Madness Xionic

She’s a deadly assassin with no name. He’s a cursed Lycan King, forbidden to love. When Kael scents Seraphina—the infamous Shadow Siren—as his fated mate, his world turns upside down. She escapes from him and all his effort to find her was futile. But Seraphina isn’t the kind of woman who can be claimed. She’s part witch, part fae, and all danger sent by The Order to spy on the very man fate says she belongs to. Love was never part of her mission… and certainly never part of Kael’s prophecy. As demons rise and supernatural war looms, their bond becomes more than fate—it becomes a weapon. But with Seraphina’s secrets threatening to unravel everything, and Kael’s wolf on the edge of madness, the line between love and destruction begins to blur. One wrong move could ignite a war. One kiss could change everything. And one truth could destroy them both. When fate ties a killer to a king, can love still bloom in the shadows? What secret prophecy connects them… and what price will they pay to survive it?

The day Yancy Shepherd died, Benedict Page poisoned our dinner. His eyes were wild, and bloodshot, as he watched me writhe in agony. There was a madness in his gaze, but worse was the hatred, a disgust so deep it twisted his face into something unrecognizable. "If it weren't for you forcing your way into our lives, Yancy wouldn’t have died from heartbreak. You ruined us! It’s all your fault!" A photo slipped from his trembling hand and landed at my feet—Yancy at twenty, looking radiant, her smile as bright as a blooming flower. I collapsed to the ground, my strength fading fast like a rose withering in the final grasp of winter. Helpless, I waited for the darkness to claim me, consumed by despair and bitter regret. Why hadn’t I listened to the system and killed him when I had the chance? But when I opened my eyes again, everything was different. I stood watching Benedict flee our engagement ceremony. My brother moved to chase after him, but I quietly raised a hand, stopping him. This time, things would be different.

"I'll cut to the chase. I'm the villainess in this story." Everyone in this wealthy, elite family adored my poor, fragile adopted sister. My older brother Damien would snap, "Don't scare Bella. Her weak heart can't take it." My other brother, Magnus, would add, "Lend Bella your nightgown, all right? It's wasted on you." Even my fiancé said, "This is nothing more than a marriage of convenience. My true love has always been Bella." In my last life, I humbled myself endlessly to please them. What did I receive in return? They sent me to a mental asylum and I died in agony. Then I came back to life on the day of my engagement party. A voice echoed in my mind and made its announcement. [The Madness Reward System has chosen you, Marceline Blanc. Any unhinged behavior will earn rewards worth hundreds of millions of dollars.] I grinned and sent the pompous, ten-tier cake crashing to the floor. "I'm done with this shitty family. Goodbye, you miserable bastards."

“Who the hell typed this contract, Liam? I see typos.” “What typos? I wrote every damn word myself.” “Then you must’ve been typing while Evelyn was suck–” “Shut the fvck up, Olivia! Just sign it, or forget about ever seeing my babies again.” “They’re my babies too, you asshole! Would you sign if some psycho shoved this shitty contract in your face?” “Then don’t sign. Your loss. Get the fvck out of my office. Call me only after you sign, or you’ll regret it.” --- I thought giving birth would be the happiest day of my life. Instead, it became the day my whole world shattered. While I was still weak and bleeding in that hospital bed, my husband walked in… not with flowers, not with comfort, but with a hard blow to my stitches. That devil set a trap far worse than our marriage itself. And no matter how much I hated him… a part of me still burned whenever he touched me. Was this love, madness, or the devil’s contract I could never escape?

Barry Ocason, extreme sportsman and outdoor travel writer, receives a magazine in his mailbox and opens to an ad for an adventure in the Bavarian Alps. Initially dismissing the invitation, which seems to have been meant specifically for him, he soon finds himself involved in a larger plot and seeking answers to why an individual known only as the elephant man is terrorizing his family. Barry and his daughter Kristen, who survived a twin sister taken from the family at a young age, travel from Juneau, Alaska to the sinister Spider Festival in Rio Tago, Brazil, before he ultimately answers the call to Bavaria, where the puzzle begins to come together. Amid tribulation, death, madness, and institutionalization, a document emerges describing a scientist’s bloody bid to breed a theoretical “third twin,” which is believed to have the potential, through its connection with its siblings, to bridge the gulf between life and afterlife. The godlike creature that soon emerges turns out to be Barry’s own offspring, and she has dark plans for the world of her conception that neither her father nor any other mortal can stop. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

For eight years, I was the ghost in Lorenzo Valenti's empire. By day, I was his executive assistant, the engine of his criminal enterprise. By night, I was the most submissive bird in his gilded cage, and the nameless body in his bed. I loved him with a devotion that bordered on madness, a foolish flame I'd nurtured since I was a scholarship student pulled into his orbit. I believed my quiet love could one day melt the ice around his heart. I was wrong. The day his unforgettable first love, Isabella, returned, the man I knew vanished. The rare smiles once reserved for me were now all for her. My presence by his side was erased, replaced by hers. Even when she framed me, he believed her without hesitation. He chose her, again and again. I submitted my resignation. He signed it without looking. He thought I'd crawl back, broken and begging. He was wrong. While he was busy playing house with his "cuore mio", I was quietly packing away my life, preparing to vanish from his world forever.

My mother was a traitor. To my pack, I am no better. I'm used to being overlooked. I've been unwanted from the time I was born, and my pack, River Crest, made it abundantly clear every chance they could that I was not welcome. No one and nowhere was safe. I've spent my entire life alone, with no family, no friends, and now, no mate. At 24 years old, unmated and unwanted, I've accepted that I must be one of the mateless. Wretched, forsaken wolves who are cursed to live out their lives alone. Or worse. The legends and histories claim that being a mateless wolf is worse than death. They suggest choosing a mate and forming a bond before madness sets in or the pack rejects me. But I've been rejected. I'm used to the feeling. I thrive in it. Because the more they push me away, the less pain and humiliation I have to face. If I can make it another year unmated, I could face banishment, and I'll finally be free. That's my goal. And I'll be damned if I let anyone get in my way. Even my mate.  

Eleanor Bella Starr is Black and You magazine's lead writer. After being threatened by her egocentric boss to either get something interesting enough to wow him, or take a tumble in his sheets, Eleanor hightails it to Orlando, Lake Creek. Lake Creek, home of the internet's weirdest stories. DESCRIPTION: STAY OUT! SAVE YOURSELF! How do you keep a writer away from that? Moreso, one as inquisitive as Eleanor. The mysteries begin the minute she arrives. The deeper she goes, the loopier it becomes. She is in a world of madness of the mind, death and bloodshed. She brought herself in.... But she can't get out. She hears things she can't fathom, sees things that are mind boggling and becomes something that definitely wasn't in her plans. Plans? There are no plans anymore. Plans can't exist in a world like this. Kill or be killed. Will the hunter become the hunted? Or will the hunter laugh last? Strangely enough, love blooms. She falls right into Andreas. Literally. Ever heard of the term, soul mates? How do you realize someone is yours, only after his mouth has been assaulted by someone else's, in your presence? In what world is that fair?!

Ophelia Silvercrown had one mission; escape the Midnight Hunters pack before her stepfather could sell her into marriage with Damian Crypthil—the deranged heir of the cursed Cryptid Pack. But fate is cruel. The same wolf she ran from becomes the man she’s bound to in a contract marriage with. Trapped between returning to her abusive stepfather or staying with Damian, Ophelia chooses the devil she doesn’t know… and steps into the role of his chosen mate. Damian Crypthil is haunted by blood and madness, forever branded deranged after the night he lost control. Determined to silence the whispers and prove himself worthy of being Alpha, he knows he needs a mate–what he doesn’t expect is her. Now Ophelia is caught in a dangerous game of power struggles, betrayal, and a love she never saw coming. With a vengeful physician plotting in the shadows, her stepfather’s schemes tightening around her, and Damian’s jealous ex determined to destroy her, every path leads to destruction. Will she be crushed by the forces against her—or will she rise as the Alpha’s true mate? Deranged Alpha and His Chosen Mate is a tale of survival and passion where love is the greatest risk of all.

Falling in love with Zyair cost Adola more than she could pay. First, a threat, then a cruel eviction to save the life of the only family she had: only… she doesn’t go without a gift, a gift that made her situation much worse. But after six years of staying away, she returns to the same city she’d been evicted from. Not as a pauper this time, but a renowned realtor, an estate developer and a mother to a beautiful set of twins. Her plans to live a quiet life with her kids are distorted with two men barging into her life: her ex, Zyair Henderson— an eligible bachelor of Texas and a wealthy billionaire— who shattered her heart into pieces six years ago and is bent on making her life a living hell again. Then his charming younger brother, Chase Henderson, a celebrity popster and the country's sweetheart who has unabashedly fallen head over heels for her. She's torn between two grueling options: choosing the man that almost pushed her to the brink of madness or his younger brother who ticked all her boxes. But even that becomes twice harder when she realizes that her past's secrets are connected to the man she chooses.