FATED TO THE ALPHA WHO HATES ME

--- I was born wrong. That’s the only thing I’ve ever been sure of. Not because of anything I did, but because of what I wasn’t. I wasn’t born into a pack. I wasn’t blessed by the Moon Goddess. And I didn’t shift when I turned thirteen like the others. Instead, I was born a rogue. A child with no past, no wolf, and no future. Unwanted. Forgotten. --- It was always cold in the outer woods. Even in the warmth of midsummer, the rogue territories never felt like they belonged to the seasons. They belonged to something darker. Older. Cursed. I had learned to be quiet in the shadows. To stay still when the warriors passed by. To hide my scent with crushed leaves and river mud. To run when I needed to. But tonight—tonight there was nowhere to run. --- The sky was bleeding. The full moon hovered like a blade above the treetops, casting its silver light down on the charred remains of what used to be my home. The rogue camp was gone. Nothing but flames and ash and bodies. I stood there for a heartbeat too long. Just one. And it was enough. A howl ripped through the trees behind me. Low. Warning. Close. I turned and ran. --- My feet hit the forest floor, slick with pine needles and moss, pounding a rhythm of desperation. I didn’t look back. I didn’t need to. I could smell them—warriors from the north. Trained killers from one of the high packs. I didn’t know why they attacked our camp. We were nobodies. We didn’t pose a threat. But they came anyway. And they didn’t come to arrest anyone. They came to erase us. --- “Mama!” I had screamed hours ago as the flames tore through the trees. “Where are you!?” She didn’t answer. She had pushed me into the woods with nothing but a torn hoodie and a whisper in my ear. “Run, Aria. Run and don’t look back.” But I had looked back. And I saw her die. --- Now, the only thing I could hear was the thunder of my heartbeat and the rustle of branches snapping behind me. I pushed harder, leaping over fallen logs, ducking beneath hanging vines, ignoring the sharp stabs of thorns against my legs. My lungs burned. My sides ached. But I kept running. Because the moment I stopped, I would die. --- Or worse. --- After what felt like forever, I tripped and fell forward into a shallow ravine. I crawled behind a fallen tree, pressing myself into the muddy earth, my body trembling, my breath shaky and loud in my ears. Please don’t find me. Please, please don’t— Crunch. A single bootstep. I froze. Then came another. And another. Until I saw them: black combat boots, caked in ash and blood, stopping just inches from my face. A voice. Deep. Cold. Commanding. “She’s here.” --- My heart plummeted. I was grabbed roughly and dragged out from my hiding place. My eyes met silver ones. And everything stopped. --- He was tall. Built like a warrior. Dressed in all black. His jaw was sharp, his expression cold. But it was his eyes that froze me in place. Silver like moonlight. And filled with something I couldn’t name. Hatred? Shock? Confusion? Then I felt it. A pull. A warmth in my chest. And a searing pain across my back—right where the mark was. His nose twitched. His jaw clenched. “No,” he said, voice low and furious. “You’re not her.” But I was. --- His hand moved faster than my eyes could track. He grabbed my arm and pulled me close, eyes narrowing as he inhaled sharply. The bond ignited. My entire body lit up with a strange, terrifying heat. It was real. He felt it too. Mate. --- But instead of acceptance… He shoved me away. Hard. I hit the ground with a thud, gasping, the wind knocked from my lungs. “No,” he growled. “The Moon Goddess made a mistake.” I stared up at him, broken, confused, terrified. He turned to the others—six warriors dressed in black, watching silently. “Take her,” he said. “I’ll deal with this later.” And just like that, I was dragged away. --- The last thing I saw was his silver eyes turning from me… Like I was nothing. --- --- The dungeon stank of iron, wet stone, and dried blood. I had always imagined pack prisons as cold, sterile places. Military. Organized. But this was something darker. A place for forgotten things. They dragged me through narrow stone corridors, the torches along the walls flickering with pale orange flames. The guards didn’t speak. They didn’t look at me. Their grips were like iron on my arms. I didn’t fight. Not because I wasn’t afraid. But because I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing me break. --- We reached a thick iron door. One of the warriors—a tall woman with scars across her neck—unlocked it with a rusted key. The door creaked open, revealing a small cell with cracked walls and chains bolted to the stone floor. “Inside,” she barked. I walked in without a word. The door slammed behind me with a finality that made my stomach twist. Click. Locked. I was alone again. But this time, I wasn’t in the forest. I was inside his territory. Bloodfang Pack. The most feared in the region. And I was now their prisoner. --- I sat in the corner of the cell, pulling my knees to my chest, the thin hoodie offering no warmth against the cold seeping through the walls. I could still feel the searing heat on my back—the mark pulsing like a second heartbeat. The mark I had always hidden. The crescent moon shape I was born with. Mama had told me to never show it. That it would bring danger. That it meant I was special, but in the worst way. And now I knew why. Because it marked me as someone’s mate. His mate. The Alpha of Bloodfang. Kael. --- I had heard the name in whispers. He was a legend. A nightmare. A ghost that haunted rogue children’s stories. “Obey the rules or Kael will find you.” “Run too close to the pack lands and Kael will rip you apart.” But no one told me he was real. That he was young. Or that he was… Beautiful. In a deadly, sharp-edged kind of way. And he hated me the moment our eyes met. --- Time passed in a blur. Minutes? Hours? I didn’t sleep. How could I? Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his silver ones, cold with rejection. Fated. And rejected. --- The cell door creaked open again. I jumped to my feet. Two guards entered, followed by someone new. She was older. Thin. Her gray hair tied into a tight braid. She held a small satchel and a clipboard. “Sit,” she said. I obeyed. She took out a vial and a long needle. “No,” I whispered, flinching back. She didn’t stop. “Standard health check. The Alpha ordered it.” The guards grabbed my arms. I bit my lip to keep from crying out. The needle slid into my skin. My blood filled the vial. She wrote something down on the clipboard. Then she touched the mark on my back. “It’s glowing,” she murmured. “Unusual.” She left without another word. --- Later—hours? A day?—the door opened again. And this time… It was him. --- Kael. The Alpha. He filled the doorway like a shadow. Dressed in black. Eyes like steel. He stepped inside, and the guards backed away like his presence alone was enough to command silence. He stared at me. I stood. I didn’t bow. I didn’t speak. I met his gaze and held it. His eyes flicked to the mark on my back, which was exposed through the torn fabric of my hoodie. Then to my face. “I ran your blood,” he said. His voice was low, smooth, and dangerous. I didn’t reply. “You’re not from any known pack. Not even a rogue registry.” I clenched my fists. “I told you. I was born alone.” “That’s not possible,” he growled. “No one is born alone.” “Well, I was.” Silence stretched between us. Then he stepped closer. Too close. I could feel the heat radiating off him. Smell his scent—cedar and smoke and something sharp like lightning. “You’re not my mate,” he said, but his voice cracked just a little. I swallowed. “Then why did it burn when we touched?” He didn’t answer. Instead, he turned away. “You’ll stay here until I figure out what you are.” My stomach twisted. “I’m Aria. That’s what I am.” He paused at the door. “No,” he said softly. “You’re a mistake.” Then he left. --- I didn’t cry. I refused. Even when I felt the tears threatening, I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. Because crying wouldn’t change the fact that the only person who might’ve saved me… Didn’t want me. --- The days blurred after that. No one talked to me. Food was slid through a slot in the door. I wasn’t allowed out. No visitors. No explanations. But each night… I felt him. Not in the cell. In my dreams. --- At first it was flashes. Silver eyes. Clawed hands. A whisper in the dark. Then it grew stronger. Visions. Him, shirtless, standing in a forest drenched in moonlight. Him, eyes glowing, shifting into a massive black wolf and howling in pain. Him… Reaching for me. But every time I moved toward him in the dream, he disappeared. And I woke up crying. --- Then something changed. On the sixth night—at least I think it was the sixth—I heard footsteps again. Not the heavy boots of guards. Barefoot. Soft. Familiar. I opened my eyes. And there he was. Kael. In my dream. Except it wasn’t just a dream. Because I felt everything. The cold wind. The grass under my feet. His warmth. He looked… younger. Less angry. “Aria?” he whispered. I stepped closer. “Is this real?” His eyes widened. “You shouldn’t be here. This isn’t—” He looked around wildly. “This is my dream.” A pulse of energy passed between us. I reached for him. Our fingers brushed. And then— --- I woke up. Heart pounding. Skin damp with sweat. My mark was burning. And I knew, somehow, he felt it too. --- The bond wasn’t fading. It was growing. No matter how much he tried to deny it. And something told me… He wasn’t the only one hiding secrets. Because the dreams weren’t normal. They were shared. And someone—something—was pulling us together for a reason. I just didn’t know if I’d live long enough to find out what it was. --- --- The stone walls were wet. I could smell the mold before I even opened my eyes. I didn’t know how long I’d been unconscious — time didn’t exist in this place. No light. No sound, except the dripping of water echoing like whispers across the cold dungeon floor. I sat up slowly, every bone in my body aching from the rough handling of the pack guards. My wrists were bruised from the iron cuffs they'd used to drag me in here. Iron. That told me everything I needed to know — they feared I was a threat. To them, I wasn’t a seventeen-year-old girl who had just lost her family. To them, I was the rogue. The intruder. The mate their Alpha wanted nothing to do with. I sucked in a breath as the sting behind my ribs flared again. Bruised or cracked — I couldn’t tell. The guard who’d slammed me against the wall hadn’t held back. I felt a hot tear slip down my cheek, and for once, I didn’t bother wiping it away. I was alone. Again. Always. “Why me?” I whispered into the silence, my voice hoarse. And then I heard it — faint and strange. “Because you were chosen.” My eyes shot open. “Who’s there?” I rasped, pushing myself to my feet unsteadily, my back pressed to the wall. “Don’t be afraid, Aria. I’m you… the real you.” The voice wasn’t coming from outside the cell. It was coming from inside me. I clutched my head. “What is happening to me?” “I’m your wolf. You just never heard me until now.” No… no, that wasn’t possible. I hadn’t shifted yet. Most shifters first hear their wolf just before their first transformation — usually around eighteen. I was only seventeen. My birthday wasn’t for another month. I was shaking. From fear… and something else. A warmth was rising in my chest. It pulsed like a heartbeat, like something ancient and alive. Something powerful. “I’m not ready,” I whispered. “But you must be. He’s coming.” Before I could ask who, I heard footsteps. Heavy boots descending the stone stairs outside the cell. The door groaned open. I expected guards. But it was him. Alpha Kael. He stood at the doorway like a nightmare cloaked in shadows. His presence filled the room, all dominance and disdain. His eyes — those cold silver ones — met mine, unreadable. “Get up,” he ordered. I hesitated. The wolf in me growled lowly — protective, warning me. “Now.” I forced myself to my feet, biting down a wince. He didn’t look at the bruises or the blood. His gaze stayed on my face. “I’m not here to play nursemaid to rogues,” he said. “But the elders want answers. Why did you enter our land? Who sent you?” “I told you,” I said quietly. “No one. My pack was attacked. I ran. That’s all.” He stepped closer, until the iron bars were all that separated us. “And the mark?” he said coldly. I froze. He must have seen it. The crescent-shaped mark glowing faintly on my shoulder blade. The same one the seer in my old pack used to speak of. The mark of the Moon-Blessed. “I don’t know what it means,” I lied. His eyes narrowed. “You expect me to believe that?” “I don’t care what you believe,” I snapped, surprising even myself. “You hate me anyway.” His jaw clenched. For a second, something flickered in his eyes — doubt? Guilt? Pain? I wasn’t sure. But it was gone in a flash. He turned away. “You’re to be interrogated in front of the elders tomorrow. If you’re lying, you’ll be executed by morning.” And just like that, he was gone. But the mark on my back burned with heat… and my wolf stirred again. “He won’t kill you,” she whispered. “He can’t.” --- --- The stone beneath me was cold, but the silence was colder. I curled into myself on the floor of the dungeon, my arms wrapped tightly around my knees as if I could fold small enough to disappear. A dull ache pulsed behind my eyes. I'd cried too much. My voice was hoarse, my pride shredded, and my body — still trembling from Kael’s brutal rejection — felt like a shell of the girl who had lived in Silver Hill just three days ago. Three days. It felt like a lifetime. “You will remain here until I decide what to do with you.” His voice still rang in my head — hard, venomous, controlled. That last word echoed louder than the rest. Until I decide. He didn’t say if I’d live. Just… until. And yet, something about the way his eyes had flickered — that strange glint of something soft before he stormed away — haunted me more than the rage. I pressed my cheek against the cool wall and exhaled slowly. I didn’t even know who I was anymore. I wasn’t a girl. I wasn’t a wolf. I was nothing. --- “You’re not nothing.” The voice inside me was soft — a whisper threading through the cracks in my mind. It wasn’t mine. It was hers. My wolf. I'd been feeling her stir for days now, ever since Kael rejected me. It was like something inside had snapped, and she'd awoken, angry and wounded. “You are more than what they say. More than what he thinks.” I blinked into the darkness. Can you hear me? I asked silently. No answer. Just quiet again. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified. --- A scraping noise to my left made me flinch. I sat upright quickly, heart pounding. “Easy,” came a rough male voice. “I’m not here to bite you.” Out of the shadows stepped an older man, ragged but strong. His beard was streaked with gray, his eyes sharp and golden — a wolf’s eyes. “Who are you?” I rasped. “Name’s Garron,” he said, lowering himself onto a nearby bench made of rock. “I’ve been down here a while.” I stared. “Are you a prisoner too?” He shrugged. “Let’s just say… I’ve seen what this place does to people. Especially those with a mark like yours.” My hand flew to the mark behind my shoulder — the faint crescent that shimmered when the moonlight hit it. “How do you know about it?” Garron leaned forward. “Because only those cursed by the prophecy bear it.” My blood ran cold. “What prophecy?” He didn’t answer — just smiled faintly. “Ask your Alpha.” --- Kael. The name still made my stomach twist. I didn’t want to ask him anything. I didn’t want to need him. And yet… everything seemed to lead back to him. Fated to him. Rejected by him. Tied to him by something older than either of us. I closed my eyes and tried not to scream. --- Meanwhile… in Kael’s chambers Kael stood by the window, fists clenched. He could feel her. He didn't know how, and it made him furious. Every time she cried, his chest ached. Every time she flinched, his heartbeat stuttered. He'd rejected her. Why was he still tied to her? “Alpha,” said his Beta, Jace, stepping inside. “What?” Kael snapped. Jace frowned. “The girl… Aria. You’re still keeping her alive.” Kael’s jaw tightened. “She’s a threat.” “She’s your mate.” “She’s a curse,” Kael spat. “That mark — it’s the same one the prophecy warned us about.” Jace hesitated. “Even so… killing her might trigger the curse faster than binding her ever would.” Kael turned away. “Then what do you suggest? That I keep her as what — a prisoner? A pet? A reminder that the Moon Goddess hates me?” Jace lowered his voice. “Maybe… the Moon Goddess is giving you a second chance.” Kael didn’t respond. He just stared out the window, watching the moon rise. --- Back in the dungeon, I had a dream. Or maybe it was a vision. I stood in a forest of fire, trees collapsing around me. In the flames, I saw shadows — wolves battling, blood spilling, screams echoing. And through the smoke, a child emerged. Silver eyes. Dark hair. “Mom,” she whispered. “He’s coming.” I reached for her — and woke up gasping. --- The next day I was taken from my cell. Two guards dragged me, chained and barefoot, up the stone stairs into the Alpha’s main hall. It was massive — grand chandeliers, velvet banners, polished floors. I looked like a ghost in the middle of it. Kael stood at the far end. His eyes met mine. Something passed between us — pain… rage… longing? I couldn’t tell. He descended the steps slowly. Every move controlled. Powerful. Cold. “You’ve been marked by something ancient,” he said. “We’re trying to understand what it means.” “I already know what it means,” I whispered. “It means I’m cursed.” He flinched. Just for a second. Then his face hardened. “You are to remain under guard. You will not leave these grounds. You will not speak to anyone outside the pack. And you will never — ever — use your wolf.” My hands trembled. “You can’t take her from me.” “I can. And I will.” He turned his back on me again. He’s always turning his back. That’s when the scream burst from my throat — wild, furious, broken. And that’s when she fully awoke. --- My eyes burned gold. I heard her roar through me. “I am not weak. I am not his to break.” Kael turned fast, his own wolf surfacing in his eyes. But he didn’t shift. Neither did I. We just stood there — staring. Two fated souls. Two broken beasts. And all I could think was… This is just the beginning. --- --- I didn’t know how long we stood there — Kael and I — caught in that moment of fierce, wordless defiance. My eyes were still glowing, my chest heaving. I felt her — my wolf — fully conscious now, growling just beneath the surface. Her fury radiated through me like a storm. Kael’s jaw clenched. “Control her.” “She’s me,” I snapped. “You told me never to shift, never to speak, never to be anything at all. But you can’t lock her away. She’s awake now.” Something flickered in his gaze. Not anger. Not even fear. Recognition. He stepped forward slowly. “What’s her name?” I blinked. “What?” “Your wolf,” he said quietly. “What’s her name?” I opened my mouth — but the answer came from inside me. “Selene.” The name echoed in my bones. His expression darkened. “Of course it is.” I frowned. “You know her?” Kael didn’t reply. He turned sharply to the guards. “Take her to the guest wing. Lock it down. Triple guards at the door. No contact. And… no sedatives.” The guards looked surprised. “Alpha?” “No sedatives,” he repeated. As they took my arm, I met his gaze one last time. “You’re afraid of me,” I whispered. His voice was low, cold. “No, Aria. I’m afraid of what you’ll become.” --- The guest wing was hardly luxurious. A single bed. A cracked mirror. A tray of stale bread and water. Still, it beat the dungeon. Selene — my wolf — paced inside me like a restless flame. Her voice was stronger now, more present. “He’s hiding something. He knows more than he says.” I know. “He knew my name before you did. That’s not coincidence.” She was right. There were too many secrets, too many warnings. And Kael — my fated mate, my Alpha — had become the biggest mystery of all. --- That night, I dreamed again. But this time, it wasn’t fire. It was ice. I stood in the middle of a frozen lake, the wind howling, the surface cracking beneath me. A shadow appeared across the ice — tall, hooded, cloaked in smoke. “You are not supposed to exist,” it hissed. “Who are you?” I called out. “You are the spark that lights the end,” it growled. “And he is the blade that must kill it.” Then the ice gave way — and I plunged into darkness. --- I woke up screaming. Selene’s growl echoed in my chest. “We need answers.” I jumped to my feet. The door was locked, as expected. But the windows? Bars. Still… I knelt, pressing my palm against the floorboards. There — a loose plank. I pried it up slowly, silently. Nothing underneath. Until I saw the edge of something carved into the wood — a symbol. A rune. Old. Faded. And exactly like the one on my birthmark. I traced it with my finger. Instantly, my vision blurred. --- Suddenly, I wasn’t in the room anymore. I was standing in a glowing circle in the forest. Wolves howled around me — but they were spectral, glowing silver like spirits. And in the center of it all stood a woman cloaked in moonlight. She turned to me. “Selene,” she said softly. “You are not ready.” I trembled. “Who are you?” She smiled sadly. “I am the one your soul remembers. But your mind has forgotten.” The wind picked up, whipping her hair around her face. “The Alpha must choose — kill you, or save you. But either way, the prophecy will awaken.” Then everything shattered. --- I gasped, collapsing back into the room. The rune was glowing faintly now. I rubbed my eyes. What was that? Selene stirred. “Visions. Echoes. Memories of another life.” I barely had time to recover when the door burst open. A guard stormed in, panting. “You’re to come with me. Now.” I was yanked to my feet and dragged down the corridor. “Where are we going?” I shouted. He didn’t answer. The halls blurred past me. Then — the war room. Kael stood at the head of the long table, surrounded by his warriors. Maps, scrolls, and ancient tomes were scattered across the surface. He looked up. “She’s here.” “Why?” I asked. He stepped closer. “Because something crossed our borders last night,” he said. “And it left this behind.” He held up a parchment — brittle, yellowed, old. A rune — the same as mine — burned across the page in black. My mark. --- The room fell silent. All eyes turned to me. Kael didn’t blink. “What does it mean?” “I don’t know,” I whispered. He slammed his fist on the table. “Lies.” “I don’t!” I yelled, voice cracking. “I didn’t even know I had a mark until three days ago! You think I chose this?!” His breathing grew ragged. He looked like he wanted to yell — or shift — or throw something. Instead, he whispered, “We’re running out of time.” I swallowed. “What do you mean?” He looked at me — really looked at me — and for the first time, I saw not just the Alpha… But the man. Haunted. Wounded. Terrified. “When I was thirteen,” he said slowly, “I had a vision.” The room froze. “I saw the end of the world. Fire. Ice. Shadows. And a girl with silver eyes, standing in the middle of it.” He turned to me. “You were the girl.” --- The silence was suffocating. My voice was barely audible. “You saw me?” He nodded once. “You were older in the vision. But it was you. Your wolf. That mark.” He paused. “And the prophecy says… the Alpha who is fated to her must either kill her — or bind with her to end the war before it begins.” I stared. Kill me… or mate with me. Bind with me… or break the world. My knees felt weak. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I choked. “Because I didn’t believe it was real. Until you arrived.” He stepped forward, voice low. “And because I thought… if I rejected you, maybe I could stop fate.” My heart shattered. “But fate doesn’t care what we want,” I whispered. “No,” he agreed softly. “It never has.” --- That night, I lay in bed, unable to sleep. The moonlight streamed through the barred windows, painting silver lines on the floor. Selene whispered in my soul. “We were never meant to be safe. We were meant to be strong.” Tears slipped down my cheeks. “I don’t want to die.” “Then don’t.” I sat up slowly, staring at my hands. Maybe fate chose me. But maybe — just maybe — I could choose how the story ended. ---