Novels by Emel Emerald

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

BristonI was in the training grounds when I heard the roar that shook the entire fortress. It wasn't a normal wolf sound. It was the sound of my father's cursed beast and it made every hair on my body stand on end. I dropped the practice sword I was holding and ran toward the main building while my heart pounded in my chest.The guards in the hallway were backing away from the dining room with fear written all over their faces. I pushed past them and burst through the doors to find a scene that made my blood run cold.Melissa was lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. She was back in her human form and her body was twisted at angles that weren't natural. Her shoulder was torn open and I could see bone through the mangled flesh. Her ribs looked caved in on one side and her breathing was shallow and wet.My father stood in the center of the room with blood dripping from his hands and his eyes still glowing red from his shift. He looked at me with no remorse and no explanation.

MelissaI ran into my chamber and slammed the door behind me with enough force to rattle the frame. My hands were shaking as I wiped the tears from my face and tried to catch my breath but the sobs kept coming in waves that I couldn't control. I pressed my back against the door and slid down to the floor while my chest heaved with the weight of everything that had just happened.Property. He had called me property in front of his son and the entire household staff like I was a piece of furniture he had purchased at a market.I stayed there for a moment and let myself cry until my throat was raw and my eyes burned. Then I forced myself to stand up and look around the room that had become my prison. The expensive furniture and silk sheets meant nothing when I was locked in here every night like a criminal. The beautiful dresses hanging in the closet were just costumes I wore to play the role of Luna while everyone knew I was nothing more than a slave.I had no worth here. My boyfriend K

BristonI finished buttoning my shirt and was about to head out when the guard who had delivered the message cleared his throat and shifted his weight from one foot to the other."And your young stepmother is there as well," he added with a shake of his head. "Oh poor thing, I feel so much pity for her."I stopped in my tracks and turned slowly to face him."What did you just say?" I asked quietly.The guard looked up at me with confusion and opened his mouth to repeat himself."I said your stepmother is there and she's such a poor..."My hand connected with his face before he could finish the sentence and the sound of the slap echoed through the room. He stumbled backward and grabbed his cheek while his eyes went wide with shock."You call your Luna a poor thing?" I growled as I stepped toward him. "How dare you?"I grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall hard enough to knock the breath out of him."She is your Luna," I hissed in his face. "You will address her with

BristonI watched Melissa walk out of the training room and I couldn't stop staring at her like I was trying to read something written in a language I didn't understand. Her eyes looked like someone who had been going through hell, someone desperate for help but too proud or too scared to ask for it. The exhaustion was written in every line of her face and the way she moved with careful deliberation like her body was one wrong step away from breaking.Where did my father even buy her from? I thought to myself as I stood there frozen in place. Were her parents aware this was how she was being treated?I looked at her hair pulled back in a tight bun as she gathered her things from the bench and suddenly I remembered the previous night at dinner when my father had dragged her by that same hair.The memory made my jaw clench and my fists tighten at my sides. The sound of her screaming echoed in my head and I felt anger rise in my chest all over again.She had tried to defend herself and

BristonI stood in the library long after the guard had left and stared at the shelf where she had been hiding and tried to make sense of why I had intervened in the first place. What was she doing sneaking around the library like a thief? Did she think I was going to report her to my father for reading a book? The thought was absurd and yet she had hidden from me like I was the enemy.My wolf Gorne growled low in my chest and I felt the familiar heat of his presence pushing against my control."Gorne, that's my father's Luna," I said out loud to the empty room. "She's out of bounds."Gorne didn't respond but I felt his disapproval radiating through our bond and I pushed him down harder until he retreated into the back of my mind with a snarl.I walked out of the library and headed toward my chambers while trying to scrub the image of her sitting on the floor with that book from my thoughts. I had almost reached my door when a guard intercepted me and bowed his head."The Alpha reques

MellisaI woke up to the sharp ache of swollen feet and a body that felt like it had been trampled by an entire pack. I tried to sit up but the pain shot through my legs and forced me back down onto the mattress with a gasp. I lay there for a moment and stared at the ceiling while I tried to gather enough strength to move.The sound of voices outside my door pulled my attention away from the pain."The Alpha is gone now, we should rest," one guard said loudly."It's your turn to watch the Luna's door," another voice argued back."No, it's yours. I did it yesterday.""You're lying. I was here yesterday."I listened to them bicker back and forth like children and realized that this might be my only chance to do something for myself. I needed to know about the curse. What curse did Draven have and how was it going to affect me? The thought had been eating at me since Briston mentioned it the first night, and I couldn't just sit here and wait for answers that would never come.I forced my

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?"