Alpha's Prophecy

Chapter 29

Hannah

The forest bed was littered with freshly fallen leaves and I could feel them crunch beneath my bare feet as I trekked through the maze of trees. I was searching for something but I didn't know what that something was. I'd just appeared here but it felt more like I'd been lost within the forrest longer than I realised. 

My surroundings were familiar yet I still had no clue on how to get back home or if I had a home to return to. I was lost and alone but I wasn't frightened. Fear is for the weak, that's what I'd been raised to believe, that's what echoed in my mind as I pushed through the overgrown foliage. 

It was fear that had made me run and hide from Quinton. I'd given him the upper hand, shown him how much he can get to me. I was designed to be the ultimate warrior and I'm weak against a measly, old wolf. I've allowed him to still hold power over me, like I did when I was a child, forgetting that I could destroy him in less than a heartbeat. 

Was that why I was out here in the forrest? Was I going to face off against Quinton? Prove myself worthy of the prophecy that had been written long before I was born?

Footsteps crack a stick and I'm aware of someone creeping up behind me. I take cover against a tree and peer back to see the figure of a man coming towards me. He's short and balding, dressed in a dark grey sweater, jeans and boots. As he stalks closer to me, I study his face and realise that I recognise him. He's not a threat to me, he never was. 

"Dad." I call out, stepping out from behind the tree and running up to him. He's older than I remember but then again, everyone has aged in the 10 years since I was taken. "Dad, what are you doing out here?"

"My little warrior." He greets me, wrapping me in a tight, protective hug. "I knew one day you'd find your way back home. I just wish I could have been here, to see it."

"What do you mean?" I question him, stepping back from our embrace but still holding onto him. "You're here, I can feel you, you're here with me now."

"Hannah, you're dreaming." He says, so casually, as if I should have realised it myself. "You've been asleep for an entire day and I've been trying infiltrate your dreams."

"I can come visit you when I wake up." I promise him, not understanding why he had to get to me in my dreams. "Mum too."

"Hannah, I can visit you only in dreams." He says softly, wiping a tear from my cheek, like he did when I was little. "But I am always around you."

"Oh." My heart shatters when I realise what he's hinting at, my beautiful, kind, loving father passed away before I could make it home to him. "Daddy, I'm so sorry."

Tears fall rapidly from my eyes, blurring my vision which frustrates me because I want to remember his face, every line, every tiny detail. I try to pull myself together but it only makes me ache more, for all our lost time. 

"My warrior, don't cry, I'm happy and at peace." He assures me, giving me a gentle smile. "I haven't got much time though, soon you will wake and I have to warn you of what you're returning to. You were betrayed Hannah..."

"By Quinton, I know." I cut him off, not wanting to waste any precious seconds going over information I'm already aware of. 

"Yes, but there's another, someone you trusted." He says grimly, his eyes turning cold. "She took you from me. She said she wanted to prevent the prophecy from playing out"

"She?" I ask him. "Who?" I beg of him but he begins to fade.

"She loves you." He calls out as he disappears to the black void of nothingness. No forrest, no leaves, just darkness.