Chapter 178: Hello, mate.
*~Hazel’s POV~*
My truth nearly leapt out of my mouth. I could almost taste blood, thick and metallic on my tongue. My body was shivering.. uncontrollably.
"What do you mean the burial grounds have been opened?" I whispered, not sure who I was even speaking to. The words hung in the air like poison.
I didn’t fully understand what that meant—but I knew. I knew it was dangerous. The kind of danger that shouldn’t even exist. Not with everything we’ve already endured.
My baby’s wail pierced the thick silence, and for the first time in forever, the house grew quiet. Even Caspaian ever so unbothered by chaos, was almost trembling.
"Oh my God," I whispered again. "This is bad. This is so bad."
I turned to Caspian, my voice sharp and shaking. "Caspian...?"
But he was already moving. Calm. Focused.
Then to Aurora. "Aurora, what’s going on? Where are you guys going?"
"Please," she said, her eyes kind, "stay in the room. With your babies."
"But—"
"We have to do something," Caspian interrupted, his tone heavier than I’d ever heard it.
"Something?" I echoed, breath catching.
Aurora turned to me, gently grabbing my hands. "Don’t worry, Hazel. Once we’re done with all of this..." Her eyes searched mine. "I’ll bring your memories back to you. Every last one."
My throat tightened. I nodded.
She nodded back and pulled me into a warm hug before the three of them—Caspian, Cayden, Aurora—vanished beyond the doorway.
And then it was just me.Sitting there. Rocking my babies.
My foot tapped the floor nervously. My hands clutched my dress, the fabric crinkling under the tension in my grip. I was sighing every few seconds, trying to calm the storm inside my chest, but it wouldn’t stop.
My heart was racing again.
How many times...? How many times would I have to go through this? Why was there never peace? Never stillness? From one disaster to another non-stop. Why? What did we ever do to deserve this?
I looked down at my babies. They’d calmed a little. Heather was tugging my hair with those tiny chubby fingers, refusing to let go like she needed me to be still for her.
I gave a weak smile and gently cradled her closer.
As much as I wanted to storm out there, to demand answers, to see something with my own eyes—I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.
I was a mother. I couldn’t leave them behind. Not in this madness. Still... part of me was itching to move.
Or can I?
"No," I said aloud, shaking the thought out of my head. "What kind of mother would I be?"
Then—I heard it.
A voice.
Deep. Masculine and Raw.
Cayden? Caspian?
I shot up from the bed. "Cayden? Caspian?!"
Nothing...The entire High House was dead silent. Like no one else existed.
I crept to the door, every breath I took sounding loud in the emptiness.
"Hello?" I called again, voice trembling.. Nobody replied just footseps Just... footsteps.
Someone was coming...No—something was coming.
I slammed the door shut and pressed my back against it, hands spread wide, chest heaving.
Oh my God. What’s happening? What is going on in this high-house?
Why did the walls feel like they were closing in?
Why did the air suddenly feel wrong?
I turned and locked the door, clutching the handle with all my strength.
"Hush now, baby," I whispered, rocking my children again, voice cracking under the weight of fear.
Heather blinked up at me. Innocent. Trusting.
I had to protect them...Even if I didn’t understand what was happening even if I never got those memories back, or the peace I’ve begged the Moon Goddess for, I would not let anything happen to them.
My heart was pounding in my ears. Loud. Unrelenting. Like a drum warning me of something I wasn’t ready for.
Oh my God. Who was coming?
My babies were in that room. I shouldn’t have been outside it. But even if there was nothing—or no one—out here, it was better I stood guard than to be trapped inside with them and left powerless. Out here, I could distract whoever it was. Buy enough time to protect them, to hide them. Or fight.
Christian was still half-asleep, oblivious to the chill crawling down my spine. I was wide awake, every part of me alert. I could feel my wolf humming beneath my skin, bracing herself, ready if she needed to take control.
I snatched a woodstick from the bedside table and slid it into my robe pocket like some kind of good luck charm. Then I picked up the thick wooden stick I kept near the door. I gripped it so tightly my fingers ached, but I didn’t dare loosen up. I needed to be steady. Controlled. Not panicked.
I opened the door slowly, stepped into the hallway, and closed it behind me with a soft click. Then I stood still for a moment, listening.
Nothing, But the footsteps... they were still there.
Loud. And somehow, they sounded close. Much closer than they should have. Like whoever it was had to be only inches from me.
I took a few hesitant steps down the corridor, heart thundering. The third floor of the High House—where my chamber was—was eerily quiet. Unnaturally so. Not even the soft creak of the walls or rustle of the wind through the windows. Just stillness.
"Cayden!" I called, my voice echoing. "Aurora? Leon?"
Nothing.
"Caspian!" I called again, this time louder.
Still nothing. No answer. No movement.
Where is everybody?
I walked faster, still holding the stick, my feet nearly silent against the cold floor. Every breath I took was shallow. My nerves were shot. I reached the staircase that led to the lower floors. Still no one.
That’s when I felt it.
Something shifted behind me.
I spun around—and there it was.
A figure.
It stood at the end of the corridor, facing the door to my room. The door where my babies were.
My stomach dropped.
Without thinking, I raised the stick and hurled it with all the strength I had. It flew through the air but missed. It didn’t touch the figure at all. It hit the floor near them and rolled slightly.
The figure didn’t flinch.
They just... stopped.
Frozen outside my door.
"Don’t you dare enter my children’s room!" I screamed, forcing the words out past the lump in my throat. "Do you hear me? Don’t you dare!"
My voice cracked with panic, but I didn’t care.
The figure was tall. Almost the same height as Cayden. Broad shoulders. Upright posture. I narrowed my eyes. The build was... familiar. Unnervingly so.
"Stay away from my babies!" I shouted again. "What do you want? You want them? Then you’re going to have to go through me first."
Still no response. The figure didn’t turn. Didn’t move. Just stood there.
And yet, I couldn’t shake the chill that spread through me. That familiarity. That presence.
I steadied my breath and took a cautious step forward.
"I’m a Crescent," I said firmly, hoping it would mean something. "I’m not afraid of you."
The figure laughed.
A soft, melodic giggle that rang through the hallway like a cruel lullaby. The sound was... beautiful.
"Really? You can drop the act now, Hazel," he said, his voice low, confident—too confident. "I’ve showed you my face. I’m not hiding anymore. I came to take the babies... and I will. So you better not try to stop me."
My breath hitched.
"You will not dare enter my room, you monster!" I snapped, my voice louder than I expected, trembling with rage and fear. "You think you can take both of my husband’s forms, vault into the High House, and walk away with my children? I will not allow it. I will not—do you hear me—I will not allow you!"
He didn’t even flinch. Just tilted his head and stared at me like I was something pitiful.
Then he spoke again.
"Do you realize," he said slowly, "that I saved these babies? That without me, they wouldn’t be alive right now?"
My grip on the wooden stick faltered.
What was he even saying?
"What... what are you talking about?" I asked, confused, staring into those strange, glowing eyes. "Who—who are you? Are you..."
I swallowed.
"Are you Cyrius?"
At the sound of the name, something changed in his eyes. He blinked slowly, like the realization just hit him. Then his lips curled into something unreadable—part amusement, part something darker.
"So... they really did it, huh?" he said.
My heart dropped.
"What happened to you, Hazel?" he asked, voice suddenly laced with hurt. "Do you mean to tell me you don’t recognize me? Not even a little?"
I couldn’t respond.
"Oh. Wait." His tone shifted again. "They wiped me out of you. Of course they did. They took me away from you."
He took a step forward.
I instinctively raised the stick in my hand, pointing it in his direction, though my hand was visibly shaking.
For a split second, something flickered in his expression.
Pain.
Betrayal.
Then he took another step, and I couldn’t stop trembling.
"They really did it," he whispered. "They erased me from your heart. But don’t worry. You’ll remember me again, Hazel. I’ll make sure of it. I’ll bring your memories back... myself."
He kept walking, and I... I couldn’t move.
The stick in my hand suddenly felt useless. Weak. I couldn’t bring myself to hit him. I didn’t even know why. My instincts were screaming at me, but my body... froze.
I let the stick drop to the floor with a soft clatter.
He closed the distance between us, slowly, like a predator savoring every step.
Then he leaned in, bringing his face close to mine, so close I could feel the warmth of his breath on my skin.
I turned my head slightly, but he followed, his lips brushing the shell of my ear.
And then I felt it.
His tongue.
He licked the curve of my ear slowly, and I nearly collapsed from the surge of shivers that shot down my spine. I froze—not out of fear, but from the way my body reacted to him.
I hated it.
God, I hated it.
But I couldn’t lie—not to myself.
He was beautiful.
Devastatingly so.
Even more handsome than Cayden and Caspian combined. His face had this sharp, dangerous elegance. His eyes glowed with a kind of intensity I’d never seen before. Like he knew me. Really knew me. In ways my soul hadn’t even remembered.
I swallowed hard, not daring to breathe.
And then, in the softest whisper I’d ever heard, he said it.
"Hello, mate,"