Butterflies In My Stomach

I’d just wrapped up a short trip with my daughter, Elara. On the way back, I figured I’d swing by the Hale, our family’s casino, to check in on my son, Cassian. Maybe grab dinner together. I didn’t expect to be mistaken for his latest fling. Correction: not mistaken—accused. Violently. “You think you can just waltz in here like some queen?” she hissed. “I’m the woman Cassian loves! What kind of whore are you? And is this your bastard daughter with him?” She locked us in the basement. No phone. No light. Just concrete walls and the stench of mildew and madness. Then came the fists. She slapped me across the face—again and again—until my skin stung and my ears rang. When that didn’t satisfy her, she pulled a gun and aimed low. The bullet tore through my knee. I bit back a scream, shielding Elara with my body. “You need to die, whore,” she spat. One of her men hesitated, “We should at least tell Mr. Hale first. If we are going to kill these two in his casino.” Lila of course said no. But that man brought Cassian anyway. My son stepped into this dark little room like it was any other Tuesday—until he saw me. His whole body went still. The blood drained from his face. And then, in the smallest, most broken voice I’d ever heard from him, he whispered, “Mom? What are you doing in my basement?”

Take a journey with me into my collection of short horror stories. Over the years, my dreams have always scared me so much that I had a hard time sleeping at night. So, one day I decided to create new stories from my deepest fears. From Vampires, monsters, witches and ghosts to stories that seem normal but are just a little off, I hope my stories chill you to the bone as much as they do me.

The day my husband was away on a business trip, I received a notification for a hotel charge. As I watched the video on my phone of him kissing his secretary on their way to the room, I dialed his number. “Honey, you need to come home right away. Mom was in a serious car accident,” I said. Before I could finish, Xavier Smith cut me off. “It’s just a car accident. We’ll deal with it if she dies.” He hung up without a hint of concern and went back to his cozy time with his secretary in their hotel room. He was completely unaware that the woman in critical condition at the hospital wasn’t my mom. It was his.

“7 Million Dollars and 28 cents.” That was what I saw written on the blood stained papers I picked up from the ruins of my father’s burnt down restaurant. His arrest, our debts it all came crashing down on me in one night. Desperate, I ran to my fiancé for help… only to find him sliding a ring onto another woman’s finger. My heart shattered into pieces. From then on, I was nothing but a beggar ,broken, humiliated, and alone. Until one night changed everything. I opened my eyes to find myself tangled in dark silk sheets… in the bed of the most feared mafia lord on the continent. My ex’s future father-in-law. Ruthless. Dangerous. And for reasons I couldn’t understand he had claimed me.

I made a mistake. A terrible, unforgettable mistake. It all started with one reckless, drunken night—a night that shattered everything I knew. I slept with him. Not just any man, but Zayden Whitemore—my father’s best friend, the man I’d secretly loved for years. I thought it was just a one-time mistake. But I was wrong. Because now, I’m marrying his son. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I was supposed to marry Vincent to save my father’s failing business, to escape the scandal that ruined my family. But how can I pretend to be the perfect wife when my heart—and body—crave his father? Zayden is older, untouchable, forbidden. Every time he looks at me, I burn with desire. Every time he pushes me away, I fall harder. We both know it’s wrong, but we can’t stop. Loving him is dangerous. Staying with him could destroy me. But walking away? That might break me for good. How do you escape a love that’s forbidden, dangerous… and impossible to forget?

While my boyfriend, Caleb Lawson, is in the shower, I grab his phone on a whim and drop a message in the group chat he's in with his friends. "Guess who I'm with tonight." I expect them to say my name, but their reply blindsides me. "That freshman who used to chase you when you were a sophomore? She's obsessed with you. She's definitely easier than your girlfriend. Want us to swing by tonight?" My gut tells me he's hiding more than an affair. Just as I start scrolling through his messages with the freshman, a notification from her pops up. "Caleb, I agree to the threesome. I'll do anything you want." Seconds later, another message appears in the group chat. "Just be careful this time. We don't need another body on our hands."

He is the unchallenged Alpha of the Shadow pack. He crushes my hand, lets his true love drive me to the brink, and forces me to lick wolfsbane from my wounds in the punishment chamber, turning me into the pack's laughingstock. I am the Lunar pack's pawn in a political bonding. After enduring three years of humiliation and clutching enemy intelligence, I overturn his throne during the Moon Ceremony, making him watch helplessly as his beloved betrays him and his pack descends into chaos. Later, he backs down. He abdicates as Alpha and gets down on his knees at the pack's border every day, his voice hoarse from shouting, "I was wrong." I hold a blood-stained dagger, my gaze icy as I say, "Your regret is deadlier than wolfsbane and worth even less than my life." Our bonding is a calculated trap, and revenge is the move I am determined to play. Winning him back no longer matters. This time, I am not turning back. I want nothing but his endless remorse and the chance to break my chains and begin a new life.

*Ingrid* Running from my pack was supposed to be the best thing for me, I couldn’t stay trapped there any longer. But with running brings questions about where I come from, what am I suppose to do when I can’t answer? I don’t know who I really am, this new pack was suppose to be my savior. But what happens if it’s leading me to my death? *Quinn* I’ve always protected the weak, taken in strays to my pack. Trying to make up for my father who threw out any wolf that dared to defy him, Just trying to Keep myself on the straight and narrow. I wasn’t looking for trouble. But then this sweet little mystery came barreling in, And pulled me into her darkness. She’s asking for my protection. But can I risk my freedom?

Me? Who am I? I am the Alpha of the Blood night Pack. I am feared by those who don't know me and respected by those who do. I never had a problem in eliminating the threat. I've been waiting for my mate since I turned 18, and I am 35 now. But when I see her for the first time, my wolf cries for her attention but she's under a spell. My mate doesn't recognise me.I need her, I will have her. She will be mine and no-one will stop me, not even a spell.

How do you fall in love with an ex-convict? A murderer? How do you fall-in-love with your future husband’s father? How do you allow him, take your virginity on the walls of a prison cell? And how you screamed and moaned as he fucked you senselessly against the prison wall? How can you forgive the man that placed you behind bars? How can you forgive the man who rejected you and ruined your entire life? Amanda Weller is getting married to the man of her dreams. That was the plan, Marcus law was the man she loved, and dated for seven years. He was a successful attorney and her father approved of him. His parents had died a long time ago, by a robbery gone wrong .she knew absolutely nothing about his family. So imagine her surprise: when she gets a letter from her Soon to be father-in law, “Cyrus law”. A man that was supposed to be dead. She is big on family and her curiosity got the best of her. It was simple: meet your father-in law behind your fiancé’s back and surprise him at the wedding. A pleasure filled night of mind blowing sex in a prison cell wasn’t part of the family reunion. Neither was falling in love and being locked in prison by the man you gave everything. Cyrus law wasn’t the type to put his pants down and fuck a girl young enough to be his daughter,against a prison wall.She was supposed to be nothing but a weapon against his son. He was out for one thing only, revenge on his conniving son. But it may just have cost him the woman he loves.