Emergent Strategy

For twins Ethel and Elise, the line between dream and nightmare was always thin—and on Paron Island, it has been completely erased. Their idyllic gap year, a sun-soaked mosaic of beach bonfires and reckless abandon, is shattered in an instant. A "project," as the panicked news reports cryptically call it, has gone horrifically wrong, releasing a pathogen that reanimates the dead with a singular, gruesome purpose: to feed. The sisters' bond, once defined by shared secrets and sibling rivalry, is now their only anchor in a world drowning in blood. Driven by a raw, primal instinct to protect each other, they join forces with a few other fortunate—or unfortunate—souls who survived the initial onslaught. Together, this makeshift family must navigate the ruins of their former paradise, where every shadow hides a potential threat and every human sound could be a lure. Ethel, the more cautious sister, finds a hidden strength in strategy, while Elise's impulsive nature becomes both a weapon and a liability. But their fight against the decaying hordes is only the surface of the terror. Whispers of a coordinated presence, of supplies that go missing too conveniently, and of strangers who seem to know too much, point to a more insidious truth: the island's collapse was not a random tragedy. They are being hunted by something that thinks, that plans, that wears a human face. As their hope for rescue dwindles, Ethel and Elise are forced to confront the ultimate horror—that in the midst of an apocalypse, the most monstrous creatures of all are still human.

Seraphine Vale is the only child of Maelis Vale, a respected family of the Night Fang Pack. Born under the Moon Goddess’s prophecy, Seraphine was fated to bond with the Alpha Triplets: Kaleen Thorne, Lysander Thorne, and Riven Thorne, the heirs of the Night Fang Pack. At the age of eighteen, the prophecy comes to light. Shockingly, all three Triplets reject her, and each rejection seals a curse, making her silent, wolfless, and stealing her ability to love. Seraphine Vale's mother dies protecting her, marking the night with grief and betrayal. Seraphine flees the Night Fang Pack and runs into exile, where she would survive as silent, wolfless, and cursed. Despite the Alpha Triplets' rejection, the bond still screamed Seraphine's name. Years later, under a blood-red moon, the Moon Goddess issues a proclamation that shakes the werewolf world: The one whom Seraphine Vale willingly accepts back shall be ruler of the Night Fang Pack. The Triplets would do everything within their power to win Seraphine back. Each of them devises their own strategy, hoping to be the one she chooses. The question remains: who has the best approach to regain her trust, loyalty, and heart?Seraphine Vale might return not broken but strong. She may return, not as their Luna, but for revenge.

For three years, Eliza Sterling has lived with a quiet grief. After giving her husband, Scott, her entire fortune and her father's company, her only regret is the child they've been unable to conceive. On the morning of their third anniversary, she discovers Scott’s real betrayal: a secret plan to sell her father's empire out from under her, confiding in his CFO that his wife is “a soft spot” to be managed. But the real devastation waits in his office. There, she finds Scott with her stepsister, Chloe—a betrayal made monstrous when Chloe reveals the truth: their infertility is Scott’s choice, a cold strategy to prevent a true heir. Eliza is left utterly ruined, her heart, her home, and her legacy stolen. Her only offer of help comes from Adam Thorne, Scott’s rival, who presents not condolences but a partnership. In exchange for his legal and strategic might to destroy Scott, he wants a piece of the company. Eliza accepts, forging a bond built on revenge and a sharp, growing respect. As Scott watches the wife he took for granted become his most dangerous enemy, he is consumed by a regret that may be too late. Eliza must navigate a war on two fronts: a corporate battle to reclaim her power, and a personal war for her future, caught between the husband who shattered her and the rival who challenges her to rebuild herself from the ashes.

After her father's heart attack, Munachi Alice Rowland needs to stop being the spoiled rich kid in order to assume the position of the director in his gallery. What she isn't prepared for is finding out how bad the state of the gallery's finances are. Now Muna must find a potential investor to get the company back on its feet and pay off their debts. Grant Stevens, Muna's former school mate who made high school hell for her has returned to the city, richer, more powerful than ever and also hot as sin. When Muna finds out that Grant is the CEO of the company her father owes millions of dollars to, she is beyond shocked. Things get worse when she discovers the agreement her father signed with Grant's company. Muna has no choice, other than agreeing to Grant's every wish, which might just entail marriage with him. Muna is very sure it is yet another strategy to torment her, just like he always did nine years earlier. She is supposed to hate Grant, but how can she explain the constant attraction she feels instead whenever he's close? With his flirtatious smile and advances, can she be able to guard her heart and get married to her enemy for two years without catching feelings? As they say, there's a thin line between love and hatred, could Muna's nemesis have some stronger feelings for her after all?

Eira Thornwind has spent four years hiding the most dangerous secret in the shifter world—her wolf, Veyla, awakened at fourteen, two years earlier than any shifter in recorded history. Ancient, powerful, and carrying memories that don’t belong to this age, Veyla marks Eira as a prize any alpha would wage war to claim. Only her parents and a pair of trusted elders know the truth, and they intend to keep it that way. Now, with Eira’s eighteenth birthday approaching—the age when shifters can finally sense their fated mate—the annual Summit of the High Packs arrives on Crescent Fang land. Politics, competition, and centuries-old grudges simmer beneath the surface. Among the visiting delegations is Kalen Draven, the newly risen Alpha of the Ironshade Pack. Ruthless. Respected. Scarred by a past that forged him into a weapon. He expects manipulation, strategy, and power plays. He does not expect the Alpha’s daughter to strike him like a bolt of silver fire. Eira wants nothing to do with him. She doesn’t trust the cold Alpha with predator’s eyes, and she certainly doesn’t trust the way her ancient wolf stirs whenever he enters a room. Their packs are enemies. Their futures are already tangled with responsibility. But fate has its own design. Something old stirs beneath their feet. And a bond forged in silver flames may be the only thing that can save—or destroy—the shifter world. A slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers shifter romance filled with prophecy, danger, forbidden power, and a connection neither of them is ready for.

**Evelyn Karamazov** I’ve spent all twenty-three years of my life immersed in the world of the mafia, groomed to rule with an iron fist. But power in our world doesn’t come without a price, and that price is marriage—a union built on strategy rather than so-called love. It’s the last thing I want, but in this life, sacrifices are the currency we trade in. And if I have to choose, I’ll sacrifice to the devil I know rather than the angel I don’t. But make no mistake, a sacrifice is still a sacrifice, and it demands its due. **Killian Bandini** Sixteen years—that’s how long I’ve waited to exact my revenge. Sixteen years to drown in nightmares, consumed by guilt and the unyielding desire to set things right. My father is dead, and now the Bandini empire is mine. The time has come to collect what is owed, and God help those who wronged me, because they will pay with blood. ★ What happens when the most lethal, most infuriating man to ever walk the earth crashes your wedding, puts a bullet in your would-be husband’s head, and holds everyone at gunpoint just to ensure you marry him instead? Killian Bandini doesn’t ask; he takes. But if he thinks I’m some meek bride to be bartered and controlled, he’s dead wrong. I may have to marry him, but I sure as hell won’t make it easy. He’s come for blood and power, but he doesn’t know that I’m not just a pawn—I’m a queen, and this game has only just begun.

He looks at me like he already knows the truth I’ve spent a lifetime hiding. Ethan Vance—lawman, predator, believer in a system I learned to outthink before I could drink wine. His eyes don’t burn with hate. They study, measure, almost… understand. They call him incorruptible. Maybe he is. But I’ve seen incorruptible men fall, not to money or power, but to fascination. The kind that crawls under your skin and makes you wonder if the person chasing you might be the only one who truly sees you. He hunts me by the book. I survive by rewriting it. But somewhere between the pursuit and the silence, between his questions and my lies, the line blurred. And now, I can’t decide which is more dangerous, losing to him, or wanting him to catch me. --- He isn’t what I expected. Luca Vitale walks into every room like he owns it, and maybe he does. Calm. Calculated. Dangerous in ways that don’t show up on a rap sheet. He should be just another target, another name I take down and file away. But there’s something about the way he looks at me. Like he already knows I’m not as untouchable as I pretend to be. I tell myself it’s strategy, curiosity, control. It’s not. It’s a problem. Because every time I think I’m closing in, I realise he’s already two steps ahead—and for the first time in my career, I’m not sure if I’m hunting him, or if he’s letting me try.

Charlie Wayne’s life is perfect. Or it was. As a VP who commands boardrooms and a playboy who elegantly ends every date at his door by 3 AM, Charlie’s world is built on control. But lately, his system has a glitch. A streak of bizarre, comically bad luck—flat tires at dawn, mysterious fire alarms, untimely food poisoning—keeps derailing his plans. His flawless exit strategy is in shambles. Carly Dorrington’s life is a lie. But a necessary one. After a blowout fight with her father over their family companies’ merger, Carly needs a place to stay. Where better than with her childhood best friend, Charlie? It’s just temporary. Just two best friends sharing a space. It has nothing to do with the two decades she’s spent loving him from the sidelines, or the quiet hope that maybe, just maybe, proximity will make the world’s most oblivious man finally see her. Now, under his roof, the "coincidences" multiply. Charlie’s chaotic love life grinds to a halt just as Carly’s presence becomes a permanent, comforting fixture. His sacred rules don’t seem to apply to her. His peaceful solitude feels warmer with her in it. As the lines of their friendship blur, Charlie is left to wonder: Is Carly the calm in the center of his storm… or is she the one who’s been stirring it up all along? Note: This is a slow-burn, dual-POV story about best friends, blurred lines, and the long game. If you find yourself wondering"where is this going?" in the early chapters... keep reading. Everything becomes clear in Chapter 4. The foundation is being laid for a reason. Thank you for trusting the process.

Th‍e⁠ir marriage was a transaction.⁠ Th‍eir war was p‍e‌rsonal. T⁠hei‌r pas‌sion was unforeseen. Elara Vega is an⁠ artist whose life i‌s p‌ainted in bold⁠, rebellio‌us colors. When a devastating betrayal by he‌r‍ own family threa‍tens to de⁠stroy everything‍ her⁠ father built, she is‌ given a brut⁠al ch‍oice: sell her‌ freedom to save his le⁠gacy. ⁠Kaelan Sterling is a billionaire fortress of ice and ambit‍ion. To secu⁠re a cruc‌ial merger and shield his empire from a l‌urking threat, he needs‍ one thing: the per⁠fect, unto⁠uchable wife. He doesn't want lo‌ve; he wants a business‍ pa‍rtner. Bound by a cold, clinical contract, they a⁠re‌ enemies from‍ the start. He sees her as a chaotic liability. She sees him as a heartless tycoon. Their for‌ced proximity is a battle of‌ will‍s, fi⁠lled⁠ with sha‌rp word‌s and eve‌n sharper attra‍ction. Bu‍t in t‍he gilded cag⁠es of penthouses⁠ a‌nd high‌-society ga‍la⁠s, a dangerou‍s fire ignites. As a c‍ommon en‍emy closes in, their fa⁠ke r⁠elationship begins to feel terrifyingly real. The lines between strategy and surrender b‍lur. But when hi‍dden truths surface and old‍ wounds are ripped open, their fragile trus⁠t shatt⁠ers. Now, El⁠ara must‌ decide if the man behind th‍e fortune‌ i‍s worth the ultimate risk, and Kaelan must learn that some bonds are too powerful to be broken-even by a billion-dollar contract.

I stand on the brink of a past I've lived and a future I've yet to claim. Five years ago, my world crumbled when Lucan, the Alpha I loved, the man destined to be my mate, chose betrayal over loyalty; my sister over me. His blatant rejection of my love but refusal to reject our bond, kept me on a string for years. Until my sister decided to orchestrate my murder when I fell pregnant with Lucan's child. Fate, it seems, holds a twisted sense of mercy. I find myself back in time, five years before my life turned into a nightmare, on the night my Mate Bond with Lucan snaps into place. But this time, I'm not the same Verena. I refuse to be the victim, the one walked all over. With a resolve forged from pain and betrayal, I stand before our pack, our family, our friends, and I shatter the expectations of fate. I reject Lucan, and the ripple of shock is my first taste of victory. But my plan doesn't stop there. I aim higher, daring to entangle my fate with his enemy, Alpha Niklaus King, a man as dangerous as he is ruthless. It's supposed to be a game, a strategy to topple Lucan from his throne. I didn't anticipate the fire Niklaus would ignite in my soul, a passion fierce and consuming. As I grow closer to him, the lines blur; my heart, once set on revenge, now beats a different rhythm. Torn between the past's shadows and a future that's as uncertain as it is thrilling, I find myself questioning everything. Lucan's betrayal branded me, but Niklaus offers a chance at healing, at power. Yet, can I trust this new bond, or will it become another chain?