Fate encountered after short embrace (6)
I believe the answer is:
kismet
'fate' is the definition.
(kismet is a kind of fate)
'encountered after short embrace' is the wordplay.
'encountered' becomes 'met' ('meet' can be a synonym of 'encounter').
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'embrace' becomes 'kiss' (I've seen this before).
'kiss' with its final letter removed is 'kis'.
'met' put after 'kis' is 'KISMET'.
(Other definitions for kismet that I've seen before include "Fate - 1953 musical" , "Destiny; 50s musical" , "fortune" , "lot in life" , "Broadway musical" .)