Zao Where Blood And Fire Bring Rest

After five years trapped in a loveless marriage arranged to replace her “dead” sister, Layla Kruger’s world shatters when Daisy reappears… alive, smiling, and wed to Layla’s cold husband, Alpha Daven. Cast out on their anniversary with only divorce papers and a vengeance-tainted heart, Layla stumbles into the power of Prince Derek Bloodwood and binds herself by blood oath to learn revenge.

When I was seven years old, my younger brother went into anaphylactic shock after sneaking a handful of peanuts. Outside the emergency room, my mother slammed my head against the wall over and over, her face twisted with rage. "If you had been watching him like you were supposed to be, this never would have happened! You should be the one with a ruptured stomach, not him!" After that, whenever my brother so much as caught a cold, my mother forced me to eat spoiled leftovers as punishment. I once prepared an elaborate feast. She flipped the entire table and made me crawl on the floor to lick it clean. When I said I wanted to study culinary arts, she poured hot oil over my hands. My father wanted to send me to vocational school to learn a trade, but my mother clutched my brother to her chest and wailed. "She destroyed her brother's health! She owes him a lifetime of service!" When I was fifteen, my brother's gluttony cost my father an important business deal. I took the blame without even being asked, and the furious client forced me to drink more than half a gallon of hard liquor. By the time I was sent home with a bleeding stomach, my father had already scolded my brother. My mother took out her anger on me instead, slapping me so hard my ears rang and my vision went dark at the edges. "You useless thing! You should’ve choked to death at that table! I get sick just looking at you!" I coughed up black blood. From my pocket, I pulled out a piece of sour candy that had gone soft and sticky. It was the only treat my mother had ever given me with a smile, back before my brother's allergic reaction. I put the candy in my mouth and swallowed it down with the taste of stomach acid. The candy was so sour it made my throat burn. Whatever came next, I just hoped I would not have to be my family’s garbage disposal again.

He was the enemy I was forced to marry. I was the girl raised to destroy him. I was supposed to live a quiet life. Graduate, find a job, stay far away from the shadows of my mother’s past. But then I was taken. Now I’m Mrs. Valerio. Matteo Valerio is cold, dangerous, and untouchable. The heir to a brutal mafia empire built on secrets and blood. He makes it clear: this marriage isn’t love. It’s power. It’s politics. It’s survival. But I didn’t agree to this just to be a pawn. I want answers. About my father’s murder, about the threats still chasing me, about who I really am beneath the name I grew up with. And the closer I get to the truth, the more tangled I become with Matteo himself. Because behind the monster is a man with haunted eyes and a soul that’s been at war for too long. And behind my rage is a heart that was never supposed to feel anything for him. But the past is catching up. Betrayals are rising. And falling in love with your enemy? That’s the most dangerous vow of all.

Selena's wedding day wasn't a fairytale—it was a nightmare. A single gunshot ended her life, but it couldn't erase her story. Her path to that moment began three years earlier when she was a quiet, unnoticed intern. A chance encounter with the enigmatic billionaire Damien Roth, everything changed. He saw something in her no one else did, and his attention ignited a fragile hope for a life she'd only dreamed of. But when Selena stepped into the light, she felt a cold shadow of her sister, Cassandra, a rival who wanted everything she had.

After my parents were killed in a territory war, I was taken in by Don Moretti, head of New York's most powerful crime family. I was the only civilian in a world of made men. For twenty years, I was raised alongside his twin heirs, Marco and Santino. Their protection and favor made me the envy of every aspiring mob wife in the city. But when I was finally ready to become a real part of the family, they both turned me down. Marco said, "I need to focus on expanding our territory first. I'm not ready for this kind of commitment." Santino said, "An outsider can't be trusted with family secrets." The next night, at my birthday celebration, they both proposed to the daughter of a low-level enforcer. To prove their loyalty to her, they let her force me to drink "The Don's Fire"—a 150-proof grappa laced with ghost peppers that would hospitalize anyone who wasn't raised on it since childhood. Broken in body and spirit, I made a call from my hospital bed. "I accept the proposal from the Luciano Syndicate."

"You are my mate, Aurelia." "You are mine, Dabria." Two different people, two different creatures claimed me as theirs. One being my fated mate, the Werewolf king Reagan Darius. Another being the sour enemy of the werewolf Kingdom, the Vampire King Erix Drystan. I should be choosing my fated mate, the one the Moon Goddess chose for me. I should love him then why do I have this weird attraction towards that vampire? Why can't I see him hurt? Why didn't I try to fight back when he kidnapped me? Why? __________________________________ Aurelia Dabria, the daughter of the Midnight Pack Alpha. She is beautiful, charming and she was to find her mate soon. But on a unfaithful day, she was kidnapped. She should despise her kidnapper. But why is she getting attracted to him with days passing by? A story full of twists, love, emotion, betrayal and slow burn romance.

She was born without the sacred crescent mark that crowns the worthy. Reduced to shadows and servitude, Ashley Voss has spent her life protecting the only soul who ever showed her kindness: her half-sister Clara, the perfect Luna-to-be. But when the dangerously magnetic heir Damien Blackwood coldly declares his plan to impregnate Ashley in a ritual claiming and then discarding her to preserve Clara's purity, something ancient awakens. One stolen glance ignites an impossible true mate bond, a feral hunger neither can deny. Caught between loyalty to her sister, her father's wrath, and a desire that could shatter empires, Ashley must choose: safeguard the sister who deserves the crown or surrender to the brutal alpha who was never meant to crave the unmarked girl. One night of raw, desperate passion. One forbidden bite. And a deadly dawn duel where love will either rise victorious or bleed out on frozen ground.

BLURB Elera's world crumbled on her wedding day - the day she was supposed to find her happily-ever-after. Her mate rejected her, her twin sister swooped in to claim the spotlight, and her father disowned her in a heartbeat. Abandoned and branded a rogue, Elera fled for her life, straight into the claws of her pack's sworn enemy. But the Alpha who captured her wasn't interested in revenge - at least, not the kind she expected. One look at her, and he was hooked. As they navigated a forbidden love, Elera found herself torn between loyalty and desire, and the Alpha found himself fighting against fate itself. But with the Moon Goddess herself set against them, can their love conquer all?

When Anastasia finally separated from her childhood best friend and first love, her world almost came crashing. She was only 8 years old when she was sent out of the country to further her education and 12 years later, Anna returns to New York a new version of herself, hoping that one day, fate would certainly bring Dylan Scott back to her. But unfortunately, there's a twist as an arranged marriage was put in place for Anna and all efforts to cancel her marriage with James Smith fails. Just a year into the marriage, a devastated Anna goes clubbing and mistakenly gets involved in a one night stand with a total stranger. Two weeks later, after Anna discovers that she is pregnant, she files for a divorce, and walks out of her marriage with James Smith who doesn't seem to care about her even a little bit, but like a child, fate plays yet another trick on Anastasia, letting her encounter the man she had never stopped loving for 18 years, and how does she react when she discovers that Dylan Scott is the father of Emma, the result of her one night stand 5 years ago.

On the night of the full moon, my mate, Alpha Wade Rizzotto of the Bloodmoon pack, has sent someone to deliver me a box of gifts. He also has the wolf bring me a message, stating that he'll be home tonight. Warmth floods into my heart. Even though Wade is extremely busy with work and hasn't been able to meet me in person for half a year, he still cares about me and our unborn pup. Giddily, I begin preparations on dinner while eagerly anticipating Wade's return. But as soon as Wade steps into our home, I instantly pick up on a foreign yet strong scent of a she-wolf clinging to his form. My wolf's instincts flare up instantly. Having sensed my suspicion, Wade gently comforts me in order to suppress my uneasiness and doubt. But the she-wolf's scent that's obviously not mine keeps bothering me the whole time. I remember the way Wade began putting more distance between us over the past six months. Doubt and suspicion begin taking over my mind like mad. Throughout the week after that, I stalk Wade every day. Still, I can't spot anything that's off with him. So, I begin consoling myself, thinking that I must have gotten far too sensitive during my pregnancy. Maybe the hormones are affecting my wolf's senses, making me paranoid. I've decided that from tomorrow onward, I will not stalk Wade ever again. But that's when the Moon Goddess plays a cruel prank on me.