Alle Kapitel von The Phoenix Wolf's Awakening : Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 10

Mona's POVThe copper taste of blood filled my mouth as Father's fist connected with my jaw. Again."Worthless," he spat, towering over me as I crumpled against the kitchen wall. "Can't even set the table properly for your sister's engagement celebration."I wiped the blood from my split lip, keeping my eyes down. Speaking would only make it worse. It always did."Marcus, leave the creature alone," Mother called from the dining room, her voice dripping with disgust. "Selena's guests are arriving. We can't have them hearing... that."That. Not her. Not their daughter. Just that.Father's boot caught me in the ribs one last time before he straightened his jacket. "Clean yourself up and stay in the kitchen. If I see you near the celebration, you'll sleep in the forest again."The forest. Where they'd left me three nights ago during a thunderstorm because I'd accidentally bumped into Selena's suitor at the market.I waited until his footsteps faded before pulling myself up, ribs screaming

Mona's POV I woke in chains.Not ordinary chains - these burned against my skin, etched with runes that pulsed with sickly green light. The collar around my neck was worse, a constant weight that made breathing feel like drowning."Ah, sleeping beauty awakens." Selena's voice drifted from the shadows of what I recognized as the pack's underground prison. "Three days you've been out. Almost missed your own birthday."Three days. My eighteenth birthday was tomorrow."Where's Grandmother?" My voice came out raw."Dead." Selena examined her nails. "Father had to make an example. Harboring a Phoenix Wolf, teaching it to use its powers - treasonous acts against the pack."Rage and grief warred in my chest, but when I tried to summon my fire, nothing came. The collar hummed, absorbing every spark of power."Ingenious, isn't it?" She tapped the collar. "Made specifically to contain Phoenix Wolves. Father bought it years ago from a witch, just in case you ever... manifested. Cost him half the

Mona's POVThe Shadow Walker moved faster than thought. One moment it stood at the edge of the circle, the next its claws were inches from my throat.Derek's wolf form slammed into it mid-leap, but passed right through as if the creature was made of smoke. The Shadow Walker solidified just in time to backhand him into a tree with a sickening crack."Derek!" I rushed toward him, but Marcus grabbed my arm."Don't! Physical attacks won't work. Only phoenix fire can—"The Shadow Walker's hand wrapped around my throat, lifting me off the ground. Its touch was ice, burning cold that made my flames sputter."The Shadow King sends his regards," it hissed, breath like rotting meat. "You will make a fine addition to his collection."I grabbed its wrist, channeling phoenix fire through my palms. The creature shrieked, dropping me, its arm dissolving where I'd touched."Impressive," it snarled as shadows reformed its limb. "But you're untrained, uncontrolled."It was right. The fire came in spurt

Mona's POV The first breath burned like swallowing stars.I gasped, lungs filling with air that felt too thin, too cold after the Eternal Flame's embrace. My skin tingled with strange sensations – not pain exactly, but awareness. Every nerve ending sang with power that didn't belong in a mortal body.Beside me, Derek wasn't breathing at all."Derek!" I reached for him, and that's when I saw my arms. Intricate patterns covered my skin, fire-runes that pulsed red-gold with each heartbeat. They moved, shifting like living tattoos, writing and rewriting themselves in languages older than words.But Derek... Derek was smoke.His body flickered between solid and vapor, one moment flesh and bone, the next just shadows and lightning trapped in human shape. His mouth opened in a silent scream as he dissolved and reformed over and over, each cycle more violent than the last."What's happening to him?" I grabbed Marcus's arm, my touch leaving scorch marks on his sleeve. "Why isn't he solid?""Th

Mona's POV The shadow-thing wearing Father's face reached for me, and I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think past the terror of a thousand beatings, a thousand nights huddled in corners while his rage painted our walls with Mother's blood.Derek's lightning threw it back, his body shielding mine before my paralysis could break. "That's not your father," he growled, but I felt his uncertainty through our bond. The thing looked exactly like Marcus Blackstone. Moved like him. Even smelled like him – whiskey and rage and disappointment."Isn't it?" The shadow-father laughed, picking itself up from the rubble. "Little Mona still can't tell truth from lies. Just like her mother.""Seal the door!" Marcus shouted, and Kira was already moving, phoenix flame pouring from her hands to reform the barrier. But the shadow just walked through it like smoke through bars."You can't lock away what was never really contained," it said, focusing those terrible eyes on Marcus. "Hello, brother.