Barefoot Runner

I watched my family scrape and starve so I could save enough to come to Sicily for a tan, a fling, maybe my first proper kiss— maybe even lose my virginity to a hot stranger I’d never see again. I did not come to wrestle a kidnapped toddler out of a speedboat at gunpoint. One minute I was hiding from a flirty Italian on the beach. The next, I was running barefoot across the sand in a bikini with a terrified little boy in my arms… while men in black suits shot at me. Now the whole island thinks I’m the kidnapper. Especially the grey-eyed man with the gun who looks at me like I’m his next target. I don’t know his name. I don’t know who the boy really belongs to. I just know the man hunting me isn’t a hero and he’s not going to let me walk away. If I survive this holiday, I’m never leaving England again. If he stops looking at me like that… I might even miss the danger. Holy hell. I didn’t just grab any child. I snatched the heir to the Don of the most ruthless mafia outfit in Europe. And his best friend—the grey-eyed man with the gun—wants my head on a spike. I never imagined I’d die a virgin. But here I am.

On my birthday, I proposed a family trip to the northern grasslands. My younger sister, Clara Harrington, who was studying in the southern territory, decided to drive through the forest to meet up with us. But unexpectedly, she was attacked by Rogue wolves in the woods, and her body was never found. My parents, Oscar Harrington and Margaret Vale, placed all the blame on me for her death and cast me out of the family. Overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow, I left the pack to atone for my sins. I took on odd jobs to earn money to send home, all while searching for any trace of Clara. Three years later, I found myself in the southern territory and began working as a delivery runner for a forest cafe. One day, while delivering an order to Werewolf Academy, I saw my parents and Clara standing at the school gate. She said, "Dad, Mom, Adeline has been wandering for three years. Shouldn't we let her come home?" But my mother replied calmly, "She is too selfish. It's only right that she suffers a little. We can bring her back once she realizes her mistakes." My father nodded in agreement. "Let her wander for another year. We'll bring her home next year." I clutched my stomach, my face pale as I forced out a bitter laugh. Three years of exhaustion had left me gravely ill. My wolf was gone, and I only had three days left to live. I could't wait until next year for my father to come and take me home.

Athena is a little unorthodox. Always wearing black, baggy clothes and her hair in a messy bun, she isn’t the epitome of femininity. Nor does she share the same interests of her female pack members. She used to be extremely close with the Alpha twins, Jake and Jerry, until they cast her aside like the flip of a switch at the age of 6. The entire pack followed suit, tormenting her on a daily basis. The once friendly, funny and sweet Athena turned into a loner with a grudge and trust issues. Millie is Athena’s best friend and transfers to her pack for the semester. Her carefree and feisty nature, in combination with Athena’s protective instincts, are a recipe for disaster in a pack like blood moon. Especially for the pack outcast. Her beatings and bullying are taken up a notch, until she has been reduced to nothing but a shell of her actual self. Until she finds out that her father is cheating on her mother, that is. Her life starts to spiral, fast, and she finds her self-control slipping. She is no longer able to hide the wolf that she has successfully kept hidden for 11 years. Fleeing her pack and finding refuge at red runner, Athena begins to heal again. While her hatred for blood moon, especially Jake and Jerry, continues to grow, the twins come to find out that not everything turned out to be as it seemed when they started tormenting her. Is it too little, too late? While they now try to fight for her attention, so do the warlock prince and the Lycan prince, who have all taken an interest in the unconventional girl. But what happens when 2 dark, dangerous, and extremely handsome twins join the party?

Perfection was the curse. I was born into wealth, beauty, influence, and a family empire that stretched across continents. People envied my life, not knowing it was nothing more than a gilded prison. The only thing that ever felt real was ballet, the passion my parents forbade because it brought them no power, no profit, no leverage. My parents; greedy, ambitious, unfillable, hid their cruelty beneath luxury. And on my eighteenth birthday, they revealed the ultimate betrayal. I was engaged to a powerful man twice. . . no, three times my age. A man feared across Europe. A man whose hands were stained with secrets the world pretended not to see. They sold me to strengthen an alliance. So I ran. Barefoot, shaking, heartbroken. I stole one of our visitor's chopper and fled to Sicily, thinking distance could save me. I thought I escaped the monsters who owned my life. But I only ran into a darker one. Because Sicily is his territory; Aldrick Moretti, the shadow king of the Italian underworld. Cold. Untouchable. Beautiful in the most devastating way. The man people whisper about as if speaking his name is a sin. A man with eyes that see through lies. . . including mine. And the moment he found me trespassing on his land, bleeding, terrified, and wearing the remnants of a runaway bride. . . He didn’t return me. He didn’t free me. He claimed me. Not as a business deal. Not as an alliance. But as something far more dangerous. He became my captor, my protector, my obsession, and the forbidden flame I should never have touched. Because in his world, love is not tender. It’s a weapon. And I am the sacrifice wrapped in a veil he refuses to let go.

To prevent the merfolk from being slaughtered, I decided to go ashore and seduce my childhood friend Cyrus, who had become the Alpha King. He still loved me deeply, and we spent three passionate days and nights together in bed. Waking up from a haze of pleasure, I hadn't even had the chance to rejoice before a corrosive elixir was dunked over my head. Listening to my pained wails, Cyrus smirked. "So even an immortal mermaid can feel pain, too? "Well, this is just a taste of what's to come if you don't tell me where my parents are!" Yes, he was convinced that the merfolk were behind his parents' disappearance. From then on, I was forced to watch him flirt with his mistress, Emily; had to extract my mermaid pearl to help heal her body; was forced to dance barefoot to entertain Emily so that she could sleep… Cyrus hated every fiber of my being, yet always held me tenderly in his arms whenever I was on the brink of death, carefully feeding me medicine. Sometimes, he was cruel. "Do you think I'll go easy on you just because I love you? Quick, continue torturing her!" Sometimes, he was gentle. "Can't you be good and tell me where my parents are?" Silently, I endured his twisted love without a word. Soon, however, these days would come to an end, and I wouldn't have to keep that secret any longer. After all, a mermaid who did not return to the sea after three years on land… Would turn into seafoam. And now, there were only three days until my time was up.

My body was drenched from the intense downpour, which also made the path and steps away from the sore spot damp. There was no umbrella to offer me some shade, so I was left cold and drenched in the bad weather. I follow the road barefoot, following its path to wherever it leads. My face was chilly and damp, and there were hot tears in it. It seems as though the sky eradicates my pain and hiding from everyone just how miserable and down I am at the moment. "How long would you walk? How many times do you have to cry just to laugh again?" We're strolling along this lengthy road in the pouring rain, he said as he followed me. He stopped in front of me, causing me to tumble as well. When I stared into his azure eyes, tranquility was all I saw. His warm smile gave me hope, all the while I was staring at it. "Your life's challenges would bring you storm clouds and torrential rain, but what would come next was your hope. It doesn't imply that fate wasn't on your side or that you are finished. A sunshine that might offer your life meaning. That way, destiny won't ever work against you again!" He seems sincere, but I'm not sure If I will believe in him. He turned away from me, which made me anxious. I tried to call his name, but he never answered. Nevertheless, it appears that he will also leave just like the others, leaving far from me, just like everyone else. "Seah, be that sunshine! ...In order to discover love, you must first learn how to love yourself." He spoke and then disappeared. Where should I start and when should I stop? I'm really confused and scared.

When I took a bullet for Theo Moretti, the bullet grazed my temple, compressing the optic nerve and causing blindness in both my eyes. He kneeled by my hospital bed, pressed the family crest to his chest, and swore: “Sophie, I will be your eyes for life. If I break this oath, may I die a horrendous death.” I believed him. However, the day my sight returned, I saw Theo through the bedroom door, naked on our marital bed with the maid, Isabella. He gripped her waist and thrust violently, his voice hoarse in a way I had never heard, growling, “Bella… you really are the most seductive woman in all of Sicily…” “Theo, who else besides me could satisfy you like this in bed? Divorce that blind woman already!” Isabella nibbled his earlobe. “After all, I’m the one who truly understands you.” “Wait a little longer,” Theo panted. “I need time… Don Lucas just handed me control of the docks. If I divorce now, I’ll be left with nothing.” Rare snowflakes rained down outside. I walked barefoot out of the estate in a thin nightgown and sent an encrypted message to my father. “Father, send someone to pick me up in three days. I’m coming home.” Don Lucas, my father, never expected that the boss he had personally promoted would dare betray his daughter. He replied with a single sentence: “For daring to betray you, Theo’s dead.” What I did not know was that this message would ignite a storm that would sweep across all of Sicily. In three days, Theo Moretti, the man I had risked my life for and I had personally helped rise to power, would lose everything he held dear, including me.

Listen up, everyone!" I yelled to gain everyone's attention "Your trainer Antony, is going to be gone for the foreseeable future. YOU lucky ladies have the pleasure to be trained by me. Antony is a nursery teacher compared to the hell you will soon be facing by me" I stated authoritatively. "Little girl I have morning shits bigger than you" yelled a testosterone-induced jokester from the back causing snickers to erupt throughout the crowd. "Then I'd suggest eating more greens and lessening up on protein and testosterone. You do know that shit causes your willy to shrink up and fall off right" I retorted. I watched the man turn purple with rage before charging towards the stage. Immediately taking a side stance I prepare to take on the idiot Alpha 'gracefully'.  Kicking off the stage I performed my perfect Tornado barrel kick to the dumbass's head. Connecting with a loud crack and landing gracefully on my feet bowing to my audience of alphas, knowing full well that alpha is not getting up for a while. "Any more volunteers?" I said smugly. "Nope, alrighty then. So, going forward I am not someone to mess with. I do not take lightly to those who challenge me and I do not respond to assholes who think little ladies belong barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. If you have those prejudices, I am more than willing to knock those thoughts clear from your head. And for jackasses like this one, off your head. Do I make myself clear?" Gabriella's family was cursed as she puts it. She cannot be commanded by any Alpha and for that, she cannot belong to any pack. From an early age, her father and 6 older brothers taught her how to fight, and turned trainer. Until she finds her Mate!

So it appeared that she was to start paying her way on her back with this absolutely massive, broad-shouldered, tattooed, aptly-named wild warrior. Gideon was a large man, but this modern viking put him to serious physical shame; if Gideon’s dick had split her in half in agony, Iris could only imagine what this monster’s cock would do to her. She just hoped that he left her able to walk… and able to fuck the rest of the boys downstairs, because of course they’d be close behind. She knew there would be blood soaking and staining her thighs before things were done, long before they decided that they’d used her up. Stopping her jumbled thoughts, Iris slowly lowered herself to her knees. **** Liam “Viking” Callahan thought the job was done. Evidence buried. Debt paid to The Road Devils MC. Then he drives out of the Utah mountains with a secret in the back of his van: a terrified woman running for her life. Iris has spent six months planning her escape from Gideon and the Garden of Divine Light. She’s barefoot, freezing, and desperate enough to gamble on a stranger who looks dangerous... but still safer than the hell she left behind. So she hides. And prays. When the Road Devils discover Iris, the truth unravels: a cult, a tyrant, and a woman who fled into a winter night wearing nothing but a nightgown and borrowed boots. She’s broken, but not defeated. Iris wants her life back... her body, her choices, her fearlessness. The only man she feels safe with is the towering, gentle Viking. As trust turns into desire, neither of them sees the danger closing in. Gideon wants his “property” returned... and he won’t stop until he gets it.