Fated To The Alpha's Enemy

Adora POV I stand in a forest, but it isn’t any place I know. The trees are gnarled and black, their twisted branches clawing at the sky like fingers of the dead. The air is thick with fog that swirls around my ankles and tastes like ash in my mouth. There’s no sound. No wind. No heartbeat. And then... he appears. I know it’s a he based on the outline of the hood he’s got on. His face is covered, but I’m not dumb enough to think that makes him safe. Like a predator out to collect his pound of flesh, he starts walking toward me. He takes calm, deliberate steps meant to make my heart thump louder than normal. I try to speak, but the air is too heavy. I try to tell him to back off, but my voice dies in my throat. When he gets to where I’m rooted to the ground, he raises a hand and reaches toward me. I want to run, but my body, just like always, refuses to listen to reason. His fingers graze my cheek. I close my eyes, bracing for the cold. Instead of cold, white-hot heat floods through me like wildfire. It rushes down my spine like a stroke of lightning and wraps around my ribs like a vise before coiling low in my gut and reaching for my wolf. She moves, and she’s far from calm. She growls inside me like she wants to be let loose and go in for a kill. And the man standing in front of me, fingers pressing deep into my cheek, notices it too, because he tilts his head and smiles wider like he’s pleased. His voice curls around me, low and thick with power. “Soon.” “No!” I cry out, the word torn from my throat as darkness crashes down on me. The sound of my own voice yanks me out of the dream, and I wake up choking on nothing but air. I’ve had this dream before, but this time… it feels too real, too close. The morning light filters through the web of cracks in my window, but it’s not enough to hide the fact that my room smells like mold and humiliation. The floorboards whine louder than I do, the ceiling drips like it’s crying for help, and the mattress… Goddess bless it, has a crater so deep I could fall through and end up in a different timeline. A single rusted bucket catches rainwater in the corner like it's proud of the job. This is what I get. A closet with plumbing issues for a bedroom and no dignity left in the drawer. The family disappointment, on full display. I tell myself what I always do—that one day, I’ll escape this hell. Wolf or no wolf, I’ll find a way out of here. I’m still trying to shake off the nightmare when the door explodes open, crashing against the wall like it's done with me. No knock. There never is. “Rise and shine, princess!” The sing-song voice cuts through the room, and my blood turns to ice. Vivian stands in my doorway, flanked by Liana and Mirabel. All three of them look like they’ve stepped out of some fairy tale. Perfectly styled hair, expensive dresses, and those Garcia mating marks gleaming at their throats like badges of honor. But I know better. My sisters might be marked and mated, treated like princesses by their illustrious Fated Mates, but they are the most bitter bitches I know. I’m not shocked by the mockery in Vivian’s tone or their blistering glares. I’m shocked because they are home. Since they got mated, they are barely ever home. I try to hide my displeasure at that fact and fail miserably. “What are you doing here?” I scramble to sit up. “We came back for pack business,” Vivian says, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “Our Mates are discussing important matters with Dad. The kind of stuff that actually matters.” “Unlike you,” Liana adds, and the casual cruelty in her voice makes my chest tighten. “But we thought we’d check on our little sister while we’re here,” Mirabel says, stepping into my cramped space. “See how you’re… surviving.” They wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if I died in my sleep. That’s how much they hate me. That’s how much I know she’s bluffing. “You mean check if the girl who killed our mother is still breathing?” Liana’s voice cuts through the room. The words hit like they always do, but something in me snaps. “I—I didn’t kill her—I survived her. Something you’d never understand.” The room goes silent. My sisters stare at me like I’ve just slapped them in the face. Then Liana’s face twists with rage. “What did you just say?” That’s when I noticed the bucket in Vivian’s hands. The water inside it is murky, filled with chunks of something that smells like it came from the gutter. My stomach drops. “You need a reminder of exactly what you are in this house,” Liana hisses. “A servant. Nothing more.” And suddenly, I know why they’re here, and I try to beg to escape the inevitable torture I see coming. “Please,” I beg, but it’s too late. The water hits like a slap. Cold. Rank. Soaking through my nightgown and into the mattress that already smells like shame. I gasp, sputtering as the cold liquid drenches me. It doesn’t humble me. It burns. A spark of anger flashes in my chest, rising from somewhere be- neath the sadness I’ve always worn like second skin. I choke it down because I don’t get to feel that. Not here. Not in this house. Not when I’ve already been told what I’m worth, day in, day out. “There,” Vivian scoffs. “Now you look as pathetic as you actually are.” Pathetic because I was born? Or pathetic because, unlike them, I have no wolf, nor am I strong enough to fight them off? Trust me, I tried to fight them off when we were kids, and they gave me hell. Dad never tried to intervene. “Perfect,” Liana breathes, like she’s looking at a masterpiece. “Look at this place,” Mirabel says, kicking at my water bucket with her polished boot. “If you weren’t so useless, maybe Dad wouldn’t treat you like a servant.” “I’m not a servant,” I whisper. The lie burns all the way down. “Aren’t you?” Vivian tilts her head, studying me with those cold blue eyes. “You live in the servants' quarters, you eat kitchen scraps, you wear rags. What exactly makes you different from the help?” “At least the help serves a purpose,” Liana points out. “They clean and cook and contribute something. What do you do besides waste air?” I try to stand, but my legs are shaking, and the dirty water makes everything slippery.