Chapter 5

                                                                           Fated to Fall

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Lora’s POV

“I never wanted this.”

Before I could stop them, the words were out of my mouth and I could not hide the sting in my voice. With my fate now in Revan, the Alpha of the Stormfang Pack, my hands were shaking. The weight of the circumstances was crushing me, and the tension between us felt as though it were an invisible power. The intensity of the air around us caused shivers in my body.

Revan's eyes softened, but his demeanor remained unreadable—like a man resigned to his course. Not really, he was not the monster I had dreaded. Though he was commanding, he also had a magnetic quality. Something about him drew me in even against myself. His aroma, the same one that had set off something in me when I first woke up, seemed to permeate the room, an irresistible force drawing me toward him even while my head shouted at me to fight.

"I know you didn't, Lora," he said, his voice low and steady, but under the calm there was a faint sadness. "But sometimes we have no say in what happens to us. I ought to be with you. Future is what it is. I won't stand by while my pack falls apart, but I came here not to compel you. We must bring our work to completion.

His comments sliced right through me, but there was something else in his voice—a vulnerability I wasn't prepared for. My chest tightened, and I battled to keep onto my emotions by swallowing hard. Though I had been led through this twisted game of fate and gone through so much, his presence was clear-cut. The conFlict between us, the draw—God, it was difficult to forget.

"I never asked for this," I murmured, my voice faltering despite my best attempts to contain it. "I never wanted to be your expected mate. I never wanted to live on Earth.

Revan's voice was steady, but I sensed his jaw's muscles tightening. Neither. I have been looking for you all my life, trying to reject the link. But we cannot ignore it any more; it is here right now.

I knew nothing about how to react to that. His comments seemed to be crushing my chest beneath weight. How could I trust him? How could I trust any of this when it felt like I had been deceived by everyone I ever believed in?

“You... you told me I was safe,” I muttered, my voice barely audible, the words sliding out like a confession I hadn’t meant to say aloud. but am I really?

Revan stepped toward me, something fierce Loraashing in his eyes. His hand extended out, and for a second I assumed he would console me, touch me, but he stopped just inches from my face. I could feel the electric charge Lora Rowing across the vast air separating us. It was natural, magnetic.

His voice low and threatening, he murmured gently, "I will protect you." Nobody is going to hurt you. Not right now when I'm here.

Still, I found it difficult to believe him. Not completely. Not exactly yet. My heart was too damaged, my trust destroyed, and his words—no matter how earnest they sounded—could not reverse the already done harm.

"You've already hurt me, Revan," I murmured, my voice laden with feeling. You have already grabbed everything from me. my family, my future. Jordan—'"

The mention of Jordan's name darkened his eyes. His hands balling into fists at his sides, he retreated. "Don't mention his name," he snipped, his tone so shrill it sliced through the air.

The abrupt strength of his reaction startled me. Though not this intense, this visceral, I had expected rage.

"You don't know what it was like," he said with a strained voice. "You have no idea the pressure I have been under, the actions I have had to take to survive or defend my pack. When Jordan sent you far away, he was acting deliberately. He turned to Lora using you. He betrayed you.

Shaking my head, I refused to let him control me any more. I stopped, my voice louder than I meant. Not your pawn, I am. Nobody uses me as their pawn.

For a minute he said nothing, his eyes fixed on me with a force that set my heart pounding. Though I had no idea what he wanted from me or what he expected, I could not stand there allowing him to decide my fate any more.

"You think this is easy for me?” I went on, my voice shaking. "You assume I want to be here, connected to you? That I would like to participate in your small game? You have removed all I ever valued, Revan. Your devastation of my life is evident. And now you're telling me I have to be your friend? I have no option?

Raw and unvarnished, the words poured out, but I stopped caring now. I had to get it off my plate. I had to give him the truth—that which I had been carrying—that suffering.

His eyes softened, but his visage remained not devoid of hardness. "You have decisions, Lora. You always have. Still, there is actual bonding between us. And no matter how much you wish to, you cannot ignore that.

I despise myself for getting caught in the draw of his words and look. I wished I could detest him. Though I wanted to hate everything he stood for, there was a part of me—that which had once loved Jordan—that yearned to believe that Revan was unique. He was not like most of the others.

I am sure, though, whether I could rely on him. Not yet.

There was a great bang outside the door before I could reply, then a series of rushed voices. My heart skipped a beat as I turned toward the commotion, dread washing over me.

"Lora," Revan said, his voice cutting with urgency. "Stay here."

But he was already headed toward the door, his body stiff and every muscle coiled before I could object. When I tried to follow him, my legs wouldn't move. I froze in position, terror squeezing my chest.

I hushed, "Don't go," but it was too late. He had vanished already.

Heart pumping, I hurried to the door and heard footsteps marching down the hall. Something was happening—something was going wrong—but I had no notion what it was.

Revan's voice suddenly emerged from the hall, low and intimidating, yet it was enraged.

"Get back!" he yelled, then a loud crash. "I advised staying back!"

As I pushed my back against the door and listened to the noises of a conLoraict outside, my body shook with anxiety. Not knowing what was happening, I understood just that I was there in the heart of something dangerous, something approaching.

Just as I reached for the door, desperate to understand what was going on, I heard a voice—one I never thought I would hear again.

“Lora…”

For Jordan.

The door to the room opened and I peered into the last face I had ever seen.