Forty Thousand

Deck the halls with daddy issues and scream "yes, Santa" until the neighbors complain. She sold herself to save her mother. He bought her to settle a score. Neither expected twelve days of captivity to feel like coming home. Ten years ago, Evangeline Rose fled Willow Creek and the cruel boy who made her life hell. Now she’s back with a new name, a new body, and one desperate choice: enter the town’s secret Christmas auction where wealthy men bid on willing women. When the hammer falls at five hundred thousand dollars, Eva expects a stranger. Instead, she gets Grayson Holt—her former tormentor, now a devastatingly dangerous man in a half-open Santa jacket who just bought twelve uninterrupted nights with the virgin he once swore no one would ever want. She should be terrified. He's the reason she hid in bathroom stalls and cried herself to sleep. But the first time he kisses her, his hands shake. The first time she fights back, he groans her name like a prayer. And somewhere between the firelight and the snow and the silk ribbons around her wrists, they both realize the ugly truth: He didn't buy her to break her. He bought her because he's been broken without her. The boy who spray-painted "fat ugly bitch" on her locker is the same man who falls to his knees in the snow on the last morning and begs her not to leave. The girl who swore she'd never forgive him is the same woman who has to choose: walk away free, or stay with the monster who finally admitted he's been in love with her since the day he made her cry. Eva spent a decade learning to hate Grayson Holt. Turns out she's been loving him the whole damn time.

In the eighth year of helping Keith Hunter pay off his debts, I was diagnosed with stomach cancer. I tested the waters and asked him, half joking, "If I got cancer, would you save me?" He laughed, saying I was overthinking it. Then he added firmly, "If it ever came to that, I would sell my blood to pay for your treatment." I lay awake all night, tossing and turning, still feeling like I couldn't drag him down with me. Before taking a sleeping pill, a notification popped up on my phone about a social media post. [How do I dump an older woman who paid off my debts for eight years without too much drama?] The profile picture looked eerily like Keith's silhouette from behind. He wrote, [Eight years ago, my family went bankrupt. She stuck with me, living off dry toast and squeezing into a rented apartment. She helped me pay back over 600 thousand dollars in debt. [Back then, I thought she was innocent and cute. Now, I feel like she's just a materialistic woman putting on an act. [Last month, she even asked whether I would save her if she got cancer. How does someone even ask that? [Obviously, she was trying to get money out of me. Good thing I didn't tell her that my family recovered three years ago. [Now, my family has arranged a fiancée for me. She's the daughter of a publicly listed company. [I want to cut things off with my girlfriend, but I'm afraid she'll cling to me. After all, she wasted a lot of her youth on me.] By the time I finished reading, I had crushed the stomach cancer diagnosis in my hand into a wrinkled mess.

She left cash on his pillow. He's been hunting her for eighteen years. Now they're neighbors—and she's carrying his baby. Evelyn Hart's revenge plan was simple: hire the hottest escort money could buy, have one night of mind-blowing sex, and finally forget her cheating ex-husband exists. What she got instead: Sebastian Creed. Six-foot-four of sinful perfection who made her body sing in ways she didn't know were possible. She left ten thousand dollars on the bed and ran before dawn, convinced she'd never see him again. Six weeks later, reality hits like a freight train. The "escort" is actually a billionaire. He owns the mansion next door. He's been obsessively searching for her since the night he saved her from a car crash when she was fourteen. Oh, and she's pregnant with twins the doctors said she could never have. Sebastian isn't just her neighbor—he's her stalker, her savior, and apparently, her fated mate. Because plot twist: he's a werewolf. And the supernatural bond between them is turning her inconvenient attraction into a soul-deep craving that's impossible to fight. Now he's breaking into her house at 3 a.m., showing up uninvited to her OB appointments, and making it very clear that the one night she paid for was just the beginning of forever. But their twisted love story is about to get deadlier. Sebastian's dying father wants him to claim a werewolf throne. His ex-husband wants her land for a billion-dollar deal. Werewolf royalty wants her dead for contaminating the bloodline. And Evelyn? She just wants to survive pregnancy, figure out how to be a queen in a world that thinks she's prey, and maybe—maybe—learn to trust the alpha who's been obsessed with her since she was a teenager.

Without my knowledge, Aileen—the daughter of Carlson Green’s first love—secretly lured my five-year-old daughter, Lena, deep into the Wolfsbane Forest. She told Lena there was treasure hidden in the forest. When a distress signal came from the forest, I rushed there with Carlson and the rescue team. The wolfsbane's poison spread silently, making it harder for Lena to breathe. She lay weak in the grass, her face pale, her heartbeat slowing down. Aileen, meanwhile, was sprawled on the path beside the wolfsbane. She only had a few scratches on her knees, but she was crying loudly. "Help me! It hurts so much!" I thought Carlson, the Alpha of the Moonshadow Pack and Lena’s father, would run into the forest to check on his own daughter. But he didn’t. Instead, he bent down, scooped Aileen into his arms, comforting her with care. His eyes were full of worry. "It’s okay now, Daddy’s here." I ran forward, my voice shaking. "Carlson! Lena is still in the wolfsbane grass! I can feel her breathing fading! Come with me to find her!" He only said calmly, "Lena is wearing my Moonstone Crystal. It protects her from wolfsbane. She will be fine. Aileen needs care and treatment more." The rescue vehicle left, taking Aileen and Carlson with it. I ran into the wolfsbane field and found Lena. She weakly tugged my hand. "Mom, don’t cry. It doesn’t hurt at all." "Daddy will come save me after he saves Aileen." Then she closed her eyes. And never breathed again. Even on the day of her funeral, Lena never got to see her father come to save her. Carlson Green, a life for a life. You, Aileen, and her mother will pay back everything you did to Lena—I’ll make you repay it a thousand times over.

I was born broken. My Alpha mother was the one who branded me. She said emotion was a sin. A weakness. Especially for a werewolf. Especially for an Alpha’s heir. The day we were born, she clamped emotion-suppressing collars around our necks. Mine and my twin sister's. The slightest flicker of emotion, and the collar flashed red. My mother would then push the button, injecting me with a diluted "silver solution" to suppress my feelings. But my sister Cassia's collar? Always a calm, steady blue. Even when she shattered Mom's precious moonstone, it just pulsed gently. And me? I’d just whisper, "Mom, the thunder scares me," and my collar would erupt in a violent red. Then came the sting of silver poison burning through my blood.. I used to argue. But Mom always said the same thing. "The data doesn't lie. Pain is a teacher. This is for your own good." After thousands of these injections, I started to believe it, too. That I was born out of control. The night of the alliance's Moon Goddess Festival, Mom was taking my sister to the rooftop party. Something scared me during the day. The collar flashed red, and my mother started the punishment. But this time, the collar malfunctioned. It shot a dose a thousand times stronger into my neck. I collapsed on the carpet, begging, "Mother, the collar... it hurts so much... help me." My collar was flashing a frantic red. My mother just looked down at me, drenched in a cold sweat, and pressed the button for the maximum dose. "You'd lose control like this just for attention? You're a lost cause." She turned, took my sister, and slammed the door. I couldn't help but think, Mom must be right. The collar is red. It doesn't really hurt. I'm just being dramatic, looking for pity again. I'm sorry, Mom. In my next life, I'll be the perfect daughter you always wanted.

One dare. One kiss. One ruthless Alpha who won't let me go. I thought it was just a game. Kiss the scariest guy in the club for five hundred dollars. Easy money I desperately needed for tuition. What could go wrong? Everything. The man I kissed wasn't just dangerous—he was Tyler Raxon Raven. The Alpha of the Raytheon Pack. A billionaire warmonger known for tearing throats first and asking questions never. The kind of predator even other Alphas fear. I expected to be thrown out. Maybe slapped. I didn't expect him to kiss me back. And I definitely didn't expect the entire club to go deathly silent when I pulled away. My mistake wasn't the kiss. It was who I kissed. Now, the doors are locked. The music is off. And the most dangerous man in the city is staring at me with hunger in his eyes, claiming his wolf has chosen me as his mate. But Tyler doesn't do romance. He does deals. When my aunt collapses and the hospital demands fifty thousand dollars I don't have, Tyler makes me an offer I can't refuse: He'll pay for everything. He'll give me wealth beyond my wildest dreams. All I have to do is marry him. Wear his mark. Warm his bed. And give him an heir. I'm a nobody—a broke scholarship student, an Omega in a world of Alphas. He's a ruthless billionaire with enemies circling and a reputation for violence that terrifies the Council itself. I should run. I should fight. I should do anything except agree. But my aunt is dying. And Tyler holds all the cards. He took something from me without asking. Now he's taking everything else. Welcome to The Eyrie. Where Alphas make the rules, mates have no choice, and one dare changes everything.

Marabelle Daisy Graystone has spent twelve years in witness protection, living among humans as "Daisy Thompson" while hiding her true nature—she's a rare "diamond wolf," one of the Goddess's chosen born once per millennium. Working at her burger restaurant while secretly running a multi-billion-dollar empire as bestselling author Black Orchid and artist Silver Knight, she's built a perfect cover in human society. But when Kieran, her murdered father's former Beta, tracks her down seeking to claim her power, her carefully constructed life shatters. Rescued by Jackson Hunter, the brooding son of the powerful Moon Hunter Pack's Alpha, Marabelle discovers he's her fated mate—the very wolf she's been avoiding for years. She'd overheard Jackson tell his friends that if she turned out to be his mate, he would reject her, choosing duty over desire. When Jackson arrives to return a precious family heirloom, Marabelle braces for the rejection she believes is inevitable. Instead, he confesses his feelings have changed—that witnessing her courage made him realise duty and desire can align. As their mate bond awakens her suppressed abilities, Marabelle must reclaim her birthright as Alpha of the decimated Silvercrest Pack while navigating treacherous pack politics. When the Moon Goddess herself appears to bless their union, their relationship triggers supernatural consequences that reshape the werewolf world. But happiness attracts dangerous enemies. Alpha Thorne of the Western Reaches emerges from isolation, claiming that "untrained" diamond wolves pose a threat to all wolfkind. Together, they forge an unprecedented alliance of eleven packs, creating the first Wolf Council in three thousand years. Racing against ancient powers that would control or destroy her, Marabelle must demonstrate that her unconventional path represents the future of their kind, proving that strength comes not from isolation but from the courage to build bridges between worlds.

"Fvck you. Get off me now!" He towers over me and his hands move under the covers, going higher and higher until I gasp. No matter how I want to push him away and stomp on his body, I can't. The heat and pleasure coming from his touch makes me go crazy. "Get off me, you dimwit." Through the heat, I force out words and I close my eyes as I moan when his lips descend on my neck, teasing and nibbling. "Oh goddess. Why won't you get off me." I try to push him off, in the mist of pleasure and he looks down at me with hooded eyes. My back touches the headboard when I shift backwards but he drags me back to himself by my ankle. "I am the King, Minerva. That means what I say goes." "Well, you can go fvck yourself or better yet, let your other mate do that for you." He climbs over me with his hands on each side of my head. Luckily, the heat is subsiding due to our close range. "I've told you a thousand time. I don't want you, I need you." "Fucker! I've told you a zillion times, I don't want to be your baby making machine, you stupid son of a mammoth-" He immediately shuts me up with a deep kiss, exploding my insides. ~~~~ It's every she-wolf's dream to be the mate of the wolf king but not Minerva's. She didn't plan to even know him, she didn't bargain to become a second mate, or a baby making machine to the King who has an unusual plan set up in his head; neither did she plan to be a hybrid. He finally found a way to break her... But they were so unconcerned about the brewing evil.

BLURB “Mr Geal, we can't please.” her voice breaks as he trailed his fingers down jaw to her lips. Her breath comes out in gasps as she tightens her legs together, “Please, you are betrothed.” she murmured. His hands move to her neck where he tightens them whispering, “It doesn't matter,” he growls, his fingers finding their way beneath my skirt. “I am yours anyway.” He doesn't give her a second before his fingers sweep her panties aside, and find their way home. “Holy hell-” therest of the words is jumbled in her throat as he slams his lips against hers ~~~~~~ Olivia Macurry, a woman whose lifetime goal was to stop stripping. She wanted nomore than a white collar job where she wouldn't have to open her legs to get paid. After getting ordered by a man whopaid fifteen thousand dollars to have her for the night, she agreed but she didn't keep to the bargain. Now her new boss is the same blue eyed man that paid for a night with her, the same man she left when he was in the bathroom barely an hour after their first round. But it's too late because he wants her again. Just a taste, and he's addicted. He won't let her go, not even when he is buried six feet under. He can't stop, he must have her after all he paid for a night. Obsession turns into attraction. Attraction turns into possession. Possession turns into pure madness. He refuses to let her go yet he is betrothed to another. Secrets, lies, betrayal, and anger drives their relationship towards madness as everything is turned upside. But then Leonardo's best quality was that he thrived in chaos, and even though he is betrothed he belonged to her. Body, mind, and fucking soul.

When Tessa Shoreman read Henry Jennings' cancer report, she immediately paid her hard-earned money of sixty thousand to the hospital. She had saved the money from working part-time while she was in university. However, she was worried the money was not enough, so she held back her fear as she sold a kidney to the black market to get more. As she walked to the ward door with a heavy bag filled with cash, she heard shrill laughter coming from inside. "That cheap woman, Tessa Shoreman, got tricked by us again. Haha!" Tessa's hand gave pause right when she was about to push the door open. What did he mean by saying she was tricked? Tessa looked through the glass on the door to see inside the ward. When she left, the man looked extremely weak, but he was now sitting up lazily in bed. Henry had a cigarette in his mouth, and he was blowing smoke rings nonchalantly. He did not look like a cancer patient at all. "It's been two years, and that woman still has no idea." "If she hadn't beaten Serene to first place, Henry would never have left behind his life as a rich heir and planned such an elaborate scheme to become a working-class man living in a cheap rental home. The way that cheap, penniless woman looks at Henry is so amusing." "We agreed that the punishment ends when Henry and Serene get engaged. It looks like time is almost up. We've probably punished her 108 times in the past two years." "The first time was lying to her that Henry didn't have a suit for a job interview. She worked tirelessly for 72 hours straight before she earned enough money for one, but that suit was given to the domestic help to use as a cleaning cloth. The second time was tricking her into believing Henry had a high fever. She forfeited during the finals of a scientific research competition to race home and take care of Henry in the hospital…" "Sigh. Too bad it's coming to an end. I'm going to miss entertaining myself with her."