I never felt like something was missing in my life, not until the only friend I had left to start a journey in which she wanted to discover her own essence and history. It had become clear in the ugliest way that she had relied too much on her company over the years. She needed to go my own way, create my own story and find myself. But then, unknowingly, one call changed my life completely, and I was brutally thrown into a virgin and detailed world where creatures that had only been in fiction and movies were now in front of me and it felt very real. And one of them was coming after me. A werewolf, Lycanthrope, from myth and folklore of old. He said that I was his. He said he was coming for me. A lifetime pact from which he could not escape. So there was only one thing left for me to do. Run. Ciran said that he would not stop until he found me, until he left his mark on my neck, and more than that. He said that he would go to the ends of the world to make me his companion in every way. He would have a big chase on his hands, because he wasn't going to make this easy for him. That was my plan until everything changed and someone else was after us.
Ciran
I was not a man. Not even close to being a human, but something else, more powerful than that. Deadly. The strongest creature from Otherworld known to walk the planet.
Mine.
The distorted growl of my inner Lycanthrope reverberated through my skull, my body energized with force, my focus sharper than ever in the more than two and a half centuries I'd walked this world.
It was his voice that made my inner beast rise up in a way I had never felt or experienced before, causing pain I couldn't have imagined. I thought she was strong before, but hearing her voice made it exponentially, like I harbored a hundred thousand werewolves inside of me, and would destroy anything or anyone who thought to push her away or get in my way.
My hand would go up by itself as it grabbed my shirt, right over my heart. The organ was revving up, hitting something painful and fierce as I got closer to the source of the most enchanting and beautiful sound I had ever heard.
And then I was standing there, looking at Blaine's partner as I held up a cell phone and walked around the interior, showing off the wealth and luxury of the Scottish Lycanthrope King's estate.
My inner animal pushed and clawed forward. I felt my eyes sparkle as he took over.
She was ours, we had found her.
Enid
"For the record, this is a fucking stupid idea." The words came out of me and Daira started to laugh, but I could tell that she was going through just as difficult a time as I was.
My best friend. My sister by choice, not by blood. We had always supported each other. We had to, because as orphans that we were, we had had to face this ugly and unpleasant world alone from the beginning.
Having been pushed into the foster system at a young age, I had to learn early on that either you got stronger or you would always be seen as weak. And I would never be like that. I would never let my circumstances dictate who and what she was or how she would shape my future.
And so, even though I was heartbroken that Daira was going to Scotland and trying to figure out her future and her past, I wanted her to succeed just as much as if I were the one embarking on a new adventure.
So I stayed there and said goodbye, but it wasn't forever. It was to make life better for her, to find her way...to make sense of it. A part of me wished that I had something to find, search for, connect with.
So even though I didn't have an amazing journey to go on, one where I knew Daira would succeed, where she would find that future she desperately wanted, I told myself that she too would get what she always wanted.
One day, somehow, I would get my own happily ever after. She didn't know when, why, or how...but she was going to make it, no matter what, if it was the last thing she did.
One day. Twenty four hours. A little over fourteen hundred minutes.
That is the time that Daira had gone on the greatest adventure of her life. And what was I doing meanwhile? Lying in bed and listening to the life of the city that should have woken up after a long night, but the truth was that this stupid damned city never slept, never did. There was no downtime, no silence. It was always chaotic and stormy.
But lying here in my semi-darkened bedroom looking up at the stained and chipped ceiling of my apartment one step above a shack solidified the feeling that I was truly alone for the first time since Daira had entered my house. I felt that feeling of: yes, that's life.
I felt this gnawing hole in the center of my chest and a cold hard slap of the inescapable truth hit me on the head as I realized that I could have been using Daira as some kind of crutch, an anchor, a life jacket. ...heck, the foundation of the house that supported my whole fucking life.
I tried to block out the sounds of early morning city life right outside my apartment window, but to no avail. It was incredibly noisy because the cheap windows were paper thin. But I couldn't complain too much. It had a good view, even if it was just a side street and a bunch of professional buildings. I knew the tenants on the other side of the building had a shitty view, one that spanned the entire width of the complex and blocked all those windows. Bad for them.
"It could be worse, so stop complaining. It's been worse,'' I complained. I closed my eyes and rubbed them with the palms of my hands. She was tired to the bone, but she couldn't sleep at all. After coming home late from work, I managed for a few hours, but I had broken down, restless, and now I couldn't even pray for any sleep.
I had been having sleepless bouts for the past few nights, as if there was something inside me brewing, ready to explode out. I couldn't describe it, couldn't even mention the precise problem that might be troubling me. Maybe it was just all those nerves and anxiety about Daira's departure on her trip that they had that way.
Or maybe it was a message from my body finally telling me that I needed a big change in my life.
She had worked in the service industry since she was very early sixteen years old and had been saving every penny she could ever since, for the last seven years, to go to school and get a degree in history. But the classes here and there that I had been able to take made it very clear that this dream, my specific dream, would take more time than I ever wanted.
But it would happen. I would make sure of that.
I opened my eyes and felt a pang of jealousy at the thought of Daira in Scotland; then I quickly hated myself for being a mean bitch and feeling anything but pure happiness for her. She deserved it more than anyone. And I also. And one day I would have that adventure too.
"Never let anyone treat you like shit!" I learned that the hard way. For three years, I lived with my in-laws. They didn't treat me as their son-in-law but as a slave. I put up with everything because of my wife, Yolanda Lambert. She was the light of my life. Unfortunately, my whole world came crashing down the day I caught my wife cheating on me. I have never been so heartbroken. To have my revenge, I revealed my true identity. I was none other than Liam Hoffman—the heir of a family with trillions of dollars in assets! The Lamberts were utterly shocked after the big reveal. They realized what fools they had been for treating me like trash. My wife even knelt down and begged for my forgiveness. What do you think I did? Did I take her back or made her suffer? Find out!
COALESCENCE OF THE FIVE SERIES BOOK ONE: THE 5-TIME REJECTED GAMMA & THE LYCAN KING BOOK TWO: THE ROGUES WHO WENT ROGUE BOOK THREE: THE INDOMITABLE HUNTRESS & THE HARDENED DUKE *** BOOK ONE: After being rejected by 5 mates, Gamma Lucianne pleaded with the Moon Goddess to spare her from any further mate-bonds. To her dismay, she is being bonded for the sixth time. What’s worse is that her sixth-chance mate is the most powerful creature ruling over all werewolves and Lycans - the Lycan King himself. She is certain, dead certain, that a rejection would come sooner or later, though she hopes for it to be sooner. King Alexandar was ecstatic to meet his bonded mate, and couldn’t thank their Goddess enough for gifting him someone so perfect. However, he soon realizes that this gift is reluctant to accept him, and more than willing to sever their bond. He tries to connect with her but she seems so far away. He is desperate to get intimate with her but she seems reluctant to open up to him. He tries to tell her that he is willing to commit to her for the rest of his life but she doesn’t seem to believe him. He is pleading for a chance: a chance to get to know her; a chance to show her that he’s different; and a chance to love her. But when not-so-subtle crushes, jealous suitors, self-entitled Queen-wannabes, an old flame, a silent protector and a past wedding engagement threaten to jeopardize their relationship, will Lucianne and Xandar still choose to be together? Is their love strong enough to overcome everything and everyone? Or will Lucianne resort to enduring a sixth rejection from the one person she thought she could entrust her heart with?
Elena, once a pampered heiress, suddenly lost everything when the real daughter framed her, her fiancé ridiculed her, and her adoptive parents threw her out. They all wanted to see her fall. But Elena unveiled her true identity: the heiress of a massive fortune, famed hacker, top jewelry designer, secret author, and gifted doctor. Horrified by her glorious comeback, her adoptive parents demanded half her newfound wealth. Elena exposed their cruelty and refused. Her ex pleaded for a second chance, but she scoffed, “Do you think you deserve it?” Then a powerful magnate gently proposed, “Marry me?”
Corinne devoted three years of her life to her boyfriend, only for it to all go to waste. He saw her as nothing more than a country bumpkin and left her at the altar to be with his true love. After getting jilted, Corinne reclaimed her identity as the granddaughter of the town’s richest man, inherited a billion-dollar fortune, and ultimately rose to the top. But her success attracted the envy of others, and people constantly tried to bring her down. As she dealt with these troublemakers one by one, Mr. Hopkins, notorious for his ruthlessness, stood by and cheered her on. “Way to go, honey!”
Natalie used to think she could melt Connor’s icy heart, but she was sorely mistaken. When at last she decided to leave, she discovered that she was pregnant. Even so, she chose to quietly leave his world, prompting Connor to mobilize all of his resources and expand his business to a global scale—all in a bid to find her. But there was no trace of Natalie. Connor slowly spiraled into madness, turning the city upside down and leaving chaos in his wake. Natalie finally surfaced years later, with wealth and power of her own, only to find herself entangled with Connor once again.
"There will be no falling in love, we will only act as a loving couple when we are in public, we will share a room to make it believable, but no intimacy, touching is off-limits. We'll only have sex once a month, and that's solely to produce an heir. You won't interfere in my business, and I won't interfere in yours. You will be my wife in every sense and you will not be involved with any other man," he said, arrogance seeping from every word. I watch his mouth move, I'm not ready to fall in love with any man, especially not one as arrogant and egoistic as him. I can handle acting as a loving couple, and as for intimacy once a month. I can agree to that just to satisfy my sexual cravings with no strings attached. "Where can I sign?" I asked since I had nothing to lose. *** Nadine's wedding dreams turned to nightmares when she caught her sister and fiancé cheating! With a secret recording, she's ready for revenge. But then mysterious billionaire Logan West offers a deal: A Contract Marriage to take down her ex's empire. But what Nadine doesn't know is her life is getting complicated as she takes her chance to get revenge or risks everything for a chance at love?"