25. Hazelle
Chapter twenty-five
Hazelle
I was fine.
Or I thought I was.
A numbness overtook me, not dissimilar to how I used to feel with Oros and the men he let use me. It wasn’t the same, not really, but it was close. The difference was the future. The hope I had for it. There was none with Oros, not until the day he decided to sell me.
With Mistress Belle and Elera, it was vast. They still wanted me, broken or otherwise.
We walked around the property, taking in the sun and letting the grass and dirt ground us. I spent all night in a hole, hiding from everyone besides them, but that’s not what I needed. The sun caressed my skin, burning away the sensation of Bram, leaving behind only the parts I wanted. The shower washed away the bits I couldn’t see, and this took the rest away.
I had been through this before, and the numbness would subside eventually. I’d break out of my shell again with the help of Mistress Belle and Elera, or so I hoped. That was the dream. The goal I’d had.
“We won’t be going to parties for a long while.” Elera nodded, but I was in my own world, enjoying the sun on my face. “We won’t hide away, but the only people I would dare have around are our families, Perry, and Catalina and Layne. They have proven themselves once again.”
“So that means I can see Nyla more?” I kept my eyes closed and face to the sky as I asked.
“Yes, as long as Adira agrees to it, you can see her as often as you’d like.” My eyes blinked open as Mistress Belle’s hand cupped my cheek. “Hazelle?” Her eyes begged me to be okay, and part of me was, but I couldn’t fall back into meek and silent like I had before.
I had been loud, screaming for help when I had been forced to push it down for years. I saved myself when that was an impossibility with Oros. I wasn’t like other Omegas, broken down and subservient or bright and happy. I wanted to be me and seen.
I wanted them to see me, the Omega who was forged by abuse, even if this world didn’t view it that way. I was Mistress Belle’s, and my devotion to her would never waver. I’d be a good little Omega for her and for her alone, but I also knew how this world worked and was stuck on how to navigate it.
“Hazelle, look at me.” My eyes flew to hers, and Mistress Belle’s hazel eyes stared down at me. They were lost, and I didn’t know what they were searching for.
“Yes, Mistress Belle?”
“Where were you just now, my pet?” I breathed in and smiled, loving the sound of that. She hadn’t called me anything but Hazelle since last night, and I was worried she didn’t see me as hers anymore.
“I just don’t know, Mistress Belle. I don’t know how I fit in. It took one night to change everything again, and it’s… not like it was.”
“I’m not like I was either, my pet. I stayed in a place of complacency and ignorance, thinking I was untouchable and higher than the rest. In some ways, I am, but I have weaknesses, just like everyone. I need to accept that and learn. I’ve been telling you the same, but it’s time I took my own advice.”
“So you still want me?”
“ We still want you, and you’re never going anywhere, my pet. Not if you don’t want to.” She sighed and let her hand fall to my shoulder. “So you need to make a decision. Do you know the rules around what happened last night?”
“Bram broke your rules.” It came out almost like a question. I wasn’t sure where she was leading me, but I would follow her, always.
“Yes, but there’s more. He’s your fated mate. It was confirmed with the markings. That means you get to choose if you stay with me, or go with him. Although, I don’t know what Perry has planned for him. Because he abused my property, I chose a punishment, and Perry asked to have him after.” She shrugged as if this was normal, as if this happened every day. Even I knew it didn’t. Fated mates were rare, and a situation like ours was even rarer.
“Oh, I get to choose? I don’t understand. Why would they let an Omega choose?”
“Where fated mates are concerned, we believe you should have a choice who should own you if they didn’t buy you first. This has only happened a few times, but this is what they decided when they discovered it the first time. Adira found Nyla first, but I found you before Bram could. For that, I am grateful, but I wouldn’t take this choice away from you, even if I could. So it’s your decision, my pet.”
“But why would I go with him? Why would I choose anyone over you and Elera?” The tears started, and I fell into hysterics. “Do you not want me? Do you want me to choose him?” I couldn’t see Mistress Belle through the tears as I collapsed to the ground, the burdens too heavy for my body to carry alone.
“No, never, my pet! It’s simply your choice, and I don’t want to influence you. I cannot force you to pick us. I can ask you to and hope you’ll stay, but I cannot demand it. Not this time.” Mistress Belle wrapped me in her arms, and Elera’s slid around me as well.
“You’re ours, Hazelle, and always will be if you choose to stay, but we won’t blame you if you want your fated mate. Everyone thinks about it, but no one believes it will happen for them. Like
My Mistress said, it’s your decision. You get to make this one.”
“But what if I’m a bad Omega now? What if I can’t behave for others? What if I’m nothing like—”
“It doesn’t matter. I still love you, my pet. What did I say in the beginning, hm?” I sniffled, trying to hold back the tears and snot that threatened to escape. “Do you remember?”
I nodded and wiped at my eyes. “You said ‘f-fuck the others. I am the only thing that matters.’”
“And it’s even truer now.” Her smile filled me with joy, and I felt the rage inside calm down, being swept away by the love they had for me. “Fuck them and their beliefs. You’ll behave for me like you have been, learning and growing alongside Elera and myself. That’s what matters. We matter, the three of us.” Mistress Belle lifted me into her arms with my legs wrapped around her waist. “Some things will change, but if you stay, you’ll always be mine, I’ll use you as I please but I will never openly share you again, neither of you. The rules are the same, my pet. I’m still in charge, and you will follow my orders, but I will also listen more and split the domineering Alpha life with one of kindness and an openness I never thought I’d manage.
“But I’ve learned a lot in the last twenty-four hours. Fear changes things. Trauma changes it even more. We can’t let it change us for the worse in the long run. There will be ups and downs and everything in between, but we will always have each other.”
The tears started again but for the opposite reason. She wanted me. They wanted me, forever.
I wrapped my arms around Mistress Belle’s neck, rubbing my face against her bare skin, coating it with fresh tears.
“So what do you say, my pet? Are you choosing us?” Mistress Belle held me tight, and Elera hugged me from behind.
“Of course I’m choosing you. Fuck him.”
Mistress Belle and Elera burst into laughter, shaking me between them. “Oh my. Things really have changed, my pet, and I love you more for it.”
Her lips crashed to mine, and I melted, knowing I found my place, my home, in Bellamira’s chains.
The End