Bursting through the door in a frenzy, the brunette girl looked almost crazed as she huffed with urgency, struggling to catch her breath.

The desperation was clear as if she had realised something that had been there all along, just brimming under the surface of it all.

Almost forgotten amongst the mate calling.

"Show me. I know you still have a copy," Alisa said as she pushed through Ryder to get to the other side of his room.

She was furious, not understanding why she hadn't gotten to see the full thing in the first place.

The fact he'd conveniently decided to omit the entire information.

"I can't believe you! After all this time, you had an actual copy!"

Her words were harsh, slicing through him.

"What are you referring to?" Ryder asked in astonishment, staring up at his mate in bewilderment.

His priorities had been focused solely on her in the last couple weeks. It was hard to focus on anything else when everything else fell flat in comparison.

It had been a little while since their last chat because of how actively she had been avoiding him and now she was ready to talk but not about them.

He could sense it was bigger than just their mate bond even if he was disappointed.

There was so much left unsaid between them and time was running out.

"You know damn well!" She huffed back, her face becoming increasingly redder by the minute.

Her eyebrows knitted together in anger, confusion and a lot of hurt was displayed on her tan features.

For a mate, he really was a terrible sharer of news in her opinion.

A new but familiar feeling erupted inside of her chest.

There was only one other time she felt this kind of anger towards someone she cared for in ways she was still learning and understanding.

Maya told her the word they have for it - Betrayal.

The worst kind is by a friend you trusted and believed they would be honest and transparent with you.

Somehow, it seemed to slice her that much deeper because it came from him.

Over the years, he had always been honest with her, trying his best to answer any question she had asked him.

Ryder had been something to her, causing a crack in her heart over the lack of information sharing.

"No I really don't know so please. Alisa, calm down and tell me what is going on," he murmured, putting a hand on her shoulder softly but the moment his hand touched her skin she repelled back as if he had burnt her.

As if their mate bond had.

His face fell, not even trying to deny how painful that was for him.

Her clear refusal to even allow them to have contact was enough to bring his doubts to the forefront of his mind.

"Just show me that damn scroll, Ryder."

Her words were menacing and held something that pulled him into action.

He could hardly explain it but his body moved to do as it was told as if he was being controlled. The only explanation he could find for it was like an Alpha pull.

The thought made him a little nauseated but also a little proud.

She was their Luna.

There was no more denying it.

'In a place where hope
Has been abandoned

Seek the one who can
Unite the battle grounds
To face the foes not yet known

One that has been born out of love
But into a world full of hate

A nomad without
A means to call home
Stuck between two different worlds

Everything will become lost
But in the darkness a
Sliver of hope can be found

To succeed one must
Look within to find the
Light before it burns out

But you must heed the warning;

Beware of the half-breed
in a coming war that
will threaten the extinction
of two resembling kinds.'

The words were intricately written down on an old piece of parchment that had clear indents of being rolled up numerous times.

It was not the first time Ryder had read the inscription written but it was the first time it truly gave him the chills. It was as if he was reading it in a new light, seeing it as even more urgent than before.

The fear radiated off of Alisa in waves and muddled with his own feelings, it became almost as if there was no clear distinction between both of them and their true emotions separately.

Their bond had tangled their emotions, making it hard to sift through the fog.

Ryder understood fear about war in general but he could almost sense that it was more than that for her and that terrified him beyond words.

Things were suddenly so much darker than before.

This only cemented his opinion that their union would be needed now more than ever.

Finally, Alisa spoke to break the chilling silence.

"Is it saying the half-breed is the enemy we must face?" She asked, nervously as she bit her bottom lip.

For a moment, he let her question hang in the eery air as he thought about it some more. Since the witch heir had brought the scroll to his attention, he'd been wondering the same thing.

The truth was, most often, prophecies were confusing and hard to understand at first glance. The clues lay hidden beneath the words - things unsaid plainly.

"No," he finally murmured, "I think it is a trick warning."

Alisa's blue eyes widened as she looked up at him with surprise.

"No?" She asked softly, unshed tears brimming in her eyes.

"I think that we should be wary of the half-breed but that there could potentially be an even greater threat at play," he replied, finally voicing some of the thoughts he'd been thinking for weeks.

"I also think that the half-breed shouldn't be our top priority - finding the one who can unite the battle grounds should be. I think it's the clue to winning the war."

Ryder's words aloud only confused the pair more.

Their emotions so deeply tangled, he was unsure what were really his anymore. Especially in their close proximity. All he could truly decipher is the passion building between them.

"To me, this reads that our greatest ally must be living among a different kind than that of them," he commented in an attempt to continue their conversation whilst burying his current feelings for her at present.

"That's what you take from that confusion?" Alisa asked, staring back down at the words that were still haunting her.

Perhaps she was the half-breed they must be wary of.

A threat she didn't realise she could be.

As time has passed, she felt more at home with the wolves than her birth place. She did not wish them harm, only happiness.

The way the Sabor Tooth pack had granted her mercy at fifteen, despite her being a clear stranger, had restored her faith in them.

The wolves could be kind and merciful unlike that of the witches.

Alisa owed them her life and in return, she would lay down her life for them in this coming war if need be.

She just wasn't ready to lead them into the battle but she knew Ryder was strong enough to alone.

"Yes," Ryder said, softly.

"Have I ever told you about the other gifted? Not just the witches?" He asked, laying a hand on her chin and inching it back up to stare into his grey eyes.

"Others?"

"Yes; the aquatically gifted and the nature spirits. There are others, Alisa. So many endless possibilities of half-breeds and allies. It would take a lot of time to search them all. This isn't even including the naturals..."

Ryder's words trailed off as he became lost in thought once more.

There was just too many possibilities and things to consider. It wasn't like the prophecy was very clear on many details.

"Aquatically gifted?" Alisa asked in curiosity as some things were beginning to make more sense to her.

Ryder nodded with a small smile.

"They have the power to manipulate water and some are even rumoured to become water themselves. Such a beautiful gift in itself," he answered.

Now Alisa understood why it was forbidden for witches to use magic to conjure water. It was not their gift. Theirs was fire and the magic within the ground.

Finally receiving the answer to her question all those years ago at a witch's coronation. An answer no one else was willing to give her. They had been determined to keep her in the dark but she had never been able to stop herself from asking too many questions.

Her curiosity was far too powerful and she knew one day it could get her killed.

"And before you ask - the nature spirits have the gift of well... nature. But nobody has seen a Nymph in many, many years. The rumours were that they had either all died out long ago or that they had fused with their beloved trees and plants. Never to be seen again."

Alisa blinked owlishly back at Ryder, trying to take in his words.

"But this prophecy could mean one of these gifted have come back... It would make so much sense. Maybe a nymph and a human?" Ryder asked but more to himself as he looked back down at the words.

They had gotten no closer to figuring it out - only more questions it seemed.

Alisa dared not ask the question on her lips: 'What about a wolf and a witch?'

With all the things that had happened to her in the last three years, she was more sure now than ever that this was never a spell gone awry but genetics at its worst.

This prophecy was going to weigh on her until she figured out her true place in this coming war.

Friend or foe...