Grimgar Of Ashes And Illusions

Elara Vance was never a bride...She was a transaction. To save her brother’s life and settle her father’s crumbling debts, she sold herself into a three year "Repayment Marriage" to the coldest man in the city, Julian Vane. For three years, she endured his frozen silence, his public indifference, and the cruel whispers of a high society that saw her as nothing more than a social prop. She played the role of the perfect, submissive wife, hiding her world-class talent and her breaking heart behind a mask of glass. She waited for a spark of warmth, a sign that the man who held her at night felt more than just obligation. Then came the morning after their final night together, the night she thought finally changed everything. Instead of a "good morning," Julian tossed a manila envelope onto the bed. "The debt is paid, Elara. Sign the papers and leave. I’m done with you." Julian thought he was finally rid of the woman he blamed for his past. He didn't expect her to sign the papers with a smile. He didn't expect her to vanish into thin air, leaving his massive mansion echoing with a silence that felt like a curse. But Elara didn't leave alone. She left with a secret, a tiny heartbeat that Julian would never know about. Now, the hunter has become the haunted. As Elara rises from the ashes of her old life to become a woman the world can't ignore, Julian is left to realize that the wife he threw away was the only thing holding his world together. The debt is settled. The game has changed. And this time, he’s the one who will have to pay... with his soul.

“You can hide from anyone—but not from the devil who owns you.” There are choices that make us and others that break us. For Alessia Rivera, her worst mistake became her only way out. Alessia Rivera's world came crashing down the night she found her fiancé with her best friend in bed. Trust has been broken, humiliation dumped on her, everything ripped apart. But her family was concerned about power, not her pain. The marriage between her and Damon was politics, not love, and if she refused to play along, they would let her father rot in jail. One desperate night, Alessia sought escape in the arms of a stranger. A mistake. A secret. A fire that should not have happened. But Dante Moretti is not a man you forget. He is danger wrapped in a tailored suit, the kind of man people fear to whisper about. Cold. Commanding. Obsessive. And weeks later, Alessia learns the truth that rip her world apart: she is pregnant…And Dante is the father of her unborn child and he is also the mysterious new partner of her family’s empire. Now she is trapped in a cruel game. Marry the man who betrayed her to protect her father, or confess the truth to the devil who already marked her as his. To Dante, he doesn’t care about vows, rings, or the lies she hides behind. He wants one thing—her. And he will burn her world to ashes to claim what belongs to him. Because to Dante, love is not tender. Love is possession. Love is war. And Alessia is the only one that can quench this fire. The question is, how does one resist the devil who already owns her soul?

My daughter, Annabelle Turner, was diagnosed with hereditary heart disease. I spent the past five years searching for a compatible heart donor for her. Now, I finally found one. Right before Annabelle is sent into the surgery room, my husband and renowned cardiologist, Gabriel Turner, tearfully makes me a promise. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll make sure Annabelle gets a shot at life again." Yet halfway through the surgery, Gabriel suddenly leaves in a hurry without giving any explanation. I stumble into the surgery room and see Annabelle lying on the operating table, covered in blood. Her chest is cut wide open, laid bare for all to see. Tyler Rotwell, Gabriel's assistant, stammers out, "Dr. Turner said… that Anna can still hold on a little longer, but Ms. Byron's son can't. "Dr. Turner took the heart that was meant for Anna and left…" I immediately break down and repeatedly call Gabriel's number, but Gabriel never answers a single call, not even when Anna's blood has completely dried… While settling my daughter's post-mortem affairs, I happen to see a newly posted update on Gabriel's childhood friend, Suzanne Byron's social media. "Turns out it was just a misdiagnosis," was what the caption read. "In that case, let's give this useless little thing to our good boy Oscar as a treat!" The video attached depicts Suzanne's dog Oscar tearing into the heart that was supposed to be donated to Annabelle. As I turn to look at Annabelle's cold body, the last shred of love I have for Gabriel starts crumbling apart. By the time Gabriel finally remembers Annabelle, whom he left on the operating table, only an empty bedroom and an urn containing her ashes would greet him…

He shattered her heart to avenge a past that wasn’t hers. Now he desires her in his bed—as his wife. Marceline Valino once believed in love. She gave her heart—and her innocence—to Cross Dejava, the boy who whispered promises in the dark, igniting dreams of a forever that felt so real. But by morning, her world was left in ruins. Private photos were leaked, her name dragged through the mud, and at the eye of the storm? Cross, smirking, cold, and ruthless. “You mean nothing to me,” he said, delivering a blow that would leave scars. “You’re just the bastard daughter of my father’s mistress.” His vengeance had never aimed at her heart; it was meant to punish the daughter for her mother’s sins—an ex-lover who had torn his family apart. Pregnant and abandoned, Marceline begged for mercy, but all she received was the echo of his silence. When she lost the child, she lost every last piece of the girl she used to be. Now, five years later, she’s preparing to return—broke, desperate, and willing to do anything to save her ailing mother. Anything… except this. Because the man extending a lifeline isn’t a savior. It’s Cross. And he has no desire for her heartfelt apologies; he craves her complete submission. A contract marriage awaits her. No love. No escape. No mercy. But Marceline isn’t the naive girl he once broke. She’s a woman who has risen from the ashes, ready to play his game. And as the pieces of their lives fall into place, she’s determining when—exactly—she will ignite a fire that could burn it all down. The future promises a reckoning, and she's preparing to seize it.

The Falcon Ridge Series Book 5 Set two months after the Battle of Black Rock. In an old growth forest east of Aurora, the city of Dragons. Wren Miller: You can sum up the story of my life in three words I. Am. Alone. I was raised by the Falcon Ridge Security Unit after they told me everyone I ever knew and loved was dead. I traveled through life pretending I felt like I had a pack, but in truth I longed for my own. I often wished for death. That all changes when I find out some of my pack was alive. Living like Nomads in the wilderness. I'm elated to find them, but my happiness is crushed when the Alpha is not even remotely happy to see me. As much as it pains me, I don't want to see him either after finding out what he has become. Lucius Drake: For 10 years I survived in the wilderness. I built us back up from the ashes that were left of the attack on us. I was happy to live this way. Living off the land. Taking care of my pack. Then she shows up. Seeing her makes my blood boil. Not only did she abandon her pack. She abandoned me. I don't care what the Alliance told her. I never gave up on the hope she was alive. Apparently, she did. I'm jaded and angry. It also doesn't help that I have the Dragons breathing down my neck. We've been relying on them for protection and trade, but now they want more. They want us to join them permanently, which I will only do if I'm dead.

In Alabama’s rot-soaked bayous, Drucilla Drakes survives by three rules: silence, scars, and never letting Louise—her Bible-thumping captor—catch her hoping. But when a schoolyard ambush leaves her bleeding beneath a stranger’s leather jacket, invisibility becomes a death sentence. Enter Dragon Morales: New Orleans’ most notorious runaway, a cartel prince turned outlaw mechanic with grease-stained hands and a death wish. He doesn’t save people—he survives them. Yet in Dru’s lashed flesh and hellfire gaze, he sees his own shattered reflection. Their bond is gasoline and matches. Dragon’s father—Colombia’s cartel kingpin—hunts them relentlessly. Louise, armed with voodoo rites and the chaos-hungry loa Marinette, vows to break Dru. Their only allies? The Lou Nwa, a bayou biker gang trading in bullets and black magic, and Papa Legba, the crossroads spirit who offers Dru a lethal bargain: *“Her soul or yours.”* Fleeing through the Deep South’s cursed underbelly, they dodge cartel hitmen, haunted swamps, and safehouses reeking of betrayal. Dark magic seeps into old wounds; family secrets tighten like nooses. Dragon swears he’s too ruined to love. Dru knows she’s too shattered to trust. But in the bayou’s choking heat, desire is a grenade they can’t outrun. This isn’t a fairytale. It’s switchblade kisses and saintly curses—a collision of fire and ruin where protectors become predators. Dru doesn’t need saving; she needs an inferno. And Dragon? He’s got a lighter and nothing left to burn. Will they raze the South to ashes, or become the sacrifice the crossroads demands? One truth remains: in the bayou, even survival leaves scars. **Warning:** No princes here. Just bayou smoke, blood-soaked magic, and the kind of love that devours.

When I got reborn into my youthful years, I turned down the marriage proposal of Seth Klein, the future major general. Instead, I chose to be with Nathan Prescott, who lived a poor life. My mother thought I was possessed. After all, the entire village knew that I, the village chief's daughter, used to follow the well-educated Mr. Klein around all the time. Apparently, I was willing to do anything just to marry him. I soon recalled what happened in my previous life. After I married Seth, we never consummated our marriage. He even brought back a child, claiming that said child belonged to a fellow soldier who had passed on in the war. I viewed the child as my own and made an effort to raise him. It wasn't until our fiftieth anniversary that I discovered a secret after barging into Seth's study, which had always been forbidden to me. It turned out that the study was plastered with photos of my older cousin, Catherine Parker—the most beautiful woman in the village. The thing was, she had been dead for a long time. The truth was, Seth has always been capable of performing in bed. He was merely practicing abstinence because of Catherine. Furious, I collapsed and was admitted to the hospital. But my son, whom I treated as my own, was the one who unplugged my life support with his own hands. "If it weren't for you taking over my mom's position as the actual wife, she wouldn't have died as an unknown mistress!" After my death, I witnessed Seth getting a joint burial with Catherine as husband and wife. As for my ashes, they were randomly scattered into a dried-up river. Now that I was reborn, I chose to fulfill their wish!

They say a wedding dress is a promise of forever. Mine was a shroud for the girl I used to be. I was sold to a monster to pay for my father’s sins. I expected to spend my wedding night praying for a quick death at the hands of Don Moretti. Instead, I got a bloodbath. Before the first glass of champagne could shatter, the doors were kicked open by the city’s most terrifying nightmare: Dante "The Butcher" Vane. He didn't come to save me. He came to collect. By the time the sun rose, my husband was a corpse, my family home was in ashes, and I was draped across the lap of the man who had been stalking me from the shadows for years. "Your father didn't just owe the Don, Bianca," he whispered, his thumb tracing the line of my throat with lethal tenderness. "He owed me. And I’ve decided you’re the only currency I’ll accept." Now, I am a prisoner in his fortress—a gilded cage where the line between fear and desire is blurred by every dark touch. Dante is a tyrant, a red flag wrapped in Italian silk, and a man who claims to be my protector while keeping me in chains. But as the secrets of our shared past begin to bleed out, I realize the "Butcher" has a weakness. He doesn't just want my body; he wants my soul. He thinks he’s breaking me. He doesn't realize that in the silence of my mourning, I’ve stopped being the victim. I’m learning his triggers. I’m studying his scars. And once I make the King of the Underworld fall for the widow he created... I won't just take my freedom. I’ll take his empire.

“I want you to ruin me. To fuck me like nothing else matters.” Zoriana’s breath hitched, the air in her lungs turning to ice as she stared into the darkened eyes of the man pinning her against the warehouse door. Outside, the pack’s founding day celebration was a blur of music and laughter, but in the shadows, there was only the scent of rain and the dangerous heat radiating off Alpha Tristan. “You’re mated to my brother, Zoriana,” he growled, his voice a dark, jagged rasp against her ear. His mouth brushed her pulse point, sending a shiver of pure, traitorous electricity through her blood. “Do you have any idea what I’ll do to you if I stop being a gentleman?” Zoriana didn't care about the crown. She didn't care about the Royal bond or the destiny written in the stars. She arched her back, her nails grazing the hard muscle of his shoulders as she pulled him closer. “Then stop being a gentleman, Tristan. Show me the monster everyone says you are.” *** Zoriana’s world shattered overnight when her mate’s betrayal turned her from a beloved Luna into a rogue. But she did not break. Rising from the ashes, Zoriana founded her own pack and built an empire that shook the very foundations of the shifter kingdoms. The higher she rises, the deeper she is trapped in a web of deadly intrigues and twisted truths. Zoriana is caught between the Royal Alpha she is sworn to support and his ruthless brother—a devilish enemy who ignites a forbidden, soul-searing desire she cannot control. In a world of poisoned blood and lethal lies, Zoriana must choose: the crown she fought for, or the man who could be her undoing? Rating: 18+ | Content Warning: Explicit Language, Graphic Violence, and Mature Sexual Themes.

“I now pronounce you as a husband and wife. You may kiss the bride!” The priest announced and I froze. I knew I was cursed the moment this blood oath was taken which bound me to hell, the hell of this Sinner. My eyelids raised to see the ugly creation of god. My husband! Vladimir Sokolov! His rugged face carved with uncountable ugly marks stung my slow beating heart. His hazel green eyes held a satisfied dark shadow as He pulled me close, raised my chin and whispered coldly, “From this very moment, you share the crown of Bratva’s pakhan. Prepare yourself to bear its weight, Babochka. Because I own your existence now!” He slammed his cold lips on my trembling ones, punishing me with a brutal kiss. Tears pricked my eyes with disgust but I tolerated his touch for the sake of my family. My eyes followed the part of the audience, Russians, who burst into cheers while the other party, Italians, looked at me with remorse and pitiful gazes. Oh yes, how could I forget I was the sacrificed lamb thrusted into hell to get scorched for a lifetime. But No. I still had the last hope to save myself from this cursed fate, this cursed marriage. ………….. Born in a sin will definitely be called the Sinner. Without morality and mercy, Vladimir Sokolov the Bratva’s Pakhan ruled the city with an iron fist. Due to the influence of some political parties He had to marry the Daughter from La Camorra. Rose Barbieri! Marry her, have his heir and wear the title of family man, that's what He planned to do but what He didn’t imagine was that his innocent, submissive wife was someone who would burn the flames of his hell into ashes one day.