Apocalypse Monsters

As panic sweeps through the city and everyday streets collapse into chaos, Ciprian is driven by one unshakable instinct: protect Adam at all costs. When an unexplained catastrophe turns the urban landscape into a pressure cooker of fear and survival, nothing matters more than keeping his best friend alive. In this fast-paced short story, a sudden crisis forces two friends to confront more than danger. As tension rises and the city descends into disorder, buried emotions, unspoken attraction, and complicated feelings come to the surface. What begins as survival quickly becomes something deeper, binding their fates together in ways neither of them expected. Set against a backdrop of urban collapse, panic, and uncertainty, this emotional short fiction explores friendship, loyalty, and love under pressure. Perfect for readers who enjoy character-driven stories, disaster scenarios, slow-burn emotion, LGBTQ+ themes, and intimate moments set during world-altering events. A gripping short story about connection, courage, and the fragile line between friendship and something more—meant to be read in one sitting, but felt long after.

A doomsday blizzard hit just before Christmas. The zombie virus exploded. Our fortress was a top-tier ski resort. Now, it was about to fall. My husband, Ethan, was a former Navy SEAL. Our head of security. He swore his defense system was foolproof. The blizzard knocked out the power. But he’d sent all the backup generator fuel to the summit. Just to light up a Christmas tree for Chloe. He even had a few guards up there with them, throwing a party. In my last life, I fought him. I herded everyone into the last bunker. But Chloe whined. A crowded Christmas was boring, she said. She stormed out of the safe room and ran right into the jaws of the horde. Ethan carved a path through the horde to secure the walls. Then he sat in silence, cradling Chloe’s bones. He pretended he wanted to start over with me. He let me get pregnant with his child. The day I gave birth, he knocked me unconscious and dumped me into a nearby zombie nest. He always rescued me just before I died. He’d inject me with a serum that kept me from turning. Nineteen times, he threw me to the zombies. I died in agony as they tore the flesh from my bones. "If you hadn't sabotaged my defenses," he’d hissed, "if you hadn't crashed our party and led the horde right to us, Chloe would still be alive!" I opened my eyes. I was back. Christmas Eve.

Serenity always knew she was different. From the age of 13, she's been able to bend people to her will, with a mere word, scratched into her skin. but with that gift, comes consequences... and when those consequences catch up with her, Serenity has to make a decision, which will ultimately lead her into a fight between good and evil... and might bring about the apocalypse.

I’m trained to do one thing: kill. I was put into a school where the concepts of love and forgiveness were treated as weaknesses. When I graduated, they told me I’d be lucky to survive; now I’m the best of the best and the person who gets the job done no matter what. I’ve assassinated Presidents, housewives, Navy SEALS and more shifters than I can count. I have more kills than anyone in my business, so when a new order comes in to kill Alpha Gideon, I take it without a second thought. ​He’s a job like any other, but during my scouting, I see something I’ve never seen before. Alpha Gideon isn’t a tyrant or a bully; he’s kind to his Pack. I start asking questions, which is when everything goes to shit. My signal is found, and for the first time in my life, my target has me in his sights. I expect pain and maybe even death, but Alpha Gideon treats me like a welcomed guest; his warmth and kindness open up something inside of me that I didn’t know I had. I should kill him before he changes me completely. I tell him I’m cold and heartless, and he laughs. Loving a mark has never been done, but no matter what I do, every touch sets me on fire and with each longing glance, my past becomes a distant memory. I’m ready to put everything I was aside to stay with Alpha Gideon when the call comes in; my fellow assassins have been called. The bounty on Alpha Gideon has been doubled. I have two choices: protect the man who has opened up my heart or kill the target and get the job done.

Five sisters with the power to control the elements reach out to their allies for help, as they prepare to fight an evil scourge intent on destroying everything. After losing their parents in an attack, and watching their home burn. The oldest sister, Akasha, is left to take over her parents' role and protect her sisters as they struggle to cope with the loss of everyone and everything they know. A prince in a struggle of his own is sent on an impossible mission to spy on the enemies and find out who they are after, only to discover the sisters and become emotionally attached as he aids them in their quest, and helps them prove to his father their worth. Battles ensue as they fight to protect themselves, fall in love, and learn how to use their powers as they fight to stop the scourge.

MARKED is book #4 in a new paranormal romance series by bestselling author Bella Lore, whose series MY TRUE MATE and THE ALPHA’S MATE have over 500 five-star reviews. “I couldn’t stop reading.” --Amazon review (My True Mate) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ When her father suddenly dies, Winter Grace, 17, is forced to fly across the country and attend a mysterious prep school, an ancient castle in a fog-covered island on the coast of Maine. Nothing here is what it seems, and it isn’t long before Winter, feeling a surging power for the first time, realizes that she is not who—or what—she thinks she is. But when Winter feels an inexplicable crush for an elusive and dangerous boy at the school, she realizes a greater destiny is at play. She knows the relationship might destroy them both—yet she also knows that they can never be apart. In MARKED, it is time for Winter to return on the epic quest back to save her school—but first, it is time for her to now sacrifice it all, and find—and save—her lost love. Creating an unforgettable world of vampires, werewolves, shifters and magic of all sorts, a world of fantasy, love and sacrifice, MORTAL will take you to another place, rife with shocking twists and turns. Fans of books such as Vampire Academy and Twilight and Crush are sure to fall in love! Future books in the series are also available. "The story was very well written and was unique as compared to other shifter stories.” --Amazon review (The Alpha’s Mate) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Excellent from start to finish and leaves you wanting more.” --Amazon review (My True Mate) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When the sky ignited in crimson and bombs obliterated Segunda Island in 2080, death was only the beginning. The fallen didn't stay dead—they morphed into savage, bloodthirsty beasts. Terrified survivors barely hold on, hunted by horrors that wear the faces of those they loved. Jane Fortalejo, the last from a dynasty destroyed overnight, is forced to ally with strangers from the island's shadowed underbelly. Driven to expose the sinister truth behind the apocalypse, Jane will risk her life, sanity, and the fragile alliances she forms. What really brought ruin to Segunda? And can the last survivors escape a fate worse than death itself?

Hiding from hunters was supposed to be simple, until Ivy transferred to Blackthorn Academy, a school where monsters wear crowns. Her first day ends in disaster when she spills coffee on Karl Draven, the ruthless Alpha Prince she later discovers is her fated mate. And just when she thought things couldn’t get worse, there is Damon Voss, the Vampire who once broke her heart, he's darker and more dangerous than ever. Between a bond she can’t deny, a past she can’t escape, and a secret that could destroy them all, Ivy’s life is spiraling into chaos. Because at Blackthorn, love is a weapon… and one of them will use it to betray her. When the truth comes out, Ivy will learn that sometimes the greatest threat isn’t the monsters hunting you, but the power sleeping inside her.

How would you feel if your life is haunted by a dark past and nightmares? John Crowe can't keep to a place as he wanders around hoping to find something that would explain the dreams he has been having. The dreams that never seem to make any sense. Soon, he finds a cryptic letter that steers him to Black Hollow. John discovers that the town is ravaged by monsters, and that the leaders are keeping it secret from the inhabitants. When he meets Sarah, she finds out the truth about him. That he is one of the monsters. But not before John is marked as the next sacrifice for the blood moon. John, finally discovering what he must do, has to fight to stay alive and rid the town of those monsters, putting his love interest, Sarah in danger. Will John be able to save himself, Sarah and the town, or will he be sacrificed just like his father and be forgotten?

What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted? He hunts the monsters, and he protects the innocent, but Damon just never expected to become a monster. CIA Special Agent Damon Hunt spent his days–and his nights–tracking real-life monsters. Most humans weren’t aware of the vampires and werewolves that walked among them. They didn’t realize the danger that they face, but Damon knew about the horror that waited in the darkness. He hunted the monsters but after a brutal werewolf attack, Damon begun to change…and soon he was one of the very beasts that he has hunted. Dr. Hellen Young was supposed to help Damon during his transition. It was her job to keep him sane so that he could continue working with the CIA’s Para Unit. But as Damon’s beast grew stronger, the passion that she and Damon had held carefully in check pushed to the surface. The desire that was raging between them could be a very dangerous thing…because Hellen wasn’t exactly human, not any longer. As the monsters circle in, determined to take out all of the agents working at the Para Unit, Hellen and Damon would have to use their own supernatural strengths in order to survive. But as they gave up more of their humanity and embraced the beasts within them both, they realize that the passion between them wasn’t safe, it wasn’t controllable, and their dark need may just be an obsession that could destroy them both.