Library
Search
Home / Werewolf / Dogtags and Direwolves - Rowan’s Awakening / Chapter 7 - A Father’s Burden

Share

Chapter 7 - A Father’s Burden

Author: Tamara Key
last update publish date: 2026-07-14 23:17:13

No one moved.

The broken front door hung crooked on its hinges, swaying gently in the cool mountain breeze. Dust drifted lazily through the shaft of afternoon sunlight pouring into the lodge, but inside, time itself seemed to have stopped.

Rowan’s grip tightened around the knife in her hand.

The man standing in the doorway looked at her with an expression she had never seen directed toward herself before.

Wonder.

Not curiosity.

Not surprise.

Wonder.

As though he had spent years imagining this e
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Previous Chapter Next Chapter
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • Dogtags and Direwolves - Rowan’s Awakening    Chapter 16 - The Keeper’s Choice

    The footstep came again.Slow.Deliberate.The sound echoed through the ancient clearing like a hammer striking stone.Rowan instinctively moved closer to Fen.His massive body was rigid beside her, every muscle coiled beneath his silver-gray coat.Arawn didn’t move.His eyes remained fixed on the darkness beyond the standing stones.“He knows we’re here.”Rowan swallowed.“Who?”“The one beneath the mountain.”Another step.Closer.The ground vibrated beneath their feet.It wasn’t loud.It didn’t need to be.Something that large didn’t have to announce its strength.It simply existed.⸻Fen stepped between Rowan and the tree line.His lips curled back in a low warning.Arawn smiled faintly.“He would fight the mountain itself for you.”Rowan looked down at Fen.“I think he’d lose.”Arawn’s smile widened.“So would the mountain.”⸻The tension eased for the briefest moment.Even Rowan laughed.It felt strange after everything that had happened.Normal.Almost.⸻Arawn bent and picked

  • Dogtags and Direwolves - Rowan’s Awakening     Chapter 15 - The Whispering Stones

    The night air was cool against Rowan’s face as she stepped off the porch.Behind her, the lodge glowed warmly through the windows, its lanterns pushing back the darkness. Ahead…Only the Black Forest.Fen waited at the edge of the clearing.Moonlight silvered his thick coat, making him seem almost unreal. When Rowan reached him, he looked over his shoulder, then disappeared silently between the towering pines.“You’re really expecting me to follow you, aren’t you?” she murmured.His tail gave the faintest flick.She smiled.“I guess that’s my answer.”⸻The deeper they walked into the forest, the quieter it became.The usual sounds of the woods faded until only their footsteps remained.Rowan noticed something else.She wasn’t afraid.She should have been.Every instinct she’d developed as a soldier told her she was making a reckless decision.Walking into unfamiliar terrain.At night.Without backup.Following an animal.Instead…She felt safe.She frowned at the realization.“You’re

  • Dogtags and Direwolves - Rowan’s Awakening    Chapter 14 - Lessons In Silence

    The silver feather lay across Rowan’s palm.It weighed almost nothing.Yet somehow, it felt heavier than the rifle she’d carried through basic training.She turned it over beneath the moonlight.The surface shimmered with faint runes that seemed to disappear whenever she tried to focus on them.“What is it?”Elias stepped beside her.“A memory.”She frowned.“It looks like a feather.”“It is.”“But nothing Arawn leaves behind is ever just what it appears.”She looked toward the trees where the mysterious rider had disappeared.“Will I see him again?”Elias didn’t hesitate.“Yes.”The certainty in his voice sent a chill through her.“And next time…”“…it will be because you have a choice to make.”⸻The clearing slowly returned to life.Wardens gathered weapons and checked the lodge’s perimeter. A pair disappeared into the forest with lanterns to inspect the northern trail. Others quietly repaired the splintered front door.No one spoke above a whisper.It felt less like surviving a ba

  • Dogtags and Direwolves - Rowan’s Awakening    Chapter 13 - The Price Of Truth

    The crack echoed through the earth.Then…Silence.Not the peaceful silence of a forest settling for the night.This silence was expectant.As though the Black Forest itself had paused to listen.Rowan’s fingers tightened instinctively in Fen’s thick fur.His coat was warm despite the chill that had settled over the clearing.She could feel the steady rise and fall of his breathing.Steady.Controlled.Comforting.It grounded her.Because nothing else made sense anymore.She looked toward the distant ridgeline where the sound had originated.“What broke?”No one answered immediately.Arawn watched the mountains with an expression Rowan couldn’t quite read.It wasn’t fear.It wasn’t surprise.It looked…like regret.⸻“It has begun sooner than I hoped.”His voice carried quietly across the clearing.Elias folded his arms.“You knew this day would come.”“I knew.”“You didn’t warn us.”Arawn finally turned.“I warned everyone.”His blue eyes settled on Kael.“They simply chose different

  • Dogtags and Direwolves - Rowan’s Awakening    Chapter 12 - The Wild Hunt

    The horn sounded again.Closer.Its mournful note rolled through the Black Forest like a funeral hymn, vibrating in Rowan’s chest long after the echo had faded.No one spoke.Every Warden stood frozen.Even Kael had gone still.Rowan scanned the faces around her.Matthias.Elias.The younger Wardens.Every one of them looked… afraid.Not nervous.Not cautious.Afraid.She leaned toward Elias.“You called it the Hunt.”His jaw tightened.“I prayed you would never hear that horn.”“What is it?”He looked toward the trees.“A promise.”⸻Branches swayed without wind.The silver moonlight seemed to bend between the ancient pines, casting long, shifting shadows that moved against the direction of the breeze.Fen lowered himself slightly.Not submissive.Ready.His massive body positioned itself half in front of Rowan without blocking her view.Protecting…while allowing her to choose.She smiled faintly.“I’ve noticed you keep doing that.”Fen’s ears flicked back.His blue eyes met hers fo

  • Dogtags and Direwolves - Rowan’s Awakening    Chapter 11 - Echoes Of The First Guardian

    The blue beam vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.Darkness settled over the clearing once more.No one moved.No one spoke.The only sound was Rowan’s ragged breathing as she stared down at the silver pendant resting against her chest. Its faint glow had disappeared, leaving it looking as ordinary as it had every day of her life.Except it wasn’t ordinary.It never had been.She wrapped her fingers around it.It was still warm.“What… did it do?”Elias looked as though he’d aged ten years in the last minute.“It announced you.”“To who?”His silence answered her.“That’s not good, is it?”“No.”Kael chuckled, though there was no amusement in it.“It is very bad.”The words hung in the air.Rowan looked from Kael to Elias.“I’m getting really tired of everyone knowing what’s happening except me.”Fen stepped beside her until their shoulders touched.She instinctively rested her hand against his neck.The tension in his muscles eased beneath her fingers.It amazed her that touching

More Chapters

You may also like

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status