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

dimness, I could see the small silhouette of a child swaddled inside. My

turned my head

forward. Taller than any man I’d ever seen. Not walking gliding. There was no face, only blackness, swirling and alive. In its hand, A

A sharp, aching pulse right over my heart.

cried louder,

Pain.

in half as the stake drove

And I screamed.

from my throat. My hand flew to my chest, and for a terrifying second, I was sure the stake was

as they touched the

was... something. A small mark.

a dream. A horrible,

Wasn’t it?

head was spinning when

far too cheerful for how haunted I felt. She shoved past the cluster of maids holding baskets of beauty creams, silks,

me helped anchor me back to the moment. The pain in my

Should I tell her?

call me

was gone. Not even a shadow remained. My skin was smooth,

Maybe I was crazy.

going on?" she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You look like you’ve seen

just shook my head. No point trying to explain what

she said instead, clapping her hands. "Let’s get

from. A large porcelain tub stood at the center, filled with steaming lavender-scented water and scattered rose petals. Honey swirled in

I stared, stunned.

water,

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

course it was Caspian.

like I was royalty. But I couldn’t relax. I kept

someone else bathe me, and I needed space. Alone with the lavender and the

off and was wrapped in a towel. They helped me dress slowly,

I