American University Library Databases Novels & Stories

Hidden from human eyes, Obscura Arcanum University has existed for centuries—where wolves, witches, and vampires sharpen their magic behind walls of secrecy. But when Nora—a runaway with nothing but scars and survival instincts—accidentally stumbles through the veil, everything changes. She isn’t human. She isn’t supposed to exist. The last ember of a bloodline buried in ash, Nora’s presence reignites an ancient prophecy whispered in fear and forgotten by time. Now, the heirs of the old Houses—the Fang, the Rose, and the Star—are watching her. Some want her gone. Others want her controlled. And the three most dangerous men on campus? They’re tied to her fate in ways no one expected. The world was never meant to let the bloodlines unite. But the world doesn’t get a choice anymore.

The night before our big offline meetup, my roommate took one look at my internet boyfriend's photo and declared it was a fake. "Using a stolen photo for an online romance? He's definitely insecure and too ugly to show his real face!" The next day, my boyfriend texted: [Sorry, something came up at the last minute. Can you wait half an hour?] I breathed a sigh of relief because I had just been notified about an exclusive expert lecture on campus. Word was, the speaker was an academic powerhouse, and the university had paid a fortune to secure him. I snagged a seat in the front row. But the moment I looked up at the podium, my stomach dropped. Why did this famous scholar look so much like my boyfriend in the "stolen photo"?

After a very public break-up between the university's 'it' couple, all eyes are on the heartbroken Quarterback, Caleb Briggs. His life had been laid out in front of him for as long as he can remember. After one drunken night with a dream girl, he wakes up alone and is determined to find her. Little does he know, she doesn't want to be found. The last thing that Violet wants is to draw in extra attention. It's bad enough that she's the football coach's daughter, but to be dragged down in the gossip mill as The Rebound? Not on her life. When she breaks her father's one rule to keep away from his team and sleeps with the school's quarterback, she is prepared for the consequences. That doesn't mean that she isn't planning on running from them for as long as possible.

On the day we chose our college majors, the influencer who was the school's heartthrob held a livestream and announced that he had decided to lead the anti-rat-race movement and would choose to attend a vocational college. The whole class followed him. Seeing the rapidly increasing number of followers, he smiled smugly. "They can do these low-class jobs if they like. I'll change my choice back to Harvard University at the last minute." I tried to dissuade him, but this would cause network congestion. My girlfriend slapped me. "You nerd! Who are you to tell our idol, Zach Simpson, what to do?" In my previous life, I spent half an hour dissuading them, and only then did the students change their college choices. However, Zach failed to change his application due to network lag and was admitted to a vocational college instead. He could not bear the blow and jumped into the river to commit suicide. The students who had entered prestigious universities collectively vented their anger on me. At the class reunion, they poured 99 bottles of beer down my throat and locked me in the karaoke's freezer. "Who cares about the prestige of a prestigious university? You'll just be working for someone else after graduation anyway!" "Why did we follow Zach in the first place? Wasn't it to break this damn rule?" "Zach was leading us to realize our dreams! If you hadn't interfered, I would already have gone to a vocational college with him!" They spoke disdainfully of prestigious universities, yet not one of them chose to drop out. I froze to death in a dark, cold freezer, my eyes wide open. Years later, they became elites in their respective fields, while my parents could only weep looking at my portrait. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Zach was livestreaming in the classroom. This time, I promised I would not interfere. Instead, I wished them a happy vocational college experience.

“If you think that you have been living in hell all your life, let me break that illusion for you,” Adrian said. He spoke slowly, his voice full of menace. “This place–this is true hell, right here, where I am. His statement, “In this place, death is not an escape, no matter how much you may yearn for it,” was enough to make the audience shudder, but all that tiny figure did was raise her lifeless, dull eyes. “Then help me, so I can remain here.” She replied, her voice barely above a whisper. ********************************** In a world ruled by loyalties and bloodlines, Kira, the first daughter of the strongest family in the American mafia, finds herself entangled in an unexpected twist of fate. She was betrothed since childhood to the second son of the Italian mafia’s don, due to a blood alliance between both families. She was raised alongside him and always considered him as her everything, while joyfully waiting for the day they would finally get married. To her, their love story was set in stone. However, on the day of the wedding, Kira's world as she knows it comes crumbling down when receives a shocking revelation — instead of her betrothed, a different groom appears at her wedding. And to top it off, he was dressed in a prison uniform. What happens when Kira finds herself thrust into the clutches of Adrian Vasillos the infamous ‘devil’ of the Italian mafia? Will she be able to navigate this world of danger, intrigue, betrayal, tested loyalties, and forbidden desires where she must come face to face with her deepest fears? Or will she finally discover the true meaning of love and get her happy ending? Read on to find out more in this twisted romance series…

Two things matter in my captor's twisted world of crime. Power and Money. He stole me to gain both. He is a cold hearted monster with a reputation of violence. So how can his touch make me ache with need? I refused his proposal of marriage but Anthony Rodriguez didn't' break in for a reason. He is surely going to make me his mafia bride whether I want it or not. I'm the Russian Mafia Princess who caught the sight of the enemy. Being kidnapped is nothing but business. My dad is going to hunt this ruthless monster. That's what I should be rooting for. I should hate Anthony Rodriguez. But when the corded muscles of his tattooed arms pull me into his embrace, I feel safer than ever before. He watches me through his security cameras 24/7. I find power in giving him something to look at. But he is a dangerous stranger in my bed, clamping a rough hand on my mouth to stay silent. My entire life has been controlled by my dad. I don't know why he stole from the American mafia when he has everything. And my terrifying intruder doesn't care for a reason. He just wants to claim his debt from my quivering body. But under his command and sheets I am discovering a new strength. I'm becoming this man's doing. Despite being trapped at his mercy and stolen from my family, I might never want to leave my place under him. Kidnapped by my Ruthless Mafia Fiancé is an enemies to lovers, Stockholm Syndrome, cartel mafia romance story.

My fiancé Julian owed $50 million in gambling debts. He and my best friend Chloe drugged me. They sold me to an underground casino in New York. I woke up in a cell. I stared through the iron bars at the man I had loved for five years. My heart broke. Julian thought I would still fight back. He sneered at me through the bars. "Save it. No more tricks. I owe Don Victor $50 million. You’re my only way out." "Victor loves breaking stuck-up artists like you. You think you're so high and mighty? Crawl into his bed and beg. Let's see how he rips off your cheap lace!" "Once he's done breaking you, Chloe and I will get married. We’ll take over your gallery. It’s perfect!" The drugs still clouded my brain. My body went limp. I collapsed on the dirty floor. Tears rolled down my cheeks. Five years of pure devotion. This was my reward. Absolute betrayal. But they didn't know the truth. They didn't know Don Victor. The ruthless tyrant. The mafia boss who ruled the American underworld. He was my father. Ever since my mother died, my father guarded me like fragile glass. He was terrified the world would leave even a single scratch on me. Now, Julian was serving me up like a piece of meat. To please my own father. If he knew I was the one in this cage... Soon, the entire New York underworld would face the Don's absolute fury.

I'm Cassandra Rivera. I'm eighteen years old and in my first year at University, taking up Fine Arts. My life has been hell since I was young. My parents, sister, and brother treated me as their slave. They beat me if I did wrong. I started working for my family when I was six years old, and if I did wrong, my parents would scold and beat me. When I was younger, I wondered why my family treated me this way, but when I was ten years old, my mother got angry at me and she told me that I was an unwanted child. She wanted to abort me when I was still in her womb, but I kept holding on. They don't like me out of this world, and since then, I didn't see them as my family but as my employer like how they treated me as their maid. Luckily, there's a helper at home who cares for me, and I saw her as my second mother. She would tend my cuts and bruises every time my family beat me. Sometimes, my father punished her because of me. I love Mama Amara, because she's the only person who cares for me, and love me. When I enter the university, I meet this guy. His name is Jaxon Garcia. He's from a wealthy family. He's good to me, and when he told me his feelings, I quickly accepted it. We were happy for a few months, but I found out he only courted me because of a bet with my brother Kris. I was devastated, and for the first time, I wanted the comfort of my father. But my father did the worst. He used me as collateral for his debt to the wealthiest man in the country.

My fiancé, Luca, dragged me along to a party with his crew. We had barely walked through the door before his boys were hounding him to play "Seven Minutes in Heaven." "Angelina, babe, come join us!" Fiona, Luca’s "best friend" from back home, called out to me with a smirk. I shook my head and slipped onto a barstool, my fingers nervously tracing the rim of my glass. I watched them huddle in a circle, drawing cigar bands with names scribbled on them. Luca drew Fiona. They shared a laugh before disappearing into the storage room behind the bar. "Seven minutes! Starting... now!" someone hollered, followed by a chorus of whistles. But seven minutes came and went. The door stayed shut. Ten minutes. Fifteen. Twenty... I finally stood up, my heart hammering against my ribs, ready to see what was going on. Just then, I heard Luca’s friends whispering in a thick Sicilian dialect. "This American guy... her head is greener than a lemon tree in Palermo and she doesn’t even know it." "I bet Luca and Fiona are having the time of their lives in there right now." "Poor Boston girl. Look at her, sitting there like a loyal little dog. Hilarious." I froze. My blood turned to ice, and the air felt too thin to breathe. Suddenly, the storage room door creaked open. Luca walked out, wiping sweat from his brow, followed closely by Fiona, who was busy smoothing out her rumpled shirt. "Whoa, how was it? Seven minutes in heaven live up to the hype?" someone teased. Luca smirked, his eyes glazed with satisfaction. "Better. I didn't want to leave."

Azalea grew up in a male dominated pack. The daughter of an Alpha who was used to secure an alliance with a neighboring Alpha. She is promised to be handed over when she turns 18. She has other plans. Shortly before her 16th birthday those plans have to be pushed forward when her pack is raided and she goes on the run. She disappears into the city. Drake, is a warrior and the mate of a diplomat sent to handle relations with an American pack from his pack outside of London. Things take a turn for the worst and his mate, Sonja is killed. But fate is funny and has plans for him, yet. The hybrid Vampire/Werewolf has a second chance mate and it isn’t who everyone is expecting. 12 Year old Ezekiel just celebrated his birthday and he knows al what a bastard his father can be. He sneaks to keep an eye on him during his meeting with the diplomat and when things go south and bloodshed, death and mayhem ensue, he gets knocked out. His dreams swim with a blend of reality and fantasy as he imagines himself in his sister’s body and then in the hybrid, Drake’s. If he were his sister, he could freely and openly love a man such as Drake, but he has been taught, his entire life that love between men is wrong, vile and unnatural, then why when he wakes up after a 6 year coma does it seem so right to learn that Drake is his mate? Where has Azalea gone? Will they be able to find her so that he doesn’t have to become Alpha, or is he stuck with a destiny he can’t escape?