The Penguin Leunig

Little Swan was never meant to be free. An SSS+ omega— rare, priceless… and destined to be owned. So he hid. Behind a mask. Behind a lie. Behind the identity of a ruthless mafia lord feared across the underground world. Until one mistake changed everything. One glance. One moment of weakness. One man—Cassian Vesper. His enemy. His obsession. The alpha who marked him… and then tried to kill him. This time, Little Swan won’t run. He’ll get closer. Closer as the omega Cassian bought at an auction. Closer as the bodyguard Cassian trusts with his life. Closer… until there’s no escape left. Because this isn’t just love. It’s a trap. A seduction. A slow, deliberate descent into madness. Cassian thinks he’s in control. He thinks the fragile beauty in his bed belongs to him. But he’s wrong. Terribly, dangerously wrong. Because Little Swan doesn’t plan to be owned— He plans to own. But when secrets unravel, enemies close in, and the truth threatens to destroy everything— Will Cassian still choose him… or will he pull the trigger again?

Sports journalist Laura Jean “LJ” Renard never met a story she couldn’t crack until Jannis “The Ice King” Laurence. The undefeated Formula 1 champion despises the media, and when LJ gets forced into six months of exclusive access, the hate is instant. He calls her Vixen every time she digs too deep. She calls him Ice King just to watch that famous cold mask crack. Their public fights are pure tabloid fire. But on private jets and in shared hotel suites, the hostility starts turning into something hotter... and way more dangerous. LJ has a steady boyfriend back home and a career she’ll bled for. Jannis has a dark past he’ll burn everything down to protect — especially his hidden younger sister. Then LJ stumbles on evidence that could clear his name for good… or destroy the one person he loves most. Now she’s stuck choosing between the story of a lifetime and the man she’s falling for. Because the Ice King is starting to melt, and this Vixen might be the one who finally breaks him. Hate has never tasted this good.

I was the fiancee of Lucian Veris, the celebrated Swan Prince, who had offered up the principal role in exchange for my hand. On stage, he was proud and untouchable, yet he surrendered completely to the choreography I created for "Eternal Crown." When I came back after three years in Valmont, I discovered that the understudy who mirrored me had already claimed our private rehearsal hall. At the company's welcome gala, Lucian abandoned a room full of sponsors just to chase after the crying understudy. From behind the velvet curtain, I overheard words he had never spoken to me. "Elara, I chose you only because you reminded me of her. I was looking for a replacement. But you were different. Your choreography captivated me—more than she ever could. Just make sure she never finds out until the closing night of 'Eternal Crown.'" Then came the muffled sounds of their entanglement, followed by his whispered vow. "I'll give you the principal's place." Right there, in that same room, he had once held my hand and sworn that I, Astraea Lynelle, would be his only soulmate in this lifetime. I turned and walked away, the sharp echo of my pointe shoes striking with finality. Back in the dressing room, I dialed his greatest rival, Caelan Thorne. "Mr. Thorne," I said evenly, "I accept your offer to join your company. And one more thing—prepare a gift for me. I intend to turn Lucian's grand finale into the most spectacular downfall the art world has ever seen."

The Ice King has a secret… Alexander Moreau, Paris’s most powerful architect, is sharp, demanding, and untouchable. But behind the cold exterior lies a forbidden desire for his assistant, Isabella Carter. Bella is witty, fearless, and unlike anyone Alex has ever met. As she navigates ambition, office politics, and a growing attraction she can’t ignore, Alex must decide: protect his empire, or risk everything for love. When walls of control meet sparks of passion, will the Ice King finally melt—or will their hearts stay frozen forever?

From my earliest memories, my entire family is cold and distant toward me. When my parents look at my younger sister, Claire Lloyd, their eyes fill with warmth and joy. Yet, when they turn to me, only disgust remains. Claire's life is filled with applause and excessive love, while mine is filled with disdain and suffering. When the explosion erupts at the street corner, I save the stranger beside me. Later, I learn he is Byron Whitmore, a mafia family's Don. He begins pursuing me after I rescue him. Later, I quit my job and move to a new place, but he finds me and proposes in 100 different ways. "Why me?" I ask countless times. "Because it's you," he always answers. The wedding causes a sensation throughout the city. I truly seem to have transformed from an ugly duckling into a swan. That is, until I'm five months pregnant, when Claire needs a transfusion of rare Rh-negative blood after a car accident. The blood bank has a shortage. Because of that, my parents knock me unconscious and send me to the hospital. In my daze, the blood extraction machine hums continuously. As two thousand milliliters of blood leave my body, I see Byron. Tears well up in my eyes. I begin thinking he's here to save me. Instead, I hear him say, "We can't take any more. Sharon and the baby will die." "But Claire has lost too much blood. She'll die, too..." My mother pleads. "No one wants Claire safe more than I do." Byron's voice is thick with pain. "She's my first love. I've never forgotten her. I only married Sharon because her face looks so much like Claire's. "But I can't trade her life for Claire's. Trust me—I'll find another way." So, that's his reason for marrying me. The blood extraction machine continues running, but my heart has already stopped beating. The affection I see in his eyes has never been for me. He's always looking through me at someone else. Everyone in the world loves Claire, and Byron is not the exception that I foolishly believe him to be. That grand wedding is nothing but an ugly duckling's self-deceiving fantasy.

"If you refuse to apologize, stay here and reflect on your actions! Feel the pain Agnes went through!" Kenneth was the Alpha. His childhood friend was accidentally locked in a storage unit for three days. To punish me, he locked me in a faulty walk-in freezer. He left me with nothing but a piece of bread the size of my palm before locking the door and leaving. Unbeknownst to him, this walk-in freezer wasn't actually faulty. Not long after he left, the cooling system was suddenly activated. I screamed for help and desperately sought ways to survive. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I clawed at the door, nobody came to my rescue. A week later, he finally showed up outside the freezer. He was expecting an apology from me. But when he opened the freezer's door, all he found was my frozen corpse.