Page 37 of Her Fated Alpha Prince
“Trouble?” Ariana’s voice barely rose above a whisper. The garden felt suddenly colder, the night shadows longer.
Seryna stepped toward the archway leading to the stone pathway that wound beyond the garden. “Come. We need to see what’s coming.”
Ariana followed, her bare feet brushing softly over the mossy ground. Each step was heavy with the weight of unknown futures pressing against her chest.
As they reached the pathway’s edge, shapes emerged from the darkness—figures moving quickly, voices low but urgent. Lantern light flickered against sharp edges of metal and armor.
“Guard patrol,” Seryna murmured. “They wouldn’t be here unless there’s cause for alarm.”
Ariana’s eyes darted to the leader—a tall man with iron-gray hair and a scar running down his cheek. His expression was grim, eyes scanning the night like a hawk tracking prey.
“What’s happened?” Seryna asked.
The guard’s voice was clipped. “We spotted a shadow moving near the southern gate. Something unnatural. It fled before we could approach.”
Ariana’s breath caught. The word “unnatural” hit her like a cold wave.
Seryna’s jaw tightened. “Could it be one of the Watchers? The council’s spies?”
“Maybe,” the guard said, “but it didn’t match any description we have. It was faster. More… fluid. Like it slipped between worlds.”
Ariana swallowed hard. The dream. The flowers. The flickering flame. Was this connected?
“Is the council aware?” she asked, trying to steady her voice.
The guard nodded. “Messengers have been sent. We expect reinforcements by dawn.”
Seryna turned back to Ariana, eyes glinting in the lantern light. “You’re caught in the middle of something bigger than either of us imagined.”
Ariana’s pulse hammered in her ears. “What do I do?”
Seryna placed a steady hand on her shoulder. “For now, you stay hidden. Gather your strength. The changes within you will guide what comes next.”
“But—”
“No buts.” Seryna’s tone left no room for argument. “The night is far from over, and the true threat has yet to reveal itself.”
Ariana nodded, though the knot of unease in her gut only tightened.
As the guards melted back into the shadows, the garden seemed to hold its breath, waiting.
Ariana looked once more at the glowing flowers, their colors richer and more alive in the moonlight.
She was no longer just a visitor in this strange new world. She was part of it—woven into its ancient magic and its deadly secrets.
And with Kael’s shadow lingering at the edge of her thoughts, she knew she couldn’t turn away.
The night was coming alive—and so was she.
CHAPTER 14
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KAEL
The room was barely lit by the dying embers of the hearth, casting long, flickering shadows on the stone walls. Kael stood by the window, staring out into the city below, where the night stretched thick and silent like a shroud. His jaw tightened, muscles coiling with the weight of the council’s warnings, their sharp voices still echoing in his mind.She is dangerous,they’d said, and yet every time he thought of Ariana, it wasn’t fear that came first. It was something deeper, more tangled.
He rubbed the back of his neck, the ache familiar and unwelcome. Duty. Protection. Desire. All mixed together in a storm he wasn’t sure he could control. She was a fire, unpredictable and fierce, and every time she slipped from his thoughts, the air seemed colder. Yet, to get closer to her was to risk everything.
