Heir of the Shadow

Hello everyone. 🙋‍♀️ Due to some requests, I’m now trying to translate my books into English.

However, my English isn’t very good. Therefore, I only use a German-English translator from the internet. So, if the translation contains errors, please understand.

Comments in English may take a little longer, as I can’t always use a translator.

The book will launch on November 2, 2025. This book isn’t yet finished in German, so I’ll be uploading a new chapter every three days.

I hope you enjoy reading. 😉

POV: Quarinah

Once again, I was in a cell for something I never did.

I ended up in here about every three weeks.

It stank of mold and other things, probably from the people who had previously been tortured and locked up in the other cells.

The cell was only two by three meters, leaving barely any space between me and the iron bars.

Zendrik, the Alpha's son, had taunted me with his friends, as he had so often before, and lured me into a trap. He was 6'3", had short brown hair, unremarkable brown eyes, a scar on his chin, and a ripped physique that he liked to show off.

His character was the same as that of his father, Alpha Balko Markotoz.

They trampled on the weaker, especially those who hadn't yet transformed. Respect existed only among the upper ranks, and that applied to the alphas, betas, pack warriors, important doctors, lawyers, or wealthy families. Anyone who didn't belong was considered cheap labor, whose presence was merely exploited and tolerated.

And I was one of those unpopular people, and had been since I was four years old.

My mother had caught me talking to myself a few times, which didn't go unnoticed by my stepfather, the pack's beta. They dragged me to the pack doctor, assuming I was crazy.

They were both eager to get rid of me and hoped I'd end up in a mental hospital. There was only one, and it was secretly called the Death Hospital, because no one ever returned from it.

If our pack doctor hadn't been one of the good guys, I probably would have ended up there, too.

My mother had never let me play with other children, let alone interact, a fact everyone in the pack knew. Her husband, the beta of the pack, had also strictly enforced this and punished anyone who disobeyed.

Since the pack doctor, of course, also knew this, he simply dismissed my self-talk as a result of isolation, which should subside with age.

But what no one knew was that it wasn't self-talk.

I spoke with my friend Mamoru. He was a shadow-like being that only I could see and had been by my side for as long as I could remember.

His body was black and resembled that of a human form, growing just like me, except he didn't have a real face. He was simply a black shadow figure who could speak and move.

He told me very early on that his presence had to remain our secret and that no one but me would see or even hear him unless I commanded him to. He expressed it as if he were my protector, my teacher, my servant, and my ally.

But that wasn't all.

I could feel not only his presence, but also his body. He had already taken me in his arms or tucked me in. Mamoru was also something like a bottomless container into which one could put and take out all sorts of things.

Without him, I probably wouldn't have even had a pillow or a blanket for the night.

My childhood bedroom had only the bare necessities, including a simple bed and a mattress. A simple, open brown wooden shelf for the few clothes I owned, and a small wooden table with a hard wooden chair.

If I'd ever told anyone about Mamoru, I probably would have ended up in the hospital.

Mamoru was the only one who was ever truly there for me. He comforted me when I was sad, made sure I was never alone, and taught me many things, like how to talk, read, fight, and many other things.

My so-called mother never cared much for me; she always ignored me, just like my stepfather.

When I was three, we were brought into this pack, and my mother simply said that we would live here from now on and that I was never allowed to upset or even look at her companion, Beta Ramon.

I didn't remember much from that time, but once, when I was about four years old, I accidentally looked at him. His eyes held pure disgust, and I was forced to spend the night outside the door like a dog.

My mother did nothing for me when I cried outside, begging to be let back in. She just opened the door, slapped me, and yelled, "We want to sleep, shut your damn mouth, or I'll make you sleep outside for a week!"

Then she slammed the door and left me standing there as if I were nothing more than a burden, a tolerated annoyance.

I never cried again after that.

My mother was no longer my mother to me either, even though I still hoped that one day she would tell me that she loved me, but I never heard those words come from her mouth, at least not to me.

I'd often wondered why she acted so cold and dismissive toward me, but I never came to a sensible conclusion.

I'd even taken a maternity test once, thanks to Mamoru. Mamoru was very smart and had the knowledge of an adult with a very high IQ. He took my mother's hair and took it to the pack's laboratory. He knew exactly what to do to find out if we were truly mother and daughter. But unfortunately, she really was my mother, which made it all even more incomprehensible.

Fortunately, Mamoru was always by my side.

Without him and his warnings, I would probably have been locked in my cell the whole time.

He could walk through walls, touch objects, and move them without touching them.

That had saved me from a scolding and a cell stay many times. He had often caught things or secretly put them back in their original place without anyone noticing.

I've been accused of many things: stealing or destroying things, even when I wasn't even near the scene. Even when I was home, my mother didn't even defend me, even though she knew I couldn't have done it because she had locked me in my room. The man pulling the strings was always Zendrik, the Alpha's son.

Why the Alpha's son targeted me so intensely, I didn't know. I assumed it was because I was the only one he knew, that I was alone.

Even though many parents barely interacted with their untransformed children, they stood by them when faced with such accusations.

I could only dream of that.

And how did I get back here to the cell?

Zendrik and his friends had formed a circle around me and pushed me around until I landed on the floor. This caused a cloud of dust to rise and soil the designer dress of Alicia Klawood, Zendrik's lover.

Alicia was a perfect match for Zendrik.

She was arrogant, stuck-up, and always thought she was above everyone else. Her appearance reflected her behavior. Long, blonde, curly hair that always looked like it had been done by a hairdresser, and ten tons of makeup on her face. False eyelashes and pink lips created a fitting image. Her pink dress also reflected this.

She was fit and had already embraced her inner wolf by the age of five, which helped her feel superior and made anyone who didn't suit her feel it.

Many transformed between the ages of five and ten. There were many late bloomers, but anyone who didn't transform after the age of seventeen was considered human.

But every late bloomer was extremely unlucky to have to grow up in this very pack, and I was one of them.

I was probably the only one who felt it almost constantly. Maybe it was also because I didn't care about their insults. I didn't fight back either, because I knew full well that they couldn't hurt me much.

We had a pack hospital, and there was something special about it.

To ensure that every pack had skilled doctors, the packs would temporarily exchange staff with each other. This allowed each pack to grow in terms of healing and always be up to date with the latest medical advances.

Our pack, the Blackout Pack, was considered one of the strongest and largest in the country, partly due to the cruel upbringing of its children. This was the only way they raised strong, independent warriors who didn't cry for their parents when they had to go into battle.

But many packs viewed the upbringing aspect differently, which meant that our pack was unintentionally under scrutiny. Yes, our pack was largely independent, but without the trade of goods with the other packs, things would have been bad.

And that's exactly what happened with the exchange of doctors.

If someone showed up at the hospital with wounds that weren't age-appropriate or explainable, it would raise questions my Alpha was determined not to answer.

In addition, the packs had to stick together, as there were many other creatures like vampires and witches.

Humans existed, of course, but they didn't pose as great a threat as the other species.

Every five years, there was a month-long gathering, or rather a banquet, to negotiate a peace treaty with all parties. Should that fail, the packs had to be unanimously united to stand firm against the others.

The Alpha of our pack, however, was cunning and had private relationships with high-ranking vampires and some humans whom one shouldn't upset.

I wasn't supposed to know anything about any of this, but I had Mamoru spying on them for me, which would prove very useful later on.

Mamoru was also the one who taught me everything about werewolves, humans, witches, and vampires.

I knew everything about every species. This included not just their abilities, but also their names, rank, and power.

As for my future, I knew since I was a child that I would never become a werewolf.

I was nothing like them.

The only thing I shared with them was the inner rage that clung to my core like an anchor.