Adventure

AURELIA

Aurelia jolted awake, her skin slick with cold sweat. She swiped her forehead with the back of her hand and quickly got to her feet.

Looking around, she realized it was just a dream. She wasn’t really in a stranger’s room. It was just her imagination running wild, fueled by the excitement of her birthday.

She was twenty now. Just like many other girls in her village. They all seemed to find their mates within a week. Aurelia couldn’t understand how.

She was sure today would be like any other day. Normal. Boring. Pointless. She was stuck in a life filled with mundane tasks.

As usual, she left the barn to do her chores. Each movement was mind-numbingly dull. Boredom quickly overtook her misery as she swept the floors.

Her hands, rough from work, gripped the broom tightly. She tried to finish her chores quickly, a sense of urgency washing over her for reasons she couldn’t explain.

Something was calling her. Drawing her in like a moth to a flame, even if it meant getting burned.

It led her to the stream. A sense of uncertainty hung in the air, like a ghost lurking in the shadows, waiting for its next victim.

Aurelia hung her auburn cloak on a branch and looked into the water.

What she saw burst out of the water should have scared her. Instead, it fascinated her.

Water nymphs. Allies of the fae. Supposedly extinct, lost, and forgotten.

Two of them, dressed in green moss that clung to their bodies like clothes. Roots traced their cheeks and their skin had a pale glow. They were... captivating.

One tilted her head, studying Aurelia with narrowed eyes.

“You shouldn’t be here,” the nymph said, her voice harsh and cold.

“Yes, she should,” the other countered. “Naida, she was called here.”

“No, you don’t know that. Her kind isn’t welcome. Werewolves hunted us, Solandis,” Naida retorted.

“But she was brought here, nonetheless.”

“Why was I called here?” Aurelia asked, interrupting their argument and drawing their attention back to her.

“A mistake,” Naida replied, her voice filled with anger and frustration.

“No. They don’t make mistakes,” Solandis interjected.

“They?” Aurelia felt like she was missing something that everyone else knew.

And she was right. Solandis and Naida were just inhabitants of the woods far across the kingdom’s border.

Aurelia hadn’t realized she had followed the stream that far. But beyond the border was a different story.

The king’s rule didn’t reach these parts. Most people in the kingdom didn’t know what lay beyond. Or who ruled over it.

Of course, Solandis and Naida knew. They served the fae in all their glory. They might have been driven out or wiped out from the kingdom, but they were still thriving.

“Go home, little wolf,” Naida commanded, her tone condescending. Aurelia obeyed, turning to leave before Solandis could object.

Something had drawn her there, but now something was pulling her back. She had ties to the kingdom that not even fae magic could break.

Back home, she felt torn in two. It was as if she was being pulled in opposite directions until she couldn’t stretch any further.

She looked up at the sky from her spot on the haystack and shivered. It was one of the darkest nights she had ever seen.

And everyone knew what came with dark nights... dark events.

With the half-moon, it was an omen. Aurelia was superstitious, and she knew an omen meant a grim fate.

Was this for her? Dark nights were rare, but the darkest, that was something else.

Suddenly, her howls weren’t the only sounds filling the night. Growls, snarls, human screams all blended into a cacophony of noise that was amplified by her anxiety.

She ran toward the noise, back to the center of her village. Huge wolves were attacking her neighbors, the people she had known her whole life, and ransacking their homes.

She saw girls her age being dragged from their beds and thrown into the streets like discarded dolls.

“You!” Aurelia knew she had been spotted, but she ran before she could see who was chasing her.

She had never seen them before, but she knew who they were. They were warrior wolves from the royal army. And that meant death was coming.

She crawled into a hiding spot, hoping it would conceal her. She trembled, the cold night air making her shiver.

The sound of heavy footsteps grew louder with each passing second until she realized they were coming her way.

She gasped as their eyes met. He was just a soldier, probably lower-ranking than many others, but he looked intimidating with his bulging muscles.

He grabbed her arm and sneered at her, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A little runt who thinks she can hide from me—”

She didn’t let him finish his arrogant boasting. She touched his skin and locked eyes with him.

Her power broke through his tough exterior, shattering his bravado and exposing his hidden emotions.

Then she forced her way into his mind. All in a split second.

“You will let go of me, forget you saw me, and tell your superiors this area is clear.” She let go. And he let go. And he left.

She couldn’t stop herself from using her powers, the powers she had promised to keep locked away. She had tapped into those dark roots at her own risk.

She cautiously peeked over the wall of her hiding spot to watch the chaos unfolding before her. In the pitch-black night, she strained her eyes to look for an escape. She would wait it out if she had to.

“Damn wolves not doing their jobs,” a voice growled from behind her.

A sudden, powerful force hit her head, and her vision quickly blurred into darkness.

Bleary-eyed and disoriented, she slowly opened her eyes, squinting against the harsh light. She tried to rub her eyes, but her hands were bound tightly with rope.

She found herself surrounded by familiar faces—girls from her village, all around her age. Her sister, Olympia, was among them, bound and being transported just like her.

They were in a large wagon, bumping over the uneven road. Aurelia had a sinking feeling they were headed to the castle.

Everyone in the outlying villages knew about the Alpha King. His reputation for power, dominance, and cruelty was legendary. And he was said to be immortal.

Why were they being taken to him? What did he want with them?

She tried to ask, but her words were muffled by a gag. The wagon was filled with the soft whimpers of the other girls, their bodies marked with bruises.

Through a small crack in the wagon, Aurelia saw another wagon following them, likely filled with more girls.

The wagon came to a sudden stop, and the girls were roughly pulled out by burly warrior wolves. Aurelia was the last to be yanked out, the warrior’s grip so tight she was sure it would leave marks.

She glared at the warrior, but he didn’t meet her gaze. Not even once. She was herded into a pen with the other girls, waiting for... something.

Despite her powers, Aurelia felt helpless.

She scanned the barred room, looking for a way out. While the other girls sobbed quietly, Aurelia searched for an escape.

Or maybe she was just fooling herself. Maybe she was just buying time, waiting for the inevitable.

She had always wanted more than her simple village life. She had yearned for adventure.

And wasn’t this an adventure? Wasn’t this something different, something exciting? She had wanted to find her place in the world. Maybe this was her destiny. Even if it meant death.

She looked at the other girls. She knew she should feel like them—helpless, scared, resigned to their fate.

But she didn’t. The other girls seemed to sense it, too. They looked at her expectantly. These were the same girls who had shunned her, who had been afraid of her ever since the incident. Now they were looking to her for help. The irony wasn’t lost on her.

“You!” a voice bellowed, and a girl was dragged away.

Aurelia hadn’t seen Olympia. She hadn’t seen any of the girls from the other wagon. She hoped her sister was still alive, despite the rough treatment they had all received.

One by one, the girls were taken away. Each time, their bodies were dragged past the bars of the pen, a gruesome reminder of their fate.

This shook Aurelia. But why bring them all the way to the castle just to kill them? There had to be another reason.

Soon, Aurelia was the only one left in the pen. She had watched as girls she knew were brutally killed, their throats slashed open.

Then it was her turn. The same warrior who had grabbed her earlier pushed her forward. His face was impassive, unchanging, even as she tried to use her power. If only he would look into her eyes...

She was thrown through a pair of wooden doors, landing hard on her knees on the cold stone floor.

The room was chilly, but something drew Aurelia further in. A strange sensation stirred in her heart, seeping through the walls she had built around herself.

She felt a wave of confusion wash over her.

“Kneel before your king!” a voice commanded. The man was an idiot—she was already on her knees. But his words confirmed what she already knew: she was in the presence of the king.

His aura was overwhelming, making the air heavy and hard to breathe. But his scent was intoxicating, irresistible, enchanting.

“Rise.” His voice sent a jolt through her, a sense of familiarity that she couldn’t place. She had never met the king before, and he had never visited her village.

But his voice... it stirred something within her. Just hearing him speak made her body react in ways she didn’t understand.

With the warrior’s help, she managed to get to her feet. Her legs felt like they were made of ice, stiff and uncooperative.

“Come.” She obeyed, moving forward at his command. There was no resisting an Alpha command. Especially not the Alpha King’s command.

The warrior walked beside her, his fingers digging into her skin. She hissed quietly, fighting the urge to scream.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at the king. She couldn’t even steal a glance at his face. She focused on keeping her breathing steady, trying to stay calm.

Everyone in the room could hear her heartbeat; she didn’t want them to see her fear, too.

She could smell him before she saw him. His scent enveloped her, stronger than any other. It sent a thrill through her, a mix of excitement, desire, and peace.

Then she looked up. And she couldn’t look away.

Her eyes met his—golden and piercing. It was him. But that was impossible. He was just a dream.

~Mate…~

She swallowed hard.

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. His nails lengthened.

And then he slashed at a throat.

But it wasn’t Aurelia’s.

The warrior wolf fell to the floor beside her, blood pooling at her feet.