
The Body She Hid: Forensic Christmas
finetallglassofwine · Ongoing · 30.8k Words
Introduction
That was the first thing he asked me. Not my name. Not why I was kneeling in the snow beside the grave.
Two years ago, I falsified a DNA report to protect my father. The mistake buried a woman’s justice—and raised a man’s revenge.
Vale Creed, the billionaire who built his empire on truth, doesn’t believe in forgiveness. He believes in leverage.
Now, he knows what I did.
His sister’s death, my father’s secret, one impossible lie.
And his proposal? Not love.
A contract. A punishment. A marriage.
Christmas is coming, and I’m trapped in his glass mansion—where every room hides a memory, every kiss feels like evidence, and every heartbeat sounds like a confession.
But the deeper I fall, the closer the truth gets to killing us both.
Chapter 1
IRIS POV
Snow can really kill sound and even my heart felt like it was beating softer.
I was kneeling on frozen ground, next to a grave that was partly iced over. I wasn't sure why I'd come back. Maybe it was just that guilt hits harder on winter nights.
I swiped the snow off the headstone but there was no name on it, no one had ever identified the body but it was a case file number that still bugs me.
“Victim 482.” The woman whose story I'd buried into the ground, and in the lab.
The wind shifted, bringing a smell of cold metal and pine. Then I heard footsteps, slow, steady, and heavy so it clearly was not the wind, and not my imagination.
I froze solid.
Then a voice sliced through the air, “Where did you hide the body?”
My breath caught because that wasn't a question I expected, especially not tonight. I turned and saw a man who looked like he was carved out of shadow and control.
Vale Creed.
People had seen him before on TV, in interviews, in magazines that called him ‘the man who rebuilt truth.’ The billionaire who turned forensic science into a business. His company's catchphrase used to crack me up, ‘Evidence never lies.’ and I wished that were true.
He stood by the grave in a black coat that blended with the sky. His eyes were even darker, cold, watching me like a hunter who'd been waiting.
“I asked you a question, Dr. William,” he said.
My throat was dry. “What are you doing here?”
“That’s not an answer.”
I stood, brushing snow off my knees. “This is private property, you can't just waltz onto a crime scene.”
His mouth twitched, not a smile, but close. “You sound like you still believe in rules.”
He stepped closer and the snow crunched beneath his feet. I could feel his heat, even in the cold, the kind of heat that comes from barely controlled anger.
“Mr. Creed,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady, “I think you’re mistaken. This case is done.”
“I know.” He looked down at the grave. “Done, but not cracked. Isn’t that what you do, Dr. William? You end things.”
My chest felt tight, he wasn’t wrong about that.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
He tilted his head, studying me. “A couple of months back, a woman's remains were found outside the city. The report said her DNA was a dead end, a sad one but something felt off with the paper trail, a missing file, a misplaced signature, your signature.”
I tried to speak, but nothing came out. My pulse was so loud I thought he'd hear it.
“You faked the report.” His voice was almost soft now but that was worse. “You covered for someone. Who?”
“I…” My breath caught. “You don’t get it.”
“Oh, I get it.” He moved closer. “You covered for your dad. You trashed the proof that would've nailed him for her murder.”
My vision blurred for a second because those words were a punch to the gut, a way to remember what I'd done.
He waited for me to argue, but I couldn't. The silence said enough.
“I didn't mean for…” I started, but he cut me off.
“Don’t waste my time with an apology.” His voice sharpened. “You knew what you were doing when you chose to bury the truth.”
I took a shaky breath. “My dad didn’t kill her.”
His jaw ticked. “Then why lie?”
“Because no one would’ve believed he didn’t.” My voice went up before I could stop it. “Because the real killer would've gotten away while my dad suffered for it. Because…” I trailed off.
He stared at me for a long time, and I thought I saw something in his eyes but it was gone fast.
“Do you visit all the graves?” he asked quietly. “Or just the ones you feel bad about?”
I looked away and watched as snow kept falling, hiding my footprints, erasing that I'd been here. “You don’t know everything.”
He gave a short laugh. “I know plenty.”
Then he kneeled by the grave, swiping away the snow with his bare hand until he reached the dirt. He didn’t care about the cold but looked at the ground like she lay just beneath it.
I swallowed hard. “I didn’t want this.”
“But you did it.” He stood, staring at me. “And now, you’re helping me sort it out.”
I looked up fast. “What?”
He stood up and stepped closer, every movement icy. “You’ll work for me, my company's taking another look at some cases. I need someone who knows bones, someone who knows how to hide a lie and find one.”
“That’s blackmail.”
He shrugged. “That’s a job.”
“I’m not doing it.”
He stepped even closer, his breath on my face, smelling of whiskey and winter. “You already are,” he said. “When you buried the truth.”
I wanted to yell at him, tell him I didn’t have a choice, that he didn’t know what really happened that night. But his eyes shut me down because there was no point if he didn’t want the truth.
“Why me?” I whispered.
“Because you owe me,” he said. “And because I like watching people who lied squirm when they’re telling the truth.”
He turned to leave, his coat catching the wind but before walking off, he stopped.
“Merry Christmas, Dr. William.”
I stared after him in confusion. “It’s not Christmas yet.”
“It'll soon be” He glanced back, his eyes impossible to read. “And I always collect debts before the year ends.”
He walked into the dark, the snow swallowing him until only his words were left, quiet, cold, and final.
I stood there a long time after he was gone, the wind like a punishment, my knees felt weak, and my hands numb. I looked at the grave again, buried in snow, and tried to breathe.
The life I’d built, the fake calm, the years of pretending, everything was splitting open like the ground under me. I had thought the past was buried but I was wrong.
He was going to dig it all up and this time, I couldn’t lie my way out.
Last Chapters
#31 Chapter 31 Chapter 31
Last Updated: 2/28/2026#30 Chapter 30 Chapter 30
Last Updated: 2/28/2026#29 Chapter 29 Chapter 29
Last Updated: 2/28/2026#28 Chapter 28 chapter 28
Last Updated: 2/28/2026#27 Chapter 27 Chapter 27
Last Updated: 2/28/2026#26 Chapter 26 Chapter 26
Last Updated: 2/28/2026#25 Chapter 25 Chapter 25
Last Updated: 2/28/2026#24 Chapter 24 Chapter 24
Last Updated: 2/28/2026#23 Chapter 23 Chapter 23
Last Updated: 2/28/2026#22 Chapter 22 Chapter 22
Last Updated: 2/28/2026
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
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.
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?
How Not To Fall For A Dragon
Which is why it was more than a little confusing when a letter arrived with my name already printed on a schedule, a dorm waiting, and classes picked out as if someone knew me better than I knew myself. Everyone knows the Academy, it’s where witches sharpen their spells, shifters master their forms, and every kind of magical creature learns to control their gifts.
Everyone except me.
I don’t even know what I am. No shifting, no magic tricks, nothing. Just a girl surrounded by people who can fly, conjure fire, or heal with a touch. So I sit through classes pretending I belong, and I listen hard for any clue that might tell me what’s hidden in my blood.
The only person more curious than me is Blake Nyvas, tall, golden-eyed, and very much a Dragon. People whisper that he’s dangerous, warn me to keep my distance. But Blake seems determined to solve the mystery of me, and somehow I trust him more than anyone else.
Maybe it’s reckless. Maybe it’s dangerous.
But when everyone else looks at me like I don’t belong, Blake looks at me like I’m a riddle worth solving.
Goddess Of The Underworld
When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armour, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of an orphan pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to be better. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
A pack of their own
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 Human Among Wolves
My stomach twisted, but he wasn’t finished.
"You're just a pathetic little human," Zayn said, his words deliberate, each one hitting like a slap. "Spreading your legs for the first guy who bothers to notice you."
Heat rushed to my face, burning with humiliation. My chest ached — not from his words alone, but from the sick realization that I had trusted him. That I had let myself believe he was different.
I was so, so stupid.
——————————————————
When eigteen-year-old Aurora Wells moves to a sleepy town with her parents, the last thing she expects is to be enrolled in a secret academy for werewolves.
Moonbound Academy is no ordinary school. It's here young Lycans, Betas and Alphas train in shifting, elemental magic, and ancient pack laws. But Aurora? She's just...human. a mistake. The new receptionist forgot to check her species - and now she's surrounded by predators who sense she doesn't belong.
Determined to stay under the radar, Aurora plans to survive the year unnoticed. But when she catches the attention of Zayn, a brooding and infuriatingly powerful Lycan prince, her life gets a lot more complicated. Zayn already has a mate. He already has enemies. And he definitely doesn't want anything to do with a clueless human.
But secrets run deeper than bloodlines at Moonbound. as Aurora unravels the truth about the academy - and herself - she begins to question everything she thought she knew.
Including the reason she was brought here at all.
Enemies will rise. Loyalties will shift. And the girl with no place in their world...might be the key to saving it.
Let Them Kneel
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.
But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.
Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.
When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.
For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.
Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.
But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.
And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.
Especially him.
She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.
Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
Rise of the Banished She-Wolf
That roar stole my eighteenth birthday and shattered my world. My first shift should have been glory—blood turned blessing into shame. By dawn they'd branded me "cursed": cast out by my pack, abandoned by family, stripped of my nature. My father didn't defend me—he sent me to a forsaken island where wolfless outcasts were forged into weapons, forced to kill each other until only one could leave.
On that island I learned the darkest edges of humanity and how to bury terror in bone. Countless times I wanted to surrender—dive into the waves and never surface—but the accusing faces that haunted my dreams pushed me back toward something colder than survival: revenge. I escaped, and for three years I hid among humans, collecting secrets, learning to move like a shadow, sharpening patience into precision—becoming a blade.
Then, under a full moon, I touched a bleeding stranger—and my wolf returned with a violence that made me whole. Who was he? Why could he wake what I'd thought dead?
One thing I know: now is the time.
I have waited three years for this. I will make everyone who destroyed me pay—and take back everything that was stolen from me.
Invisible To Her Bully
Falling For The Biker: The Vice President's Girl
His eyes darken, flicking to my mouth.
"It's wrong. Your brother would slit my throat for just standing this close. But tell me, little bird" his breath ghosts my skin, "are you trembling because you hate me… or because you've wanted this just as much as I have?"
Wren thought she'd buried the chaos of New Orleans for good—the clubs, the blood-soaked loyalties, the men who lived and died by their kuttes. Seattle gave her everything she ever wanted: freedom, love, a future.
But one betrayal shatters it all.
Dragged home by tragedy, Wren finds herself under the watchful eye of Ezra Jax—the Raven Reapers MC's vice president and her brother's best friend. He's infuriating, dangerous, and far too tempting for a man she should never touch.
And the deeper Wren is pulled back into his world, the more she realizes nothing about her past—or about Ezra—is what she believed.
In the chaos of gang wars, mounting debts, and old betrayals, he becomes the one constant. The more she fights him, the harder she falls. And the more he pushes her away, the more lethal his pull becomes.
Because in this world, love isn't sweet.
It's brutal. Bloody.
And it's bound to break them both.
When loyalty is everything and love can cost your life, will Wren risk her heart on the one man she was never meant to love?












