Chapter Fourteen – Lucien's Observation
Lucien's POV
The scent of herbs clung to the air, soft and steady — a quiet rhythm pressing against the chaos that had once filled the halls. It smelled like healing, like survival. Hazel sat by the window again, the pale morning light pooling across her skin as if it had chosen her specifically. Dust motes danced around her, caught in the glow. Her hair caught every sliver of gold, glowing faintly, and for a moment, Lucien forgot how to breathe.
He told himself he came to check on her recovery.
He told himself he was being a good Beta.
He lied — and he knew it.
"Still watching me like I'll collapse any second?" Hazel's voice was light, teasing, but her eyes — those ember-brown eyes — flicked toward him anyway. Sharp. Aware. Missing nothing.
Lucien smiled faintly, leaning against the doorframe, arms folding loosely across his chest. "Only because you do collapse every second, troublemaker."
She rolled her eyes, a smile ghosting across her lips. "Once. I collapse once, and suddenly I'm fragile."
"Once too many." He crossed the room before he could stop himself, boots barely making a sound against the stone floor. He set the tray down beside her, the bowl of soup lukewarm now, steam long gone. She didn't reach for it. She just looked at him with that small, knowing expression — the one that always made him feel like she could see through every layer of control he wore like armor.
Silence settled between them.
It wasn't uncomfortable.
Just heavy — the kind of heavy that breathed, that listened.
Lucien watched as her fingers brushed the faint scar near her wrist. One Caleb hadn't even noticed. One Lucien had noticed immediately. He'd watched it fade over days, her Red Wolf healing pushing back bruises and cuts that should've taken weeks. Each night, he'd wondered if he had any right to care this much.
He didn't.
But he did anyway.
"Mom would've known what to do," Hazel murmured suddenly, her voice softer now, frayed at the edges. "I should've just stayed and died with everyone."
Lucien's jaw tightened. His hands curled slowly at his sides. "Maybe," he said too quickly, then corrected himself, "but maybe not."
She looked at him then, really looked at him. "You don't believe that?"
He hesitated — just a second too long — then forced a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I believe in you, Hazel. That's enough. I believe you would've died if you stayed there. And I believe your parents would be heartbroken." His voice dropped. "I would be heartbroken."
Her breath hitched.
It was soft — barely there — but he heard it. Felt it. The way her hand froze midair, the way her pulse seemed to flicker in the space between them.
He shouldn't have said that.
He really shouldn't have said that.
But then she smiled — small, unsteady, and devastating. "You shouldn't," she whispered.
"I know."
She swallowed, then lifted her gaze again. "So… do you want to explain how you survived?"
Lucien exhaled slowly, the past crashing back into him like a blade between the ribs. It felt like yesterday. He looked at her and gave a small, tired smile.
"That evening," he began, "after the alarm went off telling all the kids and women to run to the bunker, I was looking for you. My mom had already run ahead, and my dad stayed back to fight. I searched everywhere. I saw the Alpha fighting near the eastern gate. Then I finally saw you… and your mom."
Hazel's fingers tightened in the blanket.
"She was telling you to run," Lucien continued quietly. "She pushed you toward the bunker, but you didn't want to go. As usual, you wanted to help. She was about to grab you when—" His voice faltered. "When her heart was ripped out of her chest."
Hazel's breath broke.
"She screamed," he said, eyes unfocused now, trapped in the memory. "She fell looking at you and managed to yell run. You took off into the forest. I tried to go after you, but my mom dragged me back."
His hands trembled slightly. He didn't notice.
"I kept crying, fighting her, when I saw my dad running toward us. A wolf jumped him. Then two more. Three. They tore him apart." His throat tightened. "I screamed. I wanted to run to him, but my mom dragged me the other way. I was numb. I watched the Luna die. I watched my dad die. And at ten… I knew you couldn't have survived."
Hazel was crying silently now.
"She dragged me here after two days. We heard everyone was dead. Then I found out the man I thought was my father wasn't. The real Beta of this pack… he ordered my mom to leave me here and go." Lucien's voice was barely above a whisper. "She did. I haven't found her till today. I don't know if she's alive."
He finally looked up.
Hazel was crying openly now. Without thinking, Lucien stepped forward and pulled her gently into his chest. She didn't resist. Her forehead pressed against him, shoulders shaking as she sniffled, fingers clutching the fabric of his shirt like it was the only solid thing left in the world.
The clock ticked softly in the corner, filling the space their words had left behind. Outside, the forest breathed — branches rustling in a slow, secret rhythm. For a moment, Lucien could almost forget the bloodlines, the orders, the weight of being Beta… the way Caleb's name carved through her heart like a wound that refused to heal.
He stayed until she fell asleep again, her head tilted toward the window, lashes damp against her cheeks.
And that's when he noticed it.
The file on the nightstand.
The corner of an old record peeked out, stamped with the Blackmoor insignia — and beneath it, an older crest he didn't recognize. His pulse quickened. Carefully, silently, he slipped it into his coat and left the room.
Later that night, under the quiet glow of archive candles, he opened it.
The pages smelled like dust and rot — history that refused to stay buried.
There it was.
Hazel Alice Thorn– Bloodline Anomaly
Linked to: The Thornblood Massacre
Marked by a single symbol: a burning wolf's eye.
The same sigil carved into Magnus's ring.
Lucien's blood went cold.
He stared at the document for a long time, Hazel's soft laugh still echoing in his head like a ghost.
"Magnus…" he whispered, eyes darkening. "What did you do?"
His hand clenched around the file, knuckles white.
Whatever truth this was, it would destroy everything.
But Lucien had already made his choice.
He would protect her.
Even if it meant standing against his Alpha.