Page 35 of Her Fated Alpha Prince
“She doesn’t have time to be ready!”
“I’m not talking about power,” Varos snapped. “I’m talking abouttrust.She still thinks you’re part of this. That you’re just another blade in their hand.”
Kael exhaled hard. He’d seen it in her eyes—in the hesitation, the edge of doubt. He’d earned it, too, by not telling her everything from the start.
“Then tell me what to do,” he said.
Varos studied him for a long moment. “When the sun rises, go to her. But no lies. Not this time. If you want her to walk into fire with you, she needs to know what kind of fire it is.”
Kael nodded once.
Varos moved to the door, then paused. “And Kael?”
He looked up.
“If you fail,” Varos said quietly, “this won’t end in exile. It’ll end in ash.”
The door shut again.
CHAPTER 13
_____
ARIANA
The sun rose in streaks of pale gold, glinting off the carved stone of the windows, but Ariana didn’t move. She sat at the edge of the bed, one hand curled loosely around the pendant, the other resting on her knee, fingers twitching like they were trying to remember something.
She hadn’t slept—not really. Not with her thoughts weaving themselves into knots. Not with the weight of the dream coiled behind her ribs like something waiting to hatch.
“Remember who you are.”
The words echoed through her, just as loud now as they’d been in the dream. She didn’t know who they belonged to, or why they made her skin crawl and her spine straighten all at once. But she couldn’t shake them.
She padded barefoot to the water basin and splashed her face. The cold helped. A little. She looked up into the mirror and saw herself—and something else. Not in the reflection, exactly, but in the tilt of her chin. The sharpness behind her eyes. She looked… less lost.
She dressed quickly, choosing one of the simpler tunics Seryna’s attendants had laid out. It didn’t matter how fine thefabric was—she still felt like an imposter. Except now the doubt wasn’t about who shewasn’t. It was about who she might actually be.
The corridor outside her door was quiet, which was unusual. There were always servants here—at least one, hovering like a ghost at the edge of her vision. Today, the silence felt deliberate.
She didn’t like it.
Ariana made her way to the Moonwell Garden, the place that had both terrified and mesmerized her the night before. The light was different now. Morning sun filtered through the leaves, and the flowers still looked too alive. They turned slightly as she passed, petals quivering, as if breathing.
She swallowed hard and stepped into the grass. Her bare feet touched the ground—and the earth beneath pulsed once, faint but undeniable.
She froze.
It wasn’t pain. It wasn’t even unpleasant. It felt like recognition.
“Okay,” she whispered. “You’re real. Fine. What do youwantfrom me?”
The garden didn’t answer. But something stirred. A breeze that didn’t match the air around her. The scent of ozone. The faintest crackle of static on her skin.
And then—like a flicker of thought too quick to catch—a whisper passed through her mind:We’ve been waiting.
She stumbled back, heart slamming against her ribs. “Nope. Nope, no thank you.”
Leaves rustled in reply. Not in the wind. In… amusement?
