The Child of Three Bloodlines

Chapter Two: The Three Within

Chapter Two

The Three Within

I had always known I was different.

I simply didn’t know how different.

My training had started when I was five because Hassan had insisted on it.

At first, I trained like every other young wolf. I learned to run, fight, track and follow the laws of the pack.

But I learned faster than everyone else.

Much faster.

By the age of seven, I could outrun wolves twice my age. By nine, I could defeat warriors who had trained for decades. By twelve, I had begun mastering my shifting.

By sixteen, I had become one of the strongest fighters the Snowflake Pack had ever produced.

But physical strength was only one part of my abilities.

My magic had grown alongside me, and Anastasia had taught me how to control it.

Fire.

Water.

Wind.

Earth.

Healing.

Protection spells.

Even telekinesis.

I had spent years learning to hide my abilities.

Hassan had warned me never to show too much.

“Power attracts attention,” he had told me.

And I understood.

I had never wanted attention.

I wanted my family, my pack, my best friend and a normal life.

Unfortunately, normal had never been meant for me.

That evening, I stood alone in the forest beyond the pack’s main buildings. The distant lights of the estate glowed between the trees, and the faint hum of security vehicles moving along the private roads drifted through the cold air.

The moon hung high above the silver branches, and snow covered the ground.

I closed my eyes.

“Come forward.”

A cold breeze swept around me.

My body suddenly changed. My eyes flashed, and the air trembled.

Esmerelda emerged within my consciousness like a shadow.

Esmerelda: Why are we here?

Because I need to understand myself.

Esmerelda: You already know yourself.

No. I know you.

I paused.

But I don’t know why I’m different.

Esmerelda became silent.

I frowned.

Esmerelda?

The wolf growled softly.

Esmerelda: There are things even I don’t know.

My eyes opened.

Before I could respond, Anastasia appeared.

Anastasia: Because something is missing.

“What?”

The forest fell silent.

Anastasia: You have always carried two spirits.

I swallowed. “Esmerelda and you.”

Anastasia: Yes.

“Then what’s missing?”

Neither of them answered.

I felt a strange pressure building inside my chest.

A heartbeat.

But it wasn’t mine.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

I grabbed my chest.

“What is that?”

Esmerelda snarled.

Esmerelda: I don’t know.

Anastasia sounded frightened.

Anastasia: Neither do I.

The heartbeat grew louder.

I dropped to my knees.

Pain exploded through my body.

My eyes flashed silver, then violet and finally crimson.

The snow around me began to melt. Branches snapped, and the trees shook.

Somewhere deep inside my soul, something ancient stirred.

Something hungry.

Something powerful.

Something that had been sleeping for sixteen years.

Across the pack territory, Alpha Hassan suddenly stopped walking outside the main administration building.

His head snapped toward the forest.

Daliha, his daughter and Amoura’s closest friend, stood beside him in a tailored dark coat.

“Father?”

Hassan’s expression had gone pale.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“You felt that?”

Hassan nodded.

Daliha frowned. “What was it?”

Hassan looked toward the forest.

“I don’t know.”

But deep down, he knew one thing.

Whatever had just awakened, it had come from me.