Playing With Fire
/1/118699/coverbig.jpg?v=1bf72c7e122ab2ea31302562a1751bd1)
His Defiant Mate: The Lycan King's Chosen Luna
I was waiting at the Registry Hall to formalize my mate bond with Gabe, my childhood sweetheart and the Alpha of our pack. He was thirty-two minutes late. When I finally found him in a private VIP lounge, his hands were buried in my cousin's hair, their lips locked together. Hailee was supposed to be my maid of honor. Instead of apologizing, Gabe looked me dead in the eye and used his Alpha authority to publicly reject me. The severing of our ten-year bond tore my soul apart, but the nightmare didn't stop there. My grandfather immediately called, demanding I clean up a mess Hailee had made. When I refused, he disowned me on the spot, froze every single one of my bank accounts, and stripped me of my family name. Within hours, my entire pack erased my existence, gleefully announcing Hailee as their new Luna. I had given my entire life to a family and a man who discarded me like worthless trash the second I became inconvenient. I was left broken, humiliated, and utterly penniless in the blink of an eye. But as I stumbled out of that sterile hall, a terrifyingly beautiful stranger stepped out of the shadows, radiating a primal power that made my knees weak. He was Caden Sinclair, the ruthless Lycan King, and he was dodging a forced political union of his own. "You need a shield. I need a wife. Marry me." Without hesitation, I signed the Eternal Vow.
Chapter 1
Audriana POV:
"I'm sorry, Ms. Sullivan, but Mr. Black's appointment was for half an hour ago."
The clerk's voice was polite, but his eyes held a pity I refused to acknowledge. I glanced at the sleek watch on my wrist. Thirty-two minutes. He was thirty-two minutes late.
"He's on his way," I said, my voice smoother than I felt. My stomach was a tight knot of cold dread.
I stepped away from the polished walnut desk, the scent of lemon cleaner and old paper filling my nose. The North American Inter-Pack Alliance Registry Hall was designed to be imposing, with its marble columns and vaulted ceilings, meant to impress upon werewolves the gravity of the contracts signed here. Today, it just felt cold.
The air conditioning ghosted across my bare arms, raising goosebumps. I unconsciously twisted the delicate silver chain bracelet on my wrist, a nervous habit I'd had since I was a child. The tiny links were cool against my skin.
My phone buzzed in my clutch. A message from my assistant, Maya.
'Apex Ventures deal is ready for your final review. They're getting antsy.'
I typed a quick reply, my fingers flying across the screen.
'Tell them to hold their breath. I'm handling something personal.'
Personal. That's what this was supposed to be. The final step. Gabe and I, registering our intent to bond, a formality before the ceremony that would tie our packs, our families, our futures together.
I closed my eyes for a second, focusing, trying to pull his scent from the air. It was a game we used to play as kids. I could always find him. That familiar, comforting scent of pine and damp earth.
But all I could smell now was a cacophony of strangers-stale coffee, cloying perfume, the metallic tang of anxiety from a dozen other wolves waiting in this sterile hall. A wave of nausea rolled through me. Something was wrong.
My phone buzzed again. Not a work message this time. An unknown number.
The message was short, brutal.
'VIP Lounge 3. He's waiting for you.'
My breath hitched. VIP Lounge 3. I knew the layout of this building. It was at the end of the private corridor, reserved for Alphas of significant standing. Gabe's father had used it last year to finalize a trade agreement.
My fingers tightened around my phone. It was a trap. A cruel joke. It had to be.
But the knot in my stomach pulled tighter, a cold, hard certainty.
I pushed open the heavy glass door that separated the main hall from the private corridors. The sound of the bustling hall was instantly muffled by the thick, plush carpet. My heels sank into the crimson pile with each step, silencing my approach.
As I moved down the hallway, a new scent cut through the sterile air.
Cherry blossom. Sickly sweet and artificial.
Hailee's scent.
My steps slowed. My heart, which had been hammering against my ribs, gave a painful lurch and then seemed to stop altogether. It couldn't be. She was my stepsister. She was supposed to be my maid of honor.
I reached the door. Room 3. It was heavy, dark redwood, and slightly ajar. Just a crack.
Through the gap, in the dim, intimate lighting of the lounge, I saw them. Two figures, tangled together on a leather sofa.
Gabe.
His hand was buried in her blonde hair, the same way he used to touch mine. Hailee's head was thrown back, her laughter a low, throaty sound that made my blood run cold.
The world narrowed to that sliver of a view. The sound of my own blood roaring in my ears drowned out everything else.
I didn't think. I acted.
My hand shot out and slammed the door open. It crashed against the interior wall with a sound like a gunshot.
They sprang apart, their faces a blur of shock and panic. Gabe scrambled to his feet, his shirt rumpled, his face flushed.
"Audriana! What the hell are you doing?"
Hailee, true to form, immediately dissolved into a picture of terrified innocence. She shrank behind Gabe, her eyes wide and already filling with tears. "Audri, it's not what it looks like."
A laugh escaped my lips, but it was a harsh, ugly sound. "Not what it looks like? You're half an hour late to our registration, and I find you with your tongue down my stepsister's throat. Please, Gabe. Enlighten me."
"You were following me?" he roared, his voice bouncing off the wood-paneled walls. He took a step forward, trying to use his Alpha presence to intimidate me, to make me shrink. It was a tactic that had stopped working years ago.
"Don't be stupid," I snapped, my voice like ice. "I can smell her on you. You reek of cheap perfume and betrayal."
Hailee let out a sob. "We couldn't help it! The bond... it's just so strong between us. We never meant to hurt you."
The bond. She dared to speak of the bond.
I ignored her, my eyes locked on Gabe. On the man I had loved since we were children. The man my wolf had recognized. The man who was supposed to be my future.
"Give me an answer, Gabe," I said, my voice dangerously quiet. "A real one. Now."
He looked from my face to Hailee's tear-streaked one. She gave a little whimper and tugged on his arm, the perfect damsel in distress. And in that moment, I saw his decision. His jaw tightened. His eyes, which I once thought held the whole world, turned to stone.
"I, Gabe Black, Alpha of the Blackwater Pack," he began, his voice formal and loud, ringing with the ancient power of the rite.
The air in the room crackled. The words were a physical force, slamming into me.
"Reject you, Audriana Sullivan, as my mate."
Pain. It wasn't emotional. It was physical. A spear of white-hot agony that started in my chest and ripped through every nerve in my body. It felt like my soul was being torn in two. My breath was stolen from my lungs. My knees threatened to buckle.
I bit down on my lower lip, hard. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. I would not scream. I would not cry. I would not give them the satisfaction.
My fingernails dug into the soft leather of my clutch, the leather groaning under the pressure.
For a flicker of a second, I saw something in Gabe's eyes. A flash of regret. Of pain. But it was quickly smothered by the cold, hard wall of his decision. Hailee's hand was on his arm, a triumphant possessiveness in her touch.
I forced myself to stand taller, to straighten my spine, even as the world tilted around me. I met his gaze, and I let him see the abyss that had just opened between us.
I cleared my throat, my voice a raw, broken thing. But it was steady.
"I, Audriana Sullivan," I rasped, each word costing me a piece of my shattered soul, "accept your rejection."
The bond snapped.
It was a sound no one else could hear, but for me, it was a cataclysm. A final, brutal severing. The pain intensified for a blinding moment, then settled into a deep, hollow ache that I knew would never truly leave.
Behind Gabe, Hailee's lips curved into a small, victorious smile.
I looked at them, and in that moment, the labels fell away-fiancé, stepsister, family-until all that remained were two strangers, standing on the ruins of my life. Two pieces of trash I had found on the side of the road.
Worthless.
Without another word, I turned my back on the wreckage of my life. I walked out of the room, my steps even and measured, down the long, silent corridor, and away from the man who had just ripped my heart out of my chest.
/0/39053/coverbig.jpg?v=5f34617706e2aaefbc80206cc8b00717)
Beloved Wife Of The God Of War
My mother in law hated me so much cause I couldn't bear her son a baby eventhough my husband and I have spent six years in marriage. She desperately wants my husband to divorce me so she and my bestfriend set me up to be f*cked by a stranger. When my husband heard of this, he mocked me and divorced me. While painfully dragging my luggage out of his house, I saw my pregnant bestfriend carrying her luggage inside my husband's house. Turns out my husband has impregnated my bestfriend. I cried blood and left the city. Seven years later, I became a popular Surgeon General and now have beautiful triplets by my side. But I was deployed back to my city cause my medical skill was most needed. In a twist of fate, I got married to an handsome solider. Only after I resumed work did I find out that the soldier I just married is the five star General, leader of every military units in the country plus he was by far the wealthiest man in the country. I'm just a single mother trying to create a better life for my three kids, now that I found myself entangled in his cold and ruthless world, how will I survive? And how will I explain to him that I do not know how my triplets bore the same resemblance with him?
/0/22746/coverbig.jpg?v=55854cca3e703a7b553a05927863d08e)
Bestfriends Shouldn't Know How You Taste
Ashley Grey knows better than to get involved with her bestfriend that's in a relationship. She has been keeping her feelings for him a secret for years. Until one day they are dared to kiss each other. Then everything is flipped between them. Stolen kisses, touches and a whole lot of tension. These two go on a journey that will either drift them apart or pull them even closer. " I can't be your friend Ley when I know how you taste."
/0/18330/coverbig.jpg?v=65aa18fafaed1e822de0ddfc692c699b)
The Best Friend's Contract
Aidan, a billionaire and CEO of Empire is known for the title 'Top 5 Hottest Bachelor' for two reasons. His extremely good-looks and for not wanting to get married, at least until he reaches forty but his mother keeps on setting him with unwanted dates, leaving him frustrated. Kenna, Aidan's best friend, is a doctor who has never found the right time for love. She has always been busy with work to an extent that she forgets about her own personal life. Both of them has always been close ever since they were kids, after a single incident that happened, instantly making them inseparable. As they grew older, things began to change yet best friends are forever . . . no matter the circumstances. What happens when Aidan sets up a contract and wants Kenna to be a part of it?
/0/7890/coverbig.jpg?v=b2d6215b3ad39065fa9547307861afa0)
/0/38233/coverbig.jpg?v=849548ae7a731da8afcaad4f2aada34f)
Playing With Fire
Tessa Wexler inherits a rare talent from her mother. That is, she is super smart and has a high ability to learn everything. As long as she learns something, she will do the best in the whole field. But every coin has two sides. She can’t live more than 30 years for her rare disease caused by the ta
/1/130442/coverbig.jpg?v=826938fa2d6147a359ff89b8580da6c0)
Forbidden Sparks Vol. 1: Playing With Fire
At nineteen, Marty Munroe thought the hardest part of her life was behind her. But five years after her father's death, her mother, Charlotte, introduces the new man in her life: Clark Hamilton. He's devastatingly handsome, deeply seductive, and harbors a massive secret. He's also Marty's soon-to-be
/0/45249/coverbig.jpg?v=a0c8e25236e15a7b9c8fc63f0579d7e5)
Playing With The Playboy
Her dad was a playboy with a string of mistresses who left her mom when she was five. Her bestfriend got jilted by her playboy boyfriend after he was busted hooking up with different girls. Her favorite celebrity couple broke up due to the same reason... and she herself experienced being cheated by
/0/48242/coverbig.jpg?v=82554976155137b1bdc13cfb41f84064)
Playing With The Casanova
—The world I live in is full of mystery, full of lies, full of secrets, I am a General Surgeon and it is my duty to save lives, we all have him his duty in life and I am a Doctor and my duty to save lives in the way of the instruments I use for the operation, I thoughtmy attention was only for my fa
/0/21519/coverbig.jpg?v=ff4708cfeec49db22f04b7914e429415)
Playing With Violet Ashlock
Playing With Violet Ashlock Austin Portwalt Crazy ambitious billionaire who loves making big deals. He loves money and wants more than what he has now. He loves his bachelor life and wants to continue it forever but too bad his parents set him an arrange marriage with Dubai's most successful busine
/0/58250/coverbig.jpg?v=5c1bb2adfa59298b299d05e76d796c4d)
Playing With The Billionaire
As the CEO of Sebastian Pictures, I have power and authority. I was the one who called the shots, constantly in the spotlight. I was meant to be the man in charge. Until I met Eloise, she was a junior art director at my subsidiary company. She also happened to be my best friend’s ex-girlfriend. To h
/0/99590/coverbig.jpg?v=b6c918ade6303308bd1881d0dc7e3b80)
Playing with the Enemy
After being used and discarded by the man who destroyed his youth, Jade rebuilt himself under the watchful hand of a mafia leader who owns his freedom. But when his past lover reappears through a corporate contract, and one simple hookup that should have meant nothing, turned out to have been with
/0/29020/coverbig.jpg?v=ab9fac2b176f70e7de1aadd1487bf9a9)
Playing with the Omega
The increasing number of incidents of women going missing in the metropolitan area of Zila City has alarmed the Valentin Royal Family. Because of the enormous antagonism between werewolves and vampires, vampires were accused of these disappearances. To vanquish the vampires, the Lycan Prince, Nikola
/0/21878/coverbig.jpg?v=99d2ae354d254f4800715c42cf8a5c13)
Feelings with fire
I thought I felt a spark, not knowing I fell in love. And falling in love wasn't the merry shit they make people believe in, it as simple as being in deep shit. Rose Carson couldn't believe the moon goddess could pair her up with her al
/0/38618/coverbig.jpg?v=2fd4f411d1603dd1f946e3b1af47c421)
If we play with fire
Franco Baumann returned to fulfill his promise to avenge his father's death. The pain accompanying him is a great incentive to take his next step, and he only wants to see those who hurt him suffer. Livia Ávalos is his next target. But the attraction they discover in each other will bring consequen
/0/48749/coverbig.jpg?v=20231219165956)
Nasty Games: Playing With The Ruthless Mafia
Money and power. That is where Bora Huassefa Mafianni's world revolves. But as she explores the mafia world more, she meets Connor Zulueta, who will make her feel different emotions she hasn't felt before. Can Connor change Bora for the better? Can the two powerful mafias collide? Or they will b
/0/50604/coverbig.jpg?v=559f710fcf13ebc4102559665ce43ddd)
Playing the Marriage Game with Mr Billionaire
Signing her life away for her goals seemed easy at first for Sophia Crux, but she soon gets entangled in a web of complications, and as unwanted feelings start arising for a man meant to be nothing but a step closer to her goals, she has to find a way out. But things take a turn when Alexander Black
/1/116294/coverbig.jpg?v=77a08cad69827ce55cdee4a36f349f07)
EVER PLAYED WITH FIRE, I DID
just a crazy Physcophat enjoying every bit of her life, but he showed up that night and I decided to use him as my entertainment. But that single choice became the biggest mistake in my life. Wanna find out?. Lilith veralux. Age 24, personalities cold, crazy, physpopatic, and talented.
/0/47071/coverbig.jpg?v=266051d2ef99930b5a11458495a1cc61)
Love on Fire with a Billionaire
Aurora is a twenty-year-old young woman currently studying journalism. What sets her apart from others is her exuberant joy, audacity, and frankness, known for not mincing her words. She is in search of a polite, caring, and loving man, just like Alexander, a college colleague for whom she harbors a
/0/87403/coverbig.jpg?v=459782c3d87b764fcb6b8bdbd7a0f535)
CELESTIAL FIRE
Hunted since birth, Nyxira Rayn is the last Celestial Dragon, hiding her true nature in a world ruled by ruthless supernatural clans. Weak, powerless, and always on the run, her only goal is survival. When she's accepted into Valemorth Academy, the elite school for the world's most powerful beings,
/0/20090/coverbig.jpg?v=bf01837e6310424609364f0756cbe536)
Ice Fire
They called him evil, ruthless, cruel, incapable of mercy. Colder than anything in the realm of winter. Dark as the night sky in the realm of eternal darkness. He was unforgiving, forsaken and long past the point of redemption. He was real and he was here. Iyra couldn't believe the tales were true
/1/122889/coverbig.jpg?v=4b798c4b0080a849228c9684f96aadb1)
Playing His Game
In the bustling hallways of Kentwood High, Grace Essel thought she had it all: a loving boyfriend, a close-knit group of friends, and dreams of a bright future. That is, until the moment she catches Latif cheating on her with another girl-a betrayal that shakes her world to its core. Heartbroken yet
/1/120714/coverbig.jpg?v=76870f99e7c3defd441a5d37e5bf60dd)
Playing Mrs. Beckett
Sophie Beckett was the perfect wife. Quiet. Devoted. Unremarkable. Or so her husband believed. When Sophie discovers Adrian's affair, she doesn't cry. She doesn't beg. She simply smiles, pours herself a drink, and starts making plans - because Sophie Langham didn't spend three years playing a role j
/0/17663/coverbig.jpg?v=cd2785fd6b5a7a3b37d215dcb8c6a263)
