Mechanical Instinct

Eden McBride spent her whole life colouring within the lines. But when her fiancé dumps her one month before their wedding, Eden is done following the rules. A hot rebound is just what the doctor recommends for her broken heart. No, not really. But it's what Eden needs. Liam Anderson, the heir to the biggest logistics company in Rock Union, is the perfect rebound guy. Dubbed the Three Months Prince by the tabloids because he's never with the same girl longer than three months, Liam's had his fair share of one night stands and doesn't expect Eden to be anything more than a hookup. When he wakes up and finds her gone along with his favourite denim shirt, Liam is irritated, but oddly intrigued. No woman has ever left his bed willingly or stole from him. Eden has done both. He needs to find her and make her account. But in a city with more than five million people, finding one person is as impossible as winning the lottery, until fate brings them together again two years later. Eden is no longer the naive girl she was when she jumped into Liam's bed; she now has a secret to protect at all costs. Liam is determined to get everything Eden stole from him, and it's not just his shirt. © 2020-2021 Val Sims. All rights reserved. No part of this novel may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author and publishers.

The day my husband, Caleb Vale, buries his first love, Layla Shaw, he stands in front of me and throws our wedding ring into the sea. For the next 12 years, the breakfasts I bring him go straight into the trash, and the scarf I stay up all night knitting is tossed into the fire and burned to ash. The cruelest moment is when he looks me in the eye and says, "Aurora, if you really want to please me, you might as well go die." But when a mugger comes at me with a knife, Caleb still steps in front of me without a second's hesitation. As he lies dying in my arms, he uses the very last of his strength to force out a few broken words. "Go... I hope I never see you again in my next life." At the funeral, Helena Rogers sobs until she faints. "This is all my fault. I never should've arranged your marriage..." Everyone around us pities him and resents me. They whisper that I'm a jinx and wonder why I'm not the one who died. And honestly, I wonder the same thing. Why not me? After Caleb is lowered into the ground, I climb to the top floor of the building and jump. As I hover on the edge of death, a cold, mechanical voice echoes in my mind. "Binding complete. Wish detected. The system will now send you back 12 years."

“I, Kael Veyrith, reject you, Ashina Kai." The words tore through Ashina, sharper than claws and even crueler than death ever could. Ashina felt their bond snap and the agony of it carving into her soul like a wound that would never heal. ─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ─── Ashina Kai was never meant to survive without her mate. Cast out from her pack after Kael’s rejection, she vanished into the human world, burying her past beneath a lie. No pack. No mate. No past. Just a quiet, ordinary life. Until the night she sees him again. Kael stands at the heart of a brutal attack, no longer the person she once knew but a man carved from war and shadows. And he’s leading a war she wants no part of. But despite every instinct screaming at her to run, Ashina is caught in the center of it all. But the past doesn’t forget. Neither does betrayal. He broke her once. If she lets him in again, will it be her undoing—or his?

⚠️ Warning: This book contains explicit, primal sexual content, dominant Alphas, willing Omegas, and intense mate-bond passion intended for mature 18+ readers only. In the world of packs, some lines are drawn in blood-and some are meant to be crossed in the heat of desire. This scorching collection of 15 standalone tales dives into the most forbidden unions in werewolf society, where primal instinct overrules every rule. From intense Alpha/ Omega power dynamics and voyeuristic thrills to dangerous age-gap cravings, boss/employee risks, and step-family secrets, each story simmers with raw, explicit passion: claiming bites, dominant growls, submitting whimpers, and bodies pushed to the edge of primal ecstasy. Yet every illicit encounter ends in a sweet, satisfying mate-bond-happy endings where forbidden lovers claim their forever against all odds, leaving no regrets, only eternal, ecstatic bliss. Hot. Primal. Unapologetically Naughty. If you crave the rush of crossing every line and feeling the surge of a destined bond, these tales will leave you breathless, flushed, and howling for more.

Zaria Blackwood’s life was already shattered—her father ruined, her future stolen, and her heart scarred by betrayal. But nothing could have prepared her for the moment she stepped into Vane Estate… and into the orbit of Lucien Wolfe, the enigmatic, dangerous man who had destroyed her family. Marked by him in a moment of uncontrollable instinct, Zaria discovers a bond that’s more than physical—it’s psychic, primal, and terrifyingly powerful. Her senses sharpen, her strength surges, and a force she can’t control pulses through her veins. As shadows of the past awaken and a mysterious council watches from the darkness, Zaria must navigate a world of ancient curses, supernatural secrets, and deadly rivals—all while wrestling with the magnetic, forbidden pull of the man who both terrifies and fascinates her. In a house full of secrets, a forest alive with danger, and a bond that won’t let go, Zaria will learn that love and survival come at a price… and that some marks cannot be undone. 💀 Danger. Desire. Destiny. Will Zaria survive the shadows—and the man who claims her soul?

Because of my negligence, Leo's precious darling Sophia had choked on a mouthful of seawater. He flew into a rage and locked me in the dark water dungeon. "Catherine, whatever Sophia suffered, you'll repay double!" The instinct to survive forced me to shift into wolf form. I slammed my head against the iron cage again and again, begging for his mercy. But Leo bound my limbs with iron chains and ordered his subordinates to keep flooding the chamber. "A jealous wretch like you will only learn obedience through suffering." "Stay in there and repent for what you've done." He sealed the iron door of the water dungeon himself and forbade anyone from coming near. Over and over, I craned my neck to gulp in the thin air, howling in desperation. But the rising ice water swallowed me whole. I kept struggling until I had no strength left. A week later, in his great mercy, he decided to end my punishment. What he didn't know was that the water snakes had already gnawed my body beyond recognition.

As panic sweeps through the city and everyday streets collapse into chaos, Ciprian is driven by one unshakable instinct: protect Adam at all costs. When an unexplained catastrophe turns the urban landscape into a pressure cooker of fear and survival, nothing matters more than keeping his best friend alive. In this fast-paced short story, a sudden crisis forces two friends to confront more than danger. As tension rises and the city descends into disorder, buried emotions, unspoken attraction, and complicated feelings come to the surface. What begins as survival quickly becomes something deeper, binding their fates together in ways neither of them expected. Set against a backdrop of urban collapse, panic, and uncertainty, this emotional short fiction explores friendship, loyalty, and love under pressure. Perfect for readers who enjoy character-driven stories, disaster scenarios, slow-burn emotion, LGBTQ+ themes, and intimate moments set during world-altering events. A gripping short story about connection, courage, and the fragile line between friendship and something more—meant to be read in one sitting, but felt long after.

Georgia Pearce is a typical teenage girl, anxious to find her place in the world when she encounters Hayden Ryder, the enigmatic new student at her school. She is captivated by his beauty and aura despite his fierce temper. At first, he seems to despise her but is then inexplicably drawn to her too. What Georgia doesn’t know is that Hayden has a chilling secret, a beast that lurks within him. Ignoring the signs, she falls deeper in love, unaware of the danger she faces. Mysterious deaths begin plaguing her town as Hayden’s behavior grows more unpredictable. Could he be the one to blame for all the killings? Georgia’s need to protect herself is overwhelmed by her instinct to stay by his side. She refuses to give up on him, believing that her love will be enough to tame the monster inside Hayden. Is she just naïve, or more capable of protecting herself than anyone realizes? Does Georgia’s love for Hayden prevent her from seeing a simple truth, that loving someone like Hayden walks hand in hand with her doom?

For years, the witches and vampires of Shadowbrooke co-existed secretly, without much incident. Until one winter evening in 2002. Luca Delacroix was on a hunting trip when the monthly court hosted by his clan turned disastrous. What began as a normal night for the residents of the sleepy town ended horribly when fledgelings in blood-lust took Shadowbrooke under siege. It took a small coven of witches, a powerful spell, the Chaos Star and a virgin's blood to end the terror. But in the aftermath, Julian Delacroix, Luca's brother, along with several of their clan members, were eternally bound to the manor's cellar, forsaken to wither and perish from thirst. It's 2022, and Luca's returned to Shadowbrooke after two decades. His sudden reappearance threatens to destabilise the peaceful town again. He'll stop at nothing to get his brother out, and the Youngblood Coven will not hesitate to destroy him. While the witches scramble to get the missing piece of the Star of Chaos, the rune they once used against Luca's clan, he has to fight hard to stay one step ahead of them. But, his plans go awry when he meets and falls in love with Cadence Youngblood, the same woman responsible for his brother's infernal prison. Cadence is everything he shouldn't want, but for her, Luca is willing to take the backlash from his clan and risk her coven's wrath. © 2022 Val Sims. All rights reserved. No part of this novel may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author and publishers.

When Nate Carter is attacked at Blackridge University, he wakes up changed stronger, faster. But control isn’t easy especially after he is seized by the cold, possessive leader of the silver Kieran Drew. Caught between terror of the monster inside him and the risk of not being in a pack, Nate has no choice but to rely on the one person he should presumably fear most: Kieran, the pack’s brutal future Alpha. Kieran should consider Nate as a liability. Instead, he can’t let him go. Protective to the point of obsession, Kieran is drawn to Nate in ways he can’t explain or control. But as Lycans, feral abominations born of twisted power, rise to wage war, Nate becomes both the pack’s greatest risk and its only hope. As secrets unravel and blood is spilled, Nate must learn to wield the power he never wanted while trying to grasp the perilous link building between him and Kieran. Because in a world where wolves are governed by instinct and obsession, love could be the most dangerous power of all.