Novel-novel oleh Ruth Liam

The thing about dancing with an Alpha? It’s a dangerous game.Not the oh-no-I-might-trip-and-faceplant kind of danger. No, this was the I-might-actually-like-this-and-that's-a-problem kind of danger.And Logan? He played the game too well.“Call me Naomi,” I said as we moved in sync with the music. “If you keep calling me Miss Carter, I’ll start thinking I should be handing out detention slips.”Logan let out a quiet chuckle, his grip on my waist tightening just enough to keep me grounded. “Noted. But I don’t know… Miss Naomi does have a certain dominance to it.”I scoffed. “Yeah, I’m so intimidating. Just ask anyone.”He spun me effortlessly, his smirk growing. “Oh, I don’t need to. I can see for myself.”Something about the way he said it made my stomach do this weird little flip.Which was stupid.Because I didn’t get flustered by men.Especially not Alphas.Especially not this Alpha.So, naturally, I changed the subject."Do you have a mate?" I asked, hoping to shift the focus awa

But if there’s a smell to anxiety, I was drowning in it.As soon as Layla and I walked through the door, the energy of the room completely changed.The venue was filled — men in tailored suits, women in shimmering dresses, all engaged in pleasant laughter and high-priced gossip. Champagne flutes clinked in the golden light of the chandeliers, perfume and alcohol and the unmistakable smell of power in the air.This was not a regular birthday party. It was a show of influence.Like I belonged there foram a big fat liar.Layla by contrast entered like she owned the goddamn building.The dress clung to her curves in a manner that made every male take a second ogle, her self-assured smirk daring them to ogle longer.“I swear to God,” she whispered dramatically, slipping her arm around mine. “If one more dude undresses me with his eyes, I’m gonna start charging them cover.”I stifled a laugh.And then as if I was a magnet for catastrophe my eyes betrayed me. They glanced around the room se

The door suddenly bursts open. I don’t even jump. I just sigh.Layla doesn’t knock. She doesn’t announce herself. She doesn’t walk into a room like a regular person.She breaks in.“One day, I swear you’re going to knock like a civilized human being,” I say, looking on as she struts in awake like she owns the place.Layla snorts. "Where’s the fun in that?" She slams the door behind her, arms crossed over her waist, eyes raking my body like a hunter. "Okay. First of all, why do you look like you just had your own funeral?”I arch a brow. "I don’t.""You do."I roll my eyes. “I just didn’t know that looking into a mirror made you a psychologist.”Layla grins. "That’s the spirit. ‘Keep up that sarcasm, we might survive this night’”She walks over to my dressing table, where two dresses are laid out — both far too fancy for a girl like me.I already know what’s coming.She taps the red dress. "Wear this one."I shake my head. “I was thinking the black one.”Layla gasps like I just told he

My jaw clenches; I smile through it. Clara. Just hearing her name makes me want to throw up. But this is her, standing in my family’s house, as if she owns the place. And worse—she actually does."Naomi!" she shrieks, the words squeaking out of her in a voice so high-pitched it drips with false enthusiasm.Someone get me an eye-roller so I can roll my eye into another dimension. So instead, I do what anyone with a modicum of self-respect would do in my position — I fake it."Clara! Oh my God, look at you! Glowing!" As all my pitch shifts toward the sun, I say. I add a slight head tilt for added impact.Her hands upon her swollen belly, and her lips curl into a smug smile. “Pregnancy looks good on me, huh?”Like a well-fed leech,” I whisper."What was that?" She asks, brows knitting.“I said, ‘Look at you, peach!’ “ I lie sweetly, giving her an arm pat as if I am the very best of friends with her.She giggles, and I fight the urge to scream. And, of course, my brother Theo is gazing at

If bad decisions had a face, it would be this.I held the steering wheel tight and looked up at the familiar roads ahead like they were the gates of hell. Five years. Five years of deliberately avoiding this place, and here I was now, driving myself back into the nonsense.“Deep breaths, Naomi,” I told myself. “You are older and wiser and hotter — okay, maybe not wiser, but definitely hotter. You’ve got this."Lies. All of it.Because no amount of pep talk was going to fix the reality that I’d be returning to the place that had witnessed me at my very lowest. The place where my mate — my one and only soulmate I was attractive to — stared me down and pushed me away like clearance sale items nobody wanted.But today wasn’t about him. It was for my little brother, Theo. The one person over the years who had consistently tried to emotionally blackmail me every time I spoke to them."Mom and Dad miss you. I miss you. How long are you going to keep pretending to be a runaway criminal?” I h