
Introduction
So when she finds a devastatingly beautiful stranger bleeding out in an alley, she does what nurses do. She helps. She doesn’t ask questions. She doesn’t fall for the way his voice roughens when he says no hospitals.
She should have let him die.
Lucien Dravayne—Ren to those foolish enough to get close—isn’t human. He’s an immortal werewolf–vampire hybrid, an ancient alpha who rules a supernatural empire hidden behind the Veil. For a thousand years, he’s been untouchable.
Until a sharp-tongued human nurse patches him together in her shabby apartment… and becomes his greatest liability.
Now Mara is marked as his weakness. Hunted by enemies who want to tear his kingdom apart, she’s dragged into a world of blood laws, pack politics, and a possessive alpha who insists he owes her his life.
She blames him for destroying everything she worked for.
He knows he’ll destroy the world to keep her breathing.
And when Mara is taken from his lands, Ren must choose between the empire he’s built over centuries…
or the human woman who was never meant to survive his darkness—let alone rule beside him.
Chapter 1
POV: Mara
By the time my double shift ended, my feet felt like they were filled with broken glass and bad decisions.
I peeled off my sneakers behind the diner, the night air sharp against my sweat-damp skin, and flexed my toes like it might magically undo sixteen hours of being yelled at by surgeons, tipped in loose change by finance bros, and reminded—again—that nursing students are replaceable. The city hummed around me, Brooklyn never sleeping, never caring, just grinding forward like it always did.
I slung my backpack higher on my shoulder and started the walk home. Three blocks. That was all that stood between me and my shower with terrible water pressure and my bed with the busted spring that stabbed me in the ribs if I rolled the wrong way.
Three blocks and my thoughts.
I hated rich people.
Hated them with the kind of quiet, steady fury you only develop when you’re exhausted enough to be honest with yourself. They tipped like generosity was optional. They spoke like effort was theoretical. They looked at my uniform—scrubs in the day, apron at night—and saw service, not survival.
I didn’t want their pity. I wanted them to stop pretending they’d earned the air they breathed.
A siren wailed somewhere in the distance. I didn’t flinch. You learn not to, living here. You learn to keep walking, keep your head down, keep your hands free. You learn that hesitation is an invitation.
I turned down the alley because it shaved a minute off my walk.
That was my first mistake.
The second was stopping.
At first, I thought it was trash. A heap of dark fabric slumped against the brick wall, half-shadowed, unmoving. Then I heard it—a sound so soft it almost didn’t register. A breath. Wet. Wrong.
I froze.
Every instinct screamed don’t. Don’t get involved. Don’t be stupid. Don’t be the girl in the cautionary tale.
But then I saw the blood.
It streaked down the bricks in thick, black-red rivulets, pooling on the cracked concrete. Too much blood. Way too much. My stomach clenched, the nursing student in me overriding the terrified woman.
“Hey,” I said, my voice sharper than I felt. “Hey. Can you hear me?”
He lifted his head.
And I forgot how to breathe.
Even half-dead, he was devastating. Dark hair plastered to his forehead with sweat and blood. Skin pale in the alley’s dim light, sharp cheekbones carved like he’d been designed instead of born. His shirt was shredded, his chest slick with blood that definitely wasn’t supposed to be outside his body.
And his eyes—
They were deep. Dark. Blue like the ocean right before a storm swallows a ship.
They focused on me with effort, like it hurt to see. His lips parted, and when he spoke, his voice was low and rough and entirely unfair.
“No hospitals.”
I stared at him. “You’re bleeding out.”
A faint, humorless curve tugged at his mouth. “I noticed.”
“Then you need an ambulance.”
“No.” His hand shot out, gripping my wrist with surprising strength. Hot. Too hot. “Please.”
That word did something to me. Cracked through my irritation, my fear, my common sense.
I crouched despite myself, fingers already assessing, counting, pressing. “You’ve lost a dangerous amount of blood. You need surgery.”
“No hospitals,” he repeated, eyes darkening. “I won’t survive it.”
I almost laughed. Almost told him that was the stupidest thing I’d heard all night—and I worked the late shift at a diner off Flatbush.
But his pulse was fast. Erratic. His breathing shallow. And the wounds… they were wrong. Deep gashes that looked more like something had torn him than cut him.
“What did this to you?” I asked.
His jaw tightened. “An old mistake.”
Figures.
I should have walked away. I knew that. I could hear my mother’s voice in my head—Mara, you can’t save everyone. Could hear my own—You can’t even save yourself.
Instead, I sighed and said, “Can you stand?”
His answering smirk was faint but infuriatingly charming. “You offering to carry me?”
“I’m offering to not let you die in a trash-filled alley.”
“Romantic.”
“Up,” I snapped.
He tried. Made it halfway before his knees buckled. I caught him on instinct, his weight slamming into me, knocking the breath from my lungs. He smelled like smoke and metal and something darker beneath it, something that made my skin prickle.
“Jesus,” I muttered, straining. “You’re heavy.”
“Million-dollar problem,” he murmured.
I scowled. “You’re rich?”
Even bleeding out, he had the audacity to smile. “Very.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course he was.
I got him moving through sheer stubbornness, hauling him the rest of the way to my building, every step a silent curse. By the time we reached my apartment, my arms were shaking and my heart was racing for reasons that had nothing to do with exertion.
Inside, the lights flickered on. My place was small. One room pretending to be two. Mismatched furniture. Secondhand everything. It smelled faintly of antiseptic and burnt coffee.
I eased him onto the chair by the window, grabbing my first-aid kit with hands that didn’t quite feel like mine anymore.
“You’re lucky,” I said, cutting away what was left of his shirt. “I have supplies.”
“Luck has never been my strength.”
The wounds were worse under the light. Too clean. Too deep. And his blood—it shimmered, just a little, like it caught the light wrong.
My throat went dry.
“Okay,” I whispered to myself. “Okay.”
I worked on autopilot, cleaning, stitching, pressing. He barely flinched, only hissed once when my fingers brushed a particularly deep gash.
“Most people scream,” I said.
“I’m not most people.”
“No kidding.”
Minutes blurred into an hour. My hands ached. My eyes burned. At some point, exhaustion settled over me like a heavy blanket, dragging me down.
I checked his pulse again. Stronger. Steadier.
That shouldn’t have been possible.
I sank into the chair beside him, my head tipping forward, resting against his arm without meaning to. Warm. Solid. Alive.
“Don’t,” I murmured. “Make me regret this.”
His fingers twitched, brushing my hair with a tenderness that startled me.
“I won’t,” he said quietly.
The last thing I felt before sleep claimed me was the steady thrum of his pulse beneath my cheek—and the strange, terrifying certainty that my life had just split into a before and an after.
And I had no idea what waited on the other side.
Last Chapters
#47 Chapter 47 The One Who Came In Smiling
Last Updated: 2/22/2026#46 Chapter 46 The Line That Will Not Move
Last Updated: 2/22/2026#45 Chapter 45 When Balance Begins to Strain
Last Updated: 2/22/2026#44 Chapter 44 The Price of Leaving
Last Updated: 2/22/2026#43 Chapter 43 The Ones Who Followed the First
Last Updated: 2/22/2026#42 Chapter 42 The First to Cross
Last Updated: 2/22/2026#41 Chapter 41 When the Other Side Feels the Shift
Last Updated: 2/22/2026#40 Chapter 40 The Hand That Reaches From Inside
Last Updated: 2/22/2026#39 Chapter 39 The Attempt to Break the Seam
Last Updated: 2/22/2026#38 Chapter 38 The Voice Beneath the Roots
Last Updated: 2/22/2026
You Might Like 😍
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms
On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...
Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.
George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.
His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"
Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.
When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.
"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"
George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"
"I'm afraid that's impossible."
Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother
"What is wrong with me?
Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?
It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.
He’s my boyfirend’s brother.
This is Tyler’s family.
I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.
**
As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.
Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.
When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.
I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.
**
I hate girls like her.
Entitled.
Delicate.
And still—
Still.
The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.
Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.
I shouldn’t care.
I don’t care.
It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.
It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.
I’m not here to rescue anyone.
Especially not her.
Especially not someone like her.
She’s not my problem.
And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.
But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
The Prison Project
Can love tame the untouchable? Or will it only fuel the fire and cause chaos amongst the inmates?
Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.
Without hesitation, Cara rushes to sign them up.
Their reward? A one-way ticket into the depths of a prison ruled by gang leaders, mob bosses, and men the guards wouldn't even dare to cross...
At the centre of it all, meets Coban Santorelli - a man colder than ice, darker than midnight, and as deadly as the fire that fuels his inner rage. He knows that the project may very well be his only ticket to freedom - his only ticket to revenge on the one who managed to lock him up and so he must prove that he can learn to love…
Will Margot be the lucky one chosen to help reform him?
Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?
What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true love…
A temperamental romance novel.
The mafia princess return
Surrendering to Destiny
Graham MacTavish wasn't prepared to find his mate in the small town of Sterling that borders the Blackmoore Packlands. He certainly didn't expect her to be a rogue, half-breed who smelled of Alpha blood. With her multi-colored eyes, there was no stopping him from falling hard the moment their mate bond snapped into place. He would do anything to claim her, protect her and cherish her no matter the cost.
From vengeful ex-lovers, pack politics, species prejudice, hidden plots, magic, kidnapping, poisoning, rogue attacks, and a mountain of secrets including Catherine's true parentage there is no shortage of things trying to tear the two apart.
Despite the hardships, a burning desire and willingness to trust will help forge a strong bond between the two... but no bond is unbreakable. When the secrets kept close to heart are slowly revealed, will the two be able to weather the storm? Or will the gift bestowed upon Catherine by the moon goddess be too insurmountable to overcome?
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate
What? No—wait… oh Moon Goddess, no.
Please tell me you're joking, Lex.
But she's not. I can feel her excitement bubbling under my skin, while all I feel is dread.
We turn the corner, and the scent hits me like a punch to the chest—cinnamon and something impossibly warm. My eyes scan the room until they land on him. Tall. Commanding. Beautiful.
And then, just as quickly… he sees me.
His expression twists.
"Fuck no."
He turns—and runs.
My mate sees me and runs.
Bonnie has spent her entire life being broken down and abused by the people closest to her including her very own twin sister. Alongside her best friend Lilly who also lives a life of hell, they plan to run away while attending the biggest ball of the year while it's being hosted by another pack, only things don't quite go to plan leaving both girls feeling lost and unsure about their futures.
Alpha Nicholas is 28, mateless, and has no plans to change that. It's his turn to host the annual Blue Moon Ball this year and the last thing he expects is to find his mate. What he expects even less is for his mate to be 10 years younger than him and how his body reacts to her. While he tries to refuse to acknowledge that he has met his mate his world is turned upside down after guards catch two she-wolves running through his lands.
Once they are brought to him he finds himself once again facing his mate and discovers that she's hiding secrets that will make him want to kill more than one person.
Can he overcome his feelings towards having a mate and one that is so much younger than him? Will his mate want him after already feeling the sting of his unofficial rejection? Can they both work on letting go of the past and moving forward together or will fate have different plans and keep them apart?
Invisible To Her Bully
The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride
Yet Alexander made his decision clear to the world: “Evelyn is the only woman I will ever marry.”
The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates
"Let me go," I whimper, my body trembling with need. "I don't want you touching me."
I fall forward onto the bed then turn around to stare at him. The dark tattoos of Domonic's chiseled shoulders, quiver and and expand with the heave of his chest. His deep dimpled smile is full of arrogance as he reaches behind himself to lock the door.
Biting his lip, he stalks toward me, his hand going to the seam of his pants and the thickening bulge there.
"Are you sure you don't want me to touch you?" He whispers, untying the knot and slipping a hand inside. "Because I swear to God, that is all I have been wanting to do. Every single day from the moment you stepped in our bar and I smelled your perfect flavor from across the room."
New to the world of shifters, Draven is human on the run. A beautiful girl who no one could protect. Domonic is the cold Alpha of the Red Wolf Pack. A brotherhood of twelve wolves that live by twelve rules. Rules which they vowed could NEVER be broken.
Especially - Rule Number One - No Mates
When Draven meets Domonic, he knows that she is his mate, but Draven has no idea what a mate is, only that she has fallen in love with a shifter. An Alpha that will break her heart to make her leave. Promising herself, she will never forgive him, she disappears.
But she doesn’t know about the child she’s carrying or that the moment she left, Domonic decided rules were made to be broken - and now will he ever find her again? Will she forgive him?
The Biker's Fate
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Dani," he pressed. "Do you get me?"
"No, Austin, I don't," I admitted as I pulled my robe closed again and sat up. "You confuse me."
He dragged his hands down his face. "Tell me what's on your mind."
I sighed. "You're everything my parents warned me against. You're secretive, but you're also honest. I feel wholly protected by you, but then you scare me more than anyone I've ever known. You're a bad boy, but when I dated a so-called good one, he turned out to be the devil, so, yeah, I don't get you because you're not what I expected. You drive me crazier than anyone I've ever met, but then you make me feel complete. I'm feeling things I don't quite know how to process and that makes me want to run. I don't want to give up something that might be really, really good, but I also don't want to be stupid and fall for a boy just because he's super pretty and makes me come."
Danielle Harris is the daughter of an overprotective police chief and has led a sheltered life. As a kindergarten teacher, she's as far removed from the world of Harleys and bikers as you could get, but when she's rescued by the sexy and dangerous Austin Carver, her life is changed forever.
Although Austin 'Booker' Carver is enamored by the innocent Dani, he tries to keep the police chief's daughter at arm's length. But when a threat is made from an unexpected source, he finds himself falling hard and fast for the only woman who can tame his wild heart.
Will Booker be able to find the source of the threat before it's too late?
Will Dani finally give her heart to a man who's everything she's been warned about?
Balance of Light and Shadow
Little did she know how much both worlds need her to bring peace and true freedom.












