Distract

In October 2025, an explosion occurs at a remote lab. An unidentified substance is leaked, and the virus makes people go insane. Anyone who is bitten by these rabid creatures becomes one of them. It's like the zombies people see in movies and video games. On the first day of the explosion, my five-year-old, Joyce Fairfield, is still at kindergarten. I risk my life to hurry there, but I can't even find her corpse when I arrive. I can only look at the surveillance footage to see her face, which is ashen with fear. I also see her mouth, "Mommy!" 15 days after the explosion, I finally traverse the city and get to my mother's home. However, all that welcomes me is a destroyed apartment and blood everywhere. 20 days after the explosion, my husband, Emmett Fairfield, calls me one last time from his office, which zombies have surrounded. He tells me not to leave the house. Less than a month after the apocalypse arrives, I lose all my family. I'm alone as I struggle to survive in this dead world. The spread of the virus triggers chaos in mankind. I exchange all my supplies to save a neighboring couple from bandits, leading them to safety in a secure zone where they can live stable lives. However, my kindness is not repaid. Three years after the explosion, the secure zone is under siege by a wave of zombies. As we retreat, my neighbors shove me underneath a car so I'll distract the zombies. Then, they make a run for it and get away. Trusted neighbors betray me. As the zombies eat away at me, I can feel death looming. All I want is to see my family again. Now, I've been reborn. I have six hours before the zombie apocalypse breaks out.

"First time?" he asks, lowering his hand to my abdomen, his body tensing. I bite my lip, seeing his eyes flash with something dark. He pushes deeper inside me, and I wince. Pain shoots through me, but pleasure quickly follows, numbing me to the world. The sparks and tingles distract me from the discomfort. "So tight," he murmurs as he pulls out. "Please," I moan recklessly, knowing I should stop him but It feels so good. "Eager to feel my c**k," he growls as he thrusts back inside me, his voice makes me forget the pain. But I lose myself, existing only for the man inside me. As the thrusts cease, his ragged breaths send shivers down my spine. I press my forehead into the pillow, disoriented. "Mine..." He growls. Then Asher takes a deep breath, and he says the words that shatter my heart. "I, Asher Knight, Alpha of the Redwood Pack, hereby reject you, Alethea Weaver of BloodMoon pack as my mate." *** Alethea hasn't fully awakened her wolf. Her life takes a darker turn when her father forces her to be a breeder to Xavier, the Beta of the Bluemoon Pack. But when Xavier's jealous girlfriend threatens her life, Alethea has no choice but to run. Alethea is attacked but saved by a shadowy figure-Alpha Asher, knowing she is his fated mate. With her wolf still dormant, Alethea is unaware of the deep connection between them. Asher, torn between duty ends things. A brutal accident leaves Alethea with no memory of her past-and no idea that she's carrying Asher's child. As she rebuilds her life, hidden truths, and long-buried secrets begin to resurface. Will she uncover why Asher pushed her away? And as rival packs close in, will she discover her power before it's too late?

Jace Steadman. My best friend’s father. Older. Controlled. Quiet in a way that makes my pulse stutter. A man who never looks twice at anyone… Except this time, he looked at me. One glance at my ruined makeup and shaking breath, and suddenly he felt too close. Too warm. Too dangerous. His voice was gentle when everyone else had been cruel. And when he sat beside me beneath the glow of the fire, I felt something I hadn’t felt in years: Wanted. Not sweetly. Not politely. But with a quiet, restrained hunger that made my heart slam against my ribs. To distract me from the pain—and to stop himself from touching me—we made a game of it: Twelve days. Twelve dares. No rules… except the ones we couldn’t stop breaking. A whispered challenge in the dark became a dare. A dare became a touch that lingered too long. A touch became a pull neither of us knew how to resist. He shouldn’t crave me. I shouldn’t crave him back. But the more we tried to stay respectable, the more our restraint fell apart. The lodge turned into a minefield of temptation—Christmas lights, stolen glances, near-kisses that burned hotter than the fire. Jace wasn’t just a man I wanted. He became the man I couldn’t stop fighting—and falling—for. If anyone finds out, my life falls apart. His reputation shatters. Everything explodes. But desire doesn’t care about consequences. And this Christmas, I’m done being careful. Done being quiet. Done pretending I don’t want the man who looks at me like I’m the first real taste of life he’s had in years. Twelve days. Twelve dares. One forbidden man I can’t walk away from… even if he ruins me.