Chapter 9: Ties That Bind

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. No one’s forcing you to carry the weight of this prophecy.”

I turned to Astra, confused. “What do you mean? What prophecy?”

The two of them shared a look, one I couldn’t decipher, and then Luca’s voice broke the silence, a low growl rumbling in his chest. “It’s not just a prophecy. It’s a fate. One that binds us, whether we like it or not.”

I felt the cold sweat prickling at the back of my neck. I had heard the word "prophecy" before, in bits and pieces, but I never really understood what it meant. And now, as Luca’s gaze met mine, the reality of it seemed too big to grasp.

“You’re not just some random human, Isla,” Luca continued, his voice rough as he stepped closer to me. “You’re connected to us—connected to me—in ways that go beyond anything either of us ever imagined.”

I swallowed, trying to steady the frantic beating of my heart. “I don’t understand. What does this have to do with my father? And why… why does it feel like I’m walking into something I can’t escape?”

Luca’s jaw tightened, and I saw the flicker of something deep within him. Guilt. Regret. But also something darker. Something hidden.

“I didn’t want you to find out,” he said, almost to himself, as if confessing more to the night than to me. “I didn’t want you to be part of this. You’ve got a life—one that has nothing to do with wolves, with packs, with the things we’ve been born into.”

Astra shook her head, stepping forward, her hand resting lightly on Luca’s shoulder. “You can’t protect her from this forever, Luca. She’s already part of it. And if she doesn’t understand what’s coming, then it’ll tear her apart when it happens.”

My head spun as I processed their words, piecing them together with the fragments of truth I had been gathering for weeks. But still, I was no closer to understanding the full picture. What did it mean to be “connected” to Luca? What did it mean for me to be part of this prophecy they spoke of?

I took a step back, my hand instinctively reaching for the journal tucked into my bag. The small, leather-bound book that had started all of this. “I’m not like you,” I said, my voice shaking slightly. “I’m not a werewolf. I don’t belong in this world.”

“Isla,” Luca said, his tone softening, “you’re more a part of this world than you think. Your father knew that. He was trying to protect you from it. But now, there’s no more hiding. You’ve already felt it, haven’t you? The pull. The connection.”

I closed my eyes, the memory of those strange dreams crashing through me—dreams where I ran through forests, my heart racing, the whispers of an unknown language calling me forward. The sensation of something inside me stirring, awakening. I couldn’t deny it. There was something between us, something pulling me toward Luca and the pack, something that couldn’t be explained.

But I wasn’t ready to accept it. I wasn’t ready to believe that my life had been leading to this moment, that my connection to Luca, to the pack, wasn’t just a coincidence.

“I need to know more,” I said finally, my voice quieter now, steadier. “Tell me what’s going to happen. What my father knew. And what this prophecy means for me.”

Luca stepped closer, his eyes never leaving mine. “Your father was part of the Crescent Moon pack, Isla. He didn’t just run the clinic. He was one of us. A protector. He kept the balance between the humans and the wolves. But there’s more to it than that. There’s a prophecy about a ‘Bound Alpha,’ someone who will unite the wolves and humans. The cost of that union is unknown, but it’s said to be immense. Some believe the Bound Alpha will be the one to finally bring the two worlds together—or tear them apart.”

I felt a chill wash over me at his words. The weight of them pressed on my chest, suffocating me. I had always thought of my father as a man of science, grounded in the real world. But now… now it seemed as though his life was tied to something so much bigger, something that had been in motion long before I had even realized it.

“And you think I’m this ‘Bound Alpha’?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Luca didn’t answer right away. Instead, he ran a hand through his dark hair, clearly torn. “I don’t know what to think anymore. But I do know one thing: the mark your father carried—his tattoo—it’s the same mark I bear. The mark of the Bound Alpha.”

I froze, my heart skipping a beat. “You… you have the same mark?”

He nodded, his gaze intense. “It’s not a coincidence, Isla. Our fates are tied. And whatever happens, whatever this prophecy means, you’re a part of it.”

Astra stepped forward, her eyes flickering with something between sympathy and excitement. “It’s not just your father’s past that binds you to this world. It’s your bloodline, Isla. Your connection to Luca. The prophecy was written for you both.”

I looked at Luca, searching his face for some hint of what all this meant. But there was nothing but uncertainty there. The darkness of the forest around us seemed to mirror the confusion swirling in my mind. I wanted answers. I needed them. But now, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to face what those answers might be.

“We’re running out of time,” Luca said, his voice low and urgent. “The rogue wolves are closing in. And if they find out what you are—what we are—they’ll stop at nothing to tear us apart.”

I nodded, though I didn’t fully understand what I was agreeing to. All I knew was that the world I thought I knew was gone. And the only way forward was through the darkness, whatever that darkness might be.

And Luca? He was the one who held the key to everything.