Knightmarked

Knightmark
By D. Wayne Harbison
Legacy was supposed to die with his father. But some names refuse to be buried.
Fifteen-year-old Colton Knight hasn't been the same since his father died in prison-wrongfully accused, betrayed by the courts, and abandoned by the woman who once called him husband. Colt doesn't believe the official story. Deep down, he knows something darker killed his father.
Now uprooted and forced to live in the isolated town of Ebonvale with his mother and her calculating new husband, Colt struggles under the weight of grief, rage, and the slow erasure of everything his father stood for. But when something begins stalking the woods and the local boys vanish into silence, he realizes his pain is only the beginning.
There are rules in Ebonvale-unspoken, enforced by whispers, and wrapped in silk and secrecy. Those who conform are rewarded. Those who resist are hunted.
Then the threads appear.
Silver lines that bind lies to memory. Golden strands that tug choices toward consequence. And one ancient red mark-etched in legacy and blood-that answers only to him.
As visions deepen, magic awakens, and werewolves circle closer, Colt discovers the truth: his father carried the Knightmark, an ancestral power passed from father to son to protect the land from what sleeps beneath it. And now that mark is his.
But magic alone isn't enough-not against the wolves, the matriarchs, or the corruption that killed his father. To survive, Colt must confront his own rage, claim his birthright, and decide what kind of man he will become-before the darkness finishes what it started.
Knightmark is a Southern Gothic fantasy of blood, betrayal, and boyhood forged in fire. A story about standing your ground when the world tries to unmake you-and fighting not just to survive, but to become something more.