Awakening the Wolf by Crymsyn Hart Read Free Book Online Page A

did you know about him?”
    Her aunt knelt before her and took her hands. “His name was Ranolo. Anyone who saw him was immediately drawn to him. He was new and mysterious. That isn’t something we get around here. He was injured, and your mother was smitten. I was busy with meditations and could not assist with the healing. Lelana stood by his side, and, well, you were the result.”
    “So what made him so special? And why does my mother hate me so much?”
    “Illiana, she doesn’t hate you. You remind her of him in so many ways.”
    She gripped the mug as she felt the fury engulf her. The information her aunt gave her only opened up more boxes in her mind, leading her down paths whose endings were uncertain. “How do I remind her of him? How does any of this relate to what’s going on with me?”
    Coret sighed and squeezed Illiana’s hands. “When your father came here, he was an injured wolf. When he left, he was one of the biggest eagles I’ve ever seen.”
    Two animals? Was that even possible? It was not something she had ever heard of. How could two forms exist in one body? There wasn’t enough room. “You have to be mistaken. Two forms can’t live in one body.”
    “It’s true. It’s the one thing your mother did not want you to find out. You’re more like your father than your mother ever wanted to admit. I knew the truth once you were born. I felt it in you, but Lelana wished to keep it secret from you. It’s possible. Certain clans, from what your father explained, have this ability. There are none in this area that I have come across, but in other territories there are. Your father came here on a great journey from the west, and he ended up here. Your mother never wanted to acknowledge that you were two-natured.”
    Illiana shook as she heard the information about her father. She had learned more about her past and heritage in the last five minutes than she ever knew in the last twenty years. However, it still did not make sense. If her father was able to change into two different creatures, then did that mean she was able to as well? Where did that fit in with controlling the air element? Was the darkness that dwelled in her thoughts concealing the other half of herself? “Okay, so then I’m able to change into two different forms. Why haven’t I been able to do that? Wouldn’t I know what it is?”
    Her aunt gave her a sad smile. “Here is where your mother and I have our disagreement about you. I told my sister she should’ve been telling you this all your life so you would grow up knowing who you are, knowing both parts of yourself, but she did not see it that way.”
    “Why then?”
    “That’s something you have to ask her.”
    Illiana nodded, processing all of the information her aunt was laying at her feet. It seemed too much to take in, and yet it made sense in a way nothing else had before. She clutched her aunt’s hands and stood up. All of a sudden she was intrigued and terrified at the idea of sharing her body with another form, another animal that she had never even known was there before. What did that make her? Did everyone else sense it? Was that the reason why she was an outcast among her flock besides her different appearance? She let the breeze play with her hair. It helped to soothe her. It fanned the wrath bubbling inside of her as she thought about how her mother had cut her off from a vital part of herself. She clutched the silver pendant in her hand. A sharp pain cut into her palm from the corner of the pendant slicing into it. Illiana closed her eyes and took in a cleansing breath, hoping it would keep her steady. When she closed her eyes, she felt the otherness waiting in the dark part of her mind she had never explored before. It seemed closer than it had ever been before, waiting to break through the veil. All she had to do was step over the threshold and all would be revealed to her.
    “If I take after him, do you know what other animal I should be able to