I crouched down to the floor, sitting at the corner of the room, my heart was beating fast as I tried comprehending what he was saying. I could still hear Orion's words slamming into me hard: *Prophecy… you are the key…*
But I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready for any of this.
Orion looked at me closely, waiting for me to speak, but I didn't. My mind was a jumble of thoughts. He had told me I was part of something much bigger than I could understand, something that would change everything. I felt trapped.
"I never asked for this," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "I have asked to be a pawn in a great prophecy. I didn't ask to be the key in all this."
Orion moved closer, his eyes showing a feeling like regret. "I understand, Ava. I understand. It's not easy to escape from. The prophecy is real. And whether you want it or not, you are connected to it."
I shook my head. My hands trembled at my sides. "Why me? Why now?"
Orion didn't respond immediately, instead looking into my face to decide what part of the truth to reveal. "It's because of who you are, Ava. You're not a regular person. Your bloodline runs back many, many years. Your family, your bloodline, has been kept a secret for a reason. But now you need to know your place in all of this.
I took a step back, breathing hard. "I don't want any of this. I just want to keep living. I don't care about prophecies and family ties and…whatever this is."
Orion's eyes turned serious, and his jaw got tense. "You can't run from this, Ava. You can't escape your fate. The pack needs you."
"The pack?!" I laughed bitterly, the sound loud in the quiet room. "Are you saying that all of this… it's been about the pack? About me being some… leader?"
Orion didn't react to my outburst. "It's not about being a leader, Ava. It's about survival. The pack is fighting, and the prophecy says you're the key. You're the one who can either save us or ruin everything."
I took a step back, feeling confused. "I don't want to mess anything up. I don't even know what I should do."
"You don't have to do this alone," Orion said, speaking more softly now. "You have friends. People who want to support you. But you need to decide which side you are on."
I looked at him, feeling a strange mix of anger and fear inside me. "What if I don't want to choose? What if I just want to leave all of this behind?"
Orion's face got serious, and for the first time, I noticed something dark in his eyes. "You can't just leave. This is more important than you, Ava. This is more important than both of us."
I was going to reply, but I paused when I heard a quiet sound in the hallway of someone moving carefully. My heart felt like it stopped for a moment, and I looked at the door as fear rushed over me.
Orion's body tightened, and he changed his stance. "Stay here," he said quietly. "I'll handle this."
He didn't wait for me to say anything or even to protest. He moved swiftly and silently across the room and went out the door, leaving me standing there with my mind spinning like I was stuck in some kind of frozen time. Who else could it be? What did it mean for me?
What felt like hours dragged by slowly. The minutes were heavy with the silence that I sensed something was going to happen, and I wasn't ready to handle it.
Then, just as I started toward the door, I heard the voices. One was Orion's, but the other made my heart shudder.
Damon.
I must have stood there a very long while, my heart pounding in my chest, as I strained with every fibre of my being to hear their conversation, but all I could make out really was snatches of words-words which seemed to make everything even more confusing.
".she doesn't know… you can't keep her in the dark…"
"…she'll have to choose… it's not just about the pack…"
"…she'll see the truth soon…"
I couldn't take it anymore. I opened the door, my breath stuck in my throat as I stepped into the hall and saw Orion and Damon facing each other in the low light, with the air between them feeling heavy and tense.
Damon's eyes flicked to mine, his smile curling his lip up. "Ah, Ava, I was wondering when you'd join us."
My feet found themselves rooted in place at the bottom of the stairwell as my eyes flipped between the both of them. Orion's mask was firmly set, expression not giving an inch, but I knew the weight of his gaze as it rested upon me.
"What's happening?" I asked. My voice shook because I felt many strong feelings.
Damon moved a bit closer. "You don't know, do you? You don't know what's really happening. But you will learn. Very soon."
Orion looked serious, and his voice got rough. "Don't believe him, Ava. He's trying to mess with your mind."
But Damon didn't look worried. He just tilted his head, and his eyes sparkled with something dark. "I'm not controlling anyone, Orion. I'm just telling her the truth. The truth she needs to know."
I felt like I couldn't breathe, stuck between two strong forces pulling me in different ways. "What truth?" I whispered, my voice hardly loud enough to hear.
Damon smiled more, and for the first time, I noticed the real darkness in his eyes. "The truth is that you can stop this war. You are the one who can choose what will happen to the pack."
Orion moved in front of Damon. "Don't pay attention to him, Ava. He's trying to use you. He will do anything to make you support him."
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could utter a word, the ground shook beneath me, and I heard a deep sound that echoed through the building. The walls shook, and I abruptly lurched ahead, as if an invisible power had pulled me off balance.
"What was that?" I gasped, my heart racing.
Orion looked serious; his eyes moved to where the noise was coming from. "It's starting."
I didn't have the opportunity to comprehend his words, and then another crash occurred, this one more deafening than the earlier one, succeeded by a low growl that filled me with fear.
The war had arrived.