The Child of Three Bloodlines

Chapter Twenty-One: Part Two: The Prophecy

Amoura’s POV

For several moments, I couldn’t find the words to respond.

The Child of Three Bloodlines.

The phrase continued circling through my mind as I looked from the Moon Goddess to my three spirits.

“Why me?”

The question finally escaped my lips.

The Moon Goddess stepped closer.

“Because you were born carrying three bloodlines that were never meant to exist within a single being.”

I glanced toward Esmerelda.

“Wolf.”

Then Anastasia.

“Witch.”

Finally, my eyes settled on Valentina.

“Vampire.”

The Moon Goddess nodded.

“Esmerelda represents your wolf bloodline. Anastasia represents your witch bloodline, and Valentina represents your vampire bloodline. Together, they make you something the supernatural realm has never encountered before.”

I swallowed.

“The most powerful supernatural being in the realm?”

“You have the potential to become so.”

Her answer didn’t reassure me.

It frightened me.

“What happens when all three awaken?”

“That is when the true prophecy begins.”

I frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“Power alone does not make someone powerful, Amoura. You must learn to understand it, control it and decide how you will use it.”

My thoughts immediately returned to the attack.

“The power I used…”

“You released more of yourself than you had ever accessed before.”

“I lost control.”

“You were protecting those you loved.”

The memories of the battlefield returned, bringing the same surge of emotion.

“I couldn’t let them hurt my pack.”

“And you didn’t.”

The Moon Goddess stepped closer.

“But your power will continue to grow.”

Something about her tone made me uneasy.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

She looked at me for a long moment.

“Your awakening has consequences.”

My stomach tightened.

“What kind of consequences?”

“The moment you released that power, you changed the balance that has existed for centuries.”

I stared at her.

“Who knows?”

She didn’t answer immediately.

That frightened me more than anything else.

“Goddess?”

“There are those who have waited a very long time for the day your power would reveal itself.”

My heart began pounding.

“Who?”

“That is not something I can tell you.”

“Why?”

“Because knowing too much before you are ready can be as dangerous as knowing too little.”

I shook my head.

“You’re asking me to accept that people are coming for me without telling me who they are.”

“I am warning you that they may already be searching.”

My blood ran cold.

“What about my family? The pack?”

“The people you love will become your greatest strength, but they may also become your greatest vulnerability.”

I looked toward Esmerelda, Anastasia and Valentina.

“So I put them in danger.”

“You have always been capable of protecting others, Amoura. But you must learn that you cannot save everyone by destroying yourself.”

I looked away.

“I don’t know how to do anything else.”

The Moon Goddess stepped closer.

“Then that is what you must learn.”

I met her eyes.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Listen to your spirits. Learn what each bloodline can teach you. Your wolf will teach you strength and instinct. Your witch will teach you control and the power of your mind. Your vampire will teach you what it means to command the darkness within you without allowing it to command you.”

I looked at Valentina.

“She barely awakened.”

“She awakened because you were ready for her.”

A chill travelled down my spine.

“So the attack caused this?”

“The attack accelerated what was already coming.”

I thought about the force that had erupted from me.

“How long do I have?”

The Moon Goddess’s expression softened.

“You are asking the wrong question.”

“Then what should I be asking?”

“How much are you willing to sacrifice to become who you were born to be?”

I stared at her.

I didn’t like the sound of that.

“What if I don’t want any of this?”

The Moon Goddess remained silent for a moment.

“Then the prophecy will still exist.”

Her words struck harder than I expected.

“You cannot choose whether you were born with this power, Amoura. You can only choose what you do with it.”

I looked toward my spirits.

Esmerelda stepped forward first.

“We will help you.”

Anastasia nodded.

“You won’t have to face it alone.”

Valentina smiled.

“And we aren’t going anywhere.”

I felt my throat tighten.

For the first time since learning the truth, I didn’t feel completely overwhelmed.

Then the garden began to shimmer.

I looked around.

“What is happening?”

“Your body is calling you home.”

I immediately turned toward my spirits.

“I don’t want to leave.”

Esmerelda approached and lowered her head toward me.

“You aren’t leaving us.”

Anastasia took my hand.

“We will always be with you.”

Valentina smiled.

“And when you return, things will be different.”

I frowned.

“What does that mean?”

The Moon Goddess stepped backward into the growing light.

“Wake up, Amoura.”

The garden began slipping away around me. The flowers blurred into streaks of colour, the stream faded into the distance and the willow tree slowly disappeared.

I reached toward my spirits.

“Wait!”

Esmerelda’s voice followed me.

We are with you.

Then I was pulled away.

⸻

Something was drawing me back.

My body felt impossibly heavy, and at first I couldn’t make sense of what surrounded me. Gradually, sounds began reaching me, one particular noise becoming clearer with every passing second.

A steady electronic beep.

I tried to move, but even lifting a finger felt exhausting.

Then I heard a voice.

A man’s voice.

Soft.

Familiar.

“Amoura?”

Something inside me responded immediately.

I knew that voice.

I tried to follow it, but my thoughts were scattered and my memories refused to settle into place.

“She’ll wake up.”

Someone else answered, although I couldn’t understand what they were saying.

Then the familiar voice spoke again.

“I’m here.”

My heart began beating faster.

A strange warmth spread through my chest, accompanied by a sensation that felt almost like being pulled toward someone.

My fingers moved.

The beeping beside me changed.

“She moved.”

Footsteps approached, followed by the quiet sound of someone taking a seat beside my bed.

Then a hand gently closed around mine.

The moment our fingers touched, warmth rushed through me. Something about that touch felt instinctively right, yet I couldn’t understand why.

Memories began surfacing.

The training grounds.

The countless arguments.

The teasing.

The laughter.

A familiar head of dark-brown curls.

I tried to open my eyes.

This time, they responded.

Light flooded my vision, forcing me to blink several times. Everything was blurred at first, but I could make out the shape of someone sitting beside my bed.

I heard my name again.

“Amoura.”

There was something in the way he said it that made my chest ache.

I tried to focus.

Slowly, his features began to sharpen.

First came the familiar outline of his face.

Then his dark-brown curls.

My heart skipped.

No.

It couldn’t be.

I blinked again, desperately trying to clear my vision.

The face in front of me finally came into focus.

Samir.

The man I’d spent years arguing with, challenging and secretly finding far too easy to notice.

The mate bond surged through me with such force that my entire body seemed to recognise him before my mind could catch up.

Suddenly, everything made sense.

The strange pull I’d felt.

The warmth.

The connection.

The Moon Goddess’s warning.

Your awakening has consequences.

Her words echoed through my mind.

The people you love will become your greatest strength, but they may also become your greatest vulnerability.

And now, as I stared into Samir’s eyes, I understood something that terrified me more than the prophecy itself.

Whatever was coming for me wouldn’t only be coming for me.

It could come for him too.

His expression softened as he looked at me, his hand still wrapped around mine.

I didn’t know whether I should pull away or hold on tighter.

My heart made the decision before my mind could.

My lips parted.

The word left me as barely more than a whisper.

“Mate.”