Fated to the Alpha–And His Triplet Brothers Chapter 21: The Dream and the Dress

~Hazel’s POV~

"Co here..."

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

I ran.

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 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 . Chasing.

My bare feet slapped against cold, damp earth. Tree branches scratched at my arms like fingers trying to pull back. The scent of decay curled in my nose—wet leaves, moss, sothing else. Sothing 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 scread at 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 rember walking out the door. Didn’t rember 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 sothing I couldn’t explain. The shadow behind 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 an? I was just... . Ordinary. Forgotten. The rejected human girl in a cursed household.

How was I suddenly so kind of threat?

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

I fell.

Right in front of a basket.

The baby’s cries pierced the silence, trembling and desperate. In the dimness, I could see the small silhouette of a child swaddled inside. My hand reached out instinctively—but a shadow lood behind .

I turned my head slowly.

A dark figure was walking 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 stake. Sharpened and glinting. Like it had been waiting just for .

My chest hurt. A sharp, aching pulse right over my heart. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t scream.

The baby cried louder, and then

Pain.

White-hot. Piercing. My entire world cracked in half as the stake drove through my heart.

And I scread.

I jolted upright in bed, a strangled cry ripping 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 sternum.

My fingers trembled as they touched the spot. I gasped.

There was... sothing. A small mark. Tiny, but there.

How? It was just a dream. A horrible, twisted dream. That’s all.

Wasn’t it?

My head was spinning when my door burst open.

"Happy 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, perfus, towels, and brushes. Ariel leapt on the bed and hugged tightly. I blinked, still dazed.

The warmth of her arms around helped anchor back to the mont. The pain in my chest dulled slightly.

Should I tell her?

Would she call insane? Probably.

I peeked under my nightgown again. The tiny injury was gone. Not even a shadow remained. My skin was smooth, untouched. Like nothing had happened.

Maybe I was crazy.

Ariel pulled back, her smile softening. "What’s going on?" she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

I opened my mouth, but the words wouldn’t co. I just shook my head. No point trying to explain what even I didn’t understand.

She didn’t push. "Good," she said instead, clapping her hands. "Let’s get you ready!"

The bathroom was like sothing 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, filled with steaming lavender-scented water and scattered rose petals. Honey swirled in the mix, catching the light in golden ribbons.

I stared, stunned.

Normally, a bath ant a cracked basin, cold water, and a quick scrub if I was lucky.

"This is courtesy of Beta Caspian," one of the maids said with a small smile, as though she could read my astonishnt.

Of course it was Caspian. Who else?

They bathed carefully, scrubbing every 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 abomination.

I told the maids to leave. It was too strange having soone else bathe , and I needed space. Alone with the lavender and the silence, I breathed in deeply and tried to calm the pounding of my heart.

By the ti they returned, I’d dried off and was wrapped in a towel. They helped dress slowly, reverently, like I was sothing fragile.

And then I saw it.

My dress. Although I’ve seen it before but it even looked more beautiful this ti.

It shimred like moonlight, covered in delicate lace and sewn-in crystals. Every inch was perfection, hugging my fra just right. As they fastened the last clasp and stepped back, I turned to the mirror and

I gasped.

For once, it wasn’t in shock or fear or disbelief.

I looked... beautiful. Really, truly beautiful.

My hair was styled into a loose bun, elegant but simple, with two strands curling around my face. They frad my hazel eyes, which seed to glow under the golden light.

Ariel appeared beside in a dress that mirrored mine, holding a small bouquet.

"You’re glowing," she whispered.

I smiled at her. "So are you."

We descended the stairs slowly, and the atmosphere changed.

Selene. Father. Natasha. Sophia. Lilian.

They were all waiting.

The air turned colder. I felt every pair of eyes snap toward the mont I stepped into the light, but I didn’t shrink away. No. I stepped further into it. Let the diamonds on my dress catch the light and shine in their envious little faces.

Natasha’s lips curled into sothing that might’ve been a smile if it weren’t so sour.

Selene rolled her eyes. "When you’re done with your princess mont, let us know. Everyone’s waiting."

The venom in her voice didn’t touch .

We moved outside where the Gilbert’s bus waited but then Father stopped . A maid beside him gestured to a sleek black limo parked just beyond the others. Its paint shimred like obsidian.

"That one’s for you," he said flatly. "Courtesy of Sir Claus."

Sir Claus. The forr Alpha.

My heart did sothing strange swelled, ached, beat faster.

Before I could step in alone, Ariel darted forward and jumped in beside , ignoring her mother’s protests. She clutched my hand gently. "You didn’t think I’d let you face all this by yourself, did you?"

The cold air outside seed to vanish inside the limo. But the chill in my bones remained.

The dream still hovered over . The pain. The shadow. The baby.

What a day today will be.