D Youville Library Novels & Stories

The notice of my mother's layoff sat on the kitchen table. Rent was due in three days. My younger brother's tutoring fees were already two weeks late. And my little sister, Stephanie, clutched her acceptance letter to the local public arts high school like she'd done something wrong. None of this would be happening if it weren't for me. My illness had taken everything our family had saved. I stayed in my room, leaning against the door, wanting to tell them I'd drop out of treatment—but I couldn't bring myself to open it. "Why did he have to fall sick?" My mother was crying, her voice low and tight, like the words were being forced out of her. "If it were just you both, Stephanie and Jamie, we'd be fine by now." "Mom, please don't say that." My brother and sister held her, barely holding back their own tears. "He's a burden… but he's still my son." Her voice cracked. "I just… I can't do this anymore…" I stepped back and sank into my chair. It wasn't an accusation. It was a verdict.

WOLFBANE SERIES BOOK 2 ***It is highly recommended you read book 1, Wolfbane, before starting this one for context and to avoid spoilers.*** *TALIA* You'd think being raised in a brothel would prepare me for anything. You'd be wrong. I never expected to find my mother murdered in cold blood. I never predicted I'd hunt down the killer and take his life in exchange. And I sure didn't imagine the son of my mother's murderer would turn out to be my mate. But I guess this is my life now. Being a werewolf in hiding was no piece of cake, but being a werewolf on the run is even worse… *ALEX* I don't think I made a very good first impression. But to be fair, who meets their mate at their father's murder scene? A murder where she, evidently, is the number one and only suspect. It's disturbing. It's gruesome. But it's fate. And I'll do anything to see the mysterious woman with distinctive blue eyes again… *Content warning: This is a paranormal romance novel with dark themes containing mature adult content, offensive language, and graphic violence, and may not be suitable for young readers.*

“You’re insane.” “Maybe,” Robert admitted, his eyes locked on mine and his face too close. “But I always get what I want and right now Kayla, what I want… is you.” ~~~ He needed a wife. I needed the money. Robert Moore is ruthless and dangerous, a man who terrifies the entire city. I’d paid no mind to the warning bells that rang in my head when I proposed to marry him for money. When I’d agreed to be his fake wife for a year. The rules were simple. No falling in love. No asking questions. Marrying him was supposed to be my solution-a business deal, a clean exchange. But nothing about Robert is simple. He’s bossy, arrogant, and so sinfully attractive that every look he gives me feels like a dare. Then came the threats. The enemies. The danger and guns. Now, I’m not sure where the act ends and where the truth begins. Because the longer I stay by his side, the more I realize I might not be pretending anymore… And the mafia boss who swore he’d never love might be willing to burn the whole city down just to keep me.

One of Ethan Sterling's closest friends got drunk and humiliated me. Called me a nobody orphan who married above her station, said I'd never be accepted by the Sterlings, that I wasn't fit to sit at their table. Ethan smashed a bottle over the man's head. He announced in front of everyone that if anyone ever disrespected me again, he'd make them pay. When I was pregnant and the morning sickness was so brutal I couldn't keep anything down, he went and scheduled a vasectomy. He didn't want me to suffer through another pregnancy. This was a man who loved me like I was his whole world. And yet — when I was lying on the operating table about to give birth, he was standing right in front of me with his arms around Iris, putting on a show for anyone watching. Iris was the daughter of another old-money family and she'd donated bone marrow to save Ethan's mother's life. The night before her own engagement, her fiance betrayed her, and the trauma wiped her memory clean. Now the only thing she knew for certain was that Ethan Sterling was her husband. In her world, I was the homewrecker — the scheming woman using the bastard in her belly to force her husband into a divorce. Ethan promised me it was all an act. Just repaying the debt for his mother's life. Once Iris recovered, he'd walk away from her immediately. But when I picked up the surgical consent form for him to sign, and his first instinct was to pull Iris behind him — to shield her — I knew. His heart had already drifted off course. The fairy tale of a Cinderella marrying into high society was over. Time to wake up.

My best friend was a D-list influencer who'd blown six months of savings to drag me to a so-called "socialite finishing school." But then the instructor made us slap each other across the face — an "obedience test." I couldn't help it. I laughed. The next second, my friend was blacklisted from the entire circle, and her agent sent a termination notice. The instructor pointed at me and gave my friend an ultimatum: "Get on your knees. Slap her ten times. Then I'll lift the ban." My friend cried, trembling as she walked toward me. I sighed. The billion-dollar inheritance I'd just received — looks like the secret was about to come out.

HUNCHING my shoulders against the cold, I watched my breath mist out in front of me. It was either that or head into the convenience store opposite and grab some cigs, which I couldn’t do. Ma’d already threatened to lop off my head if she caught me stinking of smoke, and while I wasn’t averse to a clipped ear, what with being twenty, I didn’t give much of a anymore. My wrist was , thanks to how many times Da had broken it, and I’d been shot at twice. I could cope with her pulling on my ear like it was stuck on with Velcro. Dealing with Mariska’s repugnance, however, was another matter entirely.

I woke up naked beside a man I hadn’t seen in eight years. Before noon, the scandal was everywhere. By noon, I’d lost my position as CEO, my name, and my marriage. But the worst betrayal wasn’t the headlines. It wasn’t walking in on my husband and my best friend planning my downfall and mocking me. It was finding out the man I loved, my sweetheart of five years, made me a surrogate without my knowledge. The twins I'd been carrying for seven months weren't mine. But it failed to break me. It only made me stronger. After all, I wasn't just a mother—I was a CEO.

Torn between the memories of a love that once was and the promise of a future filled with joy and stability, Camilla must decide—who is truly deserving of her heart? Lucius broke her heart and divorced her, not knowing who she truly was. Five years later, Lucius begs her for forgiveness when he loses everything. *** "Silly Camilla, I loved you before knowing who you are, and I'll love you until my last breath. You're the only thing I can never sacrifice. If I have to burn the world down just for you, I'd do it in the blink of an eye. I'd take every blow just to keep you safe."

I froze to death alone in the endless snow, my wolf core brutally crushed by Kalen Blackrock—the fated Alpha I’d given my entire life, my loyalty, my heart to. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn. It was the exact day he’d planned to publicly reject me, the day that broke my past life before it even began. This time, I didn’t wait for his cruelty. I smiled, ripped our sacred mate bond to shreds before he could utter a single word, and said flatly, “I don’t want you anymore, Kalen Blackrock.” He’s the most powerful Alpha alive, feared by every pack across the werewolf world. But the moment I turned and walked away, he broke. He groveled, he begged, he laid his entire kingdom at my feet, desperate to earn back the love he’d thrown away. But it’s too late. I’ve found my true destiny: I am the Moon Goddess’s chosen heir, the only one who can save our dying world. I was never meant to be his Luna. I was born to be their Queen.

Andrew was the youngest Alpha the Northern packs had ever seen.   On his twenty-eighth birthday, he accepted a she-wolf as a gift — right in front of everyone.   For the first time, I dropped the obedient act. I smashed the champagne tower, threw my ring at him, and called off our engagement.   Then I packed my bags and left the pack I'd called home for seven years.   Everyone said I was a rogue with no one to turn to — that I'd come crawling back within three days.   Andrew didn't even care. "She's a rogue I took in. Without the North, where else would she go?"   But three days came and went. Then dozens more. I never went back.   The first time Andrew reached out through our mind-link, he found nothing.   I'd already severed the connection.   Later, when news broke that I had mated with Austin, Alpha of the South, it sent shockwaves through the werewolf world.   Andrew showed up at my door, desperate, begging me to come home.   Austin smiled warmly, his arm curling around my waist. "Andrew, what exactly are you discussing with my Luna?"