Novels by zz_starr_zz

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (2 YEARS AGO)Ashton and I had settled into a routine. He would pick me up from my apartment in the morning, and we would drive to work together, of course, I would enter the building before him much to his disdain, and once the day was over, he would drive me back home. I had grown even more comfortable around him, maybe a bit too cosy. I had not told him but over the last few days, I had grown smitten for him. His actions made me blush knowingly and unknowingly and I was frightened that if he had not caught on, other people had.No matter what feelings I was developing for Ashton Stetson, I had to ignore them and not act on them. His interaction with me was already taboo and I was so grateful for our friendship as it was, pursuing something more would ruin one of the only good things I had going in my life. Other than not risking our friendship, there was also the most important fact that he was my boss.I sank back into my seat and sighed, the first crush I had in

CHAPTER SIXTEEN“Ridley! I swear, I will barge into your room!” I continued to pace in front of his bedroom door while looking at my wristwatch.No response came and I could hear scrambling so that meant something was happening and he was not just ignoring me. We had a meeting with Ashton and his lawyer pertaining the divorce and even though I had reminded Ridley the day before, personally set his alarm and went as far as writing it on his hand, he had still woken up late.Now, here I was trying to hurry him up and we only had fifteen minutes to get there and the drive to the place we were going was not a short one. Seeing Ashton was the last thing I wanted to do especially after he had ousted me out of his house, a place I considered mine as well and had memories in—though most of them were terrible. Nevertheless, I still had to do this if this divorce was to happen quickly and I could start my life anew.“Ridley! I swear if we find them gone, you are starving for the entire week!” I

CHAPTER FIFTEENI probably forgot to mention that Maria was a very dramatic woman and that her son always hid behind her skirt. Ashton was like a young boy still under his mother’s protection, waiting for his mommy to speak for him. Even during the good times of our marriage, he did defend me, but sometimes I could see that he would rather pick his mother’s absurd point of view. Hence, I tried all I could to avoid bumping heads with her.Yet once more, here was Maria Stetson, hurling insults at me and tossing out my luggage while Ashton stood by the door with his hands in the pockets of his shorts. I moved toward my suitcase, which was lying on the ground with clothes pooling out of it. I watched Maria in disbelief as she walked out of the house once more with another suitcase and threw it to my feet.“Florence, bring this ratchet whore’s belongings and dump them here!” She yelled out and blew hair out of her face.“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked her as I looked at the pile

CHAPTER FOURTEENAfter multiple meetings in the morning, I was stumped. All I wanted was a tall glass of juice and a soft bed to lie down. I could not get what I wished for yet, I had to go through a departmental meeting as well, at the least I was glad that it was the last for the day and all I had to worry about afterwards was paper work and emails.Lisa carried my files as we made our way to Ridley’s office which was close to mine anyways. Ridley’s office was huge and had a huge table on the left side of the room for smaller departmental meetings such as this. When Lisa and I entered, all the seats were almost taken up with only three seats remaining. Ridley’s assistant came over to me by the door and led the way to the seat next to Ridley. I took my seat and nodded to him, to which he gave a smile before looking at everyone.“Okay, everyone is here. Shall we begin?” He began enthusiastically.By the time the meeting ended, my body was sore and I kept rubbing the back of my neck. I

CHAPTER THIRTEEN The divorce papers were right in front of me. I had read them numerous times but could not bring myself to put my signature on any page that required it. I ran my hands through my hair and scratched at the scalp. It was not supposed to be this hard, especially considering everything Ashton had done to me. All I had to do was sign and give him the papers—of course, he had no idea that I had divorce papers ready.I leaned back into the couch, lay my head on the back, and looked up at the high ceiling. Anything to get my mind off my failing marriage was interesting. I had promised Ridley that I would get this done with but a week had gone by and the papers remained in the top right drawer of the desk in my office. Ridley asked me about it on Friday morning and I managed to get away with an excuse of be

CHAPTER TWELVE (2 YEARS AGO)My nervousness had reached an all-time high. Today would be my last day at Stetson Hotel if I was not offered a permanent job, and quite frankly the chances of that happening were zero to none. I had been unable to sleep and for the past week, I had been on the lookout for any listings of available jobs or cheaper apartments. Despite checking every single newspaper every morning and different pages on my phone, I had not seen any job that was particular to my expertise. Jobs were just that scarce, and the apartments were just as expensive.I buttoned my shirt all the way and folded the collar before wearing my pants. I only owned two pantsuits and the navy blue one I wore today was my lucky one- well it was the best one and so I attributed it only to good things. Maybe if I wore something cute and flashed my ass around, my name would magically appear on the list of permanently employed contract workers.When I walked out of my room, Lou was seated on the c

EPILOGUEAnabelle had Jaxon's arm around her, it was the comfort that she needed at that moment. His scent was what she needed more than anything. Everything around her was dull and dark just like the clothes that she was wearing including the weather. Jaxon tightened his hold around her waist and looked down at her because he could feel every emotion that she was feeling. She looked at the graves of the fallen members and guilt and pain swallowed her. How did the loved ones of all these people feel? "It's okay, my love" Jaxon whispered to her and kissed the top of her head. She looked up at him and gave him a sad smile before walking away and going towards Adam's grave. She could not believe that he was gone just like that. He was so young and had not even experienced the joy of having a mate but Anabelle was glad that he had not found his mate because if he had they would have been disappointed and in pain over losing their mate. She remembered how hurt Micah looked and she wished

EIGHTYTAYLOR'S POVIt was like the sky knew of our loss, it was completely dark and the rain was heavily pouring down and hitting the roof. I could hear the strong wind blowing on the leaves of the plants as I looked outside through the window of my and Danielle's room. The turmoil in all our hearts was almost the same as the gloomy weather that swept everything away. I looked down at my fingers and curled them up, trying to keep warm. If only things had turned out differently. My heart clenched with every memory that rang through my head. Her laugh, and those shiny green eyes, haunted my dreams every time...when I slept and when I was awake. Every thought of mine always trailed back to her. Whenever I cooked something I thought about what she would think about it. When I said something I wondered if she would agree with my words. If she were here with me, would she wake me up and tell me that I was having a horrible nightmare because it sure felt like one?The rain poured and swept

SEVENTY-NINEAnabelle could not comprehend what she was looking at. Bodies were lying everywhere, it was a terrible massacre. She could tell that Amaris was no longer holding back and was indeed doing what she promised to do, to wipe off werewolves. The smell of blood was heavy in the air and the number of bodies only seemed to increase as they drove to the pack house. Amaris had attacked the pack's centre and killed anyone she spotted. Guilt ate at Anabelle as she looked at the cadavers of people that were once so alive. 'Ana, where are you? I've tried to evacuate as many people from the pack house as I can but Amaris is killing the warriors that are trying to hold her off like they are mosquitoes.' 'We are almost there,'Cora's words haunted her mind, Amaris was on a killing spree and she would not stop until she killed the last werewolf. Her leg started moving and she constantly chewed on her bottom lip as they drew closer to the pack house. Anabelle gasped when the house came in

SEVENTY-EIGHT"We lost three men, and if we include the library caretaker, Mr Cray...then we have lost four pack members." Alec gave the report to Jaxon and sank back into his seat. "We were able to retrieve the bodies of the warriors, they were horribly scorched because of the fire but hopefully we can give them proper burials.""And the witch, Mr Cray's sister?" Anabelle asked."Well, that is none of our concern. She was banished from the pack for practising dark magic and we are not responsible for her as a pack, we have certain customs to follow as a pack." Alec replied and shrugged at the end.Anabelle wanted to argue with that decision, surely the woman deserved a proper burial too. Despite being a witch she had also been killed by the person that killed the men of Blazepelt. Anabelle wanted to speak out on what she thought but Jaxon held her hand and when she turned to look at him he shook his head. She understood from the look in his eyes that she should not argue, his eyes pl

SEVENTY-SEVEN"Are they actually having sex?" Adam whispered horribly next to Danielle's ear. Danielle turned to look at him and hit his arm."What do you want them to do? It's a man and a woman in the same room and they are mates by the way." Taylor looked up at Adam from the pan. "This day has been quite eventful and despite the time no one knows how long it is going to be night," she added and continued stirring the food that she was preparing. With the Alpha and the Luna in the pack house, she had to include them too in the meal plans, not to forget she had hungry warriors waiting to be fed. "They've been going at it for quite some time now," Adam commented and looked up at the stairs. "You will not be able to get enough of your mate when you find her and then maybe you will understand." Micah joined in the conversation and took out a seat around the kitchen counter. He was finally in clean clothes and had washed off what had happened earlier. "Thank you," Taylor smiled up at M

SEVENTY-SIXAnabelle was crying hysterically and kept on shaking Jaxon's body to get a response from him. Even a twitch of his fingers would have been enough for her. The temperature was getting higher as more trees caught the fire that Amaris had started and the fire circled around them. She could see the others trying to fight against the flames, trying to find a way to get everyone out safely. Two men had come to her and told her that they hard to get out of the place, they wanted to carry Jaxon but she could not let go of his body. She kept crying and wailing because she felt empty without him, if this was how Jaxon had felt when she was unconscious then he was strong. She already felt like she could not live anymore but he had dealt with her going into and out of unconsciousness. She pulled him closer to her and hugged him to her body, his head on her chest. She could hear the beating of his heart but she was so worried because Amaris had cast a spell on him. What if she had don