Shakirah 的作品

The dark Duke“Fine,” Alastair said. “I got married.”The room went quiet enough that Laird could hear the refrigerator hum. He studied Alastair for a long moment, the man looked like a cat that had just been dipped in ice water and was doing his level best to pretend otherwise. “Fascinating,” Laird said. “So all this time, we’ve had a married man amidst ourselves.”“You what?” Hero straightened so fast it was a wonder he didn’t give himself whiplash.“Married. This morning. Registry office on Fenwick Street.” Alastair said it flatly as if to imply it’s not that big of a deal. Unfortunately for him, Laird disagreed. He let the silence stretch a full three seconds, watching Alastair’s composure begin to strain under the weight of it.“Stop that,” Alastair said finally.Laird smirked and innocently asked, “Stop what?”“Your silence act.”“What silence act?”“You’ve always had an irritating talent for making silence feel like an interrogation. Tone it down. I can feel it too,” Hero com

The dark Duke“And why, precisely, would you think I’d invent a dog?” Alastair asked from behind the kitchen counter, looking altogether too pleased with himself as he lifted a mug of black coffee to his lips.“Indeed, Meadows. Why would he?” Laird’s gaze drifted briefly to Hero before he crouched beside Chauncey, letting his fingers work behind the dog’s ears while his mind kept working elsewhere.Hero looked around the apartment, taking in the space with exaggerated interest. “Wow. I love what you’ve done with the place.” And then he collapsed face-first onto the sofa like a man returning from a war he’d personally lost, one arm flung over his eyes before a single one cracked open toward the kitchen.Alastair’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Thank you. And you, Laird?”Laird straightened slowly, his gaze making an unhurried sweep of the room.The apartment was considerably warmer than he would have expected of Alastair. Too much colour and life. It lacked the cold, polished severity he ha

The returned Heir “She proposed… to me.” Alaric went deathly silent again. Then, “My, oh my.” His voice was laced with intrigue. “Indeed, it is. How ever did that happen?” Alastair smiled, evidently enjoying his luck. “Let’s just say it has a great deal to do with Keller’s perfectly timed betrayal.” “Mhm, very heartbreaking though. It’s all over social media.” “And,” Alastair continued. “There’s more?” Alaric wondered. “A little bit of a touch of my effortless charm of course.”Alaric burst into a fit of laughter. “Ahhhhhhhh,” he said once he’d calmed, “there he is.”“Who?”“The grandson I remember, cocky as ever. It warms my heart.”Alastair shook his head. “I’m hanging up now Grandpa.”“No, you aren’t Altair.”“No?”“Nope!” He said, popping the ‘p’ “ Go on, tell me all about how the proposal went don’t hang me out to dry now.”Alastair paused. He recalled the circumstances and details surrounding the proposal and decided it was best to recount the whole thing to Alaric before

The returned HeirElliot dropped Alastair back at his apartment and went off on his merry way to make his scheduled morning tea time with Alaric.“Welcome home, sir.”Alastair stepped through the front door and glanced at Mr. Ahmed.“Did you miss me?”“Terribly, sire.” Alastair gave him a look. “But, I’m sure mister Chauncey missed you more.” Just in time the dog came hurtling towards its owner. “I’m touched.” “I thought you might be.”Alastair strolled into his living room and dropped onto the sofa. His thoughts came flooding in like a tide that had been waiting all morning for him to finally be alone. It was signed, done and dusted. The proof was there. The absurdity of it might have amused him under different circumstances but as it was, he was bound, by contract, to the woman whose family was responsible for his mother’s death.And it no longer mattered whether she was the woman he’d once loved so fiercely or not. Everything had changed the moment the intel reached him — that h

The misplaced Heiress (We shall now refer to Miaelle as Lysandra.)Lysandra retired back to her room, too exhausted to deal with any more of her family’s prodding about Altair, Gabriell, and Mia. She sat on the hanging swing chair at her balcony, letting her thoughts drift with the wind.I can’t believe this. I got dumped, publicly humiliated, and married to a stranger, all in less than twenty-four hours. Not to mention, I just officially signed the deed proclaiming my status as CEO and owner of all my companies.She frowned slightly and decided she’d deal with all that another time. Instead, Lysandra focused her thoughts on the young gentleman she now had the privilege of calling her husband.She thought it odd that he’d be dressed so expensively, have such access to high-end property, and still claim to be low on rent.“No,” she whispered to no one. “Maybe he was jesting. Didn’t want to freak me out.”So she thought of all that she knew. She knew faces, names, and families. She kne

The misplaced Heiress Sylas cleared his throat from the sofa arm. “For what it’s worth, Auntie, I’ve never seen her look at anyone the way she looked just now, saying his name.”“I did not look at anything.” “Girl. I have known you your entire life. Be serious.”“I am being serious and I know me just fine. I did not look anything.”“You absolutely did.””Did not!” “Definitely did too.” He said smugly.“Sylaaaas.” “Lysandraaaa.” “Mom…” “Auntie…” “Ughhh Sylas!”“I’m only saying what I saw.” He held up both hands, entirely unrepentant which in turn had Miaelle pouting. Her mother’s mouth twitched. “As I was saying, whatever he’s after, bring him here. Let me look him in the eye before I decide whether to trust him with my daughter’s company, her name,” she winks towards Sylas “and apparently now her heart.”“He doesn’t know about any of that yet,” Miaelle sulks quietly. “The companies anything really about who I really am.”“Then perhaps,” her mother said, tucking the certificate

“His Majesty, Alpha King Titan.” Dalton’s voice cuts cleanly through the room, formal as ever, though Maxine catches the faint tightening at his jaw before he steps aside. “Thank you, Dalton.” Titan’s gaze sweeps the room, and Maxine has the sense — not for the first time — that he’s not simply looking, but assessing. “Ladies, forgive my interruption, but I wish to take my mate away.” Elara dips into a graceful bow. “Your Majesty. As you wish.” Titan crosses to Maxine, and the shift in him is immediate, the coldness she thought she caught earlier smoothed warmth and doting aimed towards her. He takes her hand. “I hope seeing your mother again has been everything you’d hoped.” Maxine hesitates. But the words come out more honest than she thought they would. “It’s not what I expected, to say the least. And I do have quite a number of questions.But it was good to know I have a mother.” Satisfaction flickers across Titan’s face, she takes it in. Then he smiles, slow and indulgent, a

Jeremiah sighs, dragging both hands down his face. “What’s there left to do?” “The work. The planning.” Drago rubs the back of her neck, staring at the stack of unread reports like it’s personally offended her and has no intention of apologizing. “Not forgetting running an entire pack, especially with him going off to the human libraries.” “Right. And who knows how long that’ll take.” Soren mutters. “Also, we do need a way not to make it too obvious.” “It’s your idea.” Jeremiah crosses his arms, leaning back against the desk, watching Soren pace the stretch of floor between the window and the bookshelf. “What do you plan on making of it and how do you plan on going about it without raising suspicion?”“I could go early in the morning, before dawn. Not many would be up by then.” “Or maybe the soldiers will get a glimpse of your form.” Jeremiah raises an eyebrow, tapping a finger against his crossed arm. “One sighting of a Gamma slipping the border at odd hours and the whole pack’s

Five days- that’s how long it has been since the Alpha of the Nightshade Pack has been in that painfully unconscious state. His sister had tried all medications she could think of, but none worked. The pack was being run by his second and third in command, but the two were heavily worried about him nonetheless. The days grew darker as the Alpha’s sleeping state didn’t improve any more than the pain depicted by his face did. A knock sounds at the door. Soren enters. “How is he? Any changes?” Drago sighs pitifully. “None so far; he’s been that way since I got here.” “Are you sure there’s nothing we can do…?” Jeremiah asks desperately. “I’ve tried all I could.” “I’ve gone through all the books I could find, but still, nothing.” Soren’s jaw ticks. “None of them says anything more other than the story I read.” “Does it say how he woke up?” “No.” “Do we know how long he’ll remain like this?” Jeremiah looks to Soren. “Unfortunately, still no.” His gaze moves to Drago. “I have no i

Maxine stares at the woman before her. The word continues echoing through her mind.Daughter. Not Your Highness. Not Future Luna. Not Maxine. Daughter.The room seems to disappear around her.For a moment, she isn’t sitting in the Northern Chambers of the Alpha King’s castle. She isn’t a wolf shifter. She isn’t a future queen.She’s just a little girl again—a little girl who spent years wondering why everyone else had parents to run to.A little girl who used to stare at families playing and running around outside as they walked through the city market with Kassy when restocking supplies and imagining what her mother’s voice might have sounded like.A little girl who had long since accepted that she would never know. “Daughter.”The word breaks through her thoughts again. And before she can stop herself, she’s moving. She crosses the room in what feels like a single heartbeat.The woman—Elara—opens her arms. Maxine throws herself into them. The embrace is warm. Too warm. She smells o

Maxine wakes to the sound of someone calling her name, or rather, her new title.“Your Highness?” A groan escapes her lips before she can stop it.The morning sun streams through the curtains, its golden rays piercing directly into her eyes. She throws an arm over her face and buries herself deeper beneath the warm, cozy blankets.“Oh, you are awake, Your Highness.” Eliza sounds entirely too cheerful for this hour of the morning. Inside her mind, a familiar voice grumbles. “Can I shut her up?”Maxine bites back a laugh. Thraen was not a morning wolf—at all. ‘No,’ Maxine replies silently. ‘You may not.’“Shame.” A yawn stretches through their shared consciousness. “I was having a wonderful dream. There was food. Lots of food.”Maxine cracks an eye open. “Why are we awake so early?” she asks, her voice thick with sleep. “It’s not like I have much to do around here.”Across the room, Eliza has already begun pulling back the heavy curtains one by one, flooding the chamber with even mor

Dalton pauses and nods once, strutting towards the door. The moment he disappears into the corridor, Eliza closes the distance between them.“Drink while it’s hot.”Maxine looks down at the tea, then back at Eliza. The maid smiles. Everything looks normal yet today it feels wrong.Still, Maxine raises the cup to her lips. She takes a sip, then another, and another... The warmth spreads through her body almost immediately. Her shoulders relax and the room softens around the edges. She blinks, a yawn escapes her lips. “I guess it’s time.”Eliza’s smile widens. “The medicine is working.”‘Medicine.’Right, of course. That made sense. Maxine tries to nod. The effort seems strangely difficult. She sits down on the bed. The song from the forest sounded farther away now. Like hearing music underwater.“Get some shut eye your highness.” Eliza coos.Maxine’s eyelids grow heavier, but she thinks about Dalton, about what he had almost said. About the way he’d looked at her.“Eliza?”“Yes, Your