Common Sense

Four months before my mating ceremony with Alpha Marcus, his mother pulled me aside with that familiar look of disdain. "You're just a common Omega who don't understand proper pack etiquette. How can you possibly stand beside my son as Luna?" Her solution? Ship me off to some specialized Luna training academy to learn "proper manners." Marcus wrapped his arms around me that night, his breath warm against my ear. "It's all for our future, Sylvia. Trust me." My heart melted. Of course I trusted him. I would have done anything for him. I never imagined that the so-called Luna Etiquette Academy was nothing but a torture chamber designed to break female wolves. Four months of hell. Four months of having twisted ideologies beaten into me: "Lunas must submit to Alphas." Question anything, and silver whips would tear your skin apart. I lost my ability to shift completely. When I finally escaped that nightmare, I discovered the horrifying truth. Marcus hadn't sent me there to better myself. He'd sent me there to get me out of the way—so I couldn't interfere with his childhood sweetheart Victoria's mating ceremony. But when I exposed the academy's brutal reality at that very ceremony, when Marcus finally learned what he'd put me through, the powerful Alpha completely lost his mind.

In the fifth year of our bland marriage, I receive a message that my husband has booked a hotel room with a woman. Within the next second, seductive pictures of me show up in the work group chat. In the pictures, I seduced my husband but failed. My colleagues in the group chat mock me by saying, "She gave Mr. Reed an ultimatum and forced him to marry her. He was forced to break up with the woman he loves." "Mr. Reed put up with her for five years. It only makes sense that he could no longer resist and decide to reunite with his lover." My sick father dies out of shock, yet my husband does not show up to his funeral. That night, I inform Belinda that I wish to divorce her son. "Back then, you told me that I'm Caleb's blessing in life. You said that he'd have endless success if we were to marry. "As long as I married Caleb for five years, you promised to pay for my father's medical fees. Now that the time is up, you should let me go too."

My boy friend Caleb Ford's childhood sweetheart, Julia Leclair, is losing her hair from chemotherapy. So, he orders me to cut mine off and make her a wig. "Julia's allergic to synthetic wigs. You've been growing your hair for ten years—it's perfect." I refuse, but his friends tie me down. Someone shaves my head to the scalp, buzzing through my thick, glossy hair until nothing's left but a butchered mess. Julia sits in her wheelchair and laughs, saying I look like a toad. Caleb smiles and nods in agreement. He adds with a chuckle, "It's just some hair. Was that really necessary?" But back when I was bullied for having uneven, choppy short hair for six straight years, it was he who stood in front of me. He had his arms spread wide as he shielded me from harm. Now he's the one wielding the blade. One by one, their little circle chimes in. They tell me not to hold a grudge against someone who's sick. Caleb snaps impatiently, "Stop trying to talk sense into her. She can get lost! Did you see that fit she threw over a few strands of hair? It's not like they won't grow back." I turn around and walk away. I never look back. Later, I hear that Caleb begs for my forgiveness by kneeling his way up 9000 steps until his knees are ruined.

It's the final round of this year's Pack Pup Tournament. I can't take my eyes off my pup, Patrick Grant, as he wins the title. When the host calls Patrick's parents onstage to celebrate, I leap up, thrilled. But then I see Nicholas Grant, my Alpha mate, walk up with his secretary, Natalia Lawson. They stand side by side under the spotlight, kissing Patrick on both cheeks. It's as if Natalia is the mother, as if she's the Luna of our pack, as if they're the perfect family. I can only stand there in the audience, feeling the weight of countless startled stares, too ashamed to lift my head. Later, Nicholas brushes the incident off. "You were seated farther back. It was easier to bring Natalia up on stage," he explains. Easier? I swallow the humiliation and force myself to believe it was just an unfortunate coincidence—until today, that is. I sense through our blood bond that something's wrong with Patrick, so I drop everything and race to the pack hospital. But when I arrive, Patrick is lying in Natalia's lap, whining to her in a soft voice. I step forward to introduce myself, but the healer only looks surprised. "The emergency contact form lists Natalia as his mom, though." It turns out Patrick himself had stripped me of my role as his mother. And Nicholas didn't stop him. I finally understand. I don't belong in this family anymore. That night, I tell Nicholas I want to dissolve the mate bond between us. He doesn't even look up as he says, "Don't be dramatic. You'd dissolve our bond over a single name on a form?" "Yes."

" Do i scare you, Micaela." "Your majesty." I whimper, avoiding his gaze. I couldn't muster the courage to meet him in the eyes, not when his intimidating demeanour blocked every sense of reasoning. " mea bella mate ," the way he uttered those strange words, so soft, so delicate, like a sweet caress. Yet I couldn't bring myself to be swayed by his tactics. He wasn't just the king but a man betrothed to another, and I was merely a maid assigned to serve him. "What would Anastasia think if she walks in on our compromising position?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. " I couldn’t give two sh*t what she thinks or feels." His tone was so calm yet frightening. " She means absolutely nothing to me." ♧♧♧ Micaela Whitlock was born and raised inside the Palace, having little experience with life beyond its gates. Despite the benefit of working at the palace, her life was anything but enjoyable. It has been 100 years since the beast overran the human world, eradicating the vast majority of people and enslaving the remainder. Unfortunately, her parents had been among the people who had been taken prisoner. She followed instructions to the letter, doing everything in her power to blend in and go unnoticed until an awful event occurred and irrevocably altered her life.

Myst Phandora Fayrel, an orphan girl living a common life in the outer skirt of the least known but strongly built, the farthest kingdom in the whole Phirellium Realm (Phantasm World), a world where various people do possesses extraordinary powers that can make impossible things happen. She was alone in life, ever since her most beloved person had died because of an accident. She was forced to learn to be independent at the young age of six to survive because she doesn't have anybody other than her cherished person to seek help and care. Fortunately, she was taught to prevail in hardships and face everything in a positive light and so she survives throughout the passing years. And along those times she gains something precious to her, an ardent friendship. Then she got involved in a very serious situation that she, for the first time in her years of existence, hesitated. She was tag along to a new series of events that will change her life forever cause of her friendship. She never knew any of those royal and noble matters at first and never intended to learn anything about them entirely, but it all changes as she finds things related to her past. After that, coincidence keeps on occurring, some new people arrived that is bound to change her life, and things she ignored in the past and didn't give any thoughts about came tumbling down to her as a significant key to the truth that everyone was succumbing to find out after so many years. Will she meet new friends? Or make new foes? Will she learn to love along the way? Will all her doubts and questions be answered? Adequately, nobody knows what will happen yet.

Violet eyes with piercing sight. Mane of gold in pale moonlight. Skin so hard and lily white. Voice so soft, yet filled with might. He comes to me in the dark of night. Flash of teeth, smile so slight. There is no fear, no need to fight. In his embrace, I crave his bite. -S.R. Michele, or Shelly to those closest to her, is a typical 21 yr old, trying to find her way in life. She has good family, a close circle of friends. She's outgoing and friendly, and a bit reckless and impulsive sometimes. And she has certain gifts...when she touches things, she can see into the past, she can feel what was felt by others, and she can sense things before they happen. Ok, so maybe she's not so typical. An impromptu trip to New Orleans, a party on Bourbon Street, and an attempted assault in a dark alley lead her into a world she didn't know existed...but one she's not afraid of. She doesn't know if the violet-eyed stranger that comes to her rescue, and follows her home, is a friend or a foe - and honestly, she doesn't care. Once you've had a taste of the darkness, it's hard to pull away... **** This book was written in the late 1990's - early 2000's, and originally published in 2004, under the title: Diary of a Vampire by S.M. Royston. It was my first book, and it wasn't long until I came to hate it! (Please, don't look it up - I promise you, it's terrible) So here we are, years later, and I've decided to throw out my original work, and re-write it. Because I'm the author, and I can do that. The story, characters, and settings are the same - but the writing style is different, and in my opinion, much, much better. I hope you enjoy it. ****

Cinzia, brutalized and sold off after the death of her parents, found herself at the mercy of the ferocious Hybrid King. She lost all sense of reasoning while with him, and even her main goal, which was to avenge the death of her parents. He was known as the Hybrid King, a man of mixed blood, shrouded in mystery. But no one truly knew who he was. Cinzia, in his eyes, was the solution to a problem he had suffered for many years – a possession he acquired on impulse. Despite his treatment of her, her presence in his life was somehow redeeming. Could she succeed in penetrating his frozen heart and curing him of the curse before it was too late? Would she succeed in bringing justice to her dead parents when she found the killer, or would she cower forever in the presence of the Hybrid King, who now more than ever treated her as nothing? ______ "I, Cinzia Aetos, daughter of the slain Alpha and Luna of the Royal wolf tribe, reject all your possible advances, whatever you have in mind..." His anthracite eyes swirled into a dangerous golden color, and his grip on my wrists tightened. "W-what are you doing?" I sputtered. "Let go of me this instant!" "I, Raphael Grace, The Hybrid King, accept you, Cinzia Aetos, as the mate sent by the goddess Selene. I promise to do as I desire with you. I swear on the river Styx and by my father, Zeus, the god of the sky!" The heavens thundered, and I saw a lightning flash in his eyes briefly before he pushed me away from him. What had just happened? He swore and accepted me as his mate?!

"Emory, let me introduce you. He is the one who would be your mate in the future. He would be your true mate." Lately, Emory Abernathy had been feeling a sense of strangeness. She often heard strange whispers and recalled strange memories. Worse, her perception of her surroundings had begun to change. Emory knew that Myles Abernathy—her mate—was on good terms with everyone. Myles was very kind and affectionate. As a result, it had become common for her to see Myles hugging and kissing women around the palace, including sleeping with them. Strangely, Emory now found Myles' habits repulsive. Her chest tightened. There was a feeling she could not put into words. She felt suffocated, her heart was beating incredibly fast, and it all escalated because of one night. Jaxon Rolf Forsythe had always been Emory's natural enemy. Their families, or rather their packs, had been feuding for decades, resulting in a rivalry that kept escalating. Strangely, the tension had sublimated into a suffocating thrill that felt profoundly calming. Emory's body and soul were drawn to Jaxon in a way she could not explain, as if they were bound together by an invisible force. Her heart felt called, but her mind continued to rebel. Inner conflict followed. Emory should have loved Myles and hated Jaxon, but what happened now was the opposite. She was confused and then another voice echoed in her mind. "Don't trust anyone."

Alessia Ferrari is the Don of the Italian Mafia. She is a dangerous killer. Ace Hernandez is the boss of the American mafia. He is cold hearted and downright ruthless. What happens when the two are forced to marry? Will they kill each other or find some common ground? "I don't recall signing up for strip poker." She replied. Her full lips frowned softly but her eyes were filled with anmusement. She knew she couldn't beat me, not at this game. "Are you auitting? Are you a quitter?" I mocked getting under her skin. Her lips twitched before she pursed them tightly. The blues of her eyes deeperned and she threw me a dangerous smirk. She shuffled and pulled off one of her sandals. Fuck. So we're doing this the long way. She raised it in the air, dangling it off her finger before tossing it aside. She raised a brow at me, she challenged me. I knew I got under her skin. Just as I had anticipated.