CHAPTER 101: PARIS

*~ Hazel’s POV ~*

I crashed onto the cold, hard floor as I yanked myself out of his grip. My knees scraped against the rough ground , but I barely felt it. My eyes darted frantically around the forest searching for my babies. And then I heard their voices perfectly laid on the ground .

My gaze snapped back to Cyrius. My mouth opened. "Cayden!" I breathed. "He’s here..!"

But nothing... no response or Atleast a voice. My heart screamed. And Cyrius? He just stood there..calm, unaffected, as if the world wasn’t crumbling around me.

"We’re not going through the border anymore," he said, like this was just another chore. "Turns out there’s another route out of New Orleans. A hidden one. In this forest."

He stepped closer. "So get up. We need to go."

I shook my head, sobbing. "I’m not going anywhere. Please... just let me go."

His voice chilled. "Do you want me to compel you again?"

"Compel me then!" I snapped, rising to my knees. "Do you really think I’d give myself to you like this? Do you think I’ll ever choose to start a family with someone who strips away my will? Who forces me to do things feel things..I don’t want to?!"

He paused. I could see the calculation flicker in his eyes. "If I let you go," he said slowly, "then I lose any chance of starting a family with you. But if I make you stay... I still have that chance. Even if I have to compel you."

My stomach turned. "You’re disgusting," I hissed. "I’m not getting up. Kill me if you want. Because I’m not going anywhere with you."

His jaw clenched. "Hazel. Don’t make me do it again."

"Fuck you!" I spat. "

Yes...fuck me! You made me a monster! You dragged my brothers here..knowing what they did to me!" He yelled.

I stood slowly, trembling with rage. "You want to know the truth? The second time they daggered you... it was me. I fixed the dagger. I pushed it into your chest."

His eyes widened, that flicker of control faltering for a split second. "What did you say?" he whispered.

"You heard me," I snarled. "I daggered you, Cyrius. I did it because I was done. And if Caspian agreed , it’s because you indeed a monster . You think I don’t ask myself every day if I did the right thing? But I did. Because you are a monster. You’re worse than Cayden himself."

The moment those words left my mouth, something inside him cracked. I saw it..the way his fury flared, then crumbled into something darker.

He threw his head back, a guttural scream ripping from his throat. "Fuck!" The sound echoed like a storm inside the room. His chest heaved, his shoulders trembling. "Even my mate hates me," he rasped.

I caught the glint of tears in his eyes before he blinked them away, jaw clenched tight. And then, just like that, something snapped. His expression shifted—veins bulging beneath his skin, fangs elongating with a sickening crack. My breath hitched.

I shivered.

Not from the cold.

From fear.

"So you were with them?" he growled, stalking forward, his voice thick with betrayal. "You planned this? You were daggering me with them?"

My lips parted, but no words came. He didn’t wait. In one swift motion, his hands gripped my waist, yanking me toward him. My body slammed into the heat of his chest, his tight abs like stone beneath my palms. His heartbeat pounded against my ear, frantic, furious, feral.

"Why?" His voice cracked. "Why?!"

And in that moment, I finally found the strength to shove him back. My hands pushed against his chest.

He didn’t budge.

But I did.

I stumbled backward from the force, crashing onto the cold floor.

"Fine," he said, his voice low. "I’m a monster. But even you don’t believe I’m worse than him."

"You are a much more worse monster," I said, eyes burning. "Compel me again. Hurt me again. But I’m not moving."

He raised a hand. "Get up."

"No." He narrowed his eyes. "Then I’ll make you."

I felt it before I could resist—my body rising, unwilling, as if pulled by invisible strings. And just when I tried to summon a spell, he snapped, "Drop that hand."

And I did. couldn’t stop myself. My arm lowered against my will. My body betrayed me again.

He walked toward me, slowly. My breath hitched. He tilted my chin up with two fingers. The touch was gentle, cruelly so.

He inhaled....taking in my scent . His nose brushed my neck and my whole body tensed. That awful heat returned...low in my stomach, curling around my insides like fire. I wanted to scream, to run..but I couldn’t. My body wouldn’t obey.

His hand slid down my arm. A soft, intimate touch that made me flinch. My fists clenched around the fabric of my dress, the only shield I had left between me and him.

"You will do what I say now," he whispered. His voice wasn’t commanding. It was quiet. Almost kind.

But that softness held a steel edge. I nodded.. I didn’t want to. But I did...Because I didn’t have a choice.

I just knew it.

As he walked over and picked up my babies, handing them to me carefully, something inside me clenched. "Take them," he said, then pulled out a knife from his coat. My heart jumped, but he didn’t turn it on me. "There might be wild animals in this forest," he added, his voice almost casual. "Stay near me."

Tears still brimmed in my eyes, but I forced myself not to cry. Not now. I had to stay strong. I had to believe—believe in fate, believe that my people would find me again. That Caspian would find me. That someone would.

So I followed.

He led us silently through the forest, through a hidden path I never knew existed. The branches scratched my arms and the babies whimpered in my arms, but we kept going. And then—suddenly—we were out.

Out of New Orleans.

We stood at the edge of a highway, the forest behind us and the night stretching wide in front. He dropped the knife casually, letting it clang against the asphalt. A cab was approaching. He stepped forward, waved it down, and before I could blink, he grabbed the driver.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" the driver yelled, struggling.

Cyrius slammed him against the car with a thud. "Get out. Now."

The driver stopped fighting. His eyes glazed over, lips parting slightly. Compelled.

He gave a slow, terrified nod before bolting down the road without looking back.

Cyrius turned to me and opened the back door, gesturing silently for me to enter.

I hesitated. "Where... where are we going?" I asked.

He slid into the driver’s seat, eyes fixed on the road. "Paris."

I blinked. "Paris?"

"Yes," he repeated. "I heard there are werewolves there. Other packs. Perhaps I could use their help... to take over Blue Moon."

I swallowed hard, clutching my babies tighter. The thought alone made my skin crawl.

He started the engine, his expression unreadable.

And then, we drove off leaving New Orleans behind.