Staying Positive

“**You should have remained hidden, Omega.**” Ashryn never meant to step into the fire-lit ring. Weak, unmated, and unwanted, he has survived his entire life by staying unseen. But the Moon does not care for survival—it cares for fate. And the moment Ashryn feels the bond tug at his chest, he knows the truth is far crueler than hope. Kaelor is the Alpha who rejects him before the entire pack, shattering Ashryn’s dignity with a single word: *defective*. Humiliated and broken, Ashryn runs into the wilds, determined to disappear forever. Yet fate is not finished with him. The bond refuses to die, pulsing louder with every mile of distance. When Kaelor finds him again, regret burns hotter than pride. The Alpha who denied his mate now refuses to let him go—claiming protection where Ashryn sees a cage. Trapped between desire and fear, mercy and possession, Ashryn must decide whether love born of pain can ever be trusted. Because some bonds are not meant to be gentle. Some are forged in rejection, sharpened by regret, and sealed by a Moon that never makes mistakes. **He was never meant to exist. Yet fate refuses to let him go.**

One look. One kiss. And a scandal. That was all it took for her well planned life to take a drastic turn. Vivienne Reynolds has spent almost a decade of her life in the shadows with only three things on her agenda. Taking care of her mom Staying out of the spotlight and avoiding the cameras Never trusting anyone But one night was all it required for her life to be upended and become entangled with Hollywood royalty and heartthrob; Liam Pryce. At first glance, Vivienne knew that this man was going to be trouble because he came with everything she solely avoided. The good looks, fat bank account and worst of all; the cameras. A part of Vivi wanted to trust him because he rekindled that part that sent her pulse racing with every glance and sinful touch. However, the other part of her—the part that has been burnt and scarred because she had trusted the wrong people warned her against it. It had been what got her into this mess in the first place. In the battle between caution and chemistry, Vivienne will have to choose between risking everything for the man who is determined to never let her go and letting the scars of her past dictate her future. N/B: Reader's discretion is highly advised.

***WARNING THIS BOOK CONTAINS LOTS OF EXPLICIT SCENES, VIOLENCE, AND VULGAR LANGUAGE*** To the world, I am Alberto Morello. A ruthless asshole, merciless, dangerous, the definition of death. But to Francisco Blanco, I am his brother, his best friend, the man that swore to rule the world we live in alongside him. That’s why when he asked me to be the godfather of his only daughter, Isadora, I didn’t hesitate to accept. I may be a coldhearted bastard to just about everyone in this bloody world, but I swore to care for that little girl as my own. What I never expected was for that little girl to grow into the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. I tried to fight the attraction, knowing that it was the one line I couldn’t cross. I couldn’t do that to my best friend, to his sweet girl. I am sick in all ways imaginable, and I couldn’t do that to them, to her… But when they both team up against me to get me to come back home after years staying away, will I be able to stop myself from falling into temptation? And if I do have a taste of the forbidden, will I be able to stop?

“Who the hell changed the screw tolerance by 0.007 mm?” “I did. Is there a problem?” Kimmy Zabel, our department’s “good-luck charm” and full-time slacktivist, did not even look up from her compact mirror, where she was carefully applying lip gloss. “It just didn’t look right, so I tweaked it. Do you really have to yell at me?” The production line had been running on the wrong spec for twenty-four hours. I hit the emergency stop. Keeping my voice steady took some effort. “These parts no longer meet export standards. If we miss tomorrow’s shipment, even a month of overtime wouldn’t cover the penalties.” “It’s one tiny number. You’re being so dramatic!” Kimmy snapped her makeup case shut. “Anyway, it’s New Year’s Eve. I’ve got a date. I’m not staying here to suffer with you people.” Before she even reached the door, I gestured to the staff to pull the shutters down. “For precision components like these, one number translates into a million-dollar loss. You can take these defective units and explain them to the regulators.”

My parents died when I was ten years old, but a big shot in Jade City adopted me. It was rumored that Sean Graham was a cruel and violent man, but he doted on me for nearly ten years. He booked the advertising screens in the city to celebrate my birthday and promised to marry me when I got drunk and pestered him about it. I called him Uncle Sean at his request. Fear gripped me when I woke up in his bed every morning, but I kept it a secret. Yet one time, we accidentally slept with each other. I got pregnant with his child and wanted to keep it, but I knew I would not live for much longer. One day, I heard his conversation with a servant. “Clean up Zella’s room for Yulia.” “But Mr. Graham, Miss Cooper has been staying there for ten years. Didn’t you design it for her?” “No, I only let her stay there because Yulia had gone abroad.” I touched my belly as disappointment gripped me. It turned out that the man who had promised to provide me with a home as long as he lived wanted to drive me away.

In Black Salt, love is a sickness you can’t hide—a slow gnawing beneath the skin that leaves you hollowed, grayed, and eventually gone. No one stays long enough to see it through; they leave before the rot finishes its work. It’s what the town teaches you: when it starts, you run. You look away. You survive by pretending not to feel. But Atlas is tired of pretending. The halls of Black Salt High are full of kids pretending they don’t see each other’s bruised hearts, pretending their bones aren’t already whispering warnings. Still, he can’t forget the weight of a father who stayed—not out of love, but because he never felt it deep enough to decay. That truth lingers in Atlas like a second shadow. And then there’s Nova—the outsider with a storm in her bones. And Wren, all sharpness and fight. Milo, who cracks jokes to keep the silence at bay. Luce, who wears her thorns like jewelry. Together, they don’t know how to stop the rot. But they’re learning how to sit with it, how to name it, how to refuse the small, hollow deaths of pretending not to care. In a town where love is a death sentence, staying might be the bravest thing of all.

Cole Hartness has abandoned me in the snow mountain for a week. By the time the search-and-rescue team finds me, I'm practically on my deathbed. Cole remains high and mighty even when surrounded by the others. "Rach is kind enough to forgive you even though you almost killed her in the snow mountain. If it wasn't for her pleading for your sake, you'd be staying here for another week. "Our engagement banquet shall be delayed. We'll only proceed with it once Rach makes a full recovery." Cole is already prepared for my impending tantrum. After all, he knows that I've been looking forward to the engagement banquet for a long time. But I reply obediently, "Okay." For a few moments, Cole finds himself stunned. "You owe Rach this much! Once she's done recovering, we'll get engaged! Stop being so unreasonable—" "Cole, I'd like to rest for a while," I cut him off before closing my eyes tiredly. What Cole doesn't know is that I've already decided to leave him the moment he makes the decision to ditch me in the mountain. That is, if I can survive the avalanche.

The best way to live in a sinful and harsh world is to choose your battles wisely. That was what Tayla Del Mariano, a 23-year old college student knows ever since her parents died in a car crash and was forced to live in a house with owls. The girl thought that staying silent and not arguing with fools will make her life easier, and enduring everything will make her closer to her goal: To build a better life for his younger brother, Terren.She works three jobs and studies, believing that she will reach her dreams when she got fed up with her family's treatments and met Auton Smith and found out about his little secret–he was a musician hiding behind a criminology student. He happened to be her new landlord, but she didn't know that those small talks and silly acts would make her fall.Tayla only wants the best for his brother, and Auton only wants the people to hear his story through music. Auton thought that Tayla is her safe place, she's her home, for she's the only person who believes in him, until something came up which led the mute beauty's voice to howl.

Scarlett Hayes only wants one thing—to survive her last two years at Westwood Academy. As a scholarship student surrounded by the children of billionaires, staying invisible is the safest option. Especially when it comes to Ronan Whitmore. The school's most feared boy. Ronan is rich, powerful, and completely unpredictable. Rumors follow him everywhere—fights, scandals, and secrets no one dares talk about. Scarlett has spent years avoiding him. Until the day Ronan approaches her with a shocking offer. He needs a fake girlfriend. Just for three months. Public dates, convincing photos, and the appearance of a perfect relationship. In return, Ronan promises to solve a problem that could destroy Scarlett’s future at Westwood. She knows it's a terrible idea. Everyone warns her to stay away from him. But Scarlett quickly learns something even more dangerous than Ronan Whitmore’s reputation. The way he looks at her isn’t fake. And the longer they pretend to be in love, the harder it becomes to remember that none of it is supposed to be real. Because the boy everyone fears might be hiding a truth that could ruin both of them. And if their fake relationship falls apart… Scarlett might become the next victim of the most dangerous boy in school.

My Alpha husband, Ryder, has always hated the sound of a crying pup. But recently, he started caring for my adopted sister's newborn pup, staying by its side in the nursery every night until dawn. Every time Ryder left our bedroom for the nursery, an inexplicable stabbing pain would pierce through my chest. This agony would last all night until dawn when he returned. I had finally reached my breaking point. At the Full Moon Festival, I announced in front of the entire pack that I was rejecting our mate bond. The pack's mind-link erupted with whispers that the battle had damaged my mind. A golden light ignited in Ryder's eyes as he stared at me in disbelief. "Because I was too busy to check on you when you were injured, you're rejecting our bond over a six month old pup?" I didn't meet his eyes. Instead, my gaze lingered on the faint lipstick mark smudged inside his collar. My voice trembled, yet it did not waver. "Since you love her pup so much, once our bond is severed, you can openly be the father."