Crooked Kingdom By Leigh Bardugo

“By the way, I saved you from your mate that rejected you without thinking twice, what do I get for it?” Those were the exact words of the man I was sold to by my mate the day I stepped into his mansion. Thick saliva landed roughly into the pit of my stomach. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. Only bubbles. His eyes colour was dark but who is to say it wasn't as dark as his intentions. What are the chances I was not in more danger than I would have been with my mate that rejected me. ************************************************* Amaya went from learning that her mate was the Alpha of her Pack whom she detested, to being rejected and offered the role of becoming his slut by the same Alpha. But then her story changed in a way she never expected nor wanted. She would have preferred staying in the dungeon where her mate threw her than to be sold to the infamous tyrant Alpha to stop an impending war. With a new Alpha in the picture, Amaya's life was only getting started. The question remains if it was for good or for bad.

“You taste divine!” I gasped as he broke the kiss abruptly, flattening me under him. “If you are trying to seduce me,” his golden eyes shined, complimenting his husky tone. “Then it’s working, Little Swan!” ... Lizette waited for a long time to hear the word ‘mate’ from her childhood crush, Alpha Brandon. But when he finally said this, it was followed by cruel rejection. Considering this rejection as the end of this world, Lizette was devastated beyond words. She accepted her fate of eternal loneliness. However, the night of the annual mating ball proved her wrong. Her eyes locked with the most powerful lycan King, Alpha Vincent Lawrence, as his royal claim reverberated in the surroundings, “Mine!”

18+(Contains Dark Themes) __ "That doesn't make this okay," I breathed. "I'm married. Why are you even interested in me?" He leaned closer, his breath warm against my ear. "I found a drop-dead gorgeous woman holding back tears at my welcome party." His fingers crept under the hem of my sweatshirt. "Interested? Catherine, can't you see I'm obsessed?" **** When Catherine Holloway’s gets drunk at a gala, she wakes up tangled in the sheets, and the arms of her estranged stepson, Soren Ashford. The dangerously alluring Lycan has always been a distant shadow in her life… until now. Their chemistry is raw, relentless, and ruinous. But when she discovers she’s pregnant, his dismissal destroys her before she could let him know: "It was just an affair.” Exiled and disgraced, Catherine rebuilds her life from nothing, until Soren returns a year later. Hungrier. Possessive. Unhinged. He’ll burn fortunes, break alliances, and slaughter every enemy who dares stand between them. Because Catherine isn’t just his stepmother anymore. She’s his obsession. And this time, he’s not just asking for forgiveness. He’s taking her back.

Student Elizabeth works in a dead-end hotel job to makes ends meet, but she dreams of a better life. When she foolishly decides to shower in the penthouse bathroom of one of the hotel guests, it has consequences she did not expect. A Billionaire, BDSM, Erotic Romance.Bought By The Billionaire is created by Simone Leigh, an eGlobal Creative Publishing Signed Author.

My father cheated. I cut him out of my life. To get my forgiveness, my father put Lucas Moretti, the Don of New York, in my bed. I fell for Lucas, fast. He knew how to play gentle. Night after night, he’d hold me tight, fuck me like he owned me, and whisper how obsessed he was with me. Six months later, I was pregnant. I was the princess of New York's underworld. My father and Lucas gave me everything. They treated me like I was made of glass. But the day of the baby's blessing at the church? They were a no-show. My father said there was family business to handle. Then I got an anonymous link. A wedding. Live. In the video, my father, Lorenzo, was walking his mistress, Carla—the woman who killed my mother—down the aisle, a happy smile plastered on his face. And the other happy couple? My fiancé, and my father's bastard daughter, Sofia. I could hear Lucas’s voice clearly: "Well, Bella used to bully Sofia. I'm just helping her get the justice she deserves... As for Bella, it's time she was unburdened from a life she isn't built for." "I'll take over the Gallo family shares for her," he continued, "so she and our child can live without a care in the world." My father’s voice followed. "Bella’s too much like her mother—ambitious. That’s not a good thing for a woman." As my world shattered, a text from an unknown number lit up my screen: "Marry me, and the child you're carrying will be the sole heir of the Russo family."

"You'll always be my Luna. Once Amy dies, everything goes back to normal." Normal? There's nothing normal about watching your mate fall in love with his dying first love. Nothing normal about birthing your dead son alone while your husband plans another woman's birthday party. I gave Noah everything...my love, my body, my career, seven years of my life. He gave me a dead baby and a wedding ring covered in blood. So I went to his uncle. Alpha Liam Kingsley—billionaire, powerful Alpha, the man who proposed to me seven years ago when I was too in love with Noah to see clearly. Now Liam's offering me a contract marriage and revenge. Noah thinks I'll come crawling back. That I'm too weak, too broken, too desperate to survive without him. He's about to learn what a mistake feels like. Because the wife he abandoned? She's about to become untouchable. This time, she's keeping the Alpha who chose her first. And oh, she will be back to torture that motherfucker!

Rule number one: Do not kiss strange men in clubs. Rule number two: Never kiss the owner of the club. Rule number three: If he’s a secret billionaire with a dark past and a disturbing obsession with your heartbeat? Run. My name is Scarlett Whitmore. And I broke all three. I was born with a heart condition called Mitral Valve Prolapse. My mother hates me for ruining her life. My brother cannot stand me. And my boyfriend, Drake Bittencourt, the man I thought was the love of my life, proposed to my twin sister in front of 19,000 hockey fans. And she accepted him without hesitation. When my sister walks into the club I work at, flaunting Drake’s ring without remorse, I make a rash decision: I grab the first man that catches my fancy and kiss him like my life depends on it. He turns out to be Harlan Rousseau. Team captain of the formidable Vancouver Icefangs. Hockey god. And according to the tabloids, dead broke and drowning in debt. But the tabloids are wrong. Not only is Harlan Rousseau NOT broke, he’s the secret heir to a ninety- billion-dollar oil empire. He offers me a deal: wear his ring. play the devoted wife. And sleep in his bed for a year. In exchange, he’ll pay off my medical debt and save my best friend from homelessness. The most important of all: he offers a chance to get my revenge. I should’ve said no. But I was desperate. And desperate women make deals with the devil. The longer I stay, the more I realize Harlan Rousseau is not just hiding wealth. He’s hiding a monster. And I’m starting to think I don’t want to run from it…

My in-laws, who have flown back to the country for the Christmas holidays, visit my home on Christmas Eve for dinner. But Selena Collins, the housekeeper, has only prepared two plates of cold shrimp ravioli despite the fact that I've specifically reminded her about my mother-in-law, Lora Fischer's allergy to shrimps. Selena just tells me in a stoic manner, "Mrs. Peterson, I know that you country bumpkins love taking advantage of everything. So, I completely understand that your parents want to mooch off a meal from the Peterson family during the holidays. "But as Mr. Peterson's most caring housekeeper, I have the right to protect the Petersons' assets from getting leeched by outsiders. Yes, this includes a regular meal. "Then again, I have a heart of gold, you see. I won't starve the elders at all. These are leftover shrimp ravioli from last year. Your parents should hurry up and leave after polishing the ravioli off. "Mr. Peterson is very busy with his work. I can't let him deal with your impoverished parents after getting home from a stressful day at work." I'm stunned at first, but I soon realize that Selena has mistaken my in-laws for my parents. She's purposefully causing me trouble as always. I'm about to explain the truth to Selena when I see my enraged in-laws turning to leave. But Selena wastes no time in calling the bodyguards over to stop them. "I completely understand that country bumpkins like you two have poor character, but wasting food is a really bad trait. "Since the shrimp ravioli is already prepared for you, please finish them all before leaving."

“I, Alpha Damon, reject you, Kaima, as my mate. You are a stain on my pack, a weakling who offers nothing but shame.” Those were the words that shattered Kaima’s world. Cast out into the Forbidden Forest to die, the low-status omega expected the shadows to claim her life. Instead, they whispered her name. Betrayal has a way of waking up the ancient things that should have stayed buried. Deep within Kaima’s blood, the First Fang—the original primal wolf spirit—stirs. It doesn't want her to survive; it wants her to reign. When she is found by Rowan, the lethal Alpha of the Black-Ridge Pack, he doesn't see a broken girl. He senses a power that hasn't walked the earth in five centuries. Bound to Rowan by a dangerous Soul Resonance, Kaima begins a meteoric rise. She is no longer the girl who hides; she is the girl whose scent makes Alphas drop to their knees in terror. As she masters her new dominance, she must navigate a world of "face-slapping" revenge, pack politics, and a second-chance bond that is as erotic as it is deadly. From the ashes of a public rejection, a Queen is born. The Council wants her dead, her former mate wants her back, but the Beast? The Beast wants blood.

“I, Julius Armstrong, reject Doris Charles as my mate.” The laughter came right after. This was the second time my mate rejected me because I cannot talk. In the pack, they call me dumb not because I am stupid, but because I am mute. When I turned eighteen, my first mate rejected me for that reason. Today, it was the Gamma. He is twenty-one, the same age as the Alpha and Beta. This was his third rejection. The first girl was too fat, the second was too short and now, I was dumb. I never wanted to attend the mating ceremony. I knew how it would end, but my stepmother forced me to go, and my stepsisters came just to watch me get mocked again. The next day, wolves who had found their mates returned to officially claim them before the Alpha and pack leaders. I went only because I was forced, just to stand there and watch my stepsister get chosen. Then something happened that no one expected. The Alpha claimed me as his mate in front of everyone. Was I shocked? Yes. Did I believe him? No. Did I think it was a cruel joke? Absolutely. Because no Alpha would choose a rejected, mute girl like me.