Chapter 3 3

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Scene 1: The Home of the Blackfang pack

The training field was humming with the morning energy, different types of sword were clashing, fists were pounding into the dirt, and wolves circled for sparring drills. At its center, Adolf swings a training blade. He is shirtless, his muscles taut, breath sharp. Hilda blocks him with precision, her eyes were sharper than her blade.*

Hilda (She parried hard) You are distracted.

Adolf (He grunts as he swings) I am fine.

Hilda (She dodged his swing) That is not what your stance is saying now or your eyes.

Adolf*(He made a low growl)I did not invite you to study me or about me.

Hilda (She circles him). I think sparring a distracted alpha is like dancing with a bear who is drunk. He will be so clumsy, and the fun is eliminated.

Adolf (He lunges at her, but she sidesteps it easily) "Hilda."

Hilda*(Her blade taps his ribs lightly) "I am on Point.

Adolf (He stepped back, his breath was fast) "Again."

Hilda:"- Nope, I will not continue until you tell me what is crawling under your skin."

Adolf (He picks up a towel to wipe his face): "I had a vision. A dream, it was nothing."

Hilda (Her eyes narrowed suspiciously) You do not dream, Adolf. Not unless the Moon is whispering something real to you.

Adolf (His voice tightened): "Drop it.

Hilda- Fine. But I know when you are hiding something. You smell of secrets.

Adolf- (In a measured way) Then you better back off before you smell something that will hurt you.

Hilda- (She paused with pain flickering in her eyes) That one is new. The bite."

Adolf- (He was softer now, avoiding her gaze) Sorry. I didn't mean-"

Hilda- (cuts in) It is not about what you meant, It is all about what you feel.

Adolf- (He was still not looking at her) "Let it go away Hilda."

Hilda- (She stepped closer) "Is it about the woman from the clearing?"

(Adolf's silence confirms it. A flicker of pain twists across Hilda's face-but she controls it quickly.*

Hilda (quietly) You saw her again, didn't you.

Adolf"- Not yet."

Hilda- (She turns away, her blade is slung over her shoulder) "You will do it and when you do... you'll remember that I was the one still standing here."

(She walks off. Adolf stared after her a moment longer than he should, guilt was churning in his gut. But beneath it, there was something deeper that was stirring, a pull which he could not explain.

End of scene 1

Scene 2: Deep inside the forest

The clearing was still, while the moonlight is dappling the moss, the trees were still watching. Adolf steps into it like he is crossing a threshold in his own mind.*

Adolf (He spoke under his breath) "If you are here, I want you to show yourself."

(And she does. From between the trees, Valeria steps out. She was barefoot, her silver eyes locked on him, there was no fear, nor pretense. It was just knowing.

Valeria- Hello, Adolf."

He stopped moving, something shocked him.

Adolf - I never told you my name.

Valeria- (She was smiling faintly) You did not have to do it.

Adolf- (He tensed up) "You have been watching me.

Valeria," It is more like I have been remembering you."

Adolf - (He was snarling) "Who are you?

Valeria- (She spoke calmly to him) I have had so many names. But the forest calls me Valeria.

Adolf - You are not one of us, neither are you a human.

Valeria-She tilts her head) And, yet I bleed, I get hungry, I remember."

Adolf- (He steps closer to her trying to perceive the air) "You smell like sorrow."

Valeria - It is because I have lived long enough to carry it.

Adolf - But why me? Why now?"

Valeria (Her voice is low) It is because the Moon has awakened you. And in doing so... it has awakened me as well.

Adolf - (His jaw hardened)I do not want any talk about destiny. I want answers.

Valeria- (Her eyes gleamed) "Then you should ask the right questions."

Adolf- (He is growling). Let me start with "What are you?

Valeria-(She steps closer to him, her eyes locked to his)I am a mirror.

Adolf :don't you play games with me?

Valeria- (Her fingers brushed a tree as she is circling him) You feel it, don't you? The hum that is beneath your skin. The ache in your chest. The dreams at night.

Adolf- (He stiffened) "I don't dream."

Valeria- (In a soft tone) You won't until you meet me.

(There was silence that felt like a curtain. The wind barely stirred. Adolf's fists clenched at his sides.*

Adolf: You are in my head.

Valeria- "No. I am inside your blood."

Adolf- (His voice broke) "So what do you want from me?

Valeria- (She stops in front of him) "I want you to remember.

Adolf: What do you want me to remember what exactly?"

Valeria- (She reaches up to him and touched his chest where the phantom mark burns) "This."

Adolf- (He shivers under her touch) "I have never seen you before."

Valeria- (She whispers) You have stood here before... in another life.

Adolf- (He backs away like he had been struck) "What the hell are you talking about?"

Valeria- (She steps forward again) "Don't you feel it? The way the time fold here? The way your soul hums when I speak your name?"

Adolf- (His voice was hoarse) "You are trying to enchant me.

Valeria said," You are already enchanted.

Adolf - But I am not some fairy tale.

Valeria- (She smiles sadly) No you are not, but you are the wolf which the Moon wept for. And I am the bride that fate buried in the shadows.

Adolf- (He breathed hard) This is pure madness.

Valeria - It is a memory which is rewritten in blood.

(Suddenly, the trees began to literally whisper-voices were rising from the leaves. Adolf dropped to one of his knees, his head was splitting with sudden pressure. Some images flash: him and her, hand in hand under a blood-red sky. Her lips. His howl. There was a fire.

Adolf- (Roaring loud) What-what is this?!"

Valeria- (She kneels beside him, her voice is urgent)* "You are remembering too fast, and it is dangerous."

Adolf- "Get out of my head!"

Valeria -(She grips her shoulders) "I am not in your head. I am in your soul"

(He grabs her wrists, his heart is thundering. But the moment their skin touched, there was an ancient flare between them. The energy that singes the ground beneath them was silver and violet)

Adolf- (He gasps) "What the hell are we?"

Valeria- (Her eyes were glowing now, her voice reverent) "We are cursed. And we are chosen, then broken."

Adolf- (He struggles to breathe)"Then tell me what will happen next."

Valeria- (She leans close, whispering one final truth)

The Blood Eclipse will rise and when it does... you will have to choose between your pack and me.

(Before he could respond, the clearing erupted with howls-his pack was coming. Adolf stared at her. He was torn between duty and the bond that was awakening in his veins. But when he turns from the sound to look back-Valeria is gone again. She left behind a silver rose petal... and her name, which is etched into his heartbeat.

---End of Chapter