The Alpha's Secret Mate

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Aryn sat up with a gasp.

The fire was gone. The dream was over. But the heat — it clung to her skin like smoke.

She pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart thundered beneath it, wild and unsteady, like a drum in a battlefield.

The mark on her shoulder burned faintly, pulsing beneath her skin as if still echoing with the flames she had seen in that otherworldly place. In the dream, she'd stood untouched in a ring of fire. It hadn't consumed her. It had listened to her.

And then, just before she woke, she'd seen him.

Kael.

Silver eyes in the dark. A voice — distant but deep — speaking her name like it belonged to him.

"Aryn."

She drew her knees to her chest and tried to steady her breathing.

What was that?

What am I becoming?

This wasn't the first strange dream. But it was the first that felt like more than a dream. The flames had obeyed her. The mark had flared with life. And Kael — his presence had reached her. She could still feel the bond, stretched thin but real, like a thread trembling between distant hearts.

Did he feel it too?

She stood slowly, her legs weak beneath her. Outside, the forest was silent, the trees cloaked in early dawn mist. Even the wind held its breath.

She crossed to the basin and splashed cold water on her face, but it did nothing to chase away the images still burned into her mind — the fire, the circle of ash, the whispered name.

The mark pulsed again.

Once.

Twice.

Then still.

She looked down at it. The strange curling rune was no longer faint. It was deepening — lines sharper, glowing softly even in the half-light.

What if this isn't just a side effect of the bond?

What if the dreams are leading me somewhere?

A knock.

Aryn spun as the cabin door creaked open.

Garrick stood in the doorway, eyes narrowed, hair tousled. He looked like he hadn't slept either.

"You cried out," he said. "Was it another dream?"

Aryn hesitated. Then nodded.

Garrick entered, shutting the door behind him. "Was it him?"

She sat back down, fingers tangled together. "Yes."

"What did he do this time?"

"Nothing. He was just… there. Watching me. Calling my name."Aryn replied, remembering the times she had related her dreams to Garrick.

Garrick crossed his arms. "That's not nothing, Aryn."

She looked up at him, eyes burning. "It felt real, Garrick. Not just a dream. The flame obeyed me. I was surrounded by fire, and I didn't burn. I commanded it. And when I woke up—"

She pulled back her sleeve and showed him the mark.

Garrick's face tightened. "It's darker."

"It's changing," she said. "With every dream. Every time the bond stirs, it grows."

He stepped closer, jaw clenched. "You think this Kael is causing it?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "But I think he's connected. And I don't think I can ignore it anymore."

"You're talking about leaving."

She didn't answer right away.

Was she?

The thought had been circling her for days now — ever since the bond first flared. But now, after last night, after feeling the mark awaken, there was no more denying it.

"I don't think I have a choice," she whispered. "Whatever this is… it's growing inside me. Staying here won't stop it. It might even kill me."

Garrick exhaled slowly, his gaze lowering. "You want to chase shadows."

"No," she said, her voice stronger now. "I want to find the truth."

Silence stretched between them.

Then Garrick said quietly, "Then I'm coming with you."

Her breath caught.

"You don't even know where I'm going... I don't even know where I'm going."

"I know you won't survive alone," he said. "And I told you before — I'm not letting you walk into this alone."

She didn't argue.

Couldn't.

Because deep down, even with all the bond's pull toward Kael — even with the fire growing inside her — Garrick was still home.

And yet… the path she felt tugging at her feet was calling her away.

As the morning light broke over the treetops, Aryn looked out into the woods beyond the clearing.

The forest felt different now.

Like it was watching her.

Waiting.

And deep within her, something whispered:

It's time.

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