CHAPTER 106: BALL EMERGENCY

*~Cyrius’s POV~*

"Hazel, open the damn door!"

I stood in front of the bedroom she’d locked herself into, my fists clenched, ears tuned to the strange sounds echoing inside. Something was wrong. I could hear movement—something shifting, clawing, scraping—and it wasn’t human.

Without wasting another second, I slammed my shoulder into the door, splintering it open.

And then I froze.

My mouth fell open as I took in the scene.

A red dress lay crumpled in the corner like a fallen rose petal... and in the center of the room stood a creature—massive, majestic, and white. Not snowy-white like some wolves in winter. No, this was pure white, glowing under the moonlight that poured in through the window.

Hazel.

She was towering, almost as tall as me, her fur streaked with glimmers of silver and blood-moon red. Her golden eyes locked onto mine—wild, startled, and undeniably hers.

What the hell was I looking at? No ordinary wolf had a form like this. No one in the pack ever shifted into something this... this divine.

What in the gods’ names is she?

Suddenly, I heard voices outside.

"Cyrius? Is everything okay with her?"

"Cyrius..why did your wife suddenly disappear?"

Shit. Alexander.

He was approaching fast. He couldn’t see her like this,not now, not like this.

I leapt toward the door, stepping into the hallway just as he turned the corner.

"She’s fine," I said quickly, faking a tight smile. "The babies were crying. She just went to breastfeed them."

Alexander blinked. "Oh... I see."

I gave him a polite nod and blocked the entrance with my body. "Give us a few minutes. We’ll be back soon."

He nodded slowly, satisfied for now, and turned away.

When I closed the door behind me again and turned back around, the wolf was gone.

Hazel was on the floor, wrapped tightly in the bedsheets, shivering. Her skin was dewy with sweat, her breath shaky and uneven. She looked up at me with wide eyes.

"Cyrius," she whispered, "what just happened?"

"I don’t know," I murmured, kneeling beside her, placing both hands gently on her trembling shoulders. "You’re okay now. Just breathe."

She choked on her own words, trying to find air. "I-I felt something burning inside me. Right after you kissed me."

Her eyes welled, and then her lips curled into a laugh—a wild, giddy kind of laugh.

"I wolfed out." She clutched the sheet tighter. "Oh my god. I wolfed out. Finally. Do you know how long I’ve waited to feel that? And it happened. It finally happened."

She looked down at her trembling hands. "But why was I so big? Why was I huge?"

"Hazel, calm down." I kept my voice steady, but my heart was thundering. "We’ve got bigger problems."

She blinked. "What?"

"The entire pack is fuming downstairs because we disrupted their precious ball. We need to go back, even if just for a few minutes. We need to show face. Keep up appearances."

"But... I just wolfed out."

"And nobody must know about that," I snapped quietly. "Hazel, if they see you in that form, they won’t see it as power. They’ll call you an abomination. They don’t know about Crescents. Or vampires. Or anything beyond their narrow little world."

I cupped her cheek gently. "I won’t let anyone lay a hand on you or the babies. But we have to be smart. We have to go back down and act like everything’s fine."

She groaned and slammed her palms against her face. "Ugh! I didn’t even want to be at this ball in the first place."

"I know, Hazel. I know." I stood up and turned away. "Put your dress back on. I’ll wait at the door."

A few minutes later, she emerged, redressed in that same stunning crimson gown, looking like temptation incarnate.

I took her hand and kissed it gently. "I’m sorry I didn’t give you the attention you deserved earlier."

She raised a brow.

"The girl I danced with—she’s Alexander’s daughter. She asked me for a dance and... it would’ve been rude to decline."

She rolled her eyes. "So you need to dance with the pack’s eldest daughter just to keep them happy? Understandable."

I smirked. "Oh? Someone sounds jealous."

"Jealous?" she scoffed, flipping her hair back, revealing the twin marks on her neck—not mine. "I’ve got two husbands running the world trying to find me right now. You think I’m jealous over you?"

Her words stung like a silver dagger—and lit a fire inside me.

Mine.

One of these days, I was going to mark her. No excuses. No delays. I’d make her mine in every way.

I stepped close, lowering my voice until it brushed her ear.

"One of these days... I will make you mine. I promise you that."

She arched a brow. "Oh no. I belong to someone else already. Don’t try to squeeze yourself in."

But she didn’t pull away...We descended the stairs together, every eye on us, the music halting mid-note. The air was thick with tension as we reached the base of the stairs.

I cleared my throat.

"My apologies," I announced smoothly. "Our children needed attention. Esther had to check on them. We regret the disruption."

There was a murmur of understanding.

The music started again.

I leaned into her. "Let me go grab us a drink."

As I went to grab us a drink, I hadn’t gone far before I turned and caught sight of something—someone—right beside Hazel. Two women were standing near her, laughing cruelly. Hazel stood there, clutching her dress, visibly uncomfortable.

I immediately made my way back. My ears caught just enough of their conversation to make my blood boil.

"Aww, couldn’t handle a kiss, so you went running off?" one of them sneered.

The second one chimed in with a laugh. "That excuse your husband gave? Pathetic. Did you see how she was dancing? Pitiful. Parfait, you can’t even waltz. I doubt she’s even wolfed out before," she added, sniffing the air dramatically.

Before they could get another word out, I stepped forward. The moment they saw me, they tensed. They turned to leave..but I wasn’t about to let it slide.

"Wait," I said coldly. "I think you two have something to say. An apology."

One of them scoffed and flicked her hair. "Apology? My foot."

She tried to turn away, but I wasn’t finished. My eyes locked onto theirs, and I let the compulsion slip through my voice like poison-laced silk.

"You will apologize to my wife. Now."

Their faces blanked. Slowly, they turned to Hazel with mechanical smiles.

"We’re very sorry for our rude behavior," they said in unison. "Please forgive us."

Hazel blinked. "I forgive you," she muttered, confused and mildly annoyed.

The women walked away, and she turned to me with a sharp look. "I didn’t know you were using compulsion on random people now. Turns out I’m not the only one suffering."

"I did it for them. I did it for you. They needed to apologize," I said, arms crossed.

"Did I ask for your help?" she hissed. "I could’ve snapped both their necks and cleaned the blood with their designer scarves...but I chose not to."

"Well, a good husband has to step in sometimes," I muttered.

She rolled her eyes. "We’ll continue this conversation later," she said dryly. Then I added, "And enough of the dead bodies for tonight. I already killed someone outside. That’s going to stir up trouble."

As if on cue, someone shouted across the ballroom, "Where is my brother?! Where is my brother’s body?!"

Alexander stood, startled, as chaos began to ripple through the crowd. Then came the dragging. The dead body of the man I’d stabbed—the bastard who dared flirt with Hazel—was hauled into the room.

"What is this?" Alexander gasped. "Oh my God..."

I instinctively moved in front of Hazel, shielding her as murmurs spread like wildfire. A deep, furious voice boomed.

"We came to your ball, and you killed one of us? How dare your pack do this!"

Another man—probably the dead one’s brother—stepped forward in fury.

"I swear I didn’t know anything about this," Alexander said, looking around in a panic. "My wolves would never harm another Alpha without cause."

Hazel turned to me, her voice biting. "You killed an Alpha? Why are Alphas so obsessed with me? And you killed him before I get to add him to cue."

"Shut up, Hazel," I muttered through clenched teeth.

She just laughed.

"You will pay for this, Alexander!" someone shouted. "My wolves will attack!"

And then chaos erupted.

Wolves shifted. Screams rang out. Claws slashed, and teeth bared. I turned to Hazel and grabbed her shoulders.

"Go. Protect the babies—now!"

She nodded instantly, already shifting to move. As she sprinted off, I threw myself into the chaos. This was my mess...I had to help clean it up.

Together with Alexander’s men, we tore through the attackers until the room was littered with fallen wolves and bloodied marble.

Just as the dust began to settle, someone whispered into Alexander’s ear, panic trembling in their voice.

"Cyrius... your wife is in trouble. She escaped with the babies... but now she’s surrounded."

My body tensed. Everyone looked at me, waiting for my command.

But deep inside, something cold and dangerous whispered in my chest.

"No," I said calmly. "My wife doesn’t need protection."

I stared out through the blood-smeared windows.

"They need protection from my wife."