The Dusty Bookshelf

Adventure, romance, assassins! Alex and Jack run from trouble across the surface of the dusty Earth while deep in the Undersea, the life they left behind tries to drag them back under.Alex, a Delta Six hybrid, finds an unlikely companion in a human man, Jack, while on a mission to steal the Athena file. Alex withholds the file to elicit help from Jack and they set out on an adventure across the Surface. Their relationship is tenuous until a device mysteriously links them together. Now, running from Alphas, an elite group of hybrid assassins, Alex and Jack must weather the hostile surface of the planet to reach their common goal. They soon find they can't both have the thing they want most, but also can't seem to let each other go.FLUX Series is created by Ava Altair an eGlobal Creative Publishing author.

She lives on her own terms. He’s living on borrowed time. Neither of them planned on falling—especially not for each other. Blue has made a life out of leaving. Her summer is all dusty boots, soft sunsets, and smoky guitar covers shared with millions of followers from the back of her boho van. Portland was supposed to be a quick visit—just her best friend, a short-term gig harvesting,, and a little time to breathe.But then there’s Teddy.He’s the brooding, blue-eyed lead singer of No Name, the local grunge band with a sound that hits like a bruise and a smile that makes her forget how to breathe. He’s wild onstage and guarded off of it, carrying secrets behind that slow-burning gaze. He’s everything she never wanted: complicated, magnetic, dangerous in a way that feels too good to ignore.What starts as stolen glances and flirtation under stage lights turns into something hotter, deeper, harder to walk away from.They come from different worlds—but under the heat of a summer that feels endless, they collide in all the wrong ways that somehow feel right.And the only thing harder than falling for him… is trusting he won’t break her.

She belongs to a wolf. She's married to the hunter. To the world, Elira Malven is the villainess who stole a princess's betrothed. But her gilded marriage to the legendary war hero, Kael Rennar, is a cage, and her husband has a deadly secret: he is a Wolfhunter, the sworn enemy of her kind. “Why?” The word was a crack in her composure. “Why did you push for this marriage? What do you want from me?” He didn’t turn. A faint, hollow smile touched his lips. “I don’t know why I insisted,” his voice was barely a breath. “I don’t know why I didn’t kill you the moment I suspected what you are.” Her only hope seems to lie with Thane, her true mate, whose touch awakens a primal bond in a dusty library. But he is the one who shattered her heart. “Then why leave?” she asked, raw and painful. “After I begged you—” “Because I was protecting you!” The words tore from him. “You were nobility. The Wolfkiller's wife. And I— I was nobody.” Torn between a hunter haunted by his mercy and a mate haunted by his sacrifice, Elira must choose: remain in a marriage built on a tragic mystery, or risk a love that demands a price neither of them may survive.

​Aria Montgomery thought she was escaping the city to raise her eleven-month-old nephew in peace. She traded her chef’s apron for an abandoned, dusty bakery on the edge of Thornwood Peaks, desperate to hide from her devastating grief. ​She didn’t know the mountain town belonged to a pack of shifters. And she definitely didn’t know she had just set up her home directly inside the Alpha’s territory. ​Kaelen Thorne is forty-one, lethal, and strictly controlled. He hasn't wanted a mate in decades. But the moment Aria drives into his town smelling of vanilla, woodsmoke, and an ancient, dormant power, his wolf demands only one thing: Claim her. ​Kaelen tries to keep his distance, terrified his dark nature and the twelve-year age gap will scare her away. But when little Milo fearlessly claims the terrifying Alpha as his own, Kaelen’s legendary iron control begins to snap. ​Aria believes she is just a human. She believes her sister's death was a tragic accident. But as a dormant Luna bloodline awakens in her veins, and a ruthless rival pack closes in, the truth threatens to shatter everything. To keep his fated mate and his new family safe, Kaelen must go to war. But to win Aria's heart, the ruthless Alpha will have to do something much harder: fall to his knees and let her choose him.

Since I was running late to pick up my son, Kyrie Stone, from school, I did not have time to change out of my work clothes from the construction site inspection. Right at the preschool entrance, I ran into one of his classmates' parents. The man, Adam O'Neil, looked me up and down and asked, "You're Kyrie Stone's father, right?" I nodded politely, about to introduce myself. However, he suddenly scowled and snapped, "No wonder he acts so poorly behaved at school. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!" I frowned immediately. "What nonsense are you talking about?" He scoffed, getting even more aggressive. "Nonsense? Kyrie shows up to school wearing weird clothes and brings all these ridiculous toys. It's distracting my daughter, Sarah, so much that her grades are slipping." I was speechless, wondering how Sarah O'Neil's declining grades were Kyrie's fault. When I stayed silent, Adam got even bolder. "Just look at those dusty clothes you're wearing. Do you even have the money to send Kyrie to an elite preschool like this, or are you just some laborer trying to keep up appearances?" I thought Adam was insane. After all, Kyrie was attending our family-owned preschool. How was that trying to keep up appearances?

I took a poisoned silver arrow for my Alpha, Kaiden, during an assassination attempt. In doing so, I lost my wolf forever, falling from a proud warrior to a disgrace to my pack. Driven by guilt and duty, he kept me as his mate for thirty years, but our relationship was built on polite distance. On my deathbed, I discovered that the 199 memory crystals I had filled with a lifetime of love for him had been tossed into a dusty corner of a storage room. All the while, he kept another she-wolf's crystals locked away in a magically sealed safe, treasuring them above all else. As I lay dying, all I felt through our bond was his chilling indifference. Kaiden arrived late. The last words he whispered in my ear were, "Next time, don't take the silver arrow for me." I finally understood. He would rather have died than be shackled to me by a life debt. When I opened my eyes again, I was back before the tragedy. The Moon Goddess had granted me a second chance. This time, I would sever our fated bond before he could mark me. But when the silver arrow flew toward me this time, he was the one who threw himself into its path. "This time, let me protect you."

Harold missed our fifth anniversary. He said Rogues had attacked the border, and as the Alpha, he had to fight to protect the pack. However, the she-wolf who came to fetch him was dressed in a tight little dress and heels—she looked more ready for a date than a battle. Worried for Harold, I went to the Moon Goddess's altar to pray for his safety, like I always do whenever he's called to fight. However, on the way, a witch told me there was no war at the border at all. He lied to me. At that moment, I knew it was time to walk away. "I want to break my mate bond with Harold," I said. She turned the pages of an old, dusty spellbook. "Harold won't accept this. He was even willing to give up his claim to the Alpha title just to be with you." "I don't need his permission," I said. "I'm willing to pay any price." She sighed. "If your heart is truly set on leaving, I can brew a potion for you. One sip, and your scent will vanish from the pack's memory—as if you never existed. "However, think carefully. You'll lose your title as Luna, leave behind your home, your people. You'll start over somewhere new, where no one knows your name. Not even the Moon Goddess will be able to find you." I said, "I've made up my mind, I refuse to stay in a love built on lies. "How soon can I have the potion?" "Three days." Three days. Just enough time to say goodbye to everything I once called home.

“I was born incapable of love. My hands know only blood. My heart knows only ice. But for you… I would carve out a new soul, even if it kills me.” Alessio “Alec” Moretti rules his city like a god draped in shadow. Cold, ruthless, and untouched by emotion, he’s a mafia boss born from bloodlines and brutality. Psychopath, they whisper incapable of love, addicted only to control. No one defies him. Until Noa Hartmann spits in his face. Noa is everything Alessio doesn’t understand fiercely ,independent, maddeningly fearless, and completely uninterested in bowing to a monster. He’s just a university student working in a dusty bookstore café, trying to survive the same violence that killed his family. But one moment one public act of defiance and Alessio is obsessed. At first, it’s a game. Alessio wants to break him, tame him, make him kneel. But the closer he gets, the more the lines blur. Why does he want to protect Noa? Why does he feel anything at all? What begins as possession becomes something darker, deeper… and far more dangerous. Because monsters don’t love,they consume. And when the past reemerges in the form of a long-lost brother turned rival mafia boss one who blames Alessio’s family for the massacre of Noa’s everything explodes. Noa is caught between two devils: One who stole his life. One who wants to own his heart. With empires collapsing, secrets unraveling, and love bleeding into obsession, Noa and Alessio are forced to face the truth: Some monsters can love. But they will burn the world for it.

The silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating. Kourtney paced in front of him, her heels clicking against the dusty floor of the abandoned villa. The contract lay untouched on the table, just inches from Travis’s restrained hands. Her plan had been reckless, but it was all she had left. “I didn’t want to do this,” she murmured, voice shaking. “But you gave me no choice.” Travis tilted his head. “You think tying me to a chair will change how I feel?” “No. But it changes what you’re allowed to do,” she said, forcing a smirk that didn’t reach her eyes. He didn’t flinch. “What happens after the wedding, Kourtney? When your father finds out? When Kim finds out?” She looked away. “Then it’ll be too late. I’ll have what’s mine.” “Money?” he asked. “Or revenge?” That struck something in her. Kourtney turned to him, face darkening. “You chose her. You loved her. But what about me, Travis? You never even gave me a chance.” “You think forcing me into marriage will give you love?” “No,” she whispered. “But it’ll give me power.” Travis met her eyes. No fear. Just sadness. “This isn’t you,” he said softly. “You don’t know me anymore,” she replied, backing away. “Sign the contract, Travis. Or I swear, I’ll make sure you never walk free again.” Travis looked down at the paper, then back at her. “You’ll lose yourself in this, Kourtney.” She swallowed hard. “Then maybe losing myself is the only way I survive.”

After three years of renting, the landlord kept raising the rent, so I decided not to renew the lease. I hired cleaners to thoroughly clean the entire place, inside and out. There was not a single scratch on the furniture or appliances. I figured the landlord would not return the deposit easily, but I never imagined she would come out swinging with such outrageous demands. “This dining table cost me 25,000 dollars! You got it dirty, and we can’t clean it. You owe me 25,000! “How did this living room lamp get so dusty? Don’t you know how to clean as a girl? We’ll have to deduct 1,500 from your deposit! “There are hooks on the wall. You damaged my walls! 2,000 for that! “This mattress... Hmph. You live-streamers probably brought home who knows how many men. This one’s ruined anyway. There goes 15,000! “Why are there strands of hair in the bathroom? How am I supposed to rent this out to the next tenant? Five hundred for cleaning fees!” She tapped away at her calculator, then thrust it in my face. “You’ve lived here for three years. I’ll give you a friend’s discount. I won’t charge extra for the other damages. Pay me 50,000 dollars, and we’ll call it even! “Otherwise, I’ll expose you online and make you lose followers!” I glanced at the live stream that had 50,000 viewers at the time. When I looked up again, my face was only a mask of smiles. “Ms. Lane, let me think about it. I’ll give you an answer in two days.”