Chapter 3 Into The Shadows

• Ayaan led Meher deeper into the forest, the path now unfamiliar to her. The trees seemed to grow closer together, their twisted branches intertwining overhead, casting long shadows on the ground. The silence was oppressive, the air thick with the scent of pine and earth. Every sound, every movement, felt amplified in the stillness.
• Meher walked beside him, her heart racing with a mix of fear and excitement. She had come to this village seeking a story, but what she had found was far more than she could have ever imagined. Werewolves. A curse. A destiny she didn’t understand.
• “Where are we going?” she asked, her voice breaking the eerie quiet.
• Ayaan didn’t look at her. He kept his gaze ahead, his expression unreadable. “Somewhere you’ll learn the truth.”
• They walked in silence for a while longer, until the trees began to thin out, and the forest opened into a vast clearing. In the center stood a large stone structure, ancient and weathered by time. It looked like a temple, but not one Meher had ever seen before. Its stone walls were covered in ivy, and strange symbols were carved into the surface, symbols that seemed to pulse with a faint, unnatural glow.
• Meher’s breath caught in her throat as she stepped forward, drawn to the mysterious site. “What is this place?”
• “This is the Garun clan’s ancestral temple,” Ayaan replied, his voice heavy with meaning. “It’s where the history of my people is kept. Where the truth of our curse is written.”
• Meher’s gaze flicked to him, her curiosity piqued. “A curse? You keep saying that, but what does it mean? How can love destroy your entire clan?”
• Ayaan’s jaw tightened, and for a moment, his eyes darkened with something close to regret. “It’s not just love,” he said, his voice strained. “It’s the kind of love that binds two souls together. A bond that can either save or destroy everything.”
• “Wait… are you saying if you fall in love with a human—”
• “I’ll break the curse,” he interrupted, his voice harsh. “But at a cost.”
• Meher’s heart skipped a beat. She tried to process what he was saying, but it felt like her mind was racing to catch up. “What kind of cost? What happens if you break the curse?”
• “If I break the curse, the Garun clan will cease to exist,” Ayaan said flatly. “And so will the human who’s tied to me.”
• The words hit Meher like a physical blow, and she stumbled back, barely catching herself on the edge of the stone structure. “Wait, you mean… if we—if we—”
• “If we fall in love, if we bind ourselves together in any way,” he continued, “you will die. You’ll vanish from this world. It’s the price of the curse. And there’s no escaping it.”
• Ayaan’s words were a dagger to her chest. She hadn’t realized how deeply she had already fallen for him, but now, hearing the weight of his curse, she felt a chill settle in her bones. She had to step back, had to break free from the pull of his presence. But something inside her resisted. Something inside her refused to turn away.
• “You can’t be serious,” Meher whispered. “This… this can’t be real.”
• Ayaan turned away from her, his expression pained. “It’s as real as the air we breathe. The Garun clan has lived with this curse for centuries. The first alpha, my ancestor, made a terrible mistake, and this is the price we pay for it.”
• Meher swallowed hard, her mind racing. “And if I… if I fall for you… you’ll lose everything. I’ll die. You’ll lose your clan. Why would you want to risk that?”
• Ayaan’s gaze softened, his voice quieter now. “Because sometimes, fate doesn’t ask what we want. It makes the decision for us.”
• The weight of his words hung in the air between them, and Meher felt the stirrings of something deep inside her—a connection that was impossible to ignore. It was as if their souls were already intertwined, even though they had just met.
• She shook her head, trying to clear the confusion in her mind. “I still don’t understand. Why me? Why now?”
• Ayaan’s gaze flicked toward the temple, his eyes narrowing as if seeing something in the distance. “It’s not just you. The curse is tied to something much older. It’s tied to the prophecy.”
• “The prophecy?” Meher repeated, her curiosity igniting once again. “What prophecy?”
• He met her gaze again, his expression grim. “The prophecy says that when the blood of the Garun clan and the blood of a human merge, a great battle will be fought. A battle that will either save us or destroy us. And the one who falls in love with the Garun alpha… is the key.”
• Meher’s heart skipped a beat. “But why me? I’m just a journalist. I don’t know anything about this.”
• Ayaan’s voice was soft, almost too quiet to hear. “Because your bloodline isn’t just human. It’s something more. Something ancient.”
• Meher’s breath caught in her throat. “What are you saying? What do you mean, ‘something more’?”
• Ayaan didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he reached for something on the stone altar in front of them—a small, weathered book. He handed it to her, his fingers brushing hers as he did so.
• “This is the history of my people,” he said. “It’s written in the old tongue, but you’ll understand it. It’s in your blood, too.”
• Meher stared at the book in her hands, its worn pages beckoning her with an undeniable pull. She opened the cover, revealing ancient text—symbols and language she couldn’t comprehend. But something deep inside her stirred as she looked at it. It was as if the words were calling out to her, whispering something just beyond her understanding.
• “What is this?” she asked, her voice trembling.
• Ayaan stepped closer, standing beside her. “This is where your journey begins.”
• As she flipped through the pages, the images became clearer. A family tree, stretching back generations. Names of kings and queens, warriors and guardians. And then, there it was—the name Meher Malhotra. Her name, written in the ancient script.
• Her heart pounded as she looked up at Ayaan. “You knew… you knew who I was.”
• “I suspected,” Ayaan admitted. “The prophecy… it speaks of the ‘chosen one,’ a human descendant with the power to break the curse. I didn’t know it would be you, but now I see it. You’ve always been a part of this world, Meher. It was just waiting for you to find it.”
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