Mark Twain Library Long Beach Novels & Stories

The marking ceremony had reached the moment when the Luna crown should be exchanged, but my mate in name only still refused to lower his head. Once Drake Blackwood bit the side of my neck and completed the marking, our 66th ceremony would finally become real. Yet his eyes stayed fixed on his phone, and he did not even look at me. All because his widowed sister-in-law, Scarlett Moore, had posted a claim-release statement an hour earlier. Her late husband had been Drake’s older brother. Under pack law, Drake was obligated to protect her. Attached to her post was a ticket for a private pack flight, showing that she would land in an hour. Drake suddenly rose and announced in a low voice to the elders and pack members that the marking ceremony would be postponed. Then he left me standing there alone, turning me into a joke before the entire pack. I calmly packed away the Luna crown, calmly apologized to the guests, and calmly saw everyone off. After that, I opened Scarlett’s latest post on the MoonNet feed. In the photo, Drake stood beside her, holding out a newly hunted moonstone. I gave a bitter smile and called my birth parents through the private pack link. “Father, Mother, I’m willing to come back now.” “I’ll accept the marriage alliance for the Frostvale Pack.”

Blurb: “Accept it,” he roared, his eyes filled with hatred and disgust. “I… Arielle accepts your rejection,” she gasped, the words tearing through her soul. A flash of broken red light. A bond shattered. *** Arielle, Luna of the Moon Titan Pack, is the last surviving heir of a fallen bloodline, orphaned by the brutal murder of her parents. She believed love would be her salvation. She was wrong. On the night of the full moon, she is betrayed… and killed. But the Moon Goddess is not finished with her. Reborn with a celestial mark, Arielle rises as something the world has never seen before—a Tribrid: wolf, witch, and vampire. A being of immense power, feared across the realms. One who could unite or destroy depending on the heart that wields it. But fate has a cruel sense of justice. Her path collides with Alpha Ethan Blackthorn, the cursed Alpha she once rejected. His name is spoken in fear. Dark, dangerous and burdened by secrets, Ethan is everything she swore to resist. Yet destiny binds them in ways neither can escape. As secrets unravel and buried betrayals rise, Arielle must decide who she will become— Will she burn the world in vengeance… Or rise above the bloodshed and rule it?

Mia—codename Zero—is the deadliest assassin alive. She never asks questions. Never fails a job. Until a brutal accident steals her memory. Waking up in a powerful Alpha’s care, she has no idea who she is or why she was carrying his photograph. Alex Moore, CEO of Raften Pharmaceuticals and leader of the Darkhaven Pack, knows better than to trust a mysterious woman with a past she can’t remember. But something about her calls to him in ways he can’t explain. As passion ignites and their worlds intertwine, the truth looms in the shadows. Because Mia wasn’t just an assassin. She was sent to kill him. And when she remembers, there will be only one question left—will she finish the job, or has fate already sealed her loyalty… and her heart?

I was sold to the devil in a bespoke Italian suit. Andre Volkov. The Alpha of the Onyx Pack. A cold, tattooed sadist who views me as nothing more than a merger acquisition to secure his European borders. I hated him before I even met him. I hated the way his eyes stripped me bare, and I hated the shiver of fear that raced through me when he forced his ring onto my finger. I vowed to lock my heart in a cage of ice. I vowed never to let him break me. But on our wedding night, something changed. The man who came to me in the dark wasn’t the cold, loud tyrant who mocked me at the altar. He was silent. Intense. His touch wasn't just possessive; it was worshipful. Dangerous. When he sank his teeth into my neck, claiming me as his mate, I didn't push him away. I burned for him. I thought I was falling for my husband. I didn't know the Volkov bloodline carried a secret. I didn't know there were two of them. And now, I’ve been marked by the wrong brother.

On the surface, Connor Shaw appears to be the coolheaded, celibate follower of the Fyerian faith who lives like a monk. All of Jewelton knows that about him. Behind closed doors, however, he suffers from a severe case of compulsive sexual disorder. According to the traditions of the merpeople, a mermaid like Sylvie Waverly will have to marry the first human she meets and perform the ultimate act of intimacy 999 times. Masquerading as a lovesick doormat, Sylvie does everything she can to marry Connor. However, the only one in Connor's heart is Anna Larson, his first love. Everyone assumes Sylvie will get jealous, but all she wants is to complete her mission as soon as possible and return to her own world. Once Connor has bedded her 999 times, Sylvie leaves him without a second thought. By the time Connor realizes Sylvie is the mermaid who saved him all those years ago and that she alone can cure him of his compulsive sexual disorder, it is all too late.

In my last life, I was kidnapped alongside the fake heiress, Lilith Howe, at the same time. My father, the richest man in the country, claimed he had to prove his impartiality. Without a second thought, he told the police to rescue Lilith first and refused to pay a ransom for me. In front of the cameras, he declared with solemn conviction, "A daughter of the Howes must have backbone. We will never give in to criminals!" Lilith returned without a single scratch, and the internet crowned her a miracle girl. Meanwhile, I was killed by the kidnappers. There was barely anything left of me to bury. As my soul hovered above the scene, I watched my brother sneer at what little remained. "Good," he said. "At least she won't come back and be an eyesore to Lilith. We'll finally have some peace in the house." When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the exact moment the kidnappers called with their demands. A knife was pressed against my throat. On the other end of the line, my father's voice was just as cold, just as absolute. "I'm not choosing. My money belongs to charity. If she's a Howe, she should be ready to sacrifice for the family." I laughed. If he was willing to destroy his own flesh and blood for the sake of so-called honor, then this time, I would grant them a reunion in hell!

Sandra, also known as Ruby, is a young women who meets a popular rock-star. She feels a strong connection with him even though she is engaged. As she progresses with both relationships her world is turned upside down. Both men in her life know the truth about who and what she really is. Once the truth is revealed she is now forced to pick not only a lover, but a life style. One where she lives amongst the supernatural, and the other as a normal woman who knows the truth but can never involve herself in their affairs. Which will she choose, and does she really have a choice in the matter as her role in all of this is bigger than she could imagine. Where does her heart belong, with her old life or her new one.

“You can play Priest for as long as you like,” he spat, ignoring my protests, “but you will never find salvation.” His words struck like a curse, but that wasn’t the reason my chest heaved, goosebumps littered my skin, and definitely not the reason I felt hot despite the chilling dip from the lake. Ezreal’s eyes widened momentarily, noticing. I winced as his hand shifted, pressing against the stiff betrayal straining against my soaked robes. He stilled for only a second, then a wicked grin overtook his features. “Well, well,” Ezreal drawled, his voice taunting “Look who’s getting excited,” “Stop,” I gasped, squeezing my eyes shut as the humiliation dug deep. “Please….” He leaned forward, his breath hot as his lips ghosted over the shell of my ear. “I will taint you so bad,” he whispered, his hand tightening against my crotch. “So bad you won’t have the courage to stand on the altar you abandoned me for.” ****** At sixteen, Ezreal Vossell took the fall for a murder to protect the only boy he ever loved—Baron Lander, the timid son of the town’s high priest. A known delinquent, the bastard child of the mayor, but the only one who saw him for his true self was Baron. Ezreal made the ultimate sacrifice, and all he wanted in return was Baron’s support. But alas, on the day of the trial, Baron betrayed him, casting him aside to please his father. Ezreal was sentenced to life in prison, his heart shattered beyond repair. Fifteen years later, he was released, but gone was the naive sixteen-year-old. He’s returned as the ruthless leader of a mafia syndicate, and with all the power and wealth at his fingertips, he yearned for one thing alone. Revenge.

She was the Luna they rejected. He was the cursed Alpha. Destiny didn’t mean for them to meet—magic brought them together, together they would unite two separate worlds. After being betrayed by her mate and condemned by her own stepmother, Alia Rowan is left to die in the Woods. But fate brings her into the arms of Kael Bale, a ruthless Alpha whose soul is chained by a terrible curse. Saved by Kael–the cursed alpha of the Night Fangs Pack–she meets a new world filled with secrets, power and darkness When a fake mating becomes the only way to be accepted in the Night Fang Pack, Alia accepts, seeing it as an opportunity to get her revenge. But as she slowly falls for Kael, she discovers he is far more broken. She plans to win his heart. He plans to use her to get revenge. But neither of them knows that their shattered pasts are bound by the same enemies.. Alia possesses the blood of the last good witch. Kael's wolf is blood thirsty and uncontrollable. Together, they are chaotic. When war rises, when betrayal burns, when destiny demands sacrifice… Will their forbidden love survive the darkness? Or will the light die with her? Find out in this soul-catching tale of love, betrayal and revenge.

He conquered her people. Now he wants her heart. Freya was a human warrior, captured when the werewolves ravaged her realm and slaughtered everything she held dear. Labeled a prisoner of war, she expected death until the cold, powerful Alpha King set his sights on her. He doesn’t just spare her. He claims her as his bride. Thrown into a savage world ruled by her enemies, Freya swears to destroy the werewolf clan from the inside. But as she begins to uncover secrets buried beneath the bloodshed and as the Alpha’s icy walls begin to crack, her hatred blurs. How do you kill the monster… when your heart starts beating for him?