This Present Darkness Ebook Novels & Stories

In my previous lifetime, my parents can't bear to marry Selena Madden to a faraway pack, so they decide to let her marry Alpha Kyle Abbott from the Shadowfrost pack. On the night a party is hosted, the drunken Kyle mistakes me for Selena, so he kisses and marks me on the spot. Later on, he's forced to marry me in order to take responsibility for what happened. Out of sorrow, Selena decides to marry far, far away to Londres. But after Kyle and I become mates, he pretends as though I don't exist. Throughout our three-year mate bond, I'm forced to endure the cold shoulder he gives me while helping him deal with all the pack-related affairs. On top of that, I still prepare Kyle's meals for him meticulously every day. Even when it comes to bedroom matters, I do my best to cooperate with him. Some time later, our relationship begins to ease up. Kyle no longer treats me coldly. I thought this is a sign that Kyle has accepted me as his mate. But when he dies in an accident, he has his Beta deliver his final words to me before he breathes his last. "Layla, if there is a next life, please let me and Selena be together." It turns out that Kyle has never forgotten Selena. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Kyle and Selena are about to discuss their upcoming bonding ceremony. In this lifetime, I decide to fulfill their wish.

"If I could start again..." "I would never be this weak." The apocalypse took everything after it struck. His girlfriend chose another man and his best friend betrayed him. And after being left for dead, Sebastian made one final choice and jumped. Then he woke up. One month before the end of the world. Determined to survive this time, Sebastian swears never to trust anyone again. No more sacrifices. No more saving people who would never save him. But his second chance comes with a problem. A mysterious man named Ryder. He knows things he shouldn't know, appears when Sebastian needs him most and watches him with the unsettling familiarity of someone who has already mourned him once. As the countdown to the apocalypse begins, secrets buried beneath the city begin to surface. The closer Sebastian gets to the truth, the more he realizes that surviving may not be enough. Because not everyone was meant to survive the apocalypse. And some people were destined to start it.

The sole heiress of a wealthy family, Amanita Wallace, had seven prospective husbands, taken in from childhood to potentially wed her one day. All of them fulfilled her every wish, except Marcus Channing, who was cold and mean to her. Due to this, Amanita fell for him and even became his lapdog. Then, one day, she saw him pin his supposed sister against the wall and confess his feelings to her.

I've gotten into an accident. When my childhood friend, Jason Patel, drops by to visit me, I feel like pulling a prank on him all of a sudden. So, I ask, "Who are you? I've lost my memory." He's left feeling stunned for a moment before he reveals the fake smile that he often wears whenever he pulls pranks on others. "I'm your boyfriend, Jason Patel." My heart begins pounding wildly in my chest. I decide to go along with this little prank. That summer of us playing pretend has to be the happiest time of my life. But when Giselle Ford returns to our lives, Jason immediately clears the air between us. It turns out that he and Giselle have had a crush on each other during their high school days. Unfortunately, they missed the chance to date each other. What am I to them, then? So, I can only grant their wish of wanting to stay together. That's why I laugh and call Jason out for being an idiot because he can't even tell that I faked my memory loss. Unexpectedly, I get into another accident some time later. When I wake up, I ask Jason who he is again. Impatience flickers across his expression. "Don't you feel lame for using the same trick twice?" What he doesn't know is that I've truly lost my memory this time.

Hazel Queen had loved her husband with all her heart for three years. But the one thing she never saw coming was the cold, shocking truth: he wanted a divorce because his mistress was pregnant. Heartbroken and betrayed, Hazel decides to move on and returns to Queen Corp, where she steps into her true role as the powerful female president, worth hundreds of millions. This revelation shocks her ex-husband, Damon Price, who never knew that the woman he left behind was the mastermind behind the famous Queen Corp—the Heiress of the Queen family, who had supposedly died in a fire three years ago.

Francesca only had one thing on her mind: escaping the hell that is her husband, Alpha Stefano. But it wasn't an easy feat, and more difficult years went by until she found hope in her mate, Alpha Tristan. It had long been scarred and hidden, but Tristan somehow effortlessly opened Francesca's heart again. And even as the world turned against them, she could only be certain of one thing: their love is stronger than all the forces of the universe.

"You begged me to believe you, Elara. I should have. I'll spend the rest of my life paying for not believing you." Elara Voss died alone in a dungeon. Chained, starved, rejected by her own mate, the Alpha King Kaelen Draven. Convicted of a crime she never committed. The crime her sweet step-sister Lyra cried about while wearing Elara's stolen mate mark. In her last breath Elara cursed the Moon Goddess and swore revenge. When she opened her eyes she was eighteen again. The night before her mating ceremony. The night before everything would go wrong. This time she's not the trembling girl who begged Kaelen to love her. This time she walks into the ceremony, looks the Alpha King in the eyes and rejects him first. But the Moon Goddess has a cruel sense of humor. The mate bond didn't break. It snapped back stronger. Now the Alpha who once rejected her can't sleep, can't eat, can't breathe without her. Her step-sister Lyra is terrified she's somehow remembered. And Elara is the one holding every card. She doesn't want his love anymore. She wants him to beg.

In my previous life, I was taken away by a poor family. My younger sister, Elsa, was adopted by a wealthy family instead. Unexpectedly, Elsa only got to live there for less than five years before getting cast out. She ended up dying on the streets. Meanwhile, I got into the best school thanks to my outstanding grades. Then, I furthered my studies overseas with my adoptive older brother, Flynn Cullen. With my own hands, I built my own business empire brick by brick. Years later, Flynn and I received our parents' blessings and got married. Soon, we had children of our own. I had a happy and smooth-sailing life. Now, I'm reborn. This time, Elsa makes an entirely different choice. She runs into Flynn's arms and greets him in a sweet tone. After taking the adoptive parents' hands, she shoots a smug glance in my direction. "Enya, you should have a taste of the suffering that comes with that wealthy family. I can't bear to spend a moment longer in that cruel place!" I looked at Flynn, hoping that he'd say something. Instead, I saw him shielding Elsa from me protectively. He just looked at me icily. "Don't get close to my sister!" In the end, I walked toward the limo while Elsa watched me victoriously from behind.

For five years, Gideon—my brother's Beta—and I had a secret. We were supposed to announce our mating at the pack's Winter Solstice festival. Instead, he breathed hot against my ear. "Babe, we've been sleeping together for five years. I'm bored with you. Find someone else for the marking ceremony, alright?" I didn't cry. I just gave a calm, simple nod. "Alright." Only because in my last life, I had begged him through tears to complete the bond. After he finally marked me, he grew cold. He never again woke me by rubbing his stubbled chin against my forehead. Even when we made love, he kept his eyes shut, as if he were with someone else, just using my body. When I was in agony giving birth to our pup, fighting for my life, he left me. He was going to comfort his savior, Aveline. The old wound she suffered saving him had relapsed, sending her into a mental spiral. In that moment, I finally understood. A mark I had to beg for was nothing but a curse, a wound that would never heal. This time, I pulled away with a smile, removing his hand from my waist. "You're right. I'm tired of it, too. We're done."

Three days ago, Julian Sinclair promised me to my face that he would propose to me tonight, at the family dinner. So when the ballroom doors swung open, every eye in the room turned to me, all of them already knowing why. Someone raised a glass, smiling like they already knew the secret. "Congratulations in advance, Donna." I stood there in the crowd, my fingertips trembling a little, waiting for Julian to come to me. But once he was inside, he walked right past me, straight up to Chloe Ross. And then, in front of everyone, he pinned the underboss's silver badge to her chest. "You did good work on the East Harbor cleanup." The room went still for a beat, and then the applause broke out. Chloe looked up at him, her eyes red, as if she'd finally been handed the place that was meant to be hers. I stood frozen, feeling my smile crack apart on my face, piece by piece. Only then did Julian seem to notice something, and he turned back to me. "Don't overthink it." "Tonight belongs to Chloe. Spoiling her moment with a proposal wouldn't be right." "At the next family dinner, I'll hand you the black ring in front of everyone." I looked at him and let out a soft laugh. Julian didn't know. There wasn't going to be a next time. My engagement banquet with the head of the Vaughn family was set for next week.