Chapter 1

THE BLOOD OF THREE

Chapter One — The Night the Blood Awakened

The first time Seraphina Nox heard three voices inside her head, one of them told her to run.

The second told her to kneel.

The third whispered a name she had never heard before.

Seraphina.

She stumbled through the forest, clutching her side as branches tore at her clothes. Behind her, something crashed through the trees.

Something enormous.

Something that wasn't supposed to exist.

"Don't stop," a voice growled inside her head.

She didn't know whose voice it was.

She only knew that if she stopped running, she would die.

A howl split the night.

Seraphina stumbled over a root and fell hard against the damp earth. Pain shot through her knees. She scrambled backward, her heart pounding so violently she thought it might break through her ribs.

Two golden eyes appeared between the trees.

Then another pair.

Then a third.

Wolves.

No.

Not wolves.

They were too large, their shoulders nearly reaching her chest. Their claws dug into the ground as they moved toward her, and their eyes burned with an intelligence that made her blood run cold.

Seraphina had lived in Alderfen for as long as she could remember.

She knew the stories.

Everyone did.

The forest belonged to the pack. The creatures that lived beyond the eastern boundary were not to be approached after dark. And if anyone ever heard a howl that sounded wrong, they were supposed to return home immediately.

She had broken all three rules.

Now she was going to pay for it.

One of the creatures stepped into the moonlight.

Its fur was black, its muzzle stained with blood.

Seraphina's breath caught.

"Please," she whispered.

The creature lowered its head.

Then it spoke.

"Found you."

Seraphina froze.

Wolves didn't speak.

They couldn't.

At least, not like that.

The creature's lips pulled back, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

"After eighteen years," it continued, "we finally found you."

Her stomach twisted.

"Who are you?"

The creature tilted its head.

"You don't remember?"

Before she could answer, a sharp pain erupted in her chest.

Seraphina screamed.

Something moved beneath her skin.

Her fingers curled into the earth. Her back arched as a strange heat spread through her body, burning through her veins.

The creature suddenly stepped backward.

Its golden eyes widened.

"What are you?"

Seraphina couldn't answer.

She didn't know.

A second voice rose inside her head.

Wake up.

The forest disappeared.

For one terrifying instant, Seraphina saw something else.

A woman standing beneath a blood-red moon.

A man with silver eyes.

A crown of black thorns.

Three symbols carved into an ancient stone.

A wolf.

A crescent moon.

An eye surrounded by flames.

Then the vision shattered.

Seraphina opened her mouth to scream again.

But what came out wasn't a human sound.

It was a howl.

The ground beneath her hands cracked.

A shockwave ripped through the forest, throwing the creatures backward. Trees groaned. Birds exploded from the branches. The air filled with the smell of rain, smoke, and something metallic.

Blood.

Seraphina stared at her hands.

Violet light flickered beneath her skin.

"What did I do?"

Nobody answered.

The black creature struggled to its feet.

For the first time, it looked afraid.

"No," it whispered.

Seraphina tried to stand.

Her legs gave way.

The creature backed into the shadows.

"She's awake."

Then it turned and ran.

The other creatures followed.

Within seconds, the forest was silent.

Seraphina remained on the ground, shaking.

She looked down at her hands again.

The violet light was fading.

But something else had appeared.

A mark.

Three intertwined shapes burned into the center of her palm.

She had never seen it before.

Yet somehow, she knew what it meant.

One part of her wanted to run home.

Another wanted to follow the creatures.

And the third—

The third wanted blood.

Seraphina squeezed her eyes shut.

"No," she whispered. "No, no, no."

She was eighteen years old.

She was an ordinary girl.

She was Phin to everyone in Alderfen.

And ordinary girls didn't make the earth crack beneath their hands.

Ordinary girls didn't frighten monsters.

Most importantly, ordinary girls didn't hear voices inside their heads.

A twig snapped behind her.

Seraphina spun around.

A man stood between the trees.

Tall.

Broad-shouldered.

Dressed in black.

His dark hair fell across his forehead, and his eyes glowed with a brilliant gold that made her instinctively step backward.

He didn't move toward her.

He simply stared.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then he inhaled sharply.

His expression changed.

Seraphina noticed it immediately.

The way his shoulders stiffened.

The way his jaw tightened.

The way his eyes dropped to the mark on her hand.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

The man didn't answer.

Instead, he took one slow step forward.

Seraphina raised her hand.

"Don't come any closer."

He stopped.

Something flickered across his face.

Surprise.

Then something deeper.

Something that frightened her more than the creatures in the forest.

Recognition.

"No," he whispered.

Seraphina swallowed.

"What?"

He stared at her as though she were a ghost.

Then his eyes flashed gold.

A low growl rumbled from his chest.

It wasn't a threat.

It sounded almost like pain.

Inside his mind, his Lycan stirred.

Mine.

The man went completely still.

Impossible.

He had never experienced anything like this before.

His Lycan had existed inside him for years, powerful and fiercely protective. It had never acknowledged another person in this way.

Never.

And now it was demanding that he claim a stranger whose scent should not even exist.

The man clenched his fists.

"What's your name?" he asked.

Seraphina hesitated.

"Phin."

His expression darkened.

"Your real name."

She stared at him.

"That's my name."

"No."

The word came out harsher than he intended.

Seraphina stepped backward.

"Who are you to tell me what my name is?"

The man looked at her palm again.

For a moment, something almost like fear crossed his face.

Then he said, "Kael."

She didn't know why the name sent a strange shiver through her body.

She had never met him.

Yet some hidden part of her seemed to recognize him.

A sudden pain twisted through her chest.

Seraphina gasped.

Kael moved forward instinctively.

She raised her hand again.

"Don't!"

He stopped immediately.

Their eyes met.

For one brief moment, the forest seemed to hold its breath.

Then a voice echoed through the trees.

"Seraphina!"

She froze.

Kael turned toward the sound.

A second later, Alpha Rowan emerged from the darkness, followed by several armed members of the Alderfen Pack.

Rowan's face was pale.

His gaze moved from Kael to Seraphina.

Then it dropped to the glowing mark on her hand.

He stopped walking.

"Oh, no."

Seraphina stared at him.

"Alpha?"

Rowan didn't answer.

He looked at Kael.

"What happened?"

Kael's expression was unreadable.

"She awakened."

Rowan closed his eyes.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then one of the warriors behind him whispered, "That's impossible."

Another stepped forward.

"She's a wolf?"

Kael looked at him.

"No."

The warrior frowned.

"Then what is she?"

Kael didn't answer.

Because he didn't know.

And that was the problem.

Rowan slowly approached Seraphina.

"Let me see your hand."

She pulled it against her chest.

"What is happening to me?"

Rowan looked as though he wanted to tell her everything.

Instead, he said, "We need to get you home."

"Why?"

"Because you're not safe here."

Seraphina laughed nervously.

"Not safe? I was attacked by talking wolves, the ground exploded, and now everyone is looking at me like I've grown another head. I think we passed not safe about ten minutes ago."

Nobody laughed.

Rowan's expression became even more serious.

"Seraphina, listen to me carefully. Whatever happens tonight, you must not tell anyone what you saw."

She stared at him.

"Why?"

"Because if the wrong people learn what you are, they will come for you."

The words settled between them.

Seraphina felt cold.

"What I am?"

Rowan looked down at the mark.

Then, very quietly, he said, "The Veil was supposed to hide you forever."

Kael's head snapped toward him.

"The Veil?"

Rowan turned sharply.

"Not another word."

But it was too late.

Seraphina had heard him.

"What is the Veil?"

Rowan didn't answer.

She looked at Kael.

He looked away.

And suddenly, Seraphina understood something that frightened her more than the creatures in the forest.

They knew.

They all knew something about her.

Something that had been hidden from her for eighteen years.

"Tell me the truth," she whispered.

Rowan reached for her.

She stepped away.

"Don't touch me."

His hand dropped.

For the first time in her life, Seraphina looked at Alpha Rowan and wondered whether she could trust him.

A howl echoed from the distant mountains.

Every warrior in the clearing went rigid.

Kael turned toward the sound.

His eyes blazed gold.

Rowan's face drained of color.

"No," he whispered.

Another howl followed.

Then another.

The sounds were coming from beyond Alderfen.

From beyond the territories of the neighboring packs.

From somewhere that should have been too far away for anyone to hear.

Seraphina pressed a hand against her chest.

The three voices inside her head returned.

The first has awakened.

The second is coming.

And the third—

The third laughed.

Let them come.

Seraphina staggered.

Kael caught her before she hit the ground.

The moment his hand touched hers, the mark on her palm flared violet.

Kael sucked in a sharp breath.

A flash of images struck him.

A woman with violet eyes.

A child wrapped in silver cloth.

A blood-red moon.

And three shadows kneeling before a throne.

Then the vision vanished.

Kael stared at Seraphina.

She was unconscious in his arms.

Rowan looked at the mark glowing between their hands.

His voice was barely audible.

"She's not just a wolf."

Kael looked at him.

"What is she?"

Rowan swallowed.

Then he said the words he had spent eighteen years praying he would never have to say.

"She's the blood of three."

Far beyond the mountains, in a place forgotten by time, a woman opened her eyes.

They were violet.

She smiled.

"Finally," she whispered.

And somewhere in the darkness, something ancient began to wake.

End of Chapter One

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