Metal Madness Sonic Heroes

After the young officer Edward Shaw took first place in a high-profile shooting exhibition attended by senior officials, his family adopted a rather peculiar tradition. At the annual family banquet, he would perform a blindfolded shooting. Whichever woman's token his bullet struck was taken as a sign that she would become his fiancée. Determined to marry him, I placed the handkerchief I had carefully chosen as close to him as possible. Yet, for three consecutive years, his shots hit nothing at all. I told myself the handkerchief must have been too light, too easy to miss. So each year, I replaced it with something more refined, more eye-catching than before. That illusion lasted until the night before my eighteenth birthday, when I happened to overhear him speaking with a friend at a reception. "Miss Jasmine's handkerchief is right in front. Even blindfolded, you should be able to hit it. How do you keep missing every year?" Edward swirled his glass, his tone casual. "Tracy's still young. The moment she hears I'm getting engaged, she starts crying. "I promised I'd wait until she's a little older. As for Jasmine, she's waited for me all these years. It's not like she's going anywhere." With that, he casually tossed his glass into a metal bucket in the corner. It rang out with a sharp, hollow clang. I lowered my gaze and thought of my younger sister, only a year younger than me. So it had never been about the token. It was about the person who placed it there. In that case, there was no reason for me to keep holding on. After all, my father had already arranged a marriage for me. Three days later, at that same family banquet, I would be formally engaged.

How quickly everything ended by just a single day, I was just like any other girl in the world- laughing and hanging out with friends, taking endless selfies, having crushes on bad boys and nerds included. I never thought or cared about how I look. It was just mine. Normal and Easy. But everything changed in one single moment- a moment filled with fire, screaming metal, and a blur of terror that rewrote my life. I survived. Everybody says I'm lucky but this, this doesn't feel like survival it feels like a punishment, a curse. A curse that am willing to carry all my life. The accident left me with permanent facial disfigurement, and ever since, I've been stuck behind a mask I never asked to wear. My face is the first thing anyone sees, and sometimes, it feels like the only thing they see. I avoid mirrors now. I no longer go out; I can't risk being stared at. Friends faded. Invitations stopped. Of course they would stop, who would want to invite the hideous me. I would scare everyone, worse, ruin their appetite. They would move away from their tables. What did I expect? Life moved on for everyone but me. My mom is the only person in my life right now, shes' become my anchor. Even with her love, it's still hard to silence the voices in my head, the ones saying I'm hideous, broken, unworthy. I miss my old smile. I still haven't done anything in life. And this isn't about my appearance it's about my self- esteem, my confidence, my ability to feel like I belong anywhere. This is a constant battle with the mirror, with the world, and with yourself. And most days, I'm trying to find the strength to look up to.

His lips brushed my palm and every time his hot breath hit my skin, it set my nerves on fire. “What the—” I whispered, breathless. And then, with deliberate slowness, Sevastian slipped my ring finger into his mouth. My eyes widened in disbelief, my heart hammering against my chest. His teeth scraped my skin before sinking into the flesh, just enough to make me twitch from the sharp pain. I gasped, both from the sting and the bite I got from him. My entire body tensed as he bit down harder, marking me not with ink or metal, but with flesh and teeth. When he finally released my hand, my skin throbbed, the faint mark of his bite was visible against my finger. I cradled my hand, staring in disbelief at the mark he left behind. “This,” Sevastian murmured, his voice low and sharp. “Is my mark and ring.” His tone carried an edge, dangerous yet confident, as if the words were meant to bind me. “The symbol that you are no longer Celestina Valeztina-Savelli.” His lips ghosted over my skin, and my chest tightened as he whispered the next words. “...but Celestina Valeztina-Ortega.” His next words were a soft snarl, dripping with ruthless certainty. “My property, my wife.” He added, while locking his gaze on me. There was no hesitation in his eyes, no flicker of remorse, only that same ruthless determination that chilled me to my core. I tried to pull my hand back, but he didn’t let go. "You’re insane," I whispered, my voice barely audible, trembling despite my best efforts not to show it. “Yes, I’m insane,” he replied with a hint of mischief in his voice, “And I can drive you crazy…” He paused, letting the tension hang in the air.

He kissed her over and over again, and she responded: she said yes. All female heat and need; so soft and curved against his muscle and hard planes. King kissed her like he owned her and she ached to just let him take her. Any way he wanted; as many times as she could take him. King shifted her again, held almost her whole weight on one massive forearm, freeing his other hand to move over her now. His fingers tightened on her cheek as he kissed her, the metal of his rings cool against her flushed skin, then he moved his hand down her body. She arched when he caressed her throat and stroked down slowly. **** Naomi Abbott had it all once: talent, success, momentum. Now she runs a nonprofit art program for autistic adults and counts her days sober instead of her sales. She’s smart, beautiful, and barely holding herself together. One year into recovery, Naomi knows the rules: no chaos, no temptation, and absolutely no romance. Especially not with him. Matt “King” Kingston is danger wrapped in muscle, a scowling ex-Marine with a garage, a shadowy side hustle, and a laser-focused obsession with Naomi. He wants her. All of her. And he’s never been good at walking away. But the closer he gets, the harder she resists... because letting King in means risking everything she’s fought to rebuild. As trust grows and walls crack, King becomes Naomi’s anchor. Until she spirals. When the past comes roaring back, Naomi must decide if she’s strong enough to survive it... and if King’s love can endure the wreckage.

“Say it,” Kael growled, his hand tightening around her throat—not enough to hurt, just enough to remind her who he was. “I’m yours,” Maya whispered, trembling. His lips hovered near hers, breath hot. “Even after I left you to die?” She swallowed. “Even now.” He kissed her like a curse—hungry, dangerous, and full of things he’d never say aloud. --- Maya never believed in fate—until the night her skin burned with the mark of the most feared Alpha in the realm. Weak, powerless, and exiled for a bond she never asked for, Maya finds herself hunted by the same man fate chose for her: Alpha Kael of Silverclaw. He claims she’s a mistake. A curse. But Maya is more than just a fragile girl. She’s the second chance of a woman long thought dead. Kael once loved Andrea, a powerful and noble wolf who descended into madness under a deadly curse. Her death shattered him. But when Maya bears the same mark and stirs the same soul-deep bond, Kael believes it’s the curse reborn—and rejects her violently to protect them all. Now on the run, Maya is saved by Rowan—Kael’s former Beta and best friend turned outcast. As truths unravel and passions ignite, Maya becomes the center of a dark prophecy that could destroy everything. But fate doesn’t care who you love. And true mates never stay strangers for long.

Jade Montana is heartbroken. After being cheated on by her good-for-nothing boyfriend, she is consumed by an all-consuming, bottomless rage, and as those feelings course through her, she discovers one important thing: she’s a killer. She’s capable of doing terrible things. On her way to nowhere, she comes across a mysterious man, one who is drop-dead gorgeous but reeks of danger. Jade soon discovers that there is more to life than she was initially taught, and that leads her down a spiral of madness and despair. The mysterious man—Felix Russell—takes her deep into the dark underground of their city, but amongst the devastation, a seed of hope grows, and it is watered by Felix, a ruthless vampire with a tender side, one that is only ever revealed to her. But as Jade begins to fall for him, she discovers that there is more to the story than he is leading on. When Felix betrays her to Gabriel Gray, the Alpha of the formidable Black Moon Pack, everything changes and her love transforms into hatred. It doesn’t help that Gabriel wants her dead, even though she is his destined mate. However, not everything is as it seems, and she discovers that Felix might not have had the worst of intentions. Her feelings toward Gabriel also start to change, and within her there is a war that is fiercer than the ongoing one, and both men would fight and die for her. The question is far from simple: Who will she choose?

Killian Voss—the Alpha King, the man Sera had secretly loved for three years—grabbed her by the throat the morning after he marked her. "I would never touch someone like you. Not sober." Then he rejected her in front of everyone. Because she was nothing but a wolfless Omega. But his wolf betrayed him. Every full moon, when his human side lost control, he came crawling back to her bed. Desperate. Hungry. Touching her like she was sacred, tasting every inch his pride refused to claim. They called it Mate Madness—the curse that struck Alphas who rejected their True Mate. He needed her to survive. So she became his dirty secret. His monthly fix. The woman he claimed in moonlight and discarded by dawn. Sera told herself she could handle it. The contract. The money. The way he treated her like a curse he couldn't shake. Until she got pregnant. "Get rid of it," he said without even looking at her. "I don't want any connection to an Omega." That was the moment something inside her finally died. She took her baby and ran. Six months later, there was a knock at her door. The cold-blooded Alpha King was on his knees, begging for a second chance. But this time, she was the one who got to say no.

The boy, George Larson, whom I once saved as a child, when he was struggling with asthma, repaid my kindness by imprisoning me for seven long years. "Luna, you're my everything. I won’t let you out of my sight," he said, his voice filled with obsession. He tied my hands and feet, keeping me bound to the bed like a helpless doll, but I did not love him; I wanted to escape. In his madness, he set fire to my family’s ancestral home. The last traces of the Sachs burned to ashes, disappearing into the wind. He said that since my home was gone, I could just live with him and that it would be my new home. However, because I refused to let him touch me, he found someone else—a girl with a beauty mark under her eye, just like mine. The girl, drunk on his affection, thought I was trying to imitate her by faking the same tear-shaped mark. In a fit of jealousy, she gouged out my eyes. My face was covered with tiny, bleeding holes, blood streaming down my body. When George came home, the girl gleefully stuffed me into a trash bag, proud of her handiwork. “George, look! I caught some trash that broke into the house!” George did not even glance at me. He just loosened his tie, his voice calm and detached. “Just toss it where trash belongs.”

At 18 years old, our families offer my best friend—Roxanne Reed—and me to two werewolves. I'm paired with the cold Alpha Lucian Nightshade, while she's matched with the violent warrior Aiden Steele. Despite the elders' opposition, Lucian grants me, a mere human, the position of Luna. Yet on the night of the ceremony, he abandons me at the altar to save Seraphina and form a mate bond with her instead. Aiden similarly delays his ceremony for Seraphina, warning Roxanne to rein in her defiance. We exchange knowing glances and smile. It's time to teach these savage werewolves a lesson. We make our decision on the spot to call off the engagements. With nothing but the jewelry we have, we establish ourselves in Pollyland. I become the film industry's most captivating new star with the most compelling backstory, while Roxanne becomes my formidable ace of an agent. Together, we thrive spectacularly in the world of fame and fortune. Two years later, outside my new movie's celebration party, dozens of Maybachs silently block all exits. I receive a text from an unknown number. "Game over." I tell Roxanne to take everyone and leave through the back door first. As I turn around, I collide with an ice-cold embrace. Lucian lowers his head, his golden eyes now bloodshot. His voice is hoarse and filled with madness as he says, "Eleanor, come back with me."

She was auctioned like an object, bought like a secret, and caged like a sin. After a brutal betrayal by the people she trusted most, Seraphina Vale is left drowning in debt and despair—until she’s sold at an underground auction to the one man every criminal fears: Lucien Marchesi, the ruthless head of a powerful mafia empire. Cold. Controlled. Deadly. The world assumes she’ll be discarded like the others who came before her. But Seraphina isn't a lamb sent to slaughter. She’s a lioness in velvet chains—calm, calculating, and waiting for her moment. Lucien didn’t expect her fire. She didn’t expect his scars. What begins as a twisted game of control and survival becomes something far more dangerous: emotion. As secrets unravel and obsession burns into something deeper, Seraphina edges dangerously close to what she swore she’d never feel again—trust. Love. Want. But she hasn’t forgotten her mission. Lucien was supposed to be her weapon, not her salvation. And when her revenge explodes into reality, both hearts will shatter under the weight of betrayal. Until he asks the one question that changes everything: “Have you ever loved me?” Chains of Velvet, Heart of Fire is a gripping dark mafia romance about love born from power, loyalty forged in fire, and two broken souls who dared to rewrite their fate. Perfect for fans of morally gray heroes, twist-filled emotional sagas, and heroines who take their power back—beautifully, mercilessly, and on their own terms.