Tempting Darkness.

Tempting Darkness.

Jessica Hall · Ongoing · 107.4k Words

868
Hot
1.9k
Views
262
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

First, they killed my parents. So, I did the most rational thing at the time. I ran. Now I find myself at crossroads, as I am being hunted by werewolves in an unfamiliar city, and I had to weigh up my alternatives, both unappealing. Neither option had any sense of hope for me. I would be condemned.

Fae were the most powerful creatures in the world. As long as we had magic and our mate. Not one of my four mates was a good option, each one as brutal and cruel as the other. Darius was a demonic-Fae, Tobias Vampiric-Fae, then there is Lycus he is a Were-Fae and last was Kalen, Pure Dark-Fae, and they had been hunting me just like these wolves for years. But now, running low on magic and faced with death. I am left with two choices, let off a flare of my magic and beg for help, or die.

Now, I have found myself forced into a bond I never wanted, but I was out of options, and I just had to pray they would have mercy on me.

Chapter 1

Something felt off this morning. I didn’t know what, but something felt different as I glanced around the crowded room. Leering eyes watched me from where I sat alone in the mess hall. My usual spot was taken, preferring to be closest to the exit where I remained mostly unnoticed. Closer to the door was safest because it gave me an escape route.

Their sleazy gazes had me on edge as they watched me hungrily. I hated this place. There were no other women here. Most of all, I hated being the subject they loved to torment. All made worse by the fact that I was powerless to stop them.

In a room full of men, I stuck out like a sore thumb, and I did my best to keep to myself. The surrounding chatter quieted down and made me quickly glance around before I ducked my head when I noticed them. Darius had entered the room with my other three mates. They walked to the back of the room and took seats at the back, which I thought was a little odd; I rarely saw them here. It appeared they had something to talk about with their recruits because Darius spoke about some crap I showed no interest in knowing. Keeping my head down, I ate quickly, wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of there.

However, the moment I stood up and went to chuck my rubbish in the bin, my muscles spasmed, my feet faltered as I tried to take a step away from the table, and my entire body locked up with one command.

“Aleera, freeze,” came a voice. I recognized the voice instantly and dreaded what he would do this time.

My entire body stopped at the command. I couldn’t move an inch, and everyone erupted with laughter. Oh, how I tried, but I couldn’t so much as wiggle a toe. What were these savage men going to subject me to this time? They never usually went this far. Usually, they tormented me, chased me, hurt me. However, this was the first time they used compulsion on me, and it felt wrong as every muscle in my body tensed.

My eyes went to my mates at the back. Darius, Tobias, and Lycus watched from the far table. They were always happy to witness my suffering. Kalen, however, glanced around the room before he looked at me and dropped his head.

My stomach dropped when Zac, one of the recruits under Darius’s thumb, got up from his seat. My lungs constricted at the cruel smirk plastered on his face. Zac sauntered over before he stopped in front of me. His eyes hungrily looked me over from head to toe. Zac was the worst out of all the recruits I had come across here. The vile bastard had no boundaries. He was usually behind my worst degradation. Zac walked around me slowly and plucked the sandwich wrapper from my fingers while I remained unmoving.

“Stand up straight,” he ordered, and I gritted my teeth. My forced body was doing as commanded as Zac’s cold magic caressed me. A violent shudder ran through me in repulsion as I tried to fight against the command, but it was pointless. I was a puppet on strings, and he was the puppet master.

“Nothing to say, Aleera?” he chuckled, and the entire room erupted with laughter. Except for my mates, who watched from the back with expressionless faces.

“Nothing I say will stop you. Did you want me to beg? Beg for you not to do whatever vile thing it is you intend to do?” I spat at him.

Being trapped in this place, I learned quickly not to beg. It just made the torment worse when I did. They didn’t care that I was female; they didn’t care I was powerless. All they cared about was the control they had over me.

“You’re right. It wouldn’t stop me. The guys and I want you to put on a little show for us,” Zac said in an amused tone. I glanced around the room to find the men were all leaning forward eagerly; one even winked at me while another licked his lips.

My eyes darted to the table where my mates sat. Not a scrap of emotion was shown on their faces for what I was about to endure. They would not help me, not that I expected them to. They never did. If only they had just told them who I was to them, if only their soldiers knew. I wouldn’t have to deal with this shit daily. However, I knew they would deny it if I spoke up. Darius had threatened to kill me if I told anyone here who I was to them. So I had kept my mouth shut. They hated me, and the feeling was mutual. Yet, I couldn’t bear to see them hurt, so how could they watch my humiliation with no expression at all?

My eyes went back to Zac, who looked me up and down. Was he going to make me dance? What did he mean by a show? I was already on display. How much worse could it get?

“You could always say no?” Zac teased before he scoffed. “Oh, that’s right, you can’t. Poor helpless Aleera, always so easily influenced, so easily overpowered. Must truly suck being the weakest form of fae,” he mocked. His demonic eyes ran the length of me in a sleazy, obscene way. His gaze stopped at my breasts, and I felt my stomach drop somewhere deep and cold within me. I knew what he was going to say before he said it. I prayed I was mistaken, but his following words confirmed my thoughts.

“Strip, Aleera,” Zac said, his voice coming out like a purr. I blinked at him, trying to fight his compulsion with everything in me, even though I knew it was pointless. My eyes burned as tears threatened to spill, and my hands shook as I tried to resist doing what he asked.

“All of it. I want to see you completely bare.” My fingers forcibly undid the buttons on my black blouse. My breathing became harsher as I tried to resist his compulsion. A sob tore from my lips that sounded more like a whimper. My vision blurred as my top fell open and revealed my black bra. Zac gripped my shirt and yanked it, my shirt tearing painfully from my body under the force he used. My scars were on display for everyone to see. The worst was the burn that went from my shoulder down to my hip.

The men watching hollered and whistled, and some even poked fun at my burned, scar-ravaged skin. Was this high school? Were they truly this immature? They were fully grown men, and they were all subjecting me to this. Worst of all, my mates just watched. Although, I noticed Kalen looked away when my eyes fell on him; he almost appeared to look guilty, like he wanted to step in and stop it. My fingers were still working to undo the buttons and zip on my black slacks. My eyes stung from the tears that brimmed and spilled over as I bent over to remove my pants.

“Please stop,” I choked out as I stood upright. How could they all be so cruel?

“All of it,” Zac commanded again.

My entire body shook at his command, my cheeks burned with the humiliation, tears ran down my cheeks and dripped off my chin, and I could hear them all talking and laughing.

My bottom lip trembled as my hands reached behind my back and fumbled with the clasp of my bra. A hiccupped sob left me as it unclipped. I couldn’t handle it, so I clenched my eyes shut, so I didn’t see their faces watching me. I hoped it was stuck, but, of course, it would come undone easily and expose me more.

Zac’s hand ran down my arm from my shoulder to my elbow as he pulled the strap of my bra down. My eyes flew open at his touch, his other hand moved to my hip, and I felt the bile rise in my throat. The feel of his hands on me disgusted me. I wondered how far he would take this. Looking over at my mates, Kalen got up and walked out along with Lycus. Darius and Tobias, however, were enjoying my torment.

“Hurry, Aleera, take it off, take it all off,” Zac purred as he tugged my bra strap off my other shoulder. I stared at Darius. Was this what he wanted? Was this still not humiliating enough? His eyes darkened when Zac ran his hand up my side before grabbing my breast roughly. He twisted my nipple painfully, making me cry out, and I felt more tears spill over as my bra fell away. The room erupted with whistles and vulgar taunts.

Darius and Tobias could stop this, and I pleaded with my eyes for them to step in, just this once and not subject me to this. My hands shook violently as they reached for my panties. It was the last article of clothing I had left, the one place left untouched.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

2m Views · Ongoing · Jaylee
Soft hot lips find the shell of my ear and he whispers, "You think I don't want you?" He pushes his hips forward, grinding into the back of my ass and I groan. "Really?" He chuckles.

"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 Spy Who Left

The Spy Who Left

1.7k Views · Completed · Orion Vale
"She's naive. A pretty little socialite who got lucky marrying above her station."
"I still can't believe she actually did it. Aria Hart, filing for divorce. Who saw that coming?"
"How long do we think it'll take before she comes crawling back?" Another voice joins the conversation.
"Three days," Victoria declares. "Five at most. She has no money, no skills, no family. Where's she going to go?"
When Aria Chen divorced billionaire Leon Hart, New York's elite sneered, betting she'd crawl back within days. She never did.
Three years later, the world is rocked when Dr. Aria Vale, CEO of a revolutionary cybersecurity empire, steps into the spotlight. The mysterious genius who built a billion-dollar company from nothing is none other than Leon's discarded wife, the woman everyone thought was just a pretty ornament.
Now, every powerful man wants the queen Leon threw away a renowned scientist seeking partnership, a financial titan proposing an empire, and an actor offering devotion. Each sees the brilliance Leon ignored.
Then Leon discovers the truth: Aria's sacrifices, her secret double life, and the daughter she's been raising without him. For the first time, the man who once took her for granted must fight for her love. But can he compete with men who valued her from the beginning?
A story of love, betrayal, and power where the king must kneel before the queen who never needed saving.
The New Girl and the Broken Basketball Star

The New Girl and the Broken Basketball Star

1.6k Views · Completed · xinna
At sixteen, Clara Bennett lost the last place she could call home.

After years of feeling unwanted by the father who should have protected her, Clara is finally forced to leave the only home she has ever known. Her stepmother’s pregnancy only makes it easier for her family to let her go.

With nothing but her mother’s old violin, she arrives in a small Pennsylvania town carrying the fear that she will never truly belong anywhere.

The last thing she expects is Adrian Cole.

Once the town’s basketball star, Adrian gave up his dreams after his father disappeared and left him with debts he never should have carried. Now he spends his days repairing cars, avoiding the court, and pretending he doesn’t want anything more from life.

Clara thinks she is too broken to be loved.

Adrian thinks his future is already over.

But somewhere between physics lessons, late nights at the repair shop, and a forgotten small-town high school, two lonely people begin to find something they both thought they had lost forever:

A reason to stay.

✦ ✦ ✦

A tough exterior with a soft heart x A soft exterior with a strong heart

✦ ✦ ✦

The first half is set in high school, and the second half is set during their college years. Hope you enjoy the journey!

This is a slow-paced story, focused more on emotions, healing, and the small moments in life rather than intense action or dramatic twists.

If you find any mistakes while reading, please feel free to leave a comment. I’ll be happy to correct them.

I hope ordinary Clara, ordinary Adrian, and all of us ordinary people can find the happiness we deserve.
A pack of their own

A pack of their own

2.1m Views · Completed · dragonsbain22
Being the middle Child ignored and neglected, rejected by family and injured, She receives her wolf early and realizes she is a new type of hybrid but doesn't know how to control her power, she leaves her pack with her best friend and grandmother to go to her grandfather's clan to learn what she is and how to handle her power and then with her fated mate, her best friend and her fated mate little brother and grandmother start their own pack.
From Substitute To Queen

From Substitute To Queen

1.8m Views · Completed · Hannah Moore
For three years, Sable loved Alpha Darrell with everything she had, spending her salary to support their household while being called an orphan and gold-digger. But just as Darrell was about to mark her as his Luna, his ex-girlfriend returned, texting: "I'm not wearing underwear. My plane lands soon—pick me up and fuck me immediately."

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!
The Blackthorn Saga: The Heir (Book 1 & 2)

The Blackthorn Saga: The Heir (Book 1 & 2)

1.6k Views · Completed · BurntAsh3s
Kruz has always been strong, disciplined, controlled, and unbreakable. Nothing prepares him for losing his mother… or what comes after.
Pulled into a hidden world he never knew existed, Kruz is forced to face the truth—he isn’t just different.
He’s a vampire.
The transformation is only the beginning. Thrust from a life of survival into one of power, wealth, and expectation, Kruz is given a position no one his age should hold: District Elder.
With it comes authority. Responsibility. And enemies he doesn’t yet understand.
And then there’s the bond.
Forced into a connection he didn’t choose, Kruz is tied to a girl—whether he wants it or not. She’s a complication. A problem. A constant reminder that his life is no longer his own.
Because the one person he wants… is the one he can’t have.
As pressure builds and danger closes in, Kruz is forced to walk a line few survive—between duty and desire, control and instinct, the life he had and the one being forced upon him.
Because in this world, power isn’t earned slowly.
It’s given.
And if you’re not ready for it—
It will destroy you.
Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha

Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha

15.5k Views · Completed · Christina
I woke up three years into a marriage I barely remembered—pregnant with twins that weren't my husband's.

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?
Diaries Of A Hybrid And Her Mate

Diaries Of A Hybrid And Her Mate

2.3k Views · Ongoing · Sherryann Martinez
R18 MATURE CONTENT

Beautiful Aubrianne Ivanov, raised by her single mom, had a tough childhood. With low self-esteem, she became an outcast and was alone one too many times for her liking. Time spent at her part time job, she eventually grew into a brave, confident, and determined young woman who walked right into an opportunity that would change her life forever.

Will Aubrianne truly feel whole? Will she find what has been missing in her life? Will she allow herself happiness and joy? Will she find love, and most importantly, will she survive what's to come?

Join Aubrianne on her journey as she discovers who/what she is and navigates all the heartbreak, betrayal, drama, and exciting and thrilling events that come her way...

Excerpt:

She lay before him in all her magnificent beauty draped across his king-size bed in the most compelling and provocative way known to man or beast. And for Alpha Zayne, it was the most captivating view he had ever had the pleasure of seeing with his own eyes.

She stared at his every movement, lips slightly parted, her stunning brown eyes scanning every inch of his gorgeously toned and glorious body while heat radiated off of hers. He was HERS.

Her body trembled in delight and anticipation; she was ready and wanted to be with him in every way.

As innocent as she was, she wanted him to...no need him to take her in the worse ways, bringing her to heights of pleasures she had never experienced before.

Fuck she is beautiful, one fine specimen, and she is all MINE, MY MATE. A wave of pure unbridled possessiveness vibrated through Alpha Zayne. He thanked the Divine Moon Goddess, for she has truly blessed him.

He drank her in, eyes trailing up her toned sexy legs spread wide for him, and she gave him that come-and-get-it look.
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

2.6m Views · Ongoing · Veronica White
Ayla Frost is a beautiful, rare omega. Kidnapped, tortured, and trafficked to rogue clans and corrupt alphas to do with as they pleased.  Kept alive in her cage, broken and abandoned by her wolf, she becomes mute and has given up on hope for a better life until one explosion changes everything. 

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 Fates

Cursed Fates

1.6k Views · Ongoing · Taylor Ashcraft
Charlotte Sinclair was murdered at the hands of her abusive boyfriend. After dying, she wakes up in the body of another. She pieces together information from her first day as Aribella Voss, realizing that she's been reincarnated into a book she knew all too well. The only problem: She was fated to die in this story as well. She sets out on a mission to ensure that doesn't happen, but when she begins changing important parts of the story, she also changes the plot of the story she knew. Without the upper hand, Aribella no longer has idea what lies in her future.
The Princess's Revenge

The Princess's Revenge

64.8k Views · Completed · Xena Kessler
Two nations are at war. Valencia's pack is massacred by Alpha Marcus, and she is enslaved by him. When he dies, she is to be buried alive with him as a sacrifice.

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?
The Ice Between Us.

The Ice Between Us.

1.7k Views · Completed · Nora Obeche
In the world of elite hockey, discipline is the only currency that matters. For Julian Thorne, the perfectionist Captain of the Northwood Olympic Center, every stride is calculated, and every emotion is frozen solid. He is one season away from the pros, but the team is drowning under public scrutiny and a board of directors looking for any reason to cut the cord.

​Then comes Jax Miller.

​Jax is a hotheaded rookie with a lightning-fast puck and a reputation for burning bridges. He doesn't follow playbooks, he doesn't respect authority, and he’s determined to melt Julian’s icy composure. When a viral video of their on-ice collision threatens to bankrupt the program, Coach Clain delivers an ultimatum that feels like a death sentence: they must live together in a cramped, two-bed dorm for the duration of the season.

​Forced to navigate the high-stakes world of sports fame, "forbidden" locker-room tension, and the mysterious blackmailer who caught their first mistake on camera, Julian and Jax must decide what’s more dangerous: losing their careers, or losing themselves to the person they were supposed to hate.