Here is one of the many opening scenes that didn’t make it into Bridges Burned. Sometimes getting the opening right is the hardest part. 🙂

In her head, she imagined someone trying to explain the bizarre events in her life, “Surprise, you’re a shape-shifting dragon and you’re being blackmailed into attending the Institute for Excellence, where you’ll learn to control your powers or be forced to wear a muzzle. And by the way, your mom who is really an upper class Blue dragon jilted the most powerful man in dragon society, Ferrin Westgate, to run off with your dad who is a middle class Red dragon. So your parents were banished and hid in human society, while Ferrin raised his son Jaxon Westgate to loathe you. And the school you’re going to, well Jaxon will be there with all his friends and he can’t wait to meet you. And did I mention that everyone at the Institute will view you as a mutant and refer to you as a mongrel. Oh, and those death threats you keep receiving which you think are just a mean prank… you should probably take those more seriously.”