<h4>Chapter 70: Silent love</h4>


    <i>*~ Author POV~*</i>


    Hazel’s hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes widened, and for a second, her world cracked.


    Father?


    Marcus dropped to his knees beside Lilith, gently cupping her face, his voice tender and low.


    "You’re safe now," he said. "I’ve got you."


    Lilith was shaking, tears streaming down her face. "The child ising, Marcus. But this...this is the wrong time. They almost got me. They’ll keeping."


    "They won’t," he promised. "Not while I’m here."


    She nodded weakly, copsing back onto the grass. Her body trembled.


    Then Marcusy down beside her, steadying her legs with his hands. "Push. I’m right here. I’ll help you bring this child into the world."


    Hazel’s breath hitched.


    When... when was her father ever this gentle? she thought, blinking fast. When had he ever been kind? Loving?


    She had always believed he hated her and treated her like dirt. Like she was cursed. Like she was never supposed to exist.


    But here he was. Soft. Steady. And helping Lilith deliver her.


    Lilith screamed one final time—and then a baby’s cry rang out into the night.


    Marcus took off his blood-soaked shirt, wrapping the baby gently in the fabric. With shaking hands, he wiped the newborn clean, holding the child close to his chest. And then he knelt by Lilith and showed her the infant.


    "She looks exactly like you," he whispered.


    Hazel’s heart twisted. She could swear she saw tears in Marcus’ eyes.


    What? What changed?


    This wasn’t the man she had grown up with. The one who barked orders at her. The one who treated her like a burden. This was... love. This was adoration.


    He loved me... like this? From the beginning?


    Lilith took the baby gently, her face full of emotion. Her voice was barely above a whisper.


    "I’m sorry, Marcus. I’m so sorry."


    He shook his head. "No. Don’t apologize. I know now. I’ve always known."


    He looked at her, unblinking. "You’re a Crescent. And I love you like that."


    "Marcus—"


    "I don’t care what they say. Not us, not the Elders, not the Pack Council. You’re still the Alpha to me. I don’t care if they think Crescents are forbidden. I nned everything, Lilith. We were going to run. Far away from New Orleans. Far from Blue Moon."


    "I’m sorry," she repeated, her voice breaking. Then she reached up, cing her hands gently on either side of his head.


    He froze. "Lily...love..what are you doing?"


    Her voice was sad now. Heartbroken. "You can’t know anything. You can’t remember."


    "No...wait..." But she’d already begun chanting.


    The magic surged again, soft but blinding.


    Marcus’s eyes rolled back—and he copsed to the ground unconscious.


    Hazel choked back a gasp. She wiped his memory...


    Lilith looked down at the baby at Hazel. Her eyes welled up with tears. Her lips trembled.


    "I’m sorry, my child," she whispered. "One day, you’ll understand why I did all this."


    She kissed the baby’s forehead gently. Then again.


    And then she ced her hand on the child’s small stomach.


    A glow burst from beneath her palm—bright and warm.


    Hazel’s eyes widened.


    Lilith was sealing something inside her.


    That’s why...


    <i>That’s why I’ve been human. That’s why I could never shift. That’s why I felt powerless. My mother... sealed it away inside me?</i>


    She sealed everything..her powers, her truth, her identity.


    And then, gently, Lilithid the baby–Hazel– beside the unconscious Marcus.


    She stood and without another word... She vanished.


    As soon as Lilith vanished into thin air, the forest darkened and the silence shattered.


    Wolves began emerging from the shadows, one by one, until the entire clearing was surrounded. Their growls echoed like thunder, their eyes burning with suspicion and rage.


    And then, parting the circle, the Alpha stepped forward.


    She knows that person very well... us


    Younger. Sharper. His face still smooth and striking, with features that mirrored Caspian’s so closely it almost hurt to look at him.


    He approached slowly, his boots crunching over the dead leaves until he stood before Marcus, who was unconscious beside the newborn child wrapped in his own bloodstained shirt.


    us tilted his head, then turned to one of the wolves at his side. "Check if he’s alive."


    The wolf crouched, pressed two fingers to Marcus’ neck, then nodded. "He’s alive," he confirmed. "So is the baby."


    us narrowed his eyes. "Whose child is this?"


    Just then, Marcus stirred.


    He groaned, clutching his head like it was splitting open from the inside. Pain contorted his face as he tried to sit up.


    "Marcus," us said, stepping closer. "What are you doing here?"


    "I...I don’t know," Marcus muttered, his voice hoarse and shaking. "My head... Something’s wrong. I don’t remember..."


    One of the wolves grabbed him by the arms to keep him steady.


    "Do you remember anything?" us asked. "A Crescent? A witch? Anyone?"


    Marcus shook his head, gritting his teeth against the sharp throb in his skull. "No. I don’t remember anything like that. Just... shes. Nothing clear."


    His gaze drifted to the baby lying beside him.


    "Whose baby is this?" he asked softly.


    us tone was clipped. "We think it’s yours."


    Marcus’s eyes widened, confusion bleeding into disbelief.


    "What...?"


    us stared him down. "Did you meet with someone, Marcus? A human, maybe?"


    Marcus hesitated. He searched his mind—fragments, hazy scenes, the trace of a smile he couldn’t ce. A softugh. A woman’s touch.


    "I think... I think I met someone," he said slowly. "A girl. But her face... it’s like it’s been erased. I can’t see her. I don’t remember what she looked like."


    The wolves were quiet for a moment.


    Then one stepped forward, crouched near the baby, and inhaled. His nose wrinkled.


    "She’s... not one of us."


    "What?" us frowned.


    NovelFire


    "She has no wolf scent. This child is human."


    A murmur spread among the wolves. Human. Not Crescent. Not pack. Just... human.


    us straightened. "Then Marcus must’ve broken ourws. He mated with a human."


    Marcus didn’t argue...<i>.</i>He didn’t speak at all.


    But humans and wolf can’t have a child... howe his own one night stand with a human became a child and why did he leave this child here with him and run away?


    Everything blurred. The forest. The wolves. Her father’s face.


    All of it began to fade, dissolving like smoke in the wind, until the ground beneath her gave way and Hazel felt herself falling, spiraling throughyers of emptiness then....


    Thud....She gasped. Her eyes snapped open.


    She was back in the room.. Chained like an animal


    Lilith was crouched in front of her, eyes wide, gripping Hazel’s trembling hands tightly between her own.


    "...Hazel?" she whispered. "Are you there?"


    Hazel blinked.....Tears were silently running down her cheeks.Her chest rose and fell in uneven waves, the memory of what she had seen still wing at her heart.


    Lilith leaned closer, breath held, searching Hazel’s eyes like a mother desperate for any flicker of response. "Oh my... Did it work?"


    Hazel didn’t answer at first. She just stared ahead, her throat locked tight, her heart pounding too loudly to speak.


    Her voice, when it came, was a fragile whisper. "He... He loved me."