I felt like I was walking in a fog, where every step seemed harder, every breath heavier. Kieran stood beside Elara, his face tense. Every so often, his eyes would flick to me, cold and filled with something I couldn't name—anger, guilt, maybe both. And Elara, ever watchful, stood stiffly by his side, her posture defensive, her gaze cutting. There was no love between them at that moment. No trust. Just a fragile line between what was and what could have been.
The space around us was quiet. Too quiet. The wind rustled through the trees, but it didn't offer any relief. The silence between the three of them felt more like a battlefield than a simple conversation. And I was caught right in the middle, unsure of whether I was a soldier or a casualty.
Hunter stood a few steps away, his back straight and his eyes scanning the horizon. The way he carried himself, like nothing could ever shake him, only made me feel smaller. Even though he wasn't looking at me directly, I could feel the weight of his gaze, like he was studying every small movement I made, every breath I took.
"We don't have time for games," Hunter said, breaking the silence in a low growl. His voice was like gravel being ground underfoot, raw and powerful. "The rogue faction isn't just a group of outcasts. They're organized, and they're targeting our kind. Word's been going around that they've been hunting wolves with bloodlines like Raven's."
Like mine.
I felt a chill race through my body, freezing me in place. My heart skipped. Bloodlines? I didn't know what that meant, not really. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was no one special. I wasn't some ancient creature with powers that could change the world. I wasn't anyone that mattered. Or at least, I thought I wasn't. But now?
Now, it felt like the ground beneath me was shifting, like something big was coming. Something I couldn't avoid.
Kieran's jaw tightened as Hunter spoke. "So, you think this is about her?"
Hunter's eyes narrowed. "She's not some random Omega, Kieran. There's more to her than we've been led to believe. She's part of something... bigger. And if they get to her before we figure out what's really going on, it could be the end of all of us."
Elara's voice cut through the air like a sharp blade. "What do you mean, 'bigger'? What's Raven supposed to do with all of this?"
I could feel her eyes burning into me, sharp as knives. I wasn't sure if she hated me or feared me—or maybe a little bit of both. Her words were like daggers, but there was something more beneath the surface. A flicker of something that made me wonder if she wasn't as certain as she sounded.
Hunter took a step closer to me, his boots crunching softly on the grass. His presence was overwhelming, like a mountain I had to keep climbing, even if I was terrified of the height.
"You don't get it, Elara," he said, his voice soft but filled with that quiet authority. "Raven's bloodline is part of an ancient prophecy. She doesn't even know it yet, but she's the key to something much larger than anything any of us have imagined."
He wasn't speaking to me—he was speaking to Elara, but I couldn't help but feel like the words were meant for me, too. I glanced at Kieran, who stood still, his eyes flicking to the ground as if trying to avoid meeting my gaze. His jaw clenched, and I could see the conflict in his posture. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be anywhere near me.
"What does that mean?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, but it cut through the tension like a knife. I couldn't help it; the curiosity bubbled up inside me, as terrifying as it was. I had to know. "What do you mean by prophecy?"
Hunter's gaze softened for just a second, but only for a second. "It means that you're not just some runaway Omega. You're tied to the fate of our entire world, Raven. That bloodline of yours? It's not just a part of you. It's something others have been hunting for centuries."
I shook my head. The words didn't make sense. How could I be anything more than a broken girl who'd been thrown out by her pack? How could I be the key to anything? The idea seemed impossible, but the look in Hunter's eyes... it made me doubt everything I thought I knew.
Kieran crossed his arms, his face still hardened, but his eyes were filled with a kind of desperation. "And what does this mean for her, Hunter? If she's really part of this prophecy, what's she supposed to do?"
Hunter's gaze flicked to me, and his lips pressed into a tight line. "We need to find out exactly what her role is in this, Kieran. If she's part of the prophecy, we can't just sit around waiting for the rogues to come to us. We need to protect her, yes, but we also need to know how she fits into all of this."
"And how do we do that?" Elara asked, her voice skeptical but tinged with concern. "How do we even begin to understand what she is?"
Before Hunter could answer, I heard a sound—rustling in the trees. It wasn't a bird. It wasn't an animal. My heart skipped in my chest, and every muscle in my body went rigid. Instinct took over, and I dropped into a defensive stance without thinking.
Hunter's hand rested on my shoulder gently, but I could feel the tension in his grip. He was alert, his eyes scanning the shadows where the sound had come from. "Stay close," he murmured.
The wind whispered through the leaves, and then I saw him. A figure stepped from the edge of the trees, tall and cloaked in shadow. His movements were smooth, too smooth. Like he was accustomed to being unseen. He wore dark clothes that blended into the night, but it wasn't just his appearance that made me uneasy. It was the presence around him, something dark, something dangerous.
The stranger's eyes glowed faintly, a faint golden hue that reflected in the dim light. And then he spoke.
"I'm not here for you, Hunter," he said, his voice rough like stones being ground together. "I'm here for her."
I froze. My stomach dropped. His gaze slid over to me, and I could feel the weight of it pressing into me, making my chest tight. He was looking at me like I was the only thing that mattered.
"Raven Silversong," he said, his voice low and mocking. "The one they've all been waiting for."
Before I could react, before I could even process what he
was saying, the man lunged.