Disappeared

Extract The thought of Louis stalking me send cold shivers down my spine. Cold sweats formed on my forehead and I could feel my make-up washing off by my sweats. " Who are you?" Austin roared, but the wicked smile on Louis's face never left my mind. Why was he smiling that way? I couldn't help but wonder with my body trembling. " Louis Rusev" Louis answered and the audience gasped. At this moment, the priest had disappeared and everyone was holding their breath. " The alpha of lake pack?" Austin asked with squinted eyes to be sure the person standing before him wasn't an imposter. I didn't tell Austin the identity of my ex-mate, I only told him what happened between us. " Bravo, you know me well" Louis applauded and approached us on the stage. " What do you want?" Austin asked and I felt his grip tightened around my wrist in a protective manner. " I want my mate back" Louis answered calmly with a domineering voice. My heart dropped to my stomach at his response and I felt tears brimming in my eyes. Didn't he reject me? Didn't he send me away? why did he appear suddenly? In a world where people go over the moon when they find their mate, Nora's life crumbled after finding hers. Happy that her long-time crush, Alpha Louis Rusev was now her mate, she offered herself to him willingly not knowing Fate was Tempting her. How far can she survive the cruel action of fate and the partiality of the moon goddess?

My adopted sister, Clara, framed me. She claimed I forced beast blood down her throat. The terror, she said, gave her a heart attack. So my three beloved vampire brothers sealed me away. They trapped me in the observatory in the highest tower, bound by a blood curse. I pounded on the door, helpless, explaining and begging them to let me out. Damien, my eldest brother, the head of our family, pierced me with a look of cold disappointment. Then he turned his back on me. "There's a limit to your selfishness, Lilith. Clara is a fragile human. She has a heart condition! Did you force that filth on her? Were you trying to kill her? I don't want to see this cruel side of you again. Stay in here and think about what you've done." Ethan, the rock star, and Julian, the gothic architect, couldn't even look at me. Their voices were tight with anger and exhaustion. "We put up with your tantrums, but not so you could hurt our family! You've let us down, Lilith. Stay in there and figure out what you did wrong." Then they carefully lifted the "unconscious" Clara and disappeared down the hall. But they didn't know. The observatory was only meant to open at night. But it malfunctioned. When morning came, the dome didn't close. Deadly sunlight streamed straight in. My power evaporated. My screams turned to silence. I burned to ash. Three days later, my brothers returned with a "recovered" Clara. Only then did they remember me. They had no idea the sun had already executed me.

I was trapped in a sea filled with icebergs, clinging to life alongside Elsa —the sweetheart of my mate, Alpha Luke, and her son. After a long hesitation, Luke chose to save me, the one carrying his unborn twins. After he brought me to shore, there wasn’t enough time for him to go back for Elsa. All he could do was watch her drift away, swallowed by the freezing waves, until she disappeared from sight. He never forgave me for it. He said I delayed him—that if not for me, he could have saved her. For five long years, he hated me. He wouldn't even let my twin pups call him “father.” Then came the day the witch brewed a time machine that could turn back time. Luke gave up everything—his title, his pride, even his sons—just for the chance to go back. “Aria,” he said before leaving, “did you really think I saved you because I cared? If I hadn’t saved you first, the whole pack would’ve blamed Elsa. That’s the only reason.” After he was gone, his mother looked at me with eyes full of disdain. “This is all your fault,” she said. “If Luke had saved Elsa first, he might’ve been happy now.” Even my own children resented me. “You're the reason Father hates us,” they said. “You're the one who killed Elsa. Why couldn’t it have been you who died that day?” Despised by everyone, I drank the potion without a second thought. This time, I would go back. This time, I would save myself. And I would owe Luke nothing.

Elena Marlowe never imagined one night could change everything. At a mask gala event, she let herself forget the rules of her life. One dance led to one kiss... and then a night she swore would never leave the shadows. She didn't even know his name... only the storm in his grey eyes and the way he made her feel like someone else for once, like someone free. But secrets have a way of catching up. Weeks later, two pink lines shatter her illusion of escape. With no way to find the man who disappeared with the dawn, Elena chooses silence. She walks away from the life she knew, determined to protect her baby and her heart. Until fate intervenes. Her new job is a lifeline, a chance to start over. But her new boss? Cassian Wolfe, The Billionaire CEO. Who is sharp, ruthless and unmistakably the man from that night. He doesn't recognize her or so she hopes. But Cassian Wolfe didn't build an empire by being blind. The moment Elena steps into his office, something shifts. A flicker of familiarity. A tension neither of them can name. Elena fights to keep her secret buried. Cassian fights to uncover it. But when the truth begins to unravel, lines blur in between past and present, between power and vulnerability, between fear and the one thing Elena vowed never to feel again: love. Now Cassian wants answers. He wants control. And maybe... just maybe, he wants her. But some secrets are too big to stay hidden. And some hearts are too fragile to risk shattering again. Will Elena protect the life she's built? Or will the father of her child claim more than just the truth?

From high school to my sophomore year in college, I've been in four relationships. None of them lasted, obviously. Boys my age just don't know how to treat a girl like me. I turned twenty, two weeks ago, and decided to swear off love until this hunk of a man walks into our film class. The stranger who I rocked during my birthday party. Well, I thought I only rocked him but memories of that night flood me upon seeing his face. His hands on my waist, my back to his chest, his mouth on my neck. And then...one of the club's rooms. Oh my God! "Good morning everyone, I'm Professor Christian Lambert but you can just call me Professor Lambert. I'll be taking you on international film studies from now on." His gaze ignores all the students in front of me and lands on me. My body warms at the intense memory of us together during my birthday party. As if thinking about the same thing, his face splits into a mischievous grin. Rumors soon begin to fill the campus about the professor. Five years ago, his ex-girlfriend mysteriously disappeared but was later found a month later, in a man's shirt. It was the professor's DNA that was found in her hair and because there was no evidence, he went scot-free. I planned to keep my distance from him after hearing the rumors but... ****** "Hey, little birdie" Professor Lambert corners me after one of my lectures. "I couldn't stop thinking about you after that night." I swallow hard and avoid his piercing brown eyes. Is this right? He's my professor and a rumored killer but...why is my heart beating so fast?

"Isabella. In this city, I am the law. I am the judge. And right now... I am your husband." He said. I stared at him, my mouth falling open; I didn’t know if I should laugh. "What?" "The paperwork is already being filed," he said, pulling back and standing tall. "As of tomorrow morning, you are Isabella Moretti. My wife. My property." He said boastfully as I stood there trying to make meaning of his words. ----- Isabella Romano spent ten years trying to be normal. After her father betrayed the mob and disappeared, she and her mother lived in hiding, working hard just to survive. Isabella finally thought the danger was over. She thought she was just a normal girl with a normal life. She was wrong. One night, her door is kicked open. Isabella doesn't find a killer waiting for her. She finds Luca Moretti. He is the most powerful man in the city, and he is as cold as ice. He doesn't want her dead. He wants the fortune her father stole, and he believes Isabella is the only person who can find it. To keep her close and keep her safe from other gangs, Luca forces her to do the one thing she never imagined. He makes her marry him. Living inside Luca’s giant house, Isabella starts to see a different side of the man everyone fears. He has secrets and scars of his own. As his enemies try to burn everything down, she realizes that the man she was forced to marry is the only one who can keep her alive. The world they live in is full of lies and blood. Isabella knows she should run, but she can feel herself falling for a man she is supposed to hate.

A prophecy forces alliances to form and secrets from the past to be revealed. War is on the horizon. The darkness is spreading, forcing the eldest prince of Pearl, Theodavian Sagedeluna, to return to the Tempest Elysium. His long lost best friend, Calyx, disappeared without a trace fifteen years prior after a night he can't remember with all her secrets. What happens when fate brings them back together and the secrets begin to unravel? Calyx has her secrets that she has sworn to keep. With Theodavian returning as her family legacy forces her to stay put, it is fate that they once again cross paths. The secrets she keeps are robbing her of immortality, but fate forces all secrets to be revealed. What if she can no longer protect Theodavian from the secrets she carries? What if he won't allow her to? * Seraphina is the palace healer of The Great Willow. When she was a child, her parents were murdered beyond recognition. Dante Elderys, supreme councilor of justice of The Great Willow Tree, is Lady Crystobelle's most trusted warrior and ambassador. After rescuing her that fateful night, he has watched her grow up and mature into a lady of integrity and pure heart. He has sworn to protect her always even from himself and his secret desires. Seraphina knows an elf of Dante's high status would never consider her to be someone worthy of forming a matebond with. In fact, she already knows the beautiful elf that has already captured his heart to her broken heart's dismay. With the war coming and Lilies Of Celeste needing to be harvested for Calyx's health tonics, her first adventure away from The Great Willow Tree reveals the truth of her identity and the secrets Seraphina and Dante both keep from one another.

My best friend, Mira Bolton, got into an online relationship with three rich men while impersonating me. One of them was an heir to an extremely wealthy family, the second one was a domineering pilot, while the last one was a cold and aloof professor who taught medicine. In order to siphon money from them, Mira told them that she wanted to marry them, but they'd have to pay her family three million dollars each as a form of monetary gift. After they agreed to Mira's proposal, she used my ID to register in three different marriages with them at respective times. Mira was terrified that she'd suffer from a fate worse than death when her wrongdoings were exposed. Right after she received the money, she told them she had cancer and needed to fly overseas to get it treated. That was how she disappeared with millions of dollars under her name. Eventually, they tracked me down using the information from my ID card. Daniel Newton, the rich heir, asked me icily, "Didn't you fly overseas to get your cancer treated?" I looked very confused by his question. Only then did they realize they had gotten tricked by Mira. Enraged, Daniel had me kidnapped and thrown into a rural village all the way in the mountains. Kevin Luther, the pilot, broke my legs and told me that I could forget about escaping from the mountains forever. Felix McQuinn, the professor, felt that it wasn't big enough of a punishment for me, so he personally removed my kidney from my body. In the village, I was reduced to a plaything meant for the villagers to toy with. In the end, I caught STDs and died in a filthy pig pen. When I wake up again, I've returned after Mira stole my identity and got into a relationship with them.

When I was three years old, my twin brothers, Silas and Julian, nearly died in an explosion while trying to save me. The Vampire King happened to pass by and turned them into high-ranking vampires. He had wanted to turn me too, so our family could stay together forever, but they refused. The King's power was too overwhelming, they said-the transformation would be agonizing. So they promised to turn me themselves when I turned eighteen. They spent every last penny they had on an impossibly rare serum-a blood-calming agent that would ensure I survived the transformation safely. But six months ago, they brought home a fifteen-year-old human orphan named Elena. Silas snatched my serum and handed it to Elena, his voice cold as ice. "You're strong enough to endure the transformation on your own. Elena is far more fragile than you-she needs this more." Julian's face twisted with undisguised contempt. He pointed at the door and snarled, "Get out! Don't come back until you learn to share!" I didn't say a word. I picked up the suitcase I'd already packed and disappeared into the rainy night. They assumed I was just throwing a tantrum. They figured I'd come crawling back in a few days. To celebrate ridding themselves of their "burden," they took the orphan on a vacation to the Caribbean coast-the trip I'd been dreaming about for years. But when they returned to the castle two weeks later, they were stunned to discover that I had undergone the Vampire King's transformation personally. Not only that-I had voluntarily signed a hundred-year agreement to join a classified isolation research project studying resistance to holy silver and crucifixes. A century of solitary confinement. I was never coming back. That day, they completely fell apart.

He stole her first kiss on their first encounter, and she accused him of being perverted and arrogant. Her straightforward personality hooked his interest despite the danger ahead. He announced a surrogacy competition to draw her towards him. She left no option but to join the competition only to find out he’s the same person she gave a great lesson he’d never forget. Trapped to the trick played by this ruthless billionaire, she played along with his game and became his wife. His dark secrets gradually unfold, destroying and drowning them into the deep abyss. He suddenly disappeared from her life, but another stranger came in. She could feel his warmth, and they kissed. Warm tears began to roll down from her eyes, soaking the white cloth over them. When he felt her heat tears, he panicked instantly. He did not know why, but he did not want to see her cry. “Darling, don’t cry...” He let go of her, his fingers gently touching her hair. “I won’t touch you, I won’t touch you anymore, okay?” She cried more violently, and she said in a choked voice, “Don’t talk!” “... Why?” He was a bit stunned. Gently biting her lip, she could not help saying, “When, when you talk, you sound like him very much...” He’s so gentle and dotes on her. When he spoke, she even felt that it was not another person, but her husband Joshua stood next to her. Even the way he kissed her was so similar... It was not until this moment that Hazel realized how much she missed Joshua. She was not afraid of waiting. Even if she had to wait for a long time, she would cherish it.