Novels by Paisley C

RAVENThe world was quiet after the storm. Too quiet.Smoke still curled up from the ruins of what had once been our home… our territory, our war, our nightmare. The earth was soaked with blood and rain, and for a long while, I just stood there, watching the dawn crawl across the wreckage. The sky bled from black to gray to gold, a slow kind of mercy after the night we’d survived.Kieran stood a few feet away, his back to me, shoulders bare and bruised, his body still trembling from the change. Even like that, covered in dirt, blood, and loss; he looked unbreakable. Unforgiving. And mine.When he turned, his eyes found me instantly, like they always did. There was exhaustion there, and grief, but also something gentler… something that made my chest ache.“You should sit,” he said quietly, his voice rough.I shook my head. “If I sit, I won’t get up again.”A small smile tugged at his lips. “Then don’t. Stay standing. You always did like proving me wrong.”I walked toward him slowly, th

KIERANThe sky burned red with fire and fury when the first roar split the air. The ground trembled beneath our feet, the scent of blood already thick before the first body hit the dirt. My claws ached for release, my wolf pacing restlessly inside me, snarling to be freed. And then I saw them…Lucian’s men, pouring into our territory like a plague. A dark tide of betrayal and vengeance.“Alpha, they’ve broken through the eastern line!” Jax shouted over the chaos, his voice hoarse.“Hold them!” I barked, turning as a massive black wolf lunged at me. I caught it midair, slamming it to the ground with a snarl. My claws tore through flesh before I even realized what I was doing. The copper tang of blood filled my mouth, and something inside me snapped.Lucian’s laughter echoed from the ridge. “You should’ve stayed hidden, Kieran! You were never meant to lead!”I bared my teeth, my chest heaving. “Then come down here and see if you can take my crown, coward!”He didn’t move… but his men did

LUCIANI knew things would go awry sooner or later, especially if I didn’t find a way to break into Kieran’s pack. Every day that passed, he and his men were getting stronger…more organized, more ruthless; and if I didn’t move soon, they’d bring the war straight to my doorstep. I could already feel it like a storm brewing in the distance. That thought alone was enough to keep me pacing in my office long after midnight, my hands clenched so tight that my knuckles cracked.“Lucian,” Markus said from the doorway, his tone cautious, “you’ve been at this for hours. You need to rest before you burn yourself out.”I shot him a glare, half tired and half irritated. “Rest? You think I can rest when Kieran’s planning something? He’s been gathering rogues…strong ones too. And the spy we sent? He never made it back alive. You think that's a coincidence?”Markus sighed, stepping fully into the room. “You’re seeing ghosts again. Maybe he’s just guarding his borders tighter. It doesn’t mean he’s pla

KIERANThey came to me in the night because that was the way of it…men in oilskins and furs, faces half-swallowed by shadow, voices that never rose above the low tones of wolves on the hunt.“Alpha,” Marcellus said, when the door closed and the candles guttered low. “Lucian moves like a fever across the borders. He’s coaxing your enemies, stirring up rogues. The scouts saw him with Raven’s banner on his hip.”I let the name roll in my mouth like a stone. Lucian. He had the audacity of fire: always two steps from cinder, always close enough to scorch.“Raven?” I asked slowly. “You mean the woman who crawled from under my own men’s boots and lived to whisper at taverns?”“Aye.” Marcellus thumped the table. “And he’s using her. They say she promised him…” He stopped because there were rules to how much a man could say when the Alpha’s temper could tilt the world.“Promised what?” I demanded. My voice was steady, but inside something like a wire pulled taught.“Promises are knives that cu

RAVENI’d been pacing the edge of the northern woods when the news reached me. A scout…mud-splattered and trembling, came running through the trees, his chest heaving. The look in his eyes told me everything before he even opened his mouth.“They let him go,” he gasped.For a moment, I didn’t move. The wind shifted, carrying the scent of pine and blood…faint, but there.“What do you mean they let him go?” I asked, my voice calm, though the tension in my jaw betrayed me.He swallowed hard. “Alpha Kieran’s men… they released the spy. Left him at the border…half dead, Alpha. He’s barely hanging on.”My hands clenched at my sides. I felt that familiar heat crawl up the back of my neck…the one that came every time Kieran reminded me who he was. He didn’t kill the spy because he wanted to send a message. I knew him too well. Death would’ve been mercy.“Where is he now?” I asked tightly.“With Lucian’s healers,” the scout replied. “They say he might not make it through the night.”I turned a

ROWENAI was stacking plates by the counter when I heard two of the kitchen maids whispering by the hearth. Their voices were low, but sharp enough to cut through the clatter of pots and the hiss of the simmering stew. I tried to ignore them at first…Kieran’s business was his, not mine…but something in their tone made me pause.“Did you hear what happened to that spy?” one of them, Mara, whispered, glancing around before leaning closer to the other girl.“Alpha Kieran let him go. Said he wasn’t worth killing.”“What? Let him go?” the other gasped. “After what he did?”I stilled, my hands hovering over the stack of plates. Let him go? That didn’t sound like Kieran at all. He wasn’t known for mercy…especially not when it came to rogues sent by Lucian.Mara shook her head quickly. “No, not like that. They left him half dead, apparently. The guards said the man could barely crawl when they dumped him by the eastern border.”My breath hitched slightly, and I forced myself to keep wiping th

Cassian’s POVMy hands trembled as I stared at the countdown of the state infrastructure contract that was at zero. For eighteen months, I had bled for this. I had leveraged the penthouse, the private jets, and every offshore account I had managed to scrape together from Valerie’s old holdings. This contract was supposed to be my coronation and the moment I finally stepped out of the shadow of the St. Claire name and became a god in this city.A god that would be the talk of the town for years. I could already see myself ruling the world but just the thought made me more nervous. What if I didn’t win? I was as good as dead."Sir," my lead analyst whispered, his voice trembling. "The portal just updated. We... we didn't get it."The silence that followed was deafening. It felt as if the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. I lunged forward, ramming my hand thoughtlessly on the table. "What do you mean we didn't get it? We were the top bidders! No one in the state has the liquidit

Valerie’s POV“Oh god.” I cried bitterly as the door slammed shut in my face. I didn’t know what to do for a moment as all I could feel was pain.All I wanted was to give him the big news but he gave me the bigger news. How didn’t I know that his numerous business trips were spent with his real family?I managed to flag down a taxi, the driver helping me into the backseat with a grunt of annoyance at my heavy wheelchair but I paid him no attention. When we arrived at the penthouse, my heart plummeted. My few belongings, which ranged from the oversized knits and the worn books that kept me company through my lonely days, were scattered across the floor like trash.With a sob, I realized the lock had been changed, just like Cassian had said.With trembling fingers, I dialed my father’s old family lawyer, Mr. Aris, who had warned me to be careful but I had ignored his warnings for years, blinded by Cassian’s love and devotion."Valerie?" Mr. Aris answered. He didn’t seem surprised b

Valerie’s POVThe security guards did not hesitate. Their hands were rough as they grabbed the back of my wheelchair, jerking me around with such force that my neck snapped back. The laughs of the crowd filled the air, clearly thinking I was unstable but the only thing I could desperately wish for was for Cassian to look at me.But he was in the arms of his real wife and I was nothing but his gateway to riches."Wait! Cassian, look at me!" I screamed, my voice cracking under the weight of the humiliation.“Sorry for the inconveniences.” I heard Cassian say loudly to the crowd as I was being rolled outside. “We will make sure to make the security tighter next time to avoid beggars coming in here unannounced."Oh god.The cameras continued to flash, recording my downfall for the entire city to see. I looked back one last time, hoping for a glimmer of regret, but Cassian only watched me with an expression of pure boredom. He didn’t have a single care for me.The guards shoved me th

Valerie’s POVThe next morning, I was still in bed, wallowing in self-pity when my phone pinged with the long-awaited message. My eyes were still red from crying myself to sleep but none of it mattered anymore.I fumbled for the device and clicked on the message. It was a formal notification from the St. Claire estate legal team, declaring that the final probate was complete. The multi-billion dollar inheritance was finally mine. My heart hammered against my ribs as my heart soared with happiness. Finally, I had the one thing that Cassian had always wanted. I could finally see that charming smile he used to give me in the hospital.He had already left for the office but I did not wait for him to come home. I couldn’t.Cassian had spent five years telling me I looked disgusting and that the world would recoil at the sight of my broken body, which led to him being in control of everything I owned but the joy in my chest gave me a sudden, reckless courage to leave the house.The twin

Valerie’s POVI heaved a deep sigh as I looked over the well-arranged meals on the dining table. I had spent four hours preparing a five-course meal, even as my wheelchair held me back a lot of times. Every movement was a struggle but I was determined to make sure the meals came out perfectly well.I smoothed the front of my oversized grey knit sweater, my fingers brushing over the wool to calm the frantic beating of my heart. I had lived in this place like a prisoner for five years, not daring to take a step out.It wasn’t always like this. I lost my ability to walk when I was seventeen. I could still hear the screech of tires and the sickening crunch of metal as my father’s car spun out on the interstate. The last thing I remembered before the blackness swallowed me was the sight of my father slumped lifelessly over the wheel and the searing, hot pain in my spine that made me pass out.Cassian had appeared in the hospital like an angel in disguise. He was a distant acquaintance f