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.

in front

could see the small silhouette of a child swaddled inside. My hand reached out instinctively—but a

turned my head

gliding. There was no face, only blackness, swirling and alive. In its

right over my heart. I

baby cried

Pain.

Piercing. My entire world cracked in half as

And I screamed.

My hand flew to my chest, and for a terrifying second, I was sure

trembled as they touched the spot.

small mark. Tiny, but

just a dream. A

Wasn’t it?

head was spinning when my door burst

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 bed and hugged me tightly. I blinked, still

me helped anchor me back to the moment. The

Should I tell her?

she call

nightgown again. The tiny injury was gone. Not even a shadow remained. My skin was smooth, untouched. Like nothing

Maybe I was crazy.

going on?" she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

I just shook my head.

said instead, clapping

bathroom was like something out of a dream one of the good ones, not the nightmare I’d just woken from. A large porcelain tub stood at the center,

I stared, stunned.

cracked basin, cold water, and a quick scrub if I was

one of the maids said with a small smile, as though she could

course it was

carefully, scrubbing every inch of skin like I was royalty. But I couldn’t relax. I kept thinking about the dream. The

someone else bathe me, and I needed space. Alone with the lavender and the silence, I breathed in deeply and tried to calm the pounding of

they returned, I’d dried off and was wrapped in a towel. They helped me dress slowly, reverently, like I was something

I saw