Pale Fire

Stay away from fire, they told her. Play with fire and you will get burned, they said. She was not scared of small fires. How much harm could it do to her? A little burn was like a slap on the wrist. She would cry a little then return back to her distraught life. What she failed to reprimand was that Carter was no ordinary fire but instead a whole Inferno. He could melt her and mold her into anything he desired, if she got too close. Alessandra is known as the abomination of her family since she is a wolf-less child born to a family of werewolves. She is looked down on by everyone but when her younger sister Ava started dating the Mysterious Alpha of their pack and her boss, an opportunity comes where she could rise from being a nobody to a somebody when she discovered that Alpha Carter is none other than her mate. Will he reject her or claim her to be his mate despite his family's protest against it? Read this amazingly new novel to find out.

When I'm on my break, I decide to help my neighbor, Yvonne Cook, fix the gas valve, which has been leaking gas. But she instantly lodges a report, saying that I've gone against the rules. She demands compensation for the shock that she's suffered as well. I don't bother defending myself. Instead, I just write a reflection report. After that, my squad leader sentences me to disciplinary confinement. Yvonne wastes no time gloating in the tenants' group chat. "It's time to teach these power-abusers a good lesson, anyway!" Three days later, a fire breaks out in Yvonne's apartment. Thick plumes of dark smoke keep rising from the burning apartment. Yvonne wails as she bangs on my door and pleads with me. "Please crack open the door and put out the fire!" I can only sigh from behind my front door. "I'm under disciplinary suspension right now, so I can't break protocol. You should wait for the fire truck instead."

The darkest corners of the world hold the secrets the leaders want you to forget. Deep inside a cabin covered with moss and shadows, those secrets are not yet forgotten. Under the moon, light glistens off of shining stones lining the porch and bundles of herbs drying from the rafters. Candlelight emanates from the interior and warmth surrounds the occupant. Inside this cabin was a forrest witch who was chanting a spell as she added herbs to a small caldron. Smoke rises and electricity fills the room. Her raven hair started to rise and the smoke turned glowing green. Leaves outside the cabin started swirling in the air raising around the cabin forming a circle. “None may find me where I reside, safe in the forrest this witch hides. Safe from the evil doers and safe from their men. None may ever find me again.” Cold. Like ice from an iceberg, his skin molded smoothly across his frame. The envelop in his hands was sealed by the Elder Lords sigil pressed into blood red wax. Slipping his long pale finger, breaking the seal, one word was inside. “Urgente.” His particular talents were once again needed.

On the fifth year of their marriage, finding the vitamin C her husband bought tasted too bitter, Jeanne Dotson went to the hospital with the bottle. The doctor took one look and frowned. "This isn't vitamin C." "I-I'm sorry, Doctor?" "I could say it a dozen times and it'd still be the same," the doctor replied, pointing at the bottle. "This is Mifepristone. Taking too much of it doesn't just cause infertility—it can do serious harm to your body." Jeanne felt a lump stuck in her throat, and her fingers turned pale from clenching the bottle. "That's impossible. My husband got this for me. His name is Darren Walsh—he's a doctor here too." The doctor looked up at her, his expression turning strange, tinged with something she couldn't quite read. After a pause, he gave a small smile. "Miss, you might want to visit the psych ward instead. We all know Dr. Walsh's wife—she gave birth just two months ago. Don't let your imagination run wild, all right? There's no point."

The night before her wedding, she had a fling with a strange man; on her wedding day, he appeared as her groom's brother. ** “Last night, we had a fling, and today you're married to my brother?!” He scowled, spewing out hot breath on her face. She stuttered, “I..I'm..I'm..” “No!! You can't be married to Ryker! You can't be my brother's wife!” He raged, looking aggrieved as he pulled away from her. Ryker's dominant voice was immediately heard from the stairs, “What's going on here?” Her feet grew cold, and realizing he must have heard their conversation, she grabbed hold of her wedding dress and took to her heels. “Wait!” His commanding voice made her halt in the middle of the passageway. She stood stiff as she heard the sound of his shoes kissing the ground stylishly. His presence behind her made her turn pale in the blink of an eye. Caressing her left shoulder, he whispered sinisterly into her ears “Wifey, what did you do on the night before our wedding?”.

My friend and I married into the Castellar family together. I married the older brother, who worked in high finance. My best friend married the younger, a senior fire officer. They didn’t tell us the truth until we were both pregnant. They were vampires. We were furious. But in the end, we forgave them because we still loved them. Until that night. We were staying at a vacation cabin when the fire started after midnight. The front door sealed itself shut, locked by a spell, trapping me inside. My best friend had gone out for a walk and escaped the fire by sheer luck. A car passed by on the forest road. She ran into the headlights, begging the driver to ram the door and save me. The man said coldly, “Pay first.” Inside the cabin, blood ran down my legs and soaked the floor. I tried to transfer the money, but my account was frozen. I called my husband. He hung up three times before the call finally went through. But the voice that answered wasn’t his. It was a woman’s. Vicky sounded calm, almost amused. She said he was busy. Then she added lightly that he’d been helping her set up a subcard and had accidentally disabled mine. My best friend called her husband next. She was crying. She told him there was a fire and I was trapped. He snapped back at her. “Stop lying. I hate people who make false emergency calls. I’m with Vicky checking fire hazards in her new place. Don’t bother me.” She didn’t hesitate again. She shoved the driver out, and drove straight into the cabin. The door shattered. She dragged me out with her bare hands. We lost our babies on the way to the hospital. When I woke up,we looked at each other for a long time. “I’m getting divorced,” she said. “So am I.”

Hannah has finally landed the journalism internship of her dreams—a chance to prove herself at one of the city’s top media firms. But her excitement is short-lived when she’s forced to work under Nathaniel "Nate" Rhodes, the arrogant and untouchable head intern who treats her like she doesn’t exist. He has connections, power, and an air of mystery that both frustrates and intrigues her. When Hannah stumbles upon a mysterious pattern of arson cases, she breaks a major story, earning her place in the firm. But there's a catch—Nate is assigned to work on it with her. While she’s determined to uncover the truth, he’s just as determined to avoid it. As they dig deeper, secrets begin to surface, and Hannah finds herself entangled in a past neither of them can escape. Because years ago, fire changed both of their lives. A fire took someone she loved, a fire took someone he loved. As the tension between them grows, so does the undeniable pull drawing them together. But can love survive when the truth is written in the ashes?

He was born to lead and never questioned. While she was born to fight and never obey. When fearless troublemaker Raven Scott is forced into a fake engagement with arrogant billionaire Dean Kingsley by their powerful families, sparks don’t just fly they explode. He’s used to control, silence, and absolute obedience. She’s built on rebellion, fire, and brutal honesty. They hate each other’s guts but have no choice but to play the perfect couple to protect their inheritance. Behind closed doors, they clash like fire and gasoline. But hate has a wicked way of turning into something else. And the most dangerous game of all... might just be love.

In the midst of a bustling metropolis, Sumire, a diligent and determined orphan with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, is engrossed in her studies while seated on a park bench under the radiant rays of the summer sun. It is here that she met a five-year-old boy, who unbeknownst to her, will change the course of her destiny. Mort, her fated mate, is an enigmatic vampire whose heart is captured at the very first glimpse of Sumire. Little does she realize that a world of supernatural beings surrounds her, as Mort's obssesion and desire for her sets into motion a series of events that will forever alter her life's trajectory. Their initial meeting serves as the threshold to an unknown realm, one inhabited by lurking monsters whose predatory instincts unveil a perilous threat. On a fateful night, beneath the crimson shroud of intimacy, that Mort awakens Sumire's dormant memories and primal thirst for blood. This awakening occurs whilst their enemies lurk menacingly outside their bedroom door, launching an unsuspecting assault on the bounty placed upon her head. How will Sumire navigate this newfound reality, where the tales of mere mortals pale in comparison? Will she be able to unravel the enigma of her own existence before it engulfs her?

The ninety-ninth time my Alpha mate blocked our mind-link, I was in the final stages of Wolf Spirit Decay. I dragged my broken body into the Council Hall. The cold marble steps grated against the soles of my feet, and with every step, a tearing pain ripped through my chest. "I am here to petition to leave the pack." The council official studied my pale, thin form with a pitying gaze and asked softly, "Are you certain, Miss? You would be giving up the pack's protection." Since childhood, my wolf has been unstable, making me frail. Ever since my father brought home my adopted sister, Lydia, when I was ten, my parents have treated me like a disgrace to the family. Despite being his marked mate for years, Caleb never promised me a Luna ceremony. He rarely even took me to pack gatherings. As a result, hardly anyone in the pack knew who I was. "It doesn't matter," I said, my voice calm despite the effort. "I will be dead in three days."