The Ruins By Scott Smith Novels & Stories

During the height of the plague, Elizabeth is known for touching the dying without fear and for surviving longer than anyone should. The village calls her witch. Death calls her interesting. Malachor is a demon bound to plague and passing souls, ancient and cruel, intrigued by a healer who refuses to beg. When Elizabeth is condemned, thrown into a plague pit, and left to die, she calls out, not to God, but to the darkness watching her. He answers. Bound to a demon of death, Elizabeth survives… and is slowly claimed. Desire becomes devotion. Mercy becomes sin. A dark historical fantasy romance of plague, power, and forbidden surrender where love corrupts, salvation fails, and Hell is the only vow kept. TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING: This story contains mature themes and content intended for adult audiences (18+) Reader discretion is advised. It includes moments of violence, coercion and domination themes, sexual content and dark erotic elements, emotional trauma and moral corruption, blasphemous themes involving demons, faith, and damnation

Everyone called my sister Alessia a prodigy. I was the only one who knew she was a thief. From the day I moved back into the brownstone, she started taking from me. Quietly. Carefully. My designs. My sketches. My drafts. Everything I created would appear under her name before I even had time to finish it. The family stood behind her. Always. My father, Salvatore Lucchese, head of the family, his word law itself, said he believed Alessia. So I became the liar. The plagiarist. The disgrace. They threw me out of the outfit's front shop. Blacklisted me from the industry. Erased my name. Then one of her loyal admirers ran me down in the street. That was the end. Or it should have been. When I opened my eyes again, it was the day before the national jewelry competition. This time, I didn't draw a single line. Let's see what my darling sister delivers… when the well has run dry.

Being born a white wolf was supposed to be a blessing, but for Faith Collins, it was a curse. Her mate used her for her magic, then rejected her for her younger sister. Now, fulfilling her duty to her pack, she’s forced into mating an evil man for a peace treaty, trapped in a fate she never chose. Only, before vows can be spoken, Faith is kidnapped by the most feared alpha of all, Alpha Kaiden Reed. He was her pack’s greatest enemy and thrived in chaos. To others, he was ruthless and cruel, but to her, he might just be her salvation. As war ensues for her return, her fate rests solely in his hands. But can she trust him, or is he just another captor wanting to use her for her power?

I was only an Omega. Never meant to be seen. Never meant to be chosen. And definitely never meant to be fought over. When my pack is destroyed, I’m taken into the territory of the Vaelor twins, two Alphas feared for their power and known for their brutality. Noah Vaelor is cold, controlled, and lethal. He says I belong under his protection. Cassian Vaelor is ruthless, and smiling when he bleeds. He says I belong to the pack. I don’t belong to either of them. But when an ancient law awakens and my blood is revealed to carry the future of their legacy, their protection turns into possession and the rivalry between the twins becomes deadly. Bound by blood. Trapped by fate. And caught between two Alphas who would tear the world apart to claim what they believe is theirs. One will protect me. The other will destroy everything to take me.

Being part of a reserved family, Suki knows her place within the community of the Moonstone pack. She has her duties and she completes them perfectly, just as her father orders. As the daughter of the Beta, the second in command, she’s set to live a life of importance within the pack, helping to aid it to greatness, and that’s only meant to become stronger once she finds her mate. Like every other werewolf, she has dreamt of what it would be like to find her mate when she comes of age, to know what the power of the mate bond truly feels like. However, on her 18th birthday, she doesn’t just experience one bond… she experiences TWO. Two separate bonds with two completely different males - bad boy Brendan and the perfect soldier Reynard. How could this be? It defies the laws of nature, all werewolves are given one mate and one mate only. As she and her two mates try to understand their anomaly of a mate bond, they also have to deal with an even greater threat that’s approaching - something that’s not only a threat to their pack, but to the entire werewolf species. Will they be able to save the pack? And who will Suki choose as her mate to seal the bond? Brendan or Reynard…? NOTE: This is a spin-off story to my other original story, "The One True Alpha", and though it is not essential to read that story before this one, there will be brief mentions and appearances of characters from that story within this right from the start, as well as some potential for minor spoilers of that story. If you enjoy this story, then you'd likely enjoy reading TOTA too! (It's already complete, so check it out!)

I ran away with my new husband, Keith, chasing something—adventure, maybe, or just a way out of my dead-end town. He promised Vegas, bright lights, and fortune. Said he’d win big at the Moon Crescent Casino. I went along for the ride, naively thinking this was the start of something new. Instead, Keith lost everything. And I mean everything. And his genius solution? He sold me. To pay off his gambling debt, he handed me over like property—to a pack. Not just one man, but three. Wolves, apparently. Dangerous, intense... and off-the-charts gorgeous. Husk is tall, dark, and terrifyingly silent. When he does smile, it looks like it hurts him—and frankly, it gives me nightmares. Winter, with his pale hair and soft eyes, is gentle… on the surface. But there’s something immense in him, some power pulsing under his skin, like he could take control of my very soul. Then there’s Sky—moody, brooding, unreadable. He shifts between warm and cold so fast I get whiplash. They tell me I have to stay with them at the casino for thirty days. Just thirty days, and the debt is paid. Sounds simple, right? Except nothing about this is simple. And I know there’s a catch. So, I run. Only to find out—they need me. Not for money. Not just for fun. For something deeper. Something... ancient. Suddenly, I’m not the girl people overlook. I’m not the small-town girl with a too-big heart and nowhere to put it. I’m the key to something much bigger, something magical. And maybe, just maybe, these wolves aren’t my captors… they’re my future. I left to escape. But it turns out, what I needed most was exactly what I tried to leave behind.

Raine Vance has spent her whole life fighting to be taken seriously in her family’s empire. But after walking in on her fiancé in bed with her sister, she’s left humiliated, betrayed, and one mistake away from losing everything her grandfather promised her. Enter Adrian Throne. The boy she once hated. The man her parents despise. The billionaire heir who kissed her in a bar just to prove he could and then announced to the world that she was his fiancée. Now the entire city is watching their whirlwind engagement, but someone wants Raine dead. Between her family’s accusations, her sister’s venom, and Adrian’s dangerous protectiveness, Raine finds herself caught in a storm of lies, lust, and power plays. She swore she would never belong to him. But Adrian swore something too If someone tries to take her from him again… he’ll burn the world down.

On the eve of her engagement, Jade Moretti thought the worst thing she would face was cold feet. She was wrong. When she walks into her fiancé’s penthouse, she finds him in bed with her step-sister. Humiliated and desperate, Jade runs to the only man who should protect her—her father. But he chooses business over blood. With her name dragged through scandal and her future destroyed overnight, Jade is forced into a world where power is the only currency that matters. That is where she meets Killian Montclair. Cold. Strategic. Untouchable. Killian doesn’t believe in love. He believes in control. And he offers Jade a deal that could save her… and ruin her. A contract marriage. No feelings. No attachment. No mistakes. But when Jade becomes a part of Killian’s life, she discovers he isn’t only fighting business rivals—he’s fighting ghosts, a ruthless ex, and a custody battle that could destroy everything he built. And the more Jade plays the role of wife… the more real it starts to feel. In a marriage built on lies and contracts, Jade must decide: Will she remain bound by an agreement… or risk her heart for a man who was never meant to love?

BLURB They sold me for five million dollars but two wolves paid ten million, and now I belong to both of them for six months. My name is Beatrice, three days ago my mate sold me at auction to pay gambling debts he created while I secretly ran our pack and kept us from collapsing. He called me defective because I couldn’t give him children. That was his lie to hide his own failures and I let him spread it because the truth would make me a target for something worse than a bad marriage. Now I stand in a billionaire's penthouse owned by Vincent who bought me for revenge and Christopher who bought me because we were friends when we were children before I disappeared to escape a fate I would rather die than accept. Vincent treats me like a fascinating problem to solve and Christopher treats me like fragile glass that might shatter and neither one understands that I already broke years ago and put myself back together. Six months with two wolves who both want to own me in different ways, six months to plan what happens when the contract ends, six months to remember that before I was property I was a person who survived impossible things and I can survive this too. But somewhere between business dinners where Vincent watches me like I might be worth more than he paid and late nights where Christopher reminds me what it felt like to be seen as human, something dangerous is happening. I am starting to want things beyond survival and wanting things means having things to lose. They think they bought a broken Luna who will be grateful for rescue. They are about learning that surviving taught me to be something more dangerous than broken.

Libby did everything right. She testified. She ran. She rebuilt a quiet life for herself and her little sister, Emma—one where monsters stayed buried and love felt possible again. Then Matteo Moretti walked into her world. Protective. Sharp-tongued. Dangerous in all the ways that make a woman feel safe. With him, Libby starts to believe in something fragile and terrifying: a future. Until the man who destroyed her childhood escapes prison. When Emma vanishes from school in the middle of the day, Libby’s worst fear becomes reality. The danger wasn’t gone—it was watching. Waiting. Planning. Now Matteo must use every ruthless skill he’s ever learned to hunt down a man who believes blood is ownership and love is control. Because this time, the cost isn’t just Libby’s heart. It’s a child’s life. A gripping romantic suspense about obsession, survival, and the kind of love that doesn’t just promise forever, it fights for it. Perfect for readers who love high-stakes danger, found family, protective heroes, and edge-of-your-seat emotional payoffs.