April Hale Novels & Stories

The day my sister slipped away from her engagement party, she was certain Marshall Patton could never truly fall in love with me. Confident in her belief, she left the country without hesitation, leaving me behind to hold her place and secure the title of Mrs. Patton in her stead. I didn't cry or make a fuss. Instead, I played the part of the obedient stand-in, giving everyone the courtesy of maintaining appearances while I quietly bided my time. Then, I poured every ounce of effort into making Marshall fall for me, bit by bit. And when my sister finally returned, I made sure to walk away.

On the night of our ninth wedding anniversary, my husband—Damian Grant, the man who ruled the mafia by day and once ruled my heart by night—did not bring me roses. He gave the bouquet that should have been mine to Serena Lane, his personal assistant. Beneath the chandelier where we once danced on our wedding night, he turned to me with that same cold charm he once used to whisper sweet nothings in my ear. “She's pregnant.” Finally, everything fell into place. “She's a picky eater. From today onward, you’ll cook three meals a day for her. And no repeats. “She’s sensitive and hates sleeping alone, so you’ll need to move your things into the guest room.” The room fell silent. I did not raise my voice, nor did I shed a single tear. I simply picked up my packed suitcase and walked to the door. The butler tried to stop me, but Damian did not even blink. “She’ll come back.” He lazily swirled the wine in his glass. “She’ll come back crying and begging within three days.” Our guests burst out laughing. They placed a million-dollar bet right in front of me. They were betting on whether I would be back before the night was over, begging Damian to let me back in like a pathetic stray dog with my tail between my legs. However, they did not know I had already received the family heirloom from my real father. I booked my flight to get far, far away from everyone I used to know. This time, I really left.

On our sixth wedding anniversary, my cheeks burn as I dodge my husband, Ethan Grant, leaning in for a hungry kiss. I push him toward the nightstand for a rubber. What he doesn't know is that I've tucked a surprise in there, a positive pregnancy test. I can already see it, the way his whole face will light up the second he finds it. But the moment his hand goes for the drawer, his phone goes off. His best friend, Henry Miller, comes on the line in Danish. "Mr. Grant, how was last night? That new love couch our company rolled out is treating you okay?" Ethan lets out a low laugh and answers in Danish, "The massage feature's great. Saves me from having to rub Sandy's back myself." He still has me pulled tight against him, but his eyes look straight through me, like he's seeing someone else. "This stays between us. If my wife ever finds out I slept with her sister, I'm done." It feels like someone just put a knife through my chest. What they don't know is that I minored in Danish in college, so I catch every single word. I force myself to stay calm, but the arms I have looped around Ethan's neck won't stop shaking. At that moment, I stop hesitating and decide I'll take the offer from that international research project. Three days from now, I'll be gone from Ethan's world for good.

I train so hard that even in my sleep, I recite medical formulas. At long last, victory is mine! I am the champion of the Healers' Competition. But just as they place the trophy in my hands, my twin sister, Sasha Flanders, strides onto the stage and snatches it away. With brazen conviction, she declares, "I'm the true champion! My sister swapped the competitor's information to steal this honor from me!" The audience gasps in an uproar. Before my stunned eyes, the judges revoke my title on the spot. I don't yet realize that this competition is no ordinary contest—it is the Alpha King Leonard Muller's secret trial, one that is meant to select his future Luna Queen. Rumor paints him as monstrous—hideous of face, bloodthirsty in nature, and treats women as nothing more than breeding machines. It is said this is why he has never taken a mate. His summons arrived this very night, commanding Sasha to attend the coronation ceremony as Luna Queen. My Beta fiance, Timothy Newsom, turns ashen with rage. The next day, Sasha comes to flaunt herself before me, her neck freshly marked, carrying Timothy's scent. "Oh, my poor sister. Your precious fiance marked me. What will you do now? You're turning 25 in three days. By our pack's law, if no one claims you, you'll be thrown to the impotent, deranged, and broken wolves no one else will have. You'll be worse than trash." Her shrill laughter cracks in my ears, squeezing the breath from my chest. But I will not let that break me. I went straight to my parents. "If Sasha dares not to be Luna Queen… then let me take her place."

They said I was cursed. Broken. Unworthy of love. I believed them—until the night Alpha Thorne Blackwater looked into my eyes and called me his mate. For one perfect heartbeat, I thought I'd finally found where I belonged. Then he ripped it all away. He rejected me in front of twelve packs, called me a disease, and threw me to the wolves like trash. They hunted me. Broke me. Left me bleeding in a forest where nothing survives. But I didn't die. Something ancient woke up inside me instead—something that feeds on pain, on rage, on every scar he gave me. Now I'm back, and I'm not the weak little wolf he destroyed. I'm the nightmare he created. Thorne wants me back? He can beg. He can crawl. He can suffer the way I did. And maybe—just maybe—I'll let him live long enough to regret ever letting me go.

"Marry him, Valentina. Or watch Klaus bleed out on this floor." My father's words were ice in my veins. I had defied Don Moretti a hundred times his cold eyes, his iron grip on everything I loved. But this time, Klaus was on his knees with a gun to his head, and love was no longer a luxury I could afford. Valentina Greco is fierce, reckless and unapologetically herself the rebellious daughter of a powerful mafia boss who wants nothing more than to choose her own fate. But fate in the mafia world is rarely yours to choose. Don Luca Moretti is ruthless, commanding and dangerously possessive. He wants Valentina and what the Don wants, he takes. I saved Klaus the only way I could. I married his enemy. I shared his bed. And I carried a secret that could burn everything to the ground because the son Moretti calls his own has another man's blood running through his veins. For years I've buried it. Survived it. Then Klaus returned powerful, dangerous and hungry to reclaim what was stolen from him. Now I'm caught between the Don who owns my name and the man who owns my heart. How long before one of them discovers the truth about Viktor?  

Aria endured Richard's cruelty and betrayal until death released her—only to wake five years in the past. Armed with knowledge of her tragic fate, she walks away before the nightmare begins, building an empire from ashes while he remains oblivious. But when Richard finally realizes what he lost, his desperate attempts to reclaim her are met with icy indifference. Now the hunter has become the hunted, and Aria holds all the cards. Will she grant him mercy—or make him beg?

I was seventeen when Rowan Ashcroft promised we’d disappear together. I was eighteen when my father sold me to a monster. For twelve years, I played the perfect trophy wife to Julian Cross ruthless Alpha, billionaire, and the man who owned me in every way that mattered. To the world, I was elegant, untouchable, and flawlessly obedient. Behind closed doors, I was a prisoner, drugged into submission to bury the truth of what I am: a Silver Omega, the last of a bloodline the supernatural Council has hunted to extinction. But the drugs are wearing off. And I’m carrying a child that should not exist. When Julian discovers his “perfect” wife is pregnant with forbidden blood, he’ll do far worse than kill me—he’ll make me wish he had. So I run. I don’t get far. Rowan Ashcroft finds me first. Once my best friend and the boy I loved, he is now the Council’s deadliest Enforcer, marked in silver and colder than death itself. He hasn’t come to save me. He’s come to end the threat my bloodline poses. Instead, he offers me a devil’s bargain: Three months. A fake mating bond. His protection in exchange for my temporary submission. The bond is meant to be a lie—just a way to cloak my scent and hide me in plain sight. But when his mark sears into my skin, it awakens something ancient, feral, and unstoppable inside me. I was never meant to be owned. I was never meant to be erased. Julian wants his property back. The Council wants me dead. They’re both about to learn the same brutal truth: The woman they tried to break has finally become untouchable.

I suddenly got a call from the police, telling me I was involved in an abandoned baby case. My best buddy was holding me up as we rushed to the scene when Shirley Dunn, the girl who had asked me for directions last week, suddenly pointed straight at me. "That's her. I saw her this morning, holding her stomach, going into the restroom! Now the baby's been born, and her belly's flat!" I was completely stunned. Before I could react, she shoved the newborn straight into my arms. "This is your own flesh and blood! How could you abandon him?" The officer's expression was equally severe. "Miss, I understand that becoming a mother at 20 can be scary, but abandoning a baby is a crime. If you didn't want to raise a child, you shouldn't have had one." More and more college students gathered around, their stares stabbing into me like needles. Cold sweat soaked my back. My best friend suddenly burst out laughing. "Congrats, man! You're a dad now!"

After I got a second chance at life, I stopped bringing lunch to my wife, who had become the factory manager. She would leave for meetings through the south gate, so I would sneak around through the north. In my previous life, I knew she only married me with an ulterior motive, but I still fell for her. I thought I could warm her heart over time. However, Shirley Scott was always just polite to me, nothing more. When I tried to get close, she would hand me a book and say, "Read more so people won't look down on you." Once, with a bit of liquid courage, I hugged her. Yet, she just stood there, stiff as a board, and said, "It's what married folks do." Years later, as I was dying, I read her memoir and learned about how she felt trapped in our marriage, like being stuck in the mud. She hoped she would never have to be with me again in another life. That hurt more than anything. However, then, I woke up and discovered that I was back to when there were whispers about her and the factory's technician. This time, I did not make a scene. I just asked for a divorce.