The Rising Tide Shaara

“She tried to escape. I think she wants to go rogue.” The guard said.  Sabrina’s eyes snapped to me. A smirk curled on her lips as she walked forward. “Tried to escape, did we?” she said, her blue eyes slicing into mine. “Leave us.” The guards obeyed. She moved in, gaze sweeping over me. “Whatever made you think your scrawny little body could outrun two strong guards?” “Sabrina, you have to let me go. I don’t want to be your handmaid. Please. Let me go.” I begged.  Sabrina laughed, sharp and cold. “Oh, you’ll serve me whether you like it or not.” She leaned closer. “You won’t just serve me, Elowyn. You’ll mate with the Alpha and carry his child for us.” My breath caught. “What?” Her smile deepened, her voice soft and slow. “I can’t be the one who fulfills the prophecy that Kieran’s Luna will die in childbirth.” She stepped even closer. Her eyes locked on mine. “You will bear his child, Elowyn.” She said it with such certainty that my blood ran cold.  I stared at her, horror rising in my throat. “You want me to die instead of you?” Sabrina said nothing. She didn’t have to. Her smile said everything.

In New York’s Upper East Side, there were two heirs. One was a speed-obsessed daredevil dominating the racetracks, the other was a brilliant actuary who controlled the flow of capital. Born into powerful families and polar opposites in temperament, yet they grew up side by side as each other’s only best friend. They had fought over girls and bickered endlessly over racing bets. However, at fifteen, there was one thing they did in perfect unison. They each put on the same roughly carved bronze badge. They were trinkets Mia had idly made during a craft class, marked only by a faint “M” scratched on the back. Back then, Mia was seated in the last row of the classroom. Her background was a complete mystery to everyone. Yet they wore that badge for ten whole years. Whether standing on the F1 podium or locking in billion-dollar trades at the exchange, the cheap little badge on their chests never changed. Until Ella showed up. She was the cherished daughter of a rising conglomerate family. She hand-stitched two gold-thread fabric patches and gifted them to them. The patches looked so ordinary they looked like the kind of trinket you would find three for a dollar at a flea market. And yet, they both replaced their bronze badges with her plain patches. Mia did not say anything. She simply folded away an old newspaper clipping with a photo of the three of them smiling together. That night, she called her father in Sicily. Her voice was emotionless. “Papa, I accept the marriage arrangement.”

Catalina Ramirez has always been the subject of gossip on campus—labeled a playgirl not for what she did, but because of what people think they saw. When her long-distance boyfriend left for the Philippines, rumors flew that she cheated with her boy best friend, Aiden. What no one knew was that Aiden was simply protective of her, always by her side, never crossing the line. But to others, closeness easily looked like something more. With striking blue eyes as calm and deep as the ocean, Catalina doesn’t need to lift a finger to catch anyone’s attention. Her beauty is effortless, her voice captivating. As a member of a rising campus band, she sings with a passion that defies the quiet disapproval of her mother. Who has always tried to pull her away from music. Catalina feels it deep in her bones: her mother is hiding something from her, something about her past, something she’s not ready to confront. Then came Logan Axel Tyndall. At first, Catalina thought it was nothing but a harmless crush, an infatuation she’d get over in a week or two. She tried to laugh it off, but soon found herself stalking him, chasing after the way he walked, talked, and carried the world like he knew more than he let on. Before she knew it, she wasn’t just falling... she was drowning in him. But Logan wasn’t just another boy. He held the missing pieces of a puzzle she never knew she was trying to solve. Through him, secrets begin to unravel. Questions long buried rise to the surface.

"What gives you the right to think you can control me?" I fumed, feeling the anger rising in me. Before I could react, he had me pinned against the wall, his eyes staring into mine. “Go ahead and deny it all you want but this body of yours belongs to me completely. Like hell I'd let anyone touch you this way.” Violet Murray had always longed for the day she would find her mate. She doesn’t expect the painful rejection and humiliation that comes from the Alpha. Tired of everything she’d been forced to endure; she does the most reasonable thing anyone would do in her shoes. Strike a deal with his long-time rival, Lucian Sinclair. They form an alliance under the guise of a fake relationship. She swears she has no feelings for him. When their fake relationship bleeds into something else, she finds herself questioning everything, including her growing feelings. Lucian Sinclair had one simple aim; completely destroying the one thorn in his flesh, Tristan Black, along with his bleeding pack. He finds an opportunity in the person of Violet who bears a grudge against Tristan and her former pack for all she’d been put through. They agree to form an alliance for the sole purpose of taking their mutual enemy down. It was meant to be no feelings attached. When the lines start to blur, her finds herself unable to deny the feelings he has for her. When different enemies threaten to tear them apart, they must decide if their love is worth fighting for.

Suddenly, there were sparks in the air as memories came back. My heart froze as I stared at him. The moment I dreaded most had come to life. “No. This couldn’t be happening,” I told myself. It was him. “My lady, this is the man who brought Asher home,” the maid announced beside me. “The Alpha of the Silver Fang pack, Kael Riverstone.” ***** In a single, shattering day, Aurelia’s world collapses when her husband, the Lycan king, parades a pregnant woman into their home—none other than Liora, the cruel tormentor from Aurelia’s past pack. The betrayal cuts deeper as Aurelia uncovers Kael’s heartless truth: his love was a lie, a scheme to exploit her rare primordial wolf blood. Framed for treason and cast out, Aurelia vows vengeance and returns to her old pack, rising from outcast to the fierce Alpha of Red Moon. Five years later, with her son Asher and her fiercely devoted beta Rune at her side, she’s forged a new life—Rune stepping in as the father figure Asher adores. But as undeniable sparks flare between Aurelia and Rune, threatening to ignite a passion she’s afraid to embrace, her past storms back. Kael, now wracked with regret, grovels for forgiveness, desperate to reclaim what he threw away. With Liora’s schemes lurking, Asher’s wild powers drawing danger, and a hidden bond with Rune unraveling, Aurelia must navigate a treacherous path of love, revenge, and primal strength. Will she seize her hard-won power and heart, or will the ghosts of betrayal pull her back into chaos?

In the shifter city of Ancnix, strength is law, loyalty is survival, and every young warrior is taught that their soul belongs to the moon. Seventeen-year-old Elora Jardine has spent her life mastering control—of her shifting, of her temper, and of the secrets she keeps hidden behind a composed smile. Born into a respected warrior house yet trapped beneath her father’s cruelty, Elora’s only anchors are her younger brother, Micah, and her closest friend, Kailee Blackstone. But on the eve of her graduation, a violent confrontation awakens a power inside Elora that no Shifter should possess. When the city’s future king, Gregory Forstfang, moves to claim her under the guise of duty, Elora’s world collapses into fear, fractured trust, and a destiny she never asked for. Forced to flee Ancnix, Elora’s escape leads her deep into the untamed Outer Wilds, where she encounters two strangers whose paths intertwine with her own: Briar Vale, a gentle but powerful Strega guided by visions she doesn’t yet understand, and Declan Eldritch, a Farisee whose calm presence stirs ancient magic in the world around him. Each carries secrets. Each carries a purpose. And each seems mysteriously drawn to Elora’s growing, unstable power. Together, the unlikely trio must navigate haunted forests, forgotten ruins, and a rising darkness spreading across Nethara. As Elora’s abilities intensify beyond her control, the three uncover whispers of an old prophecy—a legend hinting that the fate of their world may rest in the hands of a girl who never wanted to be anything more than free.

Ean's face twisted with anger as he grabbed me by the arm, dragging me toward the old, rusted freezer in the corner of the warehouse. "You're going to feel what Helen felt," he spat. "Maybe that'll teach you not to mess with her." I struggled against him, panic rising in my chest. "Ean, this is insane! It was an accident! Let me explain—" He wasn’t listening. He shoved me inside the freezing metal box and slammed the door shut. The echo of the lock clicking into place made my heart pound in my ears. I banged on the door with my fists. "Ean, please! You can’t do this!" I screamed, but the sound of his footsteps grew fainter as he walked away. He left me with nothing but a single bowl of water, like I was some kind of prisoner. I slumped against the cold metal, shivering. The temperature plummeted almost instantly. The hum of the freezer kicked in, and I realized too late—it wasn’t broken like he thought. It was working, and I was trapped. My body shook uncontrollably as the cold seeped into my bones. I screamed for help until my throat was raw, clawing at the walls in desperation. My bloody handprints smeared across the icy surface, a silent plea for mercy that no one would hear. Seven days passed. When Ean finally returned, the look on his face was one of smug satisfaction. He had expected me to beg, to apologize. But when they pried open the freezer, all they found was my frozen body, stiff and silent, my suffering long over.

She stripped herself naked before him, baring not just her body but whatever it was left of her dignity. "Isn't this what you wanted, like all the other Alphas?" She asked him, her voice trembling with pain and contempt. He stood frozen as he beheld the figure before him. And after a few minutes, picked up her robe and wrapped it gently around her. Then he walked away. She wasn't just a woman and her body which he had just seen was a sin - the kind that made time pause and had men under it's hypnotic influence. And for the first time in his life, he had felt something stir within him. His body had betrayed him, rising with a hunger that terrified him. It wasn’t just lust. It was raw and ferocious. For her and only her… his desire finally woke up. --- They say the Bloodmoon brings out the worst in beasts. For him, it made him Alpha. For me, it made me hunted. When I was chosen as a tribute to the Bloodmoon Hunt, I expected to finally have a mate. After being rejected five times by my previous ones. But what I didn't expect... was it to be him. Alpha Denzel: brutal, cold and cursed by the moon itself. Everyone fears him. They say he's unlovable and untamable. Because of his tyranny. But I’m not everyone. And I’ve got a beast of my own. That beast of an Alpha is mine to tame. Or destroy. Whichever comes first.

"It's Mayor Montgomery's daughter, Anaïs...Beautiful and...virgin." At these last words, I could hear their cries of satisfaction rising like the cry of wild beasts, ready to do anything to devour me. “So gentlemen, place your bets. Bidding starts from 3 million.” And there...I watched them discuss my price as if I were an object. What had I done to get there? Well, nothing. My only sin was being the daughter of the mayor who has plunged the supernatural people into horror for over 15 years...Indeed, when the government discovered the existence of werewolves, they immediately made a chip that would reduce them to slavery but now that they have revolted, I am an enemy to them. The person they must vent their rage on since my father is now dead. "20 millions." 20 millions ? Still petrified and trembling, I looked up at the man who had just spoken....That scar on his face, that enigmatic look... No, not him. Denver. Slave #345... He was one of my father's five Alpha Slaves. He lived a martyr's life since my father had killed his entire family before bringing him into slavery... He stood out from the crowd because he spent a lot of time spying on me and he even saved my life. However, he was also the one who killed my fathers on the evening of the revolt. Swallowing, I knew that if he bought me it was simply to make me pay for my father's evil... “No…” I whispered, my eyes widening in horror. "20 million...20 million...20million. Awarded."

“Is that a threatened kitten?” he asked, amused, What? I snapped at him, pissed, “No, Asshole. If it were, you would already be dead,” I added, feeling the bolting rage rising within me. “Oh…” he smirked as he traced my jaw with his thumb, “I’m starting to like you more and more,” he said with a devilish grin, I froze in place, “Oh really? Well, too bad, ‘LUCIAN,’ cause I don’t give a fuck,” “Hahaha, you’re hilarious Mira,” he spat out as he took a seat on the mattress, I moved backward, staying far away from his reach, His eyes remained on me with every step I took. I turned angrily, “Is there something you want, husband?” And asked irritated, “Yes, in fact, there are a lot of things I want. But why don’t you start by explaining to me what you meant by ‘your man?’ huh?” he asked, and this time I could see the seriousness in his eyes, even when he tried to hide it. What will Mira do after four years of returning home, only to find out that she was traded off by her own father? A secret they kept hidden from her. Contracted: Love in the Shadow" Narrates a story filled with family betrayal and a passionate romance that totters at the edge of danger and desire. Will Mira be taken over by the darkness within her, or will she find the strength with love by her side to overcome the challenges that threaten to break her?