Chapter 7: Unraveling the Past 2

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, alone.

Sitting behind his old desk, I placed the journal carefully in front of me. Its leather cover was worn, the edges fraying from years of use. The symbol burned into it—the crescent moon intersected by claw marks—pulled my attention. It was the same symbol I had seen on my father’s wrist in the few fleeting moments when he had allowed me to glimpse the tattoos hidden beneath his shirts. He had always been evasive when I asked about them, his eyes clouded with something unreadable.

I traced the mark with my fingers, my breath catching in my throat. Everything I thought I knew about my father, about my life, felt like it was falling apart. How had I not known? How could I have been so blind to the truth?

A sudden sound broke my thoughts—the soft click of the back door opening. I jumped, instinctively reaching for the flashlight in the drawer. But before I could move, a figure stepped into the room, their outline barely visible in the dim light.

"Luca?" I breathed, my heart skipping a beat.

His figure solidified as he stepped closer, his presence overwhelming and oddly comforting. The tension in my shoulders seemed to ease just by the sight of him. But the weight of everything—everything I was just beginning to comprehend—pressed down on me again.

"I didn’t expect to see you back so soon," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

Luca didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stepped further into the room, his eyes scanning the clinic with a mix of curiosity and wariness. His gaze flickered to the journal on the desk, then back to me. There was something unreadable in his expression, but his eyes—those eyes—seemed to soften when they landed on me.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he finally said, his voice low and cautious. “You didn’t seem too convinced earlier. About everything.”

I nodded, swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat. The weight of the night’s events was still fresh, the emotions swirling inside me like a storm. “I’m... trying to understand. It’s a lot to take in.”

Luca moved to the chair across from my father’s desk and sat down, his eyes never leaving mine. “It’s not just a lot to take in. It’s life-altering. And I know you don’t want to believe it, but the world you’re walking into now... it doesn’t give you a choice.”

His words hit me like a wave, knocking me back. I had never been good at accepting things I couldn’t control, and this... this was more than I could have ever imagined. I had always thought my father’s disappearance was just that—an accident, maybe even foul play. But this? This was a tangled mess of secrets and prophecies and worlds I didn’t understand.

“You said the prophecy... that it’s about me?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Luca nodded, his gaze unwavering. “It’s about both of us, actually. The Bound Alpha—someone who will bring together the human world and the werewolf world. It’s not just some myth. It’s real, and it’s happening now.”

I felt the air in the room grow heavier, as though the walls themselves were closing in. My pulse quickened, my thoughts racing to make sense of it all. I had always felt different, but this... this was something else entirely.

“But why me? Why now?” I asked, my voice breaking slightly.

“I don’t know,” Luca said, his tone as raw and unfiltered as I’d ever heard it. “But I know it’s not a coincidence that you came back to Cedar Grove. Your father’s involvement with the pack... the prophecy... it was all leading to this. To you.”

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself, but the questions kept coming. “What do I do with this? What am I supposed to do with this knowledge?”

Luca leaned forward, his eyes dark with something like regret. “We don’t have all the answers yet, Isla. But I know this much—your father didn’t want you to be involved. He kept you away from the pack, kept you from the truth. He thought he could protect you from all of this. But now...” He trailed off, his jaw tightening. “Now, it’s out of our hands.”

I glanced down at the journal, feeling its weight in my hands. The leather was worn and faded, but the power within it was undeniable. It held the secrets of my father’s life, of this prophecy, and perhaps of my future. A future I wasn’t sure I was ready to face.

“Is there a way out?” I whispered, not even sure I wanted to hear the answer.

Luca was silent for a moment, his gaze searching mine. “You can’t escape it, Isla. None of us can. The prophecy is already in motion. You’re already part of it.”

I closed my eyes, letting out a shaky breath. The fear that had been gnawing at me for days surged again, stronger this time. I wasn’t sure if I could live up to whatever role the prophecy had in store for me, but I knew one thing—there was no going back now.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for this,” I admitted, my voice small, vulnerable.

Luca’s expression softened. “None of us are. But we’ll face it together.”

His words, quiet and full of something that almost felt like reassurance, were the first thing that made me feel less alone since all of this had started. We might not have the answers, but at least we had each other.

And for the first time in what felt like forever, that thought gave me a flicker of hope.