Righteous Prey

She left cash on his pillow. He's been hunting her for eighteen years. Now they're neighbors—and she's carrying his baby. Evelyn Hart's revenge plan was simple: hire the hottest escort money could buy, have one night of mind-blowing sex, and finally forget her cheating ex-husband exists. What she got instead: Sebastian Creed. Six-foot-four of sinful perfection who made her body sing in ways she didn't know were possible. She left ten thousand dollars on the bed and ran before dawn, convinced she'd never see him again. Six weeks later, reality hits like a freight train. The "escort" is actually a billionaire. He owns the mansion next door. He's been obsessively searching for her since the night he saved her from a car crash when she was fourteen. Oh, and she's pregnant with twins the doctors said she could never have. Sebastian isn't just her neighbor—he's her stalker, her savior, and apparently, her fated mate. Because plot twist: he's a werewolf. And the supernatural bond between them is turning her inconvenient attraction into a soul-deep craving that's impossible to fight. Now he's breaking into her house at 3 a.m., showing up uninvited to her OB appointments, and making it very clear that the one night she paid for was just the beginning of forever. But their twisted love story is about to get deadlier. Sebastian's dying father wants him to claim a werewolf throne. His ex-husband wants her land for a billion-dollar deal. Werewolf royalty wants her dead for contaminating the bloodline. And Evelyn? She just wants to survive pregnancy, figure out how to be a queen in a world that thinks she's prey, and maybe—maybe—learn to trust the alpha who's been obsessed with her since she was a teenager.

Raina: Ever since I came of age and got my wolf, I became the Whitecrest Pack’s outcast– the fat girl who was constantly bullied and despised by her own pack. I was mocked, humiliated and used by the very Alpha who was supposed to protect me. With all hope lost, I resigned myself to my fate, but the moon goddess had other plans. During a hunting game gone wrong, I was found by Alpha Rowan Vesper, the feared and most powerful Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack. And he turned out to be my fated mate. I didn’t have any expectations. After all, I’m the fat girl no one wants. So I lowered my gaze and braced myself for the rejection I knew was coming. Instead, his words shattered everything I believed about myself… “You taste so delicious… I want to eat you whole,” Alpha Rowan growled, sending a shiver down my spine. No one had ever spoken to me like that before… his voice was laced with raw hunger that sent tingles rushing through me. It was new and it terrified me. Goddess, is this a dream? **** Rowan: I had given up on finding my mate. After all, my pack was still thriving without a Luna, so I didn’t think I needed one, until my father pushed me to attend hunting games being hosted by another pack hoping I would find my mate. I never planned to hunt. But fate placed the most irresistible prey in my path. She was timid, and something told me she was ready to run away from me at any chance she got, but goddess knows I had no intention of letting her go.

MANAGING MAGES: Hawk had been tormenting me as long as I could remember. I was a young mage and my power was still growing. But they thrust me under his watch in the service to our Warlord. And damn him for enjoying every moment he can torment me. Every time I think my power strong enough to challenge him, he finds new ways to torture me. He's told me that I'm his little prey and he'll be kinder when I succumb to him but I've vowed to never let the overbearing, insufferable cad put a hand on my bare skin. It's a battle of wills and wits. He may be more clever but I'm certainly more stubborn! But one thing I've learned about Hawk, never underestimate his conniving...I should've known better than to challenge him. After all, he's made a name for himself by his skill in Managing Mages. But beyond him there is an even bigger problem. Warlord: The Commander of the Mage's Guild. A ruthless killer who leaves a dark mist in his wake. Escaping the Mage's Guild would mean challenging Warlord himself. A dangerous endeavor. WARLORD'S WARD He came into our village like a shadow. A Dark Mage with the most powerful magic in all the realm. King Detry merely calls him Warlord. And he owns that title. Leaving wreckage in his wake. But for me, he had other plans. His cutting blue eyes seeing straight through my disguise. As his slave, his mere plaything, I'll learn the true darkness of magic without conscience. Anything he wants of me, he takes. Anything he wants me to do. I am willed to do with the flick of his hand. His power is an all consuming whirlwind. And I'm just the pretty butterfly caught in it.

The cold seawater engulfs me, its relentless pull dragging me into the abyss. I kick desperately, my lungs burning, but the surface drifts farther and farther away. "Save me, Kane… save our child…" Pain lances through my body as I clutch my stomach, shielding the fragile life within me. The child I never thought I'd have, the child who was supposed to be our blessing. Through the watery haze, I see Kane Porter standing on the jagged cliffs above the shore. His tall, commanding figure is framed by the moonlight, his golden eyes burning with hatred. The alpha of the Nightfall Pack, the man who once whispered my name with reverence, now looks at me like I'm filth beneath his feet. His voice cuts through the roaring waves, sharp and merciless. "Don't think I don't know what you've done, Selene." The currents tug me deeper. My strength wanes, but his words stab deeper than the water ever could. "You drugged me with a philter, hoping to make me mark you—hoping to force your way into the position of my Luna. Because of your selfishness, Arya is gone. You destroyed her mind, pushed her into madness!" A shadow of despair twists across his face, but it vanishes beneath pure fury. "She fell from that cliff because of you." I shake my head, but I can’t speak. The sea is swallowing my voice. "Do you know what it’s like to wake up every day in torment? To live knowing the woman I loved died because of you?" His eyes glint like a wolf ready to tear out his prey's throat. "I want you to feel every ounce of that pain. I want you and your cursed child to die with her." The waves crash above me, and darkness claws at the edges of my vision. When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to the day Kane's philter takes effect. He approaches me, his face flushed and his breathing rapid. He's already undone his buttons. "Hang on, Kane. Arya will be here soon!" I back away and open the door behind me. Then, I run off.

On the day of Winter Hunt, Grayson Ashcroft, the future Alpha of the pack, successfully hunts down a white deer, which is very rare to be seen in the woods. He's about to give the prize to me when Raven Black, a she-wolf who has just joined the Northwind pack, speaks up. She points at the deer while saying, "Grayson, you promised that you'd give me a present. Is it okay if I ask for that present to be this deer?" I am Grayson's mate. Before the hunt, Grayson has vowed to the Moon Goddess that he'll give me the first prey he has hunted. All the wolves await the humiliating moment when Raven's request will get turned down. Surprisingly, Grayson gives her the white deer instead. "Since you like the deer that much, you can have it. Winters in the north can be very harsh and cold. I'll have someone make the deer's pelt into a cloak that you can wear." All the wolves in the pack turn to look at me at that moment. Feeling rather conflicted, Grayson says to me, "Ella, I'll give you something else that's better next time. Just let Raven have the white deer today, okay?" It has been less than half a year since Raven joined the Northwind pack. But during those months, Grayson has repeatedly asked me to give away a few things so far. This includes a silver ring that has his baby fang embedded in it, the spot next to him during the Full Moon Assembly, and the bear paw that he has severed during his first solo hunt. As I gaze at Grayson, who expects me to obey him as always, I can only smile in a self-derogatory manner. Since he wants me to let Raven have her way all the time, I might as well give this mate of mine to her at this point. Yes, I don't want him anymore.

“I Thalia Rose Laurel reject you, Alpha of Flame Valley Pack Knox Winslow.” I cry out, breaking the bond that never should have been. Ryan's eyes flash with horror, his gaze flickering between Knox and I. “Thalia no.” “Yes.” I blink through my tears. “Let me do what he didn't have the guts to do five years ago, what I should have done to us the moment he slammed my head into a wall while I was grieving my daughter!” “I'm sorry, Thalia.” Knox grabs my hand, but I can't stand to be touched by him. “Don't do this to us, to our-” “Let me end this Knox.” I choke out and it's the saddest plea I've ever uttered. “I started this obsessive diminishhing game between us so it's right I be the one to end it. Accept my rejection.” His head shakes, watching me with teary eyes. “I love you.” Knox won't let me go, but I'm ready to let him go, to let us go and so I do the one thing I can.... .………….. Thalia and Knox have had a rocky start to their relationship, and with Knox bullying wolfless Thalia when he knew she was his mate under the guise of oblivion. Knox falls for Thalia and she him but both know she doesn't meet the standard of what he wants in a mate and Luna, the two try to make their relationship work but Knox falls prey to his previous playboy lifestyle multiple times, hurting Thalia and ruining the little that's left of their relationship. Thalia's need to appear strong, and worthy of Flame Valley lands her in trouble, birthing the core reason for the major drift I'n their relationship. Their love is strong but can it overcome the deceptions and conspiracies that surround Them?