Sucker Punch: Essays

Three months after my husband, Josiah Erikson, disappears in a skiing accident, I spot him in a bar. He's laughing freely with an arm slung casually around his "best friend", Monica Jones' shoulders. "Good thing you came up with the idea. I'd almost forgotten what freedom feels like." One after another, his buddies clink glasses with him and ask about when he plans to reappear. He looks down and thinks about it before saying, "In a week. I'll show up once she's gone completely crazy searching for me." Standing in the shadows, I watch him savor his freedom, then call my friend who works at the state vital records office.

After working overtime at the company for an entire week, I finally finish the last project on my plate and rush home. Not wanting to wake my sleeping wife, Mia Lawson, I carefully push the door open as quietly as I can. But the house is nothing like the silence I expected. A man's unrestrained laughter cuts sharply through the air. "You're already pregnant and still this bold. Aren't you afraid your husband will catch you?" "Why would I be? He hasn't been home for almost a week. Besides, once I tell him I'm pregnant, he'll be over the moon. There's no way he'll notice anything." In an instant, my hands and feet turn ice-cold, and blood rushes to my head. I'm about to charge in and catch them in the act when my phone suddenly vibrates with a follow-up message from the hospital. "Mr. Brooks, thank you for choosing our hospital for your vasectomy. We wish you and your wife a lifetime of happiness." A lifetime of happiness? I stare at those words, let out a cold laugh, and regain my composure. Then I turn around and call my divorce lawyer.

I need to drive to and from work due to a change in my job scope. However, my father-in-law hoards my car and refuses to return it. My husband stands up for him. "How can you be so materialistic? So what if you have to take an electric scooter to work?" So, I sell the car. My husband points at me and snaps, "What right do you have to sell Dad's car?" I look at him calmly. "I've sold the one you drive too."

"I want this woman from your kingdom as my slave." "The woman in your hold is my sister, Morgana, the one and only princess of the kingdom. Our most prized possession… To pay for her crime, she is yours from this day forth. In a world where only the strongest survive and in a kingdom where women are looked down upon, Morgana Aton is the vampire princess who refuses to be silenced. Strong, passionate and fearless. Her heart set on finding and assassinating the man who killed the late king, her father. Only to fail and be taken as a prisoner by the Alpha King himself. Kian Araqiel, the Alpha King who is feared throughout the land. Learns his mate is a vampire in the Sanguine Empire. Only for her to attempt to kill him. Angered and hating the fact that he is mated to a blood sucker, he takes her as a prisoner and brings her to his kingdom. But did he really think he could defy the power of the mate bond, especially when she is a constant temptation that he tries to fight? In a game of passion and hate will they overcome their differences and unite to face a greater threat that now looms upon them?

"Your mate was the last piece to the puzzle. I sent my men there to kill her while you were busy fighting with the alphas. I knew once she was dead you would be blinded by rage throwing off those sharp scenes of yours, leading you right into my trap. I may not be strong enough to kill you...yet, but this silver box is strong enough to lock you away forever. Maybe the others are okay with bowing down to you, but I bow down to no one! I'm the alpha of alphas!! I'm the new king, I'm the alpha king!" He growls out from the other side of this silver box.I let out a loud roar causing Tim to back away from me covering his ears. "I'm going to kill all of you!!!" I roar out as I start to claw and punch the wall of the silver box, trying to get out.***Betrayed by the wolves. They took everything away from him. His mate, family, and friends. They locked him away inside a silver box to live out the rest of his days. All he wants is to make them pay, but once he's finally get free he's in for a big surprise.

This book is authored by Kit Bryan. I'm an ordinary waiter, but I can see people's fate, including Shifters. Like all children, I was tested for magic when I was only a few days old. Since my bloodline is unknown and my magic is unidentifiable, I was marked with a delicate swirling pattern around my upper right arm. I do have magic, just as the tests showed, but it has never lined up with any known Magic species. I can't breathe fire like a dragon Shifter, or hex people who piss me off like Witches. I can't make potions like an Alchemist or seduce people like a Succubus. Now I don't mean to be unappreciative of the power I do have, it's interesting and all, but it just really doesn't pack much of a punch and most of the time it is just pretty much useless. My special magical skill is the ability to see threads of fate. Most of life is annoying enough for me, and what never occurred to me is that my mate is a rude, pompous nuisance. He's an Alpha and my friend's twin brother.