Fated to the Alpha–And His Triplet Brothers

Chapter 21: The Dream and the Dress

~Hazel’s POV~

"Come here..."

A voice rasped after me, low and twisted like something crawling up from beneath the earth.

I ran. NovelFire

Faster than I ever had before, legs screaming, lungs burning, heart thudding loud in my ears. The air was thick and heavy I couldn’t tell if it was night or if darkness itself had swallowed me whole. I just knew I had to keep running.

I didn’t know where I was.

All I knew was that the voice guttural, broken, inhuman was behind me. Chasing.

My bare feet slapped against cold, damp earth. Tree branches scratched at my arms like fingers trying to pull me back. The scent of decay curled in my nose—wet leaves, moss, something else. Something rotting.

Then my ear caught a noise.

A cry.

A baby’s cry.

High-pitched, fragile... coming from the woods up ahead.

I faltered, breath hitching. My mind screamed at me to run the other way, but my feet turned toward the sound.

I was in a forest. But how? How did I leave Father’s house? I didn’t remember walking out the door. Didn’t remember anything at all.

Not that Father’s house wasn’t its own personal hell, but still... this place was different. Wilder. More dangerous.

I ran toward the baby’s cry, drawn by something I couldn’t explain. The shadow behind me was gaining. I could feel it. I didn’t look back.

"You’re an abomination," the voice hissed again, jagged and seething. "You are bringing more abomination. You’re destroying the balance of nature. You need to be taken down."

Abomination? What did that even mean? I was just... me. Ordinary. Forgotten. The rejected human girl in a cursed household.

How was I suddenly some kind of threat?

My thoughts were spinning, heart thundering as I pushed through thorned bushes and crooked trees. Then, suddenly I tripped.

I fell.

front of

trembling and desperate. In the dimness, I could see the small

my

was no face, only blackness, swirling

chest hurt. A sharp, aching pulse right over

cried louder, and

Pain.

entire world cracked in half as the stake drove

And I screamed.

hand flew to my chest, and for a terrifying second, I was sure the stake was still there. I

they touched the spot. I

something. A small mark. Tiny, but

just a dream. A horrible,

Wasn’t it?

spinning when my door burst

wedding day!" Ariel’s voice chirped, far too cheerful for how haunted I felt. She shoved past the cluster of maids holding baskets of beauty creams, silks, perfumes, towels, and brushes. Ariel leapt on the

of her arms around me helped anchor me back to the moment. The pain in my chest

Should I tell her?

call

The tiny injury was gone. Not even a shadow remained. My skin was

Maybe I was crazy.

asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You

wouldn’t come. I just shook my head. No point

instead,

not the nightmare I’d just woken from. A large porcelain tub stood at the center, filled with steaming

I stared, stunned.

cold water, and a quick scrub if I

one of the maids said with a

it was

inch of skin like I was royalty. But I couldn’t relax. I kept thinking about the dream. The baby. The mark. The voice that said I was bringing

Alone with the lavender

and was wrapped in a towel. They

then I saw