All Chapters of Nightshade: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I stepped into the bathroom, a spacious and sleek looking one. One mirror had a long crack running through it, I avoided looking at my reflection and headed straight for the far sink, turning on the hot water full blast. My hands fumbled with my soaked hoodie, peeling it off. The fabric clung to my skin, reluctant to let go. I discarded it into the sink with a wet plop and immediately regretted it what if I couldn't get it clean? It was the only hoodie I had left, the others were too worn out to be used in public. Alpha Magnus would be furious about the waste. "Calm down Sera, One problem at a time" I cupped my hands under the water and splashed my face vigorously scrubbing away at the chocolate. It was stubborn, clinging to my skin, my eyelashes, and worst of all, my hair. The water turned a murky brown, swirling down the drain. "You're so pathetic," I whispered to myself, scrubbing even harder. "Weak. Worthless." Just like they all say. No. I stopped, tightly gripping the

The bruises from my humiliating fall at dinner had finally faded to a sickly, yellowish-green, barely visible to the naked eye. In three days, I would turn eighteen. I would stand before the entire Moonstone Pack for my coming of age ceremony. In three days, I would be expected to shift into my wolf for the very first time with all eyes on me. I couldn't, I just knew it. My reflection stared back at me through the cracked mirror, water still dripping down my hair and my face after my morning wash. My hands gripped the edge of the sink tightly. "You can do it," I whispered to myself, my voice barely audible over the loudly dripping faucet. "You can shift can't you? My voice is unsure. Every wolf does it and you're a wolf. You have to have a wolf inside you." But I'd never felt her. Not once in my eighteen years of life had I felt even a sliver of a wolf stirring inside me. No instincts beyond human ones nor enhanced senses. Absolutely no connection to the moon whatsoever.

Damien's POV ---------------------------------------- Damien Magnus hadn't had a single decent night's sleep in two whole weeks. He sat in his father's study at seven in the morning, supposedly reviewing security reports for the upcoming Ceremony, but the words had blurred on the page as his eyes kept drifting toward the window, to the sky, where the moon had just faded. Three more days until the full moon. And his wolf, Ryker, the powerful Alpha wolf he'd been relying on since his first shift at just sixteen, was losing his mind. What the hell is wrong with you? Damien demanded internally for what felt like the eonth time that week. His wolf gave the same response as always: a very frustrated snarl and a barrage of images. Moonlight. Forest. Running. Searching... Searching for what exactly? Ryker didn't know, Or wouldn't say. He just kept pacing endlessly in Damien's mind, a caged predator that could neither rest nor sleep and also couldn't focus on anything except a

I woke to find Margaret's pendant still fastened around my neck and Maya's bracelet resting on my wrist. Only 2 days until the next full moon and then my fate will be sealed. Weak and gray light seeped into my small basement window, matching my low spirits exactly. I hadn't really been able to rest as my night was plagued with nightmares. Nightmares about standing in the ceremonial circle as I became the laughing stock of the pack. Nightmares about my transformation, but instead of being a wolf, I find myself some twisted and deformed creature, Alpha Magnus's eyes cold and piercing as he passes judgment. But one particular nightmare was different from the rest, Golden eyes gazing into the darkness at me, so intensely that my chest felt heavy. I forced myself out of my bed, each muscle screaming at me. Lately, my body felt a lot heavier, like the earth was working harder to pull me down. Or maybe it was simply the weight of knowing that in 48 hours everything was going to either c

The day before the ceremony passed in a haze of fear and preparation. Margaret kept me extremely busy perhaps sensing that me being idle would only give me the time to spiral into panic. She had me knead bread until my arms ached, chop vegetables until my fingers cramped and scrub pots until the copper gleamed. I was too exhausted to think. Maya found me in the hallway once and pressed a folded note into my palm without a word and quickly disappeared around the corner. I opened it later in the private of my room. You're braver than you know. You're not alone, it read in her careful handwriting. Kade avoided me. It was probably for the best. Being seen with me would only draw unwanted attention. I caught him watching me once across the training grounds, his hazel eyes filled with something that looked like regret or maybe guilt. I nodded acknowledging him and he nodded back before turning away. Marcus Hawthorne left with his father and the other visiting Alphas that evening.