The moon hung heavy in the sky, casting a silvery glow over the trees surrounding Cedar Grove. The world seemed to hold its breath, the kind of silence that only came when something monumental was about to unfold. I stood at the edge of the woods, my senses heightened, the air thick with anticipation. Somewhere deep in the forest, Isla was making her way toward me, clutching the journal that had set everything in motion.
It had been hours since I left her at the clinic, but the connection between us had only grown stronger. I could feel her hesitation, her wariness, but beneath it all, there was something else. A pull. A connection neither of us could escape, no matter how hard we tried. And it terrified me.
I paced back and forth, waiting for her arrival. The sounds of the night—crickets chirping, the wind rustling through the trees—felt like they were amplifying the tension that thrummed through me. I had no idea what she would say when she finally arrived, but I knew one thing for sure: she couldn’t walk away from this. Not anymore. Not after everything that had already happened.
The faint sound of footsteps reached my ears. I tensed, my eyes scanning the darkened path that wound through the trees. Isla emerged from the shadows, her silhouette barely visible against the darkened backdrop. Her long hair was loose, flowing behind her like a cloak of shadows, and her eyes—those eyes—seemed to glow in the dim light. It was almost as if they had changed since the last time I saw her. The faintest trace of gold flashed beneath the surface.
“Luca?” Her voice echoed through the trees, soft but steady. I stepped forward, closing the distance between us.
“Here.” I kept my voice low, but it was impossible to mask the edge of urgency in it. There was no going back now. “You made it.”
She nodded, her eyes flickering from me to the forest around us. “I wasn’t sure what to expect,” she admitted, her tone guarded. “But you’re right. I needed answers. I just—don’t know what to believe anymore.”
I could hear the uncertainty in her voice, and it made my chest tighten. She was scared. And for good reason. She had stumbled into a world she didn’t understand, and the more she learned, the deeper she would sink into it. I could already feel the weight of the prophecy settling over us like a storm cloud. The more she learned, the more she would be forced to make a choice.
“You’re not alone in this,” I told her, my voice steady despite the storm brewing inside me. I reached out, offering her a small, reassuring smile. “I’ll help you through it. But there’s more to this than just the journal. More to your father’s disappearance than anyone’s telling you.”
She hesitated, glancing at the journal in her hands before looking back at me. “What do you mean?”
I swallowed hard, the words I needed to say catching in my throat. “Your father’s disappearance wasn’t a random accident. It’s tied to the prophecy. To you.”
She shook her head, her brow furrowing in confusion. “I don’t understand. How can my father—how could he be part of all this?”
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to find the right words to explain. “He wasn’t just a vet. He was connected to the Crescent Moon pack. And he knew about the prophecy—knew about you. He tried to protect you from it. But there’s only so much you can do when fate’s already decided.”
Her eyes widened as the realization sank in. “Fate?” she whispered. “You mean... I was destined for this? To be part of this—whatever this is?”
“Yes,” I said softly, moving closer to her, my presence a silent comfort. “You were always a part of it, Isla. From the moment you were born.”
She took a deep breath, the weight of my words pressing down on her. “But how do I fit into this prophecy?” Her voice trembled slightly, a crack in her armor I hadn’t seen before. “What’s my role?”
I exhaled, trying to steady myself before I answered. “It’s called the Bound Alpha. The legend says there will be someone—someone who bridges the gap between humans and wolves. The Bound Alpha will unite the two sides, but it will come at a cost. It’s not something you can just ignore.”
Isla’s eyes searched mine, her lips parted, but no words came. The silence stretched between us, and I could feel the weight of the past pressing in. The prophecy had loomed over my family for generations, and now, it was staring her down. She was as much a part of this as I was.
“But why me?” she finally whispered, the question hanging in the air. “Why now?”
“Because your father knew,” I said, my voice thick with emotion I didn’t know I had. “He knew this day would come. And he tried to protect you from it. He didn’t want you to be involved in this world. But you are, Isla. Whether you want to be or not.”
She seemed to take a step back, her eyes narrowing as she processed everything. “You’re asking me to believe that I’m somehow... part werewolf?” Her voice was tinged with disbelief. “That I’m meant to lead both sides? That the fate of your pack, my family—everything—is tied to me?”
I stepped forward, closing the gap she’d created. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”
She turned the journal over in her hands, the weight of it almost palpable. “And if I refuse? If I choose to walk away?”
I didn’t want to say it. I didn’t want to be the one to break the truth to her, but I knew I had to. “The prophecy won’t allow you to walk away, Isla. It’s not a choice. It’s your destiny. And that’s what you need to understand.”
Her breath caught, and for a moment, I thought she might collapse under the weight of it all. But she didn’t. She stood there, her posture straight, her eyes locked on mine, determination beginning to replace the fear in her expression.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with this,” she said, her voice quiet but fierce. “But I’m not running away.”
My heart surged at her words, a flicker of hope lighting the darkness inside me. “You don’t have to run. Not anymore. We’ll figure this out together.”
She looked at me then, her gaze steady and full of something I hadn’t seen before—trust. It was fragile, still new, but it was there. And for the first time, I felt like maybe, just maybe, we could face what was coming together.
But as I stood there, watching Isla face the unknown with more courage than I had ever seen, I knew one thing: no matter what came next, nothing could prepare us for the battle that was about to unfold.
And that battle would test everything we were.
The moon had already begun its descent when I arrived back at the clinic, the eerie stillness of the night settling in around me like a blanket. The events of the past few hours felt like a blur—fragments of conversations, whispered secrets, and the weight of my father’s disappearance pressing down on my chest. I had spent my whole life pushing away the idea that something extraordinary, something outside of the life I had known, was waiting for me. But now, with the journal in my hands and Luca’s words echoing in my mind, I couldn’t deny it any longer. I was part of something bigger.I pushed open the clinic door, the familiar scent of antiseptic and dried herbs greeting me. It should have been comforting, but the silence that hung over the place was unnerving. The clinic had always been full of life—dogs barking, cats meowing, and the chatter of patients’ owners filling the air. Now, it felt empty, almost hollow. My father had built this clinic with so much love, and now I was here,
The days blurred together after that night. I couldn’t shake the sense that something was unraveling beneath the surface, a story long buried that I was only just beginning to scratch the surface of. I spent hours at the clinic, trying to focus on routine matters, the things that used to fill my days. But no matter how many dogs I treated or cats I checked in for their annual vaccinations, my mind kept drifting back to the journal, to Luca’s words, to the prophecy.To the pack.To everything I thought I knew.The phone rang late one afternoon, and I nearly dropped the syringe I was holding when I saw the caller ID. It was Astra.“I was hoping I’d catch you,” her voice said when I answered, light and teasing, though I could hear the edge of urgency beneath it. “You’ve been quiet since our little meeting. I thought you might have gotten cold feet.”I wasn’t sure if I was angry or relieved to hear from her. She had appeared out of nowhere, dropping bombshells on me about my father’s life
The wind was picking up again, swirling around us in the clearing, tugging at the edges of my coat as if it, too, were impatient for the truth to be spoken. I stood between Luca and Astra, feeling smaller than I ever had before. The world seemed so much bigger than I had realized, and I had no idea if I was ready to face whatever lay ahead. But there was no going back now. Not after the things I had seen, the things I had learned.Luca’s eyes flicked over me, a quiet tension in his gaze, but he didn’t speak right away. Instead, he stepped forward, his tall figure casting a long shadow in the moonlight. His presence was heavy, like the weight of the entire forest was resting on his shoulders. Astra watched him closely, as if waiting for him to make the first move, but I could sense her own impatience, a quiet energy vibrating in the air around her.“You don’t have to do this, Luca,” Astra said, her voice unusually soft, though there was an underlying firmness to it. “You can walk away.
The world felt like it was spinning around me, like a storm I couldn’t escape. The realization that I was somehow tied to Luca and the Crescent Moon pack hit me harder than anything else had in years. The secrets, the shadows, the pull I had felt since I was a child—it was all starting to make sense in ways I never could’ve imagined. But the truth was more complicated, and darker, than I had ever anticipated.I walked back to my car in a daze, my thoughts tangled, my body on autopilot. The moon overhead was full and brilliant, its light casting an eerie glow on the trees around me. Everything about this night felt wrong, like we were standing on the edge of something we couldn’t control. And I was just standing there, waiting for the inevitable.Luca’s presence lingered in my mind, his words echoing in my head. "You’re a part of this now, Isla." His eyes had been so intense, so full of conviction. It felt like they were burning through me, pulling me into a future I wasn’t sure I was
I woke up in darkness. My body felt heavy, weighted down by a presence I couldn’t explain. A low, aching throb pulsed through my head, the remnants of the force that had struck me still lingering in the air. My fingers twitched, and I tried to push myself upright, but the sensation of something wrapping around my wrist stopped me. I instinctively reached for it, my hand brushing against cool metal. Panic rose in my chest, but I forced myself to take slow, steady breaths.Where was I?The last thing I remembered was the sharp pain, the cold energy surging through me. The sense of being pulled apart from the inside. And then darkness.“Isla.”The sound of my name being spoken, low and urgent, broke through the fog in my mind. My heart skipped, and I blinked, trying to focus on the voice. It was Luca’s, but something was off. It wasn’t the warm, comforting tone I had come to associate with him. It was raw, jagged, filled with an intensity I couldn’t place.“Luca?” I croaked, my throat dr
The night felt endless.I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so tangled, so stretched thin. Every thought, every breath seemed to lead back to the same conclusion: nothing made sense anymore. I was standing on the edge of something much bigger than myself. Something dangerous, something powerful. And Luca, despite his insistence that he was trying to protect me, couldn’t shelter me from the truth forever.I sat in the small room that had once been my father's office, the same familiar walls now feeling colder than I remembered. The journal rested on the desk in front of me, the mark on its cover—still sharp, still unsettling—burned into my mind.The whispers from my dreams had become louder, clearer. It wasn’t just a random string of words. It was a language, one that tugged at something deep inside me. The more I heard it, the more familiar it felt, as if it was a part of me. A part of my bloodline. But why? Why hadn’t I known about it until now?
The moon was full, its pale light spilling through the cracks in the blinds, casting long shadows across the room. I couldn’t sleep. The weight of the night, of everything I had just learned, was too much to ignore. I kept replaying Luca’s words in my mind, his voice low and steady as he had finally agreed to tell me the truth. Together.But there was so much more to it than I had anticipated.The journal, the prophecy, my father’s disappearance—all of it was tied to something larger, something I still didn’t fully understand. And yet, despite all the fear and confusion, something inside me burned with determination. I had to know what happened. I needed to know why my father had kept these secrets from me, why he had left me to stumble in the dark for so long.My fingers traced the edges of the journal on the desk beside me. The weight of it, the ancient leather cover, felt like it was holding all of the answers I had been searching for. I had already spe
The day had passed in a blur of thoughts too heavy for a single person to carry. I had spent hours staring at the journal, trying to make sense of the fragmented pieces of my father’s life that I was only now uncovering. Every word seemed to lead to more questions, more puzzles that I wasn’t sure I could solve alone.And then, there was Luca.The weight of everything he had told me, everything I was beginning to realize, settled deep in my chest. We were connected. Not just by the prophecy, but by something more—something that had been woven into the fabric of our lives long before we ever met. And the worst part? I had no idea what it meant, what the cost would be, or how much of my life was about to be torn apart because of it.I sat at the desk in my small office at the clinic, the journal open in front of me. The pages were filled with my father’s notes, scribbled hastily in the margins, almost as if he had been afraid someone would see them. I wasn’t
The day had passed in a blur of thoughts too heavy for a single person to carry. I had spent hours staring at the journal, trying to make sense of the fragmented pieces of my father’s life that I was only now uncovering. Every word seemed to lead to more questions, more puzzles that I wasn’t sure I could solve alone.And then, there was Luca.The weight of everything he had told me, everything I was beginning to realize, settled deep in my chest. We were connected. Not just by the prophecy, but by something more—something that had been woven into the fabric of our lives long before we ever met. And the worst part? I had no idea what it meant, what the cost would be, or how much of my life was about to be torn apart because of it.I sat at the desk in my small office at the clinic, the journal open in front of me. The pages were filled with my father’s notes, scribbled hastily in the margins, almost as if he had been afraid someone would see them. I wasn’t
The moon was full, its pale light spilling through the cracks in the blinds, casting long shadows across the room. I couldn’t sleep. The weight of the night, of everything I had just learned, was too much to ignore. I kept replaying Luca’s words in my mind, his voice low and steady as he had finally agreed to tell me the truth. Together.But there was so much more to it than I had anticipated.The journal, the prophecy, my father’s disappearance—all of it was tied to something larger, something I still didn’t fully understand. And yet, despite all the fear and confusion, something inside me burned with determination. I had to know what happened. I needed to know why my father had kept these secrets from me, why he had left me to stumble in the dark for so long.My fingers traced the edges of the journal on the desk beside me. The weight of it, the ancient leather cover, felt like it was holding all of the answers I had been searching for. I had already spe
The night felt endless.I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so tangled, so stretched thin. Every thought, every breath seemed to lead back to the same conclusion: nothing made sense anymore. I was standing on the edge of something much bigger than myself. Something dangerous, something powerful. And Luca, despite his insistence that he was trying to protect me, couldn’t shelter me from the truth forever.I sat in the small room that had once been my father's office, the same familiar walls now feeling colder than I remembered. The journal rested on the desk in front of me, the mark on its cover—still sharp, still unsettling—burned into my mind.The whispers from my dreams had become louder, clearer. It wasn’t just a random string of words. It was a language, one that tugged at something deep inside me. The more I heard it, the more familiar it felt, as if it was a part of me. A part of my bloodline. But why? Why hadn’t I known about it until now?
I woke up in darkness. My body felt heavy, weighted down by a presence I couldn’t explain. A low, aching throb pulsed through my head, the remnants of the force that had struck me still lingering in the air. My fingers twitched, and I tried to push myself upright, but the sensation of something wrapping around my wrist stopped me. I instinctively reached for it, my hand brushing against cool metal. Panic rose in my chest, but I forced myself to take slow, steady breaths.Where was I?The last thing I remembered was the sharp pain, the cold energy surging through me. The sense of being pulled apart from the inside. And then darkness.“Isla.”The sound of my name being spoken, low and urgent, broke through the fog in my mind. My heart skipped, and I blinked, trying to focus on the voice. It was Luca’s, but something was off. It wasn’t the warm, comforting tone I had come to associate with him. It was raw, jagged, filled with an intensity I couldn’t place.“Luca?” I croaked, my throat dr
The world felt like it was spinning around me, like a storm I couldn’t escape. The realization that I was somehow tied to Luca and the Crescent Moon pack hit me harder than anything else had in years. The secrets, the shadows, the pull I had felt since I was a child—it was all starting to make sense in ways I never could’ve imagined. But the truth was more complicated, and darker, than I had ever anticipated.I walked back to my car in a daze, my thoughts tangled, my body on autopilot. The moon overhead was full and brilliant, its light casting an eerie glow on the trees around me. Everything about this night felt wrong, like we were standing on the edge of something we couldn’t control. And I was just standing there, waiting for the inevitable.Luca’s presence lingered in my mind, his words echoing in my head. "You’re a part of this now, Isla." His eyes had been so intense, so full of conviction. It felt like they were burning through me, pulling me into a future I wasn’t sure I was
The wind was picking up again, swirling around us in the clearing, tugging at the edges of my coat as if it, too, were impatient for the truth to be spoken. I stood between Luca and Astra, feeling smaller than I ever had before. The world seemed so much bigger than I had realized, and I had no idea if I was ready to face whatever lay ahead. But there was no going back now. Not after the things I had seen, the things I had learned.Luca’s eyes flicked over me, a quiet tension in his gaze, but he didn’t speak right away. Instead, he stepped forward, his tall figure casting a long shadow in the moonlight. His presence was heavy, like the weight of the entire forest was resting on his shoulders. Astra watched him closely, as if waiting for him to make the first move, but I could sense her own impatience, a quiet energy vibrating in the air around her.“You don’t have to do this, Luca,” Astra said, her voice unusually soft, though there was an underlying firmness to it. “You can walk away.
The days blurred together after that night. I couldn’t shake the sense that something was unraveling beneath the surface, a story long buried that I was only just beginning to scratch the surface of. I spent hours at the clinic, trying to focus on routine matters, the things that used to fill my days. But no matter how many dogs I treated or cats I checked in for their annual vaccinations, my mind kept drifting back to the journal, to Luca’s words, to the prophecy.To the pack.To everything I thought I knew.The phone rang late one afternoon, and I nearly dropped the syringe I was holding when I saw the caller ID. It was Astra.“I was hoping I’d catch you,” her voice said when I answered, light and teasing, though I could hear the edge of urgency beneath it. “You’ve been quiet since our little meeting. I thought you might have gotten cold feet.”I wasn’t sure if I was angry or relieved to hear from her. She had appeared out of nowhere, dropping bombshells on me about my father’s life
The moon had already begun its descent when I arrived back at the clinic, the eerie stillness of the night settling in around me like a blanket. The events of the past few hours felt like a blur—fragments of conversations, whispered secrets, and the weight of my father’s disappearance pressing down on my chest. I had spent my whole life pushing away the idea that something extraordinary, something outside of the life I had known, was waiting for me. But now, with the journal in my hands and Luca’s words echoing in my mind, I couldn’t deny it any longer. I was part of something bigger.I pushed open the clinic door, the familiar scent of antiseptic and dried herbs greeting me. It should have been comforting, but the silence that hung over the place was unnerving. The clinic had always been full of life—dogs barking, cats meowing, and the chatter of patients’ owners filling the air. Now, it felt empty, almost hollow. My father had built this clinic with so much love, and now I was here,
The moon hung heavy in the sky, casting a silvery glow over the trees surrounding Cedar Grove. The world seemed to hold its breath, the kind of silence that only came when something monumental was about to unfold. I stood at the edge of the woods, my senses heightened, the air thick with anticipation. Somewhere deep in the forest, Isla was making her way toward me, clutching the journal that had set everything in motion.It had been hours since I left her at the clinic, but the connection between us had only grown stronger. I could feel her hesitation, her wariness, but beneath it all, there was something else. A pull. A connection neither of us could escape, no matter how hard we tried. And it terrified me.I paced back and forth, waiting for her arrival. The sounds of the night—crickets chirping, the wind rustling through the trees—felt like they were amplifying the tension that thrummed through me. I had no idea what she would say when she finally arrived, but I knew one thing for