Tara Calico Photo Novels & Stories

I died on the day I was supposed to receive the Pack’s Distinguished Service Award. Three hours after I died, my parents, my brother, and my mate were just wrapping up the graduation party they’d thrown for my sister. While my sister, Ella, was posting a cozy family photo on Instagram, I was locked in our basement, using my tongue to swipe on my phone and call for help. The only person who answered was my mate, Ryan. All he said was, "Sophie, cut the drama. Ella's graduation party is important. Enough with the tantrums!" This was the ninety-ninth time they had let me down. And the last. I lay in a pool of my own blood, my lungs still. They thought I was just throwing a fit, hiding somewhere. That if they taught me a lesson, I’d come crawling back. But they didn't know. I was home the whole time. I was already dead.

Clifford is a bright, athletic high school senior with a stubborn grin behind his reading glasses and a future in finance waiting on the other side of graduation. He’s popular enough to feel seen, yet in the shadow of a relationship that looks flawless but is anything but. Clair, his girlfriend, is the town’s sweetheart. Beautiful, charming, and suspiciously aloof about Clifford’s growing unease. His world tilts when he meets Tyler, the school’s enigmatic star player: tall, quick witted, and radiating danger and charm. Tyler’s circle knows his truth, even if he won’t broadcast it, and his gaze keeps finding Clifford across crowded halls and quiet classrooms. A party spins everything into questions when a game of spin the bottle sends a spark that neither can ignore. A kiss, sudden and charged, shatters Clifford’s certainty and ignites a dangerous longing he’s afraid to name. As rumours swirl and pressures, mount from grades, parents, and old loyalties. Clifford must decide what kind of man he wants to be. Is desire a betrayal of the life he’s planned, or the doorway to his truest self? With Leonard’s sci fi wisdom and Tara’s fearless energy on the sidelines, Clifford discovers that growing up isn’t about choosing one path, it’s about finding the courage to follow the right one, even when the future isn’t clear.

My wife’s new assistant recently celebrated his birthday, and she splurged on a villa as a gift to him. On the day he moved in, the assistant, Zachary Shaw, bragged on Instagram with a post and captioned: [Bagged myself a sugar mommy, just FYI.] My wife, Ivy Bennett, commented on the post: [Happy birthday, my dear Zacky! 🫰] The photo was Zachary wrapping his arm around my wife’s slender waist, looking incredibly intimate. The work group chat blew up at once. Everyone expressed their envy toward Zachary, singing his praises for being so promising at such a young age. Then, my childhood friend, Autumn Sinclair, tagged me in the group chat and teased, [Love is a blinding green light. Your wife’s cheating on you so hard it glows. Congrats, Julian!] I smiled wryly and stubbed out my cigarette. Slowly, I typed my reply, [Want a house, Autumn? I’ll get you one too, better than her gift to him.]

On Valentine's Day, I set up a candlelit dinner and waited. At 9 PM, my husband, Alfred Johnston, finally texted. [Something came up at work. Don't wait for me.] Then I saw her post. [On a business trip with the CEO for Valentine's Day. Every hotel is fully booked—awkward...] Vivian Bianca, his secretary. Attached was a photo of a guy in a bathrobe, standing by a floor-to-ceiling window. The comments were all 'ooh, CEO's so hot and girl, you're in for a night.' Vivian? Just dropped a smug emoji. So that's what "something came up" meant—a romantic getaway with his secretary. I screenshotted it, posted it on my own feed, and added a smiling emoji. A second later, Alfred called, fuming. "Vivian was joking! Why are you so petty? She's young, not as calculating as you!" I didn't let him finish. "Then let's get a divorce. That way, I won't have to care when you screw around and catch something."

“How long have we been mates?” Aidan barked. “Four weeks,” I cried, tears rolling down my face and neck. “And how many times were we intimate, Tara?” My lungs tightened in my chest as I whispered. “Once.” “And we were being safe, so why do you think this lie would stick?” Venom dripped from his next words. “Get out of my life because the next time you show up, I will kill you.” ***** It wasn’t exactly a one-night stand, but the possibility of a pregnancy was almost non-existent even though he was my mate. When I mustered the courage to break the news to Aidan Graham, the father, he denied me. He severed our bond and plotted my death, and my only option was to run. Nine years later, my daughter walks into my office with a man, and the scent I recognize all too well fills my lungs. She says. “Mommy! I found you this handsome man!” The match my baby girl just made for me…is to my ex Alpha mate. I have been broken in the past, so how do I make this work for my daughter? Can I still try even when Aidan ropes us into a web of secrets, deceit, and brings me to a past I wished to bury forever? The plot twists are bound to make you ask… “Wait…What. The. Heck??” So, read on!!

I had just gotten hospitalization prior to my operation when my wife told me she was going on an urgent business trip, leaving me and our one-year-old daughter behind. Two days later, her childhood sweetheart proudly posted a family photo on social media with a caption that said: “Took a picture of our happy family of three on our trip!” I looked at my wife who was smiling tenderly in the picture and commented, “?” My wife immediately called and berated me, “He's a single father who doesn’t have a wife to help take care of his child! All I did was take a picture with them, what are you being so defensive about?” That same evening, her childhood sweetheart posted a picture of a million-dollar dowry given to him with the caption: “After we took the picture, she insisted on giving me this as a dowry.” I knew my wife gave it to him to appease him. But this time, I was going to leave her for good.

18+. She was sweet, sensual… and suddenly insatiable. Cassandra was the sweet, sexy fiancée every man dreams of—tight gymnast’s body, angelic smile, and a shy streak in bed that made her even more irresistible. But when a sleazy janitor at my office starts eye-f**king her in front of me, something changes. She saw it. I saw it. And instead of getting mad… she got curious. One teasing picture turns into a filthy game. Flannel shirts, gym selfies, deep squats, towel slips—each photo hotter than the last. My once-modest bride-to-be starts showing off for me... maybe even for him. Now, Cassandra’s exploring her dirty side—and I’m watching the love of my life transform into the hottest, most addictive little exhibitionist I never knew I needed. She used to save her body for me. Now, she’s learning how much she loves being seen. Enjoy..

On our fifth anniversary, I came across the Instagram page of a stranger named Serena Reed. The girl lay sideways on a hospital bed, her bandage-wrapped hand intertwined with a man's larger hand. On the man's ring finger was a moonstone ring, with Vincent Carter's name and my own name clearly engraved on the band. Below the photo, the girl had written: "It's just a tiny scratch, but he was so worried he insisted I stay in the hospital. Being loved like this feels incredible!" An hour earlier, Vincent had apologized to me over the phone. "Nina, there's an urgent matter with the patrol team. Don't wait for me for dinner. When I come back, I'll bring you a gift." He was not coming home for our anniversary because he was with another woman. I silently melted down the moonstone ring and sent it to Vincent as a gift. Then I packed all my belongings, including the pup in my womb, and left the Shadow pack quietly, never to return.

The whole city’s paparazzi knows that Cade Finley would rather sleep with a nightclub escort than with me. The question they ask daily is: When will Mrs. Finley finally give away her precious "first time"? In front of the media cameras, Cade calmly turned towards me. "We can each have our own fun. If you don't like what I'm doing, you can go look for a man too." With that, he casually shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away. That night, he was photographed with his new fling in bed, and it made the trending news once again. While everyone thought I would just sit and wait until dawn, I contacted the paparazzi and bought a trending topic spot. Then, I tore up my lace nightgown, messed up the sheets, and took a bedroom photo from a third-person perspective. I then sent an anonymous message to Cade: "Bro, your wife is amazing. Let me know when you're getting a divorce."

My son is dying. That is the only truth that matters. Not that I am a half-blood with no pack standing. Not that my Crosser's Permit expired six months ago, and every night I fall asleep wondering if tonight is the night they come for us. Not that I mop floors and scrub blood off marble tiles in a hotel that belongs to the most dangerous wolf family in Silver Hollow, a city that does not officially exist, hidden inside Las Vegas like a knife inside a smile. My name is Tara De Leon. I was once a healer good enough to have been recruited by three different pack academies. Now I am invisible. A cleaning woman. A ghost in a uniform. I became invisible on purpose. Because invisible women survive. And survival is all I have left to give my son. Kai is seven years old. He has his father's jaw and my mother's eyes and a laugh that sounds like something the moon herself invented. He also has Fade Sickness, a supernatural disease that is slowly, quietly, methodically dissolving his wolf-soul from the inside out. Without the Blood Resonance Treatment, available only in Silver Hollow, available only to those with pack connections and pack money, he has maybe eight months. Maybe less. I would burn down every pack in this city to buy him one more day. I just never thought I would have to.