Cherry Blossoms After Winter, Vol. 1

“Ms. Arnold, you really should sign this divorce agreement. Otherwise, I won’t be able to answer to Mr. Fisher.” Jeremy Fisher’s personal lawyer, Cole Stewart, stood in front of Hailey Arnold with an anxious expression. In his hands were a freshly printed divorce agreement, the pages still crisp. This was the thirty-third time Jeremy had asked to divorce her. The first time, Hailey climbed onto the rooftop and jumped. She survived but broke one of her legs. The second time, she slashed her wrist with a small knife, and blood flooded half the bathroom. The third time, she swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills and spent three days in the hospital having her stomach pumped. … Every single time, she had used death to force Jeremy to compromise, but this time, she was tired of it.

I was the Beta’s daughter. He was the Alpha’s brother. Not to mention, he was the new Latin teacher at our High School. He reminded me of all that was good in our world. The world hadn’t quite hardened him enough to feel comfortable turning a blind eye. His eyes looked at me with genuine kindness. I needed him to turn a blind eye though. I needed him to not look and let me go. The only way I was going to survive is if I didn’t stand out until I graduated. I was already caught between my Alpha and my Father as they played their own games of succession within our pack. With a few months left, I didn’t need any complications. Nor did I need a mate. Instead I found both.

At the year-end company meeting, I was announcing the bonuses when a new employee suddenly raised her hand. "Over at the other company, they handed out two boxes of imported cherries at their annual party," she said, shaking her phone. "And we only get performance bonuses?" The video, maliciously edited, went viral online and hit the trending list the very next day. I had the finance department cancel all the year-end bonus transfers. "If cherries are what really count as a gesture of goodwill," I said, "then this year's year-end benefit will be cherries—fifty boxes per person." When they saw the mountain of cherries piling up before them, the employees who had once joined in mocking me panicked instantly. One by one, they cried and apologized, begging me to reconsider.

On the eve of our wedding, Trevin Hoffman's childhood sweetheart, a mercenary who had vanished for five years, was struck by a deadly love spell during a mission. When her teammates dragged her back to him, she was covered in blood, barely clinging to life. Trevin, usually calm and composed, lost control. Ignoring my protests, he locked himself in with her for the entire night. I sat outside that door, sleepless until dawn. The next morning, when I demanded an explanation in hysteria, he shielded her with his body and snapped, his mask completely gone. "I couldn't just watch Wren die. One wild night before marriage, what's so wrong with that?" At that moment, I was disillusioned. My love for him vanished in an instant.

Wolves are born, not turned. Rex fell in love, finding his mate in a human, which was forbidden to do, if he acted on that urge he knew the punishment would be severe. After saving his human from a group of Alphas trying to turn a human into a chew toy. Surprising the Alphas, Rex ran in and took off with his human. Spending time with his human made Rex realize he couldn’t live without him. Finding a long forgotten ritual, Rex was able to turn his human into a wolf so they could remain together. The consequences from that decision ignited a war between the Sire Lines, wolves from all corners of Gaia having their wolves and humans together in one body, tempering the bloodlust of their inner wolf brought a peaceful balance to the wolf. Some wolves being unhappy with the awakening of their humanity, a few started putting together a team of wolves, armed with a plan to eliminate Rex and his mate to satisfy a very old grudge, gaining the favor of Vuk Majka, the Mother of Wolves, to aid their cause. Vuk’s sister, Pandora sides with Rex and his wolves trying to keep Nature and Creation from wiping the slate clean, remaking Gaia from the ground to the Heavens.

Calista Harlow is a young woman feeling as if she's on top of the world and ready for anything. Anything, except for a tragedy that shakes her to her very core and changes everything. She has responsibilities now that she can't handle, a new life that she never asked for and so much grief that she can hardly function. No longer a quiet, happy girl, she begins to live her life as if she has nothing to live fore anymore. From drunken dares to life-threatening shenanigans, she is willing to do anything as long as it makes her feel alive again. The only question is; will she live through it? She will if Wyatt Kestrel has anything to say about it. He intends to save her from herself, even if it means she drags him down with her. All in all, it should make for one wild winter.