Home Before Dark Series Novels & Stories

"Good can't exist without evil. But what happens when we are neither?" Elliot Harvard has assembled a team of misfits. There’s Bryan, the hot-headed elemental; Classy, who can manipulate matter; and Mello, whose art becomes reality. But among the new recruits living in the secret base, one figure stands apart: Northstar. Silent, brooding, and terrifyingly powerful, Northstar is the host of the Shadowalker—a mythical demon created to destroy life but cursed to protect it. He lives in the gray area between light and darkness, possessing knowledge that predates history. When the squad faces their first real test against a horde of monsters in an abandoned warehouse, things take a deadly turn. With one of their own infected by Dracula and fading fast, the team must rely on Northstar’s dangerous connection to the Null Void. But can they trust a demon who claims to have no emotions for humans? The training is over. The war against the supernatural has begun.

In a world where having power means having a target on your back, love isn't a fairy tale, it's a risk. Luca Moretti never wanted to be a piece in someone else's game. He’s a man who values his family above everything else, and that’s exactly how they got to him. To save the people he loves, Luca is forced into a marriage he didn't ask for, tied to a man who represents everything he fears. Adrian Voss doesn't do "feelings." After a past that left him cold and a lifestyle that demands total authority, he built an empire where he is the only one in charge. For Adrian, marrying Luca isn't about starting a life together. It’s about a deal. It’s about having someone under his roof that he can control, own, and break. Behind the closed doors of their shared home, the public smiles disappear. Adrian doesn't want a husband; he wants a shadow. He wants to see how much Luca can take before he finally snaps. He’s determined to strip away Luca’s pride until there’s nothing left. But Adrian made one mistake: he underestimated who he was marrying. Luca might be trapped, but he isn't broken. As the two men move through a dangerous dance of manipulation and a strange, heated attraction they both hate, the lines between "enemy" and "lover" begin to blur.

His hands were everywhere, and I let them be. “You know this is wrong,” he murmured against my throat. “I know.” I tilted my head back anyway. He pulled back, eyes dark. “Tell me to stop, Zella.” I looked at the silver in his hair, the jaw that could cut glass, my best friend’s father, twenty years too old and a thousand reasons too dangerous. “Don’t stop,” I whispered. Seven days before my Christmas wedding, I caught my fiancé with my cousin. By morning I had lost everything, my relationship, my job, my future. I walked into the London rain with nothing left. A stranger stopped his car. Offered an umbrella. Gave me a drink instead of the mistake I begged for. Then disappeared before dawn. I never expected to find him again in a darkened hotel room on New Year’s Eve… or to give him the one thing I’d never given anyone. The next morning, when my best friend introduced me to her father, Evander Ashford looked me in the eye and said, “Nice to meet you,” as if he hadn’t already ruined me the night before. He is forbidden. He is twice my age. He is the one man I was never supposed to want. But he is the first person who ever made me feel worth keeping, and the only place this broken heart has ever felt safe. Where Sin Feels Like Home — because sometimes the wrongest man is the only home you’ve ever known.

"You said you leave when there's nothing left for you to do so what if I gave you a reason to stay?"

Cailen has only one wish. To have a family he could belong to and a home to call his. ***** At thirteen, Cailen had been to different foster homes, each of them returning him for one reason or another. His heart had already taken so much rejection that hopelessness had set in, giving up on himself and shutting down, that even when a family does welcome him and love him, he still has his doubts. When Cailen returns from University to visit his family, he finds himself struggling to keep a secret that he knows will make him lose the only home and family that he has. Will Cailen lose himself? Or will he lose his family?

It's Family Day at my daughter, Hannah Neel's, preschool, but my wife, Samantha Miller, says she has to work and tells both Hannah and me not to go. Seeing the disappointment on Hannah's face breaks my heart, so I bring her to school anyway. As soon as we step through the gates, I see Samantha. She's holding her childhood friend—Oscar Barnett's—hand, with a little boy clutching her other. The three of them look like a perfect family, laughing and chatting, as if they belong together. When Samantha sees us, her smile fades, and she lets go of Oscar's hand. "Zach, it's not what you think. Oscar's raising his son alone. Today's his fifth birthday, and he just wanted to give him a little taste of a mother's love," she says quickly. I study her for a moment, then kneel and gently take Hannah's hand in mine. "Sweetheart, say hello to the lady."

On April Fool’s Day, my CEO husband cut out my heart to save his childhood sweetheart's son. After the surgery, he tossed me into a cold rental apartment, where I died in agony. Three days after my death, my five-year-old daughter played in the room as usual. Walking by the sofa, she wrinkled her little nose and mumbled, "Mommy, there's a weird smell in here." She touched my face and murmured, "Mommy, are you pretending to be Snow White? Why are you so pale?" She shook my arm harder and raised her voice, "Mommy, it's my birthday today—get up and blow out the candles!" Confused, she picked up the phone and called her father. “Daddy, did I make Mommy mad? I lit the candles, but no matter how much I call her, she won’t wake up.” On the other end of the call, Patrick Hart’s voice was cold and impatient. “What could possibly be wrong with her? She’s just pretending to be asleep for sympathy. It’s Johnny’s birthday, I’m busy. Don’t bother me! Tell your melodramatic mother to stop playing her little tricks. I don't have time to humor her." My daughter removed the candle from her bun, pinched off a piece of the bun, and fed it to me. "Mommy, I made a secret wish… I really wish you could hold me again, just like before."

After my wife, Estelle Parks, gave birth, I hired a live-in nanny to take care of her and the baby. I never expected that paying top dollar would bring home someone who acted like she owned the place. I had to cook every meal after work and mop the floors before bed. She even helped herself to the pricey bone broth I had bought for Estelle. I got so fed up that I wanted to fire her, but Estelle just shrugged it off. "As long as she takes care of the baby, what does it matter if she rests or eats a little? It's not like we're struggling." And yet, Estelle had always hated people who took advantage of others.

Alpha Daddy: Take Mommy Home Five years ago, Lia vanished without a trace, leaving behind the man who shattered her heart — and the child he never knew existed. Far from the city’s power and politics, she raises her son in peace, determined to keep him safe from the world she once escaped. But fate plays a cruel trick. When her little boy’s photo goes viral, it catches the attention of Damien — the cold, ruthless alpha CEO who instantly notices one thing: The child looks exactly like him. Driven by shock, anger, and something far deeper, Damien tracks Lia down. He wants answers. He wants the truth. And most of all, he wants his son. Lia fights to protect the quiet life she built, terrified of the enemies who once pushed her away. But Damien is no longer the man she left. Discovering he’s a father awakens a side of him no one has ever seen fierce, protective, and determined to bring his family home. As hidden secrets surface and old wounds reopen, Lia must decide whether she can trust the man she once loved… or walk away again. He lost her once. This time, he’s not letting go.

What do twelve years of captivity make of one? What lines behind the new Laurel Brown?Laurel Brown was only eight when she was snatched.Twelve years passed and the Browns had long moved on when Laurel Brown returns with the truth as well as secrets.