FATED TO THE ALPHA WHO HATES ME

Prophecy Begins

-

Chapter 5 – Part 1

Aria’s POV

The days had begun to blur.

Between forced training drills, endless silence from Alpha Kael, and the weight of the moon drawing closer to the full, I felt like I was constantly holding my breath, waiting for the sky to crack open and pour down fire.

Ever since I stumbled across that ancient book in the Alpha’s quarters, I couldn’t sleep. Not properly. The pages had whispered of fate, of a curse, of something deeper tied between our bloodlines. I couldn’t tell if I was reading prophecy or madness. And worst of all—I hadn’t returned the book. It still sat beneath the floorboard of my room, its leather binding calling to me when night grew too quiet.

"Aria!" a sharp voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I blinked up to see Ember, her arms crossed, her training gear covered in dirt and sweat. "You’re zoning out again."

"I wasn’t—" I started, but her raised brow silenced me.

"You were. Kael’s watching today. Pull yourself together before he benches you again."

Just the mention of his name sent a ripple through me.

Alpha Kael.

The name alone was enough to stir the storm inside my chest. He hadn’t spoken to me directly since the library incident. But I could feel his eyes—always watching, always cold, as if he were waiting for me to break.

I took my place across from Ember on the training field. My muscles ached from yesterday’s drills, but I didn’t care. I had something to prove. Not to him, not to the pack. To myself.

I was more than the girl he despised. I was more than the weakling the others whispered about.

"Begin!" Beta Lorne’s voice boomed across the clearing.

Ember lunged first, her fist flying toward my side, but I twisted just in time. We were evenly matched in speed, but Ember had experience. I ducked, rolled, countered with a kick she blocked, and before I could retreat, she spun and landed a strike to my shoulder that sent me sprawling into the dirt.

The training field fell into a hush.

I clenched my fists, forcing the pain down as I stood slowly, locking eyes with her.

"Again," I said, voice low.

Ember hesitated, then nodded.

We fought again. And again. By the fifth round, my breath was ragged and sweat dripped into my eyes, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.

A strange energy buzzed beneath my skin. The wolf in me was restless. Hungry.

I could feel Kael’s gaze from across the field like a flame pressed against my spine. But he said nothing. He only watched.

When the session ended, I collapsed beside the river that ran through the back end of the training grounds. My knuckles were raw, my ribs sore, but my mind was sharper than ever.

That’s when I saw him.

Kael.

Alone, standing by the edge of the woods, his silver eyes turned away from me. His cloak fluttered slightly with the breeze, and for a moment, he looked... lost.

I didn’t mean to approach. My legs moved on their own.

"Alpha Kael," I said softly.

He didn’t turn.

"You shouldn’t be here," his voice came cold.

"I live here," I said, crossing my arms.

A long pause. Then: "You shouldn’t be near me."

"Why? Because of your curse?"

He spun to face me, eyes blazing. "You don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Then explain it," I whispered. "Tell me what you’re so afraid of."

Silence stretched between us, thick and charged. A hawk cried above us as clouds rolled in.

Then, his voice dropped, a rumble laced with warning and pain. "There are things that should never be spoken aloud. Even fate fears them."

I didn’t flinch. I stepped closer.

His jaw tightened. "Why do you keep pushing?"

"Because I know you’re not the monster you pretend to be."

For a flicker of a second, I saw something in his eyes—shock, maybe even sadness—but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"You’re wrong." His voice was a whisper now. "I am exactly the monster they fear."

With that, he turned and walked into the trees, disappearing into the shadows.

But I didn’t follow.

I stood there, heart pounding, wondering if I had just seen the beginning of the truth... or the beginning of something far more dangerous.

🕯️

That night, I woke to a tapping sound against my window.

At first, I thought it was the wind.

Then I saw the eyes. Glowing gold. Familiar.

Ember.

I slipped outside, shivering against the cold night air. She was already halfway into the woods before I caught up.

"What’s going on?" I whispered.

She looked back. "I need to show you something. But you have to promise me you won’t tell Kael."

"Why would I?"

"Because this is about you. And your past."

We walked in silence until we reached an old stone well, hidden deep within the woods. Ember knelt beside it, pulling up a rusted chain with a small locked box at the end.

"This," she said, handing it to me, "belonged to your mother."

My heart stopped.

"My... my mother?"

Ember nodded. "She wasn’t just a healer, Aria. She was one of the last Moonborn. That’s why Kael’s afraid of you."

I stared at the box in my hands, breath frozen.

"Unlock it," Ember urged.

I did.

Inside was a silver pendant shaped like a crescent moon, and a folded letter, its paper brittle with age.

My hands trembled as I opened it.

> My dearest Aria,

If you're reading this, then fate has led you to the truth.

You are not ordinary. You never were.

Protect the pendant. And never trust the Alpha.

I looked up at Ember, heart racing.

"What does this mean?"

She looked around the trees nervously. "It means you’re in danger. Real danger. And the Alpha who hates you... may be the only one who can save you."

Chapter 5 – Part 2

Written in Aria’s voice

---

The next morning, the air felt heavier, like it carried secrets.

I stood in front of the training grounds again, but this time, I wasn’t nervous. I was determined.

Whatever Kael and that strange woman were talking about last night — it was about me. About something inside me. And I was going to find out what it was, even if I had to claw through the entire truth with my bare hands.

“Back again?” Jessa, one of the she-wolves from the Beta’s line, raised a brow as she passed me.

I nodded, ignoring the smirk she gave. She never liked me. None of them did. Not the elite wolves, not the warriors. Just me—the girl with no family, no rank, and apparently... no idea who I really was.

But that was about to change.

---

Kael didn’t speak to me all day.

Not during training, not during breakfast in the hall, not even when I bumped into him—literally—outside the war room.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

His eyes locked on mine for a second too long.

“It’s fine,” he said, voice low.

But there was tension in the way he clenched his jaw. Like he was fighting something.

Or hiding something.

---

After lunch, I finally broke.

I waited until I saw him leave his office, then slipped inside.

His room smelled like cedar and storm winds, just like him. The desk was stacked with maps, scrolls, and dusty old books. Some were in languages I didn’t recognize.

But one thing caught my eye.

A leather-bound book, worn at the edges, with a strange symbol embossed on the front. A crescent moon tangled in flames.

I flipped it open.

The first page made my blood run cold:

> “The Prophecy of the Hidden One shall awaken when the Alpha’s hatred burns brightest. Born under a blood moon, raised among shadows, her power shall rise like fire, and none shall stop her…”

My hands trembled as I kept reading. The prophecy went on to speak of an unclaimed she-wolf, one whose blood carried ancient magic, whose presence would threaten both the Alpha's command and the balance of the pack itself.

Could that be... me?

Before I could read more, the door creaked.

I froze.

Kael stood at the entrance, watching me.

“I knew you’d come looking,” he said.

I swallowed hard. “So it’s true.”

He didn’t answer.

“You knew I wasn’t... normal. Since the beginning.”

He nodded slowly. “I knew the moment I smelled your scent on the first day.”

I stared at him. “Then why didn’t you tell me?! Why act like I’m worthless, like I’m just some unwanted stray—”

“Because I had to!” he snapped, stepping closer, eyes glowing faintly with that dangerous Alpha power. “If they knew who you were, they’d tear you apart, Aria. You think you’re ready to handle that?”

“I’m not a child!” I yelled. “I deserve to know who I am!”

“You’re more than a child,” he said, voice softer now, almost… reverent. “You’re the one the prophecy speaks of. The Hidden One. The one with the power to challenge every Alpha, including me.”

---

My head spun.

Me? A threat to him? To the pack?

“No,” I whispered, stepping back. “That’s not me. I’m nobody. I don’t even know who my parents were—”

“You were found during the Blood Moon,” he said gently. “You’re not nobody. You’re something else. Something ancient. Something powerful. That’s why I… that’s why I had to keep you away.”

“You hate me.”

“I tried,” he said. “But I couldn’t.”

I didn’t know what to say.

His eyes searched mine like he wanted me to say something—anything. But I couldn’t breathe. My heart was breaking and rebuilding all at once.

---

The next few days were a blur.

I stayed in my room. I barely ate. I couldn’t stop thinking about what he said.

Was that why I always felt different? Why I didn’t shift when the others did at thirteen? Why I always had nightmares of flames and moonlight?

Because I was... that girl?

The one in the prophecy?

---

By the end of the week, Kael called a pack meeting.

He stood on the stone steps outside the pack hall, the warriors gathered below, the elders behind him. And I was standing off to the side, heart thundering.

“I have an announcement,” he said, voice strong. “We have a threat rising. One foretold in prophecy.”

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

“But this threat is not what you think. It’s not an enemy,” he continued. “It’s a truth. A power that has returned to our pack. And we will protect it.”

He turned… and looked at me.

Whispers turned into gasps.

“She is the Hidden One,” Kael said.

My knees nearly gave out.

“She is under my protection,” he added. “No one is to harm her. No one is to question her place here.”

The crowd was stunned into silence.

But I knew… nothing would ever be the same again.

---

That night, Kael found me by the stream behind the stables.

He didn’t say anything. He just sat beside me.

After a long pause, he whispered, “You’re not alone anymore.”

I looked at him, unsure what that meant.

“I’ll help you figure it out,” he said. “Whatever this power is. Whatever this prophecy wants from you. We’ll face it together.”

I nodded slowly.

I didn’t trust him completely. Not yet.

But a part of me—deep down—wanted to believe he wasn’t my enemy.

Maybe… he never truly was.

---

Chapter 5 – Part 3

Written in Aria’s voice

---

If I thought being ignored and mocked by the pack was hard…

Being noticed was even worse.

After Kael announced the truth to everyone — that I was the Hidden One from the prophecy — things changed. And not in a good way.

Whispers followed me everywhere.

“She’s the girl from the prophecy…”

“She’s a threat to the Alpha…”

“She’s cursed, not gifted…”

“She should be locked up…”

I tried not to let it show. I walked with my head high, even when my legs were shaking underneath me.

But every time someone flinched when I passed by, every time someone avoided my eyes, it chipped away at something inside me.

The worst part?

Kael didn’t say a word.

---

“Don’t expect them to accept you overnight,” Elric told me one evening in the training hall. He handed me a wooden staff and nodded toward the center mat. “They fear what they don’t understand.”

“They don’t fear me,” I muttered, gripping the staff tightly. “They hate me.”

He smirked. “Then give them a reason not to.”

I didn’t ask what he meant. I already knew.

---

Training became my escape.

Day and night, I trained harder than I ever had. I sparred until my arms felt like jelly, until I collapsed into bed with bruises on every inch of my body.

But with each day that passed, something strange began happening.

I was getting stronger.

Faster.

My senses sharpened. My reflexes heightened. I could anticipate my opponent’s move before they made it.

And then one night, in the middle of a spar with Jessa, it happened.

Her staff came flying toward me.

And I stopped it.

With my mind.

---

Everyone gasped.

Jessa stumbled back. “What the hell…?”

I was frozen. My hand wasn’t even raised.

But the staff hovered mid-air between us, wrapped in a faint glow of silver light.

Kael stepped forward. “Enough.”

The staff dropped to the ground with a loud clack, and the hall fell silent.

Kael’s eyes never left mine.

“You’re awakening,” he said softly.

“What… what is this?” I asked, voice shaking.

He stepped closer, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear like he didn’t even realize he was doing it. “This is what your bloodline holds, Aria. Power older than the packs themselves.”

---

That night, I didn’t sleep.

Visions flashed behind my eyes — fire, wolves howling under blood-red moons, a woman with glowing eyes whispering my name.

I jolted awake, sweating and gasping.

Something inside me had snapped open.

Something ancient.

Something… dangerous.

---

The next morning, I found Kael waiting outside my door.

“We need to talk,” he said.

I followed him into the forest beyond the training grounds, where the trees whispered like old spirits.

“I’ve seen this before,” he said as we walked. “In the scrolls. The Hidden One doesn’t just carry prophecy. She carries magic. Real, ancient magic from the time before packs, before Alphas.”

“Then why am I only awakening now?” I asked.

He paused, gaze heavy on me. “Because it takes something... powerful. A trigger.”

I frowned. “Like what?”

“Fear. Pain. Or...” he hesitated, “... love.”

I looked away. “That’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking.”

He stepped closer, his voice a whisper now. “You said you hated me. That I hated you. But something’s changing, Aria. Between us.”

I swallowed hard, my heart racing.

“Yes,” I admitted, barely audible. “And it terrifies me.”

---

For the first time, Kael didn’t push me away.

He just stood there, eyes locked on mine, as if he wanted to close the space between us but didn’t dare.

I should’ve pulled back.

I didn’t.

---

That night, the dreams returned.

But this time, I wasn’t alone.

Kael was there.

In the dream, I stood in the middle of a battlefield, my hands coated in blood, fire swirling around me like a storm.

Kael came to me, unafraid, reaching out.

“You have to choose,” he whispered.

“Choose what?” I asked.

“Who you want to be.”

I looked down at my hands.

Then I woke up, breathless and shaking.

---

The next morning, Kael was gone.

Elric found me in the war room. “He’s gone to meet with the High Council. There’s talk of your presence causing unrest among the neighboring packs.”

“Unrest?” I echoed. “I haven’t done anything!”

Elric nodded. “That’s exactly why they’re afraid. You haven’t done anything yet. And they know what you’re capable of.”

I gritted my teeth.

“Then I’ll prove them wrong.”

---

Days passed. Kael still didn’t return.

And while he was gone, tensions rose.

Whispers turned into challenges.

Some warriors refused to train with me. Some even suggested I be banished.

The Elders called a secret meeting.

Elric warned me: “They may try to strip Kael of his title for protecting you.”

That broke something in me.

I wasn’t going to sit and watch them tear down the only person who had stood beside me — even if he did it in silence.

---

So I stood before the Elders.

Alone.

“I’m not the threat,” I said, voice echoing through the chamber. “But I will be, if you come for him.”

A hush fell over the room.

They didn’t expect fire from me.

They expected fear.

Good.

Let them be surprised.

---

Kael returned that night.

He looked exhausted, like he’d aged five years in five days.

“They’re calling for my head,” he said with a tired smile.

I reached for his hand without thinking. “Let them try.”

His fingers tightened around mine.

“I missed you,” he whispered.

The words melted something cold and lonely in my chest.

“I missed you too.”

And for the first time, he didn’t stop himself.

He leaned in.

His forehead rested against mine.

His breath warmed my lips.

But he didn’t kiss me.

Not yet.

Because something else was rising in the distance.

A shadow bigger than either of us.

And deep in my bones, I knew…

This was just the beginning.

---