
Introduction
She thought she was safe in the "friend zone" until Nathan decides to prove just how much power he has. With one cruel dare, he shatters Clara’s first relationship and reminds her exactly where she stands which is at the bottom of his "type" list.
Chapter 1
Nathan Cross. The sound of that name struck a chord in me that was never supposed to be touched.
Because somehow-against all logic -he managed to pull me, Clara James, into his orbit.
This was unacceptable.
Not because I'd sworn off boys-trust me, I wasn't immune to them. It was because over the years I prided myself on being amongst the few girls who didn't fall for his looks. Or his flirtatious words for that matter (though to be honest they were never directed at me anyway).
Cross was the school's notorious playboy, he had almost every girl wrapped around his finger.
Almost. Although I found him attractive I had yet to be swayed by his charms. Unlike Amy, who enjoyed blabbing about him 24/7. Apparently, it was an honor to kiss the likes of him.
"And oh my goodness, those soft lips of his.." Amy closed her eyes and sighed with bliss. "I felt like I was in heaven." When she opened them again, they were starry eyed, and I had to bite my tongue from reminding her that she was just another name added to his ever-growing roster. But why waste breath?
Amy was too busy floating on cloud nine to hear me anyway.
Amy was the daughter of my mom's best-friend.
Three months ago their house caught on fire, and while Mrs. Thomas used the insurance money to buy a nicer home a state away, Amy refused to switch schools senior year. My mom offered her our spare bedroom, and ever since then she's been invading my space. Our parents grew us like sisters, thinking we would naturally become best friends, but Amy and I couldn't be more different.
While I was a tom-boy, Amy was the quintessential girly-girl: shiny brown hair, big brown eyes, curves in all the "right" places. Any guy would think she was eye-candy. Especially when she wore tight spaghetti straps with a push-up bra that made her already ample cleavage impossible to ignore.
"... and then he picked me up and threw me on the bed!" Amy gushed, snapping me back into her monologue. She grinned as she pulled her red convertible into the school parking lot. If there was any benefit to having her stay over, it was that I no longer had to take the school bus.
"All I can say is he's really gifted."
"Shocking," I muttered dryly, twisting my long hair into a ponytail.
"You'd be surprised! There he is!" Amy squealed, catching sight of Cross across the lot. She gave herself a quick once-over in the car's side view mirror. "Come on Clara, walk me over!"
"Can't you go there yourself?" I asked, already annoyed by her desperate antics. Amy had guys lining up for her attention, but of course she was fixated on the one who didn't care.
"Because you're friends with him. He's with his buddies right now. Please? You hang out with him all the time!"
"You have a boyfriend," I reminded her. James, her
football-player boyfriend was actually really cute.
"Please CJ!" she begged, clasping her hands together like a child, using my initials which was something I've gotten used to over time.
"Fine," I gave in, walking ahead of her.
"Yes! And next time, could you wear something more appealing? Those baggy jeans and that hideous shirt do anything for your body. Or my status, for that matter."
"Thanks." I said, sarcastic.
We both knew I had no impact on her popularity. If anything, having a less-polished friend made her look prettier. I couldn't tell you the amount of times a guy used me to get closer to Amy. Once they met her they immediately fell for her coquettish smile and flirty demeanor.
"Your mom actually agrees with me," Amy went on, "She said you should be more like me. You know, dress feminine, try out for cheerleading. Like our moms did,"
I snorted. My mom and Amy have been pushing that agenda since middle school. Dressing girly?
Skip.
Trying out for cheerleading? Even worse. My mother loved to remind me that cheerleading ran in the family grandma, great-grandma, the whole glittery legacy. She wanted me to keep the line going. But if the squad's reputation was anything to go by, that wasn't happening.
Everyone knew it was a madhouse of girls throwing themselves at football players, and then turning around to call other girls sluts for doing half as much.
No, thank you.
I wanted to stay away from all the drama for as long as possible. Rumor had it Amy had slept with ten football players, including three of the school's most sought-after boys: Theodore Scott, David Carson, and of course Cross. She only ever admitted Cross to me, the others remained speculation. Honestly, I didn't care enough to ask. Theodore and David were my friends too, and I preferred not to picture them hooking up with my childhood friend.
Last year the cheer squad offered me a spot, I declined saying that I didn't have any time, an excuse to avoid being around people I probably wouldn't get along with.
There was a reason I hung out with guys more than girls-less gossip, less backstabbing, less drama.
I'd had enough of it at a tender age in middle-school where I was bullied relentlessly by a group of preppy mean girls. Back then I swore off any femininity.
These days, I was more open-minded, but the tomboy life fits too comfortably to give up.
As we neared the boys their attention shifted toward us-or rather, toward Amy. Aside from her boob-show, she was wearing a skirt that revealed her long, toned legs, curtesy of the endless hours she spent at the gym.
"Hey guys," Amy purred.
"Hey babe," said Theodore. His shaggy brown hair and honey-colored eyes didn't drive girls away; they clung to him like bees to honey.
David gave a tired wave, his gray eyes half-lidded under messy black hair. Judging by his look, he hadn't slept much-again.
Cross barely looked up from his phone. "Hey," he muttered, thumbs still scrolling over the screen. Amy's smile faltered. I didn't feel sorry for her. She knew Cross’s game: he played with a girl until he got bored, then disposed of them like an old video game. Their tenuous relationship snapped over a year ago, yet Amy still hovered like she was waiting for a comeback.
The bell rang, cutting through the crowd. Cross slid his phone into his pocket and walked past Amy without so much as a glance. Amy stood frozen, then darted off to find a cheer friend for a shoulder to cry on. I rolled my eyes. I knew this would happen. And I also knew she'd eventually shoot her shot again.
Some girls just love the heart-breaking chase.
"Hey CJ, is your sister single?" Theodore asked suddenly, eyes still tracking Amy from a distance.
"First off, she's not my sister. Second, no." I shook my head in disbelief. "She's with James. He's on your team, remember?"
"Oh yeah," he recalled, only for his gaze to then land on a short blonde across the hall. "Dang, look at Katie's boobs. Those D's are front and center.
David smirked. "I bet I can get her number faster than you can."
I shook my head at their antics. It's hard to tell which would luck out. Some girls fell for Theodore's swoony, whirlwind romance; others melted for David's quiet, easy-going warmth. Either way, Amy was already forgotten as they jogged off toward Katie.
"I need a new girl. Been holding back long enough," Cross said. His jet-black hair gleamed in the light, making his frost-blue eyes more dangerously beautiful.
I'd have to be blind to not notice how handsome he was. And if I were honest, there were moments- very private, secret moments--when I imagined what it would be like to run my fingers across his broad shoulders and feel those lips against mine.
"What's the matter, CJ? Volunteering for a night?" The corner of his mouth lifted, amusement flickering across his features.
I turned my head, realizing too late I was gawking. Heat rushed up my neck. "No thanks. I'm fine."
"Didn't look fine a second ago. Is that a drool?" He reached for the corner of my mouth, mocking me with a swipe of his thumb.
"I was not drooling!" I swatted his hand away. "And besides, it wasn't you I was staring at."
"Oh yeah, then who?" he asked, skepticism dripping from every word.
"T-the person behind you," I stuttered, blurting the first thing that came to my mind.
Cross turned-and found himself staring at Robert Darin, currently preoccupied with picking a bugger out of his nose. After a triumphant second, Robert inspected his prize and promptly popped it into his mouth. I covered my lips in disgust, gagging. Suffice to say he was definitely not attractive.
"Everyone, Clara has something important to say to us," Cross announced, getting our table's attention. Pizza was for lunch, and as usual our little group - Cross, Theodore, David and I sat dead center, drawing more attention than I was comfortable with.
"Cross, drop it." I hissed, glaring at him. He had been pestering me about the whole Robert Darin situation all morning. I refused to feed his ego by admitting anything.
"She likes Robert," Cross snickered, savoring my irritation.
"Robert? As in Robert Darin?" David echoed, his brows rose. Cross nodded and the whole table erupted in laughter. Unamused, my lips stayed pressed in a flat line.
"Didn't know you had a thing for Robert," Theodore managed between chuckles, naively believing Cross. "But hey, everyone's got their tastes."
"He's lying." I snapped, folding my arms.
Cross leaned forward, eyes glittering like he knew something I didn't. "So you admit it? You were staring at me instead?"
"Not every girl falls for you," I shot back. "And if you're planning to mess with me, don't even try it."
"Relax," Cross said smoothly, his voice dropping into that velvety tone he knew made girls falter. "I'm picky. You're not exactly my type, a little too boyish."
His gaze flicked over me in a slow sweep that made my stomach twist. "You're safe."
Amy calling me boyish was one thing, but hearing
Cross say it...that stung.
"Screw you!"
He smirked. "I knew you wanted me. Don't get your hopes up, though. I'd never actually go out with you."
My fingers clenched the edge of the table, glaring at him so hard it hurt. My glare only made him grin wider, like he enjoyed pressing on a bruise just to see if I'd flinch.
"Careful," he murmured. "Keep looking at me like that and people might think you're obsessed."
"Ignore him," Theodore stepped in, cutting through the tension. He rested his head over my shoulder in a comforting way.
Cross lounged back in his chair, absolutely enjoying himself. "It's not like I called you ugly." His tone dripped with mock sincerity. "If it helps, I'd call you..a high average."
I scoffed at his pathetic attempt to soften the blow.
Jerk.
And to think he was right about one thing: I did find him attractive.
Last Chapters
#55 Chapter 55 Extra _ Reconciliation.
Last Updated: 5/28/2026#54 Chapter 54 Extra_ It's Graduation Day!
Last Updated: 5/28/2026#53 Chapter 53 Extra_ First Date.
Last Updated: 5/28/2026#52 Chapter 52 FAQ
Last Updated: 5/28/2026#51 Chapter 51 CHAPTER 51
Last Updated: 5/28/2026#50 Chapter 50 CHAPTER 50
Last Updated: 5/28/2026#49 Chapter 49 CHAPTER 49
Last Updated: 5/28/2026#48 Chapter 48 CHAPTER 48
Last Updated: 5/28/2026#47 Chapter 47 CHAPTER 47
Last Updated: 5/28/2026#46 Chapter 46 CHAPTER 46
Last Updated: 5/28/2026
You Might Like 😍
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
Cursed To Be His
At thirteen, everything changed.
After her parents were murdered, she was cursed by a powerful witch and used as a vessel for Elder magic. Saving her life came at an impossible cost; the curse was broken, but so was the wolf inside her, leaving her human.
Ten years later, Talia hides her grief behind sharp sarcasm and a smile she no longer believes. When a rogue attack proves she can no longer protect herself, or the people she loves, she leaves the only home she's ever known for the quiet human town of Ashbourne Hollow, determined to disappear.
Instead, she catches the attention of the town's most dangerous owner.
Alaric Lazarus is a vampire who rules from the black castle overlooking Ashbourne Hollow. He is cold, enigmatic, and impossible to read, but he awakens something in Talia she can't explain. She doesn't trust him. He trusts her even less.
Then vampires begin turning up dead.
Forced into an uneasy alliance, Talia and Alaric uncover a trail that leads back to the family she lost... and the curse she thought she'd escaped. As old enemies emerge from the shadows and buried secrets come to light, Talia discovers that everything she believed about her past was a lie.
Because the curse that stole her wolf was never meant to save her.
It was meant to lead her to him.
This is book 3 in the series, but it can be read as a standalone.
Book 1 - The Matchmaker
Book 2 - The Heir of Flame and Fang
A pack of their own
A Queen Among Darkness (Book 4 in the Gods' Saga)
For centuries, she has been on the run, helping the supernatural community under the cloak of anonymity while she works to clear her name and save the very people after her from destruction.
Enemies are closing in, but an unexpected complication befalls her when she realises she’s been fated to someone who wants her species exterminated. After all, an evil chance seldom comes alone.
A Queen Among Darkness is the 4th book in the Queen Among Series/The Gods' Saga. This is an interconnected series. To see how it ends, I recommend reading the full series.
Books in the series in order:
A Queen Among Alphas - Book 1
Bite-Size Luna - A Queen Among Alphas Prequel (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Snakes - Book 2
A Queen Among Blood - Book 3
A Queen Among Darkness - Book 4
Whole Again - A Queen Among Alpha's spin-off (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Tides - Book 5
Valor, Virtue, and Verve - Tides Prequel Spin-off (will be available under book 5)
A Queen Among Gods - Book 6
Runaway Empress - A Queen Among Snakes Prequel (will be available under book 2)
A Queen Among Tempests - Book 7
Dark Vocation - Darkness spin-off (will be available under book 4)
A Court of Arcane Souls Anthology (side character short stories exclusive to Ream)
Royal Shadow Series (Next Generation Coming Soon)
Tempted By The Enemy
She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath.
The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years?
What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to sinful temptations? Read to find out!
Part of the Temptation Series. Can be read as a standalone.
My Benchwarmer Boyfriend's Secret
As the team's benchwarmer, Marco practices harder than anyone, though few seems to notice. There's something about his quiet determination that draws me in, and I find myself falling for the underdog.
But when Marco's true story starts unraveling—about that first night, about who he really is, about the future he's destined for—I realize I might have gotten in way over my head.
And there's another problem: this was always meant to be temporary. His training program has an end date, and we're both fighting against a reality that seems determined to pull us apart.
When everything is on the line, how far are we willing to go for love?
Game of Destiny
When Finlay finds her, she is living among humans. He is smitten by the stubborn wolf that refuse to acknowledge his existence. She may not be his mate, but he wants her to be a part of his pack, latent wolf or not.
Amie cant resist the Alpha that comes into her life and drags her back into pack life. Not only does she find herself happier than she has been in a long time, her wolf finally comes to her. Finlay isn't her mate, but he becomes her best friend. Together with the other top wolves in the pack, they work to create the best and strongest pack.
When it's time for the pack games, the event that decides the packs rank for the coming ten year, Amie needs to face her old pack. When she sees the man that rejected her for the first time in ten years, everything she thought she knew is turned around. Amie and Finlay need to adapt to the new reality and find a way forward for their pack. But will the curve ball split them apart?
Human Capture (Up North #2)
Raised in a starving settlement choked by a vast, unforgiving forest, Lara learned early that survival has a price. To keep her family alive, she became a master hunter—agile, silent, and deadly with an array of mismatched blades. But the forest has eyes, and one evening, the shadows dragged her away.
Nine months later, Lara breaks free from a concrete dungeon, only to find herself stranded in the lawless, rogue-infested wilds of Avers Land alongside four captured werewolf girls. Seeking refuge in the neighboring territory of Illyen, she expects to find a way back to her human life. Instead, she is brought face-to-face with Alpha Rowan, the terrifying, ruthless ruler of the frozen North.
One look into Lara’s eyes, and the Alpha’s world shatters. His eyes turn an absolute shade of black. The bond is undeniable. She is his fated mate.
But a human cannot survive the brutal political landscape of the North, and Rowan openly rejects the bond, dragging her onto a warship bound for a kingdom that views her as a fragile liability. Trapped between a mate who refuses to love her and a court of monsters waiting for her to break, Lara must use every hunter's instinct she possesses. Because in the realm of wolves, a human must either grow claws of her own—or perish in the snow.
The Princess's Revenge
Alpha Logan is an illegitimate son whose mother disappeared when he was 10 years old. He grew up suffering from humiliation and lacking maternal love.
Alpha Logan saves Valencia at Marcus's funeral, which seems to be destined by fate—part of the Moon Goddess's grand plan.
As Valencia accidentally discovers prophecies in Logan's mother's diary that seem to be related to her, the truth gradually surfaces. Valencia appears to be merely a tool in a princess's revenge plot. How will Logan and Valencia navigate their path amid the national war and pack politics?
Twin Prince Alphas Student Mate
As her 18th birthday approaches, her brothers warn her about the powerful pull she might feel toward dominant wolves. But it's not just any wolves they need to worry about—it's her teachers. Cameron and Samuel are more than just older, wiser, and off-limits; they might just be her fated mates.
While navigating complex relationships, academic pressures, and the normal trials of young adult life, an unexpected threat jeopardizes the academy. Explosions rock their world, forcing Lyla and her love interests into a chaotic swirl of heroism, heartbreak, and hard choices.
Will Lyla follow her heart and let destiny lead the way, or will the very rules that bind their world tear them apart? Amidst turmoil and taboo, Lyla must make choices that could forever change the course of her life and the lives of those she holds dear.
Discover a story where love isn't just complicated—it's forbidden, ageless, and defies all rules. In a world of supernatural beings and extraordinary stakes, will Lyla's love life be another casualty, or her saving grace?
Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha
Those words should have destroyed me, but the truth was worse: I'd been used as a broodmare by the man who swore to love me, set up in a hotel room with a stranger because My husband Alexander Cross couldn't father children himself, and now I carried the secret babies of Damon Lester—the most powerful and dangerous Alpha in San Loris—while my own family replaced me with the daughter they'd always wanted. But when that same stranger's doctor appeared at my door, when twenty million dollars exchanged hands over a fake perfume bearing my secret identity, and when Damon's gray eyes locked onto mine with recognition I couldn't afford, I realized my carefully hidden life as the legendary perfumer Vera was colliding with a pregnancy that could cost me everything.
Could I protect my babies from the husband plotting my death, hide my true identity from the Alpha who's been hunting me for years, and reclaim the freedom I'd buried along with my dreams—even if it means standing alone against the wolves who see me as nothing more than a womb to be used and discarded?
From Substitute To Queen
Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.
Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.
In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?
From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!












