Sword Flowers

` It was a cool, breezy and stormy night. Rain came down in sheets, as a dark figure stood before a house. The house was pretty ordinary, white with blue shutters; it didn't have more than two bedrooms. It looked like a cozy little family home with flowers and shrubs lining the front lawn, and then the smell from the pellet stove smoke invaded his nostrils. He took a deep breath and pulled out an old, rusted compass from his black trench coat. It looked like it could have been from the 14th century, the small, brass disc was dented and the Victorian designs were faded. He studied it as it pointed east, towards the small house. He looked the house over carefully, looking for the best entrance, before proceeding towards the side to gaze into the window. Inside you can see the small kitchen; the brand new, all black appliances off set the linoleum floor. Cabinets filled almost every wall of the small space that made it look more crowded than it should have been. The kitchen opened to a larger room which seemed to be used as a living room and a dining room all at once. The whole house looked crowded, with the furniture in the living room all touching except for a small gap to walk through and the dining room was so close to the sofa, it could have been sitting on it. He stepped back into the shadows as he watched a young couple enter the kitchen. The wife was tall and slender, had strawberry blond hair formed around her face accenting her jaw-line and her deep blue eyes stopped your heart as you got lost in them. Her fair complexion was silky and complimented her soft face.

Eighteen-year-old Chateau Lavigne has always led a simple life as a florist's daughter, tending to her garden and selling flowers in the local market. But her world shatters when Leonard Hugues, a powerful executive of the feared Lafleur mafia, shows up to collect on a debt her father owes—a debt far more serious than she ever imagined. Swept into Leonard’s dangerous world, Chateau finds herself terrified. But as she learns more about the man beneath the ruthless exterior, her fear turns to affection, and eventually, love. Leonard becomes her protector, her obsession, and a mystery she’s determined to unravel. But Leonard’s dark past holds a secret—a hidden truth that threatens to shatter everything Chateau believes about him. As shadows of revenge begin to circle, Chateau will have to face a deadly truth: falling for Leonard may have placed her in the path of the very danger she fears most.

Aurora, a strong-willed and compassionate princess, is next in line to inherit the throne of the mystical kingdom of Eldrador. However, her parents' sudden passing leaves her with a daunting task: choosing a suitable partner to rule alongside her. According to ancient tradition, the queen must select a group of four noble suitors each representing a different element (earth, water, spirit and the sword which slays), to form a sacred bond and ensure the kingdom's prosperity. Aurora is torn between her duty and her desire for true love. As she navigates the complexities of court politics and magic she finds herself drawn to each of the four suitors, each with their unique personalities and abilities. But she has a childhood crush that she cannot move on from, a shadow walker and highly ranked ninja, Kael StarSeekera who would appear later to defy all that she knows and believes.

"You certainly do smell nice for a doxy,” He groaned, burying his face in my neck. "You should be mine." I chuckled, sliding my long nails over his neck, right atop his jugular. Hayden froze. “The fuck? Is that-“ “Wolfsbane?” I purred. “Yes it is.” He held his breath for a minute, before gritting out in a low gravelly voice. “Who the fuck are you?” I pulled away, still seated on his lap, grinning wolfishly. My tongue flicked out to lick my fangs before I replied. “Nova. Nova Frost.” ***** At the annual Howl Gathering, eighteen year old Nova Frost finds out that she is mated to the Alpha Hayden of the Storm clan. An Alpha said to rule over the mountain regions with an iron fist. He rejects her without a second thought. That same night, her father is killed along with several other Alphas, one of the few who made it out alive was Hayden. Those who made it out alive are called The Nine. Nova knows Hayden and the nine killed her father and spends seven years sharpening her sword for revenge. Seven years later she attends the howl gathering festival in disguise, out to seduce Alpha Hayden, find out why he and the nine had killed her father and then have her revenge all in the Seven days of the Howl Festival. What could possibly go wrong? Everything.

She is his death… He is her salvation. He was born to love her… She was born to kill him. She is his fated mate and also his fated calamity. Born on the full moon, Izzy was marked as a curse. Her family was eradicated, but the moon goddess forbids her death. The shed of her blood on the Lydrian Marsh pack was foretold to bring disaster, but torturing her will cause no harm and no amount of torture can end her life, since only the Alpha’s sword and will can be her death. Being an Omega, and the worthless of all Omega that ever exists, she lives in despair and always hopes a day will come when fate will favour her. But as time passes, she accepts her ill fate and gives up on hoping for a better future, but when she is about to kill herself, her mate shows up and it is no one but the ruthless crown prince of Lydrian Marsh pack, the fearless Dixon, who wants to protect her. What will happen when the past strikes the present, and he finds out his mate is also his fated calamity? Will he still protect her?

Venus, the luna of the Ringblood Pack and her daughter are in danger because the enemy attacked the mansion where they live. But when she contacted the Alpha, what she found was that her mate was accompanying another woman in labor. Her heartache deepened because her daughter died in front of her eyes. When a sword almost cut off her head, suddenly a man she did not expect came to save her life.   "I give you two choices: take my hand and carry your daughter's corpse out of this place, or just die here and I will burn this house as your grave," said the man who was holding out his hand to Venus.   "Leon, you saved me again," Venus said as she wiped her tears, then grabbed the hand of the man in front of her.    "If not me, then who else would have come here?" Leon carried Venus' body.   Alan was her fated mate, while Leon was her lifesaver; those two boys from the Delmonte family really made Venus' heart beat fast.

Elena, a defiant and eccentric witch living in the Forbidden Forest, has witnessed the empire crumble under the reign of Kael, a once-promising disciple corrupted by darkness. Kael, once a bright-eyed orphan and a disciple of her very own enemy, was twisted into the empire's destroyer, abandoned and manipulated. In the face of the silver sword of her sworn enemy held by Kael, she makes a gamble against time and fate. Using forbidden magic, she strikes a deal with the timekeeper and plunges back into the past, 10 years before impending destruction. Faced with a chance to rewrite her destiny, she targets Kael and intends to make his master pay for neglecting his disciple. This time, she won't just stand by as the world crumbles; she will be his unlikely guardian, shaping him into a beacon of light instead of a harbinger of doom. Can Elena rewrite destiny? Or will the karma prove too strong for a witch to clash against the inevitable pull of fate?

Waking up with boobs, beauty, and deadly lightning powers wasn’t on Abby’s bingo card—but then again, neither was dying of a terminal illness and reincarnating as a bullied noblewoman in a magical kingdom. Now Lady Abby MacMayer has one goal: live loud, live free, and never be a victim again. With a sword in one hand and sarcasm in the other, she shocks the realm—literally—and catches the eye of the kingdom’s most powerful and brooding mage, Duke Alaric. He’s duty. She’s chaos. He trains her to control her power. She ruins his peace of mind. The sparks? Not just magical. But when a war brews, a dungeon rift opens, and a prophecy threatens the man she loves, Abby vanishes in battle… only to return years later with no memory and no magic. Everyone believes she’s lost. Only the queen knows she remembers everything—and is hiding the truth to protect Alaric from a fate worse than heartbreak. Lightning may strike twice... but love? Love will burn through time, lies, and destiny itself.

“Alex… I’m dying.” Amara’s trembling voice over the phone should have shaken her husband, but the renowned Dr. Alex Spencer simply replied, “Buy medicine and let me work.” The world envied their marriage to the perfect doctor, but behind closed doors, Amara carried every pain alone. Until the day she received two verdicts: brain cancer… and a divorce she signed with her own hands. She walked away, whispering, “This is the last meal I’ll ever cook for you,” leaving Alex furious and unable to accept the truth. And when he rushed into a house decorated with flowers and candles, her smiling picture greeted him instead. She was gone. He fell down, weeping like a child. But something still told him, this was all a setup. That Amara was still alive and he won’t rest until he finds her. Is Amara truly still alive? Read to find out!

Ophelia Lane, an emerging singer/songwriter who recently relocated to Nashville to pursue her dreams, found herself ghost-singing for Camila to afford her mother's medical treatment. She endured bullying from Camila and others for her mother and willingly hid her own talent until she met Asher, the Ozarks quarterback. Asher encouraged her singing and Ophelia wondered if she’d found true support in the athlete everyone called playboy. At their next concert, Camila humiliated Ophelia once more in front of everyone, and even prompting extreme fans to publicly assault her. "Loser?" Ophelia wondered, who was the real loser here? "I hope you regret messing with me." Soon, she found herself on stage, exposing the falsehood of Camila, being signed by an agent, receiving flowers, applause, and fortune, and trampling on those who once bullied her. On top of all this, Asher wants to take her on a date! But will Ophelia be able to juggle handling her newfound success alongside trusting him? "I like you," Asher said. Ophelia begins to question if their worlds are too vastly different. Asher comes from a completely different background than her own and while their passion is exciting, is it enough? Can they make it through the pressures of fame, career, and jealous ex-girlfriends? The Pop Star and the Playboy Quarterback is created by Cate Mattison, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.