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

desperate. In the dimness, I could see the small silhouette of a child swaddled inside. My hand reached out instinctively—but a shadow loomed

turned my head

ever seen. Not walking gliding. There was no face, only blackness, swirling and

hurt. A sharp, aching pulse right over

cried louder,

Pain.

cracked in half as

And I screamed.

from my throat. My hand flew to my chest, and for a terrifying second, I was sure the stake was still there. I could feel the throbbing ache deep in my

as they touched the spot. I

something. A small mark. Tiny,

dream. A horrible, twisted dream.

Wasn’t it?

was spinning when

cluster of maids holding baskets of beauty creams, silks, perfumes, towels, and brushes. Ariel leapt on the bed and hugged

me back to the moment. The pain in my chest

Should I tell her?

call me insane?

injury was gone. Not even a shadow remained. My

Maybe I was crazy.

smile softening. "What’s going on?" she asked, her eyes narrowing

my mouth, but the words wouldn’t come. I just shook my head. No point

didn’t push. "Good," she said instead,

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

I stared, stunned.

bath meant a cracked basin, cold water, and

said with a small smile, as though

was Caspian. Who

of skin like I was royalty. But I couldn’t relax. I kept thinking about the dream. The

the maids to leave. It was too strange having 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 my

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

I