Novels by Joyce

Celia’s POVI ran my fingers over the soft linen, testing the quality. It was decent at least. Definitely not the finest I had seen, but good enough for what I needed. The vendor watched me expectantly, waiting for my decision.“How much for three yards?” I asked.“Two silver pieces.”I nodded, reached into my pouch, and handed him the coins. “I’ll take it.”The Bravemont market had become familiar to me over the past few months. I had come here twice a week, selling the herbs I gathered and preserved, buying the supplies I needed. It was how I survived now. Trading, bartering, and making just enough to get by.It was nothing like my life back home had been. And no one here knew who I was or where I had come from.That night with Alpha Nikolai still remained fresh in my memory. I still remembered the panic that had gripped me as I slipped through the pack house corridors. How my heart had thudded vehemently as I walked past the guards till I had made it out. Past the service entrance,

Nikolai’s POVI adjusted the plain cloak around my shoulders, keeping my head down while I moved through the crowd. The morning sun was scorching a bit higher than it should be for a morning sun.This had been something I’d started doing a few months back. Disguising myself as a trader or merchant and slipping into these border towns unannounced. It gave me a perspective I couldn’t get from pack reports and official channels. I could see how our commerce actually functioned, what traders said when they didn’t know the Alpha was listening, and where the weaknesses in our trade routes were.That day, I had joined a caravan of leather merchants heading to Bravemont. The traders thought I was just another handler hired to help transport goods. They talked freely around me, complaining about road conditions and tariffs, while gossiping about other packs.“You coming or what?” one of the traders had called back to me. I nodded and followed them toward the main market square where they were

Nikolai’s POVI slammed my bedroom door so hard that the frame shook in response. My hands wouldn’t stop trembling. I pressed them flat against the wood, trying to steady myself, trying to understand what the hell had just happened.That omega. That insignificant omega—arrgh!I pushed away from the door and started pacing. Everything felt wrong and off and out of place. This was far from what I expected. That’s if I even expected anything.For months, I’d been feeling this weird pull in my chest, like something invisible was tugging at me. It had started small, like a faint awareness I couldn’t shake. And then it got stronger until it drove me half mad. It had to be a mate bond. But that didn’t make sense.I already had Leah. We’d been together for three years. She was very beautiful and strong. She was also Marcus, my Beta’s sister. And more so, she was exactly the kind of woman an Alpha was supposed to end up with. Everyone expected us to complete the bond soon.But the pull I felt?

Celia’s POVI bit down hard on my lip, trying to keep the moan in. But as he pushed deeper, my resistance broke as I let out the moan, clenching the silk sheets tightly.“Look at me,” Nikolai said with a voice dripping with want.I forced my eyes open, meeting his intense gaze. The same eyes I’d caught earlier that night at the pack gathering. The ones that had made my breath catch because the Alpha, our Alpha, had actually been looking at me.He moved again, and another sound escaped my throat helplessly.“That’s it,” he murmured, sliding his hand up my thigh.I knew I shouldn’t be here. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I was nothing other than an orphaned omega who had spent her days scrubbing floors and taking orders. I didn’t belong anywhere near Nikolai Rydor’s bed, much less under him. But when he’d come up to me at the gathering, when he’d leaned close and asked me to follow him, I just couldn't say no. My whole life, I had been invisible. And suddenly, someone like him saw me.I