Rare Layne Staley 2002 Novels & Stories

A little over twenty six years after the war with Black Haven, Melody and Teddy have settled into their roles of King and Queen of the American werewolves. But tensions are brewing again as a sinister force is at work in Europe.Lucy, daughter to Melody and Teddy, is having her twenty fifth birthday and has been hard at work learning the ways of royalty to take over for when her mother and father abdicate the throne. During her birthday party, she is kidnapped by someone who was purely after the stone, her capturers deciding to sell her to the highest bidder. A lot of wolves would pay to add the blood of a Goddess to their line.Adam is a rogue with the knack for cat burglary, enjoying collecting rare gems and jewelry. When he hears of a European estate that has just gotten their hands on one of the most precious gems of all, he can’t help but test his luck. What he didn’t expect though was to find his mate chained up and already trying to reject him. He’s not one to give up though as he helps her get away with the stone, their pursuers hot on their trail, especially when the growing threat of the Black Sanctum pack catching wind of who Lucy really is.

Before our bonding ceremony, my mate, Alpha Zarya, told me she had to temporarily mark an Omega from our pack, Soren. She claimed he had a fatal moon-fade sickness, that his wolf was dying. If she didn’t mark him, he would die. I fought her on it. The next day, she moved Soren straight into the pack house penthouse. The suite meant for the future Head Mate. My suite. To calm me down, she even bowed her head—a rare show of weakness. “I’ll remove the mark as soon as he’s stable,” she promised. “You are still my only Head Mate.” But then Soren found me. He handed me a magical diagnostic report. Permanent Mark & Deep Knotting: Three Weeks. They hadn't just slept together. They had formed a permanent, deep-knotted bond long before she ever “confessed” to me. My world turned to ash. My pen bit into the calendar, scratching a vicious X over the date that was supposed to be our bonding ceremony. Then, I opened my laptop. The email from the Laureate Healers Guild of Europe was waiting. I typed two words. "I accept."

Two ancient royal bloodlines survived the fall of empires — not in castles or crowns, but in billion-dollar corporations and global influence. In the dazzling metropolis of Aurora Country, the Vale and Albourne families remain as symbols of wealth, power, and legacy. Bound by a centuries-old friendship, their alliance is now cemented in secret: a marriage contract between their only heirs. Valerie Vale, 22, the unseen princess, lives quietly as a team leader in the creative design department at AV Tech, the flagship company owned by both families. Free-spirited, bright, and hidden from the public to protect her rare lineage, she loves her ordinary life — and has no plans to give it up. Leon Albourne, 23, is Aurora’s golden boy. Nicknamed “The Perfect Prince,” he’s admired for his brilliance, composure, and leadership. Every move he makes is under scrutiny — except the most important one of all: marrying Valerie Vale in secret, on the eve of her 23rd birthday. Now, they must live together under one roof. To the world, Leon is married — but no one knows to whom. To each other, they are bound by duty — and three house rules. But behind Leon’s cold gaze is a truth hidden for 11 years — he’s loved Valerie since the moment they met. And now, the game begins.

Brody Lewis, my fiance, said that I had a rare form of transient global amnesia, which was a sudden, temporary memory loss. Every seven days, I would open my eyes and become the twenty-five-year-old Riley Taylor again. My memories were forever stuck in the past. In my pen drive were videos of Brody taking me on trips, bringing me for treatment, and proposing to me. Everything seemed great between us, but I remembered none of it. “Riley’s still around. Can’t you keep your hands to yourself?” “Don’t worry. It’s Monday tomorrow. After she wakes up, she’ll remember none of it,” Brody said, and my heart sank. “Isn’t this more exciting?” Brody embraced my best friend, and they made out brazenly in front of me. They were not shy about it at all. I wondered just how many times this had happened over the past two years. I ran as tears blurred my vision. When I arrived at a tattoo shop, I grabbed the tattoo artist like a drowning man holding on to a log. Then, I asked the tattoo artist to tattoo these words on my arm in my handwriting. [Leave him.]

All her life, she was told female Alphas were weak. All her life, she believed it. Serena Blackwood was born to be an Alpha, yet raised like a curse. Unloved, controlled, and denied her freedom. Until she met Jayden, a mysterious rogue who made her feel seen, loved, and alive. But to save him from her power-hungry parents, she did the unforgivable: She rejected him. Three years later, Serena attends the brutal and masked Alpha King’s Choosing Ceremony. But when the king removes his mask, time stops. He is Jayden. The mate she shattered. The rogue she “betrayed.” The man who vanished… and returned as the most feared Lycan alive. And he remembers everything Forced into a cruel royal marriage, Serena endures humiliation, isolation, and a bond that refuses to die. But when war erupts and a deadly curse spreads through the Lycan Kingdom, the truth surfaces: Serena is not weak. She is a Lunar Alpha, the rare wolf with the power to heal, destroy, and rewrite destiny. Jayden realizes the one woman he destroyed is the only one destined to save them all. And the prophecy says she and Jayden must unite… Or the entire supernatural world will fall.

Aurora He rejected me, despised me, and treated me like trash… a wagered toy, yet he still wanted me. He still wanted that plump mate he never wanted to see, the same one he had treated cruelly, for reasons only he knew about. But only now, fate had entwined me with another, one he could do nothing about, and he might have to lose everything forever. ***** Damian I have never believed in the mate bond, at least, not after past betrayals. But when I discovered she was my mate, I felt something else… no, something far from hate. I told myself that I couldn’t accept her, yet as I was forced by circumstance to stay with her, I began to see something hidden… something different and unique about her. Slowly and painfully, I fell in love with her, without even knowing. But as time passed, I began to understand that she wasn’t just any ordinary wolf, she was rare, gifted… But then, what I didn't know was that… some things are never meant to be. ... And the truth, might be the only reason we either break apart or be together.

"We all consume each other in our way. I merely take a more literal route. You... Alpha." His lip curled. "You would swallow me whole as a part of your pack, and take me as your slave. It is an act of violence, of control. But I..." He stepped closer, and the Alpha tensed, skittering back. "To consume something, to take it into yourself, is an act of love." • ───────────────── • He is a lycanthrope of the first kin. Blood of the fallen gods flows in his veins. Darkness is his refuge, carnage is his mark. And his appetite is that of wolves. In a world where power is wealth, Alphas and Kings war against each other to claim him as their own: to wield his violent nature and bind him to their thrones as a beast of massacre until his last breath. Orphaned by a war in the past, Avian grew as a street urchin first, then apprentice to a high priest within the kingdom walls. With a mind forged from years of survival and an uncanny, rare ability, her small world had managed to remain in one piece through the years. But that is disrupted when a rogue kingdom begins to encroach with the sole desire of conquering all kingdoms beneath the Vellene empire. And at the center of that kingdom lies a Lycanthrope feared by all.

For three years, Sera was known as the "Mute Human Luna" of the Ashveil Pack, her voice completely shattered after a brutal fever. Treated like a disposable asset by her Alpha mate, Caius, and openly betrayed by her former best friend, Isolde, she endured silent cruelty while the entire pack whispered behind her back. But they all made one fatal mistake: they assumed silence meant weakness. Sera wasn't fading; she was observing. She memorized every security blind spot, tracked every hidden variable, and secretly built her exit strategy. When Caius publicly attempts to strip her title during the sacred Harvest Ceremony, Sera finally breaks her silence. Unleashing a rare, devastating genetic power known as the Siren's Command, she brings the Alpha to his knees and severs the mate bond on her own terms. Escaping into the lawless rogue territories, Sera allies with Ren—a powerful and dangerous rogue leader. With a full private treasury and a voice that can control the nervous system of any wolf, Sera begins building an untraceable empire. The countdown has ended. The war has begun. And she won't stop until the Ashveil Pack is brought to absolute ruin.

Everyone in the social circle of Kingsford said I was nothing more than a lapdog raised by Charles Mankin. I was always at his beck and call. I did every filthy, ludicrous thing for him under the sun. When he street raced, I rode shotgun. When he drank himself senseless, I made him hangover soup. When he chased girls, I prepared protection for them. Over time, everyone knew: Charles had a dog who never ran, never bit back, no matter how hard he kicked. They all said I must be madly in love with him. Even Charles started to believe it. So he pushed further, more freely, more cruelly, crossing lines as if they never existed. Then came my twenty-fifth birthday. He, in a rare stroke of mercy, said he'd celebrate it with me. But instead, what he got was the news that I was leaving the country. He went berserk, charging through the airport like a man possessed. I peeled his fingers off my wrist one by one, smiling like I'd never been happier. "Don't be stupid," I told him, still smiling. "That was never love." That night, Charles smashed apart his family home like a rabid dog.

Selene remembers nothing, not her name, not her family, and certainly not why she wakes up with dirt under her nails and the phantom sensation of running on four legs. Hidden in the quiet village of Blackthorn, she lives a ghost of a life, until a man with winter-gray eyes and a presence like a thunderstorm walks into her tavern. Dian is an Alpha in name only. Since the tragic death of his mate and pup thirteen years ago, his inner wolf has been silent, buried under a mountain of grief and ice. He expected to live out his days in the shadows, until a single look at the "human" barmaid awakens a primal, unstoppable command: Mine. But Selene is no ordinary human. She is Moon-touched, a rare and ancient being whose blood carries the power to command the very wolves that worship her. As an ancient enemy, the Spirit Killers emerges from the dark to claim her power, Dian must choose between the safety of his cold isolation and the fire of a fated bond that could destroy his pack. From the quiet streets of Blackthorn to the savage politics of the pack lands, Moon Touched is a 250-chapter saga of healing, legacy, and a love that spans generations. It is a story of a woman finding her voice, a man finding his heart, and a family built from the ashes of a war that refused to end