The Pact Carnival Row Novels & Stories

My family is human. We were gifted a long life by the Thorne clan, something close to immortality. For generations, we’ve been their most loyal guardians. And I fell in love with Cedric, the vampire lord I was sworn to protect. For a hundred years, I was his secret. His sin. His only bedmate. I was his shield against dark magic. The sworn protector of his vast clan. I thought I’d earn the mark of an eternal bond. I was even ready for him to turn me. After all, on every blood moon, he would claim my body. Then, at the peak of an agonizing pleasure, he’d sink his fangs into my neck and drink my blood. He’d press his cold lips to my skin and whisper that I was his one and only. That no other blood, no other body, could make him lose control like this. But this time, the moment he was finished with me, he announced his eternal bond with Elsie, the pureblood princess of the Valerius clan. He smirked at the shock on my face. "You're just a human, gifted a long life by my ancestors. My bed warmer. You didn't actually think you could be my mate, did you?" In that moment, I understood. I was just a renewable blood bag. A tool with a purpose. For an alliance, for her, he sacrificed me. He cast me into the abyss and let the darkness swallow me whole. He thought the Guardian's Pact would chain me to him for eternity. But he forgot one thing. Every pact has a loophole. So I destroyed everything he ever gave me. Then, with my family's help, I vanished. But when the Lord of Eternal Night couldn't find his favorite toy… he went mad.

On the first day Thea Storme is accepted back to her wealthy family, she signs a betting contract with the fake heiress, Clara Storme. The contract states that if Clara is able to steal from Thea nine times in a row, Thea will have to leave the Storme family on her own. Thea agrees to the bet. On the ninth time, Clara has her eye on Thea's boyfriend, who's a low-income student. She gives him two million dollars and demands that he marry into her family as a live-in son-in-law. "You want me to marry into your family? Sure." Thea raises her head in disbelief. Leonard Falkner taps a finger on the bank card. The moment he meets Thea's gaze of despair, he flashes her a comforting smile. "But I will marry into your family as Thea's husband. I might be poor, but I still have my pride. Except for the woman I love most, I won't lower my head for anyone in this world." That day, Clara cries as she runs out of the house. She even agrees to marry into the Larkin family out of spite. Leonard remains unmoved. He just watches Clara making a fool of herself coldly. But that night, Thea overhears something…

My online boyfriend is my university professor and the future werewolf king, Sarek. And me? I’m Mila—just a human hunter’s descendant scraping by in the cracks of an era where species coexist in uneasy peace. What he doesn’t know is that his online girlfriend, whom he wishes to tear apart a thousand times over, is sitting in the very last row of his classroom. The online relationship was never meant to be real. It started as revenge to get back at him for failing me. But who would’ve thought this werewolf was so starved for affection that he’d fall deeper and deeper in love? Again and again, he pushed to meet in person. However, if we ever really met face to face, I’d be torn apart and swallowed whole—bones and all. To save my life, I made a split-second decision and broke up with him. The result? The “abandoned” werewolf king lost his mind. Classes dragged on for three extra hours, and homework increased fivefold. For the sake of my classmates’ mental and physical health, getting back together… wasn’t entirely impossible. There was only one condition: he could never find out who I really am.

After failing to conquer Quinn Langley 99 times in a row, I finally give up on my quest. When Quinn insists on going on a vacation with the female lead, Melody Frost, during our fifth wedding anniversary, I grant his wish. When he wants to give Melody a proper title, I file for a divorce from him immediately. Even when Quinn wants to give the newborn that I've risked my life delivering to this world to Melody, I just nod and let him take the baby away. Upon noticing the pallor in my cheeks, Quinn goes down on one knee next to me and starts coaxing me softly. "Melody is afflicted with a terminal disease, and she's infertile too. Her biggest wish in this lifetime is to form a family with me. "Don't worry. Once she's passed away, I'll remarry you immediately. This time, we'll spend the rest of our lives as a family." What he doesn't know is that we no longer have a future together. I've already given up on the conquest mission, after all. In three days, I'll get eradicated by the system and leave this world for good.

"I hate this life!" Isabella screamed, her frustration rising with each second. Finally having had enough with being confined to the castle walls, she decided to take her life into her own hands. But her duties as the only one who needs to marry the Alpha King for the safety of the kingdom loomed over her like a dark cloud that would never go away. Afraid of her parents reaction, she sneakily created a plan that she had hoped would be better for her. But little does she know they made a pact with the Alpha King that would change her life forever. Is she ever going to be able to take destiny into her own hands and forge her own path. Or will she lose her freedom forever?

I was Vampire Lord Bastian’s exclusive blood thrall. My blood was an addiction he just couldn't kick. But six years ago, an accidental blood pact left me pregnant. Yet, he never once allowed our half-blood son, Liam, to call him "Dad." After he blew off Liam’s birthday—again—for his pureblood companion Ophelia, I severed the pact. I took my son and walked out of his immortal life for good. The ever-so-elegant ancient vampire finally snapped. He tore into my empty lab, roaring, demanding to know where Liam and I had gone. But this time, neither Liam nor I would ever look back.

My boyfriend Julian is a chess grandmaster, a genius. At sixteen, he became the youngest grandmaster in North American history. I gave him ten years of my life, but a ring was never on the table. But when he reached the pinnacle of his career and won the Grand Slam, he still refused to break the pact he'd made with his family about his career. "According to my plan, I'm not considering marriage or any other form of long-term commitment until all my goals are achieved." I didn't argue with him. I quietly packed his luggage for the World Championship and wished him the best. He had no idea that at the very moment he was lifting the championship trophy with the world watching, I was dragging my failing body to sign my own name on a euthanasia consent form.

Arianna’s life in the Moon Pack as a faithful heiress was just perfect until it was ruined by the betrayal that broke out during the Bonfire Festival which is the annual celebration of the pack’s unity. While running away, she inadvertently finds herself in the god of wolves’ territory where she meets Alpha Lucian, her destined mate, who is caught between the pact and fate, while his chosen bride Gia keeps dangerous secrets. The chaos that arises from the release of Arianna’s moon magic reveals the underlying plots of the conspirators and the turmoil that has rocked the wolf communities. Unexpected births create tensions, poison is used at social functions, and the ancient predictions are being contested by the warring packs. If the Moon Goddess is going to come down with a storm of curses and heirs, will love overpower loyalty? Or will it always be under the shadow of love?

Born the "weak" disgrace of the Moonridge bloodline, Selene was always an afterthought—until she was gifted in an arranged marriage to the man she secretly loved. . .Magnus Lancaster, the cold Alpha of the North. But hope turned to horror when Magnus chose her sister instead, leaving Selene humiliated and discarded. Broken and hunted, Selene vanishes into the lawless West. There, she finds Rage Lancaster, Magnus’s exiled brother. In the heat of their sheets and the blood of the wild, they forge a dark, "no-labels" pact of skin and survival. The fragile girl dies in the dirt, and the Vicious Conqueror rises in her place. Now, Selene returns to raze the empires that once scorned her. As Magnus and Rage both seek to claim a place in her new world, Selene must decide: will she reclaim her title as Luna, or burn everything to the ground as a ruthless Queen?

When profiler Ava Cross returns to her father’s secluded hometown after his sudden death, she expects grief and old ghosts — not a series of brutal killings and a predator with glowing gold eyes watching her window. Drawn into the secrets of Silverpine, Ava discovers a hidden world of shapeshifters bound by a centuries-old pact now crumbling under a blood-moon prophecy. Everyone wants something from her: Rowan, the deputy who swore to protect her; Elias, the alpha who claims she belongs to the pack; and Silas, the rogue who warns she’s in danger from them all. Torn between loyalty and survival, Ava must uncover the truth about her heritage and make an impossible choice—before the next full moon rises and the hunt begins.