Within Temptation Bleed Out Novels & Stories

My husband, Martin, was the head of a powerful mafia don. When his widowed sister-in-law, Tricia, got into a car accident, I was forced to give her a blood transfusion. I told them through tears that I was newly pregnant and too weak to donate, but they accused me of faking the medical report. “You were out running just last week. Now you’re claiming you’re pregnant when you’re asked to donate some blood? You just don’t want to help Tricia!” In the end, they drew my blood by force. The strain caused me to miscarry, and while I bled out, my husband stayed by Tricia’s side. After that, I didn’t beg him to return. I dragged my broken body away, left the divorce papers behind, and left him for good. However, when the truth finally came to light, Martin lost his mind with regret.

She was supposed to die. She didn’t. Now she’s coming back for everything. Elara Cade thought love could survive anything—until her husband proved her wrong in the most brutal way. Betrayed. Broken. Pushed off a cliff with their three-year-old son. One survived. Barely. Now voiceless and scarred, Elara wakes in a hospital with no child, no identity, and no answers. But a stranger with stormy eyes and a name like a warning—Damien Rhys—refuses to let her slip into oblivion. He saved her life. But Elara? She’ll take what’s left of it and set the past on fire. Ashes Don’t Bleed is a searing tale of vengeance, rebirth, and the quiet rage of a woman who refuses to stay buried.

**Dez** Dezmond woke in a cold sweat. The ache in his heart was worse than ever before. It had been growing more intense over the past few weeks. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He didn't bother looking in the mirror, he knew what he would see. His face would be white and his eyes haunted with the need to find answers. Dezmond needed to know why he was being tormented in his dreams. He was never supposed to dream again. "I can't take this anymore." said Dezmond gloomily. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Ruby** Ruby couldn't focus in class, another night of tossing and turning. Seeing the flames consume her house. Hearing the screams as her family slowly died, knowing there was nothing she could do. It had been almost three years since the incident. The day she lost her family in the fire. She was the only one who wasn't in the house. And she relived that horror every night in her dreams. Though recently her nightmares felt different. More like a warning rather than a memory. "Rough night?" whispered Haven. Haven had been friends with Ruby since they were little kids. "Yeah, they started happening again." Ruby whispered back. They never really stopped. "Have you talked to anyone about it? Ruby, you can't keep it a secret forever." This is the same discussion they had just after the incident.

Fate doesn’t ask. It demands. On the night of his 18th birthday, Kieran Blackwood's future was supposed to begin. Instead, it shattered. Bound by an impossible mate bond, drawn to someone he was never meant to love, Kieran's world spirals into darkness, secrets, and betrayal. As the past resurfaces and power shifts, he learns that some mistakes don’t stay buried—and some bonds never break. When the outcast becomes the king, what’s left for the prince who turned him away? There are three choices; Bite Bleed, Bow

Falling for the man who is paying you for sex is a dangerous business. Stella Kaye Wyatt is running from an abusive past she'd like to forget. She secures a new identity by working at a brothel to stay hidden. When her once knight-in-shining armor boyfriend becomes what she escaped, she feels responsible for trying to save him at a high cost to herself. Alaric John Carter is an adventure seeker who uses adrenaline highs to forget his own troubled past. When his life crosses paths with Stella's and he's informed of her sexual job, he takes advantage as a paying customer with surprisingly deep pockets. Despite strictly being a business arrangement, real feelings begin to develop between the two. Stella begins to dream of a better life, but will handsome Alaric accept her for who she truly is when he learns the dark truth she's hiding? As Stella's past returns to reclaim her and Alaric's secrets are revealed, the truth will potentially end not only their feelings for each other, but their lives.

*Daily updates*She felt as if she were floating. Her eyes were closed, and everything about her felt soft, a luxuriating fluffiness like the satin down comforter her grandma used to have. She thought she must have been sleeping. There was a not-unpleasant heaviness to her limbs, like the time she could finally sit down after standing and walking in the market for hours.Then her brain started to focus in a peculiar sort of way, powerless over thoughts that surfaced unbidden. Abubakar suddenly came to mind...how he had gotten her this way, and how she longed to tell Maama, but couldn't. Maama. . .As her consciousness began to return, she tried without success to open her eyes. Something tight and sticky was holding her lids together. Now she knew she was sleeping. She'd felt that strange paralysis before when wrapped in layers of her dreams, her legs turned to lead as she ran from shadowy pursuers and her eyes became inert shutters. She was scared, what frightened her most was her breathing. Her hand blindly went to her mouth, where she found the tube.Yaa Rahman! She was in a hospital!Her heart was thunderously racing, filling her chest with explosive fear. She blindly pulled at the tube, ripping it from her throat, gagging violently as it made her gasp and choke. But finally, finally, It was free, and she flung it far away.

It was only after my boyfriend, Julian Mercer, received his HIV diagnosis that he finally understood what his childhood friend, Luna Sullivan, truly meant by "life and death together". In my previous life, after Julian collapsed from anemia, Luna insisted on donating blood to him. I fought with everything I had to stop it. I told him that Luna had already contracted HIV. If she donated blood to him, he would be infected as well. He refused to believe me. Luna cried and swore that she had never even had a boyfriend. To prove her innocence, she climbed onto the rooftop and pretended she was going to jump to her death. However, she slipped. She missed her footing and fell to her death from the building. To avenge her, Julian conspired with our classmates to kidnap me. He strangled me with his own hands. I still remember his furious roar. "This is all because of your slander! You killed Luna! I will make you pay for her life!" When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the blood transfusion. I watched as Julian lay there, already receiving blood from his beloved Luna. I smiled faintly. HIV? Fine.

Overpowered by the strong hands who grabbed her by the hair and pulled her along, dragging her into a dark room that recks of urine and cigarettes. Hurled her inside. His hands still gripping her hair and not doubt if he let go, some strands of hair would fall of. Undeniably, the pains were suffocating. When she stares at his dark eyes, the only thing she saw was darkness. “Let go, let go of me you bastard!” She spit out. That only made his mighty five fingers appear on her face. Which sent her head spinning on her neck. He made her kiss the earth. And slowly breathed in her face. “Your life ends here....” his voice was deep baritone and cruel and that was when she felt the shivers down her spine. How did the nerdy Elina find her way into the merciless billionaire’s court?

Sofia had always lived a quiet, peaceful life among humans, unaware of the secrets buried deep within her. That all changed when she accidentally hits a young wolf child on a secluded forest road. The child dies because he had not activated his wolf curse so he was still human. The incident triggered a curse, awakening parts of her she never knew existed. Now imprisoned in the royal pack’s cell, Sofia awaited judgment, fear and guilt gnawing at her. She didn’t know who these people were, but their dominating presence terrified her. The guilt of having killed a child weighed heavily on her, but even more unsettling were the strange changes she began to experience in her body,changes she didn’t understand were leading to her first shift with the coming full moon. “Is she in here?” Alaric, the Alpha King, demanded, his voice cutting through the silence. His anger was palpable as he entered the cell. The guards pointed to where Sofia huddled, trembling in the corner. But when Alaric saw her, his fury dissolved into shock. The fragile woman before him was his.... his mate? The revelation hit him hard, filling him with both anguish and confusion. Sofia, though lost in her fear, felt an inexplicable pull toward this powerful, angry man,which she didn't understand. Alaric’s mind raced. How would his pack react to the news that their Alpha’s mate had killed one of their pups? He faced an agonizing choice: protect Sofia and risk the pack’s wrath or reject his mate to maintain his loyalty. With the full moon fast approaching, his decision would determine not only his leadership but also his bond with his mate.

Sophia Ava Valentine and Noah Parker are in love with each other for over three years. The lovebirds had nothing to worry until Sophia's father arranges her marriage with a ruthless billionaire playboy, Irwin Pierce to seal their business partnership. When Irwin discovers her love with Noah Parker, he makes it his mission to ruin his life and that of Sophia's friends. Sophia accepts his proposal with one condition - Irwin must leave her friends alone. Now, it's up to Noah & her best friends to save her from Irwin and his not so innocent schemes.