Painted Scars Neva Altaj

In Valeburn, Atlanta’s most dangerous block, power doesn’t pass hands—it’s taken with blood. And no one understands that more than Jayce Navarro, the razor-sharp kingpin who built his empire brick by brick, silence by silence. He rules with cold precision, a name whispered like a gun being cocked—until the ghost of his past returns with vengeance on his breath. Eli Mercer is no longer the soft-eyed teen Jayce once kissed beneath the chapel steps. Fresh from the feds and wrapped in scars, Eli returns to the block with one purpose: burn down the throne that forgot him. But when fate—and the city’s shifting underworld—forces them into an uneasy alliance, old feelings smolder beneath their armor. Lust tangles with rage. Loyalty with betrayal. And love? It’s the most dangerous weapon of all. As enemies circle from the inside and the state threatens to dismantle Jayce’s entire operation, he and Eli must decide what’s worth saving—their empires, their reputations… or each other. But in Valeburn, every crown is cursed. And every favor comes with fire.

Tara Lodge isn't who she used to be. Once the picture-perfect daughter of a powerful Chicago senator, now a runaway hiding her identity and the scars from her past. After a night that nearly cost Tara her life, she vanished into a quiet Nevada town, determined never to be found. Until she met the Finch brothers. Jason is wild, and impossible to resist. A one night-stand with him left her breathless...and wanting more. Jeremiah is steady, intense and wickedly charming, slowly pulling her into his abyss. It doesn't help when she starts working as his assistant, and the flames grow fiercer. Torn between two brothers who both want her, Tara is stuck between passion and protection. But her past is catching up. And she'll have to fight to keep the life and love she has finally dared to build.

Selene was born an Omega, the lowest-ranking member of the Bloodmoon Pack—powerless, unwanted, a stain on their dominance-driven hierarchy. For years, she endured humiliation, pain, and suffering, tossed aside by the Alphas and Betas who saw her as nothing more than a weakling unfit for their world. They stripped her of dignity, stole every ounce of hope, and left her with nothing but scars and silence. Until one night, something changed. Until the darkness within her awoke. And when Selene escaped, she didn't just survive. She became something greater than them all.

Roxanne awakens with no memory of her past, only the instincts of a wolf and scars that screams of a life on the run. Rescued after a near-fatal accident, she’s told she is the long-lost daughter of the Beta. At first, she believed them. But when she meets her fated mate, the Beta’s son, doubt takes root. Could she really be the lost daughter, mated to her elder brother? Or is this all a carefully woven lie by those she might have been running from?

In a world ridden with greedy, predatory men, Calista Miller’s survival depends on selling her body for money. A low life stripper, that's what she is. The richer the men, the more docile she has to be to satisfy them, not to risk losing her means of survival. Stripping for powerful men has been her routine for as long as she can remember and to her, that night, it was no different until she laid eyes on the dangerous and sinfully attractive man, ending up in his bed. Thorne Blackwood, shielding his scars from the world and clinging to his reputation as the brutish and terrifying heir apparent to the throne as the Alpha King, always thought he had nothing to lose until his throne was at stake. To take his place as the Alpha King, Alpha Thorne is stuck with an option to find his mate or take the daughter of a powerful elder as his chosen mate. Never in his wildest dreams did he think his mate would turn out to be a worthless human stripper who knew nothing about the werewolf world. Sold to the ruthless and dangerously attractive stranger she slept with, Calista remains in the dark about his true nature, having to work her ass off as his maid and warm his bed. To Thorne, owning Calista satiates his dark need to possess her. But the Moon Goddess has other plans because when two broken hearts fall in sync with each other, beating as one, how do they resist the heated and magnetic pull between them? Will Thorne risk losing everything because of his human stripper mate?

Riley Hart doesn’t believe in fated mates, power hierarchies, or playing nice. Especially not with the arrogant, insufferable Alpha-in-waiting of Crescent City — Jaxon Vale. After being exiled from her former pack for reasons she refuses to talk about, Riley is content hiding among humans, living a quiet life as a barista with a biting sense of humor and a fierce independence. But when an attack forces her to shift in public, Riley’s secret is blown wide open — and she finds herself dragged into the powerful Vale Pack’s territory under Alpha law. Jaxon Vale is everything Riley hates — dominant, cocky, used to control. He doesn’t trust rogue wolves, especially not ones with hidden scars and biting sarcasm. But when a string of brutal, magical attacks starts targeting young werewolves across the city, Riley’s mysterious past might be the only key to stopping them. Forced into an uneasy alliance, Riley and Jaxon clash at every turn — until their rivalry simmers into something more dangerous: desire. As secrets unravel, trust is tested, and enemies close in, they’ll have to decide whether their bond is just a twist of fate… or the beginning of something worth fighting for. Because in Crescent City, wolves don’t fall in love — they survive it.

When Thalia wakes reborn in the heart of Silverpine—a secluded werewolf pack—she remembers only fragments: the terror of her escape, the fire she unleashed, the coven sisters she left behind. Haunted by guilt and desperate to hide her witch’s power, Thalia is forced to play the role of the Alpha’s fated mate to protect herself and the pack from enemies within and without. Silverpine is a fortress of secrets, suspicion, and pack law. The council circles, hungry for weakness. Livia, the Alpha’s rival, wants Thalia gone. Only a handful know the truth of Thalia’s magic—and if word spreads, it will mean death for her and danger for the wolves she’s learning to care for. As she navigates brutal trials and dangerous alliances, Thalia is drawn to Rowan, the troubled Alpha who carries scars—physical and emotional—from battles with witches long past. Their fake engagement ignites a bond that neither can ignore, but trust is as dangerous as betrayal. When Rowan’s need for a mate clashes with Thalia’s instinct for survival, both are forced to confront the wounds of their pasts. Haunted by memories of her old coven—of Mira, the friend she left to burn—Thalia must decide: keep hiding, or reclaim the full force of her power. But the magic that saved her may destroy everything she’s come to love. As rival packs close in and the council demands blood, Thalia must choose between saving Silverpine and saving herself. In the ashes of her past, can she forge a new future—or will old betrayals rise to consume them all? A witch among wolves. A lie that can’t last. And a power that refuses to stay buried.

"I, Raelin, . eject you, Lucan Trent, as my mate and future Alpha King." She thought that would be her freedom. Instead, it was her sentence to death. Aria was born an Omega- but not just any Omega. She's the unwanted daughter of a ruthless Alpha, abused for her silence and punished for her intuition. When she uncovers a dark betrayal that threatens her entire pack, her courage costs her everything: her name, her bloodline, her home. Banished and broken, she's chased through the woods like prey until fate hurls her into the arms of Kael Thorne, the fearsome Alpha of the Nightborne Pack. A warrior king with eyes like ash and a soul forged in fire. He should have torn her apart. Instead... he spares her. "Why didn't you run?" "Because you looked at me like I wasn't disposable." But Kael isn't just a protector. He's a man with secrets of his own, haunted by blood, prophecy, and the scars of his past. And Aria--trembling, defiant, irresistible-is the one thing that unravels his control. In a kingdom where Omegas are pawns, and Alpha bloodlines must remain untainted, their bond is more than forbidden--it's a threat to everything

Emily Parker has lived her entire life in the shadow of Marcus Kane — the man who stole her mother, tortured her, and claimed her as his own. Escaping him cost her everything. Surviving him left scars too deep to count. When fate ties her to Rhett Maddox, ruthless president of the Vipers MC, Emily finds something she thought she'd lost forever: safety. Love. A chance at a family. But safety is a fragile thing, and Marcus Kane has returned to take back what he believes is his. As war ignites between the Serpents and the Vipers, Emily is forced to confront every nightmare she's tried to bury. Rhett will bleed to protect her. Ghost — the Vipers' most haunted enforcer — will uncover truths that change everything Emily thought she knew about her past. And when the dust clears, Emily will stand face-to-face with Marcus Kane one last time. But vengeance is never simple. It costs blood, brothers, and more than Emily ever thought she had left to give. This is a story of survival and scars. Of love found in the ashes. Of family forged in fire. And of one woman who refuses to belong to anyone but herself. By the time the final bullet falls, Emily Parker will no longer be the girl Marcus Kane broke. She'll be the woman who ends him.

Betrayed by the two people she loved most, her fiancé and her stepsister, Ella loses everything. Desperate and broken, she chooses death. But fate has other plans. Rescued against her will, Ella wakes up to a nightmare: her greedy foster parents have forced her into marriage with a crippled, disfigured man, Elion Copper. A man the world believes to be poor and unwanted. But Elion is no ordinary man. He is, in truth, the ruthless billionaire bachelor every woman in town secretly desires. Tired of fake love and gold-diggers, Elion hides behind a mask of scars and poverty to test if any woman can love him without his wealth. He is certain no one will ever agree, until Ella. To Elion, Ella’s acceptance feels like mockery. He believes she chose him willingly, and his pride turns into fury. Out of spite, he decides to "sell" her as a servant in his billionaire identity, without revealing that both men are one and the same. Now, Ella finds herself under the mercy of the cold and arrogant real Elion Copper, a man who humiliates her, torments her, and makes her question why life saved her at all. But the deeper the pain, the deeper the truth, the crippled husband, and the cruel master are one. When Ella finally discovers his secret, her world shatters again. Will she forgive the man who broke her beyond repair, or will she walk away even when he is ready to burn the world just to keep her by his side?