this pack… and the grandfather of my future heirs.”

Klaus gave a small nod. “Even if he was a scumbag, he deserves that much.” Cyrius tapped his father hands after he said that and gestured to my mother, who was still trembling in my arms.

“Leon,” Cayden called out.

I shook my head. “Leon’s not here. He’s still back at the High House.”

Caspian sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Then let’s go.”

I tapped my mother and she stopped crying—A little.

We had come here with high hopes—to defeat Dahlia, to bring the triplets back, to win. And we did win. But the victory came with a price.

We lost my deadbeat father. Sad, right? But not really—not for me. My mother just lost her epic lover, the man she still believed had good buried somewhere in him.

An hour later, we arrived at the High House. And waiting for us there… was the greatest surprise of all.