Winter Trees

With flights suspended at airports, Berat tries to escape by car from the harsh Turkish winter and the pain of having lost his wife, traveling with their two children: Ferhat, four years old, and Volkan, two, to Georgia. Unexpectedly, a rock slides across the road, causing it to overturn and leaving Berat and the children trapped by their seat belts. Efé, who was returning from a family wedding, next to his wife and also their six-month-old twin children, did not think twice before parking the vehicle on the side of the road and saving that man and his children. After saving Berat and the boys from death, a strong friendship begins between them, making both sign a Marriage Contract between their children Ferhat and Luna. Twenty-one years pass, Ferhat and Volkan study and graduate in the USA and when they return to Turkey they start working at their father's Automobile Company. Volkan became a famous basketball player, but abandoned his career to be his father's right-hand man in business. His brother Ferhat despite being the eldest son, is nothing more than a seductive bohemian, who will steal the heart of Rabia, the daughter of his father's partner. The beautiful Luna will grow up knowing that one day she will have to marry a man she has never seen, but destiny will cross her paths with Volkan in a charity basketball match, in favor of the homeless of the earthquake, making a beautiful story of love start for them. Never having been touched by a man, Luna will be kissed by Volkan, who will fall madly in love with her. Upon discovering that Luna is his brother's betrothed, Volkan will despair and will do the impossible for the Marriage Contract to be undone and for him to marry in her place.

For years, the witches and vampires of Shadowbrooke co-existed secretly, without much incident. Until one winter evening in 2002. Luca Delacroix was on a hunting trip when the monthly court hosted by his clan turned disastrous. What began as a normal night for the residents of the sleepy town ended horribly when fledgelings in blood-lust took Shadowbrooke under siege. It took a small coven of witches, a powerful spell, the Chaos Star and a virgin's blood to end the terror. But in the aftermath, Julian Delacroix, Luca's brother, along with several of their clan members, were eternally bound to the manor's cellar, forsaken to wither and perish from thirst. It's 2022, and Luca's returned to Shadowbrooke after two decades. His sudden reappearance threatens to destabilise the peaceful town again. He'll stop at nothing to get his brother out, and the Youngblood Coven will not hesitate to destroy him. While the witches scramble to get the missing piece of the Star of Chaos, the rune they once used against Luca's clan, he has to fight hard to stay one step ahead of them. But, his plans go awry when he meets and falls in love with Cadence Youngblood, the same woman responsible for his brother's infernal prison. Cadence is everything he shouldn't want, but for her, Luca is willing to take the backlash from his clan and risk her coven's wrath. © 2022 Val Sims. All rights reserved. No part of this novel may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author and publishers.

I died five years ago. Now my husband, the Don of our Mafia family, wants me to take the fall for his sister again—this time for accidentally killing a British noble's heir during an arms deal. He's holding a fake confession letter with my forged signature, storming into my old apartment in the rust district, only to find it empty. Frustrated, he grabs the corner store owner downstairs, demanding to know where I am. The owner pauses, wiping his hands on his apron, calmly tells him: "Serafine? She died five years ago." "Heard it was retaliation from a rival family during the gang war. They ambushed her in an alley... shot her over a dozen times. She died immediately." My husband, Lucien, refuses to believe it. Convinced the owner is on my payroll, hiding me to help me escape his reach. He scoffs, his eyes filled with scorn: "Oh, so what? Because I called her out for messing up that last job, now she's throwing a tantrum?" "You tell her, if she doesn't come back and take the fall in three days, I'll revoke her grandmother's 'special family protection'! Let the old woman rot!" With that, he storms out, his rage still simmering. The owner watches him leave and sighs, shaking his head. "There's no grandmother left to protect... That woman passed away not long after Serafine did... couldn't survive the winter without our family's medical supplies and protection..."

Run, Run, RUN. Don’t stop. The night was falling and like the creatures of the day, I needed to hide. My heart is thundering in my chest, echoing the sounds of the war that rage from the fields of my once loved home. That was before the coven came. Surprising us and taking my home and pack. The attack happened so quickly that no one was ready. We had no warning and after hours of waiting I was found. I had to run. Don't stop running. “CRACK” the current of magic shoots by and hits the tree to my left, my bare feet crunching the earth hard and fast. My small heart fluttering faster than a hummingbird's wings, my once sparkling beautiful dress is no more. It’s tattered, dirty, and torn. The edges burnt to a crisp and coated in blood from bodies of the battlefield that I raced away from. “Come here little wolfie,” a harsh raspy voice calls out cutting through the trees I hide quickly behind a tree to take cover to breathe, “I just want a little chat!” He calls singsong like, taunting me. He wants to find me to kill me. Ducking further behind my tree I hold my breath, my young body shaking with so much force my bones ache. Holding my breath and closing my eyes hoping for safety that surely won’t come. At only 11 years of age, I can’t fight this grown warlock... he will surely kill me like he did my parents... “Wolfie princess, where are you?” He mimics the rhythm of a child’s tune, as if I’d listen. Closing my eyes tighter I don’t want to die. I’m too young. My mind is racing, and my hearts bound t....

"Stop we can't do this, Levi, it's wrong" I panicked, we were out in the open, and anyone who see us, children of the newlyweds like this would raise an alarm, he towered over me ignoring my protest as he cupped my chin forcing me to look into his alluring green eyes. "You know you want to" His voice was gruff and smoky. He was right. I didn't say anything when he leaned in and claimed my lips, somewhere at the back of my mind I imagined us at the altar just like our parents were earlier. Till death do us part? ~~~~~~ I have always hated how my life was with Mom getting married almost every year, I didn't think this would be any different from the rest. We will be out of here before winter, I would add the Sinclair to the list of families I owe an apology to in the future that's if I don't forget them. Or at least that's what I thought until I met him. Levi Sinclair. He is the one I shouldn't want yet I keep gravitating towards him and the more I tried hating him the more I wanted him. And I wasn't the only one with these feelings. Levi wanted me just as much as I wanted him, even more than I wanted him. But he is my stepbrother and I can't go down that path. Ll// So why can't my body refuse to listen to my brain when I'm alone with him?

Suerinity has always been one to believe in mates. She believes the goddess will fate you with someone who would hold you forever, to love you at your best, and worship you at your worst. When Suerinity got rejected by her first mate, Harris, she felt as if it would be the end of the world for her. Anger and pain consumed her when she saw her supposedly soulmate in a bed with another she-wolf. The bond between the two was severed and Suerinity embraced the pain it came with. Suerinity had a moment of weakness upon losing a mate. She blamed herself for not being enough and for being different. She loathed herself for some time until the day came she would decide for herself to finally move on. When Salazar met Suerinity he knew she lived up to the definition of a soulmate. They fell. They fell hard and fast. She was his light, the biggest ray and slightest dim in the dark. He was her apricity, her warmth in the winter season, through the cold nights and cold days. But Suerinity was a flame waiting to be put off. The monsters enchanted by her fire, they seek to claim her and she weeps. Salazar was her redemption but did she truly deserve him? She burned for him and yet she fears most that she'd burn him with her flames. He gave her another reason to live but a life without him would be similar to death. She was his supernova spreading cosmos like wildfire, and he would capture each heavenly body with so much delight. Will she finally have her happily ever after? Or will fate once again take another unexpected turn

Being the only child to the Queen of Castle Grey, lost within the confines of mount Trenon, Kilvic is made to learn a number of things best suited to the heir to the Elzcrid bloodline at the hands of tutors handpicked by his mother. However, his fifteenth birthday sends him beyond the reaches of his mother’s domain. She has tasked him with the duty of learning more. Understanding greater things than she can teach him, greater things with which to cope with the curse upon his bloodline as she had been taught by her father and mother. Finding himself in a new kingdom, in an academy designed for only the most elite of mages, Kilvic is tasked to survive the new things he will come to learn, while struggling with the chaos of human association, as he comes to understand that while he may know a great deal about the world from the castle archives, it is a different thing to experience them. The association between people isn’t as easily deciphered as the books made them seem. As he struggles with the task of becoming a mage and a student along with surviving new friendships, failure threatens him at every turn and people prove pettier than the books would have him believe. Yet, despite all these, somewhere hidden in the shadows of the kingdom, a creature stirs, taking from the academy the one thing it values most. Kilvic must survive the trials of the academy, keep his friends, best his first enemy, and ensure that what stirs must not cause more damage than the kingdom can bear, lest the supremacy of Castle Grey be called into question in realms beyond that which most know. And all in time to attend the Winter Hall Fest.

“I was looking for a man named Zarion, but I ended up here.” Most of them gasped when I uttered Zarions’ name. “Don’t mention that name because it’s cursed!” someone hissed. My brows furrowed at her reaction. “Why? "He's the Alpha of this pack. He was banished because he didn't want to take the position. Rumour says that he's out in the woods, looking for his mate, and..." she trailed off. "And?" I swallowed. "Kill her. He wants to kill his mate." *** Alpha Zarion is on a quest to find his mate and kill her because he despises the idea of a mating bond due to his father leaving his fated mate (his mother) for another woman. During a winter storm, he met Cassidy Bentley who saved him from death. He knows he has no time to waste but Zarion was curious about her, deliriously wanting every inch of her skin and touch…until he found out that the girl is mated to his number one rival, Alpha Brandon. Alpha Brandon rejected Cassidy because she’s a human—which he greatly despises. She eventually started getting over him, pouring out her love to Alpha Zarion who obsessively wants her in return. During the night Alpha Zarion watches Cassidy transforms to a werewolf, leaving her humanity behind for her love for him, Alpha Brandon comes to his senses and goes to find her. But her first mate already found Cassidy in another Alpha's arm, in his half-brother’s arms, who was just about to mark her…

Three year after my death, my former mate returned— not to mourn me, but to make use of me one last time. It was the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year—the night when wolves whispered to the dead. “Where’s Mira Thorne?” Rowan demanded as he strode downstairs into the tavern beneath the den. “Her lived here—Gavin’s sister. I need to find her.” Dorian, the tavern keeper, glanced up slowly. “Mira?” he repeated, wiping his hands on a cloth. “She’s gone, Doctor. Died three winters ago. Same night the Moon rose red.” Rowan’s brows knit. “Dead? That’s impossible. There’s no record.” Dorian’s voice softened. “The family from that healing case—remember them? They found her in the alley behind this inn. Tore her apart before dawn. The healers couldn’t even retrieve her wolf.” Rowan froze, a flicker of disbelief passing across his face before irritation took over. “No. She’s pretending. She’s doing this to make me feel guilty.” he said sharply. “She’s hiding. She always was weak. Tell her if her doesn’t come out within three days, I’ll stop sending money for brother’s treatment.” He turned abruptly and left, the tavern door slamming behind him. Dorian sighed after him., shaking his head. “brother? Her brother died before the healers even arrived… there was never any money for treatment.” The silence that followed was heavier than snow. Dorian watched the falling snow and murmured to the empty air, “No one pretends death, Doctor. Not when they’ve already lost everything.”

“Let’s get married, Jace.” Lisa said, her eyes up at the handsome man in front of her, whose eyes were clouded with worries. “Are you sure about this?” Jace asked and she nodded, her gaze hardened as she stared into nothingness. “Dominic took everything from me, but with your help, I will get it all back.” “Why do you think I’m the best candidate for this?” Jace was curious as to why she chose him of all people for a fake marriage. “Because you’re Dominic’s step-brother. It makes the revenge worthwhile.” ……… Lisa loved her husband to an extent she was manipulated into giving her company away to him, after which he served her divorce papers. Dominic, Lisa’s Ex-husband, hated to stay in the shadows and with Lisa’s company, it has given him the limelight he needed. Lisa, the scorned, Ex-wife, humiliated in front of the world, had crawled back away from the undead, Risen out of the ashes, deadly, sharper and colder than a winter night. She wants one thing, and that is revenge. But she needed help with her revenge, so she proposed a fake marriage and romance to her best friend, Jace Davenport, Dominic’s step-brother. As they went on with a fake romance in front of everyone to taunt and lure Dominic, secrets begin to unravel. Old memories, buried deep, began to surface and loyalties twist. When the war ends, will love find a way? Or will the two people who met for revenge go their separate ways after it is done? I doubt so. Not when Jace Davenport stares at Lisa like she is his world and he will burn any other world for her!