Novels by Riri Pearl

"Seems like you two have already met," Mr Blake chuckled. "You can read the contract carefully before signing. Give it your best." He tapped my shoulder and was about to leave, but the angry voice of Damien made him turn."Father, explain what the hell is going on.""Figure that out yourself." His father gave a smile before going out.I walked out immediately and followed the housekeeper, ignoring the fury burning inside Damien.This is a bit harder than I thought. Knowing that he has no idea I'm supposed to be his personal maid only makes it more awkward. His father was an interesting menace for keeping that little detail to himself.I chuckled, but the sound quickly died when I caught myself comparing him to my abusive, useless father. Damien was lucky to have an active father in his life.What could I do other than try my best?I stared down at the blue paper file, my eyes scanning the list of impossible tasks I was expected to make him participate in.This had to be a joke."Your

The afternoon sun beat down on the brick pathways of Westridge University. I had finally decided to come to school today after spending most of the morning talking myself out of it. The mark on my wrist where my father had hit me was still an angry shade of red, so I wore a long-sleeved shirt to keep it hidden.I walked into the freshman dorm lounge. The space was beautiful, with plush leather couches and floor-to-ceiling windows, but it felt less like a dorm and more like the lobby of a luxury hotel.I sank into an empty armchair in the corner and pulled out my battered laptop. I needed to focus. The mysterious email I had received last night was still in my mind, and I was determined to uncover more details about it."Elena, right?"I blinked, looking up from my blank document. A girl with dark, perfectly styled hair and a vibrant smile was standing in front of my chair, holding two iced coffees."I'm Chloe," she said, offering one of the cups toward me. "I saw you in Psychology ear

The crisp scent of expensive cologne filled my nose."What do you want, Damien?" I asked, keeping my back to him. I refused to let him see the way my hands were shaking."You dropped this."I turned around slowly, bracing myself. Damien stood there, holding a worn, black ballpoint pen. It was the cheap type that came in a pack of ten, the one I had been using during Psychology class. It looked completely ridiculous in his hand.I reached out to take it, but he didn't let go immediately."You have a lot of nerve calling me out in front of everyone," he said quietly. The bored expression he wore in the student center was gone."I was just greeting an old acquaintance," I replied, lifting my chin to meet his gaze. "Or is that against the Westridge social code?"Damien let go of the pen suddenly, stepping back. He looked down at me with an unreadable expression."Let's get one thing straight, Elena," he said, and the way he spoke my name made a shiver run down my spine. "We aren't acquain

There are two things I love. My peace of mind and my personal boundaries. In hindsight, getting a scholarship to Westridge University was the beginning of losing both. At the time, though, I was too excited to care. I stood outside the iron gates of Westridge University, watching luxury cars pull up one after another. Mercedes. BMW. Even a Porsche. Rich students got out of them. They wore fancy clothes and carried bags that were worth more than everything I own. My fingers tightened around the straps of my worn JanSport. Maybe this was a mistake. "Elena! You made it!" I turned to see Jade Harper running toward me, her honey-blonde hair bouncing with each step. I was relieved. At least I had one friend here, even if we'd only met at the scholarship orientation last month. She is currently in her second year of college. I was fortunate that my scholarship allowed me to transfer credits rather than restarting. This means we actually get to attend the same classes. "I almost di

I was sitting on the edge of my bed. My head was buried deeply in my hands. I could hear the low, electric hum of the old refrigerator in our cramped kitchen. Most of all, I could hear my mother pacing in the hallway outside my door, then heard a knock on my door. I did not know why my mom had been so bothersome lately. "Mom, what is it?" I finally shouted. I stood up and pulled the door open. I fully expected to see my mother standing there with another plate of leftover food or another lecture about my future. Instead, I froze completely in the doorway. Rachel was standing in the hallway. She was the lady my mom had been forcing on my head for the past few weeks. I was incredibly surprised to see her standing in front of my room. I vividly remembered lying to her just a few days ago. After our brief meeting at the cafe, I had sent her a message saying I was traveling out of the city for a family emergency to avoid seeing her again. Her presence here was like a slap in the fa

I stared at my mother, gently rubbing my bruised wrist where the silver collar had burned my skin just moments before. The room was suffocatingly quiet. Then my eyes moved to the wet floor where the glass had shattered into countless sharp pieces. The water was flowing into the expensive carpet, turning the pale fabric dark."But what does that mean, Mom?" I asked, my voice breaking under the weight of my confusion. "You are a human. Father married you. He chose you, and you live here with us. Why is it so impossible for me to do the exact same thing?"My mother shook her head frantically. She took a step back from me, her face entirely pale with terror."It is different," my mother whispered, her voice trembling with absolute fear. "You will never understand why this could never work the same way for us as it worked for your father and me. You do not understand the rules they play by, Selene. There are some terrible things that happen to people who disobey the pack rules by marrying

SELENE I was now tied in steel chains in the center of my own bedroom. I could not do anything to free myself. I was incredibly weak. They had placed a metal collar around my neck to silence the wolf inside me. The silver burned into my skin, acting as a toxic barrier that cut me off from the wild, powerful part of my soul. The silence inside my own head was deafening. I felt empty and broken.I leaned my head against the wooden floorboards and remembered Silas. I remembered the terror in his beautiful dark eyes when he saw the wolves in the alley. I knew exactly what he was going to do. He was an environmental scientist. He demanded facts. He would investigate everything he had seen. He would search for answers, tell people the truth, and no one would believe him. Society would simply label him insane. That is exactly what I would say if I were in his position.I started thinking all these terrible things, my heart hammering painfully against my bruised ribs. I lay on the floor bla

I stood frozen against the damp brick wall of the alley. The cold moisture seeped entirely through my shirt, but I could barely feel it over the frantic drumming of my heart. The three wolves completely blocked the only exit. They were massive, defying every known biological law I had ever studied in my academic career. The largest one, a creature of shimmering silver and gray fur, took another deliberate step forward. Its amber eyes locked onto mine. There was a terrifying, undeniable intelligence in that gaze. It was not the blank, instinctive stare of a wild animal. It was a conscious, evaluating look that pinned me in place. I held my breath. I pressed my palms flat against the rough brick surface behind me. I waited for the teeth. I waited for the inevitable end of my life. Then, without a single sound, the silver wolf turned its massive head. It let out a low huff of air and simply walked away. The other two followed immediately. They melted back into the heavy shadows of the a

SILAS'S POVI turned to Selene, looking her dead in the eyes. I needed to know if this was a domestic dispute or a kidnapping. "Do you know him?""Yes," Selene said quietly."Do you want to go with him?""No." Her answer was firm but laced with a terror that made my stomach knot.I turned back to Garrett. "You heard her. Back off."For a split second, Garrett looked genuinely surprised. Then his expression twisted into disdain. He tilted his head as if observing a suicidal insect."Oh, that is adorable," Garrett said, taking another step forward. His voice dropped to a low whisper. "The human thinks he can..."His hand moved in a blur toward me. I did not even have time to blink, let alone raise my arms in defense.Selene reacted instantly, spinning in front of me and grabbing Garrett's wrist mid-motion. The movement was impossibly fast, faster than anything I had ever seen, and I heard a sharp crack like bone on bone as she stopped him cold. The force of the impact sent a shockwave o

"Oh mine, are you okay?""Someone call 911!""Do not touch them! They might have spinal injuries," a woman shouted from the sidewalk."I have got dispatch on the line," a man replied frantically."Did you see that? That truck came out of nowhere."Selene's face was buried against my shoulder, her body trembling. Her fingers dug into my shirt like claws."Selene," I said gently.She lifted her head, and for just a split-second, her eyes flashed gold. Then she blinked and they were normal again. Dark brown, wide with shock.My entire nervous system was screaming. What the fuck. What the actual fuck. Eyes do not change colors. I am seeing things. A stress hallucination. An adrenaline dump causing visual distortion. Except I know what I saw. I KNOW what I saw. Bioluminescence exists in deep-sea creatures, fireflies, certain fungi, but not in mammalian eyes. Which means either I am losing my mind or she is not human.I cut off the thought before I could finish it. This was not the time for