Could Have Been Us

My body craves him. My mind resists him. My heart fears him. Noah Hayes is a sinful temptation with a sex appeal, unlike any man I’ve ever met. He’s also twice my age...and my new boss. After years of working a job I despised, for the sake of a family I was forced to support, I had enough. Finding a new job should have been simple, but working as a nanny for billionaire Noah Hayes is anything but. He may be arrogant and self-involved, but I can’t stop myself from wanting him. When I find myself in his arms and in his bed, I allow myself a moment to hope. But how could I have known what was coming for us...and how it would break us?

(Book 0.5 of Her Wolves series) (Lore) (Can read as stand-alone) (Steamy) Once upon a time, long ago, my family and I fell through a hole in the ground. It had happened during a war I could no longer recall. Trapped us in this new place that none of us wanted to be. Separated us from the people we used to love. This world was different. Divided. The inhabitants were primitive. Their designs all but useless. Thus we took it upon ourselves to help them. To guide them into a better age. I had lost track of how long I have been here. But my heart still yearned for home. No matter our effort, this place would never be it for me. Could never compare to the love I had for Gerovit. My husband. The man I needed above all else. Gone for eternity. Until I stumbled upon a humble man from humble origins. He reminded me of the wolves I loved so much. Reminded me that I needed a pack to survive. Sparked something in my chest I had long since thought dead. Axlan. A bull-headed beast that fought me at every turn. Until he was no longer a beast… But the first werewolf on earth. I am Marzanna. The goddess of spring. The creator of life. But you'll better understand me when I say this. I am the goddess all wolves worship and this is how my people came to be.

***WARNING THIS BOOK CONTAINS LOTS OF EXPLICIT SCENES, VIOLENCE, AND VULGAR LANGUAGE*** I was a fool to think that I could play with fire and not be burned. To think that once I had a taste of her, I would have been able to let go. To think that once I was all in, we wouldn’t be caught. The problem was that. That we were so focused on my best friend and her father finding out about us, and didn’t see what was brewing against us. Not until it was too late, and she had been taken right from under my nose. Now. Now, I’m out for blood. Because no one touches what belongs to Alberto Morello and lives to tell it. The problem is that there are more traitors than we thought, but I don’t mind bringing hell on earth to find my goddaughter. Because I. Will. Find. Her.

"Oral? Rough nights? That's what I've become-the plaything of a man whose name echoes across Asia. We've done things in places where we could have been caught, places where his men could see us, and yet we didn't care. The only thing that mattered was quenching the fire raging inside our bodies. Free? No. Nothing is free anymore. Every desire, every twisted fantasy he wants to play out on me comes with a price-and he pays it without hesitation. Even when it's degrading, even when it crosses boundaries I once thought I had, I take it. No questions asked. But here's what keeps me awake at night: is this all I'll ever be? Are we bound to this cycle, trapped in this dangerous game forever?"

**This book is the second book in the Billionaire series. It can be read as a standalone novel, but it is highly suggested that you read The Billionaire’s First Glance prior to this novel.** I, Zander Cavanaugh, the all-American football quarterback, have done something that could get me killed. I fell in love with the brilliant, curvy mafia princess Isabella Aventini at first sight. Everything about Isabella called to me: her captivating blue eyes, her soft caramel skin, every dip and curve of her voluptuous body was just the start. Isabella was smart, kind, and funny. The kind of girl you can’t help but fall in love with. I know she felt the same way as I did. We were drawn together like magnets, but that’s not how the mafia works. Isabella is a commodity to be sold or brokered for the sake of alliances and has been promised to the ruthless and cutthroat DeMarco family since birth — a fate she neither wants nor needs. Isabella’s father, Mafia Don Salvatore Aventini, has managed to keep us apart by sending Isabella away to finish high school. However, when fates aligned, Isabella not only ended up attending the same university as me, but she’s also my college-assigned tutor. I know there is no chance for us, and still I fell in love with her, knowing it could mean my death.

I’ve spent my whole life pretending I’m ordinary—because in a world ruled by Alphas, ordinary is the only kind of safe. Then Adam Blackwood stepped out of the forest with silver eyes and blood on his hands… and decided I belonged to him. I should have run. I tried. But the moment he touched me, something in my veins woke up—something ancient and hungry and wrong to the people who want power they can’t control. When I brought him back from death with my hands shaking and my heart breaking, the pack whispered the truth I’ve been denying my entire life: Healer. Now every Alpha with a grudge wants me. Some want my body. Some want my gift. Some want me on my knees, bound in ritual and blood, while they carve my fate into stone. And the worst part? Adam will burn the world down before he lets them take me. But loving an Alpha isn’t safe. Trusting him could ruin me. And if my power keeps growing—if the moon’s voice in my head is telling the truth—then I’m not just fighting for my life anymore. I’m fighting for my daughter. And for the bond that could either save us… or damn us both.

"You died four days ago. You were buried yesterday. That's fast healing, even for us," Clara explained. "Us?" Clara smiled. "You have risen from the dead and have healed all your wounds. You have no pulse. You do not breathe, and we've been giving you blood so that you can survive. And the last thing you can remember is a tingling in your neck before you died." She clasped her hands together. "I've read your personnel file, Shamira. I know you're not stupid, even if your former bosses thought you were. You can figure this --" "Vampire? You're kidding, right? You have to --" "Wanna go ahead and say 'But there's no such thing as vampires' so we can get that out of the way?" "There's no such thing as vampires!"

His voice was low as he remarked, "You’re kissing a stranger," yet his eyes were full of intrigue. When I barged into their engagement party, the hurt of my betrayal was still fresh because I had just been deceived by the two people I trusted the most, my best friend and my ex. Then, however, he appeared. The enigmatic billionaire CEO who has a reputation for avoiding relationships is Yemi Kings. I kissed him right then and there, while everything fell apart around me. It was reckless and hasty, yet it seemed genuine for the first time in weeks. Nevertheless, what started as a defiant act soon evolved into a tangled network of deceit, mysteries, and an undeniable chemistry that neither one of us could ignore. I was surprised that he wanted me. This was unexpected. However, we are compelled to play a game neither of us is ready for when Yemi's and my past intersect. The tension is tremendous, the stakes are enormous, and the distinction between passion and retaliation is blurred in ways I never would have thought possible. His main thought right now is to claim me as his own. But will I still be able to trust him when the truth is revealed? Or are we going to see our worlds fall apart forever? The phone rang just as I was starting to have faith in us. Everything was broken by the voice on the other end.

I'm Dominik, the dark side of an Archangel. I have no good in me. I have never loved a soul. Yet, here I am, falling for a Human girl with bright blue eyes. How? I want to get the fuck out of here. Ever since I was imprisoned here, my brother has been a thorn in my spine. I have continually schemed ways to escape. Not that I don't appreciate Hilda and everything she has done, my freedom has always been my priority. Tell me why I am so enamored with this little Human? The way she laughs. The way she admires me when she thinks I'm not looking. The pink flooding her cheeks. The problem is, The Keepers are looking for their amulet, and Master Rowen is looking for his pet… I didn't know which one was worse. I knew what I had to do to get us out, and It was going to hurt me more than it would hurt her. I even contemplated not doing it and just staying here, with her… But the Keepers couldn't be so kind as to leave her be. My plan was here, the time to execute was now, and I forced her to take us back with her. I didn't save her when she arrived, just to allow my fucking feelings to get in the way. Guilt flooded my chest when I manipulated her. It flooded my chest again when my brother shoved a flaming hot Angel blade right through her… What did I do? Oh, yea… I left her there to bleed out… And now that I've ruined any chance I ever could have had with the little Human… I'm going to open Pandora's Box and unleash hell onto this world. If I have to hurt, so does everyone else.

Emerald is on her way to becoming the Silver Pack's greatest warrior. Her best friend, future Alpha Declan is one of her biggest supporters. He, along with her other two best friends, future Beta Jackson, and future Gemma Wesley, put her through the wringer, and more often than not, she comes up as the shining star. Everyone believes Emerald had the most leisurely life growing up. With her best friends being who they are, having the most loving mother and step-father who didn't hesitate to take her in as his own, but the truth is her family has been through hell. Em, well, she's been through even more. No one knows that better than her three best friends, who have all been attached at the hip since they met her at age three. They each have a secret, though, one they never even admitted to one another. Declan, Jack, and Wesley are in love with Emerald. The deep love that they won't admit, not even to themselves. Emerald is in love with all three of them, but unlike her friends, she knows it, and now that they are about to turn eighteen in just a few weeks, she's starting to get scared for the first time in her life. They will all be blessed by the moon goddess with their mates, and you just don't know how it will go. One of us could be a mate, or all four will mate with someone they know or don't even know. The issue with the last part is she-wolves are very jealous creatures, so our friendship can come to a crashing halt after all these years. The thought of that could kill her alone. But guess we will have to wait and see...