Wolf Soul: Vol. I of the Wolf’s Howl Trilogy
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As for the town of Sintra, it remained uninhabited for over a hundred years as it was considered a haunted place. Stories blossomed about what had happened there, many of them far from the reality of 1762. Then, when the fear of the unknown was replaced with reason, the village welcomed its first inhabitants. History fell into such oblivion that no one today even knows that werewolves ever lived in the Sintra mountains, terrorizing and massacring their terrified and vulnerable inhabitants. Today tourists are delighted with stories about enchanted Moor princesses, while enjoying a delicious travesseiro and strolling around the Volta do Duche or the historical centre. Today Sintra is all about Palácio da Vila, Palácio da Pena and Castelo dos Mouros. The only place that still reveals some mysticism and occultism is Quinta da Regaleira. But even it did not know the werewolf reality of just two centuries ago. Nobody knows about the terror Sintra lived through and the little that was written was lost with time. Human beings simply avoid talking about the unknown. When it threatens to come up during a conversation, they just change the subject. They are unaware, however, that Luvinus survived everything and that, if he wanted to, he could return to Sintra. But Luvinus would not, despite his right. He had no doubt that if he tried to do so he would cause extreme distress and havoc. He would forever live in the shadows and under the black cloak of the night. If one day his life came to an end, everything would die with him.
Author’s Notes
This is the first volume of The Wolf’s Howl trilogy and I do feel it is an introduction to the second volume, The Heirs of Fenris, where most of the action will happen and where Luvinus will find the answers to his existence and what his origins are. I also believe most of the readers’ questions will be answered in the next volume.
Sintra is definitely not famous for werewolf folklore and there isn’t a single werewolf story – to my knowledge – connected to it. However, it’s one of my favourite places in the world and I thought it was perfect for this book’s setting. For this reason, I decided to keep its descriptions vague and let those who have never been there wonder how it looks like. Those who have will definitely recognize the few places mentioned.
Even though wolf biologists have dropped the terms alpha and omega to describe ranking within a pack, I did keep them because it suited my story. The most dominant male wolf is now called breeding male but since in my book the dominant wolf, Shorath, doesn’t breed, alpha was a much more appropriate term for him. And while Luvinus isn’t submissive enough to be an omega, he was the last one in the pack to be transformed, hence receiving that title.
About the Author
Raquel Paiva is what you would call a typical introvert. You can easily find her at home in the company of her six cats and when she’s not busy writing (mostly wolf) stories, she’s reading (mostly about wolves), meditating or studying.
She is originally from Lisbon, Portugal, and lived most of her life in the suburbs of Sintra, one of her favourite places. She studied Modern Languages and Literature – French and English Studies at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lisbon (Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa).
Her passion about wolves led her to do volunteer work at the Iberian Wolf Recovery Centre (Centro de Recuperação do Lobo Ibérico) from 2008 – 2010, a place she always visits whenever she is in Portugal.
She has lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, since July 2010 and this is her first novel. She is also a member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA).
Feel free to drop her an email with suggestions or even just chat about wolves. She will never get tired of that.
Acknowledgements
I first wrote this story more than ten years ago while I was still a volunteer at the Iberian Wolf Recovery Centre. So first and foremost I have to say thank you to all the wolves I met there between 2008 and 2010. Unfortunately most of them have passed in the meantime, but I will never forget them. They taught me a lot about their species and it was an absolute privilege to guide visitors around the centre while I told them the stories of these beautiful and still very misunderstood animals.
Thank you to one of my South African mothers, Felicity Haagman, for having encouraged me to restart writing and for telling me to set these werewolves free.
Thank you to Michael “Kwezi” Ferguson for the incredible patience and eagle eyes while proofreading this book. Without you, this story would be filled with mistakes, inconsistencies and all sorts of nonsense. I do believe we may both have missed something as the revision and editing process has proved to be a huge mission. Thank you for the suggestions, for the inspiration and for believing in me more than I even believed in myself.
Last but definitely not the least, thank you, reader, for taking your time to read this novel, my first and in English, which isn’t my mother-tongue. I can only hope it lives up to your expectations.