THE LAST HEIR OF ÉKÈ

Chapter One: The Girl Who Should Have Died The first time Anyanwụ heard the wolves, she was standing beside her mother's grave. It was almost midnight, and rain had been falling for nearly an hour. The cemetery was deserted, its rows of old tombstones barely visible beneath the weak glow of the surrounding streetlights. Water dripped steadily from the edges of Anyanwụ's black umbrella as she stood in front of the small marble gravestone. AMARA NWACHUKWU Beloved Mother 1984–2007 Anyanwụ stared at the dates for a long time. Twenty years. That was how long her mother had supposedly been dead. She had been too young to remember much about her. Most of what she knew came from photographs, old stories, and the few memories that had survived from childhood. Her mother had always been described as kind, intelligent, and fiercely protective. And she had supposedly died in a car accident when Anyanwụ was only seven. Everyone had accepted that explanation. Everyone except Anyanwụ. She had never been able to explain why, but something about the story had always felt wrong. She lowered her eyes to the grave. "I wish you had left me something more than questions," she whispered. A sudden howl echoed through the trees. Anyanwụ froze. She slowly raised her head. The sound had come from somewhere beyond the cemetery wall. It was long and deep, unlike anything she had ever heard before. A second howl followed, then a third. She frowned. There were no wolves in this part of the city. At least, there shouldn't have been. "That's impossible." She turned toward the trees, searching for movement. Nothing. Only rain. Then she heard footsteps behind her. Anyanwụ spun around. A man stood several meters away between two rows of graves. He was tall and dressed entirely in black. Rain fell around him, yet his clothes appeared strangely dry. She couldn't see his face clearly beneath the darkness, but she could tell that he was staring directly at her. Her instincts immediately told her to leave. "Who are you?" The man didn't answer. His gaze moved from her face to the gravestone behind her. Something changed in his expression. Fear. It was subtle, but unmistakable. "You shouldn't be here," he said. Anyanwụ tightened her grip on the umbrella. "This is a cemetery. I'm visiting my mother's grave." "I wasn't talking about the cemetery." The man took a step toward her. Anyanwụ stepped backward. "Stay where you are." He stopped. For a moment, neither of them moved. Then the man's eyes flashed silver. Anyanwụ's breath caught. "What..." Before she could finish, the man disappeared. A second later, he was standing directly in front of her. Anyanwụ screamed. His hand closed around her wrist. Pain shot through her arm. "Let me go!" The man's grip tightened. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "For what?" His eyes suddenly turned completely black. "For waking you." Something exploded inside Anyanwụ. She didn't understand what was happening. One moment she was terrified, and the next an immense pressure was building inside her chest. It felt as though something had been sleeping beneath her skin for years and had suddenly opened its eyes. Then a burst of golden light erupted from her body. The force threw the man backward. He crashed into a stone angel with enough power to shatter part of the statue. Anyanwụ fell to her knees. Her umbrella rolled across the wet ground. She stared at her hands. Thin golden lines were glowing beneath her skin. They moved slowly across her palms and fingers like streams of liquid fire. "What is happening to me?" The light disappeared. The man slowly pulled himself out of the broken stone. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Instead of looking angry, however, he was smiling. "You've awakened." Anyanwụ stared at him. "What am I?" The man's smile widened. "You really don't know." He raised one hand. Dark veins spread across his skin. His fingers elongated, becoming sharp claws. Anyanwụ stumbled backward. "What are you?" The man's jaw began to change. Bones cracked beneath his skin. A growl emerged from his throat. Before the transformation could finish, something enormous burst from the darkness and slammed into him. The impact sent him flying across the cemetery. A gigantic black wolf landed between Anyanwụ and the stranger. Anyanwụ couldn't breathe. The creature was enormous, much larger than any normal wolf. Its fur was completely black, and its eyes glowed with an unnatural red light. The wolf turned toward her. For several seconds, they simply stared at each other. Then it sniffed the air. Its ears lifted. A low growl escaped its throat. But it wasn't directed at her. The wolf was watching the stranger. Suddenly, its body began to change. Anyanwụ watched in horror as bones shifted beneath its fur. The creature rose onto two legs, its form stretching and twisting until the wolf became a man. He was tall and powerfully built, with black hair falling across his forehead. A long scar crossed his left eyebrow, and his eyes remained the same unnatural red as the wolf's. He wore a black coat that reached his knees. He looked at Anyanwụ. And froze. Something changed in his expression. His eyes widened slightly. His breathing stopped. Then he whispered a word she couldn't understand. "No." Anyanwụ swallowed. "Do I know you?" The man didn't answer. He continued staring at her as though she were something impossible. Inside his mind, a voice suddenly spoke. Mate. His jaw tightened. No. The voice repeated itself. Mate. "Shut up," he muttered. Anyanwụ frowned. "What?" His eyes shifted toward her. For the first time, she noticed something strange about the way he looked at her. It wasn't hatred. It wasn't disgust. It was fear. Before she could ask another question, the first stranger laughed. "You found her." The red-eyed man turned toward him. "Who sent you?" The stranger slowly stood. Blood covered the side of his face, but his smile had not disappeared. "The question isn't who sent me." His eyes moved toward Anyanwụ. "The question is whether she remembers." Anyanwụ's stomach tightened. "Remembers what?" Neither man answered. The stranger laughed again. "Tell her." The red-eyed man's expression became cold. "Enough." "Tell her what her mother really was." Anyanwụ's heart skipped. "My mother?" The red-eyed man went completely still. The stranger looked at her. "Your mother wasn't killed in an accident." Anyanwụ stared at him. "What did you say?" "She was hunted." "No." The word escaped her before she could stop it. "My mother died in a car accident." "That's what they told you." "You're lying." "Your mother didn't die." The world seemed to become silent. Anyanwụ shook her head. "Who are you?" The stranger ignored the question. "Your mother was taken twenty years ago." "By who?" The stranger looked toward the dark sky. "By the people who are coming for you." A tremendous crack of thunder shook the cemetery. Every light in the surrounding city suddenly went out. Streetlights. Buildings. Cars. Everything disappeared into darkness. The red-eyed man immediately turned toward the city. His expression hardened. "They found us." Anyanwụ's heart began pounding. "Who?" He looked at her. "Run." "Where?" "Anywhere." The stranger laughed. "You can't run." A low growl rolled through the cemetery. Then another. And another. Anyanwụ slowly turned toward the trees. Eyes were appearing in the darkness. Dozens of them. Some were red. Some were yellow. Others were silver. There were far too many to count. The red-eyed man stepped in front of Anyanwụ. "Stay behind me." She could barely breathe. "What are those things?" "Wolves." Her eyes widened. "Wolves?" "Not ordinary ones." The creatures slowly emerged from between the trees. Anyanwụ felt her legs trembling. Then something much larger stepped into view. A white wolf. It was enormous, almost as large as the black wolf she had seen earlier. Its fur seemed to glow faintly despite the darkness, and its golden eyes were fixed directly on Anyanwụ. Unlike the others, it didn't growl. Instead, it lowered its head. Anyanwụ stared at it. Then she heard a voice. Not from the cemetery. Not from either of the men. The voice came from inside her own mind. Child of ÉKÈ. Anyanwụ gasped. "What?" The red-eyed man turned sharply toward her. "What did you hear?" She didn't answer. The white wolf continued staring at her. You have awakened. "What are you talking about?" The ground beneath her feet began to tremble. A crack appeared across the earth behind her. Anyanwụ turned. Her mother's gravestone was glowing. Golden light spread across the marble. The name AMARA NWACHUKWU began to shine. Then the stone cracked down the middle. Anyanwụ stumbled backward. "No..." Letters began appearing beneath her mother's name. One by one. Slowly. As if they were being written by an invisible hand. Anyanwụ stared at the inscription. Her blood ran cold. It contained her own name. ANYANWỤ NWACHUKWU Beneath it were three words. LAST HEIR OF ÉKÈ She couldn't move. The red-eyed man stared at the gravestone in disbelief. The stranger began laughing. And somewhere far beyond the Earth, beyond the moon and the stars, something ancient stirred in the darkness. Something that had been waiting for her birth. Something that had been waiting for her awakening. And now... it knew exactly where she was.