FATED TO HIS DARKNESS

Prologue

AMARA'S POV

The first thing I smelled was smoke. My lungs stung with every breath I took. I looked down at the moist soil and found my feet bare without shoes and my dress stained with dirt. Then I saw houses covered in flames in the distance.

Where am I, and how did I get here?

I heard screams that jolted me out of my thoughts. I ran toward the direction of the sound, even when my mind screamed at me to run far away from it.

I got to an open field and stopped when my feet stepped on something hard.

Hundreds of dead bodies covered the field. Some were still; others took their last painful breaths. I could hear more screams in the distance.

I tried helping those barely alive, but I couldn't. My body seemed to pass through everything, and no one could see me.

I knelt down in frustration. Then I heard a footstep. I turned slowly and saw a man through the smoke, his face streaked with soot and blood. He stared at everyone else except me.

I guess he can't see me.

I have to find my way out of here. I stared at him one last time.

His eyes locked onto mine like he could see me now.

He raised the axe in his right hand and walked toward me.

I ran.

I didn't think-that was a luxury I couldn't afford right now. I just kept running deeper into the woods.

My heart pounded so loudly I was sure he could hear it.

I increased my pace until I thought I had lost him. Then my foot slipped on the wet soil.

I fell. Pain exploded through my leg as iron teeth snapped shut around my ankle.

A hunter's trap.

I hissed in pain as it intensified. I tried to look at it, but it dug deeper into my ankle. Tears streamed down my face. I held a hand over my mouth, forcing down the scream that had almost escaped my throat.

I heard a sound close by. I covered my mouth tighter and kept muttering in my head:

Don't make a sound.

Don't let him find you.

After a while, everything went totally silent. I stared in that direction for a long time.

Slowly, I tried to check on my foot. That's when something grabbed my injured foot roughly. I was dragged across the ground back to the field.

This time, I screamed.

I jolted awake.

My body was drenched in sweat. My hands were shaking.

It felt real.

I curled myself on the bed, wrapping my arms around my knees.

"It was just a dream," I whispered. "Just a nightmare."

My phone rang. The sound made me flinch back in fear.

Unknown number.

My fingers trembled as I answered.

"Hello... who is this?"

No answer.

"Hello?" My voice was shaking now.

Nothing-just total silence.

Then the line went dead.

Somehow, I felt like I was still in that forest.

Chapter One

AMARA'S POV

The first time I realised I was being watched, the shadows moved before I did.

At twenty-five, my life looked perfect from the outside: a steady job at a top firm, a small apartment, predictable routines that kept everything in order. Control had always been my comfort.

Lately, that control had started to slip.

It started with that nightmare-now a message.

My phone vibrated during a meeting that afternoon. An unknown number flashed across the screen.

I have been watching you.

A chill crawled up my spine. When I looked again, the number was gone.

I told myself it was a prank.

Still, unease followed me through the rest of the day, clinging to my thoughts like a shadow I couldn't shake.

That evening, as I slipped the key into my apartment door, the feeling returned-that sharp awareness of being observed, as though someone stood just beyond my line of sight. Once, my reflection flickered in the glass window, and for a split second, I thought I saw a figure behind me.

When I turned, there was no one there.

I blamed stress. Long hours. Too much caffeine.

That night, work kept me late. The streets were half-empty, slick with rain. A street lamp flickered overhead as I walked faster, clutching my bag close, my senses straining for the slightest sound.

Then I felt it.

Someone was watching me.

I froze and slowly turned.

Across the street stood a man in a black coat. I couldn't see his face clearly, but his eyes caught the light-golden, unnatural, and fixed on me with unsettling intensity.

He didn't move.

Didn't speak.

Just watched.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

"Can I help you?" I asked, my voice trembling.

His head tilted slightly, as though memorising my face. A strange certainty settled in my chest-he wasn't a stranger.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

My phone buzzed.

I flinched.

"Mom," I answered.

"Amara! Your sister is getting married next month!" Her excitement sliced through my nerves. "You're coming home, right?"

"Of course," I muttered.

"And don't come alone this time," she added firmly. "Everyone will ask why you're still single. Bring a man. Pretend if you have to."

I stared at the empty street.

A man watching me... and now a fake boyfriend.

Perfect.

I rushed into my apartment building and pressed the elevator button, my fingers tapping restlessly against my bag. As the doors closed, my thoughts drifted back to the message.

I have been watching you.

Another memory surfaced-someone at the coffee shop last week. The way his gaze lingered before he disappeared into the crowd.

By the time I reached my floor, unease had settled deep in my chest.

Inside my apartment, I locked the door, checked the windows, and drew the curtains. The city's hum outside felt heavier than usual, pressing in on the silence.

Later, desperate for distraction, I opened my laptop. Hours blurred together until exhaustion pulled me under.

Sleep claimed me.

I stood on a narrow street wrapped in mist.

He was there.

Closer this time.

His golden eyes locked onto mine with a familiarity that stole my breath. The pull between us felt real-tangible-as if something unseen bound us together.

He reached out, his hand hovering inches from mine, warm and steady.

Before our fingers could touch, the dream shattered.

I jolted awake, heart racing. The room felt too quiet. I hugged my teddy tightly, forcing myself to stay awake, afraid of slipping back into that dream.

Questions crowded my mind.

Who was he?

Why was he watching me?

And why did it feel like he already knew me?

Exhaustion won.

As my eyes drifted closed, a warm breath brushed my ear.

A whisper followed-low, intimate.

"Soon."

KAEL'S POV

I should have stayed in my realm. The council warned me, the Oracle warned me, even my wolf snarled at the risk, but none of it mattered. Not when her scent... warm vanilla, soft jasmine, and something ancient called to the deepest part of me.

I buried my destined mate years ago, sworn never to claim a mate. I built my reign on blood, shadow, control, and solitude. And yet there she stood, fragile yet defiant, marked as mine by the moon itself.

I had been watching her for seven moons, slipping through the thin points between realms, stepping into her world only when necessary. The portals were unstable, thin as glass, easy to shatter if used too often. But for her, I opened them anyway. I always would. Tonight, she finally saw me.

I stood across the road, cloaked in shadows, watching her hurry down the dim street. Her aura shimmered faintly, her power waking far earlier than expected. That alone terrified me more than any enemy.

My wolf pushed forward in my mind, restless, possessive.

Mine.

Her eyes lifted. The moment they landed on me, everything inside me froze.

She wasn't supposed to see me this soon. Humans glanced past shadows, they blinked, dismissed, rationalised. But she... she looked directly at me, as if her soul recognized me before her mind could. The golden heat in my eyes flickered, betraying my presence.

She whispered, "Can I help you?"

Help me?

If only she knew the reason I stood there, silent and unmoving, was because several creatures in my realm had already sensed her existence. They felt my bond ignite. They felt my claim. And they wanted her dead before the bond was fully sealed.

I tilted my head, studying her, heart pulling, wolf roaring, the mate bond tightening around my chest like a chain. Her fear rippled through the air-sharp, trembling, but beneath it... curiosity. Recognition.

Just as she stepped closer, a dark ripple brushed against my senses.

Shadow beasts. Too near.

I didn't have time to linger. With a single swipe of my hand, I tore open a portal beside me, a swirling rip of silver and black mist-and stepped through just as she blinked. The human street vanished. The scent of iron and forest rushed into my lungs.

"Back in my realm." I landed on the moss-covered stone floor of my throne hall. My Beta, Rowan, waited with tense eyes.

"You crossed again," he said. "Kael, this is reckless."

"I don't care." My voice came out deeper than intended; the wolf was too close to the surface. Rowan swallowed. "Word is spreading. The moment your eyes glowed, every creature who followed the Shadow Queen felt it. They know you found your mate."

The Shadow Queen, powerful enough to challenge me, ruthless enough to kill Amara without hesitation.

"I told you," I growled. "No one touches her."

"But she's human," Rowan whispered. "No defences here or there."

Exactly why I watched her, from the shadows. Anywhere danger crept, I would be there.

Tonight, when she fell asleep at her desk, I slipped through the veil and stood beside her window, cloaked in darkness, just watching her breathe. My wolf calmed only when I knew she was safe.

I shouldn't have let myself get that close, but the bond pulled like gravity.

Mine.

She dreamed of me again, pulled into the echo of my world. I felt it. Our souls brushed like sparks in the dark. That was when I almost lost control. My hand hovered near her cheek and, when she startled awake, eyes wide with fear... I vanished before she could turn.

Now, pacing the length of the throne room, I dragged a hand through my hair. The beast under my skin mirrored my movements, massive and rumbling. If I shifted now, I'd tear the stones from the floor.

"She saw me," I muttered.

"Already?" Rowan froze.

I nodded. "Her power is awakening earlier than predicted."

My wolf growled low, a warning, a promise.

"Then I'll watch her even closer," I said.

"Kael, if the council finds out"

"I am the king," I snapped. "Let them try."

A long silence passed.

"You know what happens when a mate bond snaps into place," Rowan said quietly. "You'll be uncontrollable, possessive. Ruthless."

I bared my teeth in a humourless smile.

"I already am."

Torches flickered, shadows curled at my feet. Something crossed into her world, hunting. My vision sharpened, eyes burning gold.

"I have to go," I growled, opening a swirling portal back to her realm. Rowan grabbed my arm.

"Take warriors with you!"

"No," I snarled. "If they see her... if they even look at her" My voice dropped to a growl that made the air shiver. "I will kill them myself."

The portal expanded, silver winds whipping around me. Her scent brushed my senses again, jasmine, warmth, fear. The bond pulsed hard. She needs me. Without another word, I stepped through.

Back to her world. Back to the shadows surrounding her window. And may the moon goddess help anyone who tries to take her.

AMARA'S POV

I woke up Friday morning, trying to pretend yesterday never happened. No glowing eyes. No strange man watching me. No cold, heavy ripple in the air, like danger was breathing down my neck.

It had all been... stress. That's what I kept telling myself. Work blurred into a haze; I forced smiles, answered emails, laughed at jokes I didn't find funny. Yet my stomach twisted with every shadow that crossed my desk, and my nerves hummed just beneath the surface.

By the end of the day, my friends had noticed. Talia, Mira, and Jade always noticed everything.

"Amara, you look like a zombie," Talia texted first. I rolled my eyes, ignoring the tremor in my fingers as I typed back.

By six, we were on FaceTime, grinning, fussing like nothing was wrong.

"Okay, what are you wearing tonight?" Mira asked. "We can't let you show up like a dead fish."

"I don't even feel like myself," I admitted.

"Exactly why we're saving you," Jade said. "Tonight is fun. Tomorrow, existential dread. Deal?"

"Deal," I laughed, feeling slightly lighter.

Talia held up a sparkly top to the camera. "You need something like this. Not drab, okay?"

"Sequins? Really?"

"Yes, really," she said, laughing. "You're going to shine. Literally."

We debated shoes, hairstyles, makeup, and joked about office gossip. For the first time all day, laughter eased the tension knotting my chest. I almost felt normal.

The club was loud, flashing, overwhelming. Lights bounced across faces, bodies pressed together, music vibrating in my chest. I let myself forget for a few minutes. I danced, laughed... and felt alive again.

Then someone handed me a drink. Sweet. Fruity. Harmless, or so I thought. I sipped it, and the room tilted. My limbs grew heavy, my heart slowed, my vision wobbled.

"Guys... I... I need the bathroom..." I murmured.

"We'll be right here!" Talia called. The hallway stretched endlessly before me. My fingers trembled on the door handle. Something wasn't right.

A man's hand grabbed me.

"Easy, sweetheart. I'll help you," he said. His smile wasn't kind. He dragged me toward a darker corner. My hands flailed, my voice rose, but my body wouldn't obey. Panic shredded the fog in my mind.

Then... something shifted. A low growl rolled through the hall.

The man froze.

A figure emerged from the darkness, impossibly fast, radiating power. His golden eyes glowed faintly, cutting through the dim light.

"He... he saved me," I whispered, bewildered.

In seconds, the attacker was thrown back, screaming, swallowed by the shadows. The figure turned to me.

"Amara," he said softly, almost a whisper. "You're safe now."

My hands shook, my heart raced. Voices echoed down the hallway.

"Amara? Where are you?" My friends appeared, worry etched across their faces.

I pointed toward the shadows. "H‑he... he saved me... that man... the one who stalks me..."

But there was nothing. Just an empty hall.

"Amara, you're drunk," Jade said, almost laughing at how fragile I looked.

"Probably scared yourself," Mira added gently.

"There's no one here," Talia insisted. My protest died on my lips.

They guided me toward the exit, but just before I fully stumbled away, I caught a glimpse of him again-half in shadow, half in moonlight, watching me. Then he vanished.

I had no idea I had just been saved from something far worse than what was coming.