Page 29 of Her Fated Alpha Prince
Outside, the garden rustled softly, the strange flowers pulsing in time with their heartbeats. The night held its breath—waiting, watching.
Kael stayed with her until the first blush of dawn crept through the window, a silent promise between them. The war was far from over. But for now, there was a fragile peace.
And in that fragile peace, hope.
CHAPTER 11
_____
ARIANA
The sun hadn’t yet crested the treetops when Ariana slipped from her room, a cloak wrapped tight around her shoulders. The air was still, too still—like the jungle was holding its breath. Birds that usually stirred the morning with riotous songs were quiet, and even the wind seemed to pause.
She moved quickly, feet silent on stone pathways slick with dew. She didn’t know exactly where she was going, only that her skin buzzed with the sense that staying in her room another moment would drive her mad.
The note from Elder Varos still burned in her memory.
“If you feel something changing, say nothing. For now. We are being watched.”
Something was changing—had already changed. She could feel it in her bones, in her blood. A thrum beneath her skin like the jungle was inside her now, breathing with her.
And she couldn’t ignore it anymore.
Ariana paused at the edge of a narrow path veiled by drooping vines. The entrance was so subtle she would have missed it if not for the faint shimmer of light—silver, like the dream fire—curling along the leaves.
She ducked through.
The path wound downward, roots tangling underfoot, the canopy thick above. It felt like stepping into the dream again. That same charged air, that same weightless pull, like something ancient was watching.
But this time, she wasn’t afraid.
When she reached the clearing, she stopped.
The pool was there. The same pool from her dream—still, glasslike, reflecting the rising light in ripples of silver and gold. It looked untouched, hidden, sacred.
And she wasn’t alone.
Elder Varos stood at the far edge of the clearing, his silver hair gleaming, his hands folded calmly in front of him.
“I wondered how long it would take you to find this place,” he said without turning.
Ariana stepped forward slowly. “You knew I would?”
“I knew you’d feel the call,” he said. “You felt it even before you arrived.”
She swallowed. “What is this place?”
He finally turned to face her. “A memory,” he said. “And a warning.”
The breeze stirred the surface of the pool, distorting her reflection. She saw flashes—her eyes glowing, vines twisting up her arms, fire blooming from her fingertips. Just images. Echoes.
She blinked, and they were gone.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “What’s happening to me?”
Varos approached slowly, gaze measuring. “You’re waking up. Your blood remembers things your mind has forgotten. You’re not just human, Ariana.”
Her heart slammed against her ribs. “I already know I’m not just human,” she said, more sharply than she meant to.
