Peeta Mellark Hunger Games

"Althea." I still. I shiver. He says my name like it's sacred, like it's an oath he's swearing. He tilts his head to the side, eyes roaming over my face. "Tell me," he murmurs, "what do you want me to call you?" My eyes slowly meet his, confused by his question. "What do you want to call me?" "I want to call you mine.” *** Althea Gray is a bullied omega who has fought for survival at every turn of her entire life. When she discovers her boyfriend of three years has been cheating on her, heartbreak is the least of her problems. She's been chosen for the deadly Mate Games, a brutal competition where females from all parts of the kingdom, fight for the chance to win the favor and heart of the ruthless Alpha prince. Prince Asher Valebrook is as cold as his ice-blue stare, and he has no interest in love. Althea knows better than to want him, but a reckless one-night stand might seal her fate. Though she and Asher claim to hate each other, the line between love and hate is dangerously thin. With betrayals lurking in every shadow and survival far from guaranteed, Althea must play the game wisely. But in a palace built on blood and lies, winning Asher's heart might be the deadliest challenge of all.

Heartbreak is supposed to kill a wolf’s spirit, but Aria Vale refuses to die quietly. Humiliated before her entire pack when her fated mate publicly rejects her, Aria returns home, shattered and furious, only to find a black envelope waiting on her bed. Inside lies an invitation to a deadly challenge known only as The Game: “Survive, and win what your heart desires most.” With nothing left to lose, Aria enters a realm beyond her world, an ancient castle suspended between life and death, where each dawn brings a new trial of survival. Competitors vanish one by one, hunted by the magic that governs the Game. But not everyone is what they seem. One contestant, a charming, infuriatingly optimistic wolf named Kael, seems more interested in keeping her alive than winning himself. His warmth disarms her, his smiles irritate her, and his secrets could destroy them both. Now Aria must survive the trials, outsmart the goddess who created them, and decide what freedom truly means: breaking her bond to the mate who betrayed her, or risking everything for the wolf who was never supposed to love her.

I never chose to enter the Arena— the place that swallows humans and supernaturals from every era and throws them into a death game with only one rule: survive. One moment I was walking down a normal street. The next, I woke up in a prehistoric jungle with the ground trembling under massive, thundering footsteps. That’s where I met him—Kael. An Alpha Werewolf with lethal instincts, a body built for violence, and eyes that could pin me in place more easily than his claws ever could. He had zero interest in saving anyone. Especially me. To him, I was a burden. To me, he was a threat. And he definitely wasn’t planning to keep me alive. “You’re not human, Maddie.” His breath ghosted my ear, hot and shivering down my spine. “And whatever you are… you shouldn’t exist in this world.” But the Arena made its choice before either of us could: Every round in this cursed place keeps forcing us together—fighting back-to-back, bleeding for each other, breathing in sync. Yet every time danger closes in, I end up pressed against his chest, his breath warm against my ear as he growls instructions I shouldn’t find intoxicating. “Stay with me, Maddie. You won’t survive a single night without me.” Maybe he’s right. Maybe I don’t want to survive without him. But the truth inside me—what I am, what I carry— …might be the very thing that gets him killed. And when Kael finally corners me in the dark, his voice a low, wicked whisper at my neck, I realize the Arena isn’t the deadliest thing here. He is. “Tell me what you are, little flame… before I’m forced to claim you.”

One life for another. That is the rule of the Aftergame. Lena was a ghostwriter who lived in the shadows—until a devastating betrayal by her sister pushed her into the path of a speeding truck. She expected the void. Instead, she woke up in a sadistic, system-driven purgatory where the dead must compete for a second chance at life. In this gore-soaked nightmare, survival has a name: Riven. A lethal player with eyes like cold flint, Riven breaks the game’s cardinal rule to save Lena, making them both targets of the system’s wrath. But as they reach the final level, the horrific truth unvails. Riven isn’t a player. He is the Executioner—a sentient program designed to mimic love, only to deliver the ultimate soul-crushing betrayal. But Riven has developed a terminal malfunction: he truly loves her. Now, Lena is back in the land of the living, but the world is starting to pixelate. To save her, the machine that was meant to kill her has built her a cage. And in the Aftergame, mercy is the most terrifying fate of all.

## **The Wicked Games We Play for Love** *Book One of The Wicked Series* Fourteen years ago, Dorian Vanderbilt abandoned Troy Summers in an orphanage. He locked her in a closet, walked away with his new wealthy family... and never came back. She spent fourteen years preparing for one thing. Revenge. Now twenty, Troy earns a place at an elite university where Dorian studies, armed with a simple plan: make him fall hopelessly in love with her, then destroy him piece by piece. Only Dorian isn't the boy she remembers. He is quiet. Calculating. Beautiful. Dangerous. A man with silver hair, ancient eyes, and a talent for seeing through every lie she tells. As Troy's carefully crafted seduction begins to work, her plan starts unraveling. The university hides violent secrets. Men fight like predators. Wolves roam the forests after dark. A lonely vampire mourns the loss of sunlight. Ancient druids guard magic that should no longer exist. And Dorian is not simply the heir to a powerful family... He is the nine-tailed fox. Bound by an ancient fae treaty that has stolen freedom from every supernatural race, Dorian has spent centuries manipulating allies and enemies alike in search of a way to break it. Troy was never supposed to become part of that plan. But the more they deceive each other, the more dangerous their game becomes. Every kiss is a test. Every touch is a lie. Every act of intimacy is another move in a ruthless battle between revenge and love. Until Troy discovers the truth. The boy she swore to destroy may be the only one capable of saving them all. And Dorian's greatest weakness has never been his enemies. It's the orphan girl he left behind.

She was sent to kill the Alpha. One mission. One target. One bullet with his name on it. Sadie never failed an assignment. Not once. In six months she had already outrun veterans with thirty years on them inside an organization her father built but never wanted her near. Emmett was supposed to be just another name on her list. But something about him is different. The closer she gets, the more her certainty begins to slip. He is nothing like what she was told. And this mission that started out so simple is becoming the most dangerous thing she has ever walked into. Not because he could kill her. But because somewhere between the job and the man, Sadie is losing her focus. She came with one purpose. She has done this a hundred times. But for the first time in her life, the girl who never hesitates is hesitating...