Mark Twain Library Long Beach

I only wanted to survive senior year. Keep my head down, graduate, and leave Blackthorne Academy behind. But the moment I stepped through its iron gates, I became prey. The Academy is wrong in every way—no mirrors in the dorms, wolves howling during study hall, and strict orders to never leave your room on red moon nights. And then there are the four Alphas who have marked me with their eyes, their obsession, and their danger. Ronan Veyr, the storm-eyed heir destined for the crown, who recoils at my touch yet can’t seem to stay away. Cassian Drax, the golden boy trickster whose dangerous smile hides a ruthless streak. Malachai Frost, the untouchable prodigy who shadows me like a silent warden. And Professor Adrian Vale, the man who looks at me as if I’m a memory he can’t bury. They shouldn’t want me. I have no wolf, no pack, no power. But whispers of a legacy trail me through Blackthorne’s haunted corridors—a bloodline strong enough to crown kings… and dangerous enough to kill for. Strange visions tear through my body whenever one of them is near. My strength is rising, my secret unraveling, and I’m beginning to understand why my mother died to protect it. Because I am not wolf. I am something older. Something every Alpha was born to obey. And if I want to leave Blackthorne alive, I must decide: Will I let one of them claim me— or will I rise to command them all?

“I know you want me in jail, but I want you in my bed.” Every man and woman Ángel meets disappears. Their severed finger arrives first, like a pretty little Christmas gift, wrapped in silk and presented in box filled with silent promises from his stalker. Castle, Mafia heir. Executioner. Obsessed beyond reason. He doesn’t send threats. He sends bodies. Because no one touches what belongs to him. No one tastes what he’s claimed. And if they try? They bleed for it. At sixteen, Ángel Di Cristina lost everything. His father—an FBI agent—was closing in on the Mafia when a brutal massacre left his parents dead. But that night, one masked man went rogue. He killed his own allies, marked Ángel with a scar, and disappeared. For years, Ángel hunted him. And now, he’s closer than ever. But Castle doesn’t play by rules. He never had. What he wanted, he got. He bends Ángel, fills his whole life with the thought of him. He whispers filthy things against his throat while pressing a knife to his pulse. Run? Hide? Fight? Useless. Because Castillo doesn’t just want to own Ángel. He wants to ruin him. And the worst part? Ángel is ready to let him.

Kayla Stone has been married for two years, but somehow, she’s still a virgin. Her husband has never touched her. He humiliated her, controlled her, broke her; but just never took her body. So on one reckless night, desperate to feel truly wanted, a drunk Kayla surrenders her innocence to a stranger in a New York lounge. That stranger happens to be Gabriel Pearson. Her husband’s uncle. The same man who wrecked her heart eight years ago and disappeared to Italy. On the night the ruthless kingpin of the Italian mafia world returns to New York, he visits a lounge and runs into none other than his drunk niece in-law. Kayla Stone. The same woman he has deluded himself into thinking he has gotten over for the past eight years. That night, he makes an earth-shattering discovery when pushes inside her and meets the barrier her husband never claimed. His nephew’s wife was untouched, until him. How was that even possible? This night of passion which was supposed to be a mistake, steers something dark and possessive within Gabriel. Kayla wasn’t his to be claimed, but fuck the consequences.

Chleo Magnison was sure Drako Lafrell's the only man she'd want to be with forever. The modern-day princess of Brenther pack had been dreaming of a fairytale-like lovestory with her loving boyfriend, and a never-ending happily ever after with him...not until her parents got killed, leaving her and her brother, Layco a very important task at a young age--to rule over Brenther...and to seek justice for their parents. Akala niya ay kakayanin niya ang lahat hangga't nasa kanyang tabi ang binata...ngunit nang pumutok ang balitang ang mga Lafrell ang may kasalanan ng pagkamatay ng kanyang mga magulang, tila ang akala niyang pang-habambuhay na pagmamahal dito, sa isang iglap, ay bigla na lamang natabunan ng walang kapantay na galit at poot. Now she's facing a heavy decision to make. To leave him, or to stay by his side so she could find an evidence to get him and his family executed for the death of her parents.

Some people say, high school life is great but for Joycelyn Lopez it was a misery. A young girl, from Pangasinan Philippines who experienced bullying. For her, school is hell because of people bullying her looks and skin ever since elementary, that is why she is full of insecurities in herself... but not until she met Dave, a transferee guy who came from the United States of America A well-mannered, a son of the City Mayor, living in upper-class life and a boy who fall stupidly in love in her. Dave didn’t know he would fall in love crazy to the girl, ever since he was in America, girls are going crazy over him. But when he went to the Philippines, the tables have turned. Of course, Dave shoots her shot to Joy. They became together because they think they would find peace with each other; never thought they will make misery for themselves.

She was never meant to survive their world. Now she’s the only one who can burn it down. Lyra thought she was just a girl with strange dreams and a birthmark that shimmered beneath moonlight. But when a celestial event rips her from Earth and drops her into the brutal halls of the Academy of the Ascendant, she discovers a deadly truth: she’s the lost heir of a realm that erased her bloodline—and she’s carrying the forbidden magic that could unravel it all. The Academy is ruled by power and hierarchy. The weak are crushed. The strong ascend. And the Triad—three elite heirs born of elemental fire, storm, and air—will do anything to break her. Until they realize she’s more powerful than all of them. Mocked. Hunted. Desired. As Lyra unlocks the four elemental affinities no student should possess, she becomes the center of a prophecy that the Council has killed to keep buried. But it’s the fifth element—the forbidden Void—that marks her for something more. Survival means mastering her magic. Love could cost her everything. And rebellion might just start with a kiss. Perfect for fans of Zodiac Academy, Throne of Glass, and The Cruel Prince, Marked by Starlight is the explosive first book in a dark fantasy romance series filled with elemental magic, enemies-to-lovers heat, and a heroine who refuses to bow.

The first of a twin is always created to protect and guide the second, but no one said anything about them giving up their identity to fulfill the destiny of their younger sibling. London Elrod had no ambition in life, unlike her sister, who had her head in the cloud. One incident and a thing of joy becomes a river of sorrow, and London takes on the identity of her sister. She now has to answer a name that wasn't hers and carry a cross she knew nothing about. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, but would she be able to survive till she gets there?

Sold by her father to a ruthless Alpha, wolfless Zara Quinn becomes a pawn in a war of vengeance. But beneath her quiet defiance lies a power long buried and a bond Hunter Reed refuses to accept. When fate declares her his mate, he rejects her. Yet in blood, betrayal, and battle, Zara will rise again, but this time she's not here to beg for love, but to command it, even if it means breaking destiny itself.

For three years, I played the role of a dutiful wife to my husband, Williams, until I found out I was just a mere substitute for his first love— the woman he truly loved.  When she returned, he threw divorce papers at me as if I meant nothing.  And when I refused to sign them, I was forced to donate my blood to his precious mistress, causing me to lose a child I never even knew I was carrying. Shattered and broken, I walked away with one purpose— avenging the death of my unborn child.  He realised his mistake, but it was too late. I was no longer his substitute, but a future he'll never touch.  “You were right, Williams. I was a substitute you never deserved.” 

The night before our Mating Ceremony, my fated mate, Alpha Ryker of the Howling Moon Pack, ordered me to give him the Moon Soul Crystal—the very thing that protected my pack, the Willow Creek Pack. He said he needed it to power up the Howling Moon Pack's Blood Moon Altar. He also promised he'd keep me and my people safe. But he didn't know that we, the healers of the Willow Creek Pack, can only create one Moon Soul Crystal in our entire lives. Making one takes a crazy amount of moon energy. It's the treasure that keeps our pack alive. My mother, worried about me using up my moon energy while I was pregnant, gave up her own Moon Soul Crystal instead. But just three months after Ryker and I were mated, she got sick, fast. She was dying. I knelt in front of Ryker, crying, begging him for the Silverleaf Herb from the Howling Moon's forbidden grounds. It was the only thing that could save my mom. But he just looked at me, his eyes full of disappointment, and kicked me away. "I asked for the Moon Soul Crystal to test you," he snarled. "And just as I thought, you married me for our pack's treasures! Your mother's not sick. You're making it all up!" "You don't deserve to be the Luna of the Howling Moon Pack!" It wasn't until after my mother died, when he was arguing with me, trying to kick me out of the pack, that my mother's things fell and scattered everywhere. Her Soul Stone, the symbol of a wolf's spirit, shattered. That's when he finally realized he was wrong. He fell to his knees, begging me not to leave, crying for me to forgive him.