Chapter 8 – The Prophecy
606 Words
For a moment, no one spoke. The forest held its breath—every leaf, every branch, every shadow seemed frozen in silence.
Aiden remained on his knees, eyes locked on the man before them. Rina felt his hand tremble slightly beside her. Luka stepped forward, tense, ready to strike.
The man’s golden eyes gleamed in the moonlight.
“I see the curse has already begun to take you,” he said softly.
Aiden rose slowly, jaw tight.
“What are you doing here?”
The man ignored him. His gaze lingered on Rina, on the faint silver crescent glowing beneath her sleeve.
“So… the prophecy is true,” he murmured. “I thought it ended with the last keeper. But it has found another host.”
Rina stepped back.
“Who… who are you?”
Aiden’s voice was sharp and cold.
“He’s my father. Elias Vale.”
Luka froze. The name was infamous. Elias wasn’t just a hunter—he was the hunter. The one who survived the fall of the first pack. The one who hunted humans and wolves alike who carried the bloodline.
Aiden took a step forward. “You left us. You tried to end all of this by killing every bloodline.”
“I tried to save us,” Elias replied calmly. “You don’t understand what’s coming. The Alpha’s hunger grows stronger every generation. And now—”
His eyes turned to Rina.
“—the moon has chosen her. What happens next will not be mercy.”
Rina’s heartbeat raced. “I’m not part of any prophecy. I don’t want this!”
Elias studied her, cold and calculating.
“You don’t get to choose, child. That mark is not an invitation. It is a warning.”
Aiden stepped protectively in front of her, fists curling.
“You won’t touch her.”
Elias tilted his head, a faint smirk on his lips.
“You can’t protect her forever, Aiden. You’re losing control. It’s only a matter of time before the Alpha inside you wakes… and she becomes its first target.”
The words cut sharper than any blade. Rina saw fear flicker in Aiden’s golden eyes for the first time.
Luka stepped forward, voice low and steady.
“If you came to kill her, you’ll have to go through me first.”
Elias’s smirk deepened.
“If I wanted her dead… she wouldn’t still be breathing.”
Thunder rumbled distantly, though the sky remained clear.
“The mark has awakened something,” Elias continued. “The old moon roots have started to stir again. You must have felt it.”
Aiden hesitated. Rina did too.
The forest had felt different lately.
The wind would stop abruptly at night.
Sometimes… she could hear voices. Old, faint, whispering her name.
Elias stepped closer, almost human for a moment, almost sad.
“There is a place deep in this forest,” he said. “A temple hidden beneath stone… where the prophecy was written. You must go there before the next full moon.”
“Why?” Rina asked, voice small.
Elias’s eyes darkened.
“Because that night… the Alpha will rise completely.”
Luka tightened his grip on his bow.
“And who is the Alpha?”
Elias looked at Aiden.
Aiden’s breath caught.
Rina’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Please… tell us the truth.”
Elias spoke slowly, each word deliberate.
“The Alpha… is not a legend. He is alive—divided—waiting.”
Then he said the truth that shattered the silence:
“And your blood, Rina… will either awaken him—
or destroy him.”
- Writer
