NadineI woke up with pain in my body and with the desire to hit all my mates.Only bloodthirsty ones made me train the day before leaving, so I cursed through my teeth as we gathered the necessary things, we would take with us. Worst of all, I had my period and the pains were becoming a pain in my ass.“What do you have?” asked Drago and I denied.“Nothing I haven't survived with before,” I said and he frowned.“You look uncomfortable; is it because of yesterday's exercises?” he asked very carefully.“It's partly that, but it's really a female problem,” I said without elaborating.Drago came down after that and I sighed.I grabbed everything I needed and then went downstairs with a backpack, I met my mates in the kitchen and they all looked at me with a frown, especially Connor, who looked pale.“What's wrong?” I asked them and Aris got straight to the point.“It just so happens that your beasts didn't think about birth control before getting involved,” the vampire said and I gritted
DragoWe walked to the sacred grotto that connected our entire world.I realized that no one was able to see it as Taina and I saw it until I saw Biel frowning, Connor looking on slyly, and Aris and Nadine looking on in surprise. The others didn't seem to be aware of where they were, so it was an excellent idea not to say anything to them.I didn't trust anyone who wasn't within my bonded group.I didn't even trust Lion, although I respected the high priest because he had been the mediator of some of my people's and the elves' problems. Since I had decided not to leave Dragis, I had limited myself to many things.Nadine quickly walked up to me.“Where are we, and why don't the others seem to be aware of the place?” my mate asked, and Taina looked at her in surprise.“How is it that she can see this place?” asked the elf. “Only those who have been blessed by the gods can see such a place.”“I am not blessed by the gods, and you can swear my mates aren't either,” Nadine said with a frow
NadineI had seen a way out of the hostile wasteland; what I did not imagine was that the ghouls I had dreamed of were real. Fear encapsulated me, despite the realization that the ghouls were not as large as in my dreams, and that caused me to be quickly caught.My first genuine reaction was to scream in fear.That upset my mates, who didn't hesitate to approach, but the ghouls began to surround them.Stay calm!My she-wolf Becca's scream made me react, so I tried to summon magic, but I couldn't and realized that the curse that nullified magic in the wasteland must be too strong to nullify the raw power I possessed. I went physical and started kicking the damn spiders, but that wasn't a good option, because the damn things glared at me angrily, and their cobra-shaped heads snapped back to reveal their damn fangs.I didn't have to be smart to assume that the moment the ghoul bit me, some kind of poison would hurt me, so I took a deep breath and reached for the pen Biel had given me. As
Country VillageAthens Region “Remember when I told you that one day we would play hide-and-seek any time?” my mom asked, and I nodded excitedly. “That time is now. Do you remember the rules?”“I have to find the best hiding place; I have to be quiet, and, no matter what I hear, I don't come out until you tell me the code word,” I replied efficiently.My mom smiled proudly, but there was something sad in her look. “You're a very sweet and smart girl, Nadine,” Mom said before giving me a kiss and drawing a picture on my forehead. “What's the key word?”“Chocolate,” I said before biting into the little chocolate bar she had given me minutes before, and that made her laugh, making her gray eyes sparkle with joy.“What's the other rule?” mom asked calmly.“I must never reveal our secret,” I said very seriously.Hide it our secret my biggest mission, so my tongue would never reveal it.“Okay, go hide, and no matter what, don't come out,” Mom ordered, and I nodded. ”I love you, Nadine. Al
Part I. Meeting of SoulsNadine13 years later...I woke up in the middle of the night with erratic breathing and a racing heart.I had dreamed again of my mother's death, but this time I saw her killed in a much more grotesque way. The hunters had sat her down in front of me and ripped out her heart so that I would suffer.I shook the horrific image out of my head.I brought my hand to my chest and felt the rune of protection.I sighed in relief, knowing that at least I had an advantage over the hunters. After years of running away, I had found a way to disappear from the map more effectively, and that was by sealing my energy trail so that searching for me would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. It was a trick I learned from my mother when I was old enough to know what she always drew on my forehead after kissing me.I moved all the time, didn't last long in one job, and used different aliases.It was all I could do to keep everyone alive, especially them.Don't think abou
NadineIf someone had told me what was going to happen, I would never have believed them.It was impossible to think that the most beautiful vision I had ever had in my life, one different from the images of terror that always flooded my brain, could turn into some kind of nightmare.Biel looked at me angrily, and I did not respond.The priest took the drawing and looked at it with interest, then frowned.“Who are the other men?” The old man asked, and I said nothing.I had sworn the sight of my gourds to secrecy, so I kept my mouth shut tight and stood up straight. That brought Biel and the priest into each other's eyes, then Biel nodded and walked toward the exit, but not before looking at me as if I were a serious problem. And yes, I was a problem he shouldn't be dealing with. When Biel left, I let go of my hands and tried to regulate my breathing.“Aren't you going to say anything about this drawing?” The priest asked curiously, and I shook my head. “Then I'm going to tell you who
BielHunting the woman of the prophecy had almost turned out to be an impossible mission.We didn't know who she was or what magical powers she had, so I couldn't find her trail. So when the temple gave us clues on how to catch a stripper who was related to her, I didn't hesitate to come up with a plan.I set up an intelligence operation with elite guards in the small city of Valkir. The capital of Valter, one of the 3 common areas of Kagolen, the continent where we lived. Once we found the club where the stripper worked, it was a matter of investigating her movements until she finally met the woman of the prophecy.It was a good move on my part, and when the woman was apprehended, I declared the operation a success. The woman was already hours into her processing, and all was going well until one of the operation's guards approached me with a serious expression.“What's going on, Jackson?” I immediately asked the vampire.“When the unknown female attempted to flee, I entered her apar
NadineBiel didn't miss the opportunity to hit me back.And when I saw the others, they were all serious, as if what I had told them was a sentence. And maybe it was, but it was just a way to protect them, and if I had to be a bitch to do it, I wouldn't hesitate to hurt them if it would keep them alive.“We don't need to be aggressive here,” said the blonde woman who had introduced us. “I think they need a moment to—”“We need privacy, Lu,” Biel answered her in a sweet voice. “Go find the high priest, Lion, please.”The blonde looked at him earnestly, and I could tell there was something longing in her eyes. That bothered me a lot, especially when she complied with Biel's order as if it was nothing.“Speak up, Nadine; we don't have our whole lives to put up with your tantrums,” Biel said, and I pursed my lips.“I don't owe you anything,” I replied immediately. “The soulmate test means nothing, so I'm not obligated to get involved with either of you.”“I'm sorry to be discerning with y
NadineI had seen a way out of the hostile wasteland; what I did not imagine was that the ghouls I had dreamed of were real. Fear encapsulated me, despite the realization that the ghouls were not as large as in my dreams, and that caused me to be quickly caught.My first genuine reaction was to scream in fear.That upset my mates, who didn't hesitate to approach, but the ghouls began to surround them.Stay calm!My she-wolf Becca's scream made me react, so I tried to summon magic, but I couldn't and realized that the curse that nullified magic in the wasteland must be too strong to nullify the raw power I possessed. I went physical and started kicking the damn spiders, but that wasn't a good option, because the damn things glared at me angrily, and their cobra-shaped heads snapped back to reveal their damn fangs.I didn't have to be smart to assume that the moment the ghoul bit me, some kind of poison would hurt me, so I took a deep breath and reached for the pen Biel had given me. As
DragoWe walked to the sacred grotto that connected our entire world.I realized that no one was able to see it as Taina and I saw it until I saw Biel frowning, Connor looking on slyly, and Aris and Nadine looking on in surprise. The others didn't seem to be aware of where they were, so it was an excellent idea not to say anything to them.I didn't trust anyone who wasn't within my bonded group.I didn't even trust Lion, although I respected the high priest because he had been the mediator of some of my people's and the elves' problems. Since I had decided not to leave Dragis, I had limited myself to many things.Nadine quickly walked up to me.“Where are we, and why don't the others seem to be aware of the place?” my mate asked, and Taina looked at her in surprise.“How is it that she can see this place?” asked the elf. “Only those who have been blessed by the gods can see such a place.”“I am not blessed by the gods, and you can swear my mates aren't either,” Nadine said with a frow
NadineI woke up with pain in my body and with the desire to hit all my mates.Only bloodthirsty ones made me train the day before leaving, so I cursed through my teeth as we gathered the necessary things, we would take with us. Worst of all, I had my period and the pains were becoming a pain in my ass.“What do you have?” asked Drago and I denied.“Nothing I haven't survived with before,” I said and he frowned.“You look uncomfortable; is it because of yesterday's exercises?” he asked very carefully.“It's partly that, but it's really a female problem,” I said without elaborating.Drago came down after that and I sighed.I grabbed everything I needed and then went downstairs with a backpack, I met my mates in the kitchen and they all looked at me with a frown, especially Connor, who looked pale.“What's wrong?” I asked them and Aris got straight to the point.“It just so happens that your beasts didn't think about birth control before getting involved,” the vampire said and I gritted
NadineConnor saw me in surprise and tried to touch the shadows, but they vanished, and he fell carefully into the snow.“It worked,” Connor said and smiled at Aris.Then I looked at him with my mouth open.“Are you guys’ assholes?” I asked annoyed, and Drago laughed.“I think the correct definition would be that they're smart,” Drago said and looked at Aris. “It was brutal, but effective.”"What do you guys think this is?" I asked in frustration. I asked, annoyed.“It's a way to see the shadows in action,” Aris said. “The idea actually came from Connor, and since I have a lot of faith in you, I would definitely take pleasure in beating the wolf.”“You guys are idiots!” I yelled in annoyance and tried to leave, but Drago grabbed my hand.“You can't get upset like that, Nadine; it wasn't a real punch. If Aris had meant any harm, he's much more bloodthirsty,” Drago said, and that made me laugh wryly. “Besides, if you haven't noticed, Connor is just as fast as Aris; he would have moved i
NadineI shook my head in disbelief.“It's impossible,” I said firmly. “The gods are not so benevolent.”“The gods are fair, Nadine,” Drago said, and I scoffed.“Fairness is something the gods don't know, Drago; I'm surprised that you, being a millennial being, don't know how to understand it. If they were fair, all this mess that has been created in the population would not exist, and I would be a normal she-wolf living next to her mother,” I said with annoyance.“I didn't mean to be rash, but the circumstances in which your mother—”“If you want us to get along, don't mention my mother,” I said sternly to Drago. “The point is that it's impossible for an anchor to be able to be blessed with the power of the gods; it's absurd.”“It's not; shadow whisperers are very powerful. They were created in the image of chaos, and you are a chaos sorceress. I'm not surprised that you can manipulate the power of shadows if your power itself is chaos,” Drago said calmly. “So most likely this power
NadineI woke up in an empty bed, and that made me sigh.The night before had been very confusing; however, I smiled with happiness knowing that at least I had had the joy of sleeping between my mates. That was a feat in every sense of the word; what I didn't expect was for the door to open and Aris to walk in with a tray of breakfast.I raised my eyebrows and then smiled.“You're not the most giving of people, something you want,” I said and received the tray.The vampire smiled amused, then sat to the side.“This is a reward for what you said in your sleep,” Aris said, and I looked at him with a frown. “Besides, I've noticed that you're a much better person once you've had coffee and your stomach has been satiated.”That I wasn't going to argue with him, but I also wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of driving me crazy by asking him what the hell I had said. So I took the cup of coffee and drank it in complete silence, which made him laugh.“You're beautiful when you show you
NadineShadow Whisperer was not a power I thought existed.Just understanding the name made my skin crawl all over.I was terrified just imagining what it could really mean to have such a power.That power had to be so dangerous that Biel himself told me not to tell anyone that I could invoke shadows. That scared the hell out of me, so Aris hugged me in a vain attempt to calm me down and have me end up having a panic attack.“It's nothing bad, Nadine,” Aris repeated for the tenth time as he gently stroked my cheeks. “It's a good power for you.”“It's scary, it scares me and I have no idea what's wrong with me,” I said wearily.“A shadow whisperer is a very powerful person,” Aris said carefully and I swallowed saliva. “If you train your power well, you can use shadows to defend yourself, to attack and to discover your attackers. People who are able to invoke and manipulate shadows are people who were used by the gods to be their spies or their assassins. Those people deviated from thei
Nadine“Did you feel pleasure when you bonded with Connor?”Aris' question left me with my mouth hanging open and my cheeks flushed.Biel looked at Aris as if he wanted to kill him, so I knew this was nothing more than an attempt by the vampire to provoke the wizard.“What kind of questions are those during dinner?” asked Biel and cursed between his teeth.“It's a valid question, and given the bond we have, it makes me curious if at least the bonding was pleasurable for Nadine, given that it was the first time she was with someone,” Aris said, and Biel looked at me immediately.I couldn't respond with a witty retort or tell him to fuck off because I was petrified.I think his intentions are good, my she-wolf Becca said, and I cursed Aris in every way possible in my mind.Aris smiled at me in amusement because I was listening to all the insults that were coming into my head. He definitely looked like a complete asshole to me.“Was that your first time with someone?” asked Biel indignant
NadineTwo hours after Aris and Biel had set me up, the jerks were still taunting me because I had been trusting. And although their teasing annoyed me, I agreed with them about the point they wanted to let me see.“You're good, but you have to be better. You never know at what point someone casts a spell on us to hurt you, and since we're not bonded with you, you can't make sure it's not us,” Aris said carefully, and Biel pursed his lips.“You must be more careful; in and of itself, you are already suspicious; however, you cannot let your guard down even with us in a moment of tension. The Anarkhia Order uses a compendium of different powers and a lot of dark magic. At some point, we don't know how much they have distorted the magic or what level of damage they can really do,” Biel said, and I understood that.I knew full well what kind of damage the Anarkhia Order was capable of, yet I felt like a fool for letting my she-wolf think it was foreplay.They're right, my she-wolf said.T