Nora Roberts Stand Alone Books นิยาย & เรื่องราว

she said in a tiny almost babyish voice. "All of the other girls were laughing at me, you need to let them know that I am still your favourite!" She declared. She leaned in even closer to me, and from the corner of my eyes, I could see some women watching her, with anger and envy on their faces. Nora was a girl who worked at the bar, and although I had a lot of women, I kept coming back to her. She had an impressive body, and more importantly, she knew her place. She'd never ask for what I couldn't give her.

“Did I just hear what I heard a few hours ago? Nora is the cause of everything. Nora is why everything is happening. She has somebody. She has somebody she is going to. That person is helping her to destroy Alpha Orion's life. And Alpha Orion knows absolutely nothing about it.” I am still unable to believe she was able to destroy Alpha Orion's life to this extent. And he knows nothing about it. It frustrated me very deeply. And the fact that she wants Rodger to take over the throne and thinks I am the perfect trap for both of them. She just wants to scatter them in every possible way. And I am like the main tool that she needs in doing everything. And now she's going to also deal with me.

And I saw Nora standing there. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest and her head tilted to the side and a smug smirk on her face, like she had been watching me for a while and she had enjoyed every second of my struggle. Her brown hair was pulled back in a tight bun and her gray maid uniform was crisp and clean and she looked entirely too pleased with herself. "You want to kill the Alpha." She said, and her voice was low and calm, like she was commenting on the weather. "Because of what? Your best friend who will never see you as more than that?"

Power, once unleashed, had a way of mutating — twisting into something she no longer controlled. “Where?” she asked, her voice calm, too calm. “Eastern ridge. Half a day’s run.” Roman stepped forward. “I’ll take a team—” “No,” Nora interrupted, eyes hard as flint. “I’ll go myself.” Roman frowned. “Nora, this isn’t—” “Not up for debate,” she cut in. “They’re using my name. I’ll be the one to end it.” By midday, they were riding east — Nora, Roman, Janie, and three scouts. The terrain was rough, the hills still scarred from the last battle. Dust clung to their boots, stung their eyes, filled their lungs.

Nora P.O.V I put Robert’s arm over my shoulder, steadying his weight as I helped him out of the car. Of all the things I imagined doing in my life, helping a drunken mafia boss, my sworn enemy stumbling back to his mansion was not one of them. Yet here I was. With one hand, I pushed the car door closed, gritting my teeth as Robert slumped against me, muttering incomprehensible words. Can my life get any more weird?

My pulse kicked up so hard I had to shift away from her. “Your turn. Truth or dare.” “Dare.” Her whisper was soft, sultry, dripping with intention. “I dare you to tell me your dirtiest secret.” “Oh…” She pouted, her voice teasing. “Having a one-night stand with my stepdad.” “That doesn’t count. Neither of us knew back then.” I tried to defend, but she chuckled, her laughter low and wicked, and my gut clenched. I’d walked straight into her trap. “That’s not the secret.” Her voice dropped to a whisper that stroked every nerve in me. “The secret is I still want to fuck him. Not for one night this time. Forever.” Her gaze met mine, bold and steady, and heat rushed to my face.

Far from the palace, beyond the lush forests and guarded borders of the kingdom, nestled in the jagged cliffs where the sun barely touched the land, lived a woman cloaked in shadows. Nora. Her beauty mirrored Aurora’s—identical in every way down to the celestial blue of her eyes and the cascade of dark hair. But where Aurora’s presence brought warmth and light, Nora radiated cold ambition and eerie stillness. Raised in the hidden covens of the dark witches, she had never known love or mercy. Her life had been shaped by rituals, curses, and the hunger for power. The witches whispered a prophecy from the moment she could walk: The moon bore two, but only one shall rise.

It was rather unfortunate that Nora was standing on them bare feet. She was in the middle of nowhere, standing on an abandoned railway. All alone. Nora struggled to take a step ahead but the piercing effect of the sharp gravels won't let her. She lifted a foot to examine her soles and as expected, they were cracked and bleeding as if she had been walking on them for ages. Had she? She could go no further ahead but if she persisted there, she might never find help. Nora ignored the aching whacks traveling from her feet to her gut and set on moving forward. She as well ignored the tremendously huge bushes on either side of her which seemed to contain a variety of living organisms in it judging

she stammered, caught completely off guard. Nora’s eyes narrowed, her expression cold and unfeeling. “I just want you to know,” she continued, her voice barely above a whisper, “that Zach is mine. I’ll do whatever it takes to make him mine. That’s the only reason I’m here.” Audrey’s heart hammered in her chest, disbelief flashing across her face as Nora’s words sank in. What did she just say? Nora leaned back, her smirk unwavering as she watched Audrey’s reaction with satisfaction. Audrey’s mind raced, her thoughts a mix of confusion and anger. This woman—Zach’s assistant—had just declared herself as a threat, right there, without a hint of shame or remorse.

The glass walls were now covered in heavy blinds, the once minimal decor replaced with a plush leather recliner, a small side table with an assortment of oils and towels, and a discreet fridge in the corner, stocked not with water bottles, but with labeled glass jars awaiting their fill. Nora stood in the center of the room, heart pounding, wearing nothing but a silk robe that Roman had left folded on her desk that morning. The fabric kissed her skin as if it were complicit in what was about to happen. Her breasts, full again, throbbed with anticipation. She had only just arrived that morning, but already the ache had returned. It was as if her body had learned to respond to their presence,