Melbelle

The Jackals are keeping me hostage. They think I'm a traitor and saboteur. Bait they can use to lure my brother and his club. Payback for stealing their drugs. But the Wolves aren't coming to my rescue. I'm my brothers pawn to justify a turf war between the clubs. Wounded and locked in a cell, I can't use the mate bond as leverage to weasel my way out of captivity. My enemies have severed our connection and rejected me as their mate.

Nora Hart is twenty-four years old, but she's lost everything, rebuilt her life, fought through grief and worse, all while managing to avoid the shifter world that broke her in the first place. Despite her near death and struggle for survival all on her own, she's done quite well and has created a pretty normal life for herself. Despite all that, fate isn't done messing with her.

I had a plan to get through senior year. Get good grades, stay busy with clubs, don’t forget to carve out time for Mom and Hannah, and most importantly, stay far, far away from Landon Atwater. That plan collapsed at the end of summer when my mom announced her surprise engagement… to Landon’s father. Now, I have to live with the jerk who has spent years tormenting me. At school, I could make sure we weren’t in the same classes and turn the other way if I saw him in the halls, but avoiding him gets a lot harder when I’m living in his seaside mansion.

I’m a total nerd, but I look like a jock. I had a perfect GPA in high school, and my GPA in college is perfect too. I smile when I’m supposed to smile. I have two loving parents and a brother and sister who are always by my side. I’m the perfect all-American guy. But the only thing that actually defines me is the before. The things I keep hidden deep inside because I’m too afraid of losing what I have now. The past lives deep inside me as I force the plastic smile on my face. And no one sees through it because I’m just that good.

Gordon Benson is the one man I never wanted to see again. He’s grumpy, antagonistic, and so irritatingly more attractive than he was 12 years ago. Those biceps, that muscular chest, those dark green eyes that still manage to get me all twisted up…it’s not fair. I broke up with him. He demolished my heart. End of story. Or at least it was until I ran into him after a figure skating gig. And then his sister offered me a job as their executive assistant—a job I didn’t need until the company I worked for went bankrupt.

I didn't wake up one day and decide to be a Disney princess, but for the last six months, I've been living the dream. Of course, that dream includes screaming little girls at birthday parties every weekend. At least there's cake. When my roommate offers to cover my share of the rent if I work her friend's little girl's party, I don't hesitate. Only she forgets to mention a few things. Like that I would love the birthday girl the moment I met her.

The things I've lost could shatter any man. Send him on a downward spiral. I would've punched my own ticket if it weren't for the Satan's Knights. Instead, I became the VP of the Knightdale Charter. A man can't drown in his misery when he's got responsibilities. So I look for things to dull the pain. Sex. Drugs. Whatever. When you've been to hell and back, the only time worth having is a good one. My little Birdie knows this self-destructive path, too. That's why I can't stay away from her.

When I let my most embarrassing secret slip to the person I wanted it kept from most of all. Damn you, tequila. I'm a grown woman. I turned thirty this year, and I've been running my own business for the last decade, a dream I made a reality all on my own. I have an amazing group of friends. Life is good. I'm happy. Well, except for one little problem I'm still a virgin. How did this happen? How did I manage to live this long without ever making it past second base? I don't know. Maybe it just never felt right. Maybe I was waiting for something. Or someone.

Vasili Nikolaev. Dangerous. Deadly. And most of all, devastating. He’s the king of New Orleans. Ruler of the Russian mafia and my best friend’s oldest, mouthwatering brother. On Halloween night my last year in college, I gave him everything. My body. My heart. My soul. He burned it all to the ground with the first ray of dawn.

My name is Cassidy Porter.... My father, Paul Isaac Porter, was convicted 20 years ago for the brutal murder of a dozen innocent girls. Though I was only eight years old at the time, I am aware-every day of my life-that I am his child, his only son. To protect the world from the poison in my veins, I live a quiet life, off the grid, away from humanity. I promised myself, and my mother, not to infect innocent lives with the darkness that swirls within me, waiting to make itself known. It's a promise I would have kept...if Brynn Cadogan hadn't stumbled into my life.