
The Forbidden Awakening
justinaesomchi13 · Ongoing · 150.2k Words
Introduction
One spiked drink. One brutal rescue. One night of raw, unforgettable passion.
Maddie Thompson never believed that fate was real, until Alexander Blackwood saved her from assault and the ancient mate bond snapped into place between them. They spend one explosive night together in his hotel suite. Maddie flees at dawn, terrified of the feelings he awakens and desperate to protect the fragile life she’s holding together with duct tape and desperation.
She’s already sold herself into a one-year fake marriage to Ben Hargrove, trading vows for the money that will save her dying mother and pay her sister’s tuition.
The wedding is in seven days.
On the morning of the ceremony, she discovers that Ben’s stepfather is Alexander. Maddie walks down the aisle in white, the man standing beside the groom, the man whose fortune is bankrolling her entire future, is Alexander Blackwood.
Her fated mate is now her stepfather-in-law.
Trapped in the same sprawling estate, every look is torture, every accidental touch a spark ready to explode. Alexander’s wolf is losing control. Maddie’s dormant blood is waking up. And Ben is starting to notice.
One year.
One house.
One bond that refuses to stay buried.
Some marriages are made for money.
Some mates are made for war.
The moon is rising, and neither of them may survive the heat.
Chapter 1
Maddie Thompson wove through the pulsing crowd on the nightclub dance floor, the heavy bass thrumming in her chest like a second heartbeat. Strobe lights sliced through the haze of dry ice, painting everything in electric blues and violent pinks. Tonight wasn’t just any night out, it was a celebration. She and her closest friends were marking the start of their final year in architecture school, a milestone that felt both exhilarating and terrifying. After years of late-night studio sessions, endless model-building, and critiques that could make or break a semester, they were finally on the home stretch. Freedom was in sight, or at least the promise of it once portfolios were complete and degrees were in hand.
Maddie raised her glass in another toast, laughing as her best friend Clara shouted over the music, “To surviving fourth year, and to never pulling another all-nighter for a jury ever again!” The group clinked glasses, the sharp sound of crystal lost beneath the DJ’s relentless beat. Maddie took a long sip of her cocktail, the sweet burn sliding down her throat. For once, she wasn’t thinking about deadlines or her mother’s hospital appointments or the tuition payments that loomed like storm clouds. Tonight, she was twenty-four, surrounded by people she loved, and the world felt wide open.
She had noticed the man earlier, leaning against the far end of the bar. Older than the usual college crowd, late twenties, maybe thirty, with slicked-back hair and a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He’d been watching her for a while, his gaze lingering too long whenever she glanced in his direction. Maddie brushed it off. Clubs were full of creeps; you learned to ignore them and keep dancing. She turned back to her friends, throwing her arms up as the beat dropped, letting the music carry her away.
An hour blurred by in flashes of laughter and spinning lights. Another round of drinks appeared, someone’s treat, and Maddie accepted hers without hesitation. The first sip tasted fine, fruity and strong. The second made her blink. By the third, the room tilted sharply, colors bleeding together. Her limbs grew heavy, as though someone had poured wet concrete into her veins. She set the glass down on a nearby table, gripping the edge for balance.
“Clara,” she tried to say, but her voice came out thick and distant. Her friend was already swept back into the crowd, arms linked with someone else. The floor swayed beneath Maddie’s heels. She needed air. Needed to sit. Needed…
A hand clamped around her upper arm, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. “You look like you could use some help,” a voice slurred near her ear, hot and sour with alcohol. It was him, the man from the bar. Before she could protest, he was steering her toward the back exit, his grip iron-tight. The crowd parted around them like water, no one noticing the way her feet stumbled or how her head lolled against her will.
The door swung open, and cold night air slapped her face. The alley behind the club was narrow and poorly lit, overflowing dumpsters casting long shadows across the cracked pavement. The sudden quiet after the club’s roar was disorienting. Maddie tried to pull away, but her body refused to cooperate. The drug, whatever he’d slipped into her drink, had turned her muscles to mush.
He shoved her against the brick wall, the rough surface scraping her back through her thin top. “Been watching you all night,” he muttered, crowding close. His hands were everywhere, clawing at her skirt, yanking at the neckline of her blouse. Fabric tore with a sharp rip that echoed in the alley. Panic surged through the fog in her mind, sharp and electric. She swung weakly at his face, nails raking skin, but he only laughed, pinning her wrists above her head with one hand while the other fumbled at his belt.
Maddie screamed, or tried to. It came out as a choked whimper, barely audible over the distant thump of music leaking from the club. Tears burned her eyes as she kicked out, her heel connecting uselessly with his shin. He barely flinched. The world narrowed to the stench of garbage and alcohol, the bite of brick against her spine, the sickening weight of him pressing her down. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing it to stop, praying for someone, anyone, to hear…
A low, guttural growl cut through the night.
The pressure vanished abruptly. One moment he was there, crushing her; the next, he was airborne, ripped away with such force that he slammed into the opposite wall ten feet down the alley. Maddie slid down the brick, legs giving out entirely, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She forced her eyes open, vision swimming.
A man stood between her and her attacker, tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in a dark suit that looked wildly out of place in the grimy alley. Even through the haze, Maddie registered the sheer presence of him: the way he held himself like he owned the night, muscles coiled beneath expensive fabric. His back was to her, but she could see the tension in his stance, the way his fists clenched at his sides.
The attacker scrambled to his feet, cursing, and lunged with a wild swing. The stranger moved like liquid shadow, effortless, precise. He caught the man’s arm mid-swing, twisted, and drove a knee into his gut. The sound of impact was sickening, air whooshing from the attacker’s lungs. Before he could double over, the stranger’s fist connected with his jaw in a clean, brutal uppercut that snapped the man’s head back. He crumpled to the pavement, groaning.
But the stranger, Alexander, wasn’t finished. Something primal flashed in his eyes as he advanced, a flicker of gold in the dim light that Maddie’s drug-addled brain couldn’t quite process. He hauled the man up by his collar, slamming him back against the wall with enough force to rattle nearby trash cans.
“You dare touch what’s mine?” The words were low, dangerous, a growl that seemed to vibrate through the ground itself. There was something inhuman in the timbre, something that made the hairs on Maddie’s arms stand on end despite the terror and drugs.
The attacker whimpered, hands raised in surrender. Alexander’s lip curled in disgust. He delivered one final, bone-crunching punch that sent the man sprawling unconscious into a pile of garbage bags. Then, as quickly as the violence had erupted, it ended. Alexander stood over the limp body for a long moment, chest heaving, before turning toward Maddie.
His expression softened instantly. The predator vanished, replaced by something almost gentle as he knelt beside her. Up close, he was devastatingly handsome, sharp cheekbones, dark hair slightly tousled from the fight, eyes a piercing storm-gray that seemed to see straight through her. He shrugged out of his suit jacket and draped it carefully over her shoulders, covering the torn fabric of her blouse.
“You’re safe now,” he murmured, voice low and steady, as if he hadn’t just dismantled a man twice his size without breaking a sweat. His hands were careful as he helped her sit up properly, one palm warm against her back. “Can you stand?”
Maddie tried to speak, but her throat was raw. She managed a nod, tears still streaming silently down her cheeks. The jacket smelled like him, clean, expensive cologne mixed with something wilder, like pine and earth after rain. It grounded her somehow, cutting through the lingering fog.
He slipped an arm around her waist, supporting most of her weight as he guided her out of the alley. Each step felt like wading through water, but his strength was unwavering. When they reached the street, the neon glow of the club sign bathed them in red light. Alexander raised a hand, and a sleek black car pulled up almost instantly, someone must have been waiting for him.
The driver’s door opened, but Alexander waved the man off, opening the back door himself and helping Maddie inside with infinite care. She collapsed against the leather seat, shivering despite the jacket. He slid in beside her, pulling the door shut.
“Where do you live?” he asked softly.
Maddie shook her head, the words tangling on her tongue. Too far. Too alone. The thought of her empty apartment made nausea rise in her throat.
Alexander studied her for a long moment, something unreadable flickering across his face. Then he leaned forward, speaking quietly to the driver. “The hotel.”
The car pulled away smoothly, leaving the club, and the nightmare, behind. Maddie leaned her head against the cool window, watching city lights blur past. Beside her, Alexander sat close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from him, a steady anchor in the storm still raging inside her chest.
Little did she know, the man who had saved her wasn’t just passing by. And the connection sparking between them, electric, undeniable, was only the beginning of something far bigger than either of them could imagine.
Last Chapters
#134 Chapter 134 Captured
Last Updated: 7/30/2026#133 Chapter 133 The Hunt for the Traitors
Last Updated: 7/30/2026#132 Chapter 132 The Breaking Point
Last Updated: 7/30/2026#131 Chapter 131 Midnight Departure
Last Updated: 7/28/2026#130 Chapter 130 A Mole
Last Updated: 7/28/2026#129 Chapter 129 The Servant
Last Updated: 7/28/2026#128 Chapter 128 The Fracture
Last Updated: 7/28/2026#127 Chapter 127 Blood Tiles
Last Updated: 7/27/2026#126 Chapter 126 Raven
Last Updated: 7/27/2026#125 Chapter 125 The Flash Drive
Last Updated: 7/27/2026
You Might Like 😍
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?
The Alpha & The Vampire Queen
Whips crack against her skin, blood pooling on the cold stone floor, while her mother's pleas fade into silence, abandoning her to the monster's wrath. Xander's protective cries turn to accusations under Penny's dark spells, fracturing their sibling bond into shards of mistrust and isolation.
Tango with the Alpha's Heart
“He met her at the Alpha training camp,” he said. “She is a perfect suitor for him. It snowed last night, indicating that his wolf is happy with his choice.”
My heart sank, and tears made their way down my cheeks.
Alexander took my innocence last night, and now he is taking that thing in his office as his Luna.
Emily became the laughingstock of the pack on her 18th birthday and never expected the Alpha's son to be her mate.
After a night of passionate love, Emily finds out that her mate has taken a chosen mate. Heartbroken and humiliated, she disappears from the pack.
Now, five years later, Emily is a respected high-ranking warrior in King Alpha’s army.
When her best friend invites her to a night of music and laughter, she never expects to run into her mate.
Will her mate figure out it is her?
Will he chase after her, and most of all, will Emily be able to keep her secrets safe?
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate
He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
The Spy Who Left
"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.
Reborn 14 Years later: Fix My Broken Family
At least, that's what everyone believed.
One moment, she was trapped inside a sinking car beneath the icy waters of the Hudson River. The next, she woke up in her own bathtub and somehow fourteen years in the future.
Her husband is no longer the warm, easygoing man she remembers.
Her five-year-old son is now a nineteen-year-old stranger who looks at her with suspicion.
Her twins barely remember the mother they lost—one forever chasing affection, the other keeping the entire world at arm's length.
And the family she left behind has become something broken, distant, and unrecognizable.
Now Isabella faces an impossible challenge: rebuilding a family that never truly recovered from losing her.
Fourteen years have left scars on everyone.
Unfortunately for those causing the damage, Isabella Winston has returned to set things right.
The mafia princess return
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?
Diaries Of A Hybrid And Her Mate
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.
After One Night with the Alpha
I thought I was waiting for love. Instead, I got fucked by a beast.
My world was supposed to bloom at the Moonshade Bay Full Moon Festival—champagne buzzing in my veins, a hotel room booked for Jason and me to finally cross that line after two years. I’d slipped into lacy lingerie, left the door unlocked, and lay on the bed, heart pounding with nervous excitement.
But the man who climbed into my bed wasn’t Jason.
In the pitch-black room, drowned in a heady, spicy scent that made my head spin, I felt hands—urgent, scorching—searing my skin. His thick, pulsing cock pressed against my dripping cunt, and before I could gasp, he thrust hard, tearing through my innocence with ruthless force. Pain burned, my walls clenching as I clawed at his iron shoulders, stifling sobs. Wet, slick sounds echoed with every brutal stroke, his body unrelenting until he shuddered, spilling hot and deep inside me.
"That was amazing, Jason," I managed to say.
"Who the fuck is Jason?"
My blood turned to ice. Light slashed across his face—Brad Rayne, Alpha of Moonshade Pack, a werewolf, not my boyfriend. Horror choked me as I realized what I’d done.
I ran away for my life!
But weeks later, I woke up pregnant with his heir!
They say my heterochromatic eyes mark me as a rare true mate. But I’m no wolf. I’m just Elle, a nobody from the human district, now trapped in Brad's world.
Brad’s cold gaze pins me: “You carry my blood. You’re mine.”
There is no other choice for me but to chose this cage. My body also betrays me, craving the beast who ruined me.
WARNING: Mature Readers Only
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)
Accidentally Crossing the Tycoon
Four years ago, the Bailey family faced a devastating financial crisis.
Just when bankruptcy seemed inevitable, a mysterious benefactor emerged, offering salvation with one condition: a contract marriage.
Rumors swirled about this enigmatic man—whispers claimed he was hideously ugly and too ashamed to show his face, possibly harboring dark, twisted obsessions.
Without hesitation, the Baileys sacrificed me to protect their precious biological daughter, forcing me to take her place as a pawn in this cold, calculated arrangement.
Luckily, in those four years, the mysterious husband never asked to meet in person.
Now, in the final year of our arrangement, the husband I've never met is demanding we meet face to face.
But disaster struck the night before my return—drunk and disoriented, I stumbled into the wrong hotel room and ended up sleeping with the legendary financial mogul, Caspar Thornton.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?












