The Fated Encounter with the Forbidden Alpha

**Familiar Stranger**

The faint chirping of morning birds and the rhythmic ticking of her table clock gently coaxed Tia from sleep. As she opened her eyes, she was startled to find herself in her own dorm bed. She sat up abruptly, her heart racing as she tried to piece together the events of the previous night.

The last thing she remembered was losing consciousness in the arms of a stranger. *What happened after that?* she wondered, her mind racing with fragmented memories. *If Grandmother ever finds out about this…* The thought made her heart constrict with anxiety, but then she remembered the warmth and strength of the embrace she had found herself in, and a small smile tugged at her lips.

"You really know how to scare people, I tell you," came a drawl from across the room.

Tia turned toward the voice, surprised to find Julia getting up from her bed, her eyes still closed.

"You’re my roommate?" Tia asked, her surprise evident.

"Yeah, we already discovered that last night, *partner in crime*," Julia replied with a grin, still half-asleep. "But you were too wasted to remember it, I guess. Gosh, I don’t want to open my eyes. I feel so tired," she groaned.

Tia smiled at her roommate's antics and threw off the flower-patterned duvet covering her. She gathered her long, curly brown hair into a messy bun and made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Tia returned to the room to grab her outfit. She found Julia softly snoring in a sitting position.

"You know," Tia began softly, amusement coloring her tone, "I may not remember that we’re roommates, but I do remember that we have the same Literary Criticism and Analysis class together at 8:15 a.m. And it’s already 7:17 a.m. Are you planning to be late, or what?"

Despite her sleepiness, Tia couldn’t help but feel a sense of affection for her new roommate. Julia was such a ray of sunshine, even when she was groggy and half-asleep. It was impossible not to be amused by her.

After much grumbling and groaning, Tia finally managed to get Julia dressed and ready for the day, and she dragged her out of their dorm room. Their building was only a 15-minute walk from the main building, but it took them 30 minutes to reach their destination, including a pit stop to grab their respective morning drinks—tea for Tia and coffee for Julia.

When they arrived, the classroom was already half-filled. They headed towards the empty seats right next to the podium where their professor, Dr. Lucas Hayes, was expected to teach.

Dr. Lucas Hayes was a renowned literary researcher known for his ideas on fictional art and creative structures. Tia had applied to this university far from the coast solely to study under him. Although his pictures were unavailable due to privacy reasons, his writings and thoughts on constructing and deconstructing theories to analyze poetry and theater revealed the depth of his intellect. Tia felt a familiar intrigue as she wondered what he might look like.

"Say, Julia, have you met Dr. Hayes?" Tia asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Of course, I have!" Julia responded, her chipper demeanor returning. She looked up from her phone, which she had been engrossed in since they arrived. "Uncle Lucas is my uncle, although he’s strictly forbidden me from calling him 'uncle' now that I’m in his class. But in reality, he’s the sweetest uncle one can have. He’s only seven years older than me, I tell you."

"You mean he’s only 25? That’s so young! I can’t imagine achieving such success at that age. You must be proud of him," Tia said thoughtfully.

"It’s a given for him to achieve success at a young age; after all, he’s the next Al— I mean, leader of our community!" Julia corrected herself, almost slipping on a word Tia didn’t recognize.

"You mean, like a mayor or a president? Aren’t there supposed to be votes for such selections?" Tia asked, puzzled. Julia’s community seemed to have some peculiar expectations and norms, and this was just another example. Electing leaders without a proper election? It was all a bit strange to Tia.

Julia explained, "That’s why I said leader, not mayor. Our community believes in the idea of everyone being part of one family, and the leader is like the father of the house, responsible for guarding and protecting the family. That’s why choosing the leader’s wife is also important—she’s responsible for nurturing the family from within with tender care. But the leader’s wife is pretty obnoxious," Julia added with a playful roll of her eyes.

Tia’s confusion only deepened with each new piece of information. The more Julia explained, the more questions popped into her head.

"So… your folks believe in arranged marriage?" Tia asked, trying to wrap her head around the idea.

"On the contrary, we believe in love at first sight. The moo—God has given each of us a pair, like a mate who is half of our soul."

"Like a soul mate?" Tia asked, intrigued.

"Yeah!" Julia confirmed, her eyes lighting up.

"And how do you know who is your soul mate?"

"See, that—" Julia began, but she was abruptly cut off when a deep, authoritative voice drew the attention of the entire class. The room, which had been buzzing with murmurs since Tia had stepped in, suddenly fell silent.

As the class settled into their seats, the faint hum of conversations tapered off, replaced by the sound of footsteps echoing down the aisle. The air in the room thickened with anticipation, a collective breath held in the silence. Tia, still shaken from the events of the previous night, barely registered the man who approached the podium—her mind was a haze of confusion and curiosity.

Then, the voice came.

“Good morning, class. My name is Dr. Lucas Hayes, and I will only answer to Dr. Hayes or Professor Hayes.”

The words hung in the air, commanding attention with their deep resonance. Tia’s heart skipped a beat. That voice—it was unmistakable. It wrapped around her like the warm embrace she remembered, sending a shiver down her spine. It was the same voice that had whispered to her in the dimly lit hallway, the same voice that had lulled her into a sense of safety just before she lost consciousness.

But more than the voice, it was the scent that confirmed it. The familiar, intoxicating aroma of pine and cedar wafted through the room, mingling with the faint scent of earth. It was as though the forest itself had come alive within these four walls, and Tia was suddenly transported back to that moment in the building when the world had blurred around her, leaving only the stranger and his comforting scent.

A warmth blossomed in her chest, spreading through her veins as she watched Dr. Hayes walk toward the podium. He moved with a confidence that spoke of both authority and ease, his back straight, shoulders broad, and steps measured. Tia’s thoughts raced, each one tumbling over the next in a desperate attempt to make sense of the impossible. *Could it really be him?*

*If I could just see his face…* she thought, her pulse quickening. *I swear I know him. That voice, that smell…* But the rational part of her mind screamed in protest, reminding her that it was absurd—impossible, even. Dr. Hayes was her professor, a man she had admired from a distance through his writings and research. The man she had encountered last night couldn’t possibly be the same person… could he?

As if in answer to her unspoken question, Dr. Hayes reached the podium and turned to face the class. The movement was fluid, almost languid, and for a moment, time seemed to stretch as Tia’s eyes locked onto his face.

Her breath caught in her throat.

There he was, standing before her, the embodiment of every thought she had struggled to reconcile since waking up that morning. His angular jaw, the sharp lines of his features, and those dark, piercing eyes that had gazed at her with such intensity—she recognized them all. The man who had steadied her, who had held her with such tenderness as she teetered on the edge of consciousness, was the same man who now stood at the front of the room, addressing them with a cool, collected demeanor.

“Oh dear,” Tia whispered, the words escaping her lips before she could stop them. They were barely audible, more a breath than a sound, but they carried with them all the weight of her realization.

Dr. Hayes’ eyes flicked in her direction, his gaze honing in on her with the precision of a predator. For a heartbeat, the room fell away, leaving only the two of them connected by an invisible thread. The authority in his stance remained, but there was something else in his expression—a flicker of recognition, of something that mirrored the whirlwind of emotions Tia was grappling with.

Excitement and confusion warred within her, each emotion vying for dominance. How was this possible? How could the man she had idolized from afar, the man who had influenced her decision to attend this university, be the same mysterious stranger who had held her so intimately?

And yet, beneath the confusion, there was a sensation she couldn’t quite place—a deep, instinctual pull that seemed to draw her closer to him. It was as though she had known him long before this moment, as though their souls had danced together in another life.

The realization settled over her like a shroud, both exhilarating and terrifying. The man who had haunted her dreams, the man she had longed to meet for years, was here, within reach. But the context was all wrong, the lines between her admiration, her memories, and her present reality blurring into something she couldn’t easily define.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she held his gaze, searching for answers in the depths of those dark eyes. But Dr. Hayes’ expression remained inscrutable, a mask that revealed nothing of the thoughts or emotions swirling beneath the surface. And then, just as quickly as it had come, the moment passed. He broke the eye contact, his focus shifting to the rest of the class as though nothing had happened.

But for Tia, everything had changed.

Her mysterious stranger was none other than Dr. Lucas Hayes.