Icarus Laughed Novels & Stories

As I stepped out of my older brother's newly opened supermarket, the alarm suddenly rang. The sales assistant grimly reached out and grabbed me, "Miss, you haven't paid yet." I remembered that my buttons were made of metal, which triggered the alarm. After patiently explaining and easing the atmosphere, I said, "The owner of this supermarket is my older brother. He'll pay the bill." The sales assistant scoffed. "Your brother's the boss? Why not say he's your husband instead? You stole and refused to admit it. Pay up or I'll call the police immediately," she said and crumpled the receipt into a ball before throwing it at my face. I endured the humiliation and unfolded it. A baby pacifier for 100,000 dollars. Two packs of baby wet wipes for 200,000 dollars. Security personnel's hush fee, 300,000 dollars. All of the miscellaneous expenses added up to exactly one million dollars. I laughed in anger. "One million dollars? Why don't you just rob a bank? Go and get Chad Surrey. I want to see how I ended up with such a heartless brother." She rolled her eyes. "Don't pretend if you can't afford it, thief. Is Mr. Surrey someone you can see whenever you want?" When my parents came to help me, I said, "Only one of us exists in this family. It's either me or her."

My executive boyfriend's newly hired assistant caused trouble again. All because a client mentioned he was afraid of snakes, she sent him a king cobra as "exposure therapy." The client was bitten and nearly died. Because of that, the company lost a multimillion-dollar project and had to pay two million in medical compensation. Following the board's decision, I fired her on the spot. My boyfriend did not object. In fact, he cooperated with me throughout the paperwork. One year later, at the celebration party for Grant Hale's promotion to CEO, I saw that same assistant again, dressed head to toe in luxury, standing beside him. Before I could react, Grant threw a termination agreement at me and announced in front of everyone that Chloe Vance would be taking over my position. His eyes were full of hatred as he gritted out, "Natalie, I have waited countless nights for this day. Didn't you love firing people? "How does it feel to be fired in public?" Everyone thought I would make a scene. Instead, I laughed, calmly removed my employee badge, and walked out. What Grant did not know was that the only reason he had been able to sit in the CEO's chair was because I had guaranteed him. The moment I left, every ounce of power in his hands would be revoked. His good days were officially over.

Dad, I laughed quietly to myself. If you could see me now. You’d never think I’d ever be here. An actual werewolf sleeping at my feet? I’m really back in Jericho… Seems so silly, fighting you all these years and in the end here I am. Maybe you’d be happy. I don’t know. I like him... Elias. He seems like a great guy, maybe you'd like him too. Seriously, though, he's the alpha of your old pack. He seems dangerous and yet, he saved me. He seems to care about me, and maybe I'm silly for feeling it but I think I like him too. Six months ago Freya's father died, sending her to the bustling city of Jericho. Nearly kidnapped her first night and actually kidnapped her second she finds herself at the mercy of the mysterious Alpha Elias of the Hollow Moon Pack. Her attraction to him is hard to ignore but she wasn't born a werewolf. Her conflicting instincts to want to run and reject this pack are prevented why she finds out Elias has to be the one to reject her. Just seeing the way Elias looks at her, though, Freya can tell it will take some convincing to finally be free from him. Then again... does she want to be?

“You are a virgin, Celine, so I am trying to make things right,” Nicholas said in a whisper and my face flushed with anger and shame. He caught on. He knew I was a virgin. Fuck! I laughed out and slapped his chest tightly. I needed to defend myself and try to appear like a whore. I can't give him the satisfaction of believing he is the one who deflowered me. “Wait, I thought you were drunk? I think you are being delusional here Nicholas. A virgin at this age?” I asked and tried to hide the nervousness in my voice. “Sorry to hurt your ego. I have been with many men before you. Don't think…” I began but Nicholas turned his back to me, ignoring me. ******* Life didn’t truly end when Celine discovered her husband never loved her. He stood by while his cousin tormented her simply because of her size, leaving Celine humiliated and broken. But fate gave her another chance. Celine got reborn three years earlier, on the very night she had a one-night stand with Nicholas. This lifetime, Celine vows not to repeat the same mistakes. This time, she refuses to marry Nicholas. But Nicholas isn’t the man she remembers. Determined and unyielding, he wants Celine and he’ll stop at nothing to prove that her size is the very last thing that could keep him away.

Esme believed in this saying for as long as she could remember. These words gave her the strength and courage to live each day as it came until she eventually became tired of making those lemonades and wished for something else. Something—different. But that only seemed wishful thinking. Born as a noble and made an orphan after a rogue attack, Esme became the unwanted pack member of NightCrawler Pack. The once daughter of an alpha became nothing but a slave who answers to the new alpha’s family’ every beck and call. The pack that had once adored her now ridiculed her and laughed at her mistreatment and misery. They seemed to have forgotten how her family had fought for the safety of the pack and the kingdom and even lost their lives for them. But in all this, Esme remained silent. Silently enduring and hoping that one day, her knight in shining armor would come and rescue her. He will show up one day and take her away from the once happy place that has now become her hell. When that day eventually came, she was rejected without a second thought, and she watched as her world came crashing. Hard. Her heart caved in and lost all hope of ever finding happiness again. Or even leaving the pack. After all, what could a wolfless shifter do? Amidst her misery, a ray of light appeared. She was blessed with a second chance, mate. One whose outstretched hand she was hesitant to take, especially after knowing who he was.

Four years ago, Marcus Blackthorn rejected me at our Dragon bond ceremony. He chose Clara Linwood instead. Her bloodline carried the purity of an ancient dragon clan, and with her at his side, he could secure his claim as Lord Blackthorn. He told me to wait one year, promising that once his position was secure, the title of Lady Blackthorn would eventually be mine. Everyone laughed at me for believing I had ever been anything more than a useful promise. I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me break, and I left without begging for a place in a future he had already denied me. I left his territory in silence and followed the Dragon Goddess’s sign to my second-chance mate, Caelan Frost. He was the Frost Dragon King, ruler of every dragon clan, and even a Black Dragon lord like Marcus had to bow before him. Four years later, I returned to Blackthorn Keep beside Caelan Frost, the Dragon King. Four years later, I returned to Blackthorn Keep beside Caelan Frost, the Dragon King. At the city gate, Marcus stopped me. He looked at my plain cloak, then threw a servant’s gray livery at my feet. “Stop pretending you have somewhere better to go,” he said. “My household happens to need a nursery maid. Take the work. It is the only future you have left.”

Eight months pregnant, I had every bank card frozen by my husband’s female secretary. Over the phone, she laughed coldly and said, “From now on, every cent you spend needs my approval. Jack works too hard to waste his money on a useless woman who only knows how to shop.” That same day, I was rushed to the hospital with contractions. Every card I tried was declined. And as if that wasn’t enough, she had also moved my parents out of their private senior suite and into the cheapest room available. Her reason? Two ordinary old people had no right to waste Jack’s money. I laughed. She had no idea those “ordinary old people” were the Don and Donna of the Bellandi family, the couple who had controlled Italy’s underworld for decades. She had no idea Jack’s company, his reputation, his fortune—everything he owned—had come from the Bellandi family. My parents had already planned to retire completely after my child was born. They were going to hand the entire family over to me. And to Jack. Too bad. Jack had allowed her to humiliate the only real power he would ever have the chance to stand beside. Three days later, Jack held a welcome party for his mysterious investor. In front of everyone, his secretary dialed the investor’s number. The next second, my phone rang.

As Gamma of the Creed Pack, I'd held the Northern Border alone for three full years. Every time I called in to ask when I could come home, my mate — the Alpha of Creed — picked up the phone himself. He told me the rogues weren't cleared. He told me the rival packs were still circling. He said, "Nora. One more year. Once we have completely eliminated all our enemies, I will hold the grandest mating ceremony for you. I swear it on the Moon." I believed him. When I dragged myself out of a pile of dead rogues with a silver arrowhead still lodged an inch from my heart, bleeding too fast for a medevac, my warriors had to shift and run me back in wolf form all the way to Creed territory. The moment we crossed the border, I saw fairy lights strung from every streetlamp along the road to the pack house. Pack wolves on the sidewalks were talking loud, smiling at each other. "The Alpha's Mating Ceremony is tonight. He's taking the Elder's daughter as Luna. Three years of peace on the border. It's a good time to be Creed." I coughed dark blood into the fur on the back of my warrior's neck and laughed, short and bitter. He hadn't needed me holding the border. He just hadn't wanted me home.

On the day of the mating ceremony, I'm supposed to be marked by William Ernst and become the Luna of the Shadow pack. However, Annie Denver, my younger twin sister, suddenly comes back from abroad. Dad, Mom, and William end up abandoning me, choosing to pick her up from the airport. While Annie posts a family photo on Facebook, flaunting how everyone in the family loves her, my family cuts me off whenever I try to contact them through mind-link. They end up closing the mind-link. After calling countless times, William finally accepts my call and asks me to stop rushing him. He tells me that today's mating ceremony is canceled and will be rescheduled on another date. My dearest parents, brother, and the man I love the most all turn me into the laughingstock of the entire pack—and the most ridiculous bride of all. Despite being laughed at, I didn't cry or make a scene. After taking care of everything, I write a number in my journal—the 99th time. This is the 99th time they have disappointed me. From this moment on, I won't beg for their love anymore. I fill out an application for Arcetic expedition, ready to leave them. They all think that my silence and constant compromises with Annie mean I've matured. They fail to realize that I'm disappointed to the core. I am leaving for good.

The day I land a hundred-million-dollar deal for the company, my girlfriend—Paisley Needham, the CEO—finally agrees to marry me. The next day, I wait at the city hall until it closes. She never shows up. Instead, what I get is her official announcement with her assistant, Jude Grayford. In the photo, she nestles in his arms. A crisp marriage license sits in her hand, impossible to miss. The caption reads, "My CEO, Ms. Paisley Needham, couldn't bear to see me going on blind dates, so she just went ahead and got the marriage license with me today. I'm so happy!" My colleagues gossip, assuming I'll be jealous and furious. I don't. I just like the post and comment, "So, when's the ceremony? Don't forget to invite me!" Paisley calls immediately, cursing me out. "I just didn't want to see him being pressured into blind dates by his parents, so I agreed to get married on paper to keep them off his back. It's not like we're actually married. Do you really have to be so petty? "Delete your comment right now and get on your knees to apologize to Jude. If you don't, I'll never marry you." I laughed bitterly. "Even better," I say. "I hope you two have a long, happy life together… and have lots of kids."