Cripple

Following an army mission, I ended up spending three years in a coma. After regaining consciousness, I request a temporary leave from the hospital. I sneak over to the army base where my wife, Major Alicia Connor, is stationed. With my heart bursting with joy, I prepare to give her a surprise—only to spot her on the training grounds, cradled in the arms of another man while he does his squats. The newly recruited soldiers cheer them on, saying, "Kiss her! Kiss her!" I figure they're just joking around, but Alicia proceeds to kiss the man without any hesitation. Still clinging to hope, I tell the soldier on guard to tell Alicia to come out and see me. Instead, it's that man, Steven Greene, who shows up. He gets the other soldiers to press me in the mud, snarling menacingly, "He's the monster who kept stalking Alicia three years ago and took advantage of her when she was drunk!" He stomps on the bouquet of asters I bring with me, driving them into the mud as well. "How dare a scar-faced cripple like you set your sights on Alicia? She's the youngest female major in the history of the army! "I'm going to make it clear to you today that Alicia isn't someone a loser like you can get any ideas about!" Blood sputters from my mouth as they give me a good thrashing. The bones in my already injured leg split and fractured even more. But what Steven doesn't know is the fact that, without me, Alicia can't even remain in the army, let alone be a major.

“Get out now!” He roared, rage, hate and bit of self-loathing swirling in his eyes. She flinched as she immediately inched back in shock. He turned away from her and stared down at his legs that had become lean, purplish and veiny due to his condition. His hand and body were shaking so much and he couldn’t stop it no matter what. Suddenly, he felt a soft and warm hand touch his face and wipe the tear away. Normally, he would have immediately recoiled from the touch but he found himself leaning into it. His whole body also stopped shaking and he looked up and into her eyes, unsure of why he couldn’t find an ounce of disgust for him in there. “I will heal you.” He raised his brow unsure if he heard her right and before he could ask her, she continued. “I will make you walk again and regain all that you lost but in exchange, you’ll be my sword. Do we have a deal? He watched her, confused at how someone who was so cowardly and quiet could change into such a confident person in the blink of an eye. “Deal.” Alecia Crest, a lowly omega who was ignored, abused and scorned suddenly found herself in an arranged marriage with the crippled ex Alpha . Using the healing powers she possessed, she made a deal with her cripple husband in exchange for revenge on her abuser and her freedom. It was meant to be a clean cut but what is she to do when she suddenly finds herself unable to resist the lust, attraction and passion that is the mate bond? Will she able to find love or will all the forces against the union succeed?

Zeeland stared at me with pure untainted disgust, and my heart picked up speed. “Zee?” What's wrong?” “You’re a Vampire?” He asked in a strangled voice. I was suddenly aware of my fangs which had sprouted while I'd lost control. “It’s not what you think, Zee.” I said, reaching out for him. He backed away. “You’re a hybrid. An abomination.” He sneered. I swallowed hard. “I’m your mate, Zee.” I said, digging my nails into the sheets, as I retracted my fangs slowly. “Mate?” His emotionless chuckle stabbed straight into my heart. “Not only are you a hybrid, an abomination, but you're also an Omega. What makes you think you'll ever be my mate?” I stilled. “Zee-” “I, Zeeland Bastien, reject you, Jaslyn Laural as my mate.” ★★ Born into a race where being a hybrid was an abomination, Jaslyn Laural struggles to keep her secret for years. Until her father sells her out to notorious slave traders, where she's bought by the cripple Alpha; Alpha Zeeland, the soon-to-be Alpha of the revered Zen pack. When he discovers her identity as a hybrid, he rejects her as his mate and sends her out of his pack. Vowing to take revenge on those who wronged her, Jaslyn leaves and ends up in Vampire territory where she gains fighting skills she'd never imagined. Soon, werewolves and vampires have to join hands to defeat a mutual enemy. Jaslyn however is unwilling to forgive the man who hurt her. She is torn between choosing her real mate, and abandoning him to his fate. This is the first book out of the VAMPIRES CUPID series.

Five days before my wedding, a group of MadeMen drag me to an underground casino. "I'm the fiancé of Lorenzo Gambino, Don of the Gambino family and Gambino Corporation! Think of the consequences you'll face if you dare touch a hair on my head!" My stern warning is met by mocking laughter. I curl up in agony under the brutal blows of their baseball bats; they pierce my ankles with sharp blades, severing my tendons. I gather the remnants of my consciousness to shield my abdomen, where my and Lorenzo's child grows. Lorenzo finally arrives with hired mercenaries. He razes the underground casino to the ground and saves me. I lie on the hospital bed and force myself to hang on. I don't want to end up in a coma. Unexpectedly, I overhear Lorenzo's conversation with a doctor. "It's not too late to operate, Boss. If we delay this any longer, Ms. Jones won't be able to stand anymore! There are many other ways for you to marry Ms. Valente—why did you have to do this to Ms. Jones?" "Being crippled is the only way Renee will obediently accept my and Kelly's child. I can keep a cripple by my side but not a troublemaker. Kelly values ceremony more than anything—I promised her I would give her a perfect wedding," Lorenzo says coldly. "But… Ms. Jones is pregnant. She's four months along…" "Make her miscarry, then." Tears stream down my face without anyone noticing. It turns out no one wants to bless the wedding I've been looking forward to. If so, any woman who wants to be Lorenzo's wife can have him. He's just a small mafia boss, anyway. I'm going back to being the heiress of the East Coast mafia's Don. I'll be the queen of my own life.

The night my sister died during a failed emergency procedure, a gang of thugs stopped the car that was taking me to the funeral home. They desecrated her body right in front of me, then beat me until every bone in my body felt shattered and the tendons in my hands were severed. The next day, the news that my hands were ruined and I would never be able to operate again made the headlines. Because of that, my fiancée of eight years, Sandra Walker, broke off our engagement. The very next day, she left for an overseas medical conference with the man she had always loved. When I was on the verge of collapse, Sandra's aunt, Magnolia Walker, set off fireworks for me and announced our wedding to the entire city. "Kayden Foster, I've loved you for so long. Now, I can finally stand by your side. In this life, you're the only man I want to marry!" In that endless despair, I clung to her as my only lifeline. On our wedding day, after I came back from paying my respects to my sister, I accidentally overheard Magnolia talking to her assistant, Robin Myers. "Dr. Walker, for your niece Sandy to be able to marry Quinton Kerr, I arranged for an intern to operate on Kayden's sister, hired people to cripple him, and had his sister's body violated. The police are still investigating, and I'm starting to get a little nervous. Isn't this too cruel?" After a brief silence, Magnolia spoke in a tired voice. "What choice did I have? Kayden was too proud. If I hadn't removed the sister he depended on and ruined both his hands, how could I make him fall apart? How else could I have made him break things off with Sandy without anyone suspecting a thing? "Quin and I were never meant to be in this life. As long as he's happy, that's enough..."

Five years ago, my Alpha parents rescued me from an orphanage and brought me home to the Blue Moon Pack. I thought my life was finally taking a turn for the better. I thought I was safe. But I was wrong. Yolanda McKinney—the fake heiress—conspired with rogue wolves to destroy me. They kidnapped me, ran over my legs with a car, breaking them, and left me battered and bleeding. When my parents and my childhood sweetheart, Joseph Delgado, found me lying in a pool of my own blood, their panic was unmistakable. They rushed me to the pack hospital, but the diagnosis was devastating: I might never walk again. Joseph proposed to me on the spot, vowing to stand by me through everything. My parents, furious at Yolanda's betrayal, promised swift justice. They assured me they had cut all ties with her, that she'd fled in guilt and drowned in a tragic accident. I believed them. I had to. For five years, I focused on recovery, trying to rebuild my shattered life. My marriage to Joseph was my anchor, the one thing I thought I could trust. Until the day I saw Yolanda McKinney alive. "You and Mom and Dad saved my life," she said smugly, her voice dripping with venom. "Without you, that pathetic cripple would’ve been the end of me." My blood ran cold as she continued. "But she never suspected, not even for a second, that you and I have a pup. Mom and Dad? They erased every trace, switched her meds for useless pills—hell, they even buried the evidence." Joseph's response shattered what little remained of my heart. "Don't make it sound so harsh," he murmured. "Marrying her was the only way I could keep sending those forgiveness letters. It was the only way to keep you and our son safe." Every word stabbed me like a blade. My marriage? A lie. My parents? Traitors who discarded me like trash. The justice they’d promised me? A farce. Fine. If I meant nothing to them, then they would mean nothing to me.