Pale Fire Nabokov Novels & Stories

It was only on our first wedding anniversary that I realized the rubbers I bought before our wedding had long expired. No one would believe that my mafia husband, Andre Garcia, and I had never consummated our marriage. That night, I gathered my courage and bought a suggestive nightgown. After downing three glasses of whisky, I hugged Andre tightly and whispered in his ear, "Darling, let's do it today. I want you..." However, Andre shook my hand off indifferently as if he were handling a gun. "Danielle Lawson, do you have no shame? You've done such shameless things time and time again. If you're really that lonely, I'll order you some toys so you can play with them to your heart's content." My face turned deathly pale as I stood there, stunned. I could not understand why a wife begging for her husband's affection was considered 'shameless' behavior. I curled up on the couch, unable to help but ask on social media. Danielle: [My husband has no dysfunction. Why won't he touch me after marriage?] Someone replied: [Perhaps your husband has someone else.] Like a dagger, that comment pierced me awake. I suddenly realized—maybe the problem was not that I was unattractive but rather that he was never mine. The moment I deleted my account, I also made the decision to leave. Who could have imagined that Andre, who would usually not even glance at me, would frantically search for me after I disappeared? "Danielle, I can't get a hard-on after you left!"

“Your name?” a woman who’s wearing a dress, has pale lips and short hair asked me. I stuttered. “L-Livia Washington, ma’am,” I answered. “My husband and I can’t produce a child. I need your help and in exchange, I will reward you with money at your price. Just help me…” she said, her face screaming desperation and almost pleading. Without further hesitation, I nodded my head. “Just tell me what you want me to do, Ma’am…” I didn’t know that an offer I would be accepting would ruin the pipe dream I yearned for. Money. I need money. Surrogacy is the only quick way to get a billion dollars just like what they offered. However, things didn’t go the way I liked. “You came out with a woman again?” I busted out in anger after waiting for Archer to come home. He only scoffed, he was supposed to come upstairs yet I held his hand. “Just to remind you, Archer, you still have a wife waiting for you!” His jaw clenched then took his arms roughly. “Then you should have thought of your husband before cheating on me, and bearing someone else’s child, then, Livia!” he backfired, critically narrowing his eyes on mine. Being married to Archer for five years never became easy. I’m tired of it and was tormented with the punishment he had given to me. “A divorce won’t happen, Livia. I won’t give you the freedom you want. This is your punishment,” he narrowed his rough, stoic voice before coming to his room directly.

The company had been losing money for two consecutive years. That year, with our biggest client suddenly going out of business, we lost nearly ten million dollars in receivables. On New Year's Eve, I sent out a company-wide apology email after much deliberation. The email stated, "At this moment, I regret to inform that we can only increase each employee's monthly salary by 20 dollars this year." An intern named Ingrid Little took a screenshot of the email and posted it online. In no time, her post started trending. The entire internet criticized me for being fake and pretending to be poor. They said that my shameless act was a blatant insult to my employees' hard work. "20 dollars doesn't even cover commuting!" "Why hasn't this garbage company gone under yet?" Ingrid replied to each comment with the same line: "I don't care about the money. I just feel insulted. I'm quitting tomorrow." The next day, I walked into the office with bloodshot eyes and turned on the company-wide broadcast. I announced, "Since some people believe I've insulted their dignity, you may submit your resignation immediately. However, you will no longer be entitled to the year-end bonus of 20 thousand dollars." Everyone gasped in disbelief. Ingrid turned completely pale, and some workers even rushed into my office impulsively. "Boss, this has nothing to do with me! I stand with the company!" After all, my company had increased salaries for 37 consecutive years and given an average raise of over 2,000 dollars each time. They wouldn't find a company like mine elsewhere.

“ The price for saving you... Do you know what it is?” Adrian's hoarse voice entered her ears. “ W-what...?” Estelle's heart pounded faster and faster. She felt a looming sense of trepidation. The Alpha of her enemy's territory leaned forward slightly, his pale blue eyes never left hers. “ It is for you to become my Luna. My mate, Estelle.” Estelle felt something go off in her head. Her mind blanked out. She took a step back in disbelief. Her mind struggling to come in terms with what she heard. Estelle Winterbourne was the heir of Silvervale and was one of the strongest werewolves in the pack. As daughter of the alpha and bonded to Darius Hale, her father’s chosen successor, her path seemed set. Until she became the problem. Her father wanted a docile and foolishly obedient daughter . And her Darius wanted her title, not her. She was framed and betrayed by her own father and mate. Who sentenced her to the White Exile. They stripped her of rank, carved the traitor’s mark into her skin, and left her chained in the Deadfall — a frozen wasteland where no wolf survives a night. She would have died if not for him. Adrian Lykas, The Alpha of Frostveil. The “Ice Devil.” Her family’s sworn enemy. The man she was raised to hate. He finds her half-dead, more frost than flesh, and does the unthinkable: He saved her life. But that came with a huge cost. Estelle must pretend to love the very man she was raised to hate and be his mate in public. To her, that was the worst punishment she could receive. For Adrian was a man she loathed. However... Slowly, Estelle began to discover that Adrian wasn't as bad as her family made him to be.

On my birthday, I proposed a family trip to the northern grasslands. My younger sister, Clara Harrington, who was studying in the southern territory, decided to drive through the forest to meet up with us. But unexpectedly, she was attacked by Rogue wolves in the woods, and her body was never found. My parents, Oscar Harrington and Margaret Vale, placed all the blame on me for her death and cast me out of the family. Overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow, I left the pack to atone for my sins. I took on odd jobs to earn money to send home, all while searching for any trace of Clara. Three years later, I found myself in the southern territory and began working as a delivery runner for a forest cafe. One day, while delivering an order to Werewolf Academy, I saw my parents and Clara standing at the school gate. She said, "Dad, Mom, Adeline has been wandering for three years. Shouldn't we let her come home?" But my mother replied calmly, "She is too selfish. It's only right that she suffers a little. We can bring her back once she realizes her mistakes." My father nodded in agreement. "Let her wander for another year. We'll bring her home next year." I clutched my stomach, my face pale as I forced out a bitter laugh. Three years of exhaustion had left me gravely ill. My wolf was gone, and I only had three days left to live. I could't wait until next year for my father to come and take me home.

I stopped at her cell and if it was impossible for me to stop breathing, I think I did for a second. The second I met her eyes, those brown eyes, my wolf cried out inside. I could't stop staring. She had an oval face, pale skin, large brown eyes and full lips. Her hair was a mess and I could see her shivering. To me, she was the most beautiful woman to walk the realm. “Caden?” Dorian's voice pulled me out of the trance. I had even forgotten he’s there. “What’s your name?” I demanded. She bared her teeth at me and looked to the side. I couldn't sense any wolf. Could she feel anything? Is she drawn to me, the way I'm drawn to her. The Goddess gave me a wolfless rogue as a mate after all the years of waiting. This wasn't fair. *** Selene ran from her pack, locked her wolf, and chose exile. Alpha Caden spent years hunting rogues. Now the Fates handed him one as a mate.   The bond is silent on her end, he could easily reject her. That's what his pack would want, Instead he’s dragging her into his cabin, telling himself it’s protection.    Selene knows that if he learns who she really is, he’ll chain her and deliver her back to the Alpha she escaped.  When enemies close in and her secrets threaten to rise to the surface. Selene must choose: run from the Alpha who could ruin her… or risk trusting the one who might be her salvation.    

My blood-mate, Lord Lucien, found out. I gave the “Moonlight Blood” treaty, the one I bled to secure with the werewolf packs, to his new pet, Celeste. He thought it was the result of his decade of cold neglect. A sign I had finally shattered. So, he offered to take me to the centennial Crimson Feast in Venice. But when Celeste heard, she flew into a jealous rage and threatened to leave his clan. Lucien, who catered to her every whim, panicked. He spent three days and nights soothing her ego, even giving her his prized Elder Blood. Then he left me behind again, using a border skirmish with our rivals as an excuse. He gave her my invitation—the only one. Later, he explained himself, lounging on his sarcophagus with a careless air. "Love is a luxury we can't always afford, Octavia. The clan's survival is everything. I am their Lord. I have responsibilities." "You are my blood-mate, Octavia," he said. "You'll support me. Won't you?" A thrall presented a magic mirror. In it, Celeste pressed her pale cheek against Lucien’s shoulder. They embraced under the moonlight, their lips meeting as they exchanged blood. I said nothing. I just nodded. Lucien thought I had finally learned my place. A satisfied smirk curled his lips as he promised to buy my silence with a trinket from his private collection when he returned. But he didn't know. I had already cut ties with the clan. And he had already signed the dissolution papers with his own blood. There was no "us" anymore.

ELARA Elara My father stole millions from the devil and ran, leaving me behind to pay the price. Nero Moretti is the ruthless King of New York’s underworld. He is cruel, cold, and utterly unforgiving. To him, I am just a debt to be collected. A pawn in his brutal game. I swore I’d never break. I swore I’d never give in to the monster who holds my leash. But the longer I stay in his gilded cage, the more I see the man beneath the monster. And the more I fear the dark, twisted heat awakening between us. In a world ruled by blood and secrets, can I survive him? Or will I lose myself to the man who owns me, body and soul? NERO She was supposed to be nothing more than leverage. Use her. Break her. Discard her. That was the plan for Petrov’s daughter. I expected fear. I expected tears. But Elara is different. And there is a fire in her eyes that refuses to die. A fire that tempts me to step closer. Keeping her close stirs a hunger I thought I buried long ago. An obsession I can’t afford. She was just collateral. A means to an end. But now, she’s the one thing I can’t bend to my will. And the only thing I will burn the world to keep.

"You are so daring; do you know that? What will I do with you?" He asked, gazing into her sparkling, beautiful eyes. "Permit me to love you, Andy. That's all I want." She answered with so much boldness and honesty that it almost made his stone heart melt. A billionaire who gave up on love even before experiencing it because all that life threw at him were nothing but rejections since birth. Nobody wanted him, and she was a poor and naive girl with family problems weighing her down. She has never been in love, and love is not on her list of priorities. Two extremely different people were brought together by unavoidable circumstances, or perhaps fate. Call it whatever you want. When their worlds collide, their goals get compromised by their undeniable burning desires for each other, and this fire melts down their fears, worries, and beliefs in a blink of an eye. An insecure single father and a naive maid are swimming in the ocean of an unnamed fire that promises to consume them both if they tend to rebel against its power. Call it lust. Call it addiction. Call it obsession. Give it the tag you see as best fitting. But truth be told, theirs is a milestone of a complicated, challenging, but prodigious heart-stirring romance journey like no other.

All 20 year old Holly ever wanted to do was escape the boring Colorado mountain town where she was born. However, when she arrived at college, she found herself having too many wild nights. Worse yet, she had one too many mornings of waking up in an unfamiliar bed, and she couldn't keep her scholarship. Now that's she's back in Conifer, she has no idea what she is going to do with her life and no hope for the future. Andrew's father died a couple years ago in an electrical accident, and while Andrew wants nothing more than to leave town, his mother's mental instability makes it impossible for him to go. He feels trapped in a no-win situation and his options are slipping away. When a mutual friend has a crisis, Holly comes up with a plan, a plan that will change all their lives for the better. She knows that, despite previously being burned, all it takes to start a fire is a spark. However, she realizes that once again, she may have stood too close to the flame, and the torch she carries for Andrew burns brighter than ever. Will Holly manage to rekindle old loves, or will the destructive fire in their hearts consume everything they hold dear?