The Gaze

“You’re my goddamn stepbrother. You know this, so let’s set boundaries,” I whisper as if I’m speaking of something abominable. But it’s something that should be normal. Sane. Logical. Then Riven Rythrone lifts a hand and grabs my chin, forcing my gaze up to his. His eyes don’t belong to someone normal. They belong to someone dark. Abnormal. Insane. Illogical. “You begged to be mine. Remember?” My breath hitches, my pulse riots, and my body stupidly flinches as he snakes a hand around my waist, dragging me closer. Close into his twisted, demented world, where he rules, where reason burns, and where I’m the only thing he refuses to let go of. Twenty-year-old Adelina West has no reason to hate her mother’s marriage to a California millionaire. But when a devil with blue eyes is involved, resentment comes easy. She wants to escape him. He wants to own her. And when Riven Rythrone wants something, not even blood or sin can stop him.

"Let's be clear. While I stay here, no kissing, no hugging," Aiden Anderson said without breaking his gaze at Jessamine, his best friend since third grade. "You're my best friend... You're like a sister to me and my only family. I don't want to be reckless and lose you in the end." "I was only teasing you, Aiden. I'm not losing you as well. You're the only man I trust besides my father," Jessamine assured him. Jessamine turned her back on him, fighting the tears, unsure why her heart was disappointed. A part of her brain said she would rather die with heartache than admit to him that she wished there was more to their friendship, but her heart screamed something else. She wanted to be reckless with him and gave her heart the freedom to love him more than best friend, but how could she admit to him she loved him when Aiden assured her he would disappear from her forever if they crossed the boundary of their friendship?

"Marry me," he replied coldly and emotionlessly. "In exchange, I'll pay your debt." There are no strings attached, and no love is expected. It was just a basic transaction." Sofie paused, her heart beating. She realized she had no other option. But as she stared into his cold gaze, she couldn't help but wonder if she was striking a pact with the devil. She felt a shudder run down her spine. Could she actually pull this off? Marry this man for money, knowing it will be a loveless marriage? In her thoughts, she could almost hear her mother's voice asking her to follow her heart. Sofia's life was flipped upside down when her parents died, leaving her alone and in debt. To be able to pay the remaining dept of her Dad, she have to accept to be the contract wife of a cold-hearted and famous Billionaire, someone she already had a bad encounter with. knowing there is no love between them. What she doesn't know is that she's being pulled into a dangerous web of secrets and lies.

"A fake marriage. A dangerous game. A love that could destroy them both." When Aurora Lane is forced to save her father from ruin, she finds herself trapped in a deal she never expected—marrying the ruthless billionaire Damian Blackwell, the man who shattered her world years ago. Damian offers her a lifeline: marry him for one year and her father's crushing debt will vanish. But as they step into a world of luxury, power, and lies, the line between hate and desire blurs. Aurora swore she would never fall for him. But his touch sets her on fire, and his dark, possessive gaze sees right through her defenses. Yet behind Damian’s cold façade, dangerous secrets lurk—secrets that could destroy everything if exposed. As passion ignites and emotions grow, both must confront their pasts before their fake marriage turns into something real—and even more dangerous. What happens when the man she should hate becomes the only one she can't resist?

Bile burned my throat as Jade let out a coquettish little laugh at something Nathan said. The sound cut through me like shattered glass. Last night I had lain naked in his arms, utterly his, believing the rest of our lives would be that perfect. And now...now I was nothing. With terrible comprehension, I finally found my voice. "Nathan, what is this? Who is she?" Though I already knew the horrible truth. Jade turned her doe eyes toward me. "Oh, you must be Terra," she said gently. "I know this is very sudden. But Nathan and I are mates." She looked back at Nathan meaningfully. "Bonded by the goddess." I stared at Nathan pleadingly. "Tell me this isn't true. Please." He met my gaze despairingly. "Terra...I'm so sorry." Jade pressed herself possessively against Nathan's side. He did not resist. "I know this may be difficult for you, Terra. But you must see now that you and Nathan were never truly meant to be." Brittany said with false sympathy.

Before my engagement, a fire broke out in my dressing room. The explosion sent shards of glass deep into my body. My best friend, Monica Addams, shielded me as we escaped the flames.  At the hospital, she stayed by my side as I clung to life.  She called my fiancé, James Miller. However, his response was dismissive. “Veronica isn’t feeling well, and I’m accompanying her to get an IV drip. If it’s no big deal, just drop it.” Furious, Monica unleashed a string of curses and called her own boyfriend, Lucas Smith, asking him to help find a specialist.  He brushed her off, too. “Stop overreacting. Veronica’s sick, so I’m getting her some medicine.” When I narrowly escaped death and met Monica’s gaze, I said in a low voice, “I want to call off the engagement.” Without hesitation, she responded, “If you end yours, I’ll end mine.” That was when both men panicked. 

"What are you hiding, Mr. Blackwood?" Julian closed the gap in a heartbeat, leaving no space between them. She gasped, forced to tilt her head to meet his intense stare. "I. Have. Nothing. To hide," he said, voice cold, his gaze never wavering. The air crackled between them, charged and heavy. Anger lingered, but something else—something sharp and undeniable—hung there, too, just beneath the surface. Neither dared to acknowledge it. •°•°•°•°•°•°•° With her father’s health fading fast, struggling artist Leslie Harrison feels trapped, helpless to give him the care he needs. In a desperate twist, she finds herself caught in a marriage of convenience with billionaire Julian Blackwood, a man who thrives on control and keeps his heart locked tight. But Leslie sees through his icy demeanor, sensing there’s more beneath the surface. As emotions get tangled and secrets begin to slip, their bond is tested in ways neither expected. Can Leslie help Julian face the shadows of his past, or will they pull him under?

On the night of my awakening, which was also my 18th birthday, my parents locked me in a silver cage in the basement while my foster sister Emma prepared for her ceremony upstairs. Then, the Blood Moon Eclipse struck, forcing every member of the pack to evacuate. Emma urged our parents to help. My heart warmed, and I thought they would come to save me. However, the only thing my father carried out was Emma’s stuffed wolf doll. They clutched Emma and fled for their lives, leaving me behind in the collapsing basement. When I crawled out of the ruins, they were already in the safehouse, celebrating Emma’s successful awakening as a White Wolf. Ten years later, I became the heir to Blackstone Consortium, controlling half of the werewolf world’s economy. When we met again, the former leader of the Silvermoon Pack knelt before me. “I've finally found you, my daughter.” My gaze was cold as I faced the stranger in front of me. “You’ve got the wrong person.”

BLURB: After an extended silence, she gathered the courage to speak. “Mum, what do you mean? I have my life in Paris.” she implored, clutching her mother’s hand. Lois diverted her gaze, the moment slipping away. “Refusing my offer means also returning all the assistance I provided when your business was in trouble,” she said, rising to leave. “You have just 48 hours to agree to my terms, and remember, I dislike waiting.” Freja has always been in love with Clinton Blackwood before he married her twin sister and since then she has despised him. She maintained her distance from her twin sister, Freya, and her husband enjoying her peaceful and lonely life. Her life took a turn when her sister died. Freja's mum, Lois Aaron, proposed a new business contract for the Greenwoods, leaving them in a tight corner. She was made to get married to her sister's husband a year after her sister's dismay.

“I desire you in the most maddening way,” Kael growled, his lips just a breath from mine. “Then show me,” I whispered, heart racing, already undone. *** In a world ruled by instincts, some bonds go deeper than blood. Eira Vale is a quiet healer with secrets buried deeper than the forest she’s summoned to. When duty forces her into the territory of the Blackridge Pack, she doesn’t expect to survive long—especially not under the cold, watchful gaze of Alpha Kael Thorne. Feared. Respected. Untouchable. Kael is everything Eira was taught to avoid—dominant, dangerous, and far too tempting. But something ancient stirs between them, something primal neither of them understands… or dares to name. As the wild begins to close in, Eira must decide what’s more terrifying: the bond tying her to a man with the power to break her—or the truth that’s been hunting her all along. Dark, seductive, and emotionally charged, "Beneath the Howl" is a slow-burn romance where fate is a curse, desire is dangerous, and nothing is as it seems. ***