All Chapters of SHADOWBORN: The Rise Of The Dragon Wolf : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Chapter 11Nyx's POVI took a deep breath and tried to open the cover, but it wouldn't budge. The diary felt sealed shut, like the leather had been fused together. I ran my fingers along the edges looking for a clasp or lock, but there was nothing visible holding it closed.So how do I access it if I can't even open it.Mom would have told more."Come on," I whispered, trying to pry it open with my fingernails. But the cover might as well have been carved from stone for all the give it had.I tried twisting it, pressing different spots on the cover, even holding it up to the light from the window to see if there were hidden mechanisms. Nothing worked. The diary remained stubbornly closed, as if it was waiting for something I couldn't give it yet.Frustration bubbled up in my chest. Here I was, alone and scared and desperate for answers about why Mom had died and why we'd spent my whole life running, and the one thing that might have those answers was locked away from me."Please," I

Chapter 13 Nyx's POVI walked straight into Alex's back and nearly knocked myself over. He'd stopped dead in his tracks, and his whole body had gone tense like a wire about to snap."What's wrong?" I whispered.He didn't answer. That silence made my chest tight with panic. Then I looked past his shoulder and saw exactly what had made him freeze.Footprints. Everywhere.The ground around the cabin looked like a parade had marched through it. Boot prints pressed deep into the mud, circling the building, heading toward the trees, stopping right at our front door. Some of them were so close to the porch I could see the tread patterns."They were here last night," Alex said through gritted teeth. "Right here. They came all the way to the door."My throat went dry. "But we didn't hear them get this close.""That's what scares me. They got this close without making a sound." He crouched down and studied the prints more carefully. "Look at this pattern. These aren't random. They were watchin

Chapter 15Nyx's POVMy head felt like someone had cracked it open with a hammer and my vision kept blurring in and out of focus. The ropes around my wrists were so tight that my fingers had gone numb and when I tried to move my legs I realized they were also tied to the chair too.I blinked hard and tried to clear my head, I needed to figure out what was really happening. It feels like I was having some kind of hallucination because, what I was seeing didn't make any sense at all.This cabin wasn't like any I'd ever seen before. The walls were made of thick logs that fit together so perfectly there weren't any gaps between them. The floor was made of wide wooden planks that looked like they'd been cut and smoothed by hand. There was a fireplace built into one wall with stones that had been carefully placed and the whole room smelled like wood smoke and something else I couldn't identify.But that wasn't the strange part. The strange part was what I could see through the window.

Chapter 17AlexanderThe woman's silver eyes flashed with something dangerous and I felt every muscle in my body tense. I'd just told her she couldn't kill us and from the look on her face, she was about to prove me very wrong."You know I can't?" she repeated slowly, like she was tasting each word. "That's interesting. Tell me, what exactly makes you think you're so valuable that I'd keep you alive?"My heart was hammering against my ribs but I forced myself to meet her stare. I had no idea what I was doing. The words had just come out of my mouth before I could stop them, but now I had to make them mean something or we were both dead."Because you need help," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "And I can give it to you."She tilted her head and that cold smile was back. "Help? From someone who shifts like he's never done it before in his life?"The words hit me like a slap. I didn't understand what she meant but I could tell from her tone that it wasn't a compliment. Heat rushe

Chapter 19Werewolves. Like something out of a horror movie or one of those romance novels with the shirtless guys on the cover.Except I'd seen it with my own eyes. I'd watched Alex's fingernails turn into claws. I'd seen his eyes flash that impossible gold color, I'd felt him move with a speed that no regular human could ever match."This isn't real," I whispered, wrapping my arms around myself. "This can't be real."My voice sounded small and broken even to my own ears. I hated it. I hated feeling this weak and scared and helpless.Mara gave me a sad smile that made her look older than she probably was. "I know how you feel, you feel like the whole world had shifted sideways and nothing made sense anymore. It'll take time to adjust to it all.""I don't want to adjust." The words came out sharper than I intended. "I want to go home. I want my mom back. I want my life back."My voice cracked on the last word and I bit down hard on my lip to keep from crying again. I'd already cried