Before Midnight

His breath hit my mouth first. Warm. Shaky. Too close. Then Alex whispered, “Let go of me…” But his hands stayed on my chest. His fingers curled into the fabric like he needed something to hold onto. The thunder outside cracked, but it was nothing compared to the storm in his eyes. I tried to step back. I really did. But he moved first. Alex’s forehead touched mine, just lightly, like he didn’t realize he was doing it. His breath trembled against my lips. I felt every inch of him, every line of heat, every fight he was losing with himself. “You should hate me,” he whispered. “I do,” I said. My voice didn’t sound like hate at all. His lips brushed mine. Barely. A ghost of a touch. It burned. Alex swallowed hard. “Then why are you trembling?” I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Because you’re too close.” He gave a slow, dangerous smile. “Then stop me.” I didn’t. ◇♧♡♧◇ Blake Silver enters Midnight Academy to prove himself and bring down the Thorne bloodline for good. Alex Thorne is everything he hates, everything he fears becoming, and everything he cannot stop looking at. Forced to train together, live together, and survive each other, their rivalry grows hot enough to burn. But when a stormy night ends in an accidental kiss, one truth rises like lightning. Their parents are hiding something about their past, something that ties Blake and Alex closer than enemies should ever be. If your sworn rival might become your stepbrother… would you still want the next kiss?

After the murder of her parents. Maria was stripped of the beta title and rejected by Eric. Despised by her best friend and mate. Maria was nothing more than a slave and a punching bag of the pack in the week before her execution. She had no one and so she escaped from the pack two days before her execution to live among the humans. Would she ever go back, would the truth about the murders ever come to light?

Jack Ingleton uses a business trip as an excuse to rendezvous with his lover again. Before I can process this, the private investigator I hired gives me an update—Jack's lover is pregnant! I want to wreak havoc and leave them to die, but it turns out Jack's scheming to kill me so he can marry his lover! Now that I know everything, I prepare a counterattack. Sorry, but my plan will be put into action before yours!

Katherine has to marry before twenty eight to inherit her mothers company. Days before the wedding she finds her fiancé with her stepsister. She walks out, drinks, and crosses paths with the low key CEO, Cade Lawson, a man she mistakes for a gigolo. In that haze she signs a marriage certificate with him without knowing. Now she wakes up tied to a powerful CEO and pushed closer to the first love she thought she lost.

Veronica Langford never expected her summer before college to become this complicated. After years of living under her overprotective father's roof, she moves in with her mother to spend the summer with her before she leaves for college. Veronica starts anonymously sexting a stranger she meets online, allowing herself to explore forbidden desires—never expecting that the stranger would turn out to be Joshua Wolfe, her mother’s dangerously sexy fiancé

Evangelina had a tough luck growing up with a family that wanted to trade her for security but one day things changed. She met her mate during a ball and sparks flew. They spent the night taking pleasure from each other. It all felt like a dream to Eva and just like a dream, it shattered when the morning came. When the morning light fell on his beautiful face, she realised with a shock that her destined mate is the vicious Zavion Kessler- the infamous alpha of Midnight pack- their swore enemy. Eva does what she thinks is best. She flees, leaving him sleeping not knowing the alpha had already planted his pup inside her. Two months later she finds out that she is pregnant. Her family decides to kill her baby and mate her off to an old chap. Eva runs away for her baby. Fast forward four years, she is a caring mother to a sweet girl and is scraping through life. Then comes a man who stinks of money and offers her millions for pretending to be his mate in front of his family during his big brother's mating ceremony. She agrees, again not knowing that the big brother of her fake mate is her true mate, Zavion. Tricky, isn't it? .................. "What are you doing?" I asked as his large callous hand wrapped itself around my left breast, clutching the lump in a tender yet firm grip. "Your heart remains calm like ocean when with my brother but flaps like a caged bird when I am around. Suspicious, isn't it?" he rasped while drawing circles over my palpitating heart with his thumbpad. I could sense it. He is close to finding out the truth. That I am his mate and that he has a daughter.

The crowd starts a countdown to midnight like New Year’s Eve. I close my eyes and smile, holding Liam’s hand tightly. Everyone yells “ONE!” and cheers. I open my eyes and see the iridescent liquid light of the full moon pouring out of the giant orb flowing down over us. People around us ooh and ahh at the beautiful sight.  When the first rays of moonlight cascade over my skin, I feel a heat inside me turn into a burning fire. I gasp and look up at Liam. He looks at me with wide, surprised eyes. “Mate,” he murmurs and squeezes my hand tighter. It isn’t a comforting feeling. There are no sparks like people describe when they touch their mate. Maybe it takes a few minutes to develop. I smile and try to admire Liam, but I don't want to say it back. Nothing feels different. I still love him, but he’s not the one. Liam is looking at me, but it isn’t a look of true love. It’s lustful and carnal. I feel a pit in my stomach. Liam isn’t my mate. How can this be? And how was he able to call me his mate if he’s not mine? “Zara,” a woman’s voice says in my head, “My name is Lavender. I’m your wolf and you’re in grave danger, my dear. You need to run. You need to run now. Your life depends on it.” “My… wolf?” With everything that happened the past couple of hours, I forgot she was waking up. “L-Lavender, what’s happening? What do you know?” Lavender repeats her order. “Zara, you need to run. I can explain later. I’m so sorry this is happening to you, sweet girl.”

It's my and my boyfriend's anniversary. I open the glovebox to hide a gift inside as a surprise, but a piece of familiar-looking lingerie falls out. It's torn in a spot; it looks like it went through a rough battle. Before I can process the situation, I crash into a car that suddenly switches lanes in front of me. Right before I black out, I remember where I saw the lingerie. It was a gift from me to my best friend.

Ten days before the wedding, my fiancée spent over a hundred million to buy Marcus Collins a luxury yacht. So, I silently threw away the matching rings I had once planned to give her. Seven days before the wedding, she spent 50 million dollars to celebrate Marcus' birthday. Thus, I set fire to the photo album that held every memory of our past. Three days before the wedding, she wore the ring I had used to propose, and she kissed him deeply by the sea. Today, I finally chose to step aside. I notified our families and friends that the wedding was canceled, and I personally returned the engagement tokens to the Yardley family. Lowering my head, I said softly, "Mr. and Mrs. Yardley…I've always known I'm not worthy of Claire. I hope you can understand."

On my wedding day, my groom's sister, Nadia Lawson, wears an elaborate ball gown and comes on stage to snatch the emcee's microphone. Before all the guests, she arrogantly says to me, "Can't you see the princess is here? Why didn't you curtsy and greet me? You deserve to be punished! Get on your knees and prostrate yourself before me as an apology!" My expression sours at her insolence. I turn around only to see the indulgent expressions on her parents' faces. The groom, Bowen Lawson, says dotingly, "We spoiled Nad silly since she was a child. You are her sister-in-law now. Don't make things hard for her." I am so mad that I can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. The clown thinks she's a princess, asking me to kneel before her? Ridiculous.