Alpha's Doomed Mate : Forsaken By Fate

...Aria’s POV The blood tasted like rust in my mouth. I wiped my lip with the back of my hand and kept scrubbing the floor. My knees was burning from the cold of the stone but I didn’t stop. They would hit me again if I slowed down, or worse, call Alpha Cyrus. And, I had had enough pain for one morning. “Lazy little rat,” Beta Lorna spat behind me. “You think just because it's your birthday, you get to slack off?” I didn’t answer. I never did. Talking back only made things worse. “Say something you cursed girl!” she snapped at me and kicked the bucket beside me over. The soapy water splashed across my already damp clothes. I flinched but still kept my eyes down. “I said I am sorry, Beta,” I whispered. “You are not sorry,” she hissed in anger. "You are pathetic, just like your parents who died like dirty little traitors!" There was no insult that I wasn't used to, but this particular one always stung. "They should have killed you too.” The tears gathered in my eyes. A sob rose in my throat but I bit hard on my tongue to suppress it. I always did. After she left, I leaned my forehead against the stone floor, just for a second. My chest was aching, but not from the kicks or bruises because those were normal. It was from something else. It was something deeper. Something was changing in me. I could feel it in my bones. I needed a breath of air, but not now. I breathed a sigh and continued to work. I waited until the sun hit the right spot through the cracked window, the time I always stole ten minutes for myself. Then, I slipped out through the back hallway and pushed open the old side door. It creaked slightly but no one heard me. They rarely paid attention to the omega wing. I ran into the woods behind the pack house. The forest welcomed me like an old friend. The air had the smell of the pine trees and damp earth, and the wind was whispering gladly between the trees. My breathing slowed as I weaved through the familiar path. I walked deeper and deeper until the trees turned darker and the ground dipped into a hollow that I had not visited in months. And then— There it was. The tree stood like a sentinel in the clearing, its bark twisted, black as ash. They called it cursed and said that bad things had happened around it. But this place... it felt more like home than anywhere else. I sat down by the tree, thinking. My heart was palpitating as I thought about everything. Why was my life such a catastrophe? I broke into tears and crying, wailing into the forest like a bear separate from its child. My heart was splitting. I cried till there was no tears. Suddenly, a certain cold breeze blew over me. I instantly felt so uneasy just as I felt a strong pull towards the ground. I turned and something caughty eyes. I saw something glowing in the ground. And, it felt so unusual. I dropped to my knees beside the roots and started digging before I knew it. My fingers moved fast even though the dirt was cold and packed tight. My heart beat faster with every handful that I managed to pull away. I kept on digging and digging and it kept shining brighter and brighter until— Finally, I found it. I gasped as I stared down at small metal shining box. It was wrapped in cracked leather and bound with rusted metal. My breath caught as I opened it slowly. Inside it was a thin journal. The cover was worn and the corners of the papers was frayed. But I knew that handwriting. It was for Liora Blackwood. And she was my mother. I had not seen her name written since the day they burned everything that belonged to her. My hands trembled as I began to flip through every of the pages. The words inside were strange. There were poems, drawings and several parts of a scary prophecy. Had my mother been researching it? I kept flipping even though I did not understand most of it. There were some lines wchich talked about fire, others that spoke of shadows and also wolves with eyes like the moons. I frowned and whispered one aloud. “Power locked by silver and shame. Fire born shall break the chain.” “What does that mean?” I asked the wind, even though no one was there to answer. I flipped again, faster this time. Then one line stopped me cold. It was written in the center of the page, alone. The ink shimmered gold, glowing faintly. “On your twenty first, you shall find this and then you shall awaken. You are not what they think you are, Aria.” “What…?” I stared at it, confused. Suddenly, my chest began to burn. I gasped and dropped the journal as my hands flew to my ribs. A strange heat spread rapidly through my body like a rising fever. My skin tingled and then started to glow faintly beneath the surface. It was as if a golden light was living underneath my flesh. “No, no, no, what is happening to me?” I whispered, stumbling back from the tree. The burning got worse. I fell to my hands and knees, choking on the heat. My vision blurred. My fingertips sparked, golden light leaking out like fireflies caught beneath my skin. Then came the pain. It tore through my bones like lightning. I screamed and clutched my shoulder as a sharp, slicing heat carved into my collarbone, like a brand made of fire. “Stop!” I cried out, tears streaming down my face. “Please, make it stop!” But it didn’t. Something invisible carved deep into my skin and I knew this pain was not just physical. It was magic, old magic. It was the amcient and angry kind that was strangely always alive. And when it finally stopped, I collapsed on my side, panting. The woods were quiet again. But I wasn’t the same. My fingers brushed my collarbone. The skin was hot and raised. I pulled my tattered shirt aside and stared down. My eyes widened in terror as I saw a crest had been burned into my skin. It was a symbol of a crowned wolf that wss surrounded by flames. I had seen it once before, years ago, when I snuck into Alpha Cyrus’s office and opened one of the forbidden scrolls. It was the royal crest of Nightveil. “No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “That… that’s not possible.” Nightveil was the bloodline of the Alpha King. It was a line that wss said to be pure, ruthless and even untouchable. They were hunted because of this mark. And now, that mark… was on me. “This has to be a mistake,” I said aloud, my voice barely a breath. “I am just an omega. I’m no one.” But the golden light was still pulsing faintly under my skin, calling me a liar. I picked up the journal with shaking hands and flipped through the last pages. And there, scribbled in rushed writing, was another note: “If she survives the Awakening, she must never let them see the mark. They will fear her, hunt her and even... kill her.” My throat tightened. My mother had known that this would happen and she had left this for me. She had hidden it, hoping I would find it in time. I shoved the journal into my shirt and stood, my legs wobbling under me. “I have to go,” I whispered. “I can not let them see it. I have to hide it.” But even as I said it, a part of me, deep and buried, felt different. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel powerless. I felt… dangerous. I turned toward the pack house, the trees rustling around me like they were watching. Something had changed inside me. And there was no going back.