Page 100 of Stalked By the Alphas
I nod, offering her a small smile. “I’m trying to be.”
She pats my arm. “That’s all any of us can do. One day at a time.”
Her words remind me of Leah’s strength this morning, and I feel a renewed sense of determination. I can do this. I can move forward.
After locking up and saying goodbye to Delia, I start walking home. The late afternoon air is warm and pleasant, and I find myself relaxing as I stroll down the road. But as I approach my house, I freeze.
Leaning against his car, parked in front of my house, is Carter. My heart starts racing, and for a moment, I consider turning around and walking away. But no, this is my home. I won’t let him chase me away from it.
Taking a deep breath, I square my shoulders and march up to him. Carter straightens as he sees me.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, my voice steadier than I feel.
“I wanted to talk to you,” he says softly. “To apologise properly, and I have something for you.”
I eye him warily. “Carter, I don’t think?—”
“Please,” he interrupts. “Just give me five minutes. That’s all I’m asking.”
Part of me wants to tell him to leave, to never come back. But another part, the part that sees him walking down the steps of that cellar to rescue me, wins out.
“Five minutes,” I say finally. “And then you leave.” I cringe when I remember how well that turned out with Zach yesterday. I have to be stronger today or they are all going to get the wrong impression.
Relief washes over his face as he nods. “Thank you.”
I unlock the front door, acutely aware of Carter’s presence behind me. As we enter, I lead him to my office, nice and impersonal, and I place my bag on the desk, turning to face him, keeping my distance.
“Talk.”
“This first. I ordered it the other day, after we came for you.”
He thrusts out a brown enveloped package about the size of a shoe box but lumpy. Frowning at it, I take it, feeling it would be rude to let him hold out a gift for me and not take it from him. It’s lighter than I expected, and I glare at him as I rip the top of the padded envelope open.
I peer inside, and my heart melts into a puddle of goo.
Reaching in, I pull out a stuffed brown bear, all soft and cuddly, with a red ribbon around his neck.
“It’s better looking than that other thing,” he croaks.
I blink, trying to suppress the smile at his distaste for the cam bear.
“And you can cuddle this one. Maybe it will help you feel safer and comforted.”
I clutch the soft bear to my chest, conflicting emotions swirling inside me. Part of me wants to throw it back at Carter and tell him to leave. But even in a few seconds, I can’t bear to part with it, and I know as soon as he leaves here, I will build a nest, crawl into it and give this bear pride of place.
When I look up at him again, he drops to his knees, his head bowed just like Zach yesterday. But this hits me hard. Harder than anything else he could’ve said or done. He is a prime alpha. The strongest of the strong. Alphas don’t kneel before omegas. It’s the other way around. To put his pride and ego aside to do this chokes me up and I bury my nose into the bear’s fur to stop myself from crying again.
“Hazel,” Carter says softly, his voice thick with emotion. “I know we’ve hurt you deeply. All that we have done is unforgivable. We violated your trust, your privacy, your body. There’s no excuse for it. I’m not here to ask for forgiveness. I don’t deserve it. I’m here to tell you how sorry I am, how much I regret my actions. We thought we were protecting you, but we were wrong to assume that you needed or wanted it. We know we were selfish, deceitful and absolute arseholes to you.”
Carter’s words hang heavy in the air between us. I clutch the teddy bear tighter, unsure how to respond.
“Carter,” I say, my voice shaky. “I appreciate your apology, but I don’t know if I can just move past everything that’s happened.”
He nods, still on his knees. “I don’t expect you to. This isn’t about me, Hazel. All I want is for you to know how much I regret these actions and how truly sorry I am.”
I take a deep breath, trying to sort through my jumbled emotions. “Why did you do it? Really? Was it just about control?”
Carter looks up at me, his blue eyes filled with tears which crumbles any sort of defence I’d built up. “No, it wasn’t just about control. We love you, Hazel. We always have. But we went about it all wrong. We let our fear of losing you, our desire to protect you, overshadow everything else. We convinced ourselves we were doing the right thing, but we were just being selfish.”
