flame breathing

Mate. I froze mid-step, Venom has never said that word before. I've suddenly forgotten the Rogues I was chasing, my whole attention now on the emotions I was feeling. My vision sharpened, focusing on the faint sound of labored breathing just ahead. My heart hammered in my chest as I walked closer, the bond pulling me forward with an urgency I hadn’t felt in decades. The first thing I saw was her hair, a messy dark bun with strands of white, unusual yet unique. She sat curled up against the base of an old tree, arms wrapped tightly around her knees, shoulders trembling. Her thin, tattered sweater barely shielding her from the cold air. She looked... fragile, a word I never thought I’d associate with my mate. Ariel’s life has been anything but easy. Orphaned as a child and left in the care of a cruel stepfather and stepbrother, she’s endured years of emotional and physical abuse. Despite her circumstances, she’s always felt something stirring beneath the surface—an unexplained restlessness, vivid dreams of running under the moonlight, and a deep connection to the forest around her. Zayn, the alpha of the Shadowcrest pack, has spent years searching for his fated mate, the one who would complete him and stand by his side to no avail…he had finally given up on ever finding her. His pack thrives under his leadership, but his heart has grown weary, doubting the Moon Goddess’s promise of a mate. When a chance encounter leads him to Ariel, he’s stunned to discover that the fragile, broken girl is his destined partner—and more than that, she’s a wolf completely unaware of her true nature.

Have you ever loved someone so deeply that it killed your heart? Nicole Spencer had. For twenty long years, she loved Travis Graham with everything she had. To win his affection, she bent over backwards to please him, compromising herself at every turn. She truly believed that unwavering devotion could melt even the coldest heart. That belief lasted until she found herself lying on that sterile operating table - that's when the flame of her passion finally flickered out. Years later, Nicole had transformed herself. She became the wealthiest female CEO in the city, the youngest woman ever inducted into the National Academy of Medicine, and the chairperson of the International Disability Foundation. At a glittering charity gala teeming with the city’s elite, Nicole was the center of attention. Wealthy bachelors circled her like bees to honey. After one too many glasses of whiskey, he cornered her in the hallway outside the powder room. "Didn't you swear you'd love me forever?" he demanded. "Didn't you promise you'd never leave, no matter how many times I pushed you away? How dare you break your word!" "Mr. Graham," she replied with a polite smile that didn't reach her eyes, "those were just the naive promises of a lovesick girl. Surely you didn't take them seriously?"

His reputation stretches far and wide and is darker than his dark suits and ties. After Lauren's first encounter with her father's killer, she realizes he’s just as dangerous as he is handsome. She doesn’t like the man or anything he stands for, though that doesn’t stop her heart from wanting to jump out of her chest like an excited rabbit when he’s near, nor the shiver that ghosts down her spine at the sound of his voice. And he’s always near. Telling her what to do. Dragged into his world in a contract marriage that'd benefit the dark lord and satisfy her thirst for revenge against her mother's enemies, her life and heart goes towards a downward spiral. Lauren may be a sweet girl on the outside, but she’s beginning to learn she has a taste for the darkness, for rough hands on her neck, cigarettes, and emerald-colored eyes.