Everything Went Black

My husband's gym was celebrating its grand opening, so I grabbed my best friend and headed over under the guise of "checking the place out," armed with a $10 trial class we had snagged from a group deal. I never once mentioned that I was the owner's wife. The moment we wrapped up the workout, a female trainer slapped a price sheet into our hands and gave us a look that could cut glass. "Let me guess, you two came here to milk the freebies? Our private training sessions cost hundreds. They're not here for people like you to exploit." I let out a disbelieving laugh. "We bought a perfectly valid trial class. How does that make us freeloaders? Get your manager." She rolled her eyes, acting like she was the rules. "Call whoever you want! The owner is my boyfriend, and he can't stand penny-pinchers who show up trying to mooch off his gym." Then, right in front of us, she called him—voice raised, dramatic, dripping with fake indignation. "Babe, there are two cheapskates in your gym demanding the manager. Come deal with them for me!"

In my fifth year of marriage to Dominic, I'd become the woman all of Chicago knew as the crazy one — the mental case. Jealousy gnawed at me constantly, and my temper frayed easily, my emotions sharp and unsteady, unravelling more with each passing day. So it only made sense when he slid a divorce agreement across the table. "Vivian's pregnant. A Harrington heir can't be born illegitimate, and Mrs. Harrington can't be a lunatic." "Once she's had the baby, I’ll marry you again, and you'll still be Mrs. Harrington." I was forced to sign my name, then locked away in a private sanatorium a hundred miles from the city. The first year, I waited with desperate hope for him to come take me home. Instead, he handed me an ultrasound report. "Twins — a boy and a girl. Vivian's pregnant again. Just wait a little longer." The second year, he had electric fencing installed around the sanatorium grounds. "Harrington Corp is going public. We can't afford any slip-ups right now." By the fifth year, he simply called to tell me to wait one more year. He must have expected me to scream and lose control the way I always did. But this time, I just nodded calmly. "Alright. However long it takes." After all. I didn't have much time left anyway.

“After drinking the potion, your wolf scent will be completely altered and your mate bond will be broken. Are you sure you want to do this?” The witch looked at me in surprise. "I'm sure." I nodded calmly and drank the potion without hesitation. My Alpha mate, Lucas, marked me three years ago but never held a formal mating ceremony because he spent three years designing a wedding dress for me himself. That was until a week before the ceremony, when I watched Lucas with my own eyes as he draped that Luna gown over my sister, Seraphina—who had been missing for three years. Even my beloved Beta twin brothers, who doted on me the most, were gathered around Seraphina. Seraphina and I were twin sisters. I had a crush on Lucas for ten years, but I knew Lucas had always loved her. However, three years ago, when the pack was on the verge of extinction after an attack by rogue wolves, Seraphina ran away, abandoning everyone. When everyone was in despair, I fought with all my might to protect everyone until Lucas and my brothers returned. I almost died in that battle. Lucas, trembling, held my hand and asked if I would be his mate. He said I had saved the entire pack, that I was the bravest she-wolf. My brothers also swore that Seraphina, that coward, had been banished from the family. They said that from now on, I was their only sister. Until two days ago, when Seraphina returned. She claimed that she didn't run away but left to lure away a more vicious pack of rogues. She said she had been poisoned with silver toxicity during the fight and only had a month to live. Lucas and my brothers believed her without hesitation. To make up for the three years they "owed" her, and to fulfill Seraphina's "dying wish," they decided—to give my Mating Ceremony to her. After drinking the potion, I sent a message to the Alpha King of the Northern Territory: I am willing to join the Northern Territory. Help me stage a fake death in a week.

I'm a member of a top-secret research unit. As per my superior's request, I am to deliver a file to Celeste Judd, my older sister. The moment I step into my sister's office, an intern, Ethan Irwin, quickly moves to stand in my way. "Are you the new assistant?" He eyes me up and down, finally noticing the document envelope in my hand. Then, he chortles loudly. "It's your first day on the job, and yet you're already trying to suck up to Ms. Judd! Why don't you take a look in the mirror and see how pathetic you are?" Only then do I realize that Ethan has mistaken me as a love rival. But the thing is, Celeste has never told me that she has a boyfriend. I'm about to explain the truth to Ethan when I feel his fist colliding with my face. "I'm the only assistant Ms. Judd needs! You can forget about being her boyfriend!" Ethan yanks me by the hair as he dumps scalding hot water onto my face. "To think that you're already planning on becoming a sugar baby and seducing rich women at such a young age! I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents!" I can only curl into a small ball on the floor. Stubbornly, I use my body to protect the document envelope. My actions infuriate Ethan to no end. He snatches the file away before ripping it into pieces in front of the entire company. He even says fawningly to Celeste, "Ms. Judd, your new assistant sure is a bold one for trying to seduce you! But don't worry, for I've already taught him a lesson!"

God forbid black and grey-furred werewolves walked amongst the others. As royals, the King and Queen had fur white as snow. The noblemen, their fur was either silver or gold. The commoner’s fur was red or brown. Then there was me, Deonna, fur as black as coal.Marlon Roessler was the most honored nobleman, master of the Roessler family, and the only one capable of competing with the King himself. He spent his life thinking that dark-furred wolves were uncleansed, uneducated, bottomless creatures. I was a dirtball wolf slave, and I was meant to be repulsed by him. Yet his wolf wouldn’t let him be disgusted; his wolf wanted me, as his MATE.God must want to kill me faster to make me his mate, especially we have sex after a drug accident. But after As the weeks went on, it seemed as though my relationship with Marlon has only grown more intense. He came into my room only to have sex again and agian.A dirty black sex slave. That is what I am.Until he said, he was mesmerized by me.

Celestia, the world of Celestials, was destroyed and put into great chaos when some celestial mages lusted for great power and summoned demons into their world to acquire magic that can rival a god. However, it turned the other way around. Demons wrecked havoc on their world and made Celestia as a new demon realm. Lumia, the goddess of sky, bestowed her 12 graces of zodiacs to 12 children that will soon restore their land from those filthy creatures. One of these children was Princess Cerina, who has the grace of the Cancer. She is the daughter of an empress with a divine blessing from her deceased parents. At a young age, she was one of the Magic Ministry’s strongest mages who pioneered the founding of Caelum Academy. When she was only 10 years old, an unprecedented event happened as she was possessed by a higher-ranking demon. As a result, Arianna, the mage who adopted her, sacrificed herself just to seal the demon inside her, including her magic. Eventually, Cerina lost her memories and was left in front of a monastery on Earth. 11 years later, an unknown shadow creature attacked her in the middle of the night but luckily, she was saved by one of her co-Celestial Twelve named Raid. Afterwards, many things happened as her memories gradually came back. In order to save her friends, she decided to formed a blood pact with the demon within her. And her grace became a half-curse. And it was called by her demon, Black Zodiac.

“Sign it!” Marcus didn’t even look at me when he tossed the divorce papers onto the bed—not at the husband he had lived with for two years, not at the man he pulled from a collapsing life, not at the man who the world was against marrying. He only said, “He’s back,” and that was enough to end everything. So I signed the papers, regretting knowing the man who taught me what it felt like to be wanted again and walked out of the mansion we once shared. A year later, the headlines screamed the unthinkable: CEO of Hale Enterprises, Marcus Hale, Loses Everything. I realized it was the perfect time to exert my revenge on him. But I didn’t expect to find my stepbrother on his knees, broken, desperate, and still looking at me like I’m the only thing he has left. Then a message appears on my phone:Do you want to know the truth about your mother’s death? Now I’m trapped between the past I ran from and a man I swore I would never forgive. As secrets surface, lies unravel, and desire refuses to die, I realize this divorce was never the end. It was the beginning. And this time, my stepbrother will regret choosing anyone.

Auretta never imagined that one day, her mate would slander her, reject her, send rogue assassins to kill her and claim her pack and all its members ten days after she gave birth to their son. However, the two rogue assassins did not murder her. They helped her take revenge and reclaim everything Alpha Andrew had taken from her. Alpha Andrew of the River Oval Pack was unaware that his former mate dared to pose as their child's nanny and was secretly plotting to destroy him. Will Auretta succeed in her revenge, or will she allow herself to fall back into the arms of her ex-mate?

On the day of the company’s annual meeting, Victoria Quinn brought a man onstage and publicly announced that he was the newly appointed vice president. All eyes in the room instantly turned to me. Mr. Lane looked at me with undisguised mockery. “Ms. Quinn, Mr. Cabell has been with the company for so many years. How did this promotion skip over him?” Victoria smiled casually. “Mr. Cabell is a pillar of the company. He’s most effective staying at the grassroots level.” I knew she was certain I would not object and that I would not leave her. When I glanced at the new vice president, I understood why. He looked exactly like her first love from college, the one who had died in an accident. Suddenly, I felt exhausted. I ripped off my ID badge, tossed it in front of Victoria, and said, “Ms. Quinn, I quit.”

The day I went to try on my wedding suit, a stranger stormed into the VIP fitting room and drove a knife into my gut. "Sleeping with my woman, and you dare wear a suit this expensive?" He ripped my shirt into ribbons with a wild grin and threw sulfuric acid straight at me. The knife was buried deep in my abdomen. Pain ripped through me as I collapsed. He yanked my hair, forcing my head up. "Susan Lefebvre is my wife. What the hell are you? Just some filthy side piece hiding in the shadows!" Blood dripped from my fingertips as the truth sank in. The fiancée I'd loved for seven years had been cheating on me all along. "What are you staring at?" He sneered. "Even if I kill you, no one can touch me. My wife runs this city!" Watching that arrogant face twist in triumph, I took out my phone with a trembling, blood-soaked hand and dialed my sister. "Allison," I said, my voice cold and calm. "Come pick me up at the bridal salon. And tell the Lefebvres that the engagement is off."