When Dragons Rise

When Dragons Rise

Iris Blayne · Ongoing · 35.6k Words

442
Hot
444
Views
0
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

At her arranged fiancé's funeral, Alaina thought the worst had already happened.
She was wrong.
Torn from the ceremony by an emperor who sees her as nothing but a way to join two rival kingdoms, she is forced into a new marriage with the bastard son of the Mage Kingdom. The mage prince she's supposed to wed is nothing like the stories she grew up hearing. Gentle, curious, and doesn't turn his nose up when she wants to use a sword, Felix begins to unravel everything she thought she knew about her future.
For a moment, she dares to hope until fire rains from the sky.
Abducted by dragon riders who claim she is the last of a long-lost bloodline, she is thrust into a world of secrets, lies, and a power that refuses to awaken, but when she discovers the truth (that the man who claims to be her savior murdered her father and plans to use her for something far darker) escape becomes her only choice.
Hunted across frozen mountains with nothing but a mysterious dragon egg and her fading strength, she must decide who to trust, what to become, and whether the life she’s been fighting for was ever truly hers.
Because she was never meant to survive.
She was meant to become something else.

Chapter 1

The Dire Forest is cursed, or so they say. I never found out who they were, just voices to be heard among the people. My sisters often brought me stories that are more fiction than fact, twisting tales into horror stories to make the youngest of them too scared to sleep alone at night.

When you see them for the first time, it’s almost impossible not to believe the stories. The trees are dark, monstrous things, far taller and thicker than any others on the entire continent. Their branches block any sunlight, making it look almost midnight within their reach.  

They are at my back now as I stand on the raised platform. The church bells ring somewhere to my right, but all I can see is the dark wood of the coffin being carried by the carriage. Her old, frail fiancee was paraded through his kingdom, a procession of his followers taking up the streets. Now, they wait outside the doors of the church. 

“Madam,” my handmaiden, Potts, says from behind me. “It is time.”

I nod, letting out a breath as I turn back toward the door leading back inside the massive congregation inside. She hooks my arm, leading me down the stairs and toward the main hall where the pipe organ has already started to play. 

We enter the room quietly, hunching over just a bit before I take my place beside the queen of my homeland, my sister. She glances over at me with a frown just as the doors open. She stands and I follow, letting out a sigh of relief. 

She won’t have time to scold me now. 

I fiddle with the sleeves of the heavy black dress that weighs me down, cranning my head to see the lineup of men carrying the coffin. They are to bring him downstairs where he will be sealed away with all of the other royal kings of their kingdom. 

A part of me tells me I should be a better actress. I should be crying; I should be devastated. This was my husband to be, but I feel nothing for the old man in the coffin. All I feel is a new weight on my shoulders of what his death means for me. 

A princess of a dying kingdom with no man to connect herself to. Surely, my sister will find someone to marry me off to. Sure, I’m eighteen anymore, but, at twenty-one, I can’t be out of options, can I?

“It will be okay,” my sister whispers, wrapping an arm around me. I realize then that I am actually crying, though more out of fear than anything else. I force myself not to wipe the tears away, hoping that it might give me some time if I actually play the part of a mourning woman.  

What follows I can’t remember. People go up in front of the coffin, and their mouths move, but their sound never makes it to my ears. The organ plays again, and I turn toward Potts, who nods her head, offering me her arm. I hook mine through it, letting her lead me through one of the side doors. No one stops us, some even giving a few knowing nods.

We stumble outside, and I tear my arm from her grasp. My feet are moving before I can think to stop them. Potts keeps up with me easily, staying a solid four feet behind me. I make it to the wall that surrounds the castle town, my palm moving against it as I follow it.  

It’s too much, all of it. Everywhere I look is a flag of remembrance for the old man I was promised to before I was even born, my safety net. Every villager I pass by is dressed in black, bowing their heads to me as I hurry by.  

I have to get out of here. 

I make it to the gate, the two guards watching curiously as I stumble past them. I hear Potts tell them something, but I don’t pause to hear what. 

I stumble out onto the road, walking down the side and into the grass. I fall to my knees, falling forward and burying my hands in the green. Potts doesn’t follow, instead staying on the road. 

“What will happen to me now?” I ask her, closing my eyes. My father had promised me to him because he had no need for me. No need to produce heirs, to rule, to do much of anything. He was a widower that already had five grown sons, who he had already passed leadership onto. He was a safety net, keeping me away from whoever the Emperor wanted to send me off to. 

Potts has no answer for me. 

I let out a shudder, forcing myself to lean back on my heels. Looking up, the dark trees take up all of my view. The few trees standing outside their expanse are splattered with the colors of autumn with brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows, a sharp contrast to the ones now towering over me that seem to stay a deep, almost suffocating green all year long. 

“Princess?” Potts’s voice sounds from behind me. Turning back, I sigh when I see my sister standing beside her, tall and proud. With a huff, I force myself to my feet, stepping up the incline. Potts’s hand stretches out immediately, helping me back onto the road. 

“The Emperor is on his way,” The Queen says, her eyes hard. This isn’t my sister, not right now. 

“Already?” I scoff out. “He isn’t even in the ground yet.”

“We will not sit here and pretend you’re mourning him,” she says, folding her arms. “We were alerted he was on his way before we left the castle. We already have garments waiting for you.”

“Before we left?” I fold my own arms, though I’m far less intimidating. “You knew this the whole time, and you didn’t think to tell me?” 

“What would you have me do, sister?” The queen’s voice drops, and I can see the fear in her eyes. “Tell you and have that be what’s on your mind? I couldn’t bear it. I wanted to see you as you’re…”

My sister’s bottom lip quivers as she looks down. I sigh, stepping forward and wrapping my arms around her. She lets out a surprised laugh before wrapping her own arms around me. I tell her, “next time, tell me.”

“I will,” she nods, pulling away. She gestures back to the church, “let’s get you ready.” 

I’m led into the back room of the church where there is already a bath waiting. My sister nods her head and leaves me be, Potts stepping forward to fetch the soaps. I step up to the bath, waiting for her to undo my corset. I close my eyes, forcing my breathing to calm down. Potts pats my shoulder affectionally before she starts to undo the corset. I finish getting undressed and climb into the water. I sink in, closing my eyes as a sigh leaves my lips.

Is this it? Is this the last time I'll be with my family? My home?

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

Oops. My Boss Was Seventeen

Oops. My Boss Was Seventeen

3.6k Views · Completed · Selena Maeve
The Plan: Travel back in time to high school, identify my insanely intimidating future billionaire boss before he gets rich, and suck up to him so hard I secure a six-figure job for life.
The Execution: Perfect. I brought him coffee, cheered at his games, and basically operated as his unpaid teenage executive assistant. He’s totally buying it.
The Problem: I was trying to network my way into the C-suite. I think I just networked my way into his bed.
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

7.2k Views · Ongoing · Miranda Carr
I never knew my blood could kill a king—until I met one. Sebastian, the ruthless and immortal King, rules with precision. For centuries, he's ruled with ruthless precision, his heart as cold as the stone throne beneath him. One moment, I'm nothing. The next, I'm his obsession. His touch burns like ice fire. His stare follows me through shadows. And when he feeds from me—God help me—it feels like drowning in darkness and craving more. He tells me my blood is unlike any he's tasted, that my scent drives him to the edge of madness.


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

The Spy Who Left

1.8k 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.
After One Night with the Alpha

After One Night with the Alpha

548k Views · Completed · Sansa
One Night. One Mistake. One Lifetime of Consequences.

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
Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha

Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha

17.8k 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?
Where The Ice Gives Way

Where The Ice Gives Way

109k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
Charlotte Pierce is used to surviving in motion. New towns, new schools, the same old house on the edge of nowhere, and the same rule that keeps her standing. Keep her twin brother, Charlie safe. Keep his hockey dream alive. Keep her own needs quiet. She works too much, sleeps too little, and saves the one thing that still feels like hers for the middle of the night, when she can lace up her worn skates and carve freedom into dangerous frozen ice. Charlotte and Charlie shifted once, years ago, and never understood what it meant. They had no pack, no guidance and no protection. Just two twins clinging to each other and pretending the voice in their heads was stress, imagination, or loneliness. Then they move to Wellington.
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)

Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

2.9m Views · Ongoing · Harper Rivers
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.
Accidentally Crossing the Tycoon

Accidentally Crossing the Tycoon

500.1k Views · Completed · Riley
My name is Audrey, and I'm the adopted daughter of the Bailey family.
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?
The mafia princess return

The mafia princess return

964k Views · Completed · Tonje Unosen
Talia have been living with her mother, stepsister and Stepfather for years. One day she finally get away from them. Suddenly she learn she have more family out there and she have many people that actually love her, something she have never felt before! At least not as she can remember. She have to learn to trust others, get her new brothers to accept her for who she is!
The Alpha Of The Shadow Pack And His Mute Luna

The Alpha Of The Shadow Pack And His Mute Luna

182.3k Views · Ongoing · Beatrice Putnam
She was born cursed and silenced. He was born cursed and destined to lose everything.

Vanessa, the mute runt of a cursed litter, has only ever known cruelty and abuse. Her voice stolen by a witch’s spell, her freedom crushed by a brutal father, she’s been promised to a monster she doesn’t want. But fate intervenes when she’s left for dead—bleeding, broken, and bound—only to be rescued by Alpha Alfred of the Shadow Pack.
Alfred, fighting against a generational curse that has doomed his brothers to remain wolves forever, never expected his fated mate to be a fragile girl on the brink of death. But the moment he breathes in her scent, everything changes.
Together, they must confront the past, survive betrayal, and uncover the true key to breaking the curses that bind them. Will their bond be strong enough to save them both?
One Weekend with the Billionaire

One Weekend with the Billionaire

78.2k Views · Ongoing · Bella Moondragon
“When done properly, this position can be most satisfying for a woman because it allows deep penetration."
I open my mouth to respond, but all that comes out is a staggered breath and a small sigh. He chuckles, a low, rough rumble and then leans down and kisses the middle of my back.
I feel the tip of him again at my entryway. He pushes in slightly, and my body comes to life again. My muscles react to his presence, contracting and loosening, as if my body is trying to suck him deep inside.
He's my husband's boss, so this is supposed to be wrong.
So why does it feel so right?


Braxton Merriweather always gets what he wants. Now, he wants her--Julia Thompson, the wife of one of his workers. From the moment he first laid eyes on her, he knew he had to possess her in every way.
When Jeff Thompson takes him up on the bargain he proposes, Braxton is shocked. He's even more surprised when Mrs. Thompson agrees.
But now that he's had a taste of her, he wants more. How can he possess a woman who's already married to someone else?

Julia feels trapped by her marriage to her high school sweetheart. In the two years since they've been married, he's changed, and not for the better. When billionaire Braxton Merriweather shows interest in her, she's flattered. And intrigued. Is it possible that one of the richest men in the world could really want her?
And if so... what does she do about her husband?
One Weekend with the Billionaire is a sexy story for mature readers.
Lethal Web of Mafia's Revenge (Sequal to "Innocent in Mafia's Web)

Lethal Web of Mafia's Revenge (Sequal to "Innocent in Mafia's Web)

1.6k Views · Ongoing · rafia shahid
He grabbed my hair and dragged me downstairs. His grip on my hands and feet ached terribly. I sobbed and wept, silent tears streaming down my face. I was powerless to break free, my left hand clutching my broken right wrist.

He was a beast inhabiting this mansion, inflicting inhuman torture on my poor soul. He had created a living hell for me, this pitiful girl, within his castle.

On this cold winter night, he threw my wounded body into the icy pool, arrogantly enjoying it all, drinking and smoking expensive cigars. A satisfied, cold smile played on his lips as he reveled in my pain. His face was filled with the darkness of sin.

“How...more...am I…still…standing?” I stammered, my lips trembling.

Zain paused, thinking. Then, turning away from her, he replied:

“Until you die!”

With that, he left. As he wished. At that moment, my wish came true; I died.

But not in a frozen pool; I was struck in the head by a bullet from afar, blood splattering everywhere—that was far more gruesome.

My consciousness began to fade, but suddenly, I opened my eyes again and found myself mopping the floor in an ordinary restaurant.

I was startled: What happened? I was reborn? This is unbelievable!