Novels by Emel Emerald

CharlieI saw the way they were looking at me, they had heard everything, every single word.I walked through the office doors at eight sharp and knew within thirty seconds that something had shifted overnight. The receptionist smiled two seconds too late. The two analysts near the water cooler stopped talking the moment I rounded the corner. Davies found something urgent to look at on his phone the moment our eyes met across the floor.I kept walking.My secretary was already at her desk when I reached my office and she looked up with the specific brightness of someone who had been rehearsing normally all morning."Good morning Mr. Thorne, your nine o'clock has confirmed and…""Has anyone said anything," I asked her directly.She blinked. "Sir?""To you, about me, about last night, has anyone in this building said anything to you."She held my gaze for exactly one second too long. "Not to me directly sir, no."I walked into my office and closed the door.I sat at my desk and stared a

EvelynI waited for his call but nothing came, usually he would get mad and we would solve it but I did not know what had happened now.Amanda appeared in my study doorway carrying a tray, setting it on the edge of my desk with the quiet efficiency she always brought to everything."Ma'am, you have not eaten since morning," she told me gently, lifting the cover off the plate.I looked at it. "What is this?""Grilled salmon with roasted vegetables, your favorite ma…""Take it away," I told her, turning back to my screen.Amanda hesitated. "Ma'am you really should…""Amanda," I replied, and she picked up the tray and left without another word.I stared at my screen and told myself to focus.Leo appeared in the doorway ten minutes later, his football was tucked under one arm, his expression carried the specific disappointment of a child whose afternoon had not gone according to plan."Mama, where did uncle Julian go," he asked, "I have been looking everywhere for him, we were supposed to

CharlieSerena had gotten into trouble again. I could sense it from the number calling my phone. This time I was sure she went directly for the fish and got hooked by it.My phone kept ringing as I sat in my car staring at the car park wall outside my office building. I picked it up without checking the screen."Am I speaking with Mr. Charles Thorne?" the voice on the other end asked."Speaking," I replied."Mr. Thorne, this is Officer Daniels from the fourth precinct, we have your wife here at the station, she was brought in approximately forty minutes ago and she has listed you as her emergency contact."I said nothing for a full three seconds."Mr. Thorne, are you there?""I am here," I replied, "I will be there shortly."I ended the call and sat there gripping the phone in my hand."Why can she not stay out of trouble?" I muttered to the steering wheel, "why, why can she not for one single day just stay out of it, what the hell has she done now."I started the engine and pulled o

EvelynJulian had refused to say anything to me after last night, I very well understood his anger but he was still quiet until now, it was just absurd.I had woken up expecting him to be at the breakfast table the way he always was, coffee in hand, something dry and clever waiting on his lips, but his seat was empty and his coffee cup was clean and dry in the cabinet. The house had that particular quality of quiet that meant he had left early enough to avoid the possibility of running into me.I sat at the table alone and looked at his empty chair.Fine, I thought, let him be dramatic about it.Amanda appeared in the doorway with Leo on her hip, already dressed and clutching his SpiderMan toy. "Good morning ma'am, shall I get Leo's breakfast started?""Please," I replied, reaching up to kiss Leo's cheek as Amanda carried him past."Morning mama," Leo murmured sleepily, dropping his head on Amanda's shoulder.I watched them disappear into the kitchen and turned back to my coffee and t

CharlieSilence had always been better but I could not lie that I still felt like absolute trash for letting anything out because of a stupid promise.Serena was already in the kitchen when I came downstairs, dressed and composed in the careful way she dressed when she was trying to appear unbothered, and she looked up the moment I walked in."Good morning," she offered.I pulled a mug from the cabinet, poured my coffee and stood at the counter with my back half turned to her, drinking it in silence."Charlie," she tried again, softer this time.I drank my coffee, without a word.She moved toward the table and sat down, watching me with the particular patience of a woman who had decided that this morning was going to be the morning I cracked. I finished the last of my coffee, set the mug in the sink, picked up my briefcase from the chair by the door and walked out."Char…" she started.The door closed.I was at the office before seven thirty, which was early enough that the building w

EvelynWe had plans to go back to Oakhaven but somehow I still wanted to see the distraught faces of Charlie and Serena, it made it all so fun to look at.Leo was on the sitting room floor with his crayons and a fresh sheet of paper when Julian walked in, with hands in his pockets, wearing the expression of a man who had been rehearsing an opening line for longer than he was going to admit."Can we talk?" he said."Sure," I replied, reaching across to hand Leo the red crayon he had been stretching toward."About going back to Oakhaven…" Julian began, settling onto the arm of the sofa, "we have been here longer than we originally planned and the team back home needs us.""Mama look," Leo thrust his paper toward my face with both hands, "I drew the bad dragon and he is on fire."I took the paper and studied it with complete seriousness. "Who set him on fire?""Me and SpiderMan," Leo replied without hesitation."Obviously," I told him, handing it back, then glanced up at Julian, "later J

The dining room of the Blackwood mansion had been its pride always. Below the chandeliers of imported crystal was a long mahogany table. It had been the home of deals, the home of impressions, the home of Samuel Blackwood, king of his loyal retinue, as decades had passed. However, the air was not like this night. Leya was at the table-end. Not as a guest. Not as an intruder. As the host. The mahogany under her hand was hers, the chandeliers shone back on her. All the servants in the room were walking about with contracted shoulders, and in low whispering glances, since they were all aware whose name was on the deeds and papers in the vault. Samuel was sitting three chairs down, not head any longer. His jaws were so tight that his vein in his temple ached. He had been kept silent three days, three days of her re-orienting his house about herself. Now the silence broke. “Eleanor. Vivian.” There was a clink of dishwares broken by the voice of Leya. Her hand was not raised in gratit

The atmosphere of the Blackwood mansion had been filled with millions of polish and perfume, fresh-cut roses in crystal vases and so forth. It smelled now of smoke, not of actual fire, but of the smoke which remains after a shipwreck. The air was thick with defeat.Samuel sat despondently in the study looking upon an empire that now no longer took care of him. Several hours had passed before he touched his bourbon. All his eyes were red and his hands trembling on the desk. The manuscripts in his presence were not his, and had been gilted with seals, of which he had not given the issue. Ownership transfers. Legal notices. One was called by a name which turned his stomach:Leya Anderson.The woman whom he had buried in hatred. The reverted woman had entered to be his executioner.As the door creaked Samuel did not raise his head. He knew the footsteps. He knew the silence.“Samuel.”Her tones were very low, and yet like a knife.Leya entered the room, with no more haste, letting her red

The silence that followed the fall of Samuel was deafening. The physique of a man whose voice could make statutes in the halls seemed almost obscene. Eleanor dropped on her knees by him, and her hands shook as she attempted to raise him.“Samuel!” Her cry cracked like glass. She shook him, desperately, but he groaned, and said, holding his chest.Doctor! she screamed to the servants. “Call the doctor, now!”No one moved. All the maids and all the butlers and all the guards all turned their eyes upon Leya.And Leya did not nod.She just walked out, clicking with her heels on the marble. The echo was more authoritative than the cane of Samuel.New rules, she said, in a low but immovable voice, have been made in this house.Eleanor threw up her head, and her eyes were wild. “You witch! You caused this! You—”The hand of Leya flicked and two bodyguards went on. The cold metal flashed as they brought up their weapons. The words Eleanor was saying choked in her throat.Vivian, who was stand

Samuel’s roar filled the hall. “Out! Out of my house!” With his cane he struck the marble so forcefully that it rang along the rafters. His voice, which was iron, is now frayed like old rope. Leya didn’t flinch. She stood motionlessly with a wall of her bodyguards behind her. The defendant, the judge, the courtroom, all of this was transformed into a courtroom by them, with Samuel at the stand and her at the bench. My house now, she thought, now. “Lies!” He took another step staggering, red creeping up his neck. Fraud, imposture, witchcraft-” his hands trembled as he picked up one of the papers on the table and he was about to rip it to pieces. Leya smiled coldly. “Rip them. Please. Each scrap you scrap only goes to show how desperate you are. And I have thirty more, Samuel. Thirty nails for your coffin.” The cavernous words were sharper than a blade. His hand froze midair. Slowly, it dropped. Vivian moved up, eyes shining, whispering like venom. Father... perhaps it is tru

The stillness in the great hall was long enough to discolour. There were dust-mites in the chandelier light, wait-girls embraced one another in the window-dressing-bays, and the Blackwoods were standing still on the great staircase like marble below their feet.Leya let it linger. She had waited years to see this, now why hurry?Finally, she looked up. Her gaze found Samuel first.“Samuel Blackwood.” Her voice was deep, monotonous, every word slicing the air as a blade. You ought to have interred me stiffer.Samuel blushed, and it seemed to him as though the name had been an indictment rather than a name. I spit, you killed me, and the words were tremulous. “I buried you myself—”No, she interfered, going still deeper into the hall. “You buried a lie. And rotted like all lies it has rotted.The hand of Vivian fluttered to her mouth. Eleanor held the banister because it could not support her. Harrison stood there, paralysed, unable to look away out of her.Leya put her hand into her le

It was several decades since the Blackwood mansion had been silent. Its chandeliers were twinkling, its marble floor gleamed but the brilliance was vacant, as the stage in opera before the curtain is raised on tragedy.Samuel Blackwood had not taken a drop of bourbon, nor had he looked at the phone, using the gaze of a person who could read it to indicate a phone call. All audits, all the calls of lawyers, all the letters had told what his gut had recognized, that his empire was sinking. His name was weakening. His house was cracking.And then came the sound.The heavy throb of engines on the other side. Tires crunching gravel. Doors slamming shut.The guards on the entrance turned stiff. The Blackwood children were at the windows. Sergeants were standing still traying. No one had been expected. The one who appeared unannounced last had appeared many years before.Not by command, but by violence the gates were opened. The black SUVs would like ghosts enter the courtyard with the black

MelissaI woke to the sound of muffled voices and the sharp smell of herbs that made my nose wrinkle. My eyes fluttered open and I found myself staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. White plaster with wooden beams running across it. Not my chambers."She's waking up," someone said softly.I turned my head slowly and saw the pack healer standing beside a narrow bed with her hands clasped in front of her apron. Draven stood near the window with his back to me and his shoulders tense. Briston was positioned by the door with Delilah beside him and both of them were watching me with varying expressions of concern."What happened?" I croaked while trying to sit up.The healer rushed forward and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder."Easy Luna," she instructed. "You fainted during breakfast. You've been unconscious for nearly an hour."An hour? I had been out for an entire hour.Draven turned from the window and crossed the room toward me with quick strides. He sat on the edge of the bed and t

MelissaThe past few weeks had settled into a strange rhythm that felt both dangerous and intoxicating. During the day I sat beside Draven at council meetings while he discussed pack business with his advisors. He treated me like fragile glass now, careful not to be too rough, asking if I needed anything, making sure the servants attended to my every need."Luna Melissa, would you like more water?" one of the maids would whisper."The Luna needs a cushion for her back," Draven would order without even asking me first.I played the part perfectly. Nodding when expected. Smiling at appropriate moments. Sitting next to him when required and making suggestions when permitted.But at night when Draven finally fell into his deep sleep, I would slip out of our chambers and make my way through the dark corridors to find Briston waiting for me in whatever hidden corner of the fortress we had agreed upon.The library became our sanctuary. We would meet there after midnight and talk in hushed vo

BristonI woke up with Melissa's scent still clinging to my sheets and the memory of last night burning through my mind like fire. Every touch, every kiss, every moment she had been mine played on repeat until I had to force myself out of bed just to clear my head.I walked to the window and stared out at the training grounds while my wolf Gorne paced restlessly inside me. We had claimed our mate properly last night. Marked her in every way except the one that would make it permanent and visible to the entire pack.My phone buzzed on the nightstand and I grabbed it quickly. A message from Athen lit up the screen."Need to talk, usual spot in one hour."I dressed quickly and made my way out of the pack house through the side entrance I had been using to avoid my father. The drive to the cafe took less than twenty minutes and when I arrived Athen was already waiting at our corner booth with two cups of coffee sitting on the table.I slid into the seat across from him and he studied my f

KelanI stood at the head of the council chamber table and straightened my ceremonial robes while surveying the room. Every council member had arrived and taken their seats. Cindy sat to my right looking radiant in a deep burgundy gown with her hair arranged in an elaborate style. Valor stood near the back wall with his arms crossed and his expression unreadable."Thank you all for coming," I began as I placed my hands on the table. "I've called this emergency meeting to announce an important decision that will help restore our pack's prosperity."Cindy reached over and squeezed my hand encouragingly. I smiled at her before turning back to the council."After careful consideration and consultation with my great minds," I continued while gesturing toward Cindy, "I have decided that all women in our pack will no longer hold positions in the corporate sector. Instead they will be reassigned to agricultural work in the farms and fields where their labor can directly contribute to our foo

MelissaI stopped fighting, I surged up on my toes, still pinned by his hand, and claimed his mouth again.The kiss was fire and honey. I poured every unspoken ache into it, every lonely night, every stolen glance, every time I felt hollow in Draven’s bed. Briston groaned against my lips, and his grip on my wrists loosened just enough for me to twist free. My hands found his face, holding him to me as I deepened the kiss He shuddered. Then, in one fluid motion, he scooped me up, his arms were around my thighs and I wrapped my legs around his waist instinctively. He carried me to the bed in three strides and dropped me onto the furs. I yanked my robe open while he tore his shirt off. My hands attacked his belt, shoving his pants down. His thick cock sprang free, heavy and leaking. I wrapped my fingers around it and stroked, loving the way he hissed and thrust into my fist.“Fuck, Melissa,” he groaned.I pulled him down on top of me. His mouth found my tits immediately, sucking har

MelissaIt had been a few days since Briston walked out of the council chamber without acknowledging me and the distance between us had only grown wider. Every time I passed him in the hallways he was deep in conversation with Athen or standing too close to Delilah while they discussed pack matters I wasn't privy to.I tried not to notice. I tried not to care.But Mia whined constantly in the back of my mind and pulled at the mate bond until my chest ached with a pain I couldn't explain away as bruised ribs or exhaustion.Today I walked past the library and heard voices drifting through the partially open door. I slowed my steps and glanced inside. Briston stood by the window with his arms crossed while Delilah sat in one of the leather chairs with maps spread across her lap. She pointed to something on the parchment and he leaned down to look closer. His hand rested on the back of her chair and she smiled up at him like he had just said something clever.The sight made my stomach twi

The Last Battle – Axel's Final Stand The triplets burst into Audrey's apartment, closing the door. Audrey sat in the middle of the room, holding herself, face white. Jasmine gave her a quick glance. "You okay?" Audrey nodded but winced her hands. Jayla sighed deeply. "You should have mentioned it when he called." Audrey gazed down. "I thought I could handle it." Jade snorted. "Not with Axel. He doesn't listen to no." Jasmine stood by the window, narrowed eyes intently focused as she gazed out. Then she froze. Outside, in front of the window, on the street, a black car. A dark figure in the car. Watching. Waiting. Her heart was pounding. He was here. She spun to her sisters, low voice, resolute. "He's outside." Audrey's eyes widened. "What?" Jayla leaped to the window to look out. Jade cursed under her breath. "That psycho." Jasmine breathed slowly, deeply, attempting to soothe herself. She wasn't scared. She was angry. Axel had done enough already. Sarah was d

The Final Stand – Axel's Last Gamble Audrey was on her couch in her apartment, frowning at her phone, the screen lighting up with an unknown number. Her gut clenched. She knew who it was. The second it started ringing she knew. A shiver ran down her spine, her heart racing. Axel. He was calling her. She swallowed hard, her fists tight. She had blocked him. Had changed her routine. Had tried to close him out of her life. And yet. He'd somehow come back anyway. The ringing stopped. A voicemail message showed up. She was breathing irregularly as she hit play. And then his voice was smooth and even, weighted with something sinfully wicked bouncing off of the walls. "Audrey he said, did you really think I'd let you go that easily?" Her blood went cold. "We both know you still think of me. Of us." Her fists clenched on the phone. No. No, she didn't. She wouldn't. She couldn't. "I gave you your space. I let you pretend. But it's time to come home, sweetheart." Audre

The Fall of a Legacy – Their Father Is Brought to Account Their father slumped in the interrogation room, the stark metal table between him and the detectives. For the first time in his life, he was not in charge. His expensive attorneys weren't going to get him out of this today. His influence, his name, his power—it meant nothing now. The seasoned detective dropped a file onto the desk, reopening it. Pictures. Documents. DNA tests. It all lay before him. "You drew up official papers," the detective said, his own voice tightly controlled. "You drew up fake papers and left your firstborn daughter to live and live comfortably. His father's jaw clenched. The detective continued, "And because of that, Sarah spent her entire life believing she wasn't wanted." A bitter silence. "And now she's dead." For a moment—a fleeting moment—something passed through his father's eyes. Regret? Guilt? Maybe. But too little, too late. The detective leaned in.

The Last Truth – A Mother's Justice The triplets were in their mother's living room, the weight of what they had to say very much on their minds. Their mother sat opposite them, her fists clenched on the armrests of the chair while her face was set in stiff lines. Jasmine took a deep breath. "Mom… we've got something to say." Jayla leaned forward. "Something about Dad." Jade sighed. "And Sarah." Her mother's eyebrows jerked with horror when she said the name Sarah. "What about her?" Jasmine's voice was constricted, but she fought to say something. "She was our sister." Their mother's breath stalled. Her hand gripped the chair as her knuckles turned white. No one uttered a word for a second. Then, in a whisper just above a murmur— "What did you just say?" Jayla swallowed hard. "Sarah… she was Dad's daughter." Jade paused before saying again, "His first daughter." Their mother turned white. "That's not… that's not possible." Jasmine pulled out the pro

The Aftermath – Shadows of the Past The triplets sat in silence, the weight of the news pressing down on them. Sarah was dead. And even after everything she had done. Even after the lies, the betrayals, the destruction It didn’t feel like a victory. Jade let out a slow breath, staring at the floor. “I thought I’d feel… relieved.” Jayla shook her head, her voice quieter than usual. “Me too.” Jasmine's clutch on her cup of coffee spasmed. "She was our sister." Jayla grumbled unwillingly. "Half-sister." Jasmine shut her eyes. "It doesn't matter." For in the end, Sarah had been as lost as they had once been. The difference? She never had her way back. Fraser and Tressa – A New Beginning, or a New Threat? Tressa turned a lock of hair around her finger, watching out the apartment window. "She's really gone," she murmured. Fraser, who stood behind her, let out a deep sigh. "Yeah." Tressa’s chest tightened. Sarah had been many things—an enemy, a rival, a storm in human form.

The Aftermath – A New Future, A Lingering Past Sarah retreated from the front door of Fraser's, her heart pounding in her ears. She'd dreamed to herself for months that she might possibly be able to fix what she'd broken. That she could win him back. But now? Now, she knew more. She'd been too late. Fraser's moved on. And not with someone. With Tressa. A woman as clever, as cunning, as smart as Sarah used to be. Sarah's fists clenched. She'd lost before. But this? This was not the same. This had been done. And she was not so sure that she could do that. And meanwhile – Fraser and Tressa's New Beginning Tressa shut the door, breathing softly as she smiled at Fraser. "A knight?" she said, regarding him. Fraser rubbed at his hair, jaw locked. "That was. unexpected." Tressa smiled, leaning on the wall. "Seriously? You didn't think she'd come crawling back sooner or later, or something?" Fraser breathed slowly. "Part of me did, yes. But that moment I just saw her?"