Chapter 004

"You mean that I'm the key?" As I stood at the doorway of the room, my hand still shaking from Kael's touch on my wrist, I questioned, my voice hardly more than a whisper.

The man with the icy, calculating gaze who had spoken first moved forward. There was an indisputable tension in the room because of him. "The prophecy," he replied in a gravelly, low voice. "You know about it, don't you?"

I looked at Kael, but I couldn't read his face; there was just a tiny, unidentifiable spark of something behind his dark eyes. "Which prophecy?" With a parched throat and the air getting thicker by the moment, I inquired.

The man rubbed his temples and sighed in frustration. "The one that has been handed down over the years." The one that signifies the start of the pack's demise for you, Lola.

A shiver went through my body. "I don't get it."

He paced the room while muttering, "Of course you don't." "Never do any of you. That is the issue.

Kael took a step forward, his palm now softly resting on the small of my back in a protective stance. With a hint of remorse in his voice, he murmured softly, "It's a curse, Lola." "However, it's also our only means of survival."

I gave a headshake. "You're not logical at all. I'm simply I am who I am. I amn't a weapon. I have no idea what's going on.

The man looked at Kael, but I didn't know his name yet. In a direct approach to Kael, he asked, "It's not just about her powers, is it?" "This goes beyond that. You cannot shield her from the impending danger. The prophecy describes the blood that flows through her veins in addition to her abilities. The Alpha's line's legacy.

When bloodlines were mentioned, Kael's mouth tightened. With a gaze that could melt steel, he turned to the man and hissed, "Enough." "She isn't prepared for this."

The man shot back, "I believe she has already begun the process." "Are you not able to sense that as well? the connection you have with her. It is indisputable.

I couldn't pinpoint it, but something made my stomach turn as I turned to Kael. Not just terror, but something more. "What bond?"

For a brief moment, Kael's eyes softened before he turned away. Although he took a while to respond, I could see the struggle going on inside his storm-clouded eyes. His voice was strained as he eventually said, "There's a connection between us." "One that was predestined from the moment of your birth."

I started to say something, but the words stuck in my throat. I was at a loss for words. Everything about it made me feel as though I was drowning in a world that wasn't mine.

The man, whose name I was still eager to find out, grinned as though he understood exactly what was going through my head. "The Alpha's line," he said again, his eyes narrowing as he gave me a pitying look. "You're the last of them, Lola. The person whose blood will either rescue or ruin the pack.

My pulse thumping, I stumbled back a few paces as a wave of nausea overcame me. "This is crazy. This is—no. Nothing can be saved by me. How can I—I don't even know who my family is.

The man interjected, saying, "What you know is irrelevant to the prophecy." It is just interested in who you are. The fact is that you have no say in the matter. The pack will either submit to you or disintegrate in an attempt to assert what you stand for.

Every word he said made everything seem louder and more overwhelming, and I could feel my heart pounding in my ears. With my legs weakening beneath me and the world around me spinning, I said, "This is crazy." "I simply want to return home."

Kael's hold on my back became more firm as he drew me in closer, grounding me with his strength. With a gentle yet stern tone, he said, "You're already home, Lola." "Now this is your house. Regardless of your feelings about it.

I rejected what he said by shaking my head. "I don't want to be involved in this. I'm not even interested in being here!

The dude wasn't finished, though. He took a step forward, his eyes fixed on you. "Lola, you must be present. The thread that connects everything is your ancestry. And the thread is going to break.

I gazed at him as the words gradually came to me. "What do you mean?"

Something frightening, something keen, flared in his eyes. "You were kept secret for a reason. According to the prophecy, the heir of the last Alpha would arrive just as the pack was about to go to war. And it would be up to that successor to either bring about peace or bring about the destruction of everything.

My voice was stuck in my throat as I attempted to speak. "And what if I do nothing?"

The warm fingers of Kael's hand were now resting on my arm. We're all doomed after that. The other packs have begun to move already. They're aware of your presence. They are aware of your identity. And they will do whatever it takes to get you.

Everything inside of me froze for a second as the weight of his words fell upon me. I was unable to move. Captured. This could not be avoided. There was no denying who I really was. What I needed to be.

Unable to take it all in, I looked up at Kael. I muttered, more to myself than to him, "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do." "I have no idea how to combat this."

Kael took a while to reply. Instead, he used both hands to cup my face, and I felt a surge of heat from his contact. He had such piercing, dark eyes. Softly, he said, "You'll learn." "You must."

I tried to ignore the horrifying truth of the situation by closing my eyes. Then—something exploded inside of me. Something within of me sounded a warning. a force that pushed me to the surface that I was unaware of.

I recoiled when I felt the weight of a horrible creature suddenly fall upon me. "What's going on?" My breathing became shallow as I gasped.

A knowing smile twisted the man's face. "It's beginning," he declared. "The prophecy is coming to pass already."

I stepped back, my body trembling violently. "No. No, it's not possible.

However, the door behind us crashed open so violently that the walls trembled before I could speak another word. A chilly, threatening figure with molten silver eyes materialized in the doorway; his presence was nothing short of terrifying.

The apparition murmured in a low, predatory voice, "Lola." "You cannot run away from who you are."

Immediately, Kael moved forward of me, using his body as a barrier to keep the intruder away. However, the threat was already there, crackling with a ferocity that chilled my veins.

And I knew right then.

The pack battle has already started. And it revolved around me.