Flying Dagger

The sirens knew how to do only one thing. Kill. Usually, it was just those who travelled their seas, until the greedy ruler of Greake, captured their queen. The sirens ventured into the lands at midnight in search of their Queen, bringing chaos along with them. So many lives were lost from the midnight invasion, as such the humans had a powerful witch, Adora, summon the Pombero to keep the sirens off their lands. King Edwardo got greedy again. With his sword in hand, dripping the blood of their victims, and Adora by his side, he haunted the sirens who were retreating into their seas. The few who survived the slaughter were enslaved by the king and exploited for riches until they died a miserable death. Edwardo didn't stop there. His quest for wealth and power clouded his sense of reasoning. Sick of the bloodshed, Adora performed a dark ritual that brought a temporary calm to both sides. Adora didn't give much thought to the consequences, until she pushed the hideous child out of her womb. Years later, the throne of the Golden seas remained empty, as none of the sirens were powerful enough to contain the darkness that enveloped the throne. Given that half of their powers were locked away in the other half of their hearts given away by the sea to human mates, whom they were bound to love for the rest of their lives for the sake of peace. Princess Almira was not looking forward to finding love. All she needed was the other half of her heart to take over her mother's throne. Since the mates were immune to their manipulative melodies, Almira decided to go in search of him herself with only one plan. Drive a dagger through his heart and retrieve her property.

A week before my death, my Alpha mate's childhood sweetheart Sarah returned to our pack. That night, he didn't come home. The next day, I received his mind-link. "I've purchased a mate-bond severing potion from the pack witch. Come home now so we can break our bond." In our pack, the Moon Goddess was very serious about mate bonds. Once two wolves chose to form a mate, the mate bond could not be severed, unless the witch's potion was used. This potion was very expensive, costing up to $500,000 per bottle. I smiled bitterly. He was very generous to sever the bond with me. I coughed twice before answering, "I'm in the healing center." His voice turned ice cold. "I don't care where you are. Even if you're about to die, you need to come back." I calmly replied, "Fine." He didn't know that I really was dying. Three years ago, during a rogue wolf attack, I blocked the silver dagger for him to protect him while he was unconscious. I was poisoned by silver and became weaker and weaker over the past three years. I only had one week left to live. On the day of my funeral, my mate was busy holding his marking ceremony with Sarah. Later, he knelt before my grave in pristine white ceremonial clothes, clutching my headstone and whispering through tears. "If there's another life after this one, I still want to marry you." That day was his marking ceremony with his childhood sweetheart. It was also my funeral.

Sold like a circus animal. Collared, forced into misery and self-hatred. With a single blow, she hopes to change her life, only to find herself trapped again. Ocean has no idea what freedom means, but she desires nothing more than a taste of it. The secrets hidden from her will unfold before her eyes, no one can escape the truth. ~~~ The book excerpt: "Here, I have a key to your heart," I left the key in my palm, metal, and skin together. I stumbled upon the ancient artwork in the locker rooms. It caught my attention because it resembles a dagger, so I took it and waited for the perfect opportunity. "Silly girl, that is not the key to my heart. Pathetic attempt." Vladimir growls in disgust. If I'm lucky, I'll be free by the end of the night. Taking the first step toward my destruction, I grin and move my hips in time with the slow music in the background. Vladimir swallows, his Adam's apple bobbles in his throat. The vampire's eyes focus on the crook of my neck as I stop directly in front of him. I place my palm on his chest, guide my fingertips down to his abdominal muscles, a corner of my lip twitches in disgust. When he closes his eyes, I take the opportunity to plunge the key directly into his heart, smiling as his eyes shoot open and he looks down at me in horror. "Are you still convinced I don't have the key to your heart?" I ask, grab him by the collar, and pull him closer. My lips nearly touch his ear as I whisper, "It fits."

On the way to a dance competition, a massive truck rammed into me. My legs were shattered, and my mother was sent flying from the impact after she tried to protect me. My stepbrother, who was also my secret boyfriend of six years, went crazy after hearing the news. He had the driver dragged off to a lawless borderland and called in the best doctors in the country to save me and my mother. Not many people knew, but I was born with a rare sensitivity to pain. The more it hurt, the clearer my mind became. That was how I ended up lying wide awake on the bed, listening to Luke Quinton and his friend, Harvey Lane, talking just outside my hospital room. "Luke, are you sure about this? You really want to let Queenie practice on Natalie's mother's heart?" "She deserves it. That vile woman seduced my father and drove my mother to her death. If not for revenge, do you think I'd stomach being with her daughter for six years? "She should be honored that Queenie is dissecting her heart. Keep it from Natalie for now. If she loses it, she might ruin my wedding with Queenie. What would I do if that happened? The only woman I'll ever have as my wife is Queenie. No one will ever take her place." So, that was the truth. What I thought was a love strong enough to defy the world had been a lie from the very beginning—just a carefully crafted act of revenge.

It was only on our first wedding anniversary that I realized the rubbers I bought before our wedding had long expired. No one would believe that my mafia husband, Andre Garcia, and I had never consummated our marriage. That night, I gathered my courage and bought a suggestive nightgown. After downing three glasses of whisky, I hugged Andre tightly and whispered in his ear, "Darling, let's do it today. I want you..." However, Andre shook my hand off indifferently as if he were handling a gun. "Danielle Lawson, do you have no shame? You've done such shameless things time and time again. If you're really that lonely, I'll order you some toys so you can play with them to your heart's content." My face turned deathly pale as I stood there, stunned. I could not understand why a wife begging for her husband's affection was considered 'shameless' behavior. I curled up on the couch, unable to help but ask on social media. Danielle: [My husband has no dysfunction. Why won't he touch me after marriage?] Someone replied: [Perhaps your husband has someone else.] Like a dagger, that comment pierced me awake. I suddenly realized—maybe the problem was not that I was unattractive but rather that he was never mine. The moment I deleted my account, I also made the decision to leave. Who could have imagined that Andre, who would usually not even glance at me, would frantically search for me after I disappeared? "Danielle, I can't get a hard-on after you left!"

Rose Angles was minding her business in the secret shifter town, Mayes Grove. Her father, Russell Angles, the town’s Peacekeeper, and the feared Alpha of the Hollow Wood Pack, lives by his reputation and his daughter was an enormous embarrassment to him. If he could he’d never had her. Rose plans to leave are going just fine, until rumours of a rogue pack coming to town and they were causing quite a stir with their plans to settle there. When she met their alpha, a wolf she suddenly wants to climb like a tree. He’s the one, and all her plans go out the window. Rose’s instincts are in overdrive as her father goes to war with her fated mate. Tyler Randell, Alpha of the Shadow Pack, just delisted from the military along with his pack. He’s back in the town where he was driven from as a pup. Where he watched his parents murdered for control of his pack. The Hollow Wood Pack is rightfully his and he’s returned to reclaim it. Ty’s got plans to steal the pack from Russell Angles with little to no bloodshed. Mayes Grove is in for a shake up, and Rose Angles is the linchpin. Can Rose find a better life? Will there be war between the Hollow Wood and Shadow Packs? Can the troubled town of Mayes Grove survive the violence? What are Ty’s plans for the enticing Rose? Welcome to Mayes Grove, hunker down and mind your manners at all times. The fur’s flying and claws are slashing. And that’s just in the bedroom.

Housing prices collapsed. My parents ran a real estate business. They and their long-time family friend, the Goodwin family, went into bankruptcy. My parents had me and my younger sister draw lots to decide who would marry into the Goodwin family to fulfill an old engagement. In my previous life, I drew the short stick. From that moment, I became a slave to both families. During the day, I needed to work to pay off the Goodwin family’s debt. At night, I needed to deliver food to cover my parents’ financial losses. I survived on scraps and slept in the cold. I continued to work even when I coughed up blood. That day, I went all out and finally secured a multimillion-dollar business deal. My heart burst with excitement. I was eager to tell them the good news. Across the street, I saw my parents get off a Rolls-Royce with wide grins. They dressed up in luxury brands from head to toe. Then, I saw my husband, Alfred, gently wrap one of his arms around my glamorous sister’s shoulder. I wanted to rush over and question them. But a speeding truck slammed into me and sent me flying away. I lay in a pool of blood while staring at them indignantly. I heard them chuckle softly. “What a pity… She was so close to enjoying a good life.” When I opened my eyes again, I returned to the day I drew the lots. Since they liked to pretend to be broke, I would make it a reality!

My sister and I slept for a thousand years. Tonight, we would Awaken. We would become true High-Bloods. Our Sire, Countess Lylandra, brought us two men. We had to choose a Blood Thrall. A cold, celibate priest. A young, harmless noble prince. In my past life, Lilith grabbed the prince by the neck and vanished into the shadows. She left me with the cold-hearted priest. The prince's blood was sweet, his soul pure. He was supposed to be the perfect sacrifice for the Awakening ritual. Lilith should have become a High-Blood without any trouble. But she fell for the prince's sweet words and gentle lies. She poured her ancient power into him. She forged a false blood bond to help him seize the throne. On his coronation day, he plunged a dagger dipped in blessed silver into her heart. With his own hands, he carved out her new Blood Core. He offered it to his werewolf allies. Lilith nearly turned to dust. And me? The priest helped me purify my blood. I broke the vampire curse. I no longer feared the sun or blessed silver. I became the legendary Daywalker Queen. Jealousy drove her mad. She used her last drop of power to unleash a kin-curse. It killed us both. Then I opened my eyes. I was back. Back to the night we chose our Blood Thralls. This time, Lilith chose differently. She wrapped herself around the priest, a vision of seduction. Her blood-red wings spread, ready to carry him away. My fangs slid from my gums. A choice? Why should I have to choose? The priest and the prince... Both are mine for the taking.

They say fated mates are sacred, practically unbreakable. But Aiden wasn’t mine, and I wasn’t his. That didn’t stop me from loving him like he was the last man left in this cursed world. He swore he didn’t need a bond to love me. Said it was pure. Said he’d love me unconditionally. Said he’d choose me—always. But now he’s in our bed, moaning another woman’s name like a prayer. Wearing a forbidden pendant laced in black magic—magic strong enough to block the mate bond so I wouldn’t feel the betrayal. Too late, Aiden. I felt it. Like a dagger slicing straight through my soul. And just as I hit rock bottom, he shows up. A young, enigmatic Alpha—feared, powerful, far too young for me. Alpha Damon. He’s asking questions about illegal mate bond magic. Magic my husband used to cheat without consequences. Magic that ties back to a dark conspiracy. Turns out, my perfect little marriage is just the rotten tip of a magic-smuggling empire. Damon wants my help. Needs me close. Says I’m the only one who knows enough to crack this wide open. But every time he says my name, something in me stirs, something I swore was long dead. I shouldn’t want him. I couldn't him. He’s too young. Too dangerous. Too…everything. But goddess help me—he’s the first man who’s ever looked at me like I wasn’t something broken. Like I wasn’t disposable. Like I was worth fighting for.

The day before our engagement, Stellan Graves came shopping with me, but his mind was clearly elsewhere. I bought a chili dog from a street stall and held it up to his mouth only for him to swat it out of my hand, sending it flying to the ground. Fury flashed across his face as he snapped, "Ivy Stein, the Graves family needs a woman who can actually show her face in public. Stop buying cheap trash like this. You're embarrassing me. How do you expect my parents to accept you like this?" I picked up the food in humiliation, threw it into the trash, and nodded meekly for the sake of our four years together in college. "As you wish." … However, the very next day, he switched his fiancee to Amelia Lane. "Ivy, Amelia tried to kill herself just to marry me. She's in the hospital now. Once she's stable again, I'll come back and marry you." Four years later, he showed up at my tiny apartment with a diamond ring in hand. "Ivy, Amelia has already agreed to divorce me. We can finally be together. I told you before—once Amelia lets go of her obsession with me and stops hurting herself, I'll come and marry you." I frowned at Stellan's so-called heartfelt expression. I must have had terrible luck that day. Who'd have thought I'd run into this wacko when I'd come back to my place on a whim?! "Move," I demanded, shoving him out the door. "You're blocking the way. I need to pick up my kid from school."