Chapter 24 The Catcher In The Rye

While groups like the Shifter Council work openly to promote peace, hatred still exists beneath the surface. Some choose a different path, like Clint Stone, who helps abused and hunted shifters escape and find safety. Marcia has spent most of her life believing she is weak and unimportant. That begins to change when she meets Cain, a quiet wildlife protector who gives her shelter and the chance to heal. When Cain disappears, his brother Marcus arrives with terrible news. Cain is dead, and Marcia must leave with him. On their journey, Marcus reveals the truth about shifters and shows her that she has unknowingly lived among them for over a year. When they reach Marcus’s home, everything Marcia thought she knew about herself changes. She learns she is a Lycan princess long believed dead. As soon as she is named the future Luna, danger follows. After surviving an attempt on her life from within her own pack, Marcia refuses to hide. She works with the women of the pack to challenge old beliefs. As Marcus brings proof of corrupt packs to the Shifter Council, the Lycan King learns of Marcia’s existence and tries to take her. Marcus is badly injured protecting her, and Marcia discovers her first true power. Betrayal soon comes from within the pack. Marcia is kidnapped by someone she trusted and given to a former Beta who believes only the strong deserve to live. When Marcus and the others learn she is missing and pregnant, they gather allies to find her. Marcia escapes on her own and makes her way back home, but the fight is not over. Together, shifters from many packs and backgrounds unite to stop the extremist threat and begin a new chapter with the birth of her son.

Note: This book has two stand-alone stories with happy endings. If Book 1 isn’t your style, jump to Book 2 at Chapter 69! BOOK 1: Adrian & Emily Blackwood "You look like a beggar; don’t bother me," Adrian Blackwood sneered when Emily St. Claire bumped into him after learning her husband cheated with his pregnant ex-fiancée. Little did Adrian know, he'd one day beg this hot divorcee for love. Emily thought she had it all—until she walked in on her husband moaning another woman’s name on their fifth anniversary. Shattered but not broken, she vows to dismantle the empire he built on lies. Enter Adrian Blackwood—the ruthless billionaire who bends the world to his will. “I’ll let you drain me dry,” Emily tells him, determined to reclaim her life and get revenge. But as passion ignites, revenge takes a back seat to redemption. Will their dark pasts consume them, or can they find love amid the chaos? BOOK 2: Vincent & Claire Everglow “I gave you everything,” Claire whispered, clutching her belly as the TV announced Vincent Everglow’s engagement to the world’s sweetheart, Layla Vanroe. Two weeks ago, Vincent knelt before her with a promise ring. “When I’m ready, I’ll marry you,” he said. But now, Claire is pregnant and alone, discarded like a secret. Vincent’s betrayal cut deep, but Claire swore to move on. So why does her heart betray her when their paths cross again? Why does Layla seem desperate to keep them apart? Love doesn’t follow rules, but when lies and betrayal threaten their fragile bond, Claire and Vincent must decide: will they fight for each other or walk away forever!

Tristan Hayes' life took a sharp turn, one moment he was on the cusp of his dream then suddenly found himself drowning. Trauma surgeon residency was brutal enough; losing his scholarship was a knockout blow. Desperate, he swallowed his pride and became "Titan" at Club Inferno. Six months, and he was their star, his body a commodity. Tonight was his last dance – he was booked for a bachelorette party for a bride-to-be linked to the Mafia family. He remembered the haze of perfume, the clamor, the hands pulling him closer and the willing mouths tasting him. He remembered the bride, her eyes wide, her laughter turning into moans and gasps. He entertained the women, the night ending with the bride's face covered in his thick sticky seed. After this night, he wanted to close this chapter of his life. He wanted to forget it all. He should have. Tristan awoke in a cold, unfamiliar room, the fear paralyzing. Now, bound and gagged in a concrete cell, the memory was a burning brand. He learned why they called Giovanni Sokolov "The Siberian Winter." Giovanni, a face carved from granite, stood before him. "My bride," Giovanni’s voice was a low growl, "You entertained my fiancée, She died a week ago, trying to run away with a man. Your seed was the catalyst. You helped her betray me." Giovanni leaned closer, his eyes devoid of warmth. "She was running away, Dr. Hayes. You helped her crave forbidden fruit. You opened the door to betrayal." He smiled, a cruel, predatory expression. "Now, you will pay the price of her betrayal. You will take her place... as my companion in bed... my slave and my plaything. Don't worry I'll make you'll enjoy every second of it."

He was hired to guard the boss’s daughter. I’m that daughter… and I’m dying to fuck my own bodyguard. His thick cock slammed into me again and again, stretching me so deep I saw stars. I was bent over the marble counter in the safe house, dress shoved up to my waist, his huge hand fisted in my hair as he fucked me like he hated how much he needed me. “What do you think your dad would do if he catches us here?” Arnold growled against my ear, voice dark and filthy, never slowing his punishing rhythm. I chuckled through a broken moan, pushing back to take him harder. “I’m his one and only princess. He won’t do a thing to me. As for you… he’ll hang you alive and watch until the last drop of your blood dries.” I smirked, trying to mask how dizzy he made me. Then he whispered fearlessly, “I know the rules, but I don’t care.” ______ My name is Dorla De Luca. I’m twenty one. I was almost kidnapped, and my mafia father decided the only way to protect his only daughter was to assign his most trusted and most dangerous bodyguard to watch me 24/7. He never expected that bodyguard to be the man I’ve been secretly craving since I was eighteen. Arnold Black Russo is thirty two, cold, lethal, and bound by a blood oath to my father. Loving him is suicide. My father would put a bullet between his eyes without blinking. Yet every stolen touch, every forbidden night, only makes the fire burn hotter. He was hired to guard me. Instead, he’s ruining me. And I never want him to stop.

My husband, Julian Harlow, has died, leaving behind a five-million-dollar debt. I decide to inherit his debt right away. However, my best friend, Evangeline Frost, goes crazy from worry because of my decision. In my previous life, Evangeline had advised me to not inherit Julian's debt because he didn't have any assets. So, I signed the agreement to give up on inheriting his assets and declare that I had nothing to do with Julian in order to escape from the debt. But the debtors kept haunting me. They even kidnapped my son, Shawn Harlow, just to force me to pay the debt. The debtors were extremely violent and ruthless. On top of that, they kept using Shawn's safety as leverage over me. Every time they forced me to pay the debt, I felt as though I was being tormented slowly yet painfully. In just 24 hours, I asked all of my relatives for help, but I was only able to gather 100 thousand dollars. In the end, Shawn never escaped from his fate. I was sold to Northreach by the cruel debtors in order for the debt to be cleared. But that was when Evangeline claimed that her own son had finally returned to his roots, thus successfully inheriting the assets of a billionaire. I finally found out that said billionaire was actually my dead husband when I watched the news on the TV. Only then did realization dawn on me. Julian was pretending to be poor this whole time. It turned out that Evangeline's son was actually his illegitimate child. The assets that I had given up all went to Evangeline and her son in the end. Filled with resentment, I tried to escape back to the country in order to settle the score with Evangeline, only to die to the electric fence surrounding the slave camp in Northreach. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Evangeline tells me to give up on the assets.

Charlie Wayne’s life is perfect. Or it was. As a VP who commands boardrooms and a playboy who elegantly ends every date at his door by 3 AM, Charlie’s world is built on control. But lately, his system has a glitch. A streak of bizarre, comically bad luck—flat tires at dawn, mysterious fire alarms, untimely food poisoning—keeps derailing his plans. His flawless exit strategy is in shambles. Carly Dorrington’s life is a lie. But a necessary one. After a blowout fight with her father over their family companies’ merger, Carly needs a place to stay. Where better than with her childhood best friend, Charlie? It’s just temporary. Just two best friends sharing a space. It has nothing to do with the two decades she’s spent loving him from the sidelines, or the quiet hope that maybe, just maybe, proximity will make the world’s most oblivious man finally see her. Now, under his roof, the "coincidences" multiply. Charlie’s chaotic love life grinds to a halt just as Carly’s presence becomes a permanent, comforting fixture. His sacred rules don’t seem to apply to her. His peaceful solitude feels warmer with her in it. As the lines of their friendship blur, Charlie is left to wonder: Is Carly the calm in the center of his storm… or is she the one who’s been stirring it up all along? Note: This is a slow-burn, dual-POV story about best friends, blurred lines, and the long game. If you find yourself wondering"where is this going?" in the early chapters... keep reading. Everything becomes clear in Chapter 4. The foundation is being laid for a reason. Thank you for trusting the process.

🔥 WARNING: SLOW BURN and RICH IN NARRATIVE 🔥 Ashley and Josh were in a political marriage. At first, Ashley went along with it because she had liked Josh since childhood. But for Josh, it was a different story. He was head over heels for his girlfriend, Sharon. Josh was always cold to her and openly prioritized Sharon over everything else. It felt like torture for Ashley, and it seemed like it was only her who was dealing with it. Even worse, when they moved to Los Angeles, Sharon was brought along. Ashley desperately wanted to get out of the hell that Josh had built for her, but she was hindered by the agreement she had made with her family. There would be fatal consequences she might face if she divorced Josh. The only option she had was to have Josh be the one to file for divorce instead. So she did everything she could to make Josh, who was usually apathetic, turn to hating her. With help from Mark, CEO of Ashley's workplace and Josh's rival company, Ashley intensifies her efforts to carry out her plans to escape Josh. But at the same time, unexpectedly, she begins to experience a series of horrors that threaten her life. Ashley suspects that Josh is the mastermind behind all of this and urges herself to be more cautious in her actions. "My husband, Josh Lim, is the only person who will benefit from my death.” Surprisingly, Josh and—especially—Sharon are not spared as the target of terror, which makes Josh and Ashley strongly suspicious of each other. Their secret investigations lead to the revelation of dark secrets between their families. _________ × The beginning focus heavily on Josh and Sharon. × Josh and Ashley’s relationship will begin intensely from Chapter 50.

I always knew that being a werewolf was going to be complicated, but I never imagined that my life would be turned upside down by the very pack that I was born into. As the daughter of the pack's beta, I always knew my place and my duties. But when I found my mate, the Alpha's son, everything changed. Despite our undeniable connection, our love was forbidden. Our Alpha, my mate's father, deemed me unworthy of his son and rejected me from the pack. As I struggled to adjust to life as a lone wolf, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. The pack was embroiled in a war with a rival pack, and I knew that my former family needed me. As I returned to the pack, I discovered a web of deceit and betrayal that threatened to tear apart everything that I held dear. My mate was at the center of it all, torn between his duty to his father and his love for me. As the war between the packs raged on, I had to navigate the dangerous landscape of werewolf politics and fight for my place in a world that had rejected me. But as the truth behind the conflict was revealed, I realized that everything that I had thought I knew was a lie. I had to choose between my loyalty to my pack and my love for my mate, even as the stakes grew higher and the danger became more real than ever before. With each chapter of "Alpha's Rejected Pride," the tension builds and the stakes get higher. As werewolf battles rage and romance blossoms, you'll be on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next in this thrilling and passionate tale of love and war.

Mom and I board a flight to Fangoria to visit Alicia Carter, my wife. She's a special forces soldier who's here on a peacekeeping mission in this foreign country. But the moment we walk out of the airport, we're ambushed by a group of kidnappers. One of them holds a gun to Mom's head and says, "If you don't give us the ransom in three days, we'll blow her head off!" In a panic, I make a video call to Alicia, my hands shaking as I beg her to help me. "Calm down, honey. I'll put in a request to lead a rescue mission. We'll save her within 24 hours!" But the next day, I keep failing to get in touch with Alicia. After I blow up her phone with multiple calls, one finally connects. Amid her rushed panting, she tells me, "Sorry, honey. I just got assigned to an urgent escort mission. You guys just hang in there. I've arranged for the local authorities to—" Her voice is abruptly cut off by a familiar male voice. "Alicia! Thank goodness you came over just to pick me up. I didn't have to spend 100 dollars on a cab after all! That cab driver didn't even have a license, and I can't believe he tried to ask for more money…" The three-day deadline passes, and the kidnappers keep their word, letting me hear the gunshot myself. As I clutch Mom's cold, dead body, Alicia calls me out of nowhere. "Hey, honey. I just completed the escort mission. How are things on your end? Have the kidnappers released her?" I look down at Mom. Her eyes will never open again. I gently wipe the blood off her face as I reply to Alicia in an eerily calm voice, "Yeah. They have."

Caitlin Paine awakes from a deep coma to discover she has been turned. Now a true, full-bred vampire, she marvels at her new powers, including her ability to fly, and her superhuman strength. She finds that her true love, Caleb, is still by her side, waiting patiently for her to recover. She has everything she could dream of.

Until it all, suddenly, goes terribly wrong.

Caitlin is horrified to discover Caleb with his ex-wife, Sera, and before Caleb has a chance to explain, Caitlin tells him to leave. Heartbroken, confused, Caitlin wants to curl up and die, her only consolation being in her wolf-pup Rose.

Caitlin also finds consolation in her new surroundings. She finds she has been placed on a hidden island in the Hudson River—Pollepel—amidst an elite coven of teenage vampires, boys and girls alike, 24 in all, including her. She learns that this is a place for outcasts, just like her, and as she meets her new best friend, Polly, and begins her training in elite vampire combat, she realizes that she might finally have a place to call home.

But a major vampire war is looming, and her brother Sam is still out there, kidnapped by Samantha. The evil Kyle, too, now wielding the mythical Sword, is still on the warpath, and he will stop at nothing to wipe out New York. Caitlin, despite her new home, and despite her finding a new love interest in the elusive vampire Blake, knows that she can only stay on this island for so long before her destiny calls. After all, she is still the One, and all eyes still look to her to find her father and the other weapon that might save them all.

Torn between her new friends and her lingering feelings for Caleb, she must come to decide where her true loyalties lie, and whether she is willing to risk it all to try to find Caleb and have him in her life once again….