Vein Collapsed While Drawing Blood

The night I found out, I almost fixed it. Almost. My assignment had been changed to Everglades Academy. Two thousand miles south. Swamp territory. Three omegas died there last year. I'd asked Kael to file my school preference. Silver Peak Academy. Together. The way we'd planned since we were twelve, lying in the snow making promises to the stars. Now the screen said Everglades. I called him immediately. He picked up on the second ring, relaxed as always. "Hey." "My assignment," I said. "It says Everglades." "Oh." Not guilt. Recalibration. "Lil came by while I was filing yours. She wanted to play a prank—switched it to Everglades for a laugh." He laughed. Light. Careless. "Deadline's tomorrow night. Just override it yourself. It takes thirty seconds." "If I hadn't checked—" "But you did check." That patience. "Fen. You always check everything. That's why she knew you'd catch it. It was just a joke." Just a joke. So my future was a punchline. My life, someone else's entertainment. I said nothing. I packed my gear. I left for the transport hub on departure day. Kael found me at the platform. His smile was gone. "I told you to override it. You didn't change it back?" "No."

During a mission overseas, I shielded my younger brother from an explosion—only to wake up months later, my body broken, my mind trapped in the void of a coma. Grateful for my sacrifice, he repaid me by marrying my wife. When I finally clawed my way back to consciousness and rushed home, I found my son kneeling on the ground, sobbing as his college acceptance letter lay shredded in his fists. My nephew loomed over him, slamming a steel pipe into his back. "Lick my shoes clean," he sneered. "Who are you to think you deserve an education?" And there was my wife clapping in delight, dabbing the sweat from my nephew’s brow like a doting servant. "You’re just like your deadbeat father," My wife spat. "Born to be my stepping stone." My eyes bloodshot, I tightened my fists. Every last one of them would pay for this dearly.

Isabella Marino has spent her life toeing the line between duty and desire, torn between her family’s expectations and her dream of freedom. When her father arranges her marriage to Leonard Ricci, the most powerful and ruthless mafia boss in Italy, she’s thrust into a world of power, violence, and deception. She knows Leonard’s reputation—a man feared by his enemies, respected by his allies, and untouchable in the criminal underworld. But as their marriage forces them into each other’s lives, Isabella soon discovers the man behind the ruthless façade—a man scarred by betrayal, driven by loyalty, and desperate to protect the empire he’s built. In the shadowy world of mafia politics, where trust is a rare commodity and enemies lurk at every corner, Isabella and Leonard must navigate a dangerous game of power and survival. As secrets unravel and bloodlines are tested, Isabella faces an impossible choice: follow her heart and risk everything, or remain loyal to a family that sees her as a pawn in their game. But Leonard has his own battles to fight, and in a world where love is a dangerous weakness, the only thing more treacherous than their enemies is the growing connection between them. Power. Betrayal. Love. When the stakes are life or death, can two souls caught in the crossfire find a way to save each other, or will they be torn apart by the very forces that brought them together?

"Sit down, pet." Those words echo through Raya's mind as she thinks about how her drastically her life changed in the past 24 hours. She knew her entire life that she wasn't like everybody else, that she was actually a half-vampire. She always wondered who her father was, but it seemed to be the one secret her mother was determined to take to her grave. Raya knows next to nothing about her heritage or this other side of herself and what she is capable of. Now that she is stuck with three hot vampire brothers that want answers she has no idea what will become of her.

When Elara Vale turns eighteen, strange men begin watching her. She is taken not violently, but carefully into a world she never knew existed. Cassian Dray tells her one truth: “You are not my prisoner. But you are not free.” She learns her mother signed an oath in blood, binding Elara’s future to the Dray Syndicate. The oath says: “As long as the child lives under our shadow, the secret will never be spoken.” But Elara does not know what the secret is. As enemies rise, betrayals spread, and power shifts, Elara must decide: Is she only a key? Or can she become the hand that turns the lock?

Red is always symbolizing love. But for Rose it was never been love. It was blood. Even her name has a red on it. Blood that she hates. If she will have the time to turn back things on, she will never ever tie herself to the man that she once loved. The blood that she doesn’t need is the one that can keep her alive. She doesn’t know that love will going to do its way to get way of the love she thrown at. She doesn’t know that once in her life… Red will always be love and Rose will always be red.

Twins Celeste and Damien, born into a powerful vampire bloodline, find their unbreakable bond tested when Celeste falls in love with a human named Michael. As their forbidden love threatens to expose the vampire world to humans, they must navigate treacherous alliances and confront ancient rivalries, all while trying to protect their family's legacy and unravel the dark secrets that bind them.

After many years of living away, Abigail Hopper returns to her hometown because of her father's transfer. Abigail has a crush on her new classmate, Micheal Whitlock in her new college but stops having feelings after learning that he's a werewolf. Abigail secretly writes mystery thriller books online under a pen name 'phoenix'. Things get dirty when a murder occurrs in the the manner described by Abigail in her book. Micheal discovers Abigail's secret and suspects her of being the murderer. A murder occurs when Abigail was in Michael's custody, proving her that she's not the perpetrator. Michael and Abigail try to find the murderer together to stop the town from being a burial ground. Knowing that the murderer is one of their college's teachers who attempted to shatter the peace between the human and werewolf communities by murdering innocent people and werewolves, Michael and Abigail apprehended him and filed a lawsuit against him in order to restore peace to their village.

All Hailey has ever known is the quiet, peaceful life she's lived in her small town of Silver Creek. But without warning, all that is about to change in the blink of an eye and life as she knows it is about to take a big turn. - Trey is a troubled man, haunted by his past and all he lives for now are the dangerous assignments he deals with every now and again. Currently, that assignment includes the daughter of an old time family friend. He has to protect her at all cost from the Leviathans and that shouldn't be hard. Except it is, as sparks begin to fly between them and feelings he's worked to keep buried starts to resurface again.

Isidora Moretti always appeared to be a chess player, overseeing her family’s massive enterprise and grappling with the city’s menacing mafia clans. Her father orders her to marry the Vescari heir, and she discovers that theirs is not romance that would involve love-it is of power and obedience. Declining could be her last word so she thinks of an escape-engagement, a lie she is betting would work. She teams up with Dante Romano,the boy who beats her every time in school. He is good looking, cold, smart and has chased the same deal she wants. He often mocks her stubborn ways and never offers real help. Still, he oddly agrees to act as her fiancé. The agreement sees only looks, no real feeling involved. It may mean just a clever contract. Business agreement looks clean, no feelings. But Dante seizes Isidora at the engagement party and kisses her in front of the city. Everything becomes upside down. Rivalry and obsession — everything seems to blur. Others soon witness Isidora as Dante’s Achilles’ heel. In another world, weakness is a weapon. Maybe they both have this tilt, not just one side. With threats growing closer-in business offices ,back alleys, and mob hits, both find they need to stand up together. As they fight, they come closer and closer, and each threat reduces the boundaries they’ve constructed between them on their feelings. As danger narrows in on Isidora, Dante’s left to contemplate the sacrifices he’ll make just to keep her safe. He’ll do anything he can to protect her, to make her his, even if it’s damaging everything in his path. In the end, the promises they’ve made, no matter how unserious, appear to be the only thing they can reasonably believe.