
Introduction
Chapter 1
Sam's POV
The steering wheel slips in my sweaty hands as my car skids around the mountain turn. Rain pounds the glass so hard I can barely see the road. Lightning flashes, and for one scary second, I see a figure standing in the middle of the highway.
I slam on the brakes. My Honda screams to a stop just inches from hitting... nothing. The road is empty.
"What the hell?" I whisper, my heart beating like crazy.
My hands shake as I grip the wheel tighter. I need to get out of this storm. I need to get to Tidewaters before I lose my mind totally. The boxes in my car rattle as I start driving again. Everything I own is in this stupid car. My whole life fits in plastic boxes now.
Another flash of lightning, and I see the sign: "Welcome to Tidewaters, California - Population 3,000."
The rain stops like someone turned off a tap. Just like that. No more noise, no more wind. The sudden silence makes my ears ring. That's not normal. Storms don't just stop like that.
But I keep going because I have nowhere else to go.
Three months ago, I was Detective Samantha Rivera of the LAPD. I had a badge, a gun, and folks respected me. Now I'm just Sam, running away to a tiny town where nobody knows I failed to save a seven-year-old girl named Sofia Mendoza.
I can still see Sofia's face in my dreams. Big brown eyes and a gap-toothed smile. Her mom begged me to find her baby girl. I promised I would bring Sofia home.
I lied.
Sofia vanished from her school playground on a Tuesday. By Friday, I knew the police chief was hiding something. By Monday, I found half the department was taking money to look the other way while bad people did horrible things. By Wednesday, they fired me for asking too many questions.
Sofia is still lost. And it's my fault.
The town spreads out below me like a picture. Pretty houses with white picket walls. A port with fishing boats. Everything looks perfect and quiet. Too perfect.
My phone buzzes. Unknown number.
"Hello?" I answer.
Heavy breathing, then a child's voice: "You can't save me either."
The line goes dead.
My hands start shaking again. Prank call. Has to be. But the voice sounded just like Sofia.
I drive down Main Street, and people stop what they're doing to stare at me. An old woman waters her flowers. A guy walking his dog. Three teens hanging out by the ice cream shop. They all turn to watch my car pass. Their faces have no emotion. They just... stare.
A chill runs up my neck. Small places are supposed to be friendly, right? People are supposed to wave and smile at strangers. These people look at me like I'm carrying the plague.
I park in front of Murphy's Diner. The sign in the window says "Help Wanted - Private Office for Rent Upstairs." Perfect. A place to live and work while I figure out what to do with my messed-up life.
The bell above the door jingles as I walk in. Every talk stops. Twenty people eating lunch all turn to stare at me. The quiet is so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"You must be the new girl," says a guy behind the counter. He's about fifty, with gray hair and kind eyes. "I'm Murphy. You're here about the office?"
Finally, someone normal. "Yes, sir. I called yesterday."
"Good time. We need someone around here who knows how to solve problems." Murphy pours me coffee without asking if I want any. "Used to be a cop, right?"
"How did you—"
"Small town. Word travels fast." He leans closer and says, "Be careful who you trust around here. This place has secrets."
Before I can ask what he means, the diner door opens. A tall woman walks in wearing an expensive black coat. She has silver hair pulled back tight and cold blue eyes. Everyone in the diner suddenly gets very interested in their food.
"Ms. Rivera," the woman says. "I'm Eleanor Blackwood. Welcome to Tidewaters."
I didn't tell anyone my name was Rivera. I only used my first name when I called about the job.
"How do you know my last name?"
Eleanor smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. "I make it my business to know everything about people who come to our town. Especially former police cops who had... trouble... with their previous job."
My stomach drops. She knows about Sofia. She knows about LA. She knows everything.
"I don't know what you've heard, but—"
"Oh, I've heard quite a lot." Eleanor's smile gets bigger and scarier. "I know about the Mendoza case. I know about the corruption you found. I know why you really left Los Angeles."
The coffee cup slips from my hands and crashes to the floor. Hot coffee splashes everywhere, but I barely notice. How could she possibly know all that? I never told anyone the real story.
Eleanor steps closer. "Here's some free advice, Detective Rivera. Find somewhere else to start over. Tidewaters isn't the right place for someone with your... particular skills."
"Are you threatening me?"
"I'm trying to help you." Eleanor turns to leave, then stops. "Oh, and Ms. Rivera? We've had some recent crashes involving young people. It would be terrible if history repeated itself. Wouldn't you agree?"
She walks out, and slowly the diner comes back to life. People start talking again, but they keep glancing at me like I'm a bomb about to burst.
Murphy refills my coffee cup. "I told you to be careful," he whispers. "Eleanor Blackwood runs this town. Cross her, and bad things happen."
"What kind of bad things?"
"The kind that make people disappear."
That night, I'm unpacking boxes in my new office when my phone rings. Unknown number again.
"Hello?"
The same child's voice: "I'm here. In Tidewaters. Come find me."
"Sofia? Sofia, is that you?"
But the voice that answers isn't Sofia's. It's deeper, older, and it makes my blood turn to ice: "Sofia was just the beginning, Detective. We have so many more."
Last Chapters
#21 The New Hunt
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#20 The Ultimate Sacrifice
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#19 The Last Guardian
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#18 The Ancient Deal
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#17 The Hunt Begins
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#16 The New Beginning
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#15 The Final Battle
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#14 The Chase
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#13 The Final Stand
Last Updated: 1/27/2026#12 The Final Truth
Last Updated: 1/27/2026
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Confrontation would be too cheap. Tears are worthless. I quietly started cataloging the hidden networks my father left behind, activating the Swiss accounts.
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He Never Loved Me, Until I Left
I put away the divorce agreement with a wry smile.
When he and my son completely disappeared, he finally panicked.
Three months later .
He knelt down on the streets of Chicago in despair, begging me to remarry him.
My six-year-old son looked coldly at his biological father and said, "Get lost, you bad uncle! You don't deserve to be my dad!"
When I Disappeared, He Regretted It
The moment the screen lit up, my entire world came crashing down.
The woman on the bed was Calista - that girl who grew up with us since we were kids. And that hand caressing her skin was wearing the wedding ring I had personally put on Matteo's finger.
"I've missed you so much..."
"You drive me crazy, baby..."
Those sweet words I knew so well completely destroyed me.
Everyone said we were the perfect couple, but who knew this marriage was built on nothing but lies?
Since he's so good at acting, I guess it's time I gave him a show of my own. I'm going to make sure everyone sees what this "perfect husband" really is...
He Thought I'd Never Leave
When he said he was being bullied, I believed him. When he kissed me on that rooftop, I thought he felt the same. When he asked me to transfer schools with him, I said yes without hesitation.
Then I heard him bragging to his friends: "She'd save her first time for me. Hell, she'd still be thinking of me on her wedding night."
The bullying was staged. The kiss meant nothing. He just wanted me gone—so his new girl could feel more comfortable.
He thought I'd beg. He thought I'd cry. He thought I'd never actually leave.
I left the country.
And ran straight into his stepbrother.
I Died While They Threw Her a Party
Their real daughter came home. She'd only been back two years. That's all it took to erase twenty-four.
When kidnappers grabbed us, I used my body as a shield. They beat me until something inside me ruptured. I was dying from internal bleeding, but no one could tell.
My parents wouldn't even look at me. "This is your fault! None of this would've happened if it weren't for you!"
"Get downstairs and apologize to your sister. If you can't, pack your things and get out."
They threw her a party at a downtown hotel while I died alone in my room.
I thought they'd be relieved. Maybe even glad. I thought they'd just move on like I never existed.
But when they finally learned the truth, they fell apart.
Bury Me in His Regret
The kidnapper pressed the gun to my temple and asked, "Choose your wife or your sister-in-law?"
Zachary didn't hesitate. "Let Valerie go," he said.
He actually chose to save his sister-in-law! In that moment, even the baby in my belly seemed to stop kicking.
Later, they locked me in the basement. Drugs to delay labor were pumped into my veins over and over. Zachary wanted to save the "firstborn son" status for his sister-in-law's child.
When warm blood finally soaked through my skirt, I dialed the number I knew by heart with shaking hands.
"Zachary," I whispered into the phone, "our child... can't wait any longer."
The Kidney That Killed Me
A few months ago, my sister was hospitalized with kidney failure. The doctor said she needed a transplant. My family's first thought was me—the backup daughter they'd kept around all these years.
When my husband Allen took my hand with tears in his eyes and said, "Only you can save her," I agreed without hesitation.
When the doctor explained the surgical risks and potential complications, I smiled and nodded my understanding.
My parents said I'd finally learned what sisterly love meant.
Even Allen, who'd always been cold to me, held my hand gently and said, "The surgery's safe. You're so healthy, nothing will go wrong. When you recover, I'll take you to Hawaii."
But they don't know that no matter how the surgery goes, I won't be around to celebrate.
Because I just got my own test results—I have terminal brain cancer. I'm going to die anyway.
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms
From first crush to wedding vows, George Capulet and I had been inseparable. But in our seventh year of marriage, he began an affair with his secretary.
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."
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What? No—wait… oh Moon Goddess, no.
Please tell me you're joking, Lex.
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And then, just as quickly… he sees me.
His expression twists.
"Fuck no."
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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?
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
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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?












