A Guide Thicker Than Blood Chapter 1

Kingdom of Ash and Blood Book one of the Sicilian Ruin Series She was the fire he thought he had extinguished. He was the ruin she barely escaped. Three years ago Amara Varela vanished without a trace --- betrayed, broken, and hunted by the man who once owned her heart. Now she's back in Sicily, not as the naive girl he left behind, but as a woman forged by survival and secrets. She has a score to settle and Luca Moretti is at the top of her list Luca, the heir to the brutal Moretti empire, never forgives himself for losing her. When he finally finds her alive, everything he buried erupts --- lust, rage, obsession. But the Kingdom he now rules is built on blood, and his bride-to-be is not the one who haunts his dreams. Torn between a crown he never wanted and a woman who could destroy it all, Luca must choose loyalty or desire, power or love. In a world of violent cartels, arranged alliances, and ruthless vendettas, Amara and Luca's reunion is anything but tender. It's a war. And their passion? It could burn Sicily to the ground. Dark. Obsessive. Addictive. This is not a love story. This is a Sicilian ruin.

Anna will no longer stay at her pack in her sorrows. She is going to leave, even if that means becoming rouge. However, her journey is cut short when she meets her mate, the Alpha with a temper and with secrets.

SYNOPSIS. Eve miraculously rose from the healer and full housewife of a medical doctor, to a neglected and rejected mummy beside a cliff after announcing her pregnancy to her husband. She was found by the infamous Alpha Lucian of Umbra pack, and discovered that she didn't die because she was a Vampire and this explains what made her different from others. After getting better, she became a maid at Umbra pack. She thought that was the end of life until Alpha Adam, Lucian's twin brother appeared from nowhere and claimed she was the Vampire Queen that changed his destiny and turned him into a dhamphir (Half werewolf, half Vampire). In a bid to extract his revenge for what Eve doesn’t know about, he made her the pack’s doctor after seeing her incredible healing abilities. The plan was to make the great Vampire Queen suffer by reducing her into a mere doctor, but who knows this is where her fame lies? Her wicked ex who killed her because she won't be able to help him again was shocked to see the wife he thought was dead rise again. But Lucian who saved her fell in love with her, despite being a vampire, but she was mates with Adam, who hates her! Now she was stuck between two brothers, one who saved her and the one who hates her.

After two years of development, my game finally launched successfully. My wife had promised me a $75,000 bonus, but instead, she gave the entire $750,000 payout to her male secretary, Wayne. All she tossed me was a $50 grocery coupon. "You're just a stay-at-home husband," she said casually. "You don't spend much. Go buy some groceries and cook dinner." I stared at her in disbelief. "That money is for our son's transplant surgery," I said. "If it's delayed for even a few days, he'll die." Her expression did not change. "He's weak. If he dies, he dies," she said flatly. "At least you won't bring any more bad luck into the office and pass it on to Wayne." She turned away, her tone instantly brightening as she talked about taking Wayne out that night to celebrate with a lavish dinner worth tens of thousands of dollars. In that instant, my heart froze. She had forgotten one thing. The game might be registered under her name, but I still held the core encryption key. I picked up the phone and called a rival company. "You've been trying to get Genyxis's core technology for a long time, haven't you?" I asked calmly. "All I want is $75,000, and it’ll be yours.”

At the full moon party before our marking ceremony, my mate Lucas got wasted. I went to pick him up, just like we agreed. Only to walk in on him burying his face in his first love’s neck, marking her with his scent. "Don't ever leave me again, Willow. My wolf only wants you." His first love shot me a triumphant smirk and shoved him into my arms. "Your mate is here. You should go." But Lucas, hiding behind his drunkenness, just looked at me with disgust. "You're the only one for me, Willow! She's just some lowly half-blood Omega. She's just my ride home, don't worry about her." I swallowed my humiliation and took him home, only to find out he wasn't drunk at all. He claimed he only said those things to appease Willow, for the sake of her pack's power. I just turned away. So on the day we were supposed to be bound for life, I ran. If Lucas was still hung up on his first love, then I would grant him his wish and disappear. But I never expected that after I left, he would lose his mind, crying and begging for me to come back.

They destroyed her father. Now she's racing straight into the heart of enemy territory. Mia Chen has one rule, never let them see your face. As the underground racing legend "Ghost Rider," she's untouchable until a rigged race tears off her mask and exposes her identity to the worst possible person. Dax Steele, VP of the Iron Wolves MC, the club that bankrupted her father and drove him to an early grave. Now she owes $50,000 to men who don't accept apologies, and Dax offers her a deal she can't refuse, race for the Iron Wolves in the inter-club championship, and he'll clear her debt. But working for her enemy means living in his world, sleeping under his roof, and discovering that everything she believed about her father's death might be a lie. Dax has secrets of his own, evidence that his father was framed, and the real culprit is still out there. He needs Mia's skills on the track and her mechanical genius in the garage. What he doesn't need is the fire she ignites in his blood every time she defies him. As they dig deeper into the past, attraction sparks into something dangerous. Because in the biker world, loyalty is everything and loving your enemy could get you both killed. She came for revenge. She stayed for the truth. She'll risk everything for him.

“ Take off your robes,” Ava heard the command and the other slaves obeyed almost immediately. They took off their robes, and their almost naked body came into view except for the tiny little lace that covered nothing but their nipples and balls. The male slave's dick dangled and Ava looked away, still clutching her robe to herself. How could she undress in front of this multitude? What kind of humiliation was this? The audience erupted into murmurs, indecent comments flying from every corner. “ Steele, you slave seemed to be a disobedient one,” Ava heard the man's stern words and she turned to see Jacob’s stern gaze on her. She gulped and slowly let go of her robe. It fell to the ground and the audience gasped at the sight of her nakedness. Her hands clenched into fists by her side, resisting the urge to pick her robe from the floor and cover herself from their lustful eyes. “ Shit! How did Jacob get himself such a perfect slave?” Panic gripped Ava. No. It cannot be what she is thinking. She wasn't about to fuck these people. No. Jacob cannot make her do this. I was only his tool for power and revenge. I should have known he was no ordinary man but knowing wouldn't have changed anything. I was helpless, trapped with no choice and he was my savior from the Slave den back then. My hatred for him wouldn’t have allowed me to go with someone else. It’s not like I had a choice to choose my buyer. He was the highest bidder and I’m a commodity he bought from an illegal market. A commodity he has great plans for. His tool for power and revenge but I hate that my heart palpates for him.

Iris never imagined that she could fall in love with an immortal creature who was known to be so cruel. Was it about her having a strange fetish with that creature, or because of her charm that couldn't make her eyes blink for a few tens of seconds. Jonathan Hickman, the demonic figure most feared by the demon hunter organization. His first encounter was like an ocean of magic. Bewitched by the figure of Iris who gave herself up to avenge the deaths of her adoptive parents. But unfortunately, Iris was chosen to be one of the members of the demon slayer where the main target of the organization was to hunt down Jonathan. The two intersecting roads miss each other. Need each other. How will the story continue? Will Iris betray her friend or will she have to let Jonathan die at her friend's hands? Read the full story in this novel.

Thalia Corsini's wedding night ends with seven bullets and her husband's blood soaking through her white dress. Rafael Torrisi dies in her arms before they can even consummate the marriage, and when she screams for help, nobody comes fast enough. Three days later, she's at another altar. Same family. Different brother. Dante Torrisi looks at her like she pulled the trigger herself. He's colder than Rafael ever was, more brutal, and infinitely more dangerous. Their marriage is a prison sentence designed to save a crumbling alliance between two crime families on the brink of war. But someone is still trying to kill Thalia. The attempts keep coming, a sniper's bullet, a car bomb, poison meant for her wine glass. Dante is forced to protect the woman he blames for his twin's death, and as they dig deeper into the murder, they realize Rafael might not have been the target at all. In a world where love is weakness and trust gets you killed, Thalia and Dante have to decide: destroy each other, or discover who really wanted her dead.

Born to serve. Destined to rule. Elara Callum was just another nameless human in a world where humans are nothing more than property. When she’s given to the feared Alpha King Kaelen as payment for a treaty, her quiet life of obedience becomes a deadly game of survival. But Kaelen, the brutal werewolf king, senses something strange about her. Something forbidden. Something... fated. When Elara is kidnapped by vampires and taken to their cold kingdom, secrets unravel. Not only is she the key to a prophecy that could shift the balance of power between races she’s also the last living Fae. Now two kings want her. A rebellion wants to use her. And her own body is becoming something not quite human. In a world where monsters rule and fate binds, can a servant girl become a queen… or will she be the spark that ends them all?