FATED TO THE ALPHA WHO HATES ME

The bond that burns

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CHAPTER 4 – PART 1

Aria's POV

The moonlight seeped in through the stained glass of the packhouse windows, casting slivers of silver across my bare floor. Sleep had not come easily to me that night. No, not since the incident in the woods. Not since the moment Alpha Killian's golden eyes clashed with mine in the silence of the forest and I saw not just fury—but pain. Ancient, echoing pain.

I curled deeper into the corner of my bed, the blanket pulled up to my chin like it could protect me from the storm of questions in my mind. Why had he spared me? Why had he looked at me like that—as if I were a ghost he was terrified to lose again?

My fingers twitched over the crescent mark still etched faintly into my shoulder. The heat had subsided, but I could still feel the echo of his power thrumming beneath my skin. I hated it.

I hated him.

At least... I told myself I did.

But the memory of his hand gripping my arm, the way he pulled me out of danger when that rogue attacked—I couldn’t forget it. He’d looked at me like I was something precious. For one fleeting moment, he wasn’t the Alpha who hated me. He was a man. A broken man, guarding something he didn’t understand.

I hated that my heart fluttered when I thought about it.

“Snap out of it, Aria,” I whispered to myself, sitting up. “You’re not here to fall in love with an Alpha who thinks you’re a mistake.”

I stood and paced to the window. Below, I could see the training grounds lit faintly by the security lights. It was past midnight, but someone was out there.

I narrowed my eyes.

Alpha Killian.

Shirtless. Sweaty. Fierce.

He trained like he was fighting demons no one else could see. Every swing of his blade was filled with rage. Every breath he took was a curse against the world.

What was he trying to forget?

And why did I care?

I shouldn’t. I was just a pathetic orphan girl who stumbled into his territory. I was nobody.

But then why did it feel like we were connected?

---

POV: Aria

I had always believed that pain came in doses. That the universe was merciful enough to at least let it hit in waves, give you time to breathe between the crushing blows. But being with him—being under the same roof, breathing the same air as the Alpha who openly hated my existence—was like drowning while fire licked at my skin.

Every morning, I woke up in a room that wasn’t mine. A bed that was too soft. Four walls that felt more like a cage than a sanctuary.

And every night, I fell asleep wondering if I’d ever be free.

But freedom, I was beginning to realize, wasn’t just about leaving a place.

It was about leaving the way someone made you feel.

It was about breaking the chain of thoughts that tied your self-worth to how one person saw you.

And that person… was him.

Alpha Kael.

He was a mystery wrapped in wrath. A man of cold eyes and sharp words. The kind of male whose presence filled a room even when he said nothing.

And I, Aria, the girl he claimed as mate but rejected without mercy, was stuck in his pack house like a ghost that refused to move on.

---

The morning it all began to change...

I had a dream that night. A strange one. I was standing in the middle of the woods, the moon high and full above me. Its light was too bright, almost blinding, and the wind whispered in a tongue I didn’t understand.

And then… I heard it.

A voice.

Not Kael’s. Not mine.

But something older. Wilder. Something buried deep within my bones.

"You are more than they see. The blood of the moon is awakening."

I gasped awake, my heart thudding against my ribs. My skin was damp with sweat, and my sheets tangled around my legs like vines.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes, trying to shake the dream.

But I couldn’t. It clung to me like a second skin.

Just then, the door opened.

Kael.

Of course.

He never knocked. Never warned me. Just barged in like he had every right to, like I was just a nuisance occupying air in his home.

His dark eyes met mine, sharp and unreadable. “Training starts in ten minutes. Don’t be late.”

I bit back the bitter words rising in my throat. “Yes, Alpha,” I said, voice flat.

He gave me a curt nod and left.

And I wondered—not for the first time—how someone could make your heart race in fear and fury all at once.

---

Training was hell.

The sun was already high by the time we got to the field. The other pack members barely looked at me anymore. Some still whispered behind my back, others just ignored me completely.

I didn’t know which was worse.

Kael watched us spar from the edge of the training ground, arms crossed, jaw tight. He never stepped in. Never corrected. Just observed. Cold. Detached. Alpha.

I sparred with a she-wolf named Elira that morning. She was fast and fierce and not afraid to draw blood. My lip split open from one of her blows, and when I staggered back, panting, she smirked.

“She’s too soft,” Elira sneered. “She doesn’t belong here.”

“Then knock her out,” Kael said without emotion.

My fists clenched.

The pain in my lip was nothing compared to the sting of those words.

I surged forward, not with grace, but with fury.

And I knocked Elira off her feet.

I didn’t stop.

Didn’t hear her scream. Didn’t hear the gasps.

All I heard was the sound of Kael’s approval ringing in my skull.

And that was the worst part.

Because I wanted it.

Even when I hated him.

---

Later that day...

I found a letter hidden under my pillow.

I didn’t recognize the handwriting. It was slanted, elegant, written in silver ink.

"Meet me in the forest. Midnight. Come alone."

No name. No explanation.

But my heart beat faster all the same.

I knew it was reckless.

I knew Kael would kill me if he found out.

But something deep inside whispered that I needed to go.

That I needed to know.

---

Midnight.

I crept through the silent pack house, barefoot, heart pounding like a war drum.

The forest was darker than usual, the trees whispering secrets I couldn’t understand.

I reached the clearing from my dream.

And she was there.

A woman cloaked in shadow and silver.

Her eyes were not human.

“Aria,” she said, voice like wind through leaves. “Your time is near.”

I took a step back. “Who are you?”

“I am the one who watches. The one who remembers. And you… you are the lost daughter of the moon.”

“What does that mean?”

But she was already fading.

Like smoke in the breeze.

I ran forward, but there was nothing. Only silence.

And then, behind me—

A growl.

Low. Dangerous.

Kael.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

I turned slowly, heart sinking.

“I—” I didn’t know what to say.

“I told you never to leave the grounds alone.” His voice was ice.

“You don’t own me,” I snapped before I could stop myself.

His eyes darkened. “But I am your Alpha.”

“And I never asked to be part of your pack!”

The silence that followed was louder than a scream.

And then—he grabbed my arm.

Not gently.

Not harshly.

But enough to remind me that his strength could crush me if he chose.

And yet… he didn’t.

“Go back to the house,” he said tightly. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

---

Back in my room...

I stared at the ceiling, mind spinning.

Who was the woman?

What did she mean?

“Lost daughter of the moon...?”

And why did Kael look at me like he knew something I didn’t?

I didn’t sleep that night.

Not because I was afraid.

But because, for the first time in my life…

I felt something stir inside me.

A power I didn’t understand.

A truth clawing its way to the surface.

----

Chapter 4 – Part 2

---

I didn’t sleep that night. My mind played and replayed everything I had found in the Alpha's private chamber — the scorched letters, the locked box under his bed, and the sketch… of me.

Me.

Drawn with such precision, with pain etched into every stroke.

Why?

Why would an Alpha who made it his life’s mission to loathe me have a hand-drawn picture of my face hidden away in his most private space?

I tried to tell myself there had to be a logical explanation. Maybe it was a cruel joke. Or maybe—maybe he hated me so much that he needed to remember my face to fuel his fury.

But I didn’t believe that. Not anymore.

Something else was happening. Something deeper than hate.

I rose before dawn and slipped outside into the cool morning air. The forest edge glistened with dew and early fog clung to the ground like a blanket of misty secrets. I tugged my hoodie tighter around me and walked toward the training grounds.

I needed to move. To hit something. To breathe.

Unfortunately, so did he.

Alpha Kael was already there, shirtless, sweat glistening on his skin as he practiced sparring with two warriors twice my size.

They weren’t holding back.

He took one down with a sweep of his leg and the other with a hard elbow to the side of the neck. He turned—and saw me. And for one second, just one fleeting heartbeat, his eyes widened in something that looked… almost like relief.

Then it was gone. Replaced by the cold mask I’d grown too familiar with.

“You’re early,” he said, his voice low.

I swallowed. “Couldn’t sleep.”

He nodded. “You’ll train with me today.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Is there wax in your ears, Aria?” he snapped. “You. Me. Now.”

He was already tossing a training staff at me. I barely caught it.

“You’re angry,” I said.

He lunged.

Our staffs clashed with a sharp crack, the vibration shuddering through my arms.

I barely had time to process before he was attacking again, forcing me back step after step, blow after blow.

“You think you can sneak around my quarters,” he growled between strikes, “and I wouldn’t notice?”

I froze.

He spun, sweeping my legs out from under me and slamming me flat on my back. My staff flew from my grip.

Kael hovered over me, breathing hard, his eyes dark and wild.

“I didn’t—” I began.

“Don’t lie to me!” he bellowed.

His hands clenched into fists at his sides, but he didn’t strike me. Instead, he turned his back.

“I didn’t read your letters,” I whispered, staring up at the pale dawn sky. “But I saw the sketch. Why do you—why do you have a picture of me?”

He didn’t answer.

For a long moment, there was only silence.

Then he said, so quietly I almost didn’t hear him, “Because I wanted to remember the girl I swore I’d never forgive.”

My breath caught in my throat.

He walked away.

---

I spent the rest of the morning trying to focus on chores, but my hands shook too much. My heart was louder than my thoughts. I barely heard a word when Beta Cassian came to deliver my assigned duties for the afternoon.

"You’ll help with the herbal inventories," he said, not even glancing at me. "Healer Mira is expecting you."

Perfect. A few hours with roots and salves would at least calm my nerves.

But fate had other plans.

When I reached the healer's hut, Mira wasn’t there. Instead, I found someone else — a tall woman with silver hair braided down her back, her skin the color of polished mahogany, and eyes sharper than steel.

"You must be Aria," she said coolly.

"I am."

"I'm Liora. Kael's aunt."

My stomach dropped.

She motioned for me to sit, then continued sorting through baskets of dried herbs.

"I know what you are," she said simply. "And I know why he fears you."

I blinked. "I don’t understand—"

"Don’t play dumb, child. You have his scent on your soul, even if he’s tried to scrub it off."

"My scent?"

"You’re his fated mate," she said flatly. "And that terrifies him."

My blood ran cold.

"That’s not true," I whispered.

"He hasn’t told you?"

I shook my head.

Her voice softened, but only a little. “The moon goddess doesn’t make mistakes, Aria. She chose you. And she chose him. But your presence is ripping open old wounds he buried long ago. Wounds no wolf wants touched.”

"Why would he hate me then?" I asked. "Why act like I’m dirt beneath his boots?"

Liora sighed.

"Because fated mates can bring either salvation… or ruin."

She stood, wiping her hands.

“And Kael has already chosen ruin once. He fears making the same mistake again.”

---

Later that evening, I found myself walking back to my cabin with heavy thoughts crowding my head like storm clouds.

But then I heard them.

Two warriors whispering in the shadows by the armory.

“She doesn’t know,” one said.

“She can’t know. If she finds out, it’s over.”

“The Alpha will banish her if he has to.”

Banished?

I inched closer behind the trees.

“She’s dangerous,” the second one muttered. “Even Kael can feel it. Her blood... it’s not normal. Did you see how fast she healed last week?”

“She’s not just a werewolf,” the first whispered. “She’s something else.”

I held my breath.

“She’s not one of us.”

I turned and ran.

Not one of them?

What did that mean?

What was I?

---

Chapter 4 – Part 3

Aria's POV

---

The whisper of those two warriors haunted me long after I made it back to my cabin.

"She’s not one of us."

"She’s something else."

"Her blood…"

I stared at my shaking hands under the moonlight. My pulse echoed too loud in my ears, and I couldn’t calm it. I felt like I was unraveling, one thread at a time.

What did they mean by “not one of them”? I had always known I was different, sure. But I’d chalked it up to being unwanted, mistreated, unloved. I never thought… it might be something deeper. Something unnatural.

I looked into the mirror on my wall.

Same dark curls. Same storm-grey eyes. Same skin I’d worn my whole life. But now it felt like a stranger stared back at me.

Who was I?

And what did Kael know that I didn’t?

I had to find out. I couldn’t let the weight of this mystery crush me any longer.

So I waited.

Waited until the middle of the night, when the moon hung high and heavy above the pack house, and everyone was either asleep or deep into dreams. Then I crept out of my cabin, my footsteps light as whispers.

This time, I didn’t head to Kael’s quarters.

This time, I went to the ancient archives.

Most wolves didn’t even know this place existed—buried beneath the east wing, tucked behind a forgotten stone corridor lit only by enchanted torches that never dimmed.

Healer Mira had mentioned it once in passing when I was helping organize old scrolls.

“If you ever seek truth,” she’d murmured, “seek the moon’s memory.”

At the time, I hadn’t understood.

But now? It was the only place left to search.

I found the door hidden behind ivy, rusted but not locked. It creaked open to reveal a spiraling stone staircase that led down… and down… and down.

Dust coated everything. Shelves stretched into the shadows, filled with scrolls, old tomes, and what looked like wolfskin-bound journals.

I lit one of the wall sconces and stepped inside.

“Okay, Aria,” I whispered. “Find the truth.”

I started scanning titles.

“Lunar Bloodlines.”

“Fated Bonds and Broken Souls.”

“Hybrids: The Forbidden Union.”

That one made my hands still.

I pulled the scroll free and carefully unrolled it.

“A hybrid is a being born of mixed origin—wolf and witch, or wolf and something older, something primal.”

“The presence of a hybrid in a pack often destabilizes the energy, causing unrest. Their powers are unpredictable. Dangerous. Forbidden.”

My heart thundered. My fingers trembled.

Could that be me?

Is that why the warriors whispered?

I kept reading.

“Signs of hybrid nature: accelerated healing, heightened senses even beyond Alpha level, resistance to lunar commands, uncontrolled emotional bursts that may manifest as energy surges.”

Suddenly my memories twisted into sharp clarity.

The healing when I got cut last week—it had been fast. Too fast.

And the time I got so angry during training that the ground cracked beneath my feet…

That wasn’t normal.

Oh Goddess.

I stumbled back, knocking over a stack of scrolls.

A loud crash echoed.

Then—footsteps.

No, no, no—

A shadow appeared at the top of the stairs.

A voice, deadly calm: “Aria.”

Kael.

Of course.

---

I froze as Kael descended the stairs, eyes burning.

“How did you find this place?” he growled.

“I had to know the truth,” I whispered.

He didn’t respond. Just stared at the scroll in my hands.

“So it’s true, isn’t it?” I said, voice shaking. “I’m a hybrid.”

His jaw clenched. His silence was answer enough.

“For how long have you known?”

“I suspected since the day you crossed the border into this pack,” he finally said. “But I had to be sure.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I wanted you gone,” he said bitterly. “Because hybrids are forbidden for a reason.”

Tears stung my eyes. “Then why keep me here? Why not just exile me the second I arrived?”

“Because…” He swallowed hard, pain flickering across his features. “Because of the bond.”

I stared at him. “You knew we were fated.”

His eyes met mine, fierce and tormented.

“I felt it the moment I touched you.”

I took a step toward him, heart pounding.

“You pushed me away. Humiliated me. Punished me.”

“Because I had to,” he snapped. “Because if I gave in to that bond, I would be choosing a future that could doom us all. A hybrid Luna would not be accepted. The Elders—”

“Damn the Elders!” I shouted. “What about what we feel?”

He looked away.

“I can’t,” he said. “Not again.”

“Again?” I asked. “You’ve had a mate before?”

He stiffened.

And that was when I understood.

“She was a hybrid too, wasn’t she?”

His silence said yes.

I felt my heart shatter in my chest.

“What happened to her?”

He looked up slowly, eyes haunted.

“She died,” he whispered. “Because of me. Because I chose her… and the pack turned on us both.”

A breath caught in my throat.

“She was hunted,” he continued. “Slaughtered in front of me. I couldn’t save her.”

Now I understood.

Kael didn’t hate me because of me.

He hated himself for feeling this way again.

He hated the moon goddess for giving him another chance at something he had already failed.

And now?

He was running from the bond.

But I wasn’t.

Not anymore.

“I’m not her,” I whispered. “And I’m not going to die just because you’re scared of loving again.”

His eyes flashed. “It’s not that simple—”

I stepped closer. “It is. You either fight for us, or you let fear win.”

The air between us crackled like lightning. His wolf howled behind his eyes.

Then—he spun around and stormed out of the archives, leaving me alone with the ghosts of truth.

---

I barely slept. My dreams were tangled with Kael’s pain and my own rising power.

The next day, when I walked into the training arena, every warrior turned to look at me.

Not with contempt.

But wariness.

They knew.

Somehow, the word had spread.

Even Cassian kept his distance, his usual teasing smirk replaced by a hard line.

Kael wasn’t there.

Instead, Liora stood at the center of the ring.

“You,” she said, pointing to me. “Step forward.”

I obeyed.

“The Alpha has decreed that if you are to remain in this pack, you must prove yourself.”

I narrowed my eyes. “How?”

“By surviving,” she said simply.

She turned—and five warriors stepped into the ring.

“First trial,” she called. “Begin.”

---